Have you ever sat down and watched your favourite science fiction drama or fantasy televisions series, and gotten so caught up in the narrative, that you actually find yourself loving these characters?…
Author: Gateway
Sci-Fi Heaven's resident Stargate and Doctor Who columnist. He's lovely too.
Review: Doctor Who – The Angels Take Manhattan
The Angels Take Manhattan In Brief: Detective Noir? Check. Pond Farewell? Check. Emotional? Very much check. In Depth: Beware: spoilers within. At the close of David Tennant’s last episode of nuWho, the…
Review: Doctor Who – Power of Three
The Power of Three In Brief: Shades of oldWho, RTDWho, and nuNewWho! In Depth: I think, maybe, Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall snuck in a part one, at least thematically, to the…
Review: Doctor Who – A Town Called Mercy
A Town Called Mercy In Brief: The Doctor. A Doctor. Two sides. One coin. In Depth: The latest Who offering promised a Wild West adventure… and we most certainly got it! It’s…
Doctor Who: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship Review
In Brief: I actually can’t do better than the episode title… In Depth: A very good episode that jumps straight back into the current set up for the first half of Doctor…
Doctor Who – Season 7 – Asylum of the Daleks Review
In Brief: Back… with a bang. In Depth: It’s been a long time coming but Eleven and the Ponds are back, with a few added Daleks. “So how much trouble are we…
Review: The Dark Knight Rises
In brief: Smashing! In depth: When Christopher Nolan brought his unique vision of the Dark Knight to the big screen in 2005, he brought us a down to earth, super hero…
Doctor Who: November 2009 Special: The Waters of Mars Review
I think I just witnessed a Timelord break down.
I’ll tackle the story beats first.
Perfect Ten arrives on Mars, wanderlust still in full flow and he is, once again, companionless.
It doesn’t take long before he encounters a small group of human colonists living on the planet in regulated facilities and bio-domes. Their reaction is, to put it mildly, suspicious. And the commander of the base, Captain Adelaide Brooke, will not be taken lightly.
Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day 5 Review
In brief: And that’s why Torchwood is most definitely not like Doctor Who. In depth: I feel numb. That was an emotionally intense hour that alternately gripped, chilled and horrified. It…
Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day 4 Review
In brief: Flashback! Government! Offence! Death! In depth: Ok then! Day 4 spends its first 10 minutes picking up on that dangled plot thread and sort of answering the question as to…
Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day 3 Review
Technorati Tags: Captain Jack,Torchwood,Doctor Who In brief: Torchwood “2”. Steal. Tension”¦ tension”¦ more tension”¦ In depth: Well that first half hour was fun! Second half”¦ tense fun! Now that the gang are…
Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day Two Review
In brief: What happened next”¦ run! In depth: John Fay has perhaps the uncomfortable position of following on from the, dare I say it, explosive series opener. Now all the pieces…
Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day One Review
In brief: Zoom. BOOM. In depth: Torchwood is back. After an undisclosed period of time after the deaths of Owen and Toshiko, life in Cardiff goes on as, well, normal. That said,…
Review: Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
In brief: Boom! Smash! Plot! Smash! Boom! In depth: Firstly, a little tip: Never, ever sit in the front row of the cinema when watching a Transformers movie. That was yours truly…
Who’s Next in the Tardis? Companion Revealed…
On Friday 29th May 2009, the BBC announced that the fifth series’ companion will unfortunately not be Hannah Murray from Skins fame.
Instead, it’s the rather surprising choice of relative unknown, and I hate to say that because it’s such a horrible term, Karen Gillan.
Some official snippets:
“Gillan said: "I am absolutely over the moon at being chosen to play the Doctor’s new companion.
The show is such a massive phenomenon that I can’t quite believe I am going to be a part of it.
"Matt Smith is an incredible actor and it is going to be so much fun to act alongside him – I just can’t wait to get started!"
Lead writer and Executive Producer, Steven Moffat, added: "We saw some amazing actresses for this part, but when Karen came through the door the game was up.
Funny, and clever, and gorgeous, and sexy.
Or Scottish, which is the quick way of saying it.
A generation of little girls will want to be her. And a generation of little boys will want them to be her too.""
What that article doesn’t say is that Karen has actually appeared in Doctor Who previously…. in series 4, no less. Don’t feel bad if you can’t remember her though… she appeared in “The Fires of Pompeii†(good episode, check my review ^_^) as one of the Sybilline Sisterhood. A lot of makeup, and heavy headwear.
My thoughts?
She looks perfect. Not what I expected, and yet there’s something just quirky enough about how she looks to belong in Doctor Who.
It’s just another indication of how confident the BBC are in Doctor Who as a property and Steven Moffat as a programme producer. The emphasis here is on ability, not star names. I refuse to believe that Moffat would be casting these younger actors if he didn’t believe they were up to the job! He’s a self professed fan of the show. With some of the most critically acclaimed episodes of nuWho under his already ample belt.
All eyes are looking to him and fellow Producer Piers Wenger to keep the show going without RTD. I’m feeling most especially confident they will do more than just fine.
The only thing I want now is to see Eleven in costume. C’mon cream coloured short style detective anorak coat…
Doctor Who: Easter Special 2009: Planet of the Dead
In brief: Fun!
In-depth:
One down.
Three more to go.
Let’s get serious people!
To elaborate – this is it folks. Strap yourselves in for this adventure because it’s fun, tongue in cheek and a fast, furious ride. If you’ve read any interviews you’ll know that this is probably what RTD might call his last chance for a ‘light hearted’ romp in the Whoniverse. If you can call strangers on a London bus being dragged halfway across the universe by a wormhole and then being hunted down by an alien swarm ‘light hearted’.
But this episode doesn’t really dwell on the scary moments for longer than, well, a few moments. It’s about crashing through…
The Barrowmans and Torchwood Magazine
If you’re a fan of Torchwood then you’re probably already aware that, in the latest issue of the official companion magazine for the show, John Barrowman (you’ve heard of him) and his sister, Carole E. Barrowman, have collaborated on a tale for Captain Jack.
Oh. And it’s a comic strip too.
Bloody brilliant.
Please see here for the official bits.
Stargate: Universe Casting
Well. For the men anyway! Justin Louis – Colonel Everett Young ““ The Leader”¦ maybe”¦ David Blue – Eli Wallace ““ The Geek”¦ Jamil Walker Smith ““ Sgt. Ronald Greer ““ The…