In the US: Mondays 9/8c, NBC. Starts September 25, 2006 In the UK: Not yet acquired, although Channel 4 is most likely to pick it up
After last year’s sci-fi ‘dump’, where virtually every new drama commissioned by the US networks – Invasion, Surface, Threshold, etc – had an SF theme, it’s interesting to note that NBC’s Heroes is more or less the only new SF show this time round. Even then, it qualifies more as fantasy than SF, since it follows a group of ordinary super-heroes – if there is such a thing – rather than aliens or some other sci-fi staple. It’s not very original and clearly owes The 4400 a debt or two, but it’s actually pretty good.
I realise it’s been a while since I’ve posted a David Tennant picture for your enjoyment. Since apparently it’s a contractual obligation or something, here you go. And I have 156 where that came from.
Freema Agyeman chats with Doctor Who Magazine this month about her role as the new companion, in her first proper interview since the Beeb announced her casting.
Meanwhile, David Tennant gives a local paper something to write about for a change by opening a school fair.
Doctor Who‘s all very nice and all, but at its heart, it’s a show aimed mainly at kids. Happily enough, adults can also get some fun from it, but if you want hard-core, adult sci-fi (which is very different from adult hardcore sci-fi, of course), you have to go to the States.
Battlestar Galactica is still the show to beat in terms of, well, everything really, if you want decent plotlines, decent effects, decent characters, etc. Season three would normally be starting right now, but the US SciFi channel has delayed it until October to make sure it’s all really well done and ready for when it finally sees the light of day.
However, there’s a trailer available on YouTube now (with a slight audio sync problem) to give you an idea of what season three’s going to be like.
Incidentally, Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate SG-1 both began new seasons on Friday. I haven’t reviewed them because, to be honest, it’s the same old, same old there – they keep plodding along with nothing desperately bad or desperately good to take away from it all. Fun, but we’re in the 13th mile of a marathon, really.
One thing though. Both shows, together with Battlestar Galactica, have the kind of effects that Doctor Who can only dream of. So the next time you hear RTD going on about how fabulous The Mill is, show him an ep of Stargate Atlantis. Hell, even these mocked up season three titles for BSG should give him pause for thought:
James Earl Jones has done plenty of movies in his long and illustrious career. However, he’s probably most famous as the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies.
I wonder what it would be like if someone were to take all of Darth Vader’s scenes from Star Wars and dub them over with lines from some of JEJ’s other, not-so-good movies. Hmmm….
