Project: Torchwood: David Tennant

Got my first Covid jag and feel a little comforted that I can go out of doors and not wind-up dead by disease – although Number 38’s hurtling around the corner suddenly, can still cause heart failure. Ahem! Especially when the Weevil is the reason you shot out into the road in the first place.

Ahh! So how has your month been?

As first posted – I’ve had my first jag, and look forward to the day I’m fully able to hug my parents and be in their company properly rather than out in the front garden in the pissing wet rain!

This month we’re celebrating another Birthday – this time David Tennant’s who reaches the big 5-0 this year. I am absolutely shocked to be fair. But as people who reach that age say that 50 is the new 40, I feel a little better.

We look back on the career of Ronald Pickup who began his acting career with a small role in Doctor Who back in 1964, and delve into the murky waters of Victorian London for a look at Netflix’s latest crime drama series The Irregulars.

We caught up with one of the cast of the above series for a Lockdown Special, and look behind the eyes of a thriller that has had us woahing at the screen during that final episode.

Tony and Sarah enthral us with awesome reviews of old and new Who and Torchwood audios and episodes, and do check out our Profile of the 10^th Doctor. We also welcome new writer Florence Diggle who brings us a Profile of the 10^th Doctor. Worth a check.

As always, a special thanks to my brilliant team for their awesome articles, and for Tiziana’s wonderful front cover and Birthday poster.

Welcome to Issue 90 – Happy Birthday David Tennant

Djak

The Mothership Happy 50th Birthday David Tennant

It was at the end of Eccleston’s tenure as the Doctor that we were given Tennant as our Tenth incarnation of the Time Lord, and it was no longer fantastic, it was brilliant. Rose Tyler had tamed the rage inside the 9^th Doctor, so much so that we had the puppy eyed Doctor for the 10^th, all bounding and exciting, and if he’d have had a tail, he’d have surely thumped it hard against the ground. He’d run everywhere and only stop to take in the view, before hurtling off again in any direction, with a companion struggling to keep up. He had boundless enthusiasm for every new destination, and he was fiercely committed to fighting battles without the use of weapons. Except…towards the end, it was a gun in his hand as he pointed it at Lord Rassilon, as he stood before him, in a bid to claim Earth for a new Gallifrey.

We grew with the Doctor. We laughed. We enjoyed, and we cried real tears when Rose was trapped in the parallel universe. We broke our hearts on Bad Wolf Bay. We never quite got over that feeling of grief for that episode, because even after 16 years and replaying that final episode with Rose, our hearts broke all over again, and we’d sob into a cushion. All of us. Even those, who never cry at such programmes. Even the Weevil.

David Tennant, along with Chris Eccleston, reignited my passion for Doctor Who, and I would collect everything I could with David’s face on. I mean, I did. Including Frubes. I had those empty tubes of yogurt in a drawer for years. Cleaned of course. I had action figures. I still have some of them. And I’ve a ton of trading cards. (Swaps anyone?)

There were so many quotes from the 10^th Doctor era, that there was never a moment where I was stuck for something to say, wherever I went, with or without the family. And libraries? Don’t even get me started on books!!!

I think I’m what’s known as an embarrassment when it comes to geeking out over certain things Doctor Who, including graveyards and statues, but that’s what comes of being a fan of Doctor Who and all that goes with it – but it’s Tennant’s era where this passion blossomed. Sure, I grew up watching Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, but I vaguely only remember certain episodes. I couldn’t quote anything from that – but Tennant…oh there are so many!

When Tennant announced he was leaving the TARDIS and stepping away from Who, a whole nation of fans cried, or became extremely upset and vowed not to give the new guy a chance, but it’s Who, and you do, and you compare, but each Doctor brings something different to the table. Tennant wasn’t anything like Eccleston. Smith wasn’t anything like Tennant, apart from being skinny and tall.

Before Tennant joined Who though, we saw him in Harry Potter as the mad, bad Barty Crouch junior, a very formidable character indeed. What Tennant gave us, was an insight to the character roles he could play, and we all love a bad boy, don’t we?

Since that bad boy role, Tennant has gone on to play a host of others and they’ve been the lowest of the low, and deeper and darker and more threatening. His portrayal of Denis Nilsen was perhaps the most chilling of them all. Uncannily alike in portrait only, but his portrayal of that beast, who decapitated his victims and boiled them in pans in his kitchen, and buried the rest of the bodies under floorboards or in his back garden, and had no fear when the police came calling and arrested him. Tennant’s portrayal sent shivers down my spine. There was no emotion in his character, unlike that of Cale Erendrich in Bad Samaritan. A sick individual who had money and power and could manipulate to achieve his end goals, and became unpredictable towards the end when he saw his world turning against him by the one person he was setting up for a fall. An ingenious story and one I thoroughly enjoyed watching.

Tennant plays bad extremely well, perhaps too well.

It’s almost to the point that his good boy image of the Doctor, or his dangerous image of the Time Lord Victorious (towards the end) has disappeared. Now all I want to see of Tennant is the dangerous character roles that he’s so brilliant at portraying.

Kilgrave in Jessica Jones was one such character. The Purple Man. I loved that series and you were often on the edge of your seat wondering whether he would appear, or if Jessica herself was going crazy by how much he was in her head. How much she couldn’t remember and how much she was trying to forget.

I’ve not as yet watched Good Omens but as far as I’m aware, he plays a demon who although is cast as someone bad, is working alongside a good angel in trying to locate the anti-Christ before the end of the world.

In the 2011 remake of Fright Night, Tennant played Peter Vincent, a vampire hunter, but not a very good one. His parents had been killed by the very vampire that was stalking the lead character in the story – Charley. It had plenty of jump scares but really didn’t do much on the ‘who to root for’ in the story, and I found it a disappointing film. Yes, there was gore and vampires and some bits were a touch eww, but it wasn’t Tennant’s best role – in my honest opinion.

Bad Samaritan, now that was worth watching, and one I could watch over and over, after a few months apart. Most of his evil characters ooze the charm and draw you in when you least suspect them of being evil, but Cale isn’t a character you could warm to. You were always going to root for those who were trying to rescue the girl, and hoped the Police would put two and two together before the end of the film. Cale was very technically minded. He was good with the gadgets which no other characters Tennant has played appeared to be. They got through their scenes mostly on dialogue and charm alone.

One of the other things about Tennant that I love however are the eyebrow quirks, and his facial expressions. How many of us have tried to mimic them for any of our Who moments? The drop in the voice and the clearing of the throat, and oh that bobbing Adam’s Apple. Alas, I don’t possess one so prominent as that.

David Tennant celebrates his 50^th birthday this April 18^th. We wanted to take this opportunity of expressing our love of the man who brought us a Doctor who we have loved and missed and would really love to see take up the sonic screwdriver again, even if it was just for another special.

I had the wonderful opportunity, many years ago, of meeting David behind the scenes of Decoy Bride when they filmed at Caerlaverock Castle, Dumfriesshire, and I only wish I’d found my voice after he replied to my ‘HI David’ because I would have loved to have talked to him a bit about Who and had a photo opportunity with him. He’s a lot skinnier in real life!

I’d love to meet him again, if he ever films up this way again, once this pandemic is over and we can all breathe freely and walk without fear of catching something deadly.

Happy Birthday David. Have a super wonderful day.

Love from everyone at Project: Torchwood

Sunday, 7 March 2021

Beyond The TARDIS Bad Samaritan by DJ Forrest

This film starts out kinda pedestrian, goes abbbbsolutely tonto – Tony J Fyler

Robert Sheehan plays Sean Falco, a photographer with high dreams of going places with his girlfriend Riley Seabrook. However, the cold hard reality of it all, is as much as his photography gets him a little money, it'll never get him the fame and fortune he so desperately wants. Riley can probably see this and so pursues her own career by working through university, something Falco was never keen on. Education. Good Job!

Falco does have another money-making scheme however, that pays dividends, but at the expense of others. He's a small-time thief working as a valet alongside his friend Derek Sandoval. They set up outside Nino's Restaurant, (it's part of the service by the restaurant), except Nino doesn't know that their side-line is driving the cars to the owner’s homes and robbing them blind, while they sit unaware inside.

This scam has been going on for some time and they're making enough to get them by, but when Cale Erendreich pulls up in his Maserati, things take a walk on the very wild side. It's Falco who gets behind the wheel of the car, but already Cale creeps them both out with threats if his car comes back in less than pristine fashion, there'll be trouble.

Using the inbuilt sat nav in the Maserati, Sheehan's character Falco, heads up to this really big and expensive house built on the side of a hill, where nearly every part of the house is worked remotely by a click of a button operated by a mobile phone app. You've seen them, right, those setting the Hive timer for the heating. Putting on the kettle so it's hot for a cuppa when you get in? Checking who is ringing your door bell or sneaking a peak through your windows?

When Falco arrives at the house, the car operates the controls for the garage and in he drives. Once in, he's got the run of the house, except for the locked room. Falco finds a letter for a new credit card on the bedside table, and activates it. It's a black credit card, which I’m assuming would buy him everything he would ever want, and more.

This house is all about minimalistic value. There are obvious signs of wealth but as far as living there, it's more of a single person's abode who has little interest in dust collecting items on shelves. So, no good for me.

The film so far is, as Tony remarks, completely pedestrian. Until we reach the locked door.

When Falco finally opens it, he finds an office in darkness, but a computer screen lit up, and takes a seat beside it. But when he looks up from the screen, he sees something across the room that shakes him to his very bones.

Chained up and gagged, in a chair facing the monitor is a young woman, who has been there for some time, given the marks on her body and face. Releasing her from her bonds however, is another problem that unfortunately he doesn't have time for. Cale needs his car back, and he's checking his phone to see that everything is how it should be in the house, not a thing out of place.

When Falco later calls the police about the woman in the house, Cale is one step ahead. From here on in, it's all goes abbbbsolutely tonto!

It's brilliant casting and Tennant plays a bad guy as if he was born for the part. In fact, there's something to be said about Tennant's characters, from Des, Barty Crouch Jr, and his character in Jessica Jones. He just really plays a blinder. The anger and rage behind each and every scene when Cale begins to lose control is frightening, and his despicable acts of violence against the young Riley Seabrook is chillingly brutal.

Falco is under his skin. He is everywhere, determined to find the woman he found chained in the office, but every time he gets close, he's always two steps further away. Then Cale starts dismantling Falco's life, piece by piece.

So now, it’s personal.

Sheehan often plays characters who you never really, completely gel with, but Falco has to be the best role I've seen him in since perhaps, The Umbrella Academy or Geostorm. You can't help but root for him.

Tennant is awesome as Cale Erendreich whose backstory we learn about as the film unfolds. He's cold. Fierce. Likes to be in control. And he's not scared about beating a young person senseless and throwing them down the stairs, to make a point.

There is a moment at the end though, where he reminds me of Barty Crouch Jr, be sure to look out for that. You can't miss it really. In that chair.

Bad Samaritan was written by actor and writer Brandon Boyce, who also plays the FBI Supervisor in this.

Dean Devlin directed the film. His list of credits is amazing and perhaps not surprising that Robert Sheehan played a role in this, considering Devlin was the writer of Geostorm - in which Robert played the bad guy.

Bad Samaritan was nominated for the Saturn Award at the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Film, USA in 2019 for Best Thriller Film.

You can find Bad Samaritan on Amazon Prime. Book yourself a seat on the sofa for 1hr 50 mins. Bring provisions. Get comfy and strap yourself in. You're in for one hell of a ride.

Credit

Special thanks to Tony J Fyler for heading quote.

Sunday, 7 February 2021

Who Reviews Daleks in Manhattan by Kellie Shuttleworth

Starring David Tennant as The Doctor & Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones

Martha: “That’s so brilliant. I’ve always wanted to go to New York. I mean, the real New York, not the New New New New New one.”

The Doctor: “Well, there’s the genuine article.”

Tallulah, a stage girl, is ready to perform. Her loved one Lazlo gives her a white rose before she goes on, a symbol of his love. Standing in her dressing room once she’s gone on, he sees something in the corner of his eye. It runs past him and he follows, trying to find out exactly what it is. Snorts come from within the shadows, the sewer cover opens. He follows it backstage. The door shutting behind him, something leaps out of the shadows and takes him.

The Doctor and Martha land right in front of the Statue of Liberty. Visiting the original New York after they had been to New, New York before. Landing on the 1^st November 1930, before construction had finished on the Empire State Building. It was supposed to be a short visit, a tour of the city, until they found a newspaper with the headline ‘Hooverville Mystery Deepens’ and the Doctor and Martha are drawn in. They couldn’t leave a good mystery unsolved. Hooverville is the makeshift village which was situated in the middle of Central Park. Built by people, for people who had lost everything, who couldn’t pay for their food or rent, so became stuck living out of tents. Going there because they had nowhere else to go.

From inside the Empire State Building, the workers are being pushed to go faster by the new masters, trying to get the mast fitted by that night. Once the worker has refused, giving attitude to Mr Diagoras (who is working with ‘the Masters’), he decides to show the worker exactly who he is working for. Calling up the elevator, it slowly rises to reveal exactly who the master is! DALEKS! Daleks, followed by 2 pig men, dragging the worker into the elevator to replace him and use him for the final experiment.

Daleks: “The Empire State Building must be completed in time”
Mr Diagoras: “It will be trust me, Labour is cheap, and that man can be replaced.”
Daleks: “The plan must not fail. We calculate the Gamma strike has accelerated. We need more bodies. Immediately!”

Mr Diagoras appears at Hooverville trying to recruit some more workers. With the Daleks instruction, they need humans for something. Using the excuse of a collapsed sewer, he tries to get as many of them as he possibly can. With The Doctor, Martha, Soloman and a young man volunteering, Mr Diagoras takes them to the sewers and directs them to the place of the ‘collapse’ sending them into danger. Along the short walk they find something that looks like a jellyfish on the floor. The Doctor picks it up to investigate and it’s obvious that is isn’t human. In the meantime, back at the top of the Empire State Building, the workers are given the new panels to put on top of the spire in time for that night. The panels look exactly like the base of the Daleks. With Mr Diagoras’ working so close with the Daleks, he gets summoned by the leader.

In the sewers, the Doctor and Martha finally discover that there was no collapse and come across something else, someone else… one of the pig men who have been seen with the Daleks. He was all alone, hiding. Suddenly, lots more pig men arrive, the Doctor and Martha decide to run. Getting out of the sewers, they emerge in the backstage area from where Tallulah works. Laszlo was now missing; she has to carry on working. She had reported him missing but no one would care about someone like him. Solomon has returned to Hooverville ready to get his friends to arm themselves, protecting them from what had taken the others. Now he had seen it for himself, he wants to try and stop as many people disappearing as possible.

Dalek: “This is the Final Experiment”
Mr Diagoras: “What do you mean? D’you mean like these Pigmen things? You’re not gonna turn me into one of those, oh God, please don’t…”
Dalek: “The Pig Slaves are primitive, The Final Experiment is greater by far. We need your flesh”

Daleks have another plan for Mr Diagoras. They need him to complete something which is going to help the future of Dalek-kind. Instead of turning him into a Pig slave like he imagined, they are using him for something else. He did everything the Dalek asked and because he did that, they see it as something great so they are using him. Where Mr Diagoras didn’t want any of this to happen, he thought doing what the Daleks wanted would get him on their good side, instead he is being punished. With the Doctor trying to figure out what the jellyfish thing is they found in the sewer, Martha spends some time with Tallulah watching her perform when she notices someone on the other side of the stage. Martha cuts across the stage, trying to hide behind the performers as she goes. Chasing after a Pig Slave, she gets captured and taken.

The Doctor, finding out where the ‘jellyfish thing’ has originated from, and Martha now missing he jumps back into the sewers to find out exactly what is going on and to find Martha. Tallulah follows him and decides if she can find Lazlo with the Doctor’s help then she is going along. It isn’t long before they have to quickly duck and hide before the Dalek appears. Finally finding the Pig Slave that Martha was chasing, the Doctor persuades him to show them exactly where they have taken Martha. The Dalek and the Pig Slaves have captured some people including Martha, ready to separate everyone depending on their intelligence. Once the Dalek had split them up, the Doctor manages to slip his way into the group being led by the Daleks to get taken to the laboratory as part of the final experiment.

Martha: “What’s wrong with old Charlie Boy over there?”
Doctor: “Ask them.”
Martha: “What, me? Don’t be daft.”
Doctor: “I don’t exactly want to get noticed. Ask them what’s going on.”

With them both now back together and in the Dalek’s laboratory, Martha now needs to confront the Daleks so the Doctor can stay hidden. With the final experiment coming, and Dalek Sec along with Mr Diagoras’ body, the Dalek is evolving into something, without the shell.

Ending on the cliff-hanger it does, it really makes you NEED to watch the next episode straight away. It’s a bit of a slow builder but once it gets going you have to watch the second episode to find out exactly what is going on and how can the Doctor and Martha solve this problem? I loved the new invention of the Daleks which this episode brings. Continues with ‘Evolution of the Daleks.’

The Doctor: “They Survive. They always survive, while I lose everything.”

Who Reviews The Story of Martha by DJ Forrest

"I told a story, that’s all. No weapons, just words. I did just what The Doctor said. I went across the continents, all on my own. And everywhere I went I found the people and I told them my story. I told them about The Doctor. And I told them to pass it, to spread the word so that everyone would know about The Doctor. ‘Cause I gave them an instruction. Just as The Doctor said. I told them that if everyone thinks of one word, at one specific time, right across the world. One word, just one thought, at one moment, but with fifteen satellites.

The telepathic field, binding the whole human race together. With all of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time. And that word is “Doctor.”

The Story of Martha runs from the moment she used Jack's VM and her perception filter key and teleported out of the Valiant. It told her story in a way I didn't think would work and at first, I wasn't entirely sure it did. Back in the early days of Doctor Who (the Classic era) a series of Target novels told of the episodes of Who, and in much the same way as that, this book began. It didn't feel as if it was narrating the story but giving a blow-by-blow account of the episode thus far. But as I worked my way through the pages, it settled. The book became interesting. The stories engrossing, and I finally engaged with the book, and realised just what Martha was doing.

I did wonder where Martha had travelled to and what she had imparted to the people of the world, for all of them, at the exact moment, to say the Doctor's name, and for the whole perception filter to expose Harold Saxon for who he was - The MASTER!

To defeat someone like the Master, you need more than physical weapons, like guns and lasers. Although, to be fair, when the mask slipped... but to initially bring down the might of the Master, you needed to enforce the might of the Doctor.

There were some interesting stories in amongst those that Martha told, and I liked the Pierre Bruyere story along with the one at the end which reminded me of the film Passengers starring Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence.

Martha told stories wherever she was, and no matter how tired she became during her shifts working in one of the Labour camps she found herself in, after being captured when the perception filter failed to protect her. There are stories within stories and when I discovered this was the real weapon against the Master. The Power of the Word. Much stronger than any weapon could ever inflict, I too began to remember the Doctor, and wish he were here, saving the Day.

The book is written by Dan Abnett, with David Roden, Steve Lockley & Paul Lewis, Robert Shearman and Simon Jowett. In other words, huge fans of the Doctor Who series. Often during each chapter, you had a feel of different writing techniques, whereby some were easier to read than others. Some you could really engage with, others were pages you wanted to speed through. But diligently, I worked my way through each page, soaking up the words as I went.

It’s a great book and it was the final 10^th Doctor story in my collection. So, should I start to collect the 10^th Doctor episode novels?

Hmmm, what would the Doctor do?

Thursday, 8 October 2020

Connections Des

The three-part series recalling the capture of Dennis Nilsen after he reported that the drains were blocked near his home, and the discovery of body parts causing the problem, to his incarceration at Her Majesty's Pleasure, is by far one of Tennant's most horrific and shocking roles to date, but by golly he plays him well. Nobody could see any part of the Doctor in this characterisation. Those dead eyes. That cold hearted figure. Gave me the shivers just looking at him.

A brilliant piece of acting from all involved. The film was directed and written by Lewis Arnold, Kelly Jones, Luke Neal and Brian Masters. Masters was the biographer who interviewed Nilsen from prison and kept up their meetings long after his incarceration.

Despite this being a horrific piece of drama, and not for those with a weak stomach, I couldn't help but notice just how many familiar cast faces there were, so it warranted a Connection this month.

So, as ever, we've done the research so that you don't have to.

Cast

David Tennant played Dennis Nilsen for all 3 episodes in 2020 and was one of the executive producers of the series. He played the 10th Doctor from 2005 - 2010, returning in 2013 for The Day of the Doctor with the 11th and War Doctor. Also appeared as himself in The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot in 2013 and every other Doctor Who related series from documentary to mini animated series including Dreamland voicing the 10th Doctor for 6 episodes in 2009, and appearing in SJA for The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith also in 2009. He appeared in three Children in Need Doctor Who Specials from 2005 - 2008, not to mention the Music of the Spheres short in 2008. He was also part of the video game Doctor Who: Attack of the Graske (which I loved playing) in 2005, and another piece of research excitement, of which now I'll need to grab a copy of, if any about was uncredited as the voice of a warehouseman in Episode 5 of Doctor Who mini series Scream of the Shalka in 2003.

In a recent poll, (2020) David's Doctor beat the 13th Doctor as the first Doctor anyone thinks of, playing the role. Now naturally, this could have been mostly from NuWho fans, because a fair few people across social media have protested that Tom Baker should have taken this crown, with Tennant coming 2nd, but...it's interesting to note that it was a close thing between Whittaker's character and Tennant's.

Daniel Mays played Peter Jay for 3 episodes in 2020. Played Alex in Doctor Who episode Night Terrors in 2011.

Jason Watkins played Brian Masters for 3 episodes in 2020. Played Webley in Doctor Who episode Nightmare in Silver in 2013.

Ron Cook played DSI Geoff Chambers for 3 episodes in 2020. Played Magpie in Doctor Who episode The Idiot's Lantern in 2006.

Jay Simpson played DS Chris Healey for 3 episodes in 2020. Played Jay in SJA two parter The Lost Boy in 2007.

Silas Carson played Russell Cavendish for 1 episode in 2020. Didn't know this till I researched, but voiced the Aliens in Doctor Who episode The End of the World in 2005, and voiced The Ood for all episodes regarding Oods from 2006 - 2008 including yet uncredited as Ood Sigma for The End of Time parts 1 & 2 in 2009/10. Also voiced Kudlak and the Emperor characters in SJA episodes Warriors of Kudlak parts 1 & 2 in 2007, and in the Tardisodes voiced The Ood for Prelude to the Satan Pit and Prelude to the Impossible Planet in 2006.

Jamie Parker played Allan Green QC for 1 episode in 2020. In 2010 voiced Wulfric and Edgar in the Doctor Who: The Sixth Doctor Adventures audio drama Leviathan.

Pip Torrens played Ivan Lawrence QC for 1 episode in 2020. Played Rocastle in the Doctor Who two parter The Family of Blood and Human Nature in 2007.

Tor Clark played the Jury Foreman for 1 episode in 2020. Played the Female Teacher in Doctor Who episode Let's Kill Hitler in 2011.

Ken Bones played Judge Croom-Johnson for 1 episode in 2020. Played The General in Doctor Who episodes The Day of the Doctor in 2013 and Hell Bent in 2015, and was the Voice in The Time of the Doctor in 2013.

Beth Goddard played Frances for 1 episode in 2020. Played Sister Helena in SJA episode Eye of the Gorgon two parter in 2007. Also appeared as this character in the SJA episode The Mad Woman in the Attic: Part 1 in 2009.

Camera and Electrical Department

Jade Jenkins was Second assistant camera: "b" camera for the full 3 episodes in 2020. Was camera trainee for 2 episodes of Doctor Who in 2020.

Beyond The TARDIS Des by DJ Forrest

Dennis Andrew Nilsen was a Scottish serial killer who murdered 15 young men and boys between 1978 and 1983 at his home in London. His youngest victim was only 14. He was convicted at the Old Bailey of six counts of murder and two of attempted murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment on 4^th November 1983, with a recommendation that he served a minimum of twenty-five years. This was later changed to a whole life tariff which means that he would never be given parole. That he will never be released.

On 12^th May, 2018, Nilsen died in his prison cell at the age of 72.

I had heard of Nilsen when I was a youngster but there were a lot of serial killers at that time, so he was just another in a long list of criminals. However, Des, and indeed the documentary after the three-part series, really opened my eyes as to just how vile Nilsen really was.

Tennant’s depiction of this character was horrifying, and the likeness between the pair visually was shocking. Not once during his performance of Nilsen did Tennant break a smile. Not once did I witness a touch of the Doctor. He displayed a deadness behind the eyes. A cold-hearted killer. This was not a character role that you could warm to, that you would want to root for.

In one of the scenes, his biographer, Brian Masters could not understand how Nilsen could sit and eat a sandwich in his kitchen, while the severed head of one of his victims was boiling away in a pan on the stove.

Tennant played Nilsen to a tee.

To be fair, much of the three series event was like a Doctor Who reunion, but each of the actors played characters so far removed from the sci fi series that you couldn’t see them in anything other than the roles they played in Des.

But it wasn’t just Tennant who played a ‘blinder’. Daniel Mays as Detective Chief Inspector Peter Jay was also outstanding in his role, along with Jason Watkins as biographer Brian Masters and Ron Cook as DSI Geoff Chambers.

In our current world where we barely see anyone smoking a cigarette and most definitely not indoors, Des brought it all back to the screen. It was just like watching The Sweeney again except without the strong language. Everyone smoked, and Mays’ character was no exception. Peter Jay died of a cancer related illness many years later.

If you haven’t seen Des yet, you can catch up with it on one of the streaming channels on the tellybox. It’s well worth a watch, but make sure you’ve a strong stomach. It’s not for the faint hearted.

Thursday, 6 August 2020

Beyond The TARDIS Staged by DJ Forrest

How are you going to get an entertaining piece of television drama, where two furloughed actors talk to each other over the Internet?

Easy - use David Tennant and his co-star in Good Omens, Michael Sheen with Georgia Moffett and I'm guessing Sheen's other half, and throw in a few big names in film, such as Samuel L Jackson and Dame Judi Dench, and Nina Sosanya, and a few lesser known cast and people will flock in their hundreds - and you know, it worked!

It's BBC iPlayer, it's David Tennant being rude, and sweary and wearing the same clothing throughout the 6 episodes, and acting like a slobby teenager and Michael Sheen seemingly losing the plot with whatever is outside the windows and being manipulated by his elderly neighbour, over a few bottles of wine.

I never thought I'd find this piece of drama, funny, but I was laughing out loud and chuckling at the antics between the pair.

They've been asked to rehearse a Play, written by Jo, played by Nina Sosanya, but neither actor can settle on when to do it, and more importantly, whenever they attempt, someone loses signal, mostly the agent and offline events seem to take centre stage. Then there's the casting as to who is going to play whichever part, and towards the middle of the series, each of the main cast, Tennant and Sheen, begin to back stab each other. It's absolutely hilarious how much they both carry on like petulant children, but it's brilliant in the way it's been put together over the internet.

I don't really settle to viewing television like this often but it worked. Perhaps it's because these are big names in television and film that I stayed to watch back to back episodes and hope that they bring out another series. Realising we're limited at the moment for entertainment, if this is the only way we can be 'entertained', then let's get on with it.

Wednesday, 5 December 2018

Beyond The TARDIS There She Goes by DJ Forrest

Broadcast BBC4 October 16th 2018

Written by Shaun Pye

Starring David Tennant, Jessica Hynes,

Edan Hayhurst and Miley Locke.

“Very few words and moments of explosive violence. Very much like Jason Bourne.”

There She Goes, is a comedy drama series about a family of four, where the youngest child, Rosie, age nine, suffers from a chromosomal disorder. Rosie demonstrates the mind of a toddler and pushes both her parents to almost breaking point.

The drama series is based upon actor and writer Shaun Pye’s experiences of living with his mentally disabled daughter who was born in 2006 with the same disorder.

Rosie played by Miley Locke, is a bit of a handful and that’s putting it mildly. She runs rings around her parents, and puts them through the ringer several times, costing hundreds of pounds worth of soggy damage, when she locates electronic devices and introduces them to hot soapy bubbles. With the mind of a very young child, enjoying the attention when Mummy and Daddy raise their voices, pull faces of dissatisfaction at her, only spurs her on. When Simon threatens to smack the hippo toy because he can’t smack his own daughter, it only incites Rosie to continue destroying her bedroom wall.

Watching this comedy drama unfold, I have every sympathy for the mother of the story but perhaps not as much sympathy for the father – although in the first episode I did understand where he was coming from, but it still didn’t excuse his behaviour when his wife really needed him.

I’ve watched a lot of dramas and films involving David Tennant, and although in Secret Smile and Jessica Jones, where you loved to hate him, but the role was to play a devious evil character. Simon on the other hand, isn’t a bad person. He’s a bit of a dick, a drunken arsehole, who drowns all his problems with Rosie in a bottle of red wine and avoids much of the interaction so long as he can complete his crossword. How his wife hasn’t lamped him one, left him or buried him under the patio yet, I really don’t know.

Jessica Hynes, plays Emily, a mum who had a wonderful first birth with son Ben, struggles to bond with Rosie as a baby. Unable to breast feed her daughter, finds it frustrating when her child refuses to drink and to eat and is barely taking care of herself in the early days; is fighting these battles on her own, while husband Simon is drinking in pubs when he should be working, and returns home late, hammered demanding some attention from his wife, who is absolutely shattered from looking after their mentally disabled daughter. It’s almost as if Simon doesn’t care nor understand the demands that Rosie puts upon them.

Throughout the first series, the story jumps back and forth from 2006 to nine years later, picking up on how far the family have come with Rosie since the early days. Emily has less support from Simon in the early days and as the years progress, he still continues to drink his bottles of wine, socialise in bars without his wife, and still comes home relatively late, to avoid much contact with his daughter, who although he did bond with when she was a baby, finds it increasingly difficult to properly bond with her as she physically grows up.

Instead of the usual heart-breaking dramas we’ve come to expect, Shaun Pye turns this into a comedy, picking up on the light hearted moments in the family life, where the family quote Lord of the Rings to describe days and moments with their daughter, which makes for some witty dialogue between the family, and raised brows by those not in on the jokes. If you’re not a fan of Lord of the Rings, or indeed sci fi in general these jokes are wasted on you.

I really hope there’s a second series of this drama as I’ve loved every half hour episode, although I do hope that the production team introduce Tennant to a razor as I much prefer him with a tidier five o’clock shadow rather than the full-on facial growth that makes him look like he’s been working all the hours and not slept for 42 hours.

Tuesday, 4 September 2018

Connections Hang Ups by DJ Forrest

Hang Ups, broadcast 2018, starring a host of popular faces from the world of telly plus from the world of Who, SJA and Torchwood.

Written by Louise Delamere's husband, Stephen Mangan and Robert Delamere, it's broadcast on ITV and tells of a psychiatrist dealing with his patients over Skype.

As it's the first series, the list isn't as long as previous Connections but it's still worth a viewing. We've done the research, so you don't have to.

Cast

Richard E. Grant played Leonard Conrad for 5 episodes in 2018. Played Dr. Simeon in Doctor Who episodes The Snowmen in 2012, and The Name of the Doctor in 2013, and played The Great Intelligence in the same year. Was the voice of the Doctor in the Doctor Who mini series Scream of the Shalka in 2003 and played the Doctor in Comic Relief sketch: Doctor Who - The Curse of Fatal Death in 1999.

Harry Lloyd played Nathan Slater for 4 episodes in 2018. Played Baines in Doctor Who episodes Human Nature and The Family of Blood in 2007.

Jessica Hynes played Katherine Pitt for 4 episodes in 2018. Played Joan Redfern in Human Nature and The Family of Blood in 2007 returning to play Verity Newman in 2010 for the episode The End of Time, Part 2.

Celia Imrie played Maggie Pitt for 4 episodes in 2018. Played Miss Kizlet in Doctor Who episode The Bells of Saint John in 2013.

Daisy Haggard played Jane Ross for 3 episodes in 2018. Played Sophie in Doctor Who episodes The Lodger in 2010 and Closing Time in 2011.

Arsher Ali played Ryan Mehta for 2 episodes in 2018. Played Bennett in Doctor Who two parter Before the Flood and Under the Lake in 2015.

David Tennant played Martin Lamb for 1 episode in 2018. Tennant played The Doctor for 50 episodes from 2005 - 2010 reprising the role in the 2013 Fiftieth Anniversary episode The Day of the Doctor. He also appeared in The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot playing himself in the same year. For the animated series of Doctor Who, he provided the voice of the Time Lord and played The Doctor in SJA two parter The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith in 2009, along with a host of Children in Need segments as The Doctor and video games of Doctor Who. Currently back in his suit and converse for new Big Finish audios with Catherine Tate.

David Bradley played Frank Ellerby for 1 episode in 2018. Played Solomon in Doctor Who episode Dinosaurs on a Spaceship in 2012, played The Doctor in two episodes in 2017 - Twice Upon a Time and The Doctor Falls. Bradley also played William Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time in 2013. He voiced the Shansheeth Blue in SJA episodes Death of the Doctor parts 1 & 2 in 2010.

Kevin Eldon played Terry Sparkes for 1 episode in 2018. Was the voice of Antimony in Doctor Who mini series Death Comes to Time from 2001 - 2002.

Jo Joyner played Clare Maynard for 1 episode in 2018. Played Lynda (with a Y) in Doctor Who episodes Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways in 2005. She was uncredited in a flashback scene in Journey's End in 2008.

Producer

Louise Delamere was producer for 6 episodes in 2018. Played Diane in Torchwood episode Out of Time in 2006, returning as her character in 2007 for End of Days and in a flashback in Captain Jack Harkness episode uncredited in 2007.

Music

Rael Jones was composer for 6 episodes in 2018. Created incidental music for Doctor Who Online Adventures episode The Lost Souls: Part 3 in 2013.

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Sunday, 4 April 2021

Articles Welcome to Issue 90 - Happy 50th David Tennant