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.
Website YouTube LinkedIn

Monday’s unlucky Valentine news

3 November 2008 Rob Buckley 11 Comments

Doctor Who

Film

  • Remake of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes?

Theatre

  • Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart to star in Waiting for Godot
  • Matthew Horne and Imelda Staunton to star in Entertaining Mr Sloane

British TV

US TV

Review: Quantum of Solace

2 November 2008 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

I don’t normally do reviews of current films. There’s not much point since I always see them too late. But when I do see a film just as it comes out, invariably my review would be almost identical to Mark Kermode’s. Case in point: Quantum of Solace. Here’s Mark Kermode’s review, which is pretty much word for word what I would have said. Loved the fight scenes though.

Review: The Companion Chronicles 3×4 – Empathy Games

31 October 2008 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Empathy Games

What’s up here? This is getting silly. Not only has Louise Jameson already starred in three entire series of Gallifrey already, she’s been in the Tomorrow People plays, the last Sapphire and Steel play and a previous Companion Chronicles piece, The Catalyst. Now she gets another one? What did Mary Tamm, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhous do wrong? Actually, don’t answer that.

Of course, the quick answer is that Big Finish producer Nigel Fairs seems to like Jameson, given that he’s responsible for writing and directing a sizable number of the plays I just listed. In fact, this follows on directly from The Catalyst, at least in storytelling metaphor, even if the story itself is set at a more random point. Co-starring David Warner (oh look, another Big Finish fave. Fancy that.), the play isn’t as good as The Catalyst and feels like a couple of old Blake’s 7 episodes cobbled together.

I’m not selling it to you, am I?

Continue reading “Review: The Companion Chronicles 3×4 – Empathy Games”

Friday’s ghosts and pumpkins news

31 October 2008 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Film

British TV/Radio

US TV

UK TV

Who should replace David Tennant?

30 October 2008 Rob Buckley 21 Comments

Paterson Joseph

So David Tennant’s heading off for pastures new. Come 2010, we’re going to need a new Doctor in the TARDIS.

Current favourite for the job is Paterson Joseph, best known from Peep Show, at 3-1 odds, but David Morrisey is close behind at 5-1 (and there might be a revelation or two in the Christmas special to look forward to there), James Nesbitt is at 6-1 and John Simm (weirdly enough) is at 8-1.

Question for the day though: who would you like to be the next Doctor. It might be an outlandish suggestion that would never ever happen in real life, but this is Fantasy Doctor League so name your personal fave right now.

I’m currently being persuaded that Idris Elba (of The Wire and Ultraviolet) would be a great choice, although maybe one that wouldn’t actually come about in real life. What do you think?