tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78517668902387595182024-03-18T03:04:22.316+00:00ImmaterialReviews and ramblings from Daniel TessierDaniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.comBlogger1178125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-69918180577335163442024-01-26T19:53:00.005+00:002024-01-26T19:53:28.835+00:00Television Heaven updateHere are all my Television Heaven articles and reviews since the last quarter of 2023 up to January 2024. Gradually picking up the pace as I slowly get back in the swing of the writing thing. We have modern and vintage telly from across the decades, beginning with the charming teen superhero series Ms. Marvel within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Perhaps the best show on television Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-28474353124668245252024-01-02T18:28:00.000+00:002024-01-02T18:28:19.134+00:00WHO REVIEW: 2023 Christmas Special - The Church on Ruby RoadDoctor
Who returns with its first
Christmas special since 2017, also serving as a second relaunch of
the programme following the sixtieth anniversary specials. While The
Church on Ruby Road has a more
magical, fantastical feel than most of Doctor Who
previously, and the show has
been modernised since Russell T. Davies first revived the programme
in 2005, it still feels very much like his Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-45087949582946304762023-12-23T22:35:00.007+00:002023-12-23T22:35:39.448+00:00Doctor Who: The Christmas SpecialsAvailable now is my overview of all thirteen Christmas specials from 2005 to 2017, featuring the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors, each one rated for story strength and Christmassy-ness. A nice bit of nostalgic festive rewatching before Doctor Who returns to the Christmas Day schedules with the Fifteenth Doctor.Read it now at Television Heaven.Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-87392362662513079652023-12-12T18:57:00.003+00:002023-12-12T18:57:34.363+00:00WHO REVIEW: 60th Anniversary Special 3 - "The Giggle"The
third of 2023's Doctor Who specials
was always set to be a huge event. The official end of the
programme's sixtieth anniversary specials, the return of a villain
unseen on screen since its earliest days, the end of David Tennant's
second turn as the star of the show, and the introduction of Ncuti
Gatwa as the latest incarnation of the Doctor. It's a loud,
colourful, gleefully expensive Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-9495972628115633682023-12-10T17:21:00.003+00:002023-12-10T17:22:13.229+00:00REVIEW: The MarvelsGetting to the cinema is a challenge these days, but I finally got the chance to see The Marvels, a movie I had really been looking forward to. I was aware, of course, of the poor reception of the film, but based on the trailer I was honestly expecting a good time.I wasn't wrong. The Marvels is, quite simply, great fun. It's not a groundbreaking or genre-defining instalment, and it's Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-39463959101121122192023-12-05T19:44:00.005+00:002023-12-06T12:40:44.271+00:00WHO REVIEW: 60th Anniversary Special 2 - "Wild Blue Yonder"The middle episode of Doctor Who’s three sixtieth anniversary specials is a deeply unsettling, inventive and unexpectedly slimmed-down story. The secrecy around its content led many fans to assume there would be some manner of exciting reveal or a character making a surprise return. Instead, the secrecy served to maintain the surprises of the story itself, giving us the one episode in which we Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-4665180221776076632023-12-02T22:03:00.000+00:002023-12-02T22:03:00.303+00:00TREK REVIEW - Lower Decks 4-9 & 4-104-9 - "The Inner Fight" Getting back to these reviews to finish off the season after being sidelined by various sf anniversaries, and we have what might be the most satisfying finale for Lower Decks in terms of character work. The penultimate episode gives Mariner the focus she's needed all season, dumping her on a brutal planet and forcing her to confront the reasons behind her Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-19523279266309848022023-11-26T23:17:00.003+00:002023-12-05T19:45:27.395+00:00WHO REVIEW: 60th Anniversary Special 1 - "The Star Beast"After thirteen months,
Doctor Who is back on our screens, and after almost fourteen
years, Russell T. Davies has delivered a Doctor Who episode
starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate. It's an odd way to launch
a new era of the programme, one intended to bring in a whole new
audience through the BBC and Bad Wolf's deal with Disney, by leaning
so heavily on the programme's past. Yet it's also a Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-64115945327956674972023-11-26T14:56:00.004+00:002023-11-26T14:56:48.980+00:00Forty years of the DiscworldYears ending in a three really are among the busiest for notable anniversaries of my favourite series, with November being the busiest month. 23rd November 2023 is Doctor Who's 60th anniversary, and the very next day it's the Discworld's 40th! Unfortunately, busy life got in the way so I am posting this on the 26th rather than the 24th, but what's a day or two among cosmic turtles?The Colour of Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-41760377073308358032023-11-18T23:11:00.001+00:002023-11-18T23:11:12.270+00:00WHO REVIEW: Destination: Skaro It's a bit odd to be sitting down and reviewing a five-minute skit from Children in Need, but here we are. There's already been a minor explosion in online discourse about this silly thing, thanks to its gleeful rewriting of Doctor Who continuity.Look, the thing about Doctor Who is that it's been going for sixty years, has been written by dozens of people, many of them gleefully Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-11879056209636478822023-11-17T19:06:00.002+00:002023-11-17T19:06:45.628+00:00Introducing "Scientific Advisor" in Forgotten Lives 3There are only two
weeks left to order Forgotten Lives 3 from Obverse Books. This
is, almost certainly, the last such collection of adventures for the
Forgotten Doctors (AKA the Morbius Doctors, the Mindbend Doctors and
the Pre-Doctors), and so my last opportunity to write for the
Christopher Baker Doctor and his two children. (Well, excepting
anything I write purely for my own enjoyment and postDaniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-88115634072655408142023-11-12T14:29:00.000+00:002023-11-12T14:29:35.301+00:00Announcing Forgotten Lives 3 - available to pre-order until 1st DecemberI am thrilled to announce that the third and final collection of the Doctor's Forgotten Lives is now available to order from Obverse Books, featuring eight new Doctor Who stories including my second story for the Christopher Baker Doctor and his children Jilly and Cedric."How far, Doctor? How long have you lived?'The Doctor has inhabited countless personas, some of which even he seems to have Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-75392432962205011982023-11-04T20:54:00.003+00:002023-11-04T20:54:37.113+00:00The Doctor Who Project presents: TimebaseA long time ago, I began work on my third full-length story for The Doctor Who Project, Timebase, which at the time was intended to feature the TDWP Tenth Doctor.In the end, though, I never finished it. Sometimes stories just don't seem to come together, and while I think Timebase had some really good ideas, I just couldn't get it to work.However, it has since been revived - regenerated, if you Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-16195379985027917012023-10-25T13:58:00.000+01:002023-10-25T13:58:00.443+01:00TREK REVIEW - Lower Decks 4-6 - 4-84-6 - "Parth Ferengi's Heart Place"A highlight of the season so far, the sixth episode takes us back to Ferenginar, a planet we used to visit quite regularly on Deep Space 9 but haven't seen since. Surprisingly, for a series so involved in Trek lore, Lower Decks hasn't spent a great deal of time moving the Trek universe forward, generally leaving this kind of thing to the live action shows. We'veDaniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-55517304026575849862023-10-19T18:06:00.004+01:002023-10-19T18:06:48.113+01:00WHO REVIEW: Once and Future 5 & 6So, you may notice that I haven't reviewed the 3rd and 4th instalments of Big Finish's Once and Future anniversary series. This is because I haven't bought or listened to them. Release 3, A Genius for War, sees the Doctor shift into his seventh self, played by Sylvester McCoy, to face Davros at the height of the Time War. While that sounds like it might be a strong story, the Seventh Doctor vs. Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-998136528020424302023-10-18T22:30:00.002+01:002023-10-18T22:30:56.424+01:00Please speak up against the ongoing Israeli attacks on GazaI am urging my readers to speak up about the ongoing, indiscriminate and entirely disproportionate bombing of Gaza by the Israeli Defense Force in retaliation to the Hamas attacks on 7th October. The ongoing attacks by the IDF are what is known as collective punishment, an action which is considered internationally to be a war crime.Opposing these attacks does not mean that you support HamasDaniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-22578376447743932932023-09-30T22:56:00.003+01:002023-09-30T22:56:32.603+01:00TREK REVIEW - Lower Decks 4-3 - 4-5 4.3 - "The Cradle of Vexilon"A fun episode that draws on classic sci-fi and Trek lore. We've never had a ringworld on Star Trek before, although we did find that Dyson sphere once. It's a fascinating setting that offers some real storytelling opportunities, and it's fair to say that a half hour funny episode isn't enough to give it the exploration it deserves. Full marks for really Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-29349248215890615102023-09-12T14:30:00.005+01:002023-09-12T14:30:47.212+01:00TREK REVIEW: Lower Decks 4-1 & 4-2All Star Trek: Lower Decks episodes are watched using the traditional Orion method.4.1 - "Twovix"Now, with a title like that, it could only be a winner. Lower Decks storms back with a cracking episode that acts as a love letter to Star Trek: Voyager, particularly the most out-there, unexpected and idiotic parts of its seven-year journey.So, as well as having a "Tuvix" situation when several Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-55651135724429591252023-09-08T23:37:00.003+01:002023-09-08T23:37:40.879+01:00REVIEW: Something Strange 3 by Richard Crypt Something Strange is, quite simply, the finest Ghostbusters fanfic available. Richard Crypt, who turns out art at an astonishing rate and does commissions too, has the knack for creating work that just feels like genuine GB material.I'd highly recommend his Patreon, where you get access to sneak previews and exclusive images for as little as a $1/£1 a month. If you really can't stretch to Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-37417401969370188222023-09-05T17:17:00.001+01:002023-09-05T17:17:51.637+01:00Neil Gaiman - comic and graphic novel recommendations (that aren't The Sandman)There's been a lot of Neil Gaiman discourse on the old Tumblr lately, thanks to the return of Good Omens, so I put this post together. It's long and wordy enough that it might as well go on the proper blog.Firstly, The Sandman goes without saying. It's already been covered in the previous post and is easily Gaiman's biggest work. Death: The High Cost of LivingThis is my single favourite Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-69283873895175894442023-08-28T20:52:00.001+01:002023-08-28T20:52:18.690+01:00Television Heaven updateI've a few new articles and reviews up on Television Heaven, for retro, recent and brand new series All the below are now available to read, with more to come:The Full MontyRandall & Hopkirk (Deceased) 2000 Good Omens 2Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S2DC's Legends of Tomorrow S2 Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-26340985126296943042023-08-15T12:44:00.002+01:002023-08-15T12:44:17.509+01:00The Forgotten Lives Omnibus - up for preorder I'm very pleased to announce that not only has Obverse Books decided to reprint both volumes of the unofficial Doctor Who collection Forgotten Lives as a single, hardback omnibus edition, but enough pre-orders have come in during just the first week to ensure it's viable to go ahead.This is a fantastic response, meaning that these stories will get another lease of life, Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-80179892968364077862023-06-27T14:16:00.004+01:002023-06-27T14:16:57.472+01:00WHO REVIEW: Once and Future 1 & 2 There's something a little underwhelming about Big Finish's latest multi-instalment extravaganza, put together to mark Doctor Who's sixtieth anniversary. A story involving the Doctor in multiple incarnations, meeting friends and enemies in unexpected combinations sonds like the very thing to mark the occasion, but it's also exactly what Big Finish has been churning out in quantity for the Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-67619316849278449942023-06-15T21:15:00.006+01:002023-06-16T19:05:49.406+01:00In recognition of the fortieth anniversary of The Black Adder (which means it's perilously close to my fortieth as well), why not take a quick look at my complete, exhaustive historical coverage of the whole bloody saga at Television Heaven? Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7851766890238759518.post-35677989793391996552023-06-11T22:43:00.001+01:002023-06-11T22:45:31.313+01:00REVIEW: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse I will attempt to keep this review fairly spoiler-lite, as while I'm eager to gush about all the wonderful things in this film, it's also one where much of the fun comes in spotting and experiencing things for the first time. If you haven't seen it yet, and you're not certain whether you'll bother to go, I say: go see it. If you're in any way a Spider-Man fan, you will love this movie.Daniel Tessierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08680181981432987267noreply@blogger.com0