Star Wars at its most bland, boring and predictable since The Rise of Skywalker. This whole season has felt like a backdoor pilot: the TV series, falling into the same trap as the hot mess that was Titans Season 2, setting up too many characters' shows and losing interest in its own to the point where it ends with a tease for another series rather than the third season of its own show. It feels like it's ticking off checklists and resorting to lazy fanservice (in hindsight it's about what we should have expected with a script written by the director of Iron Man 2) instead of trying something new or different like with The Clone Wars' animated series, Rebels' later seasons, or The Last Jedi. The Mandalorian feels like a supporting character in his own show, and the big Deus Ex Machina with Luke Skywalker confirms that the franchise is far too reliant on one character to truly move forward: what was supposed to be the series' big moment just left me cold and soulless, completely empty. I knew this was coming the moment they teased another Jedi apart from Ahsoka and brought back Boba Fett, but did it have to be this uninteresting?
The bit where we got to see Mando's face in front of everyone was a cool culmination of his arc and all, and easily a high point of the episode for me with the right emotional beats working that features a terrific bit of acting from Pedro Pascal that feels like he's been waiting the whole show to to get to grips with. It's easily a series highlight. And the stuff where Moff Gideon was able to almost manipulate Bo Katan and Mando into a fight and coming to blows was a good thing that played to all three characters strengths. But what followed was a colossal let down that flat out killed my interest in Season 3 if this is the direction of where this show is headed, it just feels like Star Wars is playing it far too safe right now, focusing on the same one character in a way that is determined to tie everything together. I also love the subtle nuance where we get to see the brief personalities of the minor Empire pilots and their troopers that adds a bit of depth to the world and explores how the characters react to the changing events around them. That stuff is good!
Good to see everyone is enjoying this more than I am. It's not for me! And that's fine.
Talk about a show that has unfairly swept under the radar of many: a spiritual sequel to Crystal Moselle's terrific Skate Kitchen utilising the same cast for a series of 30 minute episodes. It's over too quickly but captures the same indie tone effortlessly and is a joy to watch unfold, the performances are mostly natural and the group has brilliant chemistry across the board. One of my favourites of the year.
This remake gets everything right: the tone, the soundtrack, the performances are all spot on across the board: Zoe Kravitz is terrific in the lead role. This show deserved the world: it should have never just had that solitary season.
Completely fearless, brave, unique and breathtakingly weird. By far the most original show to come out of 2020, Lovecraft Country is a trip that has to be experienced fully to be believed: I loved it! Its anthology-esque structure is refreshing with largely different storylines each episode with a core group of characters. It throws everything at the wall and most of it sticks, the genre-shifting is handled really well and you will almost certainly be surprised. For a great double-act, pair it with the equally insane Lovecraft horror fare Color out of Space.
Star Trek hasn't been this good in a while, fresh, exciting and optimistic more than living up to its bold, inclusive mission statement. As addictive as ever and instantly bingeable, Doug Jones & Sonequa Martin Green are the MVPs of this season with excellent performances from Mary Wiseman, David Ajala & Anthony Rapp. This feels more like an ensemble than ever with great attention given to the entirety of Discovery, it's far more than just the show of the select few.
Would have been happy with how it ended if that had been a final season, but I'm really excited to see where they take Season 4 next.
Love the dynamic between The Doctor, Martha and Shakespeare in this episode. Shakespeare being treated as one of the rockstars of his age feels appropriate, and The Doctor quoting Shakespeare back at Shakespeare will never not grow old. A few sketchy moments with the writing aside that have not aged well, The Shakespeare Code is still a fun romp in a mostly consistent season.
A mostly really solid episode that follows the present day-past-future formula of the first three episodes of any given season that RTD stuck to quite frequently during his era. The dystopia set-up of an endless motorway of caravans is established with ease, the return of the Macra is handled really well, and I love the establishment of the "You Are Not Alone" mystery with the return of the Face of Boe. Maintains its suspense throughout and Tennant is able to sell even the cheesiest of scenes with the emotional beats handled really well. Novice Hame is handled much better here than in New Earth, and it acts as a great sequel.
"I've Invented a Sport!"
Really fun mood setter featuring an early performance from Andrew Garfield doing an American accent. Infinitely better than Evolution of the Daleks that holds up so much better on a rewatch, the Murray Gold score is firing on all cylinders. It's one of those stories that captures its time setting perfectly.
I'm not too keen on this one.
It's better than The Lazarus Experiment, Stephen Greenhorn's last Who episode, but not by much - and suffers from just not being as good as the rest of Series 4, which - because it's so good, makes the weaker episodes stand out all the more - put this in Series 3 and it's a solid middle of the road episode. It'd probably be one of the better ones of 2 or 7. Jenny needed a bit more development as the show never gives her any room to breath and it struggles to quite get the Doctor/Donna/Martha/Jenny/both factions balance right in this episode, even if I like the dynamic between Donna & Martha (which is refreshingly not combative in the way that Rose/Sarah Jane was) and the reveal about the war only lasting 7 days, 7 days being "generations" to the clones was a pretty effective moment - the emotional beats in this episode did a good job at landing, thanks in no small part due to Tennant's brilliance which makes up for the revelation about The Doctor's daughter being a clone being something of a copout - I remember the days of the speculation back in the runup to this episode as it aired! Not sure all of it stuck the landing.
On the plus side, this is the last (and only) not-as-good episode of Series 4! There's nothing but great episodes from here on out.
Same school of thought as the previous celebrity historical episodes, but with a surprise Felicity Jones appearance! of course she's the thief, tons of fun with its Cluedo-esque mystery "what are you doing with that lead piping?" and obviously, the CGI with the wasp hasn't aged brilliantly, but it's really fun overall and Agatha Christie and The Doctor teaming up to solve crimes never fails. Also the bit about The Doctor/companions bouncing off ideas about books that the famous authors haven't written to them yet from The Shakespeare Code never gets tiring.
Rivals Blink in terms of scare factor, this two parter's terrifying. "Hey, who turned out the lights?" The River Song mystery being introduced so early comes as a surprise, but Alex Kingston has an instant chemistry with David Tennant from the word go - it's completely believable. Hits all the right beats, makes you care about even the side characters who you've met for seconds - I always seem to underrate these two when making lists, but they're just so good! Possibly one of Tennant's better performances as The Doctor in this pair of episodes, too.
That's another stellar episode of Doctor Who - maybe Russell T. Davies' best script for the show? It's a perfect bottle episode (dare I say the best bottle episode of television apart from Breaking Bad's Fly?) A great slice of Twilight Zone-esque brilliance at its finest. Lesley Sharp is terrific. This run from The Unicorn and the Wasp to Journey's End is pretty much perfection.
Turn Left is a trial run for the brilliant Years and Years - Who at its darkest and most dystopian? Terrifying. This is another 10/10 in a row here, Russell T. Davies firing on all creative cylinders, Catherine Tate (her best performance) & Bernard Cribbins are phenomenal here. "The Stars are going out" is more chilling than it has any right to be. A depressing reminder that it can always get worse.
The Stolen Earth is the Doctor Who event: the first part of a culmination of everything Russell T. Davies has brought to the show. Big, loud, bombastic & ends with multiple cliffhangers on a sprawling, galaxy-wide scale where the heroes lose. Infinity War, only better.
Quite a comedown after the brilliant Stolen Earth and the weakest of the post Unicorn and the Wasp era episodes, but there are some great ideas in this and it aims big and succeeds in resolving the massive cliffhanger the only way RTD knows how: deus ex machina. The departure for Donna never fails to be emotional even when Rose's send-off is a bit too melodramatic, but as a way to close off one of the best eras of the show, Journeys End does so in style. The Russos blatantly nabbed the whole Infinity War "50% of the population" thing from this.
Murray Gold is at his peak here - Song of Freedom is top-tier. Love the Sarah Jane/Davros reunion too, it's well overdue.
A promising storyline let down by a weak second half, saved by a strong final classic series outing for Elisabeth Sladen who makes those final moments instantly memorable.
Season 14 started off on a pretty weak note with this enjoyable but imperfect caper set in San Martino. It really needed a better alien.
Jimmy McGovern is unmatched in writing brilliance - shining a spotlight on prisons a world away from what the Daily Mail would have you believe they're like - he paints a damning portrayal of institutionalised corruption with astounding performances from the always brilliant Sean Bean and Stephen Graham - few actors have a better track record of appearing in good stuff than Graham.
A genuine delight, soars like a firecracker on all cylinders - matches the same chaotic energy that films like We Are the Best! (no doubt an inspiration) had - grippingly authentic and a genuine breath of fresh air on the British comedy scene.
A brilliant continuation of one of 2018's best movies, wickedly smart, clever and tonally just right - a hangout TV show if there ever was one. Might just be even better than the film.
Haunting, breathtakingly unique puzzle box from Stephen King and Pablo Larrain that has all the hallmarks of both at their best. Great performances from across the board - and whilst King stories tend to fizzle out with a whimper rather than a bang, the signs are strong for this on that it won't suffer the same fate. Dane DeHaan is appropriately sinister, and the high-budget production makes it look better than most movies.
Star Wars is turning into the MCU, relying on inter-connectivity and cameos, some work better than others - it makes a big universe feel smaller than ever. Some work better than others but at this point this time period has been done to death and I just wish the franchise would try something new. It still can't figure out what it wants its audience to be.
Jared Harris continues his hot streak of appearing in very good things and being very good in them. The on-location shooting on the Isle of Wight is the true star, but Cush Jumbo gives you a character to root for and the Knives Out of it all is suitably compelling. Not bad for Britbox's first original show.
Hard-edged, sometimes self-serious modern-day Peaky Blinders. Gets a bit too far fetched at times (there's no way half of this would be possible in modern-day London) and some of the characters are very thinly drawn, but Gareth Evans delivers some of the best possible action on television that not even the likes of Daredevil match. Could have used shorter episodes, especially in its first, though - I don't think it earns its length, or its ending.
A genuine revelation - Mae Martin is an absolute star. Entirely personal, brilliant comedy that is far too easy to get through in one sitting. Savour this, you'll miss it once it's done.
A brilliant, darker-edged, hard-hitting Fleabag-esque dark comedy featuring an astounding performance by Billie Piper - bloody hell, how good is the Baftas right now? Gloriously inventive, completely unafraid to go where it wants to go and might just well end up being one of the best shows of last year.
Overcomes a shaky, shock-heavy start and frequently confusing time-jumps that force the show to explain everything that's happening over and over again leading to a lot of repeated exposition, only to plunge you deep into the thick of Roman political intrigue once the early episodes are out of the way. Game of Thrones this isn't, but there's a lot of promise especially for fans of historical period dramas of the more talky side.
Probably the longest TV commercial I'll ever watch in my life (until WB try the same thing a few years later). Made by committee filmmaking that's capitalism at its absolute worst
One of the best Doctor Who episodes of an otherwise lacklustre Series 7 - everything Cowboys & Aliens should have been, a complex moral thriller set against a classic Rio Bravo/High Noon-type set-up filled with plenty of planned anachronisms and Who fun that questions the morality of The Doctor and allows the show to explore deeper themes than it normally does in monster of the weeks. Darker edged and hard hitting - Ben Browder is a surprisingly good guest star in his all-too brief appearance. Smith is great in this one.
A bit rushed especially in its climax but there's a lot of novelty to be had about Kate Stewart, UNIT's return and The Doctor adjusting to life outside the TARDIS despite the fact that he handled it quite well in The Lodger and Closing Time.
