As the wise sage Yazz once said, the only way is up. So it was with the latest episode of Doctor Who, The Lazarus Experiment. After the dismal piece of genetic mutation that was Evolution of the Daleks, we have a hybrid we can all be pretty proud of, a nearly 100% successful amalgam of old Who, new Who, The Quatermass Experiment and – ooh – MacGyver.
Continue reading “Review: Doctor Who – 3×6 – The Lazarus Experiment”
Doctor Who
Audio plays
Film
(Media) journalism
Theatre
British TV
US TV
Try and imagine you or your lifetime as approximately one inch in length. Then compare it to the first CD of Cruel Immortality, which is a thousand million miles long. One inch, you. CD one of Cruel Immortality a thousand million miles. Just compare them. It’s very, very long. And it’s very, very boring.
Those were more or less the thoughts that passed through my mind as I tried to get through the first half of Cruel Immortality. Each track was like having teeth drilled. Every single thing that was wrong with the Big Finish series of Sapphire and Steel audio plays was here and taken to the Max. Trite characterisation, poor acting, a Sapphire and a Steel completely unrecognisable and way too human in comparison to their on-screen selves. Listening to David Caruso sing the works of Marilyn Manson would have been preferable.
But, suddenly, come the end of CD one, it all changes. It becomes interesting. All the pain, all the hurt dissolves away and suddenly, you don’t want to use the second CD as a hat, garden ornament or eccentric clothing decoration. Instead, you want to listen to it.
Continue reading “Review: Sapphire and Steel – Cruel Immortality”
I’m off again today. Stu_N knows where. Stu_N knows why.
Doctor Who
Film
Music
British TV
US TV
In the US: Monday 11th December-Wednesday 13th December, Sci Fi. Repeated Sunday 17th December, starting at 5pm.
In the UK: Begins 9pm, 9th January 2007, Sky One
While Big Finish have been jessieing around, trying to recapture the essence of Sapphire and Steel for their audio plays and generally failing hopelessly, someone else has been quietly doing likewise. Surprisingly enough, it’s the US’s Sci Fi Channel who have done their level best to create something with the same qualities as that British fantasy classic, yet is wholly different, original and American.
Yes, a Sci Fi Channel mini-series that’s actually rather good – will miracles never cease?
Back in 1961, something happened. No one’s sure what. Some think God died. Others think the rules of the universe simply broke down. Whatever it was, a motel room off Route 66 was taken out of normal existence, leaving behind 100 or so ‘Objects’.
The Objects are indestructible and can sense each other. They want to be united. Each has strange powers, some useful, some not. The Comb can freeze time. The Spectacles can stop combustion within 20 feet. The Cufflink? The Cufflink can reduce blood pressure, while the supposed Prime Object, the Clock, can sublimate brass. As I said, the powers aren’t always useful.
Then there’s the Key. The Key can open any lock of any door and take you to that missing motel room and then back again to any other door in the world. But what happens if someone’s already in the room and the Key gets used?
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