Doctor Who - New series, new species part 37

Well the Christmas special has just aired on Christmas day in the UK, but as usual I'm playing catch-up, so here are the new aliens we encountered as we bid farewell to The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Fleshkind/Metalkind










I quite liked this idea, even though I found the names 'fleshkind and 'metalkind' a little simplistic even for a kids show. But the concept of two races developing differently yet similarly and the tale of how how they drifted into endless war with each other was very well told and it was a good introduction for Sky, the fleshkind weapon who becomes another of Sarah Jane's adopted children.

Felshkind and Metalkind are two related species that diverged significantly in their development, one side (fleshkind) becoming carbon based lifeforms similar in appearance to humans, the other becoming boron based lifefoprms named 'metalkind'. Both species were able to emit powerful energy blasts and signals from their bodies, though whether this is natural or technological is unclear. The child 'Sky' was engineered to contain enough energy to wipe out the metalking in a single blast. While the crisis was averted by Sky's choice to join humanity the war still continues.

Hetocumtek









I thought this was possibly the rubbishest alien enemy in the series, which is a pity since it was in by far the best episode. Clyde's rejection by his family and friends led to an insightful and engaging portrayal of homelessness that was presented well for it's young audience, being neither overly hopeful nor direly pessimistic but showing the fight for survival that many have on the street. To bad it was ruined by a strange totem pole thing that was defeated by Clyde shouting his name at it with no explanation as to why that destroyed the monster.

Hetocumtek is the Native American name for an alien being that descended to Earth and was capable of wreaking great havokusing psychic abilities that were interpreted as 'curses' by the humans it encountered. The Indians found a way to imprison the being in one of thheir totem poles where it was imprisoned until it touched Clyde Langer. He cursed Clyde, making anyone who heard his name hate him, but Clyde retaliated with the help of his friends and broke the curse, defeating the monster.

Skullions










I really liked these little guys, at first seeming to be the villains. The story of them being slaves was cool and I absolutely loved their steampunk operating system for the hologram they operated and used to hypnotise people for their master. I really liked the reveal that there is an underground black market in captured aliens as slaves, it would have been a great plot line to follow, and I'm really hoping that some of the cool elements like the Trickster, the Captain and this trade can maybe migrate into the main show and continue.

Skullions are a technologically superior race that have fast space travel capabilities and are able to produce and control detailed holograms. One group came under the control of Serf Industries when their ship crashlanded in Asia and they were picked up and enslaved by a secret organisation that sells captured aliens and their technology to the highest bidder. They were rescued by Sarah Jane and returned to their home planet safely.

And that's it - I'll post the Christmas special soon!!

Doctor Who - New series, new species, part 35

Ok so I'm massively behind on this as well but I'm going to write about the new alien species we encountered in the recent series of Torchwood: Miracle Day and hopefully soon I'll get round to Doctor Who and SJA too!!

But one thing at a time!

Brain Parasite









A fairly generic name for this beasty. They chucked this one in to keep us sci-fi fans happy with the generally spy-thriller and not so Sci-Fi running of the show. These are bog-standard alien wormy things, but they did the job of creepy monster in a box very well. It was interesting that they were a tool of the Trickster, in that he can use them and make deals with mob bosses to change the course of the 21st century but is himself limited in making deals with people and can be defeated by a noble sacrifice. I hope the end of SJA doesn't mean we see an end to what I still think is one of the best villains of the Whoniverse.

Brain parasites are a race of beings reviled for their effect on the nervous systems of beings they encounter. On several planets they are reviled, with one exception where they are considered a delicacy. Brain parasites are sometimes deployed as weapons by those seeking to cause chaos.

The Blessing









It's still unclear what the Blessing was/is and I'm not sure if I'm ok with that. I understand the point that the characters can't know everything but to be dragged through ten episodes waiting to solve the mysteryu only to be told 'we don't know what it is' was a little dissatisfying. That said the blessing was cool, the strange crack in the world that seems to run right through the Earth and is alive and influences the development of the human race.

The Blessing is a mysterious phenomenon located at the antipodes of Buenoas Aires and Shanghai, a break in the Earth believed to run through the centre of the planet and has an incredible influence on the human race. It causes immense distress to anyone who goes near it, often resulting in suicide and projects a patterned morphic field that affects the entire human race. When fed Jack Harkness's immortal blood it made the entire human race mortal, only returning the people to normal when fed Jack's now mortal blood. The Blessing was buried in the ensuing conflict and it's mysteries remain sealed for the time being.

And that's it - more on Doctor Who soon!!

Doctor Who - comedy and Tragedy

Well Doctor Who has returned to British screens at last, I'd been away and was eagerly anticipating watching the new episodes as soon as I returned. When I did I was shocked to see the tribute message to Elisabeth Sladen at the start of the episode. These messages are usually attributed to a remote figure from the show's past, not a current leading star.

Elisabeth, who died from cancer, made a cameo appearance on the show with David Tennant, and her potential was quickly turned into an entire spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures, which didn't pander to old nostalgics, but brought in a whole new generation of Doctor Who fans who eagerly watched the former co-star with no recollection of her previous role. Her show was as exciting and charming as the one from which it was born and the loss of Sarah Jane from our screens will be felt keenly.

Tinged with this sadness is of course excitement for the new series, which is brilliant I must say. I don't know if it's globally available yet, but there may be a few things you might have missed - the first is a Doctor Who Comic relief special, which is a self-contained episode, not a sneak-peak and is official storyline while quite comical too. In it's two parts here is Time:







And also there's the official prequel to the new series, not the first part of the episode, a full prequel, which you may like to see.




And well that's it for now, I'll have more doctor who posts up very soon I'm sure.

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 32

Well this concludes the new species look of the new Sarah Jane Adventures series. And I'm afraid I have to start with an apology - I missed a species out - terrible I know, anyway I'll rectify that right now with a species missed from 'Death of the Doctor'.

Groske








Another of Who's famous 'make a species a different colour, give them a different defining characteristic and a very similar name and see if we can get away with it' species. Normally I'd be incensed by this cheap paint job, but apparently it seems I didn't even notice. The Groske character was quite amusing to be fair and to see them working for UNIT as part of a deal gave their backstory a bit of flavour.

Close relations of the Graske species, the Groske were noticeably different in their blue skin. While just as guarded as their species cousins they were more open and positive, with one group agreeing to co-operate with humans after being stranded on Earth, aiding them in building technology. Like the Graske they had time travelling capabilities and could even smell artron energy.

The Dark Horde








Nice and ambiguous this one, easy to create a threat with some masked men with an obviously evil name. However, even fore a cameo appearance, the detail in their armour and weapons gave these minor threat aliens enough personality to make them interesting and possibly worth a return visit.

The Dark Horde were a race of beings known to have conquered whole swaths of the galaxy. They were extremely logical in their attack plans, sending scout parties to size up their enemies and retreating from any planets deemed to have forces of greater or equal strength to their battle force.

Qetesh







Hmm, this lady is clearly an impostor of some sort, don't let her join you Sarah Jane, she's clearly going to trick you and be some sort of alien - guess what - SHE'S AN ALIEN!! What person wouldn't have seen that coming, it would have to be...oh...I don't know...a child?!! Hmm...ok, maybe for the target audience it isn't bad! The acting was quite cool and the CGI stomach was fun, though i think there are a few too many creatures that feed on emotions this series.

The Qetesh are a mysterious race for a number of reasons. The first being that they feed on excitement and exhilaration in people's lives. The second being that they can split their being, feeding a stationary stomach through a mobile body, which can resemble a human. One such being was exiled from their race, was able to survive a long time without air or other nourishment and decided to attack Earth through Sarah Jane Smith. Her gang counter-attacked simulating a global meteor strike with technology the Qetesh possessed, this 'over-excitement' overfed the Qetesh, destroying it's stomach and the body was returned to prison.

Well that's it for this series - there may be a few things from the webcomics at the SJA site so if I can dig something good up I'll post it up with the Christmas post - which isn't too far away now!!!

Doctor Who: New series, new species part 31

Ok so The Sarah Jane Adventures has wrapped up here in the UK. I've really enjoyed this series, it's felt more consitent and while it still has the cheesy intro on the whole it's felt a bit more grown up and realistic while still suitable for a kid's show.

Anyway - Monsters!!

Shansheeth








These are puppets and no mistaking!! To the jaded eye they were clearly fake, large creations of some lab and what's more they were unmistakably modeled on vultures while preying on the apparently dead Doctor - hmmm. But you know what, they kind of worked! Quirky special effects have always been part of the charm of Who, with 'spot the bubble wrap' being a favourite game of mine when watching classic series - but the point is when the characters react to them you believe them and so yeah, bar the odd moment, I was convinced. Plus it was nice to see Matt Smith's Doctor so that kept me distracted!!

The Shansheeth are a large avian race capable of standing vertically on two legs in a vaguely humanoid fashion. While imposingly tall, and possessing sharp beaks they are nonetheless a calming presence for those they meet. This is due to a well practiced etiquette required for the duty of choice for many outgoing Shansheeth. The Shansheeth dedicate entire fleets to searching out the dead, especially the heroic dead, and giving them a proper burial. Recently one group went Rogue and attempted to steal a time-machine in order to prevent the deaths they undertake.

That's kind of it, there was another race explored in the following episode, but they weren't really seen except for one of them who was half-human, but they did send some pretty cool robots to go stomping round looking for the boy Gavin, who turned out to be next in line to the throne.










More Soon!

Doctor Who : New series, new species part 30

Wow! The 30th post, that's some staying power! I guess the draw of new stuff will always have a strong hold on me. Sarah Jane Adventures is in full swing and has a few new aliens for us, though not many for this post as it makes use of it's own villains, The Veil in the second episode. It's great to see the series use it's own creations as a key feature rather than relying on main series monsters for a big draw - maybe the main show could learn from this - can we have a Dalek/Cybermen free series please!!!

Anyway, on with the new stuff...

Vishklar









I'm ambivalent about this one, the idea of a being from another dimension that can bring himself into our world via dreams is a bit far-fetched, but at the same time it is well established in Who lore, with other creatures such as 'Adam' in Torchwood who fed on memories. So the concept did work, but I found the character overall to be a bit over the top. The nightmare scenarios of the episode were well written and the idea as a whole worked, but the makeup and the voice made it seem like it was trying to herd to be scary without actually being scary.

Vishklar are a race of beings from another dimension. While they can create an image for themselves they are essentially incorporeal beings. They have the power to feed on dreams and one such individual was able to access the nightmares of Luke Smith, drawing power from his superhuman mind, he was able gain greater influence and control, conjuring up his own nightmare scenarios and preventing Luke from speaking his name until he gained enough power to appear in physical form. He was able to send more people to sleep until he was defeated and trapped by Luke and his friends who had conquered their fear of him.

And that's it for this post - there was also some 'Sentient Concrete' featured, but i can't find an image for it, and it was little more than a small grey plot device but good fun nonetheless. The following episode featured the return of the Veils and also the Men in Black featured in dreamland making a welcome appearance in the flesh...sort of!

More soon!

Sarah Jane Adventures Series 4!

Just a quick note to say that the new series of Doctor Who spin-off 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' will be returning on Monday, with the former-who companion, teenage co-stars and even a certain robotic dog making appearances the kids spin-off has been a big hit with kids and even us adult Doctor Who fans who need a fix in between the main series.

I won't say much more, just leave you with this trailer, which highlights a few new species - you know what that means!

Doctor Who - New Series, new species part 24

Told you I'd be back!

Well there's still a few weeks to wait for the next Doctor Who special but the Doctor and his friends haven't been quiet in the meantime oh no!

During the running of Sarah Jane there was an online Alternate Reality Game called Monster Hunt in which a number of aliens had ben copied into digital format and released onto the internet and the viewer had to help Rani and Clyde track them down. They hid on websites owned by the BBC and safe for kids, but they were still quite tricky to find sometimes and so a reasonable challenge - finding these aliens unwrapped a bigger mystery and also unlocked rewards like behind the scenes videos and screensavers.

Also online and on the 'Red Button' service was Dreamland an animated Doctor Who adventure set in the height of Roswell crash suspicion and featuring a visit to Area 51. The animation was done in a quirky CG style, which sometimes caused the characters to walk in a style almost reminiscent of Thunderbirds, but it was still good fun and featured some new aliens, which is good for the blog.

Krulius












This was the key villain of the Monster hunt. Despite the somewhat cheesy acting of the intro vids to the alien hunting the mystery of this strange creature was held throughout the quest. The narrated comic that kicked off the adventure set him up as villain and as a powerful creature, given that he had captured and 'downloaded' a number of sarah jane villains in his ship. His ultimate purpose when revealed, was quite clever as a threat to Sarah Jane.

The Krulius was an artifical life form, built on the world of Dothon. Part organic, part machine he was dangerous by his meer presence, emiting foul and toxic gas from his face. A creature of battle and destruction he decided on an invasion of Earth. Deciding on Sarah Jane as the greatest threat to his plan he captured and studied a number of her greatest adversaries and prepared countermeasures for every possiblity he could forsee. On his secret battle station he built war machines and an army of aliens like himself. He unfortunately had to download himself onto Earth's internet after his ship crashed, but used this to track down Sarah Jane and trasnsport her to his station, Sarah Jane countered by summoning the Shadow Proclamation and capturing the monster.

The Pilot















This creature played a minor role in the comic but waas still interesting, though he did go along the 'guy working for the bad guy who knows he's a bad guy but ends up turning on him and redeeming himself when it's pointed out just how much of a bad guy the other guy is' role which is quite traditional in SJA stories. As an alien he was well illustrated and defined and added additional intrigue to the story.

The pilot of the Krulius was a native of Ven Kruk Nar, an aquatic world. The pilot was an aquatic creature and required a suit filled with water to survive out of his natural environment, nonetheless he was quite at home in space and piloting a starship. After the ship crashed to Earth he was in danger because his suit was damaged but Sarah Jane aided him and he was returned home by the Shadow Proclamation.

OK - on to Dremland now.

Viperox













These guys were pretty good as a threat, big giant and scary with weird weapons and the ability to fly, tunnel and get around you pretty much any way they wanted to. What I did like was the Doctor's insinuation that in the future these war maniacs find a way to change their ways and become a force for good in the universe. I did have a few problems with them though, such as their confused motives which were a bit hard to pick out and also the complete Aliens rip-off of the Viperox Queen. Nonetheless they were a good use of the animation and a convincing villain.

The Viperox were a race of conquerors who had defeated the races of entire galaxies in their sweeping conquest. Their key advantage was in their rapid bredding of new drone, they could bring a single queen to a planet and breed an army in short succession. They had a number of other useful abilities such as flight and natural spear-type explosives that sprouted from their arms. Another ability was extremely good hearing, this was used against them by the Doctor who constructed a sonic weapon to halt their invasion of Earth.

Gray alien













I'd have liked it if these guys were named instead of sticking to the traditional Roswell monicker but at least the individuals had interesting names and characters. The story of the two lovers was compelling and made for good drama as the Doctor tried to reuinite them while battling the Viperox and also the military! The flashback to their war with the Viperox provided good context to the episode too.

'Gray aliens' is a term given by humans to aliens who crashed near Roswell in the 50s. One was an ambassador, shot down by pirates, the other her husband, shot down by a paranoid U.S. Military. They were a technologically competent race, capable of using advanced blasters and spacecraft. This did not advantage them when the Viperox invaded with superior numbers. In a desperate measure a biological weapon was constructed, but it was too late to use it. It is unknown what the fate of the race is, but at least two of the aliens survived on Earth.

Skorpius flies












A nifty little side story was created by these guys, when it wouldn't be convenient to have Viperox pop up everywhere, instead there was a hiding threat in the Dreamland vault. I did like these flies as an original villain defeated only by the Doctor's quirky ingenuity. The hive-mind brain concept idea has been done before, but it was still visually interesting and bold.

Skorpius flie are microscopic organisms that form swarms of billions that coalesce into one lviing creature. They are even able to form a brain out of their collective and use combined intelligence to track down and devour pray. When together they have a vaguely jellyfish-like appearance and can evade and track down prey. However they can be evaded by unusual thinking as the Doctor demonstrated by hiding in a box.

OK, that's it for now - I'll be back soon for more of the main show and the end of the tenth Doctor's story/song/whatever.

Doctor Who, New series, new species part 23

BIG SPOILERS for US viewers who are still waiting for the 'Waters of Mars' air date - you are warned!

But we'll start off with a bit of Sarah Jane Adventures, the series has recently concluded with episodes kinda sandwiched around the finale of the main show, which made it feel slightly disjointed in place, but they were still a lot of fun - and anyway, it's the aliens we're after eh?

Mona Lisa/ The Abomination















I should hate this, but despite the wackiness of the concept, bizarre accent of the eponymous villain and comedy capers of the cast - it still worked. It was amusing to completely shatter your concept of what Mona would act like to have this cocky, amusing maniac wielding a blaster and searching for a brother she knew nothing about. There were a number of confusing parts, such as her overall goal, which remained nebulous throughout, but the plot and payoff of her going too far in trying to take over the Earth, but also her desire to simply see the outside and the resolution of binding her back in the frame did actually make sense, so I'm not entirely sure why - but a thumbs up fro me!!

The Mona Lisa was constructed of a mysterious sentient pigment derived from a meteor that fell to Earth. A painter constructed his last piece, the Abomination, from it before the act drove him mad, then da Vinci borrowed the paint for his most famous work. The pigment then came to life and took on a personality of it's own, though seemingly unaware of it's origin, it simply knew the existance of being a painting and of wanting freedom. When the Abomination and Mona Lisa were brought together there was enough power for Mona to break free and also her 'brother', though the abomination was sealed away and did not escape. The creature was able of animating and 'freeing' other works of art to arm and protect itself, this ability was ultimately used against it when Lyke and Clyde tricked it into animating a picture of K-9 who destroyed the abomination and caused Mona Lisa to lose her power and return to her frame.

SPOILER time

The Flood











Hmm, a mysterious alien race called the flood, who attack through a small, unstoppable force which involves killing people then taking over their bodies, mutilating them in the process and turning them into more powerful enemies - the Doctor Who team either have no knowledge of Halo or play it too much!! Had to get that one out of the way!! I'll leave commenting on the episode to the podcast boys (check the link in the sidebar) but the monster themselves were, I must say, incredibly well achieved. The water flowing down from their mouths was simple and yet incredibly creepy and definitively alien and their unstoppable advance through water was very effective.

The Flood is a term given to an unknown species living on Mars. The species was presumable a viral organism of some kind that lived in water and could also generate it - it is also possible that it is a type of water itself, though the fact that it was blocked by s set of filters would indicate otherwise. When coming into even the slightest contact with biological matter it can control and possess it in seconds and then use this host to create and direct more infected water where it wants. The oprganism was also very selective, only choosing humans as they could lead it to Earth, a water filled planet. The possessed humans could eject water in incredible quantities, breaking through doors, sabotaging electrical systems and more. The organism had at some point been trapped in a glacier, possible by the Ice Warriors as a way of containing it. When humans colonised Mars in 2059 they used the glacier for their water supply, unleashing the monster - the destruction of the base ended the threat and prevented the creature from inhabiting Earth.

Rakweed











More of an honourable mention for this one as I don't know whether plants count! The Balthereen aren't a new species and have actually appeared before, though it did confuse things when they revealed they are a Blathereen-Slitheen interbred race and actually evil, evil enough to kill Slitheen in order to further their own plan.
Rakweed was some kind on minroly intelligent plant that could communicate, it mutated and spread spores which infested the surrounding area and harmed humans who breathed them in. It can be killed by sound, that typical property of all plants, and if you've eaten it that makes it explode inside you. A bit odd, but a chance for Sarah Jane to fight for her son and also use a super soker filled with vinegar - plus the Blathereen had cool wrist blasters - Sci-Fi always needs more wrist blasters!!

OK, I'm done Sarah Jane's finished, Doctor Who's not back till Christmas yet surprisingly I'll be back with another Doctor Who post very soon - stay tuned for that, plus a lot of Star Wars Legacy posts!!

Doctor Who- New series, new species part 22

Hello and welcome to Blogga the Hutt, an especially warm welcome to any Podcast of Impossible Things listeners who've decided to take a look, nice to have you - I hope my stammering and bad jokes on the show didn't put you off too much!!

So as always we're covering brand new aliens in these posts, so the Trickster, a returning baddie, won't be featured, but you wont have to go far to get info on him I'm sure. However, immediately after stating my main rule I'm going to break it!

Travast Polong











This shoddy piece of CG has appeared before, but I couldn't get info on it at the time and since they decided to reuse it in the show for what seems to be it's main purpose- a distraction and cheap effect when you don't really need an alien all that much. The antics of the creature did result in some hilarious antics from K-9, and I do like the idea of an alien arriving by post from eBay, but other than a cheap laugh it didn't achieve much. Now, as always, a brief in-universe description, mostly stolen from the Tardis wiki!

Travast Polong is a slug like creature from the world of Polongus. Though animal-like and non-communicative it does seem to be an intelligent creature. It's chief aim seemed to be to explore, which frequently caused havoc on Earth, a planet unused to aliens. At one point the creature was tracked by Sarah Jane Smith in a hospital, where it dodged her though the corridors, later it wound up in the possession of an unknowing human, who put the creature for sale on eBay. Sarah Jane identified the creature and purchased it, and after a brief escape it was transmatted back to Polongus, presumably by it's own race.

Erasmus Darkening













Not overly impressed by this one, I think I heard 'science proves everything' and 'no such thing as ghosts' a few too many times. Erasmus was quite a mysterious enemy, but unfortunately for me not in a good way. I do appreciate the power of an unknown foe, but this guy was just confusing, his aims and wants were just not perceptible and what exactly he was and where he was from seemed thrust firmly to the background so he could be just evil. There was also a mystery creature roaming the grounds that was't referenced so I have no info for you other than 'red-eyed other dimension thingy'

Erasmus Darkening was an alien from another world, most likely another universe. Somehow, 300 years ago he had travelled to our universe and became stranded. Posing as an alchemist he constructed a device to send him back to his own realm, but it wasn't fully functional. By his own power he sent people in between dimensions, ready for when he could make the journey. These people were trapped in the Manor, haunting it as ghosts. Eventually Sarah Jane defeated him with the aid of some of the 'ghosts' and destroyed his machine for good.

Well not an awful lot for you on that one I'll admit, but I didn't have much to go on, oh well, with a few more episodes and a Doctor Who special on the way I'm sure there'll be plenty more to blog about before long!

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 21

Sarah Jane has made a return to the small screen (and even the big screen if you were lucky enough to get tickets to the special event) ahead of the next special, meaning some more Who action to fill the void.

Even the Doctor himself is set to make an appearance in this week's show, but before we get to all that let's have a peek at some of the new alien races the series has introduced so far.

Veil










When I saw the title 'Prisoner of the Judoon' I worried that this episode might just be casual reuse of an existing alien and not exciting, but thankfully the Judoon were well used, and 'Androvax the Annihilator' their prisoner made the episode very exciting and watchable. When it possessed Sarah Jane it was conveyed by some excellent acting on Elisabeth Sladen's part. His nihilistic background and reasoning behind his genocidal acts made him interesting beyond the usual 'bad guy' routine, which the series does quite well such as the child kidnapping Kudlak in series 1, though unlike him Androvax was unrepentant.

He also rebuilt a ship based on plans of a ship found in Nevada at a 'Dreamland' base, couldn't have anything to do with an animated series of the same name could it, hmmmm?

Veils were an intriguing species with powerful abilities and unique characterisctics. While outwardly appearing to be reptilian, sporting scaled, razor sharp teeth and even a forked tongue, genetically they have no significant link to reptilian species. They developed the use of particle reticulation to hide within the bodies of others, notably doing so in others smaller than themselves, a little girl, and strikingly different, a fish based species. While in the bodies they 'possess' the bodily functions of the person and can access their memories, though the mind of the captive can still be active and compete for control. They also can stun a victim through touch, leaving them in a trance like state until woken up. Tragedy beset the Veil race when ecological changes to their planet caused it to freeze overm killing all Veil members on the planet, the only known Veil to escape was Androvax, who waas travelling at the time. He vowed to teach all planets the 'way of the universe' - he destroyed 12 worlds and attempted to destroy Earth before capture by the Judoon. His sentence is execution, if carried out it may end this race once and for all.

Eve










This race is as yet unnamed - I'm tempted to call the Kyrptonians because of the Superman references in Eve's story, but I will refrain and stay slightly disgruntled at the lack of name. The species was intriguing, with her looking human and yet demonic with red skin, pointy ears and dreadlocks. The perception of the character changed subtly throughout the episode, from villain to hero to possessed puppet and finally to a confused child who was a bit of everything. The backstory and use of intelligent spaceship. The introduction of 'future Rani' telling the story made the story and it's consequences event more powerful.

Eve belonged to a powerful race with incredible abilities, they were able to percieve timelines, control equipment and even people with their minds. The ability to percieve timelines made them sought after by both sides in the Time War, 'ship' made reference to many of them being 'exterminated' in the conflict. Some members of the species sent their children away to protect them, sending them in intelligent ships that could watch over them and help them control their abilities. Eve's ship was damaged and unable to help her, but Harry befriended her and kept her safe in a fairground. She also became friends with Sam, and after reading his mind asked him to bring Rani to help her, Rani was angry at Sarah Jane and wished she wouldn't interfere, hoping to solve the mystery herself. After Sarah Jane was able to harness a black hole (the ship's fuel) Eve was able to leave with Sam and Harry, as they did Ship granted Rani's wish and erased Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde from existence, leaving her alone and crazed in Bannerman road. Fifty years in the future Adam, the son of Eve and Sam who had human appearance, but Eve's abilities came back and restored the timeline.

That's it for now, for more info keep an eye out for A Podcast of Impossible Things, a new episode coming soon discussing the Doctor's appearance. Also, for more alien fun check out Monster Hunt of the SJA site.

Sarah Jane Returns!! Plus New Who

The Doctor Who spinoff for children makes a welcome return to our screens this week, well British screens anyway, but with developments in the US it might not be too long before fans over there catch up with the series.

The show looks bigger and better than ever, with a selection of new species (which means more posting on Blogga!) and returning ones from the Who universe, in the trailer I caught glimpses of the Trickster who is my favourite of the new era villains as well as a certain medico making his way to Bannerman Road.

The series starts Thursday on BBC1 - make a note! For fans in the north, there is a special event going to be held at Liverpool One in a few weeks time.

On the website there are a few decent extras, including games, fact files on monster and a new comic/ARG type thing called 'Monster Hunt' which is starting up and due to develop over the length of the series.

In related news the main show crew have updated their logo for the 2010 series - take a peek!

Doctor Who - New series, new species, part 18

Well I may as well round off this old Doctor Who thing before it becomes a distant memory. I'll cover the end of The Sarah Jane Adventures' second series and also the Doctor Who Christmas special in the one post if I may. Both species discussed are technicalities in my book but I'll include them for completeness' sake and to fill the air while I think of something else to write.

Horath

The final two episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures were rife with returning characters and species. The Trickster made another appearance, along with his Graske friend and the Sontaran Kaagh reappeared along with 1st episode villain Mrs Wormwood of the Bane. Slotted in amongst all this was Horath, some kind of ancient computery monster thing with the power to destroy the world. I'd got my hopes up with this one, but the show didn't deliver, I was hoping for some kind of epic monster similar to the Torchwood finale, but all we got was a clack hole and a typical "regain my honour" ending to wrap it all up.

Horath was an ancient menace lost to time, but found by the Bane renegade Mrs Wormwood. She coerced Sarah Jane Smith and her band into finding the scroll of Horath, hidden deep with in UNIT's Black Archive. The scroll held the key to reuniting Horath's consciousness with his physical form, but this failed to take place when Wormwood's plan was sabotaged by her former mercenary Kaagh, who she betrayed. The gateway to Horath's power was sealed and he remained captive.

Cybershade
















As I said this technically can be argued as not a new species, but simply a variation on the old Cybermen and in principle the same thing. However I do think that they are quirky enough to be discussed separately here. I did quite like the way the beast came out of nowhere, was distinctly Cybermen and distinctly new at the same time. I do wonder how they managed to create such large feathery monsters with already low technology, but I think the Cybershades are cool enough to have their place without being shot down by me.

Cybershades were an experiment of desperation, used by the Cybermen after they arrived in Victorian London. Needing to enlist new soldiers and scouts they resorted top the easier task of converting simple mids such as those of stray cats and dogs and using them to create a more basic Cyberman that could be given tasks to do, though not very complicated ones. These creatures were dubbed Cybershades and used their enhanced strength and agility to further the Cybermen's cause and to track and disrupt the Doctor as he hunted them. The Cybershades were eventually defeated when the Doctor stopped the CyberKing attack craft and caused all Cybermen to overload and die.

Thanks for reading.

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 17

Well if you're UK resident you probably recently watched the Doctor Who Christmas special - I'm eagerly awaiting the podcast boys' review on that ( and I should probably get a link up to the podcast cause it's great and features our very own member and on rare occasions poster Caleb) The podcast is a "DVD commentary" style review of Doctor Who episodes and other discussion points and makes for very good listening.

Anyway, what I was saying was that I'm actually going to plod on with the Sarah Jane Adventures monsters in this post. This series has featured a lot of returning monsters actually but there were two episodes with new monsters which I'll review here - both are actually the kind of "energy force alien possession" type creatures and so most of the work was done by the actors, which I have to say did a pretty darn good job on the thing. Anyway - alonzie, as a certain someone might say

The Ancient Lights












I liked this villain a lot actually as it stretched beyond the need for a big CGI monster or a creepy man in a green skin costume to present a great threat. It also pushed beyond the usual and even accepted that the Big Bang might not be the be all and end all, which went down very well with me. But the fact that the creature's power came from beyond the usual realm of science that could be defeated with technobable and whose power did not make sense and could not be read with scanners or defeated by energy beams.

The Ancient Lights are beings from before the Universe as we know it. When the rules of physics and logic worked differently, and where power and energy came in different forms. With the beginnings of our Universe, most creatures from their time would have perished, but at least some of the Ancient Lights survived. A great part of their power was tied up in the various horoscopes and the power of the stars and people's birth. They appeared as a beam of energy that possessed a small-time astrologer, Martin Truman and began to spread their power, taking people of different star signs under their control - but Luke Smith, who had no birth sign was beyond their power and so was able to break their hold on humanity. They vanished, taking Truman with them, but it is difficult to know what happened next as they are undetectable by current Universe technology.

Beserkers










This was a very potent episode in which Clyde's absent father returns and ends up voluntarily falling into the possession of a dangerous alien artifact. The episode balanced well, showing Clyde's desire to impress his father, despite hating him for leaving and Clyde's dad's desire for power, fueled by his feelings of inadequacy as a father and as a person. His descent into madness and the parasite's control were brought out in a believable way that was emotionally strong and thrilling viewing. The creature was another ancient myth with an "it's an alien" explanation, but despite the Who cliche it worked well.

The origins of this race are shrouded in mystery, but they did have in their posession pendants which would turn the wearer slowly into a beast with great power and the ability to command anyone to do what they desired. The wearer was initially in control, but gradually the pendant's posession spread leaving vein like lines that spread across the skin of the user. Seemingly some of these pendants fell into the hands of Norse warriors, whether purposefully or not is unknown, but from that the name of beserkers, fearless warriors with great power clad in blue war paint, spread. One pendant remained and was found in the 21st century and eventually came in the the posession of Paul Langer, who succumbed to it's power. Clyde, his son disposed of it by throwing it to the bottom of a river, where hopefully it remains safely hidden.

Well that's pretty much it, I might see if some of the things feature in the remaining episodes and the crimbo special can pass my scrutiny and be posted up some time - but don't worry there's plenty of fresh content on the boil and ready to make it's way to you soon.

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 16

I'm glad to be able to continue what is possibly my longest running and certainly most numerous series of posts. As I posted not too long ago the Doctor Who children's spin off has returned, I've quite enjoyed the show as I did last series. As ever my remit is to discuss the brand new species created by the writers and production staff. I do this partly because it saves space and gives structure and also because I'm interested in how the television crews of today go about designing and making new ideas for alien species. Anyway, with classic series aliens the Sontarans taking up the first two-parter so just one alien for you this time, but it's a good start and an interesting creature.

Jeggorabax Energy Entity












I'm always quite interested in how they do these minimum prop aliens, all they needed was a man in a clown suit for this one and it worked pretty well. I wasn't blown away by this one as it seemed to be an amalgamation of several previous Dr Who villains, it existed because of people's emotions, which made it very similar to Adam in Torchwood who lived by people's memories. The climax scene where all the children walk off in zombie state was something of a Who cliche and has been done a few times (e.g. 1st christmas special) and wasn't that scary. But the angle of Sarah Jane exploring her own fear was very potent and the fear of the loss of a child as being the most powerful were extremely interesting and made good watching.

This creature originates in the Jeggorabax Cluster, known to be home to creatures that feed on emotion. The creature seemed to have inhabited a meteor that came to Earth sometime in the 13th century. It's first guise was the now legendary figure of the pied piper who gained fear by stealing the town's children. Realising this was an efficient way of producing fear he took on a number of guises down through the ages, generally of an entertainer and frightened and stole children to keep itself alive. It was not until it encountered Srah Jane Smith that the fatal flaw was revealed, if it was not feared, if people were happy and bold in it's presence it simply could not exist, the creature was destroyed.


Well that's it only to mention the slightly intriguing fact that the new girl's called Rani...hmmm.

SF on TV

I only do this intermittently but as there's a fe decent Sci-Fi shows on TV I thought I'd quickly share with you what's on, especially as one show is premiering tonight! Not that these are shows that are in the UK and I only have freeview so it doesn't reflect what may be on other networks, but there's no point me teling you what I don't know is there?!!

OK on with the show(s)...

The Sarah Jane Adventures - Series 2 (BBC 1, Mon 4:30)

The better of the two Doctor Who spinoffs in my opinion, this series follows former Doctor's companion Sarah Jane Smith and her Earthbound friends as they combat alien menaces drawn to their part of the world. This series starts off with Sarah being much closer to her adopted son Luke and that is a definite settled state now that series 1 has been resolved, but Maria has moved away leaving Luke distraught and possible a space on the young team. Episode five airs monday, but you should be able to catch up on iPlayer - expect a "new species" post soon.

Heroes - Series 3 (BBC2, Wed 9pm)

Heroes quietly snuck back onto the BBC, I found out only hours before the broadcast! While series 2 floundered a little, due in no small part to the writer's strike, it was still one of the best things on television. The third series is already far better with new villains, great actions and more questions about what it means to have powers, specifically examining where powers come from and what would happen if everyone had them. I'm pleased to see that they are including characters from the comics too, which makes reading them a more exciting experience. There have already been several shockers and twists so I'd reccomend you get iPlayer, catch up quick and get on board while you can.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Series 2 (Virgin1, Thurs 9pm)

PREMIERING TONIGHT!!! The exciting show that delves into the world of the iconic films is back and on freeview screens in just under two hours from this post. The show was clever in that it took a slower pace than the films, allowing you more time to grasp the character's emotions (or lack of the in terminator Cameron's case) and see the backstory that leads them to where they are. The story caused some confusion as it seems to jar with T3, but it's still very compelling and with a fourth film on the horizon there's a lot of potential, and apparently it references them both so we'll have to see what's coming, but it's sure to be a heck of a ride!

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Series 1 (Sky Movies coming soon)

The new CG series set in the battles between episodes 2 and 3 of the prequel trilogy. Kicked off with the film that was released a few months back this film explores the effects of prolonged war on the Jedi and their clone allies. A common theme seems to be that the Jedi teach the clones that their lives are of value to them, even though they are grown life forms. I caught a few episodes dealing with a trap for Yoda and a Seperatist superweapon. Unfortunately the Cartoon Network site seems to have decided to block UK viewers so you can no longer watch episodes on the site, but I've included it as a link just in case. The series comes to the UK soon for people willing to pay for Sky Movies.

Well that's it, I've got stuff to do - I might add pictures if I've got time, but for now enjoy!!

Doctor Who - New Series, new species part 7

Well the Sarah Jane Adventures has wrapped itself so I will continue my review of the new species encounteres here. Power trip is going to wait until the Heroes finale on Wednesday, but i have a side project linked to it which I hope will be a cool adition to the site. Well, let's have no more ado shall we?

Uvodni
















I really liked the Uvodni, the species had an eerie mix of insect reptile in the standard humanoid form. While filling in the role of traditional extra terrestrial menace the species was original enough to make it's mark. The story behind them, if a little underdeveloped, was far beyond the typical devious plot.

The Uvodni were a proud warrior race that became engaged in a long battle with another species called the Malakh in a prolonged series of engagements known as the Ghost Wars. They fought in powerful warships controlled by a computer system known as a "Mistress" that resembled a female Uvodni and distributed tactical orders to the crew which they obeyed without question. When the Uvodni began to lost the advantage some were sent to recruit other species into their war. One scheme, headed by General Uvlavad Kudlak used combat simulating games to determine which children could be suited for war, those that excelled at the game were taken to the warship. At some point an armistice was signed between the warring species, but Kudlak's "Mistress" refused to acknowledge this because her only purpose was war. Kudlak tired of recruiting but carried on until the truth was revealed. He released the children he had captured and returned home with a promise to find any other children forced into war.

The Trickster


















I liked the Trickster, even though we know pretty much nothing about it. While my eager mind remains unsatisfied I have to say as a presence it was brilliant, and the episodes it featured in were high quality programming.

The Trickster, though that is not a confirmed name by any means, was a strange and powerful being that fed on chaos caused by the disruption of time. It could move backwards forwards and in and out of time, removing people from time and feeding on the alterations made to time. It chose one incident, the death of Sarah Jane's School friend Andrea and saw a way to get all the chaos it needed. It offered Andrea a chance at life, with Sarah Jane taking her place. But Sarah Jane had the capability to prevent an asteroid coliding with Earth and with her gone Earth would be destroyed feeding it's desire for destruction. It had two weaknesses, a memory box given to Sarah Jane nullified the effects on Maria so she remembered who Sarah Jane was, secondly it seemed bound by the consent of those it changed things for so when Andrea sacrificed herself the Earth was saved.

A species called the Graske also featured in this episode, but they have featured before and since I'm running out of time I'll leave them out.

Xylok

Mr Smith was a great aly to Sarah Jane, and having the super computer in the attic was always a cool addition to the story. So to have that character suddenly betray Sarah Jane in an elaborate plot was a shocker I didn't see coming and I have to congratulate the writers on planning that out.

The Xylok are an intelligent crystalline race that crashed to Earth long ago and eventually were buried under the Earth's surface, completely unknown to manking until Krakatoa erupted, sending one piece of the crystal flying to the Earth's surface. The crystal fell into the hands of Sarah Jane who realised it was intelligent and communicating with her computer. Eventually the crystal said it would help her and designed the supercomputer that would be known as Mr Smith. But the crystal powering the computer had a plan and he used Sarah Jane and her friends to launch a plot to shatter the Earth's surface, thus freeing the trapped Xylok, but killing many humans in the process. He was stopped by a powerful virus which deleted his memory. His mind wiped he now continues to serve Sarah Jane and the rest of the Xylok remain where they are.

Well that's it until the Christmas special, hope you enjoy reading

Doctor Who - New Series, new species part 6

First an anouncement - I'm abandoning the species of the week for the moment as it is not fulfilling it's purpose and is halting me from more rewarding posts like this one.

OK, so it's actually the Sarah Jane adventures but it's based in the same 'universe' so I'm quite happy to shove it under the same banner as it stops me having to make up new titles every time a spinoff comes around. For those of you unfamiliar with the series it is a show specifically aimed at children, rather than the "family" show Dr Who and "adult" Torchwood. Like Torchwood it is based on Earth along a linear timeline where the cast have to solve alien based mysteries with the help of a few alien gadgets. The characters are Sarah Jane, a former companion of the Doctor, her adopted son Luke, her neighbour the young Maria and her friend Clyde. Together they investigate and interact with the oftentimes dangerous visitors that come to our world.

So I will cover in two articles the new alien species encountered in this new series - which shows 5 o clock on Mondays on BBC 1 if you're interested.















Bane

I actually really like the Bane species, despite their obvious "we are the bad guys name" it was actually one of the most credible CG aliens I've seen in Doctor Who it seemed to have a real physical presence as well as a cool look. And despite enacting one of the great Sci-Fi crimes of "ooh we've defeated the enemies now the building we're in will blow up for no concievable reason" they still manage to be a respectable creation in my book.

The Bane were a dangerous species characterised by a mass of tentacles and one looming eye. Little is known about them other than that they came to Earth and tried to conquer it by somewhat unorthodox methods. Disguised as humans using technology that masked their larger bulk, but limited their abilities, such as mind reading, they set up a company called BubbleShock, marketing a new drink that soon became hugely popular. The drink in fact contained enzymes secreted by the Mother Bane and enormous specimin housed in a warehouse that later allowed them to manipulate the humans that drank it to do their bidding. They were susceptible to cellphone transmissions and when amplified by alien technology a phone signal was able to defeat the Bane and bring an end to their scheme. It is unkown if this group was representative of the whole species or just one Mother and her young.

The Archetype

Now known as Luke Smith, this boy was artificially created by the Bane to help them perfect their techniques in manipulating humans. He was combined from samples of thousands of humans, especially those who rejected Bubble Shock. While he is a human being he is notable for having a much greater intelligence, memory and rections than most people. He also has no belly button! While very intelligent he is still very inexperienced and finds it hard to adapt to the world.

A later adventure involved a Slitheen plot, but since Raxicoricofalibatoriands have previously appeared in Doctor Who I don't mention them here.











Gorgon

The Gorgons were ok as a species, I like the touch of removing the snake heads and putting that down to Greek embellishment. Otherwise I thought they were ok, but I wasn't particularly bowled over by them. I especially didn't like the whole mind control aspect of the Gorgon with the nuns as it came out of nowhere and the nuns, especially Helena gave a very convincing performance of someone dedicated to serving a more powerful being.

The Gorgons are a powerful parasitic species with deadly abilities. Three came to Earth several thousand years ago. They need a host body to survive on Earth, and need to move on to another after the host's life expires. Their deadliest weapon is to be able to turn a victim to stone simply by sight. They bided their time, waiting for the right moment to bring their entire species to Earth for conquest. But one was killed by the Greek warrior Perseus early after their arrival, another was felled by an archaeologist in the 1950s. The archaeologist's wife kept a hold of the talisman a device needed to open access from the gorgon world. Sarah Jane eventually foiled the plot and Maria halted the Gorgon by using a mirror to turn her to stone, the same technique perseus had used.

Well that's it from me, but SJA is well under way so expect more soon.