Captain Jack Harkness – Well Eye Never

May 2025 Favourites

Hello again, I hope you’re all doing well. For me this has been a very difficult month to be honest, as my mother’s had a decline in her mental health due to issues relating to her blindness and sleep, and naturally that’s had a big impact on me too as her son and carer. We’re in the process of having appointments to try and get her some help though, and I’ll keep you posted.

Suffice to say, I haven’t been able to go out and do as much as I’d planned this month. I did meet a close friend for a good catchup, and I did manage to have a few walks, but there’s nothing for me to write about on that front. So this post is purely going to be about the entertainment I’ve been enjoying at home, which has been a good distraction for me.

My situation also means that I’m going to stop making videos to go with these Favourites posts for the time being, as I don’t have the time, privacy or mindset to film and edit them at the moment. Writing’s much easier, so I’m going to focus my efforts on that for now. I’m sorry to those who enjoy watching or listening to me ramble on, but I will get back to making videos when I feel ready. That might be in one or two months, or it could well be longer, I just don’t know yet. I’ll try and make little vlogs here and there though, just to quickly share how I’m doing.

So with all that said, let’s get on to nicer things with the TV shows and DVDs I want to talk about, none of which is sponsored as usual, and I hope you enjoy!

March 2025 Favourites

Hey there, hope you’re doing alright, and welcome to my latest roundup. March has been a bit of a mixed month for me, what with losing our Virgin Media service for almost a week (thankfully now fixed), and hearing about the government’s plans to cut disability benefits (which I’ve talked at length about in a separate post).

But there have been good things too, as I saw a couple of my favourite entertainers live for the first time, and enjoyed a variety of bits and pieces at home. So I’m going to focus on all of that in this post and video, which is relatively short I know, but I hope you find it interesting as usual!

Doctor Who Review – Torchwood – Series 3 & 4

Welcome back to my final set of reviews for Doctor Who’s adult spin-off Torchwood, starring John Barrowman as the wonderful Captain Jack Harkness. I’ve already reviewed Series 1 and Series 2, but these later series are rather different.

Whereas the previous 2 series each had 13 episodes covering a variety of different storylines, Children Of Earth and Miracle Day each revolve around a single epic story that plays out across the entire series, with 5 episodes in the former and 10 in the latter. Children Of Earth is easily the best, and is where Torchwood really peaks, while Miracle Day is the weakest of all 4 series, but still has plenty to enjoy as long as you relax your expectations a bit.

So this is my review of both of those series, including the Blu-ray extras, and I hope you enjoy!

Doctor Who Review – Torchwood – Series 2

Welcome to the second part of my review binge of Torchwood. This is the brilliant Doctor Who spin-off for adults starring the magnificent John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, the handsome, funny, courageous, flirtatious and immortal hero whose team investigate aliens and other strange phenomena that have fallen through a rift in space and time over Cardiff.

I recently reviewed Series 1, where I also discussed Torchwood’s origins and early references in Doctor Who. So now I’m moving straight onto the second series, which stepped things up a gear and gave us some excellent storylines, as they had really found their feet by this point. Plus I’ll mention the Blu-ray extras and a lot of the music as well. I hope you enjoy!

February 2025 Favourites

Hello again. After a nice quiet January, this has been a slightly busier month for me, as I paid a visit to Kew Gardens to see their Orchid Festival, and I went to the cinema with a couple of friends. The latter in turn led to me watching a few more animated films at home, which has been a bit of a theme recently given my previous reviews of Wallace & Gromit and other Aardman productions, although this time they’re Disney films. So there are a few bits and pieces to mention in this month’s post and video, none of which is sponsored or gifted as usual, and I hope you enjoy!

Doctor Who Review – Torchwood – Series 1

Welcome to the next in my series of Doctor Who reviews for the modern era. Following on from my reviews of The Sarah Jane Adventures Series 1-2 & Series 3-5, I’m now going to revisit Torchwood, the other much more adult spin-off created by Russell T Davies. The show includes sex, violence, swearing and topics that wouldn’t be at all suitable for Doctor Who. But it’s a lot of fun, with some really interesting stories, distinctive characters, great action, enjoyable humour, a solid soundtrack and beautiful high definition visuals.

I saw it on TV when it first came out and originally bought the DVDs, before I then got all 4 series on Blu-ray. So I already know I like the show, but it’s been quite a while since I last put time aside to watch it. Hence it’s nice to go back through it again, especially as I don’t remember all of the stories vividly. I’ve also compiled big Youtube playlists for Series 1-2 and Series 3-4, with episode clips, behind the scenes footage, music tracks and much more, as I’ve done for my other Doctor Who reviews.

So let’s get on with my in-depth review of the first series, and I hope you enjoy!

Doctor Who Review – Series 4

Here we go again, on what is proving to be a very special day. As part of their celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, the BBC have just launched a massive Whoniverse collection of episodes and extras on iPlayer – including audio description, subtitles and sign language for the Classic series, New era and spin-offs, which is a huge win for accessibility. The extra features include the full-length episodes of Doctor Who Confidential and other documentaries, plus there’s an extensive archive of behind the scenes material as well. So I’m really looking forward to digging through all of that.

And with the anniversary specials now fast approaching, here’s the latest in my personal series of lengthy reviews about the modern era of the show. This time I’m looking through Series 4, using the Blu-ray steelbook edition that I own, following on from my previous deep dives into Series 1, 2 & 3. All opinions are my own of course, none of these posts are sponsored by the BBC, I’m just a big fan.

Russell T Davies is still showrunner and David Tennant is still the Doctor for this series, which is great news of course. And this time the companion is Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate, returning after her guest role in The Runaway Bride. I’m not a fan of her sketch show, but her appearance in that previous Christmas special of Doctor Who had swayed my opinion a bit more in her favour. And now, in this fourth series, she gets a proper chance to demonstrate what she’s really capable of, both comedically and dramatically, doing a superb job in the process.

Donna is down to earth and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself or others, even if that means putting the Doctor in his place occasionally. But she still has fears and vulnerabilities like every human being, she’s keen to learn, and she also loves to have a good laugh. And she doesn’t fall in love with the Doctor, unlike Rose and Martha before her (who reappear in this series, along with a couple of other companions), so she has a much more relaxed connection with him. They’re just good friends exploring the universe together, and it works really well that way, especially as actors David and Catherine have such great chemistry too. So Donna’s a very well-developed character, who goes on a big personal journey throughout this series, in addition to her trips across time and space, until it all comes to a shocking conclusion.

So we’re treated to another fantastic set of stories in this series, with all the usual action, drama, humour, emotions, visual effects, music and everything else it throws at you. And therefore, alongside a big playlist of clips I’ve put together on Youtube, here’s my lengthy review of it all!

[Note: This post was edited in November 2023 to mention the new Whoniverse collection on iPlayer and the Series 1-4 & Specials box set.]

Doctor Who Review – Series 3

It’s time to continue my 60th anniversary celebration of Doctor Who by doing an in-depth review of the third series and its Blu-ray steelbook, following on from my posts about Series 1 & 2.

Russell T Davies continues in his role as showrunner here, overseeing David Tennant in his second series as the Doctor. But here the Time Lord is accompanied by the fun-loving, strong-minded, logical and brave medical student Martha Jones (played by Freema Agyeman).

Unlike Rose, who was looking for excitement and an escape from her everyday existence, Martha is actually quite happy and busy with her family, career and social life. But the temptation to travel with the Doctor wins out, naturally. The one similarity that Martha has with Rose is that she soon falls in love with him, but the Doctor is still hurting from Rose’s departure and views Martha as a good friend rather than anything more. He simply needs a caring companion to support him and stop him feeling too lonely, which he knows only too well, but he’s reluctant to admit that to himself, and initially insists that Martha won’t be a full-time passenger. But he changes his mind when Martha proves her worth in various ways, and she ends up saving his life, and the lives of others, on several occasions.

So there’s a different dynamic in the Doctor’s relationship with Martha compared to Rose, and she’s a different character to her predecessor – all of which is a good thing, otherwise it would have felt repetitive. Actors David and Freema have a great chemistry together, evident from the behind the scenes material as well as in their performances, which makes them enjoyable to watch. It’s also worth celebrating the fact that she’s his first full-time black companion (whereas Mickey Smith didn’t travel with the Doctor very much), and therefore Martha does encounter occasional racism when they travel back in time (as did Freema in real life from a small sector of the fanbase, sadly). So it’s good that the show acknowledges those attitudes in small ways, rather than pretending they don’t exist.

Ultimately, although Martha is sadly only in the show for one series, she does make a very big impact on the stories and the Doctor himself, and likewise it all has a huge effect on her, as she goes through quite the journey of development. She also makes a few guest appearances in the show later on (and could still do so), as well as appearing in the Torchwood spin-off and a more recent Big Finish audiobook, plus the character featured in the Tenth Doctor audiobook adaptations by the BBC, some of which Freema narrated. So this isn’t the last we see or hear of her.

Before we meet Martha, we’re also introduced to Donna Noble in the Christmas special, for what at the time was intended to be a one-off guest appearance by Catherine Tate, though that changed in Series 4. And in the finale Martha gets to meet Captain Jack Harkness when John Barrowman returns in the role, as well as John Simm in his first appearance as the Master. Plus there are some other great stars who appear throughout the series.

So it’s another fantastic collection of episodes, I hope you enjoy my look through them all, as well as the extensive playlist of clips I’ve put together on Youtube.

[Note: This post was edited in November 2023 to mention the new Whoniverse collection on iPlayer and the Series 1-4 & Specials box set.]

Doctor Who Review – Series 1

Doctor Who is one of Britain’s biggest cultural phenomenons and needs no introduction. With stories spanning all of time and space, encountering an infinite variety of locations, species and scenarios, and promoting the universal right and desire for everything to co-exist in peaceful harmony, along with the ability to regenerate the lead character using different actors, the series has a scope and versatility unlike any other. And the adventures, characters, drama, humour, special effects, music and other elements have all come together to make the show continuously exciting to watch.

Of course, everyone has their own favourite (and least favourite) Doctors, companions, enemies, stories, writers, showrunners, etc, even if we don’t all agree on which ones. For many Whovians, the first Doctor they watch becomes their favourite Doctor by default, because you form a special connection with the one who hooks you into the show to begin with. That won’t be the case for every fan, but it certainly is with me.

Christopher Eccleston is therefore my favourite Doctor, with David Tennant a tightly close second, while Billie Piper as Rose Tyler is my favourite companion, and Russell T Davies is my favourite showrunner. But I’ve continued to enjoy the show very much since they all departed, and I’m always happy to give new people a chance. Whilst every change takes a bit of time to bed in and get used to, I like seeing the show evolve with new faces, places and ideas, as it helps to keep it fresh and interesting. After all, it would get boring if it always stayed the same.

But it’s still a joy to see former stars returning too of course. And so this year, for the big 60th anniversary, I’m delighted to see David Tennant is back as the Doctor for a special trilogy. And it’s great to see Russell T Davies as showrunner once again, 18 years after his big revival of the show in 2005.

Therefore, given the special circumstances, and because I’m a huge fan of the modern era of the show, I figured it’s high time I try and do detailed reviews for each of the modern series, which I own on Blu-ray. It’s certainly a good excuse, as if one’s ever needed, to rewatch the episodes and extra features yet again. So for this post I’ll be going through the Series 1 Steelbook Edition Blu-ray, as well as mentioning the music soundtrack and a few relevant items online. I’ll never be able to mention absolutely everything to do with the show, nor would I want to. I just want to pick out the things that stand out to me, of which there are many in this first series.

I won’t complete all the series in time for the 60th anniversary of course, but I want to try and tick off the old Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant episodes by then if I can. And I fully intend to review the other Doctors beyond that as well. So we’ll see how far I get.

This first post is a particularly lengthy one, because I discuss how I got into the series, explore the 13 episodes and the various Blu-ray extras in depth, and express a lot of admiration for Christopher Eccleston as he was my first Doctor. And there’s an associated playlist on my Youtube channel with clips, music, interviews and other things relating to the series. So I hope you enjoy!

[Note: This post was edited in November 2023 to mention the new Whoniverse collection on iPlayer and the Series 1-4 & Specials box set.]

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