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An error has ocurred. Please try again"So if you could choose 13 writers, living or dead, to write scripts for a Doctor Who series, but none of them could be people who have written Who scripts before, who would you choose and what do you imagine they might write?"
Many interesting answers were given, but having asked the question I thought I ought to offer mine in full;
1. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - The mystery of the broken robot. The murder of a young woman in 18th century London appears to have been committed by a 19th century mechanical man. Yet there is no apparent evidence of time travel involved. How did the robot get there, how was such a thing created and what possible motive could be behind the killing? The Doctor investigates this series of impossible events.
2. H.G. Wells - The Creatures that Owned the Universe - The Doctor meets a race who claim to have come from a time before this universe began, they have come to claim back all the particles of matter that were taken from their universe to create ours. Apart from the moral quandary of the situation, the Doctor is faced with the very real possibility that he is powerless to defend his universe against the power of a race that can move across the boundaries between universes and control the powers of creation.
3. Joss Whedon - Time Girl and the Race of Judges. The Doctor arrives on a planet where humans are kept like pets by godlike creatures who claim to be saving them from their own tendency for self destruction, but one girl who has the power to change moments in time is disrupting the seemingly perfect balance of power. Will she make things better or worse and will the Doctor have to save her from herself or vice versa?
4. Jules Verne - Into the Eye of the Eagle - The Doctor Takes his companion on a sightseeing trip of the Eagle Nebula only to find that a race of giant space dwelling creatures is building vast and terrible things with the stardust there; things of equal parts beauty and horror.
5. Philip K. Dick - Perhaps we may be born soon. After the TARDIS crashes on a seemingly uninhabited world, the Doctor and his companion regain consciousness, only to find themselves transformed into the unborn offspring of an alien creature. The two of them along with three other temporary residents in this mysterious womb, await their immanent rebirth, but is anything here what it seems to be?
6. Ronald D. Moore - Civilian - it is 96th Century earth and war has thrown much of the planet back to the dark ages. The Doctor can use Gallifreyan technology to bring the war to an end but at what cost? And who has disrupted the human time line? A mysterious figure claims to know the Doctor and begs him not to end the war for the sake of the human race.
7. Voltaire - The Perfectors - The Doctor, in search of long lost Gallifrey, stumbles upon a space station supporting the lives of 64 living members of the race of Time Lords. They have long gone undetected as they have renounced time travel and regeneration, choosing instead to travel silently among the stars, observing as they go and seeking to make no impact on any situation they observe. The Doctor, to the great distress of his travelling companion, is of the mind to settle down with these peaceful folk and make a life there, to make peace with the demons of his past and to take no more measures to interfere with the ways of the universe, but there is more than meets the eye in this tale of simplicity and natural living, for not all that seems natural was meant to be.
8. William Shakespeare - A Time Lord is as a Time Lord does - The TARDIS arrives in the court of a Saxon King. The King's daughter is betrothed to the son of a neighbouring king, but witnessing the mysterious arrival of the heavenly TARDIS, she thinks him to be a creature sent to her by God and in a moment's glance, she falls in love. There are monsters in the woods that only the Doctor has either the will or the wiles to slay, but in slaying them he may only deepen the love of the princess and thus also slay the kingdom's hope for peace. Comedie may in time descend to love's sweet tragedie as our hero must seek to seem as that which he is not, if he is to remain true to that which he must be.
9. C.S. Lewis - The Cup of Rassilon - An iron age group of humans in Britain share the legend of an ancient cup of Rassilon that offers regeneration to those who drink from it. The tribe divides between those who wait faithfully for a revelation about the cup and those who wish to go out and seek the cup. The Doctor becomes obsessed with working out how the tribe have any knowledge of Rassilon in the first place, but a mysterious old woman tells the Doctor he is looking in the wrong place for the truth. 'Sometimes it is the boat that carries the river' she says 'but foolishness and greed are the same wherever they come ashore.'
10. Hayao Miyazaki - The Tree of Stolen Histories - The TARDIS lands on a planet where sentient plants burrow into the circuitry and begin to open up portals to the Doctor's past destinations. Wonderful and terrible things occur when time and place begin to mingle, but out of this the most unexpected friendship occurs.
11. Isao Takahata - Orphans of the Time War - The TARDIS is transported by the Tree of Stolen Histories to a once idyllic planet, now populated by children of species that now never existed as a result of the Time War. Time scavengers regularly raid the planet to claim residents for food or slavery. Can the one who helped create this tragedy bring any hope to this hopeless place? Or is it the Orphans who bring redemption to him?
12. JRR Tolkein - The Dark Chronicle of the Daleks - It has often been asked, what might make such a race of soulless creatures as the Daleks, what motivates such evil and destruction? Long ago before the fall of Kaled City, before radiation flooded the planet of Skaro; when the Thals and the Dals lived upon the surface and the name of Davros had not yet been uttered, a dark seed of hate was planted. A hate that goes deeper than the desire to survive, a hate more hideous than revenge or jealousy; this seed was the hatred for life itself. The seed was planted by a time traveller and the reason for its planting was a secret to all races and all generations; the name of the time traveller was never spoken and his secret was known only by the one who gave him the seed. Wars would be fought and planets would fall, races would disappear into the annals of history before the truth would be known as to why the seed was planted...
13. Aaron Sorkin - What kind of Time Lord have I been? The Doctor is arrested by the shadow Proclamation and has to stand trial for crimes against innocent species caught up in the Time War. But here's the thing, and there's no two ways about it; the Doctor can't call on past versions of himself, or companions who would have his back, even if all hell broke loose on this Time Lord from Gallifrey, because everyone already knows that's what they'll do. Instead he calls for his oldest enemy; Missy/the Master to plead his defence. What ensues is not a war of worlds, but of words; not of guns, but ideas. And in the end, perhaps the best voice to speak for Doctor's innocence is the one who would, in any other circumstance, feed him to the wolves.
Reviews
Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)
It's not bad - just not that good.
So far, Rebel Moon is fine, but feels cobbled together from many ideas that we've seen elsewhere many times before. Homage is one thing, and is often great, but this is something altogether more dull and predictable. Even a direct rip-off can be done in a way that at least feels fresh and stylish, but that doesn't happen here either.
There's no fun, no richness of character, no light or shade in the dialogue - the script hangs at the same tonal grey all the way through the movie.
Visually the movie is quite nice; that's something we come to expect from Snyder, but even here, there is nothing really new or unexpected.
If you're going to admit to not being given the permission to do a Star Wars movie, then going ahead and doing it anyway, you really need to deliver something that proves that Disney/Lucas Films should have trusted you with the project. If anything it would have benefitted from being part of a larger universe that we already knew. As a world that had to stand on it's own, each location felt like an echo of a generic type rather than a specific place that acted as a character in the narrative.
Story wise, 'A Child of Fire' has its origins in Seven Samurai, but in terms of space remakes of that story, while Battle Beyond the Stars may act as a less sophisticated visual remake, it tells a more compelling story. Along with the Star Wars rip-offs there is also a character taken blatantly from a Doctor Who episode spliced together with one from Star Trek. It's a you'll know it when you see it situation.
Rebel Moon does have a few interesting religious references in some name meanings and one small sub narrative borrowed one of the apocryphal Gospels, but doesn't really seem to do anything interesting with those references.
Ultimately, Snyder had the potential of a whole new universe to explore but ended up rehashing all the old ones. Let's hope that Part II does something a little more interesting.
Cunk on Britain (2016)
Really Educatory
Philomena Cunk is really good at telling us what history is in the past behind us and all that so that we know what past things have past us by. Cunk is usually great and this series is no inception. I now know all about the Iron man the Vikings and Norman the Conqueror. Looking forward to more episodes so I can learn when the Star Wars happened and perhaps why foreign things are foreign.
P.S. Charlie Brooker should do a review of this on one of his screen wipe shows, I bet he thinks it was rubbish!
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
It's good coz it's fun
This may not be a life changing movie, but it's a great fun movie with excellent characters, great visuals, a lot of adventure and a sound track which is a more than considerable cherry on the cinematic cake. Above all it remembers to employ the all too often forgotten art of storytelling.
It is one of the best films in the Marvel cinematic universe, which was already leaving its DC rivals behind a little before this film was released. Guardians of the Galaxy will never be serious sci-fi, but it is a welcome move away from the american obsession with superheros - even though it is a superhero movie of sorts, it is an ensemble cast story which sees every character as different, unique and important rather than placing all the specialness on one or two characters.
There are too many good performances to describe in detail here, but I think it's important to mention two;
1. This is the first movie where we see what Chris Pratt has offer the big screen.
2. Oddly, this is possibly the best performance we have ever seen from Vin Diesel.
Go watch it, it's fun :)
Humans (2015)
What does it mean to be human?
This is the best kind of Sci-Fi, doing what Sci-Fi was born to do - ask the deep questions about the nature of humanity, the questions that are too hard to ask in the context of a less fictional environment. The thing that makes Humans so chillingly compelling is that the reality it portrays is only the smallest step away from reality as we know it today. This linked with great script writing, great acting and a great score means that what could have been a preachy lecture on human morality, becomes a warm, fun, scary, compelling tale of lovable characters who have the capacity to transform your understanding of what it means to claim you are human.
The Expanse (2015)
One of the best and most original TV Sci-Fi series
The Expanse is one of the best and most original TV Sci-Fi series for many years - and it earns this accolade for many reasons;
Firstly the story plays out in a believable future and is the first story to really make use of our modern understanding of the layout of our solar system. Secondly the science and technology of the Expanse is pretty reasonable, except of course the stuff that is meant to be mysterious and beyond the understanding of the characters in the show.
Thirdly, the characters are believable and likable - and I love the way that so many of the characters begin as hero or villain, but quickly become 3 dimensional people whose actions make sense in the context of the situations they are experiencing.
Fourthly the story is compelling, sophisticated and never falls into the old sci-fi trap of suddenly finding quick solutions to complex situations.
Also, I can't help but Love the accent that Jared Harris does - I would watch this show for his performance alone.
Salvation (2017)
All about the plot reveals
It's not the worst series in the world, but it's many flaws leave it in that horrible place where it's not good enough to really enjoy watching, but not bad enough for an avid sci-fi fan to switch off. The science is often bad. I would excuse that for the innovation stuff, most of us can suspend our belief with a 'we just haven't invented it yet', but it's embarrassing when they get it wrong for the obvious stuff we already know - like the time it takes to send a message to a probe orbiting Jupiter, which is far from instantaneous. The premise of the series is good and though the asteroid heading to Earth thing is not entirely original, it is played out in a scenario that is new. However the delivery, though slick, is all about plot reveals and lacking in the proper art of story telling.
Mean Girls (2004)
Hidden depth & commitment to comedy
The great joy of this film is the way that its finely crafted comic genius is dressed up to look, at least on the surface, like pretty much any other American high school movie. In reality the writing and acting stand head and shoulders (and in some cases all the way down to the feet) above most of the competition. Perhaps the only one that comes close is 'Get Over It'.
Tina Fey humbly takes a back seat in the film leaving it to the younger folk to put her adaptation of Rosalind Wiseman's book into action. An adaptation made all the more interesting because 'Queen Bees and Wannabes' is a book of advice and illustrative accounts with no overall narrative.
Both the younger actors and the SNL folk do a great job of portraying some serious sociological issues and exploring some of the complex power struggles of young women, yet this film never once takes its eye off the ball in its relentless commitment to the comedy. The best performance you will see from Lindsay Lohan, a characteristically great performance from Rachel McAdams and a quiet gem of a performance from Tim Meadows.
It's also one of those films I can't help quoting and don't mind watching over and over again. Perhaps it is possible to watch this film too many times, but for me, for the time being, the limit does not exist.
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Best of the Star Treks
This is by far the best of the Star trek Movies. Though Wrath of Khan beats it perhaps in the swagger and style department (or soundtrack and cinematography), this film out performs the rest in a number of departments.
Firstly it is good, proper sci-fi; it asks many what ifs about the nature of humanity in the Data/Borg Queen interactions and about how as humans we respond to oppression and invasion; not just of territory but also of culture and history. It also asks classic trek questions about the nature of our place in the universe.
First Contact joins up a number of themes for the Trek-savvy audience, but is still a good film on its own without needing to understand the references - that's a tough rope for the writers to walk.
There are great performances from characters specific to the film, like Alfre Woodard (Lily), James Cromwell (Zefram Cochran) and Alice Krige (Borg Queen). There are also some of the best Patrick Stewart (Picard) moments and a performance from Brent Spiner (Data) that lifts both actor and character far above what we have seen from him before. In addition, Jonathan Frakes, who plays Will Riker, does a great job of directing the movie, proving once again that he is not just the best Star Trek actors to try his hand at directing, but one of Star Trek's best directors full stop.
Overall, First Contact works so well because the good writing, performances and philosophical questions are bound up in a compelling story that balances high drama, humour and human interest.