Sweeping Strings

Murderville was a BBC comedy originally, by the way - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_in_Successville

At least it can't be worse than The Predator ... right?

Matron! On Jar-Jar ... Abrams said that he contemplated adding his skeletal remains sticking up out of the sand to a Force Awakens shot in which the camera is sweeping across Tatooine's surface, but ultimately decided against it.

It's on the iPlayer, should you feel inclined to give it a go (and indeed if same is available where you are). Yes, they're colleagues with a friendly-ish rivalry as opposed to vampire and vampire hunter etc.

Wasn't expecting the sci-fi element, tipped it over into 'too much' for me.

Horror Express - out of all Christopher Lee's movies, the BBC chose this one to mark the great man's centenary? Riiiiight. Lee's Victorian-era anthropologist is transporting a frozen humanoid creature he found on the Trans-Siberian Express which naturally 'defrosts', escapes its storage crate and proceeds to wreak havoc on the train ('havoc' being that it is inhabited by some sort of formless extraterrestrial with the power to drain people of their memories and knowledge. I know, what are the odds?!?). Also starring Peter Cushing and Telly Savalas, this is a piece of very silly hokum which it was probably a mistake to watch sober.

This is what's happening, I think ... RTD's said he has big plans. I like the idea of future 'staff' for Who itself working on the peripheral shows first ... we've seen how first-time TV writers doing 'the main show' has panned out during the recent era :S .

Moffat said the difficulty in featuring them is that there has to be a really good reason for them to be back, as logically they would just give up and leave upon discovering they're up against the Doctor again given how often he's beaten them.

Things about that episode is that I would've preferred the creature to have been a 7-feet tall thing of terror as opposed to something that looks like it got lost on its way to a Disney movie, although I will concede its initial appearance makes for quite a nice visual gag.

Aye, although by my reckoning Padbury and Ainley were more 'significant' when it comes to Who and that's why I singled them out for mention. Chunky's adventures continued with Big Finish, I believe. Bit of a cracker, Remembrance ... one of McCoy's best.

The Blood On Satan's Claw - diabolic doings in 16th century England ... well, they had to make their own fun in those days you know. Quite entertaining slice of Seventies folk-horror ... it may interest the Whovians here to know that Second Doctor companion Wendy Padbury and 80s Master Anthony Ainley are in it.

Top Gun - yeah yeah yeah, movie as extended music video or whatever. But when it's this escapist-enjoyable, who damn well cares? Tom Cruise secures his place in the 'firmament', there's a hit soundtrack and the pre-CGI aerial manoeuvres/combat stuff still holds up. Remo Williams : The Adventure Begins - as the title suggests, an intended franchise that the box-office failure of this put paid to. Christopher Wood's screenplay could do with tightening up, the pace feels a little too leisurely at times for an action flick - perhaps a runtime of around 105 minutes as opposed to 121 would've been better? Still, the action is decent (particularly a setpiece on the under-renovation Statue Of Liberty, with some vertigo-inducing stuntwork) and there's a nicely tongue-in-cheek streak, which is no surprise with Guy 'Goldfinger/Diamonds Are Forever/Live And Let Die/TMWTGG' Hamilton at the helm.

I think when DD quoted you, he meant that the current era was the one that people would rather regard as a bad dream.

Let's not forget the thing that this movie got really, REALLY right ... much, much less Jar-Jar.

It's a great episode ... a pacy romp with homages to 'penny dreadfuls' and Gothic horror (particularly Frankenstein), the Doctor referencing a past incarnation ('I had to get a gobby Australian to Heathrow once' and 'Brave heart, Clara'), digs at religious fanaticism, Diana Rigg and daughter Rachael Stirling acting together for the first time, a truly icky 'critter' in Mr Sweet, and a bloody big rocket.