Tag Archives: Doctor Who

Doctor Who, Journey To The Centre Of The Tardis. Television Review. B.B.C.1.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Jahvel Hall, Ashley Walters, Mark Oliver, Sarah Louise, Madison, Ruari Mears, Paul Kasey.

To follow up one of the classic stories of Doctor Who with something even better could never really happen but to come close, to get within a Tardis’ heartbeat of achieving that is still pretty special. Stephen Thompson made Journey To The Centre Of The Tardis have one big impression, one vital piece of the puzzle that had been hiding in plain sight come alive by doing something that no other writer had dared to do and that was to make the Doctor’s home the absolute star of the show.

Doctor Who, Journey To The Centre Of The Tardis. Television Review. B.B.C.1. full post

(505 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, Eldrad Must Die! Audio Drama Review, Big Finish 172.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Sarah Sutton, Stephen Thorne, Nancy Carroll, Pip Torrens, Jessica Claire, Brian Protheroe, Mark Field.

It is perhaps fitting that some of the older foes from the classic series of Doctor Who make their way into the Big Finish roster, especially as the parent television programmes gears up for what is fast becoming a very special 50th anniversary but some monsters and villains having been used once during the 70s and 80s should be left where the memory of their time on screen can be quietly and easily forgotten and the relation to the programme left to slivers of reminiscence when the mood descends. Such is the fate of the latest release Eldrad Must Die!

Doctor Who, Eldrad Must Die! Audio Drama Review, Big Finish 172. full post

(473 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, Hide. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Jessica Raines, Dougray Scott, Kemi-Bo Jacobs, Aiden Cook.

An old haunted house, an empathic psychic, an old war hero dealing with his own distracting memories and a girl whose life remains a mystery…has Stephen Moffat been peeking at the Doctor Who fan’s Christmas list?

Doctor Who, Hide. Television Review. full post

(484 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, Cold War. Television Review. B.B.C.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Liam Cunningham, David Warner, Tobias Menzies, Josh O’Connor James Norton, Charlie Anson, Spencer Wilding, Nicholas Briggs.

 

Mark Gatiss must adore being part of the Doctor Who team. His occasional forays into the writing world of Britain’s longest running science fiction programme employs some of the best characters, some of the highest tension and most of all the dipping of his toe into his beloved horror genre, even if it pays homage with some of the best lines available.

Doctor Who, Cold War. Television Review. B.B.C. full post

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

Doctor Who, The Rings Of Akhaten. Television Review. B.B.C.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Michael Dixon, Nicola Sian, Emilia Jones, Chris Anderson, Aiden Cook, Karl Greenwood.

As the Doctor’s obsession grows over the mystery of Clara Oswald, the audience is taken through relevant moments in the latest companion and her parents’ lives and it all boils down to chance. As with most things in life it is the everyday random happenings that can lead a person one way or another in time, with the Doctor around though those things are really never that simple and after all he sees, the Doctor states that she is impossible.

Doctor Who, The Rings Of Akhaten. Television Review. B.B.C. full post

(513 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, The Bells Of Saint John. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Celia Imrie, Richard E. Grant, Robert Whitlock, Dan Li, Manpreet Bachu, Sean Knopp, James Greene, Geff Francis, Eve de Leon Allen, Kassius Carey Johnson, Danielle Eames, Fred Pearson, Jade Anouka, Olivia Hill, Isabella Blake-Thomas, Matthew Earley, Antony Edridge.

The new series, or should that be the second part of the previous series or even the build-up to the 50th Anniversary of the longest running science fiction show on British television has returned after its winter sabbatical and it seems it is going to become about obsession.

Doctor Who, The Bells Of Saint John. Television Review. full post

(748 words, estimated 3:0 mins reading time)

Richard Griffiths, Star Of Withnail And I And The History Boys, Dies Aged 65.

Richard Griffiths, one of the most popular and acclomplished actors of his generation, has died at the age of 65 after complications following heart surgery.

The star of such films as the iconic Withnail and I, Alan Bennett’s The History Boys and the B.B.C. television series Pie in the Sky was perhaps best known in recent years as Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter film adaptations.

Richard Griffiths was born in Thornaby-on-Tees in North Yorkshire to parents who were both deaf. He learned to sign at a very young age in order to communicate with them. Like many of his generation left school at 15 but was fortunate to return to education later in life to study drama before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Richard Griffiths, Star Of Withnail And I And The History Boys, Dies Aged 65. full post

(632 words, estimated 2:32 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, The Seeds Of War. Audio Drama Review, Big Finish, 171.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Colin Baker, Bonnie Langford, Ray Fearon, Ony Uhiara, Stuart Organ, Lucy Russell, John Banks, Beth Chalmers, Barnaby Edwards, David Sibley.

In the best traditions of Doctor Who there is a new terrifying enemy for the fans to get to grips with but as with timey-wimey approach to the Doctor’s life, this isn’t the first time he has met The Eminence or his Infinite Warriors as he battles against them in The Seeds of War.

Doctor Who, The Seeds Of War. Audio Drama Review, Big Finish, 171. full post

(531 words, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, The Justice of Jalxar. Big Finish Audio Drama, 2.04, Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tom Baker, Mary Tamm, Trevor Baxter, Christopher Benjamin, Mark Goldthorp, Rosanna Miles, Ben Bishop, Adrian Lukis.

Two of the best loved characters from the classic period of Doctor Who make a stunning return in the canon and manage to lighten the mood in their own superb interminable style in one of the stand out highs so far of Tom Baker’s return to the role he relished in for many years. Jago and Litefoot appeared nearly 40 years ago in the episodes surrounding the mystery of Weng-Chiang and now they return in The Justice of Jalxar.

Doctor Who, The Justice of Jalxar. Big Finish Audio Drama, 2.04, Review. full post

(570 words, estimated 2:17 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, War Against The Laan. Big Finish Audio Play, 2.03. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tom Baker, Mary Tamm, David Warner, Hayley Atwell, Jane Slavin, Toby Hadoke, Hugh Fraser, Nicholas Biggs, John Dorney, Beth Chalmers.

With The Lann about to destroy Earth as billions of the species mistake the planet as their own personal birthing pool, the second part of the two part story by Nicholas Briggs takes on one of those great sidesteps and gives fans something else to chew over and digest. Rather than the thought of interplanetary war between two species, the subtext offers something different, something not implemented in the Doctor Who world for a long while.

Doctor Who, War Against The Laan. Big Finish Audio Play, 2.03. Review. full post

(655 words, estimated 2:37 mins reading time)