Supernatural Season 10

Jensen Ackles

Jared Padalecki

reviewed by Tom-Tom

Supernatural is one of the most enduring TV series currently on television now. It constantly freshens up the stakes and risks. It isn’t afraid to kill off any one or both of its main characters and throw them screaming into Hell, Purgatory, or even Heaven. It takes big, biblical themes featuring angels, demons, and monsters, strips them to their roots, removing them of anything preachy or overtly Satanic, relying solely on the lore of the beings and places them in big plot arc after big plot arc. It’s smart enough to make fun of itself every now and then with a spoof episode, and clever enough not to try to outspread its reach. It’s been a long road which has featured the Yellow Eyed Demon, Lilith, Satan, Eve, Leviathans, Metatron, and Cain. It’s a show which began with the monster of the week formula with two handsome brothers driving around in a sexy American muscle car and has expanded to encompass its own universe.

“Planet of Giants”

First Doctor, Season Two, Serial One

reviewed by Tom-Tom

During the first moments of the Second Season of Doctor Who, the four time travelers, the Doctor, his granddaughter Susan, and two teachers from Susan’s school Ian and Susan experience a shock as the TARDIS doors open during materialization! When they arrive in a seemingly alien world, they find giant ants and flies long dead. Eventually they realize that everything isn’t large but in fact they themselves have shrunk to a tiny size. “Honey, I Shrunk the TARDIS!” might be a proper and prophetic title for this serial.

“The Tomb of the Cybermen”

Second Doctor, Season Five, Serial One

reviewed by Tom-Tom

The carryover companions from the First Doctor’s time left the company of the Doctor in The Faceless Ones, and a new one joined at the end of Season Four in The Evil of the Daleks, namely Victoria. A proper lady of high class Victorian Society, she is not used to technology or time travel. At the very beginning of the present serial, the Doctor and Jamie intro the various features of the TARDIS to their newest member. Happy at the chance to not be the only “man out of time” on board which led to his previous uneasiness with modern couple Ben and Polly, Jamie acts as slightly protective, overly critical big brother.

“The Moonbase”

“The Moonbase”

Second Doctor, Season Four, Serial Six

reviewed by Tom-Tom

One of the great tragedies of television history is the 1970’s BBC junking of 97 episodes of Doctor Who not to mention other fine shows. The First and Second Doctors’ serials were hit the hardest. Having read the corresponding novels for the missing Second Doctor serials, I can attest that the loss is momentous. Mercifully, the full soundtrack for all the missing episodes was retained. Many labors of love have resulted in animated episodes using the original soundtrack. At the very least, there are some episodes in which a sort of vague slide show of on set screen shots float through the soundtrack.

The Moonbase is the first serial, chronologically speaking, within the order of the Second Doctor’s broadcast serials to be restored. The 1^st and 3^rd episodes, previously missing, have been animated to great effect. The animation is almost black and white and is minimalist, focusing on facial expressions more than bodily movement. It’s a joy to behold. The Second Doctor’s first two serials, The Power of the Daleks, and The Highlanders, both so important as the first introduced the landmark regeneration of the Doctor from William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton, my personal favorite and his odd behavior and the disbelief and mistrust of his companions, and the second introduced the companion with whom the Second Doctor would share the rest of his entire adventures, including the crossover with the Sixth Doctor The Two Doctors.

“The Daleks”

The First Doctor Season One Serial Two

reviewed by Tom-Tom

The end of Serial One saw the First Doctor (played by William Hartnell), his granddaughter, Susan, and her two schoolteachers race into the TARDIS to escape from caveman society by faking their own deaths with torches and skulls. They came to an alien planet which, unbeknownst to them, is radioactive. This planet is Skaro. If that name makes your ears prick up, you’ll know why. It is the home planet of the Daleks. This is a long serial (7 episodes x 25 minutes) and for those used to current Doctor Who, it can be pretty slow going at times. But there is a gold mine of back story about the Daleks and the entire Skaro world.

“An Unearthly Child”

First Doctor, Season One, Serial One

reviewed by Tom-Tom

Current Doctor Who fans may think that the current series resurrected in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor is reinventing the wheel but, upon closer examination, Steven Moffat and co. often make references barely perceptible to even hardcore fans of the series. The Ood, (from the Ood Sphere) introduced during the Tenth Doctor’s time look rather similar to the Sensorites (from the Sense Sphere) revealed in Serial Seven of the Premier Season of Doctor Who.