CLASS, 1.1 – “For Tonight We Might Die” (TV Review)

BBC Three – available from 22nd October 2016

Created and written by: Patrick Ness

Directed by: Ed Bazalgette

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A DOCTOR CALLS

Arriving in a blaze of hype and publicity this third recent-times spin-off from the BBC’s flagship sci-fi drama may suffer from the most bland and unimaginative title ever, but it does boast perhaps the strongest continual link to its parent show, set as it is in Coal Hill Academy, a stalwart of the long-running serial right up to its most recent run, with Clara Oswald and Danny Pink both teaching there, and even the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) briefly becoming a caretaker.

Doctor Strange (Cinema Review)

12A – 115mins – 2016 – 3D

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THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION

“Leave behind everything you thought you knew…”

A career-ending car accident sees astonishing-but-arrogant New York neurosurgeon Stephen Strange (Benedict Black Mass Cumberbatch) traverse the globe in search of revolutionary and non-traditional healing techniques to cure his damaged hands. In Kathmandu, Nepal he is introduced to The Ancient One (Tilda Trainwreck Swinton), a master of the mystic arts who harnesses the desperate doctor’s spiritual powers to unleash his full potential.

Lady Gaga “JOANNE” (Album Review)

Label: Streamline / Interscope Records

Release date: 21st October 2016 (UK)

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SMOKIN’ THEM ALL

“I confess I am lost…”

Three years in the waiting, Lady Gaga finally satiates her legions of little monsters with her follow-up to 2013’s critically-muted Artpop. Consciously stripping back the ostentatious gaud and circus-esque electro-surrealism she flaunted on stage as much as in the studio, LG5 – as it was known online before the official title, in tribute to her late-aunt, was unveiled – still has flourishes of beat-driven poppiness (A-Yo and John Wayne are rockier standouts) but on the whole this personal collection feels more mellow and repressed. Clearly crooning with Tony Bennett has had an impact.

ZAPPED, 1.2 – “Mr Charisma” (TV Review)

Dave – 20th October 2016 – 9:40pm

Created and written by: Dan Gaster, Will Ing, Paul Powell

Directed by: Dave Lambert

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BALD MOVE

The middle episode of Dave’s new mini-com transmitted on the “home of witty banter” after Red Dwarf XI‘s “Krysis” last Thursday night, a full fortnight after Zapped‘s premiere was available to preview on UKTV Play.

RED DWARF XI.6 “Can of Worms” (TV Review)

Dave – Thursday 27th October 2016 – 9pm

Created by: Rob Grant and Doug Naylor

Written and directed by: Doug Naylor

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PIPE DREAMS

Ten series and two episodes ago – in the hazy mists of 1988’s I.4, to be precise – was the last time Cat (Danny John-Jules) was given his own episode. “Waiting For God” established the evolution – and mass-migration – of the felis sapien race away from Red Dwarf. Since then, everyone’s favourite sharp-suited pussy has been ever-present (if not ever reliable) on ship, but more in an auxiliary role.

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (Cinema Review)

12A – 78mins – 2016

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HOLY ANIMATED ANNIVERSARY REUNION, BATMAN!

Half a century before Bat-fleck, before Bale, before Clooney, before Kilmer and even two decades before Keaton, Adam West donned the iconic pointy-eared cowl for three seasons of light-hearted 1960s crime fighting japery which revelled in the comic potential of this comic book adaptation.

Miles Ahead (DVD Review)

15 – 96mins – 2016

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THE JUNKIE AND THE FLUNKIE

“Man, what a waste! He’s probably more profitable to us dead than alive now.”

Set in Manhattan in the late 1970s during the King of Cool’s wilderness years, Don Cheadle – the man many in this Marvel-dominated cine-scape will know predominantly as “War Machine” – excels himself as co-screenwriter, director and lead actor in this surprisingly unsycophantic passion project which drops the iconic and isolated “social music” pioneer into an impromptu  gangster flick of sorts.

Storks (Cinema Review)

U – 87mins – 2016 – 3D

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ALWAYS DELIVER!

18 years after the world’s stork population stopped delivering tots  to expectant parents (“there are so many other ways to make babies now,”) and started working in package delivery for online retailer cornerstore.com, the factory’s sole human – an orphan named Tulip (Katie Crown) brought up by the feathered flock after her homing beacon was destroyed – accidentally restarts the baby-making machine on the eve of soon-to-be-boss Junior’s (Andy Samberg) term at the top.

Inferno (Cinema Review)

12A – 121mins – 2016

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SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND

A decade after he first strapped on Robert Langdon’s cherished Mickey Mouse wristwatch in the much anticipated conversion of The Da Vinci Code from page-turner to must-see movie, screen legend Tom Hanks is back for a third global race against the clock as author Dan Brown’s sensationally-popular Harvard professor, cryptographer and Indiana Jones for the 21^st century.

RED DWARF XI.5 “Krysis” (TV Review)

Dave – 20th October 2016 – 9pm

Created by: Rob Grant and Doug Naylor

Written and directed by: Doug Naylor

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BEYOND BEYOND A JOKE

Episode five of a standard British six-part sitcom series is – unofficially – considered the “dumping ground” for the less-marketable, less-spectacular episode of the series, hidden deep enough into the run that loyal fans are unlikely to be dissuaded from sticking with it, before the following week’s grand finale knocks everyone’s socks off.