There is a rule stating all reviews of The Go-Between have to quote the opening line: “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” BBC One’s recent adaptation of L.P. Hartley’s novel follows form and begins with Jim Broadbent sat on a train, reminiscing about the year 1900, when he was a … >
There’s a lot that’s familiar about ‘Under the Lake’. Apart from the transmission time of course. Remember when Doctor Who was on at teatime? But that’s a conversation for a time, when you (I) don’t have jim-jams on. And it’s nothing to do with this week’s writer, Toby Whithouse. In fact, the later start, with … >
After the bombshell ending to the second season of Orphan Black revealed the existence of a line of male clones, Season 3’s opener, ‘The Weight of This Combination’, doesn’t take long to start introducing us to them more formally. The Castor clones are, unfortunately, not as immediately distinctive or enjoyable to watch as the originals though, and … >
It’s the penultimate episode of Boy Meets Girl and Tony has the flu, or at least that’s what he’s protesting to the unsympathetic Pam. She goes off to work leaving him in the uncaring hands of James who seems more bothered about what Tony’s secretly searching for on the internet than actually caring for him. … >
A.L. Kennedy’s novel, featuring a lone Fourth Doctor, is an expanded version of ‘The Death Pit’, first published as an eBook in 2013 and then again as part of this year’s ‘Time Trips’ short story collection. To be honest, the original rather failed to grab our attention in a collection alongside rather smart tales from … >
It has been another bumper month on audio for Doctor Who fans, with two main range releases and the return of the Early Adventures, now featuring the Second Doctor. Tony Jones and Ian McArdell review this month’s new Doctor Who plays from Big Finish… Main Range #203: ‘Terror of the Sontarans’ Rounding out their … >
After the seemingly climactic events last week in BBC One’s Doctor Foster, you’d be forgiven for thinking there was no more drama to be drawn from the Foster’s marital turmoil. How wrong you’d be. “So he still hasn’t admitted it?” inquires Gemma’s best friend Ros (Thusitha Jayasundera). “I doubt he ever will…we’re just moving on, … >
The Martian opens with a shot of the vast, empty expanse of space, and for anyone with a passing familiarity with cinema, it’ll be instantly evocative of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi/horror classic Alien. Even the way film’s title text lingers slightly on screen is a very deliberate call-back to the iconic opening moments of that 1979 … >
Rebooting a much-loved children’s classic is a risky business (just ask Russell T Davies), but thankfully the folks at CBBC have managed to make a rollicking 21st century Danger Mouse. Everything DM fans could hope for is all present and correct in this action-packed opener. The hissing Baron Greenback, the bluff Colonel K (now accompanied … >
How much you enjoy this weekend’s Doctor Who may depend on how prepared you are for old-school storytelling. It may also depend on how much you like very dim green lighting, because there’s a lot of it about. Say what you like about Steven Moffat’s hyperactive episodes, they are far from ordinary. Toby Whithouse’s ‘Under … >