The Series 9 finale of Doctor Who sees The Doctor return to Gallifrey, Clara Oswald briefly make a return to the world, the return of the Time Lords and the debut of a new sonic screwdriver.
I always say that I like to get my criticisms out of the way first (a recurring theme on the podcast) so I’ll be getting into my criticisms of this episode right away. As I’ve said before, Clara Oswald was one of my favourite Doctor Who companions and I was really sad when she died in “Face the Raven”. However, I feel like she took away from this episode in time that could have been used to focus on other aspects. For example: We really (when you think about it) don’t see that much of Gallifrey and the Time Lords, which is unfortunate considering this is the first episode since “Day of the Doctor” to feature them- where we learn that the planet was frozen in time.
A number of fans criticised the decision to turn The Master into a female character (Missy) in the previous series. The criticism was as a result of a Time Lord changing genders when regenerating, which some fans didn’t like. However, I think it turned out to be an excellent move and I think Missy definitely has a lot of The Master’s characteristics. This episode features another male-female regeneration, but the regeneration of The General into a female was handled poorly in my opinion. With Missy there was relevance to the plot and story the writers were going for, but I felt that The General’s regeneration was forced into the story and unnecessary (plus removed outstanding actor Ken Bones from Doctor Who). I honestly feel that if the writers wanted this regeneration they should’ve had a reason for it happening. I have nothing against the idea or male characters regenerating into females (or vice versa) as long as it’s relevant to the plot.
In regard to Clara, while I think her return took away from other aspects of the episode, the writers are able to explore a more heartfelt and sad ending for the character with the scenes of The Doctor and Clara in the restaurant. We see how The Doctor will do anything to keep Clara alive but (in a shocking twist) ends up losing his memories of Clara because of the things he does in the episode. Clara’s final moments on Doctor Who show her and Ashildr (who makes another return) travelling away in a TARDIS which The Doctor had stolen.
A number of characters return in this episode. Lord Rassilon returns (and is quickly banished from Gallifrey) and The General returns (and is quickly killed and regenerated). The writers did an excellent job of exploring The Doctor’s anger at the Time Lords and it was interesting to see The Doctor acting as the president of Gallifrey, albeit briefly. Ohila and the Sisterhood of Karn also return, and as mentioned above Ashildr returns as well.
The episode concludes with The Doctor entering his TARDIS and receiving a new sonic screwdriver. While The Doctor flies off into space, Clara and Ashildr are flying in the same area on their TARDIS.
In my opinion, this was a very good episode of Doctor Who. While it had its flaws with Clara taking away from other aspects of the episodes and The Genera’s forced regeneration, it doesn’t take away from a solid episode. Clara gets another good send-off and it was nice to see Gallifrey and Lord Rassilon again, though both should have been featured more. I’m looking forward to seeing more of The Doctor’s new sonic screwdriver.
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 latest episode of Pokémon XY sees Serena take part in her third Pokémon Showcase, with Shauna, Nini and Jessie (“Jessilee”) as familiar characters acting as rivals for the episode.
In my opinion, the Pokémon Showcase episodes have been some of the best in the XY series. While I originally thought that they would be too similar Pokémon Contests (seen in the Advanced and then the Diamond & Pearl shows), each new Showcase episode continues to prove me wrong. While I did have a couple of flaws with this episode it was still another strong episode featuring a Pokémon Showcase.
While I like how the writers have changed up each Showcase with a different type of theme performance, I honestly didn’t think a quiz suited the Showcase, not to mention the questions asked were really easy to answer. At the end of the day, Pokémon is a kid’s show and they want to keep it easy enough for kids to follow but I wasn’t a big fan of the quiz as a performance. However, if the questions had been a bit more difficult I might have liked the quiz more.
However, the freestyle performance was (once again) an excellent part of a Showcase episode. The performances, particularly from Serena, were outstanding and visually looked very appealing to watch. Seeing Serena win her second princess key (drawing her level with Shauna) was great to watch and you can see why she won it when watching the episode.
In terms of characters, I was surprised that Nini was brought back from her debut in the episode “Pathways to Performance Partnering”. While I thought she was a decent character, I didn’t feel like she was particularly memorable but the writers probably decided it made sense to make her a full rival of Serena’s which would make sense.
We also got some quality screen-time for Serena’s Eevee in this episode, with the screen-time exploring how scared Eevee gets in a large crowd (with Jessie’s freestyle performance scaring Eevee to the extent that it leaves the performance hall). I think it was a great idea on the writer’s part to explore how Serena is willing to give up the contest to protect Eevee. Fortunately (for Serena and the viewers), she was able to win the Showcase after finding Eevee.
Following the showcase, the group of Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie say goodbye to Shauna and Tierno- with Shauna and Tierno leaving to help Trevor find his belongings.
In my opinion, this was another excellent episode of Pokémon XY. Serena winning the Anistar City Showcase (and her second princess key) is another major step for the character. The episode was also visually stunning and it was interesting to see the return of Nini. However, I don’t think that a Pokémon quiz was a good idea for a performance.
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*.
Our interview with actor Nicholas Pegg is now up on our YouTube channel!
You can listen to the interview below:
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.
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Credit goes to Mairin Byrne for the editing:
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Be sure to leave your feedback on the interview and enjoy!
Our interview with actor Nicholas Pegg will be uploaded to our YouTube channel later today!
Nicholas is best-known for being a Dalek Operator on Doctor Who. His other notable roles include 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
We hope you’re looking forward to the uploading of the interview.
A teaser video for the Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has been released by Warner Bros. Pictures. The teaser reveals that the first trailer will be released on December 15th.
You can watch the trailer below:
A new synopsis accompanied the video and can be read below:
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” stars Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”), Katherine Waterston (“Steve Jobs,” “Inherent Vice”) as Tina; Tony Award winner Dan Fogler (“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”) as Jacob; Alison Sudol (“Dig,” “Transparent”) as Tina’s sister, Queenie; Ezra Miller (“Trainwreck”) as Credence; two-time Oscar nominee Samantha Morton (“In America,” “Sweet and Lowdown”) as Mary Lou; Oscar winner Jon Voight (“Coming Home,” TV’s “Ray Donovan”) as Henry Shaw, Sr.; Ron Perlman (the “Hellboy” films) as Gnarlack; Carmen Ejogo (“Selma”) as Seraphina; Jenn Murray (“Brooklyn”) as Chastity; young newcomer Faith Wood-Blagrove as Modesty; and Colin Farrell (“True Detective”) as Percival Graves.”
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is scheduled for release on November 18th, 2016.
Thoughts on the teaser trailer? Are you excited for the full trailer?
Not only did Telltale Games reveal the first trailer for The Walking Dead: Michonne mini-series as the Game Awards, but they’ve officially announced a series focusing on DC character Batman.
You can watch a trailer for the game below:
Telltale Games CEO Kevin Bruner is quoted as saying the following:
“At Telltale, we’ve been honored to bring our unique approach to interactive storytelling to some of the biggest entertainment franchises in the world, and we’re excited to announce that we’ll soon be exploring what it means to be Batman in an all-new series starting next year. This iteration of Batman will give fans a first-hand opportunity to dive deeper into the complex life and mind of Bruce Wayne, the duality of his own identity, and the struggle of responsibility in saving a city overcome with corruption and villainy.”
In addition, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad had the following to say:
“Telltale has an established track record of creating award-winning content for some of the best properties in the world. We look forward to working with the team as they deliver a new interactive way for fans and gamers to experience the rich narrative world of Batman.”
Earlier this year it was announced that Telltale would be doing a Marvel series, so Telltale are now branching out into both of the giant comic book properties.
The series will premier on home consoles, PC and mobile devices. No further details on platforms have been announced.
Thoughts on this news? Are you excited for Telltale’s Batman series?
Telltale Games have released the first trailer for the upcoming The Walking Dead: Michonne mini-series. The trailer debuted at the Game Awards in Los Angeles.
You can watch the trailer for the mini-series below:
A description of the mini-series has also been released by Telltale. You can read the description below:
“A stand-alone three episode event, ‘The Walking Dead: Michonne’ further bridges together the Telltale game series with the canon of Robert Kirkman’s comic through one of its most complex characters.
The story explores Michonne, portrayed by award-winning actress Samira Wiley (Orange is the New Black), on an untold journey during the time between issues #126 and #139. Haunted by her past, players will discover what took her away from Rick, Ezekiel, and the rest of her trusted group… and what brought her back.
The Walking Dead: Michonne – A Telltale Games Series will be available this February to download on PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, compatible iOS devices, and Android.”
Thoughts on the trailer? Are you excited for the Michonne mini-series from Telltale Games?
New images from Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (being released next week) have been released online in order to tide fans over before the films release.
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is set for release in the UK/Ireland on December 17th.
Thoughts on the images? Are you excited for the release of The Force Awakens?
The figure reveals for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens continue as a new Rey figure has been revealed. The figure is part of the 3.75 inch line and is called “Rey (Resistance Outfit)”.
However, the figure contains a potentially major spoiler so DO NOT look if you want to avoid any possible spoilers. This is your SPOILER alert warning.
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The new Rey figure comes with the lightsaber that belonged to Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker and (as seen in trailers for The Force Awakens) is used by Finn.
Thoughts on the new Rey figure? Are you planning to buy it?
Another international trailer for the highly-anticipated Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens has been released. The latest trailer debuted in China.
You can watch the trailer below:
Interestingly, the film isn’t released in China until January. The trailer contains a good balance of new and old footage.
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is set for release in the UK/Ireland on December 17th.
Thoughts on the trailer? Are you excited for the release of The Force Awakens?
