My Review of Doctor Who's: "Mindwarp"

Written by Philip Martin
Directed by Ron Jones

The Doctor (to The Valeyard): “You killed Peri?”

Never did I think that those three words would sound as heartbreaking as they did. Don’t get me wrong; while Peri isn’t in my top 10 favourite companions, I’ve never actively hated the girl. Especially when outside of the archetypal ‘damsel in distress’ fetish some of the writers seem to have for her, she has shown some great improvement as a companion.

In these two stories for “The Trial Of A Time Lord”, I’ve found myself far less critical of Nicola Bryant’s US accent and even if I hated Peri with the fire of a thousand burning suns, you’d have to be a soulless bastard to feel any venom towards the character in the story. Being put through the ringer doesn’t even come close to covering it this time around.

The Doctor and Peri landed on Thoros Beta and luckily for us, this time around it’s an actual planet and not Earth moved from where it should be with a different name. We get to see pink water, purple/blue (violet?) land and a green sky with Thoros Alpha in perfect view. It’s by far the most alien looking planet the classic series has ever offered.

It also took our duo record time in finding trouble so far. A genetically modified creature known as The Rakk attacked them within seconds and The Doctor’s CD Phaser killed it. Because of this, we got introduced to atypical soldier Frax, who over the course of four episodes doesn’t become interesting in any way possible. He might be the only character in this story to be genuinely considered dull in that estimation.

The rest of them however are not. Crozier in particular is certainly a wily bastard and clearly has too much enjoyment in his array of experiments. However he’s far from perfect and trying to quell Yrcanos’s bloodlust is something that he cannot succeed at. It’s a good job for us that he fails.

The reason why is because Yrcanos is the only thing that Peri has as an ally in this whole story. In one of the most shocking moments, The Doctor turned against Peri so publicly by switching to the side of Crozier and his benefactors, Sil and Lord Kiv. Even when Peri is undercover, The Doctor ratted her out for interrogation.

We’ve had plenty of stories in the past and even some future ones where The Doctor appeared to be siding with the villain of the piece in the hopes of stopping them. When he’s being utterly horrible to Peri, that’s what I was hoping he was doing here. Having her tied up by the Sea of Sorrow (how wonderful is that a name?), the hopes of him being on her side seemed to fading more and more.

The Valeyard and The Inquisitor were both adamant that the Matrix couldn’t lie but watching The Doctor siding up with the odious Sil in order to help Lord Kiv evade death and get a new body made for some difficult viewing. I really wanted to hope that he was trying to stop them instead of scenes where we had to watching him alert Sil to a money making scheme.

When Kiv’s replacement body gave out, I thought this was the perfect opportunity for The Doctor to show us that he hadn’t become a turncoat after all. His discomfort when Crozier suggested that Peri would be a perfect body for Kiv to inhabit gave me some hope. Heck, even when Peri was bound and gagged by Crozier and Matrona and was getting her hair shaved off, I thought everything would be alright.

How wrong was I? The Doctor might have finally rescued Yrcanos, Dorf and Tuza (the only form of resistance against Kiv and the Mentors) but being transported for a trial meant that Peri’s fate was sealed. Much as I love Donna Noble, Peri’s death is the worst thing this show has ever done to a regular.

There’s no heroic sacrifice like Adric or memory wiping like Jamie, Zoe and Donna. No, it’s just a frightened girl stripped of her mind and having it replaced with a character as odious as Kiv thanks to a man who cared nothing for real advancement of science or another person’s life. Yrcanos having to kill Peri as Kiv along with Sil, Crozier and everyone else at the behest of the Time Lords was probably the only thing that could be done.

Yrcanos was one of the best characters the Colin Baker era ever introduced. Brian Blessed might have the loudest voice ever (something which is dealt with when a Mentor is grateful for Yrcanos not shouting at one point) but it was hard not to be taken in with this character. Sure, his lust for war and aggression got a bit overboard but his affection for Peri was so hard not to love. I think in a cheesy way, he did love her, so I certainly didn’t envy what he was manipulated into doing.

Peri’s death is certainly a taking point. I can see why Nicola Bryant herself loved it. It’s one of the most controversial ways to kill of a regular characters and certainly lacked cliché. But it’s also rather impersonal as well and I think if I had watched this as a youngster (I was only one when it originally aired), I certainly would’ve been upset. However it still made for some good TV and that counts for everything.

As for The Doctor – is he responsible? Yes and no from what I can see. Yes, because by turning against Peri so publicly, he put her in the worst position possible and no, because of the Time Lord’s interference, he never got to her, even if he would’ve been too late to have saved her anyway.

The trial element of this story isn’t as bogging as it were in the previous instalment but there is a terrible sense of repetition as well, necessary as it may be. Eight episodes in and I still can’t find myself compelled by The Valeyard at all. I’d like to blame Michael Jayston, I really would but there’s nothing he’s doing wrong, it’s just the character doesn’t work. Maybe if the writers had ran with a Time Lord that we already knew like The Master as prosecutor, the courtroom scenes would move a bit faster and be less tedious.

Still, The Doctor did come off badly in this story. His feckless attitude to Peri’s requests to stay out of the situation, his public turning on the girl and any scene where you have to be nice to Sil should be a damning offence in its own right. If the other two stories are as damning as this one, then The Doctor really is up the creek without a paddle.

Also in “Mindwarp”

The DVD has the episodes under “The Trial Of A Time Lords Parts 5-8” when you put them on.

Peri (re Thoros Beta): “Far out. Are you quite sure this was the planet you aimed for?”
The Doctor: “Hmm, fancy a swim?”
Peri: “In that goo, no thanks.”

Fans of the new series will undoubtedly recognise Frax actor Trevor Laird as Clive Jones as well as Christopher Ryan (Lord Kiv) as General Staal from “The Sontaran Stratagem”/“The Poison Sky”.

The Doctor: “Thoros Beta’s Sil’s home planet, didn’t you know?”
Peri: “Only because you didn’t tell me, Doctor.”

Crozier (to Matrona): “Yrcanos is a barbarian king. He only knows one thing – how to fight. Therefore he’s fighting our attempts to give him peace and tranquillity.”
Yrcanos: “Scum.”
Crozier: “The more stupid the subject, the longer it takes.”

There seem to be many contradictory outcomes for Peri after this story. In the novel version of this one, Yrcanos gets into the wrestling circuit and she’s his manager.

Kiv: “Enough, Sil. What, you intend to talk me to death?”

Peri: “We’re not on your planet.”
Yrcanos: “It doesn’t matter, the rule still applies.”

For a barbarian, Yrcanos is thankfully devoid of latent sexism. He even told Peri that warrior queens were expected to fight on his home world. How progressive of him.

Sil: “Doctor, the pleasure of your company is infinite but why have you chosen towards us rather than help your friends?”
The Doctor: “The odds were against us. Why should I risk my life for a savage and a stupid girl?”

Peri: “Doctor, what’s wrong with you?”
The Doctor: “I see my own interests. I place myself first.”
Peri: “But what about me?”
The Doctor: “You are expendable. You have no value.”

There’s some nice continuity references to Sil and Peri’s past interaction in “Vengeance On Varos”. Had this season been different, Sil would’ve appeared in the story, “Mission To Magnus”, also written by Philip Martin.

The Doctor (re Kiv): “He’s breathing.”
Sil: “You see as I said – strange, witless humour.”
Crozier: “Thanks for the moral support.”
The Doctor: “Yes, nice to see that you can be relied on to be your usual treacherous self.”
Sil: “I endeavour to maintain a certain continuity.”

The Doctor: “You won’t convict me by using shock tactics.”
The Valeyard: “I require nothing so crude my dear Doctor. All that will prove necessary is the truth.”
The Doctor: “Then tell it.”

Is it me or does the court room scenes still seem a little empty. Shouldn’t there be more Time Lords at present. And why won’t The Doctor get someone like Romana or Leela to defend him?

Mentor: “Thank you.”
Yrcanos: “For your life, it was nothing.”
Mentor: “No, for not shouting.”

Kiv/Peri: “Warm, not cold, the body is warm – wonderful. Legs, toes, toes wriggling. Trunk, a neck strong. Head free of pain. Sight, colours, warm blood inside, oh I like this. Now I am she. Alive in this oh so wonderful frame.”

This story was released on DVD in August 2008 with a commentary from Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant and Philip Martin. The former two also comment on a certain scene from “The Ultimate Foe” as well.

Out of the four stories, “Mindwarp” is ultimately the best and most devastating one of them all. The Doctor really did have to pay for the consequences of his actions, Peri’s death was awful and the guest characters worked beautifully. Definitely one of the best stories from this era of the series.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

A Different Brand Of Christmas Songs

Well I could link Fairytale of New York but even I'm kind of sick of that song. Instead you can have these two strange ones.

Thanks to one of my friends, I've just discovered Jeff Dunham's Achmed The Dead Terrorist, so if you're easily offended you might not want to listen to his unique interpretation of Jingle Bells. Then again, you really should ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfYrkW3F9K8

And then there's a rather unique version of The 12 Days Of Christmas, courtesy of Father Jack's Frank Kelly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQkF7fpw-wI&aia=true

Enjoy!

My Review of Doctor Who's: "The Mysterious Planet"

Written by Robert Holmes
Directed by Nicholas Mallett

Peri: “Is there any intelligent life here?”
The Doctor: “Apart from me you mean. Don’t know. Shall we find out?”

When you’ve had eighteen months off the air and your future put into some serious doubt, it’s got to suck being a Doctor Who writer. The show had been criticised for its overt use of horror and violence in the previous year and this was the start of a shortened season, designed to amend the problem.

The first thing was to pick a central theme for the overall season. During the Tom Baker reign they had the Key To Time as an essential theme with The Doctor and Romana looking for the thing in the space of six stories. In four stories designated for this season, the theme is having The Doctor on trial.

As themes go, it’s a risky idea and one that was also explored far better in “The War Games” but with a prosecutor as dogmatic as The Valeyard, you’d have to wonder what The Doctor had done that was so bad that this other Time Lord would be baying for The Doctor’s death.

The first story that we see is an odd one. First off all, the idea of Ravolox being Earth by another name might not have been so obvious if it blatantly didn’t look like Earth. A little mystery would’ve gone a long way but Peri practically deduced that she was on her own planet in less than five minutes so mystique certainly went out the window on that one.

Five hundred years however does add a bit of legend to Earth. Namely the fact that a giant fireball nearly destroyed the entire planet thanks to a massive Totem that attracted the blaze in the first place. This is also where the duo of Sabalom Glitz and Dibber come into proceedings.

They’re there solely to get some secrets that they sell off to various governments and federations to make a mint but even they’re bothered enough by the giant Totem to warn village queen Katryca to knock the thing down. It seems that despite her army of men, she doesn’t exactly value the opinion of them and reacts by having Glitz sized up as a sacrifice for her angry god.

The Doctor’s not exactly having the best time of it either. In less than ten minute, both he and Peri get seperated. Peri as per usual got taken away by Katryca’s men and The Doctor realised that there is an immortal being called Drathro underground. Except that Drathro is a robot, so not really immortal after all.

Drathro seems to have the oddest plot of the entire story. He’s got men working for him, including two very irritating twins called Tandrell and Hunnker but it’s his desire to keep The Doctor around that’s more intriguing. It seems that Drathro believes that The Doctor will be able to keep him alive when in actuality, it’s the black light from the Totem that’s already doing that.

For parts of this serial, we see The Doctor trying to reason with Drathro over the black light that he needs. Drathro like any robot on Doctor Who is naturally devoid of caring about the human lives he’ll end up wiping out for his own survival. The Doctor’s constant protests do very little to actually persuade him otherwise.

As for Katryca, well I don’t want to use Glitz’s ageist remarks in terms of the character but she is quite annoying, isn’t she? Most of her scenes are spent spewing bile about her hatred of star travellers and her mistaken assumption that the service robot sent out to capture The Doctor is the Immortal/Drathro did lead to her own downfall in the end.

As for Glitz and Dibber, I wouldn’t trust them with my valuables but they certainly did help in their own roundabout way in stopping Drathro as did The Doctor’s quick thinking with the psychotic robot’s machine. Thanks to The Doctor, Ravolox was safe from yet another great fire.

So the question remains, why is this act of heroism such an affront to The Valeyard? He might raise some pointers about The Doctor’s characters but it doesn’t help that he’s not pulling out the most convincing of arguments against The Doctor either.

The Inquisitor might not have been the only irate with The Doctor resorting to childish nicknames for The Valeyard as well as outlandish outburst but with certain elements of the information being muffled and even The Doctor unable to remember certain things, I’m too convinced that this trial in question is a farce.

Shouldn’t The Doctor’s interference on Ravolox be seen as a good thing? If he hadn’t got caught up in events (The Valeyard did fail to note that The Doctor doesn’t actually seek out these mysteries even if he does have trouble detaching himself from them), then more people would’ve died. I hope for the remainder of this trial saga that The Valeyard is actually able to pull something serious out if he wants any credibility with the viewers. Michael Jayston’s good but The Valeyard is a tedious fellow.

As for The Doctor/Peri dynamic, it’s noticeably improved from their previous year together. Now you actually get them impression that the two of them are proper friends as opposed to be two people merely tolerating the other. Too bad the story isn’t remotely subtle about Peri’s imminent exit though.

Also in “The Mysterious Planet”

For the DVD, this story is credited as “The Trial Of A Time Lord Parts 1-4”, though the cover has the subheading of “The Mysterious Planet”.

The Inquisitor: “Doctor, you’ve heard the charges. Do you want to say anything before this enquiry proceeds?”
The Doctor: “Only that this whole thing is a farce. I am Lord President of Gallifrey; you can’t put me on trial.”

Not surprisingly enough, The Doctor has been deposed of the presidency that was unwillingly given to him in “The Five Doctors”.

Dibber (re Katryca): “You’ll never charm her.”
Glitz: “I have an uncanny knack with ageing females, Dibber. One look into my eyes and they start to melt.”

The Doctor (to Balazar): “I may look old to you, you whisker less youth but I’ll have to know that I’m in the prime of my life. I’m only 900 years old, now untie me at once.”

Balazar had labelled The Doctor/Peri as ‘Old Ones’. He also mentioned that the books they’ve had were Moby Dick, The Waterbabies and UK Habitat By The Canadian Goose.

Drathro: “I have been waiting for this day, welcome at last.”
The Doctor: “You’ve been expecting me?”
Drathro: “For centuries. I am Drathro, an L3 robot.”

Glitz: “You’re a Time Lord. Haven’t you got a ring you can rub, a magic lamp? Something for these sort of emergencies?”
The Doctor: “Hardly. More your style I would’ve thought.”

The theme for the season is notably different. Not as great as previous themes but not terrible either.

The Inquisitor: “You’re allowing your disrespect to show again, Doctor.”
The Doctor: “I’m sorry, ma’am but the question still stands.”

Peri: “They’ll kill The Doctor.”
Glitz: “We’ve all got to go some time, Peri.”
Peri: “You’re all heart.”
Glitz: “The supreme sacrifice, what a person. If I have time, I’ll compose the eulogy for his funeral.”

The Doctor went through a gamut of nicknames for The Valeyard, which included the “Scrap yard” and “knackers’ yard”. He also called Peri, “Sarah Jane” as well.

Hunnker (re Katryca): “They are coming for us.”
Tandrell: “Hunnker, you have a gift for the obvious.”

The Inquisitor: “I didn’t interrupt the evidence to commend you on your athleticism, Doctor.”
The Doctor: “Oh, well you can if you like. All compliments are greatly appreciated.”

Originally instead of this Trial season, we were supposed to get stories featuring the Ice Warriors, the Celestial Toymaker and The Rani. We missed out.

The Inquisitor: “You will apologise at once.”
The Doctor: “For telling the truth, never.”
The Valeyard: “The Doctor is well known for these childish outbursts. I do not find the ramblings of an immature mind offensive.”

Peri: “Old ones? Hey, that’s cute.”
The Doctor: “I always knew there was an evil streak in you. Old one, indeed.”

This was released on DVD back in August 2008 with the next three stories from the season. There’s a good commentary with Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Tony Selby, Adam Blackwood and Eric Saward (for the first part).

Out of the four stories for “The Trial Of A Time Lord” series, I have to admit that “The Mysterious Planet” is the weakest of the bunch. Not particularly terrible but it does plod along a bit and the trial scenes are just dull to watch. The Valeyard feels a little too one note so far.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

Something To Be 'Glee'ful About

Will: "I need to provide for my family."
Emma: "But provide what exactly? The understanding that money is the most important thing or the idea that the only life worth living is one that you're really passionate about."

That's a good question to ask - what is important - doing something that is neccessary for your family's survival or something you love? Is being a high school teacher suddenly going to put Will Scheuster (Matthew Morrison) in a bad predicament financially now that fatherhood is immiment for him? No and it's not likely that's he's going to be father any time soon. Bad Terri.

Glee has been one of those shows that's been hyped to the rafters for the past couple of months now. When something is usually hyped to the point of excession, it can be worrying as to whether or not it's deserving of the acclaim it's generating. However if this opening episode is anything to go by, then the hype is deserving. And given that Nip/Tuck is no longer the show it was, it's nice to see Ryan Murphy back on form.

Will Schuester is a Spanish teacher who wants to his school's Glee club off the ground, despite the odds being stacked against. The members that are there are limited, the rest of the kids are uninterested in joining. Finn himself is literally blackmailed into signing on before actually coming to the decision to do both Glee club and football and virtually every faculty member, except Emma (who isn't particularly subtle about her Will crush) is also opposed to it. Especially tough as nails coach Sue, played delightfully by Jane Lynch. Even Will's wife, Terri seems to be pretending that she's pregnant in order to get him to ditch teaching for an accountant job. We can thank Emma for him sticking with the Glee club.

As for the kid, Finn's the jock turned good, Kurt's the gay kid who we'll see give Beyonce a run for her money in later episodes, Mercedes is a bit of a loud mouth but funny and Rachel seems to be the one who really wants superstardom, making her a prime target of bitchy cheerleaders, including Finn's girlfriend.

Glee is one of those undeniably feelgood and pleasant type of shows. The songs are catchy (can't wait to see their version of Halo properly), the characters are likeable (if on the cliched end of things) and from January 11th 9pm on E4, you can catch the whole series. If the first episode alone is any indicator, this show will be worth turning into all season.

Videos: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=glee&search_type=&aq=f

My Review of True Blood's 2x05: "Never Let Me Go"

Written by Nancy Oliver
Directed by John Dahl

Eric: “Are you death?”
Godric: “I am.”
Eric: “But you’re just a little boy.”
Godric: “I’m not.”

For the last three episodes there has been a huge tease as to why Eric was so interested in the safe return of Godric. When it boils down to it, the reveal that Godric is Eric’s maker should’ve been the obvious answer. It’s also a rather satisfying one.

Eric hasn’t shown a lot of respect for his fellow vampires. A few weeks ago, he alluded to the fact that Pam was ‘lazy but loyal’, he seems to have way too much fun in goading Bill at the slightest opportunity and he showed an instant dislike for Dallas head vampires, Isobel and Stan without holding back.

Bill’s been naturally suspicious for the same amount of episodes over Eric’s interest in rescuing Godric from the Fellowship. When Sookie volunteered herself as an uncover agent for the fanatical church and Eric agreed to it, I was sure as hell glad that Bill finally asked Eric out right about Godric instead of pussyfooting around the topic.

The flashbacks to Eric being made into a vampire by Godric may lack the elegiac feel that the likes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer or Angel display when revealing the turnings of pivotal vampires like Angel/Angelus, Spike, Drusilla and Darla but they’re effective enough and feel consistent with the kind of man that Eric’s shown us to be onscreen.

Eric’s lust for life was renewed because Godric seemed impressed with his bloodlust and prowess as a warrior. The fact that Eric threatened Godric seemed to intrigue the young man more than anything else. Godric is probably the most childlike vampire we’ve seen on the show apart from Jessica. Still makes him an intriguing character though.

Eric’s brief resistance was interesting. For a minute, I actually thought that he might have unwillingly been made into a vampire, which would then make his determination to rescue Godric seem suspect. However Godric didn’t exactly have to do much to persuade him and Eric’s lust for life certainly reared it’s head during the crucial moment.

Speaking of makers, with Eric determined to rescue his; I do wonder how Bill is going to feel when he learns that Lorena is back on the scene. An interesting entrance but Lorena’s arrival during this time can only spell a bad thing, right? Still, I’m pretty sure the writers will mine some good material with Bill and his maker and of course, Sookie. Lorena didn’t look too happy when she overheard Bill and Sookie at it, did she?

Bill and Sookie in this episode seemed to have better material apart from each other than together. Together some of the moments felt like repetition. Bill blathered on about wanting to protect Sookie and Sookie kept reminding him that she wasn’t an idiot. At some point, both of them need to give a little more.

Fortunately the presence of Barry the bellboy gave Sookie something more interesting to do. If she’s all for embracing her telepathy nowadays, then it made perfect sense for Barry to be fuelled with self-loathing and finding the ability to be a curse. Again I saw both sides of the story here. I could understand Sookie wanting to help Barry but I got why he was more keen on getting her off his back. Barry suddenly upping and leaving his job seemed a little too suspect as well.

Speaking of suspect, Sookie really didn’t think things through on going undercover at the Fellowship. For starters, she’s going to get the land of her life when she finds out that Jason is their new golden boy and the chances of him not blowing her cover or someone like Luke or Gabe not realising she’s a snitch aren’t particularly high. Sookie, you really do put yourself into these situations, huh? Maybe bloodthirsty Stan had the right idea after all.

Jason’s involvement with the Fellowship keeps getting deeper and deeper with each episode. If we could cut out every scene with Gabe (who I had difficulty taking serious), then some of the Fellowship scenes wouldn’t have been as bad. On the plus side, Gabe did manage to make a tit out of Luke and that boy’s been cruising for a smack down for a while now.

However the scene with Sarah giving Jason a hand job in the bath while explaining the truth behind Mary Magdalene was strange. I want to believe that her feelings for Jason are real, even though like Amy she’s totally wrong for him but I can’t help but think that Steve might be pimping his own wife out to keep Jason on side. After all, their little fight that Jason happened to overheard seemed a bit put on.

In terms of put on, Maryann surely knows how to get her own way. Tara did the right thing by not letting her stay at Sookie’s and challenged Eggs about the nomadic lifestyle that Maryann seemed to have. What did Maryann do? Well she could’ve ripped Tara a new one but that wouldn’t have been half as inventive, would it?

Instead she virtually made everyone at Merlotte’s irritable with Tara to the point where Tara relented and allowed Maryann to stay. I can’t wait to see how Tara’s going to swing that one past Sookie when the latter returns from Dallas in the next few episodes or what not. Sookie wasn’t particularly fond of Maryann during their first meeting after all.

As for Sam and Daphne, he’s finally got someone he can connect with but it’s also like Eggs and Sarah in the sense that it feels too good to be true. Now maybe I could be wrong and Daphne could be exactly what Sam needs but I have a feeling that she’s not but for the time, Sam does deserve to have some fun and Daphne certainly seems to generate that in spades.

In terms of fun, two scenes are dedicated to Jessica and Hoyt and they are some of the funniest going. Jessica joked about an eating disorder when Bill scolded her for ordering room service and Hoyt had his mother disrupt the sweet phone conversation with Jessica as well. Poor things.

Also in “Never Let Me Go”

Daphne can turn into a deer, which she wasted no time in displaying to Sam during the first two minutes of the episode.

Sam: “How did you find out about me?”
Daphne: “Last night in the woods, I watched a dog jump into the water and it came up you. Isn’t this great?”

It seems that Arlene and Terry are a couple now. Arlene also went a little too far with her sniping at Daphne.

Sookie: “Can you hear vampire thoughts?”
Barry: “No, don’t say that out loud.”
Sookie: “I didn’t.”

Jason: “Can someone reveal a bathroom because I really need one?”
Sarah: “Sorry, not until you’ve earned it.”

It was nice that Sam took a sensitive approach with Lafayette, who still looked shaken up even after drinking Eric’s blood.

Sookie (to Bill): “If all I’m supposed to be in Dallas is shut up and take orders, I might as well be slinging beers in Merlotte’s. You’re the one who told me I was more than just a waitress.”

Stan: “There’s no reason to wait. We need to take these fanatics down, full on attack. Exterminate them like the vermin they are, leave no trace.”
Isobel: “Hmm, vampire hating church annihilated, wonder who did it? Fucking brilliant.”

In the book, “Living Dead In Dallas”, Godric was Godfrey and there was no reference to him being Eric’s maker that I can remember of.

Sarah (re Mary Magdalene): “She was not. Everybody thinks that but it wasn’t in the bible. She admired Jesus. She loved him and wanted to show him ...”
Jason: “No!”
Sarah: “You don’t mean it.”
Jason: “No, I don’t but I ought to.”

Eric: “What’s in it for me?”
Godric: “What you love most: life.”

Standout music: Katie Webster’s “Never Let Me Go” at the end of the episode.

Maryann (to Tara): “You know why I’m good to you? Because you need it too much and because it makes you bloom like a flower.”

Chronology: A few moments after where “Shake And Fingerpop” left off.

“Never Let Me Go” isn’t the strongest episode from the second season so far but it’s definitely a very good one. It’s nice to have more on Eric’s back story and Steve Newlin is every bit as volatile as Maryann can be as well.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Lost - Season 6 Cast Shots 1

Thanks to BillieDoux for pointing these out. I was going to wait until I'd done the Season 5 DVD but I'm sure there'll be more for me look at.

Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox). He created some trouble last season. Is he going to regret what he done? Or technically what Juliet (RIP) did?

Sayid Jarah (Naveen Andrews), one of the best characters on the show. I hope he's get more to do in the series last year.

Kate Austin (Evangeline Lilly). We're into Season 6 so just pick either Jack or Sawyer and get it over already.
Sun Kwon (Yunjin Kim) - let her and Jin have a happy ending, pretty please?

Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonelli). You confuse, you astound. Can we have some clarity on you now?

Lost's sixth and final season debuts on ABC from February 9th and will also premiere on SkyOne around the same time.

More photos can be seen here ... http://thetvaddict.com/2009/12/10/this-just-in-your-first-look-at-losts-season-6-promotional-photos/

The End Of Time - DWM 416 Spoilers/Specials DVD Information

From DWM 416

RTD's final production notes

• The heading for scene 12 of episode 4.17 says 'INT. ICE CAVE.' And in that scene, someone asks the Doctor, "That woman in the cage, who is she?"
• Scene 11 of The End of Time Part Two is set in China (but filmed in Wales)
• Scene 9 is set in Geneva. RTD describes it as a very 'global' story.
• The very first shot starts on the moon (unspecified if he is still talking about part 1 or 2
• RTD confirms the return of the Master, Lucy Saxon, Donna, Wilf, Sylvia, Trinity Wells and Nerys.
• He says Donna's neighbour (the elderly lady) is back too. Her name is Sally.
• When RTD first said the title was 6 words long, the original title was 'The Final Days of Planet Earth' - it was changed because the story was too big, it had to have a 'part one' and 'part two'
• He gives a subtitle (like the rest of these, in the style of the 12 days of Christmas) of 'And a banana skin upon the staircase!' and adds - What? A what on the whatcase? How strange.
• He then pretends to fall on the skin, and regenerates into the Moff. With dreadful typed Scottish accent ad everything...!

And also...

• RTD: 'There's a very funny cameo from Barry Howard'
• RTD says the two Vinvocci are two of his 'favourite aliens ever!'
• 'The most revolting roast turkey scene you'll ever see'
• 'Our biggest cliffhanger ever.'
• QUOTE, UNQUOTE - Wilf: But you said...you were told, he will knock four times. And then you die. That's him, isn't it, the Master? The noise in his head? The Master is going to kill you. The Doctor: Yeah.
• RTD says Naismith is planning a 'very unusual Christmas present' for his daughter Abigail..
• He says [RTD] the Naismith home is home to the Immortality Gate.
• RTD describes the Master as 'lost and raw and savage.'
• Wilf introduces the mystery of the 'silver cloak'
• RTD swears that when we hear the four knocks, our hearts will ache.
• DWM offer their odds on who they think is knocking - they've got:
  The Master 4/1
  The DoctorDonna 12/1
  The Eleventh Doctor 11/2
  Wilf 6/1
  The Narrator 7/2
  The Ood 40/1
  'Death' Himself 13/2
• John Simm says he has 'dipped' onto online forums before, and says he 'couldn't give a toss' what 200 or 300 people think anyway (about his campness etc in Sod/LotTL

The DVD set for the whole specials is due for release on January 11th. While I'm not sure on the commentaries for The Next Doctor, Planet Of The Dead and The Waters Of Mars. However the commentaries for ....

The End Of Time Part 1 - David Tennant, Catherine Tate and Euros Lyn
The End Of Time Part 2 - David Tennant, John Simm and Euros Lyn

Shame there's no Bernard Cribbins or RTD though. The rest of the features are ....

# The Next Doctor Feature: (SD to HD Up-Conversion)
# DTS HD 5.1 Audio on feature only
# The Next Doctor Confidential (SD to HD Up-Conversion)
# Doctor Who at the Proms (SD)
# Dolby Digital Stereo audio on extras
# Planet of the Dead:
# Planet of the Dead Feature (HD)
# DTS HD 5.1 Audio On Feature Only
# Planet of the Dead Confidential (HD)
# Dolby Digital Stereo Audio On Extras
# The Waters of Mars: (HD)
# DTS HD 5.1 Audio On Feature Only
# Waters of Mars Confidential (HD)
# Dolby Digital Stereo Audio on Extras
# The End of Time: Part One: (HD)
# DTS HD 5.1 Audio On Feature & Confidential
# The End Of Time: Part One Confidential (HD)
# David Tennant Video Diary - The Final Days (SD)
# BBC Idents (SD)
# Audio Commentary On Feature
# Dolby Digital Stereo Audio On Extras (Except Confidential)
# The End of Time: Part Two: (HD)
# DTS HD 5.1 Audio On Feature & Confidential
# The End of Time: Part Two Confidential (HD)
# Russell T Davies Intro to Deleted Scenes & Deleted Scenes (HD)
# Doctor Who At Comic-Con 2009 (HD)
# Audio Commentary On Feature
# Dolby Digital Stereo Audio On Extras (Except Confidential)

My Thoughts on The Impressions Show

Anne Robinson: "Well who gets a black eye if he runs down the stairs and he's not wearing a sports bra?"
Simon Cowell: "Ouch that hurt, not the insult, just looking at your face."

You can't exactly move for the amount of impressions shows that are out there and like many, there's a hit and miss quality. Ridiculously shunted to a Saturday 9pm timeslot, Jon Culshaw's latest outing is interesting indeed.

Teaming up with Debra Stephenson (Bad Girls, Corrie), The Impression Show sees the duo spoofing pretty much every easy target known to the British public. In the space of five weeks we've seen Colleen Rooney treat Wayne literally like a dog, Davina McCall and Claudia Winkleman gush over hideous dresses, Cheryl Cole's footballer's wife take on Cinderella, Gene Hunt's audition for Doctor Who and my personal favourite, Simon Cowell vs. Anne Robinson. Sports bras and chimp descendents indeed.

The show won't win points for originality and some of the sketches themselves have done much funnier on the likes of Dead Ringers (the Alan Sugar ones for example) but Culshaw and Stephenson have a wonderful rapport and for the more part, the jokes are genuinely funny, plus Stephenson's resemblance to Davina is a little unnerving.

Check out some clips here ... http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+impression+show&search_type=&aq=f

My Review of "Definitely Dead"

Written by Charlaine Harris
Released in 2006

Sookie (to herself): “So what if I was obliged to attend a vampire conference as part of the queen’s entourage? We’d stay in a fancy hotel, dress up a lot, attend long boring meetings, if everything other people had told me about conferences was true. Gosh, how bad could that be? Better not to think about it.”

Well Sookie, in the previous books your seemingly lesser involvement in the supernatural has had you nearly killed multiple times over. Becoming a bosom buddy of Sophie-Anne Leclerq will probably continue that spate of bad luck and this book is ripe enough with misfortune for Sookie.

The biggest slap to the face was learning that Bill had been sent to Bon Temps especially to spy on her. Given that these books haven’t been generous to Bill anyways, this seems like the ultimate way to kill his relationship with Sookie stone dead. Even though he gets an opportunity to save her, Sookie’s far too disgusted to even be around him. Not that I blame.

For the most part, relationship wise, this book tries to establish the beginnings of one between her and Quinn. Alcide is seemingly no longer an option and there’s a degree of frostiness between Sookie and Eric to make that one a no go either. I’m not sure yet, but Quinn seems alright enough.

He’s not as laden with issues and angst like Bill and Alcide but he does lack a certain sparkle that Eric undeniably possesses in spades. He is however more than handy when him and Sookie find themselves attacked by weres.

Having the Pelt family try and wreck vengeance on Sookie was a good idea, mainly because when Sookie was able to turn the tables, a resolution could be reached. God knows that Debbie’s disappearance wasn’t a plot I wanted playing out in further books. I hope this one was the end of it.

The main plot of the story involved Sophie-Anne and her husband’s attempts to make it appear she dishonoured him. Hadley certainly put Sophie-Anne with the missing bracelet and even when Sookie helped the queen save face, Peter still ensured the escalation of a war. If Sookie thinks her association with the queen is going to be a laugh, she’s kidding herself big time.

- Sookie has fairy blood and Claudine admitted that she’s trying to be angel. She’s certainly more likeable than Claude.
- Jason and Crystal lost a baby in this one as well. And Tara seems to be in better form along with the weddings for the Bellefleur kids.
- The ectoplasm was the only means we had for actually seeing Hadley in this book. We’ve already met her and Sophie-Anne in the Season Two episode, “Frenzy”.
- Sookie should tell Sam that Tanya’s a spy, just in case the Pelts are looking for payback.

Not my favourite book of the bunch but “Definitely Dead” has it’s moments and I did enjoy some of the ectoplasm scenes as well as the interactions between Sookie and Amelia (Hadley’s former landlady) as well as Sophie-Anne.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Master Or Prisoner? (Doctor Who Christmas 2009 Spoilers)

Christmas is coming and hey, only 21 days left for The End Of Time Part 1. Some new pictures from the recent trailers.

What a difference two and a half years make. The Master (John Simm) has gone from ruling the Earth to wearing a dog collar. Has RTD been lifting ideas from Whofic for inspiration? That image will certainly stay with fangirls for a while.

As will this one of the Master strapped down presumably by Joshua Naismith's men from UNIT. Presumably the Master is desperately needed to help open up the famed Immortality Gate that's mentioned in the latest trailer.

Miss Trefusis (Sylvia Seymour) is seemingly instrumental in the Master being raised from the dead as is poor Lucy and the unfortunate security guards of this particular prison. All working together and you can thank Mr Naismith for Christmas being cancelled this year.

Some nude John Simm action here as the Master is raised from the dead, yet again. Havoc is going to be a big part of his agenda, even though it appears that he's being forced to work for Joshua Naismith if the earlier pictures are a clear indicator.

Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins), The Doctor (David Tennant) and The Master (John Simm) all together in the first cast shot for The End Of Time two parter. The Doctor literally is in the middle of good and evil here.

In a further bid to make Doctor Who so vocally known during the Christmas period, there's also a series of amusing but silly idents as well. You'll never think of reindeer in the same way again. And Brian Cox is voicing the Elder Ood. Why didn't I realise that before?

More Pictures: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/i212910/bernard-cribbins.html

BBC Christmas Idents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cL8JoJntM0

The End Of Time New Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUYWslAZfkE

My Review of True Blood's 2x04: "Shake And Fingerpop"

Written by Alan Ball
Directed by Michael Lehmann

Eggs: “What are you crying about?”
Tara: “I always cry on my birthday. It’s the worst day, no matter what I do. I always end up crying because my birthday always sucks.”

Yeah, I have to admit that some of my birthdays haven’t been that great either but not to the extent where I’ve cried over them. That can only be a good thing. Poor Tara. Turning 26 was certainly made into a more unique experience thanks to Maryann’s intervention.

Moving out of the woman’s house was always going to be hard for Maryann to keep tabs on Tara but it certainly didn’t deter her. Of course Sookie would have to be out of town long enough for Maryann to throw a birthday party. Only this was anything but a quiet affair with loved ones.

Most of the people who crashed Sookie’s house for Tara’s party probably didn’t even like the birthday girl and vice versa. Only Sam seemed to be the only concerned party there despite the familiarity of Terry, Arlene, Andy and even Daphne as well. Funnily enough, Tara was too overjoyed to give a shit who was there and what was happening.

We’ve had three sex fuelled happenings with Maryann there. We know that she’s causing them and given the intense chanting in the woods, she’s definitely feeding off them. Maenads feed off that sort of thing. Maryann was a maenad in the book. Figures that she’s still one here, only with an expanded role.

Maryann is still fascinating stuff and Michelle Forbes plays her wonderfully. When Tara told Maryann she was leaving her home, I feared Maryann was going to hit the roof. Her involvement in Tara in particular could be for anything. Eggs too seems like he might a part of whatever Maryann is cooking up as well.

It’s kind of sad that Eggs and Tara finally had sex while they were under Maryann’s influence. Though what they were doing seemed tame compared to everyone else. People were fighting, overindulging in food and alcohol and one girl was even chewing on dirt. It was almost like something out of Jerry Springer. Earth fetish delight, yuck some.

Speaking of delights, it appears that Daphne does actually have a bigger role to play in proceedings. Both her and Sam were unaffected by Maryann’s stirrings (then again, they did actually leave before things really got out of hand) and Daphne herself made it clear that she knew what Sam was.

It doesn’t take a genius to guess that Daphne is something supernatural as well. Those scratches haven’t killed her and she’s also gone from ditzy to cryptic in about four episodes as well. Those are clear enough signs. The only other question is whether Daphne is friend or foe. I’m kind of hoping for the former. It would be nice to see Sam with someone who is actually attracted to him.

In terms of attractions, how cute was the opening scene with Jessica and Hoyt? Bill went a little overboard in the protective stakes but I guess he was right too. He wanted to protect Jessica from killing an innocent and Hoyt from being dinner. I don’t exactly blame him but I do love that the confrontation seems to have encouraged Hoyt to continued pursuing Jessica.

Plus I just love Sookie’s attitude to Jessica. Sookie and Jessica should buddy up, if only to prove Bill wrong. Besides Sookie is too involved in the vampire world to not be on Jessica’s good side either. Sookie even encouraged Bill to take Jessica along with them for the whole Dallas trip as well.

Reading the book, I knew exactly what to expect so when Leon showed up with a welcoming sign; Sookie was going to be in trouble. To be fair without Bill’s intervention, Sookie might have actually fought Leon off. Luckily for Leon, the only retribution he got coming to him was Jessica having some mischievous fun with her glamouring.

Jessica certainly providing the entertainment during that scene but the serious stuff was Leon revealing that the Fellowship Of The Sun sent him to abduct Sookie. Again, not a shocker and I’m not saying this as someone who has read the books. It’s just too obvious that the Dallas stuff would connect with the Fellowship.

The only stupid thing was Eric not sharing this information with Bill. Eric may be his superior and have an overt enjoyment in goading Bill but it was reckless not to voice his fear of Fellowship involvement. I think it’s also safe to assume that the Fellowship are responsible for snatching Godric as well.

Eric didn’t exactly have a lot of scenes in this episode. Apart from him and Bill’s discussion in the Dallas bar, we also saw him with Lafayette. Lafayette went from pushing Tara away and risking infection to devouring Eric’s blood and feeling the benefits from it. Lafayette practically humping his own furniture was too funny. Does this mean the spring is officially back in his step? Can’t be that simple, can it?

Another interesting thing about the Dallas trip was Sookie meeting Barry. Finally another telepath on the show and clearly one with not as much experience as Sookie either. I take it he’ll play a bigger role in later episodes despite running away from Sookie at the end of the episode.

As for Jason, both he and Luke just need to knock seven shades into each other already. Luke clearly has bigger issues with Jason than he’s letting on and the comments he made about Sarah does suggest that he could stir some major problem if Jason’s not careful. And Jason should be.

Sarah seems to have made it clear that her interest in him exceeds his potential as a Soldier Of The Sun and even Jason was fighting off his attraction to him. I saw it in my last review but Jason really is showing a lot of self restraint here. There was at least a good few scenes where it looked like Sarah was coming onto to him as well.

The more Jason spends time with Sarah and Steven, the more their negative traits rub off them. Even in Season One, Jason wasn’t this negative towards vampires. He’s even beginning to spout off the same war crap that Steven in using to brainwash everyone else into saying. Get out of there, Jason.

Also in “Shake And Fingerpop”

Luke’s little prank scene felt kind of similar to the one Jason pulled on Dawn back in “Mine”. Though it was funny seeing Jason punch Luke as revenge.

Sookie: “Okay, let’s all try to calm down.”
Hoyt: “That’s a very good idea.”
Bill: “Are you gonna leave or am I gonna have to throw you out through a window that is closed?”
Sookie: “Bill, that is just rude.”

Sookie’s picture gift to Tara was sweet. It was the same picture of them as kids with Adelle that we saw earlier in the season.

Tara: “Thank you so much for everything.”
Maryann: “I’m sure you’d do the same for me. Go flourish and don’t ever say no to yourself, okay?”

Bud: “I’m not an alcoholic.”
Andy: “Nah, you’re just a dumb old man who don’t know anything about nothing, who don’t wanna learn.”

Bud’s a lot more tolerant than he should’ve been with Andy during that exchange. Interesting that Andy’s pursuing the pig he saw from “Scratches”.

Tara: “If you die, I’m gonna be really pissed.”
Lafayette: “Well that makes two of us.”

Sookie: “Is that how you wanna leave things?”
Sam: “What other way is there?”
Sookie: “I don’t know Sam but throwing away years of friendship seems pretty damn stupid to me.”

Sookie did have a right to be pissed as did Terry. Why is Sam running away if he knows how dangerous Maryann? Unless he’s trying to find something to stop her.

Maryann: “Well I have to say I’m impressed by your showing up.”
Sam: “Go ahead and turn me but you’ll also reveal yourself in the process.”

Luke (re Sarah): “Wow, you work fast.”
Jason: “I ain’t working, she’s married.”
Luke: “Go for it, she’s hot.”

Sookie was tempted to watch some of the vampire porn that the Dallas hotel had on offer. And Bill bought some True Blood, just to put Eric financially out. Godric’s also 2000 years old. I also felt bad that Maryann binned Lettie Mae’s present.

Lafayette: “You let me go.”
Eric: “I gave you a very generous gift. The gift of not killing you and I am here to give you something else. The healing elixir that is my thousand year old blood.”

Bill (re Leon): “Jessica, what on Earth did you do to this man?”
Jessica: “I’m on the phone.”

Standout music: “Shake And Fingerpop” by Junior Walker And The All Stars and “Dig” by Headbone feat The Tense Young Man.

Bill: “What can I give you to release Sookie from her agreement?”
Eric: “Nothing. And since you like humans so much I think you will want to protect them. The vampires here, they’re like cowboys. If they don’t get Godric back, they’ll want justice. They’ll start attacking people.”
Bill: “Open aggression against humans, that’s insane.”
Eric: “That’s Texas.”

Chronology: A few minutes from where “Scratches” finished off.

“Shake And Fingerpop” is the first episode from Alan Ball this season and it’s certainly laced with a lot of his trademark wit (Arlene’s bitchiness towards Daphne for starters) but the sex parties are certainly increasing as well. I can see why some people were overwhelmed with them as the season went on but it’s still a wonderful episode. There’s even a nice little Angel reference if you can spot it.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of True Blood's 2x03: "Scratches"

Written by Raelle Tucker
Directed by Scott Winant

Eric: “I’m glad you’re feeling better and may I add that colour suits you very well.”
Sookie: “Go to hell.”

For a human being, Sookie can sure be testy at the best of time. She’s been associating with vampires for long enough to know that pissing them off is not the best of ideas. Then again, neither is storming off one in the middle of the night.

Sookie and Bill’s heated words from Jessica’s house continued in the car and honestly, I saw both sides of the story. Sookie thought she was doing right with the Jessica situation but vampires have rules for those sorts of things and perhaps she should’ve discussed it with Bill before letting Jessica loose on her family.

As for the family, all Bill did was glamour them and that was off-screen. I knew he wouldn’t kill them. Sookie certainly wouldn’t have been happy about that if he did. Of course screaming at her wasn’t exactly Bill’s smartest of plans either. All it did was make Sookie storm out of the car and brave the woods alone.

I think at this point in the show, it genuinely would’ve been more surprising if Sookie had just gotten home safe. Instead a half man/bull creature scratched her and left her for dead. Why didn’t Bill listen to Jessica and go after her a few seconds earlier? Because even he is capable of not acting rationally.

If you’ve read “Living Dead In Dallas”, you know how the situation goes and who was behind the actual attacks. If you haven’t and assume that Maryann is somewhat involved, you’re on the right track. After all, there was that little scene in the previous episode where both of them could tell that something wasn’t right with the other.

For the first half of this episode, Sookie seemed to be at death’s door and with Dr Ludwig, we’ve got a snarky medic who doesn’t sound as painfully scripted as House. She even makes her displeasure of vampires known in a rather infectious way. Even Eric didn’t seem to mind the fact that she wasn’t a fan of the fanged crowd.

Scratches like that should’ve killed Sookie on the spot, especially given how poisonous they actually were. When the poison was removed, both Bill and Eric were eager to amp Sookie up with their own blood. If the first season was subtle about Eric’s beyond professional interest in Sookie, it looks like the second season won’t be.

Bill himself was definitely threatened by Eric, to the point where he refused to leave Fangtasia without her. Of course as soon as Sookie woke up, her gratitude towards Eric took a big hit when she realised that Lafayette was chained up in the basement. Geez, Ginger is almost as bad as Daphne in the employee stakes.

Even though Sookie and Lafayette aren’t exactly close (the closest they’ve ever been was in “Cold Ground” really), I loved how she went all out for him. Breaking down in the basement, even slapping Eric and making deals for Lafayette’s freedom. I know there are some viewers out there who can be frustrated with the character but you’ve gotta admire her set of balls in this one.

If Eric didn’t fancy her so much, he would’ve happily ripped her throat for her behaviour. Instead he used the situation to get her to go to Dallas. Come on, who didn’t see that one coming? At least this means that the Godric plot is going to be forwarded a bit more now. Bill also made sure to be the one escorting Sookie. Don’t be too surprised if Eric conveniently follows the both of you on your trip.

As for Lafayette’s vow of retirement, I don’t see it being permanent but I can see what exactly led to it. He talked to Royce about soul searching in the premiere and being in Eric’s captivity certainly seems to have gotten him questioning a lot of his actions. Lafayette’s not a bad person but his morals certainly are questionable at different point.

Another soul searcher was Jason. He wanted another sign to prove that being in the proximity of a bunch of deranged fanatics was a good thing. Spilling his guts about Amy and his grandmother during Sarah Newlin’s meeting certainly helped in some ways. After all, Sarah made it her mission to keep Jason within the Fellowship. That in itself is suspect. Maybe she and Steven know more about Jason that they’re letting on.

Sarah mentioned that she lost a sister due to vampires so that did offer a feasible explanation in regards to her own bigotry. However Steven has no proof that vampires actually killed his parents and baby sister so his message of hate being a good thing in certain circumstances is more alarming than ever.

It seems that this season we have two bad guy arcs and I’m not really sure which one will win out or if both somehow become connected. Should Maryann and her crazy ass orgies eventually descend on Fellowship Of The Sun territory? Maybe a loosened up Newlins could be more likeable.

Though seriously, what exactly is going on with Maryann? This is the second episode where she’s caused everyone to go into a sexual frenzy but this time, Tara actually suspected something. The only problem is that she only copped on when Eggs was getting carried away with a new girl and something tells me that Tara isn’t likely to get out of Maryann’s clutches this early in the series.

As the episode pass, I find myself intrigued by Maryann’s game plan. She’s already a better villain than vampire hating Rene but what exactly is her endgame, seeing as she was more a bit character in the second book. Also even though I get the feeling that Eggs probably does have genuine feelings for Tara, I still don’t think he’s a good thing for her right now.

In terms of good things, can I just say whoever came up with the idea of hooking up Jessica and Hoyt deserves a fucking pay rise? All summer long I’ve been reading online about how great they are as a couple and within the first scene that they interact, I totally get it. What I don’t understand is how someone as sweet as Hoyt has been single all this time.

As soon as he found out that Jessica was a vampire, he was fine with it. He flirted with her beforehand, made an effort not to invade her personal space, spouted a lot of cheesy stuff that highlighted his sincerity. Even when Jessica freaked out about her fangs coming during their kiss, he got her to calm down. No wonder she didn’t want to wait.

From what I did gather with their little scene however was that Jessica was feeding off Hoyt or something. Or was she giving him some of her blood? Trust Bill to interrupt at the wrong time. If Bill thinks that as a maker he’s going to stop Jessica from dating Hoyt, well let’s just hope that Sookie talks him around.

Speaking of talking around, how convenient was it for Daphne to show up after the dog? It must’ve been some bizarre method of stopping Sam from doing a runner because you know; she had those scratches that Sookie did as well. It looks like there’s more to Daphne than being bad at her job. Thank goodness for that.

Also in “Scratches”

I’m loving what they’re doing with Bill’s attire this season. His clothing seems less earthy than in the first season.

Bill (to Sookie): “She’s a vampire. She has no family.”
Jessica: “I’m a monster and I’m gonna be alone forever because of you. I hate you so fucking much.”

Given the amount of cast members they’ve added to the credits I’m surprised that Kristin Bauer isn’t one of them. We need more Pam.

Sookie: “What kind of doctor are you?”
Dr Ludwig: “The healing kind. I’m Dr Ludwig, what’s your name?”

Eric: “Search the roads around Highway 71.”
Pam (re Chow): “He can do it. I’m wearing my favourite pumps.”

Dr Ludwig is specified as a dwarf in “Living Dead In Dallas”. She mentioned that the poison Sookie had in her was similar to what Komodo dragons can do.

Maryann (re Sam): “You two have history.”
Tara: “Yeah but we’re better as friends than we ever were sleeping together.”

Jason (re Eddie): “But he was real nice person.”
Sarah: “He wasn’t a person, Jason. A person wouldn’t do that.”
Jason: “Well my Gran and my girlfriend were killed by my best friend, just because he had a problem with vampires and he was a person.”

We met Missy during Sarah’s little meeting and Luke seems to have continued his dislike for Jason. Sarah’s also seemingly attracted to Jason as well.

Ginger (to Sookie): “That’s the thing about being with vamps, ain’t it? You always forget to eat. I’ve lost 37 pounds since I got this job.”

Jessica: “And do you know I’m a nice girl?”
Hoyt: “Coz of your smile, I guess. You can tell a lot about someone by the way they smile. Uh, you know, watch people all the time. You see that, that’s beautiful. I could stare at that all day long.”

When Hoyt was telling Jessica all the things you could do with a Wii, she was making it even further obvious of all the things her strict father forbade her from doing. Like dancing for example.

Eric: “You surprise me. That’s a rare quality in a breather.”
Sookie: “You disgust me.”
Eric: “Perhaps I’ll grow on you.”
Sookie: “I prefer cancer.”

Andy: “I know what I saw. I’m a good cop.”
Maryann: “Of course you are, everybody knows that. Here, why don’t you stay and relax a bit?”

Andy saw a hog, both Mike and Jane went all black eyed on us during the party and Terry was pissed with Sam trying to run away. Arlene still also has guilt over Rene.

Hoyt (re fangs): “You don’t have to hide that in front of me. That’s natural.”
Jessica: “How can you say that? I have fangs, they come out and I can’t control them. This is embarrassing. I’d die if I wasn’t already dead.”

Standout music: “Scratches” by Debbie Davis and “Power (Voodoo Version)” by King Britt Presents Sister Gertrude Morgan.

Sookie (to Bill): “If I’m never gonna be safe, I’d rather know what to be afraid of.”

Chronology: Not straight after “Keep This Party Going” left off but close enough to it.

“Scratches” continues the strong and engaging path this season has been taken. Not as advancing with either Maryann or the Fellowship plots but I get that we’re nearing towards the better stuff pretty soon and there’s plenty to savour in this episode.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

Live From Croatia (Doctor Who Season 5 Spoilers)

Is it me or is there a sense of deja vu going on here?

Two years ago when Season 4 was being filmed, it was the episodes The Doctor's Daughter and Midnight (with Turn Left sandwiched in between). Those were episodes 6 and 10. Here with Season 5, it's also episodes 6 and 10, rumoured to be titled Vampires In Venice and Vincent And The Doctor.

It looks a new variation on the Eleventh Doctor's outfit. Seems he gets to have both a blue shirt and bowtie midway through the series. That can only be a good thing.

The Doctor (Matt Smith), Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) in an alley. It looks like we're getting two companions halfway through the season. Brilliant! Rory is unspecified. I'm hoping that he's Amy's brother or friend instead of boyfriend but it doesn't really matter, does it?

Lots of villagers in costume but until we see Tony Curran (the man Richard Curtis announced was playing Van Gogh), it's hard to tell which episode is being shot first. Both are period pieces.

Which means that we seemingly are guaranteed at least three of them. These two episodes that are being filmed and the Dalek episode from earlier.

Rory, Rory - well Arthur Darvill isn't a bad looking bloke and I've always thought this show worked better with two companions and by the looks of it, we're getting two. Here's a chart with more episode details and stuff .... http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8H3NvF7Sa_Q/SxQ1K3oxXQI/AAAAAAAAAU0/cOO1AoKO1RY/spoilerchart.JPG

As for the pictures, more can be seen here ... http://pripadantebi.blog.hr/

Warning the blog is in Croatian.

Oh and the Advent Calender is back for the Christmas Specials .... http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/features/bulletins/bulletin_091130_01

My Review of Doctor Who's: "The War Games"

Written by Terrance Dicks And Malcolm Hulke
Directed by David Maloney

The Doctor (to the Time Lords): “All these evils that I have fought while you have done nothing but observe. True, I am guilty of interference, just as you are guilty of failing to use your powers to help those in need.”

Given that we’re virtually a month away from the regeneration of a certain Time Lord during the Christmas period, I thought it was high to get up and review a certain story I should’ve done months ago that also exits a certain much loved Doctor.

In the old series, anything over eight episodes was extraordinary and had to be made of the right stuff to justify such length. For the most part, I think the ten episodes that make up this story certainly justify their length even if the sceptic in me wonders if perhaps less should’ve been assigned to the Second Doctor’s departure tale.

For the first nine episode it seems to be one long continuous story with the final episode almost serving as a rather biting epilogue. How thematic that time interference would be the heart of this story and a major thing that would end up signing the Second Doctor’s warrant?

When The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe landed in 1917, it was an interesting time. Given that this episode aired in 1969, it would’ve still been very recent history and perhaps uncomfortable viewing for the general public at the time. It’s also in this time period that things immediately don’t appear to be what they seem.

We’re not through the first episode where the nasty General Smythe seems to have convinced everyone that The Doctor is worthy of execution and that Jamie and Zoe are traitors/deserters. The only people who actually side with The Doctor and company are Carstairs and Lady Jennifer and both of them are brilliant.

For me, they’re the sort of guest characters who I wish had appeared in later stories but sadly they never did. Thankfully they are both in the majority of the episodes together, though they’re usually in two different groups. Lady Jennifer found herself mostly being captured with Jamie during the American Civil War and Carstairs was largely with The Doctor and Zoe when he wasn’t being programmed all the time.

The main plot of this story was certainly interesting – a malicious unknown alien race trapping various people in Time Zones and making them believe that they’re fighting their own wars. 1917, US Civil War, 30 Years War, Crimean War, Romans all seem to get featured and bring with them a series of different characters.

Unfortunately in all of these wars, we’re seemingly lumbered with Smythe type of characters who keep duping their unaware soldiers into fighting all the time. This is usually when they’re not trying to kill The Doctor and company. The scenes are usually good but there are times too many of them and they become a bit predictable and annoying in places.

As for the aliens, we never learn their identity but their motives seemed fairly obvious anyways – power. Using humans as a means to an end and ultimately trying to find the right kinds of people to process. It’s not particularly original but it’s appalling enough to get The Doctor’s back up and rightly it does.

While that doesn’t really sound all that inspirational, the more enjoyable elements of this story come in the War Chief. At least two years before The Master ever became a regular fixture in The Doctor’s life, the War Chief had the potential to make for a charismatic shadow self rival to The Doctor.

He’s certainly a lot more enjoyable and engaging than the irritating Security Chief (talk about suffering from little man syndrome) and his interplay with several characters in this story is one of the reasons why I’d consider it a favourite of mine.

After all, he went out of his way to ensure that The Doctor didn’t come to any harm and he even offered him a part in ruling the universe. Plus every argument between him and the Security Chief that we had to listen to (and there was many of them), I was on his side. Why was that?

Of course there are some characters so good that they don’t make it. The Security Chief waited for the right opportunity to try and get the War Chief out of the picture and a certain recording helped with that. On the plus side, while we lost the War Chief, at least the Security Chief died before him. Now there was a character I really was glad to see the back off.

With both Chiefs essentially dead, the only bad guy actually standing in the end was the War Lord. He was certainly a vicious piece of work, wasn’t he? Even the Time Lords had to torture him to speak up and in the end, the dematerialisation was much deserved. As for sending everyone back to their own times, there was a price to pay.

The first six seasons of this series always made allusions to The Doctor being a deserter in his own way. He wanted to explore while his people were happy to stand back. He made a few decent attempts to escape with Jamie and Zoe in the last episode and the Time Lords stopped him without hesitation.

The last ten minutes of this story are the best. Jamie and Zoe being sent to their own times and only remembering their first encounter with The Doctor was sad and on the same level as Donna Noble’s exit. The Doctor’s forced regeneration however was harrowing to watch. For that alone, it’s no wonder he ran away from his own people. Now he’s exiled to Earth for the time being. I hope UNIT have a vacancy for him.

Also in “The War Games”

All the episodes, except maybe the seventh opened with a set of explosions to emphasis the war backdrop into the story.

Lady Jennifer: “Funny about those people. They don’t look like spies.”
Carstairs: “Spies never do. Don’t envy them if they are. General Smythe can be ruthless.”

We saw brief glimpses of Daleks, Cybermen, Ice Warriors, Quarks and Yeti when The Doctor was attempting to defend himself.

Jamie: “Hey, you haven’t even asked me anything.”
General Smythe: “There’s nothing to ask you, you’re a deserter.”

Zoe: “Who else would have space time machines like the TARDIS?”
The Doctor: “Well there is an answer to that but I hope, I just hope -”
Zoe: “What?”

Not once in this entire episode is either the War Lord’s species named or The Doctor and War Chief’s home planet. We’d have to wait another five years for that one.

Jamie (to US soldier): “You realise that we’ve saved your life?”
Lady Jennifer: “I don’t think he’s gonna be grateful. We’re lucky they didn’t kill all three of us.”

War Chief (to Security Chief): “When I came to your people I was promised efficiency and co-operation. Without the knowledge I have, this complete venture would be impossible.”

This was the last story for the Second Doctor, 1960s and for the series to be mainly in black and white.

Security Chief: “I have the situation under control, War Lord. It’s only a matter of time before they are recaptured.”
War Lord: “Then I hope that time is on your side.”

War Chief: “Stealing a TARDIS. Oh, I’m not criticising you. We are two of a kind.”
The Doctor: “We most certainly aren’t.”

The Doctor’s face appearing at all sides was interesting as he started the regeneration process certainly made it look traumatic. One day, Doctor you will look very young.

Jamie: “I won’t forget you, you know.”
The Doctor: “I won’t forget you. Now don’t go blundering into too much trouble.”
Jamie: “You’re a fine one to talk.”
The Doctor: “Goodbye Zoe.”
Zoe: “Goodbye Doctor. Will we ever see you again?”
The Doctor: “Again? Zoe, you and I know time is relative, isn’t it?”

The Doctor (as he regenerates): “Is this some sort of joke? I refuse to be treated – what are you doing? You’re making me giddy. No, you can’t do this to me. No, no, no, no, no.”

This came out on DVD in July 2009 with a commentary from Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Philip Madoc, Jane Sherwin, Graham Weston, Terrance Dicks and Derrick Sherwin. The Regeneration feature is wonderful.

As regeneration stories go, “The War Games” does set up a high standard that at least one other really usurps. It’s a wonderful parting story for Patrick Troughton, brimmed with excellent characterisation and sublime moments.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's: "Dreamland"

Written by Phil Ford
Directed by Gary Russell

Stark: “You just helped me save the world.”
The Doctor: “For the first time in 900 years, why does that feel like bad news?”

You wait seven months just to get one Doctor Who special and then another one shoots out almost from nowhere. I know this has been talked about for ages now but it’s been so long coming, I almost can’t believe it’s here.

Compared to “The Waters Of Mars”, this is thankfully something of a light affair and the second time the new series has tackled a story in animation. Is it better than “The Infinity Quest”? Yes, for the most it is.

Companion wise, we’ve got both Cassie Rice, a 1950’s waitress and Native American Jimmy Stalkingwolf and they’re both good help to The Doctor and for this story in general. Cassie’s a sceptic when it comes to aliens. The Doctor’s with her and Jimmy for less than two minutes and the scepticism is definitely knocked right out of her.

Because of the format, the pacing is certainly faster here. Mr Dread the robot wants the ionic fusion bar and when The Doctor and company refuse to hand it over, he’s not best pleased. Then we got our first introduction to a Viperox. Cassie also did some initial screaming that harkens to certain companions of old.

It doesn’t take much to realise that along with the Viperox, you’d get the US government involved. In the 1950s there was Area 51 or Dreamland as this episode is called and The Doctor is excited enough to go in there.

I’m not sure I would be. The Doctor’s had enough experience to know that government types have the immediate reaction to either kill, imprison or in this case, attempt to erase his memories. In those circumstances the last thing you’d want is to be escorted into Dreamland by Stark and his men.

What can you say about Stark that probably hasn’t been said before? Nothing! He’s a typical hot headed Colonel who wants to arm himself against Russia and because of that he’s in alliance with Viperox. Of course the Viperox themselves, mostly vocalised through Lord Azlok have their own agenda too.

When Jimmy got captured by a group of Viperox, Azlok revealed that he wasn’t interested in the Earth. If anything there was a common enemy that him and Stark had together. This could’ve been an interesting angle but as soon as The Doctor, Cassie and Jimmy saw the Queen giving birth to so many eggs that was another thing to debunk.

As for the enemy, there is where some of the substance for this story lay. We had poor Seruba Velax locked away in Dreamland and her husband, Rivesh Mantilax being protected by the wonderful (but all too briefly seen) Night Eagle and his people. It was also Night Eagle’s skills with arrows that put Mr Dread briefly out of commission as well.

A husband and wife desperate to reunite each other, believing the other was dead certainly helped giving “Dreamland” a bit of emotional substance. It was also the pursuit of Rivesh that revealed Azlok’s plan to use a weapon capable of killing an entire species. Now The Doctor is never going to take to that, would he?

Playing on a fixed point in time standard, The Doctor might have been determined to have stopped Azlok from destroying the Earth with newly hatched Viperox but he had to fight everyone in a way to ensure that the Viperox weren’t killed. Mainly because in the future they’re supposed to be a peace loving race. Interesting idea.

Using the weapon that wasn’t really an ionic fusion bar to try and drive them out instead was innovative, I’ll give you that. It’s a pity that The Doctor wasn’t so considerate of laws in his previous on screen adventure.

It also came as no real shock to the system when Stark actually helped The Doctor towards the last third of the story, nor was it shocking to see that Cassie and Jimmy have seemingly become an item as well. If you wanted a feel good ending to a story, this had one.

Also in “Dreamland”

This was broken down into six episodes that could be seen on the Red Button service. It also airs on BBC2 from December 5th at 10am.

The Doctor: “The smell of fast food in the desert air. The perfume of America.”
Cassie: “Hey are you British or something?”
The Doctor: “Something, that’s definitely me.”

The credits read for David Tennant and Georgia Moffett, who voiced Cassie Rice. Her American accent was fine with me.

Stark (to Cassie): “You don’t have to worry ma’am.”
The Doctor: “Oh, why’s that?”
Stark: “Because you’re gonna forget everything you’ve seen. You’re gonna forget everything.”

Azlok (to Jimmy): “Who is this man you call The Doctor?”
The Doctor: “Oh now that would be me.”

Lisa Bowerman who voiced Seruba Velax is best known for her role as Seventh Doctor companion Bernice Summerfield as well as Karra from “Survival”.

The Doctor (to Cassie/Jimmy, re Viperox Queen): “I don’t think she’s amused. I have this effect royalty. Run!”

Stark: “The Reds are sitting on a thousand nukes and everyone of them has Uncle Sam’s name on them.”
Night Eagle: “The Russians will never fire them. They know as well as anyone that would be the end of the world.”

There was a deliberate homage to Indiana Jones with the mine cart chase halfway through this story as well as mentions to Aliens and Die Hard.

The Doctor (to Stark): “Two problems with the Viperox, Colonel – you can’t trust them and they have very good hearing.”

The Doctor: “No-one has the right to destroy an entire species.”
Cassie: “Doctor, they destroy my town.”

Seruba and Rivesh were the most clichéd looking of aliens we’ve seen. I guess for the story backdrop though it sort of worked.

Azlok: “Your day will come, Doctor.”
The Doctor: “Yeah, so they say.”

Chronology: Is this based before or after “The Waters Of Mars”?

In the last couple of weeks, I was mixed about this animated special but now after having seen it as a whole, “Dreamland” was an enjoyable enough story. A lot lighter but that’s probably a good thing, given the darkness of “The End Of Time” two part story that has yet to air.

Rating: 7 out of 10.