Reilly2040's Blog

It was the Sarah Jane Adventures 2-parter everyone was waiting on, as David Tennant turned up as the Doctor just in time to disrupt Sarah Jane’s wedding.

I’d already been warned about the Doctor not appearing till the very end of the first episode, and with the whole wedding obviously a setup, I was intrigued to see how it played out over the 20-or-so minutes.  I was pleasantly surprised how genuinely it was done and how successfully over such a short space of time.  You really got a good look at the growing relationship between Sarah and Peter and it all felt quite genuine.   It was only once Sarah put on the engagement ring that things got forced, but up until then I was really impressed that the script had done such a good job on a relationship that was obviously being manipulated from the get-go.

Of course, everyone was waiting on David Tennant’s appearance, and he certainly didn’t disappoint.  We’ve not had any new Doctor Who since Planet of the Dead, and here he really was firing on all cylanders, however cleverly the script didn’t let the Doctor dominate the proceedings too much.

It would’ve been the easiest thing in the world to have the Doctor waltz in and save the day, however the script walked that fine line brilliantly, by having the Doctor team up with the kids, and putting them (or specifically Clyde) into the position of saving the day.  While the Doctor is still a force to be reckoned with, the show didn’t forget that he was just a guest star.   In many ways, the 10th Doctor found himself very much in the position of the 9th, empowering others to take action, rather than sorting things out himself.

There were a couple of really nice little stand out moments for me . Firstly was probably the near-delight in K9′s voice when the Doctor disrupts the wedding.  That was quite a sweet moment.  But mainly, there was Luke, Clyde and Rani getting to see around the TARDIS console room.  It was a brilliant wish-fulfillment moment and also gave us a great look around the console room.  A moment that I can’t help but find especially powerful knowing that that particular console room will shortly be on its way out.  Since we know this story was the final thing filmed by David Tennant, it also felt like a last-hurrah for the console room as well, and a nice little tribute to it.

It has to be said that this series of Sarah Jane Adventures is really at the top of its game.  With the gap year leaving us without a regular series of the parent show this year, its great to see the spin-offs doing so well.  Its perhaps just a pity Sarah Jane Adventures wasn’t shown earlier to avoid the shadow of Waters of Mars hanging over it.

One of the shows that quietly did well for itself last year was Sanctuary, which started life as a web series, before being picked up by the Sci-Fi channel for a full first season. Not only did it prove quite popular, but its unique filming style, reliant heavily on green screen and CGI sets also kept its cost right down, making it ripe for a second season in these cash-strapped times.

And so far, the second season has really hit its stride.   I had felt the finale last year was very strong, with various elements of the show that had been established (the Cabal, Nikola Tesla and of course John Druitt) coming together.    The second season picked up on this, following on from the cliffhanger and gave us a great, exciting wrap-up filled with action and great one-liners from Tesla.

Post the wrap-up, the show’s settled back into its more familiar formula, however I do love the way the show has now built up these strong recurring characters that can drop in and out every so often to spice things up.

There’s also been a slight shake-up in the main cast, with new character Kate Freelander spicing things up as a slightly untrustworthy freelancer who had previously been working for the Cabal before they decided to turn on her.

I guess that’s something I really enjoy with this show, is that once you get outside the core of the main cast, most of the recurring characters operate very much under their own agendas.  While the Sanctuary network itself is vast, the show has instead focused more on building up a larger world outside of the Sanctuary by introducing the history of the vampires and the Five.    If anything it might be something to build on this series, is the larger story of the Sanctuary network itself, now that the fundamentals of the world and Abnormals are established.  With the season opener showing a few other Sanctuaries around the world, it might be interesting to play with the idea of this being a global organisation, as opposed to the one central Sanctuary dealing with its own problems.

Over the last season and a bit, this is show that’s crept up my “to-watch” list and is now one of the small number of shows I actually watch live and wait through the adverts, rather than just using the Sky+, and so far the second season is really showing how much the show has settled and gained confidence in telling big stories alongside the more standalone scripts.

Things are still pretty grim for the passengers of the Destiny over in Stargate Universe. Having only just fixed the air filtration system, the ship decides its now going to run out of power and crash into a sun.

A pretty short summary, but much like the previous episodes of SGU, the focus in this show is on how the characters react to the situation, not the situation itself.  For the crashing into the sun dilemma, I think at least 90% of the viewership had twigged exactly what was going to happen.  And that in itself is dangerous for the show.  While needing the basics of survival is a key starting point for a show like this, there’s a danger that “don’t worry, the ship knows what its doing” will completely remove any sense of danger the story will try to build up.   However, with the ship being such a central character in this show, it’ll be interesting to see what happens when what the ship wants, doesn’t coincide with what’s best for the passengers.

As I say though, the focus is very much on the characters here.  Again, Robert Carlyle’s Dr Rush probably steals things, but we also get a lot more fleshing out of the other cast.  Greer, who previously came across as an angry thug, is very well served by this pair of episodes, allowing us to see more of him as a person through his nice bonding moment with Young regarding his incarceration and through the larger medium of the Kino videos the crew record throughout the episodes as a log to leave behind when they think they’re going to die.

Again, Eli really shines as well.  The scene where Rush apologies for getting him into this situation, and he says that its ok, was really well played, and its very nice that he’s actually the one that solves the shuttle issue at the end of the story.

As I say though, Rush continues to steal the show for me.  His nervous breakdown was really well done, and reflected nicely the pressure that’s on him, as the only expert in Ancient tech to try and figure out these unfamiliar systems without anyone who’s really qualified or experienced to back him up.  Of course, his abrasive personality doesn’t really help matters, as people are inclined not to listen to his advice (such as not pushing every button on the ship just to see if its the self-destruct or not), and even less inclined to work alongside him.   An interesting aside to this seems to be  that its something he’s deliberately cultivating.  Over the course of these episodes, with death staring him in the face, we see him soften towards some of the other characters (notably apologising to Eli), however the minute the crisis is resolved, he immediately pushes away Young by hinting that he knew all along that the ship would survive.

As for that twist at the end, I have to say I’m not convinced.  I will accept that Rush might’ve had a suspicion that the ship was going to recharge, but I think his reaction when it happened was much too genuine.   I think its more about him trying to push people away from him, after whatever it was happened to his wife.

I noticed in the news this morning, that the ratings for this show are actually still going up.   That’s worth noting in my book.  I’m no expert, but in my experience, ratings usually start very, very high, and then slowly lose people over the first few episodes before evening out again (barring high publicised episodes with significant guest stars or something like that).   So far the ratings to still be increasing, really shows what a success this show is, and there’s obviously some really good word of mouth out there that’s pulling in more viewers each week.  Excellent stuff.

With the second story of Sarah Jane Adventures series 3, we find our story told in flashback format, as a schoolboy encounters  an older Rani, living alone and haunted by the past.  Prompted by him, Rani tells the story of the day everything went wrong.

I found this an overall enjoyable story.  The funfair was well used, and I liked the idea that the alien wasn’t actually evil, just unable to control its own power, having been separated from its ship which was itself attempting to self-repair having crashed many years ago.

Less successful I thought was the framing device set in the future.  While effective in part 1, towards the end, the resolution of the plot, whereby an errant comment from Rani results in Sarah Jane and co vanishing from her life, I thought felt a bit tacked on.  It would’ve been nice if there had been a bit more build up to it in the present day sequences I think.

It was nice though, having an episode that focused on Rani.  The fact she feels like she’s just a standin for Maria was well done, and nicely contrasted with her best friend from her old home, who similarly feels abandoned, only by Rani who’s told him all the stories of her adventures with Sarah Jane, while he’s been left behind.

There were some nice treats in this story as well, as we’re teased with the Doctor’s appearance in the next story, but we also get a couple of quick clips of the third and fourth Doctors as the ship views Sarah Jane’s timeline.

I also liked the twist concerning “the darkness”.  Throughout Doctor Who and Torchwood over the last three/four years, whenever something ominous is happening, there’s always characters standing around saying “the darkness is coming!!!!”.   It was effective the first couple of times, but now (for me at least) its played out, so I was groaning when the ship started talking about the darkness in Sarah Jane’s mind.

So when it was turned on its head, and revealed that the darkness was the black hole, which the ship needed to power its systems, I was happily surprised.  A nice misdirection there, and also it meant that K9 was coming back full time.  It was great to see him come back to the attic, and the snippiness towards him from Mr Smith was fun.  Of course, both characters fullfill basically the same role, so it’ll be interesting to see how K9 and Mr Smith are used over the coming episodes.

Sarah Jane Adventures is back, and after so little new Who this year it was bliss to have a Judoon stomping around the place (I’m really not sure if Torchwood counted.  It was very much its own show this year).

I quite like the strategy they’re using this year, giving us two episodes of Sarah Jane a week.  As SJA stories are all two-parters it makes a lot of sense, and since we’ll shortly be getting Dreamland and the final specials for the tenth Doctor not dragging out the run of Sarah Jane Adventures makes a degree of sense.

For this series opener itself, I thought it was a great start.  Borrowing from the previous formula, the show brings back a prominent alien from Doctor Who to help kickstart things.  With the Slitheen and the Sontarans in previous series, this year it was the turn of the Judoon, which was great for me as they’re a favourite of mine.

The writers had a lot of fun with the Judoon.  They built on their previous appearances by making them absolute sticklers for the letter of the law, even those local laws (whereas previously they weren’t too concerned about local laws, and came across more as hired thugs in some regards).  Having the Judoon refusing to leave the car behind until the gang had paid and displayed for example, I thought was a great laugh.   Similarly, there was a nice visual gag with the Judoon driving around in a Police car.  We also had the return of the Judoon’s bureaucracy, with the Judoon handing over official paperwork for commandeering the car.

Less successful was possibly the comedy stuff with Rani’s parents.  I like them, but they felt a little forced in in the second episode.  Especially with all the funny aspects to the Judoon’s role, it seemed a bit redundant to also have Rani’s parents also having comedy adventures at the same time.

However, that’s a deeply minor niggle.  We also had a really nice spaceship design in the second part, an interesting villain, and Liz Sladen clearly enjoying the chance to play Sarah as possessed by said villain.

This was a really strong start, and I can’t wait for the next story.  Of course, we’ve also got some big events coming up, with K9 returning for a larger role, and the 10th Doctor appearing at the halfway point.

The third part of the Stargate Universe pilot aired last night, completing the story of the Icarus base survivors attempting to fix the air filtration system on the Destiny.

The episode again provided plenty of food for thought though in terms of the larger story, specifically when it comes to communication with Earth.

Despite my initial thoughts, the Ancient communications device is quickly broken out by Colonel Young so he can check in with Earth and update them on their status.  It also provides Chloe with the opportunity to tell her mother about her father’s death in the previous episode.

The way the communications device works is by swapping the conciousness of its users on either end.  So in this case, we had Young body-swapping with Colonel Telford.  As well as allowing Young to check in with Earth, it also allowed Telford (who was originally supposed to be leading the expedition) to get his first look at the situation on the Destiny, and it was clear he wasn’t happy with how things were being run (which in fairness to the character, was understandable, since he was the one specially trained for the mission, so he should have a better idea of how some situations should be tackled).

This led me to thinking though.  I wonder how long it takes before its suggested that there’s a longer term body swap via the communications device.   The Destiny crew is a hodge-podge of characters who survived the Icarus base attack versus, for example, the specially picked team that went through the gate during the Atlantis expedition.  Currently for example, the crew is light on medical staff, so maybe there’ll be the issue of whether or not some of the less experienced crew swap out with a senior surgeon for example.   With the number of injuries on board, it would at least make sense to do this kind of thing regularly, or have someone swap for a couple of weeks while the worst of the cases are dealt with.    I can’t help but think there’ll have to be some sort of limitation introduced into the device, beyond the moral dilemma of loaning your body out to someone else and living in theirs for an extended period.   It does look like there’s only a couple of the devices as well, so that will help provide limits to its use.

Interestingly as well, its confirmed that Rush did indeed contact Earth in the previous episode.  So despite appearances, maybe he’s not as shifty as originally feared (although we only know that he made contact, not necessarily the he was put in charge as he claimed).

There’s also the mystery of the swirling dust cloud that helped Scott locate the limestone they needed to fix the air system.  Was that a natural inhabitant of the planet, or was it maybe an ascended Ancient helping them along?  That kind of interference would be unusual for the Ancients though.   And in the final parting shot of the episode, we see some kind of shuttle detaching itself from the Destiny while in FTL.  Is this pointing at a new alien race that have not only located the Destiny, but also have the same kind of advanced FTL technology?  Surely a bad thing for the crew.

Aside from these, the other thing I’ve really gotten a feel of as I’ve mulled over this pilot, is how much the Destiny is a character in this show.  Much moreso than Atlantis was in the previous series.   Whereas Atlantis was purely a setting the characters inhabited, the Destiny has its own mission.  The crew are merely passengers that the ship will help out if asked nicely (such as Rush telling the Destiny about the need to fix the air system).    While stopped, the Destiny is only willing to stay for so long without leaving, and while Rush stumbled upon a way to buy a little extra time in this episode, from the way the ship was creaking and groaning, it really didn’t sound happy about its mission being stalled.

I really hope this is something the writers continue to play with.  The TARDIS has long been treated as a character in Doctor Who, as opposed to just the transportation with a mind of its own, and moods, and its something that will really add to the alien nature of the Destiny.   I really hope we don’t soon see the crew starting to get more and more control and understanding of the Destiny’s systems.  I quite like the idea that they’re merely passengers stranded on this ship, rather than a proper crew.

Ahead of the start of Sarah Jane Adventures series 3 on Thursday there’s an extended trailer featuring glimpses from throughout of the series now available.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the Judoon again as they’re definitely one of my favourite new monsters of the last few years, and that shot of the Judoon in the Police car got a big laugh.  I can’t wait to see what that’s about

Lots of glimpses of the Doctor as well.  It’ll be really nice to see those episodes after having so little in the way of new Doctor Who this year.  I can’t help but think it would’ve been nice to have this show back sooner in the year to offset the lack of new Doctor Who (although I have no idea as to how practical that would’ve actually been).

The first two episodes of the new Stargate spinoff aired this week, and I must admit, I was very impressed by it.  Obviously the creative team have decided to give the franchise a shot in the arm before it gets stale by shaking things up and going for a different feel to the previous two series.

Borrowing a lot from the Battlestar Galactica remake in terms of tone and visual style, this new series follows a group of survivors from the Icarus Project.  The project’s intention was to unlock the 9th chevron in the Stargate and access an address stored in their databases.  To do this though, there was only one power source available, and they were tapping the core of a planet to power the gate.  However when the Lucian Alliance (as seen in the later seasons of SG-1) attack the planet, the crew of the base are forced to flee, and when Dr Rush (Robert Carlyle) ceases the opportunity to dial the 9 chevron address, they find themselves trapped, galaxies from home on the far side of the universe, onboard the Destiny, and automated ship that’s ancient, even by Ancient standards.

The other obvious comparison in terms of shows is Star Trek: Voyager, which similarly found a mismatched crew trapped far from home.  However that show always drew criticism for magically dodging the realism of the situation.  The kitchen was always well-stocked and the ship in tip-top condition even after 7 years stranded.  Fortunately more recent shows have ensured to learn from Voyager’s mistakes, and SGU is no exception.  The Destiny is an old, old ship and as such is riddled with hull breaches and a knackered air filtration system, so no sooner have the crew arrived than they’re immediately facing the issue of dying of oxygen starvation.

Comparisons can also be drawn with the opening of Stargate Atlantis with the team finding the lost City and immediately being trapped with the city under water and the power to the shields running out (easily solved when a failsafe kicks in and raises the city).  However in this case, the Destiny seems more alien and perhaps even a more hostile environment than Atlantis (which felt very cosy and safe almost immediately) was.

Another thing I loved was the way the show is tackling the usual cliches.  Early on, there’s a need for someone to sacrifice themselves, sealing off a damaged shuttle that’s leaking air.  The Colonel has been badly injured, and is still laid up despite slowly healing, so obviously I jumped to the conclusion that he was going to nobly sacrifice himself for the good of the men under his command.

However he doesn’t get the chance.  As the senator that was with the group, and who is also badly injured (with very ropey chances of survival) gets to the shuttle first.   Stargate (and Sci-Fi in general) has a long history of politicians being untrustworthy, self-serving types, so to see that turned on its head was a really nice surprise.

Another Stargate staple is that the main cast are by and large a trustworthy heroic lot.  Not so much here.  Robert Carlyle’s Dr Rush comes across quite ambiguous in these first two episodes, and you’re left feeling unsure as to just whether or not he can be trusted.   His actions maroon the crew on the Destiny when he refuses to dial Earth (or some other appropriate planet) to escape on Icarus base, instead driven to take his last opportunity to dial the 9 chevron address.   He’s quick to make off with the ancient communications device, the crew’s only link to Earth, and despite saying he’s been put in charge, there is a question mark over whether or not he did actually contact home.

There also seems to be a hint of a mystery in the pilot.  Although its not really touched upon, it does seem a bit of a surprise that the Lucian Alliance managed to locate Project Icarus.  I can’t help but think this is something that’s going to come up again as the series goes on, and I suspect someone in the crew may have sold them out.

All in all, a very solid launch indeed.   There seems to be a fair amount of stuff setup between the age and unreliability of the Destiny, the crew’s various secrets and perhaps some broader plot elements as well (the idea of there being further automated ships sent ahead of the Destiny for example).

Roll on next week, and the third part of the opening story.  I’m very intrigued by how the ticking clock element will affect things as the crew have to be back to the Destiny before it heads off again to the next stop on its journey.

This morning the BBC released the new logo that will accompany the 2010 series of Doctor Who.

Now while online fandom will probably be crying about how the new logo clearly means its the end of civilisation as we know it, I have to say that I personally really like it. I love the way the TARDIS has been used with the DW lettering, and its used to nice effect in the release video on the BBC website.  I’ve never been a big fan of the current logo, so this for me will be a nice change, and I look forward to seeing the full opening credits and how its incorporated.

A while back I blogged on the trailer for the upcoming Iron Man cartoon, basically saying it looked terrible.  Having now caught some of the episodes on Jetix though I feel an update is required.

Its not terrible.  In fact, I’m really quite enjoying it.

Obviously, the show plays really loose with the Iron Man mythos.   The key parts are still there, heavily influenced by the  movie.  However the key players are all now 16.  Obidiah Stane is one of the main recurring villains thanks to the movie, having taken over Stark Industries after Howard Stark dies and is turning all the Stark Tech into military hardware much to Tony’s disgust.  As he’s only 16 Tony’s can’t take control of the company until he’s legally an adult, so instead is forced out, living with his best friend James Rhodes while also using the Iron Man armour to try and dig up any dirt he can on Stane and expose him for the evil so-and-so he is.

Its interesting to see how Stane’s success in the movie has moved him firmly into the role previously occupied by Justin Hammer.  Its especially interesting given that Hammer himself is featuring in the next movie.

The other running villain is the Mandarin.  In something very similar to season 2 of the 90s cartoon, there’s a running plot through the series of the Mandarin trying to retrieve all his rings.  However in this series there’s only 5, hidden in various temples across the world, and all have a test that must be passed so the Mandarin can prove himself worthy of the ring.  These tests allow the writers to work other villains into the show.  For example the test for the third ring finds Iron Man and the Mandarin facing off against Ultimo.

The Mandarin however is quite different to his comics incarnation.  The rings project a suit of demonic-looking samurai armour that identifies the Mandarin, however under the armour is secretly a 16 year-old classmate of Tony’s, who is using Tony to try and locate the other rings  (Howard Stark had located the second ring and researching them was one of his passions).

Iron Man’s rogues gallery is pretty well served by this show, although again most of the characters can be quite different to their comics versions.  In the episodes I’ve seen, outside of Stane and the Mandarin, there’s also been appearances by the Crimson Dynamo, The Controller, AIM and Madame Masque.

If you’re a continuity fanatic then this isn’t the show for you, and to be honest, I really expected to hate it.  However, its sucked me in.  Yes, reimagining everyone as 16 years old takes some getting used to, but in general I think this is a pretty well-made cartoon, helped in part by the plot arc with the Mandarin, while also setting up other plots that come back in later episodes.  The only real complaint I’d make is that sometimes the CGI animation results in the characters looking quite plasticy.  In some lighting it doesn’t really render skin all that well, but most of the time its ok.