feeling listless

Spoils of War

There are shades of Alien Bodies here, as Alex and Cass become wrapped up in an auction between alien foes over a mystery artifact. Said MacGuffin is rather more abstract than the Doctor's mortal remains, and it is arguable that if this had been a straightforward Doctor Who story, it would have been slightly less interesting. Instead, we have the Doctor's—not exactly great—grandson trying to do things differently than his "old man," even though he inevitably falls into the same patterns. The story does much the same to Cass; she has essentially been kidnapped and should be quite cross about it, but because of the needs of the narrative, she is somewhat forced to fulfill the companion role. Honestly, I found the sniping between the Doctor and Hieronyma—as they try to hold her ship together while pursuing Alex—to be more my cup of tea.

The Tale of Alex

This serves as a complicated synecdoche for the whole conflict, as the Doctor and Alex move backward and forward in time trying to fix an original sin. They remain suspicious of each other's motives, causing a colony to become temporally unstuck as competing causalities fight for supremacy. Finally, the two meet, and it is clear that their irreconcilable difference is down to the betrayal of the Doctor wanting his great-grandson back in the universe, yet keeping Alex's true origins from him. Meanwhile, the Doctor covertly makes Cass aware of her own origins and how her death is in flux. This also presents the intriguing idea that when she and the Eighth Doctor met "for the first time" in The Night of the Doctor, she might have been well aware of what was about to happen—and what needed to happen—which explains why she refused to fly away with him in the TARDIS.

See-Saw

This is superficially similar to Head Over Heels, the 1980s computer game by Ocean Software (or at least the opening part of it), with the competing TARDIS teams on different time tracks solving the same mystery and helping one another. How have they managed to land on Earth, a time-locked world which no one should be able to visit during the war, and what is the significance of the nursery rhymes? This inevitably leads to the same discoveries being made by both groups, which is tricky to do on audio without becoming repetitious, but it mostly happens simultaneously for various reasons; cross-cutting between groups of characters largely prevents annoyance from setting in. Something I only noticed on a second listen (don't ask) is that Hieronyma is recast in this installment, with Lizzie Hopley filling in for Niky Wardley, who plays the character across the other three episodes. Was it a scheduling issue, perhaps, or an illness?

The First Forest

After two stories that hinge on two realities occupying the same space and time, here is a tale about a place where numerous time zones are occurring in the same area—à la Voyager's brilliant "Shattered"—featuring a Tom Bombadil-type character who spends his life trying to avoid bumping into himself (rather like the Doctor). Caught in the middle of all this is Sharon, one of the Time Lord Sontarans, who has found himself lost in the forest; goddamn if Dan Starkey doesn't once again manage to give us yet another very individual example of the clone race, using the same voice as the others but remaining perfectly distinct. I particularly love how, when the Eighth Doctor and Alex finally do (sort of) reconcile, it is like many family members after an argument: calmly saying the things they may have said when bawling at each other, but previously lacked the ability to listen to.

The Silent Priest/The Silent City

This David K. Barnes two-parter doesn't offer much levity either.  We meet the Eighth Doctor at a point in this incarnation, in the midst of the Time War, in which he is done.  As the Time Lord describes, he thinks he's saved the day, then finds that everything he did has been reversed or worse that the planet on which it happened disappears from existence.  It's got the point where he's visiting a priest on the regular, looking for some kind of mental clarity but as the cover art reveals, said holy person is a member of The Silence, so he doesn't just forget he's met the man; that's why he keeps coming back.  This is the version of the wanderer who's working towards his regeneration, perhaps around the time of Lies in Ruins.  He's a professional actor, of course, and it's his job to know, but I remain impressed by the way that Paul McGann keeps track of which version of this Doctor he's playing, at the beginning, middle, and end of his journey.

The same guest cast continues into the final story with the Seventh Doctor, who's left to cope with his later incarnation's actions in trying to unite the warring factions which are breaking the city apart.  Barnes is very keen to show the different approaches of the two Doctors, the mastermind and the universally challenged, notably by putting Seventh also late in his timeline in the TARDIS, in the days or weeks before San Francisco.  There's a chilling moment when he says off-handedly that he'll shut down a casino he's surveying on behalf of the local constabulary "in the morning" as though it would be nothing for him, the kind of action that the Eighth Doctor has been trying to run away from since The Dying Days.  But like Eighth, he makes a number of catastrophic mistakes and like Eighth, he doesn't remember any of them by the end of the episode.

Hellbound

Then, some way into the third episode, the Axon Doctor finally turns up with Paul offering his monotone take on the best Doctor before the best Doctor himself turns up and this boxset elevates itself from Alternative Eighth Doctors section of the timeline to somewhere before (see below).  As he and the TARDIS are released from the Axon's grip, the Eight Doctor immediately steals the flow of the story from Vienna and the titular character, defeating the monsters and saving the day.  Quite honestly its brilliant and elevates a story which until that point is pretty grim and nasty in a way which isn't to my tastes.  If only Vienna had stayed with him at the end.  They could have some wild adventures together.

Placement: The cover art suggests he's wearing his Time War clothes and he makes a reference to there being much to do, so I'm putting this between All Hands on Deck and Mr. Eighth.

Project Pendulum is a collection of digital recreations of television clocks from across the decades.  Seems like this could be an ideal use for an old phone or tablet as a wall clock.

Film  For "Wuthering Heights".  Warrington's original Odeon on Buttermarket Street in the city centre was a typical Oscar Deutsch art deco special designed by John Gummersall and opened in 1937.  After several refurbishments, it closed in 1994 and was demolished to make way for a Yates's Wine Lodge which is now a Wetherspoons (Chester Cinemas has a shot taken during its closing week).  This current building opened as an AMC in 1988, though it quickly rebranded to UCI after the takeover (h/t to Cinema Treasures for the history and a photo which includes the original ridiculous glass canopy).  In 2004, it became an Odeon and in 2019 it was refurbished to become the current Luxe offering with a smaller capacity and many more recliners.  The interior also manages to include a bar area and a sit-down Costa Coffee.

Film  With apologies for the slightly SEO title but I didn't know what else to call this.  For the past few years I've been creating Letterboxd links for every issue of the film organ Empire Magazine and now they've busted past their 450th issue, I thought it would be handy to put link to all of them in one place, so find that below.  There's a lot of them so I've spaced them out for easy clicking. They also start at the top and work their way down.

But it's 2026 and since we'll be lucky if humanity reaches 2027, Big Finish have read the room and all four have been released as a reasonably priced boxed set.  As Nick Briggs (creative director at Big Finish) says:  

"As part of our McGannuary jollity, we're re-releasing these four great Short Trips, previously only available to subscribers of our very first Doctor Who audio range which ran for 22 years and 275 stories. We wanted others to be able to luxuriate in the sheer McGann-ness of them! And with their single narrator style and modest duration, they're ideal to listen to on the way to and from work, or short trips - see what I did there? - to relatives and friends."

The first, Late Night Shopping, is a very short trip at roughly fifteen minutes.  I can see now why Big Finish decided this play in particular couldn't be released as one of the original wave of stand alone Short Trips rarities - £2.99 would have been a lot to pay for what amounts to something which would be at home as a sketch on Comic Relief Night.  

It's delightful.  Attack of some killer tomatoes in the aisle of a supermarket with the Doctor utilising his culinary abilities to save the planet.  If it had been filmed to be watched between charity films, you could well imagine various previous Taskmaster contestants filling out the rest of the cast as the lonely enamoured shopper and harassed supermarket employees.  Matt Fitton's textual efficiency amusingly sketches out the scene, aided by the old Who trick of putting fantastical scenes in mundane environments and helpful spot effects or Foley work.  Can anyone tell me if these and the dizzily camp remix of the title music were on the original release?

All of which said, for much of the short runtime I was distracted by how much the reader, Hugh Ross, an actor whose CV stretches all the way back to the late 60s but has managed to dodge Doctor Who until this recording (despite appearing in numerous wilderness years substitutes like Sea of Souls and Invasion: Earth), sounds like the late Peter Jones, the Voice of the Book in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.  At one point the Doctor says he's going to fry something in "some nice hot olive oil" and it's impossible not to hear an echo of the Guide entry for the Infinite Improbability Drive, "a nice hot cup of tea".  With that in mind, you can imagine what his vocal characterisation of Lucie Miller sounds like.  Incredible stuff.

Placement:  Arbitrarily next to All The Fun of the Fair towards the start of Lucie's second season.

Film  For Sentimental Value.  Really friendly staff though its clear that the cinema itself hasn't had much investment for quiet some time with mucky staircases, broken seats and stains on the screen.  Sat at the front of Screen 5 which put the image directly in front of me which along with having to climb stairs to reach the seats in the auditorium offered Manchester Cornerhouse Screen 3 vibes.  Originally opened as a large single screen Gaumont in 1937 and has operated in various arrangements and guises over the years (full history at Cinema Treasures here).  As I was leaving I informed an usher I'd been chatting to about the stains on the screen, at which point she told me they'd be closing in five weeks so its unlikely to be replaced or refurbished.  Cinema Treasures explains that by the end of the year this ninety year old cinema with its Art Deco foyer will be demolished to make way for student halls.

That Day We reach the time when I assess how well I predicted the ups and downs of the year and look forward to the next. Here we go again:

As to ratings. I gave 70 of those films five stars, of which 32 were released in this decade and twenty-one were released this year. But in my scoring system, the only difference between four and five stars is whether I think I'd want to buy a physical copy or not; in that case, I also rated fifty films from this year as four stars, which means I enjoyed those as much as the five-star films. In other words, there wasn't a flaw which nagged at me the whole way through.

Before I offer my top ten films, here are the films I rated with one star:

None.

But then looking at the two-star entries, I was probably a bit generous:

Now for the top ten.

The truth is I don't really have a top ten, at least one which isn't much different to anyone else's, which is in itself a change thanks to having actually been to the cinema at least weekly for most of the year and having seen some films (see yesterday).  My favourite film of the year was probably Thunderbolts* because it was a rare superhero film which made me feel seen. So instead here's a list of five overlooked movies which clearly cost a bit of money and would (probably)(maybe?)(possibly) have been crowd pleasers if they'd had a proper theatrical rollout.

Film  In 2025, I began seeing films in a cinema again. Over the past ten years, the only films I've visited cinemas for have been big spoiler-prone franchise blockbusters. Partly it was the cost, but mostly it was the audiences, who generally didn't seem very interested in seeing the film, or spent the whole time masticating. But after experimenting with Cineworld a couple of summers ago, this year I took out an Odeon myLimitless subscription and have pretty faithfully been visiting these churches of cinema every week for at least six months.

The Liverpool One Odeon has always been something of a film presentation nemesis, a trend which continues to this day.  Up until this year, the last time I visited was for Fant4stic (curiosity kills the brain cells), a screening afflicted by a dodgy and quite noisy air conditioning fan which led to me receiving a refund (probably only fair considering the film itself). Actually no, it was for San Andreas where the restless audience was the problem as my seat rocked back and forth, not because of 4DX, but due to a group of teenagers kicking the back of the chair.

Which isn't to say it's been a complete cakewalk. Even during my first visit this year, Final Destination: Bloodlines, there was someone who was texting back and forth throughout the film and popping out now and then to make a phone call. Later screenings have been beset by dead pixels, light pollution through the windows of auditorium doors onto the "laser" screen, a fly which had landed on the projector during The Fantastic Four: First Steps taking up a quarter of the screen on occasion, banging auditorium doors, and persistent liquid stains on the screen.

But despite a number of issues since (and writing a lengthy email of complaint), I've kept going because it's just been nice to treat cinema as an occasion again. I've tried to train myself to be more tolerant of such issues and of audiences in general, and to keep myself focused on what's in front of me, rather than being micro-distracted by what's going on behind me (I always book for the front row, or as close to it as possible). Most of it has been Hollywood fare, but it's also nice to have seen what's in the film charts while it's still there rather than many months afterwards.

All of this preamble is to introduce the following list of every Odeon in the country in alphabetical order. A few months into visiting Liverpool, I began to wonder what other locations in the chain were like and how they compare to this city's interesting collection of architectural choices (seriously, why do the doors have windows?). So I decided to go and visit a few in other cities, a plan which quickly grew into a project to visit all the Odeons (yes, all of them) and also give a reason to go to places I wouldn't otherwise have a reason to visit.

So like all my other tick-box projects, I thought it an idea to start posting about them on the blog and then linking to them all in one place. The actual posts aren't going to be anything too elaborate, probably just a photo, a couple of observations, and a link to somewhere which has more information (because what's the point in ripping off someone else's research when I can just refer you to it). Some of them will be an expensive and logistical challenge through public transport, but let's see how far I get.

Note:  I've added some recent encounters but I'll do a proper catch up when I have a moment, plus include some which don't exist anymore at the bottom.  I'll delete this message when I'm all caught up.

Now:

1 January

• The End of Time (Part 2) (2010)

• Resolution (2019)

• Spyfall (Part 1) (2020)

• Revolution of the Daleks (2021)

• Eve of the Daleks (2022)

5 January

• Spyfall (Part 2) (2020)

12 January

• Orphan 55 (2020)

19 January

• Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror (2020)

26 January

• Fugitive of the Judoon (2020)

2 February

• Praxeus (2020)

9 February

• Can You Hear Me? (2020)

16 February

• The Haunting of Villa Diodati (2020)

23 February

• Ascension of the Cybermen (Part 1) (2020)

1 March

• The Timeless Children (Part 2) (2020)

26 March

• Rose (2005)

30 March

• The Bells of Saint John (2013)

31 March

• Smith and Jones (2007)

2 April

• The End of the World (2005)

3 April

• The Eleventh Hour (2010)

5 April

• Partners in Crime (2008)

6 April

• The Rings of Akhaten (2013)

7 April

• The Shakespeare Code (2007)

9 April

• The Unquiet Dead (2005)

10 April

• The Beast Below (2010)

11 April

• Planet of the Dead (2009)

12 April

• The Fires of Pompeii (2008)

• The Robot Revolution (2025)

13 April

• Cold War (2013)

14 April

• Gridlock (2007)

• The Ghost Monument (2018)

15 April

• New Earth (2006)

• The Pilot (2017)

16 April

• Aliens of London (Part 1) (2005)

17 April

• Victory of the Daleks (2010)

• Legend of the Sea Devils (2022)

19 April

• Planet of the Ood (2008)

• Lux (2025)

20 April

• Hide (2013)

21 April

• Daleks in Manhattan (Part 1) (2007)

• Rosa (2018)

22 April

• Tooth and Claw (2006)

• Smile (2017)

23 April

• World War Three (Part 2) (2005)

• The Impossible Astronaut (Part 1) (2011)

24 April

• The Time of Angels (Part 1) (2010)

26 April

• The Sontaran Stratagem (Part 1) (2008)

• The Well (2025)

27 April

• Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (2013)

28 April

• Evolution of the Daleks (Part 2) (2007)

• Arachnids in the UK (2018)

29 April

• School Reunion (2006)

• Thin Ice (2017)

30 April

• Dalek (2005)

• Day of the Moon (Part 2) (2011)

1 May

• Flesh and Stone (Part 2) (2010)

3 May

• The Poison Sky (Part 2) (2008)

• Lucky Day (2025)

4 May

• The Crimson Horror (2013)

5 May

• The Lazarus Experiment (2007)

6 May

• The Girl in the Fireplace (2006)

• Knock Knock (2017)

7 May

• The Long Game (2005)

• The Curse of the Black Spot (2011)

8 May

• The Vampires of Venice (2010)

10 May

• The Doctor's Daughter (2008)

• The Story and the Engine (2025)

11 May

• Nightmare in Silver (2013)

• Space Babies (2024)

• The Devil's Chord (2024)

13 May

• Rise of the Cybermen (Part 1) (2006)

• Oxygen (2017)

14 May

• Father's Day (2005)

• The Doctor's Wife (2011)

15 May

• Amy's Choice (2010)

17 May

• The Unicorn and the Wasp (2008)

• The Interstellar Song Contest (2025)

18 May

• The Name of the Doctor (2013)

• Boom (2024)

19 May

• 42 (2007)

20 May

• The Age of Steel (Part 2) (2006)

• Extremis (2017)

21 May

• The Empty Child (Part 1) (2005)

• The Rebel Flesh (Part 1) (2011)

22 May

• The Hungry Earth (Part 1) (2010)

24 May

• Wish World (Part 1) (2025)

25 May

• 73 Yards (2024)

26 May

• Human Nature (Part 1) (2007)

27 May

• The Idiot's Lantern (2006)

• The Pyramid at the End of the World (2017)

28 May

• The Doctor Dances (Part 2) (2005)

• The Almost People (Part 2) (2011)

29 May

• Cold Blood (Part 2) (2010)

31 May

• Silence in the Library (Part 1) (2008)

• The Reality War (Part 2) (2025)

1 June

• Dot and Bubble (2024)

2 June

• The Family of Blood (Part 2) (2007)

3 June

• The Impossible Planet (Part 1) (2006)

• The Lie of the Land (2017)

4 June

• Boom Town (2005)

• A Good Man Goes to War (2011)

5 June

• Vincent and the Doctor (2010)

7 June

• Forest of the Dead (Part 2) (2008)

8 June

• Rogue (2024)

9 June

• Blink (2007)

10 June

• The Satan Pit (Part 2) (2006)

• Empress of Mars (2017)

11 June

• Bad Wolf (Part 1) (2005)

12 June

• The Lodger (2010)

14 June

• Midnight (2008)

15 June

• The Legend of Ruby Sunday (Part 1) (2024)

16 June

• Utopia (Part 1) (2007)

17 June

• Love & Monsters (2006)

• The Eaters of Light (2017)

18 June

• The Parting of the Ways (Part 2) (2005)

19 June

• The Pandorica Opens (Part 1) (2010)

21 June

• Turn Left (2008)

22 June

• Empire of Death (Part 2) (2024)

23 June

• The Sound of Drums (Part 2) (2007)

24 June

• Fear Her (2006)

• World Enough and Time (Part 1) (2017)

26 June

• The Big Bang (Part 2) (2010)

28 June

• The Stolen Earth (Part 1) (2008)

30 June

• Last of the Time Lords (Part 3) (2007)

1 July

• Army of Ghosts (Part 1) (2006)

• The Doctor Falls (Part 2) (2017)

5 July

• Journey's End (Part 2) (2008)

8 July

• Doomsday (Part 2) (2006)

23 August

• Deep Breath (2014)

27 August

• Let's Kill Hitler (2011)

30 August

• Into the Dalek (2014)

1 September

• Asylum of the Daleks (2012)

3 September

• Night Terrors (2011)

6 September

• Robot of Sherwood (2014)

8 September

• Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (2012)

10 September

• The Girl Who Waited (2011)

13 September

• Listen (2014)

15 September

• A Town Called Mercy (2012)

17 September

• The God Complex (2011)

19 September

• The Magician's Apprentice (Part 1) (2015)

20 September

• Time Heist (2014)

22 September

• The Power of Three (2012)

23 September

• Closing Time (2011)

26 September

• The Witch's Familiar (Part 2) (2015)

27 September

• The Caretaker (2014)

29 September

• The Angels Take Manhattan (2012)

1 October

• The Wedding of River Song (2011)

3 October

• Under the Lake (Part 1) (2015)

4 October

• Kill the Moon (2014)

7 October

• The Woman Who Fell to Earth (2018)

10 October

• Before the Flood (Part 2) (2015)

11 October

• Mummy on the Orient Express (2014)

14 October

• The Ghost Monument (2018)

17 October

• The Girl Who Died (2015)

18 October

• Flatline (2014)

21 October

• Rosa (2018)

23 October

• The Power of the Doctor (2022)

24 October

• The Woman Who Lived (2015)

25 October

• In the Forest of the Night (2014)

28 October

• Arachnids in the UK (2018)

31 October

• The Zygon Invasion (Part 1) (2015)

• The Halloween Apocalypse (Chapter One) (2021)

1 November

• Dark Water (Part 1) (2014)

4 November

• The Tsuranga Conundrum (2018)

7 November

• The Zygon Inversion (Part 2) (2015)

• War of the Sontarans (Chapter Two) (2021)

8 November

• Death in Heaven (Part 2) (2014)

11 November

• Demons of the Punjab (2018)

14 November

• Sleep No More (2015)

• Once, Upon Time (Chapter Three) (2021)

15 November

• The Waters of Mars (2009)

18 November

• Kerblam! (2018)

21 November

• Face the Raven (2015)

• Village of the Angels (Chapter Four) (2021)

23 November

• The Day of the Doctor (2013)

25 November

• The Witchfinders (2018)

• The Star Beast (2023)

28 November

• Heaven Sent (2015)

• Survivors of the Flux (Chapter Five) (2021)

2 December

• It Takes You Away (2018)

• Wild Blue Yonder (2023)

5 December

• Hell Bent (2015)

• The Vanquishers (Chapter Six) (2021)

9 December

• The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos (2018)

• The Giggle (2023)

25 December

• The Christmas Invasion (2005)

• The Runaway Bride (2006)

• Voyage of the Damned (2007)

• The Next Doctor (2008)

• The End of Time (Part 1) (2009)

• A Christmas Carol (2010)

• The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011)

• The Snowmen (2012)

• The Time of the Doctor (2013)

• Last Christmas (2014)

• The Husbands of River Song (2015)

• The Return of Doctor Mysterio (2016)

• Twice Upon a Time (2017)

• The Church on Ruby Road (2023)

• Joy to the World (2024)