The first recording today is Cracker – True Romance, Part 1, an episode I did look at on an old tape. But I didn’t recognise Elizabeth Estenson from The Liver Birds in the first scene. It’s her first session with fitz, and she can only think of four good points about her husband. Which is all the counselling she needs. “Best £50 I’ve ever spent.”
So it’s rather awkward for Fitz when D.I. Wise also needs his help, because his wife has just kicked him out – it’s the same woman.
A new baby with wife Judith (Barbara Flynn) hasn’t healed all the problems they have (most of which are his, to be fair).
Fitz learns that his son’s girlfriend was pregnant, but she lost the baby. I get the feeling he doesn’t talk to him very often.
Fitz is still leching after Penhaligon.
The murderer in this story is a lab assistant who works at the university Fitz lectures at, and is sending him love notes telling him about the students she’s murdering.
Media Centre Description: Drama series about a maverick psychologist who has an unorthodox working relationship with the Manchester constabulary. Fitz starts getting anonymous love letters from a woman who thinks he is perfect. But when a dead body turns up, Fitz gets another letter which suggests that his admirer is the killer.
Recorded from ITV3 on Monday 25th June 2007 21:53
After this, there’s the start of an episode of Bad Girls.
The next recording starts with the end of Women’s Institute.
There’s a trail for the next episode.
And a trail for The Thick of It – Spinners and Losers.
Media Centre Description: Drama series about Sam Tyler, a Manchester detective who suffers a near-fatal car crash and wakes up in what seems to be 1973. Unsure whether he’s in a coma, has really time-travelled or has just gone mad, Tyler’s 21st-century attitudes make him a fish out of water in this world of clunky technology and old-fashioned policing. Then he discovers a connection between a murder in 1973 and the 2006 kidnapping case he was working on, and solving this case could be the key to getting home.
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Monday 25th June 2007 21:58
The first recording today starts with the end of The Cramp Twins.
There’s a trail for Wimbledon. Then a repeat of Totally Doctor Who.
Media Centre Description: Barney Harwood and Kirsten O’Brien look at everything Doctor Who, with exclusive behind-the-scenes clips and the next instalment of the Doctor Who animation, The Infinite Quest. There’s a celebration of the return of Captain Jack, as played by John Barrowman, and a chat with head writer Russell T Davies about the series so far. We also meet the very scary Futurekind whilst Team Totally tackle a costume challenge.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Saturday 23rd June 2007 10:28
There’s a trail for Doctor Who – The Infinite Quest.
Then the start of an episode of Tracy Beaker.
The next recording starts with a trail for Do Something Different.
Then, another Totally Doctor Who repeat.
Media Centre Description: Barney Harwood and Kirsten O’Brien look at everything Doctor Who, with exclusive behind-the-scenes clips and the next instalment of the Doctor Who animation, The Infinite Quest. There’s a celebration of the return of Captain Jack, as played by John Barrowman, and a chat with head writer Russell T Davies about the series so far. We also meet the very scary Futurekind whilst Team Totally tackle a costume challenge.
Recorded from CBBC Channel on Saturday 23rd June 2007 18:28
After this, there’s another Wimbledon trail, then CBBC closes down.
The next recording is Doctor Who – The Sound of Drums. My recollection of the reaction to this story is that some fans were a bit lukewarm over this one, but I always thought it was great (with a couple of provisos I’ll get to, probably next week).
One of the complaints, I think, was after the magnificent cliffhanger at the end of Utopia, they felt that the very first shot of this episode, with the Doctor, Martha and Jack appearing on a London street, after (we later see) the Doctor got Jack’s vortex manipulator working again. The drama was in the cliffhanger in the first place, the resolution was always going to be the Doctor doing something clever, and frankly, we don’t need to see that. It’s not important to the story.
Why waste the teaser on a lot of boring technobabble when you can spend it with them coming to the realisation that the Master is on Earth, and has been for a while. He’s Harold Saxon, the mysterious man we’ve been hearing about throughout the series, and today is the day after the election, in which he was elected to Prime Minister. The teaser ends with a news broadcast showing the Master (with his wife, which surprises the Doctor) saying “This country has been sick. This country needs healing. This country needs medicine. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that what this country really needs right now… is a Doctor.”
Martha’s sister Tish has another new job. Her employment agency must specialise in catering for supervillains.
His first meeting with the cabinet ends up with him gassing them all. John Simm is having an awful lot of fun with this part. “As soon as you saw the vote swinging my way, you abandoned your parties and you jumped on the Saxon bandwagon. So! This is your reward.” So he’s a new party? Definitely a populist.
The endorsements on the Saxon website are a mixed bunch. There’s Sharon Osbourne. “He can tick my box any day.” Ooo err missus.
McFly (I had to check the credits as I couldn’t remember which noughties band they were).
And Anne Widdecombe to appeal to complete monsters.
Nicola McAuliffe plays journalist Vivien Rook, who wants to interview Mrs Saxon for a puff piece, but who then tells her she’s in danger, and that Harry Saxon didn’t even exist before 18 months ago. His whole history has been manufactured, yet everyone believes it. Russell T Davies would re-use the name for Emma Thompson’s monstrous populist Prime Minister in Years & Years much later.
Sadly for Vivien, the Master interrupts their interview, and introduces her to “his friends” – floaty balls which sprout spikes. They do slightly milk the gag of him opening the door to hear screaming continue, closing it, then opening it again.
Back in Martha’s flat, they discuss how the Master might possibly have got himself elected. I’m guessing he just promised to abolish sensible road safety measures and leave the EU. Martha can’t even say what his policies were. “I dunno, he always sounded… good. Like you could trust him. Just nice. He spoke about… I can’t really remember, but it was good. Just the sound of his voice…” As Martha’s talking, she’s tapping her fingers in a particular rhythm – the same rhythm that someone was tapping in the opening scene, that the Master was tapping on the table after he gassed everyone, and which is in Murray Gold’s score, so it’s definitely meaningful.
The Master makes a broadcast. After reminding us all about the times that Aliens visited Earth recently, he announces “Citizens of Great Britain… I have been contacted. A message, for humanity, from beyond the stars.” There’s a very fuzzy picture of one of the floaty balls. “People of the Earth. We come in peace. We bring you great gifts! We bring technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return is your friendship.” The Master continues “Aw! Sweet. And this species has identified itself. They’re called the Toclafane.”
He closes off his address with “And tomorrow morning, they will appear. Not in secret! But to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin. Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe. Every man, woman and child, every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer and, oh, I don’t know, every… Medical student?” At this, the Doctor turns to Martha. It’s a message. He grabs the TV to find a bomb strapped to the back – also notice the brand name, Magpie Electricals, a callback to last season.
They get out of the flat before it explodes. Everything ramps into overdrive for this scene. Murray Gold’s music switches into the kinetic part of All The Strange, Strange Creatures which is one of my favourite cues from the show, and it’s used a lot in this episode. There’s another great Martha moment, when she calls her mum to warn her she’s in danger and the Doctor says “Don’t tell them anything” she fires back “I’ll do what I like!”
She’s right to be worried, as her mum has the secret service type people with her. She tries to persuade Martha to come home, even saying that her dad’s there and “we’ve been talking, and we thought we might give it a go.” Martha doesn’t buy this for a second, and when Francine puts her father on she asks “Dad. Just say yes, or no. Is there someone else there?” He pauses, then shouts “Yes! Just run! Listen to me, just run!”
Martha phones Tish, who is in Downing Street, and even there she’s not safe.
There’s armed men taking Martha’s parents away.
When they get away, Martha phones her brother Leo, who’s in Brighton, and she warns him to stay hidden. I’m presuming that Reggie Yates’ schedule was just too full to commit to more than this scene.
While they’re still on the phone, Saxon breaks in. And when the Doctor takes the phone, the conversation gets quite charged. “I like it when you use my name.” “You chose it. Psychiatrist’s field day.” “As you chose yours. The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?” They discuss the fate of Gallifrey, how the Master was brought back by the Timelords to fight, and how he ran away, and the Doctor killed everyone.
There’s a scene where the Master watches the Teletubbies – a reference to a scene back in the 70s when Roger Delgado’s OG Master was watching the Clangers.
In hiding, and eating chips, the Doctor takes time to finally talk about his home planet to Martha and Jack. This scene is accompanied by yet another brilliant Murray Gold theme, and some beautiful effects.
He tells how children are taken from their families very young to study to become Timelords. “He stood in front of the Untempered Schism – it’s a gap in the fabric of reality, through which could be seen the whole of the Vortex. You stand there. Eight years old. Staring at the raw power of time and space. Just a child. Some would be inspired. Some would run away. And some would go mad.”
Jack is also confessing things, telling the Doctor that he’s been working at Torchwood. “I rebuilt it, I changed it and when I did that, I did it for you. In your honour.”
They receive a message from Vivien Rook, who conveniently dumps some exposition, although all I can look at is the icon labelled “Photo’s”. She explains that the Archangel satellite network is the key to Saxon’s success, sending out a hypnotic signal to influence people.
The Doctor fashions “perception filters” for the trio, which are basically Yale keys on strings, which will allow them to move unnoticed by people. I love this bit of design because it’s something that kids can make for themselves. I love the line from the Doctor explaining it: “It’s like when you fancy someone and they don’t even know you exist.” When the Doctor starts leaving, Martha and Jack look at each other, and he says “You too, huh?”
The US President flies in, and tells the Master that he’s taking charge, treating him like a naughty little boy. Which, to be fair, is how he’s behaving. The President is played by Colin Stinson, who pops up in all sorts of things, like Ghostwatch and A Very Peculiar Practice.
The Master’s coat has a red lining, which when I first saw it really suggested something Roger Delgado’s Master would wear.
The first contact event is going to happen on the Valiant aircraft carrier, a UNIT base. A flying aircraft carrier which predates the SHIELD helicarrier (in movies, at least) and which is probably more inspired by Cloudbase from Captain Scarlet.
The Doctor, Martha and Jack use the vortex manipulator to get on board the Valiant. After exploring, they find the Tardis, but inside it’s been cannibalised to create what the Doctor calls a Paradox Machine. But he doesn’t know what it’s for.
President Winters welcomes the Toclafane, but they don’t seem happy to see him. “You’re not the Master. We like the Mr Master. We don’t like you.” “I can be master, if you so wish. I will accept mastery over you, if that is God’s will.” So the Master stands up. “Ohh, all right, then. It’s me! Ta-daa! Ha-ha! Sorry! Sorry, I have this effect, people just get obsessed! Is it the smile? Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don’t know! It’s crazy!”
He gets the Toclafane to kill President Winters. Then he speaks to the world. “Peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully.” Another reference, this time to Anthony Ainley’s Master in Logopolis.
He kills Jack with his Laser Screwdriver. “The good thing is, he’s not dead for long, I get to kill him again!”
The Doctor tries to reason with him, but the Master uses his screwdriver, along with Professor Lazarus’s technology in reverse, to age the Doctor 100 years.
The Master has Martha’s family brought on deck.
Then he announces “So, earthlings… Basically, um… ..end of the world! Here…come…the drums!” Cue a banging pop tune I have only ever heard on this episode because I am old. It works here, though.
A rift opens, and six billion Toclafane emerge. “Shall we decimate them? That sounds good, nice word – decimate. Remove one tenth of the population!” And they start flying around killing people.
The Doctor talks to Martha, but we don’t hear what is said. She stands, and uses the vortex manipulator to vanish.
She lands back on Earth, looks at the carnage being wrought, and says “I’m coming back.”
Media Centre Description: Harry Saxon becomes Prime Minister, but his dark ambitions reach beyond the stars.
Recorded from BBC ONE on Saturday 23rd June 2007 19:13
This is followed by a trail for Doctor Who – The Infinite Quest.
The next recording starts with the end of some Glastonbury coverage.
There’s 60 Seconds of news.
There’s also a Glastonbury trail. And a trail for Concert for Diana. I wonder if William and Harry hated each other’s guts then, or if that’s a newer thing?
Plus a trail for Family Guy.
Then, it’s Doctor Who Confidential – The Saxon Mystery.
I wonder if this bit of narration is a reference to the beloved Doctor Who charity single “Doctor In Distress”?
Russell T Davies: “It’s just thrilling to bring back the Master, actually. It’s always part of the game plan. Bring back the great, big icons of the series.”
David Tennant: “you do need a Ying to the Doctor’s Yang.”
Director Colin Teague: “He’s just all-powerful, all-endearing”. Endearing? Not sure about that.
John Simm had a meeting about playing the master while he was still filming Life on Mars. “Russell just told me, described what was going to happen, and as soon as he said, the Master, I was like, yes, I will do that.”
Danny Hargreaves explains the conference phones which spray poison gas into the cabinet room. I’ve always imagined that all those phones have that built in.
Nicholas Gecks played one of the cabinet.
It feels like quite a coup to get Eric Roberts to talk about his time in the role. Most of the other actors who played the role had died by this time, although you’d think they might have asked Geoffrey Beevers.
Paul Kelly explains how they blew up Martha’s flat. Which they did by basically blowing up a flat.
Tom Lucy talks about training Freema Agyeman to do a bit of stunt driving.
Freema, of course, loved it. “I was like that, and they were going, “Calm down before you go for another take,” because the adrenaline goes and you get daredevil-y.”
Armourer Ken Garside talks about the importance of safety when guns are used on set. “Well, today being on set we’re committed to firing blanks for obvious reasons, but we never get complacent. Blanks can endanger life as much as everything else, so we’re there to ensure that level of safety throughout filming, and make sure guns are cleared at the end of each take, and make sure that there’s no mishaps.”
Trevor Laird and Adjoa Andoh loved the exterior action scene. “It’s great. It’s great. I mean, it must be fun to be peering out of your bedroom window this morning and there’s police cars running up and down, and guns going off and… But it’s cool because it’s make-believe, that’s why it’s cool.” “It’s not real. It’s not real – that’s the beauty of it. Nobody really gets hurt, folks.”
Media Centre Description: Behind-the-scenes look at the making of Doctor Who. It’s back to earth with a bump for the Doctor and his companions as they come face to face with the infamous Mr Saxon, brought to life by actor John Simm. The team use a number of locations to bring his story to life and Simm discusses how he prepared for the role.
Recorded from BBC THREE on Saturday 23rd June 2007 19:58
After this, another trail for Doctor Who – The Infinite Quest. Then, another slice of 60 Seconds with some different stories.
Then the recording stops after a couple of minutes of Glastonbury.
The last recording today start with the end of Casualty.
There’s trails for Saving Planet Earth and Glastonbury.
Then, it’s episode 2 of Jekyll.
In a typical Steven Moffat move, we get to see what happened when Hyde first met Reimer and how their “job interview” went.
Some unspecified time later, Jackman wakes up, apparently after Hyde had been on a date. Reimer won’t tell him with whom.
Is Reimer working against Jackman? She drugs his tea, and gets a call from someone who knows about it. “I told you there’ll be no after effects. It’s a low dosage. It causes amnesia. He won’t remember a thing since he got back here.” She’s trying to break the security.
She gets into a strongbox, and finds a letter. She phones her contact. “You win. I believe you. Your letter was in the box”
But it’s Hyde who’s on the phone, and he starts taunting her. She starts hiding. “If I tell you who I am, you won’t kill me. Are you listening? If I tell you who I am and who sent me, you’ll turn the lights back on and the cameras. You won’t hurt me.” But again, we don’t see how this scene ends. I can’t decide if this is a great way to build mystery or just an annoying schtick.
Jackman drives to see his family, but as he approaches there are two people in the car. One of his sons said he saw “Uncle Billy” in the car.
Jackman’s colleague Peter is there, which is unusual. He offers to go with Jackman on his trip with the boys to the zoo. He sees a flash of Hyde when Jackman shouts angrily at his child. When he’s told by his other son that he shouted, he says he didn’t.
They get to the zoo. Jackman has been watching the black van follow them there. But as they head from the car park, he doesn’t notice lots of others arrive.
Benjamin Lennox is in one of the vans monitoring what’s happening. His goon asks him “Which child?”
Reimer is meeting a mysterious woman who smokes pink cigarettes, whose face we don’t see.
Jackman gets a phone call from Reimer telling him that Hyde is awake in his head. Except his phone isn’t on. It’s a voice in his head. The drug they’ve been given is keeping him awake. And he can pull images from Jackman’s memory to show him all the men following him. Then he hears his son’s voice. But it’s not in his head, it’s behind him, in the lion enclosure.
After far too much panicking, Jackman changes and climbs into the enclosure. One of the goons goes back to the van where Lennox is watching. He can’t tell if he’s changed. Then there’s a loud thump on the top of the van. Hyde has thrown a lion onto the van.
There’s a note on the lion telling Lennox to meet him in the lion’s den. He does, and finds Hyde atop a rock singing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”.
Lennox explains that his organisation have been looking after him since he was a baby, waiting for Hyde to appear. They bought the zoo for this experiment. Hyde just wants to know which of his men put his child in with the lions. He seems to be able to read minds, and finds out it was the large one called Christopher, who he threw through a window in the previous episode. So when Jackman wakes up, Christopher is his prisoner. And Jackman has to decide whether to let him go or not. He decides not, and Hyde delivers Christopher to A&E in a large bag.
Jackman waits at the hospital. Peter Syme calls him, and he tells him where he is. Catherine Reimer also finds him and phones someone to tell them. Lennox gets off the phone, and orders his people to work. “Sheringham hospital. What you’ve got? Who owns that? Do we own that?” One of his men (played by Matt King) says “It’s NHS.” “Speak English.”
An old woman approaches Jackman to tell him about Christopher’s condition. Jackman thinks she’s upset because she’s Christopher’s mother. “I’m not that poor man’s mother. That’s not why I’m crying. I’m yours.”
She’s very cryptic, as people with secrets so often are in fiction. She left him at a railway station as a baby with a letter and a photograph. She doesn’t say who his father is. She explains that Catherine drugged him so she could verify she was telling the truth. When they see a black van approaching the hospital, she tells Jackman that Peter Syme isn’t his friend. “He’s your keeper.” She tells Jackman to disappear, and waits for Syme to arrive, and take her instead.
The only people Jackman feels he can trust are Miranda and Min, so he phones them.
His mother is held in a secure room. And yet she manages to vanish.
Media Centre Description: A contemporary take on a classic horror tale. Dark forces are closing in on Tom Jackman. To keep his children safe, should he listen to the terrible voice whispering in his ear?
Recorded from BBC ONE on Saturday 23rd June 2007 20:58
The first recording today starts already in progress with Totally Doctor Who. They have fun with the opening, pursued by a couple of Futurekind.
Russell T Davies is back in the studio.
Barney visits John Barrowman on set, filming something for the final episode.
Louise Page judges this week’s Team Totally as the two teams have to dress an actor in a costume, referring to continuity photographs. I noticed a line cut from the iPlayer version where one of the kids say “Oh God, he’s put on weight” while dressing the poor actor.
Creature performer Ken talks about playing the Futurekind.
Here’s this week’s Who Goes There?
One of the best things about this show is how close it is to the production, as demonstrated today by Kirsten as she walks from the Totally set to the set of Martha’s flat. This kind of behind the scenes stuff is great, and it gives kids an idea of how TV is made, and might encourage them to go into production when they’re older. Doctor Who has always been very good at this stuff, as Russell said in a programme recently.
Russell draws a clue for the next episode.
In a chat with John Barrowman, there’s a segment that’s completely missing from the iPlayer version. When they’re discussing his acting techniques, and his charm, there’s a contribution from Freema Agyeman. “Hi John, I hear you’re giving Kirsten and Barney some lessons in charm. Well guys, if I can just say that Captain Jack is probably not the best person to get advice from. However, John… is exactly the same. Don’t listen to him, he’s a catalyst for bad behaviour. If you have a slight bit of naughtiness inside you bubbling away, he’ll just bring it right on out. Stay away.” I wonder why they removed this for iPlayer?
After what I was saying about the show being very clever about not showing the main cast in previews for the next episode, the next-time clip here blows all that away, but on the other hand, it’s also a very exciting scene with a car chase and everything.
Totally Doctor Who
Media Centre Description: Barney Harwood and Kirsten O’Brien look at everything Doctor Who, with exclusive behind-the-scenes clips and the next instalment of the Doctor Who animation, The Infinite Quest. There’s a celebration of the return of Captain Jack, as played by John Barrowman, and a chat with head writer Russell T Davies about the series so far. We also meet the very scary Futurekind whilst Team Totally tackle a costume challenge.
Recorded from BBC ONE on Friday 22nd June 2007 17:00
After this, there’s a trail for The Weekend Replay and the recording stops during Newsround.
The next recording starts with the end of Newsround. There’s a trail for The Weekend Replay.
Then, it’s a repeat of Totally Doctor Who so I get to see what was missing from the start.
Media Centre Description: Barney Harwood and Kirsten O’Brien look at everything Doctor Who, with exclusive behind-the-scenes clips and the next instalment of the Doctor Who animation, The Infinite Quest. There’s a celebration of the return of Captain Jack, as played by John Barrowman, and a chat with head writer Russell T Davies about the series so far. We also meet the very scary Futurekind whilst Team Totally tackle a costume challenge.
Recorded from CBBC Channel on Friday 22nd June 2007 17:58
After this, there’s a trail for Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest – the full length version of the animation that’s been playing during Totally Doctor Who.
Then the recording stops during an episode of Stupid.
The next recording starts with the end of coverage of Glastonbury, with Phill Jupitus and Lauren Laverne.
Then there’s trails for Last Man Standing and Wimbledon.
Then, an episode of Star Trek – Spectre of the Gun. I have looked at this one before. Its credited writer is Lee Cronin, which is a pseudonym for former script editor Gene L Coon, and not the Irish director of Evil Dead Rise working many years before he was born.
Media Centre Description: Sci-fi drama series. Captain Kirk is sentenced to death by the rulers of a hostile planet and finds himself facing a showdown at the OK Corral, armed only with primitive weapons.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Saturday 23rd June 2007 01:58
Media Centre Description: A malignant force that has existed since the beginning of time invades the Enterprise, causing chaos and bringing the crew to the brink of destruction. Under its influence, crew members clash with the Klingons until Kirk comes up with a surprising new solution.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Saturday 23rd June 2007 02:48
Today’s recording starts with the end of Five news.
Then there’s another episode of House – Insensitive. I think we’ve missed a couple of episodes.
A teenager and her mother are involved in a car crash. The mother is badly injured, and rushed to surgery. The girl has a condition called CIPA – she can’t feel pain. House is interested because any research into pain might lead to something that can help with his pain.
House interrupts Cuddy while she’s on a blind date to ask permission to do a spinal nerve biopsy, and just to annoy her.
In an attempt to see if Hannah’s lack of pain sensitivity is neurological, they have her put her hand in hot water while in an MRI. But she doesn’t take it out when Chase tells her to and gets second degree burns.
They even drill into her skull to see if they can generate pain sensations.
Wilson suspects that House is studying Hannah because it might lead to a treatment for his condition, and it’s ethically dubious.
Hannah threatens to jump. She says they want her to be in pain (which is sort of true) and wants to see her mother, who is still in surgery. Then her legs go numb and she falls, breaking six bones.
House visits Cuddy at home for a diagnosis, but mainly to see if the date is still there. Cuddy thinks it’s because he wants to go out with her.
Hannah finally gets to see her mum. She blames herself for the accident. “I shouldn’t have gone out on the ice. I shouldn’t have fallen down. And I shouldn’t have made you rush me to an ER for the tenth time this year.” Hannah cries for the first time, and suddenly she feels a headache.
House figures out what is causing all the symptoms, and to fix it he needs to operate. This being a drama show they can’t wait for a theatre, and have to rush into one that’s already being used. Plus, they don’t need to anaesthetise Hannah, he just cuts her open to remove the cause of all the symptoms. A 25 foot long tapeworm.
Media Centre Description: US medical drama about a maverick, anti-social New Jersey doctor. House and the team attempt to find out what is causing a mysterious fever in a teenage girl who is insensitive to pain. Cuddy goes on a blind date for Valentine’s Day, Cameron has a suggestion for Chase, and Foreman upsets his girlfriend.
Recorded from Five on Thursday 21st June 2007 21:00
After this, the recording continues with the start of an episode of Shark.
Here’s the ad breaks.
Adverts:
trail: Fallen
Mastercard
Vodafone
Heat
Norwich Union
The Traveling Wilburys
Mastercard
trail: Build a New Life
VW Golf
Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer in cinemas
Today, there’s another episode of Masters of Horror – Deer Woman. It’s directed by John Landis, so maybe this one will have some jokes in it. It’s co-written by Landis and his son Max – his first screen credit.
Brian Benben, who also worked with John Landis on his HBO sitcom Dream On – the one which, I believe, originated the HBO screen static ident – plays detective Dwight Faraday, who’s been assigned to animal attacks because he’s lost his wife. I’m guessing here, because all we see at the start is him staring sadly at her picture.
He’s called to a dead body in the back of a trucker’s cab which appears to have been pulverized by what he thinks look like deer hoof prints. A witness tells him that the man left the bar with a native American woman, and that was the last anyone saw of him. He’s taken off the case when a homicide detective arrives, but he can’t stop thinking about the case.
His usual caseload is things like the neighbours, one of whose dogs killed the other’s pet monkey.
In a random hotel, a businessman meets a young woman who seems very friendly but doesn’t say a word. Nevertheless, he takes her to his room, and she’s soon taking all her clothes off.
Faraday imagines a lot of scenarios to explain the dead body. He dismisses them all as rubbish.
Another dead body is found – a man in a hotel room. The descriptions of the woman he was with match the woman at the first scene.
Faraday tries to make a case that it’s some kind of mutant animal. He cites a previous case. “In London in 1981 a series of brutal animal attacks were directly linked to a freak wolf that was gunned down in Piccadilly Circus.” So this film takes place in the same universe as An American Werewolf in London.
There’s another reference to past Landis work when Faraday and Officer Jacob Reed visit the local Native American Casino, and one of the acts at the casino is Murph and the Magic Tones – a band from The Blues Brothers.
Faraday tells Reed why he’s not working homicides any more. He accidentally shot his partner, so he was taken off homicide, and his wife left him.
A worker at the casino hears them talking about the attacks, and mentioning a deer woman. He tells them that there’s a Native American legend of a Deer Woman who takes men, has sex, then tramples them to death with her deer legs. They still think this is crazy.
Reed stays to do a bit of gambling, and the woman from the hotel finds him.
He takes her home, but Faraday phones him. He’s very drunk as he tells Faraday he’s got a woman there. “Have you seen her feet?” asks Faraday. He realises his mistake. “Call backup.”
Faraday arrives to find Reed dead. The woman is still there, but he shoots her. She’s definitely got deer legs.
She’s still alive and she kicks him across the room and leaves. He follows her in the car. She’s even able to kick that out of the way. Eventually he kills her by driving the car into her, then shooting her a lot. It’s an ending, I guess.
Media Centre Description: A series of one-hour horror films directed by the masters of the genre. John Landis, director of ‘An American Werewolf in London’, presents this story in which a cynical detective investigates a series of bizarre murders, only to find that the killer is a creature from Native American mythology.
Recorded from ftn on Wednesday 20th June 2007 21:58
Here’s the ad breaks. I’m sure the Ambi-Pur advert right at the start has a voiceover from Sophie Aldred.
Media Centre Description: Series in which psychological illusionist and former magician Derren Brown demonstrates his unique powers around the world. Derren finds himself in the company of a water diviner in the Nevada Desert. Then it’s back to London to challenge passers-by to a game of noughts and crosses – blindfolded.
Recorded from Channel 4 on Tuesday 19th June 2007 23:03
After this, the recording continues for a few minutes with the start of Star Stories presenting the life of Catherine Zeta Jones. I don’t remember this but it looks a little bit like Rock Profiles.
The first recording today starts with the end of an episode of Beat the Boss.
There’s a trail for Roman Mysteries.
Then, it’s a repeat of Totally Doctor Who.
Media Centre Description: Barney Harwood and Kirsten O’Brien look at everything Doctor Who, with exclusive clips and the next instalment of the Doctor Who animation, The Infinite Quest. There’s a chat with top monster man Paul Kasey, and the Team Totally teams make monsters of their own.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Saturday 16th June 2007 10:28
After this, there’s a trail for Roman Mysteries and one for Saving Planet Earth that is complete for the first time in my recordings.
Then the recording ends with the start of Totally Doctor Who.
The next recording starts just before the previous one ends, with the same trails. Then it’s the full episode of Totally Doctor Who.
Media Centre Description: Barney Harwood and Kirsten O’Brien look at everything Doctor Who, with exclusive clips and the next instalment of the Doctor Who animation, The Infinite Quest. There’s a chat with top monster man Paul Kasey, and the Team Totally teams make monsters of their own.
Recorded from CBBC Channel on Saturday 16th June 2007 18:28
Now we’ve got the repeats out of the way, the next recording is Doctor Who – Utopia. I don’t remember seeing this BBC ident before , so here’s the intro.
The episode opens with the Tardis touching down in present-day Cardiff, to recharge from the rift. Across the square, Captain Jack Harkness is running towards the Tardis, shouting “Doctor!” This would place this as being right at the end of the last episode of Torchwood. The Doctor sees Jack running towards them, and noticeably looks nervous before starting to dematerialise, as Captain Jack hurls himself towards the Tardis.
Inside the Tardis, things start sparking and exploding, and it starts heading further and further into the future – further than it’s ever been. And Where’s Jack? Clinging to the outside. What an opening!
Only slightly undercut by switching to what looks like the cast of We Will Rock You with bad teeth looking around and saying “Humans are coming!”
The Tardis lands on a planet, and Captain Jack’s dead body is lying nearby. “Must have been clinging to the TARDIS, all the way through the vortex. Well, that’s very him.” “Do you know him?” “Friend of mine. Used to travel with me. Back in the old days.” Martha tells him there’s no heartbeat. The Doctor isn’t too worried. Then Jack suddenly gasps, back to life, as the audience who watched Torchwood are very familiar with, but which might be a surprise to viewers who have only watched Doctor Who.
The two catch up a bit. The Doctor asks “have you had work done?” “You can talk!” “Oh, yes, the face. Regeneration”. Then they talk a bit about Rose, and Martha gets upset again. I did like her reaction here. “But how come you left him behind, Doctor?” “I was busy!” “Is that what happens, though, seriously? Do you just get bored of us one day and disappear?” Jack says “Not if you’re blonde.” “Oh, she was blonde, what a surprise!” The Doctor gets a bit snippy. “You two! We’re at the end of the universe, right at the edge of knowledge itself, and you’re busy… blogging!” What a perfectly 2007 reference. five years later it might have been “tweeting”.
They spot a man being chased by the dentally challenged We Will Rock You people, and they run to help him get to where he’s heading. Before they’re allowed in the guards need to see their teeth, so it’s a good thing the bad guys haven’t discovered Colgate.
We get to see the winner of the Blue Peter competition once they get into the human facility. He plays Creet, and he helps the other man find his family among what seems to be a large number of refugees.
The Doctor has a nose around, and unlocks a door to a launch tube for a very big rocket.
The Doctor is met with great excitement by Professor Yana, played by Derek Jacobi. He’s the mastermind behind the rocket, but he still needs some help to get it flying, so he’s delighted to hear the the Doctor is a scientist.
His assistant is Chantho, the only surviving member of a race indigenous to the planet.
Martha finds that Jack has been carrying a cannister containing the Doctor’s hand. That’s how he knew the Doctor was nearby. The Doctor tells Yana and Chantho that he’s a Timelord, but neither of them have heard of them. “Not even a myth? Blimey, end of the universe is a bit humbling!”
Yana shows the Doctor a signal, from Utopia. They don’t know what it is, but it’s been calling for a long time, telling people to come. Given there’s not much else left in the universe, “it’s worth a look, don’t you think?”
While the Doctor’s talking, Professor Yana looks troubled, as he can hear the sound of drumming getting louder, but when the Doctor asks what’s wrong, he shakes it off and ignores it. Typical man.
The Doctor helps the Professor solve his remaining problems, and it looks like the rocket will fly. Lots of the refugees start boarding. Martha bumps into young Creet. “What do you think it’s going to be like, in Utopia?” “My mum used to say, ‘The skies are made of diamonds.'” He’s so adorable.
The Doctor has noticed that the gravity drive cannot be activated from the ship itself, and Yana admits that he’ll have to stay behind to launch the rocket. But the Doctor has a secret weapon – they’ve brought in his Tardis, so they have an extra source of energy. Professor Yana has another turn. “It’s just a headache, it’s just… just noise, inside my head, Doctor. Constant noise inside my head.” “What sort of noise?” “It’s the sound of drums. More and more, as though… it’s getting closer.” “When did it start?” “Oh, I’ve had it all my life. Every waking hour.”
There’s some kind of radiation room that needs some jiggery pokery. One of the refugees goes in to fiddle with the thingys, but unfortunately, one of the wild boys outside (The Futurekind) has infiltrated the base using the cunning strategy of never smiling. She smashes some power things, and the stet radiation rises to lethal levels, and the man in the room turns to dust.
They need someone who can’t die, so it’s lucky Captain Jack is there. There’s more running down corridors, and he unnecessarily takes off his shirt, then goes into the room and starts fiddling with gizmos. And frankly, it doesn’t matter what he’s doing, or why he’s there, because what this scene is about is the Doctor and Jack finally talking honestly about why the Doctor left Jack on Satellite Five at the end of the first series. I love this scene, both Tennant and Barrowman are in top form. “I’m the man who can never die. And all that time, you knew.” “That’s why I left you behind. It’s not easy, even just… looking at you, Jack, cos you’re wrong.” “Thanks.” “You are, I can’t help it. I’m a Time Lord, it’s instinct, it’s in my guts. You’re a fixed point in time and space. You’re a fact. That’s never meant to happen. Even the TARDIS reacted against you, tried to shake you off, flew all the way to the end of the universe to get rid of you.”
Meanwhile, Professor Yana is listening to their conversation. The talk of time travel catch his ear. “They say there was time travel back in the old days. I never believed… But what would I know? Stupid old man! Never could keep time. Always late, always lost. Even this thing never worked.” And he pulls out a fob watch. A very familiar fob watch. I’ve seen this moment so many times since that it’s hard to remember my original reaction. I don’t think I knew this was coming, so I think I was probably extremely excited at this point.
Martha tries to hide her shock at seeing the watch, and as soon as she can, she runs to find the Doctor, as Jack finishes his task, and the rocket launches. The watch must mean that the Professor is a Timelord, but the question for the Doctor is which Timelord. And we get a flashback to the Face of Boe, and suddenly his message makes a little bit more sense – “You Are Not Alone”. YANA. (Although quite how the FoB would have known this is a bit of a mystery, but this episode is going at such a pace, such thoughts barely register.)
We hear voices coming from the watch. “Open me, you human fool. open the light and summon me and receive my majesty. Destroy him, then you will give your power to me!” And the professor opens the watch.
As the Doctor, Martha and Jack run back to the lab, the Professor locks the door, then lowers the silo’s defences, letting the Futurekind get in. Chantho sees what he’s doing, and realises something has changed. So she very reluctantly pulls a gun on him to get him to stop.
Yana is unimpressed. “Oh… Now, I can say I was provoked.” He picks up a live cable. “The Professor was an invention. So perfect a disguise that I forgot who I am.” “Chan, then who are you, tho?” “I am… the Master.” And he attacks Chantho with the cable. A moment that was made for reaction videos.
But, as the Doctor is begging him to open the door, the Master is clearing cables from the Tardis, and Chantho gathers her remaining strength to shoot him.
He ducks into the Tardis and locks the door, so the Doctor can’t get in there. Then he regenerates.
Into Sam Tyler! Sorry, John Simm. He banters briefly, as the Doctor begs him to stop, then disappears in the Tardis.
As the Doctor can only look on, incredulously, and Jack and Martha desperately try to keep the door closed to stop the Futurekind getting in. Yet another example of a magnificent cliffhanger, from the master of the form, director Graeme Harper.
Another stroke of genius, even after that cliffhanger, is that the Next Time trailer does not feature the main cast at all. It’s all about John Simm’s Master. After the rather embarrassing Radio Times spoiler of the Human Dalek a few weeks ago, this is the production team at the top of their game, knowing exactly what story they’re telling, and exactly how to present it to maximise the returning audience. I’d be very surprised if many people watched this and weren’t desperate to watch the next episode.
Media Centre Description: Captain Jack Harkness storms back into the Doctor’s life, and the Tardis is thrown to the end of the universe itself.
Recorded from BBC ONE on Saturday 16th June 2007 19:13
The next recording starts with the end of The Real Hustle.
There’s a new trail for Anthea Turner Perfect Housewife.
There’s 60 seconds of news, featuring floods, trouble in Gaza, and an Honours list. News never really changes.
There’s also a trail for Last Man Standing.
Then, the next episode of Doctor Who Confidential – ‘Ello ‘Ello ‘Ello.
Russell T Davies talks about how bringing Captain Jack back was always the plan, from a long time back. “It was planned a long way in advance and John’s so busy that you need to book him up that far in advance.”
John Barrowman doesn’t like false modesty. “Jack’s return to Doctor Who was long awaited, not only by myself, but by the audience, I think.”
David Tennant was pleased to have Barrowman return. “It’s great to have Captain Jack coming back and very exciting to have John Barrowman on set because he’s a force of nature, a lively and lovely man.”
Director Graeme Harper also enjoyed having him on set. “He’s warm, he’s funny, he laughs enormously. He’s a bundle of fun.”
Freema Agyeman gives a little insight into his process. “Him and David are both flatulent. They think it’s hilarious.”
Paul Marc Davies, who played the Futurekind Chieftan explains the prosthetic, and the (magnetic) piercings.
Special Effects master Danny Hargreaves had to double for Captain Jack for when he smashes the door panel.
We learn that appearing on Doctor Who has been a long-held ambition for Derek Jacobi. “One of my ambitions since the ’60s has been to take part in a Doctor Who. The other one is Coronation Street. So I’ve cracked Doctor Who now. I’m still waiting for Corrie.”
We get to see what Chipo Chung looks like out of the Chantho makeup.
Rob Mayor explains how Chantho’s mask, with its animatronics, worked.
Simon C Holden is a new face this year.
Part of the reason John Simm took the job was his young son. “Oh, my little boy Ryan is obsessed with it. And that’s the wonderful thing about the new Doctor Who. It is a sit down with your family and watch it. Me and him, it’s the only thing that we sit and watch together and he gets really excited, so I see it more or less every day. He’s always watching it and it was one of those opportunities where you think, well, I’m going to impress my son and there’s no way I can say no to this. He would never have forgiven me if I’d said no.”
This episode even manages to do its Next Time trail focusing exclusively on the Master in all his incarnations, with not a single sighting of the main cast. Maybe they’re stuck at the end of the Universe forever!
Media Centre Description: Behind-the-scenes look at the making of Doctor Who. After being left alone by the Doctor and Rose in series one, Captain Jack Harkness returns and there’s an interview with the actor who plays him, John Barrowman.
Recorded from BBC THREE on Saturday 16th June 2007 19:58
After this, there’s another trail for Touch Me I’m Karen Taylor.
Plus the trail for Wimbledon.
There’s also another segment of 60 Seconds news.
Then the recording stops after a few minutes of Top Gear.
The next recording starts with the end of Casualty.
There’s a trail for Panorama – Is TV Bad for my Kids?
One for Wimbledon.
And one for Last Man Standing.
Then we have Jekyll – Episode 1. Steven Moffat’s modern day take on a great nineteenth century Edinburgh-born author’s most famous creation. So in many ways this now seems like a dress rehearsal for Sherlock.
There’s another new BBC One ident to introduce this episode. I can’t remember seeing this one before on my recordings.
I’d forgotten quite how Moffat this episode is. There’s no origin, we meet the main character, Tom Jackman, well into his story, having developed multiple ways to deal with his particular psychological problem. But we do get a way in to the story with Katherine Reimer, a psychiatric nurse hired by Jackman to help him keep his alter ego in check. She’s played by Michelle Ryan, formerly of Eastenders (although I wouldn’t have known that). She wasn’t doing too badly in 2007, with both this series, and a short run as The Bionic Woman in the US. I remember downloading a few episodes of that and watching them on my Creative Labs Rio. I wonder if that’s still in a box somewhere.
Because she’s new, Jackman (James Nesbitt) gets to explain some of the facts around his situation, but the dialogue is very terse. This is a show which trusts the audience to know exactly who Jekyll and Hyde are. Jackman leaves Dictaphone messages before he changes, as part of dealing with Hyde. He talks about Reimer coming to work for them. “For both of us. She won’t take sides.” If his other half approves.
Both halves carry surveillance equipment so they can keep track of each other. In a year this would be an iPhone, but now it’s separates.
Jackman straps himself into a chair. There’s a keycode which Reimer memorises, so she can let him out if she chooses to. “One last question. Do you ever smile?” “Let me know.”
When he changes, his eyes look a bit damaged. I wonder if he has worse eyesight than Jackman.
But that’s all we get to see of his alter ego right now. The show is holding that from us, ramping up the anticipation. So next, three weeks later, Jackman visits his home, where he’s married with two small boys, and his wife Claire is played by the always good Gina Bellman. Although she’s not happy, as she hands him photographs taken of him by a private detective. She doesn’t know why he’s spending so much time away from home, and he can’t tell her. And when he feels an unscheduled change coming on, he has to leave quickly.
Jackman returns to the institute where he had been working, but isn’t now. He meets with his colleague Peter Syme, played by Denis Lawson. He’s cross that Jackman has been gone for six months. “How can you bear it? Writing about what you used to do, how can that be enough for you? I’m fairly certain you used to have some sort of an ego.” “I did. It got so big it left me.”
He sets off back to his “home”. Reimer calls to remind him a change is imminent. She also gives him the address of the detective agency that followed him. He decides he has enough time to call in on them. He finds a grumpy Fenella Woolgar as Min, packing up the office.
The detective is Miranda, played by Meera Syal. “You might want to think again about the black van. It’s a little hard to miss. Probably the tinted windows.” He wants to know where the other photographs are. He knows she must have taken them, but she didn’t show those photos to his wife. She asks him “Do you know what the single most important fact of your life is?” “I thought I did.” “Have you got five minutes?” He looks at the clock, ticking closer to a transformation. “Yes”. She tells him to wait there and leaves.
He calls Reimer, who warns him about the time. “I can change in the car.” But then he sees Miranda walking away down the street. Min tells him Miranda’s gone home. She asks him why he’s so special. “Someone paid her all that money, and you’re the only one she was following.” He phones Miranda, who tells him she’s getting away from him “as far as I possibly can.” He can see the black van that’s been following him, assuming that’s where Miranda has gone. And Miranda tells him the most important fact of his life. “I don’t own a black van.” As she drives past.
He stops the black van, and opens the doors. The people inside don’t really want to let him see them, and the van drives off.
He chases the van, but as he’s running he collides with a young couple in an alley. The man pulls a knife. Jackman reaches for the Dictaphone. “What I’m reaching for is not a weapon.” “What are you doing?” “You see, just a tape recorder.” He speaks into the recorder. “He’s got a knife. Minimum necessary force. You understand me? I will check.” The thug asks him “What you doing?” “Saving your life, I hope.”
Finally, he changes and we see the alter ego for the first time. I think there’s some slight prosthetics there, but it’s mostly the hair and the eyes. The most noticeable difference is that Nesbitt’s Northern Irish accent is way stronger.
He taunts the boy, Billy, who is unable to lay a hand on him, and he grabs him the last time he tries to attack. “The truth is, if I’m being honest, if I’m not winding you up, I don’t get a lot of pleasure out of killing children. But I get enough.” And he breaks his neck.
He visits a pub, drinks a lot, starts getting off with a woman, when the barman comes knocking on the bathroom door asking for “Mr Hyde”. “Who the hell is Mr Hyde?” he asks. “You are” says the barman. “Says who?” It’s Paterson Joseph. Doing what I would have to say is an ill-advised American accent. He’s Benjamin Lennox. He calls himself Hyde’s owner “in a corporate rather than an individual sense”.
Hyde doesn’t feel much like talking to him. He throws his bodyguard out of the window, then leaves, climbing up a nearby building.
When Jackman returns, Reimer gives him the location of the PO Box where Miranda’s detective agency are collecting their mail, now that she’s closed the business. He camps out to watch the post office, but falls asleep. Min arrives to pick up the mail, spots him, and gives him some advice. “This is the part where you’re supposed to follow me. It would be ever so helpful if you were awake. I’m in that tangerine car over there. Pop your engine on, try to keep up. If you’re careful, I bet I shan’t suspect a thing.”
He talks to Miranda and Min, discovers they’re a couple, that Min is expecting a baby, and that someone paid them a lot of money to stop following him. He tells them that the changes started six months ago, and “my condition is unprecedented. Nothing like this has ever happened before.” Then Miranda shows him a picture of Dr Henry Jekyll, from 1883 in Edinburgh. A close friend of Robert Louis Stevenson.
She thinks that somehow, Jackman is related to Jekyll, despite him having no offspring. Then he asks her something odd. “Where do my children live? My family, tell me the address.” She realises he must have changed. She sends Min out on a fake errand, then tries to appeal to Hyde without sounding like that’s what she’s doing. “And he’s also brand new. How often in this world does the sun rise on something completely new? And how often do we mistake a miracle for a monster? I don’t think he’s a monster. Or at least he doesn’t have to be. Do you understand me? You can be anything you want to be. Mr Hyde.” Has her appeasement worked?
We cut away from that, and to Jackman’s family home. His boys see Hyde outside and run to him, but realise there’s something different.
Claire also thinks it’s Tom at first, but realises her error. She assumes he’s some long lost family member. But we don’t see anything else of the evening, until Tom wakes up, back in his car. His wedding ring is in an envelope with a note saying “You won’t be needing this any more”. He fears the worst, and goes back to the house. While he’s looking around, Paterson Joseph’s Benjamin is talking to someone called Miss Edison, who wants him to bring Jackman in. “We can’t control Hyde, not forever. Eventually Hyde will do something, something Jackman cannot forgive. Eventually he will know that he cannot contain him. And then we begin.” During this conversation, Jackman is walking through the house, wondering what Hyde has done there, until he finds his sons safely in bed.
He listens to Hyde’s message. He now knows his name, and he thinks he’s going to be around a lot more, possibly taking over from Jackman. Miranda calls him and asks if he’s all right. He locked them in the cellar. “He said he wanted to see his family. Are they OK?” Jackman says “They’re not his family.” Then he grabs the Dictaphone and repeats into it. “They’re not your family. Come to my family again, and you and I are at war.”
Media Centre Description: A contemporary take on a classic horror tale. Tom Jackman, the only living descendent of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, is a new man with an old problem. Jackman tries to keep his wife and children safe from the ‘night shift’, but are all the resources of 21st century surveillance technology enough to keep a Victorian demon in check?
Recorded from BBC ONE on Saturday 16th June 2007 20:58
After this, there’s another new trail for The Chase. Still no sign of Bradley Walsh, though.
Plus a trail for Royal Ascot.
Then the recording stops after a couple of minutes of Would I Lie To You in its earlier form, presented by Angus Deayton.
The final recording today starts with the end of a concert by The Police, looking very young, recorded at Hatfield Polytechnic, which feels like a slightly weird coincidence since my daughter only just started a job at University of Hertfordshire, which used to be Hatfield Poly.
There’s a trail for The Chase. And one for Crisis at the Castle.
Then, Ian Rankin presents a documentary looking at the writing of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and the life of Robert Louis Stevenson. Ian Rankin Investigates: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
,
It features medical wisdom from Professor Robert Winston.
Literary wisdom from Will Self.
The wonderfully named Felicitas Macfie shows Rankin around Stevenson’s home in Edinburgh.
Ian Parkin sheds some light on why there was so much grave robbing going on at this time, to feed the scientists trying to learn how the human body fits together.
Simon Chaplin talks about tooth transplants.
The motion graphics in this are really good. When talking about Stevenson’s house in London, there’s floor plans animated and projected into 3D.
Ewan Bremner plays Stevenson in reenactments.
Julia Reid talks about sexual repression at the heart of Stevenson’s work.
Media Centre Description: As a companion piece to the BBC1 drama Jekyll, crime writer Ian Rankin investigates The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Starting with Robert Louis Stevenson’s nightmare in September 1885, Rankin traces the roots of this story, which stretches back to Stevenson’s childhood. Grave-robbers, hallucinatory drugs and prostitution all play their part in the disturbing account of Henry Jekyll’s double-life. Rankin’s journey takes him into the yeasty draughts and unlit closes of Edinburgh.
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Sunday 17th June 2007 00:33
After this, there’s a trail for The Thick of It – Spinners and Losers. There’s also a trail for Crisis at the Castle again. Then the recording stops after a couple of minutes of Indian School.
The first recording today is the next episode of Totally Doctor Who. It’s missing the opening, but luckily I’ve got the later repeat so I didn’t miss that, where Kirsten and Barney are menaced by a weeping angel.
Monster performer Paul Kasey is in the studio.
In Team Totally, the two teams have to create gargoyles, under the guidance of monster maker Charlie Bluett.
Barney dresses up as a DJ to count down the top ten monsters.
There’s a look behind the scenes of the animation of the story The Infinite Quest, with Steve and Jon at Firestep.
Here’s this week’s Who Goes There?
Barney talks to John Barrowman on location for episode 11.
His drawing of a hint for a future episode is slightly taking the piss, I think.
Media Centre Description: Barney Harwood and Kirsten O’Brien look at everything Doctor Who, with exclusive clips and the next instalment of the Doctor Who animation, The Infinite Quest. There’s a chat with top monster man Paul Kasey, and the Team Totally teams make monsters of their own.
Recorded from BBC ONE on Friday 15th June 2007 17:00
After this, there’s a trail for Serious Andes and the recording ends during Newsround.
The next recording starts with the end of Newsround – looking at Gaza and the conflict between the two Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah. More echoes of today.
There’s a trail for Serious Andes
Then, a repeat of Totally Doctor Who.
Media Centre Description: Barney Harwood and Kirsten O’Brien look at everything Doctor Who, with exclusive clips and the next instalment of the Doctor Who animation, The Infinite Quest. There’s a chat with top monster man Paul Kasey, and the Team Totally teams make monsters of their own.
Recorded from CBBC Channel on Friday 15th June 2007 17:58
After this, there’s a trail for The Weekend Replay.
Then the recording stops after a few minutes of Stupid.
The next recording starts with the end of In The Company of Men.
There’s a trail for Sgt Pepper’s 40th Anniversary, one for Rome and for Sex, The City and me.
Then, an episode of Star Trek – And the Children Shall Lead. This is one that I remembered from watching it very young, but I’ve already written about it when it came up on a tape. Please enjoy once again the amazing crapness of the United Federation of Planets flag.
Media Centre Description: Captain Kirk responds to a distress call from the planet Triacus where the crew are horrified to find young children playing happily, oblivious to the bodies of dead parents strewn around them. However, their apparently innocent games take on sinister overtones on board the Enterprise.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Saturday 16th June 2007 02:08
After this, another trail for Sex, The City and Me and Rome.
Then there is the start of more Star Trek.
The final recording starts with the end of the previous one. It’s the next episode of Star Trek – Is There in Truth No Beauty?. I did look at that one on another tape too. It’s another story guest-starring Diana Muldaur.
Media Centre Description: Special security measures are in force for the visit of a Medusan ambassador – because any human who sees them would be struck blind. But Spock is fascinated by the possibility of a dangerous mind-link with the alien.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Saturday 16th June 2007 02:58
The first recording today starts with the end of an episode of Stupid.
There’s a trail for Blue Peter – Me and my Movie which I can’t believe I didn’t record or save. I mean, look at it.
There’s also a trail for Serious Andes.
Then, a special episode of Blue Peter – Who Peter or Doctor Who – A Blue Peter Special according to Media Centre metadata.
There’s the obligatory arriving by Tardis into the studio.
There’s some monsters in the studio.
The main part of the show is the search for a winner of a competition to play a part in a Doctor Who episode. Children had to send in videos of them reading some scenes written by Russell T Davies. My two oldest daughters both recorded auditions, and we sent them in, although I had to say when I entered them that I didn’t think they qualified because I was an employee of the BBC at the time. But they did get letters and Blue Peter Badges.
The ten finalists are brought together to work with different situations, including some monsters.
The Judging Panel is Blue Peter editor Richard Marson, actor Annette Badland and casting director Andy Prior.
The 10 finalists are whittled down to a final three. They get to visit the Globe Threatre
John Barrowman helps Gethin to make a model Tardis control room.
Russell T Davies makes the final decision on the winner of the auditions, and phones the winner, John Bell. I think he was pleased to get the news.
When filming comes around, he even has his own trailer.
He’s directed by the great Graeme Harper.
The two runners up also get a chance to appear as extras.
Media Centre Description: A Blue Peter Special on the Tardis-travelling timelord.
Recorded from BBC ONE on Wednesday 13th June 2007 16:28
The next recording starts with the end of Most Haunted. Such bollocks.
Then, an episode in the series Masters of Horror – Dreams in the Witch-House. This is a series of horror stories directed by directors well known for horror. This one is directed by Stuart Gordon, who directed the H.P. Lovecraft adaptation Reanimator and is also based on a Lovecraft short story.
A young physics grad student rents a room in an old house. He’s studying String Theory which, he says posits that the two dimensional membranes that make up multiple universes can intersect, and travel might be possible between them. I’m going to guess that this particular plot point was not in Lovecraft’s original story.
His neighbour in the house is a young woman with a small baby, who he meets while she’s being menaced by a rat.
He dreams of a rat with a man’s face.
There’s a creepy old neighbour downstairs, who we meet while chanting religious prayers and bashing his forehead against a desk.
The student is visited by a witch, possibly in a dream.
Who then turns into an old witch.
He reads an old book which has drawings of baby sacrifice. The librarian is very cross he’s reading it, as it’s the Necronomicon and should have been locked away. This might have been in a dream, mostly because he’s also there in his boxer shorts.
He breaks through the ceiling in his room. He uses the light from his phone screen as a very weak torch, which I found amusing. The iPhone wasn’t yet on sale, so this was the best people can do in the olden days.
He finds baby skulls up there. At this point, I would have expected someone to immediately exit the space and call the police, but he just keeps going.
He breaks through into another room where the witch has the baby, and tries to force him to stab the baby with a wiggly knife. He fights against it, there’s a fight with the witch involving squishing her eyes with his thumbs, escapes with the baby, and it looks like there might be a happy ending, but he goes to sleep again, and wakes to see the rat with a human face biting the baby’s neck.
The student is put in a padded room, the old man hangs himself (I have no idea why, or what his point is in this story) and the student then starts bleeding profusely, and the rat with a human face eats its way out of him.
And that’s the end. I did not enjoy this film, There’s a version of it on YouTube where the picture is squished into the wrong aspect ratio. Maybe it’s better in that format.
Media Centre Description: A series of one-hour horror films directed by the masters of the genre. Stuart Gordon, who has made a career of adapting the work of H.P. Lovecraft, presents another of the author’s short stories. A young man rents a garret in a run-down building, and begins to experience terrifying visions during the night, dreams in which he himself performs a nightmarish sacrifice.
Recorded from ftn on Wednesday 13th June 2007 21:58
After this, the recording continue with the start of an episode of Beadle’s About.
Here’s the ad breaks.
Adverts:
trail: Nothing to Declare
Spar
Muller
Ambre Solaire
trail: Teachers
trail: Night Stalker
trail: The Real Football Factories International
Currys
Orbit Complete
L’Homme
L’Oreal Age Re-Perfect – Jane Fonda
Shloer
Nissan Qashqai
Kwik Fit
Pizza Hut
Muller
Colman’s Squeezable Mustard
Morrisons
Halfords
trail: Everest: Man V Mountain
trail: Most Haunted
Ambre Solaire
Rennie Dual Action
VO5
Activia
Bonjela Cool
PC World
Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer in cinemas
Just a repeat today. The recording starts with the end of yesterday’s Doctor Who episode Blink.
There’s a trail for Touch Me I’m Karen Taylor.
Then, it’s a cut-down version of yesterday’s Doctor Who Confidential. So strictly speaking, a different programme, but nothing I haven’t looked at before.
Media Centre Description: Behind-the-scenes look at the making of Doctor Who. David Tennant directs his very own edition, given complete control to film his personal account of the making of Doctor Who and to take a nostalgic voyage of discovery to find out the secret behind the programme’s success.
Recorded from BBC THREE on Sunday 10th June 2007 20:43
VHiStory 