Big Finish has gone and made Audio Adventures of past Doctor Who’s, starring Peter Davison, the fifth Doctor, Collin Baker, the sixth doctor, Sylvester McCoy, the 7th Doctor, and Paul McGann, the 8th Doctor, as well as old and new companions in brand new audio adventures. And these are not like a read story, but a complete audio adventure with sound effects and many actors, and most of them are pretty amazing.

I wanted to do individual reviews, but I just haven’t had the time, so I will say it is well worth checking some of these out. If you are a fan of the past doctors, then these new adventures are for you.

Even Paul McGann who had such a short thrift in the awful US TV Movie, has a real new life, and I really love his audio adventures with his companion Charley Pollard (India Fisher), and he also has whole season outside the normal range (the normal range, which you can subscribe to has various adventures of each of the 4 above doctors).

Big Finish is also doing Lost Stories, which were scripts or stories that were meant to be shot, but never were, and Companion chronicles with various Companions of the Doctor, which is a way of having adventures of them without their doctors (like the first 4 doctors). And even more exciting is that Tom Baker the 4th Doctor has joined Big Finish to record a new Season of adventures coming out in the near future.

•••

I can’t recommend you check these out more highly. They really are a gas, capturing the feel of the old doctor who, but allowing your imagination to take over. What a great thing, it makes me wish they did audio things like this in the US, but we really only do music or plays, no audio only stories like this.

Prince Albert, Duke of York and son of King George V (Colin Firth) makes a speech at the 1925 Empire Exhibition, stammering his way through it. He and his wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter here in non-insane mode) have him go through stammer cures including smoking and trying to talk with his mouth full of marbles, but none work, and he vows to stop trying to cure his stammer. Elizabeth, the duchess of York goes on her own to meet with an Australian speech therapist named Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) and persuades her husband to try his radical treatments. Logue and Albert but heads right away, as Albert has quite a temper, and does not like being treated as an equal, which Lionel insists on. He calls Albert “Bertie” which only his family calls him, and makes him stop smoking. He also bets him a shilling he can make him read without a stammer. Lionel has Bertie listen to music on headphones while he reads Shakespear’s Hamlet soliloquy and records it. Bertie is convinced he stammered throughout, and Logue gives him the recording with him reading it perfectly as a memento.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

King George V (Michael Gambon) makes his Christmas Radio address to the nation, telling Bertie he must become a skilled actor, and bullies his son.

Afterwards Albert puts on Logue’s recording and is stunned to here a perfect recitation of Shakespeare in his own voice, so he returns to Logue. Logue insists on daily lessons working on muscle relaxation and breath control as well as probing the mental cause of the stammer. We see that Albert had so much pressure as a child with his strict father, his left handedness, painful treatments for his knock-knees and a nanny who did not love him, but loved his brother Edward much more. Slowly the doctor and his patient become friends.

When George V dies, the eldest son Edward VIII (Guy Pierce) is named King, but he is in love with divorced socialite Wallis Simpson. Albert confronts his brother and is shocked when he learns that Edward intends to marry the divorced Wallis. Albert points out that he can’t keep the throne and marry a divorced woman, and Edward accuses him of plotting to steal the throne, which he says is further proved by his speech lessons.

Albert can only talk about that to Logue, who says he could be king, which enrages Albert. He taunts Logue with his failed acting career and humble origins.

Edward abdicates, and Albert is made King George VI and goes to Logue’s to apologize.

Albert insists that Logue be in the king’s box at the coronation, but the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang (Derek Jacobi) doesn’t like it. He finds that Logue has no actual credentials.

Albert confronts Logie, and he sits in King Edward’s chair. Albert rails that he is just as worthy to be king as his brother or anyone else before him!

When war is declared in 1939, Albert is given a 3 page speech to read on the radio. He summons his friend Logue, and the rehearse for 40 minutes with all his techniques. They got to the broadcast room, just the two of them, and Albert gives his speech, with Logue there coaching him, using the pauses to be dramatic, and make the speech a success.

Albert takes a fake photo of himself giving the speech at his desk, and then goes out to the adoring public with his family.

The final credits tell that Logue helped the king in every speech from then on and he was given the honor of being in the Royal Victorian Order for this service to the king, and the two remained friends for life.

••••

Really a great and powerful film, and I love that Rush helped get this film made. Really a fantastic film.

Having been wounded as a protector of the King in the holy land in the Crusades, Robin of Lockley (Jonas Armstrong) returns with his servant and best friend Much (Sam Troughton) to Nottingham and his lands, to find everything is changed. The old sheriff has lost power to a new evil man (Keith Allen). The old sheriff’s daughter Lady Marian (Lucy Griffiths) is pissed at him because he chose to leave her for the Holy Land and war, and his hated foe Sire Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) fights for her affections. Robin quickly has his lands taken from him, and becomes an outlaw, joining with other outlaws Little John (Gordon Kennedy), Will Scarlett (Harry Lloyd ) and Allan A Dale (Joe Armstrong) to fight for what is right, and to fight for their King. The Sheriff works with he kings evil brother Prince John, and wants to kill the King and take the land of England into Darkness.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

For the first series Robin won’t kill because he has had enough of killing in the Holy Land, though his sparing of the Sheriff causes more death and destruction than killing him ever could. In the second series we learn that if the Sheriff was killed Prince John would send his army and kill everyone in Nottingham, which makes for a good excuse not to kill him, but does not protect the evil of Guy of Gisborne.

The men are joined by the sarasen woman Djaw (Anjali Jay)

It is relieved that Guy in fact went to the Holy Land to kill the King, and Robin cut his arm. Marrion does not believe him though, and grows closer to the him, spuring Robin’s love. She stays in the palace to spy for Robbin and his men, and to protect her father.

The Sheriff plots with the black night to take over England and install Prince John.

Robbin eventually asks Marrion to marry him!

Eventually they all head to the Holy land, the Sheriff and Guy to kill the King with Marrion forced along, but followed by Robbin and his men. Robbin and Marrion finally declare their marriage vows, but she is killed by Guy as they manage to save the King. Djaq and Will stay in the holy land to be married.

In the third series Robin is disconsolate over Marrion’s death and wants to give up, but is shown he must not by the newly joined preacher Tuck (David Harewood).

Gisborne’s lister Isabella (Lara Pulver) who starts as a love interest for Robin, becomes his biggest enemy, eventually taking over for Sheriff when it seems that Guy has killed the Sheriff. A villager Kate (Joanne Froggatt) joins them, and Much loves her, though she is love with Robbin.

Guy and Robbin’s old hatred is revealed, and they learn they have another brother named Archer (Clive Standen) who created weapons they can use, though is out only for money.

Eventually the Sheriff returns and lays siege to the palace, which Robin has taken to hold for the king, and Robin is poisoned by Isabella who is killed by Guy who also is killed. Archer joins them in the fight, and they blow up the castle and the Sheriff and his men, but Robin dies. Marrion comes to him and takes him away. And the others vow to continue fighting.

••••

Alright, but never felt right, too many concessions to Robin not killing, and letting villains live. And the whole having Marrion go towards Guy, and not believing Robin went on for way too long, making her look fickle, which hurt her character. And her death did not help the story, as Robin seemed to move on too quickly and too easily forgive Guy.

Overall I think it was week writing.

The series starts out following Tom Quinn (Matthew Macfayden) and his team, Zoe Reynolds (Kelley Hawes) and Danny Hunter (David Oyelowo) working at the Grid in Thames House for MI-5. There boss is Sir Harry Pearce (Peter Firth)who always had their back if needed. They are later joined by intelligence analyst Ruth Evershed (Nicola Walker) who is brought in to spy on them, but they catch her and make her a permanent team member. The first season deals with not only the missions to stop terrorism, but also Tom dealing with being in love with a woman and her daughter, and having the relationship torn apart by his job, and his constantly having to lie to her.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

The relationship eventually completely falls apart, and Tom is left alone.

Zoe meanwhile has moved in with Danny into his flat as roommates, and he is in love with her, but never gets up the nerve to do anything about it.

One of the better episodes has them running a test to see MI-5′s ability to run in a crisis, and everyone is made to believe that it is real, and it really shows Tom’s abilities to lead, even his readiness to kill people to get the job done.

Tom eventually starts seeing their CIA liaison Christane Dale (Megan Dodds) and keeps doing it even though Harry expressly forbids it.

Tom is framed as a traitor, and everyone turns against him. Harry brings in a MI-6 operative Adam Carter (Rupert Penry-Jones). It turns out that Tom was framed, and in the 3rd series the team must prove Tom’s innocence as an whitehall is trying to get less independent intelligence services, that give them the intel they want in a post September 11th world.

It is found that an ex-CIA agent and his wife who Tom had used their daughter as an agent and she went crazy were responsible, and they get Tom back, but not for long.

Tom is running an MI-5 operative that has been undercover since he got out of college, and made his career on it, and they use him to set up some nuclear terrorists, but Tom realizes he can’t do it and tries to get the man out, but is caught and kicked out of MI-5.

Danny does not take it well and wants to quit, but hangs out. Zoe meanwhile has found a man and gets engaged, though breaks it off when his brother leaks some photos that they had taken for a mission. She then gets in the blame for a mission that went bad and an undercover cop was killed, and Harry can’t protect her, because they can’t reveal the Al QUeda connection. She is given 10 years, but Harry gets her off to Chile and a new life and Danny helps her to hook up with her fiancee.

Danny on a mission with Adam’s wife Fiona (Olga Sosnovska) gets shot and killed, and the whole original team is gone.

Adam is not head of the team, along with his wife, and ends up bringing in a young journalist he meets on a case to work with him. With Danny taking over, the team has gotten much harder. He had to get Danny to kill on a mission. And Adam tortures people when necessary. Tom would go over the line a bit, but usually to help the team, or do something small, while Adam, who had previously been tortured and captured was perfectly willing to do it to others, and to do what is necessary.

We also get to see some of Harry’s dark past, as he is blackmailed form things he had done in the past.

••••

So far an enjoyable show, though I really do think it was better with Matthew Macfayden, but I will continue watching it. Too bad it is not all available to stream from Netflix!

Professor Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall) works at a university and ends up investigating some strange occurrences in the woods where his wife disappeared in the woods 8 years before. His assistant is Stephen Hart (James Murray) who was also in love with Nick’s wife. Also along for the ride is a eager grad student named Connor Temple (Andrew-Lee Potts). Also in the woods is zoologist Abby Maitland (Hannah Spearritt) who finds a prehistoric flying lizard, and ends up joining the team. They learn of holes in space time continuum where creatures are coming through. The government comes in and hides this, and makes them the lead team along with Claudia Brown (Lucy Brown) from the home office and James Lester (Ben Miller) a senior Home Office Official.

REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS…

Nick soon finds out that Helen Cutter (Juliet Aubrey) his wife is still alive, and not only knows something, she is fact may be behind it.

The team works to find out what is going on and to try and keep one step ahead of Helen, but they never can.

Connor is in love with Abby, but can never do anything about it, as he is too chicken, though he does manage to become her roommate.

Nick and Claudia begin to fall for each other, but Helen tries to keep them apart.

When Tom and Helen go back in time through a wormhole to find out about super predators from the future, Nick returns to find everything changed. Now the team works for the ARC a whole government research facility searching for these anomalies and their cause and what they can do to contain and stop them.

Of course the world is different, as Claudia is not there, but she is replaced by Jennifer Lewis (also Lucy Brown) who steps in as the teams PR officer trying to hide these events from the public.

Of course they don’t all agree with keeping everything secret.

Stephen Hart is killed saving Nick and Helen and replaced by Captain Becker (Ben Mansfield).

Nick then is killed by Helen who sees the Arc as the cause of the destroyed future with the super predators, but Nick manages to hide a device from her, and get it to Connor.

At first Jennifer takes over the team, but she quickly hands it over to former policeman Danny Quinn (Jason Flemyng) an action man who the team had run into before, and who would not give up about joining them.

The enemy becomes another government agency who is trying to keep the secrets of the time travel and the predators for themselves.

And of course Helen returns, using everyone, this time her plan is save the earth by destroying humanity before it even starts. She steals the device to track the jumps from the ARC, and only Danny, Abby and Connor can chase her and stop her.

It ends up with Danny being the only one behind Helen, who poisons the first group of neolithic men, but she is killed by a raptor. Danny is still alive, but trapped back in time, but he does find the missing link still alive.

••••

Really a well done show, but it felt like the storyline with Helen did not go where it should have once Douglas Henshall left the show. The show was still enjoyable, but not as good, and felt more like an action show. Still worth watching though.

The show starts with 3 best friends on their way to school for the first day, this is the unruly and womanizing James Cook (Jack O’Connel) the skateboarder Freddie Mclair (Luke Pasqualino) and JJ Jones (Ollie Barbieri) who has some mental problems, but is as sweet as could be. On their way to school they Elizabth “Effy” Stonem (Kaya Scodelario) on her way to school and all three fall in love with her. Effy’s best friend finds that she can’t handle just taking beauty classes, so she joins her friend Effie. Other students are the twins Katie (Megan Prescott) and Emily Fitch (Kathryn Prescott) who could not be more different. Katie always has a man and is very outgoing, while Emily is quite and is fact gay and is love with another student Naomi Campbell (Lily Loveless). Naomi though is straight, and hates that Katie is always giving her shit about trying to seduce her sister, when it fact it was the other way around. On the first day the school lays out new rules, and Effie makes a game of breaking them all basically telling Freddie and Cook that they can have her if they break all the rules. Cook quickly does, and has Effie in the school nurses office, leaving Freddie to pine for the woman he loves (and who Effie actually cares for, but is not willing to ever let her emotions get the best of her). They soon meet Thomas Tomone (Merveille Lukeba) a recent emigrant from the Congo. He is a good kid, and sweet and starts seeing Pandora, but they get in a lot of trouble first, both with a gangster and then with his mom who catches the kids all doing drugs and having sex, and sends Thomas back home for a while.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Naomi, JJ, Katie, Cook, Effie, Tony, Panda, Emily and Thomas

Panda gets quite depressed that Thomas has left and ends up sleeping with Cook before he returns to her. And that isn’t the worst part, because she keeps sleeping with Cook after Thomas returns and of course he finds out pulling them apart.

Effie and Cook keep having sex, and hurting Freddie, who ends up going out with Katie.

Emily meanwhile realizes she is gay. She becomes friends with JJ and gets him a sweet sympathy fuck. And then she finally gets Naomi to start to see that she might love her, and the two become lovers, and seem to really love each other in what seems to be the best relationship of the series. This of course pisses of Katie who is homophobic and wants to run her slightly younger sisters life the way she wants it.

Effy breaks it off with Cook, who she was only using for sex, and wants to tell Freddie, but he has already started seeing Emily. They go out on a camping trip with the group minus Cook (who shows up later on his own to cause trouble) and all do magic mushrooms. Katie is attacking Effy saying not to steal Freddie when Effy fights back and hits her in the head with a rock. Effy then in a psychedelic haze stumbles back and sleeps with Freddie. The next day they wake up and can’t find Katie, and they leave, with Effy quickly calling an ambulance to try and find her. Of course Katie is found and is OK, but tells what Effy did, so Effy goes on the run with only friend she has left, Cook.

Effy and Cook wander around until they end up in the hometown of his dad. And you see where Cook got his obnoxious personality. Effie finally calls Freddie and JJ to come and help Cook and bring him home, and she tells Freddie she loves him. JJ and Freddie arrive and end up in a race that Cook is also in that Cook’s dad bet his boat on to pay off his bar debt. Cook ends up losing, as JJ wins, and his Dad is pissed and almost kills him. Effy and Freddie finally have sex, and they end up throwing Cook’s dad out his boat and heading back to London.

The 4th series starts with a girl at a party where Thomas is DJing kills herself while on Ecstasy and it causes nothing but trouble. A new school principle expels Thomas. And Naomi starts freaking out because she sold the girl the drugs, but it is more than that.

Emily has moved into Naomi’s house with her since her parents are out of town, and her parents nor her sister can accept that she is gay.

Emily starts digging into what happened and eventually finds out that Naomi went to visit a college and ended up cheating on Emily with the girl, and the girl became obsessed with her, took the drugs she sold her and kills herself. Emily is crushed, and though she stays with Naomi, she starts treating her badly and hanging out with other girls.

Effy eventually returns to school, but she is all messed up in a severe depression. And she starts to drag Freddie down, as his grades drop and all he does is stay with her.

Cook freaks out too and beats some guy up, also hitting JJ (which he doesn’t even remember) and also takes the rap for the drugs, but refuses to plead guilty and is eventually sent to jail, but escapes and keeps showing up and forcing himself on his friends.

Effy loses it and tries to kill herself, and is institutionalized. ANd starts seeing a messed counsellor Dr. John Foster (Hugo Speer) who really messes with her brain, brainwashing her to forget her friends.

Katie finds out she has premature menopause and can’t ever have kids, and then they find out their dad lost them their house, and they end up having to move in with Emily and Naomi, though Emily is not happy about it.

JJ starts dating a girl named Lara (Georgia Henshaw) who is a single mother, and starts to come to grips that the drugs the doctor’s are giving him may be messing him up.

Effy returns to school and is given all A’s even though she doesn’t deserve them, but to give the school a perfect record. She goes nuts again though and Freddie and her mother stop her from seeing Dr Foster who messed her up.

Doctor Foster calls Freddie to his house and murders him so he can get back to Effy who he is obsessed with (WTF!!!!).

All the friends have a party and do synchronized dancing (right Cook would do this) for Freddie’s birthday.

We find out that Pandora actually did well in school and is going to Harvard, and so is Thomas who is getting an athletic scholarship, so maybe they will have a chance.

Naomi finally confesses to Emily that she really did always love her, from back when she was supposed to be straight, and they decide to try to work things out.

Cook tracks down Doctor Foster and finds Freddie’s bloody clothes, and we see Dr. Foster hit Cook, but Cook just laughs and runs and attacks him yelling that he is Cook!

•••

WTF! This show so jumped the shark, especially with the serial killer thing. Would have been much more in the vein of the show to have Effy actually kill herself and have the kids dealing with their friends suicide, but a fucking serial killer? You have to be kidding me. I mean the whole Effy storyline just got ridiculous.

And the show just seemed to want to ruin everyone, I mean Naomi and Emily were the one good couple and their relationship got ruined. Pandora was so sweet, but she was fucking Cook on the side, not only cheating on Effy but also on Thomas. Everyone here are just assholes, and it is like they are trying to destroy their friendships and themselves.

And it is really too bad, as it seemed interesting with the 3rd series, but the 4th series is utter crap. I hope the fact that she runners have left the show, will make it better, but possibly it will get even worse.

Really sad that such a promising series can go so badly downhill and just stop making any sense or being gooda t all!

This is the story of a group of friends in college preparatory classes for their last 2 years of mandatory schooling and their good and bad and love and hate, and all the partying in between. We have Tony Stonem (Nicholas Hoult, the boy from About a Boy who has sure sprouted) who is tall and handsome and quite manipulative of all of his friends. His girlfriend is Michelle Richardson (April Pearson) who he calls Nips and always disparages, though she is a sweet girl who loves him. Tony’s best friend is Sid Jenkins (Mike Bailey) who not only is not good in school, but looks down on himself and still a virgin, especially because he is in love with Michelle, and everyone knows it. They try and hook Sid up with the crazy Cassie Ainsworth (Hannie Murray) who is often put away because of an eating disorder. Then we have the party animal Chris Miles (Joe Dempsie) who will take any drug at any time, and is hiding from the death of his brother at a young age. Chris pursues and eventually gets the groups psychology teacher Angie (Siwan Morris). The Muslim of the group is Anwar Kharral (Dev Patel) who follows his religion in some ways, but still does drugs, and is always trying to have sex. His best friend is the openly gay Maxxie Oliver (Mitch Hewer) who wants to not do construction like his dad, and instead wants to be a dancer. Finally we have Jal Fazer (Larissa Wilson) a talented clarinet player whose dad is in music, and whose mother left for reasons unknown.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Cassie, Michelle, Tony, Sketch (Aimee-Ffion Edwards), Anwar, Sid, Chris, Jal and Maxxie

Through the show we see Cassie falling for Sid, but he is oblivious because of his love for Michelle, and this eventually causes her to attempt suicide and be sent away.

And we see Tony and Michelle finally have a falling out when on a trip to Russia she catches him blowing Maxxie, another of manipulative acts, where he only thinks of himself. And this after Tony keeps ending up with a posh upper-class girl from a girl school across campus. This girl is Abigail Stock (Georgina Moffat). Tony had also tried to push Michelle and Sid together, but came back as a hero. He is always manipulating those closest to him.

Michelle ends up going out with a guy named Josh Stock (Ben Lloyd Hughes) who is Abigail’s crazy brother (and their mother runs the institution that Cassie keeps getting sent to), but Tony sabotages it by stealing Josh’s phone and sending Michelle a text from it with naked photos of Josh’s sister Abigail.

Anwar sees some of Maxxie’s drawings of them, and then a drawing that seems to be his own cock, and he tells Maxxie that his religion is against homosexuality, and they have a falling out.

Tony’s younger sister Effie (Kaya Scodelario) the supercool girl goes out partying and gets arrested. Tony goes to get her out, but she is already released, and he spends the night trying to find her. He gets weird texts too, and ends up enlisting Sid, who hasn’t been talking to him. Sid and Tony end up fighting, and Sid takes off and goes and sees Cassie, and they talk.

Tony finds Effie at a party with Josh, where they have heavily drugged her, and Josh wants to force him to have sex with her to save her, but after he begs he lets him leave with Effie. Effie recovers, though their parents blame Tony.

Chris’s mom ends up skipping out on him. He thinks she is leaving for a weekend and spends all the money on a big party, which lasts for days and the house gets trashed. Angie helps him get campus housing. He ends up in an ongoing relationship with Angie, though it is screwed up when her old fiancee returns.

Michelle’s problems with are compounded by her mom and her serial marriages. First is a young gold digger, and later a rich guy with a daughter that Michelle instantly takes a dislike too.

The first season ends with Anwar’s birthday party. Maxxie wants to go, but won’t until Anwar tells his dad that Maxxie is gay, which Anway won’t do, though when the dad finally learns he is OK with it.

Tony finally realizes how wrong he is and calls Michelle to say he is sorry and that he loves her, but is hit by a bus and lays bleeding in the street with Effie holding him, crying (the first time she has shown any empotion at all).

The episode ends with Sid singing Wild World by Cat Stevens to camera with the other characters singing as well as he goes to find Cassie who is set to leave the next day for Scotland with her family. (and luckily this is on the soundtrack, such a great moment)

The next Season opens about Tony’s impairment after the bus accident. He looks OK, but his brain doesn’t work so well, and he can’t even write, and he doesn’t remember most things. And he is pissed at Sid for not coming around, though Sid was there the whole time at his bed when he was unconscious.

Sid is having a long distance relationship with Cassie, but he sees her taking her braw off in front of a guy on the computer (which she doesn’t know is on) and breaks up with her.

Maxxie starts getting stalked by a girl named Lucy but called Sketch (Aimee-Ffion Edwards). She ends up poisoning Michelle so she can get in the play and kiss Maxxie, but he is not interested at all. So she starts dating Anwar and slowly making him dress and look more and more like Maxxie.

Chris is screwing up in school, and makes a deal with Jal, and the two end starting to date, but she ends up pregnant, but does not want to tell him.

Sid’s father after being left by his wife, ends up dyeing, leaving Sid alone and depressed.

The group goes on a disastrous camping trip for Michelle’s birthday and Sid and Michelle end up hooking up, and when they return, Cassie is waiting in Sid’s room and catches them. Michelle and Sid keep seeing each other, and Cassie goes a bit crazy, staying with Chris and selling drugs, and having sex with strangers, including women.

Tony ends up going to a university open day, where he goes nuts, and has sex with a tattooed woman, and does drugs, and ends up awakening his old memories and personality, and he realizes he loves Michelle and has to get her back. He confronts Sid and Michelle who are having sex in a bathroom, and tells them this is wrong. They end up breaking up, and Michelle is still mad at him and Sid won’t walk to him.

Effie is sent to a private school, where she is befriended by the strange Pandora Moon (Lisa Backwell) and instead of doing her art assignment works to get Tony and Michelle and Sid and Cassie back together, and she manages it with Sid and Cassie, though gets kicked out of school for not doing her assignment.

It turns out that Chris has the same problem as his brother and almost dies, but recovers, and then dies and is found by Cassie who runs away to New York. Sending Sid an unsigned postcard.

Jal ends up getting an abortion. ANd then Chris’s dad tells Sid they are not invited to the funeral. Tony gets Sid to help in stealing the corpse so they can have their own funeral, but Michelle makes them return him, and they have their own funeral watching the real funeral where none of Chris’s friends are.

They get their A levels results, finding that Tony and Michelle will be going to different schools far apart. Sid did not apply to school. Anwar failed so he can’t go to school like he planned, but is invited to London with Maxxie and his new boyfriend.

Tony gives Sid a ticket to New York to find Cassie. And we see Sid searching New York for her. She works at a cafe, and met a guy, who left to go find his ex, and allowed her to stay in his place. Sid walks by where she works, but we do not see if they see each other.

The show ends with Effie in Tony’s bed, as she will be the lead in Series 3.

••••

An enjoyable intense teenage soap opera, with a lot of realism. I like the characters and the style of the show, and the stories do seem realistic at least for a certain crowd. Really a great show, and I have started watching season 3, which I like, but not as well since the cast isn’t quite as lovable, or at least they do not have someone as likable as Sid.

Kim Daniels (Olivia Hallinan) is a 15 year old girl whose parents have just moved to a small resort town on the coast of England. Kim is an in the closet lesbian who is in love with her lascivious best friend Maria “Sugar” Sweet (Lenora Crichlow). Sugar loves men, and always is stringing along one boyfriend or another, and driving Kim absolutely crazy. Kim’s parents are having issues too. Stella (Sara Stewart) is not too happy, and has an affair with the handiman, while Nathan (Richard Lumsden) doesn’t even notice. And their son Matt (Kurtis O’Brien) is the strangest of the bunch, killing his animals, going goth, dressing as a girl and sleeping in a coffin. Kim has a good life, but is completely sexually frustrated, and would do anything to be with Sugar.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS….

Kim even plans on drugging Sugar, but ends up drugging her brother instead.

Nathan and Stella end up separating.

And eventually Kim and Sugar end up running away to London, where they have sex for the first time. This doesn’t last long, and they are busted for stealing Stella’s money and a car, and Sugar is locked up for a year. Kim is the only one who visits her.

Kim meanwhile meets a local lesbian who owns a sex toy shop named Saint (Sarah-Jane Potts) and they start dating.

Of course this is rocky, Saint is friends with her ex-boyfriend, and then Kim kisses another girl, and Saint leaves. This leads to Kim overdosing, and thinking that Sugar saved her, when it was in fact Saint.

Then Sugar’s mom runs away and Sugar must move in with Kim, which causes even more troubles.

Eventually Kim and Saint work things out, and Kim agrees to move in with Saint, and they have just moved in together when after Sugar’s new apartment burnt down, she must move in with the lesbian couple.

••••

A really fun show with crazy and enjoyable characters. Olvia Hallinan is perfect as Kim, and Lenora Crichlow is perfect as the bundle of energy, Sugar. She is amazing, and is the highlight of BEING HUMAN currently on the BBC.

In England in 1966 the BBC only plays an hour of Rock and Roll a day, so Pirate Radio stations have popped up on ships in international waters, but still survived on local advertising. To this particular ship young Carl (Tom Sturridge) is sent to make something of himself, and stay with the ship’s Captain, and his godfather Quentin (the great Bill Nighy). On the ship is a ship is a whole crew of malcontents, led by the king of their little radio empire, the Count (Philip Syemour Hoffman) from America. Then their is Dr. Dave (Nick Frost) who takes a liking to Carl, and then there is Simon Swafford (Chris O’Dowd) and Angus (Rhys Darby from flight of the Concords). Rounding out the crew is Car’s idiotic roommate “Thick” Kevin, the only woman allowed to stay on board, the lesbian cook Felicity (Katherine Parkinson) and the radio assistant Harold (Ike Hamilton). Much chaos and adventures ensue.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Once a month on the boat Quentin allows the DJ’s to bring women on board, and they all party. Dave tries to help Carl get laid for the first time, but it does not work out so well. And when Quentin brings his beautiful niece Marianne (Talulah Riley) on board for Carl to meet, Dave ends up sleeping with her too, though Carl really falls for her.

On the mainland Government minister Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) plans to destroy all Pirate Radio, and enlists Twatt (Jack Davenport) to help take down pirate radio. They try and deprive it of it’s funding, but the people love pirate radio, so that doesn’t work. They then work on another way, involving pirate radios frequencies having stopped a sinking fishing boat from being rescued, and they decide to work on making the Marine Offenses Act which will illegalize Pirate Radio.

On the ship the man that the Count replaced when he went to AMerica, “The King” Gavin Kavanagh (Rhys Ifans) returns, and the two clash. Getting in dares that leave them both smashed and broken when they jump off the ships radio mast.

Simon who has never had a way with woman married the gorgeous Elenore (January Jones), but on his wedding night finds that she married him so she could move to the boat and be with The King, so the married is ended, and she is quickly kicked off.

Carl is talking to thick Kevin who thinks that Quentin must be his unknown father, and Carl asks his mother Charlotte (Emma Thompson) when she visits for Christmas, but she replies that it is in fact the hermit like night DJ Smooth Bob the “Dawn Treader: (Ralph Brown) who most of the crew didn’t even realize was on the boat.

When the Marine Offenses Act is passed, Pirate Radio is set to go off the air at Midnight, but the crew, and specifically the Count choses to defy it, and they set the boat in motion for the first time.

Twatt leads a raid but ends up raiding a fishing vessel that is where the pirate radio used to anchor.

The movement is too much for the boat though, and the engines give, and the boat starts to sink. The Count decides to go down with the ship as Carl goes down and saves Bob, who didn’t even know the boat was sinking.

As the boat goes down a fleet of boats arrives to save them, including a girl that Felicity had hooked up with, and the Count comes out from the deep, having survived.

The film ends with captions saying that by the summer of 1967 Pirate Radio was over, but now 299 stations play rock across the UK!

****

Enjoyable, though I want to see the original version. Still I enjoyed it, even if it is not as amazing as the cast would have led it to believe to be.

In 1922 the 18 year old Salvador Dáli (Robert Pattinson) came to university in Madrid. The strange introverted painter, was taken into a group of friend’s by the gregarious filmmaker Luis Bunuel (Matthew McNulty) where he meets the writer Federico García Loca (Javier Beltran). They become fast friends in a group of collegiate modernists. Luis dreams of going to Paris and being something in the world, while Federico hopes to change Spain and make it a better place. Federico is pursued by the writer Magdalena (Marina Gatell), but he never succumbs, and he and Salvador become fast friends. Salvador and Federico spend the summer together at Salvador’s families home.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

The pair become closer and closer, eventually kissing while swimming in the water at night. The two never fully have sex, as Salvador is hurt, and pushes Federico away.
Back at school things are different. Luis feels left out. He is already homophobic, and when he ends up reading Federico’s journal he is appalled. Luis ends up going to the gay pickup part of town and beating up a gay man. He then leaves for Paris to find his own fortune.

Dali can’t handle Federico anymore either, and eventually he leaves to go with Luis to Paris.

Federico is completely crushed by this. Magdalena tries to get him to go away with her, but he won’t, especially when he sees that Dali has returned.

Dali is totally different now, and he ends up dropping out of school. Federico tries to get close to Salvadore again, but he pushes him away, though stays when Magdalena shows up and makes love to Federico while Dali watches.

Years pass, and Dalí has become involved with a woman named Gala (Arly Jover) who is already married, and who is still sleeping all around town. Luis meanwhile has become friends again with Federico since he is no longer friends with Salvador. Salvador is a bit nuts, affecting the total artist, who has even been kicked out of the surrealist art movement for his love of money.

Salvador calls for Federico to come and visit him in Paris. Federico barely knows the man anymore, who does not care for the people anymore (while Federico actively helps the people in Span). Salvador tries to convince Federico to join him and Gala and head to America to take it by storm, as Salvador has obviously realized his love for Federico.

Federico leaves Salvador for the last time, heading back to Spain. Luis warns him to hide because the government is after him, but Federico refuses, and returns to his home town. While he is there, he is picked up by the Fascist government and is executed.

Salvador is crushed, but does not show it, and goes on with his life, only talking about the relationship at the end of his life.

•••

Quite an enjoyable film, though I would love to know just how much of this is accurate, and how much is conjecture. Pattinson does an amazing job as Dali though, showing depth I have never seen, and really going crazy with him at the end.

Worth checking out, though not amazing.

Hitmen Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) arrive in the “fairy tale” town of Bruges in Belgium, waiting for word from their employer Harry Waters (Ralph Fiennes). Something went badly with a hit of Ray’s, and they have to lay low, so Harry has sent them to Bruges. Ken is happy about it, as he wants to see the medieval town, but this is not the town for Ray at all. Ray hates Bruges with a passion. It is not at all where he wants to be, and he can’t stop complaining about it. We eventually learn that Ray was sent to kill a Priest ( Ciarán Hinds), which he did, but accidentally killed a child (Theo Stevenson) who was in the church praying, and Ray is wracked with guilt about it. All he wants to do is go out and get hammered and drunk, and try and forget, but their orders are to be in at night, to wait for Harry’s call. Ken feels for Ray, and they do end up going and seeing a film being shot in town. The film has an American midget named Jimmy (Jordan Prentice) who Ray is fascinsated with. And he he sneaks onto the set to talk to the beautiful Chloë (Clémence Poésy) who turns out to be a local drug dealer, who agrees to go on a date with him the next night. Of course because they were out they missed Harry’s call and he is none too happy about it.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Ken likes Ray, and ends up agreeing to stay in and take the call so that Ray can go on his date.

Harry calls, and tells Ken that he is to kill Ray, and basically the trip to Bruges was to give Ray one last good memory before he died. He just can’t take a child being killed for any reason. Ken is crushed. He does not want to kill his friend, but he knows he must.

Ray goes out with Chloé, getting in a fight with some tourists (Željko Ivanek and Stephanie Carey) at dinner. They end up back at her place, and when things are getting hot and heavy, Chloé’s ex boyfriend Eirik (Jérémie Renier) and starts waving a gun at him. Ray takes the gun, and it is full of blanks, so Eirik pulls a knife, but Ray just fires the blanks into Eirik’s face at close range, damaging his eye. It turns out that Eirik and Chloé often rob tourists. Ray is not surprised, as he did not think he could get such a hot girl, but as she leaves to take Eirik to the hospital, she gestures for Ray to call her.

Ray ends up finding her stash filling with cocaine and ecstasy, and steals it and heads back to Ken at the b&b where they are staying. Ray and Ken have drinks in the local pub, when Jimmy comes in with a hooker. Ray is loaded out of his mind on coke, and he and Ken and 3 hookers end up going back to Jimmy’s hotel room, where they drink and do coke. Jimmy proves to be a racist with a whole theory of a war with colored people coming soon. And things get a little crazy, and Ray and Ken end up storming out.

The next morning, haunted by his killing of the boy, Ray heads to a park with a gun. Ken meanwhile goes and picks up a handgun to kill Ray with. Ken approaches Ray from behind, and sees him going to kill himself, and he stops him. Ken then takes Ray’s gun, and sends him off on the train, to go on the lamb.

Ken calls Harry, who is enraged, and immediately leaves his family to go take care of Ken, and hopefully Ray.

Ray meanwhile is arrested on the train for hitting the tourist, and is sent back to the jail in Bruges. He ends up getting Chloé to come and get him, and the two start a little romance, as they walk the town.

Harry shows up and meets with Ken, and they agree to a gunfight in the closed at night carillon tower. Ken doesn’t want to fight, but thinks that Ray should get redemption for his sins. Harry shoots him in the leg. As they stumble down the stairs, Eirik shows up (he had met Harry when he got a gun, and we learned he was blinded in one eye by Ray) to tell Harry that Ray is outside.

Harry rushes down to get Ray, while Ken drags himself up to the top of the tower, and throws himself off to warn Ray. Ray sees Ken hit the ground and being torn apart, and he runs up. Ken tells him Harry is there, but Ken’s gun has broken in the fall, so he runs.

Harry chases Ray and keeps shooting, hitting and wounding him. Ray tries to escape on a boat, and ends up in the town with the film shooting. Harry catches up and guns Ray down, but accidentally shoots and kills Jimmy, blowing his head off. And since Jimmy is dressed as a school boy, he thinks he has killed a child. Ray tries to tell him differently, but Harry is a man of his word, and quickly kills himself.

The badly wounded Ray is taken away in an ambulance. He sees Eirik and Chloé, and thinks that maybe hell is living forever in Bruges, and realizes he wants to live. The film closes with the audience not knowing what happens to Ray.

•••

A very enjoyable film about honor and guilt and redemption. Ray finds love in Chloé and he really seems to want this love, after all this was only his first kill as a hitman. And Ken values friendship above all else, willing to die for his friend. And Harry is so honorable, that when he thinks he has done what Ray has done, he kills himself almost instantly.

A very enjoyable and well written film. I would not be surprised to see some American studio remake this, though they should not!

Check it out if you get a chance, you will not be disappointing.

Jenny Mellor (Carey Mulligan) is a bright and intelligent high school girl, with big plans for her life, which all may soon change. On the way home in the rain from a chior practice, where she plays cello, she gets a ride from a charming older man named David Goldman (Peter Sarsgaard). The two strike up a friendship, and quickly a relationship. David manages to charm her parents Jack (the always amazing Alfred Molina) and Marjorie (Cara Seymour), and Jenny starts to date David. Jenny quickly meets David’s friends, Danny (Dominic Cooper) and his cute but dumb as a post girlfriend Helen (Rosamund Pike), and they all start having a wonderful time, but David’s world is not all good, because he is an amazing liar, and not everything he does seems to be on the up and up.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Jenny even ends up going to Paris with her new friends, losing her virginity, and drawing the ire of the teachers at her school. Miss Walters (Emma Thompson) the school mistress will not allow anything like this to happen at her school, and Jenny’s favorite teacher Miss Stubbs (Olivia Williams) does not want to see Jenny get hurt, or ruin her future, but Jenny has fallen in love and does not want to listen.

Jenny starts to see the dark side of David’s life, where he swindles people for money. He moves black families into flats, so he can buy the other ones for cheap. And David and Danny go into houses for sale, and steal paintings and other valuables. Jenny doesn’t like it, but she is in love, and lets it go, especially once David proposes to her.

Danny tries to get David to not hurt Jenny, because he knows he will, knowing more about the man than Jenny.

Jenny’s dad quickly agrees to his daughter getting married to such a fine man (as far as he knows), since to him her going to college was only so she could find a good man anyway. Jenny does not like aspect, but loves David, so she wants to get married. Jenny ends up dropping out of school, leaving behind school, and her final year of studying.

While driving with David, Jenny looks in his glove compartment and sees letters addressed to him and his wife! She gets him to promise to tell her parents that he is already married, but instead he just drives off.

Jenny is absolutely crushed, and wants to go back to school, but Mrs. Walters will not allow her back. She has already made her bed.

Jenny goes to Miss Stubbs, and gets her to help her study, and Jenny manages to get into Oxford, studying English, as she wanted.

And she pretends like none of it happened, acting the innocent when dating the boys at school, but she is not quite so innocent anymore, having gotten a very harsh education in the ways of the world.

•••

Amazing performances, and a great story. Just a really good film with an amazing cast all the way around. I really look forward to Lone’s next film.

London, 1891, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) on his last mission with his friend and associate Watson (Jude Law) run into a ritual for a human sacrifice, where Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) is about to kill a young girl. The pair manage to stop the ceremony, and arrest Blackwood, though someone does escape. Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan) comes in and takes possession of Blackwood, and he is set to be hung in 3 months time. In that time Holmes becomes a hermit in his room, never leaving or doing much useful, while Watson prepares to move out to his new place, where he plans on living with Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly) whom he intends to wed. Blackwood requests that Holmes comes before his execution. Holmes finds everyone scared of Blackwood, who has supposedly made a guard sick, and has covered his cell with occult symbols. Blackwood promises there will be 3 more deaths after his execution, and that it will change the world, and outfox Holmes. Watson is there at the hanging and declares Blackwood dead. Holmes has a visitor in the form of Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) the one person who has managed to outwit him, and the love of his life, though she is a thief. She wants him to find a red haired midget for her. Holmes follows her, disguising himself as a beggar, and seeing a man hidden in her coach with a gun in his sleeve. A few days after Blackwood’s execution, Holmes gets a call from Lestrade that Blackwood has rissen from the grave, and broken out from the inside. Holmes takes Watson, as it his reputation as a doctor on the line, and they go to investigate. The game is afoot.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Holmes inspects the Tomb, which has been broken out from the inside. Watson looks at the Witness who is in shock and all he can say is he saw Blackwood. They remove the coffin and in is the red headed dwarf that Irene was looking for. Watson palms a pocket watch on the corpse which leads him to the midget’s home and laboratory, where they discover the remains of various experiments, and some burnt paper with Blackwood’s crest on it. 2 Arsonists and a huge French Giant come in and they have a huge fight, and end up getting arrested for property damage, as they end up sinking a huge ship in a drydock for repairs.

Watson is bailed out by Mary, and Holmes must wait until Lestrade comes and gets him and he is taken to the Temple of the Four Orders, a secret society in which Blackwood was a member. Holmes is asked by the Home secretary Lord Coward (Hans Matheson) and Blackwood’s father to Blackwood.

Blackwood ends up killing his father in his bath, and another who opposes him at a society meeting, where the man shoots his gun and bursts into flames. Blackwood then takes control of the order, and has Coward order an arrest warrant for Holmes.

Holmes and Watson go to a slaughterhouse, and find that Blackwhood has captured Irene, and they just manage to rescue her, but as they escape Watson trips an explosion. Holmes sees Watson wounded in the hospital in disguise and then goes to solve the mystery.

Holmes figures out that the target is parliament from Lord Coward and what he said, and then dives from a window and is rescued by Watson and Irene on a waiting rescue boat.

Homes, Watson and Irene go into the tunnels below Parliament and find a machine guarded again by the French Giant. It was made by the red haired midget, and will release cyanide on cue and kill parliament, except the followers of the order (whome Blackwood has already given the antidote.

THey manage to stop the machine, and Irene runs with the cyanide cylinder, with Holmes chasing her to the unfinished Tower Bridge, and followed by Blackwood. Blackwood knocks her off the tower, though she lands on a lower platform. Holmes explains how all of Blackwood’s mysticism were simple science, and there was no occult.

A crane falls, and ends up entangling Blackwood, and he ends up falling and hanging off the bridge (huh? Why did this happen? Could have been done so much better!).

Holmes confronts Irene about her motives, and learns that the man in the carriage was Professor Moriarty (who we all know to be Holmes big nemesis), and allows her to leave.

Holmes explains to Watson how Blackwood fakes his own death with a drug, and was hung on a harness, and his tomb was preset to break and made to look whole, but was easily broken.

Now it is time to investigate Moriarty.

•••

Decent, but not too impressive. Could have been wittier, and the whole thing with the crane was just stupid. Come on, Holmes can fight, so lets see a fight and Blackwood fall, but not just him getting killed by a crane!!

The Doctor (Patrick Troughton) along with his companions Jamie [James Robert McCrimmon (Frazer Hines)] and Victoria [Waterfield (Victoria Waterfield)] arrive and start running around a beach when there is an assassination attempt on the Doctor. They are rescued via helicopter by Astrid Ferrier (Mary Peach) who takes them to their boss Giles Kent (Bill Kerr). Giles is against a man named Salamander who is a physical double of the Doctor. Salamander rules the United Zones Organization which controls the Earth. Salamander used technology to use the sun to increase crop production and has been ruthless in his use of power, killing off anyone who gets in his way. Kent used to be a deputy leader in North Africa and Europe, but when he crossed Salamander he was destroyed. Kent convinces the Doctor to impersonate Salamander to get information so they can try and take down this evil man.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

The Doctor and Salamander

Just then Giles house is raided by Security Chief Donald Bruce (Colin Douglas), but the Doctor’s imitation is sound, and Kent leaves.

The Doctor doesn’t know if Salamander is really a villain, but Jamie and Victoria join Astrid to infiltrate Salamander’s retinue in Central Europe, while Kent and the Doctor head to the Kanowa research station to see what they can find out.

Salamander warns that a dormant volcano in Hungary is about to explode. Alexander Denes (George Pravda) who is an ally of Kent, doesn’t believe Salamander.

Jamie manages to join Salamanders personal staff after foiling a fake assassination attempt, while Victoria becomes a cooks’s assistant.

Salamander turns Denes deputy Fedorin (David Nettheim) against Denes with blackmail. The volcano errupts and Denes is put in a bad position for not listening to Salamander and is removed from office. Fedorin is sent to kill him, but when he doesn’t he is killed.

Donald Bruce meanwhile is very suspicious of the goings on, and tries to find out what really happened with Jamie, and later ask Salamander about his relationship with Jamie since he saw him earlier with him./

Jamie and Victoria meet Salamander’s food taster Fariah (Carmen Munroe) and they manage to try to help Denes escape, but he is shot and killed. Jamie and Victoria are taken as prisoners to Kanowa, but Fariah gives files to Kent that show the blackmail Salamander is doing, but in a raid she is killed.

Salamander realizes something is wrong. He dons a radiation suit and enters a secret lift which takes him to an underground bunker. Inside are scientists who believe the whole world is destroyed and Salamander is venturing out at the risk of his own life to get them supplies. They are the ones that are creating the natural disasters that Salamander is using to consolidate his power. One man Colin (Adam Verney) decides to return with Salamander to the surface, though no one who has done it has ever returned.

The Doctor is found by Bruce, but they convince him that the Leader is evil. They head to the research center to get more evidence, and if there is none they will all be arrested, though Kent and Astrid manage to escape.

The scientists underground unpack their food and one finds a newspaper showing that life is fine on the surface. He confronts Salamander, and Salamander agrees to take him and not Collin to the surface.

Benik (Milton Johns) interrogates Jamie and Victoria until Bruce and the Doctor arrive and send him away. The Doctor finds out about the excessive food supplies going there, and he heads into the record rooms. Giles Kent arrives and has a key to the secret room.

Astrid finds Swann who had been hit by Salamander and is close to death, but tells her of the scientists underground before he dies. She goes into the bunker and explains what is going on. Colin believes her, and along with his girlfriend Mary (Margaret Hickey) go to the surface. In the records room they find the Doctor and Kent, and it is found that Kent is the one who sent them all below to begin with. The Doctor had realized that Kent just wanted to take over. Kent manages to flee into the cave.

Bruce has taken over the Research Center and arrested Benik while the Doctor heads into the tunnels.

Salamander has found Kent and killed him as he set to blow up the caves. Astrid meanwhile works on getting the scientists out of the shelter.

The Doctor arrives on the beach with the Tardis, and Jamie and Victoria are waiting for him. The Doctor tells Jamie to pilot the Tardis, and Jamie is suspicious, and it does turn out to be Salamander, as the Doctor arrives. Salamander activates the dematerialization with the Tardis doors open and he is blown into the Vortex as the others hold on for dear life…

•••

Very fun, very fun indeed, just too bad it can’t be watched in full, though the CD is enjoyable enough.

A research center in Fetch Borough England is being run by the eccentric millionaire scientist Dr. Fendelman (Denis Lill) along with technical Thea Ransome (Wanda Ventham) and paleontologists Adam Colby (Edward Arthur) and his colleague Maximiliam Steal (Scott Fredericks). They are studying a strange crystal skull that was buried under a volcano 12 million years ago, or 8 million years older than man. Fendelmen activates a scanner on the skull, which causes many strange things. First the skull starts to glow. Then a man hiking though the nearby woods freezes and is taken by some force. And finally Thea seems to be taken over by some power in the skull. The Tardis feels the effects as well, being tossed around by a hole in time made by the scanner, so he and Leela decide to investigate. Leela is quite ferral here, almost killing the man they run into, but he does lead them to the Fetch Priory where the scientists are ensconced. Colby finds the corpse of the hiker, which has been completely drained of life, and wants to call the police, but is overruled by Fendelman, who also calls in his own security, led by David Mitchell (Derek Martin) making the scientists his prisoners. Stael does a post mortem on the corpse, and finds a strange mark on the back of the neck, and that the body is decomposing rapidly, and Fendelman has him hide it. Thea once again activates the skull, and seems to merge with it. The Doctor is almost attacked by the same creature that got the hiker, but manages to get away, and it attacks the Prior killing Mitchell, and it only stops when Colby shuts down the scanner.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Colby and Thea find the rapidly decomposing body of Mitchell in the kitchen. Thea changes again, and the Doctor arrives to take charge and find out what is going on. The Doctor sees images of Fendahleen transposed on her, and it worries him greatly, as the Fendahl were a threat to the Timelords! The Doctor tells Colby that the creatures could kill all life on Earth. Fendelman and STael arrive and they lock up the Doctor, while they dispose of the second corpse.

Fendelman tells Colby that he surmises that the skull is not human, and not from Earth, and that it has a pentagream in it’s structure, and that he and Stael are doing secret experiments on it.

Leela meanwhile has overpowered Ted Moss (Edward Evans) in a local cottage, who had tried to shoot at her. Jack Tyler (Geoff Hinsliff) arrives and kicks Moss out of his grandmother’s house, and they wait for Martha (Daphne Heard) to return, but she seems shell shocked, and Leela heads to find the Doctor to get him to help.

Thea once again goes to set off the scanner, but she is knocked out by Stael.

The Doctor has escaped and finds the skull, which sends pain through his body when he touches it, and luckily Leela arrives and pries him off, saving him. The Doctor realizes the skull is feeding on death, and growing stronger. They return to the cottage and he manages to awaken Martha. He explains about the time fissure, which is probably what made Martha a bit psychic, and that is is being ripped open and could kill them all.

The Doctor and Leela return to the TARDIS and look up the records of when the Timelords destroyed the being known as the Fendahl, and put a time loop on it, so that it could never escape, but it obviously has.

Stael it turns out is the head of a local cult, and is taking over at the priory with the help of Ted Moss and other locals, and are to have a meeting in the basement of the priory. Stael has tied up Thea there in the center of a large pentagram, and Fendelman and Cloby are also tied up to watch Stael become a god. Fendelmen tries to tell Stael that he is being manipulated by the Fendal, which has manipulated him his whole life, but Stael kills him, and re-activates the time scanner, making Thea transform completely.

The Doctor and Leela go to the Priory with Martha and Jack, but they see a slug like Fendahleen (pretty cheap looking monsters) appears, and they only escape, because the Doctor manages to get them to believe they can use their legs again, and shooting it in it’s mouth with Rock Salt, and the sends the Martins to get all the salt they can get.

The Doctor has realized the Skull is remaking Thea into a new Fendahl.

In the basement Thea uses her power to change the cult members into Fendahleen, though the Doctor and Leela manage to help Colby to escape. Stael knows he will transform, so the Doctor gives him a gun to shoot himself, which means there are not enough Fendhaleen to allow the Fendhal to fully manifest itself.

The Doctor turns off the scanner, and gets Leela Colby, Jack and Martha, and they all fight the Fendalheen with Rock salt. The Doctor explains to them that the Fendhal can absorb any energy, and the timelords saw this and destroyed the fifth planet hoping to destroy it, but it’s skull managed to get to Earth, and it has had some power over man every since, with these people being genetically predestined to do what they did, especially Fendelman, the man of the Fendahl.

The Doctor realizes he must explode the scanner, destroying the whole base, and the Fendahleen. Colby sets the scanner to explode, while the Doctor and Leela go into the basement and steal the skull, putting it in a lead lined box, and mange to escape, and return to the Tardis as the Priory explodes.

The Doctor and Leela eject the skull into a supernova, so it is destroyed for good.

••••

Silly, and not too impressive overall.

The Doctor (the great Tom Baker) is on his way to Gallifrey after being summoned, and leaving Sarah Jane Smith behind. On the why he has a vision of the future, a vision of the President of the Timelords (Llewellyn Rees) being murdered, and he knows he must do all he can to stop it. As soon as the Doctor’s TARDIS arrives on Gallifrey it is pegged as an old illegal TARDIS type 40 which should be out of service, so soldiers, led by Commander Hildred (Derek Seaton) are sent to arrest it’s pilot. The Doctor realizes something is wrong, and hides. The Castellan Spandrell (George Pravda) is informed of the events. The Doctor runs for a service elevator, and is confronted by a guard, but a cloaked figure kills the guard, and is off before the Doctor can do anything. He realizes he has been set up, but he has to try and save the President. The Doctor sends the lift on it’s way, but sneaks off another way, so that Hildred will search the wrong building. We see the cloaked figure, who is the Master (Peter Pratt) who is watching, and of course has set up the Doctor.

REVIEW CONTAIN SPOILERS…

(Love Tom dressed as a Timelord, and damn if the Master does not look Nasty as all hell!)

The Doctor is back in his TARDIS, and watches a news broadcast being read by his old classmate Runcible (Hugh Walters) which tells that the President is set to retire, and it is thought that Chancellor Goth (Bernard Horsfall who also appeared as a Time Lord in the final Patrick Troughton Adventure THE WAR GAMES which I have not seen yet, but was the first appearance of Gallifrey) will replace him.

The TARDIS is transmatted into a museum, letting the doctor escape and steal someones Timelord robes, which allows him to sneak into the Panopticon.

The Master watches the events with glee, knowing the Doctor cannot escape.

The President meawhile mentions that everyone will be surprised by his choice of replacement.

The Doctor looks around, spying a camera above him, and he runs to it, finding a sniper rifle next to it. The Doctor sees something below, and grabs the gun and shoots, and the President drops dead, and we are left with one of the best, most manchurian candidate like endings of an episode. Did the doctor do it?

The assumed next President Chancellor Goth pushes for the Doctor to be executed before the next President is elected in 48 hours, his excuse being that it is customary for a new President to pardon political prisoners, and he doesn’t want the Presidents killer to be allowed to go free.

Borusa (Angus MacKay) the Doctor’s old professor is insistent that the Doctor get a fair trial according to the law, and has the Doctor brought forth. The Doctor invokes Article 17, his Timelord right to run for the office of President, which makes him a free man until he loses the election, and then he can be tried.

The Doctor is arrested, though he declares his innocence, and he is tortured, but the Castellan Spandrell starts to believe him, but needs proof, so he orders Co-Oridnator Engin (Erik Chitty) to assist him in the investigation.

The Doctor and Spandrell go to investigate. They check the rifle that the Doctor had, and see that in fact the sight is offset, so their is no way he could have shot the President, and it is no wonder that he missed the Assassin, when he tried to kill him. They realize the real assassin must have been caught by the camera that the Doctor was next to when he found the gun, and they go to it, and find that the the technician who was supposed to be running the camera is shrunken and stuffed into the camera, and the Doctor knows this is the work of the Master and his Tissue Compression Elminator. Runcible is supposed to take the film to be developed, but is killed by a spear.

The Gallifrey computers though have no record of the Master, though the Doctor knows he was there, and must have tampered with them. The Doctor realizes that the Timelord master computer, which houses the brains and intellect of departed Time Lords, called The Matrix must be being used by the Master, and it must have sent the Doctor his premonition. He decides he must go into the Matrix himself to try and find out who is behind it all, though if he dies inside his body outside will die as well.

The Doctor enters the world of the Matrix, where he is attacked in different surreal events. A hungry crocodile tries to eat him, a Samurai knocks him from a cliff and knocks him out, and when he awakens a Doctor is trying to stab him with a huge needle. The Doctor then finds himself in a World War 1 battle, and then stuck with his leg in a train track switch. He sees an insane clown under ice, and gets strafed by a biplane. The Doctor survives when he realizes that this is an all illusion, and he must deny it’s existence, but the creator tells him there is no escape, and his wounds (including a gun shot wound to the leg) return.

The Doctor sees his assassin, a man dressed as a big game hunter with a rifle, though masked, who poisons the water supply. The Doctor steals his grenade and twine to use as a weapon, which the hunter trips, and wounds himself.

The Master sends a guard to kill the Doctor’s real form, but he is stopped by Spandrell.

The Doctor finds the pool of water he so desperately needs, but it is poisoned, and must find other water, then creates a blowgun poisoned with the remains of the Assassin’s poison, and he manages to shoot the assassin in the leg, though shooting the Doctor in his arm. The Assassin then manages to use his antidote to cure himself.

The Doctor finally sees who the Assassin is, and it is Chancellor Goth! Goth goes to shoot the Doctor while in a swamp, but lights the marsh gas, burning himself, but he drops in the water, putting it out, and attacks the Doctor, gaining the upper hand, and at the episode end, seemingly in the process of drowning the Doctor!!!

The Doctor though manages to break free, and hit Goth over the head, defeating him. The Master then tries to trap the Doctor within the Matrix and overload his brain. Engin manages to free the Doctor, but Goth is not so lucky, and is killed.

The master injects himself with a needle, and when they find him he is dead, and Goth is dying. He reveals that he found the dying master in his 12th and last regeneration on the planet Tersurrus, and he helped him and brought him back to Gallirrey in order to get power, because he knew the President was not going to name him as President, but he knew he would win in an election.

Spandrell informs the Doctor’s old teacher Borusa, who orders a cover story to maintain confidence in the government, glossing over the Doctor’s involvement, and getting him to quickly leave Gallifrey.

The Doctor asks the Presidential trappings of office, and he is told of the Sash and Key of Rassilon, and they listen to an old recording of how Rassilon found something called the Eye of Harmony, and the doctor realizes that the trappings are not at all ceremonial, and are in fact what the master was after!

A guard finds the needle the master used, and the Doctor realizes it is a neural inhibitor, so the Master is still alive!

The Doctor, Engin and Spandrell rush to the morgue, and find the Master is awake, and has murdered Hildred. With Hildred’s gun, the Master manages to steal the Sash of Rassilon, and locks the 3 into the morgue.

The Doctor explains what he has realized. The Eye is a black hole, and is the power that allows Gallifrey to run, and gives it’s people the power to be able to travel through time. The Sash and the Key are what control the eye, and with it the Master should be able to break his cycle of regenerations, which will also destroy Gallifrey, and a good portion of surrounding space as well.

The Master enters the Panopticon, and goes to the Eye of Harmony in a large crystal obelisk. He unhooks it’s power cables which power the planet, so he can harness the energy himself.

The Doctor manages to get into the Panopticon via service shafts from the morgue. He fights the master as the whole planet begins to shake, and the floor cracks. The master ends up stumbling into the chasm, as the Doctor reconnects the Eye, stabilizing the planet and saving it.

The Doctor is given back his TARDIS, on the condition that he leave, but he warns Borusa, Spandrell and Egin that the Master may not be dead, as he got some of the energy from the eye before he fell.

As the Doctor’s TARDIS dematerializes, Spandrell and Egin see the Master sneak into his own nearby TARDIS and also dematerialize, realizing the 2 enemies will meet again soon.

•••••

This was made to satisfy Baker’s craving to do a Season without a companion, and with the quality and intensity of the story I wish the BBC had been willing to do more, because this is one of my favorite episodes. Great writing, directing, amazing action, a dark story, and it really makes the timelords much more like petty humans. This is one of my favorite stories of Doctor Who!

The film stars with the most epic version of the Doctor Who theme yet, and we learn that the Doctor’s most notorious nemesis The Master has been exterminated on Skaro (homeworld of the Daleks) for his crimes (Huh? Why would the Dalek’s do something for the Timelords their mortal enemies?!?!??!) and the current Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) was sent to pick up the remains and return with them to the homeworld of the Timelords, Gallifrey, but the remains escape, and cause the TARDIS to make an emergency landing on Earth in the 21st Century, San Franscisco’s Chinatown to be exact. There a Chinese boy named Chang Lee (Yee Jee Tso) is being chased by a Triad, and the Doctor is shot as he exits the TARDIS, with Lee safe behind it the materialized time machine. Lee takes the Doctor to the hospital, where he is quickly brought into surgery. They find the Doctor has 2 hearts, and call in surgeon Dr. Grace Halloway (Daphne Ashbrook). She thinks the x-ray is a double exposure and starts surgery. She inserts a cardiac probe, and the Doctor awakens, and tries to stop her, and tells her he needs a beryllium atomic clock (to fix his TARDIS) then passes out again, and dies of cardiac arrest (and the drugs she gave him supposedly slow the regeneration process, so it does not happen immediately, and also cause the 8th Doctor to have some memory loss, and possibly be half human, which seems completely ridiculous, but so is most of this story). So he is placed in the morgue. Lee quickly sneaks out with the Doctor’s possessions including the TARDIS key. The remains of the master take over the Ambulance driver, Bruce (Eric Roberts) possessing him. He kills his wife, and heads out to find the Doctor’s body, which he wants to use as his own, as he out of regenerations (having passed his 13th incarnation). That night in the morgue, the Doctor regenerates (into Paul McGann), taking a Wyatt Earp costume from someone’s locker for a New Years eve party, and heads out to find Grace, and convince her he is the same man as the one she operated on, to get her help, as his memory is foggy.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS...

Lee goes to the TARDIS, and enters with the key he has stolen, finding inside the Master (Eric Roberts). He convinces Lee that in fact is the Doctor who is evil, and he has stolen his body, and he needs Lee’s help to get it back (when in fact the Master needs the Doctor’s body to keep on living and be able to regenerate).

He takes Lee to the heart of the TARDIS, the Cloister room, and gets his help to open it’s heart, the Eye Of Harmony using his human retinal pattern (Which Bruce’s body would have too, but I am assuming can’t because his eyes have turned yellow, which is stupid, but most of this is).

The Doctor is with Grace, and realizes that the Eye has opened, remembering who he is, as it opens, and closing his eyes, so the Master cannot see though his eye’s using the eye. He realizes he and Grace must shut the Eye before Midnight or the entire planet will be destroyed, and to do so he needs an atomic clock.

Grace does not believe the Doctor and returns to her home, but the Doctor follows and shows that reality is changing by walking though one of her windows without breaking it. Grace still takes some convincing, and she calls an ambulance for what she thinks is a crazy guy, but the two go in it, and end up heading to a science institute where she is on the board, and they are about to start a new atomic clock.

Lee and the Master hear the call for an ambulance, and head in Bruce’s ambulance and go after them.

The Doctor and Grace manage to get the necessary components of the atomic clock, though Grace gets hit with some of the Master’s green bile on her wrist. They steal a motorcycle and go on a chase to the TARDIS. The Doctor manages to install the chip into the TARDIS controls, but realizes the Eye has been open for too long, and that he must revert time to stop the Earth from being destroyed, but before he can finish, the Master takes over Grace using the bile, and captures the Doctor.

The Doctor is chained up next to the Eye, and the Master gets Grace to activate the eye so he can begin to transfer into the Doctor’s body. The Doctor tries to get Lee to awaken from the spell he is under by the Master, but he can’t, but Lee refuses to re-open the eye, and the Master kills him, and gets Grace to do it (though this frees her from his will). Grace goes to activate the TARID, but the Master kills her, though this lets the Doctor get free, and throw the master into the Eye, seemingly killing him, and the activated TARDIS rewinds time, bringing Grace and Lee back to life, and saving the Earth.

Lee gives the Doctor back his possessions and leaves, and he offers Grace (who he has kissed) to come with him, but she refuses, and he sets out on his previous course back to Galiffrey.

••••

Wow, so damn lame. A bad story, and such bad acting all the way around. I mean the Master has been over the top before, but it is just ridiculous here. And too bad because as I said McGann could have been good. I actually want to hear some of his audio adventures with Big Finish now, which are in their 3rd season, but I am glad this did not continue in this form, because it was absolutely awful. It is really too bad this is cannon, it is that bad!

Professor Travers (Jack Watling) in Tibet is awoken from his sleep, and sees a huge Yeti over the body of his friend an destroys his gun. Travers runs. The TARDIS arrives. The Doctor (Patrick Troughton) is overjoyed where they are and he begins to search for something that will get them quite a welcome when they go to the Detsen Monastery and gives it to them, this is the Ghanta a relic from the temple he got at 300 years ago.

The Doctor goes to investigate in a fur cloak, leaving Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) and Deborah Watling (Victoria Waterfield) find the Ghanta and Jamie also finds a sword, which he decides to keep. The Doctor heads to the monastery on his to his own and finds Traver’s camp and the dead body and he takes the crushed gun and backpack.

Victoria gets bored and she and Jamie go out and decide to look on their own, and they find huge animal prints, which they follow.

The Doctor gets to the monastery, but finds his way barred by armed monks. Travers blames the Doctor for killing his friend, and the monks listen to him and lock up the Doctor, especially the head of the warrior monks Khrisong (Norman Jones).

Jamie and Victoria enter a cave and get trapped by a huge creature behind a boulder.

The Doctor looks out the window, but as Travers tells him it is a 100 foot drop and accuses the Doctor of being a journalist who is trying to sabotage him and his work about the Yeti. The Doctor knows the Yeti are in fact timid, so they can’t be attacking, and neither could he.

The monks are talking about the fate of the Doctor who they believe to be a murderer, and Khrisong believes Travers that the Doctor is a murderer even if the other monks don’t quite believe. And the fact that the Yeti are attacking make it worse, so he has the Doctor tied to the front gate of the keep.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Jamie and Victoria find a strange glowing sphere in the cave, and they take it and manage to get out the cave.

The novice takes the Ghanta to the Abbot Songsten (Charles Morgan) who is talking to the master Padmasambhava (Wolfe Morris) who knows the Doctor from his last visit. He knows the doctor may make trouble for their plan.

Jamie and Victoria run into Travers outside of the temple, and convince him that the Doctor is not a threat to him. They go to the monastery, and see the Doctor being released on the abbots orders.

Shortly therafter the Yeti attack and one is overpowered and immobilized and the Doctor has it brought it and realizes it is a robot, with a cavity in it for a spherical unit. The sphere brought back by Jamie comes to life and starts rolling around toward the immobilized Yeti.

Padmasambhava is controlling the Yeti with a strange chess like map.

The Doctor has the monks search for the missing sphere. Khrisong sees the Yeti outside retrieve a sphere, and he begins to trust the Doctor. The Doctor with Jamie head back to the TARDIS to get some equipment to track the missing sphere.

The Sphere gets into the dormant Yeti and re-activates it, and it goes after Victoria. It battles Monks, killing many, and Thonmi (David Spenser) allows it out of the temple. Victoria and Thonmi are locked up for reviving the Yeti.

The Yeti heads to the cave in the mountain with it’s sphere, but is followed by Travers. Abbot SOngsten arrives with Yeti and a glowing pyramid of spheres which he leaves in the cave. Travers sneaks in and finds the pyramid glowing and a strange cobweb substance.

He flees and follows Songsten.

Songsten reports to Padmasambhava who talks about the Great Intelligence taking form. He orders the Monks out of the monastery, which Khrisong does not like at all.

The TARDIS is guarded by a Yeti, but it isn’t functioning, so they take out it’s control sphere. The Sphere comes back to life, and tries to get in the Yeti, but Jamie blocks it with a large rock. They run to the monastery, but are chased by the Yeti, and must give up the sphere to escape.

The Doctor and Khrisong ally to try and keep the Monks at the monastery, but Songsten opens the gates to let the Yeti in.

Victoria meanwhile has escaped, and gotten into the chamber of Padmasambhava, where she realizes he is controlling the Yeti.

The Yeti kill another Monk, and Khrisong agrees the Monks must leave. Victoria is put in a trance and sent out to get the monks to leave and not blame the strangers.

The Doctor is disturbed that Padmasambhava is still alive after 300 years and he goes to confront his friend. Padmasambhava explains that the Great Intelligence is using his body for experiements. The old man dies, but is re-animated by the Great Intelligence.

The Doctor meanwhile has gone to help Victoria and has awakened her. He learns from Travers about the cave and the pyramid.

Soogsten obeys the intelligence and kills Khrisong, but the Doctor and his friends overpower Songsten and tie him up. The Monks flee while the Doctor with Jamie, Victoria and Thonmi go to confront the Great Intelligence. First they start destroying the equipment that controls the Yeti, and when they destroy it all the robots go dormant, and when they destroy the pyramid, the Intelligence is sent away, and Padmasambhava is let free, and dies for good in the Doctor’s arms.

They leave the temple and Travers spies a Yeti and runs off, and the Doctor and his companions leave.

•••

Fun, and better to not see white people playing tibetan monks! Ha!

An archeological expedition on the planet Telos finds a hidden entrance into a mountain. The TARDIS lands nearby and the Doctor (Patrick Troughton), Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) and Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling) join them. The leader of the expedition Professor Parry (Aubrey Richards) are here to find the remains of the Cybermen who died out centuries before on best of Kaftan (Shirley Cooklin). Kaftan is accompanied by his servant Toberman (Roy Stewart) and Eric Kleig (George Pastell). They enter the chamber, finding a control panel and a large sealed door. The Doctor finds some hidden passageways, but does not manage to open the door, while Toberman sneaks off. Victoria along with Kaftan and Parry find a room with a huge sarcophagus, which Victoria climbs into. Meanwhile the Doctor and Klieg argue about not turning on the controls, but the Doctor gives Klieg the hint he needs to activate the machines, which restores power and locks Victoria in the sarcophagus.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

The Doctor manages to free Victoria, while Jamie and Peter Haydon (Bernard Holley) end up releasing a cyberman and Haydon is killed. The Cyberman turns out to be a shell, and the weapon was from a the room which is a testing range and by playing with the controls they activated it and killed Haydon.

Captain Hopper (George Roubicek) returns from the ship informing them that it has been sabotaged and needs to be repaired before they can leave.

They manage to open the hatch to the tomb and the enter leaving Kaftan and Victoria outside. Inside is a huge room with a honeycomb of Cybermen frozen in them.

Kaftan drugs Victoria and closes the hatch sealing everyone inside. Kleig activates some controls and starts the cybermen being thawed, killing Viner (Cyril Shaps) who tries to stop him. He and Kaftan are from the Brotherhood of the Logicians who want to revive the Cybermen to ally themselves with them.

Kaftan is knocked out by a cybermat (a small rat sized Cyberman), but Victoria grabs his pistol and destroys the Cybermat, and goes searching for Hopper.

The Cyber Controller is released from his Cell and Klieg tries to take credit, and grabbed and declared to be theirs.

The Doctor realizes that this was all a trap to help intelligent beings to free them, and that those people would be converted and used to attack their own people, in this case Earth.

Hopper and Callum (Clive Merrison) open the hatch, and use smoke grenades to help the humans escape, except Toberman.

Kleig manages to take the gun from the wall, the cybergun to make the Cybermen work with him.Kleig and Katan call for the Cyber Controller who comes up with Toberman who has been partially cyberconverted. Luckily the Cybermen are low on power, and Kleig will help them repower if they help him conquer the Earth.

Toberman knocks Klieg out, and the Controller get the cybergun and kills Kaftan before returning to the tombs.

The Doctor manages to snap Toberman out of his cybercontrol, and he fights the Cybercontroller, knocking him into his control panels. The Doctor goes into the tombs with Toberman.

Klieg revives the Cybermen again, thinking that he can control them now that the Cybercontroller is out of the way, but they quickly kill him.

Toberman fights and kills a Cyberman while the Doctor and Jamie refreeze the other Cybermen in the cells. The Doctor rewires the control panels so they can never be used again, and electrifies the doors, but the Cybercontroller is still alive and grabs the doors and opens them, but he is stopped by Toberman who uses his bare hands to close the door, and he and the Controller are electrocuted and killed.

The ship is fixed, so the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria leave in the Tardis, but a lone cybermat goes towards Toberman’s Body.

•••

An absolute classic adventure of the 2nd Doctor. A classic villain and a great adventure.

The Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) in London’s Gatwick Airport watch as the TARDIS is loaded on a truck and driven off. They give chase and end up at the antique shop of Edward Waterfield (John Bailey) who sells victorian antiques that seem brand new. In a back room we see that Waterfield is being forced by the Daleks, who kill Kennedy (Griffith Davies) who stole the TARDIS for Waterfield. When the Doctor and Jamie go to investigate, they are knocked out, and dragged into a time machine, and wake up in 1866 in the manor of Theodore Maxtible (Marius Goring), Waterfield’s partner. They had been working on a time machine using mirrors and static electricity, when the Daleks arrived through the machine, and took over, taking Waterfield’s beautiful daughter Victoria (Deborah Watling) as a hostage, so that Waterfield would lure the Doctor here. Maxtible meanwhile seems to be going along with the Dalek’s for his own reasons. The Daleks threaten to destroy the TARDIS unless the Doctor will help them in their experiments to isolate the “Human Factor” that allows humans to constantly defeat the Daleks. They want to the Doctor to implant his Human Factor into 3 Daleks and create a new Dalek Super Race. They force the Doctor to put Jamie through a series of test in an effort to rescue Victoria.

REVIEW CONTAIN SPOILERS…

Jamie goes to rescue Victoria, running into the huge Kemel (Sonny Caldinez) who works for Maxtible, but ends up saving him, and Kemel ends up helping Jamie to rescue Victoria.

The Doctor meanwhile distills the human factor and implants it into 3 Daleks named Alpha, Beta and Omega, who are childlike, but mature quickly, but are very much Human Daleks and are even kind. The 3 are sent back to Skaro the Dalek’s home planet through the time machine.

Waterfield learns that Maxtible has betrayed them all to the Daleks for the secret of alchemical transmutation. Maxtible who has gone to Skaro, is tortured by the Daleks for not delivering the Doctor to them. The Doctor manages to get him, Jamie, Waterfeld and Victoria to Skaro through a short range time machine before the daleks destroy Maxtible’s house.

On Skaro they are brought before the Dalek Emperor, who has tricked the Doctor, because by isolating the Human Factor he has also isolated the Dalek Factor, so they can convert humans into mindless killing Daleks! And the Emperor wants the Doctor to do it with his TARDIS.

Maxtible is turned into a Dalek, and he converts the Doctor as well, but it is a trick, since the Doctor is not human at all. The Doctor looks for Alpha, Beta and Omega.

The Doctor suggests they send the the daleks through the arch to make sure they are all Dalek, but he has substituted the human factor, and made an army of Human Daleks to fight the Emperor.

Waterfield is killed saving the Doctor, and the Doctor promises to take care of Victoria.

The Emperor is exterminated by Human Daleks. The Doctor and his companions leave, while Maxtible runs back into the exploding Dalek city.

The Doctor tells Jamie that Victoria will be coming with them, and as the city burns, he declares the Dalek threat gone, and they leave in the Tardis.

••••

Quite fun and quite different. And the 3 hunan Daleks are so much fun. It is weird to see the Doctor so cold and calculating with Jamie though. Makes for an amazing series though.