Articles by Rob Buckley

About Rob Buckley
I’m Rob Buckley, a journalist who writes for UK media magazines that most people have never heard of although you might have heard me on the podcast Lockdown Land or Radio 5 Live’s Saturday Edition or Afternoon Edition. I’ve edited Dreamwatch, Sprocket and Cambridge Film Festival Daily; been technical editor for TV producers magazine Televisual; reviewed films for the short-lived newspaper Cambridge Insider; written features for the even shorter-lived newspaper Soho Independent; and was regularly sarcastic about television on the blink-and-you-missed-it “web site for urban hedonists” The Tribe. Since going freelance, I've contributed to the likes of Broadcast, Total Content + Media, Action TV, Off The Telly, Action Network, TV Scoop and The Custard TV.
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Friday’s Obsessed with Ali Larter news

19 December 2008 Rob Buckley 31 Comments

Doctor Who

Film

Theater

  • Jeremy Piven leaves Speed the Plow over ‘high mercury count’

British TV

US TV

Sitting Tennant

Today’s Sitting Tennant (from Rullsenberg): Measure For Measure

18 December 2008 Rob Buckley 15 Comments

The advent Sitting Tennant competition continues, despite controversy among obvious communists and drug addicts who think that waxing lyrical about a sedentary Tennant every day or so is "too difficult" to manage. Pah. We’re made of sterner stuff than that, I think.

Today’s Sitting Tennant is yet another from now-obvious picture champion-to-be, Ms Rullsenberg, who’s still managing to maintain her lead despite being in New Zealand. If the will is there, any challenge can be overcome – well except for that white suit in the above picture from Measure For Measure.

The Sitting Tennant picture competition table now stands as follows:

  • Rullsenberg: 11.5
  • Rosby: 9
  • Persephone: 6.5
  • Toby: 5
  • Poly, Scott: 3.5
  • Jane: 2.5
  • Anna, Electric Dragon: 1.5
  • Marie: 1

The Witty And Amusing Captions league table sees much excitement. Prize for wittiest of the last bunch goes to Toby, who gets double points for ripping the piss out me (that’s not an invitation) in a caption for picture 1, and to Marie for a picture 2 caption – all achieved without the benefit of state hand-outs or methadone (I hope). Shameless former Bolshevik Persephone reveals her true colours as a recidivist, fifth columnist and kulak by deciding to take advantage of Rullsenberg being 17 hours ahead of her to jump into fourth place; meanwhile, Electric Dragon and Rev are reunited in sixth place, and new captioner Scott arrives on the scoreboard for the first. Welcome, Scott!

  • Toby: 38
  • Marie: 31.5
  • Jane Henry: 21
  • Persephone: 15
  • Rullsenberg: 14
  • Electric Dragon, Rev: 8
  • Stu_N: 2
  • Poly, Andrea, Scott: 1

As always, captions and new submissions for the gallery, please. Remember, you can submit as many (witty) captions as you like for each and every picture, with topical captions (and pictures of David Tennant in current productions) getting extra marks. The wittiest caption for each picture will get double points.

The final Sitting Tennant of 2008 will be on December 23rd when the results will be announced. Any ideas for prizes?

Got a picture of David Tennant sitting, lying down or in some indeterminate state in between? Then leave a link to it below and if it’s judged suitable, it will appear in the “Sitting Tennant” gallery. You can also enter the witting and amusing captions league table by commenting on existing photos in the gallery.

Thursday’s “slightly sarcastic” news

18 December 2008 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

Doctor Who

  • No. Not Matthew Horne. A woman. Or even an ‘ethnic doctor’ (instead of an ‘ethnic actor’ presumably). Oh the shock. I think I’m going to have a touch of the vapours
  • Although Dervla Kirwan (who’d know of course) reckons there’s a shortlist of six actors for the part including Martin Clunes

Film

Theatre

  • Lucy Davies is the new producer of the National Theatre of Wales

British TV

US TV

  • Trailer for future Smallville episodes
  • Watch The Flight of the Conchords season two premiere [US only, because only the US counts of course. Screw New Zealand who’d have no interest]
  • 24‘s James Badge Dale to star in AMC’s new political thriller
  • ABC greenlights An American Family
  • HBO greenlights Hung. What a surprise
  • Life on Mars, 24 and Dollhouse production budgets being cut
Audio and radio play reviews

Review: The Companion Chronicles 3×6 – The Darkening Eye

17 December 2008 Rob Buckley Post a comment

The-Darkening-Eye.jpgWe’re now entering the fifth Doctor’s era for the first time in Big Finish’s Companion Chronicles range. To a certain extent, I can’t help but wonder why.  

Peter Davison’s willing to do just about any old muck Big Finish throws at him; all the actors who want to recreate their roles as companions (Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, Nicola Bryant as Peri, Mark Strickson as Turlough) and even some of those who don’t (Janet Fielding as Tegan) have had a go, too.

So this really feels like “we couldn’t get the budget to do a proper production of this” rather than a justifiable entity in its own right.

On the other hand, it does enable a “full companion” story featuring Nyssa, Tegan and Adric, which they probably couldn’t get to happen otherwise. So I’ll give them the benefit this time.

However, there’s a couple of things I won’t give them the benefit over:

  1. Bringing back the cocking Dar traders from The Death Collectors
  2. Picking, of all the fifth Doctor stories to write “in the style of”, the most goddamn boring one of them all Terminus

Continue reading “Review: The Companion Chronicles 3×6 – The Darkening Eye”