TV

Review: Phillip Hinchcliffe Presents – The God Of Phantoms

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Review by Jacob Licklider

Philip Hinchcliffe Presents is a Big Finish range that is tangentially related to The Lost Stories in that it is a range from the mind of a previous writer doing stories that fit in line with that era of the television show, but not actual ideas which were ever proposed. Philip Hinchcliffe, enjoying the work done adapting his lost story The Valley of Death, began to work with Marc Platt to produce his ideas, alternating a six and four part story. Four stories were released across three releases between 2014 and 2017, so imagine the surprise when a fourth release was announced for August 2021. As described in the behind the scenes interviews, The God of Phantoms is a story that just came to Hinchcliffe and has been in development at Big Finish for a while as Platt worked and reworked the outline into a usable form. Recording actually happened in February of this year, not too long before it was officially announced, and like any Philip Hinchcliffe Presents release is one focused squarely on mixing gothic horror and science fiction. While the range itself has been incredibly varied with stories like The Ghosts of Gralstead and The Devil’s Armada being classic horror and The Genesis Chamber being more straight science fiction, The God of Phantoms actually most feels like a story produced by Hinchcliffe’s successor Graham Williams in The Stones of Blood.

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Review: Doctor Who – Early Adventures (Series 7)

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Review by Jacob Licklider

It is always a special day when Big Finish Productions revives a range previously thought ended. The Lost Stories easily come to mind over the past few years having two series of previously unseen stories released over the last three years, and after another near two year break The Early Adventures returns for a seventh series of two releases celebrating the William Hartnell era of the show. This year also perhaps went in a different direction in connecting both stories as a sequel and a prequel to 1960s stories, the first giving the audience an idea of what happened to Susan immediately after The Dalek Invasion of Earth while the other shows just how the Doctor acquired the Holy Ghanta seen in The Abominable Snowmen. Like Series 6 of The Early Adventures each story is told at different ends of the First Doctor’s life, the first being right near the beginning of his travels while the second being right near the end with his last regular TARDIS team, both focusing deeply on the companions and their time with the Doctor and just what it means to be a companion in these early days of Doctor Who and how that role has changed over the years.

The first release is After the Daleks by Roland Moore and is odd for a release in that it doesn’t feature the Doctor. Set in the immediate aftermath of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, just as the TARDIS has dematerialised and Susan has dropped her key to the TARDIS. As the title implies it’s all about how humanity can pick up the pieces after the Dalek forces have all been defeated, and despite having a Dalek emblazoned on the cover, they don’t actually play an active role in the plot. The entire story is focused directly on humanity and what the Daleks have left behind: Susan is finding her equilibrium in the decision that her grandfather made for her, Jenny Chaplin has found her robotised brother and is attempting to save his life, and David is trying to get some sort of government. The Daleks are a threat which could always be coming back and there is a single Dalek left alive, immobilised, planning and scheming to find a way to retake the Earth.

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Review: Doctor Who – Respond To All Calls

Posted on by indiemacuser

Review by Jacob Licklider

“The big drawback here is that there is a lot more they could do as playing it safe on a release which was sure to sell left the listeners wanting more. Still, go and give this a listen just to hear a Doctor we haven’t heard from in over 15 years as there’s still the standard Big Finish charm.”

This is how I closed my review for Ravagers, the first volume of Ninth Doctor Adventures from Big Finish productions which was enjoyable, but had the problem of playing it far too safe, a trend Big Finish continued when David Tennant began recording audio dramas. This second volume, Respond to All Calls, is immediately in stark contrast as it does anything else but be safe, telling three tales unconnected by plot, but deeply connected by the theme. The title of the set is important here: ‘Respond to All Calls’. The Ninth Doctor is fresh from the Time War and in each of the three stories the TARDIS essentially drags the Doctor into the situation, further expanded upon by the video trailer showing the TARDIS broken, but coming back to life. This does not occur literally in the set and is used as a metaphor for the Doctor becoming the Doctor again, which was the essential drive of Eccleston’s series on television. The set is three episodes from three vastly different writers all doing something to bring the Doctor back to being the Doctor before he meets Rose and can actually begin the full process of healing from the Time War.

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Trailer released for ‘American Horror Story: Double Feature’

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The trailer has been released forAmerican Horror Story: Double Feature which is the the 10th installment of the FX anthology series, set to debut August 25th on FX/Hulu.

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Ryan Murphy’s ‘American Horror Stories’ & ‘American Crime Story’ spin-offs renewed.

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Ryan Murphy’s ‘American Horror Story’ spin off ‘American Horror Stories’ has been renewed for a second season on FX & Hulu. The first season debuted in July, with the seventh and final episode of the season set to drop on Aug. 19th. Season 2 is expected to debut in 2022.

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‘Superman: The Animated Series’ gets Blu-Ray release

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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and DC are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Superman: The Animated Series with a fully remastered Blu-ray box set. Superman: The Complete Animated Series, which includes several hours of bonus features including an all-new documentary will be available starting October 12th 2021.

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‘Sherlock’ actress Una Stubbs passes away aged 84

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The BBC is reporting that Actress Una Stubbs, known for her roles in TV shows like Worzel Gummidge, Till Death Us Do Part, BBC’s Sherlock and EastEnders, has died at the age of 84.

Stubbs found fame in the 1960s, appearing in films like Sir Cliff Richard’s Summer Holiday, and remained one of the UK’s best-loved screen stars.

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First look at Amazon’s ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ TV series

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We now have our first look at Amazon Studios YA horror series I Know What You Did Last Summer, a modern take on the hit 1997 slasher film in collaboration with Sony Pictures Television.

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Audio Review: Blake’s 7 – The Palluma Project

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Review by Ian McArdell

The Palluma Project is the latest Blake’s 7 audiobook from Big Finish. Set in early Series B, it tells the story of a secretive Federation base and its off-book project which Blake and the Liberator’s crew stumble into. Continue reading →

Catherine Zeta-Jones to play Morticia Addams in upcoming Netflix’s series

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Tim Burton has cast his new Morticia for Netflix’s forthcoming live-action Addams Family drama Wednesday.

Catherine Zeta-Jones has officially be announced to be portraying the role in the upcoming series.

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