Vorg v the Borg
ST:TNG/DW crossover in the Allo Allo vein of badly misjudged comedy treatment of extreme evil.
As the Borg run rampant through the galaxy, a bureacratic mixup leaves the defence in the hands of showman Vorg and his assistant Shirna. Each week they blunder their way to defeat, escaping assimilation by the skin of their teeth.
I see a kind of Prisoner style meta-drama where Leslie Dwyer assumes narrative control, resulting in an increasingly dark series 2 where Vorg is driven mad by his experiences, and an ambiguous conclusion where he rips off a Borg's prostheses to reveal the mocking face of Pletrac. Other clues - maintain fans - hint that the whole thing took place while Vorg had his head stuck inside the Miniscope.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
Doctor Who spin-offs no. 2
Tegan/Tegana
Groundbreaking split-screen Ed Wood homage following the adventures of a Mongol warlord who secretly dresses as a flight attendant, and a DW companion/flight attendant who secretly dresses as a Mongol warlord.
Watch out for the hilarious Christmas episode where the two meet - on the same night that Tegan's boss, and Tegana's war-overlord, are coming to dinner!
Groundbreaking split-screen Ed Wood homage following the adventures of a Mongol warlord who secretly dresses as a flight attendant, and a DW companion/flight attendant who secretly dresses as a Mongol warlord.
Watch out for the hilarious Christmas episode where the two meet - on the same night that Tegan's boss, and Tegana's war-overlord, are coming to dinner!
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Doctor Who spin-offs no.1
Eldrad, Eldrad and the Eldreds
Family sitcom starring the female and male versions of the Kastrian anarch. Strong Big John, Little John vibe with Eldrad changing helplessly between sexes at inopportune moments.
Light relief provided by Saxon Eldred from Time Meddler as their inept son, Prof Eldred from Seeds of Death as cantankerous old Grandad, and Sophie Aldred as their comedy rebellious teenage daughter.
Family sitcom starring the female and male versions of the Kastrian anarch. Strong Big John, Little John vibe with Eldrad changing helplessly between sexes at inopportune moments.
Light relief provided by Saxon Eldred from Time Meddler as their inept son, Prof Eldred from Seeds of Death as cantankerous old Grandad, and Sophie Aldred as their comedy rebellious teenage daughter.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
The Face of Evil
I've just finished watching for the first time The Face of Evil, which has always been one of my favourite Targets. The Doctor's musings about Sarah! The Horda! The black wall! The ultrabeam accelerator! The vast carving of the Doctor's face! The moment where the Sevateem finally gaze on the plain beyond the mountains, where lies Paradise!
Musings - absent. Horda - rubber. Black wall - plastic (I was at least expecting a CSO effect). Carving - too small. Plain - too briefly glimpsed. And the Tesh were very silly indeed.
Things which worked. The Sevateem - reasonably convincing, tho Neeva was balder than I imagined. Leela - tops from the word go. The 'invisible monsters have Doctor's face' - a lot better than I expected by that point. Xoanon's voices - not at all bad. Doctor/Leela final scene - if anything, better than the book, where the Doctor's 'but I don't cart them round the universe with me' comes across as rather harsh and cold, but on screen has much more warmth.
Musings - absent. Horda - rubber. Black wall - plastic (I was at least expecting a CSO effect). Carving - too small. Plain - too briefly glimpsed. And the Tesh were very silly indeed.
Things which worked. The Sevateem - reasonably convincing, tho Neeva was balder than I imagined. Leela - tops from the word go. The 'invisible monsters have Doctor's face' - a lot better than I expected by that point. Xoanon's voices - not at all bad. Doctor/Leela final scene - if anything, better than the book, where the Doctor's 'but I don't cart them round the universe with me' comes across as rather harsh and cold, but on screen has much more warmth.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Two 14-year-old girls use myspace, pose as woman to meet and rob man
Viz readers will recall Suicidal Syd's attempt to meet a German cannibal mentalist via the internet. Unfortunately his prospective murderer turned out only to be a 14-year-old girl posing as a serial killer.
Viz readers will recall Suicidal Syd's attempt to meet a German cannibal mentalist via the internet. Unfortunately his prospective murderer turned out only to be a 14-year-old girl posing as a serial killer.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
The Mutants
The Mutants has always been one of my favourite Target novelisations. That is a statement that can lead to disappointment, and by Kroll, it did this time.
I had a genuine struggle to get to the end of episode six. Performance-wise it's dreadful - some of the worst acting I've seen in DW so far from Cotton, a barely convincing display from Stubbs. They were such a cool, laconic duo in the novel.
And you wouldn't believe how much more impressive it all looked in my imagination. The Marshal was fat and compact, menacing like Mussolini instead of wobbly like Russell Grant. Skybase had wide silver metallic corridors, the Marshall's office was much bigger with a huge mural, Jaeger's lab was untidy and packed with equipment. Solos had hot steamy jungles, not cold misty forests. Even the Target cover picture looks better than the original story.
Giving the production its due: the Marshall is quite believable, even in his mad scenes. Jaeger is obviously played primarily as the cold, heartless experimenting SS doctor German scientist stereotype, whereas in the novel the untidy, bumbling Heinz Wolff German stereotype is to the fore. Given the impact of his actions on the Solonians, perhaps the former portrayal does in fact work better.
Over on the Good Scientist side, Sondergaard is watchable, although there is a dreadful bit in his cave. It's shot across a table on which are various objects that he picks up and uses to illustrate his explanation to Jo and the Doctor. It's like a schools science programme.
A couple of aspects of the story are present in novel and video, but only stand out as awkward in the latter. The amount of Doctor/Jo separation (and consequent lack of fun interaction) in the story is very noticeable. And it's somehow much less plausible that Jaeger would fall for the 'Stand here and watch this circuit till it explodes' trick twice, when you actually see him doing it while the noise the circuit makes rises to an obviously dangerous pitch.
Crumbs of comfort: my imaginary Investigator was actually quite like Peter Howell, and the radiation cave wasn't too dissimilar to the original, except it didn't look so much like a vaulted brick cellar, and there were no CSO lines.
Suspension of disbelief rating: HIGH. Acting, Varan's wig, the lot. (Some of the location scenes are OK)
Overall rating: 2/5. I can't even mark this up for having an interesting central trope, because even that is explained so much better in the novel.
I had a genuine struggle to get to the end of episode six. Performance-wise it's dreadful - some of the worst acting I've seen in DW so far from Cotton, a barely convincing display from Stubbs. They were such a cool, laconic duo in the novel.
And you wouldn't believe how much more impressive it all looked in my imagination. The Marshal was fat and compact, menacing like Mussolini instead of wobbly like Russell Grant. Skybase had wide silver metallic corridors, the Marshall's office was much bigger with a huge mural, Jaeger's lab was untidy and packed with equipment. Solos had hot steamy jungles, not cold misty forests. Even the Target cover picture looks better than the original story.
Giving the production its due: the Marshall is quite believable, even in his mad scenes. Jaeger is obviously played primarily as the cold, heartless experimenting SS doctor German scientist stereotype, whereas in the novel the untidy, bumbling Heinz Wolff German stereotype is to the fore. Given the impact of his actions on the Solonians, perhaps the former portrayal does in fact work better.
Over on the Good Scientist side, Sondergaard is watchable, although there is a dreadful bit in his cave. It's shot across a table on which are various objects that he picks up and uses to illustrate his explanation to Jo and the Doctor. It's like a schools science programme.
A couple of aspects of the story are present in novel and video, but only stand out as awkward in the latter. The amount of Doctor/Jo separation (and consequent lack of fun interaction) in the story is very noticeable. And it's somehow much less plausible that Jaeger would fall for the 'Stand here and watch this circuit till it explodes' trick twice, when you actually see him doing it while the noise the circuit makes rises to an obviously dangerous pitch.
Crumbs of comfort: my imaginary Investigator was actually quite like Peter Howell, and the radiation cave wasn't too dissimilar to the original, except it didn't look so much like a vaulted brick cellar, and there were no CSO lines.
Suspension of disbelief rating: HIGH. Acting, Varan's wig, the lot. (Some of the location scenes are OK)
Overall rating: 2/5. I can't even mark this up for having an interesting central trope, because even that is explained so much better in the novel.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
The Greatest Show In The Galaxy
Some time ago I got hold of the Target novelisation of this story and was surprised to be drawn into the story. The clowns dressed as undertakers driving a hearse had a Prisoner-esque flavour, and the characters had a larger-than-life allegorical quality. I particularly liked the self-referential elements - the implacable family audience, and the Whizzkid who famously says 'although I never got to see the early days, I know it's not as good as it used to be, but I'm still terribly interested.'
Having posted enthusiastically elsewhere along these lines, I decided to have the courage of my convictions and watch the actual story.
I was prepared for disappointment this time, but actually escaped unscathed. Even Ace wasn't as annoying as I remembered her. In fact the Doctor/Ace relationship began to seem convincing and likeable. I got a distinct Leela/4th Doctor vibe, as if the Doctor had a project to educate Ace to solve problems through other means than Janis thorns or Nitro-9.
And their relationship is paralleled by the quite different, exploitative relationship betwen Captain Cook and Mags. I've since read that the Captain is supposed to be a symbolic anti-Doctor. That works for me.
Nord does not. He's a children's programme villain like Mildred's Uncle Ben, with his amusing threats and comedy motorbike. Neither - sadly - does the Whizzkid. It's great to have him played by the Adrian Mole actor, but Gian Sammarco (now a psychiatric nurse - 100% true) deploys a quality hardwood acting technique that drains the character of life. Maybe it's an attempt to show the Whizzkid's detachment from reality?
Update: I later did a Target comparison for this story.
Having posted enthusiastically elsewhere along these lines, I decided to have the courage of my convictions and watch the actual story.
I was prepared for disappointment this time, but actually escaped unscathed. Even Ace wasn't as annoying as I remembered her. In fact the Doctor/Ace relationship began to seem convincing and likeable. I got a distinct Leela/4th Doctor vibe, as if the Doctor had a project to educate Ace to solve problems through other means than Janis thorns or Nitro-9.
And their relationship is paralleled by the quite different, exploitative relationship betwen Captain Cook and Mags. I've since read that the Captain is supposed to be a symbolic anti-Doctor. That works for me.
Nord does not. He's a children's programme villain like Mildred's Uncle Ben, with his amusing threats and comedy motorbike. Neither - sadly - does the Whizzkid. It's great to have him played by the Adrian Mole actor, but Gian Sammarco (now a psychiatric nurse - 100% true) deploys a quality hardwood acting technique that drains the character of life. Maybe it's an attempt to show the Whizzkid's detachment from reality?
Update: I later did a Target comparison for this story.