Tom Baker’s third series for Big Finish begins with a bang, bringing the Fourth Doctor into conflict with a rather unusual Sontaran, the formidable General Strang. Demonstrating his unique status, we hear him despatch a twelve strong assassination squad of his stubby comrades in the opening moments of the tale.
Strangers on a Train is a welcome stage adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel of the same name, published in 1950 and turned into a film shortly thereafter by one Alfred Hitchcock.
Veering between bluntly wraught melodrama and a satisfyingly personal conflict with a slave trader, ‘Commodities’ is an episode of varying quality.
Maintaining the high quality drama set up in the previous episodes, the latest Mr Selfridge instalment is carefully crafted, with a bit more balance and light. Key players take a step back, allowing secondary characters stories room to breathe, showcasing the best example of the ensemble cast so far.
Sherlock’s back! No, not the Cumberbatchy one. The papery one made of words. The original and best. And in Titan Books’ The Further Encounters of Sherlock Holmes, the Great Detective and his companion are solving crimes far more outrageous than those created by common murderers or master blackmailers. The result is as entertaining as the stories are ambitious.
Everyone hates this time of year, right? Grey with a distinct apocalyptic air; everything’s rubbish. You think you’ve got it bad? Well, spare a thought for the Austrian cast of director Marvin Kren’s film, Blood Glacier, who not only have to contend with the freezing cold and isolation of the remote German Alps but also giant mutant insect/animal hybrids causing a bloody nuisance.
As the book’s dedication makes clear, ‘Harvest of Time’ is a story that is as much about the Master as it is the Doctor.
After his capture at the end of ‘The Daemons’ the delightfully evil Time Lord has been kept under lock and key. However, he has been periodically released from his unique Nuclear Reactor prison and coerced into assisting with a new submarine communication system.
From director Cameron K McEwan (aka Blogtor Who), Who’s Changing is a crowd-funded documentary which endeavours to look at how Doctor Who’s fanbase has changed over the years.
The Musketeers continues its solid, unsurprising start with ‘Sleight of Hand’.
It too is another enjoyable yet predictable romp through the murkier side of swashbuckling. Meanwhile, characters are further defined, approximately fifty people are shot, and guest stars swagger as only Jason Flemyng can swagger (copiously shifting weight from buttock to buttock with each stride).
Talk of Britain being on the brink of war causes unrest within the Selfridges staff, with fears that they will all lose their jobs if Mr Selfridge escapes back to America to avoid the European conflict. This, and demonstrations by Trade Union representatives, leads Harry to create an ‘Empire Exhibition’ to explain to both the customers and the staff that the store is staying put. This is topped off with a staff party held at Delphine’s to boost morale, but with it comes all sorts of conflict and drama.