The promotional juggernaut for the final two part Doctor Who story to feature David Tennant's Tenth Doctor, The End Of Time, moved up a gear with the latest Radio Times. Covering the week commencing 5th December, the latest issue features the programme on the front cover and a three page feature on the final episodes. It also reveals the presence of John Simm, Timothy Dalton, Bernard Cribbins, Catherine Tate, June Whitfield, Brian Cox and Claire Bloom in the cast to see out the last days of the current Doctor. Cox's voice could be heard providing the narration on the teaser trailer post The Waters Of Mars.

Although it only ran briefly for six episodes, Roger Marshall's Zodiac clearly paved the way for dramas of the same ilk such as the BBC's Moon And Son, Virtual Murder and NBC's Medium. It's a nice little idea to team up an astrologer with a detective and the casting of Anton Rodgers and Anouska Hempel really works in the series favour. It was never going to win any BAFTAs but as it is, it's an entertaining show made at a time when the occult, detective and private eye genres dominated British television. It's also probably one of the last of a dying breed as a year after its transmission The Sweeney debuted and along with Special Branch and Public Eye took a much less glamourous, escapist view of crime fighting that suited the times.

Schizoid - 17th November - AMC - 8.00pm
Checkmate - 17th November - AMC - 9.00pm

After the nonsensical romance of Darling, we're back in more confident tone with this fifth episode. A doppelganger of Six stalks the Village...or does it? Six meets his twin at the gates of Two's palatial home and the twin is obsessed with assassinating Two. Except Nick Hurran and Bill Gallagher do make suggestions that in fact Six is actually suffering from a schizophrenic episode and is simply projecting his 'bad' twin into the world. There are a number of shots that cut away from the encounters between the two that show Six is merely talking and fighting with himself.

The episode opens up what we've been told about the Village and starts to plant the idea that the place is either in an alternate reality or the inside of someone's head. It would certainly explain many of the visual and narrative non-sequiturs that litter the six episodes. It also fleshes out the Two and 11-12 characters with Two deciding to take the day off and openly stroll amongst the inhabitants of the Village whilst he offers 11-12 the key to the pill cabinet. 11-12 wakes his mother from her coma and discovers that only those not born in the Village can actually be allowed to go back to the 'other place'. 11-12 therefore has to make his mind up about whether he wishes to spend his life in the Village forever and either keep his mother awake or put her back under. Much fretting about in the desert and throwing away the key to the cabinet later, he puts her to sleep again and more or less seals his fate. This affords Jamie Campbell Bower some opportunities to give 11-12 some depth and motivation and there's a developing relationship with Six that may play out in the final episode.

Anvil - 16th November - AMC - 8.00pm
Darling - 16th November - AMC - 9.00pm

And so we get to the middle episodes of the six part mini-series. Anvil shows a distinct improvement and the central premise is enough to keep reluctant viewers tuning in. Two decides to employ Six as an Undercover working with a man called 909 (rather well played by Vincent Regan) to spy on other undercover cells in the Village. Undercovers attempt to find the 'dreamers', people who still have memories of the outside world, and expose them to undergo treatment at the Clinic. The Village therefore is depicted as a whole community of spies, all spying on each other. Two thinks that Six's experience will draw him into the Village whilst also leading him into a trap.

For a finale The Gift doesn't exactly end the current series with a satisfying bang unless you appreciate the entire cast getting drowned in bits of exploding orange Blathereen. More of a sloppy whimper. Rupert Laight's script captures the frivolous nature of the series and its characters well and still manages to get across a number of important messages about tolerance and acceptance of those different from yourself. Which is fine if he didn't, as Stuart Ian Burns quite rightly points out, turn his Blathereen making all the friendly overtures into the villains of the piece. Not an unexpected move but it does rather imply the precis of the story, about the nature of trust, is perhaps more akin to 'keep your friends close but your enemies closer still'.

A special two minute preview clip from The End Of Time, the final Tenth Doctor adventure due to be shown in two parts this Christmas. This was aired during the annual Children In Need telethon last night on BBC1.

Click on the link to donate to Children In Need.

The Witchfinder / BBC1 - 7th November - 5.40pm

It's clear from the overnight ratings that plonking a family drama on before 6pm in the evenings will do you no favours. This episode pulled in the series' lowest viewing figures so far this year. A real shame because it's actually a good episode, full of tension and drama. In fact, the consequences of Merlin keeping his magical talents secret is very much the background to both this and the following episode.

Here the consequences are brutal. A peasant witnesses Merlin performing the equivalent of magical doodles and, although she didn't see him, her story is enough for Uther to get all grim and announce he's sending for the Witchfinder to root out all the evil magic afflicting Camelot. This is enough to put the wind up Merlin and Morgana, both of whom are wary about revealing their true powers. Even Gaius attempts to sway Uther from this decision and when he fails to do so he suitably chastises Merlin for being a bit of a berk.

Lots of things blow up in this film. And I mean lots. Something probably disintegrates in a ball of fire every minute or so. If you get off on things and people being scattered to the winds in vast explosions then Terminator Salvation will likely induce multiple orgasms. The trouble is that McG's film, a worn out old tart of a science fiction franchise blockbuster it has to be said, is thus best described as two hours of empty spectacle and not much else.


The first two Terminator films remain iconic slices of science fiction cinema because they combine ground-breaking special effects and stunts with compelling human stories. The characters of John Connor, Sarah Connor, the Arnie Terminators and the thoroughly nasty T-1000 as played by Robert Patrick were all part of a more or less present day story that used flash forward sequences to a machine dominated Los Angeles simply to tease and enhance a good narrative.

McG's film tries very hard. The story is essentially told on two fronts: the efforts of John Connor and the resistance command (Connor played by Christian Bale in what is probably his least effective role) to bring down Skynet's machine monsters with a carrier signal that can turn them off and the back story of a young Kyle Reese (a smashing Anton Yelchin) who meets up with a resurrected convict from 2003, Marcus Wright (an equally good Sam Worthington) who has been developed by Skynet as a human cyborg. Connor and Wright inevitably meet up and predictably Connor has to be convinced that Wright hasn't been sent to kill him and/or Kyle. Wright has to save Connor from Skynet's hydro-bots before he's convinced of his good intentions and they both team up to whup Skynet's ass.

Arrival - 15th November - AMC - 8.00pm

Harmony - 15th November - AMC - 9.00pm

I've always believed in giving television producers the benefit of the doubt when they giddily announce such and such cult series or so and so fantasy favourite is to get the 21st Century reboot-revisioning / sequel-prequel make-over. The day the return of Doctor Who was announced I was both excited and fearful. And look how that turned out. I laughed into my sleeve when Ron Moore decided to bring Battlestar Galactica back. Again, it turned out well.

The return of The Prisoner has been kicked about by both Sky and ITV for some time. I was simply fearful, this time, for McGoohan's precious baby. And now it's finally here. The new series runs for three nights, airing two episodes per night during this week in November on AMC. It's due on ITV in the New Year.

BBCHD - 15th November 2009 - 7.00pm

No flying bus, no cat-suited jewel thief, no babbling on about chops and gravy.

Well, that's a good enough start for me. The Waters Of Mars sets its stall out with great panache and stylishly recycles Who tropes with ballsy direction from the ever reliable Graeme Harper. It gleefully inverts the 'base under siege' plotting by initially distancing the Doctor from the participants in the story with his mantra of 'I should go' but also by gradually allowing the audience to witness the Doctor's dark sovereignty as the 'Last Of The Time Lords' to finally express itself in that highly charged scene where, spacesuited, he walks away from Bowie Base One and listens to humanity, in all its Troughtonesque international manifestations, 'rage against the dying of the light'.

The teaser for the forthcoming Doctor Who Christmas specials went out right after The Waters Of Mars this evening on BBC1. Enjoy!

I love a good postmodern joke. Especially in Doctor Who. There are several crackers about the Mona Lisa and contemporary art in City Of Death. The problem with Mona Lisa's Revenge is that it tries to extend the punchline on its own terms and the results go down as well as a fifth rate comedian on a wet Friday night at the Glasgow Empire. I don't really mind that Doctor Who and its spin-offs constantly move the goal-posts as far as established continuity are concerned. That's the nature of the beast and no doubt someone is out there frantically trying to square the circle between one version of the creation of the Mona Lisa and this one. So, I didn't sit nervously expecting some contrived ret-conning of the events of City Of Death to explain why Mona Lisa comes to life and has a Northern accent. What I do find annoying is that I'm presented with something so irritatingly dull that I find it painful to watch.

Shut The Door. Take A Seat - AMC - 8th November 2009 - 10.00pm

S P O I L E R S for non-US viewers!

The Season 3 finale is a curious beast. It's a mixture of tragedy, as the marriage of Don and Betty disintegrates, and optimistic 'let's put on a show' camaraderie as the survivors of Sterling Cooper's sale to McCann Erickson get together to rescue their careers. So, shut the door. Take a seat.

Don ends up being shot from all sides during the last episode and for the most part, especially in the way he's cheated on Betty, he pretty much deserves it. But his status at Sterling Cooper took a huge knock when Hilton forced him to sign a contract. Now, as Sterling Cooper implodes, in one way he's a free man because Betty demands a divorce whether he likes it or not and in another he's still chained, along with Roger and Bert, to McCann Erickson. Two marriages he'd rather not be a part of.

The Gypsy And The Hobo - AMC - 25th October 2009 - 10.00pm

S P O I L E R S for non-US viewers!

Flippin' heck. This is a stunning episode. All the strands that the staff writers have been gathering are pulled together here for a massive showdown between Betty and Don. The final half of this episode is dominated by an extraordinary and brilliantly compelling two hander between Jon Hamm and January Jones. I predict a couple of awards flying their way! More of that later.

David Tennant once more graces the cover of this week's edition of Radio Times. Promoting the forthcoming special The Waters Of Mars, the magazine features a look at how terrifying Doctor Who is with comments from RTD, Tennant and Steven Moffat.


Alison Graham makes it her 'Drama Of The Week' in the listings for Sunday 15th November.

Loads of new images at the Radio Times web site's own Waters Of Mars gallery. Couple of samples below.

Wee Small Hours - AMC - 11th October 2009 - 10.00pm

S P O I L E R S for non-US viewers!

They're really putting us through the mill on this series of Mad Men. First of all, the Brits arrive and stamp their authority all over the shop, then Joan leaves and now it's poor old Sal's turn. I did wonder what the outcome of Out Of Town would be. Once Don knew about Sal's homosexuality it was only a matter of time before he'd get found out.

After last week's story expressed the emotional heart of the series, you can forgive Phil Ford for not quite matching its success with The Eternity Trap. It was  a hard act to follow. He certainly understands here the importance of striking out with a different tone. And what better way to help him do that than a particularly savvy commando raid on the horror genre toy box. He, and director Alice Troughton, put all their efforts into providing a rich brew of horror and suspense tropes, evoking a sense of pure nostalgia in us silver haired viewers but likely to act as a refresher course in the genre's narrative and visual hooks for the youngsters out there. There's no better way to plant seeds in the minds of the curious and introduce them to the required texts. 

Duncan Jones' Moon was an unalloyed pleasure when it was released this summer amidst all the chest thumping from the bigger blockbusters. It scored highly with its great subtlety and integrity whilst the other films bombastically touted their wares on the screen. I'm not going to repeat my full analysis, which you can find here, but suffice it to say this science fiction gem makes a very successful transfer to Blu Ray.


The films claustrophobia is heightened by home viewing and I'd recommend watching this on a big monitor in a darkened or dimly lit room. It will add to the atmosphere. Central to the success of this film is Sam Rockwell's performance. He's quite brilliant in this and after watching the special features you'll come away with a greater appreciation of how tough it must have been to be acting with yourself. Duncan Jones, the director, is going to be a major talent and clearly loves the science fiction films he grew up with and it's interesting to note that he's already preparing a sequel.

The picture quality of the 2.39:1 transfer is excellent and is clean, spotless and demonstrates good contrast and flesh tones. It copes admirably well with the sudden shift from very dark, shadowy scenes to brightly lit moments set in the base. Detail is good, often superb in the effects sequences, but there is some overall softness to the image occasionally. It captures perfectly the homage to classic science fiction films such as Alien and Outland with strong blacks for the moon sequences and excellent contrast and detail where necessary for the interiors. You'll certainly pick up far more detail on the sets here than you would with a theatrical screening.

The 5.1 DTS HD Master audio is more than adequate for the transfer. It's not a film chock full of explosions and low frequency effects but it presents the dialogue very crisply and highlights Clint Mansell's wonderful score very well. 

Special Features

Commentaries: 
There's a very jolly commentary with Jones, director of photography Gary Shaw, concept designer Gavin Rothery and production designer Tony Noble that has no dead air in at all. All four men throw in lots of behind the scenes information, anecdotes and irreverent humour. The overall feeling you get from this is that for everyone working on the film it certainly was a labour of love and everything you see was pulled together with very little money using often very rudimentary methods.

The second commentary is with Duncan Jones and producer Stuart Fenegan. A much more sober, slower affair that digs into the themes and characters of the story with more easily digestible production information. Jones brings up the NASA screening and discusses the science behind the Helium 3 mining. It's full of great observations about the science and technical accuracy of the film, picking up on very small details that Jones obviously obsesses over.


Whistle - short film by Duncan Jones:
A 28 minute short written and directed by Jones, originally screened by Film Four. A great extra that demonstrates Jones' emerging talent. Described by the Brit Film catalogue as about 'A man with a refined skill to predict human behaviour torn between his work and his family in this melancholy tale about the future of assassination.'

The Making Of Moon:
A 16 minute behind the scenes featurette exploring the challenges of making the film. Interviews with Duncan Jones and Sam Rockwell describe the rigours of shooting and timing the filming of split screen sequences and delineating the two versions of Sam. It also looks at the building of and filming on the self-contained moon base set. Jones also discusses the use of models as opposed to using CGI for some of the 400 effects sequences. A good summation of the experience.

Creating The Visual Effects:
An 11 minute look at Cinesite's year long work on the film. This covers the motion control work to create the split screen images for the clones of Sam. Lots of separate plates are shown and mixed to demonstrate the process. There's also a look at the stunt work and how they digitally replaced the stunt man's head! Gerty, the robot, was also a mix of CGI and physical props and this looks at how these shots were mixed, matched and graded. Finally, this featurette spotlights the the rovers and lunarscapes, all practical models, mixed with digital mattes and discusses the HDRI mapping of the set.


Space Centre Q&A With Duncan Jones:
A 20 minute Q&A at the space centre Houston. Jones introduces the film, explaining it as an homage to the films he grew up with including Silent Running and Outland. He goes on to answer questions and offers that there will be a sequel based in a future Berlin. He answers several questions about how the film was set up and questions about the clones lifespan. A bit choppy but still interesting.

Filmmakers Q&A At Sundance:
An 11 minute piece featuring an introduction by Jones and a post screening Q&A to the film at the Sundance Film Festival. Again, some development, technical and casting questions to Jones, Rockwell and the producers, including Trudie Styler. All accomplished with great humility and humour.

Theatrical Trailer & Trailers:
The Moon trailer plus a Sony Blu Ray promo, trailers for 2012 and Ghostbusters.

Take a look at the recently launched Sony website to accompany the DVD and Blu Ray release of Moon. Lots of video, galleries and a competition to enter. Thanks to greenroom@momentum PR for their support.

Moon (Sony Blu Ray - SBR60350 - Region B - Cert 15 - Released November 16th, 2009)

• This competition is open to residents of the UK only over the age of 15, but not to employees of Sony Pictures Releasing or their agents.
• Entries must be received by midnight GMT on November 23rd 2009
• This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer and no cash alternative is available.
• No responsibility will be accepted for delayed, mislaid, lost or damaged entries whether due to system error or otherwise.
• Only one entry per visitor per day. No multiple entries allowed.
• The winners will be the first entry drawn at random.
• The winner will be contacted by email.The Blu Ray will be posted within 5 days of the competition closing (unless delayed by postal strikes).
• The judges' decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
• Entrants are deemed to accept and be bound by these rules and entries that are not in accordance with the rules will be disqualified.
• By entering the free prize draw, entrants agree to be bound by any other requirements set out on this website. Entry is only available online or via email to frank_c_collins@hotmail.com. No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received, only partially received or delayed for whatever reason. Paper entries are not valid

Question: What's the name of the studio where Duncan Jones shot 'Moon'?

Answer:
Your Name:
	Postal Address & Email

Congratulations to the winners of our last competition, to win two copies of Angels And Demons on Blu Ray, Liz Stephenson and Mark Oakley.

This really does have the feel of going to the well just one time too many. I quite like the idea of what The Plan attempts to do but I'm afraid it does feel like the staff writers sat down and decided to do an anal ret-conning to much of the series just in case fans out there were still scratching their heads over minor plot points even though much of it falls into the 'it was bleedin' obvious at the time' category. Just in case you were wondering why such and such happened in such a way you've now got Jane Espenson whispering, well...actually more like shouting, down your ear to help you connect the dots.


So what exactly do we get for nearly two hours (the Blu Ray is the extended cut and a 90 minute version is going out on Syfy in 2010) of running time? At its heart, the story centres on the Cylons and their leader, Brother Cavil, played rather superbly by Dean Stockwell. He really is the major reason for watching this and he outlines and punctuates the differences in the character with great skill. Well, actually it's the Brothers Cavil because as we all know there are copies of the human looking Cylons. So, it's a tale of the two Cavils both of whom infiltrate the remaining groups of humans on Galactica and on Caprica. We get to see many of the main plot threads that ran from The Mini-Series up to Lay Down Your Burdens (the end of Season 2) through the eyes of Cavil and the other Cylon models on the planet surface and ship. The behind the scenes machinations affecting the plot to blow up the Galactica's water supply, the attempted assassination of Adama, the ambushing of the resistance on Caprica are interwoven here with a great deal of previously transmitted footage from the series itself. Sometimes this is done very cleverly and subtly and sometimes it really feels gratuitously forced into shape.


The philosophical discussion here is pretty much a foregone conclusion. The two Cavils develop very opposing views about humanity. The Galactica Cavil is bent on their complete annihilation whereas the Caprica Cavil is awed by the human capacity for love. This extends to a humanising of the Cylons themselves - Leoben's obsession with Kara Thrace, the sub-plot between Boomer and Chief Tyrol - and it's given its ultimate expression here via a very welcome fleshing out of the Simon character, played by Rick Worthy. He barely gets any development in the series itself but here Espenson provides him with a human wife and step-child and, most importantly, a conscience. We also get much more development for Sam Anders, prior to his hooking up with Kara Thrace, and his journey begins on Caprica before the Cylon attack and takes him to the formation of the resistance. Boomer, the ever wonderful Grace Park, and her own inner conflict with her Cylon identity, is also well highlighted and provides fresh impetus for her decision to follow Cavil's assassination attempt on Adama.


What you don't get is anything focusing on the main characters. Adama, Tigh, Starbuck, Baltar, Ellen, Tory are there in very brief sequences, more often than not in footage culled from the main series itself, but there is no sign of Laura Roslin or Helo Agathon and blink and you'll miss Apollo. The whole show relies on Cavil, the Six models and various other supporting characters to develop the story. Stockwell is provided with good support from Tricia Helfer and both of them hold this together for the main part but quite honestly in the end I did wonder what exactly the point of it all was. Good to have some of the background filled in but there isn't enough dynamic plot movement here to sustain such a long running time unlike the previous spin-off Razor. This is strictly for fans only and if you haven't seen the series at all then avoid this until you have because it gives away the entire game.


Knowing who the Final Five are also gives The Plan an interesting mood and you'll spot lots of little references to events that will happen later in the main series itself such as the reinforcement of the connection between Leoben and Thrace when he paints the same image as the mandala in the Temple of Five and the paintings in Starbuck's apartment. We also get a barrage of CGI effects at the top of the film, depicting in greater detail the attack on the Colonies and offering a round trip of each world where there's a 'before and after' comparison expressing the utter destruction unleashed on each planet. The effects are for the most part exceptional but some are perhaps a little too glossy and self-indulgent. There's very little of that twitchy reportage feel that the main series adds to its space bound effects sequences and that rather diminishes the sense of chaos that made the parent series feel so realistic. Don't get me wrong, the expanded attack on the Colonies is technically superb but it does lack an edge.


It's a glorified bottle show with some intriguing background material, good and bad visual effects, a huge marshaling effort from Edward Olmos as director in trying to make Espenson's choppy script interesting and vital with great performances from Stockwell, Helfer and Michael Trucco. For some odd reason the producers have seen fit to throw in some very gratuitous nudity. It's out of place, is simply there to titillate and ultimately distract. It betrays a distinct lack of confidence in the final product. Bear McCreary provides yet another beautiful score which helps immeasurably to hold the disparate elements together and there is a gloriously lovely version of the main theme over the end credits. Unfortunately, I felt that at 112 minutes this did outlast its welcome and although there is some compensation in seeing just how the Cylon plan slotted into the major events leading to the end of Season Two, the end of the story is an underwhelmingly foregone conclusion because we've already seen it, and much of the footage here, in the main series. The difference of opinion about the qualities of humanity between the two Cavils is a slender thread on which to hang all of it and The Plan just about manages to get away with it. The best thing it succeeds in doing is to encourage you to go back to the original series and watch it again.

The Blu Ray picture quality is clean, crisp and bold. The transfer displays good contrast and detail and a use of grain and blur that is commensurate with the style of the series and its previous presentation on Blu Ray. The series has always been a melange of lighting, photographic and editorial styles and it's the same here and the transfer copes very well with the jagged visual style that we've come to know and admire from Battlestar Galactica. If anything, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track surpasses the video quality here. This soundscape will give your system a vigorous workout, capturing the thundering LFE from explosions and spaceships without smothering dialogue. It's a very involving sound mix and Bear McCreary's music gives it all a pounding boost. Very pleasing indeed.

Special Features:

Audio Commentary: Eddie Olmos discusses The Plan with writer Jane Espenson and its worth listening to just to find out about certain visual, directional and performance choices made for the film. There is a lot of back-slapping for everyone involved but get past that and you'll find out about Olmos' approach to editing, the way the old footage has been integrated into the new and an analysis of the script and plotting. There are moments of empty air but it is worth a listen.

From Admiral to Director (HD, 7 minutes): A brief look at Olmos directing the cast

Deleted Scenes (SD, 14 minutes): Some very obvious cutting room floor stuff but one or two scenes should probably have stayed in the final cut.

The Cylons of The Plan (HD, 7 minutes): Very short look at Cavil and the Cylons with behind the scenes footage.

The Magic Behind The Plan (HD, 19 minutes): A very good analysis of the visual effects of The Plan that shows the development of some of the film's best sequences.

The Cylon Attack (HD, 4 minutes): Blink and you'll miss it glance at an action sequence

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (Universal Blu Ray - 025192032592 - Region Free - Not Rated - Released October 27th, 2009)

Part 1 / BBC1 - 24th October 2009 - 6.15pm
Part 2 / BBC1 - 31st October 2009 - 6.05pm

There are two series on British telly at the moment that have both had rather shaky starts to their new seasons but over the last few weeks have blossomed and flowered. The Sarah Jane Adventures certainly started out rather rockily this year but has over the last fortnight hit its stride again. Merlin likewise dipped when its second episode The Once And Future Queen was transmitted, threatening to plunge back into some of the rather turgid moments of its first series. Similarly the series has turned round and the last month's episodes have been consistently entertaining.

That standard has certainly been maintained with the producers attempt at a two-part story. In the past, the show has struggled to make decent single episodes so the thought of a 90 minute story over two weeks didn't exactly have me full of joy. However, Beauty And the Beast wins on many fronts. Central to its success is a quite extraordinary performance from Sarah Parrish as Lady Catrina. Parrish is fast becoming the queen of acting through latex prosthetics. After giving us a spirited turn as Empress Of The Racnoss in The Runaway Bride a couple of years ago, she's here slapping on the rubber as a revolting lady troll and channelling Les Dawson.


She's joined by Adam Godley as her lizard tailed majordomo Jonas who equally grabs onto his role and never lets go. He's fantastically slimy and unctuous with a dark undercurrent of threat and danger. Side by side with Parrish, the pair of them absolutely dominate the story with performances that are florrid and camp but remain entirely in keeping with the heightened comedy of manners of Beauty And The Beast.

Essentially, Catrina and Jonas plot to take over Camelot with Catrina marrying Uther and ruling the land. To do so Jonas concocts a potion to transform Catrina from the revolting, shit eating (yes, the episode makes no bones about about the coprophagia) troll into the scintillatingly beautiful likeness of Parrish in order to snare Uther. The episodes' main delight is in the farce-like elements of the story as Uther becomes smitten, unbeknownst to him until the last half of the second part, to a troll and Catrina tries desperately to maintain her form with regular doses of the potion.


It's an hilarious set of sequences of Parrish rushing from room to room, using a great deal of physical and vocal comedy, avoiding proper food served to her with amusing results and with her and Jonas trying to outwit both Merlin and Gaius who cotton on to their subterfuge in the first part of the story. Merlin spends a lot of time desperately trying to convince Arthur that Catrina isn't whom she seems to be and that too lines up a series of jokes and one-liners. See it as a hybrid of medieval fantasy and a Brian Rix farce. A sort of Run For Your Troll.

The story is certainly the most fairy tale like the series has ever been and the funniest thanks to Parrish's gusto in performing as the troll, including some outrageous farting and belching. Anthony Head is finally given more of a chance to stretch himself as Uther, again playing for comedy value but also showing that the man is what he is because of the loss of his love Ygraine. The symbolic aspects of the story tap into folklore and old Germanic descriptions of witchcraft and magic tricks. The power of the female unconscious to seduce Uther is embodied in Catrina who is both beauty and beast, unless of course the title here is also referring to Uther's psychological make up too. Perhaps the troll is also a symbol of the times, a representation of the greed and abuse of power at the heart of a good society.

As well as the knowingness of the performances by Parrish, Godley and Head, there's also some sterling work from Bradley James, Colin Morgan and Richard Wilson. The only ones who suffer in this story are Angel Coulby and Katie McGrath who both get very little to do. The writers and producers must also have latched on to the homo-erotic reading that many fans (guilty!) have brought to the series and are both craftily teasing us by having Merlin sneaking about in Arthur's bedroom, whilst Arthur sleeps topless on his bed, to try and spy on Catrina and taking the piss out of us by subtly mocking that reading too when Arthur more or less denounces Merlin as a heterosexual peeping tom. This is toyed with again when Merlin hides under Uther's bed before he informs him of Gaius' plan to fake Arthur's death. Arthur is rather troubled at the idea that Merlin has been hiding there for some time. What's amusing is that when Merlin saves his life at the end of the story, Arthur is actually grateful if rather reluctant to engage in any appreciative physical contact with Merlin! Just what are the writers intimating here? All that fuss about a manly hug.


The initial confrontation between Catrina and Merlin is an exciting and terrifying encounter and there is a very physically brutal battle between Merlin and Jonas that literally brings the house down. As the second half of the story proceeds, Merlin and Gaius realise they have to find a way to reveal Catrina's true appearance. As Catrina becomes Queen and holds sway over Uther through magic, the peasants are taxed into starvation and Arthur is disinherited. Catrina hilariously keeps Uther's sexual advances at bay by knocking him out with her bad breath but she gets her comeuppance when Merlin replaces the potion with a placebo. Uther eventually sees her for what she is, after he's made to shed tears of remorse over Arthur's (faked) death and he's rather embarrassed about the whole affair.

It's a cracking little story from Howard Overman and Ben Vanstone, full of pace and wit, slapstick humour and graced by excellent performances. The relationship between Arthur and Merlin is back on the right track and there's little of the bullying that marred Arthur's character in the first few episodes. In fact, there's a lovely scene which shows Arthur's potential as a future King when he rescues one of Camelot's subjects from the unreasonable tax demands and disagrees with Uther's view of the relationship between those who rule and those who serve.

Let's hope they can maintain the quality from now on.

Episode 4 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 1 Review

Series 1 Reviews

The Wedding Of Sarah Jane Smith

Part 1 / BBCHD - 29th October 2009 - 4.35pm
Part 2 / BBCHD - 30th October 2009 - 4.35pm

Well, we had no need to worry. The idea of the Doctor popping up in one of the parent series' offspring shows could have gone so horribly wrong. What is so striking about the two episodes of The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith is that everyone gets their due - Sarah and the kids (a proto-Doctor with her own companions) and the Doctor, K9, the Trickster - and writer Gareth Roberts deftly balances all the elements in a breathlessly energetic narrative.

What I like about Roberts' approach here is that, although this is yet another view of, and threat to, Sarah Jane's personal life, this one really touches on the parent series' own dynamic of giving the companions a full emotional life. This is something denied to pretty much all the companions in the Classic Series and within the Sarah Jane Adventures Roberts has made a significant effort to transfer the capacity of this new approach to developing companion characters and has applied it to the one of the few original companions that really deserved a fuller life.


Episode One explores how Sarah Jane exists beyond the frame of the parent show with the revelation that she has seen other men but that because of her mad life with and without the Doctor she's never really managed to find the love of her life. This was the catalyst that was sparked by School Reunion and cleverly continues to be developed beyond Doctor Who. In this story, Sarah Jane has a shot at a proper relationship and we see her in the throes of her love for Peter Dalton.

We also get a very interesting 'what if': if and when Sarah does get married would she completely abandon her activities as protector of Earth? There's a glimpse of this and it's not only unsettling when she initiates total deactivation of Mr. Smith and clears out the attic (yes, she' s under the influence of the Trickster when she does this) but 'and goodbye…to all that' is an intriguing prospect for the character. Why shouldn't a major player in the Whoniverse have the option to lead a thoroughly normal life? It's further underlined when the Trickster shows her a vision of married life with Dalton.

Accept the inevitable conclusion that her love for Peter Dalton is very likely to be doomed and then sit back and enjoy what is in all essence a slick screwball comedy in Episode One and a tale of star crossed lovers in Episode Two, both of whom must make huge personal sacrifices to ensure the status is most definitely quo by the end of the story.


The comedy elements, a series of deliciously daft slapstick farcical touches, include Luke, Rani and Clyde snooping on Sarah Jane and trying to bluff their way through the appearance of K9, when Dalton arrives at Bannerman Road, closely followed by Rani and Clyde chasing a cartoon alien blob along the streets. Whilst the capers take place in the background, the more serious matter of how Luke will cope with the effort of bonding with his potential new father take centre stage. Nigel Havers is perfect casting as the suave Peter Dalton and Tommy Knight is again brilliant as Luke as he stumbles towards accepting the new man in Sarah's life. Dalton's actually a very tragic figure. It's a sad tale of a man who was supposed to have died but was pulled back from the brink by the hideous Trickster to manipulate Sarah Jane and the timelines.

There are some distinctly adult themes in here. The series has certainly always been about the relationship between parents and children. Often it focuses on somewhat dysfunctional families too - Maria and the on/off relationship between Chrissie and Alan, Clyde and his absent father, fatherless Luke and parent-less Sarah Jane to name a few - and with the absence of strong father figures (you wouldn't exactly say Haresh is a powerful authority figure because since his introduction as the school's headmaster he's been hen-pecked into submission by Gita) there's a theme here about children's growing independence from their parents. The monsters in Sarah Jane Adventures are simply symbolic of the fears and anxieties that children must encounter as they inevitably come to terms with their burgeoning adulthood and the separation from their parents.


Clearly that most absent of all fathers is the Doctor himself. That great big symbol of authority, the epitome of the law-giver, the fountain of social order heralds his return to Earth via the roar of the TARDIS engines. Quite appropriate that as Peter and Sarah Jane almost complete the exchange of vows, the Doctor bursts into the room and not only attempts to make the marriage null and void but also becomes surrogate father to Luke, Clyde and Rani. And then the Trickster pops up all dressed in white and vows to possess Sarah Jane Smith 'forever'. The bizarre thought of the Trickster becoming Sarah's husband and Luke's father is an undercurrent here and there's the Oedipal challenge to Luke and to the others to therefore 'deny' the Trickster as his/their father. At the same time the Doctor represents all those qualities that Luke himself must possess, as an adult, to suppress this 'other' father and grow to be as powerful a man as the Doctor. There's such an awful lot of Oedipal stuff rattling around in these two episodes that psychoanalysts could probably set up an all day conference to discuss it.

Roberts also wittily subverts the conventions of Classic Who in the way the three teenagers relate to the Doctor as his surrogate companions. They clamour for answers when he gives them a pat 'I'll explain later' to all their questions and after an amusing use of a football rattle he calms them down and offers the answers that everyone wants, including the audience. As the quasi-marriage of Sarah and Peter continues to rumble on in the same dimension, the more powerful marriage of the Doctor and his three temporary companions is cemented as they attempt to understand and unpick the Trickster's temporal schism.

The depiction of marriage, especially the strange conjunction between Peter, Sarah and the Trickster is a subtle way of articulating the fears that some children might have about their parents re-marrying or just simply finding a new person to share their life with. It's all about the resistance to, and the reasonable acceptance of, change in the course of family life. With Sarah's constant reference to 'another man' (by extension meaning the Doctor) we are faced again with that idea that Sarah has simply been waiting for the Doctor to come back into her life to give it fulfillment once more. Here he's actually more of reason for divorce if anything else! Sarah is battling with her conscience about three very distinct husband/father figures. No wonder the poor woman can't settle down. But she's also trying to keep the female principle alive, maintaining a symbol of feminine power that could be subjugated by any one of her three husbands/fathers. 'The moment I put that ring on my finger I was your puppet' she gasps at Peter after realising she's trapped. And the Trickster has a very strange line in marriage guidance counseling.


As the Doctor detects her movement in time he also asserts his authority as husband/father whilst Roberts has a dig at the series own bete noir about the main character's name. 'Sarah Jane. She doesn't like being called Sarah.' Rani reminds him. 'She does by me.' demands the Doctor. And if we are going to trowel on the significance of marriage, husbands and fathers then the Trickster's splitting up of the temporal schism to prevent the Doctor and his extended family from helping their wife/mother is just articulating the 'divorce' between the feminine unconscious and the male spirit or as the Doctor succinctly puts it, 'The Trickster's separated us'.

The Trickster's clever though. He knows about the power of human emotions and Peter's flesh and blood declaration of his love for Sarah Jane is the bait for his nefarious scheme. Unless Sarah Jane does marry Peter then they are all trapped in his Twilight Zone of nowhere. A nightmare form of enforced marital bliss in which Sarah's very identity and purpose are eradicated. Blimey, I bet there's a few women and men in the audience who feel some empathy to her plight. Thankfully we've got the pure artron energy of the TARDIS to give the fella with the big gob a bit of a jolt and the TARDIS symbolically plonking itself directly between Sarah and Peter, with the Doctor, as the quintessence of authority figures, indicating to them both the only way to defeat the Trickster.

The final sequence where Sarah has to convince Peter that he must die in order to offer a gift of life is tough stuff for a children's series. That 'I love you but I can't love you' scene truly belongs to Sladen and this is quite probably the most heartfelt she's ever been in the series. Havers is also really rather bloody good too and that 'So here I go' after he flings the wedding ring at the Trickster and his 'I love you Sarah Jane Dalton' as he passes into the great beyond should melt the hardest of hearts.


A sad coda, as Sarah is seen to be jilted at the altar and later sits alone in the attic, is turned into joy as the Doctor arrives, more like the strange but kindly uncle who visits now and again, and escorts everyone around the TARDIS. It would be the biggest thrill for children of all ages and Joss Agnew just gets that camera to roam all the way around the interior as you or I would want to ourselves. Lovely. And that final poignant question from Sarah, 'Is this the last time I'm ever going to see you' evokes all kinds of emotions in the audience because we know great change is in the air. It might very well be the last time she will see him…as David Tennant. 'Don't forget me, Sarah Jane' paraphrases the Tenth of the Fourth and the camera glides away trailing a sense of melancholia as the TARDIS door closes. It dematerialises and leaves our little family looking to the future. 

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