Visit the official Doctor Who website

Visit the official Doctor Who website
Look to the future

Asylum seekers...

Asylum seekers...
Refuge of the Daleks

Doctor Who picture resource

Doctor Who picture resource
Roam the space lanes!

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website
Step back in time

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood
Armed and extremely dangerous

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures
Fearless in the face of adversity

Call on Dani’s House

Call on Dani’s House
Harmer’s a charmer

Intercept the UFO fabsite

Intercept the UFO fabsite
Defending the Earth against alien invaders!

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse
Programmable agent Echo exposed!

Hell’s belles

Hell’s belles
Naughty but nice

Love Exposure

Love Exposure
Flash photography!

Primeval portal

Primeval portal
Dressed to kill or damsels in distress?

Charmed, to be sure!

Charmed, to be sure!
The witches of San Francisco

Take on t.A.T.u.

Take on t.A.T.u.
All the way from Moscow

Proceed to the Luther website

Proceed to the Luther website
John and Jenny discuss their next move

DCI Banks is on the case

DCI Banks is on the case
You can bet on it!

On The Grid with Spooks

On The Grid with Spooks
Secret agents of Section D

Bridge to Hustle

Bridge to Hustle
Shady characters

Life on Ashes To Ashes

Life on Ashes To Ashes
Coppers with a chequered past

Claire’s no Exile

Claire’s no Exile
Goose steps

Vexed is back on the beat!

Vexed is back on the beat!
Mismatched DI Armstrong and bright fast-tracker Georgina Dixon

Medium, both super and natural

Medium, both super and natural
Open the door to your dreams

Who’s that girl? (350-picture Slideshow)

Showing posts with label Angel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Angel. Show all posts

Saturday, 1 May 2010

Telly Visions: Eliza Dushku


Hello, Dolly! Eliza Dushku first aroused the interest of the viewing public playing Arnold Schwarzenegger’s young daughter, straddled across the nose cone of a Harrier Jump Jet, in James Cameron’s James Bond-esque “True Lies”. That’s a pretty titanic start to anyone’s career! However, the actress has really made her name working in American television. It’s probably fair to say that Miss Dushku became more of a household name when she became a recurring character, a semi-regular as they’re known in the television industry, in Joss Whedon’s “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer” and its spin-off series “Angel”, playing a violently-wayward member of the Scooby-gang.

From a supporting role in “Buffy”, Eliza has gone on to play the lead in not one but two US series. First up was “Tru Calling” in which she inherits her mother’s gift for saving lives through reliving days at a deceased’s request. “Groundhog Day” with a pretty girl at its centre. Sounds an unlikely concept for an ongoing show and sometimes it works brilliantly, others not so. Tru works at a morgue, whilst studying to become a doctor, and each episode a dead body will suddenly turn to her from the slab and cry “help me”! The show ran for two seasons but the second was cut short. People lose interest very easily these days!! Anyone curious in seeing what it’s all about, for themselves, can find repeats on Sky Three (Freeview 11).

Reunited with Joss Whedon, Eliza Dushku is currently starring, as programmable agent Echo, in the unusual Sci-fi adventure series “Dollhouse”. Already broadcast in the States, the show returned to British television, again on ITV4 (Freeview 24), for its second season, on Wednesday, 28th April, 2010. In the first episode, “Vows” (as in wedding), after her encounter with Alpha, Echo has seemingly recovered. But, as she embarks on a long-term engagement, she begins to behave strangely. And, in the next episode, “Instinct” (as in maternal), Topher’s extraordinary abilities backfire when Echo takes too strongly to her new role as mother to a newborn baby and runs away with the child.

If you’re familiar with “Joe 90”, Whedon’s new show plays like a sexed-up version of Gerry Anderson’s Sixties’ Supermarionation series, with the added attraction of supermodels rather than models! But, the characterisations in “Dollhouse” are even less-well developed than those of either their earlier wooden counterparts or the figures of the actresses inhabiting the American show!! Still, over the course of the next thirteen weeks, I’m looking forward to uncovering any evolution of Echo and her gloriously well-endowed bunny girls!!!

Thursday, 22 December 2005

"Angel" - No Show!!!


Five are not going to broadcast the fifth and final series of "Angel". The "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" spin-off has had a rough ride on terrestrial television since it began on Channel 4. The programme was deemed too violent and, during its first season, was consequently heavily, and rather badly, edited for a 6pm transmission slot. People complained and it was rerun, often in double bills, late on Saturday nights. The damage was done though and it obviously didn't find an audience as, after running the second season in the same late night slot, Channel 4 gave up on the series.

Five acquired the rights, moved it to Mondays, but continued broadcasting it late at night. Had I been Five's scheduler, I would have put it on straight after "Charmed" around 8pm on Saturday evenings, where, at the time, they were running James Cameron's "Dark Angel". Ironically, the reruns of "Dark Angel" are now in the graveyard slot once occupied by "Angel"! Even more ironically, since "Dark Angel" finished its first run on Saturday nights, this early evening slot has been occupied by reruns of the first season of "Buffy" and more recently the first season of "Star Trek: Voyager"!!

There have been rumblings about Chris Eccleston's prompt departure from the recent revival of "Doctor Who" because, it is claimed, audiences had invested in his character. At least "Doctor Who" is returning to our screens just with a different lead actor, which is, in any case, built into the concept of the programme. But, what about when an audience invests in four seasons only to be told they are not allowed to see the final year? You could argue that you have had your time wasted, been sold a book with the last chapters missing! This happened with "Millennium" on ITV1 several years ago. They broadcast the first season, at least twice to get their money's worth, and then left regular viewers wondering "what happened next"?

I am a fan of Juliet Landau. Interestingly, I was already a fan of her parents' work, particularly on the Gerry Anderson series "Space:1999", although, when I first noticed her as Drusilla in "Buffy", I was unaware of who she was until I did a little research! She is pictured above with vampire accomplice Darla, played by Julie Benz, in both actresses' last ever appearance in "Angel", in the twentieth episode of season five, "The Girl in Question". Just as I have yet to see Juliet's guest appearance in a season three episode of "Millennium", it seems as though I will have an equally long wait before seeing her final two appearances in the last season of "Angel", if at all! Perhaps I should take consolation in that I have seen her guest appearance in "La Femme, Nikita"... twice!!!