Red Dwarf Return to Earth

Channel Dave recently brought the intrepid crew of Red Dwarf to Earth, our Earth, it would seem. Our heroes, such as they are, discover a giant quid living in a water tank and naturally going diving to confront the monster. They pass out after being attacked and when they wake up there is a new hologram with a Russian accent telling everyone what to do.

The three segments of the story flash by pretty quickly, with a few laughs, but mostly running on pure nostalgia. It's good to see the guys again, there is something heartwarming about that solid British belief that no one ever changes-at least, no one in a sitcom ever changes.

With ample plugs for Dave Tv, Red Dwarf Return to Earth was fun, but seemed to be trying a bit too hard. I liked that whole little sequence where they were gunned down in Bladerunner style, but I'm afraid I never saw any Bladerunner influence on Red Dwarf. Maybe Alien, and perhaps the Marx Brothers, but not Bladerunner. The bit with the names engraved on the bullets was classic.

They all look a bit older, as should be expected, and the Cat seemed a little past his James Brown days. The rating were good, but I have never understood how the ratings work in Britain anyway. When shows can have a full season of 6 episodes, it seems odd that anything is ever canceled. So the rumors are now flying that maybe Bob Grant will rejoin Doug Naylor for one more series. We can always hope.

Dr Who Planet of The Dead

I'm gonna miss David Tennant playing Doctor Who. He has all that snap and pizazz and has a lot of great expressions. That's why I always loved Tom Baker-he was kind of a nutty Dr Who, but he was my first Doctor. In The Planet of The Dead The Doctor mention the Giant Robot to the current commander of UNIT, which was the first Dr Who episode with Tom Baker.

Anyway. Planet of The Dead starts our with a Pink Panther/Mission Impossible style cat burglary, hanging from a thin rope and stealing the item in question from above. Since this is the preferred method of priceless item theft you'd think the people running security would know to put those lasers on the top of the artifact as well.

One thing leads to another and our crook finds her way to a bus where The Doctor catches a ride and they end up on another planet. Just another day on London Double Decker. The Thief is the same actress who played the Bionic Woman in the horrid and thankfully brief remake. She was stunning in Doctor Who and I'm a bit sad she didn't hang around as his latest Companion.

I am still mildly surprised by the special effects of the New Doctor Who, well, not all that new any more, but still. The Monsters in Planet of The Dead looked really good, for pure CGI flying stingray kind of things. The Fly Men did hearken back to the good old days when Doctor Who costumes were little more than fancy dress outfits. I would have liked the trans-dimensional bus to have been a Route Master, but hey, you can't have everything.

There was danger and perils and we're all going to die moments-just like all Dr Who episodes. It was very good. There was also a woman who could see the future who warned The Doctor that The End Was Near. Well, we all know that, but it is still fun to have a bit of foreshadowing of the Doctor's demise.

UNIT is back and I loved the super genius, slightly an idiot scientist who helped the Doctor solve the wormwhole problems. His specialty seemed to be naming units of measurements after himself and his family. The Doctor saves the day and all is well. The Planet of The Dead was a fun show.

Doctor Who is Brilliant

Spoilers-

And so is Doctor Donna and Doctor Who 2-Journey's End was really good.

Oh there was a bit of worry that David Tennant would be leaving Doctor Who, but then, his future wife did recognize him, didn't she? So he must not have changed that much.

I thought Russel T Davis being appointed an OBE by the Queen last month was a bit over the top, but then, Doctor Who is a really great show. I liked that whole the gangs all here aspect of this season's last two episodes. Good to see everyone from the Russel T Davis universe fighting over who gets the chance to save the Universe this time.

About 7.4 million people tuned in for the season's last Doctor Who episode-and millions more will be watching as the days go by. Doctor Who is a great show and I have been very happy the new series. There is still some question as to what will happen with Doctor Who now that the great and powerful Russel T Davis is stepping down. It is possible for the Clone Doctor and Rose Tyler to cross that Sealed Forever Gap one more time if they need to.

Captain Jack had the oblivious desire to spend some time with both Doctors and Donna after it was revealed that they were all three The Doctor. Jack always has been an ambitious lad. There was that whole possibility of happily ever after, but those never really work out, do they?

While I'm on the topic of great season endings, I loved the end of Sarah Jane-Mr Smith, how could you? I really didn't see that coming. It was great.

Anyway-Doctor Who is fun, no matter who plays him or who writes him. Of course, you do wonder how many times one Time Lord can save the Universe. So tell me, if the Daleks can constantly come back, why can't the rest of The Time Lords? I know they were all prats anyway, but they were good for a laugh once in a while.

For more serious details about the show, visit Dalek Base and Of Code and Cats.

Long Live The Doctor! Oh and The Tardis, of course.

Season Four of Dr Who

Dr Who is very much a love it or hate it kind of thing. I pretty much love it and have for lo these many years. The new, new Dr Who has been fun to watch. This season we see the return of the runaway bride from a couple of Christmases ago that didn't want to run off with The Doctor. She has changed her mind and has been following every strange event she can find to track him down.

The Doctor is tired of people who just want him for his body, like Martha Jones and Captain Jack, and claims that he just wants a Mate. His new companion has not romantic interest in The Doctor at all and makes retching nosies at the very idea of mating with him. This is fine with The Doctor, as it is what he wants.

We see that dark side of the Doctor twinkle in his eye, but then he goes back to being all happy and sunshine-the villains in the story are children who don't deserve to die, even though they killed a few people being born. The real villain is a super nanny who looses the support of her charges parents.

The story was sort of funny and odd and the effects of the little aliens were shockingly good. But all that is small potatoes, the real shocker of the show was a glimpse of Miss Rose Tyler-apparently in some kind of transitional state of being. Rose looked anything but happy, what can her strange appearance mean?

Otherwise the show was fun, one of the many sight gags involved a man with a telescope looking the wrong direction when a huge flying saucer passes by. The plot was the same basic story of all the Earth bound Dr Who episodes, some evil something is here and the Doctor has to save us.

The new Doctor Who website has some fun stuff, like Captain Jack's Monster Files and clips from the first show and trailers of one sort or another. They have a bit of blurb on the site that they had some technical difficulties as the site has proved so popular. Lots of images and videos and games and the like.

This looks like it is going to be a very good season.