Tag Archives: Time Travel

Doctor Who: The Interstellar Song Contest – TV Review

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TL;DR – Do you want to make The Doctor mad? Well, I wouldn’t recommend it, because it is generally not good for your long-term prospects.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

The Interstellar Song Contest.

Doctor Who Review –

Today, we have reached what will probably be considered the penultimate episode for the season. Well, so far, I have to say that I have been highly impressed with the season so far. It might have stumbled a bit at the start, but we have seen it go from stride to stride in the past couple of weeks. The question is: can it keep up that momentum going forward, and will they make an Australia reference in a show all about Eurovision?  

So, to set the scene, The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Miss Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) have but one final place to test out the vindicator and it turns out they have picked The Harmony Station where the 803rd Interstellar Song Contest is happening and both immediately agree to stay and watch [look relatable]. But behind the pomp and circumstance, there is a terrorist on the prowl with death on the cards for all. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Space/Time – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A wildly ambitious film, which while it doesn’t always live up to the promise it makes, when it does land, it is wildly fascinating.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

A plant sits in front of the machine about to make a portal.

Space/Time Review –

One of the things I like best about my job is when you find something that has taken a big swing to explore. Not content to play it safe, they reach for the sky and don’t care if they hit the Moon or not. I do love exploring that kind of creativity, even if it does not always pan out.

So, to set the scene, in the not-too-distant future, society is on the verge of collapse. Years of environmental degradation have taken their toll, and the biosphere might not hold up in the long run. It is in this space where scientists, like Holt (Hugh Parker), have been working on a secluded island to find ways to stave off the collapse. They tried to develop wormhole travel, but it backfired spectacularly, and many were killed. Liv (Ashlee Lollback) and Harris (Pacharo Mzembe) have tried to move on with their lives after the calamity. Still, when the opportunity to dabble in some illegal science comes up, Liv can’t help but dive back into a world that almost took her life last time.  

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Doctor Who: The Story and the Engine – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is one of those stories that shows you why getting authenticity into your production matters.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

The TARDIS putting out a fire.

Doctor Who Review –

There have been a lot of debates about what constitutes authenticity in the world. Should actors be playing certain roles or not? Should writers be writing characters or not? It is a wild discussion full of interesting points, bad actors, and all the hallmarks or the bitterness of modern culture discussions. However, today’s episode of Doctor Who might give us an insight into what authenticity means.  

So, to set the scene, The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Miss Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) have arrived in Lagos, Nijeria, in 2019. Partly to make use of the of its tech industry, but also to visit an old friend, Omo Esosa (Sule Rimi). But when he arrives at the barber, he finds all the clientele on missing posters. Inside, everyone is still there but someone new is running the place, but the vibes are off, and soon the door is locked behind them and the TARDIS started to freak out and the house began to shake. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Doctor Who: Lucky Day – TV Review

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TL;DR – It’s a fascinating episode, but I think we will need to see it in context with the rest of the season to see if it has the impact they clearly are hoping it has.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Fireworks over Big Ben.

Doctor Who Review –

Today, we are looking at what has come to be known as a ‘Doctor-Lite’ episode, where to help with production, they have an episode where Ncuti Gatwa does not have to have a significant presence so they can film the season over a shorter period by having dual productions running at once. As a production cost-saving measure, it can reach the heights of a bottle episode or the lows of a clip show, and it is time to see where we land today.   

So, to set the scene, it is New Year’s Day, and The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Miss Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) have arrived back in 2007, but still London, Earth, is better than before. Before they leave, they bump into a little boy who makes it his mission to find out more about the big blue box and the man who travels in it. But now Conrad (Jonah Hauer-King) has something he has never had before: an interview with someone who has actually been inside it, one Miss Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson). Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Doctor Who: The Well – TV Review

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TL;DR – Today, Doctor Who took a turn into an unsettling one, and I was not quite ready for them to commit as much as they did.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Warning – contains scenes that may cause distress.

A space scape.

Doctor Who Review –

When I was first introduced to Doctor Who, I was inundated with several episodes that were meant to unsettle you. Where a child in a mask could be more terrifying than the London Blitz, and where there was a ‘Silence in the Library’ incident that still lives in infamy in my family’s lore. However, it has been a long time since Doctor Who had me sitting on the edge of my chair, but they got that tonight.    

So, to set the scene, after The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Miss Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) tried to hook an anchor into May 2025 in last week’s Lux, they have still struggled to get it to land where they want it to be. But while The Doctor is busy promising that he will get Belinda home, the TARDIS makes a landing 500,000 years in the future. They just need to get another Vindicator reading, only to find themselves immediately jumping out of a spaceship. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Doctor Who: Lux – TV Review

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TL;DR – A profoundly weird episode that leans into its weirdness in a way that made it profoundly compelling.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Mr Ring-a-Ding

Doctor Who Review –

While this new era of Doctor Who has been a bit hit-and-miss for me. The episodes that have shined through all of that have been the ones where they dialled up the camp, or the weirdness or the absurd. Stories with real teeth that let the cast have a lot of fun with the concepts. There have not been many of them, but today, we get another to add to the pantheon.

So, to set the scene, The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Miss Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) have landed in 1952 so they can use a Vindicator as a lure to get back to when Belinda was taken from. They can’t just go back normally because the TARDIS keeps bouncing off the day. But when they arrive in Miami, they find a cinema that has been boarded up with flowers of people missing. Fifteen people walked in three months ago and just disappeared from the cinema/picture house. A haunted cinema, it’s like catnip to The Doctor, but maybe they should have left this one alone. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Doctor Who: The Robot Revolution – TV Review

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TL;DR – An odd opening episode that is equally interesting, odd, and also a bit frustrating.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Belinda arrives at Miss Belinda Chandra I.

Doctor Who Review –

Well, we’re back, and the series that keeps on truckin’ is back with the second season of its third era. Doctor Who has always been a bit of an odd duck because there are times when it soars in the sky and other times when it flounders around with its but hanging in the air. Last season was a bit of both, where interesting characters and scenarios got lost at times due to a lack of focus. Will this second season work on some of those issues? Well, since it was filmed before the first episodes came out, I am not holding my breath, but I am always happy to be proven wrong.   

So, to set the scene, Miss Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) is a nurse working in a local hospital and lives a generally unremarkable life bar the time one day that an old flame bought one of those silly ‘name a star’ certificates. But the one people who did not think the certificate was ridiculous was the new robot overlords of Miss Belinda Chandra I. Who capture her and take her back to the planet, now named after her, to marry their AI overlord, who is the new royal queen of the planet. The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) is there to help, but it looks like time is in flux. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Doctor Who: Joy to the World – TV Review

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TL;DR – An episode that is filled with fascinating character moments and an interesting setup, yet tied together with a dull narrative.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

The Time Hotel.

Doctor Who Review –

Many traditions exist out there for those who celebrate Christmas, and for many years now, for many, including myself, it has been capped off on Boxing Day with the Doctor Who Christmas Special. Last year, we got The Church on Ruby Road, which brought the two main characters for Season One together for the first time. In the past, we have gotten new regenerations, deaths, famous people from history, and even Catherine Tate that one time. Thus, the question is, what will we get today?

So, to set the scene, it is the Queen’s Hotel, Manchester, during the middle of the Blitz. People are lamenting the fall of democracy when a man bursts through the door carrying a ham and cheese toasty and a pumpkin latte. Wrong door, that’s okay. Let’s try The Orient Express. No. Okay, maybe Everest Base Camp? But maybe, just maybe. The Sandringham Hotel, in 2024, will be the right spot. Right where Joy (Nicola Coughlan) is arriving to spend the week. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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My Old Ass – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a film that swims through the nostalgia of youth when significant changes are about to come, and you don’t know what the future might hold

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Elliott (39) talks to Elliott (18)

My Old Ass Review –

Today, we look at a slightly sweet film that tries to ride the line between a bombastic juvenile comedy and a quieter coming-of-age work. It is a very fine line to walk because there is not a lot of safe ground between those two points. Indeed, I know people who have entirely disagreed on where this film landed. I think I am more in that first category, but that might be just because this film is laser-targeted on who I am.

So, to set the scene, Elliott Labrant (Maisy Stella) has just turned 18, and in just 22 days, she is going to leave the life she has lived on a lake in Canada harvesting cranberries on her family’s farm to move to the big city. But before she leaves, she wants to have one more trip with her friends Ro (Kerrice Brooks) and Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler) out to an island on the lake to camp, chat, and, oh, maybe dabble in some hallucinogenic mushroom. While her friends see many interesting things like rabbit orchestra, nothing quite prepares Elliott to look over and see her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza) looking back at her. They talked about life and love, and her older self warned her not to fall in love with Chad. “Well, that was an odd trip”, thought Elliott, until she found Chad (Percy Hynes White) working on her dad’s farm as a summer farmhand. Oh, and someone put a new contact ‘My Old Ass’ in her phone.

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Star Trek: Prodigy – The Devourer of All Things, Part I & Part 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This two-parter was a clear love letter to Star Trek.   

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this series.

USS Voyager-A over a planet

We are at the midway point in Star Trek Prodigy’s second season, and what a season we have had so far. We have swapped around holograms, had conversations with whales, been led by mysterious foes, and also discovered that The Doctor (Robert Picardo) 100% has written at least one enemies-to-lovers holonovel. However, everything is about to shift under their feet, and I can’t wait to see how.

So, to set the scene, after taking some shortcuts through an abandoned Borg Transwarp Conduit and stopping to get Zero (Angus Imrie) a real body. The team of Dal (Brett Gray), Gwyn (Ella Purnell), Jankom (Jason Mantzoukas), Zero, Murf (Dee Bradley Baker), and Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui) have arrived at the coordinates in the nebula hoping to find a clue from Chakotay (Robert Beltran). But when they find a planet hidden in subspace, things take a turn. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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