The Queen is BACK (Donna Summer that is)
What else? Firstly a mega, massive THANK YOU to those of you (i.e. all of you as far as I am aware) that responded to my Top 10 albums tag. Well done, boys and girls! I was impressed with the breadth, depth and length of your, erm, posts (no cheeky comments, purlease, that's strictly a Cheeser prerogative). Seriously, I loved reading about all your fave musical raves! And many of you listed exactly the kind of things I would have expected. Unfortunately I still haven't responded to all of your postings yet! (That's what happens when you tag a lot of people and ask them to write about 10 albums I suppose - it makes for a lot of reading - am I making a rod for my own back?!) But once again, enlightening stuff and thanks!
Doctor Who continues to thrill, excite and delight. Steven Moffat's two parter was probably the best of the season yet and proof that his appointment to the post of Exec Producer was indeed a wise move. There's something about this writing style that's wonderfully unorthodox and different which bodes well for the future. The whole library-saving-people-in-a-giant-PC concept was well-executed and clever.
Alex Kingston was intelligent, sultry and fab as Professor River Song. The whole "previous relationship with the Doc in the Doc's future" thing (shades of "The Time Traveller's Wife") was intriguingly done and by the end we were still none the wiser as to exactly what her involvement with the Doc was (although husband and wife is a good guess). I do hope she comes back for a reappearance and further exposition. Otherwise it's just all toooo frustrating.
The "Donna in the Matrix" plotline of part two was also a welcome and an unexpected surprise, eerily done and proving Catherine T's acting abilities even more as well as taking the character of Donna down new avenues (married and with kids). The bit when she screams when her kids "disappear" was very well done and the scenes with "woman in black" Ms Evangelista (was she related to Linda?) convincingly creepy.
Last week's "Midnight" was one of RTD's better offerings and I really enjoyed this one too. It was obviously low budget and a bit of a "filler" episode, not to mention "Donna-lite" as opposed to "Doctor-lite" (is the latter a new concept then? Shades of "The Deadly Assassin" with the Doc going it alone!) but as psychological dramas go, it was very well done and proof that a lot can be achieved with even limited resources (i.e. a story taking place largely on just one set). The whole possession thing was marvelously creepy - who would have thought that so much nastiness could come out of two people just staring at one another and repeating each other's words??
Lesley Sharp was a nasty lady with her staring eyes and weird manner, and well supported by the rest of the class, who were all in suitable "Disaster movie panic" mode.
Lindsey Coulson, who I always thought was brilliant as Carol Jackson in Eastenders was a bit shrewish and whiny though.
And tonight we see the return of...The Pipester!! The story sounds likes it's got an interesting angle (what would have happened to Donna if she hadn't met the Doc) and apparently Ms Tate's best performance yet...we shall see. After which we get the season finale...it's come round quick. There's already been a mass of spoilers and I'm not going to reveal what they are here. You only have to go onto a DW website to find out...or The Sun's (who recently blew the gaff re: pics of returning monsters...) Suffice to say it all looks exciting but I hope to god it's a better offering than Season Three's "camp Master" conclusion...please, please, PLEASE!!
And on the music front...of late I have mostly been listening to:
Cut Copy - Aussie band with an 80s retro fixation, and their latest album, In Ghost Colours, is rather excellent...
Donna Summer's new album, Crayons, which is a magnificent return to form after a mere 17 year hiatus. The Queen is BACK!! Which, coincidentally, is the name of one of the tracks...more on her later...
Cyndi Lauper's new one in which the caterwauling Cyndi has gone all dancey a la Madonna! Saints preserve us! But it works and it's rather good. Thanks to Alan for giving me the lowdown on her...
Well, that'll do for now. I shall return in a few weeks...Ciao for now my lovelies and take care...
OC xxx
Labels: Alex Kingston, Billie Piper, Catherine Tate, Cut Copy, Cyndi Lauper, Doctor Who, Donna Summer, Lesley Sharp, Lindsey Coulson, Russell T Davies, Steven Moffatt
5 Comments:
At 10:34 am , Steve said...
I was quite impressed with last night's DW episode - all very intense and heavy but the story was so compelling that the Doctor's absence wasn't really noticed. I though Ms Tate carried things rather well. And good to see the Pipecleaner back on TV too though I thought she looked a little drawn and gaunt from the last time we'd seen her... sonic screwdriver withdrawal symptoms no doubt!
At 5:01 am , TimeWarden said...
I'm curious to hear Cyndi Lauper's new album. She first appeared in the public eye at the same time as Madonna and, at the time, I thought Cyndi was the more colourful of the pair.
Not sure about Moffat's story being the best of the season. When Series Four is over we should maybe compile another list, like last year, placing each episode (or story) in order of preference.
At 10:05 pm , Glenda Young said...
I found that ep of Dr Who a bit creepy and had to hide behind the cushion again. And I'm 43!
At 1:09 pm , Old Cheeser said...
Stevenage - I agree it was a great story and definitely one of RTD's best. And yes, CT did a good job. Again, going back to points we've made before, this is probably because she is a decent actress, with a good range and who can convey emotion, feelings etc (after all she did used to have her own show). If Freema Agyeman had been given an entire episode to herself I'm not sure if would have worked so well (oooh miaow).
And as for Billie, yes she was good though there was something "different" about her. Also did you notice her rather lisping voice? Sounded like she was sucking a lemon. Perhaps life on the other side of the void had done strange things to her vocal cords...I have to say although her return was welcome and generally well done, I couldn't quite see the POINT of Rose being there, other than acting as some kind of mentor to Donna. Oh well.
Tim - Cyndi's new album is actually very good but I'm not quite sure it would be your "bag" to be honest. Stylistically it's quite different from stuff she's done before. Yes it's true she and Madge did materialise at the same time! (That's musically, rather than in a TARDIS). You should give it a go though. I found a really good download website called legalsounds.com and got it for about £1-2 on there!
YES! I think we should do another story list - I enjoyed it last time and it was interesting sharing views.
It seems to be that you're enjoying DW more now anyway, at least this season?
Nora - You mean "Midnight", the possession one? I agree, they got a lot of mileage just out of the SUGGESTION that someone could be taken over. And Lesley S was kind of compelling as I said before. Wish they'd explained exactly WHAT it was possessing her, though...
At 10:48 pm , Brand New W said...
yay!!! am so glad u are liking Cyndi's new one! I *just* saw her performing in a park last night here on a lovely summer evening! I just posted about it too.. She sang "When U Were Mine" and my mind is still reeling!! It was for her anti-homophobia True Colors tour. or as we say here in Canada, True Colours tour. She rocked the house, er I mean park!
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