Doctor Who - The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe

This review can also be found on Step2Inspire.

BANG! That was the quite literal sound of Christmas being made for many, if not all, Whovians, as that legendary Time Lord – the Doctor – returned to Earth for his annual festive jaunt through time and space.

Last seen marrying his would-be killer and faking his death on the shore of Lake Silencio (and then flogging his stylish tweed jacket and bow tie on telly for Children in Need... Hardly keeping a low profile!), the Doctor is still alive and well and running around big exploding space ships that are threatening to destroy the Earth. However, this pyrotechnic opening was merely the introduction to a less explosive adventure set in a wintry forest, inside a box in a living room, with tree spirits, the Green Man and his misses, and Bill Bailey...

In the midst of the second World War, Madge (Claire Skinner), a mother of two, finds herself widowed shortly before Christmas when her husband (Alexander Armstrong) crashes attempting to pilot his damaged plane across the channel. Without the heart to tell her kids about their father's fate so close to Christmas, and having to evacuate London to the safety of the countryside, Madge tries to stay strong in the face of hardship. Arriving at their new country-house residence, Madge, Cyril and Lily meet the eccentric care-taker – known to many as the Doctor. In an effort to make their Christmas the best one ever, the Doctor has kitted out the 1940's country-house with an array of weird and wonderful quirks, not least the inter-dimensional portal to a Christmassy forest cunningly disguised as a rather large present. However, overcome by the temptation to take a peak at what's inside the impossible box, Cyril inquisitively wanders into this strange and distant world alone, where something has disturbed the trees of this mystical forest...

Loosely based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe was certainly fairly Narnia-esque, but with a very different story. It had a kind of fairy tale feel about it – a well told narrative of magic and wonder, and the fate of the Universe didn't hang in the balance. The main threat was to the happiness of one family at Christmas, and an alien forest that's facing imminent destruction at the hands of the environmentally unscrupulous harvesters of Androzani Major. It may not have been quite as big a spectacle as the likes of A Good Man Goes To War or The Wedding of River Song, but it was an enjoyable family tale nonetheless.

Matt Smith's performance was as fantastically eccentric and mad as ever, but the star of this particular episode had to be Claire Skinner. As both a heart-broken widow and strong and resilient mother (and saviour of an entire race of trees), she masterfully balanced the various aspects of her character, mourning the loss of her husband but also keeping it together to rescue her children. Any woman who isn't phased by a strange man in a back-to-front space suit, and then proceeds to drive him around looking for a time travelling police box, then three years later loses her husband in the war and her children in a forest inside a box, and still manages to take it all in her stride is not only an incredibly strong individual, but also a perfect candidate for the TARDIS crew! As for the rest of the cast; Bill Bailey, Arabella Weir and Paul Bazely made an appearance, but it was far too fleeting in my opinion, and could've done with a bit more from the polluting space marines – who, for all their industrious virtues, have scanning devices that can easily be fooled by a cardigan (and apparently sonic screwdrivers still can't do wood – I think the people of the future need to better hone their technology!).

I did feel that the Green Man's acting was a little wooden, though... Probably best he sticks to tending to nature and naming pubs in the future.

Overall, whilst this may not have been the most exciting of episodes for Doctor Who, it was nevertheless a brilliant adventure for the festive season. With the rather miraculous and warm ending to Madge's story, followed by the brief cameo of Amy and Rory inviting the Doctor in for dinner, there was indeed an air of the Christmas spirit about it.

But alas, that's it from the Doctor until Autumn 2012 – well, it's been a busy year for the Time Lord! If you missed the Christmas special, it's available on BBC iPlayer here.

Black Mirror - The Entire History of You

This review can also be found on Step2Inspire.

The human memory is a fragile thing. Whenever we remember something, we are completely rebuilding that memory from scratch and, because this isn't exactly a perfect process, that memory also gets changed ever so slightly each time we reconstruct it. And, further more, psychological studies have proven that simply by asking leading questions it is possible to recall things that never actually happened, so not only are our memories slightly altered simply by remembering them, but any information we learn after an event may also corrupt that memory...

Anyway, now that you're questioning whether you really had porridge for breakfast last Tuesday, on with the review! The third and final instalment of Black Mirror, The Entire History of You, is set in the not too distant future where everyone has access to memory implants that record everything they see, hear and do. Essentially Sky Plus for the brain. Written by Jesse Armstrong (also known for writing Peep Show, The Thick of It, and Four Lions to name a few), The Entire History of You explores the implications of such a technology in a very personal human drama...

The story pivots around Liam (Toby Kebbell), an out of work lawyer with a wife and kid, and his growing obsession over the interactions of his wife, Ffion (Jodie Whittaker), and one of her former friends, Jonas (Tom Cullen), at a dinner party. Having witnessed a couple of subtle nuances in conversation between them, Liam begins to suspect that something is afoot. While most of us would dwell on this, second-guessing whether what we saw was true or not, and ultimately end up in an ill-advised argument for making paranoid accusations, Liam is able to replay the events exactly as they happened so he can confirm what he saw, and also present evidence to support his accusations when that inevitable argument arises. However, Liam goes on to spend the rest of the night wallowing in his obsession with the recording of the evening, driving himself beyond the realms of rationality...

It's an incredibly powerful piece of personal human drama, focussing purely on the dynamic of the three central characters, their strained relationships, and the memory implant at the core of the issue. Once again, the series produced another triumph of narrative, characterisation and all-round performance as it delved into Liam's tortured psyche, replaying and re-analysing events, only serving to fuel his paranoia further. As with the other episodes of Black Mirror, The Entire History of You holds up a hyperbolic mirror to modern society and gives it a cautionary nod, as if to say “mind how you go.” Could we really be trusted not to drive ourselves mad if we had access to this kind of technology?

Compared to it's predecessors, though, The Entire History of You felt much more domestic. The National Anthem showed us the power of social media in the modern world and how quickly news can spread through such a medium. 15 Million Merits then went on to paint the picture of a world ruled by pointless apps and talent shows, an exaggerated parody of our modern obsession with the menial distractions these things provide us with today. The Entire History of You tells the tale of human strife, amplified by the ability to torture oneself with technology that perfectly recalls every moment of your life, but felt like a story that could have been told with or without the technology at it's core – nonetheless, the application of the memory implant was certainly an intriguing premise.

Whilst The Entire History of You's conclusion didn't quite provide the same sense of closure as the previous two episodes of Black Mirror had, it still came to a sensational (if literally painful) finale, marking the jarring end of the premier series of Black Mirror. I sincerely hope we see more fantastic programming like this in the future!

If you missed The Entire History of You, it's available on 4OD here.

Lost Christmas

This review can also be found on Step2Inspire and EddieIzzard.com.

There are some films that you just have to watch at Christmas; It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol (especially if it's the Muppets), Gremlins... And now a new film commissioned by CBBC, Lost Christmas (starring the fantastic Eddie Izzard), looks set to join this pantheon of all-time Christmas classics. After the preview screening of this tragic and heart-warming urban fairytale at the British Film Institute, there were very few dry eyes left in the audience!

Set in Manchester on Christmas Eve, a mysterious and enigmatic man, Anthony (Eddie Izzard), suddenly appears on the streets with no recollection of who he is or why he's there - all he knows is a series of bizarre facts and that he has an uncanny ability to find the lost. With his unique ability, Anthony transforms the lives of five people whose lives have been shattered by the decisions of their past...

Superbly written by John Hay, David Logan, and Izzard, Lost Christmas is a tale of great personal tragedy over the Christmas period. It shows how the simplest of actions can completely change your life and the lives of those around you, and that bad things can happen, but also that sometimes miracles can happen and you may just get a second chance. Even though it has been billed as a children’s film, Lost Christmas is a film for all the family, and deals with some rather heavy concepts which will be more accessible to the maturer audiences. As Eddie Izzard said at the Q&A,  “I think it’s actually timeless. I don’t see it as a kids’ thing, I see it as a family film. I think you’ve got to be a teenager really to grab hold of where we’re going with some of the loss.”

It is an incredibly touching story, told mainly through the experiences of Goose (Larry Mills), a young boy with a tragic back-story, who encounters the ethereal Anthony. Together, they meet people from all walks of life, each with their own personal tragedy, but all unknowingly linked by the events of last Christmas. As heartwarming as it is deeply tragic, Lost Christmas certainly takes you on a profound and emotional journey - even I, as stoical as I am, found myself moved by this film! By the time the end credits had rolled, there were a fair few teary eyes in the auditorium.

Eddie Izzard provides a truly phenomenal performance as a seemingly non-human enigma, filled with facts and understanding, but no idea about his own life. He superbly captured the essence of a mysterious and ethereal being, carrying a strange sense of detachment and fore-knowledge throughout. Izzard’s dramatic style is a far cry from from his usual on-stage joviality, and another great addition to his growing repertoire of performances outside of his global acclaim as a stand-up comedian. With such a fantastic cast (including Jason Flemyng, Sorcha Cusack, Geoffrey Palmer and first-time actor Larry Mills), the film’s range of characters felt fully realised and fleshed-out, really drawing you into their own personal stories and how they tie-in in the grand scheme of things.

Although this film has been commissioned by CBBC and stars the unparalleled comedian-come-actor Eddie Izzard, don't be fooled into thinking it'll be a light-hearted Christmas jaunt. It will take you from crying tears of sadness to tears of joy - either way, keep the box of tissues to hand! There are also some scenes that may be quite unsettling for younger audiences pretty much from the outset, so parental discretion is almost certainly advised. There is a happy ending, but it takes a good 90 minutes of tragedy, heart-ache, loss and redemption before you get there!

That being said, though, it is still what I'd class as a 'feel-good' film. In spite of all these traumatic experiences, the story manages to leave you with a warm feeling in the end, and has a very “Christmassy” feel to it. It’s certainly not to be missed!

Lost Christmas will air on BBC One on 18th December, 5.30pm. It will also be shown on CBBC on Christmas Eve at the same time with some edits for language and content.

Black Mirror - 15 Million Merits

This review can also be found on Step2Inspire.

Have you ever wondered where our society is heading? Where might our obsession with menial distractions, infuriatingly tedious apps, and unrelenting talent shows lead us? The answer is 15 Million Merits, the second instalment of Charlie Brooker's dark trilogy, Black Mirror.

Set in the moderately distant future, 15 Million Merits envisions a world ruled by the Hot Shots judges – a triumvirate not too dissimilar to the judges of the X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. The populace of the world are confined to a life of physical drudgery, existing in a world of touch-screens, apps and poor quality entertainment, all the while peddling exercise bikes to earn merits to buy food, update their avatars with unnecessary gimmicks, skip irritating adverts, afford new programs and – for the fine price of 15 million merits – a chance to audition for Hot Shots. Those who get through go on to lead their lives as part of the social elite (but still at the behest of the judges), and those that do not, return to their lives on the bikes, peddling away for meaningless merits for meaningless things with no apparent goal in mind (hey, sounds like my understanding of contemporary economics!).

At the heart of it, though, 15 Million Merits is a love story – albeit perverted by the world in which they live, but a love story nonetheless. Bing (Daniel Kaluuya) is an exemplar of the general populace; he spends his days on the bike, increasing his merits, partaking in brainless app games (which bear a resemblance to both traditional time-wasting games for the discerning smartphone user, and X Box Kinect), or spending some quality time with himself watching Wraith Babes. He meets Abi (Jessica Brown Findlay), a fellow peddler, and they gradually develop a bond. Bing soon discovers that Abi is an incredibly talented singer and, with a bit of encouragement and financial support, convinces her to try her luck on Hot Shots, perhaps leading her to a better life. Of course, this being Black Mirror, Abi's talent and attractiveness turns out to be more of a curse than a blessing...

There was also a third party in this romance, portrayed by Isabella Laughland, who seemed to harbour emotions for Bing, but was completely over-looked by him whilst he was busy pursuing Abi. Unfortunately, her character was not fleshed-out and played only a minor part in the scheme of things, and I was surprised she didn't become more prominent later on as a grounding relationship for Bing... Alas, it was not meant to be!

Daniel Kaluuya certainly provided a magnificent performance, going from listless worker to love-struck human being, crying out for something real in this artificial world, and then the ultimate anguish at Abi's “success” and the state of the world. This was, of course, amplified by the antagonistic yet hypnotic judges, brilliantly played by Rupert Everett, Julia Davis and Ashley Thomas, who bore some kind of resemblance to their real life counter-parts (although I have no recollection of Louis Walsh ever running a porn station...). One of the many successes of 15 Millions Merits, as with Black Mirror’s first episode, The National Anthem, is that the characters have been realised perfectly, making them not only believable but actually empathy-invoking. In The National Anthem, one felt for Michael Callow in his desperate and unavoidably damning situation, and now in 15 Million Merits, Bing's emotional agony is truly palpable as he throws himself against the walls of his touchscreen cell.

Obviously the satire at 15 Million Merits' core is our obsession with mundane distractions. The sight of someone buried in a smartphone app on the tube, or slinging birds at pigs whilst queueing for a coffee, or flicking a virtual piece of paper into a virtual bin is becoming an all too familiar sight, and now with innumerable sport simulators using motion-sensing technology (“Just like playing real tennis, but without the fresh air, genuine exercise or human contact!” GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY TENNIS!) the future as envisioned in this episode is an ever-present possibility. And the unskippable adverts (well, skippable with a penalty) and the inability to sign off from it all were other elements that felt pertinent to things today – especially when enduring two minutes of unskippable commercials on 4OD whilst trying to watch a show parodying that very thing!

I couldn't help but feel that the cynical observations of talent shows were also rather spot on! In spite of Abi's evident talent, the judges demanded more from her, asking that she sacrifice her integrity and sell herself out to their commercialism in order to reach the “top”. She got to where she supposedly wanted to be (or rather, what everybody else classed as “the place to want to be”), but she was no longer true to herself. This was, to me, the perfect analogy for the media parasite, the X Factor; a show that pulls in both the talented and the not-quite-so-talented in droves, gets them to perform like dancing monkeys and tries to mould them into something more commercially viable. On paper, it's a great platform for budding artists, but has the grandeur of the X Factor made it lose sight of that agenda in exchange for marketability? This was a parallel I felt Black Mirror drew particularly well, albeit in slightly hyperbolic take on reality – either comply with what they expect from you, or your back on the bike, peddling away your days.

Bing's climatic and rousing speech on the stage of Hot Shots perfectly encapsulated my feelings about these televised talent shows, and again Kaluuya’s performance was incredibly invoking. Naturally, though, the judges managed to find a way to make even his revolutionary speech against their regime into something to be marketed and broadcast for the masses...

Once again, Black Mirror proved to be absolutely phenomenal, and is certainly my favourite thing on television at the moment. Plus, this particular episode couldn’t have been booked for a better time slot - immediately after the X Factor finale!

The final instalment, The Entire History of You, depicts a world in which people have the technology to replay recordings of their past experiences, and one couple have a particularly bad evening...

If you missed 15 Million Merits, you can catch it on 4OD here.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes

This article can also be found on Step2Inspire.

BBC One's highly acclaimed, multi-award winning drama, Sherlock, returns to our screens on New Year's Day, 2012. Starring the impeccable duo of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, the contemporary adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic detective stories comes back for a second series with three, 90-minute films – A Scandal in Belgravia, The Hounds of Baskerville, and The Reichenbach Fall.

Co-created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, the first series became a sudden hit in Summer 2010, drawing in an audience of over 9 million viewers and has since been sold in 180 countries worldwide. However, after having such a huge success with the first series, how does one follow up on that? “Well this year, knowing we were a huge hit, I suppose we felt 'let's do the three big things'; The Woman, The Hound and The Fall,” said Moffat in regards to their plans with series two. “Instead of making people wait years and years, we thought - to hell with deferred pleasure, let's just do it now, more, sooner, faster! That also means we see three different sides to Sherlock. We have Sherlock and love, Sherlock and fear and Sherlock and death. He definitely goes through the mill in this new series.”

In the first episode, A Scandal in Belgravia (scripted by Steven Moffat), a case of blackmail and some compromising photographs threaten the heart of the British establishment. Sherlock and John find themselves embroiled in a battle against international terrorists, rogue CIA agents and a conspiracy involving the British government, and Sherlock engages in a battle of wits with an antagonist as cold, ruthless and brilliant as himself... To Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler will always be the woman.

The second episode, an adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles, has been written by Mark Gatiss – who also plays Sherlock's brother, Mycroft, in the series. “My idea for Baskerville was, as ever, to look for the 'modern',” Gatiss said about his re-imagining of this Holmes classic. “Rather than setting it in a spooky old house, I wanted to find the sort of thing that frightens us today. We're still a very credulous species but we tend to be more afraid of secret goings-on and conspiracy theories. So I thought, what about a scary weapons research place out on Dartmoor? Where secret animal experimentation or something similarly terrible was taking place.”

“The reputation of the story was obviously a challenge, it's the most famous and best-loved of them all. No pressure! At its heart, though, it's a horror story and horror is a big part of the appeal of Sherlock Holmes. I wanted to make it the scariest version there's ever been. Trying to work that out almost killed me!”

The series concludes with The Reichenbach Fall, scripted by Stephen Thompson, and will see the fall of the world's greatest consulting detective at the hands of his arch-nemesis – Moriarty...

Both Gatiss and Moffat are self-professed Sherlock Holmes nerds, and despite initial scepticism surrounding the modernisation of the most famous fictional detective of all time, they have gone on to create a series that is a truly remarkable tribute to the works of Conan Doyle. And is that not also a testament to Conan Doyle's stories, in that almost 125 years since they were written, the tales of Sherlock Holmes are still just as relevant to us now as they were then, and stand as the perfect example of superb characterisation and narrative writing. It's little wonder that Sherlock Holmes is one of our most loved pieces of literature!

After the sublime first series, I for one can not wait until series two hits our screens!

Sherlock returns at 8.10pm, 1st January 2012 on BBC One.

Black Mirror - The National Anthem

This review can also be found on Step2Inspire.

The première episode of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, The National Anthem, introduced us to a dark and twisted political thriller set in a very recognisable and contemporary world. With the prolific use of social media, information is disseminated faster than ever before, and life for the rich and powerful is in constant scrutiny by the public. Brooker’s blend of twisted humour, intense drama and intelligent satire certainly made for a thoroughly engaging and phenomenal, if disquieting, piece of television!

In the early hours of the morning, Prime Minister Michael Callow (Rory Kinnear) is woken with some disturbing news – Susannah, Duchess of Beaumont, has been abducted, and her kidnapper has a rather unusual demand. In exchange for the safe return of Princess Susannah, at 4pm precisely the Prime Minister must have sex live on television. With a pig.

Despite their best efforts to keep the news under control and out of the public eye, the government could feel their influence slipping... Within moments, the hostage video had gone viral, become a trending topic on Twitter, and news teams were biting at the bit to break the injunction. With the public's voice now more influential than it's own government's, the information was disseminated quicker than anyone could have anticipated, and the world came to a stand-still as running news coverage took the reigns, driving Callow into a corner.

With time running out, presented with very few alternatives and faced with the ever-changing opinions of the people, the Prime Minister is caught in a terrible dilemma...

The National Anthem felt predominantly like a political satire, with a great deal of the focus being shifted towards the public's opinion of the Prime Minister and his actions rather than the drama of abducted royalty. This was one of it's greatest elements, staying away from the plot of a rescue operation and concentrating on the human drama caught up in it. Providing an utterly superb performance as the tortured Prime Minister, Rory Kinnear captured the essence of a man torn, trapped in a no-win scenario,who ultimately loses the love of his wife and gains the sympathy of the nation...

However, at the core of the narrative lay the pitfalls of modern technology, in this case the 24-hour news and the virulent nature of social networking. The Prime Minister's every action was dictated by the opinion polls, the potential fallout from the public dependant on whatever action he did take, and by his ultimate desire not to lose all respectability in the eyes of the voters, knowing all too well that the world was watching. And that they were, in disturbingly familiar scenes of collective voyeurism... If anyone's ever had the misfortune of watching I'm a Celebrity with a group of people, certain elements of The National Anthem were not too dissimilar to watching how people react when watching a particularly unpleasant 'bush tucker trial' – a mix of disgust and glee, derived from the public humiliation of another.

In every respect, The National Anthem captured a great degree of truth, and despite the bizarre plot (a princess is kidnapped by a Turner prize-winning artist who demands that the Prime Minister have sex with a pig on live television) the sheer brilliance of Brooker's writing and the superb performance from the cast brought a considerable amount of credibility and gravity to what is actually quite a ridiculous and humorous premise. And here again lies a triumph of Brooker's work – despite it's more comedic (albeit macabre) elements, The National Anthem was nonetheless very dark and disturbing, and one of the most engaging and evoking dramas I have seen in some time! No matter how long I make this review, no amount of words could truly do Black Mirror justice!

Next week’s episode, 15 Million Merits, is a sarcastic look at our future - a dystopian world in which everyone is forced into a life of physical drudgery, and the only way to escape this existence is to enter a very familiar talent contest... I’m certainly looking forward to it!

If you missed Black Mirror, you’re bloody stupid. However, you can catch up on it on 4OD here.

Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror

This article can also be found on Step2Inspire.

We live in an ever advancing world. In the past ten years or so, we've seen computers become common household appliances, televisions go from five channels to several hundred, news turn into a running commentary of the world (interesting or not), and telephones turn into all-purpose, wireless multi-tools. Things have advanced so quickly we've had very little chance to question it, and now we're constantly plugged into sites like Facebook and Google, which have come to know some of the most intimate details of our lives...

In a new three-part comedy drama series, Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker casts a cynical eye on the modern world, with a hint of techno-paranoia regarding the current progression of some of the most influential technologies today and where they may lead us. Somewhat inspired by shows like The Twilight Zone and Tales of the Unexpected, Black Mirror delves into a world not too dissimilar than our own, exploring the hypothetical what ifs of our current technological progress and it's potential impact on our lives. As a series of tongue-in-cheek cautionary tales, Black Mirror takes a sarcastic and cynical view of how technology can be used to both enhance and complicate our lives.

The first episode, The National Anthem, is a farce of how rolling news coverage and social media has had an impact on how we react to current events. Written by Brooker, the premier episode of the series portrays a somewhat contemporary world in the grips of the Twitter age, with information circulating at the speed of light, and public opinion louder and more influential than ever. Life for the rich and powerful is more difficult now that their every action is the scrutiny of the world, and Britain's Prime Minister is faced with a very serious dilemma...

With the kidnapping of a princess, and a rather unsavoury request involving the Prime Minister and a pig, this political thriller focuses on the public's reaction to unfolding events, despite the government's best attempts to stifle them... “I'm thinking about things like the Raoul Moat saga and when Gordon Brown had to go and apologise to Gillian Duffy,” said Brooker in regards to The National Anthem, “You get this sort of strange centrifugal force that builds up throughout the day with the rolling news networks and public opinion. It's a story in which the Prime Minister, who's played by Rory Kinnear, and the Home Secretary, played by Lindsay Duncan, are faced with a dilemma. It's very much in the Twitter age.”

The second episode, 15 Million Merits, also penned by Brooker and co-written with his wife Konnie Huq, is a sarcastic look at the future, depicting a dystopian society in which people are confined to a life of physical drudgery. The only way to escape this life of hardship is to participate in a talent show and pray you impress the judges. “It was sort of her [Konnie's] idea, 15 Million Merits,” Brooker stated, “One of the first things you see is somebody in a room, which is almost like a cell, where every single wall functions like an iPad. She was watching me using an iPad and taking the piss out of me, saying that I'd basically be happy in a room where every wall was like that. The tone of that episode is probably not what people would expect - in places it's almost like a romance. It's sweet and sour.”

The third and final episode, In Memoriam, is scripted by Peep Show's Jesse Armstrong, and is set in an alternate reality where everyone has access to a system that records everything that they see, hear and do. Able to remember every face, every event and every sound, Armstrong's tale focusses on the implications (both positive and negative) of such a technology. You know how in the heat of an argument you just wish you could rewind and say “See, this is what you said earlier!” or show how you were actually in the right all along? Well, that's essentially the premise of In Memoriam, set in a world in which everybody is equipped to replay their visual feed at will, and focusses on one couple who have a particularly bad evening...

As somewhat an enthusiast of the technological market, gawping with awe at the leaps and bounds made in the space of a few years, and luxuriously stroking a touch-screen device, I tend to have a fairly optimistic outlook when it comes to new advances. However, I must admit, I have fallen prey to techno-paranoia before... Most of us are owners of smartphones; amazing little pieces of tech that allow us to access the worldwide web where-ever we are, communicate with our social networks at the press of a button and navigate by satellite at almost any time (although their key function seems to be to keep people up to date with the minutiae of our lives, which but a few years ago we would have kept to ourselves and not felt the need to bother other people with). But are we not conditioned by these machines, to run and answer their every beep and flash like well-trained labradoodles? We are now so attached to these devices that we can never escape an email or a social update, and could only be more plugged into the net if we were in the Matrix (and don't get me started on the possibility of that already being true!).

And what if the machines decide to rise up against their squishy organic creators, or the companies that develop our most beloved technologies start to take over the world (I'm legally obliged to add that it is unlikely Google wish to take over the Earth, even though they are in possession of everything we do online, on our phones, and can locate us all using satellites and a Google Maps app)?! If I had to go into hiding (probably for outing Google's clandestine plot in that previous sentence), then I'd have to leave most of my technology behind, as it could easily betray my location, as well as any digital correspondence I may have had. I trust these companies with my details, but it is now far too easy to gather information on someone since the advent of social networking and the smartphone.

Mark my words, it's only a matter of time until SIRI changes it's name to HAL-9000* and starts informing people called Dave “I'm afraid I can't do that...” Until that day comes, though, Charlie Brooker can fill your head with techno-paranoia, as Black Mirror will be transmitting it's digital information into your household black monolith on December 4th. And I, for one, reckon it's set to be bloody brilliant.

What's the bet it'll become a trending topic when it airs?

*Incidentally, I have a HAL-9000 app on my Android. I have yet to teach it to sing “Daisy”, although it has often tried to kill me with misleading map directions.

Doctor Who?

This article can also be found on Step2Inspire.

Since news of David Yates potential feature film adaptation of Doctor Who disseminated rapidly across cyberspace, a wild fire of speculation began to spread. From the optimistic to the pessimistic outlooks, people leapt on the news and shared their thoughts on how it may turn out. But of course, one of the main things on people's minds is; who will play the Doctor?

I've scoured various articles and forums, and read some of the suggestions of who they would want to play the Doctor (some good, others... well...). The predominant thought is that the actor would have to be British, with a suitably British script to accompany it. So, without further ado, here's my list of potential actors to play the Doctor in the movie...

Benedict Cumberbatch

Ever since he took to our screens as the modernised Sherlock Holmes, Cumberbatch has been a strong favourite among Who fans to portray a future Doctor. With his distinctly ethereal air, and the unique arrogant flamboyance as Sherlock, he seems perfect to play the role of the Doctor be it on television or film and he had discussed taking on the role of the Doctor with his close friend David Tennant, just as Tennant's incarnation was coming to a close. Although it did appeal to him, Cumberbatch elected not to try for the role, stating that he thought “it would have to be radically different. And anyway, I didn't really like the whole package – being on school lunch boxes.”

I can see Cumberbatch possibly working alongside Carey Mulligan as the Doctor and his companion. Having featured in an episode of Doctor Who as almost-companion Sally Sparrow, Mulligan has already shown her ability as a potential adventurer of time and space, and with her rising fame she would be a fine candidate for the cinematic companion. However, as Yates wishes to move away from the TV series, it's unlikely we'll see the return of Sally Sparrow on the big screen. But nonetheless, Sparrow or not, I can still see Mulligan making a very natural and down-to-Earth companion for the Doctor, and reckon she and Cumberbatch would work splendidly together.

Matt Smith

Not so much a valid suggestion as a little fantasy. As Yates's take on Doctor Who will not be tied to the series, this really won't be happening, but at the current rate it looks set to be produced around the time Smith's current contract comes to an end (although this doesn't mean that Smith will relinquish the role at that time - he could easily go on to rival Tom Baker in both legacy and longevity). Although the current team behind the television series aren't involved in the film at this time, if Steven Moffat and David Yates were to collaborate on the film then I'd quite like to see the adventures of the Doctor with River Song. 

With Alex Kingston starring as the Doctor's wife/companion, the film would follow their adventures leading up to that fateful day when the Doctor knows that this is the last time that he will ever see her. Alas, this is unlikely to happen, but who knows – by the time this film goes into production, perhaps Moffat may have already produced this very story as part of the TV series?

Rhys Ifans

Rhys Ifans has been proposed to play the Doctor before, in the vast media game of “Guess Who” when Tennant was fated to regenerate, and for good reason. Ifans has displayed a penchant for the mad-cap characters, playing Hugh Grant's comic relief housemate in Notting Hill, and as it looks like he will be featuring in next year's The Amazing Spider-Man as the Lizard, Ifans is set to have a firm foothold in Hollywood. I imagine Ifans could bring a very new and fresh approach to playing the Doctor - something completely different and yet familiar, the perfect feel to any incarnation of the famous Time Lord. Plus, he's Welsh. Wouldn't a Welsh Doctor be marvellous?!

Robert Downey Jr.

Currently known for portraying Sherlock Holmes in the Guy Ritchie adaptations of Britain's most famous detective, and as Tony Stark in Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. makes another fine candidate for the role of the Doctor. Both Holmes and Stark are exceedingly bright, self-important, and ever-so-slightly off the wall – similar in many ways to a character brief for the Doctor. Although the Doctor doesn't have the same kind of arrogant air as Holmes or Stark, I don't doubt that Downey Jr. would be capable of playing him superbly. He may not be a British actor, but there is a chance that as this is an American production they'll maybe be hiring an American actor... Anyway, in my opinion he'd make a brilliant Doctor!

Hugh Laurie

Having made a huge success of himself across the pond in the past few years playing the titular role of popular series House, Hugh Laurie would also be another good choice for the Doctor. Laurie's role as Dr. House is remarkably Holmesian, almost Doctor-esque, and beneath his current American role he is ostensibly British. Also, judging by his previous roles on British television, having starred in Blackadder and Jeeves and Wooster, Laurie has a fair amount of eccentricity that could be let loose were he to take to the controls of the TARDIS!

Johnny Depp

Throughout his cinematic career, Johnny Depp has displayed a knack for playing mad-cap characters, with roles such as Captain Jack Sparrow and the Mad Hatter among the most memorably unhinged. Jack Sparrow is probably the best character to use as a likeness to the Doctor, with his uniquely flamboyant take on heroics and almost hapless cunning. Plus, Depp is a fantastic character actor, able to portray the maddest of the mad but also the most serious of roles, which is a magnificent duality for any Doctor. Again, whilst not a British actor, Depp is certainly an actor who could bring a great deal to the role – there's no doubt he'd be a fantastic Doctor.

Would it be too cliché to suggest that his companion could be Helena Bonham-Carter? They have the perfect chemistry for the Doctor and his companion, and Bonham-Carter is one of the few people who would be able to match up to his eccentricities. That being said, though, maybe Depp's Doctor would need a more “human” and grounded companion to balance him...

Bron James

He's a little known actor and writer. A man who knows the future but won't give away the ending... Admittedly, this is largely the product of fantasy, but personally I think James would make a superb candidate for the role of the Doctor!

And as for a companion, seeing as Yates has said that he'd want to work with the Harry Potter cast again, how about Emma Watson? Watson would bring a down-to-Earth feel to the TARDIS, and in my opinion she would make a brilliant time travelling companion for any Time Lord (and not just in my fantasy!)... Hopefully the obligatory kissing scene wouldn't cause the same uproar as it did with Paul McGann's Doctor and sort-of-companion Grace back in 1996!

If you could pick the cast for a Doctor Who movie, who would you pick and why? If there's any mention of Robert Pattinson, I will hunt you down... You have been warned!

David Yates to bring Doctor Who to the Big Screen

This article can also be found on Step2Inspire.

Earlier this week it was announced that David Yates, director of the past four Harry Potter films and TV mini-series State of Play, has started work on a feature film adaptation of Doctor Who.

After it's inception in 1963 and cancellation in 1989, Doctor Who lived on in the hearts and minds of it's former fans, which lead to the 1996 film starring Paul McGann and of course the shows hugely successful revival in 2005. Since former show-runner Russell T Davies resurrected the series, the show has gone from strength to strength and is currently enjoying acclaim both in the UK and the USA under the banner of present producer Steven Moffat. Surely after six years of contemporary success and it's massive fan-base, the news of a Doctor Who movie would be warmly welcomed?

Apparently not so much, as quite a few comment boards and articles are clamouring with pre-emptive objections. So far, it has only been announced that David Yates will be directing it, and it's being produced by BBC Worldwide; there's currently no script, no cast, and no crew, and is certainly a good few years off production. All that's really known is that Yates intends to transform the show's concept onto the big screen, and has said that “Russell T Davies and then Steven Moffat have done their own transformations, which were fantastic, but we have to put that aside and start from scratch.” In essence, the idea is to create a film that's not tied to the current mythos surrounding the series, but will retain all elements that are recognisably Doctor Who.

Some of the objections currently circulating the web are fairly understandable. Doctor Who is a television show with a very rich history, so to turn it into a cinematic blockbuster could be a potentially damaging route, especially if they're leaving out a lot of the current history. As it's not going to be tied to the series, it will also feature a different actor in the role of the Doctor than who-ever will then be playing him on TV (Matt Smith's current contract comes to an end in about three years, although that doesn't necessarily mean the end of one of my favourite Doctors), and will be as stand-alone as the old Peter Cushing Dr. Who and the Daleks films. Lastly, taking into account the reception of the other films based on Doctor Who (such as Dr. Who and the Daleks and the 1996 movie), there's a great deal of pessimism that this will be another 'failed' attempt at a feature length adaptation. I actually enjoyed the 1996 film, although I have yet to find someone else who did, even though it's something that's been incorporated into both official and fan canon (something the Cushing films never did).

However, as the film's only an idea at the moment and has no solid foundations yet, are these criticisms not a bit too early? There's so much that could yet go right! I made the mistake of judging something from the outset with BBC's Sherlock, hearing that is was a modernised take on the most famous detective stories of all time. “Holmes was a Victorian detective,” my thoughts sort of said on the matter, “how can it be modernised without destroying everything we know and love?” And then I sat and watched it, and 90 minutes later it had become my favourite thing on television!

Personally, I think it could turn out to be a fantastic addition to the Doctor Who legacy. With a movie budget and big-name director at the helm of the production, it could result in a spectacular adventure – provided they get the right writers on board, but as Yates will be taking his time to get this right I doubt there'll be any half-baked narratives. One way I thought of how it could work would be a very traditional Doctor Who adventure (something with a similar narrative style to Human Nature and Family of Blood for it's excellent pacing and character development, but without the Doctor transforming into a human!), set far into the Doctor's personal future (say 1000 years), by which time his current adventures on television will be but a distant memory, and about as relevant to him as the William Hartnell episodes are to the current series; providing a rich tapestry of history, but are never really referenced. That way, it's not tied to the current series, but nor is it ignoring everything the Whovians fear to lose, and leaves the Doctor free to have new escapades across time and space.

So here's to what could go right with the film; a bigger budget could lead to bigger adventures, we'll have a new take on the tale of an ancient alien traveller that can be, and has already been, transformed on numerous occasions! It may not have a storyline or a Doctor just yet, but if production on this film goes ahead then the potential for it is almost infinite. There's still every possibility this could reap the same success as the Star Trek reboot in 2009, and I certainly have every faith that David Yates could do Doctor Who great credit on the big screen.

What do you think? Is this film a great idea to expand the story of television's most famous Time Lord, or is it a travesty doomed to failure? Leave a comment below!

Dirk Gently Returns March 2012

This article can also be found on Step2Inspire.

The first televisual adaptation of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently's Holisitic Detective Agency, the pilot for which aired on BBC Four in December last year, has just finished filming it's first full series.

Starring Stephen Mangan (Green Wing, Free Agents, Episodes) in the titular role of the madcap detective, the upcoming three-part series will not be based on the existing novels, but will be telling all-new adventures penned by BAFTA-winning writer Howard Overman (Misfits, Merlin). “I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to write more episodes of Dirk,” said Overman, “I look forward to seeing where his unique detective methodology and perspective on life takes me.”

Although the pilot episode was based on elements from the first book (excluding the ghost, the Electric Monk, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Kubla Khan), the new episodes will bring a fresh set of Dirk Gently stories to the legacy. Adams' work tends to be very in-depth, and with so many plot-threads running throughout the Dirk Gently books (including a series of non-linear, unconnected yet connected events due to time travel) it'd be incredibly difficult to do it all justice in a TV adaptation. As Stephen Mangan, writing for a BBC blog, stated; “In my opinion, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul are unfilmable as written...too much happens, there are too many ideas.” However, I have absolutely no doubt that Howard Overman is the right man to continue the Dirk Gently legacy.

As a man who believes in the interconnectedness of all things, Dirk Gently's methods of deduction are dubious at best. Most people view him as a cheap conman, hopelessly chaotic and perpetually broke, but nevertheless Dirk's methods often produce surprising results... Speaking about his role as the notorious detective, Mangan said; “I've been a fan of Douglas Adams ever since the Hitchhiker's radio series which I used to record as a child and listen to over and over again in my bedroom. It's such a thrill to now be playing one of his brilliant characters. Dirk is a chaotic, anarchic force of nature with a totally unique take on the world. He is described as 'lazy, untidy, dismissive and unreliable'. I've absolutely no idea why they thought I'd be right for the role.”

He's certainly a character I can relate to!

Alongside Mangan, Dirk Gently stars Darren Boyd (Whites, Holy Flying Circus) as Dirk's friend and unwitting accomplice Richard MacDuff, and Helen Baxendale (Cold Feet, Friends) as Richard's long-term girlfriend Susan. Having provided magnificent performances throughout the pilot, the return of this superb cast is bound to make for a bizarre and brilliant series.

Scheduled to air some time around March next year, the first season of Dirk Gently will also be the first continuing drama series to be commissioned by BBC Four. As a great fan of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (and of Douglas Adams in general!), I'm thoroughly looking forward to more adventures with the infamous detective, and seeing where Overman's new stories take us.

Derren Brown - The Experiments

This review can also be found on Step2Inspire.

I have always been fascinated by the mind. When I was at college, one of the subjects I studied was Psychology, not for any psychiatric application but out of sheer curiosity. I wanted to know what made people tick, how their behaviours changed depending on their circumstances, and even how they could be influenced by the power of suggestion. I occasionally conducted a series of experiments on fellow students – some of which they were aware of, signing a consent form etc, and others were merely the unwitting participants in this student's twisted game... (Not really, it was more a covert observational study of social dynamics between groups).

Of course, as one of my other subjects was Philosophy, it lead to many a sleepless night trying to determine whether I were a free and autonomous individual or just a part of some hive mind consciousness perceiving itself subjectively. I have still to reach a conclusion on that one.

Anyway, last week, Derren Brown returned to our screens in his newest series of televised mentalism The Experiments. The first instalment of these experiments showed the process by which an unknowing participant can be conditioned into becoming a highly skilled, albeit unaware, assassin. Brown's ability to programme his unsuspecting volunteer to shoot and kill Stephen Fry was startlingly simple, remotely worrying, even, seeing as the subject had absolutely no idea he had been conditioned, let alone that he even committed the act. Fry's assassination was wonderfully set up, taking place at one of his live shows from about this time last year, and rigged to perfectly replicate an actual assassination. The participant was completely unaware he was about to 'assassinate' Fry, and the audience were not informed of what was about to transpire. This being so, I am concerned that the reactions garnered from Fry's 'assassination' ranged from a widened eye to a gasp... No one thought to run to Fry's aid, or see if they could accost his assailant?! Heartless monsters.

The point of this experiement was to prove that it is hypothetically possible to programme an innocent person into becoming an assassin. This brings a little bit of credence to the conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Robert Kennedy and his assassin, Sirhan Sirhan... Is it possible Sirhan had been hypnotised into shooting Kennedy?

This week, Brown's second experiment looked into deindividuation, a kind of mob mentality that occurs when an individual becomes part of a faceless crowd. Under the guise of a gameshow in which the audience gets to decide the fate of one victim, Chris, Brown's experiment demonstrated how easy it was to fall into the trap of deindividuation. The principle of the show was simple; throughout the evening, the audience was given the ability to choose one of two options that would affect their unknowing victim's night. One option had a positive outcome, and it's alternative much less so. The choices became more pronounced as the show continued, starting with the simple choice of either having someone flirt with Chris or have him be accused of pinching a girl's arse and having to face her angry boyfriend, to being crowned 5000^th customer at a shop or accused (and arrested for) shop-lifting. However, with each choice the majority of the audience continued to vote for the more negative and malicious options...

The audience began to become more mob-like as the show proceeded, finding all of Chris's misfortunes hysterically funny. Having had Chris falsely accused and arrested for shop-lifting, one of his colleagues call to tell him he was going to be fired, and electing to have him kidnapped and taken to an abandoned warehouse rather than receive a cash prize and bring an end to his living nightmare, the audience still felt the need to inflict misery and began to jeer for the producer in Chris's apartment to smash the television (which then, much to the audience's amusement, happened). I felt disheartened to see such wanton destruction at the behest of the audience's whim, as they took pleasure in this man's misfortunes which they had essentially scripted, but then something happened...

In the final sequence, Chris attempts to flee from his kidnappers, all the while the audience cheering and laughing, when suddenly he is hit by a car (although he's not really, it's a stuntman in a pre-filmed piece, but the audience don't know that), and a stillness descends upon the entire audience. They sit there, stunned and silent, no longer laughing as they had been mere moments before when their poor victim was trying to escape his assailants. It was as if they'd been slapped and had a glass of ice cold water thrown in their faces simultaneously. A wave of collective concern and shame, like a wake-up call after what had been – to them, at least – harmless fun. When debriefed, and informed that they had been a part of an experiment, there was not a single face that didn't seem to be in a state of shock, not just because of what they'd seen, but due to the realisation of how quickly they descended into that mob mentality. I just hope that they, and Chris, had access to a full debrief after the recording in case of lasting trauma (as research ethics dictates)!

The Gameshow indicated how easy it was to experience deindividuation. The mix of anonymity and crowd mentality can induce particularly unpleasant behaviour – it's this very effect that influences people to become internet trolls or gang members. It's also a behaviour that was exhibited in the Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971 conducted by Philip Zimbardo, in which a selection of normal pedestrians were randomly allocated the roles of prisoners and wardens, and left to their own devices for an extended period in a prison-like environment. The experiment was cut short when, given their position of superiority and power, the wardens severely abused the prisoners, even though a week previously there had been no difference between these people.

It's these kind of elements of psychology that intrigue me. For all it's complexities, the human mind is remarkably simple too, making us do things we would not otherwise do simply because we become part of a crowd. I personally do not believe I would be capable of the cruelty exhibited by the audience in the Gameshow, I would certainly not like to think I was, but there's a part of me that wonders; “would these people have felt this way beforehand too? How many of them, if they had been viewing it from the outside as I had, would not believe they'd be capable of such behaviour?”

Derren Brown's mastery and understanding of the mind is staggering, and I have always found myself in awe and envy of his magnificent displays of mentalism. With two further experiments, one on convincing someone to admit to a crime they didn't commit and the other on the secret of luck, Brown's latest series delves deep into the nature of the human mind. And I, for one, love it!

All of Derren Brown's Experiments can be found on 4OD here.

There's also a section on the Channel 4 website that provides a brief synopsis of other experiments and facts that are pertinent to Derren Brown's Gameshow, including a study of obedience by Stanley Milgram which is worded far more concisely than I could manage! It's definitely worth a read: Delving Deeper – The Gameshow.

Entertainment Media Show: An Interview with Dan Shor

This interview can also be found on Step2Inspire.

As an actor, writer, director and teacher with a career spanning over thirty years, Dan Shor is certainly a veteran of the media industry. Having featured in one of my all-time favourite films, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, as Billy the Kid, I was looking forward to talking with him about his experiences in the movie, as well as his current career as a producer.

BJ: Hello, Dan Shor! You having a good weekend?

DS: Oh, yeah! What is that?!

BJ: Sorry, yeah, I'm recording!

DS: It looks like a laser gun or something!

BJ: It's the new model phaser; the iPod nano of Starfleet weaponry!

DS: Yeah, that's what it looks like! Anyway, yeah, it's a very good weekend. I didn't sleep last night, so, I'm like dizzy man. Literally the whole world is spinning.

BJ: Did you arrive in the UK recently then?

DS: I've been here three days, and I'll be here three more days, that's it.

BJ: Probably still a bit jet-lagged then!

DS: I'm quite a bit jet-lagged! Also, beer. But it should be gone, it should be out of my system! You never know...

BJ: Hmm, a good mix! You're well known for playing Ram in the original Tron, and of course Billy the Kid in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and yesterday you and Jane Wiedlin held a Q&A on the latter. Did you do much preparation for your role in Bill and Ted?

DS: When I initially auditioned for Bill and Ted, I did that generic cowboy act. But when I got the part I went back and studied Billy the Kid, read up on all his history. The guy was a syphilitic lunatic! So when I turned up on the first day of shooting, I started to twitch and do all this weird stuff, and they shouted “cut that shit out! Do it like you did in the audition when you played Generic Cowboy Number 1. I want you to play Generic Cowboy Number 1.” Ok...

BJ: After all that work!

DS: Yeah! I worked my butt off for that! And then of course we're rammed into this phone box...

BJ: And they actually used a real phone booth didn't they?

DS: It was an actual British phone booth. It was just a normal sized phone booth, and you all get in. Do you know how long it takes to light any scene?! They shoved all these actors into a phone booth, and they squashed us all in at the back and put Keanu and Alex in the front. We're all like “I can't breathe! Abe Lincoln get the f-”. The next day they figured that they didn't have to squash Jane in because you couldn't see her, so she escaped it!

BJ: Ha, sounds like an experience and a half! Yesterday you also mentioned your production company, ShodaVision. Obviously you started out as an actor, so how did the production company come about?

DS: I left the United States and moved to the South Pacific and to Asia for seven years. During that time, I became a video director for visitor channels on four different Mariana islands, and did exposes and documentaries on the island culture, history, music, dance and sports, and became a documentarian. I then created my own soap opera, then created commercials that played around the world, then did a reality television series that I hosted and wrote in the Philippines, and all that knowledge, when I came back to the States, I used to create my own production company. I now shoot music videos, web stream videos for major power companies on the east coast of the United States and their energy saving programs.

BJ: That's an impressive amount of stuff!

DS: I've started a whole new career out of the sea, literally, and I still plan to act, but it's few and far between when I wait for people to ask me.

BJ: Have you got any projects your currently working on?

DS: Yeah, I just finished some. I've got seven web streams that are going to be airing on the web for major power companies, and I will be doing many many more. I'm lining up close to thirty-one, and that's going to happen in the next six months.

BJ: Blimey!

DS: That's all that I know of right now. I never know what's going to happen, actually, I just hope, you know.

BJ: Yeah, that's the nature of this industry!

DS: Especially when you're a freelancer. When you're a freelancer, you freelance! My daughter wants me to get a job, I want me to get a job! But, doing what I do.

BJ: That is a perk of being freelance – you can get on and do the work you want to do. But unfortunately it's also quite insecure when it comes to getting that work...

DS: Yeah, it's very insecure! You have many many many days that you can't explain to your child. “Dad, why are you still asleep?” Because I can!

BJ: Ha, both a blessing and a curse! Well, thank you for your time, it was a pleasure meeting you. Best of luck with the web streams, and all your future endeavours!

DS: Thank you, you too.

For more information on Dan Shor's production company, check out his website at www.shodavision.com

Entertainment Media Show: An Interview with Jane Wiedlin

This interview can also be found on Step2Inspire.

Having featured in a number of films, including Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure in the role of Joan of Arc, founded punk rock/New Wave band The Go-Go's with Belinda Carlisle, and currently working on her own comic book series alongside writing a couple of musicals, Jane Wiedlin is indeed a woman of many talents. As I had attended the Bill and Ted Q&A the previous day, I intended to talk to her about her upcoming projects as well as her work supporting animal charities...


BJ: Hello. How's it going?

JW: It's going fine, how are you?


BJ: I'm well! Do you attend these kind of conventions often?

JW: I do fairly regularly, but this is my first one overseas, normally I just do them in the United States.


BJ: Ah right, and have you had a good reception here in the UK?

JW: Pretty good. I'm surprised how many people are fans of the movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.


BJ: It's a classic! Quite a lot of people are really into it, for something that was initially shelved for several years.

JW: Yeah, when it first came over here it didn't do that well, but it's just gotten more and more popular. I guess because it gets shown on TV a lot.


BJ: It's especially popular around holiday periods. Did you do any preparation for the role of Joan of Arc?

JW: I actually practised a bunch of French, and they didn't have lines for me but they said to just come up with a bunch of French lines. A few years later, somehow my vocals disappeared and they got somebody who could speak French to do her lines. So when you hear Joan of Arc talking, it's not actually me. Probably my French was really atrocious.


BJ: And I read recently that you're quite the animal activist?

JW: Yes, I love the animals.


BJ: Have you done anything recently for companies like PETA?

JW: Not so much for PETA, but I live San Francisco and do a lot of work for two local charities called RocketDog and MuttVille, so I do a lot of fund-raising for them.


BJ: Have you always been a supporter of animal charities?

JW: I have been all my adult life, I think someone needs to be the voice for them. Over the years I've been involved with lots of different groups, and over the past decade or so I've been getting more involved with smaller and smaller groups because the really grass-roots groups are the ones that really get a lot done and get the most bang for their buck. With MuttVille and RocketDog, they grab dogs out of the animal shelters before they get put to sleep and they give them time to find the right homes for them. I just think animals are very special, in particular dogs.


BJ: I guess you're a dog-owner yourself then?

JW: I live in a six dog household. I'm practically crazy dog lady!


BJ: Haha, splendid! My mother's crazy cat lady, so you kind of have a kindred spirit there! And finally, have you got any work coming up, film-wise, music-wise or...


DS: Hello!


BJ: Or being interrupted by Dan Shor! Marvellous.

JW: Ha! Um, gosh, I've got quite a lot coming up. I did three films last year that are all coming out in the next few months, independent movies. One's called Casserole Club, one's called I Want To Get Married, and the other's called Doggie Boogie. And I just finished a tour with The Go-Go's, and I've been writing a comic book, called Lady Robotika, issue three is coming out soon. I'm working on a couple of musicals... Yeah, I'm busy!


BJ: Sounds like you've got a lot going on! Anyway, thank you for your time, it was a pleasure meeting you.

JW: Yeah, you too. See ya.

For all the latest from Wiedlin HQ, visit her website at www.janewiedlin.com.

Entertainment Media Show: An Interview with Ian McNeice

This interview can also be found on Step2Inspire.

Known for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the recent episodes of Doctor Who, Baron Harkonnen in the 2000 miniseries of Dune, and Bert Large in Doc Martin, Ian McNeice boasts an impressive repertoire of roles in film, television and theatre. Having been a fan of his work for quite some time, I went to interview the man who had played the sinister Baron Harkonnen in the television adaptation of one of my favourite series of books...

BJ: Hello, Mister McNeice! How's it going?

IM: It's going well. How are you?

BJ: I'm well. How're you finding the weekend?

IM: Yes, I'm enjoying it! People are awfully nice, aren't they? Had quite a turn out at the talk yesterday.

BJ: Ah splendid! I was just wondering if you'd mind doing a quick interview?

IM: Not at all.

BJ: OK. So last night you returned to Doctor Who in the role of Winston Churchill (marvellous, by the way). How did you prepare for the role?

IM: Well I was fortunate enough to have played Winston Churchill before at the National Theatre. I'd actually been in a production of Never So Good by Howard Brenton about the life and times of Harold Macmillan, and Jeremy Irons had played Macmillan, and I'd played Winston Churchill. And I think, probably, either the producers or the casting director of Doctor Who had maybe seen that performance because that's how I think I got the job.

I'd already researched the role of Winston Churchill quite heavily for the theatre role, so I knew quite a lot about him, including watching a lot of the movies that he'd been in, a lot of the TV shows. Robert Hardy had done him on television as had Albert Finney in The Gathering Storm, so I'd done all those. I'd also got a lot of the CDs of his speeches. In fact, I actually went to his grave, during the winter, it was about 5 o'clock at night and his grave was extraordinary. It was near Blenheim Palace, where he was born, it was in the village just outside. And the night that I went to his grave, there was this mist that appeared over his grave stone, as dark as the ace of spades, and suddenly I heard this whisper coming up from the grave saying; “Don't fuck it up boy!”

BJ: I have a sneaking suspicion you may be making that bit up, but there we go!

IM: Well...

BJ: Keep buggering on, hey.

IM: KBO.

BJ: Obviously you're also well known for your role in Dune as Baron Harkonnen.

IM: Oh, now that was fantastic, yes. I'd seen the movie with Sting, as I think everybody had, and was desperate to play the part of the Baron because he gets to fly! I was really interested to know how they were going to fly me, but I got the role - delighted to get the role - and I kept emailing them asking how they were going to fly me. I knew from speaking to various people that going up with wires was really – especially for a heavy guy – very painful. They wouldn't email me back.

We shot it in Prague, so on the first day of rehearsal in Prague I said “how are you going to fly me?” I walked onto the stage and saw this contraption, which was like a see-saw with weights on one side and a bicycle seat on the other. They asked me to sit on the bicycle seat, and so I did, and they counter-levered me up high into the room where I was sitting down. I was fine, and it seemed to be quite comfortable, or so I thought. So I went back the next day, and they'd removed the bicycle seat and replaced it with what can only be described as a racing bicycle seat. Apparently I looked like I was sitting, so they made me straddle this thing, and that was even more painful than I could ever have imagined. Really tricky stuff.

Anyway, we put some kind of contraption on my legs so I could stand, and in the end it was a lot less painful.

BJ: And that series was cut quite short, after Children of Dune, but if they were to come back and make some of the later books, would you consider returning in the role of Harkonnen?

IM: Oh, I had a ball playing the Baron. I think the director, John Harrison, who wrote it as well, had put it into rhyming couplets, and I think with my Shakespeare background he quite liked that idea. I'd love to go back and revisit the Baron, I think there's still fun and games to be had with him.

BJ: And with the new books, the Baron returns from the grave as a Ghola. Have you always been a fan of the books, and have you read the newer publications?

IM: Oh, I haven't read the new ones, I'm fascinated! In the new books he's returning?

BJ: Yeah.

IM: By the same author too?

BJ: No, it's by his son, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson.

IM: Oh, by his son, of course... I think I read somewhere that there's going to be another Dune movie, so that might be what they're going to do. Perhaps the new Dune movie on the new Dune books. I don't know.

BJ: If they're producing a new Dune, they'd be mad not to cast you as the Baron! And you mentioned you have a lot of theatre experience too. Have you got anything either theatrically or on TV in the pipelines at the moment?

IM: Yes, I've just finished a Charles Dickens adaptation, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which is going to come out on New Years Day, over two nights on BBC Two. I'm just in rehearsals at the moment for an independent movie, called Nativity 2, which is a sequel to the previous Nativity, in which I play the father of an unknown actor called David Tennant. Is it David Tennant? He'd be in some Doctor Who or something or another...

BJ: Name rings a bell...

IM: I don't know. He seemed an awfully nice guy. Scottish, in some way!

BJ: I'll be keeping an eye out for those! Thank you for your time, it's been a pleasure.

IM: Yes, thank you. Keep buggering on!

BJ: Keep buggering on!