Dr Who: The Stolen Earth

Season four of Dr Who has had some excellent episodes in it, all building up to the extended finale that airs next week in the UK, I felt a little cheated last week as I thought that episode was a bit of a filler and that Rose’s proper return deserved a little more.

This week’s episode The Stolen Earth was a lot better but still felt if it were simply leading up to better things, and yes better things are definitely coming!

I can’t really talk about the episode without spoilers so I’m going to resort to the trusty sonic spoiler saver:

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Another reason to look forward to the Stargate Atlantis season five premiere

It’s really entertaining.

I managed to get a sneek peak at the first episode for season five Stargate Atlantis and I have to say (whilst attempting to overcome every fanboy urge) that it is everything I hoped for.

The best thing that I’m happy to report on is that there is some sign of character growth, at the very least there is a nod to events of the past that don’t relate solely on resolving the current story.

There’s some neat action, an introduction to some new characters and of course stuff happens (which can’t always be said of SGA).

There is a cameo that truely surprised and delighted me.

I’m bursting to talk details but I’m not giving away anything so your going to have to wait a couple of weeks and then come back and then we’ll talk!

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Fringe and Dollhouse: shows I’m looking forward to

With Battlestar Galactica going off the air until next year (for frak sake that is so frustrating considering the mid-season finale), Dr Who finishing up in a couple of episodes and Torchwood only having a limited run (?) there is a distinct lack of science fiction that I watch coming up.

Fortunately for me there are two shows coming that I am actually quite interested in.  Ironically enough I only just found out about these a couple of weeks ago (I’m slipping in my old age!).

The first is Fringe from JJ Abrams and starring our man Pacey from Dawson’s Creek (I currently like supporting everyone from that show except for Katie/She-Tom - I mean sure be in love with the guy but please retain your own personality and stop using his).  It’s kind of like X-Files apparently, but different at the same time (no one wants to just be a copy of another show).  For me the trailer kind of has a Threshold feel to it, remember Threshold?  A science fiction show that I got into and then it was cancelled *sigh

I’m hoping to check out a preview of it sometime soon so I’ll report back on its attention worthiness.  I am still yet to watch Alias or Lost so I have no real comparison as far as Mr Abrams is concerned although I did watch a little of Felicity (I didn’t see it all but I hear good things - was that a line from Little Nicky?).

The other show is from someone who’s track record for me at least is pretty much perfect.  Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse features Buffy and Angel regular Eliza Dushku and everyone’s favourite Angel scientist Amy Acker (arrrrg the pain is still there when I remember Fred’s death!).

I probably know a little bit more about the plot of this one than Fringe but I’m not as convinced.  To be fair I have faith in Whedon and I’m sure the show will be really interesting but I’m not sure if the concept has legs to run as a series.

Both shows look as though they’re well made and seem to have likeable enough cast members but then so did a whole bunch of science fiction shows of late all of which have gone the way side (except for Sarah Connor who I’m not convinced deserved the reprieve).  It reminds me that I bought Surface the other day (quite cheaply too I might add) which is a show that I didn’t mind but got cancelled (Invasion, Threshold and Aquaman didn’t even make it past a pilot).

So what do you all think, going to give these shows a go?  Could care less?  Excited about something else?  (please don’t say Caprica!)

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One reason I’m eagerly awaiting the return of Stargate Atlantis

So some days I don’t really sing Stargate Atlantis’ praises, often I don’t think it deserves them and I wonder why I’m still watching, habit is the usual explanation I come up with, that and the odd glimmer of hope that the show will improve and the characters will be allowed to grow.

I like the show in general, I’m just not excited by it.  But I could be.

This next season is going to be the one that turns it all around for me, it’s going to be awesome because it is ready to take chances and to shake things up.

I’m sure it is.

One of the things that I think could be a really interesting aspect of the story is that Richard Woolsey is apparently taking command of the expedition.  I think this is actually a good idea as the character is neither scientist or military.  I hope the character steps up and adapts to the new role.  Robert Picardo is pretty good no matter what he’s in so I have no fear of the acting abilities.

There are other interesting things coming up for season five but I said ‘one reason’ and I’ll stick to that for now.

Popularity: 16% [?]

I’m the Doctor, look me up.

OK I just finished watching the latest episode of Doctor Who and I can honestly say that I’m really glad that Stephen Moffat will be taking over Doctor Who because he has written some amazing episodes and this latest two part episode firmly solidifies that reputation.

This latest episode now has my favourite line from the Doctor:

“Don’t play games with me, you just killed someone I liked and that’s not a safe place to stand.  I’m the Doctor and you’re in the biggest library in the universe… look me up.”

I think it is quite possible that David Tennant is now my favourite Doctor too.

*Sigh* I’m now going to go and watch Battlestar Galactica’s latest episode.  Please be interesting.

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Stargate: The Ark of Truth - a very nice episode

I can’t wait for the next SG1 DVD to be released, because hopefully they’ll be able to leave the old storylines behind and boldly go where no… umm hang on… no.

I finally watched The Ark of Truth and I was entertained, I wasn’t blown away but I was very happy by the end of it and as I mentioned am very excited about the next instalment which hopefully will have more of a movie feel to it.

I’m not disappointed by it as this is what I expected, I’ve read interviews with the actors that all pointed to this being a sew up all the loose ends episode which paves the way for some exciting standalone movies.

I think the replicator storyline was probably not my bag of door knobs probably thanks to Atlantis, these guys strike me as Lego gone nuts and that new government guy is Dick from Men in Trees so I can’t be mad at him.

Teal’c is fast growing on me though there was one scene where he is laying in the mud and his grey streak was so badly done that it made me… actually nothing really, it’s a very small point that I’m happy to forget, he did how ever have some very memorable sequences.

Overall if you are an SG1 fan you should love this, if you are a science fiction fan and can make some fill in the gaps leaps with the whole Ori bit then you should enjoy it for the most part. If you’ve never seen SG1, now is not the time to jump on board, buy a couple of seasons of the show first and then ease on in.

One very cool thing I should point out is that I really dig the design of the Ori ships!!

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Me with my Farscape friends

Yay for importing memorabilia!

We tried to get the plush DRDs from Farscape for ages here in Australia with absolutely no luck at all. We had them ordered through a pop culture specialist place here that will remain nameless as in the past we’ve done well with them and hope to again. But with our last couple of orders they really dropped the ball which included not getting my DRDs.

So we went directly to an overseas supplier and they arrived today:

Yes and next to me is the life size plush Dominar Rygel XVI. I also have a smaller one (not shown) that we got before we knew of the life sized one. The reason why they are still in plastic is obviously to protect them at this stage until we move when we will release them from their plastic shrouds.

Oh and it is very cool that the webisodes are coming!!!! Mentioned now on Scifi.com and Henson’s official site.  One of the best scifi shows ever.

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The Galaxy Being - The Outer Limits

I miss the day when science fiction could be fanciful and there weren’t hordes of fanboys complaining about the physics are all wrong or that you can’t contact and materialise a being from another planet using a radio station antenna. Imagine making a film today and using Academy Award winning actresses in a story about drilling into the centre of the Earth because the core has stopped spinning, and in the core you were setting off nuclear explosions to restart it and then trying to get out of the core to survive. Who knows what they would call such a film!?

Well actually ‘the day’ was well before I was born in the time of forbidden planets and flying saucers, twilight zones and of course the outer limits. But I love the old black and white science fiction stories, possibly more than our current stories.

So I picked up The Outer Limits season one and two and checked out the very first episode ‘The Galaxy Being’ a story about a guy who runs a radio station and uses it to listen to microwaves. He accidentally contacts an alien in the Andromeda Galaxy. It is fascinating idea and that’s probably what I love about these old shows, the stories are uninhibited by the population having a greater scientific knowledge. It’s imagination all the way as we talk about three dimensional television and the wonders of radiation and microwaves.

The alien is surprisingly good, I mean really clever for the day. It’s a guy in a brown rubber suit shot in negative film. Cleverly if you want to see what the suit actually looked like you can run the image through Fireworks and just click invert (or I’ll just do it for you).

The alien doesn’t quite understand everything he is being told and for some reason having contact with someone outside his species is seriously forbidden. Of course thanks to an egotistical DJ who cranks the power up the alien is pulled into our galaxy and left to wander around on a Saturday night without a date.

Before the unpleasantness hits the fan though the guy gets to talk to the alien about death, taxes and god.

I love this episode and if you can look past the primitiveness, the black and white and the fact that its science is naive then you might too - check it out if you get the chance!

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Forget An Inconvenient Truth try Split Second for some global warming facts

I’m worried about global warming, not worried to the point that I stay up at night eating chocolates with creamy filling that I’ve stuck to the door of the fridge and drinking copious amounts of coffee.

And maybe that’s the problem?

I read Crichton’s State of Fear, watched a couple of documentaries and saw some of An Inconvenient Truth so I feel that I’m probably as caught up as Al Gore is. I mean yes I didn’t study environmental science like he did and… what?

He didn’t?

But didn’t he get that important prize and stuff?

Right.

No science degree?

OK.

Doesn’t matter to the point I’m about to make here.

Let me explain something about the dangers of global warming and the rising waters and all that stuff, three words:

Alien Mutant Thingy

That’s right.

Oh yeah, you can point me in the direction of all the climate disasters and ruined environments you want to, but before An Inconvenient Truth it was Rutger Hauer who was spreading the truth about the real dangers of global warming. Did he get a Nobel prize? Not to my knowledge. Academy Award? Not a one.

In the 1992 film Split Second the real dangers of global warming were presented in a very frank and cool way. Picture it, it’s 2008 and water has risen all around the world, London is knee deep in water, there are police hovercraft and Knight’s in White Satin is huge again!!

I mean OK police using hovercraft to get around is cool, really cool, almost Blade Runner cool, not that cool but I mean I’d like to use a hovercraft to get to work. Trench coats and sunnies abound (again something to do with climate change - I’m shaking in my boots over it right now) and Rutger Hauer doesn’t sleep, drinks tons of coffee and eats chocolate, shitloads of chocolate! His girlfriend is Samantha from Sex in the City or if you prefer the jaded coach from Ice Princess (rock on - you know you love it).

The worst part thanks to global warming is the mutant / alien / Venom look alike thingy. There’s your bloody inconvenience sunshine! Forget some island in the Pacific going under water! What are you going to do when 150 kilos of soul sucking, heart eating, clawing truth lands on your doorway and wants to carve satanic symbols in your chest!?!? The film should be retitled ‘A god awful son of a bitch truth’ narrated by Rutger and starring 150 kilo scary mutant dude. Academy Awards would flow from the ceiling, Nobel Prizes would be used as door stops and the U.N. would make the film required viewing for everyone!

Or Split Second is a cool B grade scifi horror with giant guns that just happens to have flooding and global warming in it.

Whatever.

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Stargate Atlantis season four finale a scorcher

I just knew there was a reason that I’ve continued to watch SGA despite the over abundance of ‘filler’ episodes and stunted character growth that the show has suffered from.  The reason was that I was waiting for an episode of SGA to step out from under the shadow of SG1 and give me a damn good hour of television.  We also are reminded that Sheppard is an important character, in fact he’s possibly the most important of them all.

Now I love a good ‘what if’ time travel story, I like one that doesn’t just reset itself at the end which this episode only half does (it’s all good, we got to save something for season five).  But this episode was everything I could hope for.  I’m going to write spoilers - you need to know that right now.  If you don’t want to know anything about the episode then you need to turn away.

Now.

I mean it.

You’ve been warned.

Like I said, time travel episode, Sheppard is transported to the future, 47000 years in the future Atlantis is abandoned and the planet is a wasteland.  A McKay hologram shows up and gives him a very clever plan to get him back to his own time and save the universe as we know it.  You see everything went a little pear shaped after Sheppard disappeared and Rodney wants him to fix it.

We are then treated to several death scenes of the major characters, some absolutely wonderful scenes that you must imagine an actor loves to perform.  Carter and Ronan have glorious deaths befitting their characters and Keller and McKay’s story is genuinely heartbreaking.

So SGA has turned it round in their last episode of the season, I just hope and beg that they continue into the next season!

Popularity: 61% [?]