The Friendly Dalek

Are you a Disney character?

Empress Of Mars- If you remember my thoughts on Cold War, you know I was very happy with the return of one of my favourite Who villains, the Ice Warriors, so of course I was very excited to see Capaldi face off against them. Although not quite as good as Cold War, I do really like this one. As an Ice Warrior story, this is very effective. I personally think they have one of the strongest track records of all recurring Who villains, I dont dislike any Ice Warrior story. This story once more clearly shows that they are a race which has a strong code of honour and loyalty, and they can also be reasoned with. They aren't typical Who villains, like the Daleks, who are very one-note in the sense that there is nothing to them beyond wanting to destroy. I've always appreciated the Ice Warriors for having deeper ideals than other races in this show. Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie shine here, but Matt Lucas is sadly side-lined very early on. The supporting cast do a good job with what they're given, but once again I didn't really care about or like any of them. A large amount of this plot relies on the idiocy of the soldiers, accidentally reviving the Ice Warrior queen and trying to shoot her for example. As these soldiers are portrayed like this, it's hard to care about what happens to them because they bring it upon themselves by disregarding orders of acting stupidly on impulse. The visuals are excellent, and the Ice Warriors themselves once again look brilliant. The pacing is good, and the soundtrack is also very well done. I also appreciated the Alpha Centauri cameo at the end, as it didn't impede the plot in any way, and was still a nice touch for fans of the classic stories which this character appeared in. Overall- 7/10.

1917- What a way to start my 2020 movie viewings. This thing deserves all of the awards it has earnt and more. This film is incredible. The acting is amazing from the two leads, and the pacing is excellent. The one shot style really adds to the film, as it made me feel like I was there with these men, experiencing it as they did, which made it far more intense to watch. I have no issues with giving this a perfect score, and if you watch it for yourself you'll probably understand why. 10/10.

What! SM you've outdone yourselves tonight! These ET guests are amazing.

Yes! 100% getting him. He's been amazing as The Master.

Exciting. Hoping for a big Doctor Who or Star Wars name (I know it's unlikely but it would be amazing if McDiarmid was announced for July as well).

I imagine you're a fan then.

I would imagine you would have time to do that, as I doubt Robert's shoot will be right at the end of the day, so there will be time to get your autograph after the photo shoot. You are correct in thinking that diamond pass autographs are called up in batches, and although Robert has a history as a slow signer you are guaranteed the autograph with the diamond pass. Bare in mind that you can get your autograph any time after your autograph batch has been called, so if your batch is reached before the photo shoot you can still wait until after you have your photo to get your autograph. The photo shoot schedule will be posted about a week before the event, and then we'll know for definite, but I'm confident in saying that you have nothing to worry about.

Hooray, we've finally found another episode we actually disagree on, which makes this the first disagreement since Hell Bent if I'm not mistaken. To be honest I'm not sure if there's a general love or hate feeling towards Lie Of The Land among fans, I've seen many say they dislike it, but there are others like yourself who do enjoy it. It's good to see that an episode like this has its fans even if I'm not one of them myself.

The Lie Of The Land- When considering disappointing Doctor Who episodes, this one is certainly in there for me. The previous two episodes have both been excellent, and the cliffhanger of Pyramid left this story in such an interesting place. Sadly this one doesn't come close to the other two stories in this trilogy. This episode's greatest asset is the acting. Capaldi is excellent, and Mackie gives one of her best performances here. The scene in which Bill finds The Doctor is near perfect, and it is brilliantly performed by the two of them. When I watched that for the first time, I thought it was a really interesting idea that The Doctor was co-operating with The Monks, but this episode sadly takes the cheap route out of a good idea but saying none of it was real and it was a test for Bill. There's a lot in this episode which is like that, something which is interesting in concept but weakened by the execution and payoffs. The biggest offender of that is everything with Bill's mum at the end. On paper it could have worked as a relatively emotional climax for this story and that part of Bill's arc, but instead it comes across as a cheap and lazy way of ending a trilogy which deserved a better end. Also, I think that the fake regenration thing was silly, and I guess that The Doctor just didn't need all of the regeneration energy he lost by doing that? Once again, that regeneration trick might have seemed like a good idea as it was being written, but on screen it just doesn't work, and the fact that it is never referred to again bothers me. Michelle Gomez gets a larger role here, and she is brilliant, as is Matt Lucas. The rest of the cast are fine, but no one stands out, both from an acting and writing standpoint. The Monks themselves weren't anywhere near as interesting here as they have been in the last few episodes. Although this episode falls apart due to the writing, it is well shot, and the pacing is good. There is also some good effects work on display here. Overall- 4/10. This episode isn't the worst. The acting from the leads is perfect, and the episode as a whole looks good and flows nicely. It suffers due to boring writing, and as a finale to the Monk trilogy, it isn't anywhere near as good an ending as this story deserved or should have received. This is definitely one of the weakest stories of series 10.

I thought that the episode overall was decent, but nothing special. However, those last 5 minutes completely elevated it, and I haven't been this excited for Doctor Who since series 10.

Honestly I'm more excited for Mrs Brown's Boys than Doctor Who tonight. I will be watching them both though.

Happy New Year everyone.

The Pyramid At The End Of The World- Obviously this one isn't quite as good as Extremis, but this is still a very strong middle chapter for this Monk trilogy. I really like the Monks. They are visually striking, I love the concept of what they do. Rather than being your typical threat who'll invade the world by force, they will only take over if Earth first consents to it. That's a really unique idea, and I think it works brilliantly. The way that the scientists unknowingly create the super virus is also fascinating to watch. From a ploting standpoint, this is a very strong story. The acting in this episode is fantastic. Capaldi is amazing as usual (and still playing a blind Doctor), and Pearl Mackie also gets to do some great stuff here. Sadly this episode suffers from some poor pacing and bland side characters. Nardole also felt side-lined for most of this episode. The reintroduction of the President Of Earth thing is just as stupid as it was in Death In Heaven. This episode is really elevated by that ending. The sheer tension as The Doctor is trapped in the lab makes it gripping viewing, and the reveal to Bill that The Doctor is still blind is played perfectly by the two of them. The ending was perfect, and it really ups the stakes regarding the next episode, and I remember it leaving me incredibly intrigued to find out where the next episode would go. Overall- 7/10. The acting is great, the visual effects are good, and the plot is intriguing, this is a strong story, although it has a few issues, mainly some problems with pacing and disposable supporting characters.

Thank goodness for Odeon limitless. 1) Joker 2) Rocketman 3) Knives Out 4) Avengers: Endgame 5) Frozen 2 6) Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker 7) Le Mans 66 8) The Lion King 9) Alita: Battle Angel 10) Doctor Sleep 11) Ad Astra 12) Godzilla: King Of The Monsters 13) Shazam 14) Spider-Man: Far From Home 15) Booksmart 16) Us 17) Aladdin 18) John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum 19) How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 20) IT: Chapter 2 21) Glass 22) Toy Story 4 23) Vice 24) Fighting With My Family 25) Downton Abbey 26) Judy 27) Child's Play 28) Green Book 29) Crawl 30) Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark 31) Instant Family 32) The Upside 33) On The Basis Of Sex 34) Long Shot 35) Stan & Ollie 36) Can You Ever Forgive Me 37) Wild Rose 38) The Favourite 39) Terminator: Dark Fate 40) The Good Liar 41) Gemini Man 42) The Current War 43) The Aeronauts 44) Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw 45) Pet Sematary 46) Fisherman's Friends 47) Pokemon: Detective Pikachu 48) Maleficent: Mistress of Evil 49) Annabelle Comes Home 50) Angel Has Fallen 51) Good Boys 52) Tolkien 53) The Goldfinch 54) Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon 55) Hellboy 56) The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part 57) Midway 58) Brightburn 59) Missing Link 60) Last Christmas 61) Dumbo 62) Captain Marvel 63) X-Men: Dark Phoenix 64) Ma 65) Yesterday 66) The Angry Birds Movie 2 67) Happy Death Day 2U 68) Welcome to Marwen 69) A Dog's Journey 70) Greta 71) The Aftermath 72) Mary, Queen Of Scots 73) Men In Black: International 74) Escape Room 75) Cold Pursuit 76) The Kid Who Would Be King 77) A Dog's Way Home 78) Colette 79) Red Joan 80) Charlie's Angels 81) The Hustle 82) Cats 83) The Secret Life Of Pets 2 84) Dora and the Lost City of Gold 85) Horrible Histories: The Movie 86) Wonder Park 87) What Men Want 88) The Queen's Corgi Just to clarify, these are all the films I saw on their initial theatrical run in 2019.