The Black Archive #65: The Myth Makers
by Ian Potter (Obverse Books, 2023)
A deeply researched study in authorship. Potter debunks production myths, compares iterations of text, and reconstructs the development of The Myth Makers from commissioning to recording. While the detailed biography of writer Donald Cotton is especially welcome, numerous typos undermine the scholarship.
Skinwalker
by Faith Hunter (Roc, 2009)
audiobook read by Khristine Hvam (Bolinda, 2014)
Jane Yellowrock is very appealing as a character (if more consistent in her sass than in her skillset). The narrative never disappoints in the moment; yet Hunter leaves nothing out, and the minutiae of the hunt obscure a clumsily threaded big picture.
Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon Planetarium Experience
(NSC Creative, 2023) Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium, 10 March 2024
The classic album played in its entirety, synchronised with a specially rendered visual extravaganza of space scenes and psychedelic sequences projected onto the planetarium’s skydome. The immersive experience makes one reflect and appreciate, 50 years on, just how innovative Dark Side was.
Foundation, Season 1
(Apple TV+, 2021)
A remarkable series that takes Asimov’s action-light scenario and dry-cornflake characters and adapts them into a highly visual, absorbing SF story (albeit still rather abstruse and slow to gain traction). The programme’s success stems from its reinterpretation of various protagonists as female.
Wednesday
(Netflix, 2022)
Delightfully kooky teen coming-of-age horror/mystery series. The production values smack of feature filmmaking (iconic costume design and makeup; Tim Burton directs half the episodes). Jenna Ortega makes precocious antihero Wednesday Addams an instant favourite… even before her dance-out to ‘Goo Goo Muck’!
Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road
by Russell T. Davies; dir. Mark Tonderai (BBC, 2023)
Davies scripts a bonhomous if heavy-handed, found-family Christmas special that rattles along while re-treading old ground (his own Whoeuvre plus a sing-and-dance tribute to Labyrinth). Ncuti Gatwa takes the Doctor’s zest for life and channels it into a more tactile, people-friendly persona.
Doctor Who: The Giggle
by Russell T. Davies; dir. Chanya Button (BBC, 2023)
Neil Patrick Harris exudes menace as the Toymaker, yet the magnitude of his power (alluded to by the fate of the Master and the Guardians) is undermined by the utterly facile nature of the games chosen. Inexplicably, Ncuti Gatwa debuts without pants.
Unraveller
by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan, 2022)
audiobook read by Eleanor Bennett (Macmillan Children’s, 2022)
In terms of character arcs this is standard YA fare (and overlong at that), but Hardinge commits all-in to the fantasy scenario, weaving a world whose magics and creatures seem as natural as they are wondrous. The destination more-or-less warrants the journey.
Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder
by Russell T. Davies; dir. Tom Kingsley (BBC, 2023)
A worthwhile experiment, Midnight-ish in nature with perhaps a spot too much ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ thrown in (the more grotesque shapeshifting tending to detract from the central concept). Not a lot of re-watch value except for the evil doppelgänger acting.
Doctor Who: The Star Beast
by Russell T. Davies; dir. Rachel Talalay (BBC, 2023)
Russell T. Davies returns to Doctor Who as if on a season pass he misplaced for fifteen years, and brings David Tennant and Catherine Tate along for the ride, scripting a fun, tonally frivolous special that nevertheless checks assumptions at every turn.