Doctor Who Season 11 Review

The Woman Who fell to Earth - Decent start but very jarring as the new production team sets down its style. Visually very dark and murky, momentum wise the story is very stop start. I fully expect this to improve on a second watch 6/10.

The Ghost Monument - Very flat and again visually murky, it feels like Keys of Marinus without any of the fun 6/10.

Rosa - Very good stuff and it feels like the first meaty story of the season with lots of characterisation for the first time. Interesting topic and a very good historical 8/10.

Arachnids in the UK - A very poor episode which doesn't come off for me. A few good moments and again good characterisation but I feel like I only watched half an episode 4/10.

The Tsuranga Conundrum - Funny, engaging and the first story of the season with flair. Also this is a proper Doctor episode giving her more time and showing more depth when we've only had the odd scene up to this point 8/10.

Demons of Punjab - A good engaging historical about a time and topic I'm not fully aware of full of punch the air moments 9/10.

Kerblam! - Absolute bat shit crazy full of amusing moments and brought back memories of my time with Amazon 7/10.

The Witchfinders - Good fluff with a wonderfully OTT performance by Alan Cumming 6/10.

It Takes You Away - It starts off like its going to be Dog Soldiers and turns into The Frog Princess, brilliant stuff 10/10.

The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos - Good little story albeit lacking the flair of recent episodes and not having a closing night feel. Lots of good character moments but I wanted more 6/10.

Summing up, I enjoyed this season a lot more than I expected going in. Personally I think three companions in a collection of one part stories is a little bit too busy. I enjoyed the cheeky flavour of the season but it did get off to a slow start. Chris Chibnall strikes me as a better producer than a writer and I want to see more of the cheeky aspect of the series. Overall I give this season a B and look forward to the future.

Individuals of note:

Jodie Whittaker - Strong start from her and a strong personality for her Doctor. Manages to squeeze in character in unexpected moments. She's more of a Doctor who likes to get her hands dirty.

Chris Chibnall - Good start as producer, got the new feel of the show over quickly, established a good writing team, behind the scenes team and onscreen team. However as I've said many times his writing is very "route 1" and perhaps should write less next season.

Jennifer Perrott - By far the director of the year for me, brought to life a pair of cheeky scripts.

The Big Finish Catch-Up October 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;


The Eight Truths (and Worldwide Web) starring the 8th Doctor and Lucie, Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith.

The strong third season of the Eight Doctor Adventures ends on a high. Strong stuff all around from the cast and production crew. Particular mention I must give to Eddie Robson who has become one of my favourite writers over the last few years. Its the only two disc story in some time and its a lovely slow burn story with a few teases being thrown in about who the villains are - I'm kicking myself for not spotting them. It feels like the end of an era in a way last seasons finale wanted to be but wasn't a few plot points from end of last season and beginning of this one are finished off. Character wise even the one off characters go on a journey and a few familiar characters as well as the regulars have a few nail biting moments.

Highly recommended and after a poor end to the previous season and start to this season the range is back on a high 9/10.


The Trail of the White Work / The Oseidon Adventure starring Tom Baker and Louise Jameson as the 4th Doctor and Leela.

Blimey, you wait around for months and two season finales come along at once. The Fourth Doctors first season ends on a high. This story is just pure fun and is what I hoped for when Big Finish announced that Tom Backer was coming aboard. It is an absolute romp turned up to eleven and if you come in with no spoilers like I did lots of surprises. On top of that theres a change between the first and second disc to the extent I don't begrudge the story having two titles. There is a certain character who I wont give away who is deliciously sneaky during this story. Another powerful 9/10 and even though its the end of a season it is very standalone and could easily be listened to without hearing the rest of the season.

Advice for Telephone Interviews

These days a lot of companies are using telephone interviews as first stage interviews to screen candidates before meeting them face to face. Yet people aren't taking them as a serious form of interview and fail the first hurdle immediately by making these simple mistakes.

1. Make Conversation
Chances are this person will be working with you in the future. They want to know that you can carry a conversation so as well as asking you questions, they are determining your personality and telephone manner.
It's not an interrogation, so ask them how they are or have they had a busy day. Nothing too serious like what was there childhood like but make sure you talk to them like they're a human and not a scary hiring robot question machine.


2. Do Your Research
So so many candidates don't bother to do any research before any interview. When the recruiter asks what they know about the company they say "nothing" or wrong information. This is just lazy, you are not only failing yourself but also the person interviewing you. Firstly this might be a company that you really don't want to work for. And this instantly speaks volumes about the kind of person you are and makes you seem disinterested in the role.
Companies hire people who want to work at that company. Make sure that comes across.


3. Know The Role
Where possible look at the job description, which is usually on the advert or most companies now will send over the job description to you. Read it. Make sure you check what key skills are required and then emphasise these where possible in questions. Use examples from your most recent roles. Make sure you know day to day if this is something you could wholeheartedly see yourself doing in the future.

4. Avoid Reading From A Piece Of Paper
If you have key points you want to get across, fine. Jot them down but it's so important for conversation to flow and this not to be you reading a script. It needs to sound natural not like your reading your CV to them.

5. Choose Your Environment Wisely
Go somewhere quiet with good phone signal. You don't want your conversation to be interrupted.
And sit up and smile as you are talking. You can genuinely hear someone smile when they are talking on the phone and if you're slouched in bed in your pjs, your tone is going to come over terrible.

6. Ask Questions
If they ask you if you have any questions at the end, have some prepared and make them relevant. If they haven't mentioned salary, then don't have the first thing you ask be the salary, second or third is fine. I mean you're not gonna work for free. Some good questions to ask are:

"How has this position come about?"
"What progression is there within your company"
"How many work within this office"
"If successful how soon would you want someone to start"
"What do you enjoy most about working for this company"
"What are some of the challenges this position may face"

The Big Finish Doctor Who Catch-up August - September 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;

The Canabalists - the 8th Doctor Adventures continue with this single disc story featuring the 8th Doctor and Lucie. A very good release and gets the best out of a limited story set up, personally I think it had enough for a second disc and could have gone further 9/10.

Second Sight - "The Worlds of Doctor Who" is wrapped up nicely with the 6th Doctor finally making an appearance. I highly recommend the box set as its been a fun ride and its nice to see characters from around The Doctors life come together 7/10.

A Storm of Angels - its a visit to the "unbound" range with this release and an alternate 1st Doctor who stayed behind on Gallifrey. This story sees him on his travels after some unseen stories and is a rather engaging story. Geoffrey Bayldon does very well, this is my favourite Mark Platt written story that I've heard in a while 8/10.

The Butcher of Brisbane - a very run of the mill story with a hook (meeting a certain character earlier in their life time before their TV appearance) which lifts it to above average 6/10.

The Doomsday Quatrain - a very busy, engaging story with a lot going on. A proper meaty story featuring the 7th Doctor and Nostradamus - not what I would have expected had I known this going in. A plot story with a slight humorous bent at points, it left me thinking and this could be a story I revisit before others in this entry 7.5/10.

Fortnite on Twitch

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/323404796

Just a plug for my new Twitch channel where I've recently been playing Fortnite.

My Brilliant Doctor Who Marathon

As I said in my crap marathon blog that I originally wanted to build up to the 50th anniversary by watching my least favourite story from each Doctor followed by the best. As usually happens life got in the way and I finished the first half a little later than expected. As a result in the build up to the new season and the 12th Doctors debut I'm doing the second half of the marathon and watching my favourite stories from the previous Doctors. I can tell you to expect surprises however read on to find out what happened...

The First Doctor

For the First Doctor I'm going for The Dalek Invasion of Earth, one of my first VHS's and will always have the feel of a momentous story for me. Big things happen, we're on Earth for the first time in the future, the Daleks are at their bombastic best and for the first time the TARDIS crew changes. All the time at the centre of the story William Hartnell is firmly at the centre of proceedings. He's declaring war on the Daleks, he's leading a prisoner revolt, he's closing in on the Dalek centre of operations and he's watching his granddaughter grow away from him and fall in love.

The story goes off kilter for an episode because William is off screen and during this time the show feels so uneven. This is a story where the show is changing, The Doctor is becoming more central and we see our first invasion of Earth - one which arguably was never bettered.

The Second Doctor

We move on a few years and experience our first regeneration and change of lead actor. Its easy to undersell how much of a shock was it not only that we had a different actor in Patrick Troughton playing The Doctor but also that he was playing him differently. I tend to think that the incoming Doctor needs to contrast the leaving incarnation and Troughton is the prime example; he's scruffy, he'll happily play the fool to make enemies underestimate him, he's a schemer, prefers to direct from the sidelines and a contrast from his first incarnation. I'd decided early on I'd like to represent the different mediums I'd experienced the show over the years and chose a story I'd only experienced via the Target novelisation. This era's story would be a missing story that I would watch via the sole remaining episode and the rest via the Reconstructions from telesnaps accompanies by audio, the story being Evil of the Daleks.

This story has everything, a twisty turny plot, multiple locations, multiple times, a cunning villain, a Doctor caught on the back foot and struggling to get to grips with events, a marvellous cast and a whose who of Who on the production team. Starting off in modern time Gatwick Airport the TARDIS is stolen setting the Doctor on a hunt to track it down. The story throws many a curve ball at the viewer and the team aren't afraid to drip feed the answers as we proceed through the seven episodes.

In many ways its an alarming story, one of the constants of the series is stolen and its touch and go over weather The Doctor will or can get it back. We see the regulars travel in time without the TARDIS, again its via the Daleks but its done in a different way this time. I especially like the curve ball of sending Waterfield from the 1800's to the modern day to set the trap for the Daleks. The first episode and a half is fine as The Doctor and Jamie follow the clues to Waterfields shop and amazingly being taken through time isn't even the cliffhanger.

I want to mention the cast, Frazer Hines is superb given that he carries a mid story episode, Geoffrey Colville packs everything he can into his limited time, Waterfield is such a tragic character, Maxtible is a wonderful cad and Troughton is in firm control having got a season under his belt. Of note are the Daleks themselves who were never more scheming than in the Troughton era.

The fate of the Daleks is so well played, The Doctor tricking them to their doom with a device is associated with a later incarnation but here its so shocking because as fans we tend to forget the Second Doctor had this streak in him - earlier in the story he alarms Jamie to the extend he threatens to leave him. There we have it, a Doctor and an era not as cosy as fandom tends to think it is.      

The Third Doctor

For the first time this blog we enter a new decade as we welcome in the 70's. Not only would we see a change in lead actor and the production team we get what is arguably the most drastic revamp of Doctor Who's formula of all time. As the Second Doctor exited so did the black and white era as the show moved to colour, as with the end of The War Games the incoming Doctor would spend most of his time exiled on earth - alien planets being expensive to create for colour TV. With this going on you may expect the show to lose a bit of dynamism, not so with the incoming Third Doctor being played by Jon Pertwee. Accompanied by his supporting cast of UNIT the Third Doctor would be the most dynamic thus far, an action man, man of science and a yearning urge to escape earth would see Pertwee create a dynamic characters as far away from the previous Doctors as possible.

For me theres only one story to represent the Pertwee era, way back when I was at school I noticed UK Gold were showing The Three Doctors. I asked a friend to tape it for me but instead of taping the daily episodes he decided to save time and tape the weekend omnibus which turned out to be a completely different episode. I went into this episode disappointed my friend had screwed up and taped the wrong episode, however the story he did tape completely blew me away and to this day remains a firm favourite of mine. That story was Inferno!

Inferno closed Pertwee's first season (the 7th of the show) and the whole season was perhaps the most unique in Who. The show was edgy, the first serial shot on film followed by three huge sprawling seven parters that saw The Doctor alignened with a military organisation. The era would go fluffy the next season to cater for the general viewers but this season has an edge that has kept it as a fan favourite.

Watching the show things start off with a new character arriving at the site and being introduced, its odd that this character is Greg Sutton and not The Doctor. In fact The Doctor is one of the people who he's introduced to and welcomes him as if he's been working at the Inferno site for months. As we're introduced to the regulars and the effects of the slime seeping from the drilling pipes I tend to forget I'm watching a Doctor Who story, as the cliffhanger arrives and the music hits its a bit of a shock.

With the first episode of world building behind us we get a second episode of action. Theres a brilliantly shot scene of a conversation between The Doctor and The Brig outside and before long The Doctor gets an action scene chasing a Primord over a fuel tank gantry. The head of the project professor Stahlman gets infected and ejects the Doctor from the project, out of spite The Doctor steals a power source and really sets the story off in another direction as he ends the story dematerialising the TARDIS and sliding to a parallel dimension.

The next four episodes are brilliant as The Doctor explores this world and finds a right wing totalitarian version of Earth complete with versions of the other characters. Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John look like they're having a whale of a time playing alternate versions of their characters. Also I must say the guest cast all give a good show here and nobody feels like they are rehashing their performance from the earlier episodes. Some people may say these episodes are filler and don't count as its an "alternate Earth" but for me its played so straight it feels like it matters and therefore it does.

It genuinely feels like the death of this Earth has an effect on The Doctor, he's in shock for most of the final episode and these events would be referenced in future. The story ends with one of my favourite Doctor and Brig scenes as The Doctor is firmly put in his place after a bit of arrogant behaviour with Liz giggling in the background.    

The Third Doctor has arrived and he's brought a new era with him, I enjoy Jon Pertwee's performance and this story is one where he gets to show his range. He's a detective, man of action, dealing with the death of the Earth, arrogant and gets plenty of small character moments. Jon Pertwee played The Doctor as more of a leading man than most Doctors but paradoxically for me he was the most unique Doctor. There is more of an edge to him here than his later stories but for me season 7 is a snapshot in time to be treasured. Along with the regulars Nicholas Courntey, Liz Shaw, John Levene and others who would come along and join in the fun we see the start of an era that would go on to last the longest in the shows history (until the next one came along) and see the show in firm strong hands.  

The Fourth Doctor

Lets not beat around the bush, for a lot of people Tom Bakers Fourth Doctor is The Doctor. Coming out of nowhere after a powerfully successful era Tom Baker had an impact on the show that few can equal. His seven years on the show are full of fantastic stories, a production team that included many a series legend and so many brilliant characters. Anyone whose read this far has probably guessed the story I chose to represent Tom is either Talons of Weng Chiang, Genesis of the Daleks or City of Death but your wrong. Four stories in and I've noticed a theme emerging on this blog entry, each story has a personal memorable story around my first viewing. This particular story I read as a target from my local library and loved every page, the following Saturday my sister headed off into town and asked if I wanted anything. I gave her some money and said if she saw a copy of "Robots of Death" on VHS to get it for me, then a few short hours she came back with the very same copy that I'm watching all these years later for this blog.

I must also add that for years the console room in this story confused me as I didn't see any of the stories around this one with TARDIS scenes for a number of years. For those of you who thought the console room started changing with the TV Movie your wrong, it started in the Tom Baker era.

Just reading the production team for this story is a Whose Who of Who, produced by Phillip Hinchcliffe, script edited by Robert Holmes, directed by Michael Briant and written by Chris Boucher. Blimey any story with one of them on would be good but all four of them is astounding. The actors are on fine form with Tom Baker and Louise Jameson at their consistently high best - these years later I can see a bit of spikiness from Tom as he wasn't to crazy about Leela as a character, some lines are thrown at Louise with venom. Of the guest cast David Collings, Gregory de Polnay, Miles Fothergill, Pamela Salem and Russell Hunter are astounding. If anything this story is so good because everything in the production is at its best from the acting to the set design.

Every aspiring writer should be made to watch this as its an excellent piece of world building. Bar a few model shots we never leave the sand miner yet we find out so much about the crew and culture that no doubt anyone who watches this can reel off facts galore. Its a whodunit and the location of the sand miner is claustrophobic and full of danger as the crew gets killed off. The Doctor and Leela accidentally land as the murders start and of course they are suspected. There's so much else going on as well, Zilda's mysterious hatred of Uvanov, Pouls reasons for signing up to the crew, the sand miners actual mission and the mysterious presence of D84. 

As I watched this memories came flooding back, some of Toms one liners from this story I've been using for decades. Theres a scene with Toos shot from the robots point of view that is brilliant and her attitude to the robot makes the viewer actually feel sorry for the robot. The "I heard a cry" sequence is brilliant, D84 has some of the best dialogue a guest character was ever given. Russell Hunters Uvanov gives a powerful performance as the commander of the sand miner even though he is dwarfed by the rest of the cast - and overpowered easily in his only physical confrontation not with a robot.

All in all Toms firmly at the head of affairs, he's had a few years to perfect his performance and is able to be both sombre and comically off the cuff when required. I mentioned his memorable one liners but also of note are his description to Leela of Pouls condition and his dialogue with D84. For many this era is the height of Who and with Tom wandering the universe without a care saving every world he inadvertently lands on its easy to see why.    

The Fifth Doctor

I first came across this story in the Target novelisation without know its place in the series. Its up there with the best stories in Doctor Who and so unique. The show would try to recreate this story but not successfully - its a story where things go bad at the start and keep escalating out of control until its over and almost everyone involved has met a sticky end. Such a fantastic and brave story and I can only praise all involved. 

The Sixth Doctor

Moving on we find ourselves in the Sixth Doctor Era, an era which was short and chaotic. The Sixth Doctor for me was rather a blink and you'll miss him incarnation, I was about four or five when he turned up yet bar a few scenes I can remember nothing of the era at the time. Years later when I started getting the targets I could never find a Sixth Doctor story in the shops (due to there only being a few of them) and it wasn't until I got two of his stories on VHS in 1993 at the age of 13 that I finally got to properly experience him. One of those two stories makes up Sixy's entry into this blog and where most fans would go for Revelation of the Daleks my absolute favourite story from this era (and also one of my top personal favourites) is The Two Doctors. 

Wow, you wait for four era's for a Robert Holmes story to appear then two show up in a row... What makes this story work for me is there is no special reason to have the Doctors meet. Its just an incarnation getting into trouble and a later incarnation rolling up to the scene of the crime and deciding since theres no one else about I'd better save him. Patrick Troughton is firmly in what I called "doing a turn" mode, he gets some wonderful dialogue with the villains, some good moments with Colin and the scenes with Jamie automatically takes one back to the late 60's. On story level this is a more innocent Doctor in Eric Sawards cynical mid 80's Whoniverse, they are completely out of there depth until Sixy and Peri turn up. However its worth noting Jamie does actually save the day, its a good reminder of a previous era with the Second Doctor and Jamie firmly helping to raise the story.

Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor is firmly the star of the show here and its worth noting how early into his run he is (forget what we know in hindsight - this is his fifth story). We're finally getting to know Sixy, the first half of the story I find excellent as Sixy and Peri penetrate the space station trying to find out what happened. Robert Holmes is mining the past and taking from his own repertoire as the first half of this story is essentially what The Ark in Spain part one did for Tom. Sixy is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and outwit the ships computer to the extent he doesn't notice how terrified Peri is. I also like the fact that Sixy shows such fondness to Jamie. Jumping into the second episode Sixy's speech about gumblejacks and the end of the universe is one of my favourite moments of the show. When the action gets going in the second half of the story the story this is certainly a Doctor of action, however he's also aloof - he thinks nothing of sending Peri into the waiting hands of a pair of cannibals and Sontarans to cause a distraction. He also side steps the audience as well as the villains, when he gives away some false information to an overhearing Sontaran all these years later the fans aren't sure which bits he was lying about.

The guest cast are also strong with John Stratton being a right scene stealer and actually pairing up quite well with Troughton. Incidentally I can't help feeling Robert Homles is lucky that Pertwee was already aware of the Sontarans in The Time Warrior. Jacqueline Pearce gives a good turn as the lead villain however bar providing bodies and muscle the Sontarans don't do much. The rest are perfectly serviceable but don't do much as Holmes is having so much fun with the Androgums and Doctors.

I come away from this story thinking its paving a way for the Sixth Doctor era, Sixy comes out of this showing a slightly mellow side not previously seen however he's still aloof. I love the way the Second Doctor gets the best of him in that final scene. On another note it feel The Doctor going from a hunter fisherman to a vegetarian at the end of this story is also a change. We're getting to know this Doctor but there are still aspects under the surface we have yet to discover - and arguably on TV never would - however in my view we have a strong entry into the series and a story showing what Sixy could have been.

The Seventh Doctor

We arrive at the Seventh Doctor era, a rather special one for me as without it I wouldn't be a fan. Yes I'm old enough to vaguely remember Peter and Colin but it was with Sylvester that I started watching on a regular basis, got hooked as a seven year old and became a fan. I actually had a bit of trouble selecting what story to represent this era, Paradise Towers was the first story I watched all the way through, I've always had a soft spot for Silver Nemesis and theres something special about Curse of Fenric. However I opted to go for Remembrance of the Daleks. The only vaguely memorable viewing fact I have on this story is that its the first on this blog entry I saw on broadcast and it was the first ever DVD I bought.

Years later I'm able to appreciate an aspect of Who I was to young to at the time, mainly actor spotting. Years later its fun recognising the likes of Pamela Salem and Michael Sheard from other Who while also now being able to recognise Simon Williams from Upstairs Downstairs. Plus due to later work Joseph Marcell from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is also a big deal as that show was huge when I was a kid. Also pretty big for the story is our first proper look at Sylvester and Sophie Aldred in action and they don't disappoint.

A lot of people view this story as a reboot for the Seventh Doctor but for me its the character growing, yes he has a plan and starts to go a bit "dark doctor" but he's still bumbling around, walking into traps and not knowing there's two Dalek factions present. If you watch this and Dragonfire back to back the character growth is outstanding.

I have to mention THAT cliffhanger, the Daleks climb stairs to catch the Doctor, a classic moment for the series and so right that it was the cliffhanger for the opening episode of the 25 anniversary season. Plus as mentioned just now despite the planning its Ace that saves him. Ace herself goes through the ringer as she deals with the opinions of the 60's, Mikes betrayal and some rather good scenes with the Daleks.

The Daleks Nazi parallel is an pronounced as its been for some time, with Daleks not acknowledging the other factor as pure. The Dalek Emperor (aka you know) makes a good appearance and the Special Weapons Dalek is cool. As well as the location and time paying respect to the start of Who, I've always thought there's a bit of homage paid to the Pertwee era with Gilmores troops acting as a surrogate UNIT, in fact the Doctor spends most of the story trying to keep them out of trouble. Doctor Jensens exasperation at the events as they progress is a joy to watch.

Also the show is pointing to the future, the Doctor starts to become more mysterious, feels more dangerous and its more apparent that the show is going in a different direction. The Doctor may be a bumbler but its obvious he's had a plan going on from before the story started which we've rarely seen before. This is a perfect example of one of my favourite era's with Sylvester's season 24 performance melding with a darker performance which he would forever be associated.  

The Eighth Doctor

Human Resources is a Big Finish audio story and the finale of the first season of the Eighth Doctor range. Up till then it was one off stories in the style of the main range but at this point Paul McGanns Doctor was updated and we got stories in a similar vein to the current series. This was a story that tied up the plot of the season, had plenty of plot and showed that this incarnation of the Doctor could have carried a modern day series.      

The War Doctor

One of the most enduring moments of recent Who is that moment at the end of "The Name of the Doctor" where the Eleventh Doctor addresses this stranger with contempt and has a leaves John Hurt steps out of the shadows with an on screen caption identifying him as "The Doctor"... Wow, that was indeed one hell of a cliff hanger leaving us waiting to the 50th anniversary story "The Day of the Doctor."

I must say I'd have been happy if they'd have just given us a rehashed version of "The Five Doctors" but what we got was a lovely celebration that not only celebrated the present, relished in the past but also looked forward to the future. As opposed to the first two multi Doctor TV stories instead of getting less Doctors than advertised we actually get more, for me "The Night of the Doctor" is a prologue and therefore a part of this story, we get to see Peter Capaldi's eyebrows and we get a surprise cameo near the end from you know who. Its a shame Chris didn't want to appear but quite frankly its his loss.

This is firmly The War Doctors story, he's reached a breaking point in The Time War and can see only one way out. Where 10 and 11 are surprised to see each other, The Moment is giving him the chance to see how performing this act will affect who he becomes in the future. Its worth remembering before the fun multi Doctor stuff starts happening The War Doctor isn't expecting to survive. His initial frustrations with his future selves he sees how they combat the threat of the Zygons and sees his future is in safe hands. This is an amazing scene as Smith and Tennant take the centre stage Hurt watches, but look as his expression changes from shame to absolute joy as he realises what his future incarnations are doing.

He then returns to The Moment and prepares to end the time war, he is firmly of the belief that despite the shame of what he is about to do his future incarnations will become better Doctors than he can ever be. The future Doctors arrive so he doesn't have to do it alone, however the 11th Doctor changes his mind taking things to a lovely sequence showing all of the Doctors saving Gallifrey. We arrive at the end of the story for The War Doctor and instead of dooming two races to death he has helped save Gallifrey, he says his goodbyes to his future and leaves reveling in the moment as he knows he wont remember. Perhaps sadly we see the end of The War Doctor in action for the first time he regenerates, in one story this possibly villainous character with a secret has become a heroic incarnation of that character we all know and love which is how since this story aired I have remembered him.

The Ninth Doctor

The comeback was very successful and launched the show to a new generation with a Doctor who was nursing the aftereffects of the Time War. This was the story where he started his recovery process - no one dies, Chris Eccleston at his best. 

The Tenth Doctor

We move onwards, but not by much as the Tenth Doctors era was destined to start on TV the same year as the Ninths. The big question was how would todays generation of casual viewers take to regeneration, the answer was well and speaking for myself David Tennant had me at "Barcelona!" The story that represents the Tenth Doctors era for this blog came early, after the Christmas special his first season got underway and after a handful of stories one May evening up popped "The Girl in the Fireplace" to blow the previous stories out of the water.

Watching this story back it strikes me that the Tenth Doctor is very 90's, his "geek chic" look is a decade out of date, theres a lot of style over substance and he's very retro. Since the comeback The Doctor has been painted as a tourist and thats more than evident in this story. We start things out with him having set the coordinates to random and giving Mickey his first TARDIS destination at random. This story feels like a two hander as this story is mainly about The Doctor and Reinette. As the Doctor strolls from room to room on this station he traverses her life from her youth to her end.

The performance of Tennant is outstanding, one issue I have with his Doctor is that we very rarely saw beneath the facade, its not that he lacks depth its that its so well hidden. At the start of the story he's firmly in "show off" mode, then his interest is genuinely piqued, his dander is truly up when he sees what the clockwork robots (who are beautiful by the way) are trying to kill Reinette and when she sees into him its a step beyond perhaps what the viewer is expecting. Sophia Myles is also a stand out performer on this episode, with Rose & Mickey pushed to the side shes the pseudo companion this week and her reactions to what is happening are truly remarkable giving one of the best one off performances of the show.

I truly enjoy coming back to this story as nine years on it still feels fresh, 18th century France to deep space in the future - it all draws the viewer in. Its like the shows saying "if you liked the first year wait until you see what else we can do." Its a story thats flexing the formats muscles, showing us we should expect the unexpected, The Doctor doesn't always have the answers and anything can happen. 

The Eleventh Doctor

We enter another new decade (its all gone a bit timey wimey) as the Eleventh Doctor played by Matt Smith arrives on the scene. I warmed to Matt instantly, I love the mixture of spikiness and awkwardness about him and firmly regard him as one of my firm favourites. Its a first so far this blog as for my favourite Eleventh Doctor story we head for Christmas and A Christmas Carol.

Featuring a sterling guest performance by Michael Gambon and surprisingly decent one from Katherine Jenkins this story is a joy from start to finish. Also worthy of note is director Toby Haynes in one of my favourite directorial performances in Who, I can watch the scene as Kazran watches his younger self on video with The Doctor fliting back and forth on an endless loop. Also what an entrance from The Doctor "Christmas Eve on a rooftop, I saw a chimney and my whole brain went what the hell!"

Watching it again I'm firmly of the believe that Who should be an hour for single episodes, this extra fifteen minutes changes everything. The rushing around is purely for fun - not to squeeze everything in before the show ends. I can't quite believe its only an hour, it feels longer and also it feels like a case of Who flexing itself to fit Dickens than bending Dickens to fit Who which rarely happens in the series.

Also very rare is the story isn't a part of an ongoing plot which is rare for post come back Who. Nothing is seeded, no mystery word is sneaked in plus also the regular companions are barely in it. The whole story feels like the entire production is having fun - even throwing in sharks to a Christmas story and Matt Smith would never act as big as he did here, a wonderful snapshot of an era that was to short in my opinion and one I look forward to returning to at future Christmases.

The Twelfth Doctor

I'm giving no particular story for the twelfth Doctor just an observation that in Peter Capaldi we saw a Doctor who couldn't accept that he was the Doctor and coming into the final story he couldn't deal with being anybody else. We find The Doctor felt like this oh so long ago and by examining the past we  do what we've done so many times we move on and into the future...

The Big Finish Doctor Who Catch-Up April - July 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;

The Beast of Orlock - A fun story from the 8th Doctor range and a good proper fun story story 7/10.

The Reesinger Process - decent stuff however I am unfamiliar with the range, felt very "Avengers" with a military twist 5/10.

The Architects of History - the finale of the 7th Doctor and Klein is a satisfying conclusion and highly recommended 10/10.

Energy of the Daleks - it felt like a filler story with the Daleks shoved in at the last minute 5/10.

Wirrn Dawn - good story with a twist on an old monster, very serious and not as fun as other stories 6/10.

The Emerald Tiger - good boys own fun with a TARDIS crew having loads of fun 7/10.

Robophobia - a nice dark story with aspects of a certain TV story 9/10.

The Scapegoat - a proper fun story 8/10.

The Screaming Skull - elements of a good story but stops when its getting going 6/10.

The Wreck of the Titan - the most enjoying story I've heard in a while, so engaging and keeps the listening guessing right until the end 10/10.

The Jupiter Conjunction - a good engaging plot 8/10.

House of Blue Fire - An intriguing horror story with a more atmospheric first half 8/10.

My Opinion on the Love Island Final

Didn't watch it, in fact I only watched ten minutes of this years show and have no opinion.

Doctor Who teaser

Late last week the teaser for the new Doctor Who season was released and I'm rather excited. Before this trailer it felt like something that had been in the distance for ages. Now its been released it feels real and its only just around the corner. It tells us very little when showing us enough to get a feel of the show. Also personally there are a few similarities with the recent trailer for season five of Fortnite - a video game I'm playing a lot of. Here's to the future...

World Cup Preview: Group H

Columbia

Columbia squeaked through the South America qualifying by a point. Their more well known players are looking long in the tooth and theres not much of interest about them.


Japan

Japan topped their group however only one point ahead of the next two teams. Of interest the team has a number of familiar players due to a number of the squad having done the rounds in Europe over the last decade. The weakest team in the group - just.


Poland

Robert Lewandowski is the star attraction in a decent team that qualified with little trouble. Its a straight fight between them and Senegal to win this group.


Senegal

They dominated their qualifying group and have a deceptively strong team with a number of players spread over England and France. A lot of people have predicted that Poland will walk this group, I however think Senegal will put up a strong fight. Do not count them out, you know more players than you think you do and I'm not just talking about Sadio Mane.


Summing Up

Its an interesting group with a lot of familiar faces to give the neutrals some interest. Poland and Senegal should go through.
Tips: Senegal to qualify, I fancy the chance of a lot of goals in this group so overs on Poland and Senegal's matches..
One to watch: Robert Lewandowski, brilliant player but underrated because he plays in Germany.
Dark horse to watch: Keisuke Honda, a personal favourite and in what may be his last world cup - I'm going to miss him when he's gone.

World Cup Preview: Group G

Belgium

It goes without saying that Belgium are a good team, they went through qualifying without a hitch and have some of the best players in the world and Simon Mignolet. Kevin De Bruyne is only a Miss World girlfriend and a personality away from being one of the most rock and roll players on the planet. Critics may say Lukaku is a flat track bully they have got other options in the underrated Batshuayi and ageing Mertens. They have a very good defence, cracking keeper, a very good midfield and know how to score a goal. The big thing I have against them is the manager Roberto Martinez. Rather limited in tactics, slow to spot a game drifting away and he's already left out one of their best players. Should go deep but there are a lot of questions.


England

England had a good qualifying campaign finishing well ahead of their closest rivals. A decent squad made up mostly of players from the top five in the English league. Its very much a common sense squad - with the highlights being Kane, Ali and Sterling. Weather England can do anything depends on how well these three players gel. The big question from us neutrals though is "can England actually play well?" They have had some awful matches the over the last decade, however it is the firm belief of this blogger that if they can get the monkey off their backs they can at least get to the quarters.


Panama

Panama made it through Central American qualification by the skin of their teeth. Will struggle to get anything in this group.


Tunisia

A tough qualifying campaign saw them narrowly beat Doctor Congo to qualify. A team made up of journeymen and up and comers from around the world. Its between them and Panama over who finishes third.


Summing Up

Its a bit of a dull group, Belgium and England will get through its a question of in which order.
Tips: I see no value here, the obvious market is winner and its pick your poison between Belgium and England.
One to watch: Kevin De Bruyne who has been in awesome form this season.
Dark horse to watch: Gareth Southgate, after finishing up at Middlesbrough in 2009 not much has been seen of him, one to watch and many questions over him.

World Cup 2018 Preview: Group F

Germany

What can I say about Germany that hasn't been said before? They are in such fine form and in qualification have a 100% winning record. A squad so strong they left out Leroy Sane which left most pundits shrugging instead of declaring it madness. The only slight worry is Marco Reus hasn't played as much football the last two seasons. Be warned they are contenders and will go deep.


Mexico

There are three certainties in life; death, taxes and Mexico will qualify from their group and go out in the second round - its what they've done for the last umpteen times. In fact in Mexico making the quarter finals and reaching the mythic "5th game" has become something of an obsession. A good qualifying campaign and a squad of decent players playing in Europe, America and Mexico. They're in with a shout of second but that second round spot is not to be taken for granted.


South Korea

Memories of that special summer in 2002 where they made it to the semifinal knocking out Italy and Spain. They may never top that moment again but wheres the fun in not trying for it again? They aren't going to do much sadly, they narrowly qualified and were three points from finishing 5th. Mostly made up of players from Korea they also have the two British based players whose names are currently screwing up my spell check. They will finish bottom.


Sweden

Sweden pipped Holland to second place in the group stage and knocked Italy out in the playoffs who are two of my favourite teams and two of the leagues in Serie A and Eredivisie that I watch the most. Needless to say I will remain objective but in all honesty Its between them and Mexico for that second spot as I don't see the Germans standing for a continuation of this giant killing malarkey. The thing about Sweden is despite not having many household names they actually play like a club side and theres a sense of camaraderie when watching them - also they had some bloody good matches including a brilliant 3-2 . Mind you if they get that second place spot they're seeded to face Brazil in the next round, Holland, Italy and Brazil would make for an impressive hit list...


Summing Up

I have this group down as Germany winning the group and Sweden second, but Mexico in with a shout.
Tips: Germany to win, South Korea to finish bottom and a lay unders on the booking in the Sweden/Mexico match.
One to watch: Marcus Berg, it could be his last time in a World Cup but rest assured if Sweden create a moment he'll be on the end of it.
Dark horse to watch: Timo Werner, has had a fantastic last two seasons and could be Germanys next big thing.

World Cup 2018 Preview: Group E

Brazil

Theres something special about Brazil coming into a world cup, the glow of the golden and the obscene high level of natural talent can't help but win over the cynics amongst us. But by eck do they look strong this time, utterly dominating the South American qualifying group. Their squad reads like a whose who of European league football and even their keeper is in good form. Neymar is coming back from an injury but they still have good cover in Jesus and Firmino.


Costa Rica

A strong qualifying campaign saw them coming in second in the Central American group. Some decent players who have done the rounds over the years as well as Real Madrids Keylor Navas. However they are mixed in with a number of fairly weak players and when compared to Switzerland and Serbia not as strong a squad.


Serbia

Topping the group that included Wales and Republic of Ireland, they are the team I've seen the most of this qualifying campaign. Milivojevic, Tadic, Matic and Mitrovic have been on good form in the English leagues. Kolarov the captain is a wise old head in defence and they need to do something against Switzerland to get through this group and be a dangerous floater later on in the tournament but I'd rank them as third in the group.


Switzerland

Very unlucky in qualifying as they were pipped by Portugal despite finishing level on points and scraped through the playoff against Northern Ireland. They have a few good players - case in point in Lichtsteiner whose been a good player forever. They have a habit of getting though to the second round and could be a threat to Brazil in this group.


Summing Up

I have this group down as finishing Brazil - Switzerland - Serbia - Costa Rica. However I feel each team has it in them to upset the next team up.
Tips: Brazil to win, Costa Rica to finish bottom and to lay unders on the booking in the Serbia/Switzerland match.
One to watch: Gabriel Jesus, has been in good form this season and I expect big things from him this World Cup.
Dark horse to watch: Milinkovic-Savic, has been a revelation the last few years at Lazio and could well be a player who attracts transfer attention.

World Cup 2018 Preview: Group D

Argentina

Lets get the Messi shaped elephant out of the way, what ever you Lionel Messi is one of the best footballers in the world. Since 2010 his goal tally has been mind boggling and at times with his play being out of this world - we'll miss him when he's gone and he's already passed the big three oh. Due to Argentina's remarkably consistency and Messi running out of chances the pressure could be on them to perform.

They had an interesting qualifying campaign where they nearly screwed things up and were two points away from not qualifying. You might expect that stat of other South American teams but Argentina are not a team on top form. Higuain and Aguero are also in good form and Argentina wont have to much trouble up front - its everywhere else they have problems. The goal keepers lack international experience and elsewhere the squad is made up of players who not only I don't like but if I was rating them would be noting down the phrase must try harder with Di Maria being the only exception.

I'd back them to get out of the group but there could be a few sticky moments in this group.


Croatia

A team to keep an eye on, a decent keeper, a shockingly decent midfield and upfront the likes of Mandzukic and Perisic up front. The defence has a soft underbelly but by and large its good stuff. If they can put it together they have a chance to get first place in this group.


Iceland

The story of Euro 2016, qualifying for the first time, getting out of their group, making it past round two and unleashing the clap on Europe. In theory they have no chance of progressing however, we have what us gamblers call an intriguing situation. Not only did Iceland qualify top of their group but that group involved Croatia - they have one win apiece in qualifying.

Do not write this team off, they did something special last time and had a very good qualifying campaign. They have a few decent players including Gunnarsson and Sigurdsson. One to watch and against vulnerable group favourites they're a dangerous floater.


Nigeria

A strange record in recent times out of the last four African cups they've won one and not qualified for the other three. They made the second round four years ago and had a match of the tournament contender against Argentina. A number of strong decent and pacey pros. Again a dangerous team but one I can't help but have doubts about.


Summing Up

Surely Argentina to go through although possibly not as winners.
In a group where at least one of Nigeria, Croatia or Iceland will qualify the footballing world must be rooting for Iceland.
Tips: This looks like a scrappy group, a risky lay of Argentina to win the group could be in order and overs in bookings could be the value.
One to watch: Messi, this could be his last chance for greatness on this stage and what ever happens I'm expecting his international retirement the moment Argentina are finished - in lose or draw.
Dark horse to watch: Mateo Kovacic - yes he plays for Real Madrid but in my book he's underrated and has the potential to do something.

World Cup 2018 Preview: Group C

Australia

The socceroos are becoming quite a fixture at the World Cup, indeed after decades of no qualifying this is their fourth World Cup in a row. Australia had one of the more exciting qualification campaigns losing out on automatic qualification on goal difference, going into a two legged playoff with Syria and after two 1-1 matches going through in extra time thanks to a 109 minute goal from Tim Cahill.

Yes you read that right Tim Cahill, he's still going however despite the 38 year old being included in the initial 32 man squad Australia have quite a decent team. With Brad Jones at Feyenoord  and Mathew Ryan at Brighton they have a better goal keeper situation that some of the traditional bigger nations. Up front and in defence they will struggle however they do have a decent midfield including a core of Championship players as well as Aaron Mooy of Huddersfield and Tom Rogic who whilst being a tad injury prone has been one of Celtics players to watch for the last few seasons.


Denmark

Oooh  I do have a soft spot for the Danes, a rag tag group of viking footballing warriors who are often good value for a shock and only went and won Euro 92. Things however are not rosy for the Danish Dynamite, before this tournament they've found it tricky progressing through the qualifying competition.

The squad is again made up of a rag tag bunch with some potential up-and-comers as well as journeymen and Nicklas Bendtner. They do however have a good keeper in Kasper the friendly Schmeichel and a good record of punching above their weight.


France

On first look an absolute beast of a squad, an absolute beast my friends - you could make a first 11 to be in contention from the players they left out! However dig a little deeper and things are not what they appear, a number of this squad haven't had the best of seasons; Pogba has been virtually invisible at times this season, Lloris has been very ill disciplined and Giroud has continued to look like a player 30 years out of his time. Also a lot of this squad has been in and out of their club sides with a few of the bigger name frequently appearing on the bench.

Against that Griezmann continues to be in the form of his life, Kante is still one of the best midfielders in world football and Tolisso has had a fantastic season. The slightly lesser known players like Fekir and Lemar could have bigger than expected roles and I look forward to seeing it. In France we have something of a vulnerable favourite, this is a good group for them and they have screwed up the group stage in the past.

Of note is Paul Pogba, two years ago he was arguably the best player in the world, he underperformed in the Euros and hasn't struck the Premiership alight to the extent that he should have. He needs a big tournament.


Peru

Ah the Incas, or as most people refer to them the marmalade sandwiches. At interesting qualifying campaign saw them finish 5th in the South American group and go into a playoff with New Zealand which saw Paddington beat Frodo 2-0 on aggregate. Most of the players are based in South America those that aren't are journeymen. Sadly theres nothing to see here and they could be fighting with Australia for the last place in this group.


Summing Up

This could be a dull group, France stand head and shoulders above the rest. I'd like to see the Danes squeak  through and put some pressure on France but wouldn't like to predict anything.
Tips: France to win the group, Peru not to qualify and me to be doing my hair when one of these games is going on.
One to watch: Paul Pogba, I want him to set the world alight and stop making me look bad.
Dark horse to watch: Kasper Dolberg.

Liverpool FC the End of Season Report 2017/18

Finally we have reached the end of the season, a season which saw Liverpool eventually finish 4th in the Premier League, reach the Champions League final and saw Mohamed Salah conquer the world. As such we reach the onset of summer and along with other traditions such as strawberries with cream its time for the end of term report. The following ratings are based on the season as a whole so will reflect the ups and downs that players go through the course of the season and a rating out of 10 for the season. While endeavouring to be fair I am a firm task master and highly observant when it comes to football. Without further ado lets get into things;

Simon Mignolet - A series of weak performances in the first half of the season left me thinking 'same old Mignolet.' Just when I was resigned to Mignolet playing in goal for us until the end of time Jurgen Klopp finally lost patience and dropped him. 7 All I can say is I lost confidence in Simon seasons ago, the guy is to nervous between the posts and can't control his penalty area. I hope we call it quits with him and move him on in summer so he can get on with his career. 4/10

Lorius Karius - After a few early season cameos Karius was made our number one keeper in January and he made one hell on an improvement. The positioning of our defence hasn't improved so much since Jamie Carragher retired. A more physical presence than Mingolet and more match aware he showed to be a step up from Mingolet. However I do have to say there is room for improvement - in particular the positioning of his walls during free kick and his positioning during crosses. I'm not sure he's our long term keeper, he's a step up over the previous one. Of note both goal keepers played exactly the same amount of games and Karius got more clean sheets. He now has a seasons experience (spread over two years) and I expect to see him improve over the coming months if he's to be our number one. The Champions League final will make or break him but realistically will be looking for another keeper, I don't think he has a choice but to either move or become our number two.  5.5/10

Virgil van Dijk - An absolute immense player, commanding, good tackler, reads the game has pace and isn't afraid to bark orders. van Dijk is the kind of player who we always used to go for and the kind of player we've missed. Since his arrival in January we've finally got a beast in our back line and I think long term he will be the club captain. 8/10

Dejan Lovren - Over the course of his time with us Lovren has been up and down like a yo yo. This season however he's been by and large consistent - which in a central defender is a good thing. Klopp has sorted out his tendency to go walkabout out of position and despite being at fault for the odd goal throughout the season he hasn't been as disaster prone as previous seasons. Plus after losing his position he knuckled down and has become reliable. 5/10

Joe Gomez - Not quite a mainstay this season but he's moved beyond being a fringe player. He's coming on nicely - looked composed during the Champions League despite arguably playing out of position. I expect to see him forcing himself into the starting lineup more often next season. 6/10

Ragnar Klaven - A perfectly decent veteran squad player whose able to come in when asked and do a job. 5/10

Alberto Moreno - Sometimes a players season is defined by one match and in Morenos case its that 3-3 draw against Sevilla in which he had a large role in costing us a three goal lead. For the second year in a row he's lost his spot in the team but this time its hard to see him winning it back. It looks very much like his time is limited due to constant under performance. Not a good season. 2/10

Andrew Robertson - A slow burn first season for Robertson, off field problems meant that for a large portions of the early season he wasn't named in our squad but by the end of the season he was one of the first names on the team sheet. He looks like a good solid player who will get stronger. 7/10

Joel Matip - A tricky second season for the man who was our defensive lynch pin last season. A loss of form and injury has made this a season to forget. Hope he comes back stronger next year and forms a partnership with van Dijk. 4.5/10

Trent Alexander-Arnold - A season to dream of for the kid. Slowly bedded into the team over the season he has nailed down the right back slot and turned from the weak link having to be protected by others to a player who can stand on his own two feet. His England call up is well earned but still has a lot to learn. 7/10

Georginio Wijnaldum - A very erratic season for Windjammer. He has rotated between the dynamic passer we know he can be and peripheral player who has been virtually anonymous. Also his goals seem to have dried up this season. Needs to be doing a lot more. 5/10

Jordan Henderson - Another member of the middle three whose had a weak season. At times he's looked lost and has been the captain in name only. Those gorgeous passes and goal setting up chips have been far and few this season. Also his defensive game has got weaker, he's often been a better player when we don't have the ball but he has underperformed this season. 4/10

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - Arriving in August I was a bit dubious of his signing, I expected him to be an impact squad player and saw him nothing more than an impact substitute winger. This kid can play! On top of that he doesn't moan about being a sub as he's 50/50 a starter or sub. On top of that he can play in the middle three which was a shock to me and has given our midfield some much needed dynamism and goals. 7.5/10

James Milner - After last seasons exploits at left back it was back to midfield this year. In any other season he would have a case for being our player of the season. Defensively excellent and (especially in the Champions League) set up many a goal. Theres a case for him being made the full club captain. 8/10

Adam Lallana - A season marred by injury but while he was fit he did nothing. 1/10

Emre Can - An injury affected season but largely a decent one, when he wasn't there he was much missed. However when he was around there was the question has his head been turned by the rumoured move? There was however more bite in our middle three with him and like the Ox he scored a few goals. It looks like he's going but I've a soft spot for him and would rather keep him than certain others. 5/10

Roberto Firmino - A very good season where he scored goals and changed his game to be a more rounded player. 8.5/10

Philippe Coutinho - Left us mid season but left us in good form and I wish him all the best. 8/10

Sadio Mane - A very good second season in which he created and scored many a goal. Looked dynamic in midfield and was a joy to behold when running with the ball. 8/10

Dominic Solanke - For a young striker at a new team its all about that first goal, it took him to long to get. He needs to be getting more goals, he'll get more pitch time next year and needs to make the most of it. 3/10

Danny Ings - I'm not going to rate Danny as I don't think its fair. Personally I think given his injuries he needs to hang up his boots and get another job.

Mohamed Salah - When signing him I expected goals after his two seasons in Serie A. I would have been happy with him on double figures and setting up the same. However he has been our player of the season, scored a shed load of goals as well as setting them up for others. 10/10

Jurgen Klopp - Some very nice additions to the squad and got us to the Champions League final. I feel theres only two places Klopp needs to improve and that's to be less forgiving of players and to not be afraid to drop someone for having a poor run. Secondly game management needs to be improved and we still need to learn how to kill games off and to have more than one set of tactics. 8/10

Now that was a season and a half - unless I hear any different lets do it all again next season.

World Cup 2018 Preview: Group B

Iran

Another for want of a better word minnow and unlike Saudi Arabia yesterday they've been drawn in a group with two of the big boys and a very decent African team. Made up of journeymen from around the world - including a few in Europe they actually had a strong qualifying campaign but I can't see them doing to well and certainly not progressing.


Morocco

A very impressive qualifying campaign saw them pip the Ivory Coast (how weird is it that the Ivory Coast aren't here). They are an exceedingly decent team with a mixture of youth and experienced players who mostly play over Europe. Readers will mostly be familiar with Romain Saiss who one the Championship this season with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Certainly a dangerous floater and unlucky to be drawn in a group with two of the big boys. The advantage they have is they play Iran first which sets them up nicely for the two tougher games. Morocco certainly has a chance to progress but its weather they can take advantage of it.


Portugal

The perennial underachievers go into this World Cup after winning Euro 2016 under pressure to do well. This is by far the strongest squad we've looked at yet but despite that it their chances hang on one person the boy Ronaldo. To often in the past he has underperformed on this stage and as he approaches his mid thirties this looks to be his last chance for a defining world cup moment. The rest of the squad is up to a high standard - in fact even without Ronaldo its a strong squad. A host of up and coming forwards, a midfield including Bernardo Silva, a strong reliable keeper and an underrated defence including Mario Rui and Ricardo Pereira. I expect them to go far and if the lad Ronaldo is in the mood they could do something special.


Spain

Without doubt one of the favourites and a whose who of world football. With de Gea possibly the best keeper in world football today, a midfield and defence made up of Atletico, Real and Barcelona any other country would at least maim for these players. Spain has an embarrassment of riches in defence and midfield just look at this squad; Ramos, Pique, Alba, Nacho, Carvajal in defence and in midfield; Iniesta, Isco, Koke, Thiago, Saul, Asensio, Busquets and Silva. If that doesn't hit Ruud Gullit in his sexy football G spot nothing will. Critics may say they are weak up front but Iaspas and Rodrigo are in form and could well be starting by the time the tournament reaches the final stages.

Of note we could be seeing the end of some big players for Spain with Pepe Reina, Andres Iniesta, David Silva and Sergio Ramos well into their thirties. Despite this the cardinal sin of letting a football team get old together hasn't happened and age wise the squad looks balanced.  Big things expected from Spain and they are without doubt among the favourites.


Summing Up

Its all about the match between Spain and Portugal, whoever wins that wins the group - personally without taking into account potential shenanigans about the knock out route finishing first or second brings I'd opt for Spain. Morocco have a decent outsiders chance and are not to be ignored.
Tips: Over 2.5 goals on all Iran matches and lay unders on cards in most of the matches not involving Iran could be a good call here.
One to watch: Has to be the boy Ronaldo.
Dark horse to watch: Andre Silva, I expected big things from his this season but like most players at AC Milan he had a sticky season, will improve and possibly a late bloomer.

World Cup 2018 Preview: Group A

Here we go, the time is quarter to June nearly midway through 2018, its been a long four years - two elections, brexit and the near worldwide domination of fidget spinners but we're nearly here, we've nearly made it to the World Cup. I come to you today readers armed with my traditional deadly weapons of facts, stats, odds and opinions. Ladies and gentlemen lets analyse the beejesus out of it!


Egypt

Going into this tournament one of the questions on most peoples minds is what can Mo Salah do on the world stage? A more pertinent question is who have Egypt got in their squad apart from Salah. The answer is not a lot. By and large the squad is made up of league players from Egypt and Asia. Apart from that there are familiar names such as Ahmed Elmohamady currently of Aston Villa and Mohamed Elneny of Arsenal. But that's it the only other squad item of note is the captain Essam El-Hadary who is a 45 year old goal keeper!

Usually a good bet in the African Cup - a competition which they've done well at the traditionally struggle when it comes to the World Cup to the extent this is the first time they've qualified since 1990. I don't fancy their chances to progress further and to be frank I'd quite like to have seen the Egyptian team of a decade ago qualify for the current team they need something special from Salah and the squad to go beyond themselves.


Russia

The home nation, its hard to be objective here as we have possibly the first hosts since the USA in 1994 who most people wouldn't mind seeing going out in the first round. However lets get passed the inhospitable front and see what we have. No stand out names however the squad is made up of veterans of the Russian league, add to the fact they are familiar with the conditions. Going through the squad there is a good mix of young and experienced with quite a few players having over fifty matches at Champions League and Europa level. One to watch and the definition of a dangerous floater.


Saudi Arabia

Made up of players from the Saudi league and the odd squad player in Spain even I've never heard of these players. I can't see them doing anything and only hope they embrace the tournament instead of putting eleven men behind the ball and hoping to go through on 0 goal difference.


Uruguay

The first team in this preview with more than one tasty player. Suarez and Cavani up front is a mouth watering prospect, Diego Godin and Maxi Pereira in defence. This squad has experience from all over the world from Galatasarays keeper to up and comers in Italy & Spain.

Its hard to look beyond Uruguay winning this group, they have the squad depth which other countries in this group don't have, the most impressive qualifying campaign of this group and that dynamic pairing up front.


Summing Up

Uruguay to win, with Russia runners up.
Egypt Vs Russia to be the match of this group.
Tips: A back of Uruguay to win the group, lay of Russia to win the group and Saudi Arabia to finish bottom.
One to watch: Luis Suarez, expect some out of this world play from him and the chance that he may try to eat someone to set up a future transfer to Brazil.
One to watch for the future: Rodrigo Bentancur - he has cropped up a number of times in my notebook this season after a number of good performances for Juventus.

England World Cup Squad

Thoughts on Gareth Southgates England squad;


Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Jack Butland (Stoke), Nick Pope (Burnley)

Three decent keepers in their mid twenties, somewhat lacking in European football experience but given the choice Southgate had some solid picks.


Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Man City), Kieran Trippier, Danny Rose (all Tottenham), Harry Maguire (Leicester), Phil Jones (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Gary Cahill (Chelsea)

Has to be said a surprisingly decent selection of defenders. The right back position looks high quality, centrally the question is who does Southgate pick to play along Phil Jones. Left back looks a tad sticky but decent picks.


Midfielders: Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Eric Dier, Dele Alli (both Tottenham), Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young (both Man Utd), Fabian Delph (Man City), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea),

Ashley Young is 32, how the hell did that happen?!?!?!?! Apart from Dele Alli its a bit dull to be honest. Lets not beat around the bush its all about Alli and can he link up with Kane the way he does with Spurs - something he has yet to do for England. As for the rest, its a collection of uninspired bodies.


Forwards: Raheem Sterling (Man City), Jamie Vardy (Leicester), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal).

There are some good aspects of this attacking lineup that may be lost amongst the English. Kane and Sterling are on form and exciting. Vardy and Rashford are good cover although Welbeck is an inclusion who could be a contender to not actually get onto the pitch at any stage.


Summing Up

Its hard to see England doing much during this world cup, there is a potentially exciting front three in Sterling, Alli and Kane. Central defence next to Jones looks to be a problem, Stones would be my pick but he hasn't been an ever present this season. The full back position is very good and other countries would love to have these riches. Questions remain over the goal keeper, both contenders are rather limited at this level and European club football.

I can see England scoring goals which they have struggled to do in recent tournaments. In theory it should be all about the Belgian game, the group looks easier than four years ago when in Brazil when they had Italy and a dangerous Uruguay. Theres a common sense approach from Gareth Southgate that wasn't there in previous eras and I back England not to screw up against the so called minows they have in the past. Being in group G they will be playing a team from group H in the second round in what looks like a winable tie. If England can manage themselves, not recreate the mistakes of previous tournaments, or not underestimate the opposition I can see them going deep. It has to be said England do have a good draw but the question remains can they take advantage of it...

The Big Finish Catch-Up March 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;

Hot House, An enjoyable one disc story featuring the 8th Doctor and Lucie. Focusing on big business and one of the few TV stories/monsters I'm not familiar with. Enjoyable but edited and chopped to bits - needed longer. 5/10

Mind Games, a fun story in the "the worlds of Doctor Who" box set featuring Jago and Litefoot. Lots of fun with the odd touch of terror and I look forward to seeing where this box set goes. 6/10

Survival of the Fittest / Kleins Story, a really good set of stories featuring the 7th Doctor and Klein. Absolutely brilliant story with the first filling in Kleins back story and the later being a clever story ending on a cracking cliffhanger. 8/10

City of Spires, a proper fun story featuring the 6th Doctor and Jamie. Not only fun but intriguing and it feels like the start of an ongoing story to the extent where it may go up a rating depending on what happens later in the story arc. Also an interesting cast note featuring Georgia Moffett who I feel like I've watched grow up - I first became aware of her in an earlier release in this range Red Dawn. 8/10