BBCHD - 26th October 2008 - 8.00pm

I had high expectations of this. The BBC adaptation of Bleak House, presenting the story in user friendly 30 minute episodes, was an absolute triumph on all levels - writing, directing, acting, lighting, costuming, design etc - and this Andrew Davies version of Little Dorrit has been given the same treatment. And importantly it's in HD. Bleak House was one of first television programmes I ever saw in HD and I've been a advocate since then.

...he was in for murder, though you wouldn't know it from Andy Serkis' very thick, very hammy, comedy French accent

The first installment, an hour long scene setting exercise, certainly promises a series that'll be 'appointment to view' over the next dozen autumn nights. So, to being with we get various plot strands being developed, the threads of which will obviously be drawn together as this progresses; the first episode takes us from the return of the prodigal son Arthur Clennam to his mother's house carrying a dark secret; Amy Dorrit and her family stuck in the debtors prison; to the release of the French prisoner Rigaud (apparently he was in for murder, though you wouldn't know it from Andy Serkis' very thick, very hammy, comedy French accent) and the return from Marseilles of the Meagles family.



These plot points more or less orbit each other and certainly the Clennam and Dorrit family sagas merge in the first episode when Amy Dorrit goes to work for the utterly frightening Mrs. Clennam and Arthur traces her back to the debtors prison and meets her father. The other two plot strands are a bit out on a limb at the moment. The aforementioned Rigaud broods and haw-he-haws his way through what little time is given to him. Looks a nasty bit of work though and I'm loving Andy Serkis' false nose and deep baritone. The Meagles story is much more interesting. On their trip from Marseilles they've encountered the horribly cold Miss Wade, played to icy perfection by the superb Maxine Peake. She's enough to put the wind up you too. She establishes a relationship with Tattycoram, a young servant girl attached to Pet Meagles, the rather spoilt daughter in the family and by the look on Miss Wade's face it's going to be a disastrous alliance. Touches of Sappho too when Miss Wade bumps into Tattycoram later in the episode.

It's very apt that a drama about money, status and patient love is being transmitted on the cusp of a recession...

With me so far? It'll get more complex as it goes on because they haven't introduced half of the characters yet so I suggest you take the phone off the hook, pour a very large glass of wine, plump up the cushions on the sofa and tune your tellyboxes to BBC1 for the duration. Essentially it's a story of rags to riches to rags again, unrequited love and dark secrets. It's very apt that a drama about money, status and patient love is being transmitted on the cusp of a recession and I'm sure this adapatation will touch a few contemporary nerves as we try to fathom why William Dorrit ended up in the Marshalsea prison.



Clearly, the focus here was on the Clennam storyline. And it doesn't disappoint. Like a venomous spider, Mrs. Clennam squats in her dark, delapidated home, disowns her son and sets up the Flintwych twins to manage her business affairs. Judy Parfitt is fantastic as Mrs. Clennam, raging and fuming at all and sundry but allowing a softer touch in her dealings with Amy Dorrit. Why she's being so nice to Amy is obviously something bound up within the terrible family secret that son Arthur unearths and with which he confronts Mrs. Clennam. However, she too knows something about Amy and is playing her cards close to her chest. Twisting and turning camerawork suggests the equally twisted nature of the house and the woman who dominates it. Lots of big close ups of eyes and mouths too, edited into the medium and long shots. Flintwych is played to oily perfection by that bastion of British character actors, Alun Armstrong and he groans and grumbles his way into the Clennam estate. The fabulous twist at the end that reveals he has a twin will leave you as shaken as his wife, Affery.

Give me crumbling houses, swathes of fog, gaslight, street urchins, shop windows full of oranges any day! That's what I want from my Dickens.

I also love the bit where Amy walks to and from the prison across London. Some great contrast of her with the cityscapes and those half-profile shots of her with the streets behind her, looking back over her shoulder, were rather striking too. The production design is minimal for the interiors, a kind of gloomy, stripped down drabness for the interior of the Clennam house and a bareness for the Dorrits' room in the Marshalsea debtors' prison. One reviewer has already complained online that the sets aren't realistic enough and are prone to wobble. Eh? Was I watching a different serial? I didn't see any wobble, all I saw was fantastic detail in high definition. Granted, they are not going to aim for realism. These adaptations are usually decked out in a hyper-Dickens where the set-dressers and designers can really let rip so don't expect total, historical accuracy. Give me crumbling houses, swathes of fog, gaslight, street urchins, shop windows full of oranges any day! That's what I want from my Dickens. And that's what you get.

As well as the stand-out central turn from Parfitt, you've got a cast to die for. The aforementioned Maxine Peake, a wonderful, emotional little turn from Freema Agyeman as Tattycoram (I was willing her to be good just to stick one to those who've been knocking her abilities as an actress and she was, as I expected, excellent), sick of the casual racism of her benefactors the Meagles by the look of things, and a full blooded, effulgent Tom Courtenay as Mr. Dorrit. Add in Sue Johnstone, Janine Duvitski, Bill Paterson and a gorgeous, understated lead in Matthew McFadyean as Arthur. And many more yet to come as the story enfolds. Miss it at your peril.

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Cathode Ray Tube Little Dorrit Episode 1

The final update on Season 2 of Mad Men. The finale aired last Sunday (I haven't even seen it myself, yet) so here are the links to the last two episodes for you to stream and watch. Thanks to AMC for the episode blurbs and photos and to Surf The Channel for the links.

At some point I will be reviewing the Season 2 Blu-Ray release so watch out for that.

Episode 12: The Mountain King
Don meets with an old friend. An account hangs in the balance when Pete's personal life presents problems. Joan brings her boyfriend to the office.



Surf The Channel - Episode 12

Episode 13: Meditations In An Emergency
Sterling Cooper is in play and the office scrambles without Don. Betty learns some disconcerting news.



Surf The Channel - Episode 13


DISCLAIMER: Cathode Ray Tube does not host the episodes itself. Links are via third party hosting sites like Megavideo or Surf The Channel. Often those episodes get pulled off the hosting site and the link stops working. That's out of this site's control and apologies if you came here and found dead links. We know how frustrating that is. Don't shoot the messenger. We're looking for new ones all the time so we'll post them when we can.

TOP TIP: When you follow the links and click 'Play' you will be directed either to a poker or a dating site which will open in another window. Don't panic. This is just the advertising that accompanies the uploaded episodes. Close the poker or dating site window down and go back to the Surf The Channel window and click on play again. The episode will buffer and then start playing.


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Cathode Ray Tube Mad Men Season 2 AMC

Part 1 / BBC1 - 20th October 2008 - 4.35pm
Part 2 / CBBC - 20th October 2008 - 5.15pm

Ensuring we don't forget the 'destiny in the stars' theme that seems to be dominating the series this year, the first part opens with an atmospheric pan down from the stars in the heavens to the shadowy, moonlit house of Martin Trueman. It's a really strong opening, visually accomplished, setting out the themes of the story, with Trueman (the clue is in the surname, folks) becoming not the true man but a poor con-artist possessed by astral forces. Gareth Roberts' scripts postulate that the signs of the zodiac are in fact the remnants of of some pre-Big Bang force out to conquer our universe. It's about belief in something that can't be defined. But for those of us who are familiar with Russ Abbot's light entertainment career (that can't be defined either) it has a bizarre subtext about loss of celebrity and celebrity obsession with the occult and fame. Think Sally Morgan, Star Psychic meets The Christmas Invasion and you'll perfectly get the measure of this.

...when I was a teenager you wouldn't find me dead at anything remotely to do with star signs, psychic readings and Russell Grant.

Abbot is actually very effective as Trueman in the pre-titles sequence. He starts out as a slightly downtrodden nobody and once irradiated by an astral fireball he's transformed into a scenery chewing, fame grabbing monster as he plonks a hand on customer Cheryl's shoulder and turns her into his henchwoman. All one can say is that Russ certainly believes in method acting. A great opening but it's later undermined by his rather, shall we say, enthusiastic approach to acting in the rest of the episode. Now, I don't know about the kids of today but when I was a teenager you wouldn't find me dead at anything remotely to do with star signs, psychic readings and Russell Grant. So, I find it puzzling that three intelligent people like Clyde, Rani and Luke had nothing better to do than go and see a psychic show starring Russ Abbot. Er, don't they go to Slipknot gigs like the others in their peer group? Gareth Roberts is asking us to believe these three characters would go to something as naff as this. Next, he'll be telling me the star signs and zodiac shit is, like, real. It's a horribly contrived set up, and you know the whole business with Luke not having a birthday will be the lynch-pin to the story's resolution but it does give us some nice interplay between Knight, Mohindra and Anthony as they enter the theatre. All three are engaging as ever. May I also just say that a lot of this is bigged up by Sam Watts' lovely music score too and it manages to give the episode a little bit of edge where it's really needed.



Cheryl's husband Stuart turns up and his worries about what's happened to her help to build up the mystery. I half expected him to turn up again but he just flounces off to call the police and we never see him again. Did he call the cops? Anyway, in the theatre, our Russ makes his entrance in a dazzling white suit and slips perfectly into the role of cheesy host (or is that milky? Certainly got the right colour suit on for it) and he's coming over as the perfect piece of casting for this, so it seems. It may be somewhat implausible that our teenage gang would spend their Friday night at such an event but all the stuff with Russ...sorry...Trueman (so hard to tell them apart) talking to Rani and her family is quite charming. And when he gets to Sarah Jane we even get a flashback to School Reunion into the bargain. Sarah smells a rat, of course, and Team SJA start their investigation into this too good to be true-man. (See what I did there...oh, please yourselves)

World domination through television broadcasts. Now, where have we seen that before.

Oh, dear. The Celestial Deirdre has had an accident and Trueman gets an offer of ITV3 proportions, or would Psychic Planet be on Living, do you think? I do hope we get to see Deirdre in some kind of sequel, because it sounds like she's had enough of Ken Barlow and divides her time between Weatherfield and Acton in a side career as a celebrity psychic. And then Gareth Roberts uses that rotten joke about people falling downstairs in bungalows. Do they even have bungalows in Coronation Street? Where were we...oh, yes. World domination through television broadcasts. Now, where have we seen that before. Whilst Russ Abbot commences his plan to devour the entire scenery, there is time for that very sweet little scene where Luke frets about not having a birthday, not enjoying a childhood. Tommy Knight is just heartbreaking in the way he handles that scene and he's always superb playing against Lis Slden too. A nicely wriiten and performed scene that makes a bit of a mockery of the rather overblown stuff that follows and keeps the development of the Luke character at the forefront.



The problem at this point is that we're getting slightly too much info dump and not enough actual drama. All the stuff about the zodiac and stars as Luke natters away to Mr. Smith is hardly compelling stuff. And Abbot goes and carves himself a massive slice of ham when he locks horns with Lis Sladen. 'Oooooh, scan away', he says with an overt flourish of theatrics. I know he's supposed to be this hyper light entertainment figure but this scene is the key moment when 'hyper' becomes the style of his performance and, for me, the exaggerated and mannered acting destroys any belief we had in the character and the way ordinary old Martin has been transformed. He was doing so well but from here Abbot keeps the stage persona going even when he's off stage and in scenes when you'd expect him to perform the role with far more subtlety. It's a big performance but it's not a particularly good one. 'And, pooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr liddddddddddddddlllllllllllllllllllle Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaani...' gets loads of twitching eyes and a very restless jaw just for emphasis. It makes Richard Briers performance in Paradise Towers look like a fucking Robert De Niro masterclass.



Clyde falls under Trueman's spell and is sent off, possessed, to kill Sarah. Get the mad eyes on Russ Abbot as he gifts the ancient lights to poor old Clyde. Even his optic nerves are munching their way through Upper Boat. Meanwhile, that clever Rani reckons the ancient lights are from another universe with different laws of physics. Or is that a universe with different psychics? Maybe, that's where Doris Stokes went. Physics, psychics...all starting to sound the same to me. Lots and lots of info dump again that isn't particularly dramatic. Never mind, we get the Psychic Channel, Trueman throwing energy bolts and a direct challenge to Sarah. And then Clyde turns up to carry out Trueman's instructions. Director Michael Kerrigan puts together a fantastic cliffhanger, rapidly intercutting between Trueman on the telly, Clyde going all messianic, Mr. Smith doing a number from Silence In The Library and Team SJA caught in a force ten gale. Phew. Hats off to the cast and Kerrigan for making such a lumpen script workable and could someone now give Russ Abbot his tranquilisers and get him to calm down in time for Part Two.



Over to CBBC for Part Two. Now, I don't mind a bit of sympathetic magic in stories like this. Gareth Roberts' idea of using the signs of the zodiac and the alignment of stars as symbols to directly affect environment and people is a tried and tested fantasy device. Look at the blood control idea in The Christmas Invasion. Go even further back and you'll see a similar set up in that classic childrens' drama Children Of The Stones. They are all essentially about the same thing - that one can influence something based on its relationship to another thing without any apparent causal link between the two. So the stone circles and black holes in Children Of The Stones are like the zodiac symbols and stellar alignment in this.

All this story can do is position itself within the new religions of celebrity pop culture and 24 hour rolling news.

The star signs and zodiac stuff is all about 'participation mystique' - they are today's version of ritualistic cave paintings. Roberts, however, feels the need to explain why sympathetic magic 'works' in this universe because otherwise it is still the mumbo-jumbo that we associate with pre-rationalist, primitive modes of thinking. He doesn't quite achieve that and perhaps shouldn't have attempted to rationalise it. The notion that a star-sign can be used to hypnotise the populace of Ealing and Acton doesn't quite work because Roberts put in all that alternate universe, pre-Big Bang alien energy/science explanation. It's charming but it's about as effective as trying to rationalise karma, good luck or doing a rain dance. The Masque Of Mandragora has a much better handle on the scientific rationale versus primitive magic discussion because it positioned its debate within the flux of the Renaissance. All this story can do is position itself within the new religions of celebrity pop culture and 24 hour rolling news. It's a nice touch that Trinity Wells of the ubiquitous AMNN service gets possessed. Mind you, it's a wonder the poor love hasn't checked herself into a hospital by now.



I like the ideas but the trouble with Part Two is that there are interminably, lengthy scenes of threat and counter threat between Sarah Jane and Martin Trueman that, quite frankly, commit the cardinal sin of being boring. Abbot's twitchy and arch performance and Sladen's trembly, throat wobbling of the week spends nearly ten minutes of the running time taking place via a television screen in her attic. It is resolved in that quite effective confrontation between Sarah and Clyde but it's static and confined to one set. The pace seriously flags. It only starts to pick up again when the story actually moves to the theatre and the lead characters all split up within the narrative. The scene where Clyde convinces the circle of hypnotised chosen ones to allow him into the theatre again decides the idea that all the zodiac and stars stuff is bunkum (the chocolate bar jokes) and yet suggests a power beyond the rational.

The threat from Trueman is framed like the false-jeopardy of a run down quiz show. Something slighty tricky, slighty tatty that you'd find on Challenge TV, complete with revolving game board, rather than it actually being about the fate of the universe. It's as underwhelming as the low-rent performance from Russ Abbot. The ending, Trueman and Clyde facing off to Sarah, Rani and Luke rushing to turn off the power supply, should work. But it just ends up as a bunch of people talking to each other in a theatre. The dialogue between Sarah and Trueman, where he basically explains the whole plot and she puts across a counter argument lasts for nearly two minutes. It's two minutes of director Kerrigan cutting between Abbot and Sladen and no matter how charismatic you may think they both are this is dull, dull, dull. It's about as threatening and exciting as a lettuce.

Despite a fairly awful performance from Russ Abbot, when it comes to the crunch, it is still very sad when Martin realises that he's been defeated by the virgin Luke.

It finally gets going again when the astral energy arrives on earth and plunges into the theatre, Rani and Luke literally pull the plug and surprise, surprise (the unexpected doesn't hit you between the eyes) Luke realises that he's special because he doesn't have a star sign. And because he wasn't born in the house of Virgo with Uranus rising it means he can defeat the, by now, totally irritating Martin Trueman. However, something strange happens with Trueman too. Despite a fairly awful performance from Russ Abbot, when it comes to the crunch, it is still very sad when Martin realises that he's been defeated by the virgin Luke. It still elicits some sympathy which I find miraculous after Abbot's mangled performance.

There is that sweet coda where Luke does get a birthday date and once again Sladen and Knight show just how natural and effective they are given the opportunity. But in the end, I didn't particularly like this. Definitely the weakest of the stories so far.

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Cathode Ray Tube Sarah Jane Adventures Series 2

BBC1 - 25th October 2008 - 5.50pm

If this series gets any earlier in the schedules, we'll end up watching it at breakfast time. All this shifting about just shows that, actually, the BBC don't give a fig if it's successful or not. They'd rather use it as cannon fodder in their point scoring against ITV.

'Her body seems to have closed down', says Uther. That's cos she's never been given a decent part to play, dimwit. She's obviously given up. The audience certainly has.

Anyway, it's Morgana's turn this week. Six episodes in and we know bugger all about her, what she's really like, why she's getting those nightmares (remember those? Back in the first episode?) and suddenly there's the hope that she's getting an episode to herself. Not so. Cue Julian Rhind-Tutt and some nasty bug popped in a bunch of flowers (and you really must get some Clearasil on that acne Jules) and, presto, she's knocked out for the first 15 minutes of the story. Way to go, script writers. 'Her body seems to have closed down', says Uther. That's cos she's never been given a decent part to play, dimwit. She's obviously given up. The audience certainly has.



'We cannot let her die,' shouts Arthur. Why the fuck not? She'd be better off doing that than spending the next six episodes doing absolutely nothing and contributing zilch to the story. Why should the audience actually invest any emotion into this scenario when Morgana is simply an empty cipher thanklessly foisted upon poor Katie McGrath by the producers. It is now very obvious that the creators of the series, and the writer of this episode, Julian Jones, don't know how to write the female roles.

Gaius pops into the library and talks about the Great Purge - the enema given to the series to reduce it to bland Disneyfication...

Rhind-Tutt is camply entertaining as Edwin Muirden. 'I'll be at the inn...in case you change your mind', he suggests, er, rather suggestively to Arthur. The prickly tension between him and Gaius is nicely played too and the episode's highlight is Muirden's attempt to besmirch Gaius' reputation. Anyway, Morgana recovers, gets about two lines and a bit of clapping about 20 minutes later, and the story then veers off into a duel of wits between Gaius and Edwin. Gaius pops into the library and talks about the Great Purge - the enema given to the series to reduce it to bland Disneyfication - thinking he's recognised Edwin from a far more exciting past that'll never make it to the screen. Meanwhile, Edwin is chatting up Merlin and encouraging him to the Dark Side. Well, how to empty bottles is so earth-shatteringly, pant-wettingly fearsome an example of magic, isn't it? 'People like you and I, we must look after each other', says Edwin. Oh, if only they would.



At this point, it's bloody obvious what's going on. Edwin was somehow wronged and physically mutilated by Gaius in the Great Purge and he's back to redress the balance by getting Gaius kicked out for medical incompetence. 'You're here to take revenge' mutters Gaius. 'And I have waited a long time', replied Edwin. And so have we, lads, so have we. Waited, for a plot that doesn't revolve around witches and sorcerers trying to get their own back against Uther 'Ban the Magic' Pendragon. Hello...there are hundreds of other plots, y'know. When Edwin slags off Gaius, 'His methods are outdated. He has failed to keep up with latest developments' the script inadvertently undermines the very series itself.

Morgana gets three more lines.

Gaius stares wistfully at Merlin sleeping (Wilson wondering when this sack of shit will be over, no doubt) and then plods off to visit John Hurt. Probably after some advice on whether to renew his contract for the second series, if it gets commissioned. The dragon natters on about Arthur and Merlin uniting the land of Albion (that'll be series ten trillion, episode ninety billion then, going at this pace) and we actually get a bit of a moral dilemma for Gaius - whether to sacrifice Uther to allow Merlin and Arthur to get it together. More interminable scenes of Wilson fretting in his room before being brought to Uther for his P45 and a golden handshake. It all looks glum but I bet it all gets put back to square one in the last ten minutes. And Merlin will sort it out. Ten minutes and counting.

Thanks Gwen for your input, can you now please pop an email over to Uther and let him know he's been a bit of a blind bastard.

Destiny, destiny, destiny. That's all we bloody hear. Can we get on with it, then? Oh, look. Hurrah, a bit of chest exposure from Arthur as he plays with his swords. Gwen gets the role of emotional blackmailer as Gaius leaves Camelot. Thanks Gwen for your input, can you now please pop an email over to Uther and let him know he's been a bit of a blind bastard. Thanks, doll. Naturally, Edwin does what every witch and sorcerer does and drugs Uther, ties up Gaius and gets all Revenge Of The Jedi on Merlin. Yes, Rhind-Tutt is the Emperor...'Take your place by my side, Skywalker...er Merlin...er Luke'. And an axe then sort of flies at him and that's it. Is he dead? Can't we see the axe cleave him in two? Oh, yeah. It's a family show.

Fast forward to the end. Twittering birdsong over Camelot and it's like the episode never happened. Much wringing of hands from Uther about Edwin's parents and vast amounts of hypocrisy about how bad magic is. Gaius and Merlin do some further father/son bonding. Yawn. An episode best summed up by that wonderful Harry Hill joke about 'ear cataracts'.

Next week, lots of blue fairies and Arthur gets a snog.

Catch A Remedy To Cure All Ills streaming at Surf The Channel

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Cathode Ray Tube Merlin A Remedy To Cure All Ills

ABC - 23rd October 2008 - 10.00pm

I wondered how long it would take the show to address the big social movements of the decade. It was a toss up whether it would be feminism, gay rights or black power. The UK series did attempt to tackle the emergence of black people in the police force but it rather shied away from those twin shibboleths of including gay characters and themes or the rejection of the incumbent bastions of male power by emancipated women. These subjects would eventually emerge in the sequel Ashes To Ashes. What's good about this episode is that this is the furthest that the U.S producers have moved away from the original UK scripts. This is the litmus test, if you will, as to whether the series can expand on the original and develop enough of an identity of its own to fuel more stories. On this evidence, clearly they can.

...it's still an interesting launch pad to start a discussion about gay identity, about visibility in the military and about violence against minorities.

This starts out as an irony drenched view of anti-Vietnam politics and an exploration of the counter-culture of the late 1960s. That means 'hippies'. I found the idea that 'hippies' were still an important political force in an America of 1973 a bit of a moot point. The 1970s is, for me, the counter-culture comedown when the radical politics born in the 1960s began to wind down in the 1970s, when activists either committed themselves to party politics, developed social justice organisations, moved into identity politics or alternative lifestyles or became politically inactive. So 'hippies' frolicking in a New York park in 1973 is really a bit of thumbnail sketch. Never mind, because it's still an interesting launch pad to start a discussion about gay identity, about visibility in the military and about violence against minorities.

So, the story here is radically different from the UK episode three, which was essentially the death of a mill worker from faulty machinery and a further discussion of police methods. The peripheral material, of Sam going back to his home in 1973 and seeing himself with his dad, going to a football game, are lifted from the UK's episode five. It looks like they are committed to the overall arc of the UK's first series which will eventually bring Sam together with his father in 1973 but, more importantly, they are shrugging off the limited scripts of the UK version and now boldly going it on their own.

The narrative shifts from Vietnam 'freaks' being responsible for the murder of a war veteran and embraces a sting operation to reveal that the vet was actually gay and attempting to continue a relationship with another vet back home. I was worried that we were going to get 'the only good gay character is a dead gay character' trope, which is the tried and tested way of dealing with the subject matter but I think the episode managed to sympathetically avoid that, in the main. It also widened the issue by tackling homophobia in the workplace and the attitude of the police to hate crimes in the way that it focused on Ray Carling's character. Michael Imperioli was rather good in this as Ray and he's another example of how this version is defining itself. When Gene takes him to task (as Gene often did in the original series) for his complacency in solving the crime we do at last get to see a chink in the bullish armour of the man.

...it still equates, and portrays, being gay with a form of rape against straight men.

It does reinforce some of the stereotypes when Gene and Sam visit the gay bar but, quite honestly, there are still a number of gay bars in New York that look and feel the same. It's no good ranting about negative stereotypes when in fact gay history and culture continues to be littered with them, many existing out of our own making. None of the gay bar scenes were in the least bit offensive and were subtly used to define the notion of gay versus straight concepts of masculinity, especially in the central cultural reference to Rock Hudson. Loved the 'gaydar' stuff too between Annie and Sam when she suggests to Sam whom the suspect might be. The only major issue I would have is that 'sodomy' is used as a threat to get information out of a suspect. The spectre of male anal rape is often trotted out in narratives like this and, in reality, a young straight man would be faced with that threat in prison but it still equates, and portrays, being gay with a form of rape against straight men. It's a cliche and perpetuates a myth that all queers want to get into the knickers of straight men. What the script should have done was shown a loving, gay relationship as a balance to that or at least had a line from Sam that would have disowned the concept. The proper gay relationship in the story was something that wasn't talked about enough and therefore you are given an episode that does not explicitly say that gay relationships are good or that gay men can actually be good parents.



All the regulars are great in this and there is a definite feeling of a proper ensemble finally getting 'it' and working together. The whole sting operation to flush out the gay basher is hilarious stuff with Annie, Sam and Chris getting a proper share of the limelight. And Keitel is working very hard to define his own version of Gene. We are not going to get anything like the Manc Lion in this series. He's much more Popeye Doyle of The French Connection than Glennister's reading of Regan of The Sweeney and trying to compare the two is futile. They are different men. There's a spectacularly wince-inducing scene in the Precinct interrogation room where Gene goes for direct violence in opposition to Sam's overt mental torture of the two young lads dragged in from the sting operation. Gene is vicious in that scene, very cold blooded, and as he belts one of the suspects with a chair you actually understand that Keitel is not going for cuddly irony here. His Gene Hunt is very scary.

...through Annie he sees the cold light of day, the rationale of not destroying a family by maintaining the closeted nature of the gay father figure

The wistful character of Windy also develops further and I get the impression that she's replacing the barman Nelson from the original series. Nelson did feature briefly in the first episode but this series hasn't picked him up and used him as Sam's metaphysical commentator. Rather, this role has now been assigned to Sam's neighbour and she is the 'spirit guide' giving him instructions on how to negotiate through this reality of 1973. She and Annie are perhaps opposite sides of the same coin - one a metaphysical and the other a more rational reading of femininity in the series. Through Windy, and her adherence to what seems like an Eastern mysticism, Sam connects with 1973 through the memory of his childhood and his absent father and through Annie he sees the cold light of day, the rationale of not destroying a family by maintaining the closeted nature of the gay father figure. That last scene is very debatable and does bring into question the consequences of 'outing' a seemingly straight man to the detriment of a father/son and husband/wife set of relationships. It makes the episode all the more interesting. Well written by Tracy McMillan and superbly directed by Michael Pressman, my only other bug bear was the often intrusive use of songs of the time in the middle of rather important scenes. But full marks to the producers for coming up with a story that the original series didn't tackle and almost seamlessly integrating it into the series milieu.

ABC Life On Mars site

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Some very exciting news from Film Score Monthly. The long out of print, CD limited edition of Ron Grainer's superb score for The Omega Man is being re-released.

Currently going for silly prices on eBay, the original edition is highly collectable and much sought after. Lukas Kendall and Jeff Bond, the producers, decided that the money from copies sold on eBay would be better off in their pockets and, more importantly, they both had a desire to revisit the mastering of the CD.

The second edition is a completely new master, including some organ overdubs that were missed off the last remastering of the score. The new CD will not have the liner notes and track commentary and the bonus track of Grainer conducting the children's choir so hold on to your original copy if you have one. If you didn't get hold of this last time, do not fear because all the liner notes are available online at the FSM website.

The CD is available to purchase HERE and the superb liner notes and an introduction to the remastering and restoring of the score can be found HERE.

My original review is available HERE. I am now removing the download version from the site as my policy is only to make available material that is out of print or extremely hard to find.

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Richard Evans launches his latest android thriller, Exilium (Figo Books), addressing questions around scientific progress, slavery and the nature of humanity.

Richard Evans is also the author of the futuristic thrillers Machine Nation and Robophobia. He has received several Writer's Bursary and Individual Artist Awards from Arts Council England. He has also contributed the short stories Half Life and Touch Sensitive to the anthologies The Flash and the Perverted By Language. As part of the research process for his work, he has twice visited the Humanoid Robotics Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well the Intelligent Robotics Lab at the University of Osaka in Japan.

Richard will be reading extracts from his new book over at The Northern, Tib Street, Manchester on Friday 24th October, 5.30pm. It's free so pop along and introduce yourself. And why not visit Richard's blog Uncanny Valley where you can download podcasts and get exclusive micro-stories via his Exilium mobile website.

Thanks to Manchester Literature Festival and Richard Evans for the details.

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Don't know about you but I'm a bit ambivalent about David Arnold. He is undoubtedly a talented arranger and composer and he certainly came charging to the rescue back in 1997 after the rather disastrous score for Goldeneye indicated that much of what we all refer to as 'Bondian' often lies in how these films sound. There is nothing in the world more Bondian than the work of the guv'nor himself, John Barry. And unfortunately, any composer who gets on board with the Bond films is inevitably going to be compared to Barry.

Now, I think David's been doing OK with the scores to the Bond films since Tomorrow Never Dies. Indeed, I would go as far to say that the scores for Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough are excellent and fit well into the Bond idiom with their mix of Barry-esque pastiche and contemporary drum and bass. He's been modernising the approach to scoring the films and that's to be welcomed.

His work on Casino Royale two years ago also underlined his ability as a song writer and arranger in his collaboration with Chris Cornell on You Know My Name which was a gutsy, balls to the wall rock ballad that summed up the back to basics approach the production team were taking. The score, though, was low key and only came to life sporadically and didn't really do much for me, personally, the super bit of scoring for the free running chase at the beginning of the film aside.

But for all its frenetic, heavy handed bombast there's little warmth and hardly any of those delicious Barry melodies.

Well, here we are with Quantum Of Solace and I'm happy to report that this is more of an improvement. It's again characterised by skittering percussion, pounding drums and flaring brass which, if I'm to understand it, will fit in with the film's onslaught of action as highlighted in recent reviews. There does seem to be a much heavier emphasis towards the brass and percussion on this and there's a distinctly nervous energy permeating the album. But for all its frenetic, heavy handed bombast there's little warmth and hardly any of those delicious Barry melodies. What always characterised Bond scoring for me was that with Barry you got extremely memorable musical motifs that played melodically with the title song and permeated the soundscape of movies like Thunderball and You Only Live Twice. Everyone remembers that music. I'm finding it hard to like much of the Quantum score. It's too busy for me. The opening salvo of Time To Get Out and The Palio are all fine and dandy but things only come to life melodically in Somebody Wants To Kill You which has a lovely Spanish guitar motif and some charging brass and percussion and surging strings.

The Barry-esque is certainly there in the moody Pursuit At Port Au Prince with good use of wind and strings which eventually up the pace with a combination of guitar and brass.

Things do calm down on Greene & Camille with some low end atmospherics dotted with great pan pipes that add to the sense of menace. It indicates that Arnold is much more creative in the use of instruments and arrangements when approaching these subtler, more moodier pieces. It's one of the best tracks on the album especially when it picks up on the Monty Norman theme in the string and percussive lines. The Barry-esque is certainly there in the moody Pursuit At Port Au Prince with good use of wind and strings which eventually up the pace with a combination of guitar and brass. This then takes off with some great drum and guitar sections and has a wonderful urgency that actually does work because it is channeling some authentic Bondian motifs. Again, the brass is particularly strong here. It concludes with a smashing string section that again picks up on the Monty Norman theme, especially in the vibrant guitar passages.

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No Interest In Dominic Greene is an interesting track. Lovely atmosphere with distorted music motifs, an undulating flute cue that's very Thunderball, nice swirly strings and spots of percussion. This is carried forward through to Night At The Opera which is another outstanding use of the string and wind sections. Big brass motifs too that make it memorably Bondian in flavour. Beautifully arranged and composed. Talamone is brief but Bondian with what sounds like lutes or balalaikas contributing to the flavour and Arnold concentrates on the atmospherics with What's Keeping You Awake, a very romantic string dominated track punctuated by a simple piano sting.



Off to Bolivia for the latter half of the album with a nice South American flavour that again picks up the Norman theme. Field Trip is briefly a pure piece of nostalgia using the classic Norman tune and Forgive Yourself is low key, dark and has a tremendous sadness conveyed through a memorable piano motif. Pan pipes and thumping drums open DC3 which briefly flares into life with brass and guitar. Back to the busy action themes for Target Terminated, which does have a storming brass section belting away even though it's basically more of the same that we had at the front of the album. It's tedious and lacks obvious melody lines.

The Bondian flavourings are very welcome but they are buried, for the most part, under histrionic, over stylised action themes that could belong to A.N.Other Action Blockbuster.

Back to atmospherics with Camille's Story and, again, this shows Arnold's sensitivity with a gorgeous pan pipe line wafting through a base of strings and then accompanied by Spanish guitar and piano. Oil Fields again reminds you that this is a Bond score with some great brass renditions of the Norman theme and there's some hot and heavy drums and guitars and a string and brass motif on Have You Ever Killed Someone that's pure You Only Live Twice. The album concludes with the 8 minute plus Perla De Las Dumas, full of nice brass touches and that YOLT motif and the much vilified Jack White/Alicia Keys song Another Way To Die. The song's OK and I'm sure works in the context of the film and the titles and has bags more Bondian riffs in it than Arnold's entire score.

It's a disappointing album overall. The Bondian flavourings are very welcome but they are buried, for the most part, under histrionic, over stylised action themes that could belong to A.N.Other Action Blockbuster. Admittedly, it's difficult to assess something without knowing its true relationship with the film and how the music is integrated within it. But I always judge a soundtrack album by how well it operates as a stand alone body of music and I'm afraid this doesn't really pass that test. And that's what makes Barry the guv'nor and Arnold merely a composer pastiching what he thinks is the Bond style.

Quantum Of Solace: Original Soundtrack - David Arnold (Sony CD 88697405172 Released 27th October 2008)

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ABC - 16th October 2008 - 10.00pm

In the last review, I suggested this version of Life On Mars would need to start to find its own way of telling stories in order to move out of the shadow of its UK predecessor. It would seem with this second episode that the 'mythology' promised by the U.S producers is emerging.

The plot more or less follows the original Matthew Graham script, including the opening chase sequence from the swimming baths, the moral dilemma facing Sam when he realises that Gene's methods of fitting up suspects is ethically wrong but practically effective and, of course, a discussion of the nature of reality. What the writer Brian Oh does here is take the premise and then bolt on sub-plots and new characters to expand, and add complexity, to the relationships already well established by both versions of the show.

The casual violence is beginning to appear, with suspects being liberally beaten every five minutes, but there seems to be a timidity in depicting all the other 'isms' of the era.

Hence, we get what I hope will be two new, continuing characters. The hippy neighbour, Windy played by Tanya Fischer, who comes over as a New York version of Armistead Maupin's Mona Ramsey character. This isn't a bad thing as I feel this series needs to tap into the hippy comedown of the mid-1970s whilst also embracing the burgeoning rights movements for blacks, women and gays. It still hasn't grasped the need to sharply define our modern day, politically correct, socio-cultural outlook against the sexism, racism and casual violence of 1973. The casual violence is beginning to appear, with suspects being liberally beaten up every five minutes, but there seems to be a timidity in depicting all the other 'isms' of the era. But I like Windy as a character and she certainly highlights Sam's innate innocence even if her dippy spirituality is no replacement for the Greek Chorus of the Test Card Girl or the Open University lectures. The little robot thing was weird too and I'm not sure what exactly it is but I suppose it's there as a connecting symbol between Sam and 2008.



The other character that opens this out is Lee Crocker, the district attourney, a rather slimy creature played by Lee Tergensen, who I hope will add a dynamic to the relationship between Sam and Annie, because, let's face it, this is very different from the John Simm / Liz White interplay. The friendship here is much more guarded and it doesn't have the unresolved sexual tension that the UK series had. I think that's down to Gretchen Mol's way of portraying Annie as a slightly colder character. With Crocker insinuating himself into the friendship then maybe we'll get a bit more fire between the three of them. Crocker would be a good foil for Sam but that would then mean that Sam will need to deal with two antagonistic men - Crocker and Ray Carling - and that might be over-egging the pudding.

Imperioli takes Ray's resentment at losing out promotion to Sam and turns the intensity up to 100...

Michael Imperioli also seems to have done his homework and makes a good impact here. His version of Ray is going to take some getting used to. The UK version, played by Dean Andrews, used his bigotry as a way to deflect attention from his feminine side and if you've been following Ashes To Ashes then you'll be aware of the debate over Ray's sexuality. Imperioli takes Ray's resentment at losing out promotion to Sam and turns the intensity up to 100 and there is no ironic, post-modern facet to the character. He's deadpan, it seems. It all depends on where they take the character and I suspect that if they want this particular ensemble cast to work then, as in the UK version, Ray will cultivate a grudging respect for Sam. But Imperioli was far better here than in the debut. Quite what Lisa Bonet is doing in this series is now beyond me. Are they going to have her in every episode as a flashback? For me, her role in this just doesn't fit. It's an attempt to make Maya and Sam a pair of soppy, star-crossed lovers and for me it just doesn't work as a device. It's so far not even helped develop the Maya character beyond the brief scenes in the debut episode that only very tenuously describe the relationship between the two.

Keitel seems to be playing Hunt as a meta-texual version of his bad-boy self.

And Harvey? He's good but he's a much different Gene Hunt. We still haven't got the caustic Huntisms to the fore but he's bringing a naturalism to the role that replaces the irony of the UK version. It's difficult to assess because we see Hunt as a super-ironic extension of Jack Regan whereas Keitel is not really an extension of any iconic character in American TV culture that I can think of. In fact, Keitel seems to be playing Hunt as a meta-texual version of his bad-boy self. However, he and Jason O'Mara are hitting their stride now and their chemistry is developing. It's cemented in that wonderfully playful and outrageous bust up in the hospital whilst gun-victim June lies recovering in bed. It's a straight replay of the same scene in the UK version but it's still brilliantly cheeky. Jason O'Mara is much more appealing in this and is tapping into that fundamentally decent core of the Sam Tyler character. Plus, he's very nice on the eye.

It's a very enjoyable second outing, the tone is settling down and there's something very attractive emerging about the series. I completely switched off from thinking about the UK version whilst watching this and perhaps saw it on its own merits for the first time. There are also some lovely touches in this - the Gilbert O'Sullivan 'Get Down' track playing as Gene and Sam thump each other, Chris Skelton's waterwings, the Starsky And Hutch vibe in the shootout and the legendary Sylvia Miles as the kooky eyewitness Mrs. Salvaggio.

Yeah, more please.

ABC Life On Mars site

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BBC1 - 19th October 2008 - 5.55pm

Phew. What's that smell?

No. Don't think it's the stables. Or the castle dungeons. Oh, wait. I know. It's pure testosterone. Great waves of it. Especially when Arthur and Lancelot are sharing the screen. It's so powerful that Gwen's reduced to a simpering girlie and Morgana gets about three lines. Blink and you'll miss her. Nope, this is definitely a story for the lads and the consequences are that the female roles all but vanish. And all Gwen does is measure Lancelot's inside leg and knit him some chain mail and she's smitten...Altogether now, "two little boys had two little toys.."

Mind you, Lancelot is rather pleasing on the eye. I note that it must have been written into Santiago Cabrera's contract that he must at all times appear with his shirt open and have a chest hair groomer permanently available on set. Actually, he was rather good as Lancelot and he more or less rescued this from being utterly bland and predictable. It was so bloody obvious that once it was clear that Lancelot wasn't a knob (ahem) that he'd have to eventually redeem himself by 'slaying the dragon' with Merlin providing the episode's required conjuring trick. Predictable, unfortunately.

I had to pinch myself that I wasn't watching a gay porn version of the series

After the opening sequence with the attack of the Griffin, not the Mill's best efforts either, the story then gets bogged down with all that stuff with Merlin forging Lancelot's credentials and lots of man on man ritual humiliation in tedious combat scenes with Arthur. The scene in the library, complete with comedy dusty books and coughing from Merlin, would have had Walt Disney groaning, and the smouldering antagonism between Arthur and Lancelot was all smoke and no fire. However, when Lancelot eventually bests Arthur in the training and wrestles him to the floor I had to pinch myself that I wasn't watching a gay porn version of the series. And the UHT went off the scale when Merlin, at the bash for Lance's knighthood, offered a suggestion to Gwen about choosing between the two men. There isn't a choice. You'd clearly want both.

This is only saved by the stunning attack on Camelot by the Griffin where the combination of live action and effects is brilliantly handled and has a genuinely exciting edge to it. The effects are much, much better here with the Griffin dramatically swooping across the skyline. Like the POV shots too as it dives headlong into the knights. The final confrontation between Lancelot and the beastie is also done well in a very atmospherically lit forest. Quite spectacular too when Merlin's enchantments help Lancelot's spear hit the target.

It's such a coy drama when it does come to the subject of sex and mutual attraction is treated like schoolyard crush.

The problem again is that it just doesn't have enough oomph all the way through. Much of the dialogue is flat and dull even though the pretty young things are doing their best, and again Richard Wilson and Anthony Head make the most of their scenes, with only the action sequences bringing the episode sporadically to life. By far the best bit of emotional content was when Gaius told Merlin that he'd give his own life to keep the young man alive. It comes to something when each week all I'm looking for is a good looking man to give us a flash of his body and even then they can't get that right. It's such a coy drama when it does come to the subject of sex and mutual attraction is treated like a schoolyard crush. These are adults, not children, and I would like to see a bit of passion and fire in the relationships, especially the women who are reduced to needlework and pouting from the sidelines. All the swordplay and digital monsters in the world can't make up for the plodding nature of the drama and the dreary, predictable and sexless characterisation. One of its major mistakes is to keep pre-figuring the actual legend of Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot et al whilst we endure this turgid Teen Camelot. It seems to suggest that there's actually a far more exciting story going on somewhere that we're not allowed to get to and I know I'd rather see the actual legend on screen instead of constantly being teased about it.

Catch Lancelot streaming at Surf The Channel

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Mad Men catch up time. Courtesy of Surf The Channel here are links to the last three episodes that aired on AMC.

Episode 9: Six Month Leave
Freddy Rumsen disappoints his team during a pitch. Pete finds an opportunity at the office to exploit while Don proves his loyalty to an old friend. Betty finds a welcome distraction in Sara Beth.



Surf The Channel: Episode 9

Episode 10: The Inheritance
Betty visits her ailing father. Paul's girlfriend Sheila tries to convince him to prioritize his civic duties. Pete's mother disapproves of an idea that Pete and Trudy are considering.



Surf The Channel: Episode 10

Episode 11: The Jet Set
On a business trip to Los Angeles, Don becomes acquainted with some exciting new friends. Peggy looks for romance at work. Duck starts thinking about the future of Sterling Cooper.



Surf The Channel: Episode 11

DISCLAIMER: Cathode Ray Tube does not host the episodes itself. Links are via third party hosting sites like Megavideo or Surf The Channel. Often those episodes get pulled off the hosting site and the link stops working. That's out of this site's control and apologies if you came here and found dead links. We know how frustrating that is. Don't shoot the messenger. We're looking for new ones all the time so we'll post them when we can.

TOP TIP: When you follow the links and click 'Play' you will be directed either to a poker or a dating site which will open in another window. Don't panic. This is just the advertising that accompanies the uploaded episodes. Close the poker or dating site window down and go back to the Surf The Channel window and click on play again. The episode will buffer and then start playing.

Episode synopses and images - thanks to AMC.


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Those lovely people at Silva Screen popped an email through this afternoon to tell me all about the tracklisting for their forthcoming Doctor Who Series 4 soundtrack album. Lots of marvellous music to delight the most jaded of ears will be offered to the world on the 17th November or even earlier, if you know all about this modern lark of downloading, directly from the Silva Screen website.

1. Doctor Who Season Four Opening Credits (0:46)
2. A Noble Girl About Town (2:14)
3. Life Among the Distant Stars (2:30)
4. Corridors and Fire Escapes (1:12)
5. The Sybilline Sisterhood (1:53)
6. Songs of Captivity and Freedom (4:03)
7. UNIT Rocks (1:11)
8. The Doctor's Daughter (1:38)
9. The Source (3:21)
10. The Unicorn and the Wasp (3:11)
11. The Doctor's Theme Season Four (2:47)
12. Voyage of the Damned Suite (10:21)
13. The Girl With No Name (2:45)
14. The Song of Song (2:14)
15. All in the Mind (1:18)
16. Silence In The Library (2:57)
17. The Greatest Story Never Told (6:17)
18. Midnight (3:07)
19. Turn Left (2:20)
20. A Dazzling End (2:22)
21. The Rueful Fate of Donna Noble (2:44)
22. Davros (2:07)
23. The Dark and Endless Dalek Night (3:44)
24. A Pressing Need to Save the World (4:55)
25. Hanging On The Tablaphone (1:07)
26. Song of Freedom (2:51)
27. Doctor Who Season Four Closing Credits (1:07)

Sounds positively thrilling and, naturally, I'll be here in November with a full review.

Silva Screen

Well, it had to happen. I won't let it go to my head. Honestly...it won't change me. Jeeves, a glass of champagne and some beluga caviar...and escort these people off the premises.

What am I blethering about? Only getting a citation on bloody Wikipedia for my review of The Writer's Tale by those reprobates Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook. Mind you it was a quote from the abridged version that appeared on Behind The Sofa and not the yawn inducing five day long epic posted here. Can't win 'em all, eh?

Gosh, with this and Stephen James Walker quoting my Outpost Gallifrey review of Daleks In Manhattan in his book Third Dimension I'm all set for a massive career in journalism...NOT!

Part 1/BBC 1 - 13th October 2008 - 4.35pm
Part 2/CBBC - 13th October 2008 - 5.15pm

S P O I L E R S for Part 2 if you haven't yet seen it!



In general, sports and I did not get on well with each other at school. When I had occasion to stand in goal looking miserable I would have secretly been delighted if an alien clown had turned up and snatched away fellow team members. That was back in 1972, mind. These days, any man seen scuttling around in the undergrowth whilst dressed as a clown in the vicinity of vulnerable young people would be arrested, jailed and put on the Sex Offenders list. Perhaps, in its own quirky way, that fear of strangers, instilled in children and parents alike over generations, originally through myth, fairytale and now alas through the present day, all too real traumas unveiled in saturation media coverage, is what Phil Ford is driving at here.

...harking back to the kind of off-kilter kids dramas that we took for granted back in the 1970s

Not only is the story a paean to the loss of a friend, with Luke pining after Maria, but it's also about how the wonders of the universe throw things at our heroes that disrupt the nature of innocence, heighten fears of the unknown and reactivate long buried childhood traumas. By the time school has beckoned for our erstwhile chaps Luke and Clyde, we've already had a voice-over all the way from Washington from Maria, a new family move in to Bannerman Road and new girl Rani seeing clowns. Michael Kerrigan, last touching base with the Doctor Who universe as director of Battlefield in 1989, gets that sinister, yet comically surreal, nature of clowns down to a tee here. Those delicious flashes of colour and quick pans, brief glimpses of clown figures and their matter of fact juxtapositions in school corridors, domestic settings and urban landscapes assist Ford in harking back to the kind of off-kilter kids dramas that we took for granted back in the 1970s...Ace Of Wands, Catweazle and The Tomorrow People immediately sprung to mind as I watched this.



And the introduction of the Chandra family is handled very well - each family member is dovetailed into the narrative neatly with Rani Chandra, played with great naturalism by Anjii Mohindra, literally colliding with Clyde and Luke and immediately intrigued by the disappearing kids and visions of clowns; Sarah snooping under the guise of being neighbourly to mum Gita and finally dad Haresh amusingly revealed as the rather stern headmaster. 'And it looks like standards around here vanished with him (the last headmaster)' he remarks pointedly whilst glaring at the appallingly dressed teacher stood at the front of the class. Quite right too. A light grey jacket, red button down shirt and blue jeans...just what is he thinking!

...we get that witty little line about Johnny Depp's fear of clowns sourced from Heat and the Chandra family dynamic successfully established.

There's some very understated playing from Lis Sladen in this, in the pricelessly amusing banter over coffee with Gita where she balks at Gita's opening remarks on the doorstep about saving the universe and in the emphasis on her name being 'Sarah... Jane'. Likewise the conversation between Luke and Rani in the playground about being different and not strange and her confession about being into 'weird'. It's nicely played by Tommy Knight and Anjii. Once we've got the introductions out of the way, Kerrigan picks the story up and drives ahead with boys going missing in stationery cupboards to the accompaniment of psychotic giggling and flashes of clowns that show off how good Daniel Anthony is as Clyde, tickets to circus museums (very Dahl-like) and the first confrontation with Bradley Walsh as Odd Bob, or the Pied Piper or Spellman...and along the way we get that witty little line about Johnny Depp's fear of clowns sourced from Heat and the Chandra family dynamic successfully established in the chaos of their house move.

'Nuzzink in de vorld can schtop me now!'

Considering this is done on a small budget, the production just about gets away with the interior of the museum. It does seem a bit poky and the interactive features are, shall we say, not entirely visitor friendly. Bradley Walsh is highly amusing and creepy as Spellman with his clipped Mittel-European accent and I was daring him to go the whole hog with 'Nuzzink in de vorld can schtop me now!' but alas he briefly looked silly in a Pied Piper outfit before making a full transformation into the thoroughly nasty looking Odd Bob. Bravo, Mr. Walsh. But the allusion to the Pied Piper myth is the key here after all, tapping as it does into those parental fears about child stealers, cradle snatchers and night raiders. It all builds very well with an attack from animated puppet clowns, shot with lots of dutch angles and beefed up with an urgent bit of scoring, and then that heart stopping whispered threat from Odd Bob with slow zooms in on each of the cast intercut in rapid succession. Wonderful stuff to conclude a great first part.

Over to CBBC for Part 2 then and, alas and alack, it doesn't deliver on the promise of Part 1. The phone signal interference schtick isn’t the greatest of get outs but Phil Ford does get to develop the Sarah Jane backstory itself through flashbacks to her childhood fears of puppets coming to life in a thunderstorm lashed bedroom. It’s that primal anxiety again that most of us have experienced and is part of that catalogue of irrational scares such as discarded clothes assuming unfamiliar shapes, creatures under the bed waiting to grab your legs, tree branches taking on a life of their own as they clatter against the window pane.



This is pure Bruno Bettleheim via The Uses Of Enchantment in that Ford is using the series, particularly here in this story, as fairy tale to inform the youngest of viewers about how to negotiate through life’s toughest times and personal fears. It’s here in how Luke must deal with the absence of Maria and get along with Rani, in how Sarah must conquer those troubling childhood skeletons in the closet, in how Clyde uses his humour to overcome the fear creating, and devouring, Odd Bob. Whilst this second part isn’t as successful in maintaining the threat from the fantastical situation, and I put that down to the way the story is trying to scientifically rationalise the myth of the Pied Piper via the meteorite at the Pharos Institute, it still asks the child and the parent to consider fairy tales as "...suggestions in symbolic form about how he/she may deal with these issues and grow safely into maturity."

Sarah Jane's offer to Rani, either go back to her normal life or go with her, actually makes her sound more like the Doctor than Metropolitan's greatest roving reporter.

As well as this symbolic playing out we also get Rani’s induction into Team SJA. This is definitely one of the best scenes in the episode and again Anjii Mohindra plays it beautifully and all the signs are that she’s going to work well with Daniel Anthony and Tommy Knight. Via the character’s interest in journalism, a new dynamic is also forming with Sarah Jane and I hope they develop this part of their relationship. Sarah Jane's offer to Rani, either go back to her normal life or go with her, actually makes her sound more like the Doctor than Metropolitan's greatest roving reporter. And as the kids climb to the attic, Luke stares wistfully at a photo of the original gang, including Maria, and Ford's script acknowledges that life goes on for Luke and he must accept change.

Love Sarah laying down the ground rules including not keeping score of how many times they've saved the world and, later, the moonlit conversation between her and Rani which is played so beautifully by Anjii and Lis. And for us continuity whores out there - did you spot the picture of Clara the clown from The Celestial Toymaker on Sarah's laptop gallery as well as the name-check for Aunt Lavinia as Sarah explains her fear of clowns in the flashback? I did wonder at that point whether the kids of today can actually relate to this same fear or if, watching this, they've laughed their heads off and lost all respect for that wuss Sarah Jane Smith. Still, that scary encounter between Odd Bob and Sarah in the Pharos Institute would surely cause mass incontinence amongst young and old.

...the solution was screamingly telegraphed ten minutes before it occurred.

Which is lovely, but then Ford's script starts to disintegrate. The nice continuity link to the Pharos Institute, with Floella Benjamin popping in again, is just starters orders for a series of plot devices that actually encumber the story. Yep, meteorite containing said force will be used ultimately to imprison it again; yep, mass mobile phone thing just reeks of leftovers from the parent show and is a bit of a ho-hum solution to what was the promising spectacle of balloon obsessed kids biting the dust. But the icing on the cake is the groan inducing moment where Clyde's 'laughter is the best medicine' approach is used to deal with the fear munching Odd Bob. Never mind the onslaught of obviously daft jokes, appropriate for a kids show I admit, it's just the fact that the solution was screamingly telegraphed ten minutes before it occurred. It all fizzles out a bit and that's a pity because the central idea's very sound. Clyde's stand up career is well and truly over based on that routine but this episode can't make its mind up when to stop and does tend to untidily pile up one conclusion after another in order to tie up narrative lose ends.



I can forgive them. A good little story with solid performances from the ensemble cast, Bradley Walsh as Spellman/Odd Bob is deliciously entertaining and the far more successful hall of mirrors sequence is such a deliriously surreal homage by director Kerrigan to The Lady From Shanghai, Enter The Dragon and The Man With The Golden Gun that it makes the unsatisfactory conclusion that much more palatable. Next week they seem to have a repeat of Russ Abbot's Madhouse on.

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