SJA Checklist: Enemy of the Bane, part II

Crowds of people walking through London under alien influence: Non-check, though half the population of London appears to be really Bane.
Tie-in with Doctor Who story: Check, and mate.
Girl protagonist's mum is annoying: Check; seriously, all it takes is for someone to wander round saying they're a nephew of her neighbour's and she's having them in for tea? I actually live not too far from Ealing, and, while it's a pretty friendly neighbourhood, no self-respecting Londoner is *that* trusting. Also more antics with getting Sarah Jane's name wrong.
Mobile phone as plot device: Non-check, though a galactic sat-nav is.
Luke says something so daft that you have to wonder how he gets through life without being mercilessly bullied: Well, he doesn't actually *say* much that's daft, but he does sit there listening to Mrs Wormwood with this air of dumb incomprehension, and it also never occurs to him, once he's inside the forcefield, to just point out to Mrs W and Kaagh that they can't get him in there, and sit down and wait things out rather than doing their bidding.
Sonic lipstick: Check, complete with jokes about ladies carrying lipsticks.
Wristwatch scanner: Check.
One or more of Sarah's companions falling under alien influence: Non-check, though Major Kilburn does turn out to be a Bane (like everyone didn't see that coming).

And, a special bonus for the end of the season....

Sarah Jane making wide-eyed speech about the wonders of the universe and how great it is to be in her gang: Big old check.

SJA Checklist: "Enemy of the Bane," part I

Crowds of people walking through London under alien influence: Semi-check; crowds of people wandering around London industrial estates/suburban Ealing who are really Bane.
Tie-in with Doctor Who story: Check; tie-in with the entire UNIT era, actually, as well as with the Sontaran two-parter.
Girl protagonist's mum is annoying: Check; just when you think she can't become any more of a stereotype of a middle-aged mumsy woman, she takes a job in a little shop and whips out a giant bar of Dairy Milk.
Mobile phone as plot device: Semi-check; the UNIT people's hands-free earpieces do get used as a means of immobilising them all temporarily.
Luke says something so daft that you have to wonder how he gets through life without being mercilessly bullied: Check, as he works through his adoption issues. "Luke, I am your mother," indeed.
Sonic lipstick: Check, mere minutes after the wristwatch scanner.
Wristwatch scanner: Check
One or more of Sarah's companions falling under alien influence: Non-check; Gita doesn't count, and neither does Luke falling for Mrs Wormwood's blandishments.

SJA Checklist:: The Temptation of Sarah Jane, part II

Crowds of people walking through London under alien influence: Semi-check; the slaves in the parallel universe are technically under alien influence, though I'll agree it's pushing the definition.
Tie-in with Doctor Who story: Check; see last week.
Girl protagonist's mum is annoying: Check. She's more or less OK in the parallel universe, but it's business as usual when we get back home.
Mobile phone as plot device: Non-check-- well, it is the 1950s after all. Though, give the mobile addiction most of the characters in SJA seem to have, I'm surprised Rani and/or Clyde didn't whip theirs out right after arriving in the parallel universe to check if they've got a signal.
Luke says something so daft that you have to wonder how he gets through life without being mercilessly bullied: Non-check, though his mother gets in some daft lines about how wonderfully special it is to be in her gang.
Sonic lipstick: Check.
Wristwatch scanner: Check.
One or more of Sarah's companions falling under alien influence: Non-check-- in fact, it's a plot point that they're protected from it.

SJA Checklist: The Temptation of Sarah Jane

Crowds of people walking through London under alien influence: Non-check.
Tie-in with Doctor Who story: Check. Apart from being basically "Father's Day" for over-fifties, "The Monster of Peladon" gets a name-check and the Graske returns. Apparently there's also supposed to be a subtextual connection between the Trickster and the events of "Turn Left" as well, so that also counts (perhaps, having been thwarted on Donna, he's trying again with a less bolshy companion?)
Girl protagonist's mum is annoying: And a hat-trick for non-checks. Though Sarah Jane's mum keeps reminding me irresistably of Drusilla from Buffy.
Mobile phone as plot device: Non-check.
Luke says something so daft that you have to wonder how he gets through life without being mercilessly bullied: His guess-the-gobstoppers-in-the-jar routine; Sarah Jane's mum briefly looks like she'd like to give him a clip round the ear for that one.
Sonic lipstick: Check.
Wristwatch scanner: Non-check.
One or more of Sarah's companions falling under alien influence: Non-check, for a change.

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara...

...There's no one as Irish as Barack Obama.

It's true:

SJA Checklist: The Mark of the Berserker, part II

Crowds of people walking through London under alien influence: Semi-check; Clyde's Dad left a crowd of people under alien influence, but they weren't going anywhere.
Tie-in with Doctor Who story: Check-- "hey Dad, hack into UNIT!"
Girl protagonist's mum is annoying: Still a non-check; they must be giving her a rest this fortnight.
Mobile phone as plot device: Check. Clyde's refusing to answer his friends calls (and puzzlement at their names in his phone book), Maria downloading data to Rani and Luke via mobile, Sarah Jane having her mobile switched off meaning that she can't come to the rescue, etc.
Luke says something so daft that you have to wonder how he gets through life without being mercilessly bullied: Non-check for once.
Sonic lipstick: Check, briefly.
Wristwatch scanner: Non-check.
One or more of Sarah's companions falling under alien influence: Serious check. We're pretty much batting 100 on this one this season.

Alan points out: UNIT couldn't have existed in the 1940s, as it was originally at least a UN organisation. Unless there's some historical revisionism going on in Cardiff. Or maybe it was the League of Nations Intelligence Taskforce instead?

SJA Checklist: The Mark of the Berserker, part I

Crowds of people walking through London under alien influence: Semi-check; no crowds, but good heavens, how many alien mind control devices can one series feature?
Tie-in with Doctor Who story: Non-check.
Girl protagonist's mum is annoying: Amazingly, non-check, though her Dad fills in admirably.
Mobile phone as plot device: Semi-check. It's obvious that Clyde's Dad rejecting a call from someone called "Mel" is going to mean something important later, but we don't know what yet.
Luke says something so daft that you have to wonder how he gets through life without being mercilessly bullied: Check: the whole sequence where he argues determinedly with Clyde that his visit is in fact a sleepover despite Clyde's assertions that sleepovers are for girls.
Sonic lipstick: Non-check.
Wristwatch scanner: Non-check.
One or more of Sarah's companions falling under alien influence: Big. Old. Check.

SJA Checklist-- "Secrets of the Stars" part II.

Crowds of people walking through London under alien influence: Check, check, check.
Tie-in with Doctor Who story: Non-check, though Alan said, "they might as well just have said 'Mandragora Helix' and have done with it."
Girl protagonist's mum is annoying: Almost a non-check, but her folksy twinkle over Dad's cooking at the end just did it for me.
Mobile phone as plot device: Semi-check, as Clyde's remarks about not having a mobile meaning a loss of identity ties in with Luke's worries about his lack of birthday meaning a loss of identity.
Luke says something so daft that you have to wonder how he gets through life without being mercilessly bullied: Non-check; the idea that there was a universe before this one where astrology worked is total bollocks, but as it's part of the premise of the story it doesn't count.
Sonic lipstick: Non-check.
Wristwatch scanner: Non-check.
One or more of Sarah's companions falling under alien influence: Check, though I was expecting they'd get Sarah too.

Just one comment about the American election

OK, I've been resisting the temptation to join the overwhelming throng commenting on the US election, but, as a scientist, this really makes me furious. Just read it and you'll see why.

SJA Checklist backlog

THE LAST SONTARAN

Crowds of people walking through London under alien influence: No.
Tie-in with Doctor Who story: Check. Direct sequel to "The Sontaran Strategem"/"The Poisoned Sky."
Girl protagonist's mum is annoying: Check, though less so than usual, and she does do something nicely ballsy too.
Mobile phone as plot device: Check.
Luke says something so daft that you have to wonder how he gets through life without being mercilessly bullied: Can't remember, so I'll give it a non-check benefit of the doubt.
Sonic lipstick: Check.
Wristwatch scanner: Check.
One or more of Sarah's companions falling under alien influence: Semi-check: it's not the companion but the guest star.

DAY OF THE CLOWN

Crowds of people walking through London under alien influence: Huge great check.
Tie-in with Doctor Who story: Semi-check, in that there are continued in-joke references to "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" (and one to "The Celestial Toymaker").
Girl protagonist's mum is annoying: Check, and looking set to check that box for many episodes to come.
Mobile phone as plot device: Sigh... check.
Luke says something so daft that you have to wonder how he gets through life without being mercilessly bullied: Check.
Sonic lipstick: Check.
Wristwatch scanner: Check.
One or more of Sarah's companions falling under alien influence: Check, or perhaps two half-checks: Rani and Clive are not influenced by the clown, but targeted by it, and Luke isn't mentally influenced by the clown, but is kidnapped by it.

The Sarah Jane Adventures Checklist

This week's was slightly better in that Gareth Roberts' scripts always make me laugh out loud and feel good about the universe. But really, I'm starting to consider setting up a kind of Sarah Jane Adventures version of Recyclingwatch:

THE SJA CHECKLIST

Crowds of people walking through London under alien influence: Big old check.
Tie-in with Doctor Who story: Semi-check. Nothing specific, but we do get a School Reunion flashback sequence.
Girl protagonist's mum is annoying: Check.
Mobile phone as plot device: Non-check, and a nice subversion of the way mobiles seem to be constantly used to break alien influence, in that this week a conveniently-timed mobile call to Clive fails to break his hypnosis.
Luke says something so daft that you have to wonder how he gets through life without being mercilessly bullied: Check. "She's a plant!" "You mean she's a vegetable lifeform?" (a fourteen-year-old boy who's never read or watched a spy story?)
Sonic lipstick: Non-check.
Wristwatch scanner: Check.
One or more of Sarah's companions falling under alien influence: Check.

Sarah Jane versus the Shark

So I've been watching The Sarah Jane Adventures for two full stories now, and I have to say I'm pretty disappointed. Whereas last year's series was a delightful surprise, this year, I'm wondering if it isn't a victim of its own success-- i.e., the production team, finding themselves with a surprise hit on their hands, go all conservative and start doing formulaic, predictable stories as opposed to the excitingly unexpected ones that they did last year. Last year we had stories with themes like the difficulties of coming to terms with aging and mortality; this year we get "moving away is hard" and "everyone has something to contribute, even the class clown," both of which are seen over and over again in children's media. It's early days yet so I'm hoping for improvement, but, remembering what happened to Doctor Who between Seasons 1 and 2, I'm worried.

Headline of the Week

MOD DATA STOLEN

...Rockers being questioned in connection with the inquiry.

Alan and I do some marketing

The mission: to come up with an honest marketing slogan for Torchwood.

The winners:

General

Torchwood: At least it's not Bonekickers.

Torchwood: Better than rabies.

Torchwood: Better than a repeat of Ready, Steady, Cook.

Torchwood: Makes Tittybangbang look sophisticated.

Torchwood: It has a bigger audience share than a load of other minority-channel programmes.

Torchwood: Help pay John Barrowman's dog's vet bills.

Torchwood: Because Russell T. Davies can never have enough royalty money.

Torchwood: A few people in America said they liked it.

Season II

Torchwood Season II: Takes out a pickaxe and keeps on digging.

Torchwood Season II: Keeping the careers of ageing cult stars going since 2006.

Season III

Torchwood Season III: Half the length of original Torchwood!

Torchwood Season III: We've cut the story length, got rid of Chibnall, killed off the single most annoying character and got it all out in a single week; surely it can't suck this time?

Torchwood Season III: Now with 100% less Freema!


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Am I mad, in the Atlantic, or back in time?

"Lost in Austen", about a modern female Jane Austen fan who goes through a magic portal into the middle of Pride and Prejudice, is currently being touted as a costume-drama twist on "Life on Mars". Since that series then spawned a sequel featuring a protagonist of the opposite gender and a later setting, can we look forward next year to "Lost in Melville," where a modern computer technician with a Victorian adventure-novel fetish finds himself suddenly on board the Pequod, searching for Moby-Dick?

Reasons to hate (OK, be mildly irritated at) Michael Grade?

This week, an ITV production company are in my workplace, filming a series called "Trinity" (well, that's what the propsman who I asked said). The main immediate results are that a) the back quad is always full of actors, technicians and equipment, and b) they've taken over the staff carpark too, meaning we're all parking in the overspill car park, which is unsecured, full of potholes, and a stiff walk up a steep hill away from the main building.

If anyone wants to see where I work, look out for "Trinity" (although I'm not sure how much of the building will be visible in it).

Monkey!

The BBC's brilliant trailer for the Olympic coverage:



Seriously, the BBC need to commission those guys to do a Monkey cartoon series, in just that style. Get the guy who wrote the 1980s live-action series to do the scripts, and it would be just the best thing ever.

Another brilliant thing is Hamfatter:



Go download their single, like, NOW.

Music for the Masses

Following Lawrence Miles' recent assertion in his blog that you can come up with lyrics for all of the Murray Gold instrumentals, Alan and I watched "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End" yesterday trying to do just that. The winner was, to the tune of the triumphal towing-the-Earth theme at the climax of the story, "A buuuunch of stupid grinning twiiiiits... staaaanding... around a coooonsoooole... around a consoooole..." And then I noticed that the music for that theme is exactly the same as Kristy MacColl's "He's on the Beach," just slowed down and with a slightly different rythm, and that was that.

Survival Recyclingwatch

Is this the template for Nu-Who? Consider:

-Urban London contemporary setting
-Pointless celebrity cameo
-Return of old villain/monster who's mainly of interest to the fans
-Gay agenda (the sergeant and Chris)
-Gratuitous soap about companion's friends and family
-Monsters that look like humans in animal masks (are the Cheetah People that far removed from the cat-nuns or Judoon?)
-Lots of explosions and makeup to distract from the general lack of effort on the resolution front...

I'll think about this some more.

Strange things happen

I met somebody named Ianto the other day.

I thought they only existed in fiction.