TV – Penstricken

Super Snappy Speed Reviews: TV Edition (Vol. 3)

Posted on 08/12/201907/12/2019 by Ndrw

Spoiler Alert

Anyone who has not seen The Crown, Dickensian, A Touch of Cloth, Star Trek: Voyager, Fawlty Towers or ‘Allo ‘Allo is hereby advised that this post may contain a few unavoidable spoilers.

It’s that time again! I’ve selected a random assortment of TV programs and reviewed them all in just a few short sentences. As ever, these reviews reflect nothing but my own personal opinions and impressions, abridged, compressed and foreshortened into a few brief statements of my opinion. The TV shows I have selected have nothing in common, save the fact that they are all fictional. They are not necessarily shows I particularly liked or disliked, nor are they sorted into any particular order. So, here we go.

The Crown

I love this show, far more than I thought I would. Compelling drama concerning both the personal and public lives of the British royal family, masterfully written with well rounded characters and contemporary themes delivered in a subtle and sensitive manner.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Buy The Crown (series 1-2) on Amazon

Dickensian

I am outraged and incensed that this show was cancelled after a single series because it was fan-dabby-dosey. Combining characters and settings from all your favourite Charles Dickens stories, this story focuses primarily on Inspector Bucket (Bleak House) investigating the murder of Jacob Marley (A Christmas Carol) though interweaving subplots also abound. It doesn’t really feel like a massive crossover; it feels (I am pleased to say) like a single story in its own right, with characters who naturally belong together, despite their disparate origins. A strange program, but in the best possible way.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Buy Dickensian on Amazon

A Touch of Cloth

A spoof British police drama which balances the traditions of teeth-clenching British crime drama grit with non-stop low brow humour, cheap gags and general silliness. A bizarre program to be sure, one which I felt faintly sullied by watching– but I have to admit, it made me laugh for the first episode or two. Got a bit bored after that though.

My rating: 🌟🌟

Buy A Touch of Cloth (series 1-3) on Amazon

Star Trek: Voyager

Arguably the last great Star Trek spin-off before it all went downhill with Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager follows the adventures of a single Starfleet crew stranded on the other side of the galaxy trying to find their way back to Earth. It’s certainly not my favourite Star Trek series, but it stands up well next to Deep Space Nine and The Next Generation, featuring story-writing which ranges from okay to excellent. Some episodes are very obvious rehashes of former Star Trek glories, but the more original episodes are generally worth a watch.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Buy Star Trek: Voyager (The Complete Collection) on Amazon

Fawlty Towers

What can I say about Fawlty Towers that hasn’t already been said? An elder statesman of British comedy despite (because of?) its subtle-as-a-brick and fairly formulaic humour (Guests annoy Basil, Basil gets a bit more mad, hits Manuel, harasses guests, climaxing in one final embarrassing disaster). In terms of writing, acting, production and just about everything else, it shouldn’t be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with other classic British sitcoms… but it does. I love it.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Buy Fawlty Towers (The Complete Collection) on Amazon

‘Allo ‘Allo

Another classic British sitcom based on the life of a French cafe owner during the German occupation of France who finds himself unwillingly embroiled in the French resistance while at the same time trying to run a cafe, conceal two stolen paintings, conduct two extra-marital affairs, stave off the unwanted advances of a male Nazi officer, and hide two British airmen from the Nazis. I’ll be honest: it didn’t quite tickle me to the extent it should have given how well written the humour was (though it did tickle me), perhaps because it relied too heavily on that one comedy trope I can’t stand: repeating only slight variations on the exact same joke in every episode. Still, a good show, worth watching if you’re in a silly sort of mood.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Buy ‘Allo ‘Allo (The Complete Series 1-9) on Amazon

DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT ALL THE PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF SUPER SNAPPY SPEED REVIEWS

Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Children’s Edition (Vol. 3)	Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Books (Vol. 4)
Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Children’s Edition (Vol. 2)	Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Doctor Who Edition
S uper Snappy Speed Reviews: Children’s Books Edition (v ol 1)	Super Snappy Speed Reviews: TV Edition (vol. 2)
Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Writing Apps for Android	Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Books (vol. 3)
Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Games Edition	Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Star Trek Edition
Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Books (vol. 2)	8 Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Film
5 Super Snappy Speed Reviews: TV Edition	8 Super Snappy Speed Reviews

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TV Review: Doc Martin (Series 9)

Posted on 17/11/201918/11/2019 by Ndrw

SPOILER ALERT

Anyone who has not seen any part of the ITV series Doc Martin is hereby advised that this post may contain a few unavoidable spoilers.

Well it’s finally probably definitely over this time, probably. The last episode of the last ever series(?) of ITV’s extremely popular comedy/drama, Doc Martin, aired on Wednesday past. And so it seems only fitting that I do a little review of the final series of a show which has been with us now for fifteen years.

Before series 9 started, the last few series of Doc Martin had been unremarkable. It felt a bit like the main story (the ‘will they, won’t they’ between Louisa and Martin) was well and truly over after series 7, since Martin and Louisa had already got together, had a baby, split up, got back together, got married, separated and got back together again and were now living in marital ~~bliss~~ contentment with a son. What more could they possibly do before fans started throwing bricks at the TV and screaming for them to just get divorced already?

Well, as bold a move as it was, I was pleased to see series 9 did not really focus too heavily on Martin and Louisa’s relationship with one another. There was a lot more focus on Martin’s career, which was put in jeopardy when the GMC come to investigate his fitness to continue practising medicine; the difficulties Martin and Louisa have producing a second child and the lives of other characters, particularly Morwena and Al, who are about to get married.

In actual fact, this series had a great deal of potential. Individually, each episode was very enjoyable. The classic Doc Martin humour seemed as fresh as ever and there seemed to be lots of different story lines all intermingling in a way which promised a worthy climax for such a popular and long running show. I was loving it…

Until we got to the end of the series, that is.

Don’t get me wrong, the final few episodes were good fun in and of themselves, however in the last episode or two, it felt like most of the key story-lines which made up the overall story arc had either been rushed to a sudden ending or forgotten about entirely. For example, Martin and Louisa trying to have a second child could have easily provided a whole series worth of rising tension climaxing in a dramatic final resolution. However it was poorly executed. They acknowledged their difficulties in having a second child early on in the series, began attending a fertility clinic and in the final moments of the last episode, Louisa reveals that she is pregnant. There was, however, nothing in the middle; no rising tension of any kind, unless you count the odd cheeky comment from minor characters here and there.

It also looked like something significant was going to happen with the undertaker. This brand new character popped up in quite a few episodes and there seemed to be some tension between her and Louisa for some reason that was never fully explained. In the final moments of the series, she asks Martin to father her child as a sperm donor. Martin refuses and that’s that.

The final episode in particular felt a bit anticlimactic when compared with the final episodes of other series. Usually these feature the highest drama, as the rising tension is finally released in one big medical emergency in which Martin performs some heroic medical procedure to save the day while resolving all emotional conflict between himself and Louisa. None of that this time. Martin went for his final assessment with the General Medical Council and, realising how poorly he had performed, decided to resign from being a doctor, moments before Louisa announces her pregnancy. There is a tense moment as they realise he has picked a bad time to quit his job, Martin says a very uncharacteristic and out-of-the-blue ‘I love you’ and that’s that. Frankly, the series did not feel finished.

If I sound like I’ve hated this series, nothing could be further than the truth. I looked forward to it every week and I enjoyed every minute of it. It was funny, it had drama and it was everything Doc Martin should be on an episode-by-episode basis. Only the sloppy story arc let it down, which was real a pity on the final series. I’ll still be getting the DVD though and I encourage you to do so too.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Click here to pre-order Doc Martin series 9 on Amazon

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Throwback Thursday: 5 Sci-Fi Tropes I Could Live Without

Posted on 31/10/201926/10/2019 by Ndrw

First published 29/10/2017

Among the many styles and genres of fiction which I enjoy, I must unashamedly confess to a particular fondness for popular sci-fi and fantasy. Yes I know it’s all just unrealistic escapism into a nonsense world of space adventures, suspiciously human shaped aliens and humanity being conquered by the very robots we built to help us but still… it’s fun. And you know… fun’s allowed, even if you like serious literature.

All the same… there have to be limits. But for some reason, sci-fi is just chock full of certain clichéd tropes, some of which are so very ridiculous that it frankly beggars belief that they ever became clichés. The others are just plain done to death. What follows are some of my (least) favourites.

The Holographic Hook

You’ve got to write a space opera and are struggling to come up with an exciting opening scene to draw the audience in from the very beginning. Solution: an exciting space battle! Ships firing at one another, hand to hand combat between aliens and humans, lasers, explosions–

Then an admiral calmly walks onto the scene and ends the simulation. It was all just a holographic training exercise!

This kind of scene, made famous by the Kobayashi Maru scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (and then repeated time and time again in one form or another), gives the audience a burst of excitement that has very little bearing on the story which is to follow. The best it can do is foreshadow some internal conflict the protagonist may face later on in the story.

Please… it’s been done too often. Put some effort in and come up with a proper hook for your story.

Is That You Clive?

You’re alone on an abandoned space station or a spooky castle. Or maybe you’re just home alone, meticulously colouring in your colouring-in book on a dark and stormy night. Suddenly you hear something… something rattling, hissing, banging… perhaps even a sinister inhuman voice whispering your name.

You spin around wildly.

‘Is that you Clive?’

No. No, it’s not Clive. It’s never Clive. And really, ask yourself, is this the sort of thing Clive normally does? If it is… you need to dump Clive and get yourself some nicer friends. Just saying.

Just once I’d like to read or watch something where the victim doesn’t automatically assume that the scary noise is their friend pulling a cruel prank on them. Or better still, just once, I’d like it to really be Clive pulling a cruel trick. At least I’d be surprised.

Hey Clive, Are Those New Horns?

Something terrible has happened to Clive. He’s being controlled by an alien or replaced with a robot duplicate. His behaviour is erratic. His speech has become strange. His eyes have turned luminous green and he has grown horns.

And no one really notices until it’s too late.

My personal favourite example of this occurs in the Doctor Who episode, Rose. Rose returns to her boyfriend’s car to find he is now made entirely of plastic and is talking funny. And what does she do?

Goes out for dinner with him. She suspects nothing until the Doctor fires a corkscrew straight through his skull without injuring him. And she’s supposed to be his girlfriend.

Sigh.

We, The People of Earth…

So it finally happened. Aliens have made contact with humanity. They may have come in peace or they may have come laser guns blazing, but one way or another, it’s first contact day for the people of Earth.

You know Earth, don’t you? Seven-point-four billion different versions of the truth, spread across one hundred and ninety five independent sovereign states (to say nothing of those who want to break away and start their own nation or conquer others) all gathered together on one planet, unable to agree on even the most trifling of matters?

A whole host of different political ideologies, systems of government, international treaties and religious beliefs, and yet when the aliens finally come, humanity all rallies around a single leader, or at the very least, sets aside all their differences. Usually it’s the President of the USA, except in Doctor Who where it can be just about anyone except the President. In any event, I have a sneaking suspicion that if aliens did make themselves known to us today, humanity would not respond with a single unified voice, or even two or three differing voices. Call me cynical but I think it would probably be chaos.

Ask yourself this. If aliens landed on Earth today:

How would Donald Trump respond?
What about Kim Jong-Un?
What about Angela Merkel?
What about ISIS?
What about the Pope?
What about the World Health Organisation?
The Scottish National Party?
The British National Party?
Richard Branson?
Kim Kardashian?
The writers of Doctor Who?
The guy that sells the Big Issue in the town centre?

You get the idea.

Magical Alien Artefacts

I don’t really have a problem with functioning magical artefacts if you’re writing a fantasy, set in a world of magic and myth, rather than a sci-fi set in space and/or the future. At its core, sci-fi (even silly popular sci-fi) tends to speculate on the advancement of technology and science, rather than the possibility that magic might actually work. If we are assuming that magic is not real, as sci-fi tends to do, we have to ask some serious questions about why it would work on an alien planet.

‘Ah, but, you see, it’s not really magic!’ I hear you cry. ‘It’s just technology that seems like magic!‘

But if it’s just technology… why dress it up like magic? Star Trek is very guilty of this. Whether it’s the legend of the Tox Uthat (a quantum phase inhibitor which appeared in TNG: Captain’s Holiday), or Vulcan mythology concerning the psionic resonator (TNG: Gambit), there just seems to be no end of magical artefacts in space which are actually just very clever technology. Technology made of stone. Stone technology that does magic. Heck, some even involve meditating and muttering incantations.

Dishonourable Mentions:

Everybody knows how to fly every kind of spaceship in the universe, even if it is of completely alien design.
Everybody knows everything about science.
Rough alien taverns. Just once, give me a classy alien wine bar.
With just a slight modification to the engine/shields/BBQ grill, we can do some sci-fi magic to save the day!
The bad guys believe emotion is a weakness and that is their Achille’s heel.
Love conquers all (exemplified in the Doctor Who episode Closing Time, where Craig is turned into a Cyberman then somehow manages to turn himself back into a human simply because he hears his baby son crying… as if he was the first parent the Cybermen ever upgraded. Seriously, I preferred it when the Cybermen’s greatest weakness was gold).
Universal translators.
Legendary technology, planets or lifeforms which really do exist.
Having a weapon of mass destruction called ‘The Weapon’. By all means call it the Super Zappy Death Ray, but don’t call it The Weapon. Use your imagination and give it a name.
Shooting the control panel/monitor shuts down everything on the entire spaceship, unlocks every locked door and/or disarms the Weapon.
Snippets of news reporters telling the general public how to survive the alien invasion. I repeat, do this to survive the alien invasion!
Jeanie who works at the shop is actually THE PROPHESIED CHOSEN WARRIOR QUEEN OF ALL THE MULTIVERSE and she doesn’t even realise it.

Well that was a far from exhaustive list but I’m glad to have got it off my chest anyway. Thanks for taking the time to read this post. Be sure to leave us a wee comment below and don’t forget to ‘like’ this post and follow us so you never miss another post. You can also follow Penstricken on Twitter and like Penstricken on Facebook, if that’s what reverses your polarity.

Until next time!

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TV Review: Death in Paradise (s. 1-2)

Posted on 20/10/201919/10/2019 by Ndrw

Well, my wife and I have been digging around in the Netflix treasure chest looking for something we hadn’t watched before when we found this little gem: Death in Paradise. Set on the in the Caribbean, this TV show follows the exploits of a stuffy and meticulous English detective inspector who has been assigned to head up a tiny team of police officers working on the sun drenched shores of the fictional island of Saint Marie.

While it is primarily a murder/mystery style drama, focusing on a traditional ‘who dunnit’ formula, it is obviously not without a generous dollop of humour. The protagonist, D.I. Poole (Ben Miller), is a classic fish out of water. He despises sunshine, parties and anything remotely French; three things which abound in his new environment. Rather than adapt, Poole staunchly treads the burning sands of Saint Marie in his suit from morning till night as he works alongside his new fun-loving colleagues, including his sidekick and obvious foil, Camille (Sara Martins), solving an improbable number of murders on such a small island.

It was a slow start for me. The premise, though simple, appealed to me. I always enjoy a good murder/mystery and the fish out of water trope can be fun. Nevertheless, after the first episode, I still wasn’t quite sure if I was going to like it or not. It seemed to lack that je ne sais quoi that allows you to forget you’re watching people acting and enjoy the story. Realising that most TV shows have a few teething problems on the first episode, however, we persevered and have quickly become hooked (in spite of the shock of s. 3 ep. 1, but we’ll stick to s. 1-2 today).

As is so often the case, the characters are what make this show what it is. The premise is interesting enough, but not enough to keep a viewer hooked and at a technical level the show is pretty unremarkable but the characters (especially the regular cast) are what make it worth watching. Despite his stuffy, snotty-nosed, and borderline xenophobic tendencies, there is also a vulnerable and even lovable side to D.I. Poole. As the show progresses, his relationship with Camille develops into one of mutual respect, friendship and even hints of romantic attraction despite their obvious differences and the frustrations they often feel with each other. My only regret with their mutual story arc is that was cut rather short when D.I. Poole left the show at the start of s. 3 with the romantic tension left never really resolving itself, not even with a single bumbling kissy scene.

The two uniformed officers who work under Poole and Camille, Dwayne Myers (Danny John-Jules) and Fidel Best (Gary Carr) are similarly excellent in their supporting roles. Fidel in particular has his own little story arc weaved into the background of the main story, focusing on how he tries to juggle his career with his responsibilities as a husband and father. The Dwayne character, though beautifully portrayed by the actor, is a little more undercooked from a writing point of view, though remains a joy to watch as he bombs around on his motorbike, flirts with a different girl in every episode and takes a ‘traditional’ gung-hoe approach to policing.

Critics have often accused this show of being very formulaic. They’re right. Every episode without fail begins with the discovery of a body, the credits roll, there’s a vital clue that everybody dismisses but Poole can’t stop thinking about it, they interview the suspects, gather around a whiteboard covered in photographs, Poole has a sudden inspiration brought about by something innocuous and they all ‘gather in the ~~drawing room~~ bar by the pool’ Poirot style so Poole can reveal all and arrest the guilty party. Throw in a the odd will-they-won’t-they scene between Poole and Camille and you’ve got your episode.

In spite of this, it’s still a great show to sit down and lose yourself in. It’s funny, endearing, with enough drama to keep you engrossed without adversely affecting your blood pressure. Give it a whirl and don’t judge it too harshly by the first episode. It picks up quickly.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

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Review: Kim’s Convenience (season 1)

Posted on 22/09/201921/09/2019 by Ndrw

SPOILER ALERT

Anyone who has not seen season 1 of the CBC TV show, Kim’s Convenience (season 1) is hereby advised that this post may contain a few unavoidable spoilers.

Every now and again, you’ll be perusing Netflix looking for a new show to watch, unsure as to what you’re looking for and feeling frankly jaded with the search. Nothing looks any good. It all looks rubbish. Sure, you could always just rewatch Star Trek for the billionth time, but that would feel like admitting defeat.

You look up at the clock and see bedtime is fast approaching and you still haven’t actually watched anything. In a panic, you take a gamble on some random Canadian sitcom you’ve never heard of and are quite sure is going to be rubbish. A few hours later, much to your surprise, you’ve made it all the way through to season 2 and deeply regret having to turn it off to go to bed. Such was my experience with Kim’s Convenience.

This show, based on the stage play of the same name, focuses on the lives of a family of Korean-Canadians who run a convenience store in Toronto. Kim Sang-il (more often referred to as ‘appa‘, which I gather means ‘father’) and is wife Kim Yong-mi (umma) immigrated to Canada from Korea, and hold fast to Korean tradition and values while their daughter Janet, who is fully assimilated into Canadian culture, frustrates her parents by her refusal to take over the shop or marry a ‘cool Christian Korean boy’. Meanwhile, Mr. Kim’s estranged son and reformed teenage convict, Jung, works at a car rental shop with his flat mate under the supervision of a socially awkward manager who also happens to have a crush on him.

As is so often the case with TV shows I like, the characters in this show are what make it what it is. Sitcom characters are often very two dimensional, easily whittled down to a smattering of traits and nothing more but the characters in Kim’s Convenience have all got a little extra depth. Nothing too deep (it is still a sitcom), but their motives, goals and conflicts are sufficiently defined that we do actually find ourselves caring about the characters and not simply laughing at them. I found I was eager to discover if Shannon and Jung were going to get together or not, or if Jung would ever speak to his father again or if Janet would ever win the approval or acceptance of her parents. As a result, this show is often funny but sometimes touching, without being over the top with it. As a result, the closing scene of the final episode (big spoiler coming up now) packed a heartfelt punch which sitcoms often lack, as Mr. Kim sorrowfully accepted his daughter’s decision to move out of the family home by giving her a relentless list of instructions about how to be a good roommate, thus providing a satisfactory conclusion to some of the conflicts in their relationship throughout the series.

Janet: I’ll still be working at the store. You’ll barely know I’m gone.
Appa: I will know.
Janet: Appa… let’s get some hot chocolate.
Appa: Yeah. Be good roommate. Pay utility bill. Wash dish after you finish eating.
Kim’s Convenience, s. 1, ep. 13

The individual stories often touch on a lot of contemporary issues, particularly discrimination and diversity though not in a way which feels preachy or insensitive. On the contrary, there is something quite refreshing about this show’s simple and direct approach to delicate themes which maintains the show’s entertainment value without shying away from difficult subjects.

So I know what you really want to know: is there anything I didn’t like about this series?

The short answer is: no, not really. It isn’t side-splitting, eye watering laughter from start to finish, but it’s not really supposed to be. Some episodes stand out more than others and there are a few story which seem to end rather abruptly, but in general I’d call this show an ‘all rounder’ piece of light entertainment which you can easily spend an hour or two binge-watching.

Get yourself onto Netflix and give it a try. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

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TV Review: After Hours

Posted on 28/07/201927/07/2019 by Ndrw

SPOILER ALERT

Anyone who has not seen the British sitcom After Hours (2015) is hereby advised that this post may contain a few unavoidable spoilers.

My wife and I’s Now TV subscription will be coming to an end in a few days and, in an effort to save a bit of money, we shan’t be renewing it. Consequently, we’ve taken to cramming in a lot of short TV shows from Now TV to get our money’s worth. Thus, you’re going to be getting quite few reviews of TV shows over the next couple of weeks starting with the little known* British sitcom, AFTER HOURS

Well then, what can I say about After Hours? In many respects, this six episode British sitcom defies a lot of the requirements for good telly and yet I really enjoyed it.

Willow (Jamse Tarpey) hasn’t long finished school and plans on going travelling with his girlfriend Jasmine (Georgina Campbell). However, when the first episode has barely started she meets up with him in a cafe just long enough to dump him. Lauren (Jaime Winstone), who is working at the cafe, tries to comfort the dismayed Willow, and as they are talking it is revealed that she is one of the hosts of Willow’s favourite internet radio program, After Hours. She is delighted to learn that someone actually listens to and enjoys the show, and so she and her co-host Ollie (Rob Kendrick) invite him to work with them on the show, broadcasting from Lauren’s longboat on the canal.

This show contains only the absolute minimal required suspense, drama or conflict. In fact, it probably contains less than is required to make a genuinely good TV show, even for a sitcom and yet… it has a real je ne sais quoi about it, that makes it very pleasant to watch, like cuddling up on the sofa in a thick duvet. Most of the characters are friends with each other. Even Willow and Jasmine’s new boyfriend are reasonably civil. Whenever one character suffers, the other characters rally around and support and help each other. Willow’s parents want him to get a real job instead of working for free on After Hours. But they see it’s important to him, so they let him do it anyway. Willow’s father (Ardal O’Hanlon) wants the family to boycott the local supermarket. Money worries drive both he and his wife to secretly get jobs there, however this never climaxes in a shocking discovery or any sort of marital strife. The most ‘dramatic’ part comes in the final episode where Lauren and her ex-boyfriend/bandmate reunite to do a one-off gig. They sleep together, fall out and cancel the gig at the last minute. But no problem! The gig goes ahead anyway with a little help from Lauren’s friends. It’s a huge success and everyone’s happy again.

I mentioned that it’s a sitcom. Perhaps you think what it lacks in drama, it makes up for in eye-watering laughter. But I’d have to say no to this as well. It had funny bits, don’t get me wrong, but it was hardly a rip-roaring, side-splitting odyssey of mirth. It was the kind of funny that makes you smile rather than laugh. It was a really, really nice program that gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

I realise I’m making this sound frightfully dull but it wasn’t. Believe me, my wife and I enjoyed every last minute of it and were sad when it was over (though I suspect if it had gone on for too long it could have become boring; I think it was just the right length). If life’s getting you down or if you’re just sick to the back teeth of intensely depressing TV and you’re looking for a bit of comforting escapism, I can highly recommend this show.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Footnotes:

*Seriously, I had to really hunt for this on IMDB when I was doing my research for this post.

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Review: The Orville (season 1)

Posted on 26/05/201925/05/2019 by Ndrw

As a lifelong Trekkie (who has been profoundly disappointed by Star Trek: Discovery) I’ve been really curious to see what The Orville was all about. I’ve heard a lot of folk talking very positively about this show, even claiming it fills a Star Trek void in a way the most recent Star Treks fail to do.

High praise indeed. My curiosity was piqued. And so, late for the party as usual, I watched the trailer for season one before deciding to buy the DVD.

I won’t lie to you. I bought it with a certain trepidation. The trailer made it look a bit too spoofy for my liking. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good spoof, but it’s been twenty years and I’m still in remission from Galaxy Quest. Had it not been for the great reviews I found online, I probably wouldn’t have taken this gamble.

Lucky for me, I did. Season one was brilliant. Yes, it is a comedy spoof in some ways, with subtle-as-a-phaser-on-kill references to all your favourite Star Trek tropes, but it also retains something of the drama and depths that made Star Trek great.

So, that’s enough about how it compares with Star Trek. Let’s get down to brass tacks.

This series begins with Captain Mercer being grudgingly offered the captaincy of a starship after a year of wallowing in a pit of despair after he caught his wife, Cmdr. Kelly Grayson, in bed with a blue alien. He’s thrilled to be in the captain’s seat again– until he discovers his ex-wife is his first officer. The ensuing story arc concerning their working relationship is predictable but enjoyable nonetheless. The other characters are also reasonably well developed, largely playing on your favourite Star Trek tropes (an artificial lifeform who doesn’t understand humour, a burly alien with a grim countenance and so on and so forth) but distinctive enough in their own right.

The first episode or two seemed a little heavier on the immature spoof humour than the rest. Off-beat gags about how frequently aliens need to urinate, whether or not the navigator was allowed to bring drinks onto the bridge and how badly framed the Krill commander appeared on the view screen while he threatened to destroy the Orville jarred slightly, however as the show wore on it began to develop a much more even balance of humour, drama and suspense, seasoning each story with humour rather than depending on it to carry the narrative.

Critics have largely slammed this show’s mixture of drama and comedy, perhaps because it doesn’t quite fit the pattern for your typical spoof or a sci-fi drama, but instead mashes them together in a way which is, perhaps, a little unusual. But this show isn’t your typical spoof. It’s a homage to Star Trek by someone who clearly loves the show and wants to do it justice; as such there are episodes which tickle you, others which have you on the edge of your seat and others make you stop and think. I don’t think it’s a flaw. In fact, I liked that about this show. It made it stand out among other tedious spoofs and depressingly grim actual Star Trek shows like Discovery. “Majority Rule” for instance (easily my favourite episode of the season) brings together a well measured dose of humour and a plot the audience could really care about. There was something at stake. Lt. LaMarr was in real danger and we cared about his plight while also bemoaning his hilariously cringe-inducing attempts to save himself. I think this episode even has something to say about real life and the negative impact of social media on the modern world. It’s everything a meaty but light-hearted TV comedy drama should be.

Source: https://media.giphy.com/media/l1J3KYz77HU9H8Xdu/giphy.gif

I will say this against the first season: some of the stories have slightly disappointing endings. I don’t want to get too detailed and spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it so I’ll just give one example of what I’m talking about. Be warned, there is a big stinking spoiler coming up in this next paragraph. Ready? Here it comes:

In the episode “If the Stars Should Appear”, the Orville crew discover a massive ship with an artificial biosphere inside: grass, trees, cities and farms. The people living there have never seen a night sky because the ship’s roof constantly displays a day sky. They do not realise they are on a ship and, apart from a small and fiercely persecuted group of heretics called Reformers, they all revere a deity called Dorahl. Social tension is at boiling point between the Reformers and the established theocracy. Then in the final moments of the episode, the Orville crew find a way to open the ship’s ‘sunroof’, thus allowing the inhabitants to see a night sky and proving the Reformers right. Good night. The end. Mission accomplished. All social tensions resolved, truth wins over ignorance and…

Yeah. This is a dissatisfying ending, no denying it. It was too easy. You can’t just flick a switch and resolve centuries of false belief, social tension and theocratic dictatorship. Remember, these guys have never even seen stars. What do you think would happen in real life if the sky was suddenly replaced with something bizarre, like brickwork or something. Rioting, surely. Certainly not a quick fix to the main conflict that’s blighting society. Not only was it hard to believe, but it’s also one step away from deus ex machina, which is unforgivable even in a comedy. And there are a few episodes which end like that.

I do have one more complaint about this series. Sometimes, especially on the more serious episodes, key issues will be left hanging and are never referred to again. For instance, it is strongly implied at the beginning of one episode that Bortus and Klyden are having marital difficulties, as Bortus leaves for work in a huff while Klyden whines that he feels neglected. Given that in a previous episode they had recently been to court over whether or not their newborn should be given gender reassignment surgery (being female is considered a birth defect on their world), I naturally imagined that this was going to be an on-going part of the story arc but… it wasn’t. It was never referred to again and that was pretty much it.

All in all, a very enjoyable show. There’s probably a lot of good reasons why the critics can find fault with it at a technical level but if you just take it for what it is — a bit of Star Trek inspired fun — it’s a thoroughly enjoyable show. I loved every minute of it and I will certainly be purchasing season 2.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

ATTENTION AUTHORS:

You can check out our previous interviews here:

Sharleen Nelson, Author of The Time Tourists [2]

Review: Doctor Who, Series 11

Posted on 13/01/201910/01/2019 by Ndrw

SPOILER ALERT

Anyone who has not watched any part of Doctor Who reboot series 11 (including the New Year special, Resolution) is hereby advised that this post may contain a few unavoidable spoilers.

Well, well, it may feel like it’s only just begun but Jodie Whittaker’s first series as the titular character in the BBC’s Doctor Who is finally over. Actually it was over almost two weeks ago but I had to do 6 Six Word Stories for the 6th last Sunday so you’re getting the review this Sunday instead. Lap it up.

I’ve already written in some depths about the first episode, so I’m not going to waste too much time talking about that today. What I really want to do is give an overview of the series as a whole.

Let’s start with the most important question of all: characters, specifically the four regular ones.

The Doctor in this series is lively, kindhearted and generally likable. My biggest criticism is that she seems to have completely lost all her demons, and with it, her motivation. She still abhors violence but previous Doctors (especially in the reboot) have been somewhat weighed down by the violence they’ve witnessed and committed themselves. One of the things I loved about Peter Capaldi’s Doctor, for instance, was how plagued he was by his own sense of guilt. This motivated him to chase around the galaxy seeking vindication. As a result, I cared about the Doctor’s goals, even in rubbish episodes like Into the Dalek. The Thirteenth Doctor, alas, lacks this depth.

Graham wins the ‘best character’ prize by a million miles. He is haunted by the death of his wife and is travelling with the Doctor mainly as a way of fleeing from his own grief, only to be faced with it everywhere he goes, finally culminating in his showdown with Tim Shaw whom he (quite rightly) blames for his wife’s death. My only real criticism is how suddenly his hunger for revenge comes upon him in ‘The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos’ (which, by the way, was the most forgettable last-episode-of-the-series since the show rebooted in 2005). It might’ve been nice to see hints of this slightly darker side to him before he finally encountered his wife’s killer again but this is the only minor grievance I have with Graham.

Ryan started strong. His dyspraxia gave him an inner struggle to overcome, as did the loss of his grandmother; he apparently had a tense relationship with both Graham and his absentee father and there was some chemistry between him and Yasmin in the first few episodes. That should’ve been more than enough to make a really interesting character. Unfortunately, most of these issues came to nothing. His dyspraxia was barely mentioned and in no way hindered him; he deals with his grandmother’s death fairly easily and the sexual tension between him and Yasmin fizzled out into nothing after a few episodes. Only the business with his dad came to any sort of resolution, and even this in a fairly clumsy manner in the New Year special.

Speaking of Yasmin, I’m still trying to think of anything I can say about her, whether good or bad. She seemed like a nice person but as characters go, she had all the substance of the Speaking Clock. That’s not a criticism of the actress. She brought Yasmin to life as well as anyone could, but the fact of the matter is, the character could have been completely cut out of this series with almost no loss to the story as whole (even in ‘Demons of the Punjab’ — arguably the only real ‘Yas episode’ — she was just there enough to make the story happen and no more). The character was, in a word, only half-written written.

Now, what about monsters? Doctor Who has always been famous for its monsters, though since the 2005 reboot, it’s been an almost constant barage of Daleks, Cybermen and Moffat’s pet invention, the ~~eye-gougingly tedious~~ Weeping Angels. Not so this time! Every monster (barring the New Year special) was brand spanking new, which was a breath of fresh air for me at least. Although while I’m on the subject of Daleks, I just need to say one thing: since when could the sonic screwdriver disable the Dalek’s gun arm?! If sonic screwdrivers can do that, why was there ever a Time War?

This series has come under some pretty heavy criticism, especially on social media (where all the vitriol of society coalesces, kind of like in that Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, ‘Skin of Evil’, but I digress), for being too ‘politically correct’. I don’t know if that’s because the Doctor’s a woman, because they finally wrote an episode where the racism of modern history is shown in all its ugliness while still being a family friendly TV show (complete with a time travelling white supremacist bad guy) or what but in any event, I see nothing wrong with this. Oh, sure, you might not always personally agree with the message behind each episode, but that doesn’t make it bad writing. Quite the reverse. Give me a real life theme that offends my sensibilities over Moffat’s meaningless, sentimental fluff any day of the week (though just to be clear, I wasn’t offended by this series at all). When it comes to the themes that were explored in this particular series, my only real criticism is how poorly executed they were, often feeling obvious and preachy.

I have only one more criticism (and I know, it sounds like I hated this series, but I really did enjoy it): there was no series-long story arc whatsoever. Since the reboot began (and now and again in the old series, too), Doctor Who has boasted some excellent story arcs. This series just didn’t have one. Just a bunch of time travellers with no discernible motive (apart from Graham) going on lots of pointless but mostly entertaining mini-adventures, finally (anti-)climaxing in them bumping into Tim Shaw again who was, frankly, less scary second time around.

I know it sounds like I’ve really slammed this series. That notwithstanding, I did enjoy it. Really. And since I know you’re all just dying to know what I think about having a woman Doctor, I really did like Whittaker’s portrayal of the character. Please don’t come away from this thinking I hate series 11 or Jodie Whittaker. I do not and I’m really looking forward to series 12. It could’ve just done with a bit of tightening up here and there on some of the most basic principles of serialised story-writing: characterisation and development, subtle execution of themes, story arcs and so forth. But please, watch it with my blessing. It was, for the most part, entertaining and certainly not the worst series in the show’s mostly excellent history.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟

ATTENTION AUTHORS:

You can check out our previous interviews here:

Sharleen Nelson, Author of The Time Tourists [2]

Christmas Clichés and How to Avoid Them

Posted on 23/12/201819/12/2018 by Ndrw

Well it just wouldn’t be Christmas without a good Christmas movie/Christmas special of your favourite TV show; and so, since I’ve just come to the end of my series on genre clichés and how to avoid them, I thought: what better thing to post about this Christmas than Christmas movie clichés?

So here we go ho ho! (Sorry).

Film Ends; Snow Begins

Question: how do you know when a Christmas story is nearly finished?

Answer: it starts snowing and everybody’s amazed. It seems to be the only ending anyone has has been able to come up with for a Christmas flick.

There’s a really clever trick to avoiding this particular cliché. Basically, you just end it any other way you like! Kissy endings are fine, violent deaths are fine, I’ll even put up with riding off into the sunset but please, if you have any sense of compassion, don’t make me sit through another inevitable snow ending!

Christmas Miracles

These little deus ex machinas appear in an alarming number of Christmas films. They don’t tend to solve the main conflict of the story (though they sometimes do, and should be doubly ashamed of themselves) but usually involve small miracles at the very end of the story to instantly undo any lingering sadness that might remain from the struggle that has gone before. For instance, just after the main conflict of the story has been resolved and the film appears to be over, the boy’s puppy who got flattened by a monster truck in the in the first half hour of the film comes running down the road to meet him. Then the snow starts. The end.

The rules about how to write a good ending don’t just change because it’s Christmas. Your protagonists have struggled throughout the story; even if they haven’t lost anything substantial, they’ve had a rough time. There was a bad guy who wanted to hurt them. There was a real danger that Christmas might be cancelled. Your characters have developed and learned things from their strife as much as from their victory; don’t rob them of that by making everything magically fall into place for them in the last few minutes.

The Conversion of Scrooge

Yeah, Dickens I’m blaming you for this one. In this trope, there’s always a bitter and miserable old git who hates Christmas and wants to spoil it for everyone but in the climax of the story they learn the true meaning of Christmas (note: it’s seldom the true, true meaning of Christmas but usually some woolly notion about love and fuzziness) and become a nice person who decides to join the Christmas party, give all their money to the poor and generally become a real life Santa Claus (double cliché points if the real life Santa Claus is the one who teaches your miser the true meaning of Christmas).

I mean… depending on exactly what your bad guy did, I’m inclined to give you a bit of leeway on this one. After all, it is Christmas: good will to men and all that jazz. But if your antagonist has deliberately tried to ruin Christmas for everyone (especially if it involved committing a serious atrocity), a little bit of comeuppance wouldn’t go amiss… would it?

I know you want to be nice to your bad guys but come on… if you think he deserves it, then just be brave and do what my favourite Christmas movie hero always does: blow him up and say ‘yippee ki yay’. Your audience will respect you for it. They probably hate your bad guy’s guts too.

Merry Christmas!

ATTENTION AUTHORS:

I’m still looking for more authors to interview here on Penstricken, especially new fiction authors. If you’re interested in having your work featured on Penstricken, be to sure to drop us an e-mail or message us on Facebook/Twitter.

You can check out our previous interviews here:
Sharleen Nelson, Author of The Time Tourists [2]

Pants, Plants and Plans: A Beginner’s Guide

Posted on 05/08/201807/08/2018 by Ndrw

If you’re the sort of person who spends a lot of time reading up on story writing, you’ve probably heard myself or other writing bloggers talk about the differences between planners, pantsers and plantsers. It’s a spectrum we writers are all spread out across, separating those on the one extreme who plan everything before they write from those who pants their way through their story (that is, they write ‘by the seat of their pants’, making up the story as they go along with absolutely no forward planning whatsoever). And of course, slap bang in the middle of the spectrum, we have Plantsers (because it’s a combination of the words ‘planner’ and ‘pantser’, see?).

We all naturally gravitate to one side or another on this spectrum. However that doesn’t mean we can’t choose to plan, pant or plant even if it doesn’t come naturally to us. After all, we might be tempted to think that one method is inherently better than the others, and that we should try this.

We might even be right. For my money, I think there are some situations where planning is more appropriate and others where pantsing is more appropriate. I’m not going to tell you categorically that any one method is better than another* but there are pros and cons to each. If you’re struggling with whatever method comes naturally to you, it may be time to try a different approach. And so, what follows is my own ~~short and ill-informed~~ concise analysis of each approach, comparing pros and cons as evenly as I can.

Planning

Strengths: Planning everything in advance saves buckets of time. If you already know exactly what is going to happen, how it’s going to happen and who it’s going to happen to, all neatly ordered into chapters and scenes, you won’t waste time writing lengthy portions of narrative you won’t use. You can also rest easy in the knowledge that your first draft won’t have too many large plot holes to sort out.

This makes it easy to work to a schedule. If you know you can knock out 1000 words a day, you can reasonably well estimate that it will take you about three months to complete a draft, especially in those first drafts, because you won’t get stuck about what to write.

Weaknesses: it’s easily the most strict approach to writing. The writer must be disciplined enough 1) not to begin writing a draft too earlier and 2) not to deviate from the plan when he does start drafting. This does not suit everybody. Many authors find it sucks the pleasure out of writing and stifles the imagination, as new ideas insist on being heard throughout the writing process.

Tips for Planning: Be disciplined. Plan everything and resist the urge to draft until you have completed all your chapter outlines, character biographies, the lot. When you finally do begin to draft, don’t deviate from the plan. Add nothing, change nothing, remove nothing. Write it exactly as you planned it. Remember, dear planner, you’re not making art. You’re constructing an intricate machine.

Pantsing

Strengths: This approach to writing allows the imagination to run wild. Most people who write stories tend to do it because they’re people who like to dream, to create and to give artist form to their flights of fancy. Pantsing lets you do just that. I often find that, while pantsing can produce a lot of excess material, some of it can even be later recycled to create a whole new story. Many of my story ideas have come from material I rejected while pantsing an earlier work.

Weaknesses: If you’re serious about writing for any reason other than as a hobby, you will probably find this approach seriously undermines your productivity and success, especially if you’re writing anything longer than a short story. Pantsing out a novel length story in a couple of months is easy in theory but it is doomed to be full of half baked themes, plot holes and other inconsistencies that will need to be fixed before they can pass over any agent or publisher’s desk. You may find yourself virtually starting from scratch when you come to do your second draft, assuming you ever reach the second draft stage.

Tips for Pantsing: Don’t get too attached to your work. A draft that has been fully pantsed will require a lot more editing than a meticulously planned draft. While killing your darlings is always good advice for any writer, pantsers will probably find themselves producing a lot more darlings (because their imagination has been given unlimited credit in the sweetie shop) that have to be killed (because their story will be full of things that simply don’t work).

Plantsing

Strengths: Plantsers have the best of both worlds. They are anchored to a plan but they are not enslaved to it. If the author wants to make changes halfway through writing their draft, or if they identify problems with their story, they can simply adjust the plan as they go along. The imagination is thereby given space to work but is also kept under a tight leash.

Weaknesses: It’s probably the hardest method to strike the correct balance with, even if you do find yourself naturally gravitating towards it. Planners know to write nothing until their story is fully planned out and pantsers don’t give a rip if their story doesn’t make sense in the first draft, but plantsers must learn to bring these two extremes together and make them work in harmony. It is difficult to create a systematic approach to plantsing and will be largely figured out by trial and error. This can be time consuming and frustrating.

Tips for Plantsing: Plantsing is not creating a plan then disregarding it, nor is it writing a draft then making a plan around it. Both of these are a waste of time. Plantsing involves blending these two seeming opposites in a way which allows you to work to your strengths, while still enjoying the benefits of both extremes. For example, you might pants out a few zero drafts to stimulate your imagination while you plan. Alternatively you might create a very loose-fitting plan (story beats for example, but no chapter outlines) and pants out your novel within the boundaries of that limited plan. You might also decide to forsake character biographies in favour of conducting several ‘interviews’ or ‘auditions’ with your characters to help you get to know them better. The possibilities are truly endless when it comes to plantsing. My best advice is to spend a little time finding an approach which works for you.

Footnotes:

*I know what you’re thinking: ‘if he’s going to be so unbiased in his approach, why has he only got pants in the featured image and nothing else?’ Well the short answer is I just couldn’t find a single picture on the internet which depicted a plan, a pair of pants and a potted plant so I had to pick one. I picked pants because pants are funnier. Sue me.

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Until next time!

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