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Doctor Who: Oxygen (2017)
Another great tale in a great season!
Sure, we've seen stuff like this before. 'Arc in Space' and 'Silence in the Library' come to mind, but the way the story spins has a fresh feeling to it.
There's even one character that makes it feel like a cross-over to Star Trek (well, if you're familiar with Bolians that is. :-)). A sentiment that is underscored by the first words spoken by The Doctor in this episode: 'Space, the Final Frontier'.
A highly commercial space station with a crew of 40 is in great distress. On board the space suits (actually robots) are mutinying and killing the people in them! The Doctor and his Companion Bill, plus Nardole, arrive and try to solve the situation at a moment when there are only four survivors. As the story unfolds we see that Bill really has the most horrifying experience to date and actress Pearl Mackie does a great job here again.
More people on the station die and the Doctor comes up with a plan that will raise you hair! (unless you're a Bolian of course).
And in the background of this season still lurks that mysterious vault and its even more mysterious occupant. Who is it? When will we learn?
Two seasons ago I had practically given up on 'Who'. Now I'm very glad I'm still enjoying his adventures!
Doctor Who: The Pilot (2017)
Great introduction of a new companion
New season. New Companion.
The Doctor and Nardole seem to be on a new mission involving some mysterious vault. What it is isn't exactly clear, but I assume it will be the arc story of this season. Time will tell.
The Doctor has infiltrated a university as a college professor and he meets a young woman named 'Bill'. They seem to have a mutual fascination for each other, and no, I don't mean a romantic one. She's more interested in another girl named Heather, but Heather doesn't seem to like her that much back.
But since this is Doctor Who, it's not about soapy romance. Enter: a mysterious puddle of water. Or it seems to be. Heather discovers it and she finds that the way it reflects her just doesn't seem right. It seems too perfect. She tries to convince Bill, but initially Bill doesn't see it too.
Later on Bill has another encounter with Heather and the puddle. Heather promises she won't go away, but when Bill reaches her position she is gone! We as viewers know that something mysterious is lurking in the 'puddle' and that in all likelihood 'it' has something to do with Heather's disappearance. Annoyed Bill goes back to her place and thinks someone is at home in the bathroom. Shortly after she can't find someone (human) there, Heather shoes up. In the form of a some water creature. Immediately I had to think of the Waters of Mars episode. I started to speculate there was a connection with those beings. But I was wrong!
Freaked out Bill runs to the Doctor and he offers her protection. His TARDIS is in his office and Bill at first thinks it might be a fancy kitchen on the inside! As the Doctor moves the TARDIS through space Bill finds out there's more to it. When they reach Australia it turns out 'Heather' is able to follow them there. Next stop is to the other side of the universe and millions of years into the future. Again 'Heather' is able to follow them! In the end the Doctor tries something different. A meeting with his arch enemies the Daleks. His companion Nardole is not too pleased but has little choice in the matter. After a short confrontation it turns out 'Heather' has morphed into a Dalek but the eye of the Dalek is very much like Heather's eye. Morphing back to 'Heather' they discover that the reason why Bill is being chased is the promise Heather made her. That she wouldn't leave without Bill. All Bill has to do is to release 'Heather' from that promise. That 'Heather' (the pilot) can go on without the passenger (Bill). They touch one final moment and Bill's mind is flooded with images of time and space. Bill breaks contact and 'Heather' leaves. Alone. Fascinating new life form! Back at the university the Doctor wants to erase Bill's memories of what happened and Bill guesses what he wants to do. She seems to have a keen instinct for these things. She wants to keep her memories, which is very understandable. The Doctor caves when confronted with the thought of losing memories like that himself. As Bill leaves he stares at pictures of his grand daughter Susan and his wife River. The Doctor seems to feel what they would have said and even the TARDIS itself seems to chip in. Outside Bill is stopped by the Doctor. The TARDIS is out on the grounds. He invites her to be his new Companion.
Loved the story! I think that Pearl Mackie as Bill will be great as the new companion. On the one hand Bill seems young and naive, but she also seems to have a special instinct. I look forward to this new season! And I do hope to see 'Heather' again. Fascinating new life form. She reminds me of Ilia of Star Trek TMP when she was 'returned' by V'Ger in the form of an android.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)
One of the Best TV Shows EVER
I'm a fan of this amazing show. Totally.
When it first aired I thought, meh, the movie Buffy back when was kinda funny, let's give this a try. Maybe one or two episodes. Could be fun. Just for laughs.
Then I saw the teaser opening of the pilot episode. It felt like I was hit in the face, for I hadn't seen that coming. I became interested and decided to watch the entire episode.
I got to meet Buffy Summers, Xander Harris, Willow Rosenberg, Rupert Giles, Cordelia Chase, their friends, enemies and the people of Sunnydale. I became hooked. This show had a grip on me that until now only happened with the original Star Trek, so it was something that rare. And the latter was for me the beginning of the 70s when that first aired in the Low Countries. A once in a generation TV show. Pun intended.
There was comedy, drama, horror, a touch of Sci Fi, a lot of fantasy in a delightful cocktail brought to us by the genius of Mister Joss Whedon and his team.
My advise: WATCH this show, take that ride and be sure to also watch the companion / spin-off show 'Angel'. It enriched my life and I'm very glad I got to experience it.
Prelude to Axanar (2014)
An Interesting New Way To Tell A Trek Tale.
Recently I learned of this project 'Prelude to Axanar', that is intended as a lead in to an even bigger film, a feature length movie called 'Star Trek: Axanar', to be made later on. My interest was piqued when I saw which names were attached to it. There are Richard Hatch and Kate Vernon of Battlestar Galactica fame and several Star Trek alumni such as Tony Todd (Worf's brother Kurn, the elderly alternate time-line version of Jake Sisko), J.G. Hertzler (Martok) and Gary Graham (who even 'reprises' his role as Soval). Behind the camera also names of professionals of the movie industry. All this spells that this short film, like few other 'fan films', goes far beyond mere amateur levels.
The film itself has a very unique way of storytelling for Star Trek. It is like a broadcast throughout the Federation. An episode in an historical series about the Four Years War between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire that was fought a couple of decades before Kirk's historical first Five Year Mission. A documentary in an 'in-universe' style. A documentary presented by another great Star Trek in-universe name. Who that is? You'll have to see for yourself. I'm not going to spoil that for you. If you're like me it will put a smile on your face!
Those that made this film brought passion to it. The FX are outstanding and enhance the narrative beautifully. The actors give their sublime best in their performances. From an inspiring speech before a large audience in Archer Arena to in-depth interviews with several key players in this historic event from both sides! It is as if you are watching a documentary of an actual war!
As the history unfolds you get to see why the war started, what important battles there were and it all leads up that final pivotal battle. A battle you don't get to see of course. This is 'Prelude to Axanar' and not 'Axanar' itself. We can only hope the wonderful people who made this film get to make the actual feature length movie itself.
The bad in all this? Only the length of this film. When you see the final moments you will be on the edge of your seat, and you will scream: "I WANT MORE!" For now it can only be officially seen on the Kickstarter website. As a call to fellow Trekkies I would say: Look up that Kickstarter site and see this great film.
Fans of Star Trek the Original Series will love it.
Starship Exeter: The Tressaurian Intersection (2005)
The Best Star Trek Fan Film Ever
Not kidding here. I mean it.
The setting is the familiar, beloved, Star Trek universe, as it was depicted in the 1960s.
The main vessel here is the Starship Exeter. The Exeter was first seen in Star Trek in the episode 'The Omega Glory'. The premise is that the Exeter was salvaged and that there is a new crew on board. The new captain is a man named Garrovick, also a familiar name. He happens to be a cousin to the Garrovick who became security chief on board the USS Enterprise in the classic episode 'Obsession'. And consequently he's a nephew of the captain of the USS Farragut, another sister ship of the Enterprise, on which Kirk served as a lieutenant.
The episode begins with an amazing teaser in the best tradition of Star Trek. The Exeter comes across a very dire situation that evokes the same feeling of awe that I got from an episode like 'The Doomsday Machine'. A starbase destroyed, the USS Kongo wrecked, evidence of a weapon of devastating potential.
A familiar species seems to be behind it all (the Tholians from 'The Tholian Web') and an almost familiar species, the Tressaurians (kin to the Gorn from 'Arena'), are thrown in the mix.
The sets, the costumes, the sounds, the story, the performance... It is all spot on! This is pure 'Star Trek'. And just the way I like it! It is almost as if there really was a spin-off series in the 1960s itself! A sister series of Star Trek about a sister ship of the original Starship Enterprise.
I take a deep bow to the cast and crew that made this show possible. And I thank them for giving us this amazing experience.