The second episode of the ‘light-hearted’ fourth season of Doctor Who (RTD) is once again annoyingly close to being almost watchable.
A brilliantly shot episode on Rome’s Cinecittà studios, it is the single episode shot outside of the English shores in this extremely expensive revival series… and it shows. The sets are great, the location work is stunning and even the premise (aliens cause the destruction of Pompeii) is a smart one. So where does this show go wrong?
The Doctor and Donna arrive in ancient Rome in much the same way they enter any situation, with exclamation marks.
Donna-”Look at me! I’m in ancient Rome!”
Doctor-”I know! Isn’t it great!?”
Donna-”It IS! I’m enjoying myself!”
Doctor-”We are BOTH enjoying ourselves! This is good!-Being in ancient Rome, I mean!”
… etc.
The writing takes a further downward spiral with the lazy writing convention that gets worse each time it gets explained, the translation circuit. I’ve been watching the program since I discovered that I’m awkward around girls, so I know that we as an audience are ‘hearing’ English no matter where the Doctor goes. I never really thought much of it and was thankful that the show cared little for it as well. Then in walks the new program and explains that the TARDIS’ ‘telepathic translation circuits’ allow the crew to hear English. Not just English, mind you, but London-accented suburban English. Since the introduction of Rose, the program has been taken from the RADA-class English accents and dropped head first into the exact same ‘do you ‘ave any bruvvers?’ London accent. Even in ancient Rome, it is inescapable.
The plot involving a cult of mystics that inhale volcanic ash that is actually microbes of alien life called the Pyrovale is pretty clever. The special effects including the interior of Vesuvius and the Pyrovile themselves are very nicely done. The double psychic duel over the Doctor’s secrets was also an interesting change of pace (but I always enjoy seeing the Doctor out of his depths).
Yet all in all… the episode is terrible.
(I’ve also read that the Pyrovile are in the story at RTD’s insistence which makes me wonder what the original script was like).
Aside from the aforementioned accents problem and the characters busy explaining who they are and how they feel in every scene, the real problem with this one is the ending. Essentially, this episode was constructed to put the Doctor in a moral dilemma where he realizes that he has to choose not to interfere with what he describes as a ‘fixed point in history.’ Donna pleads with him to do otherwise, but he stands back to let Vesuvius erupt as it was destined to. In a perfect world, this would be where the episode ended.
But, oh no.
The TARDIS returns and rescues the family of four that have stumbled through the plot as a mixture of exposition and comic relief. Why save only four people? Doesn’t that upset history? It gets worse. The episode ends with the family living the high life in Rome proper (how they did this I have no idea) and paying homage to sculptures of Donna and the Doctor as their patron Gods.
Yikes.
My only hope is that this pays off in a later story.
But my hopes are low.
-Doctor Who-’Fires of Pompeii’ premieres on the US Sci-Fi Channel this Friday Night-
The father of electronic music Tristram Cary has passed on at the age of 82.
The composer of haunting music from the seminal years of Doctor Who and co-inventor of the synthesizer used by Pink Floyd, The Who and Roxy Music, Cary was a pioneer and maverick of music. Without this wizard coming up with some of the strangest melodies and sounds ever heard, we would be a much quieter and saner planet… and we can’t have that.
When the young genius was serving his country as a naval officer during WWII, he conceived the idea of electronic ‘tape’ music, a concept that would develop into the unusual modern sounds that exploded onto the scene in the 1963 TV serial Doctor Who - The Dead Planet (today known as episode one of The Daleks).
The howling sounds mixed with strange twitterings and metallic scratching evoked the outcome of a thermonuclear war and the alien world that it had created. At the time it must have seemed nightmarish. Anyone hearing it today would think it the lost work of a band such as COIL or Nurse With Wound (he was that far ahead of his time). Sadly this level of musical genius associated with Doctor Who is long gone. Whereas it was once the birthplace of innovation, the program is now the home of bombastic music more at home accompanying Russian tumblers at the hyper active hands of Murray Gold. But all things change and as you know hope springs eternal. But we will never see the likes of Tristram Cary again in this world… and that’s okay.
He was unique and we benefited from his example.
To listen to some of his tracks and learn more about this incredible musician, visit his website.
Despite my prediction that big changes are on their way for next year with a new producer and new Doctor, it appears that Tennant is still the reigning timelord of the season.
(guest star David Morrissey - the ‘other Doctor’ and David Tennant pictured)
A recent post to a Doctor Who entry on my blog alerted me to the fact that this year’s Christmas Special is already in production and filming in Gloucester. A mixture of a period piece and alien invasion story, this year’s holiday special will feature the dreaded robotic Cybermen in a Victorian England setting.
(on the spot footage)
It bears mention that next year will be a year of specials rather than a full 13 episodes. It has also been mentioned that Tennant may not be in all four of these specials. Could this Christmas Special be a tale from the Doctor’s past?
And just why is David Morrissey’s character refered to as ‘the other Doctor?’ Is this the face of the 11th Doctor?
(Above: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man and Terence Howard as Jim Rhodes)
Big old spoiler for this Friday’s premier of Marvel Comics’ Iron Man.
As fans of the comic book series can tell you, there is more than one armored Avenger in the Marvel Universe. After Tony Stark’s alcoholism took the better of him in the now classic ‘Demon in the Bottle’ making it impossible for him to wear the one-man army suit, he was forced to choose a replacement. Tony needed to look no further than his close friend from the Vietnam War, James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes. In the gun-metal gray suit bedecked with missile launchers and machine guns a-plenty, Rhodey was known as the War Machine. Eventually this storyline lead to a duel between Iron Men.
“The beautiful thing about Marvel is that they’ve always stuck with the tradition of staying truthful to the comics and loyal to the fans,” actor Terence Howard told IGN. “If you’ve read the comics you’ll know that that is the next phase, but there is another intermediate phase in there where he would have to put on his best friend’s suit for a period of time.”
Possibly the most well-done sci-fi series until the remake of Battlestar Galactica, Blake’s 7 ran from 1978-1981, gathering a cult following that is almost as surprising as the concept; a group of freedom fighters plotting the destruction of the universal government. Virtually unknown in the US, Blake’s 7 maintained a strong viewer base until it’s surprise ending in ‘81 that even shocked series creator Terry Nation (who had since distanced himself from the project).
There have been numerous rubmlings of a return for the series and this may only be the newest… but it could also be true.
Inspired by the successful revivals of DOCTOR WHO and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and because there are, evidently, no new concepts to be found in the tens-of-thousands of pitches conducted every year), Sky One is dusting off BLAKE’S 7 for a relaunch.
The original series (created by Terry Nation) ran on BBC for four seasons between 1978 and 1981.
Sky has commissioned two 60-minute scripts with the intention of creating a new sci-fi series of the hugely popular show, which followed the intergalactic tales of a small band of rebel fighters struggling to evade the dark forces of the Federation.
With so many failed re-imaginings of classic concepts, this ‘new Blake’s 7‘ could very well happen and fail all at once… or it could be incredible. Living in a world where global terrorism is in the daily press, I wonder where the audience for Blake’s 7 would be. I mean paint it however you like but… they are ’space terrorists.’
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that if it happens, the right people are involved in steering the good ship Liberator and it doesn’t turn into an ‘ironic’ program lampooning the more camp aspects of the show.
The newest animated series version of Marvel’s famed flagship web spinner continues on KidsWB! This Saturday the arch nemesis Green Goblin makes his mark on the program in the premiere of ‘Catalyst’ (which also sees the introduction of a certain red-headed bombshell).
“Catalysts” takes place on the night of the Midtown High Fall Formal, and Peter Parker finds his overconfidence is nearly his undoing – as both a teenager and a super hero. While his date, Mary Jane Watson, threatens to invert Midtown’s social structure, Pete lets her popularity go to his head. So when the mysterious, murderous Green Goblin tries to force L. Thompson Lincoln (a.k.a. Tombstone) to step
down as NYC’s Big Man of crime, will Spider-Man take this new threat seriously enough – or will he be so cocky that he loses his big head?!
Voiced by veteran voice-over actor Steve Blum, the Goblin will certainly take Spidey to task.
Blum has been called the “King of Anime” for his monumental number of credits within the industry. Blum’s trademark voice can be found in a variety of characters within the anime realm, though his prolific voiceover career has moved seamlessly between all animated mediums, including voices for traditionally animated cartoons and films, commercials and video games.
Beyond his recognizable work as the voice of Tom, the announcer of Cartoon Network’s Toonami, Blum can be heard in “The Powerpuff Girls,” “Naruto,” “Ben 10,” “Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law,” “Loonatics
Unleashed,” “What’s New, Scooby-Doo?” and as the title character in the upcoming “Wolverine & the X-Men.” His favorite voice acting role is as Spike Spiegel from the popular anime series “Cowboy Bebop.”
Blum is highly regarded as the second (and last) voice actor to voice Canaan in the Xenosaga video game series, and is the voice of Wolverine in the video game, “X-Men Legends.” He has also been featured in the interactive arena on innumerable video games, including “Halo 3,” “Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Mysteries of the Sith,” “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” “Transformers: The Game,” “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” “Spider-Man 3,” “Call of Duty,” “Call of Duty: United Offensive,” “Mission: Impossible - Operation Surma,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”
Blum is also the voice of Vincent Valentine for the dub cast of the direct-to-DVD release, “Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.” His many anime credits include “Goku Midnight Eye,” “Kyôshoku sôkô Guyver,”
“Akira,” “Ôritsu uchûgun Oneamisu no tsubasa,” “Amagaedun uzu,” “Jûichi-nin iru!” and “Hokuto no Ken,” “Chôjikû seiki Ôgasu.”
Below is the schedule for May.
Saturday, May 3
9:30 a.m. – The Invisible Hand (repeat featuring Rhino, Tombstone, Mary Jane)
10:00 a.m. – Reaction (premiere)
Saturday, May 10
9:30 a.m. – Catalysts (repeat featuring Green Goblin, Tombstone)
10:00 a.m. – The Uncertainty Principle (premiere)
Saturday, May 17
9:30 a.m. – Natural Selection (repeat featuring Lizard)
10:00 a.m. – Persona (premiere)
In response to the decidedly darker tone of Series 3, producer Davies stated that this new series would be much lighter. I had no idea exactly what he meant, but apparently he had stayed up late at night watching old Laurel and Hardy videos before filming the Series 4 opener, ‘Partners in Crime.’
The last time we had seen Catherine Tate as the ‘runaway bride’ Donna Noble was in the 2007 Christmas Special… y’know the one that was really really bad with the wedding and the spider-lady that could not move. In the special she was portrayed as brassy and took no gaff from the usually charismatic Doctor. When it was announced that she would be returning to the program, I thought that this would be a welcome change to the ‘companion is in love with the Doctor‘ formula that has ruled this series since 2005. Then we got to this season and my hopes were squashed.
1. Partners in Crime
The series opens with middle-aged wastrel Donna Noble who lives with her mum and pines after a time traveling gay man who lives in a blue box. Donna fights with her mother (in strangely fading montages) who is somehow five years older than her and visits character actor Bernard Cribbins who watches the skies for walk on parts in BBC productions. Donna has been spending her time following unusual events such as UFO sightings and is now involved in the deep investigation of a suspicious diet pill Adipose.
Seriously… that’s the plot.
Apparently just anyone can be an investigator getting into scrapes and uncovering conspiracies as Donna shows remarkably the exact same hunches as the Doctor who is ‘hilariously’ within a stone’s throw to Donna throughout most of the story (though the two fail to notice each other). The lack of a payoff for any of these jokes is outdone by just how horrific Tate looks. She is dressed in a cheap real estate salesperson’s suit, wearing what looks like a cancer wig and more makeup than John Barrowman (and that’s a lot). I’m not so much against Tate here as I am against the show. After a trio of hot young ladies we get a frankly unattractive older woman with nowhere to go in her life. It’s an argument that would put the straightest man off of women entirely. The production team has made poor Tate look as big as a tank next to the whisp-like Tennant. I’m really not sure what the idea was.
If the forced chemistry didn’t kill this episode, the story itself certainly did. Adipose is ‘revealed’ to be an alien invasion plot of miniature fat creatures. Actually the evil Ms. Foster has apparently been waiting for just anyone to simply ask her what her plan is and when the fresh out of acting school reporter comes along she is certainly relived that she finally has someone to give her lines to. She is a wet nurse hired by the Adiposian family (or some such nonsense that Davies didn’t bother to waste any time working on) to foster (get it?) their children into adulthood. Apparently their planet is lost (the result of the Time War perhaps, something that ran throughout all of Series One and was never mentioned again… I stupidly thought it was a brilliant plot thread at the time but have since realized it is a plot contrivance). The diet pill attracts fat cells and somehow turns them into little CGI fellas that wave at the camera and cavort… and nothing else. Foster also has a sonic screwdriver pen that can apparently do all of the nonsensical things that the Doctor’s magic wand can.
This is never explained.
The Doctor and Donna run around a deserted office building chased by the evil Ms Foster and the only two men she could convince into following her (it’s almost heart-warming how this aspect of ‘three fellas are going to invade the Earth’ aspect of the Classic Doctor Who series has infected this new version) for what seems like forever. Then the ‘partners in crime’ find the massive one thing that will end the episode and mess around with it until everything ends… and Ms Foster falls to her death like Wyle E Coyote in a Warner Brothers cartoon.
The final moments of the episode consist of Donna showing the viewers that she has apparently been driving around with a trunk full of gear in case she ever ran into the Doctor in hopes that he could whisk her away from her very very sad life. There is a brief inexplicable appearance of Billie Piper who fades away after showing the viewers at home that she’s had some plastic surgery and the TARDIS flies by Cribbins. Donna and the Doctor lean out of the TARDIS‘ open door to wave to him and my hopes for this season not making me want to kick the television in are squelched right there.
For all of the new series flaws, the TARDIS flying in the sky with the Doctor and Donna waving goodbye ranks amongst the worst moments in TV history.
Davies wanted a lighter tone and he has certainly set it here. This fourth series will be full of slapstick, the Doctor and Donna being mistaken for a married couple and lots of mad running from one scene to the next. I’m hoping for the usual one to three stand out episodes, but other than that… I’m praying for Davies to leave the program… and I’m not a praying man.
Doctor Who premieres on the Sci-Fi Channel in the US this Friday, April 25th.
One door closes and another opens, as they say. With the ending of the critically acclaimed of The Batman cartoon, Warner Bros. has announced the next animated series, The Brave and The Bold.
Started in 1955 and run until 1983 as a team-up series, the formula of Brave and the Bold cemented into place as a Batman and Guest comic. With writer Bob Haney and artist Jim Aparo, the series was a more light-hearted and bizarre take on Batman than had been seen previously. Stories ran the gamut of demonic possession to premonitions of Batman’s death by Adam Strange. A cult favorite, Brave and the Bold teamed Batman up with Green Arrow, Metamorpho, Sgt. Rock and many many more.
From the preview image, it looks like this new animated series looks to embrace this lighter tone of the classic comic book series.
The new series premieres on Cartoon Network March 2009.
Comic book fans young and old at the NY Comic Con this weekend walked out on the early premiere of the trailer for Frank Miller’s Will Eisner’s The Spirit. In an interview with MTVdirector Frank Miller defended his film’s look by saying that he has ‘forged ahead’ with Eisner’s creation rather than produce what he calls ’something dusty from off the shelf.’
That’s all well and good, Frank… but from this trailer The Spirit looks far more like Sin City 2 than Will Eisner’s The Spirit. Not that this is a bad thing ( I fully enjoy Sin City), but… what’s the deal?
The film stars Sam Jackson as the villainous Octopus (never fully visualized in the comic book series), Eva Mendez as the love interest and devious Sand Saref (whose jaw nearly dislocates when asked a question by MTV) and newcomer Gabriel Macht as the title character Danny Colt/The Spirit.
For those not in the know, Will Eisner’s The Spirit is regarded by many as the Citizen Kane of comics. As perfect as a sequential work can get, the series ran in newspaper strip format in 1941. A lighthearted and theatrical piece, the strip introduced some of the most sophisticated tropes and techniques in comics that we take for granted today. Frank Miller has long been a devoted follower of Eisner’s teachings. The influence in his work can be seen in his panel transitions, line work and general sense of character in his style. A darker and grittier creator, Frank Miller’s film of Eisner’s creation is expected to be an extension of a more violent and modern pulp sensibilities.
The father of electronic music Tristram Cary has passed on at the age of 82.
The film stars Sam Jackson as the villainous Octopus (never fully visualized in the comic book series), Eva Mendez as the love interest and devious Sand Saref (whose jaw nearly dislocates when asked a question by MTV) and newcomer Gabriel Macht as the title character Danny Colt/The Spirit.
