Archive for the ‘Sci Fi’ Category

TV Review: Heroes (Turn and Face the Strange), BBC Two, Monday, 20 April, 9pm

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

heroes HRG gun.jpgBy virtue of the fact that I’m terrified of watching Ashes To Ashes, because I haven’t seen a single episode, thereby, leaving me dribbling and confused… and to the fact that I might be one of those idiots who says “Er, excuse me, but ‘Dare’ wouldn’t have been released at that point”, I decided I’d once again, take a punt on the reprogrammed and worsened Heroes (BBC Two, Monday, 20 April, 9pm). Last night’s episode was called ‘Turn and Face the Strange’, and is leading into some secret… perhaps the raison d’être for the programme thus far. Skulls and burials grounds uncovered it seems, along with yet more hamfisted chasery.

Related: Our Heroes Section | All things Sci-Fi on TV Scoop

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TV Review: Ashes to Ashes, BBC One, Monday 20 April, 9pm

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

a2a_s02e01.jpgOnly a few seconds in, and with Molly talking to her Mum via the medium of an episode of Grange Hill, there’s no doubting we’re back in the weird and wonderful world of Ashes to Ashes and any minute now the Quattro’s going to be fired up and all hell will break loose. Except, rather than breaking loose, it’s been tied up. Tied up and asphyxiated. At a strip club.

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Set The Video: Ashes to Ashes, BBC One, Monday 20 April, 9pm

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

a2a_s02_group.jpgOK so I had a bit of fun with you this morning pretending that the snooker is the thing we’ve all been waiting for, when really it’s this. Now I don’t mind admitting that I was firmly in the “disappointed” camp with A2A series 1. On the disappointed spectrum my feelings didn’t approach the heights of last weekend’s Red Dwarf malarkey, or even the tragic waste of one of the year’s three specials that was the Easter Doctor Who. No it was more of a vague feeling of unease that it was not as good as it could have been and had somehow lost its way from the heights of the old Life on Mars. So given my reservations last time round, why am I looking forward to this so much?

Related: Ashes to Ashes section | Life on Mars section

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TV Scoop Poll: What did you think to Red Dwarf?

Monday, April 13th, 2009

kryten_asks.jpgOf course, we can’t just leave it at that. I thought it was pants and Anna (last time we heard from her) thought it was improving, but what did YOU think? With our comments facility still down (yes, I know), here’s another handy-dandy poll for you to offer us your pearls of wisdom. Did it do it for you? Did you fly your ship down the intergalactic memory highway? Did you tattoo an H on your head? Or did you give up after one instalment? Click through and give it to us with both barrels.

Related: Everything Red and Dwarfish | Everything Pollish

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TV Review: Red Dwarf: Back to Earth (Part 3), Dave, Sunday 12 April, 9pm

Monday, April 13th, 2009

red_dwarf_bte_3.jpg“It’s cold outside,” go the lyrics of the theme tune during the closing credits, “there’s no kind of atmosphere…” Hey, never mind outside. There’s no kind of atmosphere in here either.

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TV Review: Doctor Who – Planet Of The Dead, BBC One, Saturday 11 April, 6.45pm

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

Thumbnail image for dwpotd.jpgIt’s easy to get jaded and cynical about Doctor Who. Since Russell T Davies revived it, it has had such universal adoration that a backlash was inevitable, and yes, some of the complaints have been thoroughly justified. What we needed then, was a great episode, something to remind us why we all got so excited about this little show in the first place. Thank goodness for Planet of the Dead.

Related: All our lovely Doctor Who news and reviews

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TV Review: Red Dwarf: Back to Earth (Part 1), Dave, Friday 10 April, 9pm

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

red_dwarf_bte_1.jpgSlightly more than halfway through this first of the three-part revival of what was once voted Best Comedy Series, newly arrived hologram Katerina Bartikovsky delivers the official verdict on Rimmer. He’s a bit crap. Sadly it’s been ten years since Red Dwarf was Best Comedy, and those two words apply not just to Rimmer, but to this whole episode.

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Why I Love…. TV Sci-Fi Theme Tunes

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Red_Dwarf_Cast1.jpgWhenever I think about TV theme tunes (and that’s rather more often than it should be, probably) it strikes me that a lot of the very best come from sci-fi, both serious and comic. This particular time, I was prompted to think about the pressing topic because I’ve been reminded how great the Red Dwarf theme is (it’s coming back this weekend, if you hadn’t heard…!) It seems that many of these theme tunes manage to combine an otherworldly quality befitting of the genre with a real sense of excitement and adventure – and quite frankly that’s a combination which appeals to me very much indeed. Over the cut there’s a selection of brilliant themes, including Red Dwarf itself along with Doctor Who, Logan’s Run and The Jetsons. It’s an eclectic mix…

Related: Our Sci-Fi section | First Look – Red Dwarf Back To Earth | Nostalgia Corner

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Set The Video: Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead, BBC One, Saturday 11 April, 6.45pm

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

dw_planet_of_the_dead_trail.jpgThis probably counts as the most pointless “Set The Video” entry ever. Surely there’s not a single television watcher in the country who doesn’t know there’s an Easter special Doctor Who episode coming up? But. Just in case you’ve missed every trailer, every announcement, every entry in the listings magazines, and every water cooler conversation about it, TV Scoop comes to the rescue. Don’t miss it!

Related: Doctor Who starts filming in the desert | time travel over to our Doctor Who section for more

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TV Review: Heroes (Cold Snap), BBC Two, Monday, 6 March, 9pm

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

heroes cold snap.jpgI’d pretty much given up on Heroes (BBC Two, Monday, 6 March, 9pm). It had gotten stupid and predictable. It was no longer the weird coiled spring of a show that had me hooked on so many levels that I would sit wide-eyed and baffled, but completely rapt. So far had it fallen in its ‘comeback’ season, that I went into a huge sulk and avoided any mention of it… until last night. Monday nights aren’t great for telly at the moment, so by fortuitous boredom, I tuned in again, thinking ‘it’ll do’ until The Brilliant Stewart Lee appeared on the box.

Related: Our Heroes Section

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Red Dwarf Revival: Exclusive video footage!

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

RDLogo.jpgApologies for the second Red Dwarf post of the day but it seems that Dave is going a bit mad with preview stuff. With less than three weeks to go before Red Dwarf: Back To Earth hits our Easter Bank Holiday screens (and with a new viral game already launched) things are getting pant-wettingly exciting both here at TV Scoop and over at Dave. Click through for full details plus! if you thought there was nothing else they could possibly quiz about, you could be wrong…

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TV Review: Brave Young Men, BBC Three, Sunday 22 March, 11.15pm

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

brave-young-men.jpgDo you remember a while back we told you about a sitcom being produced by Steve Coogan, or, at least, his production company Baby Cow? Well you’d think that perhaps the BBC might give us a little warning as to when it was being broadcast… but apparently not. In fact, the first episode – presumably a pilot as there are no other episodes listed to be broadcast at the moment – was sneaked into the schedules at 11.15pm last night without any fanfare whatsoever. Not one measly trumpet.

Related: Steve Coogan to go sci-fi | Comedy on TV Scoop

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Red Dwarf Revival: Spaced out!

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

RDLogo.jpgThere’s now barely more than three weeks until (a) you can relax over the Easter break, which means (b) the Red Dwarf bumper weekend will be upon us! Now that we’ve had quizzes on all the major characters AND the monsters, you might think there’s no entity left for quizzage, but you’d be wrong! Click through for details of the quiz, the photos AND the latest feature as the days tick by to the television sci-fi event of the year!

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Red Dwarf Revival: A Monster week!

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

RDLogo.jpgThe countdown to the all-too-brief relaunch of Red Dwarf on channel Dave continues, and just when you thought they’d run out of major characters to hold a quiz about, those smart-alek producers have come up with a clever variation on the theme. Click through for more details on that, and also for the very first plot details ever uncovered for the new Back To Earth episodes.

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TV Review: Heroes (Trust and Blood), BBC Two, Monday, 2 March, 9pm

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

heroes trust and blood.jpgAm I missing something? Is this series of Heroes (BBC Two, Monday, 2 March, 9pm) that we have now the one set to reignite the world’s love-affair with the show? In last night’s ‘Trust and Blood’, I completely didn’t get the fuss anymore. Okay, it might seem a bit knee-jerk, as it may have been merely a duff episode… but it certainly seems to me that what Heroes has lost in intrigue and density, it’s gained in almost soapiness.

Related: Our Heroes Section | 63 Reasons To Save Heroes

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New Red Dwarf series extended to three parts!

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

RDLogo.jpgGreat news! The Easter Red Dwarf-fest that Dave have been planning (and banging on about) for weeks, and which until today was going to feature a TWO-part story, will now be a THREE-part story. I guess they were all having so much fun they just carried on filming?

Related: Sophie Winkleman on Red Dwarf | Red Dwarf Revival: Dave gets quizzical

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Sophie Winkleman on Red Dwarf

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

peep_show_big_suze.jpgNo it’s not some kind of porn for the vertically challenged who’ve been out in the sun too long, but the news that Sophie – Big Suze from Peep Show – has joined the cast for the brand spanking new episodes of Red Dwarf to be screened on Dave over the Easter weekend.

Click through for more news and links to the latest weekly RD features.

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Red Dwarf Revival: Rimmer’s turn for the quiz

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

RDLogo.jpgAnother week ticks by and Dave unveils another bag of goodies designed to tempt new fans and old back to their website to sample the delights of Red Dwarf in advance of Easter weekend’s festivities. With almost exactly two months to go, this week it’s Arnold’s turn to be the subject of the quizmaster-general and this week also saw the crew filming on the Coronation Street set. Click through for links.

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The Day Of The Triffids attracts all-star cast to BBC One

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

triffid poster.jpgA while back, our John told us all about a new Day of the Triffids, set to hit our screens on BBC One. Well, the BBC has announced the cast and what a famous all-star cast it is! Starring in the show will be none other than… deep breath… Dougray Scott, Joely Richardson, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave, Eddie Izzard and Jason Priestley! Phew! Good eh? The show is currently in production for transmission later this year.

Related: Day of the Triffids next for a re-imagining

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Red Dwarf Revival: Dave gets quizzical

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

RDLogo.jpgThe countdown to the first new Red Dwarf story in years continues over on Dave, where with infinite precision and an evil laugh they gradually reveal new stuff to tempt the newbie and the long-term fan alike. For those of us who are already panting at the thought of the old crew being back together again, this is nothing short of torture. But we like it! Yes, there’s a word for people like us. But I can’t pronounce it. Click through for details of what’s new today, links, and whatnot.

Related: Mof’s Midweek Mindbender (Red Dwarf Special) | New 2-part Red Dwarf story announced

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