PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Science Fiction Sunday 763

Torchwood Series 1 Episode 1 - 2

I'm watching the Torchwood British DVD box set that came out in 2012. There's 18 discs in the set. I watched the first disc of the first series. There are two episodes and some extras. Series 1 has a lot of extras, Series 2 has a lot less extras.

 

Everything Changes October 22 2006 Written by Russell T Davies and directed by Brian Kelly.

 

Cardiff police officer Gwen Cooper takes an interest in the people from Torchwood when they take over a murder investigation. She sees them bring a corpse back to life with a metal gauntlet.

 

The next day she gets knocked down on the job. She has her knocked noggin checked at the hospital and sees Jack running up a stairwell. She follows and finds the floor taped off. She goes through the barrier only to encounter an alien called a Weevil. A maintenance man shows up and is killed.

 

Jack shows up and captures the Weevil and Gwen starts investigating Torchwood, she fakes a pizza delivery, she gains access to the headquarters and Jack takes her out for a drink. He spikes her beer with an amnesia pill.

 

A strong memory of a strange looking knife breaks the pills control and she returns to the Millennium Center where Torchwood has their secret underground lair. Doctor Who fans should remember that that area is home to a space and time rift that occasionally lets aliens and their technology through. Torchwood collects the aliens and artifacts and stores the bad ones away.

 

Gwen encounters Suzie, one of the Torchwood team, and realizes that Suzie is the killer. She just wanted some dead people to test the gauntlet on. Suzie kills Captain Jack, when he revives she kills herself. Jack asks Gwen if she wants a job and she accepts.

 

Day One October 22 2006 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Brian Kelly.
 

On her first day on the job Gwen accidentally releases an alien from a meteor. It's a pink cloud that inhabits the body of some poor random woman. The alien cloud turns her into a sex fiend wanting men for their orgasm. Sadly, for the men, this means their deaths when they are turned into a pile of sexless dust. 

 

Using plenty of technology they figure out who she is and the chase begins. The Torchwood team is mostly too late to save the dozens or more victims but they catch her in the end. They get the alien out of the young woman and return her home. Gwen has some bits of business with her boyfriend.

 

It seems that Jack has lumbered himself and Torchwood with some less than stellar co-workers. Suzie is a crazy psycho and Owen is perfectly happy to use a alien spray to attract partners for sex. That seems a bit date rapey but the series is certainly trying to be grittier than Doctor Who.

I'll be curious to see how it goes. I plan to watch a disc each week, maybe two if there are less extras to plow through. The first disc had a commentary for both episodes and there were three making of featurettes.

Science Fiction Sunday 762

Doctor Who 2 Series 13 Specials

 

Eve Of The Daleks January 1 2022 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Annetta Laufer.

 

Sarah runs a self storage business, Nick has stuff stored there. The Tardis stops there and accidentally creates a time loop. Some Daleks show up and kill everyone, the time loop resets, everyone's murdered again, repeat.

 

The Doctor figures how to repair the problem and blows up the self storage building. Sarah and Kevin realize they are in love with each other, lucky for them they survived after the time loop is turned off.

 

Legend Of The Sea Devils April 17 2022 Written by Ella Roads and Chris Chibnall, directed by Haolu Wang.

 

Geomagnetic anomalies bring the Tardis to 1807 China. The Tardis gang meets up with a lady pirate who is looking for Ji-Hun's legendary treasure. The Tardis gang find out the Sea Devils are back and they've had Ji-Hun in a status chanber for many years. The Sea Devils plan is to take over the planet but the Doctor sets that plan on it's ear.

 

The Power Of The Doctor October 23 2022 Written by Chris Chibnall and Jamie Magnus Stone.

 

Cybermen attack a space train and the Tardis gang is there. Dan is nearly killed and he decides at the end of the film that he'll be staying in Wales. A renegade Dalek contacts the Doctor to sell out the other Daleks.

Kate calls the Doctor and asks for some help. She also brings in Tegan and Ace for some advice. The Master turns up again. He's so much trouble, hopefully he's really dead this time. We'll see what the new show runner has to say in a year or two. The Doctor regenerates and the new Doctor is an old Doctor. It was nice to see some of the past Doctors and companions again.

The stories were fairly good. I liked the Sea Devils episode best. There's a few making of videos and each episode has a commentary. I'm glad that the Chibnall era is over and I'm looking forward to the David Tennant specials that are coming. I'm not that fond of Chris as show runner and main writer. He's so bombastic and so many episodes are constantly bathed in darkness. I can't see some of what is going on. I read that the episodes are in the £5 million range. You'd think they would have had some money for lights. I'm probably going to watch Torchwood next. Might be fun to visit Captain Jack for a while.

Science Fiction Sunday 761

Doctor Who 2 Series 13 Episode 5 - 6

 

Survivors Of The Flux November 28 2021 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Azhur Saleem.

 

The Doctor gets turned into a Weeping Angel for a while then she meets the woman, Tecteun, who experimented on her when she was the timeless child. The Doctor has no memory of Tecteun's experiments and subsequent use of her genes to create the race of Time Lords. Those memories were erased and stored in a Time Lord watch. Tecteun created and runs the Division and that Ood helps her. Tecteun created the Flux to kill the Doctor for being such a nuisance, one who interferes with her experiments. When Swarm shows up he will put an end to Tecteun in a most satisfying way. She is a monster.

 

Yaz, Dan and Jericho are lost in 1904 trying to figure out when the world will end. Kate Stewart confronts the head of UNIT with his being a traitor and he opens the Earth defense to let the Sontarians take over.

 

The Vanquishers December 5 2021 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Azhur Saleem.

 

The Doctor gets split into three bodies in three timelines. She brings the various groups together and they battle the Sontarians. The Sontarians wipe out the Lupari and then lure the Daleks and the Cybermen into a location where the Flux devastates their fleets. The Daleks and Cybermen have been wiped out so often and returned it seems a bit pointless.

 

The Sontarians get consumed by the Flux and the Flux is consumed by one of the Passengers. Time destroys Swarm and Azure and the Doctor maroons the head of UNIT on a small asteroid. They should have popped him into the sun. He's a real bastard. Most of the problems are wrapped up. The Doctor, Yaz and Dan head off for the next adventure. 

There's a handful of making of shorts as extras. There's just the three specials to go and I'll be done with the series until the David Tennant specials air. I think I'll watch Torchwood next.

Science Fiction Sunday 760

Doctor Who 2 Series 13 Episodes 1 - 4 The whole 6 episode series is one story titled Flux. 

 

The Halloween Apocalypse October 31 2021 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone.

  

A Lupari called Karvanista kidnaps Dan from his Liverpool house, the Doctor and Yaz are investigating when the Doctor gets a psychic vision of an alien called Swarm escaping from his prison. A Weeping Angel sends a woman named Claire back to 1965.

 

The Doctor finds out from Karvanista that the Lupari are twined with Earth and they've come with 7 billion spaceships to encase the Earth from the Flux. The cloud like Flux is eating everything that it encounters. The Sontarians plan to use the Flux to sneak up on Earth and capture it. The Tardis gets left out of the Lupari shield and gets overtaken by the Flux.

 

War Of The Sontarans November 7 2021 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone.

 

The Doctor, Yaz and Dan wind up in the Sevastopol during the Crimean War, they meet up with Mary Seacole. Instead of fighting the Russians the British are fighting the Sontarians. Dan and Yaz are pulled away from the Doctor by the Flux, Dan winds up in 2021 Liverpool and Yaz is sent to a ruined temple on the planet Time where she meets Vinder.

 

Dan and Karvanista blow up some Sontarian ships and Yaz gets kidnapped by Swarm and his sister Azure. The siblings want to disrupt time because they are evil creeps bend on destruction. The Doctor is on the move, she picks up Dan and they travel to Time. The episode ends with Swarm about to destroy Yaz.

 

Once, Upon Time November 14 2021 Written by Chris Chibnall and Azhur Saleem.

 

The Doctor sends the gang back to their own timelines to thwart Swarm. We get introduced to Bel and follow her about a bit. Bel is on the run from Daleks, Sontarians and Cybermen. They sure pile on the villains this series. Too many for me.

  

We learn that Bel and Vinder are a couple. The Fugitive Doctor shows up again. Something is revealed about the Division and the Doctor's involvement. The Doctor defeats Swarm and Azure. She returns Dan, Yaz and Vinder to their time streams. A Weeping Angel invades the Tardis.

 

Village Of The Angels November 21 2021 Written by Chris Chibnall and Maxine Alderton and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone.

 

The Doctor reboots the Tardis to get rid of the Weeping Angel and they wind up on Earth in 1967. They encounter Claire and Professor Jericho, he's doing psychic experiments on her. Yaz and Dan are pulled out of that time stream and sent back to 1901, they're still in the same town. They meet a little girl who shows them that the Earth is being eaten away by something.

 

The Doctor, Clair and Professor Jericho are fighting the Weeping Angels. The statues are after a rogue WA by order from the Division. The WA's grab the Doctor and take her to the Division HQ. Bel lands on a planet and sees Azure kidnapping the locals for energy.

There's a lot going on in every episode and it's all very noisy. I had thought I might watch the whole 6 parts in a day but I got started late and by the end of episode 4 I was ready to pack DW in for the week.

There's some making of featurettes and a commentary that I sort of listened too.

Science Fiction Sunday 759

Doctor Who 2 Series 12 Episodes 9 - 10 & Special

 

Ascension Of The Cyberman February 23 2020 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone.

 

In the far future the Tardis gang meet up with the last of the humans. They are attacked by the Cybermen, lead by the damaged Cyberman from the last episode. The Doctor runs about and smashes their plan until the Master shows up to complicate things.

 

The Timeless Children March 1 2020 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone.

 

The Master is filled with hate and anger, he wants to destroy everything. He tells the Doctor that she's the Timeless Child and she's the reason Gallifreyians have the power to regenerate. There's apparently a whole backstory to the Doctor's backstory but the Gallifreyians have wiped it out. Too bad the Doctor can't go back in time to find out more.

 

The Doctor screws over the Daleks and the Master and everyone heads back to the Earth. The Judoon arrive and arrest the Doctor and put her in prison.

 

Revolution Of The Daleks January 1 2021 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Lee Haven Jones.

  

The Tardis gang are missing the Doctor, it's been 10 months. She arrives with Captain Jack, he broke her out of prison, and there's a bit of cold reception from Ryan, Yaz and Graham. Yaz is so mad she pushes the Doctor. The Doctor has been in the prison for decades but none of the Tardis gang even ask her low long she's been gone.

 

The evil American business man called Robertson returns, he was in a previous episode, now he's built a defense drone based on the Dalek body. One of his scientists has cloned a Dalek creature that has some human DNA in it. Robertson tells him to destroy it but the Dalek takes over the scientist and builds a cloning factory.

  

The Doctor calls the Dalek death squad to come wipe out the impure Daleks. There's more running about, the Daleks are wiped out again. They fail to kill off Robertson after he tries to save his hide by making a deal with the Daleks and I was greatly disappointed.

 

Back home Jack takes off to catch up with an old friend from Torchwood. Ryan and Graham decide they are done traveling but Yaz chooses to stay with the Doctor.

In the previous series there were stand out episodes that had something smart to say, some bit of joy, despite the terrible story. There doesn't seem to be much of that in the Chris Chibnall era. It's all dark, it's all doom, it's all rushing about, it's all rather tiring.

There wasn't much by way of extras, a few weak making of featurettes.

Science Fiction Sunday 758

Doctor Who 2 Series 12 Episode 6 - 8

 

Praxeus February 2 2020 Written by Pete McTighe and Chris Chibnall, directed by Jamie Magnus Stone.

 

Humans are being infected with a bacterium that blows them up. An alien brought it to see if they could figure out how to defeat it by infecting the Earth. The Doctor gets an antidote together and puts a stop to the bacterium.

 

Can You Hear Me? February 9 2020 Written by Charlene James and Chris Chibnall, directed Emma Sullivan.

 

Some aliens causes a problem and the Doctor figures out a solution.

 

The Haunting Of Villa Diodati February 16 2020 Written by Maxine Alderton and directed by Emma Sullivan.

 

The Doctor takes the gang to visit Mary Shelley on the night that she was inspired to create Frankenstein. A Cyberman shows up to inspire her creature. Does that take anything away from the real Mary?

I'm finding myself being less and less interested in the series so far, looking forward to the end of Chris Chibnall's run on the show. There were 3 making of featurettes on the disc.

Science Fiction Sunday 757

Doctor Who 2 Series 12 Episodes 3 - 5

 

Orphan 55 January 12 2020 Written by Ed Hime and directed by Lee Haven Jones.

 

The Tardis gang get an invite to the Tranquility Spa. They discover it's in a sealed dome and the planet is a barren wasteland that is populated with mutated monsters called Dregs that want into the dome. The dome's security is breaking down and the Dregs get in, killing some vacationers and crew. 

 

It turns out the daughter of the spa's builder has sabotaged the place because mom didn't care much about her. What an ass. The Doctor works things out eventually.

 

Nikola Tesla's Night Of Terror January 19 2020 Written by Nina Metivier and directed by Nida Manzoor.

 

The Doctor meets Nikola Tesla and helps with another alien invasion. They use the Wardenclyffe Tower to blast the alien ship.

 

Fugitive Of The Judoon January 26 2020 Written by Vinay Patel and Chris Chibnall, directed by Nida Manzoor.

 

The Judoon arrive in Gloucester looking for someone. They find them only to have the Doctor step in. Turns out the person the Judoon are looking for is the Doctor. A creature called Gat is their client and the Doctor they are looking for isn't our current Doctor. It's another lady, that's her on the right.

 

The Doctor gets a bit of help from Jack Harkness. It was nice to see Jack again, wish the part was bigger and more entertaining.

I didn't find these episodes to be anything much more than average. According to the Wikipedia this series has 6 of the least watched episodes. The UK viewer ratings drop off as the rest of the series is broadcast.

There was a commentary and a short making of featurette for each episode.

Science Fiction Sunday 756

Doctor Who Series 12 Episodes 1 - 2

 

Spyfall Part 1 January 1 2020 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone.

 

The Tardis gang get rounded up by MI6. Nice to see Stephen Fry as C, sad he had such a short role. There have been several spies killed by mysterious glowing white humanoid creatures. A media guy is suspected to be involved. Lenny Henry plays the media guy Daniel Barton.

 

The Doctor makes contact with O, an MI6 agent investigating alien activity. The Tardis gang investigates Daniel, eventually chasing him onto an airplane. It turns out that O is really the Master.

 

Spyfall Part 2 January 5 2020 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone. 

 

The Doctor is transported to the alien's world where she meets Ada Lovelace. They get dropped into 1834 where they meet Charles Babbage. The rest of the Tardis gang are after Daniel but he's got connections and he's branded them criminals.

 

The Doctor and Ada transport to 1943 Paris where they meet a woman in the resistance called Noor. The Master starts his plan to destroy the human race but the Doctor foils his plan and sends him to the alien's world.

 

The Doctor finds out that the Master has destroyed Gallifrey.

My interest was buoyed up by guest stars Stephen Fry and Lennie Henry but generally I'm not too excited to see the new episodes. I was more excited to see the Murdoch Mysteries that I watched a month or so ago. Despite liking the new Master but I'm rather tired of the character in general. Hope he won't come back for a while.

Both episodes had a commentary and a making of featurette. They were fairly entertaining.

Science Fiction Sunday 755

Doctor Who Series 11 New Years Special

 

The Witchfinders November 25 2018 Written by Joy Wilkinson and directed by Sallie Aprahamian.

 

The Tardis gang winds up in 1612 Lancashire where they encounter the local rich lady dunking a woman accused of being a witch. Turns out it was aliens.

 

It Takes You Away December 2 2018 Written by Ed Hime and directed by Jamie Childs.

 

In Norway the Tardis gang discover a portal to a sentient universe who's very lonely.

 

The Battle Of Ranskoor Av Kolos December 9 2018 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Childs.

 

The Tardis gang encounter Tzim-Sha on a planet where his convinced the two inhabitants that he's a god. He's not and they lock him up for eternity.

Resolution January 1 2019 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Wayne Yip.

A couple of archaeologists find a 1000 year old Dalek buried in the ground. They accidentally revive him and he takes over the lady archaeologists who builds him a flying Dalek shell. The Tardis gang kick his ass and toss him into a supernova.

The episodes were about average for the series. There's a few making of featurettes but no commentaries. Only two more series to go and the 13th is only 6 episodes. The end is high.

Science Fiction Sunday 754

Doctor Who 2 Series 11 Episodes 4 - 7

 

Arachnids In The UK October 28 2018 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Sallie Aprahamian.

 

A lesson in hazard waste storage problems. Spiders have mutated into giants that poach people for food.

 

The Tsuranga Conundrum November 4 2018 Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jennifer Perrott.

 

After an accident the Tardis gang wind up in a hospital space ship where they encounter a cute little alien that eats any non organic material. A man has a baby.

 

Demons In The Punjab November 11 2018 Written by Vinay Patel and directed by Jamie Childs.

 

The Doctor takes Yaz back in time to the Punjab of 1947 to learn more about her deceased grandfather. It's the day before her grandmother's wedding and the day before the partition of India. Aliens show up and everyone from the past thinks they are demons. They've come to honor souls who die alone. They'll be busy soon.

 

Kerblam! November 18 2018 Written by Pete McTighe and directed by Jennifer Perrott.

 

The Doctor gets a "Help me" message from the Kerblam! shopping service center. Going undercover as new employees the gang discover that workers have been going missing. Eventually the baddie is exposed and millions are saved. Nice to see Lee Mack in the cast.

 

A fair lot of stories. There's a couple of commentaries and twenty mins of making of stuff. The whole series is on 3 discs, most of the previous sets in the new series have been 5 or 6 discs.