medwards-85263 Reviews

The Mandalorian: Chapter 17: The Apostate (2023) Season 3, Episode 1

Good old fashioned Western...in Space of course.

[9/10 · 1 March 2023]

For me Mando as a series works best when it is him undertaking a 'simple' mission within the boundary of a single ep. This is beautifully short and to the point, not an ounce of fat on this ep.

Also when it is somewhat distinct and separate from all the other Star Wars 'established' film characters. This is back to that, at least for the first ep

The beauty of this series is, perhaps even more clearly than even the original films, this is a Western in space, you even get the 'Sergio Leone' stylee close up on eyes during a gun fight in this particular chapter.

Grogu gets more than his fair share of cute moments. Not 100% sure about the Pirates of the Caribbean style baddie, we will see where that is going I guess...

Thank goodness. Not quite up to the brilliant level of Andor for me, but a hell of a good ride in the old saddle!

More please.

Missing 411: The U.F.O. Connection (2022)

Ridiculously better than I thought it might be, based upon reading the film by it's poster!

[9/10 · 11 January 2023]

David Paulides is one of the most interesting characters working outside of mainstream journalism/publishing/documentary film making.

A former police officer of 20 years, a person who has two Master Degrees and worked for a number of years in HR for big tech companies, his road to doing this has been a long and winding one.

Whilst working in HR, he was approached discretely by the owner of the company, a multimillionaire, who was interested in contracting Paulides due to his police and detective background. The owner of the company had seen what could only be described as a Big Foot out in the woods many years ago, and being rich now, wanted to task someone with doing a real in-depth research project and sorting out real sightings from BS. Paulides initially turned him down, only to be persuaded to do it by the temptation of making a book out of his findings. Paulides went on to engage in tireless and deep research and publish two books about Big Foot.

It was whilst in a National Park investigating another fringe topic many years later that Paulides was approached by two off-duty park rangers, who told him about their concerns over the amount of people who had disappeared under highly unusual circumstances in their park during the nearly thirty years of their service. They told him how initially there might be huge coverage both by SAR and press, but once any search had been called off, interest soon waned. Yet they never forgot, and were concerned that, even though many people never, ever turned up, even as a dead body or remains, there were never any follow up investigations.

Paulides called some detective friends of his to check out the veracity of their account and soon found there was indeed serious grounds for concern.

After he had investigated many hundreds of different disappearances he began to see a disturbing repeated set of circumstances surrounding these events, or as he terms it, profile points. He eliminated from his list any case that was demonstrably the result of criminal activity, animal attack or anyone with a reason to have run away.

He started to self-publish books detailing accounts of all the people who had disappeared, using newspaper and police/coroner reports from the time gained through Freedom of Information requests, and where he was able his own investigations interviewing witnesses, police, SAR team members etc.

After he had published about eight of these books, his son encouraged him to start making shorts video clips going with a camera to where someone had disappeared and outlining the basic details of the case, placing these clips on a YouTube channel. This was partly I believe in response to and popularity of the uploading on YouTube of various radio interviews Paulides had given over the years (most specifically to Coast to Coast) listened to by tens of thousands of people (myself included).

Eventually Ben Paulides persuaded his dad to take a step further and make feature length documentaries. Ben co-directed the first of these, the excellent Missing 411 from 2016. It was a brilliant film, concentrating on children who had gone missing and had turned up, in most cases sadly dead, many, many miles away in very unusual locations (such as halfway up the side of a scree field on the side of a mountain) that in no way should a lost child have been able to get to themselves especially in the time frame between when they went missing and when they were found. I would personally rate this first film 7 out of 10, as whilst it is brilliant, it airs on the side of caution a lot, and it is possible to dismiss it as 'okay, unusual, but not impossible'.

The second film he made came out in 2019, and to me it was a massive improvement, as it focused on people who have a large amount of experience in the woods/nature, pretty honed survival skills, and are armed! Missing 411: The Hunted, I would rate as an 8 out of 10.

It was much more thought provoking, and try as I might, I just could not rationally explain how any of the cases outlined could have happened. Also, there is a brilliant section were Paulides talks to experts in the wilds and gives a very detailed list of what you should do and what you should take to make sure you yourself do not end up one of Paludes cases. This to me, goes above and beyond just a documentary maker telling a story, this is educational and preventative measures, well done Mr. Paulides.

Now we come to this film. It took Paulides three years to compile this work! Hampered in no small part by the outbreak of CoVid 19 and the incredibly sad death of his own son through suicide. According to Paulides this film took the most amount out of him both financially and logistically. It was a long, arduous and difficult journey, but for me, it was incredibly worthwhile.

I would personally rate this documentary as a 9 out of 10. So you can see for me there is a steady progression in quality for each of his feature length films. I must confess I was worried about the nature of this film looking at the poster. I am an incredibly sceptical person, and do not just believe in any conspiracy theory just because it is intriguing. It is one of the prime things that attracted me to the work of Paulides in the first place. For many, many years he has refused in interviews, in his books, on his YouTube channel and in his documentaries to be drawn on what he thinks the root cause of these mysterious disappearances. Partly because he genuinely did not know, he could not figure out one thing that made sense across all the cases. He was also quite open to the idea that there could be several different route causes that just happen to all coincide with the same result (i.e. People going missing) partly because he did not want to be wrong in his estimation, only for his idea as to the cause to later be disproved and therefore all his work discredited.

As a former police detective, he understands the importance of evidence. After all many of the people he arrested over the years would not be able to be prosecuted if only circumstantial evidence was provided. Therefore, before drawing any conclusions, he has always demanded that there be real, tangible proof of the concept.

So it was, seeing the image of the UFO and the name of the documentary, I was quite worried that this would be a massive departure from his usual cautious approach. I need not have worried.

Paulides has already steered us to the conclusion in his previous work that there is no satisfactory standard explanation for what is happening, and that, without a rational reason for these bizarre disappearances, we should look for the not-normal, the paranormal as it were. This is simply more of the same. As the title suggests, Paulides is presenting us with connections, he is not definitively saying that UFOs are responsible for these disappearances. He is not even saying that UFOs are definitely the work of alien creatures. He is merely presenting us with the startling coincidences' that seem to suggest there might be a connection.

I am sceptical, but I am also open minded. Three times in my life I have witnessed things in the sky that I could not readily explain. Two of them I am fairly sure are misinterpreted human technology. One of them, well, it was so bizarre I too am drawn towards a paranormal explanation being the only option.

Whether you believe in the 'paranormal' implications of Paulides work or not probably depends on your state of mind, which probably depends on whether you yourself have ever encountered anything unusual and how you have gone on to explain or rationalise that.

I am a scientifically minded person. I believe that everything, eventually will be able to be rationally explained to everyone's full satisfaction by pursuing the scientific method of gathering and analysing data.

Even as a sceptic, I can see how sometimes thing happen or are seen that you simply cannot explain. What was it we witnessed that day I cannot say. I have never again seen anything like it. Therefore, I am open to the witness accounts of some of the things described in this documentary.

I urge you to approach this with the same open mindedness, and you will be richly rewarded. Paulides talks to some very, very credible people, most notably a former FBI agent. All of whom seem to confirm that there are things happening that just defy any kind of rational explanation.

This documentary is well planned, executed and again, incredibly thought provoking. I am sure just by having the name UFO in the title it will put many people off, but I am also sure that it will open many more people up to the truly intriguing Missing 411 phenomenon than have ever heard of it before. I really hope Paulides is not only able to make his money back on this investment (don't forget these are really self-funded/crowd funded type docs - there is no central big studio or TV company behind them) but not only that, make a healthy profit so that he can spend more time making more documentaries. I genuinely think he is one of the best documentary makers out there right now. If the trend continues, I guess his next documentary will have to get a 10 out of 10 from me.

Thank your David Paulides. Keep up the good work.

Missing 411: The Hunted (2019)

A further mystifying development in the exploration of unusual disappearances in the wilds of America

[8/10 · 29 November 2022]

Made a few years after his first feature length documentary, Missing 411: The Hunted ramps up the strangeness and stirs it with a big paranoia stick.

Everything that made the first documentary, and Paulides work in general great, is here too, but whereas the first film had you scratching your head and pondering whether there could be 'normal' explanations for the disappearances, this one leaves you positively feeling there cannot be, the only conclusion must be something not yet explained by science.

The 'ramping up' is mostly due to the fact that, unlike the subject of the first documentary, children going missing, in this one you are dealing with experienced hunters. Very used to their environments, versed in at least some key aspects of survival techniques, and, perhaps most importantly, armed.

This removes the possibility, however remote, that they might have just 'wandered off' as where are their weapons? Equipment? Hardy boots that would not just disintegrate with exposure to the weather but also makes it very difficult to buy the so-called rational explanation often offered by those who don't know Paulides work too well, that maybe it was criminal activity or animal attacks accounting for these disappearances...if those two things were the reason surely the hunters would put up more of a fight? There would be blood or at the very least multiple ammo casings from them shooting at whatever attacked them? Yet nothing is ever found at the sites where these people disappeared.

For me this is a much better documentary, primarily because Paulides himself plays a more central role in it as presenter/interviewer. This makes so much more sense as, he is, after all the man responsible for researching and high lighting this mystery across many books over the last ten years. He knows the subject inside out. He also has a good screen presence, asking pertinent questions but not dominating the screentime as some documentary presenters tend to do. You get the impression he really spends time with the people he talks to and allows them to air their own accounts and thoughts about what has happened.

People will level the criticism that there is no mystery here, but the evidence painstakingly gathered by Paulides, all accountable and retraceable in his books, suggests otherwise.

Others will criticise the inclusion of two eye witness accounts of things that are clearly 'paranormal' a bow hunter in a hide in a tree witnessing something moving in front of her that seemed to be using some form of 'cloaking' disguise/technology, and an account from Ron Morehead of his encounters with paranormal creatures that most people would describe as Bigfoot.

Paulides only recounts these stories as in each case there is physical evidence (a photograph and audio recordings) that are hard to disprove. He also does not absolutely say these things are in any way responsible for the disappearances, but he rather uses these accounts as further evidence that 'paranormal' things are going on out in the wilds of America.

Ultimately you will like or not like these documentaries if you feel the mysteries are compelling and that there is not a clear rational explanation for how they have occurred. Not everyone will be convinced, I am not 100% myself, but something very strange is clearly going on, that, at present, defies most rational explanations.

That to me makes this the most interesting and as yet unresolved mystery I have ever encountered.

Paulides has a new documentary coming out December 13th 2022, which draws a further link between the mysterious disappearances he has charted, and the sighting of UFOs. Only time will tell if this third documentary offers anything more concrete and convincing, or if it just poses yet more difficult questions.

Missing 411 (2016)

A true head scratching mystery.

[7/10 · 29 November 2022]

First of all let us start with David Paulides the creative force behind this documentary.

This is a man who has dedicated himself to research, and as someone who has an academic, masters degree level understanding of how to conduct research, but also a twenty year history of serving as a police officer to back up that classroom understanding with street level experience.

I have been following his work for several years now, although unfortunately I have never been able to get his books. As he always is quick to point out, don't buy his books on sites such as this, but instead you can buy them from CanAm Missing 411 Project website where they are reasonably priced for anyone living in the US. For myself, as someone from UK, the price of shipping comes into it, I can't really justify that.

He has thus far written ten books related to this subject (Missing 411 - Eastern United States: Unexplained Disappearances of North Americans That Have Never Been Solved (2012) Missing 411 - Western United States & Canada: Unexplained Disappearances of North Americans that have never been solved (2012) Missing 411 - North America and Beyond (2013) Missing 411 - The Devil's in the Details (2014) Missing 411 - A Sobering Coincidence (2015) Missing 411 - Hunters (2016) Missing 411 - Off the Grid (2017) Missing 411 - Law (2018) Missing 411 - Canada (2019) Missing 411 - Montana (2020) )

However, for years I was sustained by those people who had recorded his guest slots on radio shows such as Coast to Coast, and then in more recent years by his own YouTube channel.

He has made and released two feature length documentaries, this one, and a follow up in 2019 called Missing 411: The Hunted, exploring a subset of these mysterious disappearances concerning armed and experienced hunters. A third feature length documentary, Missing 411: The UFO Connection, has been made, and yet to be released (I believe it is coming out 13th December 2022).

There are many people that will instantly discount Paulides work as that of a conspiracy theorist, although he himself would counter that, in his many books and in his documentaries he himself does not offer a theory as to what is causing this. This, I feel, is a little sophistry on his part. He does, after all, discount a number of possible plausible explanations for these disappearances, and leaves us with an unanswered enigma as to what is the real cause for this phenomena, whilst heavily hinting that the root cause gives evidence of paranormal or advanced scientific abilities and has an intelligent design to its implementation. It is rather difficult to watch/listen (and I presume read) his work without coming to the conclusion that SOME sinister conspiracy is at work. Just because he does not actually state what that is, does not absolve him of working in the conspiracy theory ballpark, or at the very least in a concession stand in the concourse.

That being said, I do believe that his research is thorough and exacting, and that he has unearthed some level of at the very best woeful incompetence from National Park/Forest service employees to not be transparent with the data on missing people in their territories. At worst there is some kind of bizarre events happening where people repeatedly go missing without any real rational or logical explanation of how it has happened, and why they are either never found, or if they are found are in such distant location from their point of disappearance that is makes no sense whatsoever how they could have gotten from point A to point B in the time frames allowed.

First of all it is necessary to point out that he is careful to dismiss any disappearance that has a criminal connection in any way, anyone who has been noted to have serious mental health problems and is depressed or suicidal and any case where there has been found evidence of foul play either by human or animal attack.

Using a technique learned and honed from his time as a police officer and detective, David Paulides has listed profile points, things that he has found occurring again and again across the body of the many disappearances he has investigated. Case that fit his criteria often happen:

In or very near National Parks/forests Involve either a complete lack of scent trail or there is a scent trail that leads a certain distance and then dogs refuse/cannot track further.

If people are found they often are either too young to explain what happened or have some form of memory loss Berry shrubs are often involved (a lot of people disappear whilst picking berries) People often go missing very near to significant bodies of water There are often boulder fields near to where people go missing (most often large granite areas) Bodies are often found in water or swamps but very often no sign of drowning found during autopsy Bodies found are often missing items of clothing / weapons etc that are never found Young children are often found many, many miles from where they disappeared with no logical explanation how they got that far, often with radical changes in elevation from where they went missing (having gone UP) He has discovered there seem to be 52 areas where disappearances are clustered in the US (although he has found cases in the UK, Australia, France etc etc)

This brings us neatly to this actual documentary. By focusing on children out of the nearly 2000 cases that meet his profile points, Paulides helps us to see what a deep and unnerving mystery this really is. Paulides concentrates on five specific cases that he outlines in very close detail, including one particular mystery that is ongoing at that time.

For instance in one case we are asked to consider how is it reasonably explicable that a young boy goes missing and is found only a few hours later many, many miles away over incredibly rugged mountainous terrain still alive? In this particular case he asks Survivor Man Less Stroud to recreate the journey during the same sort of time scale. Les gives up halfway through, just astounded by the idea that this little boy could have possibly made this journey unaided.

For myself, I might conclude that, at worst, Paulides might be guilty of lumping together several different route causes for this phenomena in order to make the mystery more appealing and draw more attention to this problem. However, even at my harshest, and going though and trying to discount misinterpreted reasons, I can only discount at most half of the stated cases, which still leaves many, many hundred incidents completely without logical explanation. So it becomes a question of scale rather than total miscomprehension.

This first documentary treads a very careful line, giving the audience the choice to buy into the idea there is something genuinely unique and 'paranormal' going on, or try to pick out evidence to support whatever logical conclusion they can assign to the scenarios. In this way, I am lead to believe, it is very much like the way Paulides frames his books, not really ever offering a firm answer himself, just presenting the facts and information to us to make up our own minds.

Some criticism I have seen on here seems to focus on this as an annoying aspect, 'why don't you tell us what is going on?' kind of statement. Paulides in his own words has said numerous times that he genuinely does not know what is going on, all he has is unfounded suppositions, and he will not lay those out in his books/documentaries for fear of being more easily ridiculed and proven wrong.

There is, he attests, something unusual going on, and, looking at the data presented here, it is hard to disagree with that assertion.

Given this is a self-financed, crowd funded type production, the values in terms of how it is made is incredible. This is a slick, thought provoking and at times starkly beautiful documentary, easily worth an hour and a half of your time. If you like head scratching mysteries, then it is harder to find anything more rational but perplexing than these very odd disappearances.

How could it be better? Longer! There are so many more cases he has investigated, personally would have liked to see a few more outlined.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022– )

If you like TOS and Next Gen, you are bound to be more receptive to this than other modern Trek.

[8/10 · 18 October 2022]

I am a big fan of TOS and Next Gen, Voyager and Deep Space Nine were also fun. Things went very wrong for me from Enterprise onwards.

The film reboots in mid 2000s were better, but still not as on point as the original material.

Discovery was dreadful, in my opinion, and Piccard, whilst entertaining and nostalgic, never quite hit the highs of Next Gen.

I therefore had zero expectations of this being any good.

I was pleasantly surprised. This show is the best Trek has been since Next Gen ended, I really feel.

Firstly, Pike feels like a real captain. Like Kirk, Piccard and Janeway, he takes charge, he takes tough decisions, he dolls out guidance and orders and discipline where necessary, and you really feel like he has the gravitas and experience to have earned his position.

The crew also feel well balanced and all have a purpose, unlike Discovery where I could not remember character names even after just finished watching an episode, and often felt there purely as Tokenism without depth or real meaning.

Most importantly, the adventures are more episodic, with less of an overarching narrative, a big problem in both Discovery and Piccard, I always felt. TOS and Next Gen both benefited massively from being able to jump here there and everywhere in terms of episode genre, narrative and style. It didn't always work, there are some terrible unbalanced episodes from those old shows, but overall there was always a sense of 'ah never mind, if this weeks ep is not great, next week will probably be better'

Hopefully this is so popular those in charge of modern Trek rethink their approach and go for more 'monster of the week' style stories from this point on.

Strange New World's gets it. Finally.

Ms. Marvel (2022– )

A very entertaining kids programme

[8/10 · 18 October 2022]

People seem to be hurling a lot of negativity at this, and other more recent Marvel fare. I think a lot of it has an agenda, and shows up people's inherent biases. A lot of it is people not taking into account different audiences have different tastes. A lot of it is that people are just entitled and expect everything made by a company who have produced things they have liked in the past, should be made just for them.

Is this the best show ever? No. Is it even the best Marvel show ever? No. Is it really bad? Absolutely not.

This is, in essence, a story for children and young adults. Even though I am very different from the lead character (as a white British middle aged male) I found a lot about the representation of her life and family to have great resonance with me. My parents are very religious (albeit a very different religion), and they had very strict rules and regulations and expectations of me, a lot of which felt very unfair to me as a kid. Therefore some aspects of Kamala's experience in this series (sneaking out to parties and being judged when found out) really struck home with me. Some of the lines of dialogue from her parents were very similar to things said to me as a kid by mine.

What I am trying to say is that there is a universality here that overcomes any possible cultural barriers people might perceive being there when they see and hear the lead character. You know what, if people just took the time to watch this, they might also learn something about the experience of people who are not like themselves, and perhaps gain a little empathy in the process, something the world would be a much better place with.

I think this show is really good, but more importantly, shows massive potential for the growth of this character in the future.

Some of the negative comments I have seen on here that I think are fair is that some people have complained that there is nothing 'special' about this hero, that she does not really stand out, but I think that that is partly the point. Her experience is very familiar, it had resonance to me with how Peter Parker became Spider-Man, and indeed how many other superhero characters accidentally found their power in so many other comic stories...and so what? There is nothing that unique about this, we have seen it again and again and again. The point is whether you like and believe and can follow the protagonist once they have their powers. For me, I find Kamala a compelling and understandable character, and I can't wait to see more of her.

Sapphire & Steel (1979–1982)

Sapphire and Steel, a bonkers attempt to 'steal' some of Doctor Who's impressive thunder.

[8/10 · 17 October 2022]

This is one of many imitators to the success of BBC's Doctor Who, and for my money, the one most worth your time 'investigating'.

The show does not really explain itself at all, and enigma and mystery are ket parts of its appeal. All you really learn (as summed up by the almost nonsensical title sequence which states: All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life. Medium atomic weights are available: Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Silver and Steel. Sapphire and Steel have been assigned. Even this is incredibly confusing as not all of those things mentioned are elements on the periodic table, some are compounds or alloys!) is that the eponymous characters are unspecified 'time agents' patrolling the corridors of reality to keep 'irregularities' in time and space from distorting the true path of the dimensional universe...or something like that!

There are a host of other potential agents, of which during the course of the six 'assignments' you meet two more; Lead (a larger-than-life jovial black 'American' and Silver, an erudite and foppish chap) sadly the show did not last long enough to meet Gold, Copper, Jet, Diamond or Radium. Each seems to possess unique 'talents' that, to us mere mortal humans, are more or less indistinguishable from 'magic' or 'superpowers' and their 'names' seem to give a little clue as to their nature as characters (Sapphire is beautiful and full of flair and 'crystal' mysticism Steel is tough and blunt and strong).

The show, in essence, posits more or less 'scientific' explanations for paranormal activity. With the antagonists of the series being vague demon-like creatures from outside our dimension that can 'break through the barriers of time and take things, take people' as Joanna Lumley's Sapphire tells a young child in the first adventure.

It seems that the more 'old objects' one has in one place, the more pressure is put on the fabric of time and the easier these 'demons' can break through the veil between dimensions.

As I said earlier, this show is bonkers, but well worth it for the utterly creepiness it achieves. Assignments 2, 4 and 6 in particular are very good, and still somewhat scary even to a modern audience (I have tested this by playing it to people, some of whom really get unnerved by these storylines). If you can only bare to watch one storyline, then definitely Assignment 2.

Despite the bizarre and largely unexplained nature of this show, it ran successfully for four 'series' and ended in a very dark way. I know it has come back in Big Finish audio adventures, but this would really make a great new rebooted TV show.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Alloyed (2022) Season 1, Episode 8

Wayne Che Wip = GENIUS!

[10/10 · 17 October 2022]

I teach media and film studies at a college in Oxfordshire, I have been using episodes of various TV shows directed by Wayne Yip for years as resources in lessons, especially his work on Misfits, Utopia and Preacher. I only just recently learned that he came to the college I teach at, finishing his degree in graphic design the summer before I began teaching.

I genuinely think this guy is really special, and his work on this first series, which I have resoundingly felt were the best episodes, have proven me correct.

The negative reviews of this series I believe come about because it suffers from the same problem that the first series of Game of Thrones did, it has so much and so many different places and people to set up. I remember when GoT first aired one of my fellow media lecturers moaning 'It is all just people whispering in dark corridors'.

However, with this final episode, Wayne Yip truly kicks the series into gear and shows us what we can expect in future series ( I believe he has been given a lot more creative control by being made showrunner).

Finally this episode takes us to a place that feels like it could be a scene from Peter Jackson's excellent trilogy, rather than, as it sometimes did in certain scenes, feeling like something cut from the woeful last Hobbit film.

Well done Mr Yip, local lad done well.

Survivors (I) (2008–2010)

A good attempt to update a classic BBC Sci-Fi. It almost worked.

[7/10 · 3 October 2022]

This remake, in a way, just like the original series, was way ahead of its time.

With the hindsight of a post CoVid19 world, the dire warnings from shows like this seem to have been totally overlooked, discarded and scoffed at.

The original from 1975 - 77 is much better, but was out of date in places. With the popularity of zombie films at the time, it probably seemed a really good idea for the BBC to have a go at updating this classic tale of post-apocalyptic survival. Again, with hindsight, if only they had waited until after The Walking Dead, this probably would have found a more receptive and dedicated audience.

I really liked The Walking Dead at the start, but it rapidly decreased in quality, and looking back, this show was overall a much better watch.

If you know the original, it plays with some of the characters in very interesting ways, most especially Tom Price, in the original an almost cartoonishly two dimensional Welsh villain , and turns him here into a complex character always on the edge of being an anti-hero or just an outright baddie.

There is a bit more dark realism with how some of the characters cope in such a horrible scenario than there was in the original, and the Greg Preston character remains just as memorable with the excellent performance of Paterson Joseph, and they have turned it from a show with three central protagonists to a multi-strand narrative in true form.

However, the charm, pragmatism and starkness of the original is lost. Sadly they only made two series before it was unceremoniously canned.

Well worth watching both though.

Survivors (1975–1977)

Post-Apocalyptic Survival Drama, with a typically downbeat British outlook

[9/10 · 3 October 2022]

As a science fiction fan, I must say this is truly one of the best TV productions ever made. There are issues with it, some ropey acting/production in places, a heavy middle class bias to protagonist characters and it has aged, a younger audience would probably struggle with it, however, if you can stick with it you will be richly rewarded.

This is Sci-Fi made as realistic as possible, and, given the CoVid19 pandemic we are still in the midst of (believe me folks it is not over yet) amazingly prophetic. Yes thankfully CoVid19 has not been anywhere as deadly as the virus in this show, but it's sketchy origins, it's rapid spread and the utterly ineffective response to it are all here, writ large way back in the mid 70s.

This is also a call for a return to a simpler way of life, living close and harmoniously with nature, living in small intimately connected communities; things that resonate even more in our modern environ, with mobile phones and social media. The backdrop is always though, that human cruelty and selfishness will often ruin the best laid plans.

The two central pillars that hold up this series are the two excellent characters of Greg Preston (a blunt and forcefully practical engineer type, played with wonderful gusto by Ian McCulloch) and Abby Grant (played with a deep intelligence, resilience and resolve by Caroyln Seymour) the supposed third pillar, Jenny (overacted by Lucy Flemming) is meant to be the true heart and emotional centre of the show, however, compared to the other two her part is underwritten and the actor playing her struggles to convey the same depth as the other two protagonists.

Unfortunately the quality of the show decreases as they made the bizarre decisions to get rid of the Abby character from the second series, and it gets a little bogged down in the domestic drama of running an effective farming community. However, it is worth watching all the way to its conclusion as there are always very good episodes that elevate the series far above normal.

This show poses and answers with great effect the age old mythical and sci-fi question, what would happen if we had to start society again, right from scratch?

Personally, of all post-apocalyptic shows, for me, it provides the deepest and most satisfying exploration of this idea, perhaps because this scenario is so much more realistic than zombies, aliens or slowly walking plants...

I would, and do, recommend this series to anyone, but especially anyone with more than a passing interest in science fiction, philosophy or human nature.

Andor (2022– )

Finally something that isn't glued to the same old characters

[9/10 · 26 September 2022]

In essence I think if you liked Rogue One, you should like this.

Star Wars is meant to take place against the backdrop of a whole galaxy (albeit one that is far, far away from us), one of my problems with the last 6 main films, and Han Solo, is it feels like in this whole vast Cosmos, why oh why do we only get to focus on one intermixed family!

It was why Rogue One was so refreshing to me, and the first series of the Mandalorian (before they too started to revisit some overly familiar faces.

I am sure for some the prospect of finding out exactly what each character did for every minute of their lives is fascinating, for me, personally, I could have done without Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and all of Obi Wan TV series. Boba Fett had some good bits, but again mostly when we were not dwelling on the same folk. I don't really feel like we learned anything of real value from any of them.

What I personally want more of, is stories set in the same 'world' of Star Wars, but not attached to what we have already seen. After all we should have a whole vast galaxy to explore and many hundreds of years to do so.

Han Solo was poor, but at least it tried to do something a little different, a heist movie in that universe. I just wished that it had been about anyone other than Solo.

If like me, you are tired of the same old faces, at least this gives you a little break from that.

Luckily it also happens to be really good, from my point of view.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Adar (2022) Season 1, Episode 3

A great show, probably much better for those who know nothing about the books

[9/10 · 12 September 2022]

I have been really enjoying this show, and have been scratching my head as to why others seem to be so disappointed in it.

I think it is suffering from two main problems for audiences.

1) Those who have great depth of knowledge of the world created by Tolkien are spotting all the divergences from Tolkien (I love The Hobbit and LoTR but haven't read the Appendices since I was about ten years old, so for me this is not an issue).

2) The show is trying to straddle the dividing line between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books. The Hobbit was a much more 'gentle' children's book. LoTR was a weighty tome full of depth and history and language of incredible complexity and real darkness.

On the one hand this show is trying to delve into the darker aspects of Sauron and his minions, and how he plays on the weaknesses of men and other races, whilst on the other hand it is trying to cram exposition in that a five year old could follow.

This reminds me, in a strange way, of the British sci-fi series Torchwood, the first two seasons of which could not seem to decide if it wanted to be edgy and dark and sexy, or still in the more silly and child-friendly world of Doctor Who.

For me each episode of this series has got better, and in particular, this ep directed by Wayne Yip, who has some excellent prior TV eps of a variety of different shows under his belt, pushes further into more interesting territory.

Is it perfect? No. Will it become perfect? Possibly once those behind it make a firm decision about what it wants to be. However, given Wayne Yip took over as Showrunner for the second series onwards, I really think that will happen and in a very good way.

For me though, I am 100% up for sticking with it to find out.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: A Shadow of the Past (2022) Season 1, Episode 1

So much anticipation, does it live up to it? Mostly.

[8/10 · 8 September 2022]

So the 'biggest' TV show ever made (at least in terms of cost of rights and production) has finally landed. I have given myself a while to digest what I have seen in the first two episodes before writing this.

Firstly, I am a big fan of the original source material, The Hobbit was the first book I bought with my 'own' pocket money at age eight, by ten I had read and re-read it and LoTRs endlessly.

Secondly, I am also a big fan of Peter Jackson's tireless work at adapting them into films (although the Hobbit unnecessary trilogy was slightly more annoying).

So, this had a lot to live up to.

For me it did, but not so much for others in my family. My wife and step-daughter both felt the first episode was quite tedious (even with the Snow Troll fight at the beginning). I actually enjoyed the slow pace and the sumptuous visuals.

There is such a sense of World established here, just as Jackson managed in his impressive early 2000s films. Obviously much of the design choices, and even some of the scripting have a lot to thank him and his crew for.

But this TV show is determined to be its own beast.

I think it benefits greatly from the fact that it is drawing largely from sketchy history in the Appendices, there is so much more here that we don't know about than that which we already have knowledge of.

It is possible to be grossly disappointed in an adaptation of a book when sections of your favourite parts are either excluded or radically changed.

Coming in with only a vague memory of what was in the Appendices, I find myself willing to let it all be instead of picking it apart in minute detail as I was doing for both The Hobbit and LoTRs films.

In other words, I don't think I have any preconceptions to spoil.

Go into watching this with that kind of open mind, and I think you will love it.

The second episode is a high 9 out of 10 as well, the trajectory seems very pleasing.

Also, the problems some people seem to have with casting are absurd as far as I am concerned. Tolkien was basing his world on our planet, meaning that there would be just as vast a different array of races and Ethnicities as we have now.

Just because he did not explicitly write it, doesn't mean it could not be. Also it is not like they are making such casting decisions with the big famous characters from the books, these are characters about which little was known.

But also, at the end of the day, it is fantasy fiction! How can you moan about someone's skin colour not being realistic when there are big dragons swooping about! Crazy.

Doctor Who: Flux: Chapter Four - Village of the Angels (2021) Season 13, Episode 4

At last, an episode of great storytelling!

[9/10 · 22 November 2021]

Since Chibnall took over episodes of Doctor Who have been a real mixed bag. Some have great action. Some have great jokes. Some have great characters. However, mostly, I think if we are all honest, they have pretty poor storylines. Even the Timeless Children, which I generally enjoyed, left things hanging in a quite unsatisfactory manner.

Even amidst an ongoing narrative as this episode is, however, it manages to fully sate everything a viewer wants, and leaves us gasping for more in the correct way.

Given the episode before this had me shaking my fist at the TV and tutting about the over convoluted MCU rip-off nonsense, this is a pretty amazing achievement to win me back.

SPOILER ALERT - the only annoying thing for me (and this is not Chibnall's fault, it is actually a hangover from Moffat) is the 'anything that contains an angel can become an angel' addition to the excellent original lore of the Weeping Angels. In of itself it is a great idea for a Doctor Who baddie, however, The Weeping Angels were so good as they originally were designed they did not need expansion. Also it kind of defeats the point of The Doctor running around locking doors if she then sets up 1967 CCTV to monitor them! However, that minor gripe aside, this was a truly excellent episode that made me wonder why they did not have this as the start, and frame the entire overarching narrative around it. I mean, a Weeping Angel in the TARDIS...that could have been a whole ep on its own!

The Shannara Chronicles (2016–2017)

The most disappointing missed opportunity I can imagine.

[3/10 · 12 March 2018]

It has taken me a long time to get around to writing this review, as I was constantly hoping things might get better and I might come to love this series. Unfortunately it has not, and hence, here is my rather disgruntled opinion.

Terry Brooks is a justifiably much lauded author, who has penned numerous best selling novels since his first Shannara novel came out in 1977.

Whilst the first book, The Sword of Shannara, is, in all honestly, a well written but blatant 'homage' to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, (albeit with a little Celtic mythology and a neat idea about this fantasy world being set far in our future after an unspecified apocalyptic collapse of human civilisation) from the second novel, The Elfstones of Shannara, Brooks demonstrated a highly innovative take on epic fantasy. As a young man The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings was my first experience of fantasy writing, Shannara was my second. For me personally only the work of David and Leigh Eddings is more gripping, entertaining and invigorating than that of Brooks.

So it was that when I first heard that a screen version of these wonderful novels was finally actually happening and not just rumoured, I was naturally very hopeful, but also apprehensive, especially when I realised the series was being made for air on MTV.

When I heard that Brooks was personally involved in helping the construction of the world, narrative and scripts, I sighed with relief. Good, surely now this will be fine, right? Wrong.

The truly great thing about the Shannara novels is how they concentrate on the psychological as well as physical impact of magic on, not only the victims of magical attacks, but the users of any form of magic.

The books are dark, full of lots of twists and turns, and often laced with heavy and justified paranoia. For instance the main 'good' magic wielders in the series are those few remaining members of the ancient 'Druid Order', but these people often turn out to be hiding the full truth of the missions they ask people to undertake, or outright lying and manipulating people and their emotions in order to meet the ends they wish to pursue.

Some small fragments of the intensity and originality of the books series does remain in this show, which is why I have given it a rating of three stars instead of one, which was my initial instinct. However, the show has been highly stylised and tailored to appeal to an imagined audience of fevered 'Twilight' or 'Hunger Games' teen fans, desperate for yet more melodramatic fairytale nonsense. The use of modern 'teen-appeal' popular music, MTV style editing techniques and focus on fashion, style and 'pretty' actors rather than depth of story, well rounded characterisation and building a sense of the historical depth and richness of the world unfortunately serves to render this programme nothing but style over substance.

One of the most anticipated moments from the excellent book Elfstones, when the horde of demons finally break through the magical barrier of the Forbidding and flood in an almost unstoppable tide of destruction to the highly defended raised Elf city of Arborlon, a sequence that takes several brilliant action packed chapters of the book to elucidate, here is whipped through in what seemed like about five minutes, and looked to little more than a bunch of badly costumed dancers prat-falling about in a forest.

I won't go into any more of this, as all any reader of this diatribe needs to really know is do not bother watching this show, unless you want to laugh at something naff. Read the books instead, even the very worst of which is over a thousand times better than this dire dross.