Grimm: Once We Were Gods

"But we were gods once...!"

This isn't the first time we've seen Egyptian mythology in Grimm, but it is the first time it has been extensively woven into the mythos. It seems there is a race of Anubis Wesen that were once worshipped as gods and immortalised in hieroglyphs.

Before we get to that, though, Woo is still in the asylum with his fate uncertain. Nick and Hank are still undecided about whether to tell him. by the time of his release at the end of the episode, it would seem that have blown their chance. I can't help but think that this decision will have consequences.

Adalind is experiencing her first few hours of motherhood, but there seems to be some confusion. Has she had twins? Or is the baby simply in more than one place? This is, obviously, no ordinary baby. And the resistance are on the trail.

Back to the main plot, we get first class Egyptian-style thriller, complete with a curse on the sarcophagus and, of course, a mummy, plus a skeptical scientist to boot. This is another quality installment in another quality season.

Grimm: Mommy Dearest

"This could be anything that climbs trees; bigger than a squirrel, obviously."

It seems that Woo's first name is, er, Drew...

This is an excellent episode, and a rather important one. We begin with Adalind giving birth, somewhat supernaturally, but that plot thread can wait until later episodes. This episode is concerned with another baby, that of a friend of Woo's, which is being milked for amniotic fluid by a mythical Filipino called an Aswang! This is the episode where Woo first becomes aware of supernatural going-on in Portland. But we end with Woo in a mental home recuperating. Can he handle the truth?

The Aswang itself looks gloriously horrible as it sticks its long tool into the womb via the bellybutton. It is one of the most effective-looking Wesen so far. It's also nice to see some development of Woo as a character. In particular, it's bittersweet to learn that he harbours unrequited feelings for an old friend who is now married. It is also interesting to see Nick and Hank spending the entire episode chickening out of telling Woo what is really going on.

This is an unusually serious episode, and one with an uncertain ending. I'm sure I'm not the only one with quite a bit of affection for Woo.

Grimm: Revelation

"I don't even know who you are any more!"

The story continues. The programme continues to use Wesen as a metaphor, with Monroe's parents continuing to reject their son's lifestyle choices. It's not hard to see a parallel with people coming out as gay to their unsupportive parents. Oh, and there's still something going around scalping cops, but that's in the background. although we do get a hilarious scene where a cop is hanging around alone, in the forest, in the dark, and is obviously going to die.

Much of this episode consists of Monroe trying and failing to reconnect with his parents, especially his father. It is only with the final action climax against three hard baddies that Monroe's dad finally comes to understand and accept his son's choices, also throwing in a dire warning that this type of baddie means baaaaad stuff's coming.

Meanwhile, in Vienna, Adalind learns that Sean Reynard is close to getting to the truth, and Prince Viktor discovers that Frau Peck is not the traitor. The net is closing in on Adalind. And the birth is now imminent.

A fast-paced return, then, to the series after its mid-season break. Things are hotting up on multiple fronts.

Grimm: A Dish Best Served Cold

"I just watched a friend of mine die in a tree..."

So far this season has been very arc-based, with no stories of the week. This episode continues this trend, at least at first, as a date between Rosalie and Monroe leads to her moving in with him. They declare their love for each other, they're such a cute couple. I'm sure it'll all end in tragedy.

Nick and Juliette are discussing that bloke what he killed when he was a zombie thingy. On paper it's a good scene, but David Giuntoli is just too bland to sell it properly. Time for a story of the week methinks.

This all revolves around a restaurant with a posh chef, and a feud between pigs and wolves (irony?). As a story of the week it is well structured, gripping, and a good reintroduction to the basic format of the show. There is, interestingly, an interesting ending with Nick pretending to arrest and shoot Monroe. This is a trick that can probably only be tried once. This would be a very good episode were it not for the groan-inducing line "and this little piggy goes to jail..."

Meanwhile, in Vienna, Sean Reynard's agent comes into contact with Adalind. Can't be too long now until he finds out about his possible child...

Doctor Who: Flatline

"Could you not just let me enjoy the moment of not knowing something? I mean it happens so rarely."

Hmm. This episode wasn't bad. It was really quite good, in fact. So please don't take this the wrong way, but... wasn't there a touch of Fear Her about this? The setting, the two dimensional baddie, the fact that its a season cheapie- there are s lot of similarities. Still, Fear Her was cack, and this was bog standard. 

Yes, the conceit is great: two dimensional baddies. And it's fun to see the TARDIS shrunk, and all the cool things they do with it. More fundamentally it's good to see things being done with its dimensions for the first time since, really, Planet of Giants. 

Still, I like Rigsy, and I like the fact that we're rooting for the kid on community service and left in no doubt that his supervisor, definitely the UKIP voting type, is an arse. 

The character star stuff is good, too; Clara hasn't told Danny that she's still travelling with the Doctor! And, with the Doctor stuck in the shrunken TARDIS, she gets to spend an episode being the Doctor, and doing it well. More interestingly, as explicitly acknowledged in the dialogue, she gets to see things from his point of view, an interesting counterpoint to their big row in Kill the Moon.

Still, not an awful lot to say about this one. It was quite good, but you can tell the crew are thinking about the big stuff at the end of the season. What's this about Missy "choosing" Clara...?

Grimm: The Wild Hunt

"Will you marry me?"

Aww! Ain't it cute? Monroe asked Rosalie to marry him! And he did it with, er, a cuckoo clock...!

This episode features the most terrifying prospect yet; Monroe's rather old-fashioned parents. They're not exactly keen on their son marrying a Fuchsbau- it's miscegenation, don't you know- and as for his best friend being a Grimm... well, they're not impressed. Or, on present impressions, very nice at all. 

That's pretty much it. Oh, there's a main plot involving some scalping a, but our cliffhanger is Monroe's displeased parents encountering said bombshell...

Beaches (1988)

"I just want to get rid of us before us gets bad."

Yes, I know; this is a chick flick. I watched it because my lovely wife wanted to show me one of her favourite films and I'm blogging it because it's quite well known. And you know what? I quite enjoyed it. I won't put it any stronger than that; it isn't superlatively brilliant in the way that Pretty Woman is (yes, I did just say that), but it's a good film.

The film follows the lives of two women from childhood to one of them suffering a tragic, early death. CC is poor, Jewish and very much a New Yorker, while Hillary is a rich WASP girl from an established East Coast family. They bond over shared ambitions to go into musical theatre- a world of which I know nothing- but their very different natures later lead to both friction and reconciliation.

Much as CC may struggle in her early days through lack of money, she benefits from being carefree and unrestricted, while Hillary is pressured into becoming a bored housewife to an awful, snobbish husband, and CC's telling it like it is here leads to the big clash between them that drives the structure of the main plot. Their eventual full reconciliation only comes at the price of Hillary's sad decline and death. There is a happy ending, of sorts, as CC adopts Hillary's orphaned daughter.

It's a fairly gripping drama, and Bette Midler is superb. I won't pretend this is my cup of tea but there are many things to enjoy in this film.

Grimm: The Good Soldier

"I don't deserve what they did to me. I was a good soldier."

A rather good whodunit for once, this one, and concerning the serious issue of the rape of women in the US military, once again using Wesen as a metaphor for humanity's bestial urges.

Still, there is a counterbalancing positive narrative for the U.S. Military here, I suppose inevitably, in the person of an honourable commanding officer who pays the ultimate price for doing the right thing. The rape itself is evil, but everything else in this episode exists in shades of grey. It may be a story of the week, but this is a highlight of the season.

They way things unfold is particularly praiseworthy, with the victims to be drinking awful lager and alluding to s terrible secret from seven years earlier. The tragic motive for the murders, and the way the plot unfolds, make this odd only the best episode yet in terms of structure.

Meanwhile, in Vienna, the subplot continued to tread water. For once we seem to have a story that leaves little room for subplots.

Grimm: Eyes of the Beholder

"Get out of my house!"

This isn't the first time that Grimm has tackled domestic abuse, but it's a topic that works well with the use of Wesen as metaphors. In this case there's the added complication that Alicia is trying to hide from Juliette the fact that she's a Fuchsbau; I love the scene in which Jukiette tries to explain that she understands about Wesen, and gets it all wrong. Her husband being a Grimm doesn't exactly help here.

There's also a parallel plot, also including domestic abuse themes. This is Wesen-on-Wesen violence too. There's perhaps something unfortunate with Grimm implying that all social issues are really about Wesen, but then the whole concept is just a metaphor on a number of levels.

All this contrasts with the increasingly cute relationship between Monroe and Rosalie, and the budding relationship between Hank and the vulnerable Tyler which ends, it seems, in rejection.

I liked this episode; it flows well, and has a rare thematic unity. This is so good it could almost be a lesser episode of Buffy, and I genuinely mean that as praise.

Grimm: Red Menace

"Koschei are Russian, which means they're Greek to me."

Interesting start; a jogging woman in the forest, like the first episode. Not only that, but the soundtrack is "Little Red Riding Hood" by the Meteors. Thing soon settle down, however. A medium-term arc thread is seeded as an abused friend of Juliette's, Alicia, comes to stay with her and Nick for a while. Her husband is, of course, a Wesen. Oh, and Sean Renard meets Adalind at a restaurant and learns that he may be the father of her child. Oh, and Hank gets a possible love interest in Tyler. About time. We'll see how this develops.

The main story-of-the-week plot, however, is Russian-themed and begins, again, with Woo as one of the great Charlie Brooker's Men in the Macs who Spout Facts. Everything revolves around a Russian Wesen with healing powers which are, naturally, connected to Rasputin, his parallel. It seems the Czar's favourite mad monk was killed by a Grimm on behalf of British Intelligence.

Things get very Russian, with affairs and vodka, and Russians speaking to each other in English for some reason. 

A bit blah, this one, but we end with a cliffhanger; the abusive husband is outside the house in a car... 

Forrest Gump (1994)

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get."

I didn't want to like this film. I assumed it had a passively conservative agenda in that the homespun wisdom of the Deep South is a much better guide for life than those pesky liberal intellectuals. And yes, there is a bit of that. And it's not necessarily a good thing to imply that success comes to those who morally deserve it as it does to Forrest- it doesn't. But I liked it anyway. I may be a Guardian reading type and Lib Dem voter (though definitely not on Clegg's wing of the party), but I hail from the reactionary, UKIP voting rural East Midlands and, while most of my fellow denizens of this region may average some decidedly right wing views, I'm definitely proud of where I come from. Eh up, me duck.

All of which is to say that I rather enjoyed this film and I think it would be churlish to knock it for it's fairly passive conservative slant. In any case, I'm wary that I haven't read the novel on which the film is based. So let's actually talk about the film, shall we?

Firstly, Tom Hanks is superb, evoking both humour and pathos in a way that reminds one of the great Charlie Chaplin.

His choice of scripts may often leave something to be desired, but as an actor he's one of the best that Hollywood has to offer. And the film is fun, riffing enjoyably on its Zelig concept to insert Forrest into footage of the likes of John Lennon and any number of American presidents. It is, perhaps, an example of a post-Cold War America, in the middle of the "End of History" era, looking back fondly over its most recent tumultuous decades of counterculture and Vietnam. 

Forrest's homespun philosophies are, of course, silly, and the film could be accused of naïveté in having it's mentally subnormal star end up rich and successful because he's nice. But one can also, if one tries hard enough, see there an existential acknowledgement of the absurdities of life and fortune, and I tried very hard indeed. The film is worth a look and great fun, even for those of us wary of possible conservative overtones.

Sharknado (2013 TV Movie)

"We can't just wait here for sharks to rain down on us!"

I couldn't resist watching this and, yes, I had to blog it: a TV movie on SyFy with the most gloriously and semi-ironically B movie premise. It's exactly what you expect, really, a movie that knows how silly it is and revolves entirely around some hilarious CGI. 

We open in California, on a bar by the seafront. There are a handful of characters to get to know if you can be bothered; they're all just ciphers and the film is all about the Sharks. There is some hilarious exposition and much equally hilarious dialogue.

It's not long before we see the first attack from some very aggressive sharks, with only short glimpses of actual physical models; the rest is all CGI.

From now on it's all about the set pieces, with an early highlight being sharks attacking the bar, and one being killed with a pool cue. Yes, it looks a bit shit, but it's cool. And I love the Ferris wheel that's sent rolling across the ground.

Inevitably, there's a road trip. The sharks Attack Beverley Hills, and the film takes a glorious pleasure in being cruel to the rich: this is unmistakably a film made post-2008. Probably quite wisely there is no real attempt to explain away the "sharknadoes".

Sharks launch out of manholes. A particularly arrogant character dies horribly. The set pieces just keep on coming. There are CGI waterspouts, chainsaws, and Heath Robinson contraption. But the film really (ahem) jumps the shark when the hero uses a chainsaw to liberate his recently swallowed girlfriend from a dead shark's stomach.

Yes, it really is that good/bad. And there is, I'm afraid, a sequel...

Grimm: Twelve Days of Krampus

"Hey, guys- shouldn't we be spreading out closer together?"

Well, well- a Christmas episode, no less! And a rather good one, too, in defiance of my expectations.

It's a fantastic concept; Santa's evil twin, who punishes bad children by ritually hanging them from a tree. And the curse comes with inbuilt amnesia so that the person responsible has no idea he's doing it. Brilliant.

Oh, and there's whipping too. Er, kinky. And, on that theme, we later have people gleefully photographing a Santa being handcuffed...

Monroe, of course, really does Christmas, like a proper traditional German. Rosalie doesn't, though; the festival holds tragic memories for her. Touchingly, as soon as Monroe hears about this he quietly and uncomplainingly takes down all the decorations he'd spent so long putting up. 

In Vienna, meanwhile, Sean Renard leaves a note and flowers as an excuse to speak to Adalind, knowing that they will be watched. And, in Portland, Rosalie confides in Juliette, who is making tea wrongly, as Americans on TV are always doing, dipping a teabag in lukewarm water. (You need the water to be boiling and to bash the teabag about in the boing water do it infuses, folks; if the water is lukewarm and you don't get the tea out of the bag then the necessary chemical reaction will not occur and the tea will taste like shit. For even better results, use loose tea and a teapot, and don't forget to warm the pot.)

Ahem. All is well in the end, as Nick uses his Daredevil powers to save the day.  There's a dilemma about what to do with our amnesiac baddie, however. Do they kill him? Tell the Wesen Council...?

We end on a sweet note, as Rosalie has put all of the decorations back just as they were. Merry Christmas!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tough Love

"They'll take you away from me..."

Something of a somber episode, this, with the consequences of both adulthood and bereavement hitting Buffy hard. And, of that isn't bad enough, something truly heartbreaking happens. And then the episode ends with Glory discovering the identity of the key. Oops.

Buffy's academic career drifts away from her as yet another dream of her youth that is now denied to get; she's been dropping lectures and is forced to drop out, under cover of the polite fiction that she will one day return to complete her studies. The scene between her and the professor is deliberately slow and deliberately awkward. 

In parallel, Ben is fired from his hospital job because of his frequent absences. Glory is ruining his life. She may be a goddess, a flat and one dimensional character with underlings, luxury, a flange of gorillas should she so desire, and other stereotypical superbaddie trappings, but all of the multi-dimensional characters are made to suffer because of her, and no more so than in this episode.

There's a little comic relief as Anya discovers her inner uber-capitalist and American chauvinist, but for Buffy it's all crushing responsibility as the principal warns her that Dawn is failing at school, and Buffy is in danger of losing custody. This, of course, leads to clashes between the sisters as a panicking Buffy goes all authoritarian in a way she simply hasn't earned (she's only 20!), and things get worse and worse.

Staying with the darkness, Willow and Tara have their first big and nasty falling out over a silly argument- and the silliness of the argument makes it worse. Horribly, Glory has got it into her head that Tara is the key and, before the couple have time to reconcile, Glory feasts on her mental energies, leaving her an infantilised and tormented she'll of a person. Of course, this completely breaks Willow's heart. It certainly broke ours while watching. Typical Whedon...!

Dawn, after a big fight with Buffy, goes to see Spike, and doesn't fail to notice his torture wounds. He has some words of wisdom for her; just because she's the key doesn't mean it's all her fault, hard though it is for an adolescent to understand that.

Willow goes after Glory herself, enraged, using the "darkest magic"; in many ways, Dark Willow starts here. In the end, it's Buffy to the rescued, but Willow ends up heartbroken. It's sweet, though, how there's no question but that she will care for poor Tara. That's true love. There is now another connection between her and Buffy, one whose absence threatened to cause a rift between them; they both now have a dependent.

The end is shocking, though. Just two more episodes to go...

Grimm: Cold Blooded

"You ask me, it's an alligator."

Fiddlesticks. This seems to be some sort of two-parter. I'm not sure what's happening- two directors are credited- but this episode appears to be broadly standalone, albeit with a rushed ending.

Alexis Denisof is playing a gloriously sinister baddie, Prince Viktor, who reminds me of badass Wesley (Er, not that the blog has got to that bit in Angel quite yet. And fear not; I'm still very much blogging Buffy and Angel. Indeed, I have some notes prepared. But I'm in a hurry to finish Grimm Season 3 before Season 4 starts). He's charismatic, erotic, menacing, and has Adalind hanging on his every word.

This week's story is based on something by John Dryden- do any of my readers know exactly what? We have a reptilian burglar Wesen and apparent references to urban myths of alligators in sewers. Meanwhile, in Vienna (it means nothing to me), Sean Renard is slumming it with his underling, forced to stay hidden in relative squalor.

The main plot is largely solved at another one of those fabulous dinner parties round Monrie's and Rosalie's, with Juliette fully involved. Our little Scooby Gang is a rather convivial, bibulous bunch; I like that.

The main plot is a bit blah, but interesting things happen with Sean; there's a trial taking place, and the Resistance are interrogating a suspected Royal agent...

Grimm: Stories We Tell Our Young

"So, I guess it's time for the "Birds and the whole Bienen-Wesen" talk. Okay..."

On the same day as I review an episode of Penny Dreadful that largely riffs on The Exorcist, this happens. Yes, apparently this is based on Inuit mythology, but there's no mistaking the obvious influence of a certain film.

I'm amused by the role of Woo at the start; for those of us who have been following Charlie Brooker's most amusing A Touch of Cloth, this episode sees him fulfilling the cop show standard of "man in the Mac who spouts facts" perfectly. Also, in Parallel with the Exorcist stuff, Sean Renard arrives in Vienna to begin his multi-episode sub-plot. Also in Vienna are Adalind and a new prince, played by none other than Alexis Denisof...!

The main lot plays out, with a little friction between our heroes and the Wesen Council thrown in; interestingly, it was once again Rosalie who snitched. And we get, of course, a little lesson on the heredity of Wesen traits. 

This episode was average, methinks. There's nothing wrong with it, but I'm getting a little restless with stories of the week.

Penny Dreadful: Season One, Episode 6 (What Death Can Join Together)

"You must risk rejection!"

This one is a far more typical episode, albeit with Vanessa now a lot less mysterious. It's one of the less eventful episodes on the whole, with the exception of Van Helsing being casually killed by Caliban after telling Victor all about vampires. It's a shame; we won't be seeing David Warner any more. It's interesting to see him point to a penny dreadful featuring Varney the Vampire!

Aside from that, well... Brona is still dying and Vanessa is still doing that thing with Tarot cards. Caliban takes a fancy to a girl. Ethan tells Sir Malcolm about Brona, and Sir Malcolm sympathies. And then they fight some vampires (which look rather like Count Orlok from Nosferatu) and actually see and speak to Mina, but to no avail. 

But the episode is mainly about a rather hot date between Vanessa and Dorian Gray. They discuss religion and philosophy, have that sort of erotically witty conversation that never happens in real life and end up having some extraordinarily kinky sex, with Vanessa scratching Dorian to the point of GBH. All he has to do, of course, is use the portrait in his attic which we all know about from our old friend dramatic irony.

Sir Malcolm returns home, empty-handed, to find Vanessa once again possessed, and levitating...

Penny Dreadful: Season One, Episode 5 (Closer Than Sisters)

"I tried to pray that night. God wouldn't answer- but another did..."

Well, this is unexpected; an episode, told entirely in flashback and with many regular characters absent, filling in the backstory for Vanessa and explaining so many things about her. It's also interesting to get an impression of Mina, who appears in a scene which, I think, takes place during Dracula. Jonathan Harker even gets a mention.

She and Mina were, ahem, "closer than sisters" as children, until Vanessa became possessed by a malevolent entity and betrayed her friend by sleeping with her fiancé on the night before her wedding, as you do. Cue loads of scenes of straitjackets and Victorian mental health treatments.

Things are fleshed out; Mina is a Catholic in an Anglican world, presumably an old recusant rather than Irish, interesting in a Victorian context. Much of the second half of the episode strongly echoes The Exorcist. Except her treatment is horrifying; a shaven head, being shackled and hosed down, even trepanning. Her low point surely comes when her mother dies of shock, seeing her possessed and levitating daughter being raped by some kind of demon. This episode is very, very dark, and Eva Green is very, very good.

We end with her reconciliation with Sir Malcolm and the revelation that, every day, this devout, damned, guilt-ridden Catholic writes a letter to Mina and files it away with the others. She loves her childhood friend very much, "enough to kill" her...

Doctor Who: Mummy on the Orient Express

"Sometimes the only choices you have are bad ones. But you still have to choose."

What a brilliant episode. This script from newcomer Jamie Mathieson has everything: a brilliant scary premise; a solid plot with a satisfying resolution; and some satisfying character development for both the Doctor and Clara.

The whole thing looks good, too. The Mummy looks amazing, by far the scariest monster we've seen for ages, and it looks as though this was done by good use of prosthetics, rather than the recent overuse of CGI. Good. The 1920s sets and costumes are fantastic, of course, but you expect that with the BBC. The cast is, again, superb, with Frank Skinner standing out (and I noticed, as Mrs Pitt in the pre-credits sequence, Janet Halfrey from The Curse of Fenric). And the nice metatextual touch of having the 66 seconds countdown appear stylishly onscreen as the Foretold bears down upon its victim is not only brilliant but enhances the fear factor hugely.

Every beat of the plot is perfect, with revelation after revelation. The overall shape of the plot is satisfying and, for me, far from predictable. Even the fact that the premise of the story was mentioned by Matt Smith at the end of The Big Bang is satisfactorily explained, and simultaneously fulfils a nice little character point between the Doctor and Clara.

I noticed, though, that the ultimate identity of "Gus" is left as a mystery...

Clara is still upset with the Doctor, and intends this to be her last trip with him. The first scene between them has them speaking to each other but, McLuhan-like, not communicating, and this is reflected in their phone conversation later in the episode.

The Doctor's cleverness is well and truly highlighted here, but insensitive bedside manner, his alien Aspergers tendencies meaning he just doesn't "get" feelings or small talk, is foregrounded here as never before. Several times this season we've seen him calmly telling people that he can't save them but he wants them to do something for him while they're dying so he can save others later. Here we have a premise where he does that again and again and again.

And yet...just when he's about to do the same to Maisie he does something different, behaving like a true hero and taking her place, defeating the monster in 66 seconds ("Are you my mummy?") while being incredibly Doctorish. Clara warms to this, and chooses to believe that the Doctor was only choosing to seem heartless for Gus' sake. And she sees, interestingly, that he's probably addicted to peril. 

For the moment, Clara is mollified enough (and Danny understanding enough) for her to keep travelling with the Doctor. I don't think the rift is even close to permanently healed, though. And I'm sure that the Doctor's insensitivity is something set up to be slowly developed in the way Colin Baker's Doctor was originally supposed to.

The future looks interesting. But, here and now, this is an outstanding piece of television.

Penny Dreadful: Season One, Episode 4 (Demi-Monde)

"Is it poisonous?"

"Like all beautiful things, I hope so."

We begin with a mise-en-scene, Grand Guignol style, with Dorian Gray surrounded by naked beauties of both sexes. Yep; he's decadent, decidedly an aesthetic and portrayed as a combination of both his literary self and Oscar Wilde.

Vanessa, however, is infatuated with him, as a very flirty sequence illustrates; it seems the mysterious ice maiden is capable of melting. Victor is more interested in his scientific mentor, however; Abraham Van Helsing is portrayed with typical brilliance by David Warner, and seems to know a lot about the foe they face, considerably more than Sir Malcolm. 

Our tour of characters takes us next to Caliban, who seems quite the social Darwinian; like Herbert Spencer he believes in survival of the fittest, and sees himself as the first of a new master race. Hence the desire for a bride...

The wolf boy is still in Sir Malcolm's basement, needing blood; he seems to be something of a Renfield character. Next, Ethan takes Brona to see the Grand Guignol, with Dorian and Vanessa also watching and Caliban working backstage. It looks as though there's a real death on stage, but no one realises.

Our two couples meet, and Brona learns from Vanessa that Ethan lied to her about his job. She's upset, and dumps him- she's dying, in any case. We end up with a contrast between Brona, dying and now looking very ill, and Ethan, morose, being seduced by Dorian after an unpleasant afternoon's blood sports. We end on their kiss...

Penny Dreadful: Season One, Episode 3 (Resurrection)

"You have not known horror unless I show it to you."

So it turns out that Proteus wasn't the first life created by young Mr. Frankenstein, and that Rory Kinnear is in fact joining the likes of Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee in the pantheon of those who have played the monster. He even wants a bride! This time, though, he is called not Adam but Caliban, the name I predicted for his late brother.

It is Frankenstein and his monster who are foregrounded here, but the transplantation of the tale to late Victorian London gives us the wonderful spectre of Caliban working behind stage in the Grand Guignol, an institution which I suspect is intended as a kind of microcosm for the series itself.

Interesting, though, that Frankenstein's love of Romantic poetry, with its rejection of industrial sprawl, is contrasted starkly with Caliban's love of the dark Satanic mills of "an age of steam and turbines". Frankenstein is, of course, motivated by guilt. He is fulfilling the narrative role of a tragic hero; I fully expect him to eventually suffer a death to suit.

It turns out that Brona is a Victorian prostitute; I'm reminded of The Crimson Petal and the White, which I read a couple of years ago. I'm also reminded of Secret Diary of a Call Girl, mainly because of Billie Piper. Sadly, however, this prostitute is dying of consumption, in desperate poverty to boot. It's a reminder of the extremes of wealth and poverty that existed in the Victorian age, extremes that we are slowly sleepwalking back towards as the slow, cruel dismemberment of the NHS and the Welfare State continues apace.

Ethan Chandler finally decides to accept Eva's offer and begin working for her and Sir Malcolm. Again they go hunting for baddies, and capture a werewolf. Ethan is shocked by the cruel treatment it is subjected to by his employers, evil though it is; no one is truly good in Penny Dreadful, just various hues of grey.

Their new prisoner longs for "all life to end and the world to live in darkness." Sadly, for Brona, this seems to be her immediate future...

Penny Dreadful: Season One, Episode 2 (Seance)

"Your first-born has returned, father!"

Nice cliffhanger. The monster we saw Frankenstein creating last episode, a nice chap, was in fact the second attempt, and we see him being brutally and casually killed by his older brother, presumably the Frankenstein's monster of legend. Nice.

Interesting that Frankenstein is, against type, a cultured man, fond of the Romantic poets and choosing a name for his "son" from the secular Bible that is the complete works of Shakespeare. Proteus is nicely chosen, and close to Prometheus, which fits. I was half expecting Cailban.

So much else happens in this episode, though. We meet Brona Croft, a poor and dying prostitute played in an incomprehensible accent (I think it's supposed to be Ulster?) by the usually reliable Billie Piper. This is probably as good a point as any to whinge about the lack of subtitles from Sky on the watch again version; not good enough.

There's a murder, which the police and public are comparing to the Ripper murders (although "he only did whores!)"); is this the work of the ultimate baddie or of a odd only body-snatching Frankenstein?

Brona gets to meet, and get fucked by, Dorian Gray, quite the aesthete and fascinated by mod cons, even owning an Edison cylinder. He, Vanessa and Sir Malcolm are invited, this being the 1890s, to a seance, where he and the usually frigid Vanessa seem to hit it off. The highlight of the episode, though, is the seance itself, with Vanessa seemingly possessed by Mina's spirit and going full-on The Exorcist. This is superbly done, and Eva Green is amazing. This is also probably the finest sustained bit of swearing I've ever seen on television.

Ethan seems to start a relationship with Brona at the CGI docks (with a nicely half-finished Tower Bridge), but it's hard to tell, as I can't understand a word she's saying and there are no sodding subtitles. Meanwhile, Sir Malcolm meets eccentric Egyptologist Ferdinand Lyle, who has translated the Hierogyphs found under the vampires' skin. It seems to foretell "the annihilation of man and the coming of the beast..."

I'm still loving this. Why has it taken is so long to get round to watching it?

Penny Dreadful: Season One, Episode 1 (Night Work)

"That is my mountain. There I will ant my flag."

Yes, I know, I'm late to the party. But I'm rather enjoying Sky and Showtime's answer to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen so far. I don't yet know where this is going, but the plot is gripping, the characters absorbing, the actors magnificent and the whole Victorian world looks superb. It's beautifully shot too.

Josh Hartnett is Ethan Chandler, our American character with whom the mainly Ametican viewers can identify, and a man with a mysterious past and a gloriously contemporary present as a performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Through his eyes we are introduced to the mysterious, confident and deeply religious Vanessa, who reads him like Sherlock Holmes would, and the obsessed explorer Sir Malcolm, who seeks to rescue his daughter from vampires. Vanessa resembles Mina Harker from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but Mina is in fact Sir Malcolm's daughter, snatched from the bog while having a crap. Nice.

Oh, and a young Victor Frankenstein is in the England of 1891 for some reason, rather than the Mitteleuropa of the late 18th century as per Mary Shelley. Our cliffhanger, nearly enough, is provided by his creating a son from various bits of flesh. I like the design of the monster.

I like Vanessa's speech to Chandler about a "demi-monde", a world in the shadows of London a la Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. And I like everything so far about Penny Dreadful and it's serious, realistic tone contrasted with a playful take on the tropes and themes of late Victoriana.

Detectorists, Part 1

"Ring pull. '83. Tizer."

This is a nice, gentle little comedy drama from BBC 4 starting the rather good Mackenzie Crook (who also writes and directs) and the equally excellent Toby Jones. I rather enjoyed it.

This is a gentle comedy of personal quirks, about slightly geeky, ordinary people with dead end jobs and human foibles. Lance is still within the gravitational pull of his ex-wife whereas Andy is tempted to stray from his girlfriend, attracted to student Sophie.

I suspect this six part series will end with them striking it rich but losing much of their happiness on the way, but for now, at least, this is a nicely diverting half-hour with some good jokes.

Doctor Who: Kill the Moon

"That's what you do with aliens, isn't it? Blow them up?"

Hmm. I didn't much like this one, and yet it got all the big things right. I loved the plot, I loved the beats of the story- and yet it didn't quite come off. The problem, I think, is that both the setting and central conceit with the fixed point in time just feel like a retread of The Waters of Mars. It must be said, too, that, yes, I quite like the more slowly paced style of this season, but this episode dragged.

It's the Moon (played by Lanzarote) in 2049 and not, as some reading pre-publicity would have up believe, Sarn (played by Lanzarote). People have stopped going into space because they can't be arsed, a bit like The Seeds of Death. Things have been getting desperate, the moon had been getting heavier and disrupting gravity, and all humanity has to play with is one antique space shuttle, the last few nukes and some piss-or astronauts. It's a very unglamorous future. 

Meanwhile, at Coal Hill School, the Doctor decides to take young Courtney Woods to the Moon to cheer her up, as you do. Clara is not entirely sure this is wise. The Doctor advises Courtney that there's to be "no hanky-panky", as JN-T once famously declared. Oh, and later on the Doctor gives us a Troughtonesque "When I say run, run." And Courtney became President of the USA and "met this bloke called Blonovitch". Lots of references to old stories, and the reason I mention them is to point out that they are not particularly from missing episodes, contrary to many current online theorists who suppose that this season is full of clues to a forthcoming announcement of missing episodes by Philip Morris later this year. That may or may not happen, but im very sceptical about any clues being inserted into the season's scripts. It just ain't happening, folks.

On a more contemporary note, Capafdi's Doctor is forever being asked "Who made you the boss?". And the bacteria-spiders look good, although in close-up it's a shame they used CGI instead of a model. 

The central moral dilemma- the moon is an egg, and humanity has the moral dilemma of actually killing the innocent baby or risking extinction, is not one I can identify with, though. What parallel with any real world dilemma is there here, exactly? And arguably Clara is wrong: surely the extinction of billions of humans and an entire planet justifies the unfortunate sacrifice of one life. 

I don't blame Clara for lashing out at the Doctor and storming out of the TARDIS. She confides in Danny Pink, with his warning from last episode about the Doctor being a dangerously charismatic officer coming home to roost much sooner than expected. But, as Danny points out, she's angry now. How will she feel when she calms down? I don't think this is the end of her arc. This feels like unfinished business. And the scene also hints at unexplained depths to Danny Pink- again.

Jenna Coleman, incidentally, is amazing here.

This is probably my least favourite episode of the season so far, then- derivative, and based on a moral dilemma too far removed from anything that could possibly happen to possibly bear the dramatic weight that's been placed upon it. That's a problem.

Grimm: El Cucuy

"Did she like me?"

"For someone who was in a coma, yeah."

This episode is both steeped in "Hispanic" (is using "Hispanic" to describe an ethnicity racist or not?) American culture, via ancient Egypt, and far more "street" than last episode, being based on robberies and vigilantism.

Meanwhile, though, Juliette tells Nick about the email and gets given a lot of exposition about his mum, conveniently fulfilling the same function for the viewer. Appropriate, really, given the role of mothers in the episode and the unlikely revelation of whom the fabled El Cucuy actually is.

In arc news, Adalind is due in the Spring and may be having twins. Most terrifyingly of all, Rosalee will soon be having to meet Monroe's parents, a prospect that has them both quaking with fear. On a more pleasant note, it's nice to see our Scooby gang having another of their wine and takeaway get together a, something that really endears them to me as characters. 

This season is the best so far on present evidence.

Grimm: One Night Stand

"Not easy being a parent!"

Back to the story of the week, then (aww!) and it's time for The Little Mermaid. This one's quite good, developing the mystery quite well, using the fear of being dragged underwater quite brilliantly and giving us some real pathos in its depiction of the Nyads and some real social commentary in the depiction of social conservatism as the misigynistic scourge that it is. The moral of this episode, which I applaud, is that social conservatism and narrow "family values" needs to be firmly stamped out.

It's hard not to see parallels here with "honour killings" and female genital mutilation. 

In arc news, we are left to wonder who will replace Eric Renard as crown prince, and Juliette reads and email to Nick that seems to be from his mother...

Grimm: PTZD

"I wish I could do that!"

I've just thought; David Giuntoli hasn't had any lines so far this season, And his performance has been better than ever. Coincidence...?

Nick is still a nasty zombie, stalking a family in scenes reminiscent of The Shining. The gang follow the screams and go after Nick, annoyingly gun-toting householders notwithstanding, and Hank is feeling rather left out, not having a Wesen form to transform into. Nick is captured and cured, but that isn't all. It seems as though Nick may have killed an innocent bloke during his time as a zombie. The law does not recognise zombiefication as a defence in Oregon; legally, it's murder. There is, of course, a cover-up, but this could have consequences for everyone from Captain Renard down. that's perjury and perversion of the course of justice. Nick, of course, knows nothing of all this.

Of course, when he realises the truth his first instinct is to turn himself in, annoying goody-goody that he is. Fortunately, Hank manages to dissuade him (Sometimes justice isn't obvious"). I'm sure we'll return to all this.

In other news, Adalind carries out a long and ridiculously extended spell that seems designed to fulfill Claire Coffee's contractual right to appear. Still, I'm enjoying this season's arc-driven format. That's going to continue, right>

Grimm: The Ungrateful Dead

"This ain't over yet!"

The zombie flick continues with the first episode of Season Three, and Nick begins the new season as a zombie himself. It's all action, and we end with the realisation that there's still more of this epic tale to come.

One effect of the amount of time that has elapsed since last season wrapped is that Hank is no longer on crutches. But it's all pretty much as we expected; our Wesen good guys versus zombies. One interesting consequence of this, though, is that Renard is now clearly a fully-fledged member of the Grimm Scooby gang. There's a plane crash, lots of evidence of a bigger budget than usual, and assorted signifiers of a high stakes episode. Juliette continues to show herself as a valuable addition to the gang, suggesting making the zombie antidote as a gas.

Giuntoli as a zombie is great, even charismatic- why can't he be like this every week? Meanwhile, Adalind, after a spell of great visual effectiveness, has her powers back...

I like this fast-moving version of Grimm, but I bet we'll be back to the story of the week soon.

The Runaways (2010)

"This isn't about women's lib, kitties- this is about women's libido."

We're all guilty of seeing rock history in terms of a fixed canon of work divorced from its social context, and I can be as guilty as anyone. This has become more acute by this new age we live in, with music of all styles and all eras available at the touch of a screen. But the social context is key to the music, and The Runaways reminds us of that.

The Runaways may have pioneered women with guitars and begat Joan Jett and Lita Ford, but they were not some kind of proto-feminist precursor to Bikini Kill (fantastic band, incidentally) or Daisy Chainsaw. No; they were a manufactured band, manufactured by a creepy bloke set on sexualising these disturbingly young girls for the male gaze. It's disturbing watching this in the UK of 2014, remembering how young these girls were, with Operation Yewtree providing us with endless reminders of what used to go on in the 1970s. It's incredible to think that the band were all so young, yet they went on tour under the supervision of a much older man and were exposed to all of the drugs of the era in a way which surely wouldn't happen now. The golden age of rock may be over, and that may be a bad thing, but there are certainly upsides.

The quirky Dakota Fanning is superb as Cherie Currie and the show here although it's worth noting, after the tragedy that was Twilight, that Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett can actually act. We begin much earlier in the decade, as the young Cherie dares to openly show her love of David Bowie, whose androgyny as Ziggy Stardust was far more transgressive then than it is now. The rock club she visits is just a rock club; there are, as yet, no sub-genres to speak of. Disturbingly we hear Gary Glitter, and there's a disturbingly relevant subtext that probably wasn't intended.

The band is put together by Kim Fowley for entirely cynical, money-making purposes and he does not seem, given the hostile nature of their early gigs, to give a flying fig about the girls' welfare. Certainly he seems to care not a jot about Cherie's issues with her family. How much this reflects what really happened I cannot say, but the events portrayed are certainly a good argument for the urgent necessity of punk at this point.

Cherie and Joan are sympathetically portrayed, although Lita Ford is shown to be quite the bitch of legend. But the band are largely shown to be at the mercy of events, subject to forces beyond their control in a whirlwind of touring, media ("These chicks can actually play!" says one patronising headline) and rock 'n' roll excess. In this age of major labels, cocaine and, in the words of Black Sabbath, killing yourself to live, the amount of agency wielded by any band, let alone one made up of teenage girls, is questionable.

The much-needed arrival of punk is symbolically portrayed by Joan making herself a Sex Pistols t-shirt to the sound of "Pretty Vacant". Cherie is about due a bit of rebellion, bullied and overworked by Kim; is this rock 'n' roll? There is a definite message to the film in which rock 'n' roll is firmly equated with the raw capitalism of the New Right, a plausible message in a world where the Rolling Stones are actually all card-carrying Thatcherites. Sexualised pictures are taken of Cherie- a teenage girl, let us remember- while she is drugged and incapable. Feminism is here bound up with class politics, with rock stars as the downtrodden working class in gilded cages and Kim as the Gradgrind of the age.

Joan is, of course, the strong one, but a tour of Japan in which privacy is non-existent is the end of the road for a drug-frizzled Cherie; the fans breaking through the window are a rather crude metaphor for her breakdown. It's back to reality but not, ultimately, back to the band, and Cherie has to adjust back to the banality and drudgery of everyday life. We end with a sweetly awkward conversation on a radio phone-in between Cherie and a now-famous Joan Jett, showing us that the natural selection of rock 'n' roll lets some rise and others fall. This is an extraordinary film.

Cilla, Part 3

"Fellas don't actually have sex together, do they?"

And so we reach the end of this quietly brilliant miniseries, using first class writing, performances and design to show us a grottier, more working class 1960's in comparison to the showbiz, it becomes clear just how good it's been. Cilla is actually shown to be a bit of a spoilt bitch here, sabotaging Bob's potential showbiz career for purely selfish reasons, while Brian Epstein, so assured and sophisticated on the surface, is shown t be a deeply damaged victim of abuse, his suffering magnified by society's prejudice and his consequential self-loathing. There's real darkness here in what happens to (in this at least) a rather lovely man.

While this is a story of Cilla failing to maintain the momentum of her two number one singles and the desperate need to find a replacement for an inevitably fickle pop career, there's enough charm and wonder to make up for the sad scenes of failure in London and New York. The pride of Cilla's parents, of the older generation but adaptable, is contrasted with Bob's dad, left behind in his sectarian ways and driven to his death by his alienation from this brave new 1960's world.

As usual, Sheridan Smith is amazing, and yet again we get cameos from various Beatles and other '60s figures, this time including Burt Bacharach and, er, Danny La Rue. But behind the smiles and the superficial glamour is the cruel Darwinism of the world of showbiz.

Grimm: Goodnight, Sweet Grimm

"To be continued. Oh, come on- you knew this was coming!"

At last the season finale. For once it feels as though things are in flux and things may not necessarily just return to the status quo, especially as we end with the inevitable cliffhanger.

Thinks begin quite slow and low-key, as Nick and Juliette continue to fall in love again and Sean Renard continues to spy on his brother, who wants the key. Adalind, meanwhile, in her own separate sub-plot, prepares a rather evil body swap with Frau Pech, leading to the latter's demise. 

We get some background between brothers Sean and Eric; Eric's mother tried to kill Sean's, and Sean had to leave Geneva at thirteen. It's an awkward conversation as the two of them circle warily around each other.

Things are more pleasant with Nick and Juliette, as for the first time he tells her about his day, zombies and all, and she involves herself in the case, her skills as a vet eventually proving useful. This is a huge turning point for both their relationship and the show's status quo.

The fight against the zombies becomes desperate, however, as Nick is infected by Baron Samedi and sealed into a coffin.

Grimm: The Waking Dead

"How did they come up with the name, do you suppose? They have a port. They have land. Really put a lot of thought into that one..."

The season will be over at the end of next episode, so we'd better get on with the arc plot; after an unusually long "previously on" we turn to the pregnant Adalind, planning to get her powers back but, at the moment, busy shagging Prince Eric Renard until his dad the King calls at an awkward moment. And there's a nice brief moment of domestic bliss for Juliette and Nick. Then we get the zombies.

The zombies are fun. I love the sight of seeing Grimm forget its usual format and just wallow in zombie tropes. This being Grimm, though, the cultural source of the zombie meme is remembered, so we get a suitably voodoo Haitian chap called (what else?) Baron Samedi. We know from very early on that this is going to be a good 'un. And all this is juxtaposed with a bizarre, episode-long magic spell in which Adalind succeeds in regaining her powers.

Another subplot, our little bit of comedy to counterpoint the epic, features Juliette diving headlong into Wesen lore and insisting on seeing all of her friendly neighbourhood Wesen with their bestial faces. But it's all about the zombies, Baron Samedi and their employer Prince Eric, all of whom touch down in Portland, sparking off a zombie outbreak. We've had the set-up; time for the season finale. ..

Grimm: Kiss of the Muse

"What did I miss?"

"The usual- the Devil, a couple of space aliens..."

Hank is back from Hawaii, on crutches; one suspects, given his recent absence, that Russell Hornsby has had some kind of accident that has been transferred to his character. Still, it's good to have him back, especially so close to the end of the season. 

Juliette is anxious to get back together with Nick, and invites him on a date. Unfortunately, however, this week's Wesen baddie is a succubus of some kind. The Wesen plot here is, frankly, rather predictable and tiresome, as is the annoying and artificial friction generated between Juliette and Nick.

Still, at least Rosalie gets to see Nick's trailer for thriftiest time as she, Monroe and Hank try and find a cure for Nick. The baddie in question is a creature from Irish mythology with a Van Gogh connection(!), but at least the episode ends on a high; it's finally revealed to all and sundry that Juliette knows what Wesen are, and she saves Nick's bacon before the two lovers hug, a couple again. Aaah!

Doctor Who: The Caretaker

"Human beings have incredibly short lifespans. Frankly, you should all be in a permanent state of panic."

I'm sure this episode is going to divide opinion as much of this season has, being that the (excellent) alien menace is somewhat in the background while the foreground is firmly hogged by the relationship drama between Clara, Danny and the Doctor as disapproving father figure. Well, I loved it, and as far as I'm concerned this continues to be the best season since the days of Christopher Eccleston. All this, and a ridiculous number of tributes to An Unearthly Child too.

We begin with the juxtaposition of Clara's exciting adventures "eloping" with the Doctor and her rather more traditional dates with Danny, setting us up for an episode in which Danny and the Doctor meet- and that, rather than the brilliantly designed and scary-looking Skovox Blitzer, is what the episode is about in a joyous mix of romantic comedy and serious drama as befits the talents of Gareth Roberts although, once more, we get an "and Steven Moffat". 

The long pre-credits sequence is brilliant and ends predictably but perfectly on the revelation of the school's new caretaker in a way which reminds me of the beginning to School Reunion. But this, of course, is Coal Hill, and not only to we have Clara and Danny as the Ian and Barbara of 2014 but also a policeman going into a junkyard for which I'm fairly sure I could guess the postal address. Even the junk inside recalls the scenes inside 76 Totters Lane half a century ago. But this policeman is not so lucky, and ends up in the afterlife/promised land/ Worldsphere. Policing just ain't Dixon of Dock Green any more.

The Doctor's prejudices ("I hate soldiers. Don't you just hate soldiers?") are obvious during his first meeting with Danny, and he never shakes off the idea that an ex-soldier must be thick and therefore a PE teacher. The script deliberately paints him as both unlikeable in the wrong, and takes care to portray Danny as nice, reliable, brave and, well, Ian Chesterton-like. Danny is, of course, right to finger the Doctor as "officer class", someone who can inspire his men to do what needs to be done, and he's also right, after earning the Doctor's grudging respect by saving the world, to warn Clara not to let him push her too far, or they're finished. 

This is both blatantly foreshadowing something for later in the season and a shrewd character analysis of the Doctor. Of course this veteran of the Time War is a soldier, and his prejudice is simply self-loathing. Indeed, we examines these themes with Tennant during Season 30, with his aversion to guns, soldiering and UNIT being foregrounded. And yet he went to his final battle with Rassilon armed with Wilf's gun, symbolising that, much as he may hate it, deep down, this Time War veteran is very much a soldier.

On a lighter note, we also get to meet Courney Woods, the disruptive pupil of whom we have heard before; I'm sure we haven't heard the last of her. The parallels to one Susan Foreman are obvious, and I love the way she immediately vomits after the Doctor shows her the stars.

This episode is superb, but I fear there will be many who dislike it's strong focus on the arc plot and the foregrounding of character drama over monsters and danger. I hope I'm wrong. Time to brave the internet...

Cilla, Part 2

"Come and give me a cuddle. And stop sulking."

Once again this is a bit of Feelgood fun and not exactly high art, but for what it is it's brill. Yes, it's somewhat predictable that this episode should end with Cilla finally getting success with her first number one single and yes, you can predict every beat of the drama. But who cares, frankly?

Sheridan Smith is again brilliant at both singing and acting. I shall leave the judgement of her Liverpudlian accent to those more qualified. And the period is, again, brilliantly reconstructed both visually and socially. The scenes of Brian Epstein's awkwardness within London's gay scene, in a time not only before legalisation but before Julian and Sandy, are poignant. And again we have sectarianism, with contrasts; Bob cannot live at home because he's with a Catholic girl, yet Cilla's parent come to accept Bob, seeing past his Catholicism.

Another big theme, of course, is class, especially between the delightfully common Cilla and the relatively posh and gentlemanly George Martin; we are even given a scene focusing on her accent while singing. Ed Stoppard, incidentally, is superb as Martin, a rather complex figure in his combination. Of old-fashioned gentlemanly mannerisms and innovation on the studio. Still, there's a clash between him and Bob, who isn't happy with the choice of a decidedly non-rock 'n' roll song from Dionne Warwick. 

We end, having seen the contrast between Liverpool and the showbiz world of That London, with a montage of all the characters we've seen hearing "All Kinds of Everything", including two very proud parents. But will success spoil Priscilla White...?

Grimm: Endangered

"You get your blues, your greys, and your reptilians from Andromeda."

This one'a quite sweet, really; a destitute young expectant couple, hunted for their metaphorical ivory, who are the last of their Wesen species. It's also one of the longest "Previously On"'s so far. It's a rather average episode, though, again overshadowed by the more interesting arc stuff, especially Juliette receiving a tour of her returning memories. I like the UFO nut though.

We get the exposition about the key again, via Monroe; it's one of seven, which will, when combined, show a 12th century treasure map for stuff nicked in the Sack of Constantinople in 1204. Monroe sees what it shows; part of the Black Forest in Swabia, close to the border with Alsace-Lorraine. And Renard speaks of one Grimm betraying the other six under torture, of the secret of alchemy, of everlasting life, a piece of the cross, Muhammad's sword...

Juliette's memories return, and with them her love for Nick, and guilt over how she has treated him. As the main plot resolves itself (meh) she is left wondering what to do now.

Recent episodes may have taken a dip, but the arc stuff remains compelling, and I'm excited about the season's final few episodes...

Grimm: Volcanalis

"Do you have a lot of these books, by the way?"

Hmm. I think we have the end of our sustained run of quality here. This episode isn't all that bad, but this tale of volcanoes, geologists, park rangers and magma beast Wesen doesn't quite manage to, er, erupt.

Rather more interesting is Hank being forced on vacation, no doubt forced by off-screen reasons for the absence of a Russell Hornsby. This is a rather amusing scene, I must admit, although it doesn't exactly succeed in hiding the off-screen reasons for Hornsby's temporary disappearance.

Also more interesting is Juliette's visit to the shamanic lady from La Llorana. There is also Adalind's plot line, and the confirmation of the baby's royal blood. The arc bits are interesting in a way that the main plot simply isn't. It's nice to see them intersect, though, as Renard is finally introduced to the contents of Nick's trailer. 

A lacklustre episode, then, but quite a cliffhanger; Juliette seems to have her memories back!!!

Grimm: One Angry Fuchsbau

"Well, he dropped a toad. In the men's room."

That's weird; a courtroom drama, in Grimm, based on 12 Angry Men. Naturally, the defence counsel is one of those toad munching Wesen with persuasion powers, who also uses these powers to pick up girls in a rather rapey way. It's another good one, which even packs in a good bit of farce near the end. The accused, naturally, is a Brit. We're evil, us lot.

Meanwhile, though, Monroe shows the trailer to Juliette in order to jog her memory. But only partial memories resurface, and that's seemingly it. Then she remembers the woman from La Llorana; we all know where this subplot is going next. And Adalind is hobnobbing around in a CGI castle with Eric Renard.

Can nothing spoil this run of quality?

Grimm: Nameless

"Maybe we got lucky this time- we're just dealing with a simple, ordinary psychopath."

This one'a obviously Rumpelstiltskin. I didn't even have to look it up; we have a bloke who kills people involved in an online RPG unless they guess his name. Serves them right. Role playing games should happen round a table with mates, funny shaped dice and beer, not sat alone in front of a screen, dammit. It's as silly as online card games.

(Incidentally, Rumpelstiltskin, or a play thereof, was the highlight of my acting career. Yes indeed, at the tender age of 10 I brought life to the character of "Third Peasant" on stage in front of staff and parents of Sketchley Hill Primary School. Autographs are charged at a reasonable rate.)

It's another good episode, made even more fun by the literary clues. In fact, it's a very clever plot, reminiscent of Sherlock and, nicely, Woo had a large part in solving the puzzle.

Meanwhile, Juliette's memories may be starting to come back, and Renard begins to embroil himself in plotting against his royal relatives. This is another brilliant episode.

Grimm: Mr. Sandman

"The red worms may have actually done you some good!"

This one is apparently based on The Sand-Man by Ernst Hoffman. And yes, a certain dreary tune from the '50s makes it's tiresomely inevitable appearance.

This is another good one, though; a bereavement support group is infiltrated by an Aussie Wesen who feeds through blinding people with a red mist and killing them. Before the plot proper starts, though, we see a nice, cosy dinner party with Nick and Hank dining with Monroe and Rosalie, enjoying good conversation, good good, and good red wine- my kind of evening! These kinds of scenes make them all seem more likeable.

Soon Nick and Hank are called to the scene of the crime, and a traditional monster-of-the-week plot gets underway. It's almost nostalgic to get this sort of thing after the last few weeks.

There's some arc stuff- the aftermath of Juliette's hallucinations, Renard's continued guilt-ridden erotic dreaming about Juliette, speculation about which Royal brother is the father of Adalind's baby- but emphasis is on the story of the week, and it's no bad thing. All that stuff about worms burrowing in eyes is somewhat gross, but again that's no bad thing. Inevitably, Nick's sight is threatened for a while, giving him Daredevil type powers, which the lucky bastard retains even after he regains his sight. He's slowly amassing more and more superpowers...

We seem to be maintaining the high quality of recent episodes. I hope this lasts.

Grimm: Natural Born Wesen

"If we can overcome our differences, you will make history."

So, apparently Wesen bars play Rammstein. Nice; they are possibly the best band I've ever seen live, at Download last year. But I suspect the band was chosen because, in TV Land, dodgy bars always have metal playing, and Rammstein are doubly suitable for a dodgy Wesen bar, being German and all.

We're back to a Grimm tale again, this time The Bremen Town Musicians, a sign that we're slightly dialling back from all the arc stuff. Still, the cure takes place, and Nick fills Hank (and the forgetful viewer) in on the key; there are six, and together they make up a 12th century treasure map. There's also some interestingly druggy stuff with Juliette, alone in the house, hallucinating about unending staircases and huge pits.

There's also a fascinating hatchet-burying chat between Nick and Renard. Renard learns that Hank knows about the Wesen stuff and they agree to work together. This looks very much like a reiteration of the status quo, something a greater show would try and avoid.

The main non-arc plot, though, concerns a bunch of Wesen who commit robberies with their beast faces visible, a big no no as it could taint other Wesen by association and, indeed, so much so that the Wesen Council are involved. Rosalie, it seems, has family connections to the Council, and gives them a call, with deadly consequences for the robbers. Is this an endorsement of vigilante justice...?

This is a very strong episode indeed, with a great central premise and some fresh feeling surreal stuff with Juliette. Grimm is getting better and better.

Grimm: Face Off

"Nick knows it's you!"

This time the quote is from Ferdinand Foch, the famous French WWI whose surname has to be pronounced very carefully if one's first language is English, and not a fairy tale at all. This episode is all about the arc, and Nick's confrontation of Renard.

This is the biggie. Much of the early part of the episode is drowning as dramatic irony as Nick treats Renard as normal, saying nothing, not knowing that the Captain has been rifling around in his trailer, looking for the key. Or, indeed, that Renard and Adalind have been having some rather kinky sex there. This looks rather more satisfying than the earlier fumble between Renard and Juliette, where she takes his gun, shoots around him and misfires, a rather obvious metaphor for bad sex.

Nick, Monroe and the gang quickly work out that Renard is the Royal in Portland, yet Sean expresses ambivalence towards Adalind regarding his family. 

While Monroe and Rosalie work on an antidote for the love spell affecting Juliette and Renard, we finally get a confrontation between the cuckolded Nick and his unwillingly priapic boss. This ultimately ends in an agreement to take the antidote, and one of the effects of this is one cliffhanger. Adalind's positive pregnancy test is the other...

It's all action, this one, and hence quite gripping with revelations and long-awaited resolution of subplots making a satisfying episode. We also learn that Renard is half Hexenbeist, and so partly detached from his family; it's hinted that he is ultimately going to remain a goodie. 

What has happened to Grimm? It's still visibly a network show, good but not great and certainly no Buffy, but all this arc stuff has improved it no end.

Doctor Who: Time Heist

"Still don't understand why you're in charge...?"

"Basically, it's the eyebrows."

My heart sank when I discovered this was to be written by the less-than-impressive Steve Thompson, and even more by the "and Steven Moffat"; is this a script so bad it's had to be largely rewritten by the showrunner? Still, perhaps I wasn't to worry; after all, Into the Dalek was by "Phil Ford and Steven Moffat" and that was ok. Still, what's with all these co-credits? RTD rewrote scripts all the time and never claimed a co-credit. Moffat had a reputation for not re-writing as much, but surely he must have done so a little, and if not then why so often this series? It's a mystery.

Still... this is actually quite good, and certainly the best from Thompson. I suspect it's not really down to the script, though; the pre-credits sequence is superb (is it just me who was reminded of Saw by the concept of four strangers waking up and being made to perform a task by a mysterious figure with a voice like Tobin Bell's?), but the rest of the episode, while exciting, doesn't really fulfil it's promise and the ending, while logical, feels a little abrupt, although I like the twist of the Architect being the Doctor, predictable though it may be. I'm afraid that this story, while good, is only my second favourite Doctor Who take on the Minotaur legend after The Horns of Nimon.

Still, there's much to like here. I like the tragic cyberpunk figure of Psi, who can delete his memory banks without the aid of those worms from The Snowmen. Its a heartbreaking tragedy to have to delete your loved ones to avoid harming them and... the character is essentially a walking metaphor for the Doctor. So is Saibra, forever apart from others and yearning to be free of her baggage. And Keeley Hawes makes a superb guest baddie as both Kabraxos and her clone. But are we to infer, from the Doctor's observation that she must be full of self loathing if she "fires" her own clones and that he "hates" the Architect, that he is full of self-loathing too? Is every major guest character here a metaphor for the Doctor?

So much for the good-but-not-great script. What really elevates this is the direction of Douglas Mackintosh, whose use of colour and camera angles is at once modern, brilliant and heavily suggestive of the visual grammar of the heist movie. I'm struck by the scene in which he shoots our four bank robbers, in a little room, from above. In fact, the general standard of direction so far this season has been universally superb. 

Oh, and Abslom Daak is now officially canon!

There's not been much in terms of the season arc this week, aside from Clara's upcoming date and another mention of that mysterious woman in the shop. But it all seems to be coming to a head this week. 

Grimm: Season of the Hexenbeist

"To be continued... sorry."

Oh my word. It's all kicking off. Nick finally learns all and seems all poised to have it out with Sean Renard in a confrontation that one could be forgiven for thinking would never happen. Not only that, though; there are Royals in town, and they're in contact with our old friend Adalind. Fortunately, Hank is now wise to her tricks. Just as fortunately, Juliette now seems to have actual character traits these days. I'm warming to her; Bitsie Tulloch does a good job with the material. I still have problems with David Giuntoli; he can act but he has no charisma. He's not much of a leading man.

Adalind tells Sean that he has 48 hours to get the MacGuff- er, key from Nick, which makes things a little bit hectic. Adalind is soon arrested, and in Renard's power, telling him of Nick's trailer. There's a wee bit of conflict going on, and finally a bit of honest talking between Nick and Juliette after all the recent pussyfooting around.

There's quite an ending, though, as Nick finally learns the identity of Juliette's lover...

Cilla, Part 1

""'Ey, Cilla, no pressure. It's only your whole future depends on it!"

Yes, I know: this sort of thing is generally best done on BBC4. But ITV did a pretty good job with Tommy Cooper recently, so I thought I'd have a look at how they dealt with their very own Cilla Black. 

This may not be a great work of art, but it's fun seeing a recreated Mad Men era Liverpool, with assorted Beatle impressions, a recreation of that iconic shot of the queue just outside the Cavern and a glimpse into the social attitude of this distant yet not-so-distant time. In many ways the protagonists, young enough to be my parents' elder siblings, are similar in terms of social mores than today. And yet, in a clever scene, Cilla is shown kissing a black man and then explaining that her parents wouldn't approve because he's a "prod".this is working class, teddy boy, sectarian Liverpool on the early '60s.

Sheridan Smith is, of course, a true star here. She speaks perfect Scouse and is perfect at Cilla's mannerisms, even singing herself in Cilla's style. We get a real sense of the Merseybeat scene of the era, which sounds bloody fantastic, even if I haven't heard of most of the bands.

Things end in a downer, with Cilla knocked back to a typing pool, and Madison Avenue this ain't. Never mind, though; I suspect stardom beckons...

Grimm: To Protect and Serve Man

"Do you like the taste of human flesh, Johnny?"

This is an episode that could only have been done shortly after Hank first learned about Wesen; he revisits an old case of his as it becomes increasingly clear that the man he banged up for it may not be the murderer he seems as Wesen were involved. And, worst of all but great for dramatic tension, the good state of Oregon has yet to join the civilised world in the matter of capital punishment, and the execution date is, by such a coincidence these things could almost be scripted, tomorrow.

Hackneyed though this story of the week may be, it's entertaining enough. Nice abolitionist subtext, too, with all the political pressure for the innocent man to hang- and, surely, the fact that the District Attorney is elected, and thus subject to crude hang 'em, flog 'em polpulism, is a blatant conflict of interest between the political and judicial spheres?

This week's Wesen is a Wendigo; another use of real Native American mythology. Apparently, Jeffrey Dahmer was one. A nice touch, I thought, was the visit to a prison in which most prisoners are Wesen; this is an interesting hint at racism in the criminal justice system in the context of the disproportionate amount of black Americans on Death Row.

Not much arc stuff until the end here, but what an ending; Monroes sees Renard and Juliette kissing...

Doctor Who: Listen

"Fear doesn't have to make you cruel or cowardly..."

Nice little tribute to Terrance Dicks there.

Hmm. Bit of a curate's egg, this. There are some clever character moments and nice twists, as one would expect from Moffat, and some brilliant use of structure. The artistry of the writing is really something to admire. And yet...

It wasn't scary. We were promised a scary episode, but what we got was a well-worn and old Moffat meme; the things in the corner of your eye. And,  after working with the Weeping Angels and the Silence, it falls flat here. We've seen all this before. Ultimately the episode's central trick fails. And all of the positive comments that follow should be taken in that light. Listen just doesn't work.

Still, there is a lot of great character and arc stuff here. Clara and Danny are clearly meant for each other- we even meet their descendant- and the interesting parallel between these two Coal Hill schoolteachers and their predecessors from that early evening in the Autumn of 1963 is deliberately foregrounded by their bonding over Courtney, a puzzling pupil in the tradition of one Susan Foreman. Perhaps the irascible first Doctor of every regeneration cycle needs a couple of Coal Hill teachers to humanise him. The old ones are the best. And don't think I didn't notice the line "Fear makes companions of all of us." It's a cleverly done parallel.

Moffat, he of Coupling fame, is of course brilliant at the relationship comedy stuff, and the scenes between Clara and Danny (Samuel Anderson has great comic timing) absolutely sparkle. But the elephant in the room is again Danny's military background, something traditionally set against the Doctor's supposedly strict no-guns approach (although he seems to have had no problems shooting Ogrons in Day of the Daleks and Frontier in Space) and presumably a reason for the Doctor disapprove of Clara's new boyfriend when the time comes.

Except... this episode deconstructs all that. The parallels between Danny and the Doctor are clear enough anyway, but the final scenes really hammer it home; the little boy sleeping in a barn outside the children's home, alone, is not Danny but the Doctor, and the presence under his bed is only Clara, once again inserting herself into his timeline. 

The Doctor, it seems, wanted to be a soldier before joining the Academy, and many years later he would return to that same barn, wearing John Hurt's face, to make that fateful decision during the Time War...

As an episode in itself, this fails. As a piece in a wider arc, it's brilliant. I can't wait to see where this is all going; the arc and character stuff seems to be nuanced, well-constructed and confident in a way we haven't quite seen before under Moffat, fantastic though his era has been thus far; I suspect that, this time, deadline pressures have been absent. This season is on course to be bloody good. It can absorb a failed experiment like this episode.

Grimm: The Hour of Death

"Did you say testicles?"

Clever, this one; it was the intern, seeded a couple of episodes ago, whodunit. I don't want to boast (well, actually I do), but I suspected him from the start. Nice, though; like Buffy, Grimm is getting into some proper arc storytelling in its second season. It isn't anywhere near as good as Buffy, obviously, but I'm liking it's recent direction enormously.

Nice also that the Wesen are not the baddies, although there's an awful lot of nasty torturing going on. Nice that our racist Grimm baddie is, in fact, a Wesen himself. 

Arc-wise, there is further smouldering mutual attraction between Juliette and Renard; this is heading for a dramatic climax. Er, no naughty pun intended, but that kiss...

Doctor Who: Robot of Sherwood

"Old-fashioned heroes only exist in old-fashioned story books, Clara!"

It's only been a few hours and I've already seen some negative reaction to this episode online, which is interesting as this is, at a push, my favourite of the season so far.

Is it Mark Gatiss, I wonder? Fandom as a whole doesn't rate him as a writer, although The Unquiet Dead, Night Terrors and The Crimson Horror were superb, and two of those were his most recent. He seems to have rediscovered his mojo since Victory of the Daleks, and that was four years ago now. This is his best since Night Terrors, a fun historical romp with much wit and, arguably, the best example of putting Doctor Who into a space defined by another iconic character, with its own narrative conventions, since The Androids of Tara, with which it has in common more than robots.

The comparison between the Doctor and Robin Hood as iconic heroes is, of course, highly appropriate, working on both a literal and a metatextual level. It's an interesting observation on the new Doctor's character that he doesn't believe in heroes yet is one himself, just like Robin Hood. This lack of faith in his own heroic nature is a feature of this Doctor, harking back to last episode's "Am I a good man?" and leading to my suspicions that this is leading to something. And this Doctor has no Time War guilt.

On the metatextual level, of course, Gatiss is using the comparison with Robin Hood to say that the Doctor is an iconic hero up there with Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes and the like. And when Robin tells the Doctor that "I'm just as real as you are", this can be taken to also mean that both are equally fictional. 

It's a nice twist that Tom Riley's chisel-jawed Robin, Ben Miller's splendidly moustache-twirling Sheriff of Nottingham (who plans not to stop at ruling Nottingham, but to go on to Derby, Lincoln and perhaps even Worksop...) and even the Merry Men and Marian are all in fact, much to the Doctor's surprise, real. And it's a nice touch that the brief montage of Robin Hood in popular culture includes a glimpse of Patrick Troughton, who played Robin Hood on television in 1953. Bizarrely, I came across this last week when I read Michael Troughton's excellent biography of his father. Another nice touch is that Alan a Dale is played by Mark Gatiss' real life partner, and reminds me of Sir Robin's minstrel from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Better still, Clara is yet again shown as brave, clever, awesome and just as she had been since the regeneration. And her chemistry with Peter Capaldi is still much better than with Matt Smith.

An awesome episode, then, possibly the best of the season although I'm torn between this and Deep Breath. No Missy this week, but we do get another load of robots looking for a "Promised Land"...

A Chat with Mike Tucker

My friend Nick and I are interviewing Mike Tucker, special effects guru best known for Doctor Who and Red Dwarf, novelist, and all round must-see chap, at the Ale Wagon in Leicester on 27th September. Mike will be signing his latest book and chatting onstage about his career.

Here's the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/817776691596125/

Hook (1991)

"When are you going to learn to stop acting like a child?"

"I am a child!"

It's rather obvious that the reason I'm blogging this film now is the sad passing of Robin Williams, so it's worth starting with a few words about a comedian and actor of great talent.

I've never been a great fan of Hollywood's popular comedies, which always have the main character learning some heartwarming lesson about family values rather than just, you know, being funny. Robin Williams may have been good at these, being both a superb comic actor and very capable of pathos, but for much of his career he was ill-served by film unworthy of his talents. There are, of course, a good number of quality films starring Williams but his best performance, for me, is a straight role in One Hour Photo.

Hook, although it somewhat fits the definition of a Hollywood comedy as defined above, is nonetheless quite a good film, if not brilliant, because of the spectacle, the sense of wonder that fantasy always brings, and a particularly sublime performance from Williams, who shines here, far outshining the pantomime villainy of Dustin Hoffman, who gets top billing for some reason.

The conceit- a sequel to Peter Pan in which J.M. Barrie simply passed of his neighbour's children's true stories of his own and Peter Pan eventually grows up and becomes a lifeless, Reagan-voting asset stripper who missed the '60s because he was an accountant- is a good one. Yes, he's a bad father as per many such scar actors in such Hollywood films, but the Peter Pan stuff actually makes this interesting. His fear of flying is a nice touch. And Robin Williams brings the role a real depth, far more than is in the script.

This isn't the greatest film ever, but it's fun and, indeed, bangarang. I love the montage with Peter getting his mojo back, and the late Bob Hoskins is great, far outshining Hoffman. Well worth a watch, and nostalgic to see some actual world-building spectacle from the days before widespread CGI.

Doctor Who: Into the Dalek

"Fantastic idea for a movie. Terrible idea for a proctologist."

Peter Capaldi's tenure can now claim two excellent episodes in a row; in hindsight this is both a far better story and a far better study of our new Doctor than was The Beast Below.

The plot is, obviously, Fantastic Voyage, but we also get a bit of Doctor/Dalek moral comparison that both evokes Dalek and gives us an interesting study of our new Doctor, who may not be a good man but is, perhaps, a "good Dalek"; he may be on the side of good, but that doesn't make him nice. Indeed, he says of Clara that "She cares so I don't have to." And yet... this new Doctor is not too alienating; he's witty, and just vulnerable enough. This is  The Twin Dilemma done right, and Capaldi simply shines. So does Moffat. He seems to have a far clearer idea of what he wants to do here than he did during Matt Smith's early stories. 

There's also some nice arc threads being laid down. This Doctor, even more than before, doesn't like soldiers... and Clara, the Doctor's moral compass and the person, clearly, whom he most respects, is obviously set up to begin a relationship with a former soldier, and one with a troubled military past. That'll be interesting.

Also, of course, we see Missy again. She seems to be collecting people in her "Heaven" who have died because of the Doctor. Interesting. She's obviously a big, mysterious part of this season. And Missy... Mistress? A female Master? Or just clever misdirection? We shall see. 

I have to praise the effects here, too, which were outstanding, and the performances in general. This is also the best Dalek story in ages, and the first in ages to actually be about them. They work best when treated as a dark mirror of the Doctor; mirrors of the Doctor seem, so far, to be something of a season motif. 

So, Robin Hood...