Outcasts

Well. What a load of rubbish has been written about Outcasts, mostly by people who should know better.

The reality is that Outcasts is a thoughtful, entertaining and rewarding series which has been, perhaps, let down by a less than dynamic first episode.

Issues of pace have been covered in depth elsewhere but it is not an arresting first episode, and certainly not an episode that will hook a non-genre audience. If they wanted another Life on Mars then the opener needed to be much, much stronger.

As Den of Geek suggested we badly need to see more pilots being made. They test the programme concept and, I think, they make the production team focus a bit more on tightening up. They know what's at stake, I guess, as if the pilot doesn't get a good reception then it's game over (man!). I think Outcasts relied on people sticking with it beyond the first episode (whereas regrettably I doubt some people made it through the first episode). I don't think, as a writer, producer, leading television company, anyone-else-in-the-decision-making-chain, you can ever assume that the audience isn't going to turn over if you don't keep them interested, that's a basic rule (particularly well drummed/seared into writers).

I also think that the heavy ad campaign, primetime BBC1 slot and decision to show two episodes a week have worked against the programme, particularly as the Beeb then decided to move Outcasts to 10.45pm on Sunday nights after two weeks/four episodes. That's not really a vote of confidence in your product is it? If it was running on BBC3 they'd be crowing about how good the ratings are (the same bitterly ironic situation Survivors was in when it was cancelled)*.

The fact is that this is a well written, beautifully shot programme with excellent performances. Locations are stunning and are used to spectacular effect. Aside from some clunky exposition in episode one the dialogue has been good and the characters and relationships interesting. There are many threads being woven here, given time this could become a very rich, muti-layered show.

Of the cast Hermione Norris, Liam Cunningham (always a pleasure to watch), Ashley Walters and Daniel Mays are excellent, while the rest are very good. Only Eric Mabius and Jeanne Kietzmann have seemed a little passive to me, but hopefully will be given room to impress before the first series ends.

Anyway, the point of this waffling is to tell you that I'm really enjoying Outcasts, and I very much hope that the BBC accepts that there is an audience and allows it to continue.

And if you're not watching it because you've heard or read that it's crap, then give it a try yourself and make up your own mind.

**UPDATE** (1/3/11)

Dom likes Outcasts too, why not wander over and have a read?

*For illustration: in its second week Outcasts averaged 2.703 million viewers and a 10.8% audience share; Survivors, cancelled after its second series, had enjoyed an average of 3.81m viewers that year; while the third series of the stonkingly successful (and precious to this blog (and bloody hell how good is this series???)) Being Human opened (on BBC3) with 1.368 million viewers, a 5% audience share. The benefits of multichannel programming....

Zombies, children and snow

Saw The Children a couple of weeks ago and thought it was absolutely stunning; atmospheric, creepy and not at all afraid to deliver on it's promises. Written and directed by Tom Shankland, The Children is about two families spending Christmas together who find their children begin to behave oddly.The cast are uniformly excellent (even the children) but special mention to Hannah Tointon as the rebellious teenaged daughter who is the first to see something is afoot. Tense and genuinely scary, The Children is the best new horror film I've seen for some years.

Rotten Tomatoes
Eat My Brains
IMDB
Official Site

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Speaking of awesome horror films...

Dead Snow is finally getting a limited release in cinemas before hitting DVD's (and blu-rays, see how inclusive I am) in August. It's also being shown during FrightFest this year. Dead Snow concerns a group of young friends on vacation who run into trouble with a platoon of Nazi Zombies. This film isn't going to win any oscars but has an infectious enthusiasm and will please fans of the genre. This is really a love letter to Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, and horror films in general from Tommy Wirkola. It also features snow and zombies, two of my favourite things.

Rotten Tomatoes
Official site
Eat My Brains
IMDB

Torchwood and stuff

Well they caught me out there. I always watch Torchie and I've enjoyed every episode on some level but I would never have called myself a Torchwood fan as such. It's a good, fun show. It's a bit daft. It's a romp. That's about the level of thought involved on my part.

So where the fuck did Children of Earth come from?! There was I all ready for five nights of gallivanting and rude jokes. What do I get instead? Probably the most impressive and affecting drama event British television has seen for decades. Make no mistake this was landmark event sf happening on six million screens every night for a week. I don't know if I'm happier about the TW production team beating the shit out of Britain with such a hard hitting and devastating story or with the British public for sticking with it all week (it's ratings were not only excellent but consistent!).

Of course then the Torchwood 'fans' had to go and leave a nasty taste in every one's mouth by having a pop at TV's James Moran, hardest working screenwriting blogger in the world. Apparently they have an issue with something that happened in the story. Twats. I didn't like it when Apollo Creed died in Rocky IV but I didn't get in Stallone's face about it. Grow up. James Moran appears to have been a victim of his own availability, and the result is that we regular readers of his blog are the one's who will now miss out while the Woodies all piss off to argue amongst themselves or burn RTD in effigy. Arseholes.

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If you haven't seen any of Getting On (Wednesdays, BBC4) it's well worth checking it out on the I-player. It's a very, very funny sitcom written by and starring Jo Brand, Joanna Scanlon and Vicki Pepperdine and directed by Peter Capaldi. The BBC describe it as a "darkly comic drama series about life on an NHS geriatric ward", which is accurate.

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Last recommendation for today is Chuck (Mondays, Virgin 1). This is a great series about a young chap who works in the equivalent to a Curry's store and finds himself drawn into the world of international spies. It's great fun watching Chuck balance the demands of the NSA and CIA against those of his employers and his big sister. It also benefits from co-starring Adam Baldwin of Firefly fame who is hilarious as a hard-as-nails NSA hitman posing as a shop assistant. Check it out.

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Wow. Two posts in one day, you lucky dabs. I was also going to tell you about space flu and the rewrite from Hell but I think I'll hold back for the weekend...

"Created and written by Adrian Hodges"

OK, so I would have posted about Survivors sooner but I accidentally deleted the most insightful and witty review the world had ever seen from my 'handheld' a couple of weeks ago and so had to start from scratch. Hard to make the words go together a second time so here's something slightly less witty but much less mean.

I'm a big fan of the original Survivors, you might have guessed that after my droning on about it for the last year or so since the new version was announced. I was pretty excited about the remake as I think it's that rarity - a story that deserves, demands even, to be retold. If you ask me the apocalypse is more relevant today than it was thirty years ago and I doubt society has ever been closer to it's inevitable collapse.

A couple of years ago, before I'd heard of a Survivors remake, I started writing a post apocalyptic drama pilot about a rag tag group of mismatched people bonding together in the face of barbarism, disease and the threat of their own lack of practical skills. I was halfway though it before I realised it was really just a retread of Survivors.

Maybe that's what irritates me so much about Adrian Hodges unimaginative take on Survivors (apart from the questionable 'Created and Written by' credit he seems to have given himself*). It's such a great premise for a series and so full of potential for new tales yet this reinterpretation retreads very closely the ground covered by the original. Whole sequences (I'm thinking particularly of the sequence where Abby succumbs to but eventually survives the virus) seem to be filmed straight from the original script. I suppose I'd read to much into it being described as a re-imagining of the original.

As has been pointed out in previous comments on this very page the new show is populated exclusively by young and beautiful people, shunning the ordinary folk of the original while crowing about it's multiculturalism.

Our band of beautiful survivors came together very quickly, which just about worked for this viewer, but I can't help feeling that was more due to only having six episodes commissioned than for the benefit of the story.

'Shit,' cries Mr Hodges, 'we can't spread them all meeting out over three episodes guys. They all need to have bonded by page 82. Plus let's just have them already set up in a house when episode two starts - no time for all that travelling the countryside guff'.

We heard so much about how 'slow' the original was and how 'pacey' and 'updated' the 2008 version would be. Truth is the storytelling in the remake is just rushed, not pacey.

Once established (off screen) in their new home the survivors seem to take no steps to protect themselves, despite encountering a series of armed and unfriendly people they gad about shopping and chasing chickens without any apparent thought of arming themselves or indeed any sign of a plan for the future. Stark contrast to the original where the group is drawn together by Abby's determination to survive and designs for doing so. By the third episode there seems to be little feeling of danger or jeopardy. There has been much talk of farming and relearning old skills but zero evidence of it actually happening.

The apocalypse has been a slight inconvenience mainly manifesting in an inability to text. This lack of danger is exacerbated by the viewers occasional visits to a secret and isolated scientific base where people wear lab coats and talk about the virus and it being 'time to begin'. Yawn. Perhaps this problem is caused by the programme makers seeming intent to focus on the 'hope' aspect of the story in an effort to avoid the show being depressing or weighty. Chirpy post-apocalyptic dramas are, in my experience, quite rare - and I struggle to see this as a bad thing.

Another irritation in the opening episode is the casting of lovely Freema Agyeman as Jenny, a character who survived the entire run of the original series, only to kill her off in the opening episode. That caught us off guard didn't it? Except the character replacing Jenny isn't particularly different to her and a new viewer wouldn't care anyway. It feels as if the production team are saying 'Ha! Anything goes in our Survivors.' The reality though is that it doesn't make a blind bit of difference if Jenny survives or if Anya survives. The change is purely superficial.

Public reaction to the show seemed to start well, although ratings have declined with each episode. Internet chatter and press reviews seemed to take issue with another post apocalyptic drama (perhaps not helped by the very recent, and very good, Dead Set on Channel 4). Perhaps in these days of 28 Day/Weeks Later, Shaun of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Fallout 3 and Wall-E there's only so many dead Earth's the public can take (not a sentiment I share). They'll be gutted to hear there's another TV version of Day of the Triffids on the way then.**

None of which is to say that I'm not enjoying it...

Maybe it's just the apocalypse slut in me but I kind of like it. I like the new characters, I like the multiculturalism. I think Paterson Joseph has managed to channel Ian McCulloch's standoffish (to the point of having a personality disorder) Greg Preston. Julie Graham (wincingly awful in the dire, dire, dire Bonekickers) brings much determination and passion to Abby Grant, even if she can't really compare to Caroline Seymour. Phillip Rhys is fun as the disenfranchised yuppie, completely out of his depth in the brave new world.

Cream of the new crop however is Max Beesley's Tom Price. A very differnt proposition to Talfryn Thomas's sometimes comical itinerant sleeper villain. The 21st Century Tom Price is a mercurial sociopath who seems happy to stand fast with his codependants for now, though it seems inevitable that blood will spill sooner or later - but whose will it be? His interaction with the other survivors is one of the highlights of the series so far.

If it wasn't for that 'Created and Written by' tag I'd probably be wholeheartedly endorsing Survivors 2008. As it stands I'm sticking with it in spite of it's lack of originality, it's arrogance and it's oddly neutered and unthreatening quiet Earth...

*How can something be 'Created and written by' one person AND ALSO 'Based upon the novel by' another person..? Discuss.
**And not gutted for the very good reasons that a)they can't hope to improve upon the 1981 version and b) there is so much more to Wyndham than the bloody Triffids. Why not film The Kraken Wakes for Gods sake!

Unnamed Blog Update

I've been a bad blogger. Not bad as in murdered your parents and fashioned their faces into underpants but bad as in not really been updating the old blogerooney as much as I ought. In the spirit of a bit of catching up then, here's some of the nonsense what's been filling my head the last few months...

As I was recently saying over at the old Fractal Hall T2 never really delivered on the promise of the original Terminator film for me. I mean it's got some good moments, and Linda Hamilton does a fantastic job of turning the Sarah Connor of the first film on her head. I just couldn't be arsed with the cutesy 'I'm your best friend' version of the Terminator especially in the relentless-killing-machine-knee-capping-people-because-killing-is-bad scene. Call me a sourpuss but there it is. As it goes I was never a fan of ET or the Goonies either.

Anyway, I had zero interest in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (which is as much interest as I'd had in Terminator 3 or the upcoming McWhatever sequels) but I happened to catch some of the opening episode on Virgin and thought it looked worth a look. I'm now starting on the second series and I must say it's really good.

It's a perfect sequel to both the original films story of the future resistance and the story of Sarah and John from T2. Lena Headey is excellent as the terribly damaged but relentlessly determined title character and Thomas Dekker (formerly of fast disappearing up it's own backside - Heroes) is sympathetic as teenage John Connor, who is almost a prisoner of his own destiny, whilst sometimes showing the steel of the impossibly heroic future John Connor we have heard so much about. Also Summer Glau of Firefly fame gets to beat the crap out of big burly blokes on a weekly basis - which has got to be worth a look surely?

Fringe is great. It's often referred to as a kind of X Files clone but there's much more to it than that. While it owes plenty to Mulder & Scully (you know, mysterious strangers, magic torches (as seen on CSI) and all that FBI baggage) it's an awful lot more fun that that show was even at it's peak. Most of the audiences enjoyment of the show comes from the relationships between the principal characters.

These three characters are drawn together by the things they see and quickly seem to bond almost in spite of themselves. Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), is an FBI agent drawn into a world of mysterious phenomena and niche science when her partner (in all senses) falls victim to a particularly unpleasant virus. The only person who can help them is Dr Walter Bishop (John Noble), an experimental scientist and grade A genius who has spent the last sixteen years in a mental institute. The third character is Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), Walter's brilliant and estranged son who is required to sign Walter out of the sanatorium.

Quite aside from weird science and hidden conspiracies Fringe is worth watching for the amusing and sometimes questionable antics of Walter Bishop, frequently reminiscent of televisions favourite Time Lord.

Right that's it for now but be warned, I'll be back soon to talk about Apparitions, Survivors and (as Look-In used to say) much, much more...

Le Morte d'Arthur

iPlayered Merlin last night, out of curiosity.

There's a lot to like, some nice performances from the glut of young actors that have been jammed into it. It's a great cast altogether. The music seemed a bit sub-John Williams to me but was effective none the less. The locations and sets were nice but seemed very clean for the dark ages, much like the characters themselves - all young, clean and beautiful, not so much of the Dark Ages-chic.

The relationship between Arthur and Merlin was especially engaging, the two actors well conveyed an instant and amusing rivalry which was a high point of the episode for me. The other highlight was the lovely sequence where Eve Myles made everyone fall asleep with her song before trying to stick it to Arthur.

It's always hard to judge a first episode, there is such a lot to establish in fifty minutes when setting up a returning drama, and this was more successful than many (stand up Bonekickers!); so it's probably best to watch another episode or two before getting medieval on Merlin's arse.

The issue I have on a personal level is this; if you're going to make a series about a kingdom where magic is banned and a powerful young wizard has to hide his powers while finding his destiny entwined with a despised rival why bother forcing Arthurian legends into the story for no good reason? Better surely to call it the Kingdom of Zog and have a clear conscience. If anyone tells you you're ripping off King Arthur just ask them if they've seen Star Wars, or read Lord of the Rings, or... well, you get the idea I'm sure.

Of course, this could all just be because I still hope to see Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles given the full BBC drama department treatment. Guess we can rule that out for another decade. Mind you, it'll give me time to work up a treatment...

Pornography

Went to the Birmingham Rep to check out Simon Stephens Pornography last night. It's a play made up of a series of monologues which look at the events of July 2005 between London being selected for the Olympic games 2012 and the bombings of July 7th.

Although first produced over a year ago the play has never been performed in the UK before. Seems no one wanted to touch it as it was perceived as being so controversial. The play also gives the director a little more of a clean slate than they might be used to as the dialogue is intended to be mixed around and intercut however the company wish.

This production has been raved about in the press and the cast were nominated for a best Ensemble award in The Stage Edinburgh Festival awards; of a fantastic cast Frances Ashman and Sheila Reid stood out in particular. The staging of the production was imaginative and arresting whilst utilising the simplest of sets and minimal effects.

A very thought provoking piece, it's only a shame that it has taken so long to be staged in the country it has most resonance with. It is to be hoped a London run will be imminent, although there are sadly no plans to perform this production there at present.

Links...

Birmingham Rep
Guardian interview with Simon Stephens
Telegraph interview with Simon Stephens

These are their stories...

Watched Casualty for the first time in about fifteen years yesterday. Holby City has crept into my weekly schedule so it's only natural that the mother show would get a look in. Wow, it's changed a bit.

I listened to an extraordinary Mark Catley Radio Four play last year, called Flutterby, and was interested to see what sort of influence he was having on the BBC's favourite hospital drama now he's lead writer. Flutterby was about a council estate that was riddled with crime and drugs, the weekends Casualty opening salvo featured antisocial behaviour and a riot on a council estate, in addition to the customary gruesome accidents. Looks like social realism is high on Catley's agenda, as well as drama and explosive set pieces.

It was exciting, well paced and gritty. Not just a little gritty, very gritty. Nasty even. Like the twisted twin of Casualty murdered the original in it's bed and took it's place. By the second episode it felt like all bets were off on who might live or die, or just what might happen next. Sterling stuff.

It wasn't all good, the rivalry between Doctor Trueman and the cheeky paramedic Jeff was a little overdone; and the hospital did seem pretty quiet for a casualty ward down the road from a riot. Filmmakers following medical staff has been done more effectively before but despite this I'll certainly be taking a look at next weeks, so surely it's done it's job.

Read an interview with Mark Catley here.

Catch the weekends Casualty dosage here on iPlayer for the next six days or so.

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I have become addicted to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Every night I have to record it on the Hallmark channel. I've watched about fifteen episodes in two weeks - this from someone who was only recently complaining about not having time to watch television.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit was the first spin off from the (incredibly) successful and long running US show Law & Order but where the parent show follows any crime from the investigation through to the courtroom SVU's unique selling point is that the department deal exclusively with crimes of a sexual nature. Rape, kidnap and paedophilia are their daily grind.

To stop me gibberring mindlessly about it being great I'll present the case for in the form of bullet points, consider these the reasons why you should be watching it - if you don't already.

• The story telling is fast. SVU will tell a complex tale leaving you stunned, exhausted or both in 41 minutes. This is lean programme making.
• The cast. Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni manage to get under the skins of their characters, you'll understand why what they do is so important to them and the lengths they'll go to for the victims they encounter.
  
• SVU is not into happy endings or neat conclusions. These stories are bleak and disturbing and the conclusion will often leave you more contemplative than satisfied. As one of the characters says; 'Even when we win, we don't.'
  
• There's no gloss. If you're a bit queasy from all those high-in-style CSI variants you've been watching then SVU is for you. The opening credits look like something from 1982 and they don't make much use of swishy camera work. It's all about the story.

Catch SVU on Channel 5 on Tuesdays (around 2300hrs), or every week night on Hallmark at 2200hrs.




Keep an eye out for the new L&O spin off, Law & Order: UK being made by Kudos at the moment. Chris Chibnall and James Moran are among the writers working on it and it's assembling a pretty impressive cast. If it has half of the pace and credibility of the franchise it will blow the freaking socks off of most other British crime series.

Planet of the Ood (Spoil-Sphere)

“Every now and then you let one go”

Donna and the Doctor visit the home world of the Ood, the servile race first encountered in The Impossible Planet. They go on to discover that the third great and bountiful empire of the Human race is built on slavery and profit, like most other empires.

For the first time since the Tardis resumed it’s televised travels in 2005 we have a proper snowbound setting. Planet of the Ood slots in happily amongst The Ice Warriors, The Seeds of Doom, Dragonfire (maybe) and those other ones that have slipped my mind for the moment. The ice planet of the the Ood, the Ood-sphere, is beautifully realised and the travellers are able to interact with their environment more satisfyingly than has been possible before.

Donna has another great episode as she is initially repulsed by the Lovecraftian physiognomy of the dying Ood before recovering herself and once more accepting this great universe of diversity. She is appalled at the treatment the Ood receive and at the idea that cruelty and corruption are as rife in the greater universe as they are in her own world.

The Ood are at the centre of this story rather than so much dressing as they were in their previous adventure. There was apparently talk of the Pentallian in 42 having a cargo of Ood, this idea was scrapped or forgotten and that can only have been a good thing as to shove them into another story as extra dressing would probably have seen them consigned to the monster scrap heap forever. Instead, with Planet of the Ood, Keith Temple is able to explore the background of these creatures, seemingly born to serve, and indeed to make that background fit with what we’ve already seen.

The Ood have three brains, it transpires. They have their proper brain, kept in their pasty noggin, which presumably looks after making their legs move, their heart beat (if they have them) and reminding them to breath or whatever; then they have their hind brain, which they cart around in their hands, and this enables them to ‘sing’ (telepathically, and probably is also the creative bit that likes choosing wallpaper, composing haiku’s and so on; then there’s the big giant Ood brain that looks after them all and tells them what to do. This super brain has been kept silent for a couple of centuries by the Human race so that the Ood look for their instructions elsewhere – and receive them from the humans that have enslaved them. This rather neatly explains not just why the Ood live to serve, but also how come their so susceptible to telepathic suggestion (although –it was the Devil I suppose).

The latest in a long line of weary pencil pushers to manage the export of Ood, which are sent across the galaxy as a valuable commodity, is Mr Klineman Halpen (played with relish by Tim McInnerny) but McInnerny makes him a selfish middle manager rather than an over the top villain. Halpen is rude, stressed, pompous and clearly hates what he does, being as much a slave to the Ood industry as the Ood are, as his receding hairline to proves.

Planet of the Ood stuffs a lot to think about into it’s trim running time, it offers up slavery, cheap clothing, the evils of empire and commerce and the idea of having a conscience about where you work and shop. Despite all that it avoids being preachy by dressing it up with great action sequences, a giant claw, a full scale battle for a climax and some great humour.

The episode also has a number of very satisfying comeuppances; it’s a delight when Solana Mercurio, the PR girl, doesn’t go with her conscience and switch sides, as a result she falls victim to the revolting Ood; when the brutish, insane security chief ends up getting gassed it pays off his harsh treatment of the Ood, his crazed mechanical claw attack on the Doctor but most of all his obvious pleasure in the suffering of others (a great turn from Roger Griffiths); and however unlikely Halpens transformation may seem it is a fitting end for the character. It seems justice is both swift and poetic on Ood-Sphere, a shame then that the episode as a whole ends rather swiftly with the blithe statement that the Ood are returning now. So all the humans are ok with that, then? If that thread isn’t picked up later in the series then it represents quite an oversight.

You want niggles? Alright then. Firstly I didn’t like the brain. Giant brains are difficult to manage (ask the Rani) but I ws just about ok with it until it ate someone. I found that a bit hard to swallow (ahem). Secondly, the delegates for the tour of Ood operation seemed to be from Wall Street circa 1988, couldn’t wait for them to buy the farm. Thirdly, I’m not sure the Doctor’s in a position to take the morale high ground about sweat shops and cheap clothes when he’s warming his tootsies in converse trainers. Finally, one slight fannish regret in that I had thought we might get a glimpse of a Sensorite, being as they were so close by but no, although the Sensorites like to keep to themselves so I suppose if nothing else it’s in keeping with established continuity.

Another great episode, series four continues to deliver the goods. Some more hints at things to come in the shape of the Ood’s, perhaps ungracious, comment that the Doctor’s song must end soon, and a nod to the past as Halpern, like Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen before him, lets one go.

The Fires of Pompeii (Spoilerus Maximus)

“If you could decide who lives and who dies... that would make you a monster”

The Doctor takes Donna into history for the first time, where she learns that some things are meant to be even when you travel in time, and sometimes because you travel in time.

The Fires of Pompeii very much feels like an old fashioned Who story. You can almost see Hartnell wandering through those markets and Ian arguing with Lucius. There is even a subtle reference to The Romans as the Doctor alludes to his previous visit to Rome, and the fire that followed it

With a script by James Moran, famous word jockey and Scribonaut of this parish and owner of the fingertips behind Severance, you know it’s going to have a lot of humour and so it does. When the full horror of the Doctor’s responsibility and the fate of Pompeii is brought home to us however, events take a turn for the tear jerking.

Donna builds (rebuilds?) upon the good foundations of her returning story as she develops into a sparky companion that really won’t accept any lofty Time Lord pretensions to responsibility on a cosmic scale. People are dying and she wants it stopped, she’s only interested in the human cost and offers our Doctor a more insistent moral compass than he’s had in some time. Perhaps even since the days of his travels with Ian and Barbara.

The prophecies of Pompeii merit a mention. Lucius tells the Doctor that ‘She is returning,’ which must mean Rose mustn’t it? Or is that too obvious? Is there really something to all this talk of the Rani? The granite-armed prophet goes on to tell Donna that she ‘has something on (her) back.’ This is mystifying and somehow terrifying, what could it mean? Actually it did remind me of another old enemy, the Eight Legs – surely The Great One couldn’t be the ‘she’ who is returning?

More references to the past as the Doctor refers to an early adventure and the Shadow Proclamation and The Medusa Cascade are mentioned again. Most chillingly events echo the words of Mr Copper in The Voyage of the Damned (repeated above) when the Doctor does indeed decide that Caecilius and his family will live, while all Pompeii burns. Does that make the Doctor a monster?

The Fires of Pompeii looks spectacular, partly due to the much mentioned filming that took place at the Cinecittà in Italy but also due to the fantastic sets that were erected at Upper Boat. The final moments as Pompeii is washed away by a tide of flame are beautifully cinematic, and gloriously inappropriate. Trust the Doctor to save a family from that terrible fate then make them watch their friends burn. This story is that rarest of things; an instant classic. Every bit as satisfying as I hoped it would be and a sure sign of great times ahead.

Partners in Crime (Spoilers)

It hardly seems like a year has passed but the fourth series of Doctor Who is upon us. There have been concerns, even in these very pages, about the return of Donna Noble to the show after her appearance in The Runaway Bride. Shouting at everyone and repeating 'The wha-?' might pass for comedy on BBC2 on a Thursday night but it doesn't make for a decent Doctor Who companion, especially following the divine Martha Jones (straight into my top 3 with Ian Chesterton and Jamie!). You might have said Catherine Tate had a lot to prove in the series opener.

The episode begins with the Doctor and Donna both independently investigating a miracle diet pill. Amusingly they keep just missing each other for the first half of the episode, before coming face to face whilst both not-so-secretly observing the villain deal with a nosey journalist. Their mimed conversation was hilarious, even if it did get them busted. Once reunited Tate and Tennant get to show off the chemistry that they have cultivated together, seemingly on and off set, as the bored temp and the lonely God investigate Adipose industries.

Partners in Crime seems quite an unusual episode in some ways, there is no real global peril, quite a low bodycount (on screen at least), and a markedly different alien creature in the Adipose; cute little fellas with cheeky grins and a snaggle tooth. Even the villain, Miss Foster (played like a malevolent Mary Poppins by Sarah Lancashire) is really only breaking the law alittle bit. She does little worse than tie up a reporter and try to hijack the Doctor's trolley.

Russell T Davies' script teases us with references to the past and glimpses of the future. The Doctor refers to the shadow proclamation, whilst the ghostly figure of Rose Tyler sows a mystery no doubt to be explored through this fourth series. Worse yet the red fingernails of Miss Foster and her sonic device ('identical' to the sonic screwdriver? Really?) remind us of the the end of Last of the Time Lords and the persistent disturbing rumours of the return of the Rani respectively. Surely not even RTD could make that work?

The direction was excellent, James Strong is among the very best of the cadre of directors that Doctor Who repeatedly returns to (and possibly imprisons at Upper Boat), and Murray Gold's score was fresh while referencing his music from The Runaway Bride and, to tremendous effect, Doomsday. The Adipose themselves were well realised whilst their parent spaceship was breathtaking. The return of Bernard Cribbins to Doctor Who should not pass without mention, what a pleasure to have him back even under such sad circumstances.

To add insult to injury indications are that the ratings were stronger than for the last two series openers despite the early time slot. Shut my mouth!

For many fans the greatest fear for this series was whether Donna could work on more than just a comedic level. On the basis of this energetic and entertaining episode those fears were unfounded. In fact the comedic moments that so concerned me turned out to be some of the highlights (the image of the Tenth doctor, laiden down with Donna's luggage is likely to remain a favourite in my memory). Welcome back Donna Noble!

More references to the past next week when it's volcano day, but what does it all mean?

Being Human

From what I had seen of this before broadcast I expected Being Human to be out and out comedy. I had raised my eyebrow at it occupying an hour long slot; not the conventional length for a sit-com. In fact it turned out to be quite a dark drama with some moments of humour.

It seems like a fairly obvious premise with hindsight but I can't help feeling that quite a few execs must have taken a lot of convincing to say, 'ok, let's make the show with the vampire, the werewolf and the ghost that share a house in Bristol.' I was struck about half way through that it was sort of like a twenty-first century Addams Family.

The name Toby Whithouse must have carried a lot of weight. He's written for Who, Hotel Babylon, Torchie and was the creator of No Angels. That's a smart track record. Being Human is a worthy addition to his cv. I'm a cynical bastard and no matter how much I want to like something I can usually spoil it for myself ('Ouch, that was a bit over acted.' 'Ooh, I would have preferred if X had Y.' 'Lord, I don't like that theme tune, and why is it sung by Dennis Waterman anyway?'). I was captivated straight from the start.

The characters are brilliant; Mitchell (Guy Flanagan), the reluctant vampire with a soft eastern European accent; all sad eyed and ancient. George (Russell Tovey) the neurotic, obsessive compulsive werewolf who wants to keep his condition totally separate to his normal life. I loved the little box motions he kept making with his hands. Finally there's Annie (Andrea Riseborough), killed a year earlier but stranded due to her attachment to the house she bought with her boyfriend. The script and the underplayed performances really brought these characters forward and made them believable and appealing.

In addition to the humour inherent in the premise, there are foundations laid for future arcs. A malevolent coven of vampires poised to prey on humanity (and led by the deliciously evil Adrian Lester), the mystery behind Annie's death and whether she can or will complete her 'journey', and George's struggle with his own nature.

Honestly, I'd like to say there was something I didn't rate but I thought the whole programme was awesome. It was well directed, the music was good, the effects were good (and not too frequent). It was subtle and engaging and bloody good telly. You will probably know that it was intended as a pilot, it's not yet known if it will be developed into a series. I think it should be (you may have guessed), so I've signed this petition along with a lot (about fifteen hundred so far) of like minded folk.

If you didn't see it then check it out on the lovely BBC iPlayer, there are still four days for you to do so. Then sign the petition or the monsters will get you.

Sequel Rage

Not the best start to the year in terms of resolutions then. Although for all you know, dear reader, I may have been unable to update these pages due to my incessant scribblings elsewhere. It could be. It isn't, of course. Once again real life has crept up behind me, put it's clammy hands over my eyes, spun me around five times and set me off in a different direction.

In fact I have done some work. I need to quite drastically restructure one script (following advice from the reasonably priced and damn clever Bang2Write script reading service) and have done very well in doing so.

I've also finally started using Final Draft, an event so epoch marking that it could probably be compared to the first caveman hefting a rock in his hand for a moment before bashing his brothers head in. What a fantastically useful tool.

Emma and I are in the middle of sorting something incredibly exciting but which I refuse to talk about here due to my crippling fear of jinxing myself. More on that soon.

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After years of hearing lots of people going on about how bloody marvellous the new Battlestar Galactica was I finally got around to watching the initial miniseries last week. It's excellent, full of interesting characters with complex relationships and hidden agendas.

Incredibly it's hardly about the Cylons or a war between species as much as it's about the last humans struggling to survive near-genocide. Great performances too, especially from Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackhoff. I'll be tracking down the first series imminently.

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On the other hand I finally watched 28 Weeks Later last night and how I wished I hadn't bothered. Oddly Chip seems to have watched it at about the same time and has mentioned pretty much everything that was wrong with it.

The frantic, confused camera work (something which seems to be a feature in almost every new film I watch these days) meant that I was so frustrated at not being able to tell what was going on that I was probably poisoned against the film within the first twenty minutes anyway.

Robert Carlyle's unthinking zombie was a lucky old fella wasn't he? When the army locked up all the survivors (forgetting about the unguarded door at the other end of the room - d'oh!) he managed to find a find a way in. When the US army decided to kill everyone - infected or not - he managed to escape a bullet and even when they napalmed the Isle of Dogs, and not before time, he still eluded death. Oddly his strain of the rage virus made him lurk about staring at his kids a lot when every other infected ever seen could no more stand still than I could resist a bourbon cream to go with a cup of coffee.

There were some good ideas and a few nice scenes that I liked (mainly the section where the two kids escape and go back to their old house) and Imogen Poots and Mackintosh Muggleton were compelling as the children; in general though the ham-fisted direction and lack of subtlety rendered the film virtually unwatchable. It's more an insult to 28 Days Later than a sequel.

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That's all for now, dismissed.

Our time is running out...

It’s the end. Now, I know I’ve been wrong about this before but this time it’s definitely on. Armageddon is coming so get thee to Tesco and stock up on tinned foods and sporting goods. All the portents are there. The world is going stark raving crackers.

Let’s review the evidence; the Tories are leading opinion polls by the greatest margin for fifteen years; the new coach of the English football team doesn’t speak a word of it, unleaded is now £1.05 a litre round the corner and The Eagles have got back together. Most damning of all? Leon Jackson has won The X Factor 2007. I fully expect cats and dogs to start living together and Sunny Delight to rain down from the heavens within the next fortnight.

Of course, the thing I’m most distressed about is being forced to reveal my secret shame. Yes, I do watch The X Factor. I’ve illicitly watched it for years without feeling the need to speak about it in public but this time the great British idiotbox slaves have really gone too far. Ok, so Shayne Ward looked like someone queueing at Halfords but at least he had a good voice, and charisma. Nobody could argue that Leona (keep Bleedin’) Lewis doesn’t have some mighty lungs and every chance of a credible career ahead of her. Whoever won the first series was probably at least tolerable as well. But Leon bloody Jackson? A scrutty zig-zag of flesh with a total inability to carry a note and all the dancing skills of someone undergoing electroconvulsive therapy? I ask you.

Week after week I’ve watched amazed as competitors with some slender fibre of talent or who at least look like they might be enjoying themselves get voted off while Leon sodding Jackson jerks around the stage as if forced onto it with a cattle-prod. I’d more or less accepted that my personal favourites, the energetic, if unsettling, Same Difference, were unlikely to win last night. That’s ok. They’ve not given a poor performance throughout the series and seem the most professional act The X Factor has ever seen. They made it to their well deserved place in the final and that’s what matters. But are we seriously to believe that Leon fricking Jackson has more talent, charisma and potential than the mighty Rhydian? The Aryan voice meister could dismember that Scottish shoelace with a tiny toot of his tenor. The results show ended with it’s contestants and presenter seeming every part as stunned as I was. Leon, when pressed for a comment, could only mumble ‘Thanks’. Don’t thank me Leon, thank the viewers who thought you had more star quality than your fellow contestants. Apparently Ladbrokes describe it as ‘the biggest shock in the history of reality TV betting.’ They know about these things.

I suppose it’s some consolation that in five years or so when Same Difference are looking back on at least a couple of hit singles and Rhydian Roberts is in his latest smash hit West End musical the winner of The X Factor 2007 will almost certainly be back in his West Lothian mining town where he belongs. Not that I’ve anything against him, he’s won and good luck to him. He seems like a nice lad and I’m sure his mother is very proud. It’s just that I’d understood it was a talent competition and so far as I saw he was outclassed not just by the other two finalists but by the vast majority of this years competitors.

Apparently the voting public felt differently, but if polls are to be believed they also trust the Conservatives and want to bring back the death penalty. Mark my words, the breakdown of society is just a heartbeat away.

Reviews, Spoilers and Something's Coming...

After all that maudlin nonsense here's one of my semi-regular updates on what's been on my telly recently.

I'm not sure Tim Kring apologising for Heroes series 2 was really called for. It may come back to haunt him as the press seem to reference it every time the show is mentioned. Even the Radio Times made reference to the second series being boring in it's write up for the series one finale - that's not the best strategy is it? The general confusion caused by the WGA strike seems to have given some people the impression Heroes is a dead duck now; which couldn't be further from the truth.

The reality is that series two is no slower than the first series was. There are a couple of slightly dull characters but in no time at all they hook up with the best American telly bad guy since Bob from Twin Peaks and suddenly everything is good again. In case Tim Kring happens to read this I'll provide Series Two feedback in bullet point form;

Bad

• Not enough Sylar
• Hiro was in feudal Japan too long
• Peter Petrelli has fallen out of character and become dull (and those Oirish accents were awful! Are there no Irish actors in America? What about Colm Meaney?)
• Claire & her Dad going back to square one with their distrust issues.

Good

• Sylar
• My Two Dad's starring Parkman and Mohinder
• Parkman's Dad (and his ability) was terrifying
• Nathan takes action
• Kensei/Adam is an ace addition to the show
• Did I mention Sylar?

So no more admitting fault Tim, that's not how George Lucas built his Empire is it? Roll on Volume Three...

Thursday have actually become funny on the BBC in recent weeks thanks to the return of The Mighty Boosh (and aided by the disappearance of Vivienne tossing Vyle, which will probably win awards and get a second series as all big name dross does). Series Three has been every bit as bonkers and magical as previous outings. My favourite moment so far has been Howard's conversation with Vince's immunity system, or possibly Vince and Howard briefly falling in love, or possibly the return of Bob Fossil, or - never mind. It's fantastic.

If I'm going to complain it'll be to say that the drug references have been more overt than is either usual or necessary and that there may have been a few too many mentions of trendy pop bands; but who cares when the charm is still there.

Oh, and get excited because Something's Coming...