TV

Einstein and Eddington
David Tennant and Andy Serkis both give great performances -- as do the rest of the cast, it must be said -- in this excellent TV movie. What might have been a dry near-documentary is brought to life by a broadening of topics and themes -- it's as much (perhaps even more) about the First World War and its wide-ranging effects, as well as the boundaries and the applications of science, as it is about the specific theory the titular characters uncovered and proved (respectively).

Have I Got News For You
36x06 (28/11/08 edition; extended repeat)

Lead Balloon
3x03 Fax

Merlin
1x11 The Labyrinth of Gedref

Survivors [2008]
1x01 Episode 1
Feature-length opening ep for BBC One's "it's not a remake of the TV series, honest" adaptation of Terry Nation's novel based on his famous '70s TV series. It's a strong start, dealing first with the horror of the virus' outbreak and the way it brings down the country before moving on to set up of the group of survivors we'll be following. There's also a hint of some Hidden Conspiracy in the closing moments. Very much a First Episode then; it remains to be seen if the remaining five will play as a serial or a series of stories. Also, considering the number of British shows that get remade for the US these days, this seems a prime candidate for such treatment in the future.

Fiction

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman, Andy Kubert & Richard Isanove
Part Eight [the end]
Well, that's certainly... the end... The problem with the final part is it deals almost exclusively with the bits of the plot I didn't like in the first place, and in trying to wrap up so many disparate strands -- and, apparently, throw some new ones into the mix at the last minute -- it ends up as a bit of a muddle, with an inconclusive finale. A disappointing end then, but not surprisingly so.

At the back of the book, there's an Afterword by Neil Gaiman that does a good job of explaining his thinking behind the series. Doesn't excuse the ties to normal Marvel continuity, if you ask me. There's also an interesting piece of the series' unique covers by artist Scott McKowen and a selection of pages showing the 'enhanced pencils' technique Andy Kubert used to illustrate the story -- comparing these to the final art shows how much impact the oft-ignored inkers & colourists have on finished comics! Rounding things off, there's the complete script for part one, an inclusion that's always great for anyone interested in writing comics, accompanied by early character sketches.

Magazines

As has become almost as much of a tradition as the Doctor Who Christmas special, here's the pre-Christmas Radio Times with the Doctor Who cover -- even though the episode itself won't be on til two weeks after this edition ends!

Anyway, this is -- rather appropriately -- Doctor Who's 45th RT cover, just weeks after the programme's 45th anniversary. It's also the series' 23rd RT cover since it returned in 2005, and the 8th this year. Yep, Doctor Who sells.