Phil Ford (2)

Several of my friends regularly watch/watched Dr Who and Torchwood. I managed to never get into Torchwood when it was on the air. I was familiar with the characters and concepts due to catching bits and pieces of the show or hearing friends discuss some point or other. I'm more of a reader than TV watcher, so I started reading this series as I was interested enough to see what it was all about. At first, I had assumed the novels would just retell the events from the TV show, but these are totally different stories. The books do occasionally touch on stuff that happened in the show as the events they portray sort of happen between episodes. After reading the first 12 novels in this series, I actually went back and watched the whole show, too, since I liked the characters so much.… (mais)

An alien travels through space and time with a human girl.

I put off watching this for a really long time, largely because "The Time of the Doctor" was so completely godawful. I'm relieved to find that the show seems to be back on its feet, though. They have adventures. There's minimal bullshit (the "teases" throughout the season mostly tease stuff that actually happens, instead of Moffat's usual empty bluster). Clara's still not much of a character (despite spending most of the season attempting to develop her). Moffat's writing style still tries too hard (and has a way of sounding like he's writing for trailers more than for the episode). Overall, it's a great show again, the best series since series five. Hopefully the Capaldi Years don't decline as sharply as the Smith Years did.

Concept: A
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C

Enjoyment: A

GPA: 2.8/4… (mais)

Please keep in mind that this review of the Torchwood: the Dead Line BBC radio dramatization is not being written by a Torchwood fan. I remember Captain Jack Harkness the immortal from Doctor Who, and I've seen a couple of episodes.

One need not know much about the show to appreciate this drama, or at least I didn't. If you're a fan of the original Star Trek, you undoubtedly recall how Captain Kirk kept meeting old girlfriends. Well, Jack Harkness has been around a lot longer than Kirk, so his old girlfriends can be quite a bit older than his apparent age. One of them is Prof. Stella Courtney, whom he dated back in 1975. (There are some amusing bits as Jack tells his two friends/colleagues, Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones, what it like back then. Well, I graduated from high school in 1972, and I found them amusing.)

Jack is active during a flashback only because he's one of the victims of a mysterious phone call that has left him (and others) in a trance-like state. How fortunate that Stella's specialty makes her the right expert to call in for this problem.

Things take a turn for the creepier when it's discovered that the phone number causing the trouble is a dead line. During the investigation, it will become time to cue up the old Twilight Zone theme.

Stella, aided by Rhys Williams, does part of the legwork. Gwen does the rest. Ianto's role is to sit by Jack's hospital bed and tell him things he wouldn't have the nerve to say if Jack were awake.

I liked the discoveries and the solution.… (mais)