Class: New Audio Adventures

Yesterday, it was officially confirmed that Class will be returning for a series of audio adventures. The first will feature Ace and the Daleks.

It is safe to say that Class was not entirely successful. Some will say it is because it was a bad show. Others will say it was the publicity by the BBC. I have to be honest, I would rather watch K9 and Company than any of the spin-offs.

Still, Big finish has a good track record for doing Doctor Who spin-offs. They have done the Jago and Litefoot series and several River Song audios. Having Ace and the Daleks in the first adventure is a canny way of attracting Doctor Who fans who may not be enamoured with the Class name.

Many television shows that start off badly benefit from second series. It was sad that Class never got this but an audio series might just be a way to make up for previous mistakes.

40 Years of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

It has been forty years since the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was first broadcast. I first got to hear it in 2001 when the two series were repeated on BBC Radio 4 following the death of Douglas Adams earlier that year. It made an impression on me and I sought out the books and television series. I did, at one point manage to play the text based game but it was very difficult.

Now the 'Hexagonal Phase' of the series is aboat to be broadcast. It was written by Eoin Colfer and has all of the original cast back. It should be interesting and I hope to read it in futue.

Doctor Who: New Logo for a New Era

When a new  Doctor appears there are always moments that get fans excited. There's the announcement of the Doctor, the new costume, the first scene and also the new logo. This is the week of the BBC Worldwide Showcase we finally get a chance to see what it looks like.

I'm not much of an expert on logo design but this looks okay to me and it's growing on me all the time. I like the colour well enough and it stands out  against the dark background of the teaser artwork. The font looks quite thin so it will be interesting to see whether it will stand out in the shops on a piece of merchandise or not.

What I am slightly less keen on  the 'Who' insignia:

It reminds me of that awful Tardis shaped 'DW' insignia that appeared on merchandise during the Matt Smith era and was even wodged into middle the 2010 logo to create 'DoctorDWWhoBBC'. Hopefully, like the 'DW', this 'Who' will be phased out after a while. 

Seeing this new logo certainly one of those things that help to make it feel as if the show is entering a new era. 

Farewell to Murray Gold

Murray Gold has confirmed that he will not be composing the music for Series 11 of Doctor Who. It was pretty easy to guess that it would be the case but as ever it still feels significant when it is announced.

The departure of Murray Gold is  as momentous for the program as the departures of Russell T. Davies or Steven Moffat. Like them, Murray has been with the program since the beginning in 2004. Over the years he has  composed a variety of scores, both orchestral and electronic. His best scores are that of Heaven Sent and The End of Time. His scores for World Enough in Time, Fires of Pompeii and the Stolen Earth are also great. He has composed great character themes like the Eleventh Doctor's theme and Amy's theme. Clara's theme was the best thing about the character. Even after ten years he innovated with Bill's theme. I could just go on and on about what he has done.

When the show comes back it will probably feelas different as when Dudley Simpson left in 1980. So farewell then, Murray and thanks for all the great music!

Doctor Who: Shada (2017)

Since Shada was cancelled in 1979, various fans and groups have tried to create their own 'complete and definitive' versions of the story. In 1992, a reconstruction was released on VHS which combined the original footage with new footage of Tom Baker at the Museum of the Moving Image. Tom Baker's narration fills in the gaps and his scenes could make you believe he is the retired Curator from The Day of the Doctor. An audio version of Shada was released by Big Finish in 2003 which was probably my least favourite as I could never warm to the new cast. The last was a novelisation  released in 2012 and written by Gareth Roberts which I never read but heard is pretty- good. This 2017 release is the latest and I suspect not the last. This one combines the original live-action footage from 1979 with new animated footage to fill in the gaps.

The actual story is a decent one. The Doctor and Romana are summoned to Cambridge by the eccentric retired Time Lord, Professor Chronotis, who resides there as a lecturer. He wants the Doctor and Romana to recover a book titled 'The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey' and return it to Gallifrey. However, the book is also being sought out by the mysterious Skagra who needs it in order to find the ancient Time Lord Prison of Shada. The whole story has a grand sense of scale, spanning Cambridge, several Space Ships, a Space Station and the prison planet of Shada itself. Douglas Adams fills the story with great characters and very witty dialogue.

Tom Baker is at the top of his game as the Doctor. He is known for being funny in the Graham Williams years but is surprisingly sombre and works well as the straight man against the more eccentric Professor Chronotis. He certainly sells the drama when it is needed. Lalla Ward is really good as Romana, getting a lot of funny lines. David Brierly is good as K-9 with an impersonation for the animated scenes.

The guest characters are also quite fun. As Chronotis, Dennis Carey gets the right balance between eccentricity and grave seriousness. Daniel Hill is witty enough as Chris Parsons, a character filled who stands in as a Douglas Adams type. Christopher Neame was good as Skagra in the live action footage but the animated scenes show us the more suave and sophisticated side to his character. Only the character of Claire Keighly doesn't shine much but she serves the plot purpose well.

The animation in this feature is the best of all the animated episodes released so far. It is similar to the style used in the  2016 release of The Power of the Daleks but with a lot more fluid animation. I was worried that the transition between live action footage and animation would be jarring but it actually works rather well.  Some new live footage of the Krarg is used and there is also a new live action footage scene at the very end of the tale but I don't want to spoil it as it is marvellous.

The music by Mark Ayres is a vast improvement over the score that Keff McCulloch composed for the 1992 release. Mark's music uses similar instruments to those of Dudley Simpson and quotes City of Death at certain points. Keff McCulloch used late 80s synthesizers and had an annoying tendency punctuated funny scenes with unnecessary dramatic music.  It's a pity John Nathan-Turner didn't get Mark to do the 1992 version in the first place.

One element of this release that has caused some controversy amongst fans is the decision to release the story in an omnibus format. There are no cliffhanger breaks and no 'episode select' option. Although some fans are annoyed at this decision, it does makes sense when you consider that this version is comprised of unedited footage. If Shada had been broadcast then things would have been cut anyway but cutting things here would lead to fan complaints anyway. If it's choice between cutting out footage to create 25 minute episodes or getting the whole experience, I know I choose the latter.

There are plenty of extras and this is a 2 disc release. The main feature is accompanied by a commentary by Toby Hadoke which features contributions from various cast members. Unfortunately the sound quality is not too good but it is better than nothing. The main disc also includes different drafts of the scripts and an annual available as ROM content. They are allfun to read. The 'Extras' disc includes the live action footage with Tim Bentnick from The Archers standing in for the Fourth Doctor.

The presentation of the release is mostly good but not perfect. The cover artwork by Lee Binding is good, as is the text sleeve,  but it should be noted that the DVD version of this release has some unfortunate letterboxing issues on television screens. This is the only real flaw in an otherwise great package and  I would recommend purchasing the Blu-Ray version if you can.

This version of Shada is probably as close as we'll get to having a 'definitive' version of the story. I got this for Christmas and it was certainly an enjoyable gift. If you're a fan and you haven't seen it yet I recommend it now. Just make sure it's the Blu-Ray version!

9/10

Happy New Year!

Hope anyone reading this has a happy new year! In the coming year I will attempt several things with this blog. I hope to include some reviews of Trivia including a continuation of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reviews. It remains to be seen.

2017 Stuff

Here are a list of things in the world of TV and Film that were interesting

1. Doctor Who: The 13th Doctor Reveal
What better way to end a great Wimbledon than with the reveal of a new Doctor Who? The build up and the reveal were great. Jodie was fantastic.

2. Dunkirk (2017)
Christopher Nolan's film about the Allied Forces should be seen by everyone as it is fantastic.

3. Feud
An interesting series about Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. It is funny and sad at the same time.

4. Broadchurch Series 3
The third series tackled the issue of rape. It is an improvement over the second series.

5. Blue Planet 2
An interesting look at marine life.

6. Wonder Woman (2017)
It was a long time coming but we finally got a film about Wonder Woman and it was great. Gol Gadot is great in the role and Patty Jenkins is a good director. Hopefully the upcoming sequal will be just as good if not better.

7. Three Girls (2017)
A harrowing but necessary television about the girls of Rotheram. One of the most important drams put out by the BBC.