In this day and age Vampires, Werewolves and Ghosts are popular. We've got True Blood and the Vampire Diaries on TV, Twilight and a whole slew of cuddly Vampire films. All of which just seem to exist to annoy Buffy Fans and those of us that have read Bram Stokers Dracula.
Anyway in the middle of all this BBC Three came out with a story about three flat mates caught in the middle of events they weren't in anyway prepared for. Of course the three are a Ghost, a Werewolf and a Vampire. The Ghost is brand spanking new, as such she has a very limited knowledge about what she can do. The Vampire, disgusted after years of brutal death from his own hands, is trying to give up his blood sucking ways. Finally the Werewolf just wants a normal life again. All together they are just trying to be human again.
It sounds like a simple story but it's not. There is a hell of a lot of things going on behind it all. A planned Vampire Armageddon, a smug murderer, the meaning of death. That's just what comes to mind, and I'm not giving away any of the hints for the second year or spoilers.
Here's a trailer for the second year.
And the best of the three prequels
As shows go this is one of the better ones. It's a short, complex, character driven drama with a rich background to draw on. It has a scope and depth few others have. It deals with wider issues on an adult basis. It's not a teenage romance or a badly acted supernatural soap opera. With some shows fantasy elements like vampires are tacked on. You can remove them and, after a few tweaks, the show wouldn't really have any difference.
A good example is True Blood, which uses hatred for vampires as a thinly disguised metaphor for racism. Making the romance between the two leads another metaphor. Take the Vampire element out and you could just do it as a straight drama. You could even swap them for aliens and there wouldn't be much difference. Being Human explores vampires, werewolves and the supernatural. It just wouldn't work otherwise.
So in the new year we have eight new episodes. If you're in the UK tune in, if your not just wait your turn!
PS
I have to say if there is one thing that annoys me its the stupidity of the BBC. The first series has been released on DVD, but they didn't include the fantastic pilot episode. I want my pilot episode, George's speech about his feelings as a werewolf near the full moon is epic.
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Rodimus Prime
The Matrix last time was only a part of a massive poser for a Fan fic I'm working on. Here's another part, a simple portrait of Rodimus Prime. Nothing more to say.
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
The Matrix of Leadership
Here's another piece of digital art from me. It's been a while since I've posted any of this. I just like the way the crystal centre has come out
Monday, 23 November 2009
Doctor Who update
Alright four things regards to Doctor who this last week or so so let's look at them.
Waters of Mars
Waters of Mars was fantastic, the Doctors continuous insistence that he can't do anything while bowie base one (heh) is destroyed by the Waters of Mars. It really dealt with the repercussions of time travel and responsibilities of those with that technology. It's just a shame everyone made the wrong choice. Yet again the humans involved are too narrow minded to see the big picture and end up fearing the Doctor. It's interesting to see, but in the end you just want to reach into the TV and slap some sense into the fools.
I'm reminded of the episode Family of Blood, at the end the nurse makes two points. They are very thoughtful, but if you think about it the answers, while heartless, make sense. The first point she raises is that the Doctor chose to hide rather than face the Family. We, the viewer, knows that it was out of kindness and compassion for his enemies. Not fear. She then asks if the Doctor hadn't chosen to land there would the people have died.
These are two themes from the Tenth Doctor. Even through his kindness people die. He truly is a harbinger of death and when he choses to fight back there is nothing he will not do. The second theme is this fear that people have of him, even though he is doing the right thing for everyone. It makes this version a tragic hero, even more so with his time coming to an end.
He loses everyone and everything because he does what is best for them, no matter the cost. That's why they fear him, they fear his sense of self sacrifice.
I think I will really miss this take on him.
Speaking of The End of Time
The two part end to Tennent's time as the Doctor promises to be a real storm. There is nothing he won't do, this time on his own has really effected him recently. Without someone to hold him back this Champion of Time is on the warpath. Okay here is my predictions for the story so spoilers:-
1:- Donna is going to be a lot more important than we first thought. I don't think she's going to just be a cameo.
2:- The Master. We know he is back, but I think it was Donna that picked up the ring! After all she was trying to catch up with the Doctor. Look at that hand again.
3:- The Ood. We know, from an exclusive clip during Children in Need, that they are developing too fast. Building vast cities in a very short time. Something is propelling them. Some unseen influence that is sensitive to time and I think it's friendly. Or at least close to. This is a long shot but I think the Matrix (a repository of knowledge of the Auto... sorry Time Lords since the beginning of time) survived the destruction of Gallifray and found it's way to the Ood. It might even have created them as it's own custodians. It's even possible that the whole race was, from the beginning, a Chameleon Arch construct to hide the Time Lords while their planet blew up.
4:- Back to The Master. This is different to point two so I separated it. This is about the moment he flickers in and out of reality in the trailer. Some people say that it's like a dalek gun, but it's not. My opinion is that the Master doesn't exist yet, but in fine Bill and Ted style he will exist, just as so as he gets around to it. In plain English he recreates himself with a paradox, by going back in time but if he doesn't recreate himself he won't exist. It's a paradox on this scale that is going to destroy two thirds of the universe and decimate time. Hence the plot of the two part-er.
Those are my four predictions for The End of Time. So by Christmas we'll know if I was close, no where near, or somewhere in between. At least they're out there
Alright third part. Sarah Jane Adventures series three
An uneven series that neither advanced the story from last season or degraded. It felt exactly the same with good stories and unremarkable ones. The season end was, while remarkably predictable and bland, but after the Doctors appearance everything would be. Still everyone involved put in a solid performance and did a fantastic job.
The highlight was undoubtedly the arrival of the Doctor. Coming across in his story like a whirlwind, but he felt oddly hampered. As if he had one hand tied behind his back. This was to give the SJA crew a chance to shine, but still you feel that if the solution was that simple the Doctor had the perfect opportunity not five minuets earlier .
The champion of this series was Clyde. Displaying a vast library of talents under his court jester personality, from artistic skills that won a national award to master chef style cooking. Daniel Anthony (the actor) shows he's got a fantastic range and has the ability, just like Tommy Knight (Luke), to make a living out of his performance. I would have preferred Rani to have had more to do, perhaps been the closet painter instead of Clyde. Growing from the simple Maria replacement she was last season, unfortunately that was not to be.
The worst part was undoubtedly the Mona Lisa's Revenge. Clyde's artistic talent (while I like the development) came out of nowhere at the beginning of the episode and you get the feeling it will never come up again. I'm struggling to think of a way to describe just how completely off the mark they got Mona Lisa. Imagine it like comparing the American Godzilla to the Japanese Classic version. As a matter of fact it didn't need to be the most famous painting in the world, without changing the script in the slightest you could have done it about any painting.
Just the drive my knife in a little deeper, for a show so buried in Doctor who mythology it missed the previous adventure involving the Mona Lisa. Namely that the only copy that survives has "This is a fake" written underneath the paint in felt tip (see City of Death).
So all in all SJA has it's flaws, but is still an enjoyable and entertaining show.
Fourth and final article to address. Dreamland
We're only half way though this animated episode but it really is looking good. A couple of years ago they did an animated episode called the Infinite Quest, it was a good addition to the series and took the story away from earth for a change. This is in the same vain and just like that shouldn't be dismissed just because it's animated.
Dreamland is set in 1950's America and makes use of all the Saucer men, grey aliens, MIB's and assorted other nonsense from that time. As you might expect it does the job with a flair and style. Tennent pushes his voice acting to almost unexplored levels of ham, mostly because the animation is so stiff. None of the fluid movements and subtle (or not) actions he's usually able to bring to the role.
Like Waters of Mars Anything I do say would be full of spoilers and while I'll do that out of spite with something I detest Dreamland is far too good. Even with flaws it's fun, clever, and well engineered.
Well that's it. More updates as they come!
Waters of Mars
Waters of Mars was fantastic, the Doctors continuous insistence that he can't do anything while bowie base one (heh) is destroyed by the Waters of Mars. It really dealt with the repercussions of time travel and responsibilities of those with that technology. It's just a shame everyone made the wrong choice. Yet again the humans involved are too narrow minded to see the big picture and end up fearing the Doctor. It's interesting to see, but in the end you just want to reach into the TV and slap some sense into the fools.
I'm reminded of the episode Family of Blood, at the end the nurse makes two points. They are very thoughtful, but if you think about it the answers, while heartless, make sense. The first point she raises is that the Doctor chose to hide rather than face the Family. We, the viewer, knows that it was out of kindness and compassion for his enemies. Not fear. She then asks if the Doctor hadn't chosen to land there would the people have died.
These are two themes from the Tenth Doctor. Even through his kindness people die. He truly is a harbinger of death and when he choses to fight back there is nothing he will not do. The second theme is this fear that people have of him, even though he is doing the right thing for everyone. It makes this version a tragic hero, even more so with his time coming to an end.
He loses everyone and everything because he does what is best for them, no matter the cost. That's why they fear him, they fear his sense of self sacrifice.
I think I will really miss this take on him.
Speaking of The End of Time
The two part end to Tennent's time as the Doctor promises to be a real storm. There is nothing he won't do, this time on his own has really effected him recently. Without someone to hold him back this Champion of Time is on the warpath. Okay here is my predictions for the story so spoilers:-
1:- Donna is going to be a lot more important than we first thought. I don't think she's going to just be a cameo.
2:- The Master. We know he is back, but I think it was Donna that picked up the ring! After all she was trying to catch up with the Doctor. Look at that hand again.
3:- The Ood. We know, from an exclusive clip during Children in Need, that they are developing too fast. Building vast cities in a very short time. Something is propelling them. Some unseen influence that is sensitive to time and I think it's friendly. Or at least close to. This is a long shot but I think the Matrix (a repository of knowledge of the Auto... sorry Time Lords since the beginning of time) survived the destruction of Gallifray and found it's way to the Ood. It might even have created them as it's own custodians. It's even possible that the whole race was, from the beginning, a Chameleon Arch construct to hide the Time Lords while their planet blew up.
4:- Back to The Master. This is different to point two so I separated it. This is about the moment he flickers in and out of reality in the trailer. Some people say that it's like a dalek gun, but it's not. My opinion is that the Master doesn't exist yet, but in fine Bill and Ted style he will exist, just as so as he gets around to it. In plain English he recreates himself with a paradox, by going back in time but if he doesn't recreate himself he won't exist. It's a paradox on this scale that is going to destroy two thirds of the universe and decimate time. Hence the plot of the two part-er.
Those are my four predictions for The End of Time. So by Christmas we'll know if I was close, no where near, or somewhere in between. At least they're out there
Alright third part. Sarah Jane Adventures series three
An uneven series that neither advanced the story from last season or degraded. It felt exactly the same with good stories and unremarkable ones. The season end was, while remarkably predictable and bland, but after the Doctors appearance everything would be. Still everyone involved put in a solid performance and did a fantastic job.
The highlight was undoubtedly the arrival of the Doctor. Coming across in his story like a whirlwind, but he felt oddly hampered. As if he had one hand tied behind his back. This was to give the SJA crew a chance to shine, but still you feel that if the solution was that simple the Doctor had the perfect opportunity not five minuets earlier .
The champion of this series was Clyde. Displaying a vast library of talents under his court jester personality, from artistic skills that won a national award to master chef style cooking. Daniel Anthony (the actor) shows he's got a fantastic range and has the ability, just like Tommy Knight (Luke), to make a living out of his performance. I would have preferred Rani to have had more to do, perhaps been the closet painter instead of Clyde. Growing from the simple Maria replacement she was last season, unfortunately that was not to be.
The worst part was undoubtedly the Mona Lisa's Revenge. Clyde's artistic talent (while I like the development) came out of nowhere at the beginning of the episode and you get the feeling it will never come up again. I'm struggling to think of a way to describe just how completely off the mark they got Mona Lisa. Imagine it like comparing the American Godzilla to the Japanese Classic version. As a matter of fact it didn't need to be the most famous painting in the world, without changing the script in the slightest you could have done it about any painting.
Just the drive my knife in a little deeper, for a show so buried in Doctor who mythology it missed the previous adventure involving the Mona Lisa. Namely that the only copy that survives has "This is a fake" written underneath the paint in felt tip (see City of Death).
So all in all SJA has it's flaws, but is still an enjoyable and entertaining show.
Fourth and final article to address. Dreamland
We're only half way though this animated episode but it really is looking good. A couple of years ago they did an animated episode called the Infinite Quest, it was a good addition to the series and took the story away from earth for a change. This is in the same vain and just like that shouldn't be dismissed just because it's animated.
Dreamland is set in 1950's America and makes use of all the Saucer men, grey aliens, MIB's and assorted other nonsense from that time. As you might expect it does the job with a flair and style. Tennent pushes his voice acting to almost unexplored levels of ham, mostly because the animation is so stiff. None of the fluid movements and subtle (or not) actions he's usually able to bring to the role.
Like Waters of Mars Anything I do say would be full of spoilers and while I'll do that out of spite with something I detest Dreamland is far too good. Even with flaws it's fun, clever, and well engineered.
Well that's it. More updates as they come!
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Global Frequency
Alright, we all know how TV shows get produced. The Writer / Creator goes to a studio and gets them to commission a pilot episode. The studio watches the pilot and then decide to give them a season or not. Fairly simple. Problem is more often than not there are fantastic pilots that aren't given a chance.
It's ironic that studio executives (in the US) are usually the most conservative, unimaginative and unadventurous people in the world. They love formulas and often throw fantastic ideas away because they don't understand it. If they were more willing to take a risk, as say BBC Three has over here, we'd get some interesting and ground breaking shows. For example Being Human (which is now getting a US remake, shudder) and Torchwood.
In all fairness it's not all their fault, fantastic shows like Firefly, Dollhouse, Sarah Conner Chronicles, Farscape et all were given a chance. It was the American viewing public that didn't give them a chance and made them non-profitable. I'm not going to go into the whole chicken and egg mess of viewers and studio, asking who killed what and why. each show has it's own reasons for failing and that's not the point here.
What's this got to do with anything? What is the point anyway? Well back in 2004 Global Frequency, a TV show based on a Warren Ellis Comic Book, was given a pilot. It was never broadcast, and until it was leaked on the Internet no one knew what a loss this was. Now I can't say I've seen the pilot, if anyone knows a URL please add it to the comments, but I have seen a few clips on You Tube. It looks great.
Well the good news is that the CW, the channel responsible for Smallville, has re-commissioned a new pilot. Well it's in the air at the moment. By that I mean it can still be cancelled and shelved again, could be forgotten altogether or just unsuccessful, like the Aquaman pilot. Not ON the air, as in broadcast.
With any luck a new series will be made and it will live up to the quote "The Greatest Show Never Made"
It's ironic that studio executives (in the US) are usually the most conservative, unimaginative and unadventurous people in the world. They love formulas and often throw fantastic ideas away because they don't understand it. If they were more willing to take a risk, as say BBC Three has over here, we'd get some interesting and ground breaking shows. For example Being Human (which is now getting a US remake, shudder) and Torchwood.
In all fairness it's not all their fault, fantastic shows like Firefly, Dollhouse, Sarah Conner Chronicles, Farscape et all were given a chance. It was the American viewing public that didn't give them a chance and made them non-profitable. I'm not going to go into the whole chicken and egg mess of viewers and studio, asking who killed what and why. each show has it's own reasons for failing and that's not the point here.
What's this got to do with anything? What is the point anyway? Well back in 2004 Global Frequency, a TV show based on a Warren Ellis Comic Book, was given a pilot. It was never broadcast, and until it was leaked on the Internet no one knew what a loss this was. Now I can't say I've seen the pilot, if anyone knows a URL please add it to the comments, but I have seen a few clips on You Tube. It looks great.
Well the good news is that the CW, the channel responsible for Smallville, has re-commissioned a new pilot. Well it's in the air at the moment. By that I mean it can still be cancelled and shelved again, could be forgotten altogether or just unsuccessful, like the Aquaman pilot. Not ON the air, as in broadcast.
With any luck a new series will be made and it will live up to the quote "The Greatest Show Never Made"
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Fast Assault Cruiser
Looking back the Fast Assault Cruiser was inevitable. Everything the Razel learnt about war came from humanity, a race so obsessed with improvement and upgrading that even though their space flight was short lived it spawned the largest amount of craft designs to date. With Earth's introduction of the heavily armoured Dreadnought class Broadsword the Razel knew they had to improve their power generation. This would give them more powerful energy based weapons and take less time to charge for a space jump.
Along with that there were developments in the Razel military AI. Through experience a select few Attack Ships had thrived in battle. They had developed tactics and knowledge that was invaluable in the field. Founding a Council of Generals these Attack Ships heard of the new power generator and designed the Fast Assault Cruiser.
Friday, 30 October 2009
Defying sense...
Alright, to the one person reading this Blog I just bet you want to know what I think of Defying Gravity. It defies all laws of writing and common sense. Now I like bad TV shows, heck I like Galactica 1980, but Defying Gravity doesn't even have the excuse of just a bit of fun...
Let's tackle this head on. It's dull, irritating and monotonous. No that doesn't quite cover it, pick up a piece of blank paper and stare at it for 45 minutes and you get the general idea. Eventually you'll see some sort of pattern, but that's just your imagination. What you have is basically bland and unimaginative people wandering about a giant space ship that's sent around the solar system on behalf of some strange alien living in pod four. Quite why they'd do that is the mystery of the whole show but lets be honest I don't care. No one does and that's why it's been cancelled.
So why is it so boring and dull? Because, let's face it, space travel is dull. Seriously, it's like being in the back seat of a car or on a ferry. You sit there and nothing happens, you can look out the window or play chess. That makes thrilling television, so rather than let a story happen they have to force it. First with the Mystery arc plot (the alien in pod four) and then with romantic tension between the cast. Both of those are long term arcs. So what about short term... well nothing. It's all foreshadowing and romance.
Back in the day Star Trek the Next Generation would, in an effort to save budget and show off it's actors, write a bottle episode. Where the cast would just wander around the ship solving a problem. This saves them having to build new sets and pay guest actors. They were padding, but they had some good moments in them. I mention this because that's all Defying Gravity feels like, one long drawn out series of bottle episodes.
Now my big problem with this show isn't the shear dull story-line, but it's science. specifically, and ironically how it deals with gravity. In a good sci-fi show were asked to accept gravity, it's not feasible to try and replicate zero gravity for a TV show so they come up with a reason. Be it a technological advancement with Grav-plating, gravity nets or other tricks like magnetism and rotating sections. Defying Gravity opts for the latter, building the ship with huge spinning arms. Unfortunately they missed the fricking point. Spinning sections send the G-forces away from the ship yet in every shot we get it appears that gravity is pulling towards the central core and not away.
I know I'm nit picking here, but if you're going to go out of your way to explain something at least get it right! Another suggestion for their gravity (in the bits that don't spin) is nano technology in their clothes, being pulled down by magnets. Now I can understand people not figuring out gravity, it's a bit complex in the end of the day, but magnets? They've been understood for ages and nanoscopic robots would be in trouble. Why? Because any magnet powerful enough to produce earth like gravity would rearrange all the ions in them. The result would be frying the robots like throwing bacon on a fusion reactor. Even worse unlike gravity, that is constant at what ever height that you find yourself, a magnets pull is more powerful the closer you get to it. With obvious results (if it's earth like at head height then at ground level it must be so much stronger making it almost impossible to move your feet).
So that's Defying Gravity. Pointless, useless and a waste of time that irritates anyone with a basic knowledge of science. Give it a miss, but I'm a masochist so I won't.
Coming soon:- Sarah Jane Adventures season 3 and Stargate Universe
Let's tackle this head on. It's dull, irritating and monotonous. No that doesn't quite cover it, pick up a piece of blank paper and stare at it for 45 minutes and you get the general idea. Eventually you'll see some sort of pattern, but that's just your imagination. What you have is basically bland and unimaginative people wandering about a giant space ship that's sent around the solar system on behalf of some strange alien living in pod four. Quite why they'd do that is the mystery of the whole show but lets be honest I don't care. No one does and that's why it's been cancelled.
So why is it so boring and dull? Because, let's face it, space travel is dull. Seriously, it's like being in the back seat of a car or on a ferry. You sit there and nothing happens, you can look out the window or play chess. That makes thrilling television, so rather than let a story happen they have to force it. First with the Mystery arc plot (the alien in pod four) and then with romantic tension between the cast. Both of those are long term arcs. So what about short term... well nothing. It's all foreshadowing and romance.
Back in the day Star Trek the Next Generation would, in an effort to save budget and show off it's actors, write a bottle episode. Where the cast would just wander around the ship solving a problem. This saves them having to build new sets and pay guest actors. They were padding, but they had some good moments in them. I mention this because that's all Defying Gravity feels like, one long drawn out series of bottle episodes.
Now my big problem with this show isn't the shear dull story-line, but it's science. specifically, and ironically how it deals with gravity. In a good sci-fi show were asked to accept gravity, it's not feasible to try and replicate zero gravity for a TV show so they come up with a reason. Be it a technological advancement with Grav-plating, gravity nets or other tricks like magnetism and rotating sections. Defying Gravity opts for the latter, building the ship with huge spinning arms. Unfortunately they missed the fricking point. Spinning sections send the G-forces away from the ship yet in every shot we get it appears that gravity is pulling towards the central core and not away.
I know I'm nit picking here, but if you're going to go out of your way to explain something at least get it right! Another suggestion for their gravity (in the bits that don't spin) is nano technology in their clothes, being pulled down by magnets. Now I can understand people not figuring out gravity, it's a bit complex in the end of the day, but magnets? They've been understood for ages and nanoscopic robots would be in trouble. Why? Because any magnet powerful enough to produce earth like gravity would rearrange all the ions in them. The result would be frying the robots like throwing bacon on a fusion reactor. Even worse unlike gravity, that is constant at what ever height that you find yourself, a magnets pull is more powerful the closer you get to it. With obvious results (if it's earth like at head height then at ground level it must be so much stronger making it almost impossible to move your feet).
So that's Defying Gravity. Pointless, useless and a waste of time that irritates anyone with a basic knowledge of science. Give it a miss, but I'm a masochist so I won't.
Coming soon:- Sarah Jane Adventures season 3 and Stargate Universe
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