Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series Review (5/5)

For Doctor Who fans, December 25th was the beginning of a long and cold wait for a new series, as its central actors take on other parts for a couple of months before resuming filming in February for the longest time the team has been in production since the show's revival in 2005. With that in mind, it's hard to see The Complete Sixth Series DVD box-set as anything but a filler used to sustain the wait, and yet to think of it as such would be to do injustice to its fantastic set of episodes and array of interesting special features...
THE EPISODES
A CHRISTMAS CAROL- Who Christmas Specials up until 2010 had been a mixed bunch to say the least, but Steven Moffat took the festive spirit of the period and ran with it, providing a beautiful, heartwarming adventure made all the better by Michael Gambon's portrayal of Kazran and Katherine Jenkins' wonderful song at its conclusion. 5/5
THE IMPOSSIBLE ASTRONAUT- Setting up the season arc marvellously, Astronaut suffered a little from the trappings of focusing on keeping secrets from the Doctor and the slow reveals of the Silence, but as series openers go there hasn't been one that's been quite so ambitious as this! 4.5/5
DAY OF THE MOON- On the other hand, here the Moff seemed to feel a little more free-form, only putting emphasis on the arc towards the end of the episode and thus enabling himself to craft a brilliant, timey-wimey love letter to America packed with gags and thrills. 5/5
THE CURSE OF THE BLACK SPOT- Many fans were a little disheartened by this Pirates of the Caribbean-alike, but on reflection (no pun intended) I really enjoyed it as an edgy, well-paced tale of darkness and illusions. 4/5
THE DOCTOR'S WIFE- Although its bizarre opening nearly lets it down, Neil Gaiman's quick-fire writing redeems The Doctor's Wife within minutes, and Suranne Jones' is perfect and heartbreaking as Idris until the very end, sealing the deal on one of the best episodes of this run. 5/5
THE REBEL FLESH- Styled very much like the classic era of Who, this opener to a two-parter was mostly about building up tension, but my oh my, did Matthew Graham do it well! 4/5
THE ALMOST PEOPLE- One of the only real lowpoints of the season, but thankfully not too bad, Almost People got carried away with its emphasis on the Flesh (yes, we get it, you have the same thoughts as your clone, please stop reminding us as if it's a running joke!). Still, its shocking conclusion and gritty base-thriller feel stopped it from being another Cold Blood. 3/5
A GOOD MAN GOES TO WAR- A stunning way to close the season's first half, Good Man is epic Doctor Who in every sense of the word(s), featuring a host of brilliantly realised SFX sequences and a sublime soundtrack bolstering its beautiful final scenes. 5/5
LET'S KILL HITLER- You would think these two episodes are intrisically linked given their war-themed titles and River story arc, but you'd be wrong: Let's Kill Hitler is a far more fun and light-hearted romp, yet packs the same emotional punch and drops the darker elements of the first seven episodes to give us a magnificent tour de force of Who at its best. 5/5
NIGHT TERRORS- This mock-horror seemed a little too keen to mimick classic Who, however Daniel Mays was great as the father of a disguised alien child, especially as he rushes to the kid's rescue in the tear-jerking final dollhouse scene! 4/5
THE GIRL WHO WAITED- A beautiful piece of character drama, placing a focus on Amy and Rory but to a far greater degree of success than the strange misplaced-genre Amy's Choice. Watch this if you want to know why this show is still on air fourty-nine years after its first broadcast. 5/5
THE GOD COMPLEX- Another fantastic showcase of the flexibility of Who, darker than the rest of Part 2 yet still lighter than most of Part 1, a complex and thought-provoking outlook on life with the death of a character who in the space of fourty five minutes convinced us she could have been a fully-fledged companion. Praise Rita, and above all praise Toby Whithouse! 5/5
CLOSING TIME- This was the one point in the series where the guys really dropped the ball with the story arc, hashing in a tacked-on ending to an otherwise standalone story that as a result felt disjointed overall. James Corden's return ensured Closing Time was still good telly, but the arc problems and the criminal misuse of the Cyber-Men (not to mention the umpteenth time love has saved the day) held this back from being any sort of classic. 3/5
THE WEDDING OF RIVER SONG- Not the perfect finale, Wedding suffered from having to fill out fourty-five minutes of the Doctor's death and his 'marraige' to his killer. That said, there was still fun to be had with some of the fantastic setpieces, even if they were in another reality and so no longer exist, and the essential rebooting of the show's premise was a bold move by Moffat that judging by the 2011 Christmas Special will pay off big time! 4/5
SPECIAL FEATURES
By far the highlight of the extras included on this impressive package are the Night and the Doctor scenes, which focus on unresolved plot threads like Amy's incredibly unlikely life of timey-wimey goodness and the Doctor's final visit to River Song involving the singing towers of Deryllium and the Library. I don't know whether we'll see these threads picked up in Series 7 (I'd imagine Deryllium will come back to haunt fans), but for now the scenes are great as extra little episodes of Who to keep us speculating until this Autumn. Elsewhere, we get the final episodes of Doctor Who Confidential (sniff!), trailers, commentaries on four episodes and a behind-the-scenes look at making the bonus scenes.
THE VERDICT
This is a package well worth its £60 RRP, and now that shops like Amazon are selling it for nearly half the price, I'd wholeheartedly recommend you pick up The Complete Sixth Series on DVD or Blu-Ray to relive one of Doctor Who's strongest ever seasons!

EXCLUSIVE Sherlock: A Scandal In Belgravia Review (5/5)

It's been nearly a year and a half since Sherlock: The Great Game graced our screens, a masterclass in edge-of-your-set narrative pacing and cunning deduction. Millions of us were left openmouthed as Sherlock and Watson seemed ready to die, weapons aimed at a bomb-laden jacket that would kill them and Moriarty if fired upon. How do you go about resolving such an audacious cliffhanger? Why, with a bit of Bee Gees distracting Moriarty and changing his mind, of course! I wouldn't be surprised if some fans were disappointed with this get-out clause of sorts, but really the resolution was a back-drop to the main storyline, presented to us in the most effective possible way. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the many (and there are many) complex ploys and scheming subtlties that combine to bring us such shocking developments by the narrative's climax make A Scandal in Belgravia one of the most engaging, unpredictable and altogether brilliant pieces of television I have ever witnessed in my long viewership of a wide range of dramas. Heck, this may actually come close to being one of the best episodes of a show I have ever seen, full stop. Part of the success of the story comes once again from the class partnership of Cumberbatch as Holmes and Freeman as Watson, a couple made to be in the same room simply because of the sheer chemistry that exudes between them with every passing moment, no matter what the scene or situation. However, where Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have really hit the nail on the head with their adaptation of A Scandal in Bohemia is their discovery of Lara Pulver for the role of Irene Adler: Pulver wipes the floor with Rachel McAdams' sassy yet ultimately shortlived and shallow portrayal in the Ritchie film franchise, adding a layer of depth to her anti-heroine love interest for Holmes by constantly catching him and the audience unawares of her capacity for both darkness and intense romance. This quality rendition of Adler admittedly owes a debt to Moffat's fabulous script, easily one of his best and amazingly a cut above most of his Doctor Who work, but it is Pulver who encapsulates every element of Conan Doyle's reinterpreted character perfectly, a restrained and infinitely open deceiver who threatens to bring the British society around her to its very knees if she cannot be stopped. Scandal catches you off guard on so many occassions, it would be easy for you to (as I did) assume Mycroft is its antagonist when he emerges in the Bond Air plane, yet that would be far too simple, and I credit Moffat for fooling me and immediatedly after forcing me to think on what has actually just happened due to Sherlock's ignorance, rather than drip-feeding me the solution and wasting valuable time. Oh yes, if there's one thing Steven Moffat knows how to make use of, its time, and the way in which he structures this ambitious opener is so delicate that I can't help but think that Doctor Who could benefit from a few 90-minute specials under his pen in 2013 providing things don't become too self-congratulatory. There won't be a single moment in A Scandal In Belgravia where you'll take your eyes away from the screen, and if there is it will only be in despair at how little time you have left to spend with this perfect piece of telly. Yes, you read that right, go back and check it if you wish: think no single programme can attain perfection in the space of an hour and a half? Well, today was the day where Steven Moffat proved that hypothesis wrong, kick-starting 2012 with an almighty nuclear bang. Whatever your thoughts on Arthur Conan Doyle's work, the stereotypical adaptations of recent times and Ritchie's fast-paced action thrillers, there is absolutely no denying you will fall in love with Irene Adler (in so many more ways than one), and fall in love with this fantastic show all over again. It's elementary, really, and now an entire year's worth of television has to live up to it!

Coming Up This Week: 2nd-8th January

So, here we are- 2012! Don't worry, I promise this will be the last preview article for a little while, but I can at least give you a look ahead at just what is coming up in the first days of this brand new year...
AT THE CINEMA- A pretty quiet week for movie fans, this one, but you can at least look out for Meryl Streep's allegedly Oscar-worthy performance as The Iron Lady (aka Margaret Thatcher), or if not that then the intriguing black-and-white film homage The Artist or the excellent Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
SWITCH ON THE TELLY- Undoubtedly the big one here is Sherlock: The Hounds of Baskerville, the middle episode in the much anticipated second season. Of course, we best see what we think of A Scandal In Belgravia tonight first...
GET GAMING- Another relatively quiet start for this massive entertainment medium- Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City hits PC this week, but that's just about everything you can expect in terms of new titles until next month...
CRANK UP THE TUNES- Lloyd's new album King of Hearts hits the interweb tomorrow, and so too does JLS' new single Do You Feel What I Feel?. Your excitement for those will probably depend on your genre...
HUSTLE: THE FINAL SEASON- The BBC's hit drama Hustle returns for its final ever run on BBC One this Friday, so join Michael Stone's team of conmen for one last set of hits, because it's your final chance to pick up this fantastic series live on air!
ON THE BLOG- The definitive verdicts on Sherlock: A Scandal In Belgravia; Now! That's What I Call Music 80, Doctor Who Series 6: Original Television Soundtrack and Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series on DVD, plus an Exclusive look at the first edition of the brilliant Marvel Ultimate Graphic Novels Collection and lots more of the 2011 Best Of (and Worst Of) awards to come...

Filling The Doctor Who Void- News Roundup (17th-31st December)

What with the airing of the brilliant Christmas Special The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe (awarded a great 4.5/5 here) on Christmas Day, the world of Doctor Who has been a lot busier as of late. Here's a full guide to the last fortnight of news and reveals...

• AT WORLD'S OPEN- SEGA's massive multiplayer online role-playing games Doctor Who: Worlds In Time has opened its doors for an open beta of fans. I'm part of the beta, so will be giving you my World Exclusive first impressions of the game- which sees you become companions to the Doctor, desperately searching for fragments of time to rebuild shatter timelines- very soon!
• A CONVENTIONAL DEATH?- It's been confirmed that Arthur Darvill, the man who plays Rory Williams in the new series of Who, will be appearing at the show's official convention on the 24th and 25th of March. No doubt Arthur will give us the full lowdown on his character's regular deaths and some teasers as to why Amy and Rory depart the TARDIS (dead or alive) in Series 7...
• ANNIVERSARY ANGST SETTLED- Steven Moffat has quelled fears that we might simply get just one special episode of Doctor Who to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary in November 2013. "Why talk in the singular?" he said, "We've got a load of very big plans- the mere fact that we're talking about this two years before the event should tell you how seriously we're taking it!"
• PORTENTS OF THE FUTURE- Having rewatched Series 6 in its entirety and the excellent Night and The Doctor scenes on the boxset (to be reviewed soon!), I reckon I've spotted a couple of plot threads that could be picked up in this year's run: Why does Amy Pond's life make so little sense, bound by cracks in time and Time Lordy-Flesh babies? What will the Doctor's reaction be to taking River on her final journey before she travels to the Library? And perhaps most importantly, why were the Teselecta investigating the Silence in The Wedding of River Song, to find a way to save the Doctor or perhaps to uncover what their plans are to be set in motion on the Fields of Trenzalore...?
• 3RD PLACE: The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe was incredibly the third most-watched television programme of the whole of the Christmas Day schedule, garnering an average of 8.9 million viewers. Although that figure is down on last year's, so were the figures of both Eastenders and Coronation Street (the day's most-watched shows) and every other programme in the Top 20 for the day, and compared even to the strong ratings of Series 6 it's a huge increase that should be commended. To put this into perspective, The Christmas Invasion had 9.4 million viewers, The Runaway Bride 9.35 million, Voyage of the Damned 12.1, The Next Doctor 11.71, The End of Time Part One 10.0 and A Christmas Carol 10.3, so there's hardly too much difference, and that it beat Downton Abbey is staggering! And don't forget all of those past episodes were final figures, and the 9.1 figure could increase by at least 2 million when the final consolidated figures are in!
• 2011- AVERAGE? I've now got an average score for Doctor Who's 2011 run, comprising from The Impossible Astronaut to The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe: it's a brilliant 88%! The average for the 2010 run (The End of Time Part Two-A Christmas Carol) was 83%, so I'd say we're starting to see dramatic yearly improvements, and it now falls down to 2012's shorter run of seven/eight stories and 2013's bumper special run to keep up the good work...
• A NECESSARY DELAY: Finally, Doctor Who Magazine has confirmed on Twitter that the new series of Who will not begin airing until the Autumn, despite persistent rumours of an Easter Special: "The Doctor will be meeting 'a new friend' during the next series, which starts on BBC One in the Autumn of 2012 ['starts' certainly seems to imply this will be Part 1, with Part 2 in Spring 2013 and Part 3 in Autumn 2013]. Exciting times ahead!" Indeed...

COMING UP FOR WHO IN JANUARY

This mini-feature is going to be placed at the end of the end-of-month Void article, and will basically tell you what we can expect from Doctor Who in the absence of the new series each month...

MONDAY 2ND- A new Eleventh Doctor audiobook called The Art of Death releases today, and is read by its author James Goss.

MONDAY 9TH- 2Entertain bring us a boxset of Third Doctor story Invasion of the Dinosaurs and the Fourth Doctor's The Android Invasion with the release of UNIT Files on DVD.

THURSDAY 12TH- Look out for the new Doctor Who Magazine today, packing casting and plot details on the Autumn run, plus a free download of an exclusive Tom Baker Big Finish story.

MONDAY 16TH- Missed the Christmas Special, and/or want to catch the BBC America Best of Doctor Who specials for the first time? Look out for the DVD and Blu-Ray release of The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe today then!

MONDAY 23RD- The classic First Doctor story The Sensorites hits DVD shelves today.

TUESDAY 31ST- What secrets does the creator of the Daleks still hold after all of his battles with the Doctor? Find out today in the exciting Sixth Doctor drama The Curse of Davros on CD. Plus, travel with the Fourth Doctor to a familiar space station in Destination Nerva, Tom Baker's first Big Finish story, and discover some stories from his era which never made it to screen in The Lost Stories: The Fourth Doctor Collection...

January 2012: The Release Dates

What with all of the exciting new releases on their way in the next thirty-one days, it's important to keep a track on just when each of these are coming out, and so here's my definitive guide to when the biggest titles are on shelves and screens in January, with my Top 5 Most Anticipated Releases and some other biggies now highlighted in yellow...
SUNDAY 1ST- TV: Sherlock: A Scandal In Belgravia
FRIDAY 6TH- GAMES: Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City; MOVIES: The Iron Lady; TV: Hustle Episode 1
MONDAY 9TH- DVDS: Doctor Who: UNIT Files; Lie To Me Series 3; Hustle Series 7; Outnumbered- The Christmas Special 2011
FRIDAY 13TH- MOVIES: War Horse; The Darkest Hour; TV: Hustle Episode 2
SUNDAY 15TH- TV: Sherlock: The Hounds Of Baskerville
MONDAY 16TH- DVDS: Doctor Who: The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe
FRIDAY 20TH- MOVIES: J Edgar; Underworld: Awakening; GAMES: Winter Sports 2012; TV: Hustle Episode 3
SUNDAY 22ND- TV: Sherlock: The Reichenbach Fall
MONDAY 23RD- DVDS: Meloncholia; Sherlock Series Two; Doctor Who: The Sensorites; Merlin: The Complete Fourth Series
FRIDAY 27TH- TV: Hustle Episode 4
MONDAY 30TH- DVDS: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Crazy Stupid Love
TO BE CONFIRMED- We'll Take Manhattan (BBC4)

Coming Up For On-Screen In January

January's quite a busy month to open the year with, featuring a few great television and film releases that could stand a chance of making my Best of 2012 shortlists come December if they make a substantial impact! Here's everything you can expect from the blog in the next few weeks...
TELLY COVERAGE- Sherlock: A Scandal In Belgravia; Sherlock: The Hounds of Baskerville and Sherlock: The Reichenbach Fall will all be going under my proverbial microscope- will they live up to the staggering anticipation of the show's fanbase? Also, I'll look ahead to what the year holds for us further down the line on our small screens- Doctor Who, Merlin, Come Fly With Me and the Olympics included!
BIG SCREEN COVERAGE- This month's biggest releases at the cinema are undoubtedly Leonardo DiCaprio's 1930s biopic J Edgar and Steven Spielberg's epic adaptation of War Horse, the superb emotive Great War novel crafted by Michael Morpurgo. I'll be bringing you full reviews of both of these exciting new entrants into the world of film, plus looking at what the rest of 2012 holds for the industry.
GAME ON- This is undoubtedly one of the year's quietest months for the world of video gaming, very sparse in terms of new releases, so I'll looking back to the sensational year that was 2011 and re-playing Crysis 2 and RAGE to see just what I missed, while covering all of the big gossip for the big titles making their way to consoles from February onwards!
READ ALL ABOUT IT- Does Halo: Glasslands bridge the third and fourth games in the iconic Xbox franchise seamlessly? Find out in my review, plus I'll provide my definitive verdicts on Harry Potter: Page To Screen, Spider-Man: Coming Home, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Iron Man: Extremis and The Marvel Chronicle, and see what juicy details the new Doctor Who Magazine holds about Series 7 and the fiftieth anniversary!
BONUS FEATURES- I'll be revealing lots more of my 2011 Awards, from the year's Worst Film and Worst Game to its best Individual TV Episode, Overall TV Show, Video Game Visuals, Trailers, First Person Shooters, Reference Books, and DVD/Blu-Ray Release. Oh, and speaking of the new Blu disc format, I'll be reviewing loads of Blu-Ray releases to see whether the format truly outdoes Digital Versatile Discs!

Coming Up For On-Screen In 2012

 This year is going to be an absolutely huge one for On-Screen, I will tell you right now. More than ever before, I'm going to be bringing you wide coverage of the world of entertainment, and reviews of all of the big new releases of the next twelve months, as well as tonnes of World Exclusive day one reviews, previews, reveals you'll only see here and more surprises still! Oh yes, you do not want to miss a single article hitting the blog in 2012- here's a comprehensive list of all of the releases we know about so far which I'll be providing full coverage of in days to come...
FILM: War Horse; J Edgar; Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D; Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance; The Muppets; The Hunger Games; John Carter; The Pirates! Band Of Misfits; Battleship; Movie 43; The Avengers; The Dictator; Men In Black III; Rock of Ages; Prometheus; The Amazing Spider-Man; The Dark Knight Rises; The Bourne Legacy; Taken 2; The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2; The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey; Life of Pi and The Great Gatsby, all rated so you know if you need to see them or ditch 'em!
GAMING: Final Fantasy XIII-2; Soul Calibur V; Syndicate; the PlayStation Vita; Ghost Recon: Future Soldier; Mass Effect 3; Street Fighter X Tekken; Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2; Prototype 2; Borderlands 2; Aliens: Colonial Marines; Assassin's Creed III; BioShock Infinite; Dishonored; Fable: The Journey; Far Cry 3; Grand Theft Auto V; Halo 4; Hitman: Absolution; LEGO Batman 2: DC Superheroes; LEGO City Stories; Max Payne 3; Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance; Metro: Last Light; Prey 2; Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II; South Park: The Game; Spec Ops: The Line; Tekken X Street Fighter (not a mistype, there are really two crossover games); Tomb Raider; Call of Duty: Black Ops 2; Medal of Honor 2, Kinect Star Wars, Ryse and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron previewed, updated on news and each given a definitive buy/rent/pass verdict by me.

TELEVISION: Sherlock Series Two; Hustle Series Eight; Come Fly With Me Series Two; Glee Series Three; Britain's Got Talent; Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway; House Series Eight (is it the final season?); Doctor Who Series Seven (that's an impressive number for a BBC sci-fi drama, let's keep it up past 2013!) and Merlin's final season will all be detailed here well in advance and I'll review as many episodes of these fantastic programmes as possible!