Tag: Children In Need

Doctor Who Review – The Movie (30th Anniversary Blu-ray)

My interest in Doctor Who has mainly been confined to the Modern era from the 2005 reboot onwards, as that was when I first got into it, and I’ve been gradually revisiting and reviewing those series in recent years. It looks like I now have quite a bit of time to complete those reviews too, given that the show is going on hiatus again.

However, I have very little experience of the Classic era. I was still in my childhood for most of the Wilderness Years, when the programme was off air between 1989 and 2005, so it wasn’t a big part of my life growing up.

I did of course become aware of the show, particularly via a couple of charity specials that were broadcast on TV in the 90s, because it is a British institution that is deeply embedded in popular culture. It’s impossible to live here in the UK and not know about it. But I was too young to care. It was just one of those many old programmes that the adults used to watch, and it had long gone. And since getting into the Modern era, I’ve only seen occasional stories from the old days, either in their original form or via modern re-edits.

During its 16-year absence, however, there was an attempt to bring the show back in 1996, via a feature-length American TV pilot simply known as Doctor Who: The Movie, featuring Paul McGann as the 8th Doctor. A lot of fans in the UK liked it, but there wasn’t enough interest in the States to resurrect the show fully.

So it completely passed me by at the time. But I did eventually see it many years later, on Netflix in December 2013, when it was available there alongside a tiny selection of Classic era episodes that I also watched. I had taken the opportunity to check out those stories because of the 50th anniversary of the show – which means my first experience of Paul McGann had actually been his Night Of The Doctor mini-episode the previous month, showing his regeneration into the War Doctor. And as it happens I’ve recently seen that story again, having just rewatched the 50th anniversary specials during May. He also later made a cameo in The Power Of The Doctor in 2022 that I enjoyed.

12½ years on from my one and only viewing, therefore, I have no clear recollection of the film or whether I liked it. So buying the new 30th anniversary Blu-ray is a bit of a gamble for me, but a fascinating one too, as it’s my first proper deep dive into any Doctor Who story before 2005. It feels like I’m watching the movie for the first time again, and all of the special features (apart from the trailer for this release) are completely new to me, as I’ve never owned any previous editions.

So join me as I experience the movie in all its remastered glory and explore all the bonus material. I’ve also put together a playlist of highlights, music tracks, interviews, convention appearances, etc that you can look through too. I hope you enjoy!

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Doctor Who Review – Series 6

Recently I began revisiting Matt Smith’s reign on Doctor Who, by taking a deep dive into Series 5 as part of my ongoing posts about the modern era of the show.

So now it’s time to move on to Series 6. With the previous series, new showrunner Steven Moffat had given the programme a big overhaul, and very successfully too. So this time around things are more settled. The 11th Doctor is again joined by the gorgeous Karen Gillan playing the feisty Amy Pond, along with Arthur Darvill in the role of her newly wedded husband Rory Williams. They make such an enjoyable trio with great chemistry between them, because they became such good friends off-camera when they started working on Series 5 together. You can see how much fun they have together in the Confidential documentaries as well.

We also see plenty more of Alex Kingston as River Song, and we finally discover who she really is. Her identity is revealed as a mid-season cliffhanger, as originally the series was split into two halves, with a 12-week gap between them. Such a break had never happened in the modern era before, so it was a bit frustrating at the time, especially given the big reveal. But at least the series can be watched all in one go now. Other mysteries from the previous series, about The Silence and the exploding Tardis, also continue to develop here, along with new story arcs about the Doctor’s death and Amy’s pregnancy.

So there’s plenty to get through in this post, in terms of the episodes and the various extra features as per usual, and once again I’ve compiled a playlist for the series with lots of clips and bonus material. I hope you enjoy!

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Blackadder – 40th Anniversary Blu-ray Review

Last year marked the 40th anniversary of the classic historical sitcom Blackadder, and a new Complete Collection Blu-ray was released in December to mark the milestone. I was too busy to look through it at the time, but I finally got around to it recently, so this is my extensive review of the series and all the bonus material.

The show features the brilliant Rowan Atkinson in the title role of Edmund Blackadder, whose cynical and scheming nature causes him to look down on other people, especially his servant and inventor of ridiculous ‘cunning plans’ Baldrick, played by Tony Robinson. There’s also an impressive roster of co-stars and guest stars, most notably Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnerny, Miranda Richardson & Rik Mayall, who all had multiple roles in the show.

All of the series and specials are set in different historical periods, so it always feels fresh and different. Each period is represented by exquisite costumes and beautiful sets, along with enjoyable variations of Howard Goodall’s theme tune. All of the episodes were written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, except for the first series where Richard had teamed up with Rowan instead. As great as Rowan is, bringing Ben on board really gave the series the shot in the arm it needed. And John Lloyd (best known for producing QI these days) was the producer for every episode except the pilot (which sadly isn’t in this set) and the millennium special.

Front cover of Blackadder The Complete Collection, 40th Anniversary Edition, with small text at the bottom saying that it's on Blu-ray for the first time, plus all new extras. An ornate gold border has a circle in each corner, with a photo of Blackadder from each of the 4 series.
Back cover of the Blackadder 40th anniversary Blu-ray set, with a brief description of the series, a list of the new extras, and credits for the series and specials.

Thanks to the sterling efforts of Richard Latto and his colleagues – who also compiled the excellent Young Ones Blu-ray in 2022 – the episodes have been remastered for this new Blu-ray edition, alongside all the old extras ported over from the previous Ultimate Edition DVD set (even though it’s not mentioned on the packaging), and a huge treasure trove of new bonus material as well. A lot of hard work has clearly gone into this collection, it’s very impressive.

So this is my review of the four series, the specials and the bonus material in the box set, as well as the pilot and documentary that were on Gold last year to celebrate the anniversary. As usual, I’m not sponsored or affiliated with anyone involved in the show or the Blu-ray production, and these are all my own opinions, so I hope you enjoy!

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Doctor Who At 60 Review – The Whoniverse

For the final part of my trilogy celebrating the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who – following on from my reviews of the specials and radio shows – I’m diving into The Whoniverse on BBC iPlayer.

This treasure trove of televised time-travelling treats came as quite the surprise when it was launched by the BBC at the beginning of November. At its heart are over 800 episodes from the series, accompanied by several spin-offs, documentaries, other programmes and accessibility features, all for free (well, with no subscription required on top of your TV licence anyway).

So there’s a lot on offer, and I hope you enjoy my trawl through the various special programmes I’ve been watching. As always, none of this is sponsored by or affiliated with the BBC or anyone else connected with Doctor Who, and all opinions are my own.

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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.]

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Lockdown Favourites – Weeks 5-8

Hello again, hope you’re all keeping safe and well. We’ve now had nearly 3 months of lockdown, and this ‘new normal’ still feels surreal. It certainly puts everything in perspective, that a microscopic virus can temporarily shut down the entire planet in a matter of weeks. It’s a stark reminder of how powerful nature can be.

Everyone’s perception of time is rather weird at the moment too, with the weeks seeming to fly by, but that can be explained by science at least. Although, of course, it will be dragging much more slowly for those going through a particularly rough time at the moment, and you have my sympathies if that applies to you.

As I see it, the current small changes to our lockdown, as part of the government’s long term recovery plan, are basically urging people to use their common sense, as the virus is still circulating. We must continue to stay at home and work from home if at all possible, and obey the other safety rules. But provided we do so, we have a little bit more freedom now. So I hope people will continue to be careful and sensible, as we’re nowhere near out of the woods yet, but we’re getting there slowly. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. And obviously for disabled people things are more complicated, as Lucy Edwards has discussed with a couple of her fellow blind activists in a recent video.

As for me though, I’m still doing fine. I’ve been staying indoors to keep my elderly mother safe, but recently I went out for the first time in over 5 weeks, as a couple of essential items were missing from our online shopping delivery. So I was very pleased to find that there were hardly any people and very few cars about, and that I was able to use the priority hour for disabled people at the supermarket, which was fully stocked and had social distancing measures very well enforced. So my risk of exposure was hopefully minimal.

But otherwise I’m still staying at home, and I’ve continued to keep myself entertained in various ways. So here’s my latest recap of what I’ve been enjoying and discovering recently, along with videos summarising week 5, week 6, week 7 & week 8. As usual nothing is sponsored or gifted, and all opinions are my own. So I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – November-December 2011

Here’s another set of journal entries to wrap up the year, including a friend’s birthday, new DVDs, an accidental recovery for Nan, and our first Christmas without Dad, as well as some more jokes I’ve received via email. I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – November-December 2010

This is a difficult set of journal entries to share, with Dad going back into hospital, as things haven’t ended well in that regard. I could just stop sharing these posts and resume when things improve again, but as this is life-changing and will clearly have a huge impact on my future, it’s important to include and acknowledge it.

I do mention various other things in these entries as well, including DVDs, TV shows, music, Christmas food, news stories, etc. But most of it is about my father, with some of the details edited out of course. So if it’s the sort of thing you’d rather not read about, then by all means skip this, and come back at a later date when things improve again. But if you do read on, I hope you find it of interest.

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Journal – October-November 2008

Welcome to another set of my journal entries. I’ve combined 2 months together here as things have been fairly quiet, particularly in October, and as a result I’ve often left it two weeks between posts. That said, however, I did stay with my friend in Exeter a couple of times, I’ve been busy at work, I’ve enjoyed various things on TV including Children In Need and a special royal comedy show, and lots of news stories have caught my eye, including the fallout from the prank calls made to Andrew Sachs. And there’s also been a surprise trip arranged for December. So there’s plenty here overall, and I hope you enjoy!

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Journal – November 2005

Here’s another month of entries from my journal. This time I’ve had a lot of fun visiting my best mate to celebrate his 21st birthday, plus I’ve been assessed for support I might be able to get for work because of my visual impairment. There have also been lots of DVDs coming out in the run up to Christmas that I’ve been keen to get, and we’ve had Children In Need and other delights on TV. So there’s a variety of things here as usual, and I hope you enjoy!

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