The 2015 Doctor Who Christmas Special gives fans the chance to see Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor interacting with Alex Kingston’s River Song for the first (and only) time, as River returns to the screens once more.
In my opinion, this is one of the best Christmas Specials as I believe it will stand out to Doctor Who fans for many years to come. Not only is it thrilling to see River Song interacting with another Doctor, but The Doctor and River going to Darillium at the end of the episode shows a heartfelt side to the episode as the episode ties in with the two-parter Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead from Series 4. River running out of pages in her diary shows another heartfelt side to the episode.
The connectivity between this episode and Series 4 are really hard to watch as we (the viewers) as the events described to David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor are shown in this episode. We’ve had to wait for seven years to see these events on screen but it was worth the wait.
Getting to see the dynamic River had with the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor’s was a treat, but (if possible) her dynamic with the Twelfth Doctor was just as good. The action scenes they shared were great, the reveal that he has a new face was handled really well and the final scene of the episode between both characters was a very special.
While this Christmas Special ended up being very strong, I do feel like it started off slowly and also suffered from having too many supporting characters. The Doctor and River were memorable as usual but I think this episode could have benefitted from less supporting characters, though King Hydroflax and Nardole were both good additions to the show.
In my opinion, this is one of the best Christmas Specials from Doctor Who in recent years. It was great to watch the Twelfth Doctor and River Song on-screen together and the episode put me through a range of emotions. However, I do feel that the episode took a while to get going and had too many supporting characters, but even just seeing The Doctor and River again was a sight to behold.
My rating: 9/10
By Ruari Williamson
*The opinions in this article are of the writer and do not represent the views of all of the Everything Geek Podcast staff*.
The latest episode of Pokémon XY sees Ash Ketchum win his seventh gym badge in the Kalos region as he defeats Anistar City’s gym leader Olympia.
I was really happy that the writers decided to have this gym battle be a double-battle. It felt like a long since the last gym double battle so I thought it was nice to see a double battle between Ash and Olympia.
The double battle was handled excellently with great visuals and battling as Ash’s Frogadier and Talonflame fought two Meowswtic. Given Olympia’s premonitions about Frogadier in the previous episode, it was great to see Frogadier play such an important role in defeating her (though none of the premonitions come into play in this episode). By the end of the episode, Frogadier and Talonflame are successful in defeating both Meowstic and Ash earns the Psychic Badge.
This is going to sound weird, but considering Ash was using Pikachu to tell when the “future sight” attacks would hit wasn’t he technically cheating? Just something that had me scratching my head during the episode.
The episode ends with Professor Sycamore giving new Pokédexes to both Ash and Serena, while Ash learns that Kalos’ final gym is located in Snowbelle City. I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of the new Pokédexes in upcoming episodes of the show… NOTE: The new Pokédexes are very similar to the designs introduced in the Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire games.
In my opinion, this was another great episode of Pokémon XY. It was great to see Ash defeat Olympia and earn that Psychic Badge, with another excellent gym battle which was visually outstanding. The ending with Sycamore giving Ash and Serena new Pokédexes was a great way to end the season, though I still question whether Ash and Pikachu cheated during the battle…
My rating: 8.5/10
By Ruari Williamson
*The opinions in this article are of the writer and do not represent the views of all of the Everything Geek Podcast staff*.
The latest episode of The Big Bang Theory sees Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler finally consummate their relationship, Professor Proton makes a return (complete with Jedi robes again) and Wil Wheaton pisses off a lot of Star Wars fans. All the ingredients needed for a memorable episode of The Big Bang Theory.
As I’ve said in numerous reviews recently, the dynamic between Sheldon and Amy has been one of the high-lights in this on-going season of The Big Bang Theory. The changes in their relationship have been interesting to watch, but following both characters rekindling their romantic relationship in the previous episode I was curious to see what would happen next. Sheldon and Amy finally consummating their relationship was a big move by the writers and I’m intrigued to see how it will affect their interactions for the rest of the show.
The return of deceased character Professor Proton (once again in Jedi robes) added some great dimensions to the episode. Not only did his scenes add humour to the episode, but also his interactions with Sheldon helped the latter make very important decisions in the episode. Professor Proton’s scenes reminded me of how disappointed I was when the writers decided to kill the character, but his scenes in this episode were excellent regardless.
It was great to see this episode tie-in (bad pun…) with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was really nice to see Leonard, Howard and Raj very excited about its release and Wil Wheaton added some great comic relief to the scenes with his support of Star Trek. I think having Sheldon skip Star Wars to spend time with Amy was a great decision by the writers and showed how much the character has grown since the start of the show.
In my opinion, this was another excellent episode of The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon and Amy finally consummating their relationship was a big moment and I’m interested to see where both characters progress in the story onwards. The return of Professor Proton was great and it was great to see the tie-in with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
My rating: 9/10
By Ruari Williamson
*The opinions in this article are of the writer and do not represent the views of all of the Everything Geek Podcast staff*.
The latest episode of Pokémon XY introduces the Anistar City gym leader Olympia, sees the return of Professor Sycamore and hints at an interesting future for Ash’s Frogadier.
While I’ve found most of the Kalos region gym leaders to be interesting characters, I think Olympia is by far one of the most interesting. We learn very quickly that Olympia can see into the future, with the revelation that the Kalos region will soon be in crisis and that Ash, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Team Rocket and Professor Sycamore will be involved.
The insight into how strong Ash and his Frogadier’s friendship is was a compelling touch to the episode, with an insight into both Frogadiers future and its past (both insights provided by Olympia). I really liked learning more about why Frogadier rejected its previous trainers and the revelation that it loves Ash was an interesting twist.
We see through Olympia’s visions that Frogadier will evolve into Greninja before achieving further evolution. However, it’s unclear whether this refers to mega evolution or not. This is interesting because it’s unknown whether Greninja can mega evolve and it foreshadows other big events in upcoming episodes.
The episode ends with Olympia accepting Ash’s challenge of a gym battle, with the ending setting up for the gym battle to take place in the next episode- with Ash’s seventh Kalos gym badge on the line.
In my opinion, this was another strong episode of Pokémon XY. Anistar City’s gym leader Olympia is introduced and leaves a quick impression on viewers with her premonitions, including seeing that Kalos will be in crisis and all of the heroes will be involved. It was great to get a larger insight into Ash and Frogadier’s friendship, as well as learn more about Frogadier’s past and a look into its future.
My rating: 8/10
By Ruari Williamson
*The opinions in this article are of the writer and do not represent the views of all of the Everything Geek Podcast staff*.
The Star Wars saga returns to the big-screen with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the seventh instalment in the Star Wars series. The film leaves a joyous message- Star Wars is back.
The Force Awakens brings together new and old cast members in an excellent way and brings an interesting story to the table. The search for Luke Skywalker makes for a great plot-line throughout and by the time Rey encounters Luke at the end of the film, it’s clear that the film has come full circle.
Rey (Daisy Ridley) is the first female lead character in the Star Wars films. While we’ve had previous female characters that acted among the leads (like Princess Leia and Padme Amidala), Rey is really the first and that was refreshing. The other two members of the new trio, Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), are also refreshing and both are entertaining characters. The reveal that Rey is force-sensitive and wields a lightsaber was a well-kept secret and it was great to see both Rey and Finn use Luke (formerly Anakin’s) lightsaber in the film.
The villains in the film were hit and miss for me. Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) both have large roles and have standout scenes, in particular Hux’s speech and the reveal that Kylo is really called Ben Solo (though the fact that he was a Solo wasn’t a big surprise). However, other villains like Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) and Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) are both underutilised which was unfortunate. Hopefully we’ll see more of Phasma and Snoke in upcoming films.
The film also has the return of many fan-favourites from the original trilogy. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) have the most pivotal roles of the returning cast, but Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) has a substantial role and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) appears at the end of the film. C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) also return of the original main cast, with additional returns for Admiral Ackbar (Tim Rose) and Nien Nunb (Mike Quinn) from Return of the Jedi.
Unfortunately, no film is perfect and The Force Awakens does have a few stand-out flaws that I cannot avoid talking avoid. The opening hour of the film follows a very repetitive narrative (usually a hero scene followed by a villain scene) and this was a back-and-forth problem for the first hour of the film. Additionally, every other scene in the first hour either featured someone contacting the First Order or saying that they would. This pattern became (unfortunately) obvious after a while and let the film down.
The other glaring problem with the film is Starkiller Base. While the superweapons name is an excellent touch (a reference to Luke Skywalker’s original script name of Luke Starkiller), it truly is just a much bigger Death Star. I was ok with a Death Star II in Return of the Jedi but this was re-hashing an idea for the sake of re-hashing. Note: Having a rebel character jokingly compare Starkiller Base to the Death Star doesn’t make the idea of re-hashing the latter vessel ok.
While it may be a bigger problem for some people than it was for me, it was clear that some scenes were almost copy and paste from the original Star Wars film (now referred to as A New Hope). The obviousness of this was a little unfortunate with obvious similarities between both films.
In my opinion, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has brought Star Wars back to the big-screen in a big way. The new and old cast members all played their roles perfectly, the cliff-hanger ending with Luke Skywalker sets up Episode VIII perfectly and there were lots of nice touches in this film. However, while the narrative and the Starkiller Base let the film down slightly, it’s clear that Star Wars is back and here to stay for a while.
My rating: 9/10
By Ruari Williamson
*The opinions in this article are of the writer and do not represent the views of all of the Everything Geek Podcast staff*.
In the latest edition highlighting an interview of ours we recommend you listen to, we recommend you give our interview with actor Nicholas Pegg a listen.
“Join host Ruari in this guest interview with actor Nicholas Pegg, best-known for being a Dalek Operator on Doctor Who, Twitcher and Passer-by in Doc Martin, Norman in The Stranger: The Terror Game, Robert Wintour in The Plotters and writer and director of the Doctor Who: Shada TV mini-series as well as multiple Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories. In the interview they talk about how Nicholas decided he wanted to become an actor, how Nicholas was initially hired to be a member of the team of Dalek Operators on Doctor Who, the difficulties Nicholas faces as a lead Dalek operator on Doctor Who, Nicholas’ favourite Doctor Who episode to work on, Nicholas’ favourite Doctor Who stories to do for Big Finish, Nicholas’ thoughts on the differences of the role of the Dalek operator in the modern series compared to the classic series of Doctor Who and Nicholas’ upcoming acting roles and other projects.”
You can listen to the interview below:
Be sure to leave your feedback on the interview and enjoy!
Here are the behind-the-scenes pictures we shared on our Facebook and Twitter pages today.
Director Richard Marquand giving instructions to cast member Ian McDiarmid (The Emperor) on the set of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Director Alan Taylor giving instructions to cast member Chris Hemsworth (Thor) on the set of Thor: The Dark World.
Cast members Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman) and Liam Neeson (Ducard/Ra’s Al Ghul) during filming of a scene for Batman Begins.
Cast members Sean Connery (James Bond) and Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore) filming a scene for the James Bond film Goldfinger.
Cast members Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler), David Tennant (The 10th Doctor) and Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler) behind the scenes of Doctor Who.
Cast members Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) and Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon) on the set of The Walking Dead.
Cast members Julie Walters (Molly Weasley) and Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange) during filming of a scene for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Shooting of a scene involving a Flametrooper burning part of a Jakku village in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Star Wars: In Concert will officially be making a return in 2016. The event, which was previously on tour in 2009 and 2010, showcased the music from the legendary composer John Williams from the Star Wars films.
The concert was hosted by Anthony Daniels, who has performed the role of C-3PO in every Star Wars project the character has been in.
No venues or dates have been announced as of yet.
A description of the concert can be read below:
“Take part in an unforgettable concert experience with cutting-edge visual technology and sound design. The iconic music of John Williams will guide you through the legendary battle of light and dark and immerse you into the worlds, characters and story of Star Wars.
Be one of the first to get concert information and offers for STAR WARS: IN CONCERT by subscribing now!
You’ll be able to secure your tickets before the general public and take advantage of exclusive special offers. Subscribing gives you “members-only” benefits that people in the crowd would dream about having.”
As a fan who attended Star Wars: In Concert in Dublin (Republic of Ireland) back in 2010, I highly recommend attending the event if you’re a Star Wars fan like myself.
Thoughts on this news? Will you be going to Star Wars: In Concert in 2016?
Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice, Steve Jobs, Boardwalk Empire, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) has reportedly been cast in a lead role in Alien: Covenant, the sequel to the 2012 film Prometheus.
Details on her character are scarce, but her character is reportedly called “Daniels”.
Alien: Covenant is scheduled for release on October 6th, 2017.
Thoughts on this report? Are you excited to see Katherine Waterston as part of the Alien: Covenant cast?
