Thursday 22 March 2018

Daniel Bryan has been Medically Cleared!

Shortly before this weeks Smackdown Live the news broke that Daniel Bryan has been medically cleared to wrestle in a WWE ring. This resulted in a gloriously heartfelt promo from the bearded one to start Smackdown and ended with the possibility of him being on the Wrestlemania card.

After suffering a beat down at the end of the show its this bloggers opinion that things are being set up for Shane Mcmahon and Daniel Bryan Vs Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Good booking as it protects him from suffering an injury on the grand stage, saves him for hot tags and he'll be safe working with Owens and Zayn.

Monday 5 March 2018

The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water won the Oscar for best film - wow, who'd have thunk that?

Sunday 4 March 2018

The Big Finish Catch-up: January 2018

For those of you new to this section of the blog, I started listening to the Big Finish Doctor Who releases when they started back in 1999, getting them as they were released up to mid 2002 and release No 33 Neverland. At that time I left Uni and due to being a bit busy with life and what not I only heard one or two releases over the next few years. I started getting back into them around 2008 and was 6 years behind at that point. Due to wondering off into the Lost Doctor range and a relaxed listening pace I fell further behind. In order to catch up I'm listening to two releases a month (or more when its a 60 min single disc release, plus without seeing the cover or knowing anything about the story) and my mission to catch up continues;


Blue Forgotten Planet - Featuring the 6th Doctor and Charley this release is the conclusion of the Charley doppelganger story line. This is a very strange story and highly emotional, around two years worth of releases ago it looked like Charley was going but a curve ball was thrown and she somehow ended up leaving the 8th Doctor for the 6th Doctor. This is not only the finale of the three story mini arc but also the conclusion of the 6th Doctor and Charley story line but also has ties to other stories beyond this. As a story in its own right I found it rather wanting a tiny bit unsatisfying and a tad annoying. 

This story lives on the resolution of the ongoing story line which it does well, answers the ongoing questions listeners would have had. The Doctor is left in an emotional state which keeps his time line intact, Charley is given an interesting status, the Viyrans become even more interesting and the doppelganger story is nicely resolved, 8/10.


The Valley of Death - Featuring the 4th Doctor and Leela its a trip back into the lost story range for this release. This is such a fun bombastic release and genuinely feels like the 4th Doctor era turned up to 11. Highly recommended fun release 8/10.


Orbis - Featuring the 8th Doctor and Lucie this release sees the start of the 3rd season of the 8th Doctor stories. This is without doubt one of the lamest stories I've ever heard from Big Finish and feels like it was thrown together at the last minute. The cliffhangers from the previous season are resolved however it doesn't feel like anyone is trying. There's some interesting stuff as at one point it looks like the Doctor is going to pick up a non humanoid companion and before the resolution kicks in Orbis itself and its community are very interesting. Lucies side of things feel frustrating but there is a feeling that things are being set up for later in the season. A story with promise yet it may be better on a re-listen 4/10. 


Wrath of the Iceni - Featuring the 4th Doctor and Leela, I'm still at the stage with Tom Baker where it feels like a novelty when he pops up (also to a certain extent with Leela). This is the third story in this season I've heard scattered over a few years, I've heard the first two Gareth Roberts novelisations, Light at the End, The Valley of the Death, the BBC stuff and a release from a season I've not got to yet but I still get that buzz in the early Big Finish releases with Tom. On top of that its a full blown historical story which I've yet to hear him do in Big Finish. A fantastic concept of a story that was singing out to be commissioned "The Doctor takes Leela to meet Boudica" FANTASTIC! Its fair to say this is more Leela's story than The Doctors and Louise Jameson gives everything into this story - at times you can sense Tom standing on the side lines and willing her to give it her all. A strong story and after a weak start to this season it feels all involved are hitting their stride 7/10.