Time to Geek Out


Telly bits and other stuffs

The Doctor Who Christmas Special this year is far superior to last year's. In the interest of not ruining it for Yanks, I'll try to keep this to stuff that's already been in the press: The guest star -- David Morrissey -- is a lot more fun and a better actor than the little Aussie pop-star (with the bonus of having worked with Tennant before), the story line is more interesting, and the Doctor keeps getting his emo interrupted. Since Who this year is specials rather than Christmas plus 13 weeks, I have no idea when it will show in America. It probably says over at Sci Fi somewhere...

And oi, the fan-wank over the announcement of Matt Smith's selection as the Eleventh Doctor! One of my friends referred to him as "the Time Tot." *grins* I haven't seen anything he's done, but he's got a nice quirky look and heaven knows the job can't be done by a mature man any more -- Tennant didn't just spend a month recovering from back surgery because of Hamlet, let me assure you, and he hasn't hit 40 yet (and oh, am I glad I didn't demand a trip to London and tickets to the RSC for an anniversary prezzie!) I refuse to squee or wail any further over Smith's selection until I see him in the TARDIS.

Moving on... Demons (working name: The Last Van Helsing), a British BtVS-light, started yesterday. It has Philip Glenister (Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes, Kingdom of Heaven, Cranford, a couple of the Hornblower series) in the "mentor" role, plus Mackenzie Crook and Kevin R. McNally as Big Bads, so yeah I'm watching. Various fan reviews have ranged from "fun" to "cheesy," and everybody's having trouble dealing with Glenister's attempt at a "generic" American accent. There's only six episodes, so no major harm done one way or t'other. In associated news -- Ashes to Ashes is more than halfway through shooting their second season, with a March release.

Season 4.5 of Battlestar Galactica starts Jan. 23 on Sci Fi, with webisodes running online until then. Lots of dark and ugly in the buzz. Should be fun.

I finally saw (most) of The Golden Compass on cable this last weekend, and I was glad I listened to the critics and didn't pay theater prices to see it. It wasn't awful; it was just meh. It didn't follow the book exactly but it couldn't possibly have done and fit in the time limit. I can see where someone who hadn't read the book might get confused just seeing the movie, but I didn't have any problem. Frankly, it was a serious waste of the name talent in it. I also saw The Seeker: The Dark is Rising on cable. I hadn't read the book, but I knew the gist of the story. It too was fairly meh, and I was glad I hadn't paid to see it despite it having both Chris Eccleston and Ian McShane in it. I think this can pretty much confirm my decision not to go see Prince Caspian on the big screen, either. I'm fairly certain none of the three series will have another installment filmed, but I could be wrong.

On a literary note: Terry Pratchett, who announced his early-onset Alzheimer's just a year ago, got his Kt on the New Year's Honours List.

Posted: Sun - January 4, 2009 at 10:52 PM   Home         | | View Technorati reactions

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