All Good Things...

Yes, the time has come.

After a number of months reviewing this, that and the other, it's become increasingly obvious that I'm essentially talking to myself (not, in of itself, a bad thing). As a result, it seems pretty pointless to keep on maintaining this blog, particularly as time often gets sucked away, stopping me from writing what I need to.

As such, I shall bid a fond farewell to one and all and encourage everyone to go to The Enterprise Of Geeks where changes are taking place, but the spirit of both blogs shall live on.

Be seeing you.

Star Trek

You've got to admire J J Abrams' balls, and possibly not the for the reason the girls think. If someone said to me, "We'd like you to make the eleventh movie in a flailing franchise, of which, tradition dictates the odd numbered films tend to be shit, AND we'd like you to reboot said franchise which has tens of thousands of fans, of which thousands of those are raving obsessives, AND, just in case you haven't shat your pants yet, we'd like you to recast the original characters which are much loved by generations and played so iconically by a very well respected group of actors," the follow up to that request would be "Ryan? Ryan? Are you still there...I think he hung up on me." Because seriously...that is one tall order.

What has impressed me about this film, though, is that Abrams hasn't just given a general two-finger salute to the fans. In point of fact, he's rather held out an olive branch to them, unlike one Zack Snyder to Watchmen films. No, Abrams has given a little way out for the fans - yes, this is a reboot, but *actually* there's this whole time travel aspect to the thing which has changed the future so this is an alternate reality. Oh yes it is...Uhuru actually says it at one point. But, just to make the fans a little happier, says J J, listen out for some choice catchphrases (did I hear "I'm a doctor not a physician" and "I'm giving her all she's got, Captain"? I believe I did), some classic costume design (though those mini skirts look a little longer than they used to) and, of course, Leonard Nimoy.

Because, the geeks have inherited the Earth. That, or Hollywood has finally got the idea of how to make a geek film and make it good - and by good I mean one that appeals both to the fans and the mainstream audience, because these geek things were actually hugely popular in "the day", and there was a good reason for it. It's not that hard to make a film that the fans will love and the mass audience will be entralled with, because they are, at the end of the day, looking for the same thing.

It's been so long since we've had a great sci-fi movie with a kick arse action rogue (since Serenity, in fact), that the audience have secretly been screaming for it. Oh yes, we want massive space battles; we want to hear a captain say "Abandon ship!" (although I actually wanted this to be preceded by "All hands!", but sadly it didn't happen), and yes we want a space captain to shoot first and ask questions later. And that's the most important thing about this movie.
The script for the film is entertaining, but nothing particularly mind blowing (although it's worth noting that one of the things that marks this as a very modern movie is the tongue-in-cheek feel to the film, but more on that later), the special effects are amazing, but in this day and age, if the special effects were crap it would be a very ordinary movie, and the direction is tense; the editing quick. But none of those things make this movie stand out. What makes this movie really entertaining, and really head and shoulders above a lot of other movies, is the astonishingly brilliant cast.
I don't know if these actors sat down and watched the original programme, or if they were fans of Star Trek, but these actors have truly recreated the characters without fault. Yes, Captain Kirk has lost his somewhat unique form of delivery, and the voices are all a little different, but these *are* the characters that were in the original series, without question.

The crew members are all there - John Cho as Sulu, Anton Yelchin as Chekov and Simon Pegg as Scotty are the three smaller parts of the seven, but they are all excellently realised, even though Chekov and Scotty are the comic relief. Sulu is the serious helmsman, Chekov can't pronounce his "v"'s, and Scotty has his scottish accent, but all three are on their first missions and all three are learning their trade, becoming the characters that we will see them become in later stories. From there we get Zoe Saldana as Uhuru, the rather beautiful comms officer who, rather controversially, is having a relationship with her lecturer...but that's not the reason for the controversy.

Rather nicely some other characters from the Star Trek franchise make appearances, giving us a reminder of the original continuity from which they come, and of particular note is Bruce Greenwood as Captain Christopher Pike, captain of the Enterprise, and Ben Cross as Sarek, Spock's father, and the Vulcan ambassador to Earth. I thought that these touches more than anything showed that the production crew cared about the franchise they were now representing, and the fans who also care about the same thing.

But it is the three principals that are truly, truly outstanding. Karl Urban is Leonard "Bones" McCoy, and his portrayal, more than any other in the cast, is spookily like the original. Urban brings his character to life, effortlessly helping out his friend when he's needed and moodily sulking about the Enterprise's first officer when things don't go his way. Urban has caught on to the fact that McCoy is a Southern gentleman who is a moaner at heart, but always does the right thing.

Zachary Quinto plays Spock, and from the moment you see him arch an eyebrow, it is clear that this part is a labour of love from Quinto. He rather nicely shows a Vulcan at odds with his human heritage and his emotions (which is important for this film and the story behind it, though could be rather fey if it carried on), but attempting to balance it as best he can to please everyone except himself. What is also amazing is how much like a young Leonard Nimoy Quinto looks.

And then there is Chris Pine, the man who has the hardest job in the world - bringing to life the original rebel captain who has little respect for authority and a gung-ho attitude that has him fighting every step he takes. And he succeeds in a way that you wouldn't even believe. We see Kirk as a cocky young boy, who becomes an equally cocky twenty-something, and who is more than happy to cheat as long as it means he wins. As he says in the film "I don't believe in a no-win situation" and that is Kirk - arrogant, cocksure, and, rather annoyingly, right. What Pine does is channel William Shatner's complete arrogance in the role of Kirk, and bringing with it the same charisma that makes you refrain from wanting to punch him in the face. You can't help but cheer when Kirk solves the insoluble Kobayashi Maru situation at the academy even though he cheated in order to do it. But every so often we need to see a hero who will break the rules and be happy to blow his enemy away. Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote a script that faithfully recreated the original character, but it is Pine's outstanding performance which sells it.

Have I forgotten anyone? Oh yes...of course...When it was announced that Leonard Nimoy would be appearing in the movie, I did wonder if it wasn't just an excuse to shoehorn an original actor in, and did wonder why they didn't bother doing the same with Shatner. However, after watching the movie, it becomes pretty clear exactly why this couldn't be done. Because, if this is an alternate reality, Leonard Nimoy is definitely the original version - Spock Prime as the credits name him. And it brings a joy to the heart and a slight tear to the eye when Nimoy intones the "Space...the final frontier" before the closing credits.

I really have nothing more to say about this movie, because it really is all about the performances. Never mind Eric Bana, never mind Winona Ryder...the main cast is all you need. And by god do they sell it well.

As Scotty says "I like this ship! It's exciting!" It is indeed.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I really had to restrain the fan-geek in me for this movie, let me say from the outset. A movie like this has the potential to be so amazing, but at the same time can upset fan-geeks a lot, primarily because there is already an established movie continuity for the X-Men. What if they were to destroy that? Could I handle it?

As it turned out the fan-geek had absolutely nothing to worry about and while, as I expected, this didn't turn out to be the thought provoking X-Men movies of Bryan Singer, it was still an entertaining and action-packed film that doesn't have a dud moment.

Fox and Marvel must be thanking Tom Cruise every day for the fact that Mission: Impossible II ran over schedule and Dougray Scott was forced to pull out of the role of X-Men, handing over to song-and-dance man Hugh Jackman. Jackman, of course, turned out to be handsome, charming and able to bring Wolverine perfectly to life for three movies, so much so that by the third X-Men movie he was, undeniably, the star. If any X-Man was going to pull off a solo movie, it was going to be Wolverine, and thanks to Hugh Jackman's success and popularity, it became a no-brainer.

What was slightly more controversial, though, was recasting established characters such as Stryker and Sabretooth. However, given the context of the story, this is perhaps, not that surprising. Tyler Mane was brilliant as the tall, muscle bound heavy that Sabretooth was in the first X-Men movie, but I'm not sure he could have gotten through the acting and dialogue that Sabretooth has to carry in this film. Liev Schrieber was an odd choice for me when I first heard about it, but the trailers allowed me to warm up to him and on film, he's an absolutely terrifying beast, even more agile than in the first film.

Danny Huston as Stryker didn't really make me uspet, but at the same time I didn't also get terribly excited about it. He plays the part competently, giving some nice character moments to the part, but unfortunately he fails to make much of an impact.

In truth, most of the film fails to make much of an impact. While the story is servicable and gives a nice backstory to Wolverine, where he comes from and why he is like he is, it's not a particularly new story in any genre, and at times seems more of an excuse to introduce us to a much wider group of characters from the X-Franchise. Characters like The Blob, John Wraith, Deadpool, Agent Zero, The Bolt, Silver Fox, Gambit and Emma Frost all make an appearance while the intricacies of Stryker's plot doesn't entirely add up. We discover that he is rounding up all the mutants to create a supermutant that he can control to hunt down and kill mutants. Except that, if he can round up mutants, why not just kill them there and then? Indeed, at times it seems that Stryker's primary motivation is to create a mutant that can kill Wolverine and Sabretooth - except that if he hadn't tried to create the supermutant, he wouldn't need to kill Wolverine and Sabretooth. It's slightly circular.

What's funny is that, given the Marvel trend to tie their movies into a coherent universe, this one could actually have easily been tied into the Marvel universe, while at the same time giving a little more scope to Stryker's actions. If Nick Fury had had a cameo to check on Stryker's progress in recreating the super-soldier program, suddenly you would have a lot more depth to Stryker; something which would have been more effective than a quick cameo by a kid with two eye colours stuck in a freezer. This would also have been a nice touch for the fans, something which the movie never shies away from; dropping names such as the Hudsons and having a cameo appearance at the end of the film by a certain distinguished British actor.

However, to most people, and to me as well to a certain degree, this movie could have been awful but would still have been saved by watching Hugh Jackman recreate his Wolverine character. Although on a couple of occasions he drops his accent and goes Ocker for a bit, Jackman still manages to inject so much into Wolverine that he simply steals the show whenever he's on screen. Wolverine is much more of a hero in this movie than he was in previous ones, but it doesn't matter because that's what you expect from this movie, and from Jackman as well.

Wolverine is a far more entertaining movie than it's immediate predecessor, but one of my friends remarked that it was the kind of movie that was best seen at the cinema with a group of like-minded friends. I think he's pretty much on the money with that observation.

Heroes: Season Three

Twenty five episodes later, and Heroes has reached the end of its third season, to a fairly mixed reception and, undeniably, some rather disappointing ratings - an average drop of around three million viewers. Why is this? Well, it's a little hard to say, but certainly the programme this season suffered from two things - the fallout of the writer's strike that cut season two in half, and head writer Jeph Loeb. There were some great ideas this season, but the major problem with the programme was that it lacked focus, which is a great shame, all things told, because there is limitless potential with the format, the ideas and the, frankly quite brilliant cast.

Season Two was supposed to have continued by having a four episode volume called Villains, before going into the Fugitives volume that would have seen the heroes round up and locked away - though not because of Nathan, but rather because of the outbreak of the virus, which never actually happened due to the writer's strike. As a result Loeb decided to take the slightly unusual decision to still have the round up of heroes, but still at the end of the season, which meant that the opening needed to be expanded and this meant the inclusion of a new supervillian, Arthur Petrelli, backed up by Maury Parkman and some other nasty pieces of work. Brother vs brother would become son vs father, dramatic tension would unfold, the astonishing revelation that Sylar was a Petrelli would be revealed, and Peter would absorb Sylar's power and start down the dangerous path that his brother was already treading.

Except it didn't quite work out like that. Throughout the first volume, Jeph Loeb would come up with some great ideas, but then get sick of them and forget all about the fact they had happened. Yes, Peter appropriated Sylar's power, but an episode later and he had forgotten all about it. Sylar was revealed to be a Petrelli...and then it turned out that he wasn't and both Arthur and Angela Petrelli had been independently lying about exactly the same thing.

The big problem was that there was actually so much room for dramatic character development. How interesting would it have been to see Mohinder truly get darker and darker, becoming more and more desperate for power? To see Peter kill Sylar and effectively take his place? To see Angela truly run the company with Bennet as her right hand man. There was an enormous amount of paths that the series could have taken, but instead we got half way there, and then completely forgot about.

There were other problems, of course, including the fact that a number of the heroes were becoming more and more powerful to the point they were virtually unstoppable. As a consequence they had to have their powers very quickly removed, either by the much talked about antidote that Mohinder devised or they were just taken away by Arthur. Which leads me neatly to my next point, and that is the death of characters that were relatively entertainging. Micah and Monica were unceremoniously dumped, while Elle and Adam were killed off and Maya just stood around doing very little. As the cast expanded it became clear that the writers were having difficulty knowing what to do with them, and as a consequence they were just tossed aside.

And so with the ratings progressively deteriorating decisions were made and Loeb was given the chop (although curiously he was credited until the very end) and Tim Kring, apparently, returned to being the showrunner.
Finally the storyline of the heroes being rounded up came into play, but sadly they didn't end up being contained; rather they spent most of the time being on the run from the Hunters. Tracy Strauss, the new character portrayed by Ali Larter - a character with a very dark side, which was a nice move - was effectively sidelined (though she did very little for the opening part of the season). And then there was just a little too much character development, as most of the characters, when they weren't on the run, were moping about how they got into this position.

And then came Episode Twenty, and Bryan Fuller who had returned to be a consulting producer, delivered a script that was simply sublime. Tracy met with a devastating end (or did she?) while Micah returned showing initiative and power. For the next five episodes, the series delivered what it had done in Season One; action mixed with character moments that paid off and explained the motiviations of the characters, most notably Angela who had appeared to be virtually schizophrenic until we finally discovered why she did what she did.

I had been hoping for a huge showdown at the end of Volume Three, with the heroes uniting to battle Arthur Petrelli, but it turned out to be nothing but an anticlimax. Happily, though we didn't get the big fight against Sylar at the end of Volume Four, instead we got the heroes working together towards the eventual aim. The costs were high, as they had been in the finale of Season One, but the final actions of the characters have created some interesting pathways to explore next season.

Season Two had dared to be different to Season One, but Season Three seemed to be lost, struggling to recapture what was lost from the previous two season, whilst attempting to make its own identity. The theory didn't really work, and perhaps the writers would have been better starting afresh, without the leftover storylines of Season Two, and without attempting to be like the previous two seasons; rather just doing what it needed to do.

Season Four has been greenlit for the programme, as the show still is one of NBC's big winners despite the ratings fall, but hopefully the writers will learn from the mistakes of Season Three, utilise the characters better and finally slough off the stigma of the writer's strike. I don't think NBC will be forgiving if Season Four fails.

Doctor Who: Image Of The Fendahl (BBC DVD)

In England this month, Image Of The Fendahl comes to DVD, with its Australian release just a few months away. I have to admit to be slightly biased in regards to this story as I remember watching it as a child and being just enamoured of it. Rewatching it, this is the story with English sex symbol Wanda Ventham, but frankly it is Leela (Louise Jameson) who blows me away. I've never really found the Doctor's companions of old hot, but I'm finding, more and more, that my feelings on that are changing, and frankly, Leela in those skins...

Back to maturity though!

Image comes at a strange time in Tom Baker's Doctor Who era; producer Philip Hinchcliffe had been stepped down due to the levels of violence and horror his stories had, and script editor Robert Holmes was keen to follow his boss, with whom he was very much in sync with. New producer Graham Williams was ordered to tone it all down, but convinced Holmes to stay on, and Image is Holmes last story (in production order) and it seems he's very much gone back to the style he preferred. Image has all the hallmarks of the Hinchcliffe era - a gothic horror story, homaging a classic (in this case the wonderful 1950's television series Quatermass And The Pit; although truth be told it probably owes more to the 60's Hammer film version than the BBC television version) and featuring some rather horrifying and violent moments. There is, in fact, one scene that is extremely shocking, and even Tom Baker, on the audio commentary seems shocked by it.

The story essentially stems around a skull that is twelve million years old, and the Doctor and Leela have tracked down a time rift which is powering up the skull to release a creature that was imprisoned by the Time Lords and which feeds on death itself. It's simple enough, and the story itself is just rife with wonderfully atmospheric scenes, such as the opening where a hiker is killed by an unknown force, which ultimately affects the Doctor at the end of Part One. Performances are quite fantastic all round, though there are three performances which are, quite frankly, mesmerising.

Dennis Lill plays Dr Fendelman, with a teutonic accent and a mustache that deserves its own spin-off series. That aside though, he positively throws himself into his performance and is just amazing. Daphne Heard, similarly bizarrely accented but without the mo, plays ole Mrs Tyler who baint be approvin' of them scientists, but there's just something about her that makes you shut up and accept everything that comes out of her mouth without a second's hesitation.
However, it is Tom Baker who steals the show. With Williams in the producer's chair, Baker was getting more and more opportunity to do exactly what he wanted to with the part. His ad libs come think and fast in this story, with some moments such as the Doctor telling his feet to move, and then telling them to turn around, showing Baker at his most off the cuff extravagant. The thing about this, though, is that Baker is constantly charismatic. He's like William Shatner...just completely bizarre and yet compelling viewing. Baker is not my favourite Doctor, but there's no denying that his sheer charisma makes him the most watchable of them all, dragging the audience in with his golf ball eyes and making them follow him like a bohemian Pied Piper. In Image he switches from over the top eccentricity to sombre authority. He's truly fabulous.

However, the true star of the story is director George Spenton-Foster. He appears to be absolutely against long shots, and there are copious amounts of close ups, moodily lit, that truly make the story claustrophobic. Doctor Who seems to work at its best when you have a small group of people in a small space, with something outside trying to get in, and something inside going slowly mad (the formula still works; note Midnight). Spenton-Foster knows exactly how the formula nees to work, and brings it home with a bang.

The DVD for this one is one of the "cheap" DVDs, which means that, instead of five documentaries, you only get one; you get the audio commentary, deleted scenes and digital restoration (which is, as always, superb). So, fundamentally, it's still a great DVD with some great extras, and given the tendency recently for DVD documentaries to have a barely peripheral association to the story that it is associated with, it's nice to have just one documentary that is entirely focussed on Image Of The Fendahl. That said, the documentary itself doesn't really reveal an awful lot of new information for the hardened fan, but for others it will be a nice grounding - though I was astonished to discover that everybody hates the Fendahleen...I love them. I think they look great.

But all the extras could be tossed aside for the audio commentary. Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Wanda Ventham (Thea) and Edward Arthur (Colby) are all terribly entertaining, regaling the audience with stories that have nothing to do with the story, but are fascinating, and, of course, Tom Baker is without doubt as mad as a hat full of berries, discussing how old women ask him about his sonic screwdriver, and how he is mistaken for Claire Rayner.

This is another great DVD from the Doctor Who Restoration Team, and is an absolute classic Doctor Who story that everyone should have on their shelves.

The Biggest Loser Australia (Couples) - Season 4

And so The Biggest Loser (Couples) comes to an end, with twelve weeks of Ten regretting having gotten rid of Big Brother, and so making up for it by putting TBL contestents through more and more ridiculous challenges.
I said at the beginning of this season that it looked like it was going to be the most gimmickiest of the entire lot, but as time went on it became clear that, not only was it the most gimmickiest, it was also going to be the one that was most manipulated by the producers. This is, of course, the one thing that lead to the downfall of BB, and so it was the one thing you'd think the producers would attempt to avoid.
Nonetheless as the game progressed it became clear that the producers had favourites that they were determined were not going to be leaving the show, and it was clear that Nathan was at the top of this list, as despite being voted off the programme twice he was returned both times.
This year seemed to be the year of catchphrases, as "the game was about to change forever" and "we've come to the pointy end of the game" were trotted out with monotonous regularity. Seriously though, unless the game was suddenly changed to "the contestent with the biggest weight gain is the winner" how exactly would the game change forever? I do remember, rather entertainingly, that on one walk, Nathan was told that the power he had was unprecendented in the history of The Biggest Loser. I can't remember what that power was (it was so memorable), but I do remember Sharif commenting, on Nathan's return, that he had no power whatsoever. So much of TBL was a case of build it up, because it's nothing.
It was nice to see that Bob and Jillian weren't remotely associated with the show this year, and it gave Shannon and Michelle the chance to really make their claim on the programme. I'm not entirely certain why, but obviously the producers decided that they needed more to make the programme work, and so aside from Shannon and Michelle, and the always entertaining Commando, we were given Emazon, who, quite frankly, was the most pointless person on the programme. Her workouts were not as terrifying as the Commando's and, aside from constantly shooting her in the dark, she wasn't even as terrifying as Michelle on a bad day.
Then, of course, we had the contestents, given to us in couples, which could have provided a bit of tension if you liked one half of the couple, but not the other, but at the end of the day, if you liked one, you would invariably like the other, and the feelings for hate were similar.
I couldn't stand first couple Tania and Ramses who were kicked out after a week and then bitched and moaned everytime we saw them again, even banging on about how they were going to kick arse when they had the chance to return. As it transpired they not only failed to kick arse, but also failed to lose much weight and it was a very poor final weigh in for them.
However, my feelings of hate for Tania and Ramses were nothing compared to the vitrolic loathing I had for bogan friend mothers Jodi and Jeda. Good god, could there be a more unlikable couple in the house? It seemed that they were going to take up the mantle of moaning and bitching from Tania, and then some. I was so pleased to see the back of them, and even more so, after they complained that they shouldn't be going, Sharif put them in their places. And then, after being told we'd be seeing two hot chicks in the finale, we still just saw two fat bitches.
I had something of a rollercoaster ride with Nathan and Andrew, initially liking them because of their blunt honesty about the way they played the game, but this turned to dislike when it became clear that they - or Nathan at the very least - were pricks in the way they played it. It was extremely entertaining when they attempted to manipulate Holly and Mel and it completely backfired. What shat me even more was how they kept on about the intention to get rid of the pair, and then turned about face. However, once the two were separated, it was interesting to see that Andrew became a whole lot more likable, and Nathan found his home having his arse repeatedly kicked by the Commando every day. And, to their credit, they looked fantastic at the final weigh in.
Holly and Mel were the most annoying couple in the show this year, sniping at each other and making no friends througout the entire show. However, what irked me even more was that they twice said they wanted to leave the game. Look, girls, if you want to go, SOD OFF! Don't wait til you're voted off - pack your bags and walk out the door. At the finale, Mel looked atrocious with hair that looked like she'd taken styling tips from the Jackson 5 (and complained that she still weighed the same as she did on the return weigh in - you chose to leave rather than continue to workout you stupid BITCH!), while Holly looked fantastic. Shame she didn't have the personality to go with it.
Amanda and Stewart had the most to lose, Amanda being an incredible 170 kilos, and yet by the end had managed to get that down to below 115, so big power to her. I felt for the two of them, although they were both a bit mercenary at times, and Amanda did come across as feeling a little bit sorry for herself. Stewart's weight loss was incredible, and Amanda, despite the fact that Ajay seemed to call on her to do it everytime she looked sideways, had a voice that was simply phenomenal. I hope she does get somewhere as an opera singer because she deserves to.
Sammi and Cameron didn't impress me to start with, and this was the one pair that did actually split opinion. I quite liked Sammi, but Cameron was a miserable, negative git, that just moaned for the entire twleve weeks. He finally managed to pull his act together, but still he seemed to chuck a tantrum in the final week. At the end of the day the pair were really non-entities, but I was glad to see Sammi ignore her father and friend and, when given the choice of evicting Sharif or Stewart, she followed her heart and got rid of Stewart, rather than her friend.
Ben and Sean were non-entities for the majority of the time they were in the show as a couple, though I do recall the week they had to have takeaway food for the entire week and Ben chucked the shits because he thought it was counter-productive. Quite frankly I was in complete agreement with him and it makes you wonder why the show does this to these poor bastards. Happily, after Ben left, Sean stepped up and became a quiet little powerhouse. At the final weigh-in I was astonished at how much weight Ben had lost as he looked amazing, but was utterly pleased as punch that Sean won the eliminated contestants prize as he the amount of effort he put into working out was incredible. It was also good to see he got rid of that godawful gap in his teeth.
Tears seemed to be the order of the series with Sean bursting into them every five minutes, but when he wasn't crying it was Julie. Julie and her daughter Meaghan represented the old woman and the hot woman. Meaghan was clearly a bit of a stunner and when she turned up in the finale she looked absolutely hot as. However, it turned out she was a bitch and far more manipulative than anyone claimed - indeed although Julie said Meaghan played honestly, it was clear that that was anything but the case. Julie, on the other hand, sobbed her way to the final five, and most hilariously, when meeting Emazon, walked into an empty room and burst into tears. I felt bad for her as she clearly had issues, but dear oh dear...
My favourite pairing from the outset were Sharif and Teresa, not just because Sharif was 180 kilos (always back the biggest), but because they were fair, honest and determined. From the outset they lead the way, helping others who couldn't quite keep up, and taking the lead in a quiet and effective way. I cheered all of them, and was devastated when Teresa was sent home, but more so when it was Sharif - sent home on Meaghan's whim rather than a proper elimination. When Sharif got the chance to return I was exteremely happy. The weight loss on both of them by the finale was amazing, and they both looked fantastic - Teresa, actually, looked hot. This was the pair everyone should have aspired to, and they really were fantastic role models.
Finally there was the winning combination of Bob and Tiffany. Bob, the oldest contestent ever, was like the energizer bunny, never giving up and just giving it his all from start to finish. His final weight loss (55% of his body weight!) was absolutely incredible, but the fact he was such a decent and nice guy made me glad he won the competition. Tiffany, seemed a bit of a wishy-washy character and never really established a particularly strong personality, but she was clearly determined and I was just as glad to see her get into second spot. Credit to her.
I didn't find TBL to be compulsive viewing this year, and I don't think I watched a single friday night episode as they are becoming more and more reduntant - stupid challenges which aren't resolved until the Sunday anyway. The producer's interference in the show is getting too obvious and unless they want to go down the BB path they really need to pull back from that. Perhaps just going back to the old days of fat people working out and losing weight might be a better idea for next year?

Doctor Who: The Forgotten (IDW Comics)

It's kind of funny to think that Doctor Who's big break in America is more likely to come through a series of original comics there than through the television series, tucked away on the Sci-Fi Network - although truth to tell, the ratings there may still be higher than the sales of the comics.

Nonetheless along comes - and I've been quite slow in this review - The Forgotten, a trade paperback, collecing the six issues of the series written by Tony Lee and Pia Guerra, with Stefano Martino and Kelly Yates.

Of course the big hook about this series is that it actually features all ten Doctors over the six part series. The tenth Doctor wakes up to find himself in a museum to himself and on touching a variety of objects presented to him by Martha, he recalls adventures from his past. Ultimately, however, he is being pursued by someone who has the ability to manipulate the environment that the Doctor is in.

The nine mini stories are all quite entertaining, though by virtue of the fact that they are really only about 10 pages long, there is not an awful lot of depth to them. The big mystery is actually who is manipulating the Doctor and why Martha seems to know things that she couldn't possibly know.

Lee's story is fun and light, but lacks any real substance to it, appearing to be, more often than not, an excuse to bring the ten Doctors together. One feels though that this could have a little more editing to it to give a bit more definitive characterisation to it.

On the artwork side, Nick Roche provides the covers for the first five issues, and it's pretty clear that it is a good thing he isn't doing the inside art. While it's all very well to describe Tennant as a virtual cartoon, the fact is that there are times when Roche's artwork is so far removed it's not funny. Indeed, given the versions he does of the various Doctors on the front covers, we should perhaps be grateful that Roche at the very worst wasn't given the chance to draw any more McGann or Eccleston.

Guerra, on the other hand, seems to have a slightly better idea of what she is doing, though and her renditions of the various Doctors are quite good (although her second Doctor is waay off in the final issue). Stefan Martino has a bit of fun with the fourth and fifth Doctors, while Kelly Yates gets the chance to do the eighth and ninth Doctor's, though she is probably the weakest of the three artists.

All told, The Forgotten is a better miniseries than Agent Provocateur, but to date both of them lack what makes the new series what it is today - the emotion. A comic allows for an epic grand scale, but there is plenty of room for character as well.