The official synopsis for Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings television series has been revealed. From the synopsis we now know the series will be a prequel to both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings; with the events taking place thousands of years before the events of those books. The series is headed by showrunners/exec producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay with film-maker J.A. Bayona directing the first two episodes and serving as executive producer, alongside his creative partner Belén Atienza; with executive producers Lindsey Weber, Bruce Richmond, Callum Greene, Gennifer Hutchison, Jason Cahill, Justin Doble and Sharon Tal Yguado. It will be released exclusively on Amazon Prime.
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Review: Torchwood – Coffee
Review by Michael Goleniewski
Near Cardiff Bay, there exists a lone cafe that has been there for quite a long while and headed by a man named David who has been deeply affected by the odd goings-on in the area. One morning, a young man named Ianto Jones wanders in looking for a good Americano whose life is about to change forever. Over time, relationships begin to be formed and with people going missing regularly along with rumours of a secret organisation being spread, things are about to get even weirder for David and the Baps café……
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Joe Barton Joins HBO Max’s The Batman TV Series As Showrunner Following Terence Winter Departure
Joe Barton is heading to Gotham to take over showrunning duties on HBO Max’s upcoming The Batman TV series.
The British writer has joined the series as showrunner and exec producer following the departure of Terence Winter in November.
Further cast announcements for Dexter revival
Showtime has set the cast of the upcoming Dexter revival.
Julia Jones, Alano Miller, Johnny Sequoyah, and Jack Alcott have joined Michael C. Hall and Clancy Brown in the 10-episode limited series, which begins production next month in Massachusetts.
Trailer released for ‘Silence of the Lambs’ sequel series ‘Clarice’
CBS has released a trailer Silence of the Lambs sequel series titled Clarice The series was given a full series order and will debut on CBS & CBS All Access on February 11th 2021. taking The show is set in 1993, a year after the events of The Silence of the Lambs.
Ninth Doctor Adventures details revealed for Big Finish
Cover artwork and story titles for the first volume of Big Finish Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures starring Christopher Eccleston has been unveiled today.
Due for release in May 2021, Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Ravagers is a full-cast audio drama box set comprising three fantastic stories all written by Big Finish’s Creative Director, Nicholas Briggs.
Review: Terror of the Master (from Masterful limited edition)
Review by Jacob Licklider
Terror of the Master is a bonus audiobook included in the limited edition of Masterful written by Trevor Baxendale and narrated by Jon Culshaw. Unlike other releases from Big Finish Productions, this is not an audio drama, but an audiobook with the occasional sound effects and as such it can only rely on the actual prose of the storytelling and the narration. Culshaw is an excellent narrator, using his impressive vocal range and variety of impressions to bring to life the Jon Pertwee era. While Masterful was a celebration of the Master, the incarnation played by Roger Delgado was not included due to Delgado’s tragic passing in 1973, so for the limited edition only Trevor Baxendale was commissioned to write a three and a half hour story featuring the Third Doctor, UNIT, and the Master; set right after The Green Death. Like many of the Pertwee serials, ‘Terror of the Master’ has a political bent, once again tackling pollution and the increasing global temperatures with a kindly scientist promising to fix Earth’s problems with a revolutionary new process that only he can know the exact details of and behind him is the Master. The Master has plans to take over the world using an alien creature in a story that most closely resembles that of The Claws of Axos with Dr. Drake in place of Axos and the Axons, without the Tory MP. On that front Terror of the Master is a fairly standard affair from Baxendale, with a prose style (and runtime) that intentionally feels like that of a Target Novel of a standard serial that would have been released during that time period.
Actress Barbara Shelley (Hammer horror, Doctor Who, Blake’s 7) passes away aged 88
We are sad to report that British actress Barbara Shelley has passed away aged 88. She had recently spent time in hospital with Covid-19 and appeared to have recovered, however she seems to have succumbed to related complications.
Review: Masterful (Celebrating 50 years of ‘The Master’)
Review by Jacob Licklider
“I am usually referred to as the Master…universally.”
This immortal line, first aired 50 years ago, introduced Doctor Who fans to Roger Delgado and the Doctor’s arch enemy the Master. And now, to celebrate this momentous occasion, Big Finish Productions has brought together all surviving TV incarnations of the Master and a host of others for a three hour audio drama, ‘Masterful’. Released 50 years to the day of Episode One of ‘Terror of the Autons‘, there are two editions of this release; the standard three disc edition and the limited eight disc edition which contains a disc of bonus features, an original audiobook by Trevor Baxendale, and two previously released Short Trips. This review is only looking at Masterful the story (see our Terror of the Master review here) So, should you buy Masterful? Short answer, yes, of course you should, James Goss provides three hours with a brilliant cast pitting Master against Master, playing to each incarnation’s strengths and giving listeners a real treat to see how dysfunctional each incarnation can be when forced to cooperate. Continue reading
BBC to release ‘Doctor Who: Dalek Combat Training Manual’
Following the exciting return of the Daleks in festive special ‘Revolution of the Daleks‘ the BBC have announced the release of a new companion book ‘Doctor Who: Dalek Combat Training Manual’.
