Fazzinchi

Doctor Who Retrospective #10 of 10 “Bad Wolf / The Parting Of the Ways”

Okay, it’s weeks late but at last it is here (and incongruously lumped in the middle of the ongoing reviews of Series Three)! This is the final installment of my Series One Retrospective of the new Doctor Who. I had been hoping to rattle all ten of these off during the build up to the new series but time (and idleness) got the better of me. It was the worst kept secret in Doctor Who circles (and pretty poorly kept in general public circles too) that, once the departure of Christopher Eccleston (more…)

Save The Cheerleeder, Save The World

Just how did Heroes get to be so good?  We’re just 12 episodes in to the story here in the UK, which I guess puts us about half-way through the first “volume” (rather than sticking with “series” and “episodes” to describe the unfolding story, Heroes refers back to its comic-book heritage with “chapters” and “volumes”.  It’s a nice touch).   However, despite the relative brevity of the series, it would seem that there is already a rich heritage to the show.  Regular (and observant) (more…)

Doctor Who Retrospective #9 of 10 “Boom Town” 

Boom Town got mixed reviews on first showing and in hindsight this may have been because it was shown following after The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances double bill, which will undoubtedly become one of the classic stories of the 43 years of this show’s history. It is certainly a filler episode, set in contemporary Cardiff (i.e. on the doorstep of the production team’s home) and features a re-use of the Slitheen (thankfully fart-free) so soon after their debut, so from a production (more…)

Doctor Who Retrospective #4 of 10 “Aliens of London”/ “World War Three”

If I were to write a potted history of the re-launched series of Doctor Who, which in a way, I am, I think I would take a moment to consider the impact of the first two-part story “Aliens of London” and “World War Three”. I have to confess that this is one of my least favourite stories of the whole re-invented series. The reasons are not for any one significant reason, rather it is a series of little peculiarities that irritates me. However, let’s start with the positive stuff. The initial (more…)

“My name is Hiro Nakamura, I’m from the future…. and I have a message for you”

The Heroes episode “Collision” changed me from a casual observer of the show who had a detached intrigue ‘cos-everyone-said-it-was-good into gibbering fanboy of this unmissable, appointment TV. I have been largely oblivious to spoilers due to the lack of real interest on my part up to this point (other than hearing something about Christopher Eccleston’s future involvement on the Doctor Who forums… or is that “fora”?) but the internet is awash with talk and now (more…)

Doctor Who Retrospective #2 of 10 “The End Of The World”

So, the revitalised Doctor Who was back on our screens and those viewing figures proved that it was back with a bang. No longer a cumbersome millstone around the neck of Michael Grade as it was in the 80’s but an invigorated, modern show, with great lead actors, high production standards and a sense of fun and adventure that was hard to find anywhere else in the schedules. While the previews had been cautiously optimistic the critical response was astonishing, with barely a (more…)