My Review of Doctor Who: "The Robot Revolution"

 

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Peter Hoar 

The Doctor: "With both hearts, I apologise."

Belinda: "I am not one of your adventures. I am asking you, Doctor, do the right thing."

The Doctor: "I will take you home."

With so much discourse currently surrounding the show and a looming uncertainty in relation to the show's future, this opening episode kicked things off with a new companion and series arc. It kicked it off well enough.

Enter the one and only Miss Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu). During her teen years, her boyfriend Alan Budd (Jonny Green) bought her a star as a present. As gifts go, it's at least one with some thought put behind it. It's just a pity that it'll come back to haunt Belinda.

Yes, Belinda didn't get a star. She got a planet named Missbelindachandra and the robots of that planet came to collect her in the middle of the night. They also killed a cat and a certain someone got out of the way as the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) went the long way around to rescue Belinda.

Ending up on a planet named after her, Belinda quickly realised she was the planet's queen and she was going to be married off to the AI Generator whether she liked it or not. Luckily the robots couldn't hear every ninth word and Belinda soon found herself being rescued by the likes of the Doctor, Manny (Max Parker) and Sasha 55 (Evelyn Miller). Sasha however was a quick casualty during the big escape plan from Belinda's would be nuptials.

The second half of this episode has the Doctor and Belinda getting the measure of him. Within a few moments, Belinda was quickly marked as a stark contrast to Ruby and despite her misgivings, she did seem admire the Doctor. The Doctor also seemed impressed with her willingness to challenge him.

Now the villain part would be where the episode lost a little steam. I don't mind Alan being framed as an extreme version of an Incel who got reduced to sperm and an egg but RTD has written these type of scenarios better in the past. This felt very slapdash in a way, though it did resolve the time fracture both the Doctor and Belinda experienced in the episode.

As for this series mission statement, looks like the Doctor and Belinda are going to have to go the long way around in order to get the latter home. Belinda might not want to be a companion, but right she'd got little say in the matter. What exactly is keeping the Doctor and Belinda from returning the latter home? The next seven weeks are going to be one hell of a ride in order to find out.

- Belinda's a nurse and lives with Kirby (Thalia Dudek) and Steffan (Jeffin Kunjumon). The receptionist at her hospital previously appeared in The Church On Ruby Road.

- Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson) happened to be Belinda's next door neighbour and made sure she wasn't seen by the Doctor.

- The episode established that Mundy Flynn from Boom is a descendant of Belinda.

- Jonny Green who played Alan Budd here also plays Tyler Steele in the Big Finish Torchwood audio range. I wish RTD had brought that character in here instead.

- We can add X-Ray sheets and the non robots of Missbelindachandra having two pancreases to noteworthy things in this episode.

- Chronology: May 24th 2025, which the Doctor and Belinda currently cannot return to.

The Robot Revolution was arguably a step up from last series Space Babies but it's not necessarily RTD flying on all cylinders. It's mostly strong with Belinda established nicely and great chemistry between Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu. The Incel plot with Alan could've been handled so much better though. A bit of a misfire in that regard.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Doctor Odyssey: "Hot Tub Week"

 

Written by Jessica Grasl 

Directed by Paris Barclay

Catherine (to Robert): "It'll be just me then. Nice to meet you, Bobby."

Where do I start with this episode? Because there's at least three things I genuinely enjoyed about this one and they're all worthy of attention but let's tackle the big story first.

Who's the father of Avery's baby? Well, that certainly took a turn when it was revealed that Avery wasn't pregnant to begin with. Is it really bad that I was relieved about this while actually feeling sorry for the trio? A baby would've overcomplicated the show but at the same time, there was something touching about their shared grief that genuinely tugged at the heartstrings.

If Avery wasn't pregnant, then what was going on instead? Apparently a cyst that Avery would need to get operated on in the next port and keeping with the lovely scenes this week, her talk with Robert was sweet. Robert's rather paternal relationship with Avery these last few episodes has been rather endearing.

Speaking of Robert, his baby story with Heather (who didn't appear) on the other hand went further ahead here. In fact, Robert has fatherhood so much on the brain that he imagined a younger version of himself (Jesse Johnson) talking to a younger version of his first wife, Catherine (Dianna Agron). As a Glee fan, I was happy to see Dianna Agron pop up on the show. Any chance we can get her in a contemporary role?

Back to the theme of the week, who knew that Tristan used to be a cheerleader? No-one did but he certainly had a great time in telling Max and Avery all about it while helping to get cheerleader's hair loose from the vent in the tub. Yes, there was a lot of cheers this week.

Circling back to the trio, this was the most enjoyable they've been in the second half of the season so far. Also, like with Robert, that hot tub gave us younger versions of the characters to boot. The casting seemed to be pretty spot on as well.

- Avery wasn't sporty as a teenager but of course Max had a football and baseball history.

- Tristan's been using exercise and sweet treats to stave off his alcohol dependency. I still think that's been poorly handled as a story.

- Next week we're meeting Max's twin, so double the amount of Joshua Jackson for good measure.

- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

Hot Tub Week was a great one for the trio, for Robert's impending fatherhood and for the brief screentime given to Dianna Agron. I really, really enjoyed this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The World Will Tremble (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Lior Gellar

Solomon (to Michael): "On the way out tomorrow, we cut through the truck and we don't stop running."

Sometimes you watch a film that's really good, clearly earmarked as a potential award darling but for some reason, it feels like it might be left out in the cold. It probably didn't help that a certain movie twice the length with star power and a similar theme might have come out months ago.

Anyways, this movie itself focused on a very specific incident during the Holocaust with the focus on two prisoners - Solomon Wiener (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and Michael Podchlebnik (Jeremy Nuemark Jones). Their story would be a crucial part in one of the darkest moments in history.

For the first half of the movie along several other men, they're forced to dig graves for the Jews that had been gassed by the Nazis, have to endure horrible working, living and eating conditions. Not to mention being used for target practice and forced to take part in a horrible "dance" to lighten the mood by a rather sadistic leader (David Kross).

When two of their fellow prisoners are killed within minutes of each other, both Solomon and Michael decide to cut their way out of a transport and escape. They intend to head to Grabow in order to seek out sanctuary and a Rabbi (Anton Lesser) with the intention of getting the world to be aware of what they've endured.

The escape scenes are intense with the pair having to steal a motorbike and get some railman coats in order to get to the Rabbi in question. By the time they do, it took Solomon breaking down before the Rabbi was truly convinced of the horror that both him and Michael had been subjected to.

The last few minutes are brutal. Yes, both Solomon and Michael's testimonies ended up making the BBC broadcast and kicked off the investigation but while Michael was able to go to a trial and eventually start a new life, the opposite happened to Solomon. His ending isn't graphically depicted but it's a brutal one that sadly did happen in real life, along with the suffering of many others. 

- Michael lost his wife Clara and two children on screen while Solomon lost his parents and four sisters offscreen and at the start of his capture. Michael also remarried and had other children.

- There's some nice performances from Michael Fox, Charlie MacGechan and Michael Epp to name a few.

- This got a limited theatrical release and will be heading to Apple TV+ this month. 

- Chronology: January 1942 in the Chełmno death camp. Solomon died in April 1942 in the Belzec death camp. We saw Michael's testimony in 1962 and footage of him in real life from 1979.

Given it's subject matter, The World Will Tremble doesn't make for light viewing. Some of the horror was implied, a lot of it was visceral in it's depiction and the lead performances from both Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Jeremy Nuemark Jones are impressive.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Mickey 17 (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Bong Joon Ho

Mickey: "Our entire life is a punishment."

I'm a month late but thankfully for digital, I finally settled to see what the fuss about with this political satire. Was it too on the nose for it's own good? Or was it straight up too weird for a mainstream audience?

If I'm being honest, it's definitely both but you know, what? I don't care because this movie hit the right notes for me and a large part of that was down to Robert Parkinson himself. The man has proven to be quite the chameleon actor over the last few years.

In this movie he played a loveable loser named Mickey Barnes. A failed business with a shitty friend, Timo (Steven Yeun) saw the pair try to escape dangerous loan sharks by signing up for a program that would take them into space. For Mickey, that meant becoming an Expendable.

The job description was pretty damn apt as Mickey didn't read the fine print but let on to Niflheim expedition program recruiter, Red Hair (Holliday Grainger) that he did. Soon enough, Mickey was getting killed as often as Kenny from South Park, only for his seventeenth version to survive his encounter with the Creepers.

That survival also led to the creation of Mickey's eighteenth version and the battle between both different versions was mostly halted by their love interest and secret agent, Nasha Barridge (Naomi Ackle). Then there was a near assassination attempt on corrupt politician, Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo).

I'm normally a fan of Mark Ruffalo and I like that career wise, he continues to mix it up but the on the nose part of the movie would be Kenneth Marshall. In particular, the very much hated political that Ruffalo shamelessly spoofed throughout the movie. Better handled was Toni Collette as Marshall's wife, Ylfa, who gave a little more nuanced performance by comparison. Both horrible people though.

The movie has a lot to say about colonisation and none of its subtle. It's mostly well executed and the Creepers had their own intimidating but kinder leader (Anna Mouglalis) as a noted contrast to the Marshall. The ending's expected for the movie but one I thought worked well enough.

- Mickey and Timo were failing with a macaroon business. Timo also got a pilot licence and had a drug hustle on the side.

- The movie's based on the book, Mickey7 by Edward Ashton.

- There was a subplot involving both Mickeys from the book that didn't make it into the movie and if it had, it certainly would stirred an online conversation.

- Chronology: Over four years passed from Mickey and Timo leaving Earth for Niflheim. 2054.

While it's certainly an acquired taste and way too on the nose for it's own good, I really dug Mickey 17. Robert Pattinson nailed the lead roles and there's some strong supporting performances to boot. There's some genuinely laugh out loud and rather gross moments. It sucks this didn't land because it's a lot better than expected.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of A Minecraft Movie (2025)

 

Written by Chris Bowman And Hubbel Palmer And Neil Widener And Gavin James And Chris Galletta And Allison Schroeder

Directed by Jared Hess

Steve: "Anything you can dream about here, you can make."

First of all, I'm not a gamer but I'm well aware of Minecraft and it's impact. A few months ago when I saw a trailer for this movie, I thought it looked horrible. Then over the last week or so, I found myself curious enough to see this movie, in spite of my limited knowledge on thd subject.

The movie's got a few protagonists, so let's start off with Steve (Jack Black). He hated the real world and his job so much that venturing down a particular mine and ending up in the Minecraft was a dream come true for Steve. He's also quite the action man when needed and that's a good skill set to have here.

Then there's older sister/younger brother duo, Natalie (Emma Myers) and Henry (Sebastian Hansen). They're dealing with the loss of parents, the former's social media job and the latter being a social outcasts in his school. His attempts of a jetpack caused more problems than it should've but they're certainly there for the younger audience.

Completing the protagonists are real estate agent, Dawn (Danielle Brooks) and game store owner, Garrett "The Garbage Man" Garrison (Jason Momoa) and together, all five of these characters had to work together in an environment, some were familiar with and others were out of their depth on. I definitely felt a little with the latter to be honest.

Anyways, the movie proceeded to have the most in the Minecraft world and the villain of the piece, Malgosha (Rachel House) did make for a particularly fun baddie. Add in plenty of monster fights, character building moments and some genuinely absurd scenes and there was fun to be had with this particular quest.

However, what of the real world? Eventually all of characters had to go back, were changed for the better and so on. There was also nice romance subplot between Vice Principal Marlene (Jennifer Coolidge) and Nitwit (Matt Berry) but it's fairly disconnected from the main plot and both characters are kept away from the action.

- Other actors in this movie included Jared Hess, Kate McKinnon, Jermaine Clement and various YouTubers to boot.

- A post credit scene had Marlene's ex-husband not pleased with her relationship with Nitwit.

- Special shout out to Steve's cubed dog, Dennis. It wouldn't be a family movie without a cute animal in the mix.

- Chronology: Present day Chuglass, Idaho (and the 1980s) as well as the Overworld and Nether.

I hadn't huge hopes for A Minecraft Movie but I ended up being pleasantly surprised by it. The movie was genuinely fun, the leads were great, the world was nicely realised and it didn't outstay it's welcome. Not sure what the inevitable sequel will do but I'll look forward to it.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Ouija: Origin Of Evil (2016)

 

Written by Mike Flanagan And Jeff Howard

Directed by Mike Flanagan

Alice: "Where is she?"

Father Tom: "She's part of the walls now. And she told me the most wonderful, awful things."

Yesterday I wrote a review for the fairly mediocre Ouija movie, so it was time to give the better received sequel/prequel movie another go. Low and behold, here we are.

The antagonists in the first movie were the ghosts of Alice and Doris Zander with Paulina being confined to an institution. This movie explored that family's origin with the Ouija board in great detail.

Starting the movie off, it seemed like matriarch Alice (Elizabeth Reaser) was just coasting along with her customers, posing as a medium. She had her daughters Paulina (Annalise Basso) and Doris (Lulu Wilson) somewhat aiding her grift. Then the arrival of a certain board made Alice's job a bit too real for everyone's liking.

Notably with Doris being used as a vessel to communicate with the spirits, including the Zander patriarch, Roger (Michael Weaver). Doris's attachment to the spirits was definitely enabled by Alice getting in over her head but it was Paulina who was more freaked out by the whole thing.

Throw in a concerned priest named Thomas Hogan (Henry Thomas) and you've got something that slightly veered into The Exorcist territory with various possessions, dead boyfriends (poor Paulina) and a family that ultimately had the majority of its members killed, courtesy of Lina.

Yup, Lina's more or less the sole survivor in this movie, but considered that I've already seen the first movie, I already knew this. I do think this one did it's best to try and humanise both Lina and Alice a bit more while playing up the sheer creepiness of Doris being possessed by the spirits in the movie.

- Kate Siegel popped up briefly at the start as Jenny Browning, the daughter of Mr Browning (Sam Anderson). She's a gold digger.

- Post credit scene showed the older Lina (Lin Shaye) getting a visit from a woman claiming to be her niece.

- Standout music: Mike Lacey's You Gotta Move Me.

- Chronology: 1967 Los Angeles for the majority of the movie and 2014 for that post credit scene.

Ouija: Origin Of Evil certainly delivered a better movie than it's predecessor. It's sharper, better focused, more effective with it's scares and it nicely fleshed out the tragedy of the Zander family.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Ouija (2014)

 

Written by Juliet Snowden And Stiles White

Directed by Stiles White

Laine: "I just want to stop whatever is happening. My friends are dying."

Keeping with horror this weekend, I went and caught this divisive one from over a decade ago. To be fair, I'd previously watched it's sequel/prequel years ago but here goes.

Anyways, you've got friends, Debbie Galardi (Shelley Hennig/Claire Beale) and Laine Morris (Olivia Cooke/Afra Sophia Tully) play with an Ouija board as kids, when they weren't being interrupted by the latter's sister, Sarah (Ana Coto/Izzie Galanti). Of course they were using it for trivial questions.

Then the girls became teenagers and a spooked out Debbie tried to burn the Ouija board, only for the board to remain perfectly intact. As for Debbie, she ended up getting possessed and killed herself. Debbie's death of course would drive the main plot for this movie.

Mostly because Laine knew there was something off with her best friend's demise and along with Sarah, Isabelle (Bianca Santos), her boyfriend Trevor (Daren Kagasoff) and Debbie's boyfriend, Pete (Douglas Smith), she was determined to get to the bottom of it. What better than to use the Ouija board in order to get some answers.

At first it seemed like the group was communicating with Debbie but it was quickly revealed to be another spirit named Doris Zander (Sierra Heuermann) who was a victim of her mother (Claudia Katz Minnick). Then there was the older version of Doris's sister, Paulina (Lin Shaye), who ended up being more foe than friend.

The rest of the movie spent time with Isabelle, Pete and Trevor all getting killed with Laine in protective sister mode to save Sarah. It's something that she just about managed to do along with freeing the right spirits from their supernatural burden. 

- The movie underwent massive reshoots, including Erin Moriarty's character removed and suggestions from Mike Flanagan. 

- The tagline "Keep telling yourself it's just a game" was used to promote the Ouija game.

- The first Ouija board came out in 1890 but this movie seemed to imply it was before then.

- Chronology: Present day in an unknown American town.

Ouija was an okay look at the infamous board and the horrors that surrounded it. It's not a great horror by any stretch but it's not quite a disaster area either. Mostly mediocre though.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of The Monkey (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Osgood Perkins

Lois: "Everybody dies. Some of us peacefully and in our sleep, and some of us... horribly. And that's life."

I was meaning to catch up with this one. After Longlegs, which I found a bit hit and miss, I was curious to see how Osgood Perkins would adapt this short story from Stephen King. It turned out, pretty well.

Now, what's this movie? Well, you've got Petey Shelburn (Adam Scott) trying to return a drum playing toy monkey to an antique shop. As a result, the shop owner's gutted with a harpoon and Petey abandoned his family. 

The family being his wife, Lois (Tatiana Maslany) and twin sons, Bill and Hal (Theo James/Christian Convery) and it's a decision that had monumental damage on the family. The toy monkey loomed like a bad omen, both twins hatred for one another boiled over and a careless wish resulted in the death of their mother.

Cut to twenty five years later and you had the twins largely estranged from each other. On top of that, Hal also had an ex-wife (Laura Mennell), her annoying new boyfriend (Elijah Wood) and of course, Hal's son, Petey Jr (Colin O'Brien). Hal's lack of relationship with Petey Jr drove the second half of the movie.

It's a good shift too as Hal and Petey Jr found themselves drawn to the monkey thanks to Bill trying to trick Petey Jr into taking on the curse. Then there was Ricky (Rohan Campbell), who wanted the monkey for himself but came afoul of it's curse. Considering how annoying that character was, I found his comeuppance fitting.

The last showdown between Hal and Bill was the best bit of the movie. Two feuding brothers who finally hashed out their issues. Throughout the movie, Bill was largely a bully towards Hal but I did feel a bit bad for him. As for the ending, it just proved that you can't escape fate.

- Osgood Perkins has an acting role as Chip Zimmerman with Sarah Levy playing his wife, Ida. The latter being the twins aunt.

- The original version had the monkey playing the cymbals but here, it's replaced with a drum.

- Osgood Perkins changed a lot of the script to make the film funnier. 

- Chronology: 1999 for the first half of the movie and 2024 for the second half. Bill and Hal are moved to Maine after their mother's death.

The Monkey was an enjoyable take on the short story in question with a great lead performance from Theo James, brilliant supporting roles for Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery and Colin O'Brien. Add some genuinely funny scenes, gory stuff and nice character moments and you've got a great movie.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Doctor Odyssey: "Spring Break"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Liz Friedman

Directed by Steven Canals

Tristan: "Hi, I'm Tristan and I've recently realised I may have a drinking problem."

On paper, the idea of Tristan having a drinking problem would be a perfectly sound storyline but for a show that does like to zip through stories, would it have killed then to have had some build up here?

Not only in the previous twelve episodes did this show indicate that Tristan had any issues with alcohol consumption but now, he has a drinking problem. I'm sorry but it's poorly handled, despite Sean Teale trying his best to ground the story into reality.

The only point I can give this story was the inclusion of Rosie. With Rosie, I didn't feel her former drinking problem was badly handled. I did like her scenes with Tristan but aside from enjoying some shots with the guest characters of the week, this show isn't doing a great job with this plotline.

Getting to the guests of the week, you've got six characters somewhat broken into groups that converged. There's was the Vixens themselves - Vanessa (Paris Jackson), Veronica (Ava Philippe) and Victoria (Charlotte Lawrence). Those girls liked party favours but getting spiked by Fentanyl ended up putting Max in danger as well.

There was also friendship duo Connor (Anthony Turpel) and Steve (Noah Beck) with the latter having a problem with arriving at the worst time, if you catch my drift. Max was also involved in that story with Avery being involved in the more studious Hannah (Kathryn Newton) who needed her blood drained to solve her medical problem.

The characters were used decently enough with our main trio working well within the younger groups. There was also a nice moment between the trio with Tristan opening up about his own father's drinking but again, I wish there had been better build up for this.

- Steve Canals directed this episode. He's the creator of Pose (2018-2021).

- If you thought the first episode belaboured the point of Max being a DILF, wait until you see how the Vixens treat him.

- Sadly this show's very much on the bubble right about now with it being the only ABC show that hasn't been renewed.

- Chronology: Given the title of the episode, take a wild guess.

Spring Break was mostly entertaining but the lack of build up with a promising story for Tristan did sort of derail it's momentum. With five episodes left, I'm hoping for a reprieve but I fear it might be too late.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Haunting (1999)

 

Written by David Self

Directed by Jan de Bont

Nell: "Purgatory is over, you go to Hell!"

Several months ago, I watched The Haunting Of Hill House and last month, I watched the 1963 movie based on Shirley Jackson's classic book. It was only right that I watched the 1999 movie to complete my viewing.

Essentially this movie's not too dissimilar from the 1963 movie with a rather stellar casting for the main characters. You've got the likes of Liam Neeson, Owen Wilson, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Lili Taylor and they're cast in the very roles you'd expect them to be for this take.

Neeson took on the role of Dr David Marrow and it's him who assembled the likes of Eleanor Vance (Taylor), Theo (Zeta-Jones) and Luke Sanderson (Wilson) into the infamous house that used to be owned by Hugh Crain (Charles Gunning). Of course it's a decision that would have major consequences for all involved.

In particular with Eleanor aka Nell, who found herself the most affected and in tune with the house. Nell's determination to prove that the house was haunted led to her learning about Crain's mistreatment of children and like every adaptation of their book, Nell found herself permanently attached to the house. 

Then there's Theo, who at this point might be my favourite character in every adaptation. Catherine Zeta-Jones genuinely gave a delightful performance throughout the movie. Often the more sensible and fun member of the group, Theo certainly didn't disappoint here.

As for David Marrow and Luke Sanderson, I think both Liam Neeson and Owen Wilson were on good form but not quite as compelling as the others. Saying that, I did think Luke got a rather gruesome ending in one of the more gory moments in the movie. Crain also made for a decent third act antagonist.

- This movie was more explicit about Theo being bisexual compared to the 1963 version. She's even a bit flirty with Nell.

- Originally both Stephen King and Steven Spielberg has worked on the movie before it was taken over by David Self and Jan de Bont.

- Though there are similarities to the 1963 version, this isn't a remake of that version. They didn't have the remake rights for that.

- Chronology: 1999 in Massachusetts for the infamous house, though Nell had been in Boston beforehand.

Although it's weaker compared to other adaptations and generally disliked among horror fans, I have a soft spot for this version of The Haunting. The performances are good, especially from Lili Taylor and Catherine Zeta-Jones and there's some decent enough scares.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Parenting (2025)

 

Written by Kent Sublette

Directed by Craig Johnson

Josh: "The dick is fine, evil Frank."

Frank: "Well, I'm looking at the dad-dick right now, and if the son-dick is anything like the dad-dick, the dick is small."

Released last month on Max, there's a reason why some movies really should sit out theatres and just go straight to streaming. There's no way in hell anyone would've watched this one in theatres but on streaming, it might be caught out of curiosity or boredom.

Focusing on a middle class gay couple, Rohan (Nick Dodani) and Josh (Brandon Flynn), this horror comedy had the pair staying in a house that was owned by the clearly kooky Brenda (Parker Posey). They have it for a weekend and it's one that they won't be forgetting any time soon.

Mainly because both sets of parents are also staying him with him. There's Rohan's slightly uptight parents, Frank (Brian Cox) and Sharon (Edie Falcon) and Josh's less upright parents, Cliff (Dean Norris) and Liddy (Lisa Kudrow). Needless to say, there's chaos with both sets and Josh making a poor impression on Sharon.

Add into the mix, Rohan and Josh's best friend, Sara (Vivian Bang), a couple of dogs and a wi-fi password if say out loud, causes spooky antics in the old house and you've got the weekend from hell for everyone involved. No, seriously, that wi-fi password was a menace throughout.

As various characters fought with each other, made up with each other and learned more each other, there was possession afoot. Yup, Frank got possessed and spouted a lot of things he wouldn't (sans clothing) before it was revealed that Brenda had made some sort of supernatural deal with a demon to set it free.

I guess the fun part came in the two families (and Sara) banding in order to confuse the demon and save themselves. It's a funny enough scene and there's a rather nice but expected proposal to cap things off for good measure.

- There's a mid credit scene where a certain character's anatomy is mentioned for laughs.

- Josh had quite a good paying job to pursue a music career. Brandon Flynn has a decent singing voice.

- Standout music: Kim Wilde's You Keep Me Hangin' On.

- Chronology: Present day for the majority of the movie though some flashbacks for Brenda's backstory with the demon.

The Parenting was a fun but not a wholly original horror film, nor did it try to do anything too subversive with the genre and setting. I did like it for it was but I don't see it being something I'd revisit in a hurry.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

CinenaCon Reveal: Sam Mendes Beatles Quadrilogy Cast Revealed

In the world's worst kept casting secret, CinemaCon kicked off in Las Vegas on Monday with a casting reveal that's been stroking fires all day today online.

Yes, it was revealed that Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn and Harris Dickinson have been cast as the iconic group, The Beatles. I mean, we've known this for months but it's finally confirmed. A reminder of who's playing who.

Paul Mescal - Paul McCartney 

Harris Dickinson - John Lennon 

Joseph Quinn - George Harrison 

Barry Keoghan - Ringo Starr

I got to say, I love this casting and paired together on stage, I can see it as well. Now just wait until we get them in their first look as The Beatles.

Now my only trepidation is the format. Four movies, with each one focusing on a different member and all four movies being released the same month in theatres. I'll admit, that feels a bit too overambitious and it's really asking a lot for general audiences to commit to. I think it would be wiser to space these movies out over the course of the year and let them breathe. I also wouldn't be too shocked if that's something that's eventually considered as well.

Sam Mendes will direct all four of these movies but each one will have a different writer. Filming will commence soon, so expect a lot more casting news and first looks to trickle out over the next few months. 

Casting News: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8eplyxp3wjo

All four movies will release in proximity of each other from April 2028. Are you pleased with the casting choices?

DCU Blog - March 2025 Edition: CinenaCon Approaches, Lanterns Casting And More

March has certainly been a busy month for DC as more developments came to light with several upcoming projects.

Superman (2025) has allegedly had test screenings, a certain piece of casting may or may not be true and CinemaCon tomorrow will reveal a brand new trailer. July 11th 2025.

Both Nathan Fillion and Anthony Cardigan have talked about their respective roles in Superman (2025) and the overall tone of the movie.

Jason Momoa confirmed once again that his role as Lobo on Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow (June 26th 2026) is a small one with filming halfway done.

Production for Clayface (September 11th 2026) will start in the summer. Casting should be revealed very soon.

It seems that Colin Farrell may be playing Sgt. Rock after all for the upcoming movie, directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes.

The script for The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027) still hasn't been handed in yet, though Robert Parkinson has stated filming should start by the end of the year.

Giancarlo Esposito has expressed interest in playing Mr Freeze in the DCU.

Action figures from Batman Returns will be released during the summer. They include Batman, Catwoman, the Penguin and Max Schreck.

Nicole Ari Parker and Sherman Augustus will play the current day versions of John Stewart's parents while Jasmine Cephas Jones and J. Alphonse Nicholson will play the younger versions in Lanterns. Jason Ritter will also play Billy Macon.

Superman Day will on April 18th this year. We might get something new for that particular day.

Darren Aronofsky has recently followed James Gunn on social media. There has been rumours of him doing a Plastic Man movie for the DCU.

Jason Bateman recently played Batman in a State Farm Ad that also featured the Joker, Riddler, Two Face and Poison Ivy.

The latest mobile game, DC Dark Legion was released this month. Available on Google Play.

The second season of Peacemaker has been confirmed for August 2025 on Max. Brey Noelle will be playing White Rabbit in the new season.

David Zaslav is looking to replace Mike Deluca and Pam Abdy for the film division at Warner Brothers.

The animated show that were announced last month, such as Starfire will all be Elseworlds shows.

A busy month for DC as the DCU continues to be filming upcoming projects while others are in pre-production.

My Review of Shock To The System (2006)

 

Written by Ron McGee And Richard Stevenson

Directed by Ron Oliver

Donald (to Timothy): "You ever wonder what your life would be like if you weren't gay?"

Last week I had watched Third Man Out, the debut movie in the Donald Strachey series. It was time for the sequel and once again, a murder mystery got turned on it's head.

Our leading man, Donald Strachey (Chad Allen) found himself meeting at night with Paul Hale (Jared Keeso) in an alley. The meeting got harshly interrupted and shortly, it appeared that Paul had seemingly died of an overdose. Of course, Strachey wasn't convinced of that.

It didn't help that Paul had a conservative mother named Phyllis (Morgan Fairchild) and that Paul himself had been attending a gay conversion called the Phoenix Foundation, which was led by Dr Trevor Cornwell (Michael Woods) and his wife, Lynn (Anne Marie DeLuise). This plot subverted some of my expectations.

For a moment, I genuinely believed that Trevor was going to be revealed to be a self loathing closet case and that he killed Paul as a crime of passion. Instead he was having an affair with fake lesbian, Katey (Rikki Gagne) and Paul uncovering the futility of the Foundation's work ended up being his downfall. Yet, it felt like Trevor kind of got away with things.

The highlight of this conversion therapy plot was more to do with the insight into Donald's past. Yes, his undercover attempts were ruffled halfway through the movie but I liked how he revealed to Timothy (Sebastian Spence) about his military past and the relationship with Kyle that had soured during that time. It was a nice insight into the character.

As for the rest of the movie, some of the other "ex-gays" included not so clandestine couple Walter (Ryan Kennedy) and Levon (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman) as well as struggling family man, Grey (Stephen Huszar) and film student, Larry (Shawn Roberts). They're a decent bunch of characters and I liked their interactions with Strachey throughout the movie.

Last but not least, there was some decent screen time dedicated to Donald and Tim, attending social engagements and sharing Martinis in a bubble bath. Oh and Kenny Kwon (Nelson Wong) returned just so Donald could get himself an office manager/secretary.

- Detective "Bub" Bailey (Darryl Shuttleworth) returned again to offer his own help with Donald's case.

- Donald made a point of telling two different characters that he only beats up people who deserve it. He had no problem knocking a gun toting Katey out for good measure. He's also been featured in The Advocate.

- Standout music: Peter Allen, Vincent Mai and Sibell Thrasher's I'm Over You. 

- Chronology: An unspecified amount of time since the first movie. It's an adaptation of the fifth book in the series.

Shock To The System had the whole gay conversion plot and I was a bit worried with how it would be handled. It's done pretty along with the twists and turns in the mystery itself. I liked getting more on Donald's past as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Mid-Century Modern - Season 1 (2025, Hulu Series)

 

Written by David Kohan And Max Mutchnick And Suzanne Martin And Adam Barr And Dan Bucantinsky And Tracy Poust And Alex Herschlag

Directed by James Burrows

Bunny (to Jerry/Arthur): "You'll both move in here. We'll be together while we still can, like a family."

Imagine if someone pitched a show that was basically The Golden Girls meets Will & Grace. Then imagine some executive for reasons unknown then decided to commission that show. Something that might have worked in 1985. Something that might have worked in 1998. Is it it something that works for a 2025 audience?

Before I even saw a trailer, I had a somewhat bad feeling about this show. As a premise, it felt very dated and rather niche and much as I love Matt Bomer as an actor, having him in a friends group with Nathan Lane and Nathan Lee Graham seemed an odd choice at best. It's still an odd choice but here we are.

The first opened with the death of fourth friend, George. At his funeral, you've got business owner, Bunny Schneiderman (Lane), who still lived with his mother, Sybil (Linda Lavin) in a lavish house. Then there's the rather caustic, Arthur Broussard (Graham) and ditzy flight attendant, Jerry Frank (Bomer). By the end of the first, both Arthur and Jerry found themselves living with Bunny and Sybil.

Getting back to the comparison of a certain show, each of these characters easily fit into certain roles, though not perfectly. That in itself isn't a bad thing as the show does try to give each of the characters an identity beyond the one show it was compared to. Over the course of ten episodes, I had to admit that I did find myself warming a bit to this series.

These episodes had the difficult task of handling the real life passing of Linda Lavin and to it's credit, the penultimate episode was a nice send off for both Lavin herself and Sybil as a character. Sybil in general had some good moments with the boys along with Bunny's sister, Mindy (Pamela Adlon). The latter character potentially could fill in the Sybil role if this show receives a second season.

Getting back to the show itself, there's a slew of different guests a week, all of whom worked well with the main characters. The likes of Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Billie Lourd, Richard Kind, Zane Phillips and Rhea Pearlman get some nice moments. In particular, Kind's Carroll and Phillips's Mason had quite the impact on both Bunny and Jerry respectively as did Billie Lourd, who played Jerry's daughter.

As for the humour, don't let the occasional swear fool you. It's not a very risque show in that regard. A fair amount of the jokes managed to land but a fair chunk of them also failed to hit the mark. Matt Bomer in particular did falter a bit at first, compared to his co-stars but somewhat improved as the show went on. 

- The episodes are titled Bye George, Working Girls, Turbulence, Never Have I Ever, Hello Fisty's, Maid Serviced, Love Thy Neighbour, Sour Pickleball, Here's To You Mrs Schneiderman and The Show Must Go On.

- COVID factored into the fourth episode with the reveal that Jerry and Arthur once slept together.

- I did like the political plot of the seventh episode while the boys let a pretty but lazy houseboy (Adam Hagenbuch) play them off each other.

- Hulu released all ten episodes at once and although he's a producer, Ryan Murphy didn't write or direct a single episode for the show.

- Standout music: The main characters dancing to What A Man was rather funny, I'll admit. There's a bit of dancing in the show.

- Chronology: 2025 Palm Springs for the majority of the show though the fifth episode is set in Fire Island.

Some misgivings to one side, I think I liked Mid-Century Modern a bit more than I thought I would. It's far from perfect, a lot of the jokes don't land and Matt Bomer does feel odd within this group setting but there's potential there. Now whether it not it'll land for everyone else, I'm not so sure.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Doctor Odyssey: "Sophisticated Ladies"

 

Written by Jon Robin Baitz And Joe Baken

Directed by Crystle Roberson Dorsey

Max: "Cougars week or as we now refer to it-"

Tristan: "Sophisticated Ladies week."

Yup, it was an episode dedicated to older women with our main four getting an older woman but one was shared with both Robert and Avery. Not only that, but a returning character too.

Remember Shania Twain popping up in the second episode of the show? Well, she's back and her character, supposedly called Heather didn't waste time in quickly reuniting with Robert. Then because apparently one major pregnancy storyline isn't enough for the show, it was quickly revealed that Heather's pregnant and Robert's the father.

Now while Robert might have been surprised that Heather could get pregnant as was Avery, he's also delighted with the prospect of being a father again. For a moment, it did look like Heather was going to lose the baby but she didn't. I can't help thinking this could be a potential exit storyline for Robert. 

As for Avery, she's gotta wait a bit longer before finding out whether Max or Tristan is the father. I did like the scenes she had with Heather and it's another in a series of moments where Avery's talked about motherhood with a woman too. 

As for Max, his older woman was the COVID infected Olivia (Donna Mills) and she didn't appreciate being quarantined, until she had to do it with Max (who also got COVID again). There's some continuity on Max's earlier backstory and nice context provided into his thoughts of imminent fatherhood as well as Olivia's own past explored. It's a strong secondary plot for this episode.

Last but not least, Tristan had to contend with Delia (Jaclyn Smith) and her toy boy lover. Delia had cancer and wanted to spend the time she had left not being a burden. I feel Tristan wasn't as immersed in this story as the others were with Heather and Olivia but it's a solid enough subplot.

- The poker scenes were back and Max was annoyed that no one wanted to get vaccinated again.

- Now that Robert's about to be a father again, are we going to meet his children and grandchildren first?

- Avery was swatting up on her paperwork and Tristan ended up doing his in a bid to prove he can step up as a potential father. Tristan's mommy issues got mentioned again.

- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

Sophisticated Ladies had it's moments with the guest characters utilised well throughout. The Heather and Olivia stories were the strongest but Delia one also was effecting.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

Avengers: Doomsday - Casting Announced

Yesterday saw Marvel Studios giving one of the biggest announcements. Yup, the casting for Avengers: Doomsday. With the movie currently in production, over twenty cast members were revealed.

The following cast members were revealed in this order ....

Chris Hemsworth (Thor)

Vanessa Kirby (Invisible Woman)

Anthony Mackie (Captain America)

Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes)

Letitia Wright (Black Panther)

Paul Rudd (Ant-Man)

Wyatt Russell (U.S. Agent)

Tenoch Huerta-Mejia (Namor)

Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Thing)

Simu Liu (Shang-Chi)

Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova)

Kelsey Grammer (Beast)

Lewis Pullman (Sentry)

Danny Ramirez (Falcon)

Joseph Quinn (Human Torch)

David Harbour (Red Guardian)

Winston Duke (M'Baku)

Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost)

Tom Hiddleston (Loki)

Patrick Stewart (Professor X)

Ian McKellen (Magneto)

Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler)

Rebecca Romijn (Mystique)

James Marsden (Cyclops)

Channing Tatum (Gambit)

Pedro Pascal (Mister Fantastic)

Robert Downey Jr. (Doctor Doom)

This was done over a five hour live feed with a row of chairs revealing each cast member, before Robert Downey Jr. popped up at the end. Needless to say, the method was a bit divisive but it certainly generated the maximum amount of attention expected with many theories flying around as to what the main plot for this movie will be.

As for the cast members revealed, it's an impressive bunch but in news that won't shock anyone, there's more to be revealed over the next few months. Honestly any actor who's ever appeared in a Marvel production will likely appear in this movie and it's sequel. 

Avengers: Doomsday will be released in theatres from May 1st 2026 with Avengers: Secret Wars heading to theatres from May 7th 2027.

Doctor Who - 20th Anniversary For The Revived Series

It feels like only yesterday after a nine year absence that Doctor Who had returned to BBC1. Twenty years later, we're only a few weeks away from a new series.

On March 26th 2005, Doctor Who returned to the screens with it's first episode, simply titled Rose. The episode introduced both the 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and his companion, Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). In their first adventure together, they found themselves saving London from an Auton invasion. It was a simple introduction for the characters and the start of proving that a show that ran for twenty six seasons between 1963 to 1989 could work yet again for a modern audience. Since that episode, it's been one hell of a rollercoaster ride for the show.

Let's cut to 2025 where in seventeen days time, we'll be seeing the 15th Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) meeting with Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) during The Robot Revolution. It's the start of an interesting new arc while some others are due to be resolved. Right now, there's some concerns about the show's future, the release of this upcoming series and spin-off, The War Between The Land And The Sea but for now, let's bask in the fact that this revived show has ran for nearly as long as it's original run, boasted spin offs such as Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Class as well as cultivated a generation of new talent both in front of and behind the cameras. With the likes of Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall, the show has certainly been brought to new heights.

Then there's the Doctors themselves. Christopher Eccleston. David Tennant (x3). Matt Smith. John Hurt. Peter Capaldi. Jodie Whittaker. Jo Martin. Ncuti Gatwa. All of them have taken the character in different and fascinating directions and while I do have my favourites, all of these actors deserve equal praise for what they've done with the Doctor. The Lonely Traveller. Raggedy Man. The Timeless Child. The Last Of The Time Lords. They're proof as to why the Doctor remains one of the most fascinating and enduring characters of all time. Long live the Doctor.

Then there's the companions themselves. Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill), Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie), Nardole (Matt Lucas), Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh), Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill), Dan Lewis (John Bishop), Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) and now Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) as well as the various recurring allies and guest companions throughout the last twenty years.

Now it's time in my opinion for the Top 20 best stories in the revived series. In my opinion obviously, feel free to disagree.

1: The Day Of The Doctor (2013)

2: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End (2008)

3: Human Nature/The Family Of Blood (2007)

4: World Enough And Time/The Doctor Falls (2017)

5: The End Of Time (2009-2010)

6: The Eleventh Hour (2010)

7: The Power Of The Doctor (2022)

8: The Doctor's Wife (2011)

9: Bad Wolf/The Parting Of The Ways (2005)

10: Blink (2007)

11: The Name Of The Doctor (2013)

12: Army Of Ghosts/Doomsday (2006)

13: Last Christmas (2014)

14: Face The Raven (2015)

15: The Giggle (2023)

16: Fugitive Of The Judoon (2020)

17: The Angels Take Manhattan (2012)

18: Village Of The Angels (2021)

19: Rogue (2024)

20: The Woman Who Fell To Earth (2018)

I'm not going to rank either Doctors or companions, so you get my Top 20 stories instead. It wasn't an easy list to compile and wanted every era fairly represented but hopefully you like it.

Series 15 Trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_xuo_FvPI18

Series 15 of Doctor Who will air on BBC1/iPlayer/Disney+ from April 12th.

My Review of Third Man Out (2005)

 

Written by Mark Saltzman And Richard Stevenson

Directed by Ron Oliver 

John: "Have you ever been shot, Don?"

Donald: "As a matter of fact, I have. I didn't care for it much."

John: "Neither did I. But that doesn't matter to you, does it? You probably think I should be shot, and killed."

Donald: "No, actually, John, I don't. But that probably puts me in exclusive company."

I can't believe it's been twenty years since this movie came out. I also can't believe it's taken me this long to actually watch the first in a series of adaptations of the books from Richard Stevenson Lipez's Donald Strachey detective novels.

Taking on the role of Donald Strachey was the delightful Chad Allen from Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman and I have to say, he's great casting for the troublesome private investigator. The first time we meet Strachey, he's getting punched in the face by the disgruntled wife of one of his clients. Of course not everyone disliked Donald Strachey.

Nope, he'd got a lovely live in boyfriend with Senator aide, Tim Callahan (Sebastian Spence) and a cute dog named Dr. Watson. Oh and they're currently renovating their house with a lot of focus being on a new fireplace. That's more of a light hearted subplot in a murder mystery movie of course.

The potential murder in question being of John Rutka (Jack Weatherall), a reporter if sorts with his own website called The Rutka Report where outing homophobic people in positions of power was the order of the day. It meant that he had a target on his back and it took a big enough money incentive for Donald to actually figure out who was trying to kill him.

The suspect list was pretty large and halfway through the movie, it appeared that Rutka had been burned to death. Donald did suspect that Rutka's muscled boyfriend, Eddie (Woody Jeffreys) was responsible while Detective Sean "Bub" Bailey (Daryl Shuttleworth) also pointed out that Rutka had form for lying. That was something that Bub was very much spot on about.

Anyways the deeper that Strachey went into solving Rutka's murder, the more characters that popped up with the intention of harming of silencing Donald. Characters like Linklater (Sean Carey), and Slinger (David Palffy) certainly added complications but it was the arrest of Father Morgan (Alf Humphries) brought other revelations to light.

It's the last few minutes where Donald managed to crack the case and discovered that Rutka played a very complicated long con in order to get justice for the abuse he suffered as a child that really explained his motives throughout the film. That and a rather revealing moment about Donald's military past added rather nice denouement to the whole story.

- There's a few supporting female characters, including Tim's boss, the house contractor and Rutka's sister. Tim's also got Irish blood in him.

- At one point in the movie, Donald's investigation had him interviewing porn performer, Dik Steele (Matthew Rush).

- Bub was a character that debuted in this movie and would be added into later book. The same applied to Kenny Kwon (Nelson Wong).

- Chronology: The book itself (the fourth in the series) came out in 1992 but given some of the updates added to this adaptation, I'm betting it's supposed to set in the 2000s, Albany, New York.

Third Man Out was a very enjoyable debut in this detective series with a strong story, a complicated enough "victim" and a charming protagonist with Chad Allen being a delight as Donald Strachey. I'm looking to seeing the remaining movies in this series.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Adolescence (2025, Netflix Miniseries)

 

Written by Jack Thorne And Stephen Graham

Directed by Philip Barantini

DI Bascombe: "It's crazy what your brain tells you what to do when you're a kid."

Last year, Netflix struck gold with Baby Reindeer. The seven part miniseries had something of a frank discussion on mental health and masculinity. It appeared that lightning can strike twice because Adolescence explored similar themes, albeit with a vastly different story.

Shot with a single camera format, the four part miniseries focused on the arrest of a teenager named Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper), much to the confusion of his parents Eddie (Stephen Graham) and Manda (Christine Tremarco) and older sister, Lisa (Amélie Pease).

The nature of Jamie's arrest by DI Luke Bascombe (Ashley Walters) and DS Misha Frank (Faye Marsay) was made apparent very fast. Jamie was believed to be responsible for the death of his classmate, Katie and the first episode tackled Jamie's arrest and initial questioning by the detectives. Jamie went out of his way to give them as little as possible.

The second episode saw Bascombe and Frank going to Jamie's school and interviewing other classmates. That included Jamie's best friend, Ryan (Kaine Davis), who was revealed to have supplied Jamie with the knife that killed Katie. There was also Katie's grief stricken friend, Jade (Fatima Bojang) while Bascombe's own son gave his father the run down on Incel culture.

Perhaps the highlight of this miniseries would be the third episode, focusing on Jamie talking to child psychologist, Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty). It's an extraordinary piece of television with genuinely captivating performances from both Owen Cooper and Erin Doherty, with the episode getting to the root of Jamie's views on women.

As for the last episode, it's an examination of the impact of Jamie's crime from the perspective of his family. With the backdrop of Eddie's birthday and a series of setbacks, there's a heartbreaking performance from both Stephen Graham and Christine Tremarco as Jamie's trial was drawing closer and he'd changed his plea. That last scene in particular ended this miniseries on a harrowing note.

- The story was a work of fiction, though influenced by recent events but not specifically adapting one.

- This miniseries was Owen Cooper's first acting role and he was picked out of 500 boys who auditioned for the role.

- Jack Thorne's other miniseries, Toxic Town is also available on Netflix, having come out two weeks prior to this one.

- Chronology: From the second episode onwards we went from three days to seven months to thirteen months since Jamie's arrest.

Adolescence will easily go down as one of the best shows of 2025. It's also one of the most important ones too with it's depiction of several worthy issues and stunning performances from the entire cast. The hype's justified with this one.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

Doctor Who - Series 15 (Season 2) Episode Titles, Guests, Radio Times Celebrate

We are less than three weeks from the new series of Doctor Who and the marketing has kicked up a notch. 

First of all, let's get those episode titles for the new series out of the way as yesterday evening, the BBC revealed the titles in the same manner as last series.

The Robot Revolution. Written by Russell T. Davies. Directed by Peter Hoar.

Lux. Written by Russell T. Davies. Directed by Amanda Brotchie.

The Well. Written by Sharma Angel-Walfall And Russell T. Davies. Directed by Amanda Brotchie.

Lucky Day. Written by Pete McTighe. Directed by Peter Hoar.

The Story And The Engine. Written by Inua Ellams. Directed by Makalla McPherson.

The Interstellar Song Contest. Written by Juno Dawson. Directed by Ben A. Williams.

Wish World. Written by Russell T. Davies. Directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai.

The Reality War. Written by Russell T. Davies. Directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai.

Eight episodes. Four other writers aside from Russell T. Davies. A mix of new and returning directors but what about our cast?

Well, there's Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu as the 15th Doctor and Belinda Chandra but there's also a slew of recurring characters. Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), Conrad Clark (Jonah Hauer-King), Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), Shirley Anne Bingham (Ruth Madeley), Colonel Ibrahim (Alexander Devrient), Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford), Rose Noble (Yasmin Finney), Carla Sunday (Michelle Greenidge), Cherry Sunday (Angela Winter), Susan Triad (Susan Twist) and Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson). 

Conrad in particular seems to have a lot going for him. He encounters the Doctor and Belinda as a child, hosts the Lucky Day podcast in the present day, gets romantically involved with Ruby and appears to be a foil in the finale. He could be a highlight along with Belinda's struggling to get home arc and possible connection to Mundy Flynn. Not to mention finally getting some answers on Mrs Flood.

Over the last few weeks, various guest actors have been announced. These actors have included Freddie Fox (House Of The Dragon), Kadiff Kirwan (Slow Horses) and Max Parker (Emmerdale), who were all confirmed to be popping up in upcoming episodes. The other confirmed guests this series have included Alan Cumming, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Christopher Chung, Rylan Clark, Charlie Condou, Blake Patrick Anderson, Caoilfhionn Dunne, Evelyn Miller, Ariyon Bakare and Archie Panjabi to name a few. Panjabi's casting in particular does seem to be shrouded in some secrecy.

Meanwhile with the revived series turning 20 on March 26th, Radio Times decided to give fans six glorious covers, featuring Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, Jodie Whittaker and Ncuti Gatwa. The popular guide also included interviews from show runners Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall on the show's impact since it's 2005 return.

Series 15 (Season 2) of Doctor Who returns to BBC1/iPlayer/Disney+ from April 12th.