Tag Archives: Annette Badland

Midsomer Murders: The Sting Of Death. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Nick Hendrix, Fiona Dolman, Annette Badland, Griff Rhys Jones, Imogen Stubbs, Wendi Peters, Jacquetta May, Jack Fox, Bryan Dick, Nina Toussaint-White, Derek Griffiths, Renee Castle, Ben Starr, Aaron Anthony.

Perhaps in all the ways someone can die at the hands of a murderer, it may be surprising that the creative team and the multitude of writers of Midsomer Murders have never considered using bees as a means of delivering the final, fatal blow.

Midsomer Murders: The Sting Of Death. Television Review. full post

(415 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

The Diary Of River Song: Series Seven. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Alex Kingston, Charles Armstrong, Annette Badland, Timothy Blore, Aurora Burghart, Annabelle Dowler, Daniel Easton, Jaye Griffiths, Clive Hayward, Paul Heath, Janet Henfrey, Glen McCready, Wanda Opalinska, David Rintoul, Issy Van Randwyck, Robert Whitelock.

A life without seeing the Doctor, it is a dream of many, to avoid the consultation rooms, to sidestep having to sit next to the person with the queasy cough from spluttering their germs over you, to steer clear of the condescending questions that ask everything except how you truly are; the truth though is that at some point we need the Doctor, we understand that a niggle today can be a serious condition tomorrow.

The Diary Of River Song: Series Seven. Audio Drama Review. full post

(469 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Midsomer Murders: Till Death Do Us Part. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Nick Hendrix, Fiona Dolman, Annette Badland, Camilla Arfwedson, Ella Blainska, Kelly Brook, Michael Fox, Liz Fraser, Gabrielle Glaister, Nick Hancock, Colin McFarlane, Maya Sondhi, Fenella Woolgar.

To have and to hold…Till Death Do Us Part, sometimes the symbolic words take on extra meaning, especially when a marriage is short-lived, something that is arguably a possibility when the ceremony is held in the vicinity of Midsomer.

Midsomer Murders: Till Death Do Us Part. Television Review. full post

(463 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Midsomer Murders: The Lions Of Causton. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Nick Hendrix, Fiona Dolman, Annette Badland, Tamzin Outhwaite, Aaron Cobham, Don Gilet, Nicholas Goh, Michael Maloney, Shereen Martin, Julian Lewis Jones, Douggie McMeekin, Carlyss Peer, Richard Rankin, Isabel Shaw, Marcia Warren.

Midsomer Murders: The Lions Of Causton. Television Review. full post

(438 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Midsomer Murders: Drawing Dead. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Nick Hendrix, Fiona Dolman, Annette Badland, Bill Bailey, Ruby Bentall, Will Brown, Nicholas Burns, Ben Caplan, Nicholas Farrell, Eloise Joseph, Jemma Redgrave, Elana Saurel, Ellen Thomas, Joshua Williams, Heather Wright.

There was a time when teachers would look upon their pupil’s reading habits and consciously judge them accordingly, no matter how interested in the source material, the children’s ability to report on what they had read and the lessons learned from the text, the snobbery and direct condescension placed at the student’s desk as they admitted to reading comic books whilst their peers and friends got praise for having spent their weekend with their noses pretending to have insight into the world of ‘serious’ literature was short sighted and demeaning.

Midsomer Murders: Drawing Dead. Television Review. full post

(456 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Midsomer Murders: Death Of The Small Coppers. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Nick Hendrix, Fiona Dolman, Annette Badland,  Ann Eleonora Jorgensen, Mark Benton, Peter Egan, Ellie Haddinton, Ray Fearon, Thusitha Jayasundera, Ella Kenion, John Light, Niamh McGrady, Chance Perdomo.

It never does a television series any harm to rejuvenate itself every now and then, it arguably suggests an element of self-awareness that it is willing to go through the process of reincarnation, like an insect that becomes sheltered in its cocoon, when it re-emerges out into the sunlight it can be seen to be more colourful, more illuminating than it had the chance to be before.

Midsomer Murders: Death Of The Small Coppers. Television Review. full post

(431 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

Midsomer Murders: The Ghost Of Causton Abbey. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Nick Hendrix, Fiona Dolman, Annette Badland, Amber Aga, Michael Byrne, Beth Cooke, John Cummins, Zebb Dempster, Angela Griffin, Tony Gardner, Anita Harris, Jason Merrells, Anjili Mohindra, Chu Omambala, Elaine Paige, Justin Pierre.

The curse is a powerful tool when it comes to bringing a story of murder to life, it is the symbol of the preordained motif that will weave itself through the narrative and give a sense of comfort, as well as cunning, to the viewer as they watch the gruesome tale of death unfold.

Midsomer Murders: The Ghost Of Causton Abbey. Television Review. full post

(480 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

The Man Who Invented Christmas. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, Jonathan Pryce, Simon Callow, Justin Edwards, Morfydd Clark, Miriam Margolyes, Ian McNeice, Donald Sumpter, Cosimo Fusco, Bill Paterson, Miles Jupp, Annette Badland, Anna Murphy, Ger Ryan, John Henshaw, Ely Solan.

The modern notions of how we celebrate Christmas has come to divide the way we view the period which should be about decency, fairness and that seemingly old fashioned notion of goodwill to all. Some see it as an excuse for excess, some wallow in the frenzy and find their time afterwards beset in debt and worry, others perhaps arguably more at peace with their lot, just surround themselves with a smile, a memory of a loved one no longer in their sights and the hands of a loved one still by their side.

The Man Who Invented Christmas. Film Review. full post

(563 words, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Suburban Hell. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish Audio.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Annette Badland, Katy Wix, Alix Dunmore, Raymond Coulthard, David Ricardo-Pearce.

 

There is surely one place and one set of foes more terrifying than a fleet of Daleks rampaging from the torment that is Skaro, the Cybermen climbing out of their icy wombs, the spiders of Metabelis 3 or the arch devil himself himself The Master burnt to a crisp and finding the best way to groom a beard and that is the nightmare that would make them all quiver in fright, the suburban middle-class themed party, the fear that dominates the Suburban Hell.

Doctor Who: Suburban Hell. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish Audio. full post

(463 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Equilibrium, Audio Drama Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Mark Strickland, Annette Badland, Nickolas Grace, Joanna Kirkland, John Albasiny, Ella Kenion.

E-Space has ensnared The Doctor. Thanks to the mechanical, mathematic genius mind of the now dead Adric, the Doctor in his fifth incarnation and his three young companions are cut adrift from the Universe and with little hope of finding their way back, it seems as though their stay in E-Space will become a lengthy and unbalanced one.

Doctor Who: Equilibrium, Audio Drama Review. Big Finish. full post

(545 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)