Doctor Who Meets Arya Stark!

It's been 5 weeks since the new season of Doctor Who has started up again and in that time we've had 2 two-part stories, but it's finally time to go back to "normal" tomorrow.

The Girl Who Died guest stars Maisie Williams in a so far unknown part when the Doctor and Clara go back in time to fight techno vikings and a hydra maybe?.. The trailer doesn't give much away, but it does have someone who looks a bit like Game of Thrones wildling Kristofer Hivju leading a viking party, and that's good enough for me!

The Girl Who Died airs on BBC1 in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England at 8:20pm.

Doctor Who & Limitless!

Doctor Who (Season 9)

Up first is something I've anticipated for about a year now - and it certainly felt worth the wait. 

Doctor Who Season 9!!

IT'S BACK!

After waiting 10 MONTHS (not including the Christmas special) (Nu)Doctor Who is back, and the first episode looks CRAZY.  The trailer above is for just the first episode and it has more happening than in some seasons *ahem*last season*ahem* in their entirety - with weird eye hand things straight out of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Daleks and the Doctor with a guitar for some reason. 

I've been dying to see this ever since stills of the episode were shown, I just hope they don't put everything in one episode and have nothing left for the rest of the season.

Doctor Who Season 9 starts tomorrow the 19th of September at 7:40pm on BBC here in GMT and 9:00pm EDT in the States, with the other timezones HERE.

Marvel's Daredevil Hits Netflix - First Impressions

Netflix's Daredevil is NOT for kids, did we need that distinction? I mean the pilot is based around human trafficking, slavery and drug trafficking and that's putting it lightly. Not only that, but Daredevil is mental, he actually stabs people in the eyeball to get information, several times - this is the adult Marvel people have been waiting for.

Charlie Cox is brilliant as Matt Murdock, he's quiet but always looks like he's listening for heartbeats - which is one of the best things about the show. There is no blue matrix vision like in Ben Affleck's version, but you can hear what he hears and it's really, really interesting. One massive letdown for the show is Matt's co-partner in lawyering Foggy. The most accurate description of him I've read was he is Jar Jar Binks; he's cheesy and seems badly acted, and just doesn't fit in with the show, even as comic relief.

The best part of the show for me is the Daredevil fight scenes, it's shot in the more Asian style of fight scenes - in American they swing a punch and the camera cuts to the fist in their face, but in this there's no cuts from the action. One scene in the second episode Daredevil fights a corridor full of Russians, it's obviously an homage to the original Oldboy hallway fight scene, just this was done in ONE TAKE. Think The Raid levels of fight quality. 

Daredevil Season 1 is on Irish Netflix now - will you be binge watching too - let us know your thoughts!

Doctor Who - Season Review

Welp, that's all folks. The flagship season of Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor is over and all I can say is, it was brilliant in the writing of characters but lacklustre, to say the least, in the story telling.

One of the most important hopes I had this season was that Capaldi could improve as the man himself after the extremely shaky (to me) first few episodes. He really came into his own and seemed to settle down into his new skin around Robot of Sherwood with his interactions with Robin; as well as the way he started to insult Clara less for humour and just went with his morose take like I expected, he was great.

The introduction in Danny Pink was interesting at first; a soldier who could possibly join the Doctor in the TARDIS which would be breaking one of his biggest rules in no soldiers (except Martha Jones of course). I felt like all of the character development he had was to make him look like a good guy - a maths teacher who has a dark past but cares for kids and teaches a special ed. class, but in the end he just came off as a Rory copy; right down to his..."upgrade".

Missy/Mistress/Guess Who

One huge new character was the mysterious Missy, a lunatic woman with ties to the Doctor. Throughout the season she was there at the end of episodes with cryptic clues to who she is (or where she is). In the finale, when she's finally revealed it feels a little late, because if you can follow simple clues, you'll know EXACTLY who it is after the first time she speaks to the Doctor. 

All in all this season didn't feel like a full season but more of a build up, like at least half of every episode in the season itself. In this review I decided to focus on the introduced characters - the previous episode reviews contained exactly my impressions on the story writing of the season - exactly what I opened the review with. Now for the wait until Christmas to get my next (story-centric, get excited!!) fix, with the added bonus of NICK FROST AS SANTA!!

4 Days with the Doctor

So, it's been 2 episodes since my last look at the new Doctor, and honestly I still have no opinion on him at all - that seems to be the most apt description of my feelings towards him so far.

Robot of Sherwood:

This episode had me say one thing afterwards that I never thought I would about a TV show - it was FUN. I've always loved Robin Hood as a character, so seeing him played as a small screen equivalent of Cary Elwes' Men In Tights Robin was brilliant.

I was a bit eh coming into this due to it being the stereotypical Doctor Who filler episode like that cowboy one that are usually bad, but way too quick for my liking I found myself laughing at everything and hoping for more Robin and Doctor scenes. The arguments between the two were hilarious and for once I got a true Doctor feeling from Capaldi.

The story has some ridiculous points and the Doctor's doubt grated on me a bit, but that's how he is and it felt well performed. Some scenes were brilliant, and the script is pretty great making it truly fun, exciting and a little cheesy - what I really miss from the Russell T. Davies era.

Even for it being the second episode in four to feature robots for some reason, this has by far been my favourite episode since the Day of the Moon or A Good Man Goes To War  episodes of Season 6.

Listen:

Following up the brilliance that was Robot of Sherwood would be a big act, and Listen did pretty damn well considering. Now, while it didn't interest me much, it did have a bit more of an insight into Danny Pink's life and the way it was written felt really Timey-Wimey Travelly-Wavelly - even if the TARDIS can be powered by anyone's thoughts now..

I felt the story is a bit too slow to start to really drag you in, but the implications could be HUGE! The episode begins with a monologue about the thing listening to you when you talk alone that you only see in the corner of your eye - remind you of any certain The Scream lookalikes eh? And thank GOD for once this story actually completes itself in a neat little loop - it felt pretty fantastic!

I feel Capaldi took a step back from his performance in Robot of Sherwood with this, he wasn't particularly funny or interesting, more of the attempt at menacing he's been trying since Enter the Dalek. However, Carla was pretty sassy (for want of a better word), recalling why I loved later Amy - taking no messing from anyone INCLUDING the Doctor.

2 Days with the Doctor

So, after two episodes of Season 8 of Doctor Who I've decided I've had time to really think on my impression so far and it's a resounding 'meh' - I'm also starting to understand people's aversion to Moffat as a Doctor Who writer.

Deep Breath:

Deep Breath (S8E1) properly introduced Peter Capaldi as 12, and it left me with the feeling that the writing tried very hard to make him the silly-yet-dark Doctor that Matt Smith was, but ultimately it just seemed like he was cutting his lines off and speaking in short, sharp bursts.

While the premise of the episode (a t-rex and robots that aren't cybermen) was shaky at best, the writing itself felt awful and extremely tryhard to be 'progressive'. Madame Vastra (green lizard detective lady) is married to Jenny Flint (cockney Black Widow with no guns) and has been since their first appearance Season 6, but for some stupid reason in this episode they had to be SO IN LOVE LOOK AT THEM FLIRT LOOK AT THEM KISS LOOK HOW FORWARD THINKING WE ARE WITH LESBIANS LOVE US! 

Mr. Moffat listen closely, I appear to be the demographic age you're aiming for with the show and guess what - WE DON'T CARE. We've seen lesbian couples in shows/movies/games before so no, you're not progressive and no, it had no shock factor to have them kiss.

Into the Dalek:

Now this episode was LIGHTYEARS better than the first. It introduces Danny Pink - a fellow teacher and love interest of Clara, who happens to be an ex-soldier, I'm interested to see how The Doctor reacts to that. 

Now the story was totally Moffat, meet characters who could be interesting but NOPE - they either die or are told to shove it by The Doctor; but I digress. It did have me wide-eyed at the announcement that Clara would be miniaturised (with Himself) and put inside a dalek - considering how she was introduced. It was also pretty great to learn about the inner workings of a Dalek, until the end that is. It gets so cheesy that it eliminates all cool ideas built up to be just a rehashed idea when you enter another's body in a movie/show. 

It also seems that Capaldi's Doctor is meant to be funny solely through insulting poor Clara - look at this adorable face and delightful smile and tell me you don't feel anything other than sorry for her when he does:

Take a DEEP BREATH, The Doctor returns soon!

Yes, that was an awesome pun involving the name of the first episode of Doctor Who season 8, and HELL YES AM I EXCITED.

Having recently gone back to trying to catch up with everyone's favourite Timelord, I fell in love with him and the show again (which you can totally blame for my irrational infatuation with Karen Gillan). 

Matt Smith - The Doctor Who Forgets - is out (almost as sad as Tennant leaving, ALMOST) and in comes Peter Capaldi (of The Thick of It fame), who from the looks of his stance and expression will be more of an serious and action-orientated Doctor than the latest murderous Doctor himself was. Clara is back with her delightful cheery nature and smile which might melt the man's hearts ala Rose did to Eccleston's Doctor, we just have to wait and see!

So, do we think Capaldi will be able to take the reigns and continue to make the show an America-invading success, or will it be a Season 26-esque push too far into the dark side - tell me what you think in the comments! 

Doctor Who Season 8  Episode 1 (Deep Breath) is releasing in cinemas on the 23rd of August and will of course be on BBC worldwide on the same date.

Constantine - Upcoming TV Reboot

Soooo, this is happening. A reboot. An exciting reboot. About bloody time too.

Having recently started reading the Vertigo Hellblazer (The new DC version is too kid-friendly for my tastes) I have fallen in love with a certain dear Liverpudlian, liar, empathetic and chain-smoker named John Constantine. He's hilarious, a massive dick and way more powerful than he deserves - an occult Deadpool if you will. 

From the trailer we can tell that NBC are have gotten 3 out of 5 things right from the source - the hair, clothes and nationality. The accent sounds like a Dublin guy badly faking a London one which is a let down, but the biggest shame is HE DOESN'T SEEM TO SMOKE. Constantine loved his fags, every panel he would have one in his hand and the movie that was so left field at least got this, so I hope to god that he does too or it'll just put me off a little.

I have high hopes here NBC, don't Fantastic Four all over it.