Pete Messum Reviews...

So, seeing as the Big Finish audios have now been confirmed as 'canonical' by Steven Moffat, we can regard this story as just as important as The Day of the Doctor, only in audio form. This also features five Doctors with their companions, as well as archive dialogue for Doctors 1-3. This is Doctor Who before the regeneration number system got messed up, so we can expect a simply enough story, can't we? No. This story is a jumbled mess of paradoxes and alternate time lines. It's Doctor Who at its most creative and complicated, and with it being on audio form it makes it a little harder to follow. Essentially, the plot makes no sense. However, it doesn't need to make sense. There's a great atmosphere and it feels so right to hear the Doctors and their companions being forced together as part of a huge plot by the Master - who is superbly played by Geoffrey Beevers. All cast members are great, and for fans new to the audio adventures, this a good example and pla

Christmas specials in Doctor Who are a mixed bag, although I thoroughly enjoyed last years' (The Snowmen) so much that I thought this was going to be just as entertaining. I've only watched this story once, so this is my INITIAL IMPRESSION of the episode. The Snowmen was a brilliant, fun and entertaining piece of television, and the best episode of the 2012 series of Doctor Who. However, it's predecessor - The Doctor the Widow and the Wardrobe - was the biggest load of Christmas smeg I have ever sat through. Urgh. I was so glad to see those end credits, and the trailer for series two of Sherlock almost made up for it. It was a horrible piece of television with inconsistent and boring characters, poor jokes, clichés, and more forced moments than you could shake a sonic screwdriver at. I absolutely hated it. Worst of all, it had no plot at the end of the day, making a complete mess of an episode. It made A Christmas Carol look like a masterpiece. Well, A Christmas Carol actu

One year after its first instalment, Peter Jackson brings us the second part of his The Hobbit trilogy, entitled The Desolation of Smaug . This is the film everyone wanted to see. Who cares about Gollum when you have Smaug the dragon – the most impressive dragon anyone could tackle on the big screen. Whilst this film deviates from the book in many ways, it adds a fresh perspective and a bit more detail to the journey of Bilbo, Gandalf and the Dwarves, and fills in as to why Gandalf is absent for large amounts of the original book, as well as including old favourites such as Legolas. The story begins where the last film left off, with Bilbo, Gandalf and Dwarves being hunted down by Azog and the Orcs (absent in the novel) as they get closer to the Lonely Mountain. However, it becomes clear that a great evil known as the Necromancer is rising to power (which is essentially bringing Sauron back from the dead to lead into The Lord of the Rings trilogy). Along the way they encounter Be

2012 was a year that many people will remember for a long time, with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the London Olympics and Paralympics, Marvel's Avengers Assemble setting Box Office records, etc... Oh well. I have seen 13 films from 2012 (that I can remember) that I have decided to put in a top 13 list, with a score for each film. DARK SHADOWS - A rather tedious film full Johnny Depp-isms and boring plot revelations that are utterly pointless. The entertainment factor is ruined by a rather boring plot that has no structure and little emotion. Eva Green is excellent as the witch though, and the actress playing Vicky is very good but extremely underused, which is a shame considering she was the most interesting and complex character of the entire film. Oh, and the less said about the narration and the ending, the better. (3/10) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA - I was dragged to see this by some friends against my will, and I regretted paying to see this film. It was a re-hash of lots of

The Hunger Games was released lasts year, and had a pretty massive amount of hype surrounding it. Personally, it didn't appeal to me. In fact, neither book nor film perked my interest. However, everyone who's read The Hunger Games seems to love it like hell. I had the head of English at my school come up and say it got her into Science Fiction. Well, I'm going to avoid a rant about how she's missed Firefly, Star Wars and Doctor Who in terms of great science fiction, but the point still stands. The Hunger Games is such a popular franchise, even if the three best that I have mentioned could kick its butt any millennia (although Attack of the Clones isn't great until the climax). Anyway, is it any good? As of yet I have only started reading the books, so if I miss something, I apologise. The first problem is that the actual origins of The Hunger Games is barely explained, and unless you've read the book, it will go over your head. I watched this film with my mum

***SPOILER ALERT** The mid-season finale to Agents of SHIELD was certainly an explosive one. After a solid nine episodes of set-up (not including Coulson's death in Avengers Assemble (2012)), finally it seems to all come together. Raina and Michael Peterson return, along with a rather shifty character seen at the end of episode five. Centipede is behind all this. They have perfected the extremis/super soldier serum and were responsible for the robotic eye implants. It seems almost everything seen so far has been leading up to this. The episode focussed heavily on Michael Peterson from the Pilot episode, which I thought was a little too much at first, but as the credits rolled I knew very well why. Killed off in a traditional Joss Whedon manner. Why can't Steven Moffat be like that? His death scene was a definite shock, as was the entire ending to the episode. Its definitely clear that there is something suspicious about Skye's parents and the agent who gave her to the or

This was an interesting episode to watch, although pretty much all of it was clichéd material, as Jason was turned into some kind of were-dog thing. The scene between Jason and Areadne in particular reminded me of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, when Lady Tottington visits Wallace. Its a story that has been done time and time again, and it added nothing new to it. The scene with Pasiphae and Minos was so randomly placed it was odd, and there needn't have been any other characters than our three regulars and Areadne. Needless to say, next week's episode looks much more interesting. 5/10

The Enemy of the World is a rare story in Doctor Who, featuring no aliens other than the Doctor at all. It is set in the future (or near future, if you can spot a 2018 date during the episode), and follows a group of people that require the Doctor to help them expose Salamander as the vicious politician that he is. They want to use the Doctor's striking (and coincidental) likeness to Salamander to get rid of him, but not all is as it seems. There is a very rich and deep plot in this story, and it is benefited by a good pace over six episodes. Despite Patrick Troughton's curious Mexican accent, the acting is generally very good. The Doctor plays a very small role in the story, but the focus on the Salamander is an interesting one. It reminds me of a Doctor Who style Bond film, with spies and suspicious deaths and daring helicopter escapes, and the budget remains very consistent and pretty good throughout. There are no obvious flaws in the production, and the remastering for the

The new spidey suit looks oddly saturated in colour, and pretty awful as well. If this is meant to be the darker version of Spider-Man, surely more chrome colours are needed for the suit? And they changed the eyes. Matrix action shot, but looks terrible. Obvious product placement which would put the Shreddies cameo in Thor: The Dark World (2013) to shame. More obvious product placement than you can shake a stick at. Andrew Garfield still isn't quite comfortable as Peter Parker. The action is pretty dull in this film. Peter's speech should be the same as Spider-Man 2 (2004) if they wanted it to have an impact on people. An actress that got nominated for God knows how many awards last year plays Aunt May who barely appeared in the first movie, and it looks the same for the second. Gwen Stacey appears, negating the ending of the first movie. Gwen Stacey seems really cool with Peter being shot at, even though in the last movie she wasn't. If Gwen is going to die in

I saw 'Gravity' several weeks back, but I never got round to this review. Here goes! Gravity's reputation is amazing. Critics are calling it the best movie of the year and a masterpiece. The film is directed by Alfonso Cuarón - the director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - and his cinematography and screenplay is stunningly original and each scene, each individual shot is worth watching. It is gloriously shot in 3D, and it makes the film itself look stunning on the big screen. The weightlessness is made even more impact-full when the floating objects are literally hovering in front of you. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are excellent cast members, and by the end of the film you really know their characters and they feel like real people. George Clooney's final scene is quite upsetting as he has his sense of charm but also dread as he knows his fate. Steven Price's score is original and a great listen to. It doesn't come across as too subtle or

EPISODE 10: The series is definitely improving but overall it fails to make its story arcs exciting, which is Atlantis' huge problem. The mysteries there have no depth to them, and little impact. They simply remain as untold parts of the story, and with no back story for Jason, his character barely has anything to go on. Pythagoras is an interesting character and has really grown on me. He and Hercules have a back story and trademark characteristics and its clear why and how they are friends at the end of the day, and they do care for each other and for Jason. The tension in this episode is well built-up, right to the sad ending with Medusa, now a Gorgon. I'm still not convinced by her snake hair. The CGI looks good, but it is oddly placed and we still haven't seen how she turns people to stone. 9/10

EPISODE 7: This episode was something different, seeing Jason's reaction to the fact that he can never be with Areadne, and his entering the contest, which showed a different side to Hercules which was an interesting watch, but these 'royal' episodes seem to be randomly spread throughout the series, and Mino's involvement in the whole series is a little odd, as despite being the king of Atlantis, and has no character to him. 8/10 EPISODE 8: This was an interesting episode focussing on Pythagoras and his brother and their troubled relationship. The only real problem with the episode is that the true revelation is very predictable and a little clichéd. There are also some strange and irrelevant parts of the story that are just randomly there for a bigger cast. 7/10 EPISODE 9: This episode is my favourite episode from Atlantis at the moment. The whole story is a great build-up to the ending scene where at long last Medusa became a Gorgon. Uh, spoiler alert. The bui

I really enjoyed this episode. Not only did it explain the history of Agent May and why Coulson was so keen for her to join the team, but it also focussed on the human elements in a very extreme world of aliens and superheroes, which Agents of SHIELD needed to do to succeed away from the Avengers as its own programme. The revelation that there are no telekinetics or invisible men was also nice as it was a twist that was needed and works in a world such as the Marvel Universe, adding to the more real human elements of the story. I'm also glad Skye wasn't pushed aside so much this episode, as she is the most 'human' out of all the characters and is a main character of the series as much as Coulson is. 8/10

So, with no classic Doctors in the 50th (Tom Baker excluded), Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy try and get into The Day of the Doctor themselves, with hilarious consequences. The sketch is so brilliant and funny and entertaining and clever and what a cast! Peter Davison Colin Baker Sylvester McCoy Paul McGann Tom Baker David Tennant Matt Smith Jenna Coleman Steven Moffat Russell T Davies Nicholas Briggs Frank Skinner Georgia Moffet (Tennant) Sean Pertwee Olivia Coleman Peter Jackson Sir Ian McKellen John Barrowman And MORE! This shows genuine dedication from all involved and the whole thing, although made with a budget of two pence looks better because it doesn't do anything it can't do. Sylvester McCoy abandoning Peter Jackson and Sir Ian McKellen on the set of The Hobbit? Done. The Doctors nicking their coats from the Doctor Who Experience? Done. It's even partly filmed at the Doctor Who production studios! I would love to see more

The eighth episode saw Ward suffer anger issues as Coulson and co. search for an Asgardian staff. This was a bizzare episode but suffered from a lot of explaining at the end, particularly about Ward, although the end credits scene was creepy. There was a lack of character focus as well, particularly on Skye. 6/10

Doctor Who now celebrates 50 years, at long last with a budget, and in 3D cinemas...so why are there so many missed opportunities? There are no classic Doctors to start off with. The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot beats them in that the only two Doctors missing are Eccleston and Hurt in terms of appearance. There was a perfect moment at the end. They were all filming stuff literally next door to The Day of the Doctor, but not even Paul McGann (who appeared in the prequel) made an appearance. It was clear from The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot that they all wanted to do it, but then when we finally see Tom Baker (awesome moment), it turns out he is a Doctor from the future or something along those lines. Couldn’t he have just been...Tom Baker? The Fourth Doctor? This is a huge letdown for the episode. Who cares that they’re a bit old. It didn’t bother them for Tom Baker, and The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot proved that they can all be the Doctor again. Who cares if they’re old or fat or losing hair

Episode 7 sees Ward and Fitz go on a Level 8 Mission, and as Skye and Simmons soon realise, a suicide mission. This is an interesting and engaging premise, and it shows genuine character progression carrying on from previous episodes for Fitz, and I'm really beginning to like his character a lot more now. Simmons, however, really bugs me and I hope she gets replaced soon as she's just irritating. I'm not the only one finding this as everyone watching the last episode at my house felt disappointed that she didn't get killed off, and now she seems to lack any strength as a character that Skye and May have, which brings her back into a stereotypical female role in many ways. The interactions between Fitz and Ward were great and I really felt the two characters had evolved by the end of the episode, and Coulson's realisation about what happened to Skye's parents is really interesting, and him stopping before he finishes his slightly hypnotic sentence of "Tahi

These are my 20 favourites. They may not be the best, but they're great viewing for me. In no particular order I give you: The Five Doctors (1983) Vengeance on Varos (1985) Dalek (2005) Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways (2005) The Time Warrior (1973) Genesis of the Daleks (1975) The Robots of Death (1977) The Hand of Fear (1976) Remembrance of the Daleks (1988) An Unearthly Child (1963) The Next Doctor (2008) The Caves of Androzani (1984) Blink (2007) Utopia/The Sound of Drums/The Last of the Time Lords (2007) The Eleventh Hour (2010) The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang (2010) The Name of the Doctor (2013) The Bells of St. John (2013) The Snowmen (2012) The Unicorn and the Wasp (2008) These are my Top 3 Minisodes for those interested. The Night of the Doctor Time Crash The Bells of St. John: A Prequel

"The Night of the Doctor" sees Paul McGann return to the role of the Eighth Doctor after seventeen years as an adventure goes wrong, leading him to his demise on Karn... This story is a taste of what Doctor Who would have been like with McGann at the helm in 2005, and the mix of classic and new Doctor Who works brilliantly. This show just how much McGann is a brilliant Doctor. He isn't too quirky, although he might have the odd line, and he comes across as a truly damaged man, showing the transformation between him and 'The War Doctor', played by John Hurt, whose reflection has been aged-lifted, making his appearance in "The Name of the Doctor" and "The Day of the Doctor" show just how aged he is from the Time War. It was nice to see the Sisterhood of Karn return with their Alexia, last seen in "The Brain of Morbius" back in 1976. Also, it was interesting to see Cass's hate for both Time Lords and the Daleks when the Doctor reve

***CONTAINS SPOILERS*** Episode 6 of Marvel's new Television series saw Agent Coulson and the team tracking down an elusive killer, soon revealed to be a disease caught from a Chitari helmet. The episode had a very intriguing start with SHIELD tracking down this killer, and how they were trying to work out what actually happened to those victims was very interesting, so when it turned out it was a disease from a Chitari helmet, it was even more of a twist to the episode. My one problem with the episode was simply the fate of Agent Jemma Simmons. This was an ideal opportunity to kill her character off, and it really built up to that, so when Ward saved her, I, among my relatives in the room, was very disappointed. An ideal opportunity missed, as not only was her character pretty annoying, but also it would be a great new element that would not only change the team but also leaving Agent Fitz alone, and developing his character further. It would be more tragic if Fitz found the cu

After the fantastic Iron Man 3 (2013) earlier in the year, Thor: The Dark World (2013) follows on from Marvel's Avengers Assemble (2012) and Thor (2011), both of which were very good films. The Dark World was truly brilliant though. Right from the off, there is change in place. Marvel now have a new title card, although I preferred the last one, which looks quite flash with a theme for it. I hope we can have original film music playing over it where necessary in the future, as it does work for films like Iron Man 3 (2013) with "I'm Blue". The darker tones of this movie are brilliantly placed alongside some great comedy, with Joss Whedon's fingertips all over some scenes. The comedy makes the darker tones less grim (and they would be very grim without any humour) and the darker tones allow the comedy to have more impact on the audience. The music is by Brian Tyler, who composed the score for Iron Man 3 (2013), and it has a great impact. Easily the sad music

I'm still not a massive fan of the series, but it is growing on me. Here is my scores for the past three episodes: EPISODE 4: An episode made mostly for laughs sees the trio and Medusa looking after a baby, who Pasiphae wants dead, but why? A very entertaining episode with plenty of laughs to be had, but some poor green screen really takes you out of the action. Atlantis' best episode so far, without a doubt. (9/10) EPISODE 5: An episode that focusses on Areadne's character a bit more, and explores her history with her brother, and builds up suspicion for Pasiphae... The episode is quite interesting but adds very little to Areadne's character, which I had hoped. It explained why she hated her mother so, and Alexander Siddig got to do a lot more as Minos. Areadne's brother seems a bit odd all of the way through, and you are not sure exactly whether to trust him or not. This builds on a strange arc, but the series is steering away from the actual 'Atlantis

CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR EPISODE FIVE! Episode 5 of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD is an episode that backtracks on a few things, particularly on Skye's role and on Centipede, which have only been very lightly hinted at in previous episodes. This story comes right out and explains why Skye joined SHIELD. It's not evil at all, and is for personal reasons, so when you watch the episode a second time round it becomes apparent why she's so keen to be in SHIELD: she wants to find out who she is. This is a very human and generally unpredictable revelation, although its a pity that guest character Myles is so boring compared to her. He literally adds nothing on screen and its almost as if Chloe Bennet is having an argument with a brick wall trying to learn English. There's no heart to his character, nothing human, which makes him seem like an utter over-confident moron. While some characters may not seem so human at first, they have developed and their reasons are at least hinted

The penultimate episode to the 2005 series of Doctor Who sees The Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), Rose (Billie Piper) and Cpt. Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) return to Satellite Five, where no longer are there any news broadcasts but game shows instead to keep the population of Earth entertained as they have no access to the news after The Doctor shut the system down 100 years before in the previous episode “The Long Game”, in which the TARDIS team end up killing the Jagrafess and the Editor. However, as the Controller of Satellite Five says, there are ‘masters’ who are in charge of the games that nobody knows about – and when you lose or get evicted from a game, you will actually die. This is a great premise for the story, and although it is out of date eight years later, as there is no more “The Weakest Link” and “Big Brother” is less popular and still just as awful as it was when it was created. The same goes for the makeover programme that Cpt. Jack enters, although the actors and

So, the series continues this week in a bit of a spy thriller, with Coulson and co. tracking down ex-agent Akela, who is being controlled by a mysterious force. Essentially, this episode is all about trust, as the team must trust Coulson's judgement of Akela, and Akela's lack of trust got her into this mess in the first place. The episode keeps the tension up and continues to add more intriguing themes, such as who was controlling the Englishman and Akela? Somehow I think it has something to do with Centipede from the Pilot episode, but we'll have to wait and see. Also, what is up with Coulson? Akela seemed to notice there was something wrong, but what is wrong exactly? I do hope these questions are answered by the end of the series and aren't plaguing possible future series and Marvel films. I also thought that the episode showed that this series isn't a kid's show, or a family show, with severed hands and...eyes. Overall a very good episode and I look forward

So, Agents of SHIELD continues with its 22-part epic in "The Asset", as Dr Franklin Hall is 'kidnapped' by Ian Quinn to help his research on Gravitonium. This episode begins to utilise the characters to their actual abilities, using Skye's unreliability to keep the tension going when Ian Quinn finds her at the party, Agent Ward's hard-man attitude and past as a plot point and Agent Fitz's technological abilities and general awkwardness to add some humour and character to the episode. Fitz is growing on me as a character, and Simmons isn't as annoying this episode as she was previously, and Agent May's reluctance to fight is slowly beaten by Coulson's manipulation, which makes the audience compare Coulson to Nick Fury in that sense. Skye and Ward finally get to explain their background and Fitz and Simmons' background is losely hinted at, although Agent May still remains a secretive character. The subtle use of an origin story for Gravitron

After a very promising start to the series, the second episode of Agents of SHIELD continues an interesting look into the shady company from The Avengers films. This episode has a little look into Coulson's early career when he meets an old friend in Peru, where the team discover Tesseract technology. However, it seems that Coulson's friends are now their enemies as they try to take the Tesseract weapon from SHIELD. The episode does a really good job of following on from the pilot, and themes are continued, but in a way that doesn't ruin the story at all, and provides more fleshing out for the characters. The arguments show how different the characters are, but Agents Fitz and Simmons aren't as interesting or likeable as Skye, Coulson and Ward, making them the losers if fans take sides. The reveal is almost predictable, but Coulson works it out at the same pace as the audience, so Coulson doesn't come across as too intelligent or stupid but as equal intelligence to

The opening episode of Atlantis was a big disappointment considering it was made by the same people as Merlin, and although Episodes 2 and 3 aren't brilliant, they're still much more watchable. Episode 2 followed Jason's quest for an old man's daughter, which led to him meeting Medusa. The production values for the episode weren't that great though, as the CGI monkey/Gollum things looked pretty awful considering the budget for this series. The story also felt a bit useless, as it only introduced Medusa, and bogged down the series with more story arcs such as Jason's curse. The episode was fairly scary if you're a young child though. Jason is still a bit boring as a character though, and it is Pythagoras who is the most compelling character. 6/10 Episode 3 followed a simpler story with Jason and co. sent to the bulls for 'offending' the Queen's nephew, despite Areadne's best intentions. It is still similar to Merlin though, with Areadne as

SKYFALL is the 23rd Bond film of the franchise and celebrates its 50th Anniversary with Sam Mendes directing a specially-made film for the Anniversary. To cut straight to the point, SKYFALL is brilliant. Although there are plot elements that don't make complete sense, its not a flaw as such. What's here is really good, and these flaws can't be easily avoided if you want to have an action film with an actually interesting plot other than bad guys fighting good guys. Daniel Craig is really good as Bond and manages to capture some interesting aspects of the character, and going back to Skyfall and meeting Kincade is such an unpredictable and fascinating aspect of the film that it holds your attention span for the next half hour of the movie. Judi Dench is great as M, Ben Whishaw is good as Q, Rory Kinnear does a great but underrated performance as Tanner, Albert Finney has a charming presence as Kincade and Ralph Fiennes manages to get an interesting character through Mallory

Marvel has had success after success since starting the Avengers film series in 2008 with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk so much so that the Avengers film itself ( Avengers Assemble , 2012) grossed 1.5 billion at the box office, not to mention many high-praising reviews from critics and fans alike, and it is because of this success that now DC Comics is trying to build up a cinematic Universe with 2013’s Man of Steel . You could even say that the success of Marvel films began in the early 2000s with X-Men (2000) and Spider-Man (2002), even though Marvel studios did not actually produce the films as such (they were made by Twentieth Century Fox and Sony Pictures). This success has even given Joss Whedon an even bigger boost than ever, after he heralded the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Avengers Assemble. So when fans became upset after the tragic death of Agent Phil Coulson in Avengers Assemble, the team decided to make a new Television series following Coulson and his team from

Atlantis is from the people who brought us Merlin, and even from the man behind the BBC Four series of Dirk Gently between 2010 and 2012. So, is it actually any good? The series opens with a young man called Jason going to find his father in a submarine vehicle under the ocean. However, we do not know his surname, his father’s name, where in the ocean he is, whether he is rich or poor, where he comes from, how old he is, what exactly his father was doing when he went missing, is his father presumed dead and a lot more. Then, none of this is even mentioned. I’ll make this review quite short, because the plot holes are pretty big. The episode seems to rush into a rushed story that rushes into an ending leaving Atlantis, which looks as Atlantis-esque as a squirrel. But when Pythagoras shows up, it gets so complex that you have no idea where you are, how Jason got there, when he is in history and what the heck happened to Jason’s submarine vehicle and his clothes. This episode sets up

So, the third and last film in The Matrix trilogy was released ten years ago this year, and after watching the motion picture, I couldn't help but think of it as one of the most flawed conclusions to a film series ever made. The Matrix (1999) was a fantastic film, with a unique style, score and action sequences, and is a film I would strongly recommend if you haven't seen it. The Matrix Reloaded (2003) was an enjoyable film, even if the plot made little sense, at least it would all be tied up in the final film... The Matrix Revolutions has barely any plot, and while the last films' ending was unclear, it was a cliffhanger ending with 'to be concluded' written into the end credits. So, why is everything set up in the previous film ignored? The man that Agent Smith possesses - Bane - escapes the ship on which he was rescued onto and has a brutal fight with Neo and Trinity. But why? And how does he posses the guy in the first place? There are many things that make n

So, the eagerly awaited 'Man of Steel' has at long last come to cinemas. It has already been granted a sequel (rumoured to be released late next year!) and a full, DC Universe film series (huh?) after it earned lots of money on its opening weekend at the box office. This does seem a little strange after 'Superman Returns' was a box office flop, but in the light of 'The Dark Knight' trilogy, it seems that this film was going to do well, as it has a similar tone and is made by the same people. The story has a unique structure, and it is clear that this structure is a Marmite structure - you'll either like it or hate it. I quite like it, myself. It gives the film a unique and interesting structure, and by the end you do know Kal-El's story, so it isn't flawed. The film itself sets up the differences between the cultures of Krypton and Earth very well, and Krypton itself looks amazing. It opens with Kal-El's birth, Zod's imprisonment and Krypton

So, as one of Sylvetser McCoy's most popular stories, and Classic Doctor Who's last, how does 'Survival' hold up? Not well, anyway. The story is simple: people are being snatched away by the Cheetah People to a remote and desolate planet, where the Master is trying to avoid being possessed by the planet. With this simple(ish) premise, you'd think we'd get a really good and fascinating episode, but no. This story is very much modern Doctor. Ace returning home to the 'Present Day' and dealing with the effects of her travels with the Doctor, and with a good percentage of the story being set in 'Present Day' Earth. Ace is a very interesting companion in this story, and her character clearly evolves after her experiences with Karra. She doesn't even scream in this story, showing a less 'stereotypical' Doctor Who companion, and is a compelling character to watch. The Seventh Doctor is great and at his best. He has a clear darker side and

So, after the very successful first two films, not including his Avengers appearance, Iron Man 3 has been expected for a long time. Iron Man was the first film of 'The Avengers: Phase One' so Iron Man 3 is the first film in 'The Avengers: Phase Two'. While Iron Man was brilliant, Iron Man 2 was just pretty good. There was very little that stood out in this film, and there were many areas that felt either forced, de ja vu and just pointless. It wasn't bad - no, that was Captain America. This film, however, is very different to its predecessors and the other Avengers films, so it is really hard to review. The film has Tony Stark narrating his life story from 1999 to now, and if you can sit through the entire credits (the music is quite cool) you will see that he has been talking to Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), AKA the Hulk, which is good as the two became friends in the Avengers Assemble and Stark appeared at the very end of The Incredibly Hulk. Tony in this film is

So, Neil Gaiman returns to write Doctor Who! OK, lets get the bad stuff out of the way. The kids were quite...knaff. Artie was a bit posh, for some reason, and Angie was really, really annoying. The episode felt a little too cut at points as well - apparently it was cut-down dramatically. Hopefully an extended version will come out one day. Now, to the good stuff. The Captain was a character I hated, but she got killed by a Cyberman, so yay! The Cybermites were clever and creative creations. They showed how futuristic this story was - they were a replacement for Cybermats, which made sense. The continuity in this episode was great: Cybus Cybermen; Cyberplanner; Cybermats; Mondas; Gold; Cleaning fluid; Cyber tombs; Cyber Wars; and previous Doctors and regeneration. Well, Neil Gaiman likes the Cybermen more than Russell T Davies that's for sure. While previously the Daleks and Ice Warriors were indestructible, the Cybermen now are, which is GREAT! I don't know why people are co

Written by Mark Gatiss, this story follows Vastra, Strax and Jenny as they investigate strange goings on in Sweetville - a village made to withstand the coming 'apocalypse'; only the best are for Sweetville. This is as close as we'll get to a spin-off featuring the Paternoster Gang for quite a while, so lets focus on them. The first third of the episode is focussed on their investigations, but the other two third less so, when the Doctor is found. Strax was very entertaining in this episode and clearly Dan Starkey is having a whale of a time playing this character. The way he behaves is like a Sontaran, but clearly not an ordinary Sontaran, as that would have insulted many fans. Gatiss does not touch on Strax's 'death' which is a nice touch. I still think its odd that "Demon's Run: Two Days Later" has not been released on the Doctor Who website or on the new Series 7 Part 2 DVD (as far as I know), and when you watch it, it isn't that great. Oh

The follow-up to Star Trek (2009), Into Darkness follows Kirk (Chris Pine) as he goes on a manhunt to find John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). As a basic story, it works perfectly. The characters in this film have much more believable and interesting motives than in the previous film. In fact, the characters are overall written much better in this film than the last. Kirk is no longer an utter ***** but is a bit more of an enjoyable but reckless character. He gets so much more to do as a character and Chris Pine does a fantastic job. Spock is also better-written, but his humour is dull to say the least. His motivations at the end, however, were perfectly played and well-executed. Uhura was also better written, although she still is nowhere near my favourite character. Pike also has a bit more to do in this movie and it is because of him that the movie goes the way it does. Now, the next part of the review contains huge spoilers for the film, so don't read if you haven't seen

Steve Thompson's previous Doctor Who work has been...flawed to say the least. The Curse Of The Black Spot was dull and even his first episode of Sherlock (The Blind Banker) wasn't as good as Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss' work on the show. He wrote the finale to Series Two of Sherlock (The Reichenbach Fall) which was very good so it was difficult to say whether this episode would be good. The trailers for this episode were...dull to say the least and the clips were a bit too short. This episode, however, was surprisingly good. It opens as the Doctor tries to get Clara to 'bond' with the TARDIS - a funny scene well acted by Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman that really highlights the two characters. However, the Van Baaleen brothers are introduced and come across as well, annoying. Ashley Walters guest-stars as Gregor, and is as wooden as hell. I do not believe his character whatsoever and it is amazing that he is apparently more famous than Smith and Coleman, de

In Neil Cross' second (or first I should say) episode, the Doctor and Clara journey to Caliburn House, where Major Alec Palmer (Dougray Scott) and his assistant Emma Grayling (Jessica Raine) are investigating the Witch of the Well, a spectre that lurks in the house. This premise is fantastic, and could easily fill the 45 minute time slot. However, extra bits are added about the ghost (which is clever) and a rather lazy and dull romantic sub-plot revealed at the end between the two creatures. The cast are fantastic, and we are treated to the best supporting cast in the series so far, with the exception of Hila, who is given little to work with. The dialogue is very good but Matt Smith spoils the show by pronouncing 'Metebelius' wrong. *sigh* Despite this being her first episode as Clara (with the exception of 'Asylum of the Daleks'), Jenna-Louise Coleman is very good and gets actually scared. One of my complaints with previous companions is that they don't see

So, imagine Christmas 2011. The excitement for Sherlock Series 2 on New Year's Day, a new episode of Doctor Who (the last for a while) and some fat bloke coming down your chimney. Oh well, who does The Doctor The Widow And The Wardrobe hold up? The episode begins with the Doctor escaping an exploding spaceship. As much as this sequence utterly destroys the ending of Series 6 - with the Doctor becoming more withdrawn - but it is still a fun scene to watch. Who cares about science? It's science fiction - the suspense of disbelief is all you need, and funnily this bit pulls it off brilliantly. A perfect introduction to the episode. Then, the Doctor is found on Earth by Madge Arwell (played by Claire Skinner, the mum off Outnumbered) and taken back to the TARDIS (eventually). In this bit we are introduced to Alexander Armstrong (Mr Smith from SJA!) as the dad, of whom is the first wasted guest star. I'll talk about Lily and Cyril later. From then on, we are told that the fat