cambelljsmith Reviews

Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder (2023) Season Unknown, Episode Unknown

A serious and much needed return to form

[10/10 · 2 December 2023]

After last week's "The Star Beast" being controversial with it's bland, offensive and even a, possibly, transphobic ending it's not a reach to say that people were anxious for the second episode of this era.

Well fear no more. Or do. Really fear. This episode was scary in a way that crossed multiple angles. Tying both conceptual and body horror into one terrifying tangle this episode sees The Doctor and Donna accidentally rewriting history and defeating an evil from beyond their reality.

This episode has immediately entered my top three. The use of music was fantastic with both diagetic and non diagetic music used throughout.. The CGI was both fit for purpose and appropriately wonky to illustrate the liminal space style that this story needed.

I sat down and watched it anxiously. From essentially the first moment I loved it and that feeling never wavered for the entire hour. The episode ended, I sat for ten minutes thinking intensely about it. I then watched it again. Even knowing the exact beats and resolution of the mystery I enjoyed the story on the second viewing.

David and Catherine inhabit both sets of characters masterfully. David's new 14th Doctor is charming, fun, and emotionally in tune in the way that the 10th never was. Seeing his compulsive need to think and solve problems was a delight and heightened the stakes as he desperately tried not to. The whole time us viewers knowing he'd never be able stop.

Catherine and David played their evil mirrors so well. "My arms are too long" is a line that's going to be up there with "Are you my Mummy" and "Hey, who turned off the lights"

It can't go without mentioning that the direction really had some moments of brilliance too. The scene where 14 and Donna are each working in separate rooms of the ship and conversing with their, then unknown, alternates are lit with starkly different lighting to subliminally signify that contrast long before it becomes apparent to either the viewer or the character that something is off.

We even get a funny little line that suggests that 14 might not be entirely heterosexual. A much more subtle and honest approach to these socially progressive features than last week.

Hopefully Russell can pull off the same kind of brilliance with the third of these 60th anniversary specials "The Giggle"

Little Britain (2003–2006)

Little Britain is an artefact of a time gone.

[7/10 · 6 May 2022]

While I'm often the first person to call for nuance and appreciation of cultural significance I must say; that Little Britain did not age well.

From jokes that literally didn't age well, relying upon cultural references that just don't mean anything to a modern audience, to jokes that were meanspirited and in poor taste.

Characters like Ting Tong Macadangdang, Bubbles DeVere and The Minstrels are nigh unwatchable today. Based on lazy, outdated stereotypes and purely racist ideas they're just unsuitable for a modern audience.

It's not all bad. Segments involving cantankerous store owners Margaret and Roy are genuinely innocent fun. The joke is just that the customer is a bad communicator and Margret takes a long time to answer. Of course, the joke doesn't come across over text but trust me. That bit holds up very well.

The segments involving Dame Sally Markham are quite similar. They're not cruel or looking to insult any ethnic group. It's all poking fun at a lazy writer who makes her assistant do all the work. That's another that holds up well.

Perhaps the least offensive segment is the one centred around stage hypnotist Kenny Craig. He uses his amazing powers of hypnotism for mostly small things like getting bargains at car boot sales or winning games of scrabble. He's confident in his abilities despite it several times being shown that the people around him are just humouring him to a certain point.

"Look into my eyes, look into my eyes, the eyes, the eyes, not around the eyes, don't look around the eyes, look into my eyes (snaps fingers) you're under." -Kenny Craig.

Another notable cast member is Anthony Stuart Head, Giles from Buffy. He plays the prime minister of Great Britain throughout Little Britain's entire run. His stories mainly revolve around him having to navigate political situations constantly frustrated by the homosexual advances of the Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Narrator of the entire series. Tom Baker. Yes! That Tom Baker. As always he brings wit and charm to the role that's rarely matched. His booming stentorian voice makes even the most juvenile and impetuous of lines seem grandiose and unquestionable. I can't think of anyone better to narrate such a show. Tom Baker himself refers to Little Britain as one of his favourite roles to have done, even having written a few of his lines himself.

All in all Little Britain is an artefact of a time gone. It's rude, offensive and often difficult to watch without cringing. While there are many decent sketches they're lost in a sea of insane, meandering and often repetitive drivel. If you've never seen it I would recommend putting it on in the background while you do something else. Give it a try but just remember. The past is a different world.

Trapped! (2007–2010)

Trapped was good for what it was. It's a product of it's time.

[7/10 · 3 May 2022]

Trapped was a strange little game show that, for some reason, feels as though it lasted longer than it did. Maybe that speaks to its quality and striking tone; maybe it just reveals that it was repeated more than it should have been.

The premise is fairly simple. A group of teenagers are trapped in a castle, and tasked with completing a series of challenges, one for each floor. For each challenge, a saboteur is chosen by the presiding authority of the tower and tasked with covertly interfering with the team's efforts to achieve their goals. The team has to deduce the saboteur and vote for their removal. Only the last player remaining is allowed to escape the tower. The tasks were often a combination of both physical and mental skills that were able to be intercepted by that round's chosen sabbatour.

The challenges consisted mostly of mental and physical tasks designed such that this sabbatour could meaningfully interrupt the team's progress during the periodic moments of concealment.

The show quickly became stale, as did many of the other themed game shows produced by CBBC and other child- and teen-focused channels. A fun and genuinely interesting backstory and tone just wasn't enough to stop the monotony of the formula from becoming too much. Grossout humor and spookiness can only take you so far and Trapped found that. It had a respectable four-season run before it was canceled. That's something any show can be proud of.

Trapped was clearly developed for a child audience, and that's fine. Viewers have a wide range of interests and each of those deserve to be catered to. Trapped did that and it did it well. I wouldn't recommend it anymore; it's been far surpassed by other productions but it was good for what it was. I enjoyed it when I was ten.

Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995)

The definitive Batman series.

[9/10 · 3 May 2022]

Batman; The Animated Series is perhaps THE progenitor of everything Batman to come since. Kevin Convoy as the voice of both Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne is a performance that most Believe to have been unsurpassed in the decades since. There's a reason Kevin is still playing Batman to this day. The casting of Mark Hamill offers another example of voice actors that have stayed with their characters ever since.

The show is perhaps most successful in that it was responsible for the creation of character Harley Quinn; now leading her own blockbuster movies. It also reformed Mr. Freeze from a small-time comedy punchline to a tragic and moving example of the extremes of personal dedication.

Batman: The Animated Series is partially responsible for the Gothic and ArtDeco style that typifies Gotham City, and the cultures and lives within. Of course this already existed in the comic books but it was brought the very forefront through the show. The visual style of the show was genre defining and unique among its contemporaries. The choice to animate colour on black paper was inspired and continually encourages a dark and spooky tone that fits the story and characterization perfectly.

The theme music is iconic and for good reason. The grandiose and intense, textured tonality of Shirley Walker's work is unmatched by any other. It's the music that most people think about when they think Batman.

Batman: The Animated Series is beloved for good reason. It established a consistent tone that has survived into the modern day and did a lot to reestablish the character's as household names. Watch the series for yourself and you'll understand exactly why.

Torchwood (2006–2011)

Torchwood is a little show with a big heart.

[8/10 · 2 May 2022]

Torchwood changed so much throughout it's life that it's not really fair to rate it as one item so I'm going to split this into sections.

Torchwood: Series 1 Hmm. It's fine. It's got the usual chibnallisms. There are some great episodes to come out of it like Everything changes, Countrycide or Out of Time. Then you've got utter dregs like Cyberwoman, Day One or Combat. Series One just didn't meet it's potential. It was rude and oversexed in a way that made it feel juvenile more than anything. It did deal with some interesting themes. The aforementioned Out of Time addressed the guest characters' stresses and anxieties about modern life respectfully and ended in a way that will sit with the viewer long after watching.

I'm not even going to talk about Random Shoes. I've re watched the whole show literally dozens of times but that episode only once. Utterly useless.

Series One ended in odd way. As story that wasn't really set up at all and then just ended in a CGIathon and some screaming. All in all, not great.

Torchwood: Series 2 This is Torchwood. Confident, competent and ready to go. Series Two stars with a Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.(Yes, funny I know) James Marsters of Buffy fame plays former time agent Captain John Hart. A fantastic story sets this series on the right track and it really stays on it. This series includes amazing stories like To the Last Man, Meat or Adrift.

Series Two has done away with the smuttiness or the obsession with swearing. All of the characters are at their absolute best. The stories are thematically cohesive. Everything is better and the last ten minutes will break your heart.

Torchwood: Series 3: Children of Earth Russel T Davies returns to the helm and hits a solid home run. Children of earth tells the story of the earth's children being claimed by a mysteries alien species designated at the 456.

Children of Earth is often understood as the best thing to have come out of the universe of Doctor Who and even as some of the best SciFi ever produced. The reduction to just 5 episodes means that the story is tight; without excess plot threads or wasted time. The introduction of new characters keeps things fresh and interesting throughout.

The visuals are fantastic and terrifying. From the cameraman entering the glass box to the 456 beaming into Thames House you will be on the edge of your seat and drinking in beautiful design work. Watch it and love it.

Torchwood: Series 4: Miracle Day After the BBC threatened to cancel the show they had to look across the pond for funding. They found this with the network STARZ but this of course came with strings. If the American network was going to give them so much money they needed something in return. Half of the show would be filmed in American with a cast of American actors. If Miracle Day has any one main issue; It's just too long. It didn't need ten episodes. Miracle Day had a great concept. What if everyone of Earth became immortal? How could that not be amazing? Somehow it's just not. It all falls a bit flat. The whole plot line with Captain Jack's long lost lover was a waste of time and would have been better just completely cut.

Bill Pullman gives a truly incredible performance. Unreformed media darling pedophile Oswald Danes is both spine chillingly creepy and endlessly contemptible. By the time Gwen Cooper has smashed his face in with her frying pan you're so happy to see it.

I'm glad Miracle Day exists but I wish it could have been better. I'm not surprised it didn't go on.

Torchwood: The Story Goes On Currently Big Finish has the rights to produce Torchwood audio dramas and I'm glad. The quality has varied between great and amazing. Entries like Believe, Corpse Day and The Green Life are stand out examples of how Torchwood can be done best. There really aren't any truly bad examples. The series 5 and 6, intended to be proper sequels to the show, are mediocre at worst. The absence of Eve Myles is very noticeable and a significant loss.

Big Finish takes Torchwood to places that it never went on TV. The aforementioned Corpse Day includes fan favorites Owen and Andy teaming up to investigate a woman's disappearance and find's a far deeper horror story of a man breeding his alien pet with human women. Big Finish has allowed Torchwood to better enmesh itself with the Whoniverse having Katy Manning's Jo Grant working together with Jack in a sequel to a story from 1973.

All in all Torchwood is a nice little show that just couldn't have the longevity of it's parent show. It had several casts of characters that varied in quality but always had heart. It had a good run and produced some of the best SciFi around. As expect there was an immediate jump in quality when Russel T Davies took over from Chris Chibnall. Oh wait. That's surprisingly relevant today.

Doctor Who (2005–2022)

It's Doctor Who. What else needs to be said?

[9/10 · 2 May 2022]

First aired on the 23rd November 1963 Doctor Who has been a stable of British living rooms for almost 60 years. I can think of no other show that engenders the same passion, fury, devotion and love that Doctor Who does. The main character, The Doctor, travels through time and space in their time machine known as the Tardis. Despite the blue police box once having been an ordinary sight on British street corners it's taken on a new life due to it's use on the show. That speaks to the cultural pervasiveness of the imagery of the show.

The role has been officially played, at the time of writing, by 14 actors. Various spin off and parody media brings that figure into the several dozen. The show has, throughout it's life, touched the careers of most of the UK's greatest actors if even just for brief moments.

Doctor Who has had ups and downs/ It's not always met the potential inherent in it's soul. We're in one of those periods right now but hope is on the horizon. We will always find the way back to being thing on any TV set.

This show has been discussed to to hell and back. There's little that I have to say on the subject that hasn't already been said by people more articulate and thorough than myself. All I can say is that the universe of The Doctor will always have a place in my heart. Whether it's the show, the almost one thousand books and audios, the games or the incredible community of fans; Doctor Who will always be around and it will always be loved.

Coming of Age (2007–2011)

Bizarre. Meaningless. Soulless. Somehow fun.

[4/10 · 2 May 2022]

This show is just so strange. It's an awful blend of childishness and lurid innuendo. It's just a string of poorly thought out jokes connected by a very loose plot. That's even hard to say. It's not really a plot. Character is scared of needles is not a plot.

The characters are both wildly inconsistent yet flanderised and near indistinguishable between episodes. The show seems to pretend that it's serialized but aside from a few episodes you could jump in anywhere and have no issues at all.

It had some great guest actors like Stephen K. Amos and. Miriam Margoles. They were both fantastic and could have been even better with a barely competent writer. I've watched it. I'm glad I did. I will never be watching it again. Go watch the inbetweeners.