The Zygon Invasion: poster and trailer

The seventh episode of the current series Doctor Who airs at 8.15pm on BBC One tonight,
Here is the latest retro poster and the episode trailer:

Designed by Stuart Manning

FILM REVIEW: Spectre

To follow Skyfall, the first Bond film to make over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, was a tough challenge for director Sam Mendes and his team.  Thankfully, they have succeeded in producing another great film with stylish direction and cinematography, excellent performances and interesting characters.  Spectre builds on the foundations established in Skyfall and is more of a sequel than a standalone Bond film.  As in the previous film, the role of MI6 is being questioned and the new M (Ralph Fiennes), Q (Ben Whishaw) and Miss Moneypenny (Naomi Harris) have significant roles throughout. 

The ending to Skyfall suggested a return to Bond traditions by re-establishing a male M and bringing back Moneypenny, and the plot of Spectre does follow the traditional Bond formula.  We follow our hero across the globe as he collect clues about a mysterious criminal organisation and on this journey he encounters glamorous women and evades a giant henchman, before eventually meeting the arch villain in his secret lair.  Another restored tradition is the placing of the gun barrel sequence at the start of the film.

There are a number of subtle references to early Bond films (Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice notably) and Ian Fleming's original stories (Octopussy and The Hildebrand Rarity).  There are also more obvious influences from classic scenes in Bond history.  For example, the henchmen (Dave Bautista's Mr Hinx) interrupts a romantic train journey to fight Bond.  Similar train fights have appeared in From Russia With Love, Live and Let Die and The Spy Who Loved Me.  

However, Spectre is not simply an exercise in nostalgia.  The film includes original and mysterious aspects such as the secret history between Bond and the villain Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz) and the motives of M's British intelligence superior Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott).  Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) is much more than a traditional Bond girl.  Although she does serves as a love interest and damsel in distress, she also has her own emotional back story and is capable of saving Bond on more than one occasion.

One flaw of Spectre is that lacks many truly memorable action sequences. The highlight takes place in the pre-titles sequence:  Bond fighting a villain on board an out-of-control helicopter.  A car chase through the streets of Rome is attractively shot and includes moments of humour but is not all that thrilling. The final action scenes back in London are also slightly underwhelming and it is unfortunate that there are some similarities to the climax of this year's Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.

Although not a classic action film, Spectre works a dramatic thriller. Despite its 148 minute running time, the film doesn't drag because it moves swiftly from location to location and cuts between Bond's mission and the political tensions back in  London.  It is also beautifully shot by cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema.  Especially visually stunning are the opening tracking shot through Mexico City's Day of the Dead Festival and the shadowy Spectre boardroom meeting. Tense dialogue based scenes such as the meeting between Bond and Mr White (Jesper Christensen) are superbly directed and acted.

The film ends in a way which could satisfactorily conclude Daniel Craig's tenure as Bond.  However, there is also potential for at least one more film in this continuity and having established a great chemistry between Craig, Fiennes, Whishaw and Harris, it is hoped that this MI6 team will stay together.  Spectre is close in quality to Casino Royale and Skyfall and comfortably sits among the top 10 films of the whole 007 series.     

Here are ratings for the previous 23 Eon-produced Bond films:

Dr No


From Russia With Love

Goldfinger 


Thunderball

You Only Live Twice


On Her Majesty's Secret Service


Diamonds are Forever


Live and Let Die


The Man With the Golden Gun


The Spy Who Loved Me


Moonraker


For Your Eyes Only


Octopussy

A View to a Kill


The Living Daylights


Licence to Kill


Goldeneye


Tomorrow Never Dies


The World is Not Enough


Die Another Day

Casino Royale


Quantum of Solace

Skyfall

Doctor Who review: The Woman Who Lived

Although filmed simultaneously with last week's The Girl Who Died,  the sequel episode The Woman Who Lived is a very distinctive episode. Although it continues the story of Maisie Williams's now immortal Ashildr (or "Me" as she calls herself), the tone is very different both visually and emotionally.  In contrast to last week's sunny Viking village scenes, most of the action in this episode takes place at night, and Williams's character has changed greatly over her 800 years of life.

The pre-titles sequence is visually atmospheric but not so effective dramatically.  The Doctor inadvertently interrupts a highway robbery by "The Nightmare".  Most of the audience, having seen the trailers, will know that the highway robber is Ashildr and so her speaking with a male voice is confusing and her unmasking lacks impact.   Also, there is no explanation for Ashildr's ability to change her voice other than "practice".  We are expected to accept that Ashildr has developed such strange abilities through her unnaturally long life.

More convincing is Ashildr's reveal that she doesn't recognise her name or remember her childhood as a Viking.  It is believable that human memory would not be able to cope with living for hundreds of years.  Captain Jack Harkness (who is referenced later in the episode) didn't seem to have this problem but he gained immortality in a very different way.  Ashildr explains that she calls herself "Me" because she is no-one's mother, daughter or wife and is her "own companion."  The episode explores how Me has suffered great loss and become amoral over time and this links to the idea that the Doctor can also lose his moral compass when he is without a companion (discussed in episodes such as The Runaway Bride).  The absence of Clara allows space for the relationship between Me and the Doctor to develop and also helps us understand why the Doctor needs his companions.

The MacGuffin of this episode is the search for a dangerous alien artefact, the Eye of Hades, which can open up portals in space.  Me tricks the Doctor into helping her steal the device and he is unaware that Me is in league with the alien Leandro (Ariyon Bakare) who she believes will help her escape from Earth. The Leonian make-up is very effective and the character is menacing despite his limited time on screen. Although the episode leads to quite a familiar climax, the build-up is unpredictable because the motives of Me and Leondro are not obvious at first.

We learn that the Eye of Hades can be powered by a human death and that Me plans to activate it at the execution of rival highwayman Sam Swift.   Swift, entertainingly played by Rufus Hound, provides the comic relief of the episode.  Although his jokes from the gallows are funny, the humour doesn't sit as well in this episode as it would in other lighter  stories.  When the Doctor halts the hanging using his psychic paper, Me murders Swift using the Eye of Hades.  This opens up the portal but Leondro has deceived Me and his mission was really to create the portal to allow his allies to invade. This climax is similar to another medieval England story, 2007's The Shakespeare Code in which the Carrionites attempted to invade the Earth,  Seeing the locals in danger, Me realises that she does care for human life and uses the second Mire medical chip to save Sam and close the portal.  It is a satisfying resolution to the story although the scene feels a little rushed.

The Woman Who Lived is a superior conclusion to the Ashildr/Me story which is less predictable and has greater depth than the first part.   Although there are some minor flaws, it is a very strong  Doctor Who debut from writer Catherine Tregenna and has successfully established an intriguing and original character.  There is still an element of mystery to Maisie Williams's Me which may be explored when she returns later in the series.

Sherlock special - longer trailer and cinema poster released

A two-minute trailer for the Sherlock: The Abominable Bride has been released:

The special 90-minute episode will air on BBC One in the UK and PBS in the USA on January 1st 2016. 

It was also be screened simultaneously in selected cinemas.  The cinemas in the UK and Ireland showing the episode are listed on the Sherlockology website.  Details of cinema screenings in other countries will be revealed soon.

Those watching in cinemas will also get to see exclusive bonus material, including a guided tour of the 'new' 221B Baker Street from Steven Moffat and a look behind the scenes at how the special episode was made featuring the cast and crew.

Here is the official poster for the UK cinema release:

David Tennant and Catherine Tate reunite for Doctor Who audio series

David Tennant is returning as the Tenth Doctor alongside Catherine Tate as his companion Donna Noble in three Doctor Who audio dramas from Big Finish Productions.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures will be released in May 2016 and comprises three full cast audio adventures written by Matt Fitton, Jenny T.Colgan and James Goss.  Titles and short synopses are available to read on the Big Finish website.

David Tennant and Catherine Tate have spoken about their working relationship in this video from the Big Finish YouTube channel:

Big Finish producer David Richardson is also very excited to be working on the new audio series:

'This is one of those dream projects where I’ve spent months pinching myself. I’m covered in bruises. With two major international stars in place, and the legacy of this era of the TV show to live up to, we’ve worked our socks off to try and make some very special stories for this box set. Expect adventure, fun, scares... and some tears too.'

The series is available to pre-order now.   The three stories can be purchased separately for £10.99 on CD or £8.99 to download, or alternatively the series is collected as Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures Volume 1 for £30 on CD or £25 to download.  This set which is limited to just 5,000 copies includes exclusive artwork, photography, articles and a one-hour documentary featuring interviews with the stars and production team. 

The new stories are likely to be set between the duo's TV adventures which were broadcast back in 2008.  This series was a huge hit with audiences with a ratings average of over 8 million viewers, making it the most watched series of 21st century Doctor Who.  However, the Doctor first met Donna in the closing seconds of Doomsday which led into the 2006 Christmas special The Runaway Bride:

                                    

Showrunner Russell T. Davies decided to bring back Donna to create a new Doctor-companion dynamic for his fourth series.  In contrast to her predecessors Rose and Martha, Donna had no romantic interest in the Doctor and was unafraid to stand up to her friend.  Their series together featured fan favourite stories such as Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead,  Turn Left and The Stolen Earth/Journey's End.

The Big Finish FAQ page confirms that the company now has a licence to feature storylines and characters from the television series up to and including the final Matt Smith episode The Time of the Doctor.  This has allowed them to produce stories featuring Torchwood, UNIT (with Kate Stewart and Osgood), River Song, new series monsters (Weeping Angels, Sycorax and Judoon)  and the John Hurt's the War Doctor.  Fans will be anticipating more television characters from the 2005 to 2013 period to be added to the audio range over the next few years.

ITV's Jekyll and Hyde starts tonight

Jekyll and Hyde starts tonight (Sunday 25th October) at 6.30pm on ITV.

Writer Charlie Higson's ten-part series is billed as an "action adventure drama".  Tom Bateman stars as Robert Jekyll who is the grandson of the original Dr Jekyll (from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella).

Enjoy the official poster, trailer and videos introducing the supporting characters played by Natalie Gumede, Richard E.Grant, Stephanie Hyam and Enzo Cilenti:

Title and airdate for Sherlock special announced

The special Sherlock episode, set in the Victorian period, will be titled The Abominable Bride and will air on New Year's Day 2016 on BBC One:

The Woman Who Lived: poster and trailer

The sixth episode of the current series Doctor Who airs at 8.20pm on BBC One tonight,
Here is the latest retro poster and the episode trailer:

Designed by Stuart Manning

Doctor Who review: The Girl Who Died

Doctor Who fandom will be debating whether to consider The Girl Who Died as the first of a two-parter or a one-off episode.  Although it does include a "To Be Continued" title and the next-time trailer reveals Maisie Williams's Ashildr will return, this episode feels more like a typical new series historical one-parter.  In tone and setting, it is similar to last year's Robot of Sherwood and classic series fans will also be reminded of the 1974 story The Time Warrior.   After two dark two-parters, it is quite welcome to have a lighter and simpler adventure.

The episode begins with the Doctor and Clara finishing off their previous adventure.  For the fourth episode in a row, there are no scenes on contemporary Earth and Coal Hill School, suggesting that Clara has become ever more detached from her domestic life.  It is unclear exactly what our heroes have been doing and why Clara is floating in space but this is a fun way to start to a new episode. Before their capture by the Vikings, the Doctor and Clara discuss the rules of time travel.  This theme also featured heavily in the previous story and may continue to be important to the series as it progresses.  However, this series seems to be the first since 2005 which has no explicit series arc (following Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Saxon, the missing planets, the crack, the Silence, "the impossible girl" and "Heaven").

When the Doctor and Clara arrive at the Viking village, we meet the much-hyped guest character Ashildr and are given hints she is more than a regular Viking girl.  She talks of having premonitions and both she and Doctor exchange glances at each other.  This enigma is then quickly set aside while the comedy and action takes over.  There is a silly scene in which the Doctor pretends to be Odin and tries to impress the Vikings with his yo-yo.  This broader comedy doesn't seem to suit Peter Capaldi as much as it did Tom Baker, David Tennant and Matt Smith.    The Doctor's performance is soon interrupted by the appearance of  "Odin" appearing in the clouds.  This heavily evokes the appearance of God before the knights in Monty Python and Holy Grail and feels rather unnecessary to the plot.  The Mire capture the Viking warriors by force so the pretence of their leader being "Odin" and their spaceship "Valhalla" serves no purpose.

The Mire kill the warriors and extract their testosterone and adrenaline which they consume as fuel. These aliens are a one-dimensional warrior race and although their backstory is uninteresting, the visual design of the armour is strong.    Ashildr shows her feisty side, not unlike Maisie Williams's character in Game of Thrones, and challenges the Mire to battle on behalf of her village.  This sets up a High Noon style to the final confrontation for the rest of the episode.

The Doctor is initially reluctant to help the villagers fearing that if he successfully intervenes it will draw further alien attention to Earth, again revisiting the theme of the Twelfth Doctor's self-doubt. This is paralleled by Clara's self-confidence as she expects the Doctor will come up with a brilliant plan and save the day as always.  This over-confidence may be what leads to her eventual departure as companion.   The scenes of the Doctor training the Viking villagers are amusing but it is a shame there is not enough time to develop their characters further.  Longer scenes focus on Ashildr which is necessary to set up the episode's conclusion.  

The Doctor's cunning plan does materialise just in time and traps are prepared laid for the Mire, not unlike a climax to an episode of The A Team.  The Doctor uses the Mire's technology against them, tricking them into retreat from a projection of a dragon created by the imagination of Ashildr.  The tonal shift from farce, including the Benny Hill theme, to tragedy with the the death of Ashildr, is effectively done.  The Doctor's victory is hollow and it is his realisation that his face is the same of that of the Roman Caecilius (who was saved by the Tenth Doctor in Fires of Pompeii) that leads him to save Ashildr.  She is brought back to life by the Doctor through his use of the medical kit in the Mire's helmet.  The Doctor again doubts his actions thinking he may have made Ashildr immortal and understands that, like him, she will face having to watch her loved ones die as she lives on. 

After some dodgy plotting and humour in its first half, The Girl Who Lives ends very strongly and sets up the next episode effectively.  It is likely that the Doctor's decision to save Ashildr will have consequences he did not foresee and the next time trailer suggests a darker sequel story.  Next week's The Woman Who Lived  is written by Catherine Tregenna who wrote some of the best episodes of Torchwood and is the first female writer of Doctor Who for seven years.

Doctor Who: The Girl Who Died

Last night's Doctor Who episode The Girl Who Died achieved an overnight rating of 4.63 million, the highest of this year's series.  The episode is available for UK fans to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Designed by Stuart Manning

Doctor Who review: Before the Flood

This second episode of this two-parter moves the story in the new direction promised in the preceding cliffhanger.  Most surprising is the opening pre-titles sequence in which the Doctor tells a story about Beethoven to illustrate the "bootstrap paradox" before playing a few notes of the Fifth Symphony on his electric guitar and leading into a rock version of the theme tune.  These monologues are starting to be a trademark for Peter Capaldi's Doctor with the technique also being used to open last year's episode Listen.

Having travelled back in time before the flood, the Doctor arrives in an abandoned military base in 1980.  This is an eerie setting which makes this episode distinctive from the claustrophobic first part. Bennett (Arsher Ali) and O'Donnell (Morven Christie) have accompanied the Doctor and their characters are effectively developed.  O'Donnell is presented as the enthusiastic admirer of the Doctor who would probably love to be his full-time companion and, like Lynda Moss in Bad Wolf and Osgood in Death in Water, inevitably doesn't survive.  Bennett is an intelligent and sensitive character who questions the Doctor's ethics in a way not dissimilar to Rory Williams.    

Paul Kaye briefly appears as the Tivolian undertaker Prentiss.  His entertaining portrayal as the cowardly, subservient alien is consistent with David Walliams's performance as another Tivolian in The God Complex, the 2011 Toby Whithouse story.  Prentiss explains that he is on Earth to bury the body of his planet's former oppressor "The Fisher King".  Sadly for Prentiss, the creature isn't quite dead.  The theme of death, which is hanging over this series more than ever, also features as the Doctor again contemplates his own fate.  Like the Eleventh Doctor in Series 6, he believes that his death is a fixed event he cannot change.  The resolution in which the Doctor "tricks time" is also similar to the resolution of The Wedding of River Song.

For the second consecutive story, the Doctor and companion are separated and this allows Clara to take on a Doctor-like role with Cass and Lunn on the base.  Clara's decisions are brave but put others in danger, much like in last year's Flatline.  One of the most suspenseful scenes of the story is when Cass is stalked by the ghost Moran and feels the tremors in the floor to sense his movements and evade his axe.

Although visually impressive, The Fisher King is one of the weakest aspects of the story.  The creature has no motivation other than survival and is given a clichéd evil voice by Peter Serafinowicz. There is no background provided about the alien race to help us accept his unusual power of creating ghosts which can act as powerful transmitters.  

In the climactic scenes, the missing power cell is finally explained when we realise that the Doctor has used it to blow up the dam, flood the town and kill the Fisher King.  The stasis pod is unsurprisingly revealed to contain the Doctor who has been frozen inside for 200 years to escape from drowning.  The third and cleverest reveal is that the Doctor's ghost was actually a hologram created by the Doctor to lure the other ghosts into the Faraday cage.

The Doctor explains further to Clara that he programmed the hologram with words which would inform him what to do but that he got the idea from the seeing the hologram the first time.  This is therefore a paradox of the type explained by the Doctor in the pre-titles sequence.  Although it is presented in an entertaining way here, paradoxes like this have recurred several times in the modern era since Steven Moffat first used the concept in his classic 2007 episode Blink.  Although a very well made story with strong characters and performances, the use of such well-worn concepts leaves Toby Whithouse's story not quite reaching classic status but it does continue a very strong start to this series.

Doctor Who review: Under the Lake

In many ways this is a very traditional Doctor Who episode.  The "base under siege" format has been used since 1966 story The Tenth Planet and then returned in the 21st century with The Impossible Planet / The  Satan Pit,  The Waters of Mars and The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People.  Therefore being chased down darkly lit corridors is not a new experience for long-term Doctor Who fans, and writer Toby Whithouse and director Daniel O'Hara had a challenge to make this story feel fresh.

Although the set design of the base is undistinctive, the make-up and special effects used to create the "ghosts" is especially striking.  Paul Kaye's top hat wearing Tivolian ghost is a very creepy image.  His sudden appearance and the resultant death of the base commander Moran (Colin McFarlane) in the pre-titles sequences gets the episode off to a dynamic start.  

The fast pace of the episode is maintained through the economical arrival of the Doctor and Clara.  The absence of Coal Hill School scenes and the limited small talk is refreshing and makes the Doctor-companion dynamic distinctive from last year's episodes.  Clara's thrill-seeking attitude also gives the episode an edge and this character development is likely to be explored further as the series continues.

Whithouse creates an interesting group of guest characters which are well performed by the actors.  The introduction of the deaf  Cass (Sophie Stone) and her sign language interpretor Lunn (Zaqi Ismail) provides positive disability representation and this is reinforced when the Doctor later expresses his respect for Cass's intellect.  Her disability also becomes an asset later in the episode when she uses her lip reading skills to decipher what the ghosts are saying.  The "corporation man" Pritchard  (Steven Robertson), however is a more stereotypical character, not dissimilar from the likes of Burke in Aliens.

This first episode of a two-parter drops several enigmas to intrigue the viewer such as the nature and motivations of the ghosts, the recovered spaceship and its mysterious writing, the missing power cell and the deadlock sealed stasis pod.  The Doctor performs his traditional detective role and although he shows some insensitivity when showing his excitement to the crew, the meaner aspects of his character from last year's series appear to have been toned down.  The Doctor also shows his caring side when expressing concern about Clara's recklessness.    

The middle part of the episode loses some momentum as running-down-corridors sequences and dialogue about the base's security systems dominate.    However, after the Doctor realises the ghosts are transmitting a signal into space and the base begins to flood, the episode reaches an intriguing conclusion.  The Doctor travels backs in time before his "ghost" appears before Clara suggesting the Doctor will have to cheat death once again.   This ending signals a dramatic change of direction for the concluding part of the story.

Under the Lake - Final ratings

The third episode of the year's series of Doctor Who, Under the Lake, was watched by 5.63 million UK viewers within one week of its transmission (not including online views via BBC iPlayer).  This means the episode has become the lowest rated episode since Doctor Who's relaunch in 2005.   However, the episode charted slightly better than the previous week's episode, coming in a respectable 22nd place.

Both The Witch's Familiar and Under the Lake were affected by being scheduled against important England Rugby World Cup on ITV.  With England now knocked out of the competition, Doctor Who ratings are likely increase.  The last episode, Before the Flood, had an overnight rating of 4.38 million so is likely to reach over 6 million after seven days.

Here is an updated overview of how all 12 Doctors have fared in the ratings:

	Highest Rated Episode	Highest Charted Episode	Lowest Rated Episode	Lowest Charted Episode
William Hartnell	The Web Planet (13.50m)	The Web Planet (7th)	The Smugglers: Episode 1 (4.30m)	The Smugglers: Episode 1 (109th)
Patrick Troughton	The Krotons: Episode One (9.00m)	The Power of the Daleks: Episode One (43rd)	The War Games: Episode Eight (3.50m)	The Space Pirates: Episode Six (98th)
Jon Pertwee	The Three Doctors: Episode Four (11.90m)	Planet of the Daleks: Episode One (9th)	Inferno: Episode 3 (4.80m)	The Time Warrior: Part Three (89th)
Tom Baker	City of Death: Part Four (16.10m) - HIGHEST EVER	The Ark in Space: Part Two (5th)	Full Circle: Part Two (3.70m)	Full Circle: Part Two (170th) - LOWEST EVER
Peter Davison	Castrovalva: Part Four (10.40m)	Time-Flight: Part One (26th)	Frontios: Part Four (4.60m)	Frontios: Part Four (115th)
Peter Davison (Special)	The Five Doctors (7.7m)	The Five Doctors (54th)	N/A	N/A
Colin Baker	Attack of the Cybermen: Part One (8.9m)	Attack of the Cybermen: Part One (61st)	The Trial Of A Time Lord (The Mysterious Planet): Part Four (3.70m)	The Mark of the Rani: Part One (111th)
Sylvester McCoy	Silver Nemesis: Part One (6.10m)	Time and the Rani: Part Three / Paradise Towers: Part Four (57th)	Battlefield: Part One (3.10m) - LOWEST EVER	The Greatest Show in the Galaxy: Part Three (108th)
Paul McGann	The TV Movie (9.08)	The TV Movie (17th)	N/A	N/A
Christopher Eccleston	Rose (10.81m)	Rose (7th)	Bad Wolf (6.81m)	The Empty Child (20th)
David Tennant	Journey's End (10.57m)	Journey's End (1st) - HIGHEST EVER	The Satan Pit (6.08m)	Silence in the Library (27th)
David Tennant (Specials)	The End of Time: Part Two (12.27m)	The End of Time: Part One & Part Two (1st) - HIGHEST EVER	The Runaway Bride (9.38m)	The Runaway Bride (10th)
Matt Smith	The Eleventh Hour (10.08m)	The Eleventh Hour (3rd)	The Lodger (6.44m)	Nightmare in Silver (22nd)
Matt Smith (Specials)	The Day of The Doctor (12.8)	The Doctor,   The Widow and the Wardrobe / The Day of The Doctor /               The Time of the Doctor (3rd)	The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe (10.77m)	A Christmas Carol (4th)
Peter Capaldi	Deep Breath (9.17m)	Deep Breath (2nd)	Under the Lake (5.63m)	The Witch's Familiar (24th)
Peter Capaldi (Specials)	Last Christmas (8.28m)	Last Christmas (7th)	N/A	N/A

Ratings statistics sourced from the Doctor Who Guide.