In trying to apply meaning to what’s just a very good family drama, it’s all too easy to over-analyse and get pretentious when reviewing Doctor Who. Especially when the show takes itself too seriously. But there’s no chance of that this week. Barely have we stepped two minutes outside the TARDIS and into Robin Hood … >
As we hurry towards the finale, this penultimate episode of In the Club highlights all the women’s lives in order to reach conclusions next week. However, while all the characters’ lives and stories are touched upon, to varying degrees, this episode truly belongs to one couple and the journey they’ve had to get their happy … >
The first thing you notice about this episode are the balls. Not Rusty the Dalek’s antibodies, which whizz around its ailing innards like Toclafanes disguised as Magic 8s, but the cojones: the swaggering, look-at-the-size-of-this braggadocio of a blockbusting space adventure. The fact that it’s a combination of several other blockbusting space adventures – not to … >
It was with a mixture of feelings that we approached Into the Dalek. On the one hand, the presence of Phil ‘The Waters of Mars’ Ford on the credits was enough to pique the interest. On the other – well, stories about miniaturisation are always a little shlocky, aren’t they? Whether it’s in TV and … >
The Internet collectively praised Peter Capaldi’s portrayal of the Doctor last week – so much so that if you Google his name now your computer makes a little trumpet cheer and ejects a puff of glittery confetti – but the truth is we really don’t know who Twelve is yet. And neither does the Doctor. … >
Key characters take centre stage in the fourth episode of In the Club, as tensions run high, secrets are exposed and relationships show fractures when examined up close. Hannah Midgely and Katherine Parkinson are the stand outs this week. Midgely is given the most she’s had to do since Episode 1, but its piled on … >
Sometimes, a change is better than a rest. The closing triptych of Matt Smith’s tenure in the TARDIS promised a great deal but delivered only sporadically (‘The Name of the Doctor’ was mostly good, ‘The Day of the Doctor’ was mostly patchy, ‘The Time of the Doctor’ was mostly tedious) and while there’s always a … >
It’s the Trigger’s Broom Conundrum: is it still your favourite old broom if its handle and head have been replaced? How much can you change a thing before it’s no longer the thing it was originally was? The dozenth Doctor understands the principle all too well. He is the new broom. Different body, different head, … >
After last week’s instalment, in which Hugo Blick ramped up the sex and death to Doorsian levels, one might be forgiven for thinking the final episode was more a coda than anything else: when the music’s over, turn out the lights. Yet while ‘The Paring Knife’ is less incendiary than its predecessor, it matches – … >
With an ensemble show, there is almost always the feeling that someone will be sidelined, either for a more central character or for the person playing the role being more high profile. Luckily, as we hit the halfway stage of BBC One’s In the Club, Kay Mellor’s wonderfully human writing and the skill of the … >