New Year’s Greetings from the Grotto!

It’s been a strange couple of years in fantasy telly land! Mostly, I was disappointed with “Doctor Who”. Last year, it was just great to see it back and seemed like the usual mix of good and bad. I didn’t like the first two stories but enjoyed the Simon Callow episode and so on. As the initial season progressed, the blandness of style just seemed too all pervading but the anticipation had been so strong it took a while before realising that Russell T Davies is no Philip Hinchcliffe. I thought they reintroduced the Daleks in the wrong way, with only a single one, but with the benefit of hindsight “Dalek” is the strongest of the new Dalek episodes. En masse would’ve been better to claim new fans. And I was struck immediately by the quality of the direction in the opening of the Blitz two-parter. I still think “The Empty Child” is the best story from 2005 but I don’t think it’s as good as I initially thought whereas I like “Dalek” more than I did originally.

This year the only stand out story, for me, was “The Impossible Planet” which I wasn’t as struck with at first as after repeated viewing. It was the tiresome opening scene between the Doctor and Rose that threw me on first viewing. I had been optimistic. I thought Tennant would be good. Graeme Harper would be masterminding all the Cybermen episodes and yet I remember mentioning in a post my worry that his style would be homogenised. There are bits here and there. I would add the Queen Victoria episode to the list if it wasn’t for the feeble attempt at humour. I would add “School Reunion” had equal attention been paid to the alien part of the story. The real slump came after “The Satan Pit”. I think Marc Warren is a terrific actor, he’d even possibly make a better Doctor than Tennant (who, in turn, would make a good Adam Adamant) but “L&M” just wasn’t for me and neither was “Fear Her”. The kindest thing I can say about the Olympic fiasco was that the yellowy-orange t-shirt colour suited Billie! And, like the previous year’s two-part finale, I felt the first half was padding, leading the viewer up to the cliff-hanger, and the second carried by spectacle, the very thing the writer of these episodes claimed was less important than the quality of writing.

While “Doctor Who” morphed into an action adventure series, I held out hopes for spin-off “Torchwood”. Same team, same mess. It’s had its good episodes. I enjoyed “Greeks Bearing Gifts”, possibly for the wrong reasons, and “Out of Time” was terrific, definitely for the right reasons! I’ve posted a few rehearsal shots below, showing Burn looking flushed with success, to celebrate its singular quality. But “Countrycide” was appalling and “Combat” even worse. I hope the author of the latter is writing better scripts on alternate Earth! “TW” has been so uneven, it hasn’t helped the viewer delineate who the main characters are meant to be.

“Spooks” was also disappointing this year. Every episode of season five was essentially the same. It was still exciting, better executed than “DW”, but the main guest actor in each story, usually playing the top politician, was always in league with the terrorists! They brought in a new female lead instead of moving Miranda Raison centre stage. Her sense of wonderment in season four, especially when entering Thames House for the first time, was what Billie’s should’ve been on first seeing the inside of the TARDIS. Better guest actors last year too, Martine McCutcheon, Andrew Tiernan, Jeff Rawle - Plantagenet in “Frontios” and who I would cast as the Doctor, Nigel Terry, Douglas Hodge, George Baker, David Burke, Lindsay Duncan. All terrific.

I enjoyed “A for Andromeda” despite its critical mauling. The return of “Cracker” was ok but paled against repeats of the first two seasons on ITV3. Certain repeats have been good. Great to see “The Green Death”, “Spearhead from Space” and “The Ark in Space” on BBC4, even if they weren’t in their original format. “Space: 1999” and “UFO” were on ITV4 and I got to see “Strange Report” for the first time - a little gem. BBC4 ran a series of half-hour documentaries on cult telly including “Adam Adamant Lives!”, “Doomwatch”, “Star Cops”, “Survivors”, “Blake’s 7” and “The Tripods” but only featured whole episodes of the first two! And Christmas telly… well “Dracula” was good but not a patch on the earlier BBC version starring Louis Jourdan. In fact, the best thing about this Christmas was the trailers for “Dracula” which featured David Bowie’s “Warszawa”, from the album “Low”, accompanying the sequence of excerpts. Now that was spooky!

Well, let’s hope for better things in the New Year, which is only hours away. I’m ever optimistic. Sarah Jane kicks things off. Let’s hope they don’t manage to kill her off “properly” and I am looking forward to seeing Miranda Raison in “Doctor Who” though I would’ve chosen MyAnna Buring (Scooti), as the new companion, over Freema Agyeman. Hope you all have a good one and see you on the other side of “The Midnight Hour”…

Here’s looking at you, kid!

Ruby Wednesday!

Here’s a collection of half a dozen screen caps featuring Billie Piper as Sally Lockhart in Philip Pullman’s “The Ruby in the Smoke” which premiered on 27th December on BBC1. It passed without illustration in a previous post so am rectifying that oversight with this small group of stills. Billie looked good in period corsets though I don’t think she was as emotionally stretched as in “Doctor Who”, which is perhaps surprising. There were odd glimpses, too, of a very contemporary smile though it didn’t intrude on her performance. I’m looking forward to seeing her soon as Fanny Price in ITV1’s new adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Mansfield Park”, which also features Douglas Hodge and Maggie O’Neill. I remember Sylvestra Le Touzel in the role, whose first acting job, coincidentally, was in the Patrick Troughton “Doctor Who” story “The Mind Robber”, in the BBC’s version broadcast in 1983. I’m also looking forward to seeing more of Sally Lockhart in “The Shadow in the North”, already in the can for transmission later next year.

As well as her television work, Billie is about to take to the stage, touring the UK with Christopher Hampton’s play “Treats” prior to making her West End debut at the Garrick Theatre towards the end of February. Set in London in 1974, “Treats” examines a love triangle between Ann (Piper), a young professional at a struggling newspaper, her new lover Patrick, who is a colleague from work, and her ex-boyfriend Dave. The play was originally produced at the Royal Court, where it starred Jane Asher, Stephen Moore and James Bolam. On this occasion, the men in Ann’s life are played by Kris Marshall, best known for “My Family” but recently seen on BBC3 as Sarah Smart’s husband in “Funland”, and Laurence Fox, third son of actor James Fox and Kevin Whately’s sidekick DS James Hathaway in the upcoming “Inspector Morse” spin-off series “Lewis”, following a successful pilot. Almost a month before opening in London, there will be an opportunity to see “Treats”, reasonably locally at the Malvern Theatres, during the week beginning Monday 29th January.

For Better or For Worse?

Just when I thought I was safe from the monster that is Jackie Tyler, along comes her replacement! Catherine Tate, as bride-to-be Donna, was best when she was pleasant but I couldn’t bear her voice at the beginning!! Once she started to trust the Doctor, and smiled, it was more watchable than when she was whining. I still don’t like David Tennant’s manic interpretation, though I understand why he portrays the character in this way. It appeals to all those children who consume too many E numbers through drinking too much orange squash!

There were some good shots in “The Runaway Bride”. The water-drenching close-up on Tennant’s transfixed face was straight out of a Ridley Scott movie. The upward-spiralling TARDIS, at the end of the taxi sequence, as well as the children in the back seat of their car, seen but not heard, each mouthing “Jump”, were both entertaining moments. Some have suggested the episode peaked too early at this point. Bouncing along the M4 isn’t typical TARDIS behaviour but it was fun.

I enjoyed the several nods to classic adventures. The robot reveal in the taxi, when the Santa mask came off, was reminiscent of “Terror of the Autons”; showing Donna the origins of the universe was similar to showing Sarah Jane its possible ending in “Pyramids of Mars”; monster in the basement reminded me of “Paradise Towers”; and the genocide of the Racnoss - “Terror of the Vervoids”, the very thing the Doctor was on trial for twenty years ago!

I suppose, for the fans who want to be surprised, although the episode title ruins that possibility, there should’ve been a spoiler alert before the Dalek reveal at the end of the trailer for season three but it’s shown to draw the casual viewer to the programme who might not otherwise bother to tune in. Or put cynically, it’s pandering to a common denominator in the pursuit of ratings over creativity!

Land of the Free!

I’m assuming that this pair of screen caps is from the season three two-part Dalek adventure set in New York, working title “Daleks in Manhattan”, given that the Statue of Liberty is pictured on the monitor behind Martha (Freema Agyeman). I’m also assuming, therefore, that common or garden authenticity isn’t, in any way, important to the Production team. There are two mistakes in the monitor’s caption. There are no motorways in the United States, just freeways and highways! Secondly, across the pond, centre is spelt center!! Surely this is common knowledge? Russell’s forever telling us that “Doctor Who” has to be grounded in reality if we’re to believe the unbelievable! Apart from those glaring errors, however, it’s looking good but then it always does until you hear the scripts!!

Reasons to be Cheerful...

Not one, not two but three actresses all with one thing in common. Yes, they’re all about to appear in “Doctor Who” for the first time but, more particularly, they’re also all about to do battle with the Daleks. At the top is Sheridan Smith who must be so drunk by now, after all those pints, that I don’t think she’ll even be able to see those mutants from Skaro. We won’t either. She’ll join eighth Doctor Paul McGann as his new companion Lucie Miller from New Year’s Eve on BBC Radio 7 in the first of a two-part story, “Blood of the Daleks”. The narrative follows on from the 1996 TV movie rather than the previous Big Finish audios and is written by Steve Lyons. The new episodes are being released on CD one a month, from round about now, and this first story also features “Hellraiser” Ken Cranham, fresh from his appearance in the unsatisfying “Doc Martin” Christmas Special, and Queen guitarist Brian May’s other half, ex-“EastEnder” Anita Dobson.

In the middle is Freema Agyeman, in a screen cap taken from the Season Three teaser at the end of “The Runaway Bride”. She has three episodes to settle in, as tenth Doctor David Tennant’s new companion Martha Jones, before coming face-to-face with the metal meanies. This means only four episodes separate the Daleks next appearance, in another two-part story, from their previous one in “Doomsday”, which fleetingly saw the Black Dalek escape. Their return, however welcome, strikes me as somewhat hasty. It smacks a little of must have the new girl meet the old baddies as soon as feasibly possible! Before then, the time travellers will face the dreaded Sontaran look-alikes the Judoon in opening episode “Smith and Jones”, battle fearsome flying witches in “The Shakespeare Code”, and in a return to New Earth, in the third as yet untitled episode, encounter the Face of Boe for the third and final time, assuming he’s a man of his word!!

Appearing with David and Freema, in the fourth story of the third season of new “Doctor Who”, is “Spooks” actress Miranda Raison, pictured above as Jo Portman in a screen cap taken from episode five of the recently transmitted fifth season (the story which saw the emotional departure of Ruth Evershed). I love the way Miranda’s character was introduced last year, it was like a breath of fresh air, but have been disappointed in how Jo hasn’t really developed in the latest series. She seems to be in the show, almost solely, to provide backup and make up the numbers. I do hope the lack of good writing for her in this year’s “Spooks”, coupled with her up-coming appearance in “Doctor Who”, doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of her in the spy drama. However, Miranda is playing a New York showgirl in her “Who” adventure, set in the 1930s, and I have to admit to being quietly chuffed, as I bet she is, that her appearance in the programme coincides with the inevitable return of the exterminators!

Several Holidays for the Doctor!

At 6.35pm, 41 years ago, “Doctor Who” was broadcast on Christmas Day. It looked as though “The Feast of Steven”, episode seven of the twelve-part epic “The Daleks’ Master Plan”, would remain the only episode of the series afforded that privilege. Until last year. Forty years on, “The Christmas Invasion” became the second time of such an illustrious event. On this occasion, it wasn’t simply because the next Saturday’s episode just happened to fall on 25th December. It was a bona fide special. Now, here we are with the second specially prepared episode, “The Runaway Bride”, making it a hat trick and pitting the tenth Doctor against more killer robot Santas than you can point a sonic screwdriver at! Especially from a moving TARDIS down the M4!! But that original Christmas episode wasn’t without acknowledging the fact. Realising that they never got a chance to celebrate Christmas during their recent visit to Earth, the Doctor produces a bottle of champagne and some glasses…

The Doctor: “Here’s a toast, a happy Christmas to all of us.”

Steven: “The same to you, Doctor, Sara.”

The Doctor: “And incidentally, a happy Christmas to all of you at home!”

Santa’s little helpers!

Well, entering into the festive spirit, I thought these four stills from the 2004 American teen comedy “Mean Girls” might help keep up the Christmas cheer! You probably all recognise Britney’s new best friend, the lovely Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron, amongst the quartet of beauties. Also dressing to kill are Rachel McAdams, seeing red, as Regina George, Lacey Chabert as Gretchen Wieners and Amanda Seyfried as the rather unusually named Karen Smith! The film is all about fitting in. The heroine, at first, becomes a hit with the Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, and then falls from favour through, yes… you’ve guessed it, making the mistake of falling in love with the wrong boy - sorry, guy. He’s the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina, which helps explain why she’s a scarlet lady! Anyway, never having seen the film, I can’t tell you if it’s any good. I just thought the pictures were a bit seasonal!!

Empressive!

Undoubtedly looking very impressive, though not as attractive as at the Baftas last year, Sarah Parish, with a little help from monster-maker Neill Gorton and some elaborate prosthetics, certainly cuts a striking figure as the menacing half-spider, half-human Empress of the Racnoss. It’s enough to put the fear of God into the hardiest of arachnophobes! My first thoughts when I saw the pictures were of the Destroyer from the Sylvester McCoy story “Battlefield” which, in turn, owes a debt to Tim Curry’s Darkness from the Ridley Scott film “Legend”. The twist in “The Runaway Bride” appears to be that, this time, the part is being played by an actress rather than an actor. Sarah’s triumphant voiceover at the end of the 20-second trailer is also rather imposing as she declares, “I shall descend upon this earth and shine.” Wallpaper-size versions of these five images, which have been published overnight, can be found on the BBC’s “Doctor Who” website. In six days, all will be revealed.

Count Yule Blessings!

Don’t believe a certain newspaper critic! As well as “Doctor Who”, there is plenty to look forward to on television over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Much of it has connections with recent episodes of our favourite time-travelling drama, admittedly, but that’s by-the-by. To begin, Elisabeth Sladen is returning in her very own spin-off adventure series, reprising her role as Sarah Jane Smith, on New Year’s Day in an hour-long pilot episode entitled “Invasion of the Bane”. You can catch Billie Piper, once again seeking to answer the questions surrounding her father’s death, on this occasion as Sally Lockhart in Philip Pullman’s “The Ruby in the Smoke”, on 27th December, both on BBC1. There’s also the final three episodes of “Torchwood” premiering on BBC3 for the last time as next year’s second series has found a new home on BBC2. Noel Clarke’s episode, “Combat”, can be seen, initially, on Christmas Eve with “Captain Jack Harkness” and “End of Days” debuting on New Year’s Day. But, one of the dramas I’m most looking forward to watching, over the festive period, is BBC1’s new adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic vampire novel, “Dracula”, on 28th December.

“Dracula” has appeared on both the big and small screens on numerous occasions. I grew up watching Christopher Lee’s, for me, definitive portrayal of the Count in seven Hammer Horror versions of the saga. He began making them in the late Fifties with Peter Cushing as his nemesis Van Helsing in the original and best film. They were only reunited for the final two but set in the present day of the early Seventies! My personal favourite is the fourth, “Taste the Blood of Dracula”, which might even qualify as my favourite movie of all-time. The character did appear in an eighth Hammer outing, “The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires”, but not played by Mr. Lee. And, despite the title, the earlier “Brides of Dracula” does not feature the Count but still beautifully combines the gothic with the romantic. Many may sight Bela Lugosi’s interpretation as the one by which to judge all others. Eight years before he became the seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy appeared in the Laurence Olivier version starring Frank Langella with Donald Pleasance and Trevor Eve. And, more recently, Gary Oldman has played the part opposite Anthony Hopkins and Winona Ryder in Francis Ford Coppola’s operatic treatment of the story.

It’s been a while since the BBC last made a version of “Dracula”, nearly thirty years! The “Doctor Who” production team of the time had to shelve plans to make what eventually became the vampire story “State of Decay” to avoid a conflict of interests. Ironically, produced by ex-“Doctor Who” director Morris (“The Tomb of the Cybermen”) Barry, this 1977 television version of Stoker’s fable was directed by Philip Saville. It starred “Gigi” and “Octopussy” actor Louis Jourdan in the title role with Susan Penhaligon and Judi Bowker as his intended victims while Frank Finlay is out to stake him through the heart. In the BBC’s new rendering, directed by Bill Eagles, “The Vice” and “Hustle” actor Marc Warren takes the lead, forgiven for the dire “Love & Monsters” episode of “Doctor Who”, Lady Penelope and “The Girl in the Fireplace” actress Sophia Myles plays Lucy (pictured at the top under the mesmeric influence of Dracula) while her innocent friend Mina (pictured above with Lucy on the sands at Whitby) is played by Stephanie Leonidas. Timothy Spall’s son Rafe plays solicitor Jonathan Harker who travels to Transylvania to sell Dracula a London property but never returns and, topping it off, is “Poirot” actor David Suchet as archrival Abraham Van Helsing. “Love never dies.”

Nice Day for a White Wedding

So, that most special of days is almost here. No, not my wedding day! And, as well as it being Christmas Day, the 25th December 2006 is the day of the second “Doctor Who” Christmas Special… the third if you count “The Feast of Steven”. Following on from last year’s story, “The Christmas Invasion”, “The Runaway Bride” sees the return of the brass instrument-laden deadly killer Santas, and this time with redesigned masks. Oh, the horror! More importantly, perhaps, this is the first episode since the return of the series last year that won’t co-star Billie Piper as the Doctor’s companion, Rose. Love it or loathe it, her story has been the binding factor, the continuity if you like, from episode-to-episode over the last two years. The question is, therefore, how will the Doctor fare without her? Why not sidestep the issue with a suitable diversion? Then, when the series returns, viewers will have, hopefully, forgotten the question ever arose and move on without further ado…

Thus, before settling down with new sidekick, Miss Jones, the Doctor faces a brief encounter with bride-to-be Donna, as played by actress and comedienne Catherine Tate. I’m not familiar with her sketch show but you’d have to have been living as an exile on the planet Gallifrey not to know her catch phrases. The best known of these was being repeated, ad nauseam, in the DVD department of one of the local supermarkets a few weeks ago whilst I was out tracking down Bond, James Bond. You might think Sainsbury’s wouldn’t be the place to uncover a secret agent but you’d be wrong! Anyway, I best know Catherine from her brief appearance in episode four of last year’s BBC production of “Bleak House” in which she played Mrs. Chadband. Others may recognise her as Mitzi Kosinski from ITV1’s “Marple: A Murder is Announced”, also from last year, and which coincidentally featured Cassandra actress Zoë Wanamaker.

Starring opposite David Tennant, in “The Runaway Bride”, is actress Sarah Parish playing the sinister Empress of the Racnoss, seen here together at the Bafta Television Awards, 2005. They’ve also worked together before on “Blackpool” and, perhaps of some interest, Sarah has additionally worked with Ms. Piper but not on “Doctor Who”. They both appeared in last year’s reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” and, if you don’t already know, no prizes for guessing which playwright pops up in the second episode of next year’s new season of Time Lord adventures. I reckon they eat a lot of Chinese takeaway in the television industry, influencing them to use few ingredients but in every possible permutation! However, the publicity for this year’s Special seems focused on Ms. Tate so, as it’s Christmas, I’ve prepared another ten-picture gallery for your delectation. After all, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without one of Mr. Davies’ famous plum puddings!!

The “Tate” Gallery

Trading Places

I don’t know how interested readers of this Blog are in stills from science fiction television series but I seem to amass them fairly rapidly, more than I can ever possibly use. I suspect it’s a continuation of collecting sweet cigarette and bubble-gum cards from when I was a child but without that teeth rotting element! I can remember a shop keeper going through her entire “Thunderbirds” stock, in a little newsagents in Paignton, during a summer holiday long ago, looking for that one elusive card to complete my set of fifty. She didn’t find it but I bought a packet anyway. I must have found it eventually, although where and when eludes me, as I still have them stored away for posterity. I actually have two sets of the first series, possibly one belonged to my brother, and a single set of the second. I prefer the latter, being made up of photos as opposed to artists impressions of the vehicles and characters. I also own a set of the sixty-four “Captain Scarlet” bubble-gum cards which mix artwork with photos and when collectively reversed make a single image.

Moving effortlessly on from Spectrum Pursuit Vehicles to a certain Sport-Utility Vehicle, I have to admit that, despite some reservations, my imagination seems to have been captured a little by episode seven of “Torchwood”. In a parallel universe, there might well be a set of trading cards for the series although, considering what I assume to be the age of the intended audience, that seems less likely than for “Doctor Who”! With this in mind, I’ve put together a little ten-picture gallery featuring the two leads from “Greeks Bearing Gifts”. It was Tosh’s episode but benefited greatly from the guest star, Daniela Denby-Ashe as Mary/Philoctetes, appearing throughout, rather than briefly at the story’s conclusion as was the case with Owen Teale in “Countrycide” and Gareth Thomas in “Ghost Machine”. The first of the set is above showing the moment our heroine first tries on the alien pendant with the remaining nine directly below in a separate post. Pictures two through six continue the exchange that took place in the Cardiff bar with the remaining four from the story’s climax at the heart of the Hub.

A “Gift” of a Gallery