The Twelfth Doctor goes undercover at Doctor Who's infamous Coal Hill School. He's there to get rid of a killing machine called the Skovox Blitzer but that turns out to be the sideshow to a proper confrontation - the introduction of Danny Pink to the TARDIS.
The Blitzer is truly an old school villain, more sophisticated than anything seen in the "classic" series but not a million miles away from it either. It has mechanical spider legs but is clearly trundling about the place and like the impregnable bank from last week its mythical status is questionable. Also it can be clearly outwitted if you do a bit of gymnastics. Peter Capaldi's means of defeating the menace is straight out of the Matt Smith era, first deploying an invisibility watch, then a Ghostbusters-style backpack to lure the enemy.
Gareth Roberts' and Steven Moffat's script is less about adventure and more to do with the evolution of the Doctor and Clara's relationship. He is now the disapproving father zeroing in on Mr Pink, the man who could spring her from the nest. Jenna Coleman (in full watt screwball comedy mode) sparks well off Capaldi and the light material that sometimes felt uneasy in Robot Of Sherwood works fine here. You'd think the ancient Time Lord would make mincemeat out of Danny but Samuel Anderson gives as good as he gets. I found the Doctor's blanket souring over soldiers a bit odd at first, but this military theme is being nicely developed and it'll be interesting to see how this incarnation takes to UNIT. Add to this an expansion of the series' "Missy" arc - a simple but compelling concept that I'm surprised hasn't been covered by the show before - and you have what is shaping up to be a consistent and mature run.
Ellis George appears to be joining the crew as disaffected schoolgirl Courtney. I'm not sure what qualities she is going to bring to the programme, though her involvement is fairly crucial. This looks to be Capaldi's first proper encounter with a child, Courtney representing a section of the audience that are maybe under-served by the current regeneration. In a canny move she is as lippy with the Doctor as everyone else.
Though he’s been no stranger to the action genre over the years, Denzel Washington officially joins the league of mature asskickers this month with THE EQUALIZER. Just as Liam Neeson has the TAKEN franchise, so Columbia Pictures hope audiences will take to Robert McCall’s controlled vigilante antics and clamour for sequels. People of a certain age remember the movie’s source material, a 1980s American TV series starring an unlikely British lead, which Washington and director Antoine Fuqua have distanced themselves from. I presume this isn’t out of disrespect - the new version is more a reimagining than an adaptation. But it shares enough with the original to warrant a closer look at the small screen events that gave rise to this high octane fest of bone cracking and soul searching...
Writer/directors Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin bring the semi-improvised style of their hit sitcom Outnumbered
to the big screen in this cosy comedy drama rocked by an outrageous
twist. Beleaguered pairing David Tennant and Rosamund Pike have to
pretend their marriage hasn’t fallen apart when a birthday celebration
for Tennant’s father (Billy Connolly) demands they travel up to the
Highlands with three precocious children (Emilia Jones, Bobby
Smalldridge and Harriet Turnbull). Meanwhile up in Scotland uptight
millionaire brother Ben Miller and repressed wife Amelia Bullmore plan
the festivities at his hi-tech country house. When the family convenes
the resulting fault-lines lead to a tragic incident involving a Viking
ritual and a media scrum...
A garbled American voice briefs the Doctor and Clara as they are pitched headlong into a whirlwind adventure that's perhaps a bit too breezy for its own good. As with previous episodes in this run the action is very watchable and the design is great but Steve Thompson and Steven Moffat's script is choppy and out of recent instalments I'd rather this had been a two-parter. An impregnable fortress that contains many man-sized ventilation ducts and where they reach the vault rather quickly doesn't bear the hallmarks of a satisfying takedown for me.
The story is a tight fit for Capaldi's manipulative Doctor and there are two splendid adversaries in the looming, slug-like Teller and Keeley Hawes' Ms Delphox. A creature that can get you if you so much as think is a strong concept and the excellent Hawes can do this sort of performance in her sleep. Fellow heisters Jonathan Bailey and Pippa Bennett-Warner are decent but there's a distinct lack of time for fleshing out.
All in all I was left with the impression of a story that while disposable was packed with hidden depths and ideas, some of which managed to make it out, in much the same way our heroes had to escape from the bank. Brisk yet substantial, this is still an
improvement on breakneck tales of former eras (Dinosaurs On A Spaceship, I'm looking at you).
Woody Allen’s new comedy MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT
sees Colin Firth’s conjuror despatched to the French Riviera of the
Twenties to investigate beautiful medium Emma Stone, who has become
involved with a wealthy American family. Is it really all an illusion or
could she be the full haunted shilling? Though Allen is known for his
tales of urbanites puncturing the gloom of New York streets with snappy
dialogue, he also does a sideline in stranger fare, tinged with the
fantastical and of course displaying his trademark rapid fire humour. To
celebrate the release of this latest movie we take a tour of some of
his unusual offerings, visiting different times and places and showing
the eccentric side of the world’s favourite hypochondriac. We commence
with the “true” story of a remarkable man who put a whole new spin on
the expression “fitting in”…
Doctor Who has long been associated with everyday fears, from shop window mannequins to excess body weight. But Steven Moffat goes right back to basics for Listen, creating a story around the things that lurk beneath your bed. You might think this is a bit
simplistic at first, however the writer uses this idea as a springboard for an involving episode that has the feel of a play about it. It's been a while since we've had intimate drama like this in the show and the result is the meatiest Capaldi instalment so far.
The main story of the Doctor's investigation into aloneness is supported nicely by Clara's date and the proper introduction of Danny Pink. Paranoia over unseen creatures is contrasted with paranoia over making first impressions and the way the elements are drawn together is quite satisfying. The relationship between Time Lord and companion is fast becoming one of the more interesting ones - two people of wildly different ages who are nonetheless equals and not a trace of sex in sight. Peter Capaldi's incarnation is one that truly could go anywhere and it's fun watching him develop. The Twelfth Doctor doesn't dominate the screen like former selves yet still has charisma. Listen sees him interact with a child, though I'm still unsure how younger viewers are taking to this new take.
There's also a sense of Moffat revisiting and refining key concepts that have underpinned his era and working on them again with a restraint and maturity befitting his leading man. He has crafted a script that is complex without being boastful, scary without being
overconceptualized. The TARDIS top opening is weird and there's a dodgy bit of wire work but these are minor quibbles. Arguably this most cerebral of writers is giving his series room to breathe for the first time.
Peter Capaldi makes an excellent counterpoint to a chocolate box Sherwood Forest in an episode that shows the programme taking those first steps toward hitting its stride. What begins as a brightly-lit jaunt soon morphs into the macabre tone the series is cultivating. With the Doctor no longer the young, dazzling centre the Twelfth Time Lord becomes a bickering, simmering presence, though no less the hero as it turns out.
The writers are cleverly evolving Clara alongside him. For Robot Of Sherwood Mark Gatiss has her as the person in control via her romantic knowledge of Robin's rose-tinted exploits. Tom Riley as Robin is fine and the story about a crashed spaceship and a gold-plated plan you can take or leave. But the marauding mechanicals are well-designed, disintegrating peasants via cross-shaped electric death rays and Ben Miller makes a strong villain. He's been crying out for a Who baddie since his oily turn as a prickly civil servant in Primeval and doesn't disappoint here.
The closing moments feature a lovely scene where Hood and The Doctor effectively compare notes as fictional heroes, an unexpected way perhaps to accentuate Capaldi's character. While odd attempts to join in the hi-jinks fall a bit flat, most importantly we see him start to repress delight despite his alarming gaze. A very encouraging instalment overall.
