bbc | the m0vie blog

The Beastly Side: The Beast Below

Posted on April 13, 2010 by Darren

Remember last week how I was said I was going to wait until the end of the year to post up one big post-season analysis of Matt Smith’s first season as the Doctor? Yeah, well I’m still gonna do that. But while the episodes still give us food for thought, I might want to post my thought on a given hour (or, in this case, the first episode of the show under an hour long in about two years). Maybe next week I’ll have nothing more to post than simply the fact that spitfires in space represent the coolest concept ever.

The belly of the beast...

Note: This post contains spoilers for The Beast Below, the second episode of the fifth season of Doctor Who (and if you’re going to argue about the given season number, you know exactly which season I’m talking about). I’ll flag them in the article below before I reach them, but consider yourself warned.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, beast below, democracy, doctor who, eleven, matt smith, metaphors, starship uk, stephen moffat, Television, the beast below, the doctor, the happiness patrol, timelord, uk elections | 2 Comments »

Why the Pacific Belongs on Sky Movies

Posted on April 13, 2010 by Darren

Sky caused a bit of a kerfuffle (it’s a word!) when they announced that The Pacific, the really rather excellent Second World War miniseries, would be airing on Sky Movies instead of Sky One – their television station. Queue the sounds of protest from various sources decrying the event as a television show which belongs on Sky’s primary television station – Sky One. However, Sky responded with the argument that Sky One simply isn’t equipped to broadcast a show like The Pacific, designed to air unedited and uninterrupted without overlays or advertisements. I’m going to take the unpopular path and argue that Sky were right: having watched the first two episodes, The Pacific should air on Sky Movies.

War over The Pacific?

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Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: advertising, bbc, broadcasting, hbo, sky, sky movies, sky one, subscription, the pacific | 5 Comments »

Doctor Who? A Tennant Era Retrospective…

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Darren

Well, with The Eleventh Hour airing over the weekend, it seems like the perfect time for a reflection on the end of the Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who. I’ll probably go back and do a retrospective on the Eccleston era at some point in the future, but Tennant’s four years in the brown trenchcoat provide a fertile enough starting ground.

Has the Tenth Doctor got a screw loose?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, christopher eccleston, david tennant, doctor who, era, regeneration, rose, rose tyler, russell t. davies, Television, ten, the doctor, the end of time, the tenth doctor | Leave a comment »

The Doctor is In: Thoughts on The Eleventh Hour…

Posted on April 3, 2010 by Darren

The Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who is officially over. The man who revived the franchise has departed, passing the reigns to Stephen Moffat. Similiarly, David Tennant has hung up his iconic brown trechcoat, to be replaced by virtual unknown Matt Smith. The Eleventh Hour, the opening salvo of the show’s fifth season since its return to television, aired tonight on the BBC and we were impressed. Mighty impressed, might we add. This isn’t a review (I’ll do a year-end round up in about twelve weeks), just some thoughts on this new era in television’s longest running science fiction show, based on a sixty-minute opening episode – particularly on the Doctor-Companion relationship. There are minimal spoilers within.

“Anywhere you want, any time you want… one condition: it has to be amazing.”

– The Doctor

"Run!"

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: amy pond, bbc, doctor who, karen gillen, matt smith, stephen moffat, Television, the doctor, the eleventh hour | Leave a comment »

Claudia Winkleman to Host Film 2010; Darren to Lose Faith in Humanity…

Posted on March 30, 2010 by Darren

Claudia Winkleman? Claudia Winkleman? Claudia freakin’ Winkleman?

Okay, so I didn't have a picture of Winkleman handy...

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Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: barry norman, bbc, bbc film, claudia winkleman, cricket, critics, film, film 2009, film 2010, film show, jonathan ross, mark kermode, Movies, reviews | 12 Comments »

Doctor Who: The End of Time, Part II

Posted on January 1, 2010 by Darren

That was much better. I mean, there’s still a whole host of half-baked ideas clogging up the narrative (the Naismiths, the Master’s superpowers), but it works a lot more fluidly mainly because it manages to both embrace the sheer ridiculousness of what it’s doing (featuring a Star Wars homage in a flight across the Channel and a cantina scene which seems to exist solely to demonstrate all the aliens created during the run) with some fantastic performances. It would be hard to tell if Tennant has ever been better than he is here, but he nails his final episode as everyone’s favourite Timelord. That Russell T. Davies keeps his hand mostly away from that giant reset button installed in his office helps no end.

The Doctor feels the worst New Years hangover ever

Note: This review will be discussing the episode in depth (including spoilers). If you are looking for a quick recommendation, it’s a yes – as if you weren’t interested anyway. It might not represent the best regeneration story ever written for the show (give me The Caves of Androzani) but it is an emotional farewell to the Davies/Tennant era.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, david tennant, doctor who, john simm, regeneration, review, Television, the doctor, the end of time, the end of time part 2, the master, timothy dalton | 2 Comments »

Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars

Posted on November 16, 2009 by Darren

Of all the people to survive, he’s not the one you would have chosen, is it? But if you could choose, Doctor, if you could decide who lives and who dies… that would make you a monster.

– Mr. Cooper, Voyage of the Damned

The Waters of Mars is a lot more intense than I was expecting. It started out as a standard base under seige story with more than an echo of the era of the fourth Doctor about it, but then something happened. The Doctor made the decision that he’s made before – and which he explicitly compares in the episode to the decision to watch Pompeii burn in The Fires of Pompeii – the decision to walk away. And then the episode kicks it up a notch and becomes a fantastically appropriate penultimate story for this incarnation of The Doctor.

A Mars attack...

Note: There are naturally spoilers for the episode under discussion below. If you want a recommendation, then here it is: this is the best episode of the new series since Midnight over a year ago. It has some pacing issues and a very standard opening half. But the finalé is a perfect dovetail of the core themes of Davies’ run on the show.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, bowie base one, david tennant, doctor who, doctor who specials, fires of pompeii, lonely god, mars, review, russell t. davies, specials, Television, the fires of pompeii, the master, the waters of mars, time lords, waters of mars | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who? Premature Guessing Games on Stephen Moffat’s Season

Posted on July 21, 2009 by Darren

The Tennant/Davies era of New Doctor Who is well-and-truly over. Despite fandom’s speculations about what a Doctor Who panel at Comic Con means (movie! movie! movie!), it seems that – for the moment at least – the most recent incarnation of the Timelord has made room for his replacement. Filming began yesterday on the first episodes produced by Stephen Moffat and starring Matt Smith as the lovable time traveler. Of course, the photos started showing up around noon. So, what do we make of the newest actor in the role? What do we expect from Moffat as a showrunner (as compared to Davies)? Do we know anything at all?

Who is he? He is Who...

Note: This article contains spoilers. Lots and lots and lots of spoilers, based off rumours about Tennant’s departure and the set photos revealed yesterday.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alex kingston, bbc, david tennant, doctor who, matt smith, regeneration, russell t. davies, science fiction, stephen moffat, Television, the doctor, the eleventh doctor, the tenth doctor, timelords | 1 Comment »

Torchwood: Children of Earth Review

Posted on July 11, 2009 by Darren

That was… intense, in a word.

I really didn’t come to the miniseries expecting too much. The first two seasons of Torchwood had been entertaining – for the most part – but nothing special, and seemingly lacking the va va voom of its older sister series. The promise of a more mature and considered Doctor Who was more-or-less unfulfilled – unless you consider nudity and sex jokes to be mature. Then Children of Earth aired.

Frobisher initially thought the alien ambassador was full of hot-air...

Note: This review contains spoilers. Really. Lots and lots of spoilers. If you want a recommendation: go watch it. It’s the best sci-fi you’ll see on TV this year. Then come back and talk about it.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: 456, aliens, bbc, captain jack, children of earth, doctor who, drama, john barrowman, miniseries, peter capaldi, review, russell t. davies, science fiction, Television, torchwood, torchwood: children of earth, whoniverse | 3 Comments »

Seeing it First Here, It’s Great!

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Darren

I’m so used to watching American television and movies that I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like not to know what happens next. The era of the internet means that anything that has aired anywhere is up for discussion anywhere. Sure, you’ll have the odd spoiler notice, but most American web sites take that down once the episode has aired. If you want to participate in the discussion about the shows, you have to jump into the pool of information already circulating out there. So, when Torchwood did the unthinkable during its five-episode run this week (I won’t elaborate here, for any readers in countries still to receive the show), I was shocked.