General Open Thread – TV Shows (2)

[IAmNotAFishIAmAFreeMan @pedant]

@bluesqueakpip

Probably because it’s bloody difficult to get over those sodding hills; which is why most of the very ancient Welsh
towns are on the coast.

Q How do you get two whales in a car?

A: Up the M4 and across the Severn Bridge.

 

This joke is brought to you by Make the Colonials Fell Excluded Ltd.

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

2015 continues to be a shit year for actors I’ve enjoyed. Sadly Aubrey Morris has passed away.

Not as high profile as others, but Morris always delighted in some very odd roles. Loved him as the bath addicted captain of the B-ark in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He made a nice appearance in Babylon 5 as well (not a fantastic episode, but he was always wonderful) because JMS was a fan of his work.

Sadface.

[janetteB @janetteb]

I had forgotten Aubrey Morris was in “Hitchhiker’s”. I remember him primarily from B.5. Not the best episode but he put in an excellent performance. He was in Catweazle too. I am surprised he was never in Dr Who.

Cheers

Janette

[Whisht @whisht]

ah yes @phaseshift – another sad passing.

When I saw the news it was in a really obscure place and I don’t know why I felt so sad. Just something about the mania of many of his characters as well as their decency (though almost always with a hint of perhaps not being so nice).

Coincidentally I was going to post this link:

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

I have been watching the classic 1970’s TV series The Persuaders over the past week. It’s about an English Lord (Roger Moore) and an American business man (Tony Curtis) being tricked by a retired judge into becoming crime fighters. Our inept heroes find themselves stumbling into diffrent situations each episode and having to right wrongs.

This was one of many action series made by Lew Grade’s ITC Productions, and out of all the ones I have seen it is probably my favourite. This is entirely down to the excellent chemistry between the two leads. In fact, I dont think I’ve seen a greater onscreen paring of two actors in anything. They have a friendly rivalry going on between them, due to their different backgrounds, and they frequently mock each other and bicker, but you can tell that deep down they care greatly for each other.

The episodes themselves are nothing special, they are the standard plots you see in other ITC series’ such as The Saint, but I don’t think anyone watches these type of programs for great storytelling (except The Prisoner of course). They are designed to pure escapist entertainment, and The Persuaders succeeds as that 100%. It has a wonderfully tounge and cheek sense of humour and never takes itself too seriously, even when Moore and Curtis are in danger, although there are a number of suspenseful moments in each episode. The fight scenes are fun and exciting while still being funny at the same time.

I know that this is an over used phrase, but they really don’t make them like this anymore.

[Anonymous @]

@purofilion

perhaps these scenes was what caused the season to be granted an ‘MA’ rating? I think it was @fatmaninabox who mentioned this initially?)

Was season 1 rated MA in Australia? The last two episodes in Season 1 (the ones featuring the Araua Chair) were only rated 12 here.

The episode that got awarded an 18 in the UK is Season 2’s Home on the Remains. Does this episode have the equivalent rating is Oz?

I think it would be quite interesting to compare the ratings between the UK releases versus other countries ie. what do the Censoring Bodies in one country find acceptable for, as an example, children to watch but other countries find unsuitable.

Btw, where are you up to in your Farscape viewing?

[Anonymous @]

@fatmaninabox

thank you for that. Yes, the first season is marked MA and I assumed it was the “chair” and leather scene (it was @ichabod who mentioned the leather ‘addition’ as I’d overlooked that altogether).

Also, in one of the episodes there was a ‘hint’ of lesbian ‘connection’ (no actual lesbian sex!) which, if it’s Oz, means we can view/hear ‘mild – to – coarse language’, heavy sex scenes and medium-level violence and still be granted an M rating but even a sense of lesbian action leading to some kissing, for example, will attain an MA rating (except on the ABC where they’re more laid back: actually, more laid back than an ironing board with some of their ratings!).

I haven’t begun Season 2 yet (Real Life)   but also I haven’t felt the urge to do so which is unnerving as it was a cliff hanger to beat all cliff hangers! D’Argo is floating about space and we have no idea, beyond falling unconscious, whether he’ll survive or not!

I stay away from the internet with Farscape so I can be a clean skin watcher. In Oz the ratings are:

Season 2: M

Season 3: M

Peacekeeper Wars: M

I don’t have S4 in the house yet as it’s on Blu Ray only: yes, I know! Farscape predates Blu Ray but in the re-marketing of Farscape in 2013, S4 was put out on Blu-Ray (according to JB-Hi-Fi which could well be wrong). Also, each Season cost me $44. I was quite surprised. But, as we hardly ever go to the Flicks, I didn’t really mind.

****Boring information may follow:

Whilst the ticket prices at my indie cinema are $8 per adult, the amount of munchies, the fuel, the $2 parking all adds up to nearly $50 for 4. The last film I saw was Cucumber/CabbagePatch in ….that film about the Enigma Machine…..@JimTheFish mentioned it the other day On the Sofa when responding to a newbie in a discussion about Benedict as a Doctor candidate.

For myself,  I like a relatively new actor in the role of the Doctor. Certainly no-one in Oz had heard of Tennant or Smith and despite Capaldi’s stardom, he wasn’t well known here -although I’d seen him in a number of films which we’ve viewed together on the Forum as well as In The Thick of It which I really enjoyed.

 

[Whisht @whisht]

so, that was Season 1 of Fringe.

I’m kinda too tired to do a detailed analysis (like anyone expected that of me!) but I found it interesting that the series only picked up around episode 4 or 5 when the exposition calmed down.

But then again, it started again a few episodes later, so maybe they were just conscious (or scared) that people were dropping in all the time and needed to explain relationships, that “there are strange things happening” etc.
To be honest I found that a bit tiring and thought “don’t you know in years to come that people will watch in blocks of episodes??!?”.

That and the fact that the episodes seemed to follow a similar pattern of:
– Person in trouble (when innocent, they always seemed to be women…);
– Lets cut up the cadaver – ooh, Bishop needs a tinkle;
– ah, now for the gobbledegeek;
– which leads to the madey-uppy solution;
– voila (and a small something about the overall mystery is revealed).

Its not a bad pattern, but a tad repetitive.

Hey ho – now on to Season two*!

* well, I bought the boxset in the local Oxfam.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@purofilion

Okay, just finished Farscape Season 1. How the hell (or should that be frell?) have you managed not to watch on after that cliffhanger? Or have you done so by now? Anyway, I’m now going right on to Season 2, Episode 1 to find out what happens next. (Well, it’s raining here today anyway… desperately needed but it removes any need for me to work in the garden, or do laundry since I can hang it out.)

After that, I will be back with lots of spoilery commentary about the first season.

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

@janetteb @bluesqueakpip (and other Jonathan Strange viewers)

I just wanted to thank @janetteb for doing a marvellous sales job on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I recorded the episodes, but I’ve been late in consuming them and as such only finished it yesterday.

I’ve never read the book, but the TV series has enthused me enough to want to give it a go later this year. It’s a great production and I think everyone involved should be proud of developing such a complex and layered tale for the screen. It reeks “class” in just about every way.

I think I’ll lament the fact that it didn’t seem to find a larger audience (although I’ve not seen timeshift and I-Player records, so don’t know if it shares the Doctor Who timeshift upsurge) but ultimately the BBC are the one institution where audience figures are not the “be and end all”. If they were, then many series that a rightly considered classics (such as BlackAdder) would never have got beyond first series.

I can’t help but think the philosophy of releasing it in the Summer was similar to the first series of Sherlock. In a traditionally “dead” time for new series, it would become a breakout success by word of mouth. Sherlock also benefited by an immediate repeat at Christmas that year, and I think Jonathan Strange will get the same treatment. The “Fairytale” feel of it is perfect for it I’d think.

Ultimately though, this is a quality, well thought out project that will sell well and have a longevity of its own. I think the cast was spectacular in most regards. Marc Warren has really impressed me this year. His turn as Comte de Rochefort in Musketeers being an excellent example of lip curling menace that suits the slightly camp adventure feel of that project. His turn as the Gentleman in this though is magnetic.

Ronan Vibert as Wellington was a peculiar delight. I remember him turning in an excellent controlled menace turn as Robespierre in the Richard E Grant fronted The Scarlet Pimpernel (another great romp of a show). The war sequences in this, I think, were particularly effective. The overhead CGI shot of Waterloo that opens the Arabella episode (5) is CGI not to the standard of movies, but its effective as you see the battle squares of the armies and the carnage of battle. Have a clip:

If this is a project (like Jekyll for Steven Moffat) which shows a creative force is ready to helm the complicated “big beast brand” of Doctor Who, then Harness pulled it off. Magnificently.

If you’ve not seen it, seek it out. The central proposition of the story – how Strange and Norrell see the role of magic actually has some adroit similarities with the role of Science during the same period, as Science is harnessed for War in the Age of Reason, Magic is harnessed in the Age of Unreason, perhaps.

Just a note on Susannah Clarke. Although I’ve not read this, as it turns out I’ve read a couple of her stories. She contributed a short to the Neil Gaiman Sandman mythos in The Sandman: Book of Dreams. Stopp’t-Clock Yard. Her short story The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse first saw light as a contribution to a project by the artist Charles Vess who collaborated with Neil Gaiman on his Books of Magic (the third volume, which dealt with Faerie) and Stardust (which became the movie). The story is set in the Village of Wall, which borders Faerie and is featured in Stardust. Which all goes to prove nothing, apart that it’s a small Multiverse. 🙂

[JimTheFish @jimthefish Time Lord]

@phaseshift —

mutters to self ‘must watch Strange and Norrell, must watch Strange and Norrell’.

But, yes, if I were a betting man, I’d be thinking that a small flutter on Harness being Who’s next showrunner might not be an entirely ridiculous wager.

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

@jimthefish

Definitely try to make time. I ended up wishing I’d watched it earlier, if only to partake in more discussions on it. After a couple of episodes of setup it really gets into its stride. Well done to @bluesqueakpip for actions on other boards. Some interesting points.

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

While I was going through the JS posts I came across a small reference by @whisht to Dune, which reminded me I read a great little piece in the G a few weeks back which I’d meant to post a link to about the 50th anniversary of the Book.

I was wondering where to post it – Books, Film or TV, but settled here. I was 9 when I first tried to read it, and gave up pretty quickly. I went back to it after the David Lynch film of 1984 (the one that took Dino D Laurentis to the brink) came out and I saw it on the new fangled home video recorders. I do have a real soft spot for the book and think it’s right to celebrate it. It’s pretty sprawling with some great mythic themes. It’s also a book I think that it’s worth revisiting at different points of your life as I constantly see different emphasis in certain parts of it.

The Lynch film is also a weirdly compulsive pleasure, although its faults are huge. Some of the casting is great. Patrick Stewart as Gurdey Halleck for example, and I think Brad Dourif as the Harkonnan psychopathic Mentat, Piter De Vries, is superb. The acting is so stylised in places though it can make you wince. And whoever thought that Sean Young was a compelling actress deserves a stern talking to. The ultimate triumph of the film though is in the set and concept design for the various societies. It’s no wonder that the iconography of the film was adopted in the series of Dune computer games by Westwood Studios (which were some of the first to specially film inserts to drive a narrative focus for a plot and give you a rest between the various levels of carnage).

I also have a soft spot for the TV attempt. It’s low budget and it shows in places, but does have a lot more room to sell the story of the fall and rise of the Atreides family. Alec Newman is actually better in the Paul role than Kyle MacLachlan, and his change from comfortable inheritor of the family name to tortured leader trying to navigate a path to the future which avoids the bloodshed of the Jihad he perceives will come is great.

The series also did a followup combining the two immediate sequels Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune. In which we last see him as the heretical prophet laying into his own false myth. It’s well worth a look if anyone is interested, and for its relatively small budget delivers some nice set pieces. This is from the first episode of Children of Dune (which is Dune Messiah really). The various factions of the Houses are conspiring to usurp Paul and, while his wife gives birth, it’s time to sort out the conspirators in a night of the long knives. Yes, that is Steven Berkoff who gets the honor of killing the Mother Superior of the Bene Gesserit. Wonderful wordless montage set to music.

Above all though, try the book. The follow ups show a law of diminishing returns, but I do think the original is still something very special.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@purofilion     Well, yes, I am really enjoying Farscape now. You didn’t really include any spoilers, but I am about to for Season 1 as well as the first ep of Season 2… mild SPOILERS AHEAD if anyone cares.

*********

It took awhile to get going for me, but the characters are really taking shape and coming into their own. At first, I found most of them vaguely annoying: Crichton the all-American hero, D’Argo the dollar-store Worf, Rigel the muppet comic relief. But over the course of the first season, they have been allowed to develop a little depth, some back story that has given them more interest. Even the rebellious teen that they picked up, whom I really didn’t like for awhile, grew on me in the last couple of episodes. A real pain in the eema!  🙂

I liked the rather delicate approach to the relationship of John and Eryn throughout the season, which resisted the temptation to go too far too fast– this actually applied to all the relationships, where people were slow to trust one another. Some TV makes the mistake of setting up conflicted or disparate characters and then allowing them to come to complete harmony far too quickly! I also liked what they did with Crais, I really didn’t see it coming.

The humour sometimes felt forced early on, but it improved. To the point in the season finale with John and D’Argo in the shuttle, on their possibly deadly mission, and John asks, “How you doin’?” D’Argo replies, “I have to pee.” I lost it there!

I may have to start asking other drivers what the yotz they think they are doing.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@phaseshift    I am intending to watch Strange and Norrell, but I picked up the book for summer reading as I usually prefer to read things first and then view them. But I also appreciate @janetteb calling my attention to it, as I hadn’t really known anything about the book previously. I’m enjoying it as far as I have gotten.

[Anonymous @]

@arbutus

:rubs hands with glee at Farscape:

Soon as I’d begun S2, I felt ‘ah, I’m home’. It was a lovely season opener and so far, D’Argo is alive and well though sporting less than the usual ‘hair turnips’?

Gigi’s character has, in the 2nd or 3rd episode found her way to ‘her people’ who seem to specialise in jumping off cliffs for fun and ‘hopefully not dying’. I appreciated the radiation issue and the aging but the rest of it was lost on me. I might add that I was only half watching: I was typing about identity politics on our Deep Breath thread and Boy Ilion nudged me to pay attention. We had a discussion (or maybe Boy was talking to himself) about ‘stoners’ – in F’scape- and in general, ageist politics and cliff hurling.

I loved the end of episode 1 with Crichton and Aeryn sitting comfortably in each other’s arms. Please forgive my spelling but our DVD- set has nothing at all about the show -no synopsis, lists of characters or even an episode guide, and I’m desperately trying to avoid internet activity for fear of serious spoilers such as major deaths etc!

They have such an easy compatibility now and Crichton’s no nonsense qualities are balanced out with a sensitivity which Aeryn has absorbed or found within herself. It was interesting that when I saw the both of them working on the ship or strolling around other planets, usually undertaking an illegal activity, I didn’t immediately presume “these two will get together.”

At first I assumed Aeryn’s touchy personality, gravelly and defensive, would ensure Crichton’s suspicion and that perhaps he’d feel closer to Zahn’s gentility and compassion. Certainly, I looked to Zahn myself when I was dropped into the leviathan’s landscape: everything was horribly different and claustrophobic – and the food! Golly what are they eating? And how come Crichton’s not becoming horribly sick? 🙂 Of course, the ship’s little attack dogs no doubt inoculate him against illness  and space sickness.

Back to Chianna for a moment. Whilst I was pleasantly surprised with her initial appearance on screen and thought the crew would benefit from her invaluable qualities (thievery) and we’d benefit from a totally different personality on board, she seems to be changing or divesting the differences which gave her that unusual, memorable quality.

Her accent and general character is melding with others so she’s lost the ‘come hither’ look and the peculiar sighing and quick breathing of her race and replaced it with a high pitched annoying squalling! I expect the direction isn’t particularly strong in this section of episodes? It seems lacklustre in places.

But, I could well be wrong. Like Crichton, being in close proximity with an unusual crew, she may be mellowing. Perhaps Chianna is aware that her wiles fail around the abrupt enigma of Aeryn and the supple mindfulness of Zahn. Chianna was refreshing though -a free spirit who tried to be receptive and remained buoyant where pessimism was, and still is, Rygel’s default setting.

So, if Rygel has three stomachs, does he then have three colons, asks Boy Ilion? Anything suppurative or scatological is very interesting to the Boy providing we don’t move into the territory of menstrual discussions.

It was interesting to learn, though, how the crew do their washing? It appears it’s Chianna’s duty to use the ship’s proto-goo or secretion as detergent? Interesting. I’m thinking she has a terraformed space for food growth, harvest and recycling (the latter, when combined with the thought of Rygel’s stomachs, dampens my appetite somewhat!) although we don’t see that -and I’d love to. One thing we visit in Captain Malcolm Reynolds’s firefly is his sleeping compartment with concealed sink and loo. I need to know these things! Not as much as the Boy, but a little 🙂

 I did love the birth of Talyn, though, and how he trusted Aeryn conspicuously  -I think this act enabled Aeryn’s confidence and developed her personality beyond the tough veneer of the ex-peacekeeper.

I particularly enjoyed the episode where Moya is stuck in the middle of a starburst and three alternate realities appear forcing John to be the one to solve the problem with Pilot’s help. Chianna, with her shrieking was certainly no help! Though D’Argo’s droll unsmiling humour is quite catchy there: “I feel better, but that’s after retching six times.”

Oh yay to that. Next time: retro allusions to Star Trek and Star Wars and things I’ve seen in Doctor Who nicked from Farscape -well, probably not nicked, just happily taken for a wander.

Onwards!

 

[Anonymous @]

@Purofilion @arbutus

Welcome to Farscape Season 2 – please fasten your seatbelts as you’re in for a very bumpy ride (bumps of the good kind thou 😉 ).

Re Chiana – agreed, she’s a wonderful addition to the motley crew and it may come as no surprise that she’s the ‘Scapers most cherished character.

Her accent and general character is melding with others so she’s lost the ‘come hither’ look and the peculiar sighing and quick breathing of her race and replaced it with a high pitched annoying squalling! I expect the direction isn’t particularly strong in this section of episodes? It seems lacklustre in places.

‘Pip’, as Crichton refers to her, was only intended to be in Durka Returns and was originally destined to be killed by the titular villain however producers loved Gigi’s performance so much that she was merely wounded. This, of course, meant some rather hasty re-writing of the remaining episodes of S1 and the first few episodes of S2 to accomodate her which may explain the occasional ‘glitches’ in her character but rest assured the teething problems are quickly resolved.

 

[Anonymous @]

@fatmaninabox @arbutus

thank you for that information -I had no idea. I’ll look forward to Pip’s involvement with the escapees. There are so many references to various rocks stars, clothing brands and telly shows that I’ve forgotten!

I imagine, somewhere, via Google, there’s a list.

The episode where an elderly luxan steals D’Argo’s ‘youth’ or energy reminds me of something from Who -but, darn it, I can’t remember that either. I need to have the ipad beside me while I’m using the laptop, purely to nudge along the ailing memory.

It may mean I head into Spoiler territory but as I’ll probably forget that too, it won’t be a problem :=)

[Missy @missy]

@jimthefish

I see that Strange and Norrell, has been mentioned. It hasn’t visited these shores as yet. I did try reading the book, but become fed up with all the boring footnotes!
The film looks interesting though.

[ichabod @ichabod]

@missy  JS&MN has just wound up here, and I stayed with it (despite too many thin white men with long dark hair and beards, a bit confusing at times) and enjoyed it quite a bit.  I’m with you on the book — its knotty, gnarly, twiddly style and massive “cast” threw me off.  The series removes that layer of fiddliness and gives you the story so you can follow it, and does so with verve, wit, and a loving attention to visual detail.  It’s still a bit crowded, and there’s some rushing through significant bits that doesn’t give time to digest them, but the end result is impressive, IMO.  Well worth a look.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@purofilion

Okay, I’m half a dozen in to the second season of Farscape and enjoying this even more! I’m enjoying the move away from the constant threat of Peacekeepers: there are other dangers out there! I love that so often the threats are psychological rather than just physical (although still seeming defeated with lots of weapons fire!).

On that note I should say that the Crackers episode was absolutely awesome! I loved how it went darker and darker, peaking at genuinely disturbing, and then suddenly, I started to realize that Ben Browder must have been having a ton of fun performing that script. And from the moment of his insane proclamation “Crackers don’t matter!”, we descended into madness for the climax, which was really full-on hilarious. And just as suddenly, the epilogue returned to sobriety with the understanding that the crew wouldn’t just be able to pretend all the terrible words and actions had never happened. Really, really well done.

[Anonymous @]

@arbutus

Ep 4 already ! sheesh. I need to get my skates on.

I was half way thru that ep yesterday whilst erm, ironing, and Boy Ilion was sick so we binged other shows for a few hours before getting thoroughly sick.

I see they’re already yelling at each other Zahn has gone uber nuts and even Pilot “doesn’t trust” John.

Not good. And of course, Rygel and the bloody crackers. It always starts with Rygel.

Was it that ppl couldn’t believe this was really a serious show because it had a puppet in a lead role?

He does seem a bit over the top, at times.

Anyway, life moves on and it’s birthday today -blimey, so I shall potter about and RELAX….listen to some toons on the music thread.

Kindest and enjoy watching….

Puro.

 

[EyeOfHarmony @eyeofharmony]

Hi All,

I’m hoping someone would be able to help me out in sourcing a Dalek Audio file. It’s a relatively new sound, first heard (I think) in The Time of The Doctor at 00:53 in. It’s a series of two low/deep tone beeps on a repeat. I think it’s a Dalek background noise, like engine start-up.

If anyone knows about it’s name or where I could find it, It would be fantastic.

And yes, I could just pull the audio from the digital file, however, it’s overlapped with a backing track and trying to remove that is quite hard.

Thank you!

-Harmony

[Anonymous @]

Is there a member with a strong opinion on the Batman films (from Keaton’s to the one with Liam Neeson)? And would you recommend where to start or – perhaps which to avoid?

I didn’t see Heath Ledger’s performance. It looked quite psychologically intimidating and I don’t really remember much colour to Keaton’s Batman…

Just wonderin’

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

@purofilion Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to talk about that in the films thread?

[Anonymous @]

@thekrynoidman

“Don’t be a Prat…

Of course it’s just fine here: it’s a question” dude.

That was a quote from Batman, so don’t get offended (I added the dude bit)

[Anonymous @]

@thekrynoidman

OK, I will apologise. I do not want to wake up in 8 hours and be mangled on the internet. The story, ‘Noid, is this:

I don’t think of the Batman quintet as films. I just don’t. There are at least 5 I recall and 3 are part of some hellish trilogy.

Now I find there’s an endless, endless marathon of Batty with Liam (and no-one criticises Liam around me. Nuh-uh) which is what? Four hours long?  Hence my automatic withdrawal to the Open- TV Shows Thread.

Right. Deep Breath.

Om.

My apologies for being….whiney….and…well…yes.

 

[jamcoe @jamcoe]

Hi all new to the forum, i picked up this really cool piece of what is suppose to be doctor who memorabilia at a auction this morning it is a large cast iron head sclupture that is supposed to be a movie prop? could any of you tell me if you recognise it as i dont? i just thought it was cool anyway

 

any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks in advance 🙂

  

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

This will only apply to UK viewers, but is anyone else watching Parks and Recreations on Dave?

[Missy @missy]

I notice that Babylon 5 has been mentioned. I really enjoyed this series, much better than Star Trek or Star Wars (films).

However, I was going to mention Merlin, which we’ve discovered rather late in the day, but loving it.

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

@missy Ah Merlin, one of my favourite guilty pleasures.

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

@eyeofharmony

Hi – If the sound effect is the one I think you mean, it’s not that new – it’s a creation of the Radiophonic Workshop from the sixties and has been used frequently since then up until the present day. The best way I can describe it is an “electronic heartbeat”.

This page contains a number of mp3s for Doctor Who ripped from a radiophonic soundtrack album (yes – you could actually buy a Doctor Who sound effects album in the 70s! We made our own entertainment before t’internet 😀 ) and I think the second one (Dalek Control room) is the droid you’re looking for.

[EyeOfHarmony @eyeofharmony]

@phaseshift

Bloody brilliant. The Dalek Control room is the one. Thank You!!

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@purofilion          Not sure where you are now with the Farscape watch, but I wanted to share my impressions of Season Two. I really enjoyed this season, I think the characterizations have gotten very strong. I liked the fact that the different story arcs were never allowed to take over, but slowly built to a finale where they all tied together. I found the emphasis on psychological threats and storylines, rather than lots of laser blasts and shouting (although there were those as well!), refreshing. The penultimate three-parter was a roller coaster and really well done, I thought, and the finale left us on one hell of a cliffhanger!

I’m just moving on to season three and hoping that the quality continues.

[Anonymous @]

@arbutus

Boy Ilion, all but given up on Farscape, has probably left me to watch it. We’ll see what happens this evening, as Mr Ilion has a P&C mtg and we’re alone with the DVD player –  for something other than John Wayne re-watches 🙂

You’ve completed the whole of S2? Whoa. I’m  only at Ep 5.  So we’ll see….I may be going solo like Crichton did!

Kindest, puro.

PS: I’ll corner him with the “it  gets better” line. Certainly it flailed about in the first season but the opening of S2 hit me with a bang. It was terrific and I loved at least 3 of the 4 episodes. Now I recall Jim asking @phaseshift for a blog on this??

That would be great: nudging….  🙂

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

Anyone got any new stuff that’s on their radar for the Autumn season they want to mention before series 9 kicks off? Just so I can record or download it as I don’t have a lot of time available.

You don’t have a soul if you can’t let a bit of the Muppets into your life. The early promos seem to show they have captured the spirit of the old show. This ones for @purofilion

I continue to watch The Walking Dead for it’s odd great moments. I was surprised to find myself watching the Pilot for Fear the Walking Dead, it’s spinoff\prequel. I’m a zombie bitch, obviously.

Another horror thing which may become a guilty pleasue is Ash v the Evil Dead which, as someone who thinks The evil dead films are great comedy is going to be a Halloween Treat.

[Anonymous @]

@phaseshift

I might have had some ideas regarding your first question, but, as I was distracted  by Nathan Fillion’s body and indeed by Miss Piggy’s, I’ve forgotten everything: I’m “all out of love…I’m so lost without you….”

Might have to go to the music thread for that particular ballade by a group many people continue to disdain but which my mother sings repeatedly.

Thank you for that… 🙂  Also, Long Live the Evil Dead.

Kindest,

puroforFillion (he’s aged well)

[Meisiluosi @meisiluosi]

Not exactly new stuff – but I’ve recently started to watch Ripper Street and I’m really really enjoying it. Great atmosphere, good writing, superb cast… I’m a sucker for anything Victorian and this is right up my alley.

[Anonymous @]

@meisiluosi

Long time no see! Welcome back to you, too: I’ve seen Ripper Street, but only once. We’ve been discussing Dickens and other writers of a similar period On The Sofa -right nearby, take a left and then a right…

If I get to see Ripper St again I have to try it via Netflix.

Mind you there might some Victorian elements in the upcoming Who series -it’s time to see Strax back in a tux!

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@phaseshift

Re: Things to watch — While you lucky people in the UK have already had the opportunity to see it, and I suppose it is on BBC iView if you haven’t, I have ordered in the DVD of the new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Partners in Crime” with David Wallaims and Jessica Raine:

I have always loved the original stories, and while this adaptation seems to have changed the settings wildly to set them in the 1950s, it seems like lots of fun from the trailer. And the idea of Tommy and Tuppence driving a mulberry coloured Austin Traveller seems utterly brilliant.

But please, for the sake of the colonials who have yet to see it, NO SPOILERS please!

[Anonymous @]

@blenkinsopthebrave

It looks awesome. Whilst I love both Raine and Christie, it was the Austin Traveller which made me sit up in the chair!

A friend of my fathers, a dignified gentleman, was a car collector and had him one of those. It was green/blue and was fun to ride in  -I was about 10. He had various other delightful rides -early MGs, a well preserved Bentley. Trips to Victoria were exciting as we got to ride in Mr Joseph’s ‘old bangers’ -my mother’s description – but to me they didn’t seem that old at all. And better than our cranky V8 Holden, that’s for sure.

I think this should be on a ‘car thread’ 🙂

[Cath Annabel @cathannabel]

@phaseshift Just caught the first ep of Fear the Walking Dead last night – much better than I was expecting, I’d heard some negative feedback that it was too slow but I didn’t find it so at all.  I’ve always been fascinated in apocalypse dramas by the phase just before the tipping point, and The Walking Dead parachutes you in after that, using the tried and trusted ‘our hero is in a coma’ trope (see also 28 Days Later/Day of the Triffids), with the world already gone to hell in a handcart.  I like the slow build up, the hints and clues and then the confrontation.  I suspect things will now move pretty fast (though not as fast as in World War Z, given that the dead walk rather than run in this version).  Yes, I’m a zombie bitch too…

[Whisht @whisht]

Hi @phaseshift – Afraid I haven’t seen any ‘new’ TV and have been trudging through a “the complete first 3 seasons” of Fringe.

And after far far too many exposition-filled episodes that left me cringing (otherwise fine episodes clanged with moments like “you mean St Claire’s – the asylum you were in for 17 years?” said by the son who got him out of said asylum 10 episodes ago!!) it ‘suddenly’ became a good show when it basically trusted the viewer to have kept a basic grasp of characters and rough plot arc and have realised “oh, its not the X Files. Its close enough to fill that need, yet different enough to be interesting”.
As soon as it did that, it focussed on the emotional levers in the stories rather than just the icky-gory stuff.

Well at least for me. 🙂

Now (to my surprise and joy) I still have a set of discs/season to go!

[Craig @craig Emperor]

I think “Castle” may have been mentioned here before. It’s a show about a writer who teams up with a cop. The writer is played by Nathan Fillion, the lead from Joss Whedon’s Firefly. Not all of it is good, mostly case of the week, although there are a few character building episodes.

However, season 5, Episode 6 is called “The Final Frontier”. It’s directed by Jonathan Frakes (yes, Riker from Star Trek TNG) and is about a murder at a sci-fi convention. It features cast from Deep Space Nine, Eureka, True Blood and loads of references to Firefly, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica. Fillion says “I liked that Joss Whedon show” and even does impressions of both Captains Kirk and Picard.

It’s on Amazon Prime for me. May be on Netflix in the US. It won’t be a waste of an hour. I was laughing the whole way through.

[Craig @craig Emperor]

As a follow up to my earlier post re “Castle” I just watched another episode (am not watching them all, there are too many – just watching the highest rated from each season, or the ones that sound interesting). This one was called “Time Will Tell” – Season 6, Ep 5.

The show is getting weirder, and I like it. This episode references time travel, and all those things related to it such as Doctor Who, Terminator and Twelve Monkeys. It was like an episode of Doctor Who as seen from the viewpoint of those who encounter the Doctor. They even drew diagrams like @bluesqueakpip‘s to try and explain things. I think Pip may have a copyright claim!

So as I said, not every episode is great, but some of them are great fun.

[Anonymous @]

@craig

I was wondering whether to sign up to Netflix or purchase another box set. I think the  box sets have to stop! Thx for info: sounds huge fun. We do love Filion here.

[IAmNotAFishIAmAFreeMan @pedant]

For UKers (and possibly BBC Americans in, not sure) if you haven’t caught up with the new version of An Inspector Calls do so. David Thewlis is excellent as the lead and it is a very good adaptation of a play that doggedly insists on staying relevant and timely (especially given what those cancerous polyps on the arsehole of Britain that we have masquerading as a government tried to do today).

’tis on iPlayer for another 27 days or so.

[Mudlark @mudlark]

@pedant   I watched An Inspector Calls last night and agree that it was a very good adaptation and that David Thewlis was impressive in it.  My only criticism concerns the ending, which I felt that they could have left as written, rather than signposting the final twist in such an obvious way.  When the original was written the Welfare State was just coming into being and Priestley could have hoped that the society it described could be relegated to the past. It is horrifying to think that its message is still needed today.

[janetteB @janetteb]

Really keen to see An Inspector Calls. Many years ago, when I was an impoverished Uni students working as a waiter it was performed in Adelaide. I could not afford to buy tickets but had to work on a theater drinks thingy serving guests (with more money than brains) who had been to see it and complained that it was boring, too high brow etc. Ah the bitter injustice of it.

Cheers

Janette

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

For @toinfinityandbepond and @mudlark

[Author]

Posts