Stresa: Al Regina Palace Hotel il G8 dei Giovani imprenditori

Cambiare il sistema per sopravvivere e tornare a prosperare. Brutalmente sintetizzato, è questo il messaggio (riassunto nel titolo “Le innovazioni necessarie”) del quarto Forum di Stresa dei Giovani Imprenditori di Confindustria, in programma a Stresa il 2 e 3 luglio.
Il meeting dell’economia “under”, che nel triennio passato è cresciuto d’importanza e prestigio, quest’anno si presenta come anteprima del G8 dell’Aquila. Con i dovuti raffronti, seppur con la presenza di delegazioni internazionali, a Stresa - tra domani e venerdì - si raduneranno i rappresentanti dell’imprenditoria giovanile degli otto Paesi più industrializzati. A porte chiuse, dibatteranno i temi dell’agenda principale del G8 ed elaboreranno una dichiarazione d’intenti che sarà consegnata all’assemblea della settimana successiva all’Aquila (i contenuti della dichiarazione saranno resi noti venerdì in una conferenza stampa).
A certificare l’importanza del Forum di Stresa c’è la presenza annunciata del ministro per le Politiche giovanili, Giorgia Meloni, e del presidente nazionale di Confindustria giovani, Federica Guidi. Il loro sarà l’intervento conclusivo d’una fitta agenda di appuntamenti che, nella cornice dell’hotel Regina Palace, si divideranno tra workshop e conferenze con relatori d’eccezione. A fare gli onori di casa sarà il presidente dei Giovani industriali del Vco, Daniele Marta, accompagnato dalle istituzioni locali e regionali (il presidente della Regione Mercedes Bresso e quello della Provincia Massimo Nobili) e da ricercatori di diversi istituti nazionali e internazionali.
Il tema centrale è l’innovazione, argomento sul quale gli industriali insistono da parecchio tempo. Sbloccare e ridisegnare il sistema-Itaila e dare nuove regole alle economie internazionali sono le istanze che provengono dal mondo imprenditoriale, che guarda al meeting abruzzese come a un evento in grado di dare una svolta all’economia globale. Lo stesso spirito d’attesa è vissuto dai giovani imprenditori, che a Stresa confronteranno le proprie esperienze e presenteranno i propri suggerimenti.
Si tratta - precisano gli organizzatori - di un «evento a basso impatto ambientale grazie a Eco-events e al fatto che le emissioni di gas serra (72 tonnellate di C0 2) prodotte dai consumi energetici legati alla manifestazione e dai trasporti dei partecipanti, sono state compensare grazie al sistema CleanPlanet -CO2.
Tra gli eventi collaterali al Forum c’è anche l’organizzazione di una regata velica che, aperta agli scafi di classe H22, si terrà nel golfo Borromeo nella giornata di sabato. (Articolo di M.P. pubblicato sulla Prealpina)

Stresa ricorda Rosmini con il Cardinale Martins

Nell’anniversario della morte di Antonio Rosmini, avvenuta a Stresa a villa Bolongaro, l’1 luglio del 1855, una processione e una messa ricorderanno la figura dell’abate fondatore dell’Istituto della Carità, teologo e filosofo, proclamato beato il 18 novembre del 2007.
Dalla villa dove Rosmini visse e che conserva la biblioteca del Centro internazionale di studi rosminiani, alle 10.00 partirà la processione, a cui sono state invitate le autorità civili e religiose della Provincia, che, portando la reliquia, raggiungerà il santuario del Crocifisso al colle Rosmini, dove si trova la tomba del beato.
Alle 11,30 inizierà la celebrazione eucaristica solenne presieduta dal cardinale José Saraiva Martins, che, a nome del Papa, aveva celebrato la cerimonia di beatificazione. Ci sarà anche il vescovo di Novara, Renato Corti, e il vescovo emerito di Acerra e rosminiano Antonio Riboldi.
La messa sarà animata dalla cappella musicale del Calvario di Domodossola. Alle 16,30 al Centro studi sarà inaugurata la mostra «Sguardo sull’essere. Realtà-Intelligenza-Amore in Antonio Rosmini». Chiuderà la giornata alle 21 un concerto offerto dal Comune di Stresa con la corale Arnatese di Gallarate.

Q-Feel - Crosstalk

"Breaking from the silent zone"

Q-Feel were a UK synthpop group active during the early 80's. Dancing In Heaven (Orbital Bebop) was their only big hit, and a song that I was introduced to on the radio quite a few months ago. It's a really catchy tune, and comes from a great album. Crosstalk is the opener, and a pretty good example of herky-jerky new wave. The verses are alright, but the dramatic chorus is what really sets the song apart. This being the 80's, there are some cheesy sound effects and spoken-word stuff towards the end, but cheesiness is one of the band's most endearing aspects. Just check out this crazy strange performance of Dancing In Heaven.

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here.)

HIFF SUMMER STUDENT FILM WORKSHOP

For the second year in a row, Guild Hall in collaboration with Hamptons International Film Festival presents the Summer Student Film Workshop. Led by film producer Anne Chaisson and television producer Seth Redlus, aspiring filmmakers (ages 8-13) will learn the entire filmmaking process, from development and writing, to acting, blocking, production, cinematography, and editing.

Students will have the opportunity to learn about the art of visual self-expression from experienced filmmakers such as writer Joan Stein (ONE DAY CROSSING, Academy Award nominee for short film), director Michael Almareyda (ANOTHER GIRL, ANOTHER PLANET; HAMLET; TONIGHT AT NOON), and actor Josh Perl (NAKED STAGES). At the end of the five day workshop, students will screen their work at the newly renovated Guild Hall in East Hampton, NY.

This 5-day workshop takes place July 13-17 from 12 - 3 pm daily and costs $200/student. To register, please email Public Programs Associate Melissa Erb at merb@guildhall.org or call 631 324-0806.

Alpini Gruppo Stresa: Festeggiamenti per 80° Anniversario

Il Gruppo Alpini di Stresa, rappresentato dal Capogruppo e dal Consiglio Direttivo invita tutti i soci, gli Alpini e la cittadinanza tutta a partecipare calorosamente ai festeggiamenti che si terranno nei giorni 3, 4 e 5 Luglio a celebrazione dell 80° Anniversario di Fondazione.

Per l'occasione si chiama la popolazione di Stresa a rendersi partecipe dell'evento esponendo alle finestre ed ai balconi il tricolore per i giorni di svolgimento della festa.
Grazie a tutti.

Programma dei Festeggiamenti:

Venerdì 3 Luglio

ore 18,00 Presso la Sede del Gruppo, apertura festa con inaugurazione Mostra Forografica.
ore 19.00 Apertura della cucina con distribuzione di specialità gastronomiche fino alle 23.00
ore 21.00 Rassegna di cori Alpini. Esibizione nelle vicinanze della Sede.

Sabato 4 Luglio

ore 12.00 I nostri "VECI" Alpini: Ospiti a pranzo gli anziani della Casa di riposo "Tadini".
Cucina aperta a tutti
ore 19.00 Apertura della cucina con distribuzione di specialità gastronomiche fino alle 23.00
ore 21.00 Concerto della Fanfara Alpina Sezionale nei pressi della Sede.

Domenica 5 Luglio

ore 09.00 Ricevimento delle Autorità e Alpini
ore 10.00 Santa Messa al campo celebrata da Don Umberto Muratore
ore 10.45 Ammassamento presso la Sede e preparativi per sfilata
ore 11.00 Inizio sfilamento di Autorità e Alpini per le vie cittadine con la partecipazione della Fanfara Alpina Sezionale
ore 11.30 Alzabandiera presso il Monumento all'Alpino e deposizione corona al Monumento dei Caduti (C.so Umberto I )
Aperitivo alla sede
ore 12.30 Distribuzione Rancio Alpino presso la sede del gruppo
ore 17.00 Estrazione lotteria a premi
ore 19.00 Apertura della cucina con distribuzione di specialità gastronomiche fino alle 23.00

VCO al volante: Tra i peggiori d'Italia

Peggio hanno fatto solo a Crotone e Reggio Calabria. Dalla questura: «O i nostri automobilisti sono più indisciplinati o siamo noi ad essere troppo severi».
Troppo alcol, troppo veloci. E pure senza cinture. Sembra il titolo del nuovo film della serie «Fast and furious», invece è l’impietosa fotografia dei guidatori del Vco dall’entrata in vigore della patente a punti. I numeri della polizia stradale non mentono: dal 2003 più di 56 mila punti persi per strada e quasi 1.500 patenti ritirate. Entrambi, tra l’altro, in costante aumento anno dopo anno, fatta eccezione per la flessione dell’anno scorso (con un calo di 118 patenti ritirate rispetto al 2007 e quasi 3 mila punti persi in meno). La parte del leone tra le infrazioni, secondo la stradale, spetta all’eccesso di velocità, seguito a ruota dalla guida in stato di ebbrezza e dal mancato uso delle cinture.
E a gettare benzina sul fuoco ci si mette anche la classifica pubblicata dal Sole 24 ore, che piazza il Verbano Cusio Ossola al terzo posto tra le province con più patenti sospese per esaurimento punti. Se domani, infatti, c’è chi festeggerà la propria guida virtuosa arrivando a quota 26 punti (ossia nessuna decurtazione dall’entrata in vigore della riforma), in 593 tra luglio 2003 e giugno di quest’anno hanno azzerato la propria patente a furia di infrazioni. Peggio hanno fatto solo a Crotone e Reggio Calabria. La classifica rincara: undicesimo posto per decurtazioni ogni 100 patenti negli ultimi sei anni (189,2 punti persi contro una media nazionale di 144). «O i nostri automobilisti sono più indisciplinati o siamo noi ad essere troppo severi» scherzano negli uffici della polizia stradale. Ma il sorriso si spegne in fretta: «Da noi i controlli sono sempre stati numerosi - spiegano -, più che in altre parti d’Italia. Basta uscire dal territorio per rendersene conto. Inoltre negli ultimi anni abbiamo a disposizione più apparecchiature e di maggiore qualità, soprattutto per la rilevazione degli eccessi di velocità».
A proposito di strade e sicurezza al volante, tra l’altro, Anolf Cisl, Adiconsum e Città di Verbania propongono per venerdì alle 21, in sala Rosmini alla Famiglia studenti, l’incontro «Stranieri in Italia...guidiamo sicuri?». La serata, moderata dal segretario di Ust Cisl Vco Luca Caretti, vedrà gli interventi del comandante provinciale della stradale Daniela Salvemini, di Marina Di Matteo per il tribunale, di Alberto Melfa per la Motorizzazione e di rappresentanti della prefettura e della questura a proposito di norme, infrazioni, ricorsi, conversioni di patenti straniere e qualsiasi altra informazione legata al rispetto del codice della strada. (Articolo di Valeria Pera pubblicato sulla Stampa )

Sanita' Piemonte: Presto anagrafe elettronica pazienti

Pubblicato da ANSA

Al via in Piemonte un piano di informatizzazione della sanita': Sara' creata l'anagrafe elettronica dei pazienti.
E' previsto anche un piu' facile accesso ai servizi con l'utilizzo di internet. Il Sirse (Sistema integrato regionale di sanita' elettronica) e' stato approvato dalla giunta regionale ieri. E' in fase di studio il Portale della Salute, strumento on-line che offrira' anche la possibilita' di consultare i referti di laboratorio e scegliere il medico.

Meat Lover Plants

Carnivorous plants (sometimes called insectivorous plants) are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients (but not energy) from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods.

There are five basic trapping mechanisms found in carnivorous plants.

1. Pitfall traps (pitcher plants) trap prey in a rolled leaf that contains a pool of digestive enzymes or bacteria.
2. Flypaper traps use a sticky mucilage.
3. Snap traps utilize rapid leaf movements.
4. Bladder traps suck in prey with a bladder that generates an internal vacuum.
5. Lobster-pot traps force prey to move towards a digestive organ with inward-pointing hairs.

Nepenthes pitchers hang from tendrils



N. rajah, also occasionally take small mammals and reptiles.



Cobra lilies (Darlingtonia californica) use window-like aeriolae to lure insects into their hollow leaves



The Albany Pitcher Plant is the only member of the Australian genus Cephalotus



Heliamphora chimantensis



Sarracenia (the pitcher plant genus most commonly encountered in cultivation, because it is relatively hardy and easy to grow.)





Butterwort with prey



A sundew with a leaf bent around a fly trapped by mucilage.



The leaf of a Drosera capensis bending in response to the trapping of an insect



Cephalotus



The snap traps of Dionaea muscipula close rapidly when triggered to trap prey between two lobes.



Sarracenia psittacina, also known as the Parrot pitcher plant, is a carnivorous plant in the genus Sarracenia. Like all the Sarracenia, it is native to North America.



Sarraceniaceae

La Roux - As If By Magic

"I'm keeping my head in the clouds"

I have been super busy the past couple of weeks so I haven't had as much time to listen to new albums as I'd like. But, from what I've been able to glean from La Roux's debut (out today in the UK), it's total epic goodness. I'd already heard about half of the record, but the "new" songs are just as good as the old. La Roux's detractors have complained about the shrill vocals, but I think As If By Magic would be the track to turn those people's opinions around. The vocals are soft and poppy, and the melody drips with dreamy synths. It is exactly the kind of pop music that should be on the radio this summer, and I'm glad that the band's finding success in the UK. They're much more interesting than their synthy competitors (ie: Little Boots). I don't think there'll be any trouble picking future singles from this outstanding album, but this is just another example of a hit-in-waiting.

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here.)

Tutto pronto per il Concorso Miss Stresa 2009

Giovedì 9 Luglio alle ore 21.15 ci sarà la serata conclusiva del Concorso Miss Stresa 2009 (foto delle finaliste QUI). Dopo le sfilate di moda verranno assegnati i titoli di Miss Stresa, Miss Mottarone, Miss Sorriso Isola Bella e Miss Acqua di Stresa. Programma:
ore 14.00 Visita all'Isola Bella
ore 16.00 Rinfresco per le partecipanti pressil "Bar La Verbanella"
ore 17.00 Prove della Sfilata
0re 21.15 Sfilata Miss Stresa 2009
ore 23.30 Brindisi al "Loco Beach Club" - Lido di Carciano

Per ulteriori dettagli e sponsor clicca QUI

Prezzi seconde case sui laghi in calo: Intra tiene

Secondo l'analisi di Tecnocasa, nella seconda parte del 2008 le quotazioni immobiliari delle principali località sul lago sono diminuite del 4,2%. Sul Lago Maggiore il mercato della seconda casa ha registrato una diminuzione del 4,7%, con ribassi a Baveno, Pallanza e Suna. Invariate le quotazioni immobiliari di Intra. Sul Lago di Garda si registra una contrazione del 3,9%; in particolare le località della sponda bresciana hanno segnalato una decrescita del 4,7%, con ribassi a Desenzano, Moniga del Garda e Sirmione. Sulla sponda veronese la diminuzione dei prezzi è stata del 2,9% con contrazioni più accentuate a Bardolino. Variazioni negative anche per le località sui laghi del centro Italia. Sul Lago di Bracciano si registra un calo del 5,7% mentre sul Lago di Trasimeno c’è stato un calo del 3,9%

No H8 Men Gagged Campaign 2009

Various reality TV types and other male and female celebrities recently did a photoshoot for Adam Bouska gagged with the words, NO H8 on their cheeks against Proposition 8.

You can see the full set of photos here ... http://www.bouska.net/noh8/gallery.htm

As well as some behind the scenes antics here ... http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=no+h8&search_type=&aq=f

My Review of Doctor Who's 1x14: "The Christmas Invasion"

Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by James Hawes

Ah, Christmas Day. Stuck between watching both Emmerdale and Coronation Street and wondering why I should even bother caring if Kat and Alfie leave together in EastEnders, I thought I had to watch Doctor Who.

I take that back! I have been on tether-hooks in anticipation for this special for the last six months and as we speak I’m counting my money to purchase Season One on DVD and while they were some slow moving elements to this Christmas special, I can easily say this was the TV treat of my night.

It’s been six months since “The Parting Of The Ways” and our special starts with Mickey and Jackie being disturbed from their individual loneliness when the TARDIS crash lands and our new Doc starts babbling incoherently before passing out and a beleaguered Rose appears.

Just like Jackie and Mickey, Rose too is unable to explain of her newly regenerated friend and Billie Piper plays her uncertainty and reluctance with such effect. It was a smart move to employ this tactic because for our Rose to easily accept The Doctor in his new form would’ve been unrealistic and there is an element of realism in both her and The Doctor’s relationship which is what has made them such an enjoyable team to watch.

Of course being Christmas, Rose’s hopes for a peaceful Yuletide are thankfully shattered (I know it sounds terrible but some Chrimbo Calamity was always going to be on order and it needed to be relatively big in order to justify this prelude to the second season) when a couple of plastic Santa’s add a new meaning to the term sleigh bells when they attack passer-bys on the street.

It’s eerily reminiscent in a way to the Autons attack in “Rose” and more havoc starts at home when the Christmas tree spins a hole in the house. Both of these attacks look pretty cool but only serve as a smoke and mirrors to the real threat of this year.

Enter the Sycorax, a rather nasty alien species intent on taking over the planet and to prove they’re not a force to be trifled with, they assume control over a third of the world’s population and threatens to kill them if the English government refuse to surrender.

Along with David Tennant’s first proper outing as the new Doctor, the episode sees the rather welcome return of Penelope Wilton as Harriet Jones who’s now an MP and given her not forgotten encounter with the Slitheen, Harriet has far from neglected to read up about other alien life forces.

A part of me thought she was brave to not surrender to the Sycorax but when they started killing off two of her staff (including the guy responsible for this species being able to use A positive blood as a controlling tool); I wanted to shout, “shut up” at the screen.

While the storyline does sleepwalk a little, things liven incredibly when the TARDIS gets teleported on the Sycorax’s space ship and Rose tries her best to appear threatening but fails miserably. Still though Billie Piper flexes her comedy skills and after the majority of the episode snoozing it up, our new Doc finally awakes and faces his first new foes in his new guise.

Now the moment of truth has landed – is David Tennant any good? Honestly I can say he is. He may have overplayed one or two pieces of dialogue but overall he did a bloody good job and there’s no way anyone can say his performance mirrors any of the previous incarnations of the Time Lord.

He’s definitely charming and his comments are offhand (his snarky remarks to Rose and Harriet) but his altercation with the Sycorax’s was the episode’s highlights. We got a proper battle with the two of them, neither holding back but what’s more, Tennant proved he wasn’t taking the piss when he said his Doctor was gong to be darker and it showed.

He relented at first with the Sycorax leader and was willing to let him go, until he tried his luck and our new Doc used a Satsuma to end his days. The ultimate sting in the tail was the surprisingly sour turn his friendship with Harriet took after she used a special contact to make sure the Sycorax would never be a threat again.

That scene in the street and his six words to Alex that look set to ruin Harriet’s career showed us he wasn’t a force to reckoned with. I bet Harriet now wishes she hasn’t been so hasty with her assassination of the Sycorax now.

As villains go, this lot worked out pretty well but we’ve had better ones. One thing that does strike me though is The Doctor saying that sending probes into space is making other life forces aware of human existence and vice versa. It’s only noteworthy because it felt like a kind of “D’oh!” moment.

The last five minutes of the episode felt like a re-establishment of “Rose” and it was. We had The Doctor chiding her about not trusting him and her more than happy to explore all the universes as well as Mickey moaning about her constant desire to leave him and her mum.

A while back I would’ve dismissed him as Rose’s desire to explore the world (thousands in her case) is understandable but ultimately I’m realising that Mickey does genuinely love her and is only slowing adjusting to the fact that he can’t be with her in the way he craves to be.

Jackie is also getting more rounded as a character too and I liked her turn as a carer for The Doctor during his recovery time as well as the hilarious but subtle Christmas dinner. Now wasn’t this better than EastEnders? All of you can say yes.

Also in “The Christmas Invasion”

I don’t remember there being a “Previously On” bit. They just jumped straight into the opening teaser.

Rose (re The Doctor): “He’s got two hearts.”
Jackie: “Anything else he’s got two of?”

Since we’ve last seen them, Mickey works as a mechanic and Jackie has been dating a fruit and veg man. At least it explained her having Men’s pyjamas for the Doctor in her possession.

The Doctor: “I need...”
Jackie: “Is it food? Something simple? Bowl of soup? Nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Ooh soup and a little ham sandwich?”
The Doctor: “I need you to shut up!”
Jackie: “Oh he hasn't changed that much has he?”

Harriet (re the Sycorax): “And then tell them; this planet is armed and we do not surrender.”

I quite liked Harriet’s right hand man Alex, played by the gorgeous Adam Garcia. If we can’t have John Barrowman in Season Two, can we please have him? He can read alien languages, survived this episode, seems resilient and looks good in a suit. Plus it’s eye candy for Rose and a slight foil (in a friendly manner) for The Doctor, so why not?

Sycorax leader: “I demand to know who you are?”
The Doctor: “I don’t know.”

Sycorax Leader: “You stand as this world's champion?”
The Doctor: “Thank you. I've no idea who I am, but you've just summed me up.”

Character bits: The Doctor’s TARDIS and himself got cured by tea (I know silly) and his new gear is plimsols. Oh and Torchwood was mentioned several times. Is it a reference to a resurrected Captain Jack?

The Doctor: “Doesn’t she look a bit tired?”
Harriet: “What did he say?”
Alex: “Nothing.”

Did anyone else think the inside of the Sycorax’s ship look like the Hellmouth on Buffy the Vampire Slayer? I certainly did and the way they were lined up was similar to the way the ubervamps lined up at the end of Season Seven.

The Doctor (re hat): “It’s pink.”
Rose (to Jackie): “You should wear it.”

I liked the preview of Season Two and the option of playing the Attack Of The Graske at the end. I played it twice after this episode. Oh and the song was “Song For Ten” by Murray Gold.

As a Christmas special and a prelude to the upcoming season, “The Christmas Invasion” was a treat and the perfect remedy in another predictable Christmas TV line up. I enjoyed it a lot and I defy anyone who didn’t. In fairness, how could anyone hate something that doubles as being entertaining and informative at the same time.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 1x13: "The Parting Of The Ways"

Written by Russell T Davies
Directed by Joe Ahearne

With the BBC running “Time Is Up” adverts for five days straight in the run up to this episode, it wasn’t exactly hard to get excited about this particular season finale. After all, nearly half a million Daleks are out and about in outer space determined to annihilate the remainder of humanity. That’s enough to make anyone want to watch.

The easy part first, the rescue of Rose had the extrapolator from “Boom Town” put into good use as The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack were then able to build a force field to keep the Daleks from killing them or the TARDIS. Of course, the real voice behind the Daleks is the Emperor Dalek and he isn’t exactly in the mood for pleasantries.

Time hasn’t especially been kind to the Dalek race or their Emperor in charge since the Time War, a point that is made all too clear in the space of three minutes. They’ve been forced to keep anominous and have had to wait for this ripe opportunity to strike, an opportunity that you could suggest, was given to them by The Doctor as we are after all are still dealing with the consequences from “The Long Game”. The Daleks are back though and they are an army to be reckoned with.

Being built on human DNA is something we’ve seen before, even earlier on in the season but while that lone Dalek from episode six was confused by its humanity, the influxes of Daleks here are more disgusted with theirs. The Doctor didn’t need to point out that this made them more than lethal but even I won’t gripe about him stating the obvious this time.

With the Dalek fleet making their way to the Gamestation and nearly over a hundred people still on board unable to escape, the next course of action was to build them as an army. I felt bad for Captain Jack here because deep down, he knew all along that things were going to be fatal and out of our trio, he is the only who still gets screwed over at the end. Which is probably why he kisses both Rose and The Doctor on the lips (yes that’s two men for a little moment kissing, just don’t tell ofcom about it) in a totally subtle but effective scene.

Trying to build an army out of cynical and desensitised contestants and Gamestation staff is bad without the likes of Rodrick whinging about his prize money on top of things too. It kind of felt like Captain Jack was being a little excluded here with The Doctor not telling him everything while the latter scrambled with the Delta Wave, dealing with Rose and being goaded by the Dalek Emperor.

Even Jack’s army of inept and mostly afraid humans didn’t last very long. Although I didn’t care about Rodrick dying, I did feel bad for Davish and little crush on his sarcastic co-worker and of course Lynda, whose death was presumably so violent we didn’t even get to see it.

Any hopes of Lynda being a fourth spoke in the TARDIS team got obliterated here but the fact that there was any spokes left is a miracle within itself. Even Captain Jack suffered being hit by the Daleks and killed (like Tara’s death on Buffy’s “Seeing Red”, I didn’t like that scene) but things on the death of Captain Jack are not quite as they seem. I’ll get back to that in a bit though.

As for The Doctor, doing battle with your greatest enemy and having the odds of survival sensationally stacked against you isn’t exactly the best motivational tool in the world but having the Emperor of the Daleks constantly blight you and constantly refer to you as a baddie yourself has got to a head wrecker. With an obviously robotic voice and bigger than a portable aquarium, the Daleks plans of building the Earth into their own image is looking scarily successful.

The Delta Wave which is supposed to save lives will only wipe out both Daleks and humans and while Captain Jack told The Doctor to do what he felt was right, he obviously struggled before admitting it. Of course there was one life that The Doctor was unwilling to sacrifice, why else do you think he tricked Rose into going home.

Rose could’ve left the battlefield at any time before being duped, The Doctor even went out on a limb to suggest it but she declined. Rose is increasingly showing signs of being a noble heroine. Which is why when she was sent home and told to forget The Doctor and live a normal life, she couldn’t accept. You experience the kind of things that she does and normality is no longer an option.

Both Mickey and Jackie have only had a taste of what other lives are out there but Rose has seen so much more. It explains why they can’t accept her refusal to give up on The Doctor but even their at times narrow-mindedness doesn’t prevail their love for Rose and while they don’t approve of her lifestyle, it was great that they helped to get back to the Gamestation by opening the heart of the TARDIS and a whole boat load of complications.

As a human Rose can’t physically withstand the energy of the time vortex but then again, neither can anything else but she holds it long enough to reveal that she’s been the big bad wolf all the time, relaying her messages through time and space and to make a spectacular return, amid an interesting debate from Emperor Dalek of whether The Doctor should be a killer or coward.

He chooses coward, Rose chooses hero as her borrowed elevation to God like quality (was anybody else thinking “Primeval” Buffy when watching this or was that just me?) has her killing every single Dalek and the Emperor on display Of course her best trick is resurrecting Captain Jack with her “I give life” speech, posing the question of whether or not she was aware he was even dead.

Was either The Doctor or Rose aware that he had been a casualty because if they were and just abandoned him on board Gamestation, then I’m going to be a cheesed off with that one. I’m hoping they weren’t.

As for The Doctor and Rose kiss, it was hardly a sexual one so even die hard fans can’t complain that much about it, now can they? Still though with Rose nearly dying to save the world, The Doctor returned the favour and saved her by absorbing the vortex energy.
Some joking on the TARDIS later and deserved congratulatory speeches later and our ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston morphed into number ten David Tennant. What a way to make an entrance! It’s an impressive debut and a nice way of ending a season finale that delivered left, right and centre. It’s a pity that Captain Jack is on his lonesome though.

Also in “The Parting Of The Ways”

This episode opened with no teaser. It just went straight into the opening credits and the main stuff.

Rose: “Never doubted you.”
The Doctor: “I did. Are you alright?”

More Dalek knowledge here as we learned that the human DNA came from prisoners, refugees and the dispossessed. Even for part machines, doesn’t this make the Daleks little more than shells?

Captain Jack: “I wish I had never met you, Doctor. I was much better off as a coward. See you in hell.”

The Doctor: “I might just save the world or rip it apart.”
Rose: “I’d go with the first one.”
The Doctor: “Me too.”

The half human revelation about the Daleks was from the 1996 TV movie with the Eighth Doctor. Nice use of reference there.

The Doctor: “Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life.”

Rose: “No.”
Mickey (re TARDIS): “If that’s what you think, then let’s get this thing open.”

Since we last saw, Jackie has been involved with a guy named Rodrigo. I liked how Russell used the reversed events from “Father’s Day” to help Rose get her mother onside too.

Female Operator: “Am I supposed to say when this is all over, maybe we should go and get a drink?”
Davish: “That would be nice.”

If the Daleks invaded the likes of Australasia, the new American Islands, Europa etc before Uber-Rose saved the day, does that mean that they haven’t been completely eradicated?

Dalek: “Exterminate.”
Captain Jack: “I kind of figured that.”

The trailer for “The Christmas Invasion” only featured clips throughout Season One. I guess that means it hasn’t been filmed yet.

Dalek Emperor: “What are you Doctor – coward or killer?”
The Doctor: “Coward, any day.”

I believe this was the first regeneration standing up. It’s also the first I’ve seen which is a good reminder that I’m still a novice to this show.

Rose: “I want you safe. My Doctor protected from the false God.”

The Doctor (to Rose): “Mmm new teeth, that’s weird. Now where was I? Oh that’s right, Barcelona!”

Standout music: the exceptional score piece in this entire episode from Murray Gold of course.

“The Parting Of The Ways” was certainly a heavily anticipated season finale and like this season as a whole, it succeeded on every level. Hats off to Russell and Joe for their superb scripting and directing and kudos has to be give for the excellent and powerhouse performances from Christopher Eccleston (we’ll miss you mate), Billie Piper (who’s really come into her own), John Barrowman (don’t leave him there) and David Tennant (welcome aboard). Only six months until “The Christmas Invasion”.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 1x12: "Bad Wolf"

Written by Russell T Davies
Directed by Joe Ahearne

Lynda (to The Doctor, re Crosby): “She’s just been evicted – from life.”

So reality TV and games shows really are the source of all evil then? I just thought it was Davina McCall’s by now grating fake enthusiasm and Big Brother’s knack for picking more increasingly desperate contestants year in, year out that was fuel to some of the laziest and over hyped pieces of television nowadays. Oh wait, it still is.

After the disjointed escapades of “The Long Game”, I wasn’t particularly thrilled to be revisiting Satellite Five, which is now known as the Gamestation and I was even less enthusiastic about having to sit through half an episode parodying a genre that I’m not exactly fond of either. Thankfully the results aren’t as bad as I fear but they are rather touch and go to be honest.

Dealing with the least screen attention parody first, the consistently likeable Captain Jack wakes up to find himself at the mercy of robots Trin-E and Zu-Zana. It doesn’t take a genius to guess who they are meant to be. I ask – could there be a bigger fate worse than death than having to contend with these two?

The androids, who are every bit annoying as their real life counterparts who we have to deal with in “What Not To Wear”, then happily decide that the usually dapper Jack needs a new look. Now I personally liked the naked one as John Barrowman delightfully lets it all hang out. Well as much as you can let hang out for a teatime slot on a Saturday BBC show that is. Damn the BBC and their fears of offending ofcom and the like.

Of course proving that Trinny and Suzanna as androids are just as evil as the real thing, their next assignment seems to be ripping Jack a new face, forcing our bisexual conman to do what I assume, most viewers would like to do to plenty of so called fashionistas out there and use a compact laser deluxe to blast the meddling duo.

How I cheered while watching that particular moment, although Trinny and Suzanna’s demise wasn’t completely in vain. After all, they made good enough for Jack to build a gun and to locate The Doctor.

Which then leads to the Time Lord waking up in the Big Brother house with three contestants left, Lynda, Crosby and Stooed, although only Lynda made anything resembling an impact. The Doctor doesn’t exactly like being watched by millions of viewers and does his best to sabotage and shorten his stay in the house.

If you think that Celebrity Big Brother is a pain to watch, then being a contestant on this reality show bites even more. You’re basically chosen at random and if you’re evicted , you’re killed by a beam and if you win, you just get to live, which is a damn site better than losing but even still it’s a pretty harsh blow to the system. Luckily for The Doctor, his plan works and him and Lynda make a break for it, which luckily for this episode, it means more interesting stuff happens too.

For instance, we learn that this new world is The Doctor’s own doing as upon freeing everyone in Satellite Five, he forgot to set up a replacement government station, so everything has been thrown into turmoil. On a lighter note we got some rather cute flirting between The Doctor and Lynda.

She was definitely wowed by him and The Doctor kept referring her as sweet, but sweetness aside, we seem to be getting closer to the “Bad Wolf” mystery as it finally comes into play big time when Lynda reveals that the Gamestation is owned by Bad Wolf Corporation.

As for Gamestation itself, just like a heightened version of “The Long Game”, the controller who is human but literally so wired up that she’s little more than a human computer makes, controls and packages the programs along with seemingly loyal staff but even the Gamestation is only smoke and mirrors for something much worse, which is a good thing, plot wise.

Elsewhere Rose finds herself on a game even I like called The Weakest Link with a nefarious Anne Droid, a few nervous fellow contestants and a rather slimy bastard named Rodrick who deliberately keeps Rose on the game so he can beat in the end.

Just like with Big Brother, you lose and you die but if you win this game, then you actually get money. Rose may not be an intellect but luckily she isn’t made too dense here either.

Sadly though, things don’t turn out so well for Miss Tyler as after getting one answer too many wrong in the final round, she is killed by Anne Droid’s laser beam. This is the first time in this episode where real emotional content comes into play and this is where the premise gains a bit of credibility. Jack angrily lashes out at executives over his friend’s death while The Doctor just stares numb and despondent until both men and Lynda are arrested.

However they don’t spend an awfully long time behind bars thanks to a little quick thinking and old fashioned fisticuffs leading our trio to fight their way to Floor 500, which thankfully gives us some revelations, one in particular that will make everyone cheer for joy.

For instance remember when I said that the controller only appeared to be smoke and mirrors for something really bad? Well I was right but before it’s revealed, she is conveniently teleported away and killed, which then reveal out mystery assailants and we’ve already seen them earlier on this year.

Before that though, Captain Jack continues his resourcefulness and manages to prove, with some help from Lynda that Rose is still alive, along with everyone else who we saw die in this episode. The not so great news is that there’s millions of Daleks alive in outer space that have her hostage and are planning to use her as leverage to get to The Doctor. I’m glad to see the return of the Daleks and I can’t wait to see what further chaos they have in store for us.


Also in “Bad Wolf”

Although this episode featured the consequences of “The Long Game”, we actually didn’t learn whatever happened with The Editor or Cathica. Not even Adam was mentioned.

Captain Jack: “Am I naked in front of millions of viewers?”
Trin-E/Zu-Zana: “Absolutely.”
Captain Jack: “Ladies, your viewing figures just went up.”

Costumes we had for Captain Jack was a buccaneer look, a hell’s angels, tennis pro. I still liked the nude one, heehee!

Rose: “I just travel; I’m a bit of a tourist I suppose.”
Anne Droid: “Another way of saying unemployed?”

Other contestants on The Weakest Link were Brotch, Flitch, Colleen, Colin and Max. Rodrick was the first to mention “Bad Wolf” for Rose to really piece things together.

Lynda (re being over 100): “You’re looking good on it.”
The Doctor: “I moisturize.”

There are 60 Big Brother houses on Gamestation, in BB504 all the contestants walked and The Doctor took the advice of another Linda and smashed property to be evicted. Surely The Doctor, Captain Jack and Rose weren’t meant to escape the games if the Daleks want to win their battle?

Captain Jack (re talking to Lynda): “I was just saying hello.”
The Doctor: “For you, that’s flirting.”

Captain Jack (re Rose): “You killed her! Your stupid freaking game just killed her.”

Torchwood was mentioned here. What are they, a special ops unit or something?

Davish: “But I have your gun.”
The Doctor: “Okay, so shoot me.”

Other games on the Gamestation include Wipe Out, Countdown (30 seconds to diffuse a bomb, like Alias the reality TV series), Stars In Your Eyes (where you can get literally blinded) and Bear With Me.

Female Operator: “It’s not our problem; we’re just doing our jobs.”
The Doctor: “With that sentence, you’ve lost the right to talk, now back off.”

The Doctor (to Dalek): “And doesn’t that just scare you to death? Rose?”
Rose: “Yes Doctor?”
The Doctor: “I’m coming to get you.”

The chronology is exactly 100 years since “The Long Game”.

With an incredibly dodgy opening half, it’s nice to know that “Bad Wolf” was able to recover itself and even better, that we are finally starting to get some answers as well. The last fifteen minutes is where the real meat of the episode is and I for one can’t wait until next week.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 1x11: "Boom Town"

Written by Russell T Davies
Directed by Joe Ahearne

The Doctor (re Margaret Blaine): “And I was having such a nice day.”

If I could compile a list of things that most viewers would like to see more of in this new series, I don’t think there would be many people out there who would be eager to get a return of the Slitheen or even in particular Margaret Blaine but tough luck as for those who didn’t like the main baddie from “Aliens Of London” and “World War Three” because she’s back.

I wasn’t initially looking forward to round two as I suspect many other people weren’t but obviously learning from a few slip ups earlier on in the season with the Slitheen, Russell T Davies goes a long way to try and offer a more insightful outing for Margaret in comparison to the badly paced 10 Downing Street adventure. It also helps that the farting jokes are thankfully scrapped too.

Managing to teleport herself away from being blown up, Margaret has done her best to not only draw attention to herself but also has retained her desire to kill anyone who gets in her way, except for an intrepid journalist named Cathy, who’s life is spared when she lets slip to Margaret that she’s pregnant and in a moment of weakness, the murderous last surviving Slitheen gives her pardon before a stray newspaper informs The Doctor, Rose, Mickey and Captain Jack that Margaret is Mayor of Cardiff and plans to build a nuclear plant in the heart of the city.

Margaret’s attempts of escaping The Doctor and company by being teleported in and out are nothing short of humorous but when forced to confront one of her most dangerous enemies, she finds herself under arrest and a little too eager to lash out.

She accuses The Doctor of persecuting her, one of if not many “point taken” statements from her during the hour. So Margaret had no idea that her nuclear plant was built on top of the scar from the might rift back in “The Unquiet Dead”? Yeah, right and Captain Jack is modest at heart, I don’t think so.

There was some awfully suspicious about how nonchalant Margaret remained when she had to explained how she came about her pan dimensional surfboard or extrapolator as we later found out but first, it’s debate time.

Instead of trying to kill Margaret there and then, The Doctor decided to take her back to her home planet where she would be executed once she stepped foot home. Everybody, though more so Mickey thought that this was exactly what she deserved and at the risk of sounding narrow minded, I have to admit that I agreed with him.

Any way you cut it, Margaret and whatever is left of the Slitheen are killers. Cold blooded and mostly merciless, they kill simply out of greed. Unlike the Daleks or even the Cybermen, programming here cannot be blamed or excused for the actions of this species. As a child, Margaret may have been forced to kill but as an adult, it is her choice and no-one else’s. The Doctor and anyone else have the right and duty to stop her, even if it is through murder in the end. If they are executioners, The Doctor and company do it to protect lives and because often they don’t have a choice in the matter. The killings that Margaret has done with her race and by herself are not.

The Doctor and Margaret’s dinner conversation is certainly an eye opener. While they are plenty of times in which the Time Lord has been reckless, he is still better than Margaret and her attempts of using the extrapolator on the TARDIS to open the rift proved that while Margaret may be a capable of change, deep down her desire to do harm is powerful and rules any possible hope of doing good.

I hope for The Doctor’s sake that her being turned into an egg and returned to a better family could shape Margaret into a better alien, but I remain sceptical for the time being.

The peril aside, I loved the four team unit we had in this episode. Jack easily fits the ensemble like a glove and The Doctor and Rose are on their usual fine form too. Mickey, however also gets some great moments as his isolation from Rose is brought to the fore. When I first encountered Mickey, I didn’t particularly care for him but Noel Clarke has really improved as an actor.

This episode kind of tore me because as much as I love Rose and understand her desires to broaden her horizons, I sympathised a lot with Mickey. Their arguments about The Doctor coming first and not him was true and Rose got a harsh lesson when Mickey abandoned her after Margaret’s rift antics. Even Rose now thinks that Mickey deserves better.

Also in “Boom Town”

The “Previously On” bit just recapped on the Slitheen and nothing at all about Jack.

Captain Jack (re Rose/Mickey): “So sweet, how come I never get any of that?”
The Doctor: “Buy me a drink first.”

Character bits: Cathy works for the Cardiff Gazette, has a boyfriend named Jeffrey who is a civil servant and she is three months pregnant. I liked the personal stuff in this episode.

Cathy (re Mr Cleaver): “He was decapitated.”
Margaret: “It was a very icy patch.”

The Doctor (re Margaret): “She’s climbing out the window, isn’t she?”
Idris: “Yes.”

Margaret as a Slitheen has a very strange way of crying. It’s like her eyes go inwards or something. It looked cool enough.

Margaret: “This is persecution. Why can’t you just leave me alone? What have I ever done to you?”
The Doctor: “You tried to kill me and destroy the entire planet.”
Margaret: “Apart from that.”

Captain Jack (to The Doctor): “Like she’s not going to try and escape.”
Margaret: “Except I can never escape The Doctor, so where’s the danger?”

The “Bad Wolf” symbol was written in Welsh this time in Margaret’s office. The Doctor and Rose also at last decided to acknowledge it; except for The Doctor blowing it off was stupid.

The Doctor: “Would you like to come out to dinner? My treat.”
Margaret: “Dinner and bondage? Works for me.”

As a Slitheen, Margaret would’ve been boiled to death for her execution. Her real name is Blon Fotch Passameer Day Slitheen and as a female of her kind, she shoots poison darts from her nails and exhale poison. Very nifty!

Mickey (to Rose): “I can’t even go out with a stupid girl from a shop because you pick up the phone and I come running.”

Jack got called “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “cheesy” by Mickey and “Fly Boy” by Margaret. We didn’t learn anything new about the guy, though there was something of a nudity crisis with him.

The Doctor: “My TARDIS, the best ship in the universe.”
Margaret: “It’ll make wonderful scrap.”

The Doctor (re Mickey): “Do you want to go find him? We can wait.”
Rose: “No need. He deserves better.”

The chronology has been six moths since “Aliens Of London” and “World War Three”.

A little bit of a let down compared to the breathtaking previous two episodes (though almost anything would be); “Boom Town” is still a rather solid episode. Although I could happily do without ever seeing the Slitheen ever again, the pacing and execution of events in the hour was good.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 1x10: "The Doctor Dances"

Written by Steven Moffat
Directed by James Hawes

The Doctor (to Rose/Captain Jack): “I’m really glad that worked. Those would’ve been terrible last words.”

Amazingly it’s been a good while since I’ve heard the words “go to your room” in a parental tone and the opening sequence to part two of this brilliant adventure only got better and better. An impossible feat you might think but a fact.

Briefly escaping the clutches of the infected hospital staff and patients in Albion Hospital, we got some very nice moments with The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack as more about our mysterious former Time Agent was unravelled.

So Captain Jack has a thing for conning other Time Agents with useless items of junk which he masquerades as valuable ships etc, gets half paid and destroys the evidence and commiserates with the latest buyer that he’s duped in parting with his cash?

Not exactly a very nice thing to do but it does seem that both the scriptwriter and the lovely John Barrowman are pretty determined to make us like Captain Jack, so much that Jack manages to teleport The Doctor and Rose safely away from The Empty People to his invisible spaceship. You know after we get some fake out moments with our trio in peril of course.

Although learning more of Captain Jack’s past makes Rose a little cautious of him, is it that big of a shock that The Doctor is a little less eager to trust him? Honestly, not within the slightest.

The con artist thing aside, Captain Jack seems to know a lot about different technologies and even The Doctor can’t help but feel suspicious and rather threatened by this and with Rose being constantly impressed by Jack. She notes how both men are rather alike and it begs the question – just how much alike are they really?

The Doctor is alien, the last of his species whereas Captain Jack is one part of his species. When The Doctor dies, he regenerates and then looks like someone else, we don’t know what happens to Jack, assuming for a second that he might not be human. The Doctor remembers all his 900 plus years of time travelling while Jack has had two years of his life and memories erased, like Sydney Bristow in Alias.

Jack also made a point of noting that The Doctor might have good reasons to not trust him and keeping with the Alias comparison, Captain Jack could’ve actually have been a bad guy or kidnapped and brainwashed by other Time Agents (or someone or something else) into committing evil acts.

I definitely want answers to this sooner rather than later, especially if he’s going to be a permanent fixture from now on. Can you tell from this review that Jack being a regular is a good thing in my books?

To recap, my reasons for liking Captain Jack are quite simple. He may be a bit of a scamp but there’s an irresistible charm to this guy’s presence. Not only was Jack’s interplay with Rose fun to watch but the dynamic between him and The Doctor is superb.

It’s kind of a platonic love/hate/mutual respect type of relationship with these two and John Barrowman and Christopher Eccleston are great to watch and The Doctor could do with another bloke to bounce off.

The Doctor is still the most knowledgeable of the bunch but I can’t wait to see our duo now become a trio. Hopefully Jack will fare out better than Adam ever did and it’s nice that this show continues to show ambition and a desire to shake up the format, although old series have featured more than one companion with The Doctor at a time.

Also if there’s another reason why Jack should stay, it’s because that even though he was a little responsible for the Nanogenes in that fake ambulance (his junk not being so useless after all) mutating all and sundry who have interacted with Jamie into Empty People/Gas Mask people, he did his best to amend the situation by containing the bomb and faced with no way of escaping, he was willing to take his death gracefully. Thankfully with much chiding from Rose, The Doctor put his suspicions aside and rescued Jack.

Even better news and nonchalantly thrown in, it also turns out that Jack is bisexual when he volunteers to distract Algy at the railway station where the bomb was hidden. Rose’s reaction to this revelation is nothing short of priceless. Can this guy get any better?

As for The Empty Child storyline, it’s revealed that all along it’s been Nancy who was responsible for his hungry pursuit of his mother. It’s not a real shock to learn that Nancy is his Mum, especially given how she left the other kids to protect them and freaked out when she was chained beside an infected soldier at the railway station.

Florence Hoath is a delight and Nancy’s final acceptance of her responsibility as Jamie’s mother by admitting it to her lost child is touching. All the time while I was watching this two part instalment, I never viewed the Empty People as villains and Nancy’s plight of being teenage single parent is a realistic issue, dealt wonderfully here through fantasy and slight metaphor.

The end result had the Nanogenes reversing their own effects and everyone restored to their human status. The Doctor acts like its Christmas and in fairness, he’s not exactly wrong with feeling that way.

The episode ends on a fantastic note as our Time Lord shows both Captain Jack and Rose inside the TARDIS that he certainly can dance.

Also in “The Doctor Dances”

Because this is part two of a two part story, the “Previously On” bit was back. They don’t use them as much as other shows are likely to, do they?

Rose (to Captain Jack): “When he’s stressed, he likes to insult species.”
The Doctor: “Rose, I’m thinking.”

Captain Jack’s weapon was a sonic blaster, who could be used as a sonic cannon or disruptor. The joke with The Doctor swapping it with a banana during an attack was a little amusing. I think he was paying Jack back for the showing off earlier on.

Rose (re Captain Jack disappearing): “Why is it always the great looking ones who always do that?”
Doctor: “I’m making an effort not to be insulted here.”

Character bits: Jack used an on-com to communicate with The Doctor and Rose, he’s from the 51st Century and his ship is a Tula one, like the one he tried to con beforehand.

Rose (to The Doctor): “You got the moves? Show me your moves!”

The Doctor: “We were talking about dancing.”
Captain Jack: “It didn’t look like talking.”
Rose: “Didn’t feel like dancing.”

The “Bad Wolf” logo appears in German on the bomb that Jack dispatched. What is the connection with these two words?

The Doctor (re Captain Jack): “He’s a 51st Century guy who’s a little more flexible when it comes to dancing.”
Rose: “How flexible?”

There were a few gay connections in this episode. Jack confessed to sleeping with two of his executioners and Nancy blackmailed Mr Lloyd into letting her loot his house because of an affair.

Nancy: “Tell me, do you think that there is anything I couldn’t believe?”
Rose: “We’re time travellers.”

The Empty Child/Jamie: “Are you my Mummy?”
Nancy: “Yes, yes I am your Mummy.”

The Doctor made a reference about Rose and a bike when she was twelve years old. Thinking of “Father’s Day”, it isn’t an accident that she’s his latest assistant.

The Doctor: “Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once!”

Captain Jack (re the TARDIS): “Much bigger on the outside.”
The Doctor: “You better be.”

Standout music: “Moonlight Serenade” and “In The Mood” by Glenn Miller. Even the latter got me in the mood for dancing.

After such a spectacular first episode, “The Doctor Dances” is not only on a par but it is actually better than “The Empty Child”. The wonderful characterisation, the heartfelt moments and restoration of the Nanogenes victims, aided by an uplifting message from The Doctor and all that dancing at the end. Fantastic!

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 1x09: "The Empty Child"

Written by Steven Moffat
Directed by James Hawes

The Empty Child/Jamie: “Are you my Mummy?”

How about that, four very simple words but instantly made into an iconic sentence. The Doctor and Rose travel through time looking for a mauve coloured bomb but luckily for viewers, instead we get something much more special on offer as the TARDIS make it’s way into 1941’s London Blitz with a history lesson that no-one should forget anytime soon.

Curious to locate the bomb, The Doctor walks into a lounge bar and asks the punters about seeing anything falling from the sky recently. A simple enough question to ask except even I didn’t expect the audience of such to mistake The Doctor for a stand up act.

Meanwhile Rose is drawn to a child wearing a gas mask and calling for his mother. It’s from here on in that The Doctor and Rose are on a separate course but not to worry as both of their little adventures are interconnected and fun to watch in the process.

Rose’s attempts of locating the boy, only for her to be dangling from a rope in mid air during a German air raid for a good fifteen minutes was amusing until she lets go and gets rescued by Captain Jack. An impeccable piece of casting, John Barrowman is an absolute delight as Rose’s rescuer uses a special beam to pull her into his ship and uses Nanogenes to repair her hands. Already I find myself liking this guy.

Okay fawning aside, the mysterious and downright sexy Captain Jack isn’t shy of relaying information to Rose. Within the episode, he’s revealed to be a Time Agent and assumes that Rose is one too. In fact it also turns out that he’s directly involved in the thing that The Doctor and Rose were looking for and plans to destroy it within two hours if he isn’t given a substantial price for it.

Aside from that, watching the two of them flirting with each other is a surprising delight. Jack is definitely something of a smooth operator and wasted no time in trying to charm Rose, not that he had to try very hard. I was charmed by him too. Sorry, I am doing my best to stay focused but even I have to swoon a little bit.

As a seducer, Jack definitely hits all the right buttons. He laid out the champagne, treated us with classic music, all while him and Rose were on top of his invisible spaceship beside Big Ben, 65 years prior to the Slitheen destroying it. Rose could barely contain her attraction towards Jack, even if she wasn’t as full on about it as he was.

She was also happy to call his bluff in regards to the bomb but at the same time, she definitely enjoyed being sweet talked by him and seemingly enjoyed the modern Jack’s methods than the new fangled Doctor’s (there’s a funny ongoing joke about Spock from Star Trek here as well).

Even if everything else in this episode had failed to hit the mark, then the presence of Captain Jack certainly would’ve made up for it. However, to be fair, Captain Jack was only the tip of a very impressive iceberg here.

Having The Doctor and Rose split for much of this episode had the former receiving a phone call from the TARDIS. This should be impossible as the TARDIS is not actually connected to a phone but it still happens and when a mysterious girl named Nancy advices him not to answer, more questions pop up as a lone gas mask child terrorises The Doctor, Nancy and several children looking for it’s mother.

Every time Nancy legs it, The Doctor pursues her and she isn’t exactly forthcoming with answers. Anyways, a small child even one wearing a gas mask shouldn’t be viewed as a threat but it is as Nancy’s warning of touching the boy and turning into one of the infected gas mask people is very true.

There’s a fantastically creepy as hell atmosphere every time we encounter the lonely child but it’s virtually impossible to not sympathise with the child who is seemingly unaware of the damage he’s causing left, right and centre.

After much badgering from The Doctor, Nancy finally admits that the child is her brother who was killed in an air raid and before The Doctor should try and get the mauve bomb, he should talk to Dr Constantine. Florence Hoath who plays Nancy is wonderful in the role and you can easily see that the girl has major guilt issues of her own.

The Doctor then met with the slightly prickly Dr Constantine who informs him that Jamie has turned the entire hospital staff and patients into gas mask creatures before morphing into one himself. The Doctor almost went overboard noting the impossibility of their transformation and we got another standout guest performance, this time from Victor Meldrew’s alter ego Richard Wilson.

Our final scene in the hospital exposed Captain Jack as a con man seconds after him and The Doctor and Rose exchanged pleasantries but that was nothing compared to the fact that gas mask people are actually still alive rather than living dead. We got a clear picture of that as they began to surround The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack while in another side of town, Nancy breaks back into the house when she fed those children earlier on in this episode and is trapped by Jamie.

If I didn’t think before that Nancy knew more than she was letting on, I certainly do now. Her scenes with both The Doctor and Jamie in the final fifteen minutes more or less confirmed this for me.

Also in “The Empty Child”

According to Jack, the mauve bomb that The Doctor and Rose were searching for wasn’t a real bomb. Then what is it?

Captain Jack (to Algy): “Sorry man, I gotta go and meet a girl but you’ve got a nice bottom to.”

This might be a dumb question to ask but from that brief interaction, does this mean that Captain Jack is possibly bisexual? I did get that impression.

The Doctor (to a cat): “I’m gonna meet somebody who gets the whole ‘don’t wander off thing’. 900 years of phone box travelling, it’s the only thing left to surprise me.”

Rose (to Captain Jack): “I’m hanging in the sky in the middle of a German air raid with a Union Jack across my chest but hey, my mobile phone is off.”

Rose was unaffected by Jack’s psychic paper. Nice to see that extends beyond The Doctor’s use of it. Also Jack said he was single and worked out while Rose, although she considers Mickey as her boyfriend is footloose and fancy free.

The Doctor (to Ernie): “What’s a copper going to do with the lot of you? Arrest you for starving?”

We got a lot of signs here. In the lounge bar there was “Hitler Will Send No Warning”, a boarded house had “We Are Still Living In This Blast” and there was “Always Carry Your Gas Masks”.

The Empty Child/Jamie: “Are you my Mummy?”
The Doctor: “No Mummies here. Just us chickens, well this chicken.”

Fashion wise – Is Jack’s World War Two gear meant to be the real deal or just for infiltration purposes? Also the last time I saw any woman wearing a Union Jack top was Sarah Michelle Gellar is an episode of Buffy back in 1999. It did quite suit Rose, if I’m being honest.

Nancy: “Do you have special powers too?”
The Doctor: “What are you trying to say?”
Nancy: “Goodnight Mister.”

The scene where Jack kept calling The Doctor “Spock” and Rose “flag girl” was very funny. Rose really threw in the Star Trek references in this episode.

Rose: “This isn’t business, this is champagne.”
Captain Jack: “I never try to discuss business with a clear head.”

Constantine made a reference about being a father and a grandfather. Is it an allusion to the First Doctor and his granddaughter/assistant Susan?

Captain Jack (to The Doctor/Rose): “I’m a con man. That’s what I do, I con people.”

The Hospital in the final scene is Albion Hospital. It’s exactly the same hospital from “Aliens Of London” and “World War Three”.

Constantine: “I suppose the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb.”
The Doctor: “Probably too late.”

Standout music: “Moonlight Serenade” by Glenn Miller. It’s quite an appropriate song too for this era in time.

“The Empty Child” is an absolutely breathtaking piece of television in every way possible. The beautiful imagery of a war torn London, with superb and luscious special effects to heighten the Blitz stricken London along with some intense direction from James Hawes. Throw in Steven Moffat’s wonderful script, a thoroughly engaging plot, a nice level of terror, fantastic music, humour, guest stars and all round performances and you have one of the best moments in TV history. Roll on part two.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 1x08: "Father's Day"

Written by Paul Cornell
Directed by Joe Aherne

Within the first half of the debut season we’ve encountered plenty of monsters of the week scenarios and with the exception of “Dalek”; we haven’t really had a personal mission as such. The drawback of being a 900 year old Time Lord and having only human assistants is often being dragged into their own personal baggage and as much I love Rose, she’s no exception to the rule.

The episode opens up with a nice if rather overly sentimental narration from Rose praising her father and a flashback of Jackie telling a young Rose about Pete Tyler’s death. In the present day inside the TARDIS, Rose asks The Doctor if she can visit her father on the day he died so she can sit with him so he wouldn’t die alone. Oddly enough, The Doctor actually agrees to this request twice, opening up the predicted can of worms and our jeopardy of the week in the process.

If I had been in Rose’s predicament, watching her father about to die by a passing car, I’d want to save him too, despite whether or not it would have an effect on time. How could The Doctor not realise that Rose’s judgement would be clouded on seeing this particular event?

If I look at it from Rose’s perspective, it’s easy to see why she saved Pete’s life. He’s her father, she’s never had a relationship with the man and in her mind she was given an opportunity to reverse history and do some good, even if it’s rooted in a selfish desire.

She rationed with The Doctor that her Dad wasn’t going to start World War Three or make world peace, both being believable arguments but you knew he wasn’t going to see it like that.

The Doctor and Rose have had a few disagreements before but this was the first time in which things did get a little heated, he even took back her TARDIS key, he was that pissed off with her. Although both of them raised vital points about the other, the ensuing confrontation came across as a little silly.

As for the man in question, who Rose risked her relationship with The Doctor for, I found myself liking Pete Tyler, even more than I’ve come to like Jackie and a lot more than I liked Jackie in our 1987 trip here. Expertly played by Shaun Dingwall, Pete isn’t quite the successful businessman Rose was brought up to believe he was.

Instead he’s a bit of chancer with daft money making schemes and according to an overly permed Jackie, something of a ladies man too. In other words, the guy is the kind of geezer you’d expect on EastEnders. Normally this kind of character would make me cringe and despite some incredibly clichéd dialogue, Pete remained a likeable presence throughout the episode.

Watching him and Rose slowly develop a bond over the hour was intense. We had some rather naff double entendres, Rose learning that her parents weren’t shy of public rows and Jackie realising slowly who she really was. Pete is supposed to be the one who’s dense but Jackie beats him to it. Some of these scenes were quite superb but others sort of missed the mark but for the most part, things were believable and we got some neat foreshadowing for future events.

Whether it was a young Mickey clinging onto an older Rose in the church or Jackie having The Doctor look after baby Rose. I laughed at Jackie’s comments of pitying the poor girl who ends up with Mickey when he’s older or even The Doctor being trusted by Jackie. Mostly though I liked the perceptiveness of Pete and how he realised that being alive had caused the world to alter, even though The Doctor didn’t tell him that.

Now onto the drawback of the episode. As a result of Rose saving her father, all the parishioners at Stuart and Sarah’s wedding (Jackie is a bridesmaid), some ghoulish creatures appropriately titled the Reapers start attacking the place, forcing The Doctor to barricade everyone in the church.

It seems the more time is disrupted with, the stronger they get. So thanks to Pete giving our Rose herself as a baby to hold, the Reapers manage to get inside and devour The Doctor and the TARDIS. I gasped at the moment and as baddies went, the Reapers are one of the more successful ones to date. Rose went through a gamut of guilt and although it was her fault, it was easy to still sympathise with her.

The highlight of the hour though was the last five minutes, culminating in Pete’s death. The guy escaped death and although if he had lived, he might have actually bettered himself as a person, he knew he had to die for things to be right in the world. Billie Piper and Shaun Dingwall worked wonderfully in that scene together as Rose had to watch her father die again without saving him.

The episode ended as it began with another narration from Rose on her father and a new version of her flashback with Jackie before our present day Rose and The Doctor headed back into the TARDIS, seemingly patching up their differences.

Also in “Father’s Day”

Pete Tyler was born on the 15th of September 1954, making him a Virgo and dying on the 7th of November 1987. He died when he was 33. His middle name was Alan and Jackie’s full name is Jacqueline Andrea Suzette Prentice.

Rose: “It’s just an ordinary day.”
The Doctor: “The past is another country. 1987’s just the Isle of Wight.”

Pete had a lot of Trophies, were they all for bowling? Most of the products he tried to flog looked naff though, especially the Vitex.

Rose: “That car was gonna kill you.”
Pete: “Well, give me some credit, I could see it coming.”

Pete: “So that wouldn’t be a mixed signal then at all?
Rose: “Absolutely not.”

I don’t think we actually got any “Bad Wolf” indicators in this episode, even though Rose caused this week’s chaos. We didn’t see it scrolled anyway and I don’t think any of the Reaper creatures made sounds indicating “Bad Wolf” either.

Stuart: “You seem to know what’s going on.”
The Doctor: “I give that impression.”

Was The Doctor lying when he said to Rose he had no idea of what to do with the Reapers or was he hoping both Rose and Pete would figure it out for themselves?

Jackie (to Pete): “The world’s about to end and what do you do? Cling to the youngest blonde?”

Rose: “Can’t do anything right, can I?”
The Doctor: “As you ask, no. So don’t touch the baby.”

I noticed there was a looping kind of effect with the car that killed Pete several times in the episode and how cool was the idea of using the very first phone call by Alexander Graham Bell in this episode?

Pete: “Who am I, love?”
Rose: “My Daddy.”

Standout music: We got both Rick Astley and The Streets. Not really a fan of both acts but I’m sure they are plenty of viewers who enjoyed the past/present contrast though.

While Dreamwatch had given “Father’s Day” a rather scathing review, I’ll admit they were right about some stuff. Although an interesting idea, like last week things are spoiled but instead of sloppy pacing, it’s too much sentimentality worthy of a soap that detracts an overall pleasant enough outing. It’s better than “The Long Game” but it could’ve been better itself.

Rating: 6 out of 10.