KOOL TV REVIEW: 'DOCTOR WHO: 100 SCARIEST MONSTERS'

Dare you look inside? DOCTOR WHO: 100 SCARIEST MONSTERS! Images: BBC CHILDREN'S BOOKS.

DOCTOR WHO -100 SCARIEST MONSTERS

Compiled and written by Justin Richards

Published by BBC CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Reviewed by Scott Weller

It’s a well known fact that five generations of DOCTOR WHO fans from childhood to adult (or even Kid-ulthood!) have always watched the show because they adore the series concept and the lead role of the exciting, time and space traversing Time Lord (in all of his eleven guises so far) as well as his multitude of accessible, spunky and equally brave companions. But, most importantly for the younger viewers often watching it on tenterhooks, they enjoy WHO because they like to be scared by the incredible and diverse monsters that our heroes encounter on a weekly basis (with mum and dad close by to reassure them if it all gets a little bit too scary for them), as their diabolically evil, often very carnivorous and decidedly ambitious plans are just about stopped by them with their courage and often spare of the moment ingenuity-a morality battle of good and evil wrapped up satisfactorily in forty-five minutes, or, as seen in the not too distant past, over four to six serialised adventurous episodes.

Now, uberWHO fan and keeper of its literary flame at BBC Books, Justin Richards, armed to the teeth with bags of Jelly Babies, a handy scarf to distract and topple over baddies, and a seemingly unstoppable Sonic Screwdriver, has braved the far intergalactic reaches of the galaxy to bring us a veritable cornucopia of the most revolting, mechanical, scaly, winged, dribbling, mutated, land and sea traversing creatures ever seen in the show-monsters of past, present and future, and of all shapes and sizes- for a fine and scary celebration that is DOCTOR WHO: 100 SCARIEST MONSTERS!

Perennial favourites like the Cybermen return...

And in its legend as the longest-running science fiction show in the world, WHO has certainly bred some of the most inventive and successful monsters ever conceived for the analogue and digital television age; many of its big-gun creations making lasting and terrorising impressions on family viewing in return performances, well-realised in such a way that they have become household fright icons, with lots of the series classic monsters undoubtedly from the shows second to fourth incarnation eras of Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker: who can forget the sinister emotionless Cybermen, the green scaled Martian’s: the Ice Warriors, the plastic Auton killers, the squat, war-mongering Sontarans, or the cuddly but killing androids, the Yeti. Some creatures may only have made singular appearances but their vividness lingers in the mind’s eye (like the original versions of Jon Pertwee’s water-rising Sea Devils, the foetus-like Zygons (who may be returning to the show soon) and their Skarasen beast, the art deco VOC Robots of Death, the insect-like Wirrn, or eighties villains like the slithery and devious Sil, or the colourful bird/reptilians with designs on historical plague-ridden London: the Terileptils). With its invigorated rise to the top of the ratings charts from 2004 onwards, new enemies from the fertile minds of re-imaginors Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat and the like have added to the impressive monster roster: CGI creations that flex their muscles and claws beyond anything ever conceived and capable from the classic shows effects departments, building on the originals firm and innovative for its time foundations. Modern WHO representations in the book include such gruesome delights as the memory forgetting inducers that are part of The Silence, the stone creepies that are The Weeping Angels (“Don’t blink!”), the infectious water creatures of Mars that are The Flood, the ravenous Slitheen, the warrior Sycorax, etc, etc. And let’s not forget human enemies like the classic and modern WHO series leaping Time Lord villain, The Master, who also gets a fine look in within its packed pages…

Dominating this historic monster-mash, though, must be the shows most iconic, seemingly unkillable, always coming back for more (despite often incredible defeats) pepper pots with x-ray laser blasters: the vicious and all-dominating fearsome residents of Skaro who have plagued the Doctor since his second story way back in 1963 and helped launch the show into being what it is today-the grand-daddy villains of them all: the Daleks. Created by Terry Nation and designed by Raymond Cusick, these emotionless killers still reign supreme: their eventual re-appearances over the years always much welcomed by fans worldwide, within tales that also become more ambitious and ground-breaking -their shrilling, merciless war-cry voices getting kids enthusiastically imitating them in the playground now as they did in the sixties prime. The Daleks are well represented within this book, in sections that are a worthy primer for their colourful and legion return later in the year; firmly getting us in the mood for the old and new designs coming back to wage war against the Doctor in the opening episode of Season Seven, from writer/producer Steven Moffat.

...whilst newcomers like The Silence are well showcased.

Beyond the Daleks, a few of my own personal monster choices from the Classic era sadly, and disappointingly, don’t make the book grade (like Jon Pertwee’s lethal Drashigs, or Peter Davison’s excellent Mara snake creature (recently given over a very effective CGI makeover in its DVD episode releases), but overall there’s truly something for everyone here, managing to successfully deliver and capture readers with its tentacled grasp with its wide cross section appeal.

Accompanied with brief but informative notes, stats and all-important fear factor ratings, the majority of the design spreads for the books are very good, often inspired (especially for some of the CLASSIC WHO monster sections), but some linked to the new series prove to be a bit of a mixed bag visually, smaller episodic imagery occasionally gets swamped or absorbed by overall too dark templates. Some of the selected monster images are also too firmly centred in the middle stapled area and damage their overall effectiveness. These designs surely looked great when seen in layout form on a computer or PDF, but suffer when seen in their finished printed form.  Still, I think it’s the adult buyers of the book who’ll be more concerned by such niggles rather than the intended younger reader audience that this book will clearly delight: they won’t have such concerns and will, no doubt, spend hours and hours fascinatedly pouring over the diverse and intriguing creatures just as older fans did with the now more basic looking DOCTOR WHO MONSTERS books that the great Terrance Dicks did for TARGET BOOKS in the mid-seventies. 100 SCARIEST MONSTERS continues the tradition and is a welcome purchase for any die-hard fans collection, too.

BBC CHILDREN'S BOOKS, keeping their fingers firmly on the pulse (or should that be shielding their jugulars?), have another accomplished tie-in winner. Firmly to be in the entrenched grip of young readers during the summer holidays and the return of the series to the Autumn BBC schedules, 100 SCARIEST MONSTERS is best read behind a sofa, peering over it with hands outstretched turnings its pages: a fine compilation and tribute to the series writers and production teams both old and new: the designers, the make-up and creature builders, and the great actors, who have brought them all to vivid reality: those weird and wonderful aliens, monsters and robots that have fascinated and terrorised us marvellously, and so potently, over the years, even more appreciated now as DOCTOR WHO approaches its all important, and iconic, 50^thanniversary.

KOOL TV RATING: A fangs for the memory 8 out of 10


Check out our KOOL TV FACEBOOK photo gallery of old and new WHO monsters here: DOCTOR WHO-MONSTERS OLD AND NEW

KOOL TV REVIEW: ELISABETH SLADEN - THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Never to be forgotten: actress, wife and mother: Elisabeth Sladen. Image: AURUM PRESS. Image copyright: DAN GOLDSMITH/DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE. 

ELISABETH SLADEN: THE AUTOBIOGRAHY

By Elisabeth Sladen (with Jeff Hudson)

Published by AURUM PRESS

Reviewed by Scott Weller

Over the course of nearly fifty years there have been many companions, male and female, to have travelled alongside the legendary Doctor Who in his trusty time and space traversing TARDIS, but few have managed to capture the enthusiasm and love enjoyed by audiences for actress Elisabeth Sladen in her portrayal of spunky investigative journalist and heroine Sarah Jane Smith, who made her mark on the hearts and minds of the series fans old and young, large and small, in the early to mid-seventies, alongside two of the Doctor’s most popular incarnations, and soon becoming the iconic companion on which all others that followed would be judged…

Possessing natural acting instincts and a personal and professional integrity mixed with a mercurial personality, charisma and inner strength, Elisabeth Sladen was a true ambassador worldwide not only for DOCTOR WHO and its fans- of which she shared a unique bond of endearing and enduring loyalty over the years- but also as the star of her own equally popular spin-off series for younger viewers: THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES. Her loss to us at the young age of 65 this April was a truly tragic blow to her family - of whom she was a totally devoted wife and mother, her friends, and her unceasingly loyal and dedicated fan base. Before her illness, Miss Sladen had completed her autobiography (originally to have been titled WHO’S THAT GIRL), alongside co-writer Jeff Hudson, but, due to work commitments, had not had time to make an overview of it. Now, her husband and soul mate, fellow actor Brian Miller and daughter Sadie, have released the book posthumously, with a final chapter overview covering life before and after her sad passing.

Titled pure and simply ELISABETH SLADEN: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY, published by AURUM PRESS, here is a highly enjoyable tribute to the remarkable woman and her varied career as an actress, showing us her self deprecating sense of humour tinged with realism. In the book we discover a professional actress and very private person who quietly didn’t suffer fools gladly, but whose life was balanced with a very generous and warm heart.

A lovely foreword from ex-Doctor David Tennant, who grew up as we did watching Sladen as Sarah, nicely sets up our introduction to the life and work of the actress. Born in Liverpool in post-World War II Britain, young Sladen’s growing up is a fun and sprightly period in which she is bitten by the “performing arts’ bug at a very young age, if not as a job to earn money but for the pure enjoyment of it all. With such enthusiasm for her career start, its great to see that there are so few bleak moments in the book-her journey as an actor and the difficulties of getting regular income starting out are in themselves the main pitfalls- struggles most actors have to be prepared for and overcome in the choice of their career profession.

Sladen, at the BBC in 1973, undergoes a publicity photo call for Sarah Jane Smith's introduction to DOCTOR WHO. All WHO series images: BBC.

Adoring her time in the theatre, despite all the hard work and dogs body tasks often involved in her position as assistant floor manager, and after years watching all the great stage heroes she admired, Sladen would go on to work/act alongside some of Britain’s rising stars, and then into the world of commercials and popular TV, in shows like SOME MOTHERS DO ‘AVE ‘EM, police drama Z-CARS, a stint on long running British soap opera CORONATION STREETY, and finally to DOCTOR WHO, where she would prove so well cast by Producer Barry Letts as Sarah Jane Smith: strong willed and often fearless investigative reporter for the Metropolitan magazine. Sarah was both gutsy but vulnerable in equal measure, and played in a believable and appealing way by the actress. Thrilled to be in a major TV series success, Sladen’s thanks and affection for Letts shines throughout both the book and her career. Quickly having to adapt to the new series and her character within a matter of weeks, Sladen, never a sci-fi fan, would soon find herself working against the curly white haired, beaky nosed charisma of Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor. And it was an all-important relationship that didn’t quite get off on the right note, as she soon found the actor/entertainer, despite his spirited heart, often very generous nature and all round adventurous zest for life, a bit too much of an overpowering personality in her nervy early days- often unconsciously rubbing her up the wrong way- of whom she would have an on, off and on again relationship with over the years to come.

Despite those sunrise anxieties getting into her character, getting used to the series and working with Jon Pertwee, Sladen soon proves that she is no shrinking violet, and certainly comes across as a spirited little spitfire starting out, and projecting a lot of her personality into the character as it made its evolutionary first on-screen appearance in the 1973 filmed story The Time Warrior. Soon proving popular with audiences in her new series co-lead role, viewers enjoyed her projection of confidence, humour and fear as Sarah Jane Smith, where, despite the restrictions of the shows often punishing filming schedules on location and within the studio confines of the BBC, she managed to inject further nice little touches of character and humanity as the series progressed.

Sarah Jane's first adventure with the Third Doctor saw her do battle against a Sontaran in The Time Warrior.

Fortunately, her one season stint with Jon Pertwee, who unhappily left the show when he felt he wasn’t being supported enough by the BBC management, would give way to the Time Lord regenerating into the incredible presence that is Tom Baker, whose fedora hat, unending bags of Jelly Babies and lengthy multi-coloured scarf would soon help propel him into the TV screens of millions of devoted households, quickly getting used to his new, often alien, portrayal.

Helping the new Fourth Doctor- Tom Baker- settle in during his debut story: Robot.

And it was at this point that Sladen, no longer the new face on the show, became more comfortable in her surroundings and relished the chance to bring further new personality facets to her character whilst working with Baker - here was an almost symbiotic relationship of trust and respect both on and off screen between the pair. At first insecure in inhabiting the role- a true actors dream part of success and creative instinct- Tom quickly found Sladen- a fellow Liverpudlian- to be an amazing lifeline of support, of which an endearing/enduring friendship soon blossomed: a cohesive team ship during his new career as the Time Lord for the next generation and beyond of fandom, whilst Sladen, who had once been insecure about her future with the departure of Pertwee, gained a new and trusted friend and confidante-the pair soon becoming series and seventies icons to the nine million people who tuned in every Saturday mid-evening to be both entertained and scared by their incredible adventures, and who loved watching their on screen pairing/bond of friendship and trust that sadly exists in all too short supply in real life: a perfect friendship/relationship that many men and women can only dream of having, and perhaps another reason why both her and Tom Baker have endured so affectionately in WHO within the public consciousness for so long…

Sladen and Baker: an unbeatable ratings winning duo during the seventies.

It’s at this point in the book that it quite easily becomes one of the best behind the scenes looks ever at the classic series-showing us its good and bad moments at the height of its popularity in the seventies, with some terrific anecdotes on every story that Sladen was involved in during her three and a bit years on WHO, including a look at the classic scenes she shared with the Doctor(s), her various looks and costumes (including that Andy Pandy costume!), filming the action and adventures sequences, the numerous monsters she would appear with (including classic like the Daleks and the Cybermen), and the actors who brought them to life, plus the everyday things that entailed when being in one of the most popular television series of all time. Additionally, there’s the way the show has evolved and changed over the years, too: its two distinctive life cycles in the entertainment industry, of which her original lengthy stint on the series would quickly be remembered and appreciated for years to come with the arrival of the home video and DVD markets worldwide plus the sudden boom time of the Internet, where classic WHO would become even more sustainedly popular, resulting in Sladen’s tenure on the show gaining further appreciation and enjoyment. There’s also her eventual return visits to the show in its later years, plus the infamous K-9 AND COMPANY special which, despite her original high hopes for, she now completely loathes and regrets doing. Though her work on that one-off 1981 special would eventually lead to a new lease of life for her character, alongside the occasional return of the successful robot dog, in the C-BBC spin-off THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES in the mid-2000’s.

Though not a dog lover, Sladen would work with an Alsatian and K-9 in the singular K-9 AND COMPANY spin-off.

Deciding it was best to leave at the top of her WHO status, Sladen, always instinctively knowing how to navigate her life and career, would do exactly that in her memorable finale story of the shows 1976 fourteenth season: The Hand of Fear. Intriguingly, with her departure, the actress never quite understood why she had proved so popular in the role of Sarah–an occasional persistent thought that would echo on at times through her career and her time beyond WHO: in many ways she thought of it as just another job, but with the passage of time her perspective on the character and the shows success would change for the most part once she met the series worldwide fans.

With WHO, temporarily at least, out of her mindset, Sladen then headed off to fresh pastures including radio work, other types of children’s programmes and dramas here and there, plus a return to some stage projects. These later roles may not have been as high profile in the public eyes, but to Sladen they would prove a period of great enjoyment and creative freshness before she and her husband decided to start a family: enter Sadie Miller!

Sladen would return to WHO for its Twentieth Anniversary in 1983: The Five Doctors.

Despite not wanting to re-appear full-time in Classic WHO’s final years, Sladen would partake in numerous related events and projects, like the fun family jaunts she often had whilst making worldwide conventions and meeting the masses of fandom springing up in the eighties. Plus there was her warm re-unitings with many of her co-stars, as well as other legendary people who had acted or been involved in the show’s making, its various spin-offs and the like.

Sarah Jane would return alongside new Tenth Doctor and K-9 for several adventures. Image: BBC/RADIO TIMES.

“Retired” from acting so as to continue raising her family, and having mildly shirked off her talents as an actress, Sladen’s eventually return to the WHO fold would be in the then hotly anticipated episode for the new series: School Reunion, with David Tennant now starring as the series Tenth Doctor. At first sceptical and wary of how the shows producers might treat her character-of whom she was incredibly protective-Sladen was soon convinced into doing it after meeting and trusting its then show-running producer and main writer/show runner Russell T. Davies. Despite early nerves and worries that her performance might be off-kilter with the film-makers requirements, the episode would quickly prove a terrific career choice that would change Sladen’s life for the deserved better for the next six years to come…

Back in business, Elisabeth Sladen would be the star of her own series: THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES...

...of which Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith would soon make a welcome appearance.

Initially very wary of coming back to new WHO and preparing herself for a critical backlash for her performance- which ultimately didn’t happen-Sladen’s return as an older, lonelier Sarah Jane Smith- re-discovering her life and times with the Doctor who once left her- was much welcome by audiences and industry critics alike, of which her particular tear-jerker episode would be praised as one of new and Classic WHO’s best stories. From such great building blocks would come Davies idea for a spin-off series for younger viewers, which would be totally devoted to Sladen as Sarah Jane, and where she would quickly become a hero to children all over again, years after her original time on WHO, in a lively show that also saw in further new character development for Sarah Jane as she became a mother-hen protectorate to the show’s young supporting cast family. In her final years on the hit show, which she would be working on right up to her tragic passing in April 2011, Sladen would be delighted by the response and awards the show received from its dedicated viewers, as well as continuing to enjoy meeting her young fans at convention events.

Outside of her acting career, Elisabeth Sladen would be a devoted wife and mother.

As the news travelled the world on April 19^th 2011 that Elisabeth Sladen was no longer with us, I still, even now with the passing of time, find it hard to believe that she’s gone. She possessed the kind of vitality and warmth that I thought would be with us for a long time to come. WHO scribe, and fellow series legend, Terrance Dicks recently observed her quiet dignity and independence as a person: elements which she brought into her character beyond her scripted words. These qualities can also be found within her book, of which she’ll live on in our hearts and minds forever…

ELISABETH SLADEN: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY, which also bears a lovely treasure trove picture selection of her family and career, is a fitting tribute and testament to the much-missed actress and the life and profession she clearly enjoyed being a part of. It provides us with a remarkable portrait of a loving wife and a devoted mother, who also happened to play one of television and DOCTOR WHO’s most accomplished and beloved characters, of which her indelible mark in entertaining viewers young and old will remain long assured…

KOOL TV RATING: 4 out of 5

"THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES" - THE FINAL SERIES...

Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) unlocks the key to adventure for Clyde (Daniel Anthony), Luke (Tommy Knight) and Rani (Anjli Mohindra) in THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES. Image: BBC.

Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th October sees the return of the late, great, much missed ex-DOCTOR WHO companion/icon Elisabeth Sladen as investigative reporter, and Earth's protector, Sarah Jane Smith, in the fifth and final season of the always enjoyable THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES across the CBBC and BBC ONE HD channels, comprising three full adventures completed for transmission before the actresses sad passing earlier in the year. Alongside Sarah in braving monsters, demons, robots and creatures of all shapes and sizes are the rest of Bannerman Road's finest, including Sarah's young adopted son with the brainpower of 10,000 people, Luke (Tommy Knight), the mouthy and confident but always courageous Clyde (Daniel Anthony), cute investigative reporter wannabe Rani (Anjli Mohindra) and, newly joining the team for this season, the very young, presumably alien/human character of Sky (played by child actress Sinead Michael). There's also the return of Sarah's always trustworthy super computer, Mister Smith (voiced, as ever, by Alexander Armstrong, soon to appear in the next DOCTOR WHO Christmas Special, too!)


This years intriguing stories are THE CURSE OF CLYDE LANGER (where our young hero gets caught in a battle against a dangerous and manipulative ancient god, Hetocumtek), and SKY (written by series regular writer/producer Phil Ford, which introduces us to the mysterious new character, and the arrival of a strange and powerful new "Metal Man") and THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS, where our team investigate an irresistible and dangerous new type of home computer .


Here's the most recent trailer for the new series: Doctor Who News: The Sarah Jane Adventures Series 5 Trailer

Always made with conviction for its target audience and never dumbed down (one of its great strengths), the new series, originally created by Russell T Davies, will surely be of the highest quality in both scripts, acting (with guest stars including Peter Bowles, Floella Benjamin, Christine Stephen Daly and James Dreyfus) and production, providing colourful and memorable fun for younger audiences and families of all ages, as well as acting as a nostalgic, touchingly fond farewell, and fine tribute and testament, to the life and career of the always lovely and talented Elisabeth Sladen, and her all-time popular heroine persona, which she enjoyed playing and whom was much beloved by audiences worldwide...


Goodbye, Elisabeth and Sarah Jane. And thank you...


For more on the series check out this dedicated fan site: SARAH-JANE.tv || A news resource for the Doctor Who spin-off "The Sarah Jane Adventures"

LIFE SUPPORT! "TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY"

The new Horsemen of the Apocalypse?! The TORCHWOOD team are back in action! Image: BBC/STARZ.

The old saying "We live to die" is literally torn apart by the dark and terrifying events soon witnessed in the new fourth season of the popular DOCTOR WHO spin-off from Russell T Davies -TORCHWOOD- with its new STARZ US/BBC UK co-production ten episode series titled MIRACLE DAY. All across the planet, in just one day, the people of Earth are put in an unforeseeable crisis, as its billions of inhabitants suddenly find themselves in a situation where death has been seemingly obliterated. Sounds good at first thought, but the scenario soon proves a frightening trigger hair to a much larger crisis as the population explosion reaches terrifying new heights and the lack of regular and natural mortality puts a huge strain on the world's already stretched food and other important resources. Just how and why has this happened? Is this all some kind of attempt by an alien race to weaken the Earth's defences and peoples prior to an invasion? Or is there a far worse threat closer to home that has initiated and inflicted this deadly new and unwanted phase of evolutionary chaos. Re-enter the once self-exiled Time Agent/traveller, the heroic Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman, clearly having the time of his life as the series lead star, making the unique part his own) who, with the one surviving member of the original TORCHWOOD team based in Wales, England, an isolationist Gwen Cooper (as played by lovely Welsh actress Eve Myles- her character now in rightly paranoid hiding alongside her loyal husband, Rhys (Kai Owen), and new baby), are soon hunted down by this unknown opponent, which, with its powerful connections and team of lethal Black Ops commandos, doesn't want their interference in the grand scheme of things, and will do anything to stop them...

Mother/protector! Eve Myles takes aim as Gwen Cooper.

Hand on heart, I can't say I've ever been one of the greatest fans of TORCHWOOD-its earliest season, controversially dubbed by the shows makers as the adult DOCTOR WHO, was to me anything but, as its gratuitous attempts to inject a harder edged concoction of stories with more sex, violence and swearing within its core characters and storylines, led by Russell T Davies' wet dream omnisexual hero co-creation Harkness, often came across as more juvenile and cliched than anything seen in the less adult and actually more intelligent WHO. Fortunately, over time, the series format and characters have evolved and improved greatly, as would the storytelling, with Davies's later CHILDREN OF EARTH mini-series shown in 2008 over five weekday nights on the UK's BBC ONE soon becoming a vital, must see TV event that was full of genuine shocks and surprise (including the bold and tragic death of one of the main cast)- so well realized that it would soon prove to be a huge ratings hit on the BBC AMERICA channel, too, apparently garnering record breaking audience ratings, and leading to their fellow US STARZ channel, smelling a recognizable hit series that could form a stronger part of their own unique programming and identity, joining forces with Auntie Beeb's American wing for this longer length and equally ambitious new season, which carries on the same kind of central umbrella storytelling ambition/mix of action and high concept seen with CHILDREN OF EARTH, but taking it up several notches with a greater, and most welcome, infusion of additional monies for bolder action set pieces, pyrotechnics and special effects.

Mekhi Phifer brings a driven American edge to the series as Agent Rex Matheson.

Sympathy for the Devil? Bill Pullman as the Lecter-esque Oswald Danes.

Arlene Tur as intriguing new character Dr. Vera Juarez.

Rounding out the new TORCHWOOD team is CIA operative Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins)

Joining the regular TORCHWOOD cast for this unique new hybrid-made series is an excellent cast of American talent, including E.R.'s Mekhi Phifer as the ambitious, bold and brash FBI agent, Rex Matheson, who, having undergone an unexpected life changing transition, joins forces with TORCHWOOD, and, as well as showing a darkly healthy transatlantic sense of humour, kicks ass with the best of them, alongside his young and resourceful assistant, Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins), and Arlene Tur as the glamorous Doctor, Vera Juarez, investigating this new crisis to the Earth and its effects on the Human Race. On the opposite side of the character fence, and fighting our heroes every step of the way through MIRACLE DAY will be ex-SEINFELDer Wayne Knight (probably more familiar to UK audiences as JURASSIC PARK's loathsome scientist/ thief Dennis Nedry) and, adding major acting weight to the series, film star/character actor Bill Pullman as the horrible paedophile/ Hannibal Lecter-esque figure of Oswald Danes, who, surviving his lethal injection execution during the start of MIRACLE DAY, becomes a dangerous and all-knowing American TV evangelist/celebrity whose cult following by the masses soon swells to frightening levels and threatens chaos across the planet, aided and abetted by Lauren Ambrose as his equally ambitious publicist (you can't get more sinister than being in that job!), Jilly Kitzinger. Other noted actors to be seen across the series will include GHOSTBUSTERS Ernie Hudson, UNFORGIVEN's Frances Fisher, Mare Winningham, DOLLHOUSE's Dichen Lachman, STAR TREK's ex-Q, John De Lancie (surely playing another seedy baddy!), and DEEP SPACE NINE's Nana Visitor.

Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) makes a stand against the new threat in the Episode One finale.

US Trailer (with lots of spoilers): YouTube - ‪Torchwood: Miracle Day - Official Trailer‬‏
UK trailer-BBC: YouTube - ‪Torchwood Miracle Day Trailer - BBC One‬‏

I've seen the opening episode of MIRACLE DAY and I have to say that it's good fun- far better than I thought it was going to be. It's transatlantic start may be a little slower paced than the previous opener of CHILDREN OF EARTH, but that had less episodes to play with and more that had to be set-up quickly, but this glossy new tale soon builds up the tension and atmosphere to effective levels, with some good performances from cast old and new-there are some suitable heroics from a now vulnerable to pain Captain Jack (whose character, affected in reverse by the effects of MIRACLE DAY, and performance from Barrowman welcomely seems a bit more restrained (though this sadly won't last long-he'll apparently soon be ramming his gob, and other private parts, on men and women in episodes to come!) and Welsh Wonder Woman Gwen Cooper, including a fine helicopter chase set piece and a really fun scene of gore, that is shocking and blackly funny at the same time, which should soon hook viewers in for the duration.  Die-hard TORCHWOOD fans, already unhappy that the UK created series is being shown in the US first, may miss the Wales backdrop after the first episode has come and gone, but I didn't, and I think the new US backdrop to the story may prove interesting and give the writers, including THE X-FILES John Shiban and modern BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's Jane Espenson, some new fish out of water facets to play with regarding our core heroes and their continued relationships. Hopefully the dramatic and action stakes will evolve and get even better over the duration, too. Can CHILDREN OF EARTH be topped? Time will quickly tell, but, unlike the series main storyline and its grim shadow over Humanity, I think the ultimate future prognosis for TORCHWOOD looks very healthy indeed!

The early STARZ promotional poster for the new series.

On a side note, the UK's BBC RADIO 4 are airing three all-new radio dramas called TORCHWOOD: THE LOST FILES, starting from today 2.15pm until Wednesday.

The first three seasons of TORCHWOOD are now available on DVD and Blu-ray from 2ENTERTAIN.

CELEBRATION DAY FOR "DOCTOR WHO"!

Daleks conquer and destroy! The sixties excitement of Dalekmania returns with the duology of films starring Peter Cushing as DOCTOR WHO. Image: CANAL+

UK fans of the small screen adventures of sci-fi hero DOCTOR WHO, as played by the enthusiastic David Tennant (who, I'm sure has fans still mourning his loss from the show two years back), and on the big screens of the 1960's as played by the legendary Peter Cushing will enjoy the special DOCTOR WHO bank holiday weekend on the WATCH, with its screenings of Tennant's two 2008 specials- the Christmas themed THE NEXT DOCTOR (with David Morrissey guest starring as a possible incarnation of the Time Lord, fighting against the body snatching Cybermen in Dickensian London) and the fun, though hardly classic, PLANET OF THE DEAD, where the Time Lord teams up with the posh jewel thief Lady Christina De Souza (Michelle Ryan) when they and the passengers of a number 200 double decker bus are stranded in the hostile desert wilderness of an alien planet. These two colourful romps of pace and audience friendly excitement were huge ratings winners in their and repeat screenings and, whether older classic fans like them or not, they certainly prove themselves as true examples of Producer/writer Russell T. Davies's final tenure on the show.

Trailers:YouTube - Doctor Who Easter Special: Planet of the Dead - Trailer
YouTube - Doctor Who: The Next Doctor (Trailer)

The two David Doctors-Morrissey and Tennant- fight Miss Hartigan (Dervla Kirwan) and the Cybermen in THE NEXT DOCTOR. Image: BBC.

Tennant of Dubai! The Doctor and one-off companion Lady Christina De Souza (Michelle Ryan) are trapped in hostile climes on the PLANET OF THE DEAD. Image: YESTERDAY. Image copyright: BBC.

Peter Cushing adds humour and heroism as the sixties movie version of DOCTOR WHO. Image: CANAL+

Then there's the equally colourful and exciting Dalek films-DOCTOR WHO AND THE DALEKS and DALEKS: INVASION EARTH 2150 A.D.- produced by horror movie veterans AARU of the sixties, which are adaptations of two previous William Hartnell WHO stories from 1963 and 64- THE DALEKS and THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH, both originally written by equally iconic Dalek creator Terry Nation. The stories, with many times the production budgets of the BBC adventures, transfer to the big screen well and have acquired a faithful following over the years, and the Daleks certainly look bigger and better than ever for their time. Cushing, who's Doctor isn't a Time Lord but a friendly inventor/Grandfather, is terrific-a perfect choice for the role. Its a pity that the third in the planned movie series never got made.

Trailers: YouTube - Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) - Theatrical Trailer
YouTube - Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (1966) - Theatrical Trailer

Paul McGann as The Doctor from 1996. Image: BBC/RADIO TIMES

Finally, as well as a DOCTOR WHO AT THE PROMS special concert devoted to modern WHO series music, there's another chance to see Paul McGann's promising but sadly one-off DOCTOR WHO: THE MOVIE from 1996, which has many of the elements that would be incorporated more successfully into modern WHO series today. It may not totally synch with either the original or modern versions of WHO but, with a fine performance from McGann, its nonetheless an intriguing what could have been exploration...

Trailer: YouTube - Doctor Who: Original 80s trailer for TV Movie starring Paul McGann