Doctor Who - CBeebies Animated Spin Off In The Works

Well, this was news I wasn't expecting to be honest. Sorry for the #RIPDoctorWho crowd I guess.

This morning, it was announced that CBeebies was looking to expand the Doctor Who universe by commissioning an animated spin-off. Details revealed include.

• Aimed for the pre-school audience.
• Will see the Doctor travelling through time and space and solving mysteries with companions and other friends.
• Will be independent from the main show itself.
• CBeebies are looking for companies to pitch for the show as they commit to the UK's animation industry.
• 52 episodes, 11 minutes long. 26 for a first season for 2027-2028 and the other 26 for a second season for 2028-2029 transmission.

Now, Doctor Who entering the world of animation isn't that new a concept. For the last few years, we've had various episodes from the classic series restored in animation. We've also had animated spin-offs with The Infinity Quest, Dreamland and Daleks!. Even the live action show itself has had animated sequences in episodes such as Can You Hear Me? and Lux. Perhaps this was inevitable after all.

So far, the idea does seem rather vague but if I were to make an educated guess, I'm not expecting this show to focus on a recent Doctor. In fact, I'm willing to bet that the Doctor for this show will either be a younger version of the First Doctor or a new Doctor from an unspecified timeline but either way, I expect movement on this spin off to happen pretty fast.

Now what about the main show itself? It's been nearly two weeks since we saw Ncuti Gatwa regenerate into Billie Piper (or did he?) in the divisive finale The Reality War. The BBC haven't exactly rushed to confirm what to expect next and it's gotten fans and detractors alike assuming the worst. However two rumours have been floating around the last week with the tabloids lasering in on one of them.

Rumour 1: David Tennant and Billie Piper will head up a Christmas special for this year. If that were true, filming would really need to start soon. I'm not sure of this one but it's also not one I'd dismiss out of hand either. File it under "maybe".

Rumour 2: The show's time with Disney+ has come to an end. Other streamers are interested in taking on the show with the BBC but want more creative control. This one I suspect is true. I have mixed feelings on that tbh.

Right now, we still don't know for definite what's going on with Doctor Who. I will say that by commissioning another spin-off, it does seem to me that the BBC aren't quite ready to retire the ongoing series just yet.

I'll keep posting more updates about the show and it's expanded universe as they come to light.

My Review of Sauna The Dead: A Fairy Tale (2016)

 

Written And Directed by Tom Frederic 

Jacob: "I'll have to find us a room. The cubicles get so busy this time of year."

Aseem: "I know, right?"

As part of Pride Month, my reviews for LGBT themed movies will sometimes extend to short ones as well. How does a subtle Christmas themed one set in a gay sauna sound? Surprisingly, not a bad choice, lol.

The cute but somewhat standoffish Jacob (Tom Frederic) visits a local gay sauna but also rejected every single guy who took the slightest interest in him. One of those guys included Aseem (Kumar Munlandy) but as this short film progressed, things would changed.

Notably because everyone else would turn into a zombie and both Jacob and Aseem were the only two not infected. Saying that, Jacob wasn't initially a team player and rationed that his odds of survival were better without Aseem. Jacob would soon be proven wrong in that regard. 

It turned out that despite his reluctance, working with Aseem to not get infected by zombies was actually a smart idea. Play acting as a zombie also helped a bit. Aseem did need a bit of persuasion with that though but at least there was a spark between him and Jacob.

Naturally while trying to survive a zombie plague, a romance between Jacob and Aseem factored into things. In fact, it was this along with Aseem being infected that sort of snapped Jacob back to reality. The zombie stuff was a dream of sorts, Jacob became more receptive to his environment and we ended things with him and Aseem going to get a room together.

- The film was set in Chariots gay sauna in Vauxhall, London. The business has since closed down. 

- Aseem gave Jacob back his necklace at the start of their encounter with Jacob realising it wasn't on right later in the movie.

- There was a moment I thought Jacob was trying to use a broom handle for stakes before it was revealed that he was using it to help him and Aseem breathe underwater.

- Chronology: Christmas time in London. It's influenced by A Christmas Carol.

Sauna The Dead: A Fairy Tale was an enjoyable bit of gay horror. I've seen better and worse and while the commentary about how men consume each other might have been a bit obvious, it didn't detract from things. The Jacob/Aseem team up was rather sweet.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Rialto (2019)

Written by Mark O'Halloran

Directed by Peter Mackie Burns

Colm (to Jay): "There's no lies between us."

Keeping with Pride Month and I'm determined to watch a few more Irish LGBT themed movies and this was one I'd seen before but rewatched late last night to familiarise myself with it again. It's an interesting one.

Mostly because, it's about a man going through a mid life crisis more than discovery his sexuality. Saying that, the latter's also rather prominent too, so to speak. The man in question being dock manager, Colm (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor).

At the start of the movie, we see Colm embark on an encounter with young hustler, Jay (Tom Glynn-Carney). I wouldn't say it's a great encounter as Colm ended up getting bruised and Jay spotted an opportunity for blackmail.

To say that Colm and Jay have a toxic relationship would be underselling it. Jay made it clear that he viewed Colm with a certain amount of disdain while Colm seemed to be blinded by lust with the more time he spent with Jay and money he spent on Jay too.

As for Colm's personal life, he's got a put upon wife named Claire (Monica Dolan), who eventually grew tired of Colm's distant behaviour. Then there was his kids, particularly his son, Shane (Scott Graham) who reacted badly to Colm's confession about Jay while Colm's own mother, Muriel (Deirdre Donnelly) was grieving the death og Colm's father.

Throw in an unhelpful co-worker, Noel (Michael Smiley) and boss Paula (Eileen Walsh), there wasn't much for Colm to enjoy either. He lost his job, his wife, his son and was made a fool out of by Jay. By the end of the movie, Colm didn't really have much to be happy about.

- Jay seemed to hate his mother more than his father and had a daughter named Chloe that Colm briefly met.

- Colm had his own issues with his deceased father and Shane hated Colm throughout the whole movie.

- There's only one sex scene of note between Colm and Jay. Colm's 46 and Jay's 19. 

- Chronology: 2010s Dublin. The movie hit the festivals in 209 before it was released in theatres a year later.

Rialto isn't a love story type of movie but a decent meditation on one man going through a midlife crisis, coming to some terms with his sexuality but also hitting the self destruct button on his life. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor is fantastic but the ending's a bit anticlimactic.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Doctor Who Unleashed: 20 Years In Wales

Narrated by Steffan Powell

Directed by Jonathon Aiken

Billie Piper: "I would come back. What's funny is that I feel I've never left Doctor Who because there is this huge Doctor Who afterlife, which, obviously because people still really wanna talk about it."

Well, that speech certainly aged appropriately. However, a week later and this celebratory special later and we're still none the wiser. Is Billie Piper the 16th Doctor or not? If you were expecting answers to that question, you'll be sorely disappointed.

To be though, Doctor Who Unleashed: 20 Years In Wales was filmed before the airing of The Reality War. How much longer before we get an answer though? It might be a while. It's certainly gotten people talking though.

Anyways this special could be broken down into four parts as host Steffan Powell talked to various cast members, past and present as well as the threee show runners who've revived the show and reinvented it for modern audiences.

First of all was the humble beginnings of the show. For that you had both Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner going over the task they had in reviving the show. That was largely helped with Christopher Eccleston being cast as the 9th Doctor. Sadly, there's no contribution from Eccleston here himself. 

Then there's David Tennant and Billie Piper. The iconic team of the 10th Doctor and Rose Tyler. I loved seeing them together on camera and both were on great form here. Billie in particular giving us some cryptic hints about returning to the show.

Then there's the Steven Moffat era. The longest era from a showrunner and Moffat is a write who I'll always enjoy listening. There's great contributions from Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill and Pearl Mackie but again, sadly, nothing from either Matt Smith or Peter Capaldi.

As for the Chris Chibnall, time has been kind because I've found myself softening to it a lot. Chibnall gave some good insight here and the friendship between Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill is really sweet. I also loved how both Jodie and Mandip talked about the crew members as well. That really was lovely of them.

Circling back to the current era, there was a look at David Tennant playing the 14th Doctor for the 60th anniversary. We also got clips of Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu from the premiere of the recent series and a reminder of last week's shock regeneration to boot.

- Fans of Martha and Clara might be disappointed with the lack of mentions of them. 

- Blink got a lot of emphasis, more than I would've given it and I love that episode.

- Filming in Wales since 2004 has done a lot for the country's film industry.

- Steffan did put some focus on various crew members as well for this special.

- Spin-offs were mentioned in the broader context but it's almost like Class didn't exist, lol.

- It really does feel like we're in unknown waters in regards to the show's future at the moment.

Doctor Who Unleashed: 20 Years In Wales had a lot to cover in the space of 58 minutes. I think it did a mostly good job and while I wish we had gotten some more contributions from other cast members, I was happy to see everyone who appeared on here. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Black Cauldron (1985)

 

Written by David Jonas And Al Wilson And Vance Gerry And Roy Morita And Ted Berman And Peter Young And Richard Rich And Art Stevens And Joe Hale

Directed by Ted Berman And Richard Rich 

The Horned King: "My, what a brave, handsome group. A pig keeper, a scullery maid, and a broken-down minstrel. Perhaps it would interest you to see what fate has in store for you."

I guess I am one of the lucky ones who had a Disney movie come out the same year they were born. Now, is this a favourite Disney movie of mine? I can't say that it is but it's certainly one of Disney's more experimental of movies. In its own way.

First of all, it's a movie in the Middle Ages, located within the mystical land of Prydain and it's a chance for Disney to explore some Welsh mythology. It's main villain was the Horned King (John Hurt) and he had specific goals in mind.

Namely he wanted the titular Black Cauldron but also needed a pig named Hen Wen to locate the cauldron. Yes, the pig's got oracle style powers but getting a hold of the pig would be quite a task for the Horned King. Mainly because there's a plucky teen hero who was an obstacle for him.

The would be hero in question being pig keeper Taran (Grant Bardsley), who'd go above and beyond to keep Hen Wen out of the Horned King's grasp. He's also aided by Princess Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan) and the too eager to help but often cowardly Gurgi (John Byner).

The movie's a classic heroes journey for everyone but mostly for Taran and Gurgi, with the latter getting a nice arc. The characters that Taran interacted also included his master, Dallben (Freddie Jones), lyre player, Fflewddur Fflam (Nigel Hawthorne) and fairy king, Eidilleg (Arthur Malet) to name a few. They're decent supporting characters.

As for the Horned King, he's not a villain that would make many favourite lists for Disney baddies but he's menacing enough. That's largely down to John Hurt's performance and there's a good henchman quality in the odious Creeper (Phil Fondacaro). I actually thought the three witches - Orddu (Eda Reiss Merin), Orwen (Adele Malis-Morey) and Orgach (Billie Hayes) had a bit more potential and I would've liked to have seen more of them.

- It took over a decade for this movie to get a physical release, due to how poorly it performed in theatres.

- Disney back in 2016 got the rights to The Chronicles of Prydain, so maybe a live action take willbe considered.

- Standout music: Taran, The Witches, The Horned King and Finale. It's not a very musical Disney movie.

- Chronology: Middle Ages, Prydain.

I'm not gonna pretend that The Black Cauldron would make my Top 20 Disney animated movies but I'm also not gonna pretend to dislike it. It's charming enough, only a tiny bit darker than some animated movies and had a decent enough story to go with it. It's worth giving a chance.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

I Turned 40 So Here's An 1985 Post

Yeah, turned 40 as of today and I thought a fun way of passing that milestone would be a blog talking about media events that happened in 1985.

Thinking of it as my less serious take on Reeling In The Years. 

Seeing as I talk about DC Comics quite a lot on this blog, of course one of things that sprang to mind was that this month also marked the 40th anniversary of Vertigo/Black Label/DC bad boy bisexual occult detective John Constantine. The character debuted properly in Issue #37 of Saga Of The Swamp Thing and became so popular, he ended up having 300 issues of his own comics from 1988-2013. Since then, he's had other runs for both the Black Label and mainstream DC, been on the Justice League Dark team and popped up in other characters and groups books, including Birds Of Prey recently. In live action, we've had the likes of Keanu Reeves, Matt Ryan and Jenna Coleman provide different takes, Taron Egerton through audio and we've had animated movies and shows too. Not too shabby for the character, eh?

Debut a few months before my birthday and the only soap that I consistently watch nowadays would be EastEnders. I start watching this around the mid 90s and I have been since then. Like all soaps, it has definitely had it's highs and lows but it's the one soap that I always find myself the most drawn to. I enjoyed the 40th anniversary celebrations back in February and the aftermath to that has been mostly entertaining since then. On the other side of the world, Neighbours also debuted the same year and will be ending for good towards the end of this year.

Are you really a gay man if you haven't watched The Golden Girls at some point in your life? Again, caught some of it as a kid and have rewatched it over the years as an adult. As a show, it never fails to make me laugh with Dorothy (Bea Arthur), Sophia (Estelle Getty), Blanche (Rue McClanahan) and Rose (Betty White) being the most entertaining foursome on the planet. Later in the year, to line up with this show's 40th anniversary, I'll do a blog about the show and it's short-lived spinoff, The Golden Palace.

1985 was also a very interesting time for Doctor Who. It was the proper debut season of Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor, paired with Peri Brown (Nicola Bryant). In their debut year, they'd face Daleks and Davros (Terry Molloy), the Master (Anthony Ainley) and the Rani (Kate O'Mara), Cybermen, Sontarans and the odious Sil (Nabil Shabam). Oh and there would be a rather nice team up with the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) but that wasn't all. The show's future would be in doubt, following a hiatus for the next season and the unforgettable (for all the wrong reasons) charity single, Doctor In Distress. Go and listen to it, I dare you. Also, 2025 Doctor Who looks like it could be heading down a similar path.

And then there were movies. 1985 gave Disney fans, The Black Cauldron (tomorrow's blog) and horror fans such sequels as A Nightmare On Elm Street: Freddy's Revenge and Friday The 13th: A New Beginning. It also gave audiences Back To The Future with Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd as Marty McFly and Doc Brown respectively. One of my favourite childhood movies includes Return To Oz while other movies from this year include The Breakfast Club, Desperately Seeking Susan, The Goonies, Cocoon, St. Elmo's Fire, Fright Night, Teen Wolf, Santa Clause: The Movie, Clue and Legend to name but a few. Most of these I've seen, some I've reviewed and others I need to catch up on.

As for music, 1985 was a good year for it. A list of some of the best songs from that year, so to speak.

• Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
• Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World
• Eurythmics - There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)
• Madonna - Into The Groove 
• Wham! - I'm Your Man
• Dead or Alive - You Spin Me Around (Like A Record)
• David Bowie/Mick Jaggar - Dancing In The Street
• Whitney Houston - Saving All My Love For You
• Bronski Beat - I Feel Love 
• Lionel Ritchie - Say You, Say Me

Well, that's a brief-ish on some noteworthy media things in the year of my birth that pertain to my interests. Hope you enjoyed reading it.

My Review of Juice - Series 1 (2023, BBC3 Series)

 

Written by Mawann Rizwan And Emily Lloyd-Saini

Directed by Rosco 5

Farida (re Jamma): "He's such a drama queen."

With Pride Month, I'm doing some rewatches and new ones absolutely this fell into the former category. With the second series currently being filmed, I went back to the first series of this rather zany sitcom.

Former YouTube star and actor, Mawann Rizwan lead this show with a cheeky, chaotic aplomb. In the six part show, he played Jamal "Jamma" Jamshidi, a young gay man working in marketing and currently dating an older man, a therapist named Guy (Russell Tovey).

Jamma and Guy's relationship should be better than it was, considering that Guy was giving Jamma the validation he wanted, was keen for them to live together and didn't outshine him. Guy was kind of the perfect boyfriend for Jamma but the latter spent most of the series keeping Guy at arm's length, lying to him and eventually the two of them broke up with each other.

Then there was Jamma's family. He's got a mother named Farida (Shahnaz Rizwan), a former actress that was running a community centre in danger of being shut down. Jamma's relationship with his mother was intriguing enough, especially in the penultimate episode when Jamma got one hell of an insight into his mother's past.

As for his relationships with younger brother, Isaac (Nabhaan Rizwan) and Saif (Jeff Mirza), they're not as compelling as the one with Farida but they have their moments. Isaac mostly cakes as a pretentious art school dropout while Saif seemed resentful of being overshadowed by Farida.

As for the work side of things, Isaac was briefly an obstacle in Jamma's world but it's the dynamic with boss Susan (Nathalie Armin), best friend Winnie (Emily Lloyd-Saini) and rival Pat (Hugh Coles) that some fun moments. Honestly I'm not surprised that Jamma ended up losing his job as often the show didn't do a great job in him being good at it.

- The episode titles are Cake, Helluva View, The Jamma Show, A Saif Space, Lights, Cameras, Escape and Home.

- In the third episode, Farida talked about having a relationship a woman and the fifth episode proved that she was telling the truth.

- Guy's ex boyfriend Dan (Marc Elliott) popped up in the second episode. They had a dog named Custard.

- This show had a lot of fun with the trippy sequences whenever Jamma's emotions were heightened. Jamma even saw his father as a mouse at one point.

- That face cream ad campaign Jamma was in charge of really was sexist. Jamma didn't exactly help with it either.

- Chronology: 2023 London. 

The first series of Juice managed to be a mad, chaotic fun with Jamma being an amusing but frustrating protagonist. The supporting characters are largely good, particularly Farida. She's the perfect foil to Jamma and felt like the most rounded character in the show.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Man In An Orange Shirt (2017, BBC1 Miniseries)

 

Written by Patrick Gale

Directed by Michael Samuels

Michael (to Thomas): "The love I feel for you is beyond my control. I love you, Thomas. I've always loved you. I see that now. Tell me I'm not too late."

I watched this miniseries back in 2017 when it originally aired on BBC1 during the summer of that year. However, I never got around to reviewing it, so of course I was determined to amend that after watching it again last night.

Split into two episodes and with an interconnecting generational story, you've got the past informing the present quite a bit. The first half focused on the forbidden love story between two World War II era soldiers - Captain Michael Berryman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and Thomas March (James McArdle). It's a compelling love story but marred by the era it's based in.

Michael had a cottage and after the war ended, there was a weekend of bliss where both him and Thomas were able to be a couple. Then the crushing reality of Michael having to marry school teacher, Flora Talbot (Joanna Vanderham) set in and things weren't quite the same between Michael and Thomas.

In fact, it's an entire cycle of everyone being miserable. Flora found herself married to a gay man she couldn't leave and had a son with him. Thomas did a spell in prison because he was a gay man and Michael almost had the courage to run away with Thomas but bolted at the last minute. The performances from the three leads here are sublime and do elevate the somewhat expected outcomes for these characters.

Then we cut to modern times where a much older Flora (Vanessa Redgrave) has been a widow for a long time and now has a testy relationship with her grandson, Adam (Julian Morris). In this episode, while Flora's prejudices do rear their head, there's more of an attempt to be understanding to her grandson.

Gifting Adam that cottage where Michael and Thomas were their truest brought up the past for Flora. She had to open up about Michael being gay to Adam and her role in sabotaging Michael and Thomas's relationship. Flora did however try to mend Adam's relationship with architect Steve (David Gyasi).

The Adam and Steve relationship was a stark contrast to Michael and Thomas. Adam's sex addiction and overuse of hook up apps nearly killed it. Then there was Steve's relationship with art dealer, Casper (Julian Sands). Their union was more of a representation of some modern relationships beyond the culture of hook up apps.

The second half of this miniseries managed to keep the momentum of the first half and looping back Michael's poignant love letter to Thomas was such a great way of getting Adam and Steve to reconnect. Arguably, it felt a little easy but it worked nonetheless, ending this miniseries on a nicely positive note.

- There's some nice supporting performances from Laura Carmichael, Paul Clayton, Frances De La Tour, Angel Coulby and Phil Dunster to name a few.

- Keeping with the title, Michael did wear an orange shirt and was painted by Thomas. The painting was hidden under the cottage one. Michael died in his 60s.

- The series didn't shy from the sex scenes with the male cast one bit, especially with Adam in the second half.

- Some of this miniseries was based on writer Patrick Gale's own real life.

- This miniseries was part of the BBC's Gay Britannia season in 2017, marking the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Britain.

- Chronology: World War II era Italy and London and 2017 London and the countryside.

Man In An Orange Shirt might have some slightly expected moments but I can honestly, it's a beautiful miniseries with two equally compelling love stories. The parallels between Michael/Thomas and Adam/Steve are presented well and the performances from Oliver Jackson-Cohen, James McArdle, Julian Morris and David Gyasi are sublime. 

Rating: 9 out of 10 

Freddy's Nightmares - Episodes 1-5 Reviews

I meant to do this last year but things got away from me. Anyways for the next nine blogs, I'll briefly break down each episode of this TV spin off.

Episode : No More Mr Nice Guy

First and foremost and for obvious reason, Robert Englund is the only actor to appear in every episode of this show. This first episode served as a prequel for A Nightmare On Elm Street and it certainly set the tone for the show. Freddy being on trial for killing kids in Springwood but getting off because his rights were never read. The parents of course took it upon themselves to enact their own justice on Freddy and that should've been the end of that. Of course, it wasn't and Freddy soon started taking a few out a few adults himself. The events of this opening episode would result in a sequel a few episodes. Interesting side note would be that Tobe Hopper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) directed this episode. 7/10

Episode 2: It's A Miserable Life

The format from this episode onwards for the majority of the series would be a story pivoting from one character to another with Freddy as the antagonist. The first half of this episode had dissatisfied would be college kid, Bryan (John Cameron Mitchell) wanting to get out of the drudgery of his father's fast food restaurant. Bryan's desperation for escape had some unsettling dream sequences before he became a victim of a drive by shooting, witnessed by his girlfriend, Karyn (Lar Park Lincoln). Karyn became the focus of the second half, stuck in hospital and generally being terrorised by the staff as Freddy closed in on her. Fans of the Friday The 13th franchise should recognise a certain actor in this one. 7/10

Episode 3: Killer Instinct

Who fancies a bit of non friendly competition? That's pretty much the premise of this episode. Chris (Lori Petty) and Nickie (Yvette Nipar) are running rivals and the first half of the episode was focused on Chris's mommy issues, her need to win and a magical charm that gave her the edge. Then on one run, Chris lost the charm and her life, only for it to turn out that Nickie took the charm. The change of viewpoint to Nickie almost made her a sympathetic character but not quite. Her competitive drive was certainly given more context in light of her parents but it wasn't enough to make me care when she eventually got her comeuppance. 6/10

Episode 4: Freddy's Tricks And Treats 

I always wanted a Halloween scenario for this franchise and the fourth episode being a Halloween one was a nice treat. Not so much for our bookish protagonist Marsha Wildmon (Mariska Hargitay). She couldn't study in a party house, her boyfriend was a distraction, her grandmother a sexually repressed control freak and her cynicism about Freddy Krueger being real didn't end well for her. Then the episode flipped things where it turned out that her dreams were being studied while Freddy continued to terrorise Marsha. It's the strongest episode of this bunch and yes, there's another Friday The 13th reference to look out for. 8/10

Episode 5: Judy Miller, Come On Down 

Breaking the pattern a little here, this episode focus on an adult couple - Judy (Siobhan E. McCafferty) and Tom Miller (John DeMita). Granted they're living with Tom's parents and Judy's obsession with game shows has become something that Tom ridicules her for. However Judy ended winning big on a gameshow and Tom suddenly changed his tune. Judy's life should d been great but then an older version of herself (Susan Oliver) warned Judy about Tom's infidelity and money control. This was one of those episodes that almost could've done without Freddy as his role felt more like an observer. I did like the focus on older characters here. 6/10

Next blog I'll cover Saturday Night Special, Sister's Keeper, Mother's Day, Rebel Without A Car and The Bride Wore Red.

The Maybe Uncertain Future Of Doctor Who - Opinion Piece

After last night's extremely divisive finale, The Reality War, the future of Doctor Who seems to be a much dicier place than before.

Where to begin with this one? Let's start with THAT regeneration scene.

Last night, and after 18 and a bit episodes, Ncuti Gatwa regenerated into Billie Piper. Yes, I couldn't believe it with my eyes and I had known about it for two weeks as did most Doctor Who fans. What the hell is going on?

If you look at the credits, Billie Piper is credited but not as the Doctor or Rose Tyler or even Bad Wolf/The Moment. It's very unusual, is it not? I mean, surely she's the Doctor. If not the 16th, then a yet to be labelled differently one.

The BBC press site had comments from Russell T. Davies and Billie Piper and both of them were vague about the nature of Piper's return to the series. Also with no news as to when the next series is happening, the show does seem to be in rather murky waters at the moment in regards to it's future.

Russell T. Davies has mentioned writing for the third series in his run with stories mapped out for a fourth run. It's also been rumoured in the press that the show will continue on BBC1, even if Disney+ abandon the series and I'm suspecting they will at this point.

Looking a bit closer ahead, last night also saw the first trailer for upcoming spin-off, The War Between The Land And The Sea released and it too confirmed a lot of rumours from months ago. It also looked pretty good, so I'm intrigued by it.

First of all, we've got Gugu Mbatha-Raw playing a Sea Devil named Salt. In fact, she's clearly the main character from the Sea Devils and her motive does seem to be one of peace. In particular, Salt seemed to be drawn to a human named Barclay, played by Russell Tovey. If rumours are correct, expect a romance between Salt and Barclay akin to The Shape Of Water.

Created and co-written by Russell T. Davies and Pete McTighe and directed by Dylan Holmes Williams, the five part series is coming soon to both BBC1, iPlayer and Disney+. The show will see the returns of current UNIT team Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), Shirley Bingham (Ruth Madeley) and Colonel Ibrahim (Alexander Devrient). There also the inclusion of General Austin Pierce (Colin McFarlane) from Torchwood: Children Of Earth.

The trailer was brief but tantalising enough to intrigue. I just hope the spin-off can stick the landing.

Last but not least, here's a picture of a deleted scene from The Reality War. It's supposed to be the original ending, which would have had the Doctor, Belinda and Ruby celebrating May Day with Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) spying on them, setting up the arc for a third season had Ncuti Gatwa remained on the show. That's the rumour at least. I would've preferred that ending.

We'll have to wait and see the future of Doctor Who. There's an episode of Doctor Who Unleashed celebrating twenty years of the revived series, featuring Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat, Chris Chibnall, David Tennant, Ncuti Gatwa, Jodie Whittaker, Billie Piper, Varada Sethu, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill to name a few. Hopefully answers are coming soon, regardless of outcome.

What do you think is about to happen to the series? What should happen with it?

My Review of Doctor Who: "The Reality War"

 

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai

The Doctor: "This has been an absolute joy."

I held off writing my review for this episode because much as it pains me to admit, this was one of the strangest regeneration episodes ever. I knew it was coming by the way. I read the rumours and I knew the tabloids were telling the truth back in February. Ncuti Gatwa, you gave it your all in an era that quite frankly wasted it's potential.

In his longest episode yet, the 15th Doctor had a lot to resolve. Some plot strands weren't resolved here and others were so sloppily handled, it beggars belief. First though, let's take about that regeneration because I have so many mixed feelings on it.

Ncuti Gatwa delivered in his final moments with the 15th Doctor actively choosing to generate in order to save one last person. He also had time to have one last meaningful conversation with Belinda before his departure. Belinda's another topic that I have thoughts on and none of them good to be frank.

Anyways, the regeneration (thank god, it was that) into Billie Piper raises a lot of questions. Is she really the 16th Doctor? Why haven't the BBC, Piper and RTD confirmed it if so? Or is there something else at play that's messing with the Doctor regenerating properly? Billie Piper could easily play the Doctor in her sleep but there's no denying it's an odd creative decision to go back to another old face after David Tennant a year and a half ago. 

Getting back to the episode itself, boy, was it overstuffed or what? I had a horrible feeling that Omega was going to be a massive flop and he was. Unnecessary and downright ugly CGI to one side, there was no attempt to give him a character. He wanted to be the God of Time, chowed down on the Rani (inelegant indeed) and then got blasted back to the Underverse by the Doctor. A complete and utter waste of the character.

As for the Rani, damn did this episode do her dirty. That horrible "death" at the hands of Omega was so undignified for the character. I did love her general plot to restore Gallifrey but this show had to stop that, so the Doctor can still be the last of his kind. I'm over the last of the Time Lords. I think every fan is at this point. At least Mrs Flood was smart enough to get out of dodge. Saying that, I wouldn't bring her back next season.

Then there's the UNIT and Anita side of things. Yup, the hotelier from Joy To The World returned to save the Doctor from the Underverse and helped with everyone's memories. Honestly she was more helpful than UNIT and Belinda and about the same amount of helpful as Ruby was. I did like seeing Anita but she was nearly lost in the shuffle with the amount of plotlines this episode.

Then there's Ruby. By far, the best companion of this era but in an episode where she didn't get to have a proper final scene with her Doctor. She did however manage to take down Conrad and give him a merciful comeuppance while Wish Baby became her adopted brother. She also had a better reaction to Poppy being displaced than even the Doctor and Belinda did.

Speaking of Belinda, I am genuinely surprised with how horribly handled she's been and more so by the outcome of her ending. Varada Sethu was a great find for the show and had great chemistry with Ncuti Gatwa but Belinda's lack of agency as a character was shockingly bad. Belinda essentially got rewritten to be a single mother to Poppy in order to discontinue travelling with the Doctor. In 2025, it's an incredibly tone deaf way of writing the character out.

- There were reshoots back in February to accommodate the Gatwa/Piper regeneration and Belinda's rewritten ending.

- The Rani/Mrs Flood took great delight in taunting Ruby, Belinda and Mel while pointing out why bigeneration became a thing. 

- This show seriously needs to either drop Rose and Shirley as characters or do something meaningful with them. Susan Triad could've easily sat this one out too.

- I absolutely loved the cameo from the 13th Doctor. Jodie Whittaker worked brilliantly with Ncuti Gatwa in their scene together. Nice archive footage of 3rd and 11th Doctor too.

- I'm guessing the Rogue plot will be dropped and both Susan Foreman and The Boss are for the next Doctor to discover.

- Chronology: May 23rd and 24th 2025. 

Without a shadow of a doubt, The Reality War has got to be the most disappointing finale that Russell T. Davies has done for the show. An abrupt exit for Ncuti Gatwa, an uncertain start for Billie Piper, horrible exits for Ruby and Belinda, butchering of the Rani and Omega and too many unresolved strands. I've liked a lot in this era but RTD really does need someone to pull him aside and show him what isn't working.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of My Own Private Idaho (1991)

 

Written And Directed by Gus Van Sant

Mike: "I'm a connoisseur of roads. I've been tasting roads my whole life. This road will never end. It probably goes all around the world."

Ah, this one has been on my list for a while. I watched it a long time ago but with Pride Month starting tomorrow, I couldn't wait to see it again. It's a cult classic from Gus Van Sant and one of his most iconic movies to date. 

So, what's it about, huh? Well, you've got a protagonist named Mike Waters (River Phoenix). He's a street hustler who suffers from narcolepsy and it's something that frequently factored into the movie. It's more of a plot point than expected.

I mean the movie both opened and ended with Mike having experienced a narcoleptic episode. Among that was also Mike having visions of his mother, Sharon (Vana O'Brien) comforting him during moments of stress. The search for Mike's mother also played a role in this movie.

However there were other factors. For example, when we weren't seeing Mike servicing various clients, including the likes of Hans (Udo Kier), there was his friendships with other hustlers. The most notable friendship in particular being with rich guy, Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves). 

The son of the Mayor Jack Favor (Tom Troupe), for the most part, Scott was a decent enough friend to Mike. If Mike was clearly meant to be gay, then Scott by contrast was a bored straight guy acting out by hanging out with vagrants to annoy his father. That was something that the likes of Bob Pigeon (William Richert) picked up on.

As the movie progressed, we had both Mike and Scott journey from Seattle to Italy where more information about Mike's mother came to light before returning to Portland. Unfortunately their friendship soured and Scott pretty much became his own father while Mike ended on a deserted Idaho highway before being helped by an unidentified figure. It somewhat ended this movie on an odd note.

- This movie's loosely inspired by William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V.

- There's a recontextualised version of this movie called My Own Private River that was released following the 20th anniversary.

- Standout music: Eddy Arnold's The Cattle Call, Elton John's Blue Eyes and The Pogues The Old Main Drag.

- Chronology: 1990s Portland, Italy and Idaho. At one point, Mike's watching an episode of The Simpsons.

My Own Private Idaho does feel like a movie that every LGBT person should see at least once in their lifetime. River Phoenix did give a career defining performance with Mike Waters and it's a lovingly shot film by Gus Van Sant. If you haven't seen it, now's the time to do so.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

DCU Blog - May 2025 Edition: Superman Promo Kicks In, Peacemaker Role Revealed and Comics Crossover Alert

This was certainly a month for a lot of DC news. Sadly there's one piece of bad news but the rest was definitely something worth celebrating.

The promotion for Superman (July 11th) has well and truly kicked in. We got a brand new trailer, photoshoots with David Corenswrt and Nicholas Hoult, merchandise reveals and a World Tour coming from June 19th onwards.

Apparently a draft for The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027) has been completed. Filming will commence in early 2026.

Lauren LeFranc has recently confirmed that other spin offs beyond The Penguin are currently in development.

Filming for Clayface will start in October with the movie still confirmed for September 11th 2026 theatrical release.

Filming for Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow (June 26th 2026) has now wrapped. Some filming pics did give vague looks at both Milly Alcock and Jason Momoa's respective looks for Supergirl and Lobo.

Bad news is that Luca Guadagnino's Sgt. Rock movie, which would've had Colin Farrell in the title role and Mike Faust in an undisclosed role has been put on hold. It may be picked up for filming next summer.

Some concept art for Dynamic Duo (June 30th 2028) did surface online yesterday. I'd post them but I'd like to not to have my blog striked. 

Keanu Reeves, according to Peter Stormaire isn't happy with the progress of the Constantine sequel script. At this point, just pull the plug on this idea.

A trailer for the second season of Peacemaker (August 21st on HBO Max) has confirmed that Sean Gunn, Nathan Fillion and Isabela Merced will reprise their roles as Maxwell Lord, Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl in the series. Michael Rooker will play Red St. Wild, who will be an enemy of Eagly.

Colin Farrell and Danny DeVito will be on the upcoming season of Actors on Actors. Their episode will premiere June 2nd on YouTube.

James Gunn did seem to give some encouraging updates on Wonder Woman when asked online. Paradise Lost is still being written.

At least two Teen Titans movies are in development. One for the DCU (though they're to decide who the Robin will be) and the other will be an animated one set in the Teen Titans Go! Universe.

DC/Marvel comic book fans can enjoy a Batman/Deadpool six part crossover event from September. Another crossover event with other characters will release in 2026.

The 2025 DC Pride issue will come out on June 4th. However, this issue will feature an interconnected story focusing on a century old LGBTQ+ tavern in Gotham City. 

Lanterns will premiere on HBO in early 2026, before the release of Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow. Filming is still currently active and there's a casting rumour, I'm holding back on but will discuss next month if it's true.

James Gunn has confirmed that the next movie he's writing is something that hasn't been previously announced. World's Finest has been rumoured a lot.

This was definitely a great month for DCU news, minus one particular set back. 

Justice League (2001-2004) - Episodes 39-52 Reviews

Heading into the latter half of this second season, there was some surprise alliances, betrayals and oh, a little bit of Christmas cheer to boot.

Episodes 39-40: Eclipsed 

Ah, Eclipso. If you wanted someone to bring out the worst in nearly all of the Justice League, then he's the guy to do it. Trapped in an ancient lunar crystal called the Black Heart, it's discovery led to Eclipso's freedom and various Justice League members being possessed by him. Of course, The Flash managed to be resistant to his charms and it was the Flash that also saved his teammates from a weapon that would destroy both the Sun and the Earth. It's a pretty solid story. 6/10

Episodes 41-42: The Terror Beyond 

The first in a series of unlikely team ups, this two parter had Solomon Grundy working with Doctor Fate and Aquaman. The latter two need Grundy's help in taking down an ancient evil and Grundy's willing to go along with it for his own reasons. On the opposite side was Superman, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl, who didn't like the idea of Grundy being used for Doctor Fate and Aquaman's plan. It's a strong story for Solomon Grundy, who's made into a more layered character with a poignant sacrifice to boot. 7/10

Episodes 43-44: Secret Society 

Gorilla Grodd had his moment back in the first season going up against the Justice League and now he's assembled a team. His team comprising of Giganta, Killer Frost, Sinestro, Parasite, Shade, and Clayface. They formed the Secret Society and they were also successful in capturing a quarrelling Justice League. I do find it interesting that throughout the series, we've had various takes on a bad Justice League with Shade being a consistent member in an ever changing team up. Grodd made for a good team leader before the Secret Society were inevitably defeated. 7/10

Episodes 45-46: Hereafter

Death of Superman, anyone? Yes, we're doing that but not quite. For the majority of this story, it was assumed by the Justice League that Superman has perished. This was after a new supervillain team composed of Metallo, Kalibak, Livewire, Weather Wizard, and Toyman. Instead he ended up in a different time zone where he teamed up with a reformed Vandal Savage to get back to his own time to reunite with his team and stop Savage in the present day. On the other hand, we almost had Lobo as a new Justice League member and he was rather fun in this story. 8/10

Episodes 47-48: Wild Cards

If Lex Luthor could get a returning villain story, then I guess Joker could too. Teamed up with Harley Quinn and the Royal Flush Gang, this story took place in Las Vegas where Joker's planted a lot of bombs over the Las Vegas Strip for good measure. There's a reference to an infamous Conrad Veidt movie that should make Joker fans smile as well as a nice attempt to give some backstory to the character of Ace. Honestly though, it felt like an idea that never got made for Batman: The Animated Series and was slightly retooled to work for here. 7/10

Episode 49: Comfort And Joy

I do love a good Christmas episode and I really, really loved this one. It's that time of year when even the Justice League are allowed to be off duty and as a result, we got three very satisfying stories. First of all, there was Hawkgirl and John Stewart choosing to relax by going to an alien bar and getting into a brawl. There was also snow fights and a kiss between the two of them. Then there was The Flash who wanted to get a popular toy for the kids in a children's home. This resulted in a rather team up with the Ultra-Humanite where the latter discovered his Christmas spirit. As for Superman, he brought Martian Manhunter home to Smallville and that contained two of the best scenes. The realisation that Superman still believed in Santa Claus and Martian Manhunter's singing at the end. I do wish we had gotten a Batman and Wonder Woman story but overall, this was a beautiful episode. 9/10

Episodes 50-52: Starcrossed 

The show started with a three part story, so it was fitting that it would end with one as well. It also started with an invasion, so ending with one would also be fitting. This time around, it was the Thanagarians with Hawkgirl's betrayal being revealed to the team. Hawkgirl has never been as prominent as she was in this story. There was her conflict in betraying the family she's made on Earth for the one she was born into. There was her burgeoning relationship with John Stewart and her past one with Hro Talak, who was pretty bad. As for the gang, they were captured, escaped, revealed their civilian identities, defeated the Thanagarians but also banished Hawkgirl. A bittersweet ending of sorts for the show. 8/10

I will hopefully get around to tackling Justice League Unlimited at a later date. 

Understanding The Other Side

Yeah, it's been over a month since I've done one of these and I've not watched that many things since then but here's a look at what I have seen.

9-1-1: The real test for this show will be next season. Will the decision to have killed off Bobby Nash been a disaster or can the show actually survive without him? These last three episodes at least put his successor to bed with Howie assuming the mantle along with the birth of his and Maddie's son. There was some closure for Athena, Hen and Karen's family being completed, more of Ravi (make him a regular already) and plenty of Buck/Eddie scenes with side order of Tommy. Not a great ending but not awful either.

Overcompensating: What can I say about this Amazon college coming of age comedy series? The following actually - a) it's the type of show that would've felt fresh and original had it been released twenty years ago, b) Benito Skinner really shouldn't have cast himself or Adam DiMarco because they both looked too old for their respective roles c) the Charlie XCX references were a bit much as was Megan Fox and d) the potential romance between Benny and Miles was just disappointing. I appreciate some of the hot guys and I liked the budding friendship with Benny/Carmen and certain guest actors but overall, this show was mostly lacking.

Poker Face: It's been two years since the first season ended with Natasha Lyonne's Charlie Cale incurred the wrath of various mob families. The first five episodes saw the show on great form with some brilliant guest characters. Cynthia Erivo as five different siblings, Giancarlo Esposito as a creepy undertaker, Rhea Pearlman and Richard Kind as a mob couple, Kumail Nanjiani as a throwback to Tiger King (but with an alligator) as wdll as Simon Rex and Carol Kane in a baseball themed episode. Overall, a very enjoyable bunch of episodes so far this season.

The Last Of Us: There's no denying that the decision to kill off Joel so early in the second season has had such a ripple effect. I think for a chunk of the audience, losing the character and Pedro Pascal was enough for them to sign out. I'll admit, I did struggle with the rest of the season, so the brief reappearance of Joel was nice but do general audiences care enough about Ellie vs. Abby or the Ellie/Dina romance to help Season 3? We'll see.

• The second season of Netflix's The Gentlemen has gone into production. 
• Showtime have renewed Yellowjackets for a fourth season.
• AppleTV+ have renewed The Studio for a second season.
• A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms will now air on HBO in 2026.
• Welcome To Derry will premiere on HBO Max during the Fall.
• T'Nia Miller has been cast as Jocasta for upcoming Disney+ MCU series, Vision.
• David Tennant will remain as a regular for the second season of Rivals for Disney+. It's currently filming and will be twelve episodes.
• Dexter: Resurrection will premiere from July 11th on Paramount+ on Showtime from July 11th.
• Kaia Gerber has signed on as the lead for upcoming FX adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's The Shards. The show will be executive produced by Ryan Murphy.
• Krysten Ritter will reprise her role as Jessica Jones for the second season of Daredevil: Born Again for Disney+.
• The Wheel Of Time has been cancelled by Amazon after three seasons.
• The upcoming Harry Potter series for HBO has officially cast Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton as Harry, Ron and Hermione respectively.
• Bridgerton has officially been renewed for both a fifth and sixth season by Netflix. Season 4 will premiere in 2026.