Doctor Who: The Daemons DVD Review

Lately, there have been too many Doctor Who reviews I've had to write about stories I happen to think are unassailable classics. The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) era has gone through periods of fan devotion, reassessment, and even resentment concerning the Time Lord’s cozier relationship to the establishment in comparison with other incarnations, and then recently a return to respect for one of the show’s most stable and popular periods. Well, I never stopped loving the Pertwee era, particularly the core seasons of the “UNIT Family” dynamic, and I love “The Daemons.” It’s a high point of this Doctor’s time on the show, a classic of the entire series in general, and an amazing document of a particular kind of fantasy horror adventure storytelling so wonderfully ’70s and British that it just never loses its charm. It’s appropriately magical.

I first saw “The Daemons” in black and white. Seeing the show on Maryland public television back in the ’80s, there were quite a few Pertwee stories that no longer existed except as black and white film copies recovered from overseas sales. Now that the wizards of the Restoration Team have worked their own brand of technical magic – building on earlier color work done on the story for a ’90s videotape release – and brought all the color back into these episodes, I have to say it’s both exhilarating and jarring. For me, this was one story that felt right in black and white, with its dark crypts demonic imagery, and thunderstorms sweeping along old stone streets. But I am very happy to see it restored to even beyond its former glory, if only to get the full effect of the Master’s (Roger Delgado) richly decorated red cloak, which not only puts him squarely in the role of the typical Hammer Films Dracula disciple trying to resurrect his own master but also links him to that otherwise inexplicably ostentatious future incarnation of the renegade Time Lord in the 1996 TV movie. 1999 San Francisco or 1971 Devil’s End – the man always dresses for the occasion. He even puts his name on his clothes so he doesn't forget (take a look at the runes on his collar).

The plot? Oh, all right. The Master has assumed the identity of a village vicar in order to contact an ancient alien – Azal the Daemon (Stephen Thorne) – left on Earth to monitor its race’s human evolution experiment. Mankind is about to be judged, and the ruthless Time Lord wants Azal to grant him the power to rule the Doctor’s favorite planet. Our hero and the stalwart forces of UNIT must protect the citizens of the aptly named Devil’s End – including local white witch Olive Hawthorne (Damaris Hayman) – and prevent Azal from empowering the Master and dooming humanity to a horrible end.

There’s so much delight to be had in the “The Daemons” that although I could certainly point out the flaws, I’d rather just look past them. The animated gargoyle Bok (Stanley Mason) is a memorable villain with a spring in his step, but he often looks like a guy with sagging tights; that’s OK. Poor Katy Manning as Jo Grant trips and falls like a sack of potatoes in one scene with Pertwee at her side to guide her myopic self along, but that’s OK too (and I hope she wasn't hurt). And most egregiously, the up-to-the-last-second organic and nearly godlike Azal suddenly and for no reason becomes a literal-minded robot that cannot “relate” Jo’s self-sacrifice, providing the story with a far too easy explosive ending familiar to fans of any American summer blockbuster of the last 30 years. But no, I still don’t care.

Because Delgado is at his best, persuading the villagers to follow him and then insulting them and threatening their lives the very next moment. Because Miss Hawthorne is an endearing, self-possessed woman that should have appeared again and should have a long-running Big Finish audio drama series built around her (I’ll write it!). Because the entire UNIT team gets involved: Benton (John Levene) and Olive are superb together as the knight and his long-in-the-tooth damsel, Yates (Richard Franklin) rides in on a motorcycle, plucky Sgt. Osgood (Alec Linstead) does his best with the Doctor’s impatient science lesson, and the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) figures out the heat barrier without the Doctor’s help – he’s sharp and decisive, and not the buffoon he’ll become in just another season or so. And he knows just how many rounds to fire at a living gargoyle.

“The Daemons” is a high point, illustrated by nothing less than the actual capturing of the Master after a full season of that jackanapes causing trouble, and a May Day celebration with the cast dancing the day away as the locals happily watch the filming. It’s magical and meta at the same time. And as befits a story of this stature, we get two discs jammed with wonderful material, including a great behind-the-scenes documentary and a revealing, heartfelt look at the career of producer Barry Letts with contributions from his family. This is an indispensable release for any Who fan.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com Read More

The A-Z of Doctor Who

The Doctor is a traveler, a wanderer in the fourth dimension of space and time. He’s also an alien from the planet Gallifrey, and a hero dedicated to fighting evil wherever it occurs.

Accompanied by his TARDIS, his sonic screwdriver and his companions, the Doctor has fought horrors both on Earth and farther afield, and sent children of all ages hiding behind the sofa for almost half a century.

And since half a century is a long time, we thought we’d provide newcomers to the show with an overview of the story so far…

A is for Amy Pond

More than just the Doctor’s longest running companion since the series returned 2005, Amy Pond is also one of the few to have travelled with him for over a decade (the only others being her husband Rory and daughter River, of course).

Part of the first married couple to travel in the TARDIS, Amy is also the Doctor’s mother-in-law, a position which has not exactly been loaded with perks. From being cloned, having her memory erased, her baby kidnapped and her daughter grow up to become the Doctor’s murderer-slash-wife, poor old Amy really has had a tough time aboard the TARDIS. With her departure rapidly approaching we’re wondering if it might all be getting a little too much.

See: The Eleventh Hour, Let’s Kill Hitler, The Angels Take Manhattan

B is for Bandrils

[FOR IGN REFERENCE http://www.shadowlocked.com/images/stories/whoreviews/colin_baker/timelash/timelash_bandril.jpg]

With seemingly every sci-fi publication imaginable taking polls on viewers’ favorite Doctor Who monsters of all time, spare a thought for the critters that are best left forgotten. Languishing at the bottom of any Who fan’s scariest monster list, past mutant bubble-wrap arms and burping wheelie bins, are the Bandrils.

These barely animated glove puppets wouldn’t look out of place in an episode of the Muppet Show’s Trek-spoof “Pigs in Space”. At least there you’d be able to laugh at the Bandril’s high-pitched threats of world obliteration without feeling guilty.

See: Timelash, The Muppet Show

C is for Cybermen

Before the Borg, there were the Cybermen- human beings whose humanity had been taken away, their emotions removed, their bodies replaced with machine parts and weird... jug handles, I guess?

Initially from Earth’s long lost twin planet Mondas, the Cybermen used to be grim reflections of ourselves, but over time their emotionless exteriors became increasingly less convincing until they were stomping around shouting “Excellent!” and being ridiculously allergic to gold.

Is it any wonder, then, that when Russell T Davies brought these villains back he wiped the slate clean by giving us a new origin story about an alternate universe Earth driven crazy by mobile-phone ear-plugs?

See: The Tomb of the Cybermen, Rise of the Cybermen & The Age of Steel

D is for the Doctor

Now twelve-hundred years old, the Doctor has come a long way from his days as a bohemian adventurer pottering about the universe with his granddaughter and a pair of school teachers. He’s lived through eleven bodies, been exiled to Earth, become president of the Time Lords, was put on trial by them (twice), wiped out the Daleks (almost), fought in a time war, ended a time war, turned human and got married.

Never cruel and never cowardly, the Doctor has always been a relentless force for the good in a universe of terrors. With him around it’s safe to be scared.

See: Doctor Who - all of it

E is for Extended Universe

It’s a testament to the core structure of Doctor Who that the Doctor’s stories translate so well to other media and with a show as long-running as this it’s unsurprising just how many tie-ins to the show there are.

Let’s start with Doctor Who Magazine, the longest running TV tie-in magazine ever, whose comic strip served as a proving ground for such luminaries as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons- creators of Watchmen. Then there are the vast quantities of novels that kept Doctor Who alive during its dark days of cancellation in the 90s. Big Finish Production’s audio adventures also served a similar function, bringing back classic Doctors to record missing adventures with former companions- a range that continues to this day.

And those are just the tip of the ice-berg; how could you forget the charming 60’s Dalek movies featuring Peter Cushing, or the Doctor’s recent forays into the world of video games? Doctor Who is truly a universe too big for just the small screen.

See: Doctor Who Magazine

F is for Frightening

For a children’s show, Doctor Who has never been one to shy away from terrifying moments, particularly during the gothic horror era of Tom Baker’s early series which notably featured a particularly violent cliffhanger involving the Doctor’s head being held underwater.

Nowadays the show steers clear of realistic violence, preferring instead to explore more psychological or fantastical scares. Children should be able to hide behind the sofa without worrying about the dangers the Doctor faces happening to them.

See: The Deadly Assassin

G is for Gallifrey

Gallifrey is the Doctor’s home world. Situated in the constellation of Kasterborous, its burnt orange landscape houses the the citadel of the Time Lords. This wise and ancient race, whose powers are fueled by a huge black hole beneath the planet’s surface, regarded themselves as superior to the other inhabitants of the universe. This was until the Dalek Empire came knocking.

In the Time War that followed, Gallifrey was lost, trapped out of time by the Doctor in a last ditch attempt to prevent the horrors of the war leaking out into the rest of the universe. For all we know it remains there still, doomed to live the final days of the war for the rest of eternity.

See: The Deadly Assassin, The End of Time Part 1 & 2

H is for Heroes

It’s only natural that we consider the Doctor the hero of his own show, but spare a thought for those he travels with.

When the Doctor actually chooses his companions (something that happens surprisingly rarely) he prides himself on taking only the very best. Usually these people are dissatisfied with their lives, aware that they are destined for greater things and the Doctor’s skill is to take this people and let them grow and flourish; transforming an ordinary shop worker in a goddess who can wield the power of the time vortex, or a London Temp into a human-Time Lord capable of destroying an entire Dalek empire.

From Captain Jack to Rose to Martha to Sarah Jane Smith- these people are just like us. And if he’ll take them, he could come back for you.

See: The Stolen Earth & Journey’s End

I is for “I am the Doctor!”

Possibly the greatest piece of Doctor Who merchandise ever devised- the Third Doctor himself, Jon Pertwee, talk-singing over the Doctor Who theme.

Released in 1972 ‘Who is the Doctor’ was the first time the Doctor Who theme had been given lyrics and is something that must be heard to be believed.

Whilst you’re at it, check out the poignant (and non-Who related) B-side to the original single that recounted the fortunes a faded stage magician, entitled ‘Pure Mystery’.

See: Who is the Doctor?

J is for Jelly Babies

The Doctor’s favorite food- jelly babies have been considered a delicacy by the Doctor ever since his second incarnation, however it was Tom Baker’s Doctor that made them iconic. Brandished his little paper bag wherever he went, the fourth Doctor used them regularly to break the ice, once prevented a man committing suicide and even threatened a gang of savage natives by holding a “deadly jelly baby” to a fellow tribesman’s neck.

Nowadays jelly babies have been replaced by the more biscuity jammy dodger as the Doctor’s confectionary of choice, a far more impractical treat in our opinion- think of the crumbs!

See: The Face of Evil, The Sun Makers, Doctor Who (TV movie)

K is for K-9

The ultimate pet/portable turret/smarmy computer/chess opponent, K-9 was actually the property of another doctor- Professor Marius- who felt a bit guilty about trying to infect our Doctor with an alien virus whilst possessed so gave him K-9 as a way of apologizing.

There have actually been a number of different versions of K-9 over the course of the Doctor’s travels; the first being left in a parallel universe with his companion Romana, the second on Gallifrey with Leela, whilst Sarah Jane Smith managed to get through two models all by herself (which isn’t that surprising considering how often the tin dog would break down).

K-9 has also starred in his own spin-off series, but we don’t like to talk about.

See: The Invisible Enemy, Warriors’ Gate, School Reunion

L is for Legends

There are many legends about the Doctor throughout the series, but most of the time they are entirely fictional. Oncoming Storms, Predators and Sainted Physicians are all very well, but the ultimate crossover reference came in the 1989 story Battlefield.

When a group of space age knights from a parallel universe invade a sleepy English village on the hunt for a demon, they immediately recognize its protector- the Doctor - as their wise and ancient advisor; the wizard Merlin.

See: Battlefield

M is for Steven Moffat

Steven Moffat is Doctor Who’s current lead writer and executive producer. After winning BAFTAs for his timey-wimey scripts for the Tenth Doctor it was only natural that Steven would take over the mantle of the show from previous incumbent Russell T Davies upon the Doctor’s regeneration.

Steven hasn’t just been busy with Doctor Who however, and any fan of the show would surely be missing out if they didn’t check out his revamping of another British icon, Sherlock Holmes, in a series he co-created with fellow Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss.

See: Sherlock

N is for Nemesis

The Master is a rival Time Lord; the Moriarty to the Doctor’s Holmes. He arrived on Earth intent on destruction during the Third Doctor’s exile and since then the two of them have brawled across the stars.

Over time we’ve learned that the Doctor and the Master used to be childhood friends, and that the Master was driven insane by the Time Lord president Rassilon who planted a drumbeat in the young boy’s head as a means to escape the horrors of the Time War. This insanity, the Doctor believes, is the root cause of the Master’s transformation into a being of pure evil.

Most of the time though he was just a bit naff - his pantomime plans to humiliate the Doctor becoming so convoluted and contrived that at one point the only way he could have planned his next revenge on the Doctor was by assuming his first dastardly plot would fail.

See: Terror of the Autons, Castrovalva, The Sound of Drums & Last of the Time Lords

O is for Oswin

This year the Christmas special will be even more special than usual as it brings with it the gift of a new companion in the shape of former Emmerdale actress Jenna-Louise Coleman.

Little is known about how she will be introduced, however Steven Moffat has offered us a tantalizing glimpse of what she’ll be like in the first episode of this series- Asylum of the Daleks- in which she played Oswin Oswald, an astronaut converted into one of the Doctor’s tin-pot foes. Could she be a relative of the Oswin who will end up travelling with the Doctor? Or is Moffat up to his timey-wimey tricks again?

See: Asylum of the Daleks

P is for Paris

With Doctor Who filming in both Spain and the US this season alone, it’s hard to believe that it took 9 years for the show to be filmed abroad.

Doctor Who’s first ever overseas shoot was in Paris for the 1972 story City of Death. Written by Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it involved the theft of the Mona Lisa by an alien that had been splintered throughout different eras of history, a plot which took a back seat to copious shots of Tom Baker and Lalla Ward running through Paris hand in hand- a genuine treat and all-time highlight for Doctor Who.

See: City of Death

Q is for the Quest for the Key to Time

Nowadays we’re all familiar with Doctor Who’s series-arcs. From Bad Wolf to Torchwood, Saxon and Silence Falling, each meme serves to frame the Doctor’s exploits in a larger context whilst giving observant fans tantalizing clues to drive each other mad over the internet.

But it wasn’t always this way and, until 1976 when the White Guardian charged the Doctor with tracking down the six segments of the Key to Time, the classic series had never dealt with tale so epic that it spanned an entire season.

Each adventure revolved around the Doctor and his Time Lady companion Romana acquiring a new segment (unhelpfully disguised as either a planet, a princess or some kind of fancy jewelry) and as the series progressed the stakes were raised to universe-threatening levels as the Doctor became a pawn in the battle between the fundamental forces of good and evil.

See: The Key to Time series

R is for Russell T Davies

The man who brought Doctor Who back, Russell T Davies was already a hugely established scriptwriter and producer long before he got his hands on the Time Lord.

His breakthrough work was the series Queer as Folk, a drama focusing on the lives of gay clubbers in Manchester and including Vince, a Doctor Who fan who watched old Tom Baker episodes after a night out a received a radio controlled K-9 for his birthday.

Russell would then go on to write the one-off mini-series The Second Coming (starring future 9th Doctor Christopher Eccleston) and Casanova- which featured a fresh-faced David Tennant as the eponymous hero.

See: Queer as Folk, The Second Coming, Casanova

S is for Sonic Screwdriver

Whilst companions come and go, this little whirring tool remains the Doctor’s most faithful of partners. Doesn’t kill, doesn’t wound, doesn’t maim, it also doesn’t work on wood which is a bit of an oversight on the Doctor’s part.

Introduced during the Patrick Troughton’s tenure, it was destroyed during the Peter Davison’s over fears that it was becoming too much of a crutch for the Time Lord. Aside from a brief cameo it was only resurrected when Doctor Who returned in 2005. Now apparently grown by the TARDIS, it has proven itself even more capable than before, both in the show and as a range ridiculously popular of children’s toys- including a universal remote.

See: Fury from the Deep, the Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver Universal Remote Control

T is for the TARDIS

Time And Relative Dimension In Space- The TARDIS is the Doctor’s home, its vast interior housing laboratories, living quarters, wardrobes, a swimming pool, a library and seemingly infinite, identical corridors. All while its modest exterior is stuck in the shape of a 1950s London police box.

More than simply a portal to adventure, the TARDIS is occasionally the subject (or cause) of adventures all its own, including sucking planet Earth through its power core, imbuing Rose with all the power of the time vortex, and turning into a woman.

See: Doctor Who (TV Movie), The Parting of the Ways, The Doctor’s Wife

U is for UNIT

The UNified Intelligence Taskforce- formerly the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce- was founded in the 60s or 70s depending on which Doctor Who story you happen to be watching. Lead by the Doctor’s oldest friend Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (and currently headed up by his daughter) it existed to combat the large spike in alien invasions of the home counties that happened to coincide with the third Doctor’s exile to that exact same location.

The Doctor has worked with UNIT in all but two of his incarnations, watching them grow from a cuddly band of vaguely inept soldiers to a sinister, highly mobile and well equipped fighting force complete with Captain Scarlet-style cloud-bases.

See: The Invasion, Spearhead from Space, The Power of Three

V is for Verity Lambert

Verity Lambert is widely regarded as the mother of Doctor Who. The first ever female producer at the BBC (and one of the first female television producers full stop) she oversaw the creation of the show that would tragically outlive her.

In 2002 Verity was awarded an OBE in recognition of her contribution to film and television and continued to work as a producer until the day she died in 2007. In the episode ‘Human Nature’, broadcast the year she died, the Doctor paid tribute to her legacy by revealing his parents to be named after both her and Sydney Newman - the head of drama at the BBC when Doctor Who was first commissioned.

See: Human Nature & The Family of Blood

W is for Weeping Angels

The most enduring and popular new monsters since Doctor Who’s return in 2005, the Weeping Angels have even beaten the Daleks to the top of recent ‘scariest villain of all time’ polls.

Nicknamed ‘the lonely assassins’ due to their quantum-locked nature, the Weeping Angels appear as stone statues whenever they are observed by another living thing. But as soon as you look away, as soon as you blink- they strike; zapping you back in time so they can feed off the energy of the days you might have had in the future.

Each time the Weeping Angels return we’ve seen them gain new, even more deadly abilities- including the ability to manifest from security footage and possess those that look into its eyes. With the epic climax of Amy and Rory’s decade with the Doctor set to feature the Weeping Angels in New York, it’s anybody’s guess what tricks they might still be hiding up their sleeves.

See: Blink, The Time of Angels & Flesh and Stone, The Angels Take Manhattan

X is for Exterminate

The Daleks! The Doctor’s oldest and deadliest foes. Their terrifying rubber plungers were the first aliens the Doctor ever met on-screen and since then they’ve dogged the Time Lord throughout all his incarnations- becoming pop-culture icons in the process.

The mutated survivors of a nuclear war, the Daleks were created by Davros, a crippled and insane scientist who taught them to hate anything different to themselves (including him as it turns out). This hatred has proven to be the perfect survival mechanism however, as the Daleks continue to rebuild their empire in the wake of their conflict with the Time Lords. After being defeated by the Doctor in so many battles, it appears these little pepper-pots may have won the war...

See: Genesis of the Daleks, Dalek, Asylum of the Daleks

Y is for 50 Years

That’s right, come November of next year this little show about a madman in a box will have been around half a century. That’ll be 33 series, 238 stories, 11 leading actors and a host of pop-culture icons for all you number fans out there.

As the longest running science fiction series in history, it’s astonishing to see the show exist today almost completely unchanged from its original format with an unwavering appeal that spans generations. The Doctor is truly a man out of time.

See: An Unearthly Child

Z is for Zygons

It’s fortunate that one of the few Doctor Who monsters to begin with Z is also one of the ones we most want to see return in the new series!

The Zygons are a lumpy orange race of shape-shifters whose whispery voice hints at a sinister past of chain-smoking and laryngitis. The Doctor discovered them hiding at the bottom of Loch Ness preparing to unleash a giant glove-puppet dinosaur on London. Aside from the glove-puppet part, these creatures were terrifying, and their prosthetics so convincing that the new production team wouldn’t even need to update them!

See: Terror of the Zygons

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com Read More

The Mob Doctor: "Pilot" Review

Advance Review: The first thing that FOX's new series, The Mob Doctor, has working against it is... its name. It's hard to not giggle and pre-judge a show with such a nail-on-the-derp title. Yes, creators often look for for a name that can singularly sum up their show, but I feel like a lot more people aren't going to be able to get past this silly title than will wind up eventually over-looking it. Also, it doesn't help that the show a mostly-laughable shlock-fest riddled cliches and familiar beats.

My Boys' Jordana Sprio (off her two-episode dramatic arc on Dexter last year) stars as Grace Devlin (a name not lost on anyone), a tough, punchy surgeon who grew up poor on the south side of Chicago. She's part angel, part lie/cheat/and steal if it protects the right people hellion. And her hospital rounds are filled with a rogue's gallery of characters you've seen before. Her bitchy rival (Jamie Lee Kirchner), her arrogant, weaselly boss (David Pasquesi, almost channeling his Strangers with Candy role) and wasted Emmy-winner Zeljko Ivanek as an extra-bland Chief of Surgery.

Instead of starting off the show with the story of how Grace became a doctor who moonlights for the local mob in order to pay a debt for her brother's life, we begin in the thick of it. Grace has been a "Mob Doctor" for years already and we're just catching up with her on a particularly busy day where she deals with a goon who has a screwdriver in his head, a kid with a gunshot wound, a girl from the "neighborhood" who's pregnant thanks to outercourse and an FBI witness in dire need of heart surgery. And once again, thanks to pilot-itis, everything moves at breakneck speed, with the writers thinking that fast stories and super-speed dialogue make things seem more urgent and characters seem more clever.

Spiro can be a fun and lively actress, but she crumbles here at the feet of sloppy sentiment and an interesting premise that's treated more like a glossy adventure series than a tension-filled drama. Grace's doctor boyfriend, Brett (Zach Gilford), is handsome and nice while the crooks she deals with, notably Michael Rapaport's Moretti, are dumb and mean. It's all flat. I will say that, toward the end, there's a surprise twist that gave the show a jolt, but it's all for naught. One would think, that given the premise, Grace would be desperately looking for a way out. That she's afraid of being caught and tired of keeping secrets. But she's not. In fact, when given the opportunity to actually leave criminal servitude and make a clean getaway, she stays. And becomes an even mobbier Mob Doctor! Her excuse is, naturally, family. Even though we meet her pushy mom and incompetent brother and see first hand that they're no treasure trove.

But she's from the south side. And just like Boston's south side, cinematically, family is supposed to mean more than anything, no matter how dopey and troublesome they are. William Forsythe, fresh off his Boardwalk Empire stint, plays a typically Forsythian role in the form of Constantine Alexander, a soft spoken crime boss freshly released from prison. And while his relationship with Grace might feel more interesting, and rife with potential, the fact that, right off the bat, Grace has accepted her lot in life as a physician for both sides of the law makes the show feel empty and harmless.

The Mob Doctor premieres on Monday, September 17th at 9/8c on FOX.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com Read More

Doctor Who: "A Town Called Mercy" Review

For a character who spends most of his time fixing wrongs, rooting for the small guy, and drifting in and out of lives/towns/planets, it's surprising that the Doctor hasn't had more cowboy adventures.

In fact, there's only ever been one real Who Western to date - and while 1966's The Gunfighters wasn't exactly what you'd call a classic (the common - and untrue - pop culture myth goes that it had the lowest rating of any Doctor Who story ever), A Town Called Mercy proves that the Doctor suits the genre as well as he rocks a Stetson.

When Amy, Rory and the Doctor appeared in the remote backwaters of the great American dream (well, prairie), the bloodletting game was already afoot. A cyborg cowboy was on the hunt for an alien Doctor, and was going to hold a whole Wild West town hostage until he found (and more importantly, killed) him.

In a tale full of sliding morality scales and shades of ethical grey, the answer wasn't quite as simple as it appeared. For a story touting genocidal vivisectionists, murderous cyborgs, moustache-twirling Sheriffs (courtesy of Farscape's superb Ben Browder doing his best Josh Brolin-lite) and gun-toting townspeople, it was - surprisingly - the Doctor who proved the most volatile.

Throw in a sexually confused talking horse, an exploding spaceship, and some dry, typically British humour ("I don't want to miss The Archers"/"Who got toast crumbs on the console?") amongst all the traditionally American genre tropes, and you had a story that managed to celebrate all things both Who and Western.

When it comes to Westerns, it's all about the mood. Get the score, cinematography and set design wrong, and you've got more chance of looking like a Disney theme park village than a gruff, intense adventure into the heart of gunslinging darkness. Thankfully, writer Toby Whithouse (the man behind the genius Being Human, and last season's not-so-genius Who episode 'The God Complex') and director Saul Metzstein (who just finished work on the Second Unit of our other favourite gritty shoot-em-up of the moment, Dredd) have obviously done their genre research.

While it still held true to a pre-watershed family friendliness, there was a bewitchingly moody beauty to the episode, thanks no doubt to the decision to shoot in Spain, in an area where an array of classic Westerns (including A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, The Bad & Ugly) were also made. More importantly, everything fans would want from a Who Western was there - the Doctor rocking a stetson, straddling a horse and chewing a toothpick, a face-off at high noon, an (almost) bar fight etc etc.

And while the Terminator-meets-Predator killer cyborg offered solid thrills, it was in the Doctor's moral uncertainty that the episode really galvanised. Matt Smith dialled down the wacky to explore the cold, judgemental friction that we've seen simmering away since the Doctor returned in The Asylum of the Daleks. His willingness to cross a line both literal and metaphorical, and throw a mass murderer to the gattling-gun happy robo-dogs prompted a Batman-ish moral dilemma - how many times must his mercy come back to bite him in the (surprisingly chapless) ass before he finally cracked and dished out a murderously final punishment?

While Amy's convincingly impassioned wake-up call seemed to do the job, and simultaneously remind us of the importance of the humanity the Who companions bring to the TARDIS, it'll be interesting to see where things go from here - and if the Doctor's renewed mercy is the very thing that leads to Amy and Rory's potentially tragic departure.

Rated as a Doctor Who episode, A Town Called Mercy was a weighty, progressive, sumptuous and entertaining adventure.

Rated as a sci-fi western (hello Cowboys & Aliens), it was a nigh-on classic.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com Read More

Lawmaker on jailed Pakistani doctor: 'We've abandoned this hero'

The House lawmaker who has tried to rally his colleagues to speak up on behalf of the Pakistani doctor imprisoned for his role in helping track Usama bin Laden said Tuesday -- on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks -- that "we've abandoned this hero." 

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., renewed his call Tuesday for the U.S. to do more to bring attention to Shakil Afridi's plight and pressure Pakistan to free him. He addressed the case after Afridi detailed his miserable prison conditions in an exclusive interview with Fox News. 

But Rohrabacher expressed grave disappointment with how Washington has handled the case to date. 

"I have been for the last two months pleading with everybody who I can get a hold of that we must intervene with Pakistan to free Dr. Afridi and end his horrendous incarceration," the congressman told FoxNews.com. "He stood up for us ... and now we're not even speaking out in a loud voice and demanding justice for him." 

He added: "We should be speaking out right now and instead we've abandoned this hero." 

The congressman made his latest plea to colleagues at the weekly GOP conference meeting Tuesday morning. He says Congress should at least be publicly recognizing his "heroism" on the 11th anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks -- as Afridi helped the CIA ultimately track bin Laden and bring him to justice for that deadly attack on American soil. 

Rohrabacher accused both Congress and the Obama administration of "inaction" on the matter. However, he said he plans to speak with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on the other side of Capitol Hill about tackling the Afridi issue. 

In the face of resistance from leadership, Paul is pushing a bill to freeze U.S. aid to Pakistan unless Afridi is released. He wrote in a letter to Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid on Monday that he's prepared to use "any and all means" to secure a vote, including holding up Senate business. 

In a statement Monday, Paul said the U.S. "should not give foreign aid to a country whose government is torturing the man who helped us kill Usama bin Laden." 

Afridi, in his interview with Fox News, described brutal torture at the hands of Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence. Afridi said he was blindfolded for eight months and handcuffed with his hands behind his back for 12 months, leaving a debilitating effect on his eyesight and limbs. 

He also said his captors told him "the Americans are our worst enemies, worse than the Indians." Afridi said the country's claims of cooperation with the U.S. are a sham to "extract" billions in U.S. aid. 

But Afridi told Fox News he helped the CIA out of love for the U.S. "I have a lot of respect and love for your people," he said. 

Rohrabacher said he wasn't surprised by the purported comments from the ISI. But he said "it broke my heart" to read Afridi's comments about his respect for America -- "knowing we have not done right by him in his greatest hour of need." 

"I just hope that on 9/11 we don't forget one of the true heroes that has emerged," the congressman said. 

The State Department has not commented recently on the Afridi case. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in May she didn't believe there was "any basis" for holding Afridi. "His help, after all, was instrumental in taking down one of the world's most notorious murderers. That was clearly in Pakistan's interests as well as ours and the rest of the world," she said. 

Fox News' Dominic Di-Natale contributed to this report.

Source : foxnews[dot]com Read More

Sen. Paul vows to press vote on Pakistan aid cutoff after jailed doc speaks out

Sen. Rand Paul is threatening to hold up Senate business until lawmakers address the case of jailed Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi, after Afridi detailed in an exclusive jail-cell interview how the same spy-service interrogators who tortured him also revealed they consider Americans to be their "worst enemies." 

Afridi, the doctor who helped the CIA track Usama bin Laden, described brutal torture at the hands of Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence. He said, in an interview with Fox News, that they told him "the Americans are our worst enemies, worse than the Indians." Afridi said the country's claims of cooperation with the U.S. are a sham to "extract" billions in U.S. aid. 

Paul, after reading the account, on Monday renewed his months-long effort to compel a vote on a bill to freeze U.S. aid to Pakistan unless Afridi is released -- even if it means stalling the Obama administration's nominee to be the next ambassador to Islamabad. 

"Because of the urgency of seeing that Dr. Afridi is freed, I am prepared to pursue any and all means to secure a vote on my bill immediately, including objecting to other Senate business and recessing the Senate for the election," Paul wrote in a letter Monday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. 

Paul wrote that, given repeated delays in Afridi's appeals hearing, it is "now abundantly clear that Pakistan has no intention of pursuing a proper and just hearing" for the doctor. 

In a separate statement Monday, Paul said the U.S. "should not give foreign aid to a country whose government is torturing the man who helped us kill Usama bin Laden. 

"We should not be giving foreign aid to any country that is not clearly our ally. This must end, and this week I will renew my push for a vote on this issue, including holding up Senate business to accomplish this goal," he said. 

Paul reportedly objected earlier this year to a confirmation vote for Rick Olson, the president's Pakistan ambassador nominee, over the Afridi issue. The Kentucky Republican lawmaker continues to press for a vote on his bill, which Senate leaders appear reluctant to give him. 

In a Washington Times column last month, Paul wrote that he would "use every possible tool to see justice done or aid cut off." 

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment on the Afridi issue Monday. 

The latest concerns about Afridi come after the U.S. worked through a major standoff with the Pakistanis. After a NATO strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year, the Pakistanis shut down vital supply lines into Afghanistan -- but earlier this year, the Pakistanis agreed to reopen them following an apology by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a senior fellow with the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, suggested it would be unwise to entirely cut off U.S. aid to Pakistan at this point. 

"You would be a fool not to recognize that the Pakistanis have nuclear weapons," he said. "The idea of ignoring them is not within the cards."
However, Shaffer said the U.S. needs to start putting conditions on its aid to the country. 

"You've absolutely got to question what the value is of all the billions of dollars we're providing them at this point in time," he said. Shaffer said he has "no reason to doubt" Afridi's account, and that the Pakistani government is clearly divided between those who are battling militants and those who are protecting them. 

As for Afridi, Shaffer said the CIA "blew it" by not shuttling him out of the country after the bin Laden raid. "We recognized the danger to him and we didn't do enough," he said, adding that the U.S. should work toward securing Afridi's release or at least getting his sentence reduced. 

Afridi, in his interview with Fox News, said that his CIA handlers advised him to flee to Afghanistan but he did not because he didn't view himself as being involved in the bin Laden raid. 

However, he was abducted by the ISI at a road checkpoint on May 23, 2011. Afridi said he was blindfolded for eight months and handcuffed with his hands behind his back for 12 months, leaving a debilitating effect on his eyesight and limbs. 

Afridi told Fox News he helped the CIA out of love for the U.S. "I have a lot of respect and love for your people," he said.

Source : foxnews[dot]com Read More