Actor Edward Hardwicke Dies, Aged 78

The actor Edward Hardwicke, probably best known for his role as Doctor Watson in the 1980s series of Sherlock Holmes, has died aged 78.

He began his career at the early age of 10, appearing in Victor Fleming’s film A Guy Named Joe. He performed in numerous theatre productions, and for seven years he performed regularly with Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre. He also performed alongside Olivier in Shakespeare’s Othello and Ibsen’s The Master Builder. In the 1970s, Hardwicke made his television debut as Captain Pat Grant in Colditz, as well as appearing in other shows such as My Old Man and The Sweeney.

In 1986, Hardwicke took on the role of Doctor Watson alongside Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes, after David Burke left the series and suggested Hardwicke to be his successor. The show ran for a further 8 years, with Hardwicke and Brett also appearing in a brief stint at the Wyndham’s Theatre in a stage adaptation of Sherlock Holmes.

To many, he was the definitive Watson to Brett’s definitive Holmes.

Doctor Who - The Doctor's Wife Review

This review can also be found on Step2Inspire.

When I heard that an episode of Doctor Who had been scripted by Neil Gaiman, I was excited. As the man behind such works as Stardust and Coraline (which were then adapted for the big screen), Gaiman is the premier writer of Sci-Fi and Fantasy with a very unique proclivity for the extraordinary and the bizarre. It was only natural, then, that his episode of Doctor Who would be out of this Universe! Quite literally.

The Doctor’s Wife takes place in a realm outside of the Universe ( “Imagine a great big soap bubble with one of those tiny little bubbles on the outside. It’s nothing like that.”) after the Doctor receives a distress signal from another, and inexplicably alive, Time Lord. However, everything is a little ‘off’ in this extra-Universe, with patchwork people and the disembodied voice of an entity called House, spectacularly voiced by Michael Sheen (not Hugh Laurie).

It’s not long before things go wrong, and the fantastically sinister voice of Michael Sheen makes off with the TARDIS with Amy and Rory running around like two spiders trapped under a glass inside. However, all is not lost for the Doctor, now seemingly stranded in a junkyard beyond the Universe, as the soul of the TARDIS has been transferred to the body of Idris, a resident of the extra-Universe. Together, he and his humanised and temporally confined TARDIS set about devising a way to escape and reclaim the House-TARDIS.

Suranne Jones provides a magnificent performance as Idris and the personification of the TARDIS (or Sexy, as the Doctor calls her, a statement I’m strongly inclined to agree with!) in a role which seems to have been inspired by a parallel Universe Helena Bonham-Carter. The chemistry between her and Matt Smith worked splendidly, and Jone’s quirky interpretation of a time-travelling box shoved inside a human certainly helped up Smith’s game to bring about considerably the best performance he’s given as the Doctor to date.

The real triumph of this episode, though, has to be Neil Gaiman’s fantastic script. The sublime characterisation, the brilliant dialogue, and the narrative as a whole felt thoroughly intriguing and original, and I sincerely hope that this is not the last time Gaiman writes for Who.

At the end of the day, there has always been one woman for the Doctor, only one woman who could be considered his wife, and that has to be the TARDIS. The symbiotic relationship between a Time Lord and his TARDIS. Or should that be a TARDIS and her Time Lord?

If you missed the Doctor's Wife, it is available on BBC iPlayer here.

Doctor Who - Curse of the Black Spot Review

This review can also be found on Step2Inspire.

If you were to ask me what I loved other than Doctor Who, I might answer with tea and biscuits. If you were then to say “No, not tea and biscuits, what else?”, I’d probably reel off an entire list; Dostoyevsky, dinosaurs, ducks, Diana Vickers, Descartes, democracy (mostly D’s at the moment), but somewhere in that list would be pirates. The point is, I do like pirates, there’s something about the dress code that comes with sailing under the Jolly Roger (although I do question their choice of name…). I’m very fond of 16th century fashion, and I’d wear it a lot more frequently if it weren’t for the odd looks I’d get when doing the weekly shop in Waitrose. Anyway, let’s just say I said pirates in the first place… So imagine my joy when Doctor Who and pirates came together in three glorious quarters of an hour!

After the epic opening two episodes, the Curse of the Black Spot felt a lot more relaxed and took us back into traditional stand-alone adventures. Confined to a pirate ship being stalked by a siren, determined to take anyone with the slightest of ailments, the Doctor and co set about figuring out just how to rid themselves of the ‘curse’. As it turns out, the sired isn’t so much a curse as an automated medical unit from a spaceship parked in the same multi-dimensional space as the pirate ship, and everyone thought dead is in fact alive in a medical facility. (Sorry, again, spoilers…)

Hugh Bonneville was splendidly cast as Captain Avery, but he didn’t quite feel ruthless enough to be a proper ‘nyar’ pirate, especially when he discovered his son on board. Not a fault, just an observation - the pirates didn’t feel like the scourge of the seven seas, more like a band of adventures with a penchant for shiny things and bad personal hygiene (and fantastic dress sense - I do like pirate fashion!). Then again, probably not all pirates were the cut-throat marauders we’re used to seeing, and Avery’s compassion for his estranged son made the character feel much more human than the classic interpretation of a pirate.

By far the most stand-out aspect of the story, though, was the siren. The casting of Lily Cole was absolutely sublime - after all, if you’re looking to cast an ethereally alluring mermaid, who better to play the part than the ethereally alluring Lily Cole! Despite not having any lines, Cole’s character felt fully characterised with a blend of enticing song and pernicious rage, all the while feeling thoroughly other-worldly.

The mysterious hatch-opening-eye-patch-woman makes another appearance, reassuring Amy that’s she’s doing fine and to stay calm, and there’s also another tease at the end regarding Amy’s on-again-off-again pregnancy. Out of the two, I find the hatch-opening-eye-patch-woman more intriguing, but I’m starting to wonder if the two are linked somehow. Perhaps if, like throughout last series with the cracks in time linking each point in time to another, the hatch-opening-eye-patch-woman is from a parallel time-line in which Amy is pregnant, her current confusion and the TARDIS’ mixed readings could be the result of a bleed-through effect. Or I could be wrong. Which I refuse to acknowledge can ever happen. I am always right.

In the end, the moral of the story is that you must be willing to give up all your worldly possessions for the ones you truly love. But if you don’t, your son will be abducted by a homicidal mermaid who actually means no harm, and you’ll get to gallivant across the stars with your piratey chums in your newly discovered spaceship. To be honest, I think the latter perfectly justifies selfish materialism!

Avast, me hearties, we set sail for Sirius B!

Next week, it's The Doctor's Wife, written by Neil Gaiman. Dare I say I'm ludicrously excited by the prospect of another Time Lord and the image of an Ood?!

SciFi – An Allegory for Modern Times

This article can also be found on Step2Inspire.

As a self-confessed (and moderately proud) SciFi fan, I naturally consider my favourite genre to be incredibly important to the progression of society. Not to the extent that my fanaticism destroys my ability to socialise with other human beings (although I do find small-talk incomprehensibly dull), but it does open up deeper thoughts and considerations regarding the human condition. When I talk about influential SciFi, I’m not necessarily thinking of the staple work of science fiction, Star Trek, but it is a start!

Star Trek was, and probably always will be, a landmark in the world of science fiction television, not least due to it’s massive fan base, but also it’s vision of the future. Back in 1966 when it first began, automatic doors and mobile communication devices adorned the original series, and lo and behold we have such things today - just need to invent teleportation and warp drive now and we’re away - but that’s not what I found most remarkable. Star Trek’s future was almost Utopian, with global peace and cooperation achieved, poverty abolished and currency made redundant. Human society was depicted as a glittering exemplar of civilisation, a bright and hopeful future for our kind, exploring a Universe packed with a multitude of life forms and curiosities. Star Trek didn’t revel in conflict and war between races with differing variants of lasers, but rather delved into a Universe of cooperation and understanding, only to seek further knowledge of the Universe.

However, Star Trek’s future Utopia had been preceded by long years of war on Earth, which only came to an end on April 5th 2063 when Zefram Cochrane carried out the maiden-voyage of the Phoenix, the first warp capable starship, drawing the attention of a Vulcan fleet in a nearby region of space initiating first contact between humanity and extraterrestrial life, subsequently uniting humanity and bringing an end to war, famine and poverty (yes, I do have a degree in future history!). Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future was a bright one, with a society based around Utilitarian principles (the greatest good for the greatest number, the needs of the many out-weigh the needs of the few or the one) and no need for monetary gain, but he knew it would take a monumental occasion, such as first contact with other intelligent life forms, to truly bring about such a realisation. If anything, I feel Star Trek’s society is the model of a decent and balanced civilisation. The next important step in the evolution of mankind, according to Roddenberry’s vision, does not lie in conjuring up new technologies and prolonging life, but through acceptance of one another.

The main impetuous for this article, however, is my recent indulgence in the re-imagined series of Battlestar Galactica and it’s spin-off, Caprica. Rather than dealing with SciFi through advanced technology and space battles, the Galactica Universe explores the best and worst attributes of humanity in a post-apocalyptic and dystopian society. The 12 Colonies of Man are destroyed in an attack by the Cylons, a robotic race created by humanity to serve as their workers, and the survivors escape the devastation in a ragtag fleet and set a course across the Galaxy in search of the fabled home of the 13th Colony, Earth. That setting alone is what makes it the perfect example of why SciFi can convey certain elements of our society, as it removes the concepts of an established social construct, thrusting the characters into a minimalistic and survivalist lifestyle. Compared to Star Trek, Galactica explores the much darker aspects of humanity, and more depressing plotlines, but it certainly succeeds in capturing the essence of what it is to be human.

Caprica, my most recent SciFi indulgence, explores the era almost six decades prior to Galactica, viewing the initial creation of the Cylons and the controversy not only surrounding the advances in technology but also the religious fanaticism, terrorism and corrupt enterprise which frames the entire piece. Whilst both Caprica and Galactica look into the intricacies of man, the endeavours, the follies, and the sheer ambition of our species as a whole, they also investigate just how this can all backfire. In a world of decadence (Caprica, before the fall), how long can luxury last? When advances in artificial intelligence eventually create what could be considered a new form of life, what rights of ownership do we really possess over another being’s consciousness, be it artificial or otherwise?

On April 25th of this year, a documentary titled ‘We Are All Cylons’ premiered at SciFi London. The film investigates exactly what it means to be human in the digital age, treating Galactica as an activation transmission, rather than a TV show, to awaken the Cylon within us. Interviewing the cast and fans of Battlestar Galactica, film-maker Ilana Rein discovers just what the show meant to it’s followers.

Galactica and Caprica have had such a massive impact on their fan base because it focuses on the human drama at the heart of it and resonates with the world of today. Combined with the optimistic and role-model future envisioned in Star Trek, this has lead me to believe that science fiction is much more than a medium of entertainment - it’s a work of art, a thought-provoking form of entertainment and a brilliant way to convey philosophical stances to the masses.

How many other television series can claim to have been such an influential force on people?!

More about We Are All Cylons can be found here.

And here's a link to possibly one of the greatest fan-made trailers for Battlestar Galactica I've ever seen! Click here.

Doctor Who - Day of the Moon Review *Spoilers*

This review can also be found on Step2Inspire.

Three months after the events of The Impossible Astronaut, the Doctor is locked in the perfect prison in Area 51 and Amy, Rory and River are on the run from the FBI. It’s 1969, and the elusive manipulators of human history, the Silence, are calling the shots. This is how the second episode of the new series’ opening two-parter kicked off. Whilst this episode followed on very nicely from the series opener, it made some of the questions raised last episode even more complex, and invented a few more mysteries for us to ponder over...

The opening set up reveals a captive and brilliantly longer-haired and beardy Doctor (quite a good look, I reckon!), being secured in the perfect prison of Zero Balance Dwarf Star Alloy (first introduced in the Fourth Doctor serial ‘Warriors’ Gate’) and his companions being chased across America by the FBI. However, this all turns out to be a ruse, and FBI agent Canton Delaware is actually still on the Doctor’s side, slowly forming the basis for a revolution against the Silence. In an effort to understand just what the bloody hell is going on, Amy and Canton head to an orphanage to find out more about the astronaut child that may or may not have killed the Doctor in the future, and the Doctor, Rory and River infiltrate Apollo 11 to set their revolution into motion.

Early into the episode, the jarring moment at the conclusion of The Impossible Astronaut - in which Amy declares she’s pregnant and then attempts to shoot a little girl in the face - is resolved by her claiming that she had made a mistake, and she was not in fact pregnant. However, during the course of this episode the potential for Amy’s child is strongly hinted at. One such indication was whilst investigating the run down orphanage, where Amy discovers a picture in a room, possibly belonging to the spacesuit-clad child, of her holding a baby. Yet she very quickly seems to forget this - rather unusual, seeing as I imagine if I found a picture of me holding a child I’d never seen before, nor had any recollection of, it would be the only thing on my mind for quite some time! I sense more foul play from the Silence…

The crux of the episode was mostly focussed around the orphanage, and provided the most intriguing plot elements. A curious old man who has no memory of the past two years, and certainly seems to be gravely troubled by something, considers it his life’s purpose to protect the child - presumably, the Apollo spacesuit-clad child. It is strongly implied that the curious old chap has been influenced by the Silence to carry out their wishes, indicating that the child he tasks himself with protecting must also be very important to his ghoulish manipulators (who apparently have a penchant for sleeping on orphanage ceilings). There is also a bizarre encounter with a woman peering through a hatch, who’s brief appearance only features her saying “No I think she’s just dreaming.”, and promptly vanishing. If that isn’t a teaser for a future story, I don’t know what is! Well played, Moffat, well played…

An eye is exchanged for an eye, as Amy is taken hostage by the Silence, and Canton manages to wound a Silent, taking it back to Area 51. The being rather candidly informs Canton, who’s videoing this, that humans should ‘kill them all on sight’. Rather cunningly, the Doctor inserts this brief bit of footage into the feed from Apollo 11’s landing, implanting humanity with a post-hypnotic suggestion to kill all Silence on sight.

The episode concludes with River returning to her cell, where she and the Doctor share their last and first kiss respectively, with a rather spectacular performance from Alex Kingston when River realises that is the last time she’ll ever kiss the Doctor. Back in the TARDIS, Amy and the Doctor discuss her unknown pregnancy (with an almost throw-away comment regarding how time travel may have affected her child were she to have one, which I believe may very well be more relevant in episodes to come), and, unbeknownst to Amy, the TARDIS console’s quick scan reveals that the status of her pregnancy fluctuates between positive and negative. More timey-wimey, history can be rewritten, plot devices abound?

Skip to six months later in an alleyway in New York. The little girl from inside the spacesuit wanders around (no longer in said suit), coughing and spluttering. She tells a homeless man that she is dying, but that can be easily fixed, and she promptly bursts into an orange glow as she regenerates. End credits.
Wait… WHAT?!

So after all that, we’re still left with some pressing questions…

- Who was in the spacesuit that the Doctor recognised shortly before they killed him. Is this still the child?

- Why did Amy flit between thinking she was pregnant, and then not pregnant? Does the scan signify that it’s something that is not set in stone yet, and does the picture in the child’s room of Amy holding a baby indicate that she will be the mother of the regenerating-astronaut-cold calling Nixon-girl?

- When the woman peered through the hatch and said “No I think she’s just dreaming.” and promptly vanished into thin air, what was that all about?!

- What did the Silence mean by “We do you honour. You will bring the Silence. But your part will soon be over.” Is this another hint that perhaps the Apollo astronaut who killed the Doctor is the child that was calling Nixon and regenerating in a New York alleyway is perhaps Amy’s child? Artificial insemination?

- Who is River Song? We’ve been asking this for a while, but still…

- And who is this child? Daughter of Amy? If so, how is she able to regenerate? Why did the Silence believe this girl was so important that she needed protection and a mechanised spacesuit? Will she be the one who bring’s the Silence by killing the Doctor?

The combination of The Impossible Astronaut and The Day of the Moon represent everything that makes Doctor Who fantastic - the indepth narrative, the curious plot twists, and the all-round spectacle that draws you into the engaging stories. What other show can make you genuinely excited and be the topic for conversation and debate for young and old alike? Once more, Steven Moffat has sewn the seeds for even more fantastic future adventures - Bravo, sir, bravo!
I’m not entirely certain I’m willing to wait an entire week until the next episode…