Review - Comic: Runaways: Rock Zombies

Although I'm not the Enterprise's resident comic expert, I thought I might take the opportunity to review my latest purchase, which is Runaways: Rock Zombies.

For those not in the know, Runaways deals with a group of super-powered kids who discover that their equally super powered parents are actually a huge group of villians. Over time they've defeated their parents, been chased by the Avengers, befriend Cloak & Dagger and beaten up on Wolverine a number of times. Created by Brian K Vaughan, the series was then written by Joss Whedon and then Terry Moore - who is the author of Rock Zombies. Others have taken up the reigns since then, but the series is rested while Marvel think on it, and Brian K Vaughan is currently scripting the proposed movie, slated for release in 2011. But onto Rock Zombies...

The team have recently returned from the past, bringing with them chlorokinetic Klara. Wild lad Chase has taken a job at a radio station where his boss, unbeknownst to him, is meeting with very powerful wizards for some strange reason. And for alien Karolina, she's now dealing with the departure of her consort Xavin.

So we discover that Chase's boss intends to turn the majority of Malibu into zombies because he's just a little bit ego-inflated; he essentially wants the city to bow down at his feet, and his partners seem more than happy to help. Clearly the motives of the villain aren't astonishingly important to the plot of this book, but I'm not terribly bothered by that, simply because I'm more of a fan of the characters than the plot that they are involved in.

So by that I mean, I love the way that the kids are portrayed as kids, albeit those with super powers. In the opening scenes we see them playing truth and dare, with such dares as attempting to steal the symbol of power from a group of neo-Nazis, and such truths as who is the better kisser. They are just normal kids taking on extra-normal activities. Terry Moore has a nice line of banter for them, and again the hint that Karolina and Nico's relationship might become more than friends is strongly hinted at. These girls are surely destined to be with each other - just get them together for goodness' sake!

Also nicely devoping is how each member of the group are finding their identities within the group, encouraged by the fallout of the group in the last arc; Nico's power is getting greater and greater; Chase - the only powerless one - is becoming more of the group's benefactor; while Molly is now no longer the youngest member (at heart anyway) and has started to mother Klara in the same way that Karolina and Nico mother her. The group, of course, work wonderfully together and the zombies are quickly defeated, but that's to be expected.

Perhaps the only let down for this arc is that there is still no resolution to the hints that have been laid about the return of a character from some time ago - a past Runaway. Perhaps I'm just being antsy, but this story arc was laid down in the Whedon era, and Moore seems content to just completely ignore it.

One thing I'd like to mention about Rock Zombies is Takeshi Miyazawa's art. I find that Miyazawa's art really suits Runaways; his slightly more anime style lends towards a more cartoony feel that seems to fit with the Runaways rather well. It just makes the whole thing work in a way that some of the previous artists haven't quite managed to achieve. I desperately hope that Miyazawa stays on, but even as I write this I know that both he and Moore have been replaced, which is a little disappointing.
All in all, another serviceable entry into the Runaways canon - nice character moments, fairly ordinary plot. That's not so bad though.

News From Upper Boat!

Righto! Onto Doctor Who and environs news.

Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures have both begin preliminary work on their fourth series, though it should be stressed that neither series has been greenlighted, and all this preemptive work could be for nothing. But I doubt it somehow :).

Doctor Who - The Waters Of Mars will be broadcast this Sunday at 7 on BBC1 and will be fastracked to Australia to see broadcast on December 6th. The programme stars Lindsay Duncan as the Doctor's one-off companion Adelaide, while being joined by Peter O'Brien (ooo!). Meanwhile, RTD has revealed that a "wonderful and distinguished" Hollywood actor is providing the voice of the alien threat in the final two-parter. Given that John Simm has affirmed he is returning as the Master, this does provide some interesting questions about how the Master will fit into the story if there is an alternative alien threat - or the Master could just be working with them. Either way, the countdown to the end of David Tennant's run is getting more and more exciting.

And finally, it's time to reveiw the latest series of The Sarah Jane Adventures. We are four stories into it, and it's worth taking a little look back over this underrated television program.

Prisoner Of The Judoon sees a Judoon captain arriving on Earth trying to track down his prisoner Androvax, a being that has the ability to take over people's bodies. Towards the end of the first episode he takes over the body of Sarah Jane and as a result the Clyde, Rani and Luke are left to save the day. This does, however, give Elisabeth Sladen the chance to really vamp it up as the Androvax-possessed Sarah, and Clyde has some great scenes with the Judoon captain, slave as he is to the rules of Earth. A brilliant start to series 3.

The Mad Woman In The Attic is a curious little story that is framed by an elderly Rani recalling an adventure some fifty years earlier that resulted in her becoming a veritable hermit in Sarah's attic. The story centers around Rani, who was a little sidelined last episode, and we find that as she gets a little jealous of everyone's excitement over chatting to Maria (nicely remembered), she goes off to have her own adventure and, of course, is soon followed by her friends as the situation gets a little out of hand. In fact this is another great adventure, the main "villain" as it were, not being a villain at all, just badly misunderstood and it's strangely nice to see the group dealing with a situation that doesn't involve vicious aliens. More exciting, of course, is the return of K9 to the series on a more permanent basis. Another top story.

The Wedding Of Sarah Jane Smith is the story we were all looking forward to as worlds collided with the Trickster attempting to alter Sarah's life for a third time, this time using the rather brilliant Nigel Havers portraying Peter Dalton to marry and change Sarah's future. But of course a change of this nature sees Rani, Luke, Clyde and K9 teaming up with none other than the Doctor himself. It's an absolutely brilliant story, and for some reason seeing the Doctor through Clyde and Rani's eyes is a very heartwarming experience; you can't help but want the Doctor to give them a little journey at the end. Even more entertaining, however, is the bitchiness between K9 and Mr Smith, the two sniping at each other like a couple of queens. The best of the series so far, and not just for the fanwank appearance of the Doctor.
The Eternity Trap is an odd number, and I can't help but wonder why it wasn't swapped in order with TWOSJS as it is a very Halloween inspired story about ghost hunting in a haunted house. Luke, K9 and Mr Smith sit this adventure out, and while Clyde and Rani deliver some appalling puns about ghosts, the whole story is quite spooky and enormously well filmed. The second episode doesn't quite deliver what the first episode promises which is a little disappointing, and Donald Sumpter's performance as the villainous Erasmus Darkening is one you'll either love or hate. Not a bad story, and loaded with atmosphere, but you can't help feeling it should be just a litte better.

FINALLY (whew!), the first episode of K9 - Regeneration - was broadcast on Halloween, and it's a curious little beast. None of the performances are bad, and the children are actually quite good, though given that it is filmed in Brisbane, and there are scenes where this is clearly obvious, it's a shame that it's set in London and everyone delivers English accents. Would have been nice to see a Doctor Who series set in Australia for a change. The story is somewhat simple, and you can't help but compare it to The Sarah Jane Adventures which has more complex stories. As a result K9 feels it is talking down to the audience a little, which is a great shame. However, it's still not a bad little opener and I look forward to viewing the rest of it next year!

US TV News

Time for some catch up as I've been a little slack recently on updates and there's been a tonne of news, so let's quick off with one we pretty much all saw coming.

Joss Whedon's Dollhouse has been cancelled. Fox will play out the remaining episodes, but realistically, given the ratings of the first season, it's astonishing that this one even got a second season (thank god for DVD sales). Whedon claims he has another project in the works and details of this will be revealed before the end of the year. In the meantime Eliza Dushku is contracted to Fox for another television series, so she won't be going anywhere in a hurry.

Some slightly disturbing news for fans of Numb3rs, as the episode request for the new series of this show has been cut from 22 to 16. Now this doesn't necessarily mean anything as of itself, but there are very few programmes where it's future has been assured after having it's episode count cut mid season. Hopefully it's not the end for this one.

Ratings continue to be abominable for Heroes, the series now barely able to scrape 6 million viewers for each episode (except, obviously, for the one where Hayden Panettiere and Madeleine Zima snogged, but even then it only just broke the 6 mill barrier). If the series doesn't get cut off mid season, it's highly unlikely that Heroes is going to get a fifth season. Such a shame. Mi once described this series as being "not as good as you think it should be" and that's getting increasingly the case. There is so much potential in the series with such wonderful characters it's amazing that it never recovered from Season 2. In other news it has been confirmed that Adrian Pasdar, although contracted to appear for the full season, will be written out mid way through.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent kicks off in March next year, in it's new home on US Network where it has found a very happy home. As previously noted, Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe and Eric Bogosian will be written out during the series, with Jeff Goldblum, now partnered with Saffron Burrows, taking center stage. Burrows character has been named as Detective Julia Porter and Bogosian's replacement is the yet-to-be-named character portrayed by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. In related news, Stephanie March rejoins the cast of Special Victims Unit as ADA Cabot on a regular basis.

Also confirmed for a fourth season and probably grateful for being on SyFy, is Eureka, a quirky little series which, if you live in Australia, you can catch at midnight on a Wednesday night. Most of the cast have been confirmed for the fourth season, but there is the suggestion that Jaime Ray Newman's character will not continue for the full run next season.

No doubt more news will come :).

Retrospective: "Halloween" series

Another bout of late night madness, another horror series under the belt. This time...appropriately...Halloween.

"Halloween": John Carpenter's pitch for this movie must have been great.

Carpenter: "It's about this guy who kills some babysitters."

Exec: "And...?"

Carpenter: "Oh yeah, and he's hunted down by his pyschiatrist."

Exec: "And...?"

Carpenter: "Err...it takes place on Halloween?"

It's an insanely simple premise and nowadays they'd be calls for "origin story!" arguing that the idea wont sell, but the seventies were a simpler time. The actual movie holds up pretty well, creepy in its simplicity and presenting a very effective mood, not least of which is helped by John Carpenter's own score which is electronic and almost as simple as the movie itself. The movie introduces us to three of the characters which will turn up time and time again throughout the Halloween series - in this case Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, Donald Pleasance as Dr Sam Loomis and, of course, Michael Myers - the ominous presence who is played by a variety of people in this movie alone, one of which is rather curiously credited as "The Shape". Curtis creates the scream queen that she was to become in this movie, and gives a very convincing performance as the quiet girl in school (though why she is friends with two wild girls it's hard to tell), and of course Pleasance is fantastic as Loomis, the Cassandra of the movie who becomes a little more obsessive as the film goes on. Halloween is a wonderfully scary movie that stands the test of time well and essentially created the slasher film genre.

"Halloween 2": The first movie ended extremely mysteriously, with Loomis declaring Myers the boogey man and Myers himself disappearing, despite having been shot repeatedly. The second movie has assumed that that ending was not actually mysterious, but in fact a cliffhanger, and although Rick Rosenthal takes the director's chair there is a feeling that this movie was filmed at the same time as the original (it wasn't). Halloween 2 introduces us to the mythology of the Halloween film, retconning Laurie Strode into Myers' younger sister and revealing that the killer seems rather intent on wiping out his entire family. Both Curtis and Pleasance return, Loomis becoming even more obsessed with Myers, while Curtis cements her position as the archetypal slasher film heroine. That said, however, the movie is essentially a retread of the first film with nothing particularly new to offer, aside from a motivation for Myers, and a certain finality to the ending of Myers and Loomis. It's a good movie, and complements the first well.

"Season Of The Witch": Apparently John Carpenter intended each Halloween film to have its own idenity, and the third movie starts this practice with a film that has no relation to Michael Myers, Sam Loomis or Laurie Strode, but rather centers around a strange business that makes halloween masks, who intend to send a signal to the masks that will take control of the wearer and kill them. Apparently the film was written by Nigel "Quatermass" Kneale, although he was unhappy with the changes made to his script and so had his name taken off the credits, which is probably a good idea because the movie is pretty bloody ordinary, even thinking of it as a stand alone film. It has nothing particular to recommend it and the ending which suggests the villains may have gotten away with their plan doesn't really shock - Halloween had the same ending in many ways. Overall, Halloween III is a bit of a waste of time and isn't really notable at all.

"The Return Of Michael Myers": Ten years after the original, Michael Myers and Sam Loomis are back, surprisingly having survived their apparent cremation in Halloween 2, and following on from the film's ideas, Michael is hunting down his lone surviving relative, Laurie Strode's daughter Jamie Lloyd - the fourth important character in the film series. Dwight H Little directs this film, while Carpenter has no involvement whatsoever. I have to say that I adore this film. Jamie, played by Danielle Harris, is wonderful in her role, and Donald Plesance has turned Loomis into a true obsessive, almost as terrifying as Myers in his own way. Myers remains the dedicated killer, finding new and more entertaining ways to kill his victims, but the high point of the film is the ending which is one of the most disturbing endings to a film, played so well by Harris and particularly Pleasance. The idea that Myers is now dead and Jamie will follow in his footsteps is beautifully circular and a brilliant idea.

"The Revenge Of Michael Myers": Shame they didn't carry it through though. Dominique Othenin-Girard becomes the new director, and the ending of the previous film is referred to in passing but in such a way that it never becomes clear whether it actually happened or whether it was just a dream that Jamie had. Nonetheless Halloween 5 sees the return of Plesance and Harris, as well as some other characters who seem to turn up with the sole purpose of being killed off. Harris again brings her character a lot of depth, especially given she can now no longer speak, although it seems that neither Plesance nor Harris were particularly impressed with the decision to toss away the ending of the previous film. Halloween 5 suffers from the same problems of Halloween 2, not really giving us anything new, but still turning in a successful horror film. What is slightly interesting, however, is the decision to give a slightly more curious motivation to his killing, and introducing a mysterious "man in black" character that seems to abduct Jamie and Michael at the end of the film. It's a deliberate cliffhanger, but its effectiveness is questionable.

"The Curse Of Michael Myers": This is an absolute mess of a film, which is a shame because while Joe Chappelle taking the director's chair is uneventful, the fact that it was written by fan Daniel Farrands suggests the film should have been better than it was. The film attempts to explain the man in black from the previous film, while bringing us the return of Tommy, the little boy who Laurie Strode was babysitting in the first film, but there are a great number of problems with the film, kicking off with the return of Jamie Lloyd, but not portrayed by Danielle Harris, because the producers didn't want to pay her the amount she was asking for. From there we have the decision to radically refilm the ending, despite the fact that Donald Plesanace had passed away during the filming of the movie, leaving the ending very much up to the interpretation of, well, pretty much everyone. The other thing that disturbs me is the insinuation that Jamie was impregnated by Michael which is just wrong on so many levels. There seems to have been a really good idea behind this film, but it all just fell apart as the film was actually made. Shame, really.

"H20: Twenty Years Later": Twenty years after the original, Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the Halloween series as Laurie Strode (now calling herself Keri Tate for no really good reason), in a film written (uncredited) by the writer of the hour, Kevin Williamson and directed by Friday the 13th luminary Steve Miner. Overlooking the fact that this movie virtually ignores the previous three movies (though its not impossible to reconcile the films, fellow continuity freaks!), the main problem with this movie is that it's boring as shit. Everyone wanders around, wallowing in their personal problems; the kids are essentially Dawson, Joey, Pacey and Jen while Laurie ceases to even remotely resemble the character from the original films. If that wasn't bad enough, someone attempts to do what is easily the worst Donald Pleasance impression in the history of cinema. I recall enjoying this film a lot, but on rewatching I was astonished at how ordinary it was. By the end, I couldn't care less about Laurie and sort of hoped that Michael would finish her off. He didn't.

"Resurrection": Oh, I take it back, he did. Rick Rosenthal returns to the Halloween fold to direct the single worst entry in the Halloween canon. Oh dear lord there is nothing to recommend this film at all. Even the usually reliable Bianca Kajlich is below par on this film. The sad thing is that, on reading Daniel Farrands pitch for the movie, it actually seemed quite interesting; especially the idea of Laurie Strode actually being the killer. Instead we get the ending of the previous movie retconned to bring Michael Myers back to life to go killing, picking off Jamie Lee Curtis in the opening sequence. The problem is, though; having killed Laurie Strode, why does he keep killing??? Why wouldn't he bother to go hunting Laurie's son from the previous movie? None of the film makes sense, and most of it is just stupid. It's a devastatingly depressing way to end a series which was doing so well.

"Rob Zombie's Halloween": Having joked that if Halloween was to be made today it would be an origin story, it's a little depressing to see the prediction come true. The reboot of the Halloween series has a lot of things that strike you from the outset - a half hour sequence in which we discover that Michael is a troubled young boy with a horrible home life and Sam Loomis (now portrayed by Malcolm McDowall) is nothing more than a hippy. Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) is confirmed from an early point as Myers' sister, so the film remakes both Halloween and Halloween 2. However, the amount of nudity in the film is quite noticeable, particularly given there was so little nudity in the series to this point. On the casting front, Zombie's version brings Danielle Harris back to the Halloween series, this time playing Annie Brackett, but it's great to see her. Even more exciting is the ever offbeat Brad Dourif playing Annie's father, Sheriff Brackett. In spite of that, however, Zombie's version seems to feel more like Saw than the movie it is remaking and as a result it lacks that Halloween feel. Shame really.

My initial feelings about the Halloween series is that it is the most consistent horror series, up to a certain point (that being Halloween 6). From that point on it starts to go downhill rapidly, and its reboot is the worst of the horror reboots to date. Halloween, however, has a charm that wont die and given John Carpenter's notorious track record of hit or miss, Halloween is most definitely a hit.

Retrospective: "Jaws" series

Continuing our horror series retrospectives, and this time round it's Jaws!

"Jaws": To be honest, I don't think there is a better horror film out there than Jaws. Directed by Steven Spielberg, you can see the true genius of the man in this film, whether it's the perfect casting or the very clever idea of keeping the shark rarely in shot (I don't know whether the reason for this was artistic or practical, but regardless it is a very good idea), Spielberg is clearly at the top of his game with this film. I mentioned the casting, and it is universally good, with the three leads turning in exceptional performances. Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss are fantastic as, respectively, the hard bitten shark hunter and the younger, more enthusiastic marine scientist. But it is Roy Scheider who holds the movie together with a wonderfully believable performance as local sheriff Brody, the only local who believes the shark threat. But if there's one thing that raises this movie from excellent to brilliant, it is John Williams' iconic score. Some movie themes transgress the movies they came from, and Williams' shark theme ismore than just the theme from Jaws; it's a theme for danger in the water everywhere. Frankly, I can't enthuse about this movie enough. There are so many quotable lines, so many memorable scenes ("We're gonna need a bigger boat..."); the movie is a masterpiece of cinema.

"Jaws 2": Every so often, movie makers should probably realise that a movie is amazing because of it's originality, and to do a sequel actually starts to diminish the original. Jaws 2 is the perfect example of this. Devoid of Spielberg, Shaw and Dreyfuss, and laden with a very unhappy Scheider, the movie has some thrills, but none of the tension of the original; after all, we already know what is in the water and what it looks like. New director Jeannot Szwarc makes the one mistake Spielberg knew not to, and so we see far too much of the shark, and enough to see that it is completely fake. The locals, who seemed just ignorant in the first film, now come across as blindingly stupid, replaying the dialogue of the original as though they've forgotten about the previous shark attack that Brody not only warned them about but saved them from; and so ignore Brody again this time round. It's frustrating to sit through, and difficult to raise any sort of real emotion over.

"Jaws 3D": The 3D sequel looks more than a little tacky given director Joe Alves's desire to make the most of the medium, but that aside I have a little gem of love for this film. Set in SeaWorld (how they managed to get permission to do that I have no idea) and starring Dennis Quaid as Brody's eldest son, this time round we get a new shark eager to feast on everything inside the underwater observatory. There's nothing particularly new or clever about the movie, but the location is refreshingly different, and so the group of nay-sayers in this film are not as risable as those in the previous outing and Quaid is a charismatic enough lead. Not as good as the first, but the best of the sequels in my opinion.

"Jaws: The Revenge": Some might argue that one sequel was one sequel too many, but this movie proves that three sequels is most definitely one sequel too many. Truthfully, there's a lot to hate in this movie, and contrary to popular belief, Michael Caine is not one of them. Joseph Sargent takes on both writing and directing chores, but the very idea that the shark is tracking down the Brody family just beggers belief (is it supposed to be the same shark as the others? If so, how did it survive it's clear deaths? And if not, why on earth does it have a vendetta anyway? And that's all assuming that a shark would actually have a vendetta in the first place!). Scheider said no to this one, Quaid refused to reprise his role, so Lorraine Gary, Ellen Brody in the first two films, returns to lead the film, and frankly she lacks any real gravitas to pull this job off. For some reason this film refuses to acknowledge 3D (as though it might have a bad association), but for continuity buffs like myself, this means just a little bit of extra work to tie the two movies together. Ultimately this movie is utterly terrible, and if you lost the will to care after the first sequel, you may lose the will to live after this one.

When it boils down to it, I can forgive the two crap sequels and the OK sequel, just because "Jaws" is a seminal, life-changing film. It is the "Godfather" of horror movies. If you haven't seen "Jaws", your life is not as rich as it could be.

Review - DVD: Dalek War

It's been a bumper year for Classic Doctor Who DVD releases, with a total of 17 stories making their way onto DVD, and Dalek War is a boxset that comprises the final two stories for 2009 - Frontier In Space and Planet Of The Daleks.

Frontier In Space sees the empires of Earth and Draconia on the brink of war, being pushed further into it by a third, scarier party who are using the Ogrons. If you're one of those people who actually looks at the cover of the DVDs you buy, it should take you about a second to work out that the Master is the third party, and another two seconds to realise that the Daleks are behind him. Everybody raves about how great the Draconians and Ogrons look in this story - as well they should - but it doesn't make up for the fact that for 90% of the first four episodes (and I do not exaggerate here), the Doctor and Jo are locked up in a cell. For the last two episodes the Doctor gets to do something, but again Jo spends most of her time in a cell. It's a particularly galling and boring story, which is a surprise because it is penned by Malcolm Hulke, who usually churns out some pretty great stuff. Roger Delgado is on fine form in this story, stealing the entire story from everyone (and he doesn't turn up til Episode Three!), but due to some problem at the end (it's unclear from the production notes and audio commentary contradicting each other what exactly was the cause), the Master simply disappears without a send off. This is particularly sad as Delgado was killed shortly after this and so his Master makes his final appearance in this story.

Planet Of The Daleks finds the Doctor and Jo tracking down the Daleks to stop their further plans, but encountering a group of Thals who are there to stop the Daleks as well. The Daleks are...well, some poor script editing means that Terry Nation's story is really tacked onto the previous one and so it's never quite clear what the Daleks' plans are. We know they are trying to master invisibility, have a biological weapon and also have 10,000 Daleks in deep freeze, but it's still not clear what exactly this has to do with the war between the Draconians and Earth, and indeed what it has to do with each other. The story, in fact, is pretty much Terry Nation picking all the best bits from his previous stories and doing them again; with plundering from the original Dalek story particularly obvious. However, viewers probably don't remember that, and frankly there is so much going on that you can overlook the plotholes. It certainly is infinitely more entertaining than Frontier.

As usual for Doctor Who DVD releases, there are an absolute abundance of extras on the discs (indeed each disc has its own "extras" disc).

Commentary for both stories is provided by producer Barry Letts, script editor Terrance Dicks and Katy "Jo Grant" Manning. Frontier is moderated by Clayton Hickman, who is affable, engaging and enlightening, which is good because for me, Letts and Dicks come across with an air of condescension throughout both commentaries, at times repeating themselves and often remarking on how great their era was compared to other eras of Doctor Who. Manning is a particularly grating commentator whose stupid voices get very irritating, very quickly. On Planet, Prentis Hancock and Tim Preece join in the commentary, but while they are quiet and straightforward, they lend little to the commentary.

Also in the negative zone are a pair of documentaries that try to contextualise the stories. This was extremely effective on Doctor Who And The Silurians, but here they have taken a different approach by having a future human looking back on the stories, guided by someone else. It isn't funny and it frequently is just annoying. What is more annoying, however, is the actual pieces. Planet, for instance, takes great painst to examine the Vietnamese War and its impact on the story, before concluding that it had no influence. Added to that is Janet Fielding stepping in to give us her opinions on sexism in the stories (and rather magnificiently, completely missing the point of Frontier In Space), which never fails to bore me to tears. The pieces are terrible.

HOWEVER, there is still an enormous amount of great material on the discs.

Both stories have a doco looking back over the making of the story, and here the talking heads are much more interesting, giving us some fascinating insights into how the stories were made and were things were going. The production notes are a great compliment to these documentaries, but it is sometimes confusing as to what to believe, particularly when commentators disagree and both disagree with the production notes. Somewhere in between the truth lies...

One of my favourite documentaries shows up on these discs, and that is the further look at the Doctor Who comic strips; Frontier looking at the Third Doctor, while Planet looks at the Daleks. These are always entertaining and the people chosen to talk about the comics are very knowledgable and give some very interesting perspectives. I can't help but wish these were longer so that we could get a slightly deeper look at the material, but I suppose a time limit has to come in at some point. Quite brilliant.

Frontier has a memorial to Roger Delgado which is particularly moving (if you don't have a tear at the end there is something wrong with you) and Planet has a documentary talking about one of the major innovations the story has, and that is the re-colourisation of Episode 3 of the story. I have to admit I found this second documentary quite amazing, and it gives a lot of hope that the previous black and white only episodes of Pertwee will finally surface in colour at some point.
Blue Peter segments, photo galleries, coming soon trailers, and copious amounts of PDF files make up the remainder of the discs and affirm that Doctor Who really does have the best television DVDs around.

If you're a Doctor Who fan you really should pick these up. If you are a casual viewer, only interested in the stories, I'd suggest giving this one a miss. You won't lose much sleep over it.

Gratuitous Plug Time

As the title suggests, it's gratuitous plug time, which is sort of like hammer time, but with less parachute pants. Now that I've got you doing the sideways crab dance like that funky mother MC Hammer, we'll continue.

Quite apart from my life watching TV shows, movies and all things geeky, I also run an online comic business. Well, the website has had a complete makeover, inspired in part by blogs such as this one. So here's the plug part - please check it out at www.mjcomicsandcollectables.com.

When I do comic reviews, I may crosspost them to the MJ website as well. It will also likely have some of its own reviews of comics that we are selling, so feel free to bookmark it and visit often!

Hammer time.... doo doo doo doo, doo doo, doo doo.

/end plug.