Doctor Who Review – 7.4 ‘The Power of Three’

The Doctor, Rory and Amy togetherThe Power of Three is, for the most part, an absolute cracker of an episode, of the kind that we haven’t had in quite a while. Whilst it may not have ended up being a Blink or a Midnight – an episode that will be talked about for years to come – it certainly marked a great improvement on the hum drum tone so far. It also felt much more like a classic Doctor Who episode than any other this series, and certainly more than many from the quiet relaunch under Moffat.

When I say Classic-Doctor Who I admittedly refer to it purely as something that, like Professional Wrestling or Star Trek, I find more interesting as a programming concept than an actual show. I’m still to watch much of the pre-relaunch Doctor Who – I’ve seen one full story and snippets of others and if I’m honest it’s not something that I feel any need to go back to. Continue reading

Doctor Who Review – 7.3 ‘A Town Called Mercy’

To follow our ‘A Town Called Mercy’ commentary, James brings you his review of the episode. Don’t forget to let us know what you thought too.

With three episodes of the series shown I’m pretty comfortable calling this. This will not be a season to remember.

 

‘A Town Called Mercy’ is the Back to the Future 3 of the series. Back to the Future was all nostalgic cool, goofy and fun that had something for everyone, like Dinosaurs. Back to the Future Part 2 took a darker tack, like Daleks. Back to the Future 3 was really, really Westerny. Like Mercy.

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Doctor Who Review – 7.2 ‘Dinosaurs on a Spaceship’

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship reviewTo follow our commentary on last night’s Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, James is back with his review. Were the dinosaurs up to scratch and was David Bradley’s character a depart from tradition for a Doctor Who villian? Beware spoilers!

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is pretty much hardwired to be something I enjoy. It’s got Dinosaurs, comedy and enough sci-fi in-jokes to choke a T-Rex. And unlike last weeks episode it actually has a plot, with a clear start, middle and end.

So on one level, this is the best episode of the series, a welcome return to form after the Daleks did their best to kill off Doctor Who as a programme (if not The Doctor himself). On the other hand, it has some of the worst CGI of new Who, some horrifically written jokes and adds very little beyond its key concept of Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.

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Doctor Who Review – 7.1 ‘Asylum of the Daleks’

Giant Dalek statue on SkaroJames gives us his review of ‘Asylum of the Daleks‘ as a first reaction ahead of our podcast commentary, coming later today online now! Does this story restore the Daleks as effective villains, or do they just rely on nostalgia value for their survival? SPOILERS ahoy!

It’s amazing that this episode wasn’t spoiled well ahead of broadcast, and it’s undoubtably better for it. There’s at least two twists in there that I don’t think anyone coming in blind will expect, so I’m going to save talking about those until the end so as to avoid spoiling it for you.

Let’s get right down to it. The Daleks are no longer a good Doctor Who villain. They survive more on nostalgia value than anything else, and there’s not really been a New Who episode that showcases them as potentially lethal threats since Dalek. The closest thing we’ve had to an episode in which the Daleks constitute a real threat since then is The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End, episodes which hardly stands as a high point for villainous masterplans.

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The Hunger Games – From Page to Screen

Sarah Burrow and special guests Suzie Nockles, Charlotte Marchant-Jones and Alex Gatherer discuss the new film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ book The Hunger Games!

Join us as we compare the book and the film, and give you our thoughts on the casting choices and how the film was shot. We also discuss our favourite characters and how they’ve translated to the big screen. And interestingly we see what differences arise when you put two Team Peeta and two Team Gale supporters together in front of a microphone!

The first three minutes contain a quick spoiler free review while the rest of the podcast contains spoilers for the film and first book (with very minimal spoilers for the two other books in the series).

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What did you think of the film? Are you happy with what they did with the book and the characters? Has seeing the film made you want the read the book? And are you Team Peeta or Team Gale or are you more TeamWhatAreAllTheseTeamsAbout? Head over to Facebook or Twitter and let us know what you think.

Merlin – Review and Discussion

It’s time to ride to Camelot in our second podcast of the day…

Caleb Woodbridge, Sarah Burrow and Olivia Cottrell discuss the fourth series of the BBC’s other big telefantasy success – Merlin. Does it pay to play fast and loose with Arthurian myth? What direction could the show take next? These and other searching questions are answered in our latest podcast. Click below and listen!

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NB: This podcast was recorded via Skype so the audio quality does vary in places.