The Euro 2016 Draw

So ladies and gentle readers the draw for Euro 2016 has finally taken place and for the first time in what feels like a life time Wales were in it. Going into it I was dreaming of the glamour teams and a group involving the likes of Spain, Germany, Italy, Croatia and Sweden. I wanted a proper group full of mouth watering fixtures and slowly one by one the teams were drawn;

Up first we had the noisy neighbours next door, Woy Hodgsons boring army. The only top ranked team I didn't want as they usually stink up the tournaments with boring matches over the last few tournaments. Plus the media and fleet street regulars will be ignoring the Welsh point of view and covering the match from England's point of view with a 'Battle of Britain' mantra nobody cares about.

Please pretend there something witty written here - I have no Slovakia material.

Up last we had Russia, now its getting juicy, if I could take you back a decade dear reader, the closest Wales have ever got to the Euros before was Euro 2004 where we finished second in our group to Italy, cue highlights of the classic Wales 2 Italy 1 match;

We were drawn against Russia in the playoffs and after a hard thought 0-0 in Moscow they scored from a badly conceded free kick at Cardiff to knock us out. A proper grudge match here and the standout fixture of the group.

Well my thoughts are that its a disappointing unsexy group but we've got a decent chance of second place, the countdown to summer 2016 starts now...

The Big Finish Catch Up: October 2015

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;

First up this month was the second and final disc of the story started last month featuring the 4th Doctor, Romana and K9. This later part of the story is more enjoyable than the first half as there's less padding and it looks like it may be setting up things for later in the season. On a production level it really sounds like 70's Doctor Who whilst on the acting front Mary Tamm and John Leeson are also able to recapture their performances with Tom being... well Tom! There is a good guest cast with David Warner and Hayley Atwell performing well but things are let down by the writing and length of the story - there's a decent one disc story in here but its spread to thin, plus Nick Briggs is what I call a 'plot' writer trying to do a camp story and not pulling it off. Disappointing 5/10.

We move on to the Eighth Doctor Range starring Paul McGanns 8th Doctor and Sheridan Smiths Lucie. Now this is a single disc story that could easily be a double disc release, utterly brilliant with guest star Nigel Havers putting in one of the best one off performances I've heard. What I enjoyed about this story is that it feels like we're coming in during the final five minutes of an adventure and then pushes on in a completely new direction. It also feels like some time has passed by since the previous story in this range. The Doctor and Lucie feel like a team that has hit its stride - which makes the end come as a bit of a shock. From a story that starts out all action this is one of the most personal stories I've heard which is mostly down to the characters of Rachel and Nick Zimmerman. This season continues to be brilliant 10/10.

The final story this month was Power Play from the Lost Story range starring Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the 6th Doctor and Peri. I must point out that I managed to hear this without seeing a certain character on the cover and it was rather a nice surprise. I found this story to be something of a tale of two halves, the first half being very good and threatening to be a bolter of a joy ride. However when the characters enter the compound it gets a tad dull and the geography of the story stopped making sense. On the whole I recommend this story as for large sways of it theres a lot of fun to be had. One thing I will say is that one of the guest actors struggles but I think its due to trying to recapture the character as I've heard her do good things in a certain main range story that contains a number in its title 7/10.  

As this is the final story in the third season of 'The Lost Stories' I'll be listening to (The Masters of Luxor and The Rosemariners I may come to eventually) I feel I should say something on the season. I recommend this season highly and feel the Fifth Doctor stories are the stronger with 'The Elite' and 'The Children of Seth' actually being rather special, the Sixth Doctor stories are all good solid stories and the more consistent of the six stories. I recommend the season and in all likely hood I'll be getting 'Masters' at some point.

James Bond - My top 10 favourite films

Good evening ladies and gentle viewers, a quick blog for you today. As I saw the recent Bond film Spectre, the other day I've decided to list my personal top ten Bond films. So without further ado;

10. The Spy Who Loved Me, what makes this film so good is the pairing of Roger Moores Bond with Barbara Bachs Anya Amasova. They constantly play off and try to outdo each other throughout the film giving the viewer loads of fun. Stand out moments include the car submarine, Jaws regular attacking of the main characters and the best villainous lair in the series.

9. Thunderball - IE the one with the sharks. Emilio Largo played by Adolfo Celi is one of my favourite villains and this film contains my favourite collection of supporting Bond girls. It also has my favourite performance by Sean Connery who spits his lines out with venom.

8. Octopussy, Roger Moore with his final gasp of greatness in a camp classic. Maud Adams is one of my favourites and this is my favourite of her performances. Louis Jourdan brilliantly camps it up as the villain and theres a shed load of women in belly dance outfits. The escape through the jungle is brilliant farce and even though we're in the 80's this film retains the swagger of the 70's.

7. Casino Royal, its very brave to say 'we're going to do something different' and after the Brosnan era this is a bit of a shock. Is it a proper reboot? I don't know however theres something mind blowing about seeing Bond get his license to kill! I want to like this film more than I do - I'm quite fond of it but feel it should be getting more from me. Its about financing terrorism a far cry from robbing Fort Knox, the Parkour chase is one of the best action sequences in Bond. We actually have a sequence in the middle that is a proper game of poker - and I mean proper, who hasn't been rivered by a jack in their lifetime. A really good start to Daniel Craig's run.

6. Goldfinger, theres something about this film that when its on - be it on an obscure channel or a Sunday afternoon matinee showing I struggle not to watch it. Its virtually a flawless film, so many scenes and performance that stick in the memory. Also its not as flashy a film as some of the others on this list, theres a few famous set piece scenes lite the ejection seat but its mostly deceptively small scale. Of note are the villains Gert Frobe as the titular character and Oddjob the ultimate henchman. Also Honor Blackman plays a  character called PUSSY GALORE!

5. From Russia with Love, this is a wonderful film that is tightly constructed and one of the few films that could work if you took Bond out of it and made it a thriller.

4. Live and Let Die, we're firmly in the category of films I could watch endlessly on a loop as I like them so much. The villains henchman has a claw for a hand - if you don't like this film you have no joy in your soul! Later in life after enjoying this film as a child I find out it was Moores debut - which adds another later to the film especially when he finally delivers the "Bond, James Bond" line.

3. Moonraker, perhaps the first Bond film I ever saw and the one Bond film I know inside out and backwards. Roger Moore at height of his run is having loads of fun whilst Lois Maxwell might be my favourite Bond girl. The locations in this film are brilliant from Venice to the Amazon. Drax is a brilliant villain - Michael Lonsdale and Moore are clearly competing to steal every scene they're in.

2. GoldenEye, Bond returns after 6 years and the film makers poor everything into Pierce Brosnans debut. Sean Bean is one of my favourite villains and whilst Brosnan plays Bond as rather superficial over the course of the film things get personal and of course theres the tank chase which looked brilliant on the big screen.

1. The Living Daylights, I know I'm in the minority but this my Bond. The first Bond film I saw in the cinema, the first time Bond had felt so dangerous, a very good plot for a Bond film and countless set pieces. Timothy Dalton is the first Bond I saw in the cinema and as such he'll always be the Bond that springs to mind, when I've read some of the books Dalton is the Bond I think of. The action set pieces are brilliant - THERES A CHASE ON A CELLO!

The Big Finish Catch-up: September 2015

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;

Spaceport Fear featuring the 6th Doctor and Mel is a fantastic little story involving an isolated setting, a good set up and a cracking plot involving a few twists that I didn't see coming. Strongly recommended 7/10.

Second up this month is a dip into the 'companion chronicle' range. Starring Jean Marsh in a story featuring the 1st Doctor, Sara and Steven. I actually recommend getting this over Halloween, viewing this as a taster to see if I'm going to buy anything from this range again its a roaring success. Its a very good story and one that I'm sure would have caught a few people off guard - I really don't want to say much in case I accidentally give anything away. It reminds me very much of the main ranges experimental stage from around 2003/4. I can't give more of a tribute to this than say - I'm in, I'm going to be listening to more of this range and you'll see more reviews coming up in this blog.

Third up this month and its another range as we go into the 4th Doctor range. This is a rare case of the 'not knowing anything' factor screwing things up. This was paired with the previous story in this review and I expected a single disc story unfortunately I got half a story as this is a double disc story as in Dalek story at the start of the 8th Doctor range. Reviewing what I did hear however, its very good to hear Tom Baker, Mary Tamm and John Leeson plus the production really sounds like 70's Who. However the story is terrible, disappointing given the cast and quality of the quest cast. Quite frankly as opposed to hearing a story I listened to characters being moved around a chess board and some awful characterisation. A halftime score of 5/10 and its that high due to so many of my fan buttons being pressed by this lineup of regulars.

My Least Favourite Waste of Time (part two)

Fast forward four months and things were still not going well on the job search front. On 10/06/15 I received an unexpected email from Admirals recruitment team. They were looking to run a course called "Getting into Admiral" on 01/07/15 - 03/07/15 it was aimed at people who were "unsuccessful" in their interview. It would be three days of interview tips, sales training and an insight into Admiral. There would be an interview at the end and if passed would result in a job starting on the 13/07/15. The job was actually an inbound sales job which was appealing. I had a few interviews and few applications on the go at the time so phoned Admiral and asked if I could confirm I would attend a week beforehand due to it being three weeks away, which they said was fine.

If any ones reading this thinking "why apply for them again" I'm not in a position to turn anything down, I want to work, this was in a different site to the previous job application (actually with Admiral and not one of their brands) and hopefully it would be with different recruitment staff. I rang them a week beforehand and confirmed I was going to attend. At the time I had three interviews with three different companies over a three week period; week 1 would be HSBC, week 2 would be Admiral and week 3 would be Virgin Atlantic. All in Swansea and all call centre jobs, given my extensive experience and skill I set myself a target of passing at least two of the three interviews and getting myself a choice of jobs. Admiral in fact for various long drawn out reasons was my pick of the three jobs.

The course was situated in Admirals Telelink 2 Building in Swansea Vale, located a short hop from Llansamlet train station which is how I would be getting there. I rolled up to the building at 08:45 Thursday morning, due to confidence issues and the previous application I was dressed gender neutral. I was signed in by security then escorted into the canteen where we were to wait for the trainers. There were a few people already in before me and over the next ten minutes the rest of the applicants arrived. The applicants were as follows;

1. Me, a veteran of call centres, knows their way around the industry, can talk to people of all ilks and coming off a six month period of unemployment after working in the TSB call centre just down the road.

2. Swindon, a woman from Swindon currently living in Swansea. I didn't learn anything of her professional background.

3. Teacher, a middle aged former teacher, rather authoritarian and I found her rather old fashioned.

4. Navy, a former navy chef, currently unemployed and also had recent call centre sales experience.

5. Mac, a young girl who was a trainer in McDonald's.

6. Hardy, an ex squaddie who was currently working in sales in the call centre next door to Admiral.

7. Blonde, a woman a little younger than myself whose professional background I never found out about.

8. Q, a rather quiet guy who kept himself to himself.

9. Tess. a young girl who worked in a super market.

10. Max, a young boy who I never really found out much about.

11. Stylist, a young girl who worked in a hair salon.

12. Brunette, a middle aged woman who I never found out much about.

13. Don, a quiet guy who didn't say much with a beard to differentiate himself from Q.

14. Brad, an Australian who like me had spent most of the last few years working for an Internet retailer.

15. Ben, a rather laid back young man.


I found the trainers and recruiter who ran the course very professional the course included a welcome, facilities talk, Admirals core competencies, interview skills, listening in to agents, sales training some talks by management and sales training. All in all very professional and we got a free lunch which went down well. At the end of day two we drew lots for our interview times on the final day - the final day would  be the interview and we'd get the results the following Monday which would mean a potential start a week later.

I arrived for my interview fifteen minutes early - arriving early is good but arriving to early results in sitting around getting nervous. First people I saw were Anita and Ruth who were running the course and interviewing, we were told they didn't have a say who was interviewing who - it was randomly assigned. I found Q sitting in the canteen after a quick chat Anita and Ruth called him in for his interview. I was sat on my own composing myself until Mac arrived. We had a chat and then I was called in for my interview.

This interview is now mentally my benchmark interview, the one I will now think of as the best an interview can go. I was on top form, answers were flowing, no awkward silences, eye contact was maintained and all in all very good and I came away thinking I'd got the job. I'd done everything, I'd brought paperwork that showed when I left Amazon due to productivity I was hitting my targets but when the work dried up I missed them for two weeks - hitting 150% of target the week before I was released. I'd prepared my own role play where I mock sold the interviewers my mobile phone. Feedback from the previous weeks interview with HSBC informed me recruiters when asking for examples want recent examples so when asked about motivation/targets I talked about targets and bonus for hitting them for Amazon because the previous call centre sales targets experience was from 2010. I left feeling confident, walked into Swansea to spend some money to celebrate my start a week Monday and generally felt on top of the world.

The situation for the job was there were 20 jobs on offer, 15 on the course and 20 applicants applied to the advert. I felt I was a top contender and well capable of finishing in the top 20 out of 35. I couldn't judge the applicants who I hadn't met but here's my opinion of the contenders from the course;

Certs to be offered a position;

1. Me, I was awesome during the interview, contributed to the team and tasks throughout the course. Used a few things in the interview others wouldn't have thought of and had extensive experience.

2. Mac, very professional, carried herself very well throughout the course and came across very well when discussing her current job at McDonald's. I genuinely think she's got team leader potential despite her lack of experience.

3. Brad, a brilliant talker and wonderfully laid back, if I called Admiral to discuss my insurance I'd want to talk to him.

4. Blonde, came really well in the tasks, mixed well with everyone and can only say good things about her.

Candidates I'd Hire;

I'm grouping Tess and Brunette together in this section as I felt they were both intimidated yet showed their strengths during the tasks and group talks. If anything both of these two are prime examples of why the course was set up, didn't shine as bright as others on their initial application but a chance to get them in again, give them some pointers and give them another shot.

The Maybes;

Teacher, personally I'm not sure she's a fit for a call centre environment, she was authoritarian, had trouble getting her point over and isn't going to be able to make sales with her personality. However she put a strong effort into the group tasks and her people skills could improve during the training course.

Ben, I like him, he contributed to every task well and got to know him as I walked him to the bus stop and gave him directions. Can't remember if he has call centre experience but think he can do well on the phones. The only reason I have him down as a maybe is because he's so laid back he may have trouble convincing the interviewers (if he's interviewed by someone who wasn't involved in the course) that he cares about getting the job.

Navy, he has experience but throughout the course he had a habit of putting his foot in his mouth, for an example during an example of bad customer service he told a story about how he embarrassed a call centre worker in front of his boss. In short I think he can thrive at this job but could shoot himself in the foot during the interview.

Max, in theory he should be a dead cert but his behaviour let him down, he was often laughing and giggling at other people when they were talking during presentations and discussions. Blanked virtually everyone on the course at one point of other and did the call centre no no of swearing on the call centre floor. Despite that I was impressed with him when he made an effort, he's young enough to grow out of that attitude and if he does as well in the interview as he did in the course deserves a second chance.

People Who I Don't Think Will Get Through;

Stylist, she didn't turn up after the first day and wasn't interviewed. I assume at best she'll be given a spot on the course if they hold another one. She came across as professional and the reason for not attending  may have been out of her hands or she have been accepted for another job - who knows.

Swindon, no offence to her but I thought she came across as rather awkward and I just can't see her on the phones or enjoying the job. I think her strengths lay in other areas however if she did get the job call centre turn over is high and I could see her leaving before three months. Good luck, I hope she finds something but I don't think she fits the call centre environment.

Hardy, I felt being the only one of us currently working and working in a call centre doing sales he should have alpha maled the group. However I can't remember him doing or saying anything and sat on the sidelines not taking advantage of this course.

Q, nice guy but again sat on the sidelines and didn't contribute or take advantage of the situation.

Don, god bless him really nice guy but sat on the sidelines and again sadly didn't make an impact.

So cut to the following Monday where I was preparing for the next job interview, I got no phone call. The next day I got an email similar to the previous one and rang it asking for feedback. They said I didn't disclose being released on a previous job - as mentioned I did and even brought the paperwork to the interview to show I was hitting target despite being released for productivity. Said I didn't show passion - believe me I did and was complimented for showing how passionate I was the previous week when applying with HSBC. Finally they said talking about breaking up your day, hitting hourly targets to get bonus and being motivated by spending the bonus money wasn't an appropriate answer to being asked how I motivate myself.

After the first application it just sounds like utter utter bullshit.

I don't know what I want from this blog entry, there are no winners to be found here only losers. Admiral have missed out on a top quality worker twice and I've been trapped on the dole for seven months more than I should. Maybe I should have kicked off a second time but given the results from the first time my heart wasn't in it.

I bid the second interviewers no ill will just hope they are retrained before interviewing anyone else. I would hope that the first set of interviewers have been found out by now (I doubt this is the first time they've done this) and sacked. I'd like to thank everyone at Admiral who contributed to the course and I hope everyone who took part from it got something out of it.

As for me, tomorrow I'll be getting a call from a recruitment consultant about a new job I hope to be starting on Monday. 

Here's to new starts...

Wales Qualify for Euro 2016!

Ladies and gentle readers last night for the first time in my lifetime the Wales football team has qualified for a tournament. Over the years we've come close a few times and other times never been in the chase. Only in the last qualifying campaign we finished second bottom of our qualifying group only ahead of Macedonia. In fact over the last decade its been campaign after campaign of building and we now have a team made up of Wayne Hennessey, Chris Gunter, Ashley Williams, Ben Davies, Jazz Richards, Joe Allen, Joe Ledley, Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bales AND WE FINALLY DID IT!

Last time we even came close was a decade ago when the likes of Captain Fantastic Gary Speed, John Hartson, Simon Davies, Craig Bellamy, Simon Davies and Robbie Savage came second to Italy and we lost a playoff to Russia by a goal. A crazy campaign where we beat Italy with Simon Davies and Hartson coming third and fourth in the goal scoring table to Inzaghi and Del Piero. Sadly we faded after the first four games and it didn't happen.

Before that it was another decade before we came close with the legendary Terry Yoraths team of Ian Rush, Mark Hughes, Dean Saunders, Neville Southhall and Ryan Giggs fell at the final hurdle against Romania. Sadly no matter how many times I rewatched Paul Bodins penalty over the years it refuses to go in.

Recently there have been glimpses of what could be and reasons to keep the faith, be it Wales 2-1 win over Montenergro or a hard fought 1-0 loss to Germany. Finally we've put a string of results together and reached the promise land of Euro 2016 in France. Meaning for the first time this blogger wont be pulling names out of a hat to decide who to support.

The Big Finish Catch-up: August 2015

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;

Its a bit of an odd one this month as we begin with Colin Bakers 6th Doctor in the main range story 'The Acheron Pules.' From the get go we find we're in the same general area albeit a little further ahead in time from 'The Burning Prince.' Its quite welcome to get a play linked to the last one but sadly its a large down turn in quality. In many ways it never gets going, the moment we realise where we my memory went back to the bonus scene of the previous story and the antagonists are explained. The story itself never gets going and when it tries to many aspects come across weak. There's a moment during this story when The Doctor does something and the listening immediately thinks 'that will come back to haunt him' but bar that its largely sub par. In the later half of the story some of the guest cast become hard to tell apart. Disappointing 4/10

On the other hand we have 'The Shadow Heart' featuring Sylvester McCoys 7th Doctor. Absolutely brilliant story which fully absorbed me from start to finish. This one is up there with the top stories I've heard this year. I assume its the final story in a trilogy (although another story with perhaps the 8th Doctor would be welcome) as theres an air of finality about it. I could easily have played this again the following evening, theres more flair in this story than the previous one, we're thrown into situations throughout the story, given clues here and there while still giving us quite a lot of curve balls. I must say Sylvester sounds like he's having bags of fun - in fact the Doctor alternates between knowing whats going on and not having a clue quite a few times adding to the fun. The space snail is a lovely concept and there is so much happening I'm pretty sure the story takes us to about four or five different worlds. I was thinking to myself near the end that it may be possible to play disc 2 before disc 1 which made me think the writer was Jonathan Morris - it was, he's become my favourite writer on these audio's (along with the book ranges) and I fully expect him to break into TV and the mainstream in future. I give this release 9/10 and look forward to what comes next with a spring in my step.

Hitchbot

Good afternoon ladies and gentle readers,for those of you unaware Hitchbot was invented at Ryerson University as an experiment. Hitchbot started its journey on 27/07/14, a robot that you could follow on line via its website and web cam the experiment was to see if Hitchbot could travel from one side of Canada to the the other

Over 21 days it travelled Halifax to Victoria on the other side of Canada. From then on there were travels through Germany and Holland before his creators chose to tackle America. Placing it in Massachusetts Hitchbot began its journey however when it got to Philadelphia the city of brotherly love this happened;

Yes readers sadly Hitchbot is dead, this blogger had been following it through Kevin Smiths Smodcast and various on line platforms over this past year so this comes as very sad news. So what have we learnt from this? I say if your going to send a robot out into the world hitchhiking give it some weapons to defend itself, possibly a chainsaw or a laser rifle. This is Innocuous Bystander the voice of common sense and the voice of sending armed robots onto the motorways of the world.

My Least Favourite Waste of Time

Good afternoon ladies and gentle readers, I hope I find you fettle. As I write this entry its a barmy August evening and I hope your getting the summer weather where you are. Anyway on with the blog, most of my blogs are written as a bit of fun however sometimes I have to rant and get something out of my system, this is one of those times. For the first time in a while (and because some of you requested) I'm doing a job search entry. This particular blog is going to cover two separate application processes with two parts of the same overall company.

In late December I left my place of work on a temp contract and was looking for work, which is a struggle at that time of year due to the first three months of the year being quiet in most industries. Someone shared on facebook that Admiral Insurance were taking people on so I logged onto Admirals recruitment site and had a little investigation. For those of you who don't know the Admiral Group is a large insurance company located throughout South Wales (Newport, Cardiff and Swansea). Apparently Admiral is expanding and was going to be doing some things I would like to do as well as things that I'm experienced in. So I filled in the on line application form for a CSR (Customer Service Representative) under the Gladiator brand. After completing the form I received an email saying I'd got through to the next stage which was a phone interview and asked to log back into Admirals recruitment site to select an interview slot. I chose 14:30 the following Thursday the 29th of January.

This was a few days away and it gave me a chance to have a more detailed look at the company. Go over my weak spots in interviews and come up with some answers for competency questions which I was a little out of practise with. Thursday 14:30 soon arrived and I received a phone call from a polite cheery voiced woman who proceeded to interview me. After forty-five minutes of stringent interviewing we reached the end and I was informed that I had passed and was invited to a 'meet and greet' the following Thursday at 09:30. All in all not a bad result and I had a week to prepare myself for what I was informed would be a three - maybe four hour chance for me to find out a bit more about the company plus be interviewed.

A week later and off I popped to Swansea, I'd been asked to get there for 09:00 which meant an early rise to leave the house 07:30, a twenty minute walk, half hour train journey and a slow amble to SA1 as I composed myself. Wearing my hair & makeup as professional as I could get it and dressed in professional top, trousers plus bag I looked the typical interviewee. I do have a confession to make at this stage, Admiral have three buildings in Swansea, one out in the vale and two in the SA1 development near town, along with 95% of my fellow applicants I went to the wrong building - I went to the main building 'Admiral Group House' when the Gladiator brand is located in the Ellipse building. After being informed we were at the wrong building I got directions from the security guard and led my fellow applicants three minutes down the road to the correct building.

We were greeted at the door by one of the recruitment girls (the recruitment team in Group House had phoned ahead to tell them what happened) and led through the call centre into one of the meeting rooms. The three recruitment people then took us through a presentation about Admiral (having done my research I knew most of it although I made sure to look interested). We were then given the traditional task of quizzing the person sat next to us fortunately me and the girl talked 10 to the dozen so we were able to get all the requested information out of each other. We were then given another presentation this time centring on the job itself and Gladiator itself.

At this point things got a little bit strange, we were then divided up into two groups of seven. The first group were to listen in to some agents on the floor (buddying) and be interviewed one by one while the second group (included) me stood waiting in a corridor for an hour. Every so often one of the first group would be pulled off the floor to be interviewed then we would 'buddy up' when they were all done. They did say we could wait in the chill out lounge but we didn't have a pass to get back in out of the corridor.

So an hour later the other team had been interviewed and left, meaning we got to 'buddy up' to an agent. I should say at this point that any name I give will be made up... just because. I sat down next to a young chap called Tim who gave the worst performance I'd ever seen in a call centre. After a few minutes I was having to point out where the information he needed was on the screen. During one call he put the client on hold and left the desk, I have no idea how long he was gone for but in that time the client had got bored, hung up, called back and had his query dealt with by another agent. Ideally I was hoping to pick something up to ask about during the interview but it didn't happen. Essentially for forty-five minutes I was sat at a blank screen whilst my agent was doing a tour of the room occasionally coming back to his desk (just to be clear he was not on a break) for a few minutes now and again. If this guy could get a job I was a dead cert to get a job if this was the level of worker Admiral had.

So after enduring this one of the recruitment staff collected me for the actual interview. It was her and another recruiter who I hadn't met yet sat side by side at a table with myself at the other end. The first question I was asked was 'had I enjoyed listening in?' I didn't want to start off on a bad foot or get a new colleague into trouble on the first day so I tried to sidestep by saying I didn't get to hear or see much due to the calls being long and awkward. After a 'how do you,' handshake and positioning myself on the chair in a positive open manner the interview began. The recruiter who I'd met I'll call Julie and the one who I'd not seen before the interview I'll call Bindy, they were both a bit 'sensible shoes' and it was quite hard getting them to open up - especially when they were the ones who should be getting me to open up. The interview didn't actually last long, I was asked a bit about my background and personal life which I answered in detail. I was asked a question about building rapport and asked to give some previous examples. I'd been expecting this and had practised an answer, I spoke about my previous call centre work and gave the examples of when I worked in a loan brokers talking about what the loan was for, when I worked for Vodafone I'd often chat about their model of phone and if they'd seen any models we had coming out they had their eye on for a future upgrade. Just giving examples that I could chat with a client and not leaving them hanging in an awkward pause - that kind of thing. They then asked about the gap I had in the last five years when I left the industry, rather than lie I said I'd left due to transphobia in the workplace and had looked to get out of the industry due to it having a negative affect on my career.

What I'm going to explain now is what every person in the transgender community has gone through. Their jaws hit the table and the penny dropped, given the clothes I was wearing, the makeup and the hair I'd have expected them to notice when I walked through the door. All of a sudden there was a panic in both their eyes, Bindy must have had some kind of auto reflex as she then gave a speech about Admiral being an equal opportunities employer. All very good to hear and at that point inside I gave a sigh of relief and was perked up for the rest of the interview, when (bearing in mind we're about six minutes in) Bindy ended the interview and and asked me to leave. I kept myself composed as its not the best idea to create a confrontation, a sentence famously said by Terrance Dicks or possibly Malcolm Hulke. I have put up with a lot of transphobic crap but I've never had the interview stopped and been removed from the building before. Everyone else got at least a twenty-five to forty minutes interview I was turfed out when the penny dropped that I was trans. Utterly disgusting.

I trudged home fully knowing I hadn't got the job, despite the experience of this 'meet and greet' when I'd looked into Admiral I thought it looked fantastic and thought (as I do now) it was an ideal workplace for me. The following Monday I received a generic email saying "we received a high calibre of candidate and some of the other candidates demonstrated a closer match to what we are recruiting for at this present time" in short absolute bull shit. My call centre experience was extensive - I'd done customer service, sales retentions, worked for brokers (which is what Gladiator is), managed departments, actually set up departments and worked in industries as extensive as banking to broadband suppliers.

However what this email also had which was rare on this day and age was a phone number to ring for individual feedback. I was still in this! Perhaps I could resit the interview with a non transphobe while management investigated Julie and Bindy!  I proceeded to ring the number and spoke to a recruitment girl, I asked for feedback first before I made any complaints and the feedback was 'I hadn't given any examples of building rapport' if I wasn't already livid I was even more livid now. Not only had they been discriminatory during the interview they'd put a load of rubbish in the recording of it to cover their backs.
 I told them that was incorrect and retold the exact examples I had given in my interview, I also said my treatment of having my interview stopped was nothing short of trans phobic. She escalated the call and eventually I spoke to two separate people who repeated the phrase: I'm sure that's not the case. Over the course of those two calls I stated my case that I'd had my interview stopped and been discriminated against by a transphobe but all I got in reply was 'I'm sure that's not the case' repeated back at me after every sentence. Eventually I was offered a call back from the head of recruitment which I accepted as I was getting nowhere with these two but I never received a further call.

There ends my first attempt to get a job with Admiral, ending in transphobia and a cover up by recruitment staff who didn't care. Despite my experience I still held hopes of working with them in the future, the fact is they are doing things I would like to do. Nevertheless as is the norm these days after getting rejected I would be unable to apply with them for six months. I'd like to say that I think this isn't an isolated incident and that Admiral is an equal opportunities employer but I'm sure that's not the case.

Strictly Come Dancing lineup 2015

Good afternoon ladies and gentle readers, for those of you who don't know last night marked the comeback of BBC 1's annual dance show Strictly Come Dancing. Now in its 13th series the show has become something of an autumn schedule tradition and to mark the start of this years series here's my opinion of this years lineup;

Ainsley Harriot, nice to see him back on TV after a bit of a break. Should add a bit of flair and campness to the show and expect him to last to the mid point.

Anita Rani, never heard of her.

Anthony Ogogo, never heard of him.

Carol Kirkwood, nice smiley Carol the weather presenter off of BBC Breakfast. Nice enough but don't expect much skill or flair to last beyond a few weeks.

Daniel O'Donnell, as far as I know he's a cabaret chicken in a basket type singer. Not very familiar with him myself and forget about dancing he could barely string a sentence together on the opening show. Very probably will be first out.

Georgia May Foote, never heard of her.

Helen George, never heard of her.

Iwan Thomas, 400 meter runner from the mid 90's to early 00's. Good bit of charisma to him and think he's good value to get 3/4's of the way through.

Jamelia, a classic example of the inverse ratio between the size of the mouth and size of the brain. Will be tuning over whenever she's on as I can't stand her.

Jay McGuiness, never heard of him.

Jeremy Vine, midday host on radio 2 and a regular on BBC's election and political coverage. Looks like he's enjoying it and I hope he gets the furthest out of the ones I don't think will do well.

Katie Dernham, vaguely aware of her, came across well and hope she enjoys her time on the show.

Kellie Bright, blimey she's been around for ages, mostly known for Eastenders and The Upper Hand the first time I saw her was on kids TV when I was a kid as the protagonist in Teabag. She also appeared as Del Boys mum in the Only Fools and Horses prequel Rock and Chips and in one of the best detective shows in recent time Jericho which only lasted a season because I was the only one who watched it. Hope she does well and hope she gets near the final.

Kirsty Gallacher, Sky Sports News presenter. Hope she gets half way as she's very personable and I have a slight crush on her.

Peter Andre, of mid 90's pop star fame. There's not really much to him, he has no personality whatsoever and the earlier he's out the better.

So there you have it my opinion of this years lineup, not the best judging from the initial show but hopefully they'll grow on me. In the meantime KEEP DANCING...

The Big Finish Catch Up: July 2015

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;

We start off this month in the main range with the 8th Doctor, Charley and C'rizz. I quite enjoy the trope of characters landing in a prison they have no knowledge of and as such this story is quite enjoyable. However so much of this story is sloppy and needs more work. I'm pretty sure the narrative doesn't quite make sense unless time passes slower outside of the cube, there isn't enough story to justify the length, Charley virtually does nothing the entire play, there is a section of dialogue near the end which should have been edited out as it contrasts the end of the scene, I'm pretty sure the stories finale goes against something that happens minutes earlier and all in all the story is brought down by moments where I thought to myself "I think they've made a mistake there." In saying that it is a tight atmospheric little thriller which I do tend to like. I think something major plot wise might have happened near the end and I do like the pointers to C'rizz hidden nature which have cropped up over the last five stories (I think The Doctor may finally have noticed something but I'm not sure). I'd have to rate this story 5/10 but I think it may be a very generous score when compared with others.

We nip six years into the future with this months other story, 'The Burning Prince' starring Peter Davisons 5th Doctor. A quick reminder, I'm short of funds right now and stories I get on discount are being put into the 'listen to' pile earlier. On the other hand this is a story where the production, writing and cast come together to create a sterling story. This story plays out like a disaster story, The Doctor steps out of the TARDIS onto a spaceship in peril and things steadily get worse as the story progresses. I really like the 5th Doctor when he becomes put upon, is poorly treated by the rest of the cast and is given a hard time. This happens here as his arrival is timed to make him look as best very suspicious by the rest of the cast. Speaking of the cast all of them perform very well and it was nice to hear Caroline Langrishe best known for the tail end of Lovejoy all though I was kicking myself for not recognising Clive Mantle especially after he popped up recently in 'The Settling.' Checking the case after I'd finished I recognised John Dorneys named from 'The Elite' which makes two good stories I've heard from him now and I'll look forward to his name cropping up again. To some up a rip roaring adventure, good plot, fantastic performances and possibly in the top couple of stories I've heard this calender year, 9/10. 

A Confession

It can't have failed to escape your attention ladies and gentle readers that last week 'The Great British Bake Off' returned to our screens. Since last week flour has been bought from Tesco by the trolley load, twitter is full of cake and the country is full of a rather doughy smell. I feel compelled to get something off my chest dear readers;

I HATE CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel so relieved to get that off my chest as its been impossible to escape from cake and baking this week. As a main dish if it doesn't come with chips and can't be drowned in tomato sauce I wont touch it. My dessert of choice is ice cream or instant whip. Nothing against cake and all those who hold it dear, I just can't stand the stuff. I hope you enjoy Mary Berry and her hirsute sidekick tonight but I'll be sticking to my ice cream.

Ten things I wan't from Liverpool this season

Good morning ladies and gentle readers, as I type its currently half past midday and fifteen minutes to the start of the 2015/16 Premiership season. A time to put the past behind us and focus on the coming season and in that vein here's ten things I want to see from Liverpool football club this year;

1. A fit striker.

Last season we had Daniel Sturridge falling to bits, Lambert with no pace, Borini's ego preventing an exit and Mario Bolotelli - lord knows what was wrong with him. We resorted to three dinky midfielders upfront and it sometimes worked sometimes didn't. Thankfully this time we have a fit Christian Benteke, Danny Ings and Divock Origi to choose from with the treatment room brigade backing them up.

2. Scary and Angry Mignolet.

Last season due to poor form Simon Mignolet lost his place only to get it back through injury. But during his time out something happened - he lost his temper. When he came back he was commanding his defence blocking shots he'd normally let in and went on to have his best period with us to date. This Mignolet must stay, the old timid librarian can do one we need the Mignolet whose mad, bad and dangerous to know.

3. Plan B.

One thing I criticise about Brendan Rodgers tenure is lack of tactics, we seem to pick one tactic and throw ourselves into it even when it stops working. See Mario playing upfront last season when he blatantly wasn't fit, the three dinky midfielders up front which was inconsistent at best and rigid formations. To put it bluntly we need to be more fluid in our tactics.

4. Skrtel dropped.

Martin Skrtel has been an area of chaos and calamity in our defence for the best part of a decade. Manager after manager have failed to drop him, he causes cock up after cock up and is the last remaining undroppable. As far as I'm concerned he's cost us four champions league spots and a Premiership title. He constantly wonders out of position and exposes those around us, he can't trap a ball, can't read a game and the only positive thing I can say about him is he's a very good tackler. However he's not a premiership level defender, he should have been shipped out years ago so either get rid or bench him.

5. A midfield expressing itself.

Over the last few years our midfield  has spent most of its time covering for an ageing Gerrard, covering for Skrtels mishaps and trying to pick up the slack from the strikers (or in some case playing up front as strikers). Lets do this 'death by football' we hear so much about. Let out midfield dominate a game and let our midfielders be midfielders.

6. Goals.

Give us loads of goals and give us sexy goals, last season with our strikers falling to bits, being out of form and playing dinky midfielders up front it was all a struggle. Lets put last season behind us and get back to heavy scoring games.

7. A dominant ball winning midfielder.

I think something we're missing is a dominant ball willing midfielder, god bless him I like Lucas (the world loves a trier) but he isn't it. I think Emre Can could be it but if Rodgers wants to play him in defence we need someone else for the position.

8. Less crap from Brendan during press conferences.

Seriously this can be said about a lot of football managers but Brendan is not a public speaker. Instead of putting him in front of journalists like a sheep into the lions den. Put whoever is in charge of PR or marketing in there, theres just no need for him to be there - especially when he comes out with so much crap. Either start issuing press releases instead of having press conferences or put someone who can talk in them.

9. A defence that can defend.

I think it speaks for itself, over the last few years (and you can guess who I blame) our defence has been ruddy awful. I cheered when Glen Johnson buggered off but drop Skrtel and sort the rest of our defenders out.

10. A better crowd at Anfield.

By and large last year the atmosphere at Anfield was poor and personally I don't think the crowd got behind the team enough. For most of last season we didn't have our 12th man, having a sing song in the build up to kick off is all well and good but during 90 minutes get behind your team!

Married at First Sight

In case you missed it ladies and gentle readers a staple over the last few Thursday nights has been 'Married at first sight' a show based around an experiment of getting strangers to marry.

Needless to say things did not go according to plan, the selection process was controlled by scientists who from the look of them couldn't spot a couple with chemistry if they were sat at the next table. An example of the scientists fuckery is two people were chosen for their 'traditional views on marriage' and were surprised when both of them pulled out!

On last nights final episode things weren't going to well as Emma was being rather awkward around James. There were a few awkward moments on the honey moon and things looked to be progressively getting strained. Things were however disastrous with Katie and Jason, who didn't get off to a good start when he unpacked his belongings into the spare bedroom. He then asked Ch 4 to stop filming and decided not to turn up to a counselling session. Katie then spotted him on Tinder and proceeded (to the surprise of nobody) to give him the elbow.

The one success of this show turned out surprisingly to be Emma and James (it well and truly shocked me). Emma progressively throughout the show brought down her barriers and got more comfortable around James to the extent she let him give her a foot massage - still wearing socks though. Without doubt we were watching two people become a couple and three months after filming they are still together. This blogger wishes them all the luck in the world however a lesson learnt from this show is scientists should stick to curing disease and making the world a better place, leave relationships to the experts.

The Big Finish Catch Up: June 2015

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;

First up this month was a detour into the lost story range featuring the 5th Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa in Hexagora. The lost story range is a bit hit and miss for me and out of the 5th Doctor stories I've heard this is the weakest. It starts off quite pacey and made me think "blimey they're cramming the introduction of this story together quite quick there must be a lot to get through later on." Sadly it wasn't the case, the story wonders around in circles, telegraphs itself badly and somewhere in the middle there were endless info dump scenes that seemed to go forever. Plus in the "grand finale" scene I wasn't sure exactly what was going on. At moments this story does feel like it wants to try something different then it falls back into quite a traditional story which I found annoying. In short if you want a 5th Doctor Lost story get "The Elite" or "The Children of Seth."

First off you may notice that a few entries back I made a big thing about getting to 2006. I regularly buy stories way ahead on discount and sometime my mate who helps me with this puts some stories into the pile early to throw me off in case I'm cheating. This is an absolute gorgeous story and can't recommend it highly enough. Featuring a 6th Doctor moments after his last TV appearance and a more experienced 6th Doctor it shows how Colin Baker and Big Finish have grown the character over the last fifteen years. What absolute brilliant idea for the anniversary year. Colin Baker gives one of his best performances which as regular listeners will know is really saying something, Bonnie Langford is also very good and deserves praise. This story is at times amusing, emotional and takes you through the ringer being lots of fun and a solid engaging plot. This is a story that I can predict I will be coming back to a lot in the future, apart from the sheer fun theres enough in the plot to make me think I'll notice new things on a re-listen.

Back to 2006 and "Red" featuring Sylvester McCoys 7th Doctor and Bonnie Langfords Mel. This is a  story I heard a few years ago but couldn't remember it and in all honesty its one I'm destined to forget again. I like a good mystery however a lot of the central mystery (I wont spoil) is telegraphed and theres a few odd things in here that are basic audio mistakes that Big Finish should have spotted at the editing stage. In saying that its ok, Sylvester gets to do some bonkers acting ala the earlier release "Unregenerate" and actually holds it all together. The production lacks a certain flair and guile for a mystery although there are quite a lot of good moments including the "slow" sequence. In short a decent little story with quite a few good bits that make me give it 5/10 but I'm left with the opinion this should (and easily could) have been a lot better. 

Fantasy Festival Set List: Paul Weller

Good afternoon ladies and gentle readers, I hope I find you well on this fine summer day. Speaking of summer that also means we're in the midst of festival season which includes Glastonbury. I don't know if I've mentioned on the blog before but I'm a huge Paul Weller (in ALL of his incarnations) fan and was a tad disappointed with the set he played during Glastonbury which can be seen here;

White Sky
The Changing Man
From the Floorboards Up
I'm Where I Should Be
Long Time
Thats Entertainment
Above the Clouds
Saturns Pattern
Going My Way
Friday Street
Porcelain Gods
Broken Stones
You Do Something To Me
Start
Peacock Suit
Whirlpools End
Town Called Malice

Now personally I say if your playing a main stage at Glastonbury it has to be a "best of" set with all the hits. Theres to much of his solo stuff in that set and quite a lot that isn't well known to a casual audience - which is a killer when playing Glastonbury. So I've put together my ideal Paul Weller set list. With caveat that its mostly hits and stuff that goes down well live, I hope you enjoy;

Speak Like A Child
The Changing Man
Out of the Sinking
Thats Entertainment
A Solid Bond in Your Heart
My Ever Changing Moods
Long Hot Summer
Stanley Road
Wild Wood
You Do Something To Me
Your the Best Thing
Broken Stones
Start
This is the Modern World
Going Underground
Walls Come Tumbling Down
Shout to the Top
Town Called Malice

Why Three's Latest Advert Annoys The Living Crap Out of Me

Picture the scene ladies and gentle reader, there I was flicking through the channels one evening and during an advert break I hear the opening chimes of 'Alright' by East 17. Curiosity suitable piqued I watched the titular advert and after it finished threw my phone at the TV and yelled abuse at it for fifteen seconds. Here's the advert in question;

A Muppet walks through the streets depressed and has his umbrella torn to pieces by a dog whilst the opening chimes of 'Alright' play. Now walking through the rain a car splashes him in a puddle and he gets soaked by aforementioned rain. We then get a flashback to him leaving home where his father tells him 'make it right son.'

Whoa whoa whoa whoa!!!! Make what right? If he's wet walking about in the rain go into a cafe and have a cup of tea, go home, buy another umbrella DO NOT BUY A MOBILE PHONE! No doubt a sales man can give you a good text and minutes bundle but your still going to get wet!

He then raises his fist in a lane (don't worry its not THAT kind of an advert) and has the tempo speeds up declares 'ITS GONNA BE ALRIGHT!' 

A little girl then drops her ice cream and starts crying, the Muppet walks up and instead of buying her another ice cream pats her on the back and tells her 'its gonna be alright.'

A cheer leader falls off her friends shoulders and instead of administering first aid or calling for an ambulance he goes on singing!

Then we get a couple in a car perched over a gorge in danger of falling over. Not only does the Muppet not help, not call for help but continues singing ON THE FUCKING BONNET! NOT ONLY IS HE NOT HELPING, NOT MAKING IT 'ALRIGHT,' HE'S IN DANGER OF BLOODY KILLING SOMEONE!

The finale is the Muppet singing 'Alright' in a crowd of people singing and dancing along with him. No mention is made of the couple he killed or if he's purchased another umbrella.

In all seriousness whoever came up with this advert needs their marketing degree stuffed up their backside, get demoted back to telesales and never let near the advertising industry again!

YOURS BLOOMING LIVID INNOCUOUS BYSTANDER

The Big Finish Catch Up: May 2015

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;

We start off this month in the main range with The 8th Doctor, Charley and C'rizz. This is a fantastic story with a first episode rather reminiscent of "The Space Museum" and has a rather unique feeling to the production. Its very much a moody and what I'd refer to as a "plot" story, thankfully its one that doesn't dip off when answers are revealed and rewards the listener when we get to the end. On finishing I was pleased to see Steve Lyons was the writer as despite being one of my favourite authors I hadn't really enjoyed an audio as much as others until "Blood of the Daleks." I found this a more instant story, intriguing, multi layered and after a first listen I gladly give it 9/10. Of note it was nice to hear Tracey Childs (who also appeared in one of Lyons earlier plays) among the guest cast.

Also on listening a few things here and there raised my suspicions and on the reading the writers notes in the sleeve they were confirmed: this story is inspired by working in a (bank) call centre. Characters disappearing from the story are obviously workers released without warning, Vannet and Revnon virtually spend the whole play worried about idle time, Kestorian is the team leader whose powers only go so far and while ruling over entry level staff is powerless in the face of the managers, Zanith is the guy who nobody is sure exactly what he does and seems to have found a hole for himself without actually doing anything and The Figurehead is the Call Centre Manager. On top of that there are a few little nods like workers moving to a different floor or site and never seeing their colleagues again. All together its a wonderfully dark take on a seemingly every day practise which Doctor Who has a track record of doing very well.

Next up is the 6th Doctor and Mel in a release featuring two stories "The Wishing Beast" being a three part story followed by the one part "The Vanity Box." I'd actually heard this before having got it on discount about five or six years ago and decided not to include it in the catch up as a long time had gone by without me hearing it. Paul Magrs is the writer and it feels like Magrs by numbers, one of the memories from my first listen was working out who the writer was very early on. Sadly its not one of Magrs better stories, its lacking a bit of oomph and despite being a three instead of a four part story "The Wishing Beast" feels padded. "The Vanity Box" is by far the more fun story and a good little piece of fluff. I try very hard not to slip into fan producer but this is a release crying out to be fixed, both stories feel lightly sketched out and the earlier story definitely needs some bite added. I'm tempted to suggest make both stories two parts but I don't think it would improve "Vanity Box." Oh and Jean Marsh plays a very good mad sister but this story comes down to the format and it lets the release down. In short rather decent if unsatisfactory and needed another edit before it was recorded.

The DVD Archives: Blakes 7 Season 2

So ladies and gentle readers, after finishing off season 1 off Blakes 7 I've finally got around to season 2 and here's my thoughts episode by episode:


Redemption

Continuing the tradition of the first season this first episode is completely a-typical, its also very hard scifi. Without many guest characters the Liberator crew are brought to the forefront and for much of the episode they are in a situation which is beyond them. The cliffhanger to the previous season is dealt with nicely and its a good solid episode (albeit with little plot) that is raised by the quality of the regulars. 9/10


Shadow

We're back to having a plot this week centred around Blake trying to recruit a criminal organisation as allies. Added to this the titular drug the organisation is dealing in and rather good subplot featuring Cally and Orac it continues the rather good start to the season. 9/10


Weapon

A very interesting episode bringing back Servalan and a recast Travis. Its very Liberator lite and I think it would be improved by removing every scene set on the Liberator and centering firmly on the villains. 5/10


Horizon

Everything good about this episode can be summed up in one word, one name and one character; Avon. The rest is very pedestrian. 5/10


Pressure Point

Ooooh, the first death of a regular. Its fairly obvious something is going to happen to Gan as David Jackson actually looks interested. Good episode though and Blake is looking more desperate and vulnerable to Avon by the end of it. 6/10


Trial

Its good that Blakes 7 isn't the kind of show where someone dies and it gets skirted over. The Liberator crew are upset and I genuinely buy that they could have walked out on Blake. All in all a very good dual story episode. 7/10


Killer

I do enjoy this episode, Blakes 7 doing what it does best within its means giving us a cracking episode with a few twists. Avon blackmailing his way into somewhere to steal something and Blake trying to save innocents while knowing they're loyal to the enemy. Its like a coda for the show. 10/10


Hostage

More fun with Blake and Avon but the rest of the episode is rather uninteresting. 3/10


Countdown

Another rather fun episode with a good solid plot and a good slice of action. We also find out a bit more about Avon's past and he's not a complete ruthless so and so. I'm a sucker for anything with a good tense countdown on it. 10/10


Voice From the Past

Absolute muck. 0/10


Gambit

I really like the idea of this episode but the script is to far beyond the means of the production. It feels like a series of unconnected scenes with very little pay off and none of them get the amount of time they deserve. 5/10


The Keeper

It tries to be good camp fun bollocks but it falls rather short and feels like the cast larking about forgetting the viewers would like some fun as well. 3/10


Star One

Has a good end of season feel about it and has big things happening affecting the status-quo of the the series and theres a feeling that at the end of the episode the series has permanently changed. All through the season theres been the plot line of can Blake and Avon trust each other which ends rather sweetly with Blake being taken to the sick bay with Avon taking temporary command of the ship as the series ends on a rather good cliff hanger. Really good stuff. 8/10


Overall View

I highly recommended this DVD, theres a view duff episodes but overall its rather good with a good ongoing story memorable characters and good snappy dialogue. The Blake / Avon rivalry feels like something out of Dallas and makes the show even more watchable. It is of its time and at the time had a limited budget but if you know that going in it wont detract from the show. 7/10

The Big Finish Catch Up: April 2015

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;

We wonder back into the Lost Story range with The Guardians of Prophecy featuring the 6th Doctor and Peri. A rather fun romp that gets exciting and tense in certain parts. Written by Johnny Byrne who wrote The Keeper of Traken (and adapted by Jonathan Morris) this story also features The Melkur and Traken Union. Theres a lot to enjoy in this story and there is little connecting this to The Keeper of Traken and can be enjoyed on its own merits. Of note is a good guest cast including Graham Cole (I spent the entire story trying to recognise his voice), Stephen Thorne (who played Omega, Azal and Eldrad in the TV series) and Simon Williams of Upstairs/Downstairs fame and Remembrance of the Daleks. Never less than enjoyable and at times attention grabbing its a firm recommendation from me.

The second story this month is The Settling featuring the 7th Doctor, Ace and Hex played by Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Philip Olivier. Written by Simon Guerrier and takes place during Cromwell's campaign in Ireland. I can't really review this sadly for one reason, as often said in this section of the blog I listen to these stories knowing nothing about them picking them off the top of a pile and playing the discs. However when I pulled this story off the top of the pile I could feel that it was different and that it had three discs. I assumed it was going to be like Zagreus and The Next Life in that it was going to be longer than the usual stories. As such I'm listening to the story looking for subtle clues (which weren't there) as to where the story could spin off and all of a sudden when I was expecting a cliff hanger the story ended when I was braced for another hour. The 3rd disc was actually a promo disc for Big Finishes other ranges. I'm going to have to put this under the category "give it another listen" although what I heard was very good technically I don't think its fair to review the story. Clive Mantle was in top form and I like that they put Hex centre stage for this story. 

Thoughts going into the General Election

It can't have escaped your attention ladies and gentle readers that we're on the verge of another General Election here in the UK. After five or so years of the Conservative and Liberal Democrats coalition running the country its time for us all to cast our votes and decide who we want for the next five years. I'll be honest, I'm rather disillusioned going into this election and thought I put my thoughts on the parties vying for my vote down on the blog;

Conservatives

I don't trust them, they are weak have no empathy and appear to not understand the country they represent. I grew up in the 80's and my earliest political memories are my parents struggling to make ends meet during Thatchers reign. The country is in a mess, David Cameron is a puppet leader and is incapable of original thought, reads endless spin that is put in front of him by marketing people. More importantly they have no plan and appear to be in denial about the state of the country.


Greens

I've ummed and arred about voting Green for the past three years, for every policy they come up with I like they come up with another that's bat shit crazy.


Labour

For the last few years in Gordon Browns premiership they were awful and they've under performed in opposition against a weak coalition. I don't trust this generation of Labour MP's and bar about 30% I think they are as inept as the Tories. Also living in a safe Labour area I think my MP has under performed and Aberavon has suffered, it feels like it could be time to change my vote.


Liberal Democrats

They are now untrustable, they have failed to moderate the Tories and have become enablers. Everything they've come out with the last few weeks seems to be ignoring the last five years and I seriously think they could lose a lot of seats.


Plaid Cymru

I have no interest in Wales going it alone and don't even consider Plaid a Welsh party, rather a North Welsh party.


UK Independence Party

A bunch of Tory extremists who have few if any policies I'm interested in, say nothing to me and have failed to represent the UK at MEP level.


So there you have it, my thoughts in brief and I'm rather undecided about where to cast my vote.

The Big Finish Catch Up: March 2015

For those of you new to this section of the blog, I started getting 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;

Its back into the 8th Doctor range with the 8th Doctor and Lucie with Immortal Beloved. Of note is an appearance by Ian McNeice who would go onto play Winston Churchill on the TV series, apart from this I'm struggling to think of anything to say - its all very forgettable. I think this story suffers from the single episode format. It feels like theres a central idea to this story but apart from a rather good set piece at the start and some half glimpses we don't see a lot of what is a very interesting setting. On top of that the pacing is a bit off the story moves along nicely and then stops. I'm left feeling rather indifferent, theres a lot to lure the listener in and very little to fault however I'm left with a feeling of ambivalence.

Next up in the range for the 8th Doctor and Lucie is Phobos. Rather like the previous story this is also a single parter with a lot on going on and its paced and played brilliantly. On the cast front we have TV stalwart Timothy West and former Liver bird Nerys Hughes (also of note played Todd in highly acclaimed Peter Davison era story Kinda). Various members of the guest have their own story lines going on and as a result the characters feel very rich, we'll probably never hear of these characters again yet I feel more for them than some recurring characters. Set on Phobos the moon of Mars the story is set in and around an artificial dome taken over by squatters and has become an extreme sports haven, also homing a share of various hippies and people wanting to disappear. This is a story I strongly recommend, there are various set pieces through out the story, lovely character scenes and possibly the best set up gag at the end I've heard in ages.

Over to the main range as we go further into 2006 with the 5th Doctor, Peri and Erimem in The Kingmaker. I have to be honest when I was taking the wrapping off I caught a glimpse of the robot on the cover and thought it was the one in the background in 'The Celestial Toymaker' fortunately he's nowhere to be found in this story. I'd like to paint the scene when I listen to these audios I lay down and let the story wash over me with my imagination providing visuals. All the way through this I found myself getting up to press rewind so I could re listen to a joke, a cracking piece of dialogue or double check a plot point - this rarely happens I was completely drawn in and hooked. Arthur Smith has one of my favourite voices so it was lovely to hear him as well as Jon Culshaw of the late 90's Radio 1 afternoon show doing some acting as well as a Tom Baker impression. This is the third story I've heard by Nev Fountain and he's become a favourite, I must gloat I worked out the cliff hanger in part three but nothing else. 'Omega' and 'The Revolution' are also puzzle stories its a brilliant aspect of all of his stories. Not only do I recommend this story I find myself placing it a firm favourite not only in this range but Doctor Who's entire cannon, it may battle a certain long standing story as one of my favourites. 

That's it for March but a bit of admin regarding the next entries in this section, I've noticed that 'The Kingmaker' was release number 81. Anyone looking forward to 'The Reaping' and 'The Gathering' I've already heard them (due to them being on offer) certainly 'Gathering' was done before I started doing these blogs 'Reaping' may be in an earlier entry although I'm pretty sure I reached it just before I started. Theres one or two other ones I've heard out of order but I'll mention them when we get to them.