Monday, 25 November 2013

Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor

Doctor: 'Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame.'

A satisfying anniversary episode all told. It had pretty much everything you'd expect from a multi-Doctor episode: a cataclysmic storyline, bickering Doctors, a returning companion (kind of), classic monsters, and a whole slew of sneaky references I'm still mulling over. What I didn't expect was a complete rewrite of the biggest historical event in the show's modern history. Or Tom Baker.

Wednesday, 20 November 2013

Misfits: Episode Five

Rudy: "Refuted! I refute you, Sir!"

After a slight dip in chuckles last week, tonight's episode was jam packed full of quotables. Welcome back, Howard Overman! Rudy and Jess' relationship is blossoming, Finn's found himself a new girlfriend, and Helen is about to become part of Rudy 2's R-Men. (Like the X-Men, but R-ier.) They also gave us the final piece of Greg's story: a reveal brimming with pathos, poetry, unrequited love, and extreme physical violence. Doesn't it warm your heart?

Friday, 15 November 2013

Misfits: Episode Four

Abbey: "Use your power, Alex. Help people. Be a superhero."

A Jon Brown penned episode this week. His stuff isn't quite as quotable as Howard Overman's, but after two seasons of active duty, Brown knows these characters inside out, and he certainly didn't disappoint. I cringed and laughed as much at tonight's episode as any other. He also managed to make Rudy look vaguely human—which is no mean feat.

Thursday, 7 November 2013

Misfits: Episode Three

Laura: "I'm really glad I made you."
Abby: “Me too.”

Absolutely superb! Everything about this episode flowed seamlessly. Several of the long running storylines came to a head, the main arc objective is now clear, and for the first time since season three, the show feels whole again. Which makes it all the more galling that we only have five episodes left.

Monday, 4 November 2013

Misfits: Episode Two

Rudy: “I think I'm going to cry.”

It's not often that we get such a strong story-driven episode. As well as the Rudy-centric stuff, they also managed to develop Abby and Greg's stories—if you can count Abby spending half the episode sniffing a strangers' scarf, and Greg watching Finn take a shower, as character development. I can, therefore I am.

Misfits: Episode One

Rudy: “Women are very much like tractors.”

Misfits is back for its fifth and final season, and after just one episode, I already feel dirty, confused, and slightly ashamed. So mission accomplished, Howard Overman.

Sunday, 3 November 2013

Doctor Who: The Name of the Doctor

River: 'Goodbye, Sweetie.'

I don't think I made it past the cold open before I was blubbing. In fact, I spent a great deal of this episode in tears. It was the absolute antithesis of what I was expecting—and was all the better for it. If this is what Moffat can produce for a season finale, imagine what he has planned for the 50th anniversary.

Saturday, 18 May 2013

Doctor Who: A Nightmare in Silver

Doctor: 'The impossible girl. A mystery, wrapped in an enigma, squeezed into a skirt that's just a little bit too tight.'

Well, that'll teach me to get my hopes up. I suppose it was a bit much to expect something equalling the quality of 'The Doctor's Wife', but I expected more than this. It wasn't terrible—but it wasn't overly memorable either. Did Neil Gaiman succeed in making the Cybermen scary again? Not really, no.

Monday, 6 May 2013

Doctor Who: The Crimson Horror

Vastra: 'I was right then, you and Clara have unfinished business.'

When the Paternoster Gang are in town it's always fun and games, but Mark Gatiss excelled himself tonight. This has to have been the high point of the season so far, and what made it so perfect is that it was completely unexpected. Most of us were sat around, biding our time until next week's Neil Gaiman penned episode, yet tonight's offering had everything we could have hoped for: horror, pathos, adventure, humour... sonic screwdriver erection gags.

Sunday, 5 May 2013

Doctor Who: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

Clara: 'Please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this.'

I think your enjoyment of this episode is pretty much dependent on how interesting you find the TARDIS. If you're a fan of Sexy, then there was plenty of good stuff to gnaw on. Outside of the TARDIS stuff, the story was slightly spoiled by the occasional plot contrivance, and an underdeveloped secondary cast, but had some undeniably great moments. And I'm not just talking about Jenna's dress.

Sunday, 21 April 2013

Doctor Who: Hide

Doctor: 'I am the Doctor and I am afraid.'

After 'The Rings of Akhaten' I wasn't expecting much from this episode, so I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be excellent. At first, I thought we were in for a bog standard Scooby Doo style run around, but somewhere along the way it transformed into a glorious sci-fi/fantasy tale of love lost, love found, mortality and pooper scoopers.

Doctor Who: Cold War

Grisenko: 'I need to know... Ultravox! Do they split up?'

The opening quote pretty much sums up the episode: funny, sometimes clever, often cheesy, occasionally suspenseful, and probably the best Mark Gatiss episode since 'The Unquiet Dead'. (Admittedly, not much of an accolade.) It also had the Doctor kissing a dolly, promising to kiss Professor Grisenko, and Ultravox. Surely the ingredients for a future classic?

Sunday, 7 April 2013

Doctor Who - The Rings of Akhaten


Doctor: 'We don't walk away.'

For me, Doctor Who is at its best when it's traversing alien worlds, teaching us about humanity, and telling stories which, although ostensibly other-worldy, resonate with our human hearts. Tonight ticked all three of those boxes, although it wasn't without fault. There's a fine line between homage and derivative. Tonight, I think they occasionally overstepped that line.