Space Babies and The Devil’s Chord – A Doctor Who double bill!

After a few months, Doctor Who has returned, and for the first time since 2020, we’re getting a regular episodic season of adventures of the week. Since then, all we’ve had are specials or big story arcs. It’s nice to be getting back to basics! And with an insanely charismatic and charming Doctor and some intriguing story arcs established with the routinely excellent Church on Ruby Road, last Saturday (yes I am a live viewer purist, yes I know they dropped at midnight, no I don’t think the switch will last more than a season) saw the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday’s adventures begin in earnest with, for the first time ever, a bonafide double bill, starting with, in the very, VERY overused words of the Doctor – “SPACE BABIES!!!!!”

Yeah I can see why a double bill was needed with this one.

Every Doctor has that one weird one early on in the era that doesn’t really reflect the rest of the run. From Patrick Troughton in a pure historical to Tom Baker fighting rubbish Cybermen, Peter Davison in a racist ship run by a giant frog or Peter Capaldi getting into spoon fights with Robin Hood, “that episode” is a necessary hurdle for most eras to get past, and Space Babies is one of the most “that episode” of all “that episode” stories. Granted, we don’t know what the rest of the era will be like tonally, but even by RTD standards, this one is WEIRD.

Somophore Who stories – The second outings of the Doctors

This time next week… SPACE BABIES! I’ve wanted to write an article about second stories for ages, as whilst post-regeneration stories get all the attention, it’s the follow-up that’s arguably more important. Would the first time be a fluke, or a false start? With introductions out of the way, what’s this new Doctor REALLY going to be like? The audience have interest, now it’s time to maintain their attention and really get going with what the creative team want. Second stories have introduced iconic producers, villains, companions, story arcs and concepts that drive the entire rest of the run, and even the whole show. So with SPACE BABIES on the way (I love that title), let’s look at the somophore outings of Doctors past, excluding Paul McGann (obviously) and David Tennant’s second go, as with Fourteen’s episodes now past they really don’t feel like a full era at all. With those caveats out of the way, let’s take a deep dive…

The Daleks –

It’s late December 1963. The new sci-fi show is only a few weeks old, and it shows promise. Children up and down the country sit down to see an old police box arrive on a dead planet, a radiated jungle, and a mechanical city, when suddenly, the door closes and Barbara is attacked by a sink plunger…

Animated Doctor Who? There’s a good case for it

In the downtimes of no seasons (not long now!), I’ve been indulging myself in finding other shows to enjoy, and the one that’s clicked with me the most is Avatar: The Last Airbender, the original animated show (thank you, James Cameron, M Night Shyamalan and live action remakes for needing to have that many caveats!)

My viewing of the show has led to many thoughts ranging from, “wow, this is the greatest thing ever made” to “what D&D class would Toph be?” to “wouldn’t Toph be a great Doctor Who companion?” to “man, wouldn’t it be great if Doctor Who had an animated era?”

Now this is where I raise my flame shield and endure the wrath of Doctor Who fans who hate any and all suggestions that maybe this show should do different things once in a while. Hear me out. And don’t worry Avatar fans, once I finish the show, I’m sure I’ll have spicy takes to get involved in with – so, did you know that the show is actually quite similar to the classic Chinese story Journey to the We –

Three crazy Doctor Who fan theories

Doctor Who Season 1/14/40 is all ready to go, and whilst I’ll save my thoughts on some more discussed news stories in their own time (we’ll get to Moffat when we, well, get to Moffat), right now, I want to have some fun. Let’s kick back and do some speculating on things I think might happen, and if any of these are true… I called it!

The Fendahl are the season antagonist

Image of the Fendahl is one of the great Tom Baker stories in my opinion, and the Fendahl are one of the Whoniverse’s most powerful threats – quite literally a physical embodiment of Death itself. They destroy entire planets and emerge from the dark embodiments of man’s curiosity and superstition.

So, what does all of this have to do with the new series? Well, here’s the thing – the events of Wild Blue Yonder was confirmed to have opened up the universe to threats from other universes. Now, what could be so scary that even the Toymaker ran? What if the Goblins are merely emissaries for a greater threat? What else is coming that forebears what’s to come?

My ten favourite action films

A good action film is something you don’t appreciate until you’ve seen loads of them. Sure, you may be satisfied with simply seeing people fight on screen, but what separates an entertaining time like 100s of Hong Kong or Schwarzenegger films is simple – brains and style. Not every film needs to have an inherent “point”, but if we know why the action is happening, how every side is working around the action and how the wider story is tied into it, great. And if it’s done with immense coolness, even better. The grander, the sillier, the more absurd or complex the action, the better.

For this list, “action” film is a very specific criteria. I want to focus on “dirty” action with fists, guns, swords and chases, the old-school style. I’m excluding most sci-fi, superhero and fantasy films because of this rule – for the most part, I want to stay in the real world (well, as real as you can get with some of these plots). Films that have fighting or car chases don’t inherently count if they’re the only one in the film. I’m also trying to exclude franchises to make the list more interesting, and have also tried to go for one film per director and/or actor. So, let’s not waste anymore time –

10. Speed

Sony Pictures Is Having A Moment

Something is very wrong with the Spider-Man villain films from Sony Pictures. I should investigate.

Madame Web, which I did NOT watch (fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me) is certainly A Film that has had A Reception. Did anyone think this would be anything other than Morbius 2.0?

Fun fact – This exact image is used in every promo

Among the myriad of bizarre things attached to the latest film in the SSMU (Sony’s Spider-Man Universe… without Spider-Man) is a totally unhinged press tour, what appears to be such a troubled production that the main villain is totally ADR’ed, the fact this is yet another universe not linked with Venom or Morbius, and the fact this is the first of THREE of these films this year. We’ve got Kraven the Hunter and Venom 3. Guys… is Scorsese right?

Why I LOVE the Meg films

Today’s Hollywood is a cesspool of endless remakes, legacy sequels, all star ego trips by pop stars and directors, biopics and more. It’s… getting a bit morbid out there, especially as a wannabe filmmaker, even the superhero genre is slowly losing steam – Guardians 3 felt like the last stand to me, at least in terms of live action.

There’s still things keeping me going though. Foreign and smaller indie films, horror is at a peak, and then there’s the films where Jason Statham fights giant sharks with all the intensity of The Godfather and they are quite possibly the greatest motion pictures ever made and quite literally the antidote to a lot of what I don’t like about current Hollywood.

Pretentiousness? Oh no. Sustained ego trips for their star? Nope, Statham’s self awareness and ability to be in on the joke and be willing to make fun of himself is part of what makes them so fun. Aspirations to be taken “seriously” as “real” cinema? Hell no. Are the creators bullying you into watching them at the cinema? Nope, these are “watch on a plane” movies. Acting ashamed of the genre or audience? Not here, these are stupid Trash films and proud of it. Sure, it’s a franchise, but it’s a trashy pulp franchise built on doing the exact same thing, every time, knowing audiences will gobble it up and leave wanting more.

Is The Underwater Menace the greatest Doctor Who story of all time?

Over the new year, the latest Doctor Who animation came out – Patrick Troughton’s third story, The Underwater Menace, otherwise known as “Plan 9 From Doctor Who”, has been given a prestigious DVD release and… I think it’s the greatest thing ever made. Geoffrey Orme, you sir, have written the only good Doctor Who story ever made.

Slight exaggeration.

OK, but basically, I need to talk about The Underwater Menace. Because this story is ridiculous. January 1967, and the Doctor has only recently regenerated. Audiences still don’t know if this new floppy haired recorder playing madman will last more than a year, so risky is the recast. His first story is a dark morality play about the Daleks, his second, a pure historical that introduces Jamie. The Moonbase, with its dark tone, base under siege plot, return of the Cybermen and the solidification of Two’s persona and story type going forward, is on the horizon. But first… we have four weeks of psychedelic fish dances, mad scientists, volcanoes, relgious uprisings and yes, all of this is actually a Doctor Who plot. Before Troughton’s era was fully figured out, this is the last gasp of the totally insane formula testing of the Hartnell years, figuring out what on Earth to do with this show.

The Church of Ruby Road: Doctor Who’s new fresh start

After the 60th specials threw in continuity, lore and complex legacy binding, with obscure 60s villains, 70s comics and 80s companions running around the place, the *real* new start to Russell T Davies’s second era was always going to be here – with Ncuti Gatwa’s first proper appearance in another total relaunch of the show, following on from Spearhead From Space, Rose, The Eleventh Hour and The Woman Who Fell To Earth.

But this time, there’s been an even bigger shift in the status quo. With the 60th acting as a bridge of sorts, the new, NEW era of Doctor exists in a world far removed from the Time War or Gallifrey, instead the new mythology of the show seems firmly rooted into place – the trauma of the Flux, the revelations of the Timeless Child, and the breakdown of the universe’s barriers to other worlds thanks to the Doctor trying to ward off the Not-Things at the edge of the universe. It’s a brand new world inhabited by goblins and eldritch beings, and the Doctor simultaneously more open to addressing his dark past but still hiding feelings and answers.

Godzilla Minus One is my favourite film of the year

Tis the night (four days) before Christmas and I need to talk about a giant radioactive lizard. Desperately.

I can’t say I’m a Godzilla fan or expert, I’ve seen the original and the Monsterverse stuff, and respect the franchise immensely (it’s been going on for almost 70 years, longer than Bond and Doctor Who!) and obviously love other Kaiju media like Pacific Rim. But the King of the Monsters? I’m not an expert, I’m not an obsessive who can name the human characters in Godzilla vs The Giant Anteaters of Mars. So I walked into Minus One knowing nothing except the fact that everyone has been raving about it. And that it had Godzilla in it.

Well, that’s what I would’ve said BEFORE I saw Minus One. Now, I’m a Godzilla fan, and one of my missions in the new year is to watch as much Godzilla as I humanly can. Minus One… is the film of the year. No question. It’s a masterpiece that should be in the Best Picture category and if it isn’t, I will consider the ceremony a (bigger) joke. Unless Oppenheimer, Barbie or even Spider-Verse is nominated or wins, more people will be talking about Godzilla than the winner. Fact. It’s already the highest grossing live action Japanese film outside Japan. It’s a work of art.