Ben Affleck cast as Batman

So...Ben Affleck is going to be playing Batman in the Man of Steel sequel.

Well he's already played Daredevil, so this it's not a great leap to imagine him playing Batman. He did a decent job in what was a pretty standard movie.

I think he's a fairly decent choice. Some people might not be okay with his casting, but then again, people didn't like it when Michael Keaton was cast for the 1989 movie and he turned out great.

It'll be interesting to see what he does with this role.

Peter Capaldi is The Twelfth Doctor

Well, this was a surprise. I'd heard Peter Capaldi's name being mentioned in connection with the role but thought it sounded too good to be true. I'm glad I was proved wrong.

I think he's a brilliant choice. He was excellent as John Frobisher in Children of the Earth and I've heard good things about his performance as Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of it. He's also the first older Doctor that we've had in ages and should make a good contrast to Matt Smith. My only concern is what the kids will make of him. Will they be willing to accept an older actor as the Doctor? Time will tell, and he has my support either way.

I admit I was gutted when Matt Smith's departure was announced and didn't really care who his successor would turn out to be. But this piece of casting has renewed my interest in the show's future.

Is it time for a new type of companion on Doctor Who?

Neil Gaiman supposedly wrote his first draft of Nightmare of Silver with the Victorian version of Clara from The Snowmen.  Steven Moffat obviously changed his mind about this and went for another modern day girl.  But what if he had stuck to his guns? Would this have made Series 7 better?

Since the modern series began in 2005, every companion from Rose Tyler to Clara Oswald has originated from 21st century Earth. The producers argue that this is because the companion must be someone that audiences can relate to.  They are our viewpoint into a crazy world of space and monsters. The best examples of this from the original series are Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright. They were just ordinary school teachers in an unremarkable London comprehensive. There were many scenes in the early episodes focusing on their reactions to unusual situations.

But  as the classic series went on, the producers tried out different variations such as a jacobite from the past, an alien maths genius from a pocket universe and even a robot dog! Some of these risks paid off, some of them didn't, but at least the producers were trying to make things interesting. By playing it safe, the show may in danger of becoming predictable.

And being from modern day Earth is no guarantee that the companion will be well defined. I don't think fans of the classic series would have complained if the resourceful and intelligent 16th century serving girl Anne Chaplet had joined the Tardis crew at the end of The Massacre instead of the contemporary but dull Dodo Chaplet. A similar situation applies to the modern series. There is little in Series 7 that defines Clara as a modern woman. She has no family, hobbies or anything that ties her to the modern world. She might as well be a Victorian. There is certainly nothing in the adventures that requires her to be modern. It's easy to imagine that Bells of St John could be first trip in the Tardis for the Victorian Clara. Through her eyes we could see the wonder in the modern world that we take for granted. The computer skills download that she gets from the Spoonhead could have been a useful plot device to enable Victorian Clara to learn about the modern world very quickly.

Personally, I feel that a one off experiment would be good. I don't want Jenna Coleman to leave for a long time, but when she does, maybe the producer could try something a bit different?

Knightmare Returns!

I’m surprised and excited to hear that Knightmare is being revived as a one off episode to feature in “Geek Week” on YouTube. This episode has been produced by the show's creator, Tim Child, and Hugo Myatt is returning as Tregard.

This is great news! I remember watching some of the later episodes of the show on CITV when I was younger. I was able to enjoy it again recently, during the CITV’s “Old Skool Weekend”, earlier this year. And now, fans will get to enjoy a whole new episode. Good times!

I'm definitely going to try and watch this if I get the chance.

Pandas, Gardening and the colourful lives of artists, at the Lightbox

For any art enthusiasts who are crazy enough to be reading this blog, The Lightbox Museum and Art Gallery in Woking is currently running some very interesting exhibitions.

The main exhibition on at the moment is ‘Gertrude Jekyll: Landscape Gardener and Craftswoman” which, as the title makes obvious, is about the life of garden designer Gertrude Jeckyll. The exhibition itself is very well designed and well worth seeing, even for people like me who are not that enthusiastic about gardening.

Pandamonium is a collection of artworks that are commissioned in support of the World Wildlife Fund. The WWF are building a new centre nearby and their work towards helping wildlife is very important. There are some very humorous works of art, made using the panda collection boxes which were discontinued in 2007.Others might be fascinated by some of the fashion designs, such as a dress of flowers which will become more colourful when water is applied. It is the only dress that women wouldn’t mind spilling liquid over.

Finally, the Ingram Collection includes works from a diverse range of contemporary artists, including Eduardo Paolozzi, John Bratby and many others. I particularly liked the Paolozzi piece.

So, if you’re reading this you like art galleries or museums then come along. And if you have visited before, why not come back and bring someone who hasn’t been yet?

Farewell to Matt Smith

So, yeah, no more Eleventh Doctor after the 2013 Christmas Special.

Damn. I was hoping he would do Series 8, at least. It's a bit of a shame that in his four years of being the Doctor, Matt has only been able to complete three whole series. This also means that the 50th anniversary celebrations are now going to be overshadowed by the gloom of knowing about the Eleventh Doctor’s departure.

Still, while part of me is sad that Matt is going, the more rational side of me knows that I should respect his decision. If he personally feels that now is the right time to go then fandom should support him. It’s better for him to go out on a high and look for new opportunities than to get bored and feel trapped in the same old role

The first time I saw Matt Smith was in 2006 when he played 'Jim' in The Ruby in the Smoke. I thought he was okay in the role but I would never have considered him for the role of the Doctor.
A couple of years later, when he was revealed as the Eleventh Doctor in The Eleven Doctors confidential special, I was one of the doubters. How could this young man possibly play a 900 year old Time Lord? I imagined Series 5 would be full of scenes of him being overshadowed by his older, more experienced, more charismatic fellow cast members and unable to stand up to the villains. The promotional shot of him in the dark suit, standing by the Tardis did him no favours in my eyes. It made him look like an emo Doctor who had been tailored to appeal to the teenage demographic.

Then, in July 2009 we saw the first pictures of Matt in his tweed jacket and bow tie and I really liked it. It was a relief to see that he would not be an emo Doctor after all, and I was fascinated that Matt's had chosen to play the Doctor as a more of a professor than the previous new series Doctors. As the months went by I got more snippets about the new Doctor. Then, on 1st January 2010, the Eleventh Doctor made his screen debut in The End of Time. In only a few minutes of screen time Matt Smith proved that he could be quirky and funny. This new Doctor was starting to show great promise. 

Finally, in April 2010, “The Eleventh Hour” aired and any remaining doubts were dispelled. Matt Smith proved that he could act well with children, be funny and stand up to the enemies. Since then he’s got better and better and now I find it difficult to imagine anyone replacing him.

I became a fan during the Wilderness Years so I never got attached to any particular Doctor as I was watching all of their stories out of order. But once the new series started I was able to watch all of them in order, and Matt Smith is the Doctor that I have connected with the most. It’s going to take me a while to adjust to the notion of a Twelfth Doctor. 

Still, it's not over just yet. Matt is still the Doctor until the end of the year. If I have any message for Matt Smith then it's this: Thanks for being the Doctor, Matt! They said no one could replace David Tennant but you managed it. You made bow ties cool. You’ve been brilliant and I hope you go on to do greater things!

Doctor Who: The Name of the Doctor

This is the episode we have all been anticipating. The episode that was supposed to pay off the reference to Trenzalore at the end of Series Six. The episode that was supposed to resolve the mystery of Clara Oswald, the girl who died twice. It didn't seem like Steven Moffat would be able to tie up so many loose threads in only 45 minutes. Fortunately, as before, he has proved himself capable of handling such an assignment.

The episode opens with an early 50th anniversary treat for the fans, as Clara falls through time and encounters all of the Doctors. Clara's encounter with the original Doctor is also the first time that viewers have had the opportunity to see how the First Doctor and Susan departed from Gallifrey. The quality of the footage may be a little ropey, but it’s the thought that counts. Of course, I don’t know how the general public responded to all these kisses to the past,  but with all the publicity the show's received over the past eight years, many are probably already aware of the existence of the previous Doctors.

The story involves Vastra, Jenny and Strax being abducted by creatures called the Whispermen on behalf of the Great Intelligence. The Doctor is forced to follow them to Trenzalore, where his future self is buried. Steven Moffat may well have been inspired by the Eight Doctor novel, Alien Bodies. Both stories feature the Doctor coming across his own dead body which his enemies are after. But while in Alien Bodies, the aliens wanted to borrow items from the Doctor’s timeline, here, the aliens are using the Doctor’s timeline to rewrite his history. Moffat goes one step further than Miles by making the Tardis the Doctor’s tomb.

While it was nice to see the return of the Great Intelligence, once again in the form of Richard E Grant, the villain did not accomplish very much. The Intelligence’s scheme was to erase the Doctor from the timelines was something that could have been done by any of the Doctor's old enemies. The intelligence of old never struck me as a self destructive type, as this scheme would have it. Apparently the Intelligence can now travel through time and is completely aware of the Doctor. The Intelligence's servants, the Whispermen, are pretty chilling creatures, along the lines of the Gentlemen from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, although they don't really do anything other than act as sentries and kidnappers.

The Paternoster Gang, were once again a great deal of fun. Vastra got a lot more emotional material. It was slightly annoying that Jenny was killed and came back to life, but then again I would’ve missed the character. Strax was just the same as ever.

Jenna Louise Coleman once again is good as Clara. She gets a bit more to work with in her decision to jump into the timeline and her memories of her mother. The mystery of Clara Oswald is almost given away in the first few moments. It is no surprise when she does jump into the Doctor’s time stream. Now that this mystery has been resolved, maybe the creators can let us get to know her a little better in Series 8. Clara really needs an episode like The Girl Who Waited or Turn Left to explore what she is really like.

I had been dreading River Song's return ever since I found out that she was coming back.. Her death in the library in Forest of the Dead was perfect and I didn't want it undone. I was also worried that it would be a gratuitous appearance, that Steven Moffat simply could not bare losing his favourite character and wanted her to go on forever. Fortunately I was proved wrong as this version of River is essentially a ghost, hanging around at the sidelines of the adventure and offering advice rather than being directly involved. Her final conversation with the Doctor and their kiss feel like the end of unfinished business that will allow her to depart the plane. Still, I have a feeling we may still see River Song again, but if this does turn out to be her final appearance, it is still a great ending to go out on.

There are the usual elements that Steven Moffat likes to recycle. The ending, of Clara appearing in the Doctor’s past is slightly reminiscent of The Big Bang, especially when the Doctor attempts to bring her back by appealing to her memories.

The best moment of the episode is reveal of the Other Doctor, played by John Hurt. This is the scene where the true meaning of the “Name of the Doctor” title becomes apparent. All the way back in The Beast Below, the Doctor told Amy that he'd have to give up the name of the Doctor if he killed the Star Whale. Now we are seeing an example of an incarnation of the Doctor who has lost the right to be called by that title. My theory, based on the evidence of spoiler photos, is that he is probably a Time War Doctor. I’m hoping that this is not a hoax, because this could be a very interesting direction to take the Doctor into.

There is still the unanswered question of who is the ”Shop Girl” was who first gave Clara the Doctor’s phone number. Will it be answered in the 50th? The next season, or has Moffat forgotten? We’ll have to wait until 23rd November to find out.

The Name of the Doctor is not a perfect episode by any means, but it answered all of the important questions and ended with a great new mystery. I can’t wait to see what Steven Moffat has in store for us with the 50th anniversary episode!

8/10