Reverse The Polarity Films - Quick Update - May 2010

Hello to any of my Youtube fans who happen to stumble on to here. I just wanted to post a quick apology. I haven't done much this year with my channel so far as University has kept me very very very busy, and being my priority, everything else has fallen by the wayside at the moment. However, I promise to start putting up new stuff from July, when I have a short break all to myself. So till then, take care. :) x

Doctor Who review project: Part 2

Continuing my Doctor Who re-evaluation has been rather slow over the last 2 months. University has kept me busier than ever, and with BUGS' 15th Anniversary, excellent new Doctor Who episodes and the impending UK General Election (which combined has captured much of my attention and free time), not much reviewing has taken place. However, that doesn't mean there was nothing to surprise me.

The story count has only risen by 13 stories from 33-46, I'm afraid, but hopefully in the coming summer months that will change. In that period, I've revisited both Classics and Clunkers, partly down to my own curious whims. The Trial of a Time Lord epic is still very much a strong favourite of mine, but slightly lower than before. Other no surprises were an equally strong Curse of Peladon, and predictably average Delta and the Bannermen. However, I was surprised at quite how bad The Time Monster was, and even more so that The Tomb of the Cybermen is actually much less of a Classic story than previously thought (especially considering it's always a fan favourite).

Still, this is small fry, and I hope to have progressed much more by July.

BUGS - 15th Anniversary (1995-2010)

Everybody has a favourite TV Show that recalls the best years of their Childhood, and I was fortunate to have many. But for me no TV programme does it better than BUGS - a brilliant hi-tech action-adventure show from the mid-1990s (1995-1999). Starring the talented actors Jesse Birdsall, Jaye Griffiths and Craig McLachlan; the show followed a trio of surveillance experts - Beckett, Ros, and Ed. Every episode they were either hired by paranoid businessmen with secrets to hide, or protected companies from organised crime, or battled Bond-like Megalomaniacs out for Power. This format continued for 2 series until the BUGS team were brought in to replace a secret Government department, after which they continued doing similar things, only with a much broader scope in order to keep the programme fresh and original.

If you’re detecting hints of The Avengers, then you’re not mistaken. Brian Clemens himself, a writer and producer from the original Avengers TV show put a reasonable amount of input into BUGS creation; and the programme does have a few Avengers references if you look hard enough. However, BUGS’ main twist was that it was set in the near future, and featured many Sci-fi and technological concepts and gadgets that are still futuristic today as they were in the 1990’s.

Of course, as with any past programme that tries to visualise the future, it does have some aspects that are now rather dated, such as the large ‘mobile’ phones or the basic computer operating systems, but of course being a budget BBC show they couldn’t afford to futurise everything; and there are always some things about the future that nobody can predict. However, the small budgets were often well hidden, with the occasional stunt or gloriously large explosion. It’s also reasonably obvious to anyone in the UK that all the location work was mainly done in the Docklands, to maintain that futuristic look, but in my view it still really works, as even in 2010, it’s obvious that Britain hasn’t changed that much.

I don’t mind telling you that I really adore this programme. The regular characters themselves are superb. I probably love Beckett most of all as the romantic, brave and resourceful ex-Spy, but the other two are equally brilliant. Ros is a cool kick-ass electronics genius with a bold free spirit and a compassionate heart, while Ed is a resilient action man who is young at heart. However, it wasn’t always just the regulars who impressed.

Although the BUGS team battled numerous villains over the years, there’s only one that was truly special and stood out from the crowd. Enter Jean-Daniel Marcel, brilliantly underplayed by Gareth Marks. In fact Jean-Daniel turned out to be the Master or Blofeld of the programme, after making such an impact on his Series 1 episode, that the writers created an extensive Story arc for him that spread out over Series 2, producing some of the shows best episodes and a magnificent series finale.

I also particularly loved the music and theme tune composed by Gavin Greenaway. The mix of muted brass, drum bass and gorgeous synths in a heroic melody created a wonderful soundtrack that has been one of the most original and memorable ever produced in my lifetime.

Of Course all great shows must come to an end, but unlike other successful programmes, BUGS was never given a proper ending. The BBC decided to axe the show in 1998, and even postponed part of Series 4 till a year later when the Omagh bombing occurred during the series’ run. Audiences were already low due to the earlier broadcasts, and with the year break between episodes, many of them gave up on the show. I suppose you could also say the quality in episodes was in decline too. Although the format adjustment in Series 3 to make the BUGS team hired Spies helped to maintain the show’s freshness and originality, by Series 4 the wheels were already beginning to come off, so to speak. Series 3 also developed and deepened the regular characters which gave more scope for Drama, and also tried out many great new episode ideas to stretch our much-loved characters in different directions. There was even a romantic subplot of Beckett gradually falling in love with Ros.

Series 4 however, slowly began to lose what made the programme quirky and fun in the first place. Craig McLachlan left the show, partly I suspect because his character Ed was quickly becoming a walking talking cliché, which became more evident when Steven Houghton was hired to continue playing the role of Ed. Plus, some of the storylines themselves became just re-hashed past episodes with different, but equally clichéd characters. But worst of all, the Series 4 writers were turning the show more into a soap opera, away from the adventures, and more about continuous dramatic changes in the regular characters lives. They were all paired up into relationships, then split up, then hinted at getting back together again, and given various life problems to keep the characters in a constant state of flux.

However, I do believe it could’ve been turned around. They were still the occasional good episodes there, and I think if the BBC had given it another year the programme could have changed for the better. Still, I remained a loyal viewer to the end, and it was great fun and excitement to my younger self while it lasted.

In fact BUGS' legacy goes on. The action and Spy stories were taken up by the much more Adult, but equally brilliant Spooks, while the fun and innocent adventure were brought back by the return of Doctor Who in 2005, which I hasten to add, I also suspect learnt a thing or two from the BUGS format too (45-minute episodes with Series story arcs and finales). But BUGS was much more than a just a fill-in for more successful and future programmes like Spooks and Doctor Who, but helped maintain the Saturday night family Drama audience, and created an accessible Bond-like action and crime-fighting show for everyone to enjoy. And it will always remain one of my favourites.

Happy 15th Anniversary, BUGS!

Doctor Who - Series 5 begins with a glorious start

Doctor Who returned to BBC 1 on Easter Saturday with an amazing opening episode. The Eleventh Hour introduced UK Viewers to the Eleventh Doctor, as played by Matt Smith. I won't give a proper review now, but even though this is only the first episode since the departure of head writer and executive producer Russell T. Davies, already Steven Moffat is giving us barnstorming classic episodes. In fact, straight away I will say that in my view this story is already one of the top 5 best Doctor Who stories ever made since the program's return in 2005.

Of course, the brilliant writing of Steven Moffat has a lot to do with it. A very clever, and wonderfully witty script entertains non-stop throughout. Moffat also gives the script an enchanting fairytale feel that makes you feel you're watching something special, and the episode really. Although, the main story is simple in itself, this is more than made up for by the intricate and moving individual stories of both The Doctor and Amy Pond that weave beautifully in and out of the main plot.

The other huge reason for the success though are it's two new regular actors - Matt Smith and Karen Gillan who portray possibly the best Doctor and companion partnership since Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred. I fell in love with Matt Smith's Doctor almost instantly. Quirky, clever, charismatic, joyfully energetic, but at the same time gloriously retro. He has the quirks of the 2nd Doctor (Patrick Troughton), the breathless enthusiasm of the 5th (Peter Davison), the joyful flamboyances of early 7th (Sylvester McCoy), the cool joviality and forthrightness of the 9th (Christopher Eccleston), and the sharp tongue and child-like erratic behaviour of the 10th (David Tennant), which seemed to work better with Matt Smith than it ever did with David Tennant. And yet there were subtle new traits that Matt brought to the role of the Doctor himself, such as his endearing eccentricity as an old-fashioned, but youthful gentleman; a layer of charmingly underplayed vanity; and a lovely occasional cheeky edge. Karen Gillan on the other hand is also an equally great companion. Sassy, intelligent, but wonderfully enchanting, Amy Pond is a great foil for the Eleventh Doctor, but also a joy to watch.

And that wasn't all. The new TARDIS is absolutely gorgeous and amazing. I'm glad that the TARDIS actually looks more futuristic on this occasion, even if some of the console controls are a bit odd.Murray Gold was also on top form as music composer once more, well apart from the theme music, but anything is probably better than the aural mess we had during Series 4. Still his score, although melodically simple was evocative, wonderous, subtle, rousing, and moving. Sometimes all at the same time.

All this brilliant material, and yet it's only the beginning! If Series 5 can get better than this, than Doctor Who will surely be the TV event of the year! I can't wait. Let the journey commence!

UK Easter TV Spectacular

For the first time in many years we have an Easter holiday jam-packed full of great TV Drama this weekend, and indicates that 2010 could be a great year in British Television.

First, on Good Friday, Ashes to Ashes begins it third and final series at 9.00pm BBC 1, and hopefully starts to bring together some answers to the many mysteries that both this program and it's predecessor - Life on Mars began a few years ago.

Then on Saturday Prime Time, Matt Smith triumphantly starts his amazing era as the 11th Doctor in Doctor Who at 6.20pm also on BBC 1.

On Easter Sunday, two TV Classics come head-to-head with TV Specials at 8.00pm. On BBC 1, Mystery Drama favourite Jonathan Creek returns for another fascinating oddity to solve, bringing together once more Alan Davies and Sheridan Smith.

On ITV 1, David Jason returns to play, for the last time, Detective Inspector Jack Frost in legendary Crime Drama - A Touch of Frost as he struggles to bring down a Drug dealer. This final story however, consists of two 2-hour episodes, the first of which is on Sunday, and the other concludes on Easter Monday, and also begins at 8.00pm (ITV 1).

Even without chocolate, this Easter looks to be amazing on the small screen. Happy holidays!

Matt Smith: A Patrick Troughton fan?

Steven Moffat revealed in Doctor Who magazine 418 recently that when Matt Smith watched old episodes of Doctor Who in preparation for the part, he especially loved the Patrick Troughton classic - Tomb of the Cybermen. In fact he loved the classic Doctor Who actor so much, he talked (more like raved) about him for days. I'm not certain if Troughton is Matt's favourite Doctor, but it certainly seems that he might be.

The reason this is interesting is because so far, with the execption of Tom Baker and David Tennant, the majority of Doctor actors have always favoured or been inspired by Patrick Troughton, so this latest news seems to cement Troughton's reputation further as the 'Doctor's Doctor'.

As Matt Smith also chose the majority of his costume, it's also interesting to note that there are many Troughton-esque features to it (the braces, bow tie, the 'proffessor' look). Maybe Matt Smith's Doctor will be Troughton-esque too?

Doctor Who review project: Part 1

Last year I voted in Doctor Who magazine's 'Mighty 200' story poll and it got me thinking. Although, I voted my own opinion, most were general guesses. Now however, I want to find out for sure what my opinion is on the whole of the Doctor Who TV series, both old and new. As a continuing film student studying Video Production at University, my critical opinions have probably developed a fair amount since I last thought about this properly 3-5 years ago, so I thought it would be interesting to find out.

Of course, re-evaluating all 205 of the Doctor Who episodes made so far is going to be a long, and at times somewhat dull task, but I'm hoping the results will be worth it in the end.

I've already seen 33 complete stories across all the Doctors so far, and from what I can see, New Series Doctor Who (2005-Present) has gained more favor with me than previously, and despite Jon Pertwee being my favourite Doctor, his episodes are still a hair's breadth aware from being in my top favourites of all time. However it's still early days so far, so I'll come back to this in a couple of months time.