TV

Doctor Who Extra
1x10 In the Forest of the Night
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Forever
1x05 The Pugilist Break

Gotham
1x03 The Balloonman
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Whose Line is it Anyway?
2x08 (5/1/90 edition) [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

TV

Doctor Who
14x16 The Face of Evil Part Four
I've greatly enjoyed this serial. It's not the best regarded (a lowly 130th on DWM's latest poll), but I'm not sure why.

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
3x08 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Scott & Bailey
4x08 Episode 8 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Cockneys vs Zombies (2012)
[#107 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Doctor Who
14x15 The Face of Evil Part Three

The Flash
1x01 City of Heroes
A bit cheesy and predictable in places, but then Arrow took time to bed in too. Has enough promise to stick with it.

Have I Got News For You
48x04 (24/10/2014 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Furious 6 (2013)
[#106 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

aka Fast & Furious 6

TV

Doctor Who
14x14 The Face of Evil Part Two

Not Going Out
7x02 Christening
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Scott & Bailey
4x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

The 10th Kingdom
Part 9 (of 10) [2nd watch]
Part 10 (of 10) [2nd watch]

As previously alluded, this will be 100 Films 2014 #104a.


Doctor Who
14x13 The Face of Evil Part One

This is set in a forest/jungle... and that's about the best connection to Saturday's episode that I could muster. Maybe something like The Seeds of Doom or Terror of the Vervoids would've been appropriate, but the former's a six-parter and the latter's at the heart of Trial of a Time Lord, so they're no-gos. Besides, I've never seen this one, so that's a bonus.

(Plus, if you think Steven Moffat was the first person to split a season of Who in two so the layperson might think it was a new run, you'd be wrong: when The Face of Evil began in January 1977 it was billed as a "new series" in the Radio Times thanks to a five week break from the end of the preceding serial. Considering Sarah Jane left during the last lot of episodes, and this introduces her replacement companion, perhaps that was a sound idea.)


Wallander [Swedish]
3x06 Sorgfågeln (aka The Sad Bird) [series finale]

The end! A good, if sad, finale.

TV

The 10th Kingdom
Part 7 (of 10) [2nd watch]
Part 8 (of 10) [2nd watch]

Would I Lie To You?
8x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Ten Little Indians (1965)
[#105 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

this week on 100 Films

Three brand-new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...


The Conspirator (2010)

eight people were tried for conspiracy to kill America’s 16th President; this is the story of what happened to the only woman among them. Or, rather, it’s the story of the young lawyer who is forced to represent her. Rather than cave to pressure and more-or-less let the prosecution have their way, he fights her corner against a ludicrously biased system that would execute her without trial

Read more here.


The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)

Starring, co-written and directed by rapper and Asian culture fan “the RZA”, this is a riff on old-fashioned chopsocky actioners. The plot is... just a way to string together some outlandish characters and equally extreme action sequences.

Read more here.


Safe (2012)

Jason Statham plays a cop turned cage-fighter turned vagrant, who rescues a young girl and finds himself amidst a three-way brawl between the Triad, the Russians, and corrupt cops. They want the child for a number she’s memorised, but what is its significance?

Read more here.


Plus three were new to the new blog too...


Inglourious Basterds (2009)

The whole film is a grab-bag of filmmaking styles, techniques and modes, thrown together with a gleeful abandon. Tarantino uses what he wants when he wants it, sometimes for no reason at all, and with no eye to creating a stylistic whole... It’s like that square Uma Thurman drew in Pulp Fiction, only instead of being one thing once he does it again and again, with any trick he fancies, throughout the film.

Read more here.


Iron Eagle (1986)

The plot, for those unaware of the film (which included me), is that an American pilot is captured by Qatar due to flying into their airspace, even though he was hundreds of miles outside it. When he’s sentenced to execution and the US Government refuses to do anything practical to get him back, his teenage son — who he’s been illicitly teaching to fly fighter jets — resolves to steal one and go get his dad. Hells yeah! Or something.

Read more here.


Speed Racer (2008)

it's visually astounding. Speed Racer’s blocks of vibrant colour and computer whizzery are a natural fit for the modern digital experience. Action sequences are mind-meltingly fast, but also incredibly thrilling.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The 10th Kingdom
Part 5 (of 10) [2nd watch]
Part 6 (of 10) [2nd watch]

Doctor Who
34x10 In the Forest of the Night
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless Celebrities
6x21 (25/10/14 edition)
"We've got a tub of lard, and Boris Johnson." Only on Pointless.
Also, a Doctor Who finale -- where I got loads of pointlesses! Yay!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.

Nothing to report this week, yet again. There's loads in the post though, so it might be bumper crop next time.

Number of titles in collection: 1,699 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,203 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 496 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,234 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,832 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,242 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 438 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The 10th Kingdom
Part 3 (of 10) [2nd watch]
Part 4 (of 10) [2nd watch]

Forever
1x04 The Art of Murder

Gilmore Girls
2x15 Lost and Found [2nd watch]

Grantchester
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

The 10th Kingdom
Part 1 (of 10) [2nd watch]
Part 2 (of 10) [2nd watch]
Re-watching this (in as-originally-aired 90-minute chunks) to cover it for the Fairy Tale Blogathon.

Gotham
1x02 Selina Kyle
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
28x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
3x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Doctor Who
2x03 Crisis
Infamously, this story was deemed so boring that they re-edited parts three and four into a single regular-length episode, i.e. this one. Probably for the best -- I can't imagine what they could've got up to for another 25 minutes!

Wallander [Swedish]
3x05 Mordbrännaren (aka The Arsonist)

Whose Line is it Anyway?
2x07 (29/12/89 edition) [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

TV

Doctor Who
2x02 Dangerous Journey
Whoever thought a man draining a sink of water could be a cliffhanger?

Forever
1x03 The Fountain of Youth

Have I Got News For You
48x03 (17/10/2014 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless Celebrities
6x20 (18/10/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

La Belle et la Bête (1946)
[#104 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

aka Beauty and the Beast, of course.

TV

Doctor Who
2x01 Planet of Giants
This week's tie-in story also sees the TARDIS getting miniaturised -- the but the crew are too! It has quite a poor reputation, but I thought this was a strong opening episode, with a good sense of mystery, some nice cross-cutting between scenes, and some solid special effects. Guess it all goes downhill from now...

Pioneers of Television
2x01 Science Fiction

Scott & Bailey
4x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Doctor Who Extra
1x09 Flatline
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Grantchester
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Not Going Out
7x01 Mugging
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Dead Poets Society (1989)
[#103 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]