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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Footballer’s wife to play Rani in Doctor Who?

3 August 2006 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

Zoe LuckerSeeing as The Sun seems to have some kind of direct line to Russell T Davies these days, I guess we have to at least consider the possibility that Zoe Lucker from Footballers’ Wives is going to play The Rani in the next series of Doctor Who.

Is this likely? Well (bearing in mind that all my theories always turn out to be wrong), I think it could be. Well, maybe not Zoe Lucker, but certainly The Rani turning up.

We already have the hint that at least one other Time Lord (for indeed The Rani is a Time Lord/Lady) survived the Time War, thanks to Russell T Davies’ story in last year’s Doctor Who Annual. Then there’s the inherent soapiness of it all that I’ve already pointed out (yes, there’s one Time Lord and one Time Lady remaining in the universe. Think of the possibilities for soapy love triangles). And then there’s Stu’s comments about how the villain next year needs to be someone who can time travel as well – someone who’s The Doctor’s equal, effectively.

Then there’s RTD’s disdain for villains without motivations. The Master – previous number one favourite Time Lord to return – didn’t really have one. The Rani, on the other hand, was a scientist, albeit one with zero ethics. In the new Who, she could therefore be the Doctor’s mirror image: he’s the face of “good” science, she’s the face of “bad” science; she explores the universe, just like him, looking for knowledge. It’s just what she does with it that’s bad.

Can’t say I’d be entirely happy with Zoe Lucker as The Rani, but I can see how it makes sense. What do you all think?

Third-episode verdict: Eureka

2 August 2006 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

By a piece of extraordinary timing, this third-episode verdict arrives just as episode one of Eureka arrives in the UK. Now re-titled A Town Called Eureka for British audiences, it’s airing at 9pm on Sky One. Is it worth adding your diary?

Probably not.

It’s amiable enough. The characters are amiable. The plots are neither too rubbish nor too interesting. As I mentioned in my review of the pilot, it’s basically just an acceptable hour-long filler.

If you’re a real hardcore sci-fi fan, you’ll probably tune in every episode. Otherwise, give it a miss unless you’ve nothing better to do.

Interesting things afoot at AMC

2 August 2006 Rob Buckley Post a comment

US cable channel AMC, which co-produces Hustle with the Beeb, has some interesting projects in the works, according to Variety:

  • a hybrid family-horror drama set in suburbia from exec producer Richard Kelley (Donnie Darko)
  • an American adaptation of My Life in Film
  • graphic novelist Warren Ellis’ half-hour Dead Channel, a sci-fi story about a fictional entertainment industry

There’s more on Warren Ellis’s own site about what he’s up to, and it sounds interesting. Looks like AMC is trying to carve out an adult cutting-edge niche for itself.