Why, what's this stumbling out of its retirement home for the terminally enfeebled? It's the full season/series Carusometer, ready to cast its unblinking, incorruptible gaze over the fourth series of Doctor Who. Let's see what it thought.

Continue reading "Doctor Who 4x1-4x13 - Full series review"

The best drink in existence is the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster: the drink's effect is like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick - or watching a Doctor Who season finale by Russell T Davies

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Stephen Fry recently gave a speech at the BBC about the importance of the licence fee (you can listen to him retell it for his latest podgram). In it, he recalls tuning in to watch the very first episode of Doctor Who. It was the most exciting thing he'd ever seen and the seven days until the next episode were almost unbearable.

Ring any bells?

Continue reading "Review: Doctor Who 4x13 - Journey's End"

Read other posts about: The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood

So what are we reckoning: biggest double-bluff in Who history or the most elaborate, best kept secret in television history?

Continue reading "Review: Doctor Who 4x12 - The Stolen Earth"

The 1970s. A lot of people get all nostalgic about them, forgetting the constant strikes, power cuts, massive inflation and white dog poo that came with the era.

One good reason to get nostalgic is the TV. Ignore fluffy stuff like The Good Life or jaw-dropping programmes like The Black and White Minstrels Show – the essence of 70s TV was bleak, miserable and pessimistic despair, whether it was in sci-fi like Doomwatch, The Survivors, Blake's 7 or The Changes or dramas like Callan, The Sandbaggers, Special Branch or Law and Order. 

Fan-bloody-tastic TV, in other words. This is what we want. 

And praise the Lord, Rusty gave us misery in spades with tonight's episode.

Continue reading "Review: Doctor Who 4x11 - Turn Left"

Read other posts about: The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood

Who's this by again? “Russell T Davies”? Blimey. Is he still writing for Doctor Who then?

With all the Steven Moffat fuss of late, it's easy to forget that Russell T Davies - aka RTD OBE - is still showrunner of Doctor Who and will be until 2010. Or that he actually writes scripts for it now and then.

With Midnight, he's drawn something of the short straw for himself - the “we've run out of budget and Catherine Tate needs a break” episode. But given a small cast and three sets or so to play with, Rusty doesn't do a bad job at all.

In fact, there's only one man who can bring this house of cards tumbling down. You guessed it. It's Murray Gold.

Continue reading "Review: Doctor Who 4x10 - Midnight"

Two-parters are tricky, aren't they? You set up mysteries and problems in the first part that need to be answered in the second. Most importantly, you have to make sure there's sufficient pay-off for the viewer, who's been hanging around waiting for the answers.

Last week in Silence in the Library, Steven Moffat set up all sorts of questions that needed to be answered this week. Did he answer them this week? And did he answer them well?

Continue reading "Review: Doctor Who 4x9 - Forest of the Dead"