Doctor Who / Star Wars Actor Connections

I’ve been on a thing lately of looking up where actors from Doctor Who have shown up in other science fiction franchises that I enjoy. This started out by noticing how often we’d see crossover appearances with shows like Blake’s 7 or The Avengers, but I’ve started looking further afield. Of course, if we’re looking for other popular franchises, than we can scarcely look further than Star Wars.

(Daily Doctor Who #222)

Doctor Who: Invaders from Mars [Big Finish]

Invaders from Mars was the first of a new “season” of Big Finish audio adventures featuring Paul McGann as the 8th Doctor and India Fisher as his companion Charley, produced back in the early days of the company (2002).  It features guest appearances by Simon Pegg (famous for lots of things, including being Scotty in the recent Star Trek movies, and the Editor in the 9th Doctor story The Long Game) and Jessica Stevenson (aka Jessica Hynes, who played Joan Redfern in the 10th Doctor stories Human Nature and The Family of Blood).  It was also written and directed by Mart Gatiss, who is well known for writing a bunch of modern Doctor Who episodes, as well as co-creating Sherlock.

Star Trek Beyond [Take My House and Make it Fly]

When I saw Star Trek Into Darkness a few years ago, I came away feeling that it was an enjoyable and entertaining adventure that was good fun to watch.  I haven’t seen it since, so I can neither confirm nor deny my initial impression, but if the internet (and my friend Rod) are to be believed, I was actually wrong.  Was I?  I don’t know.  I’d have to watch it again.

In the meantime, Star Trek Beyond is now out, directed by Justin Lin and co-written by co-star Simon Pegg.  If similar voices on the internet argue that it’s a bad movie because it feels like an episode of a TV show and because Chris Pine rides a motorcycle.

Ice Age: Collision Course [sigh]

Man, the continuity of the Ice Age films don’t make any sense. I mean, the latest film, Collision Course, opens with a scene that seems to imply that Scrat, the funny little sabre-toothed squirrel that is always chasing that indomitable acorn, accidentally set the whole solar system into place, gave the earth its moon, and even ignited the sun!! Are you trying to tell me that the previous four Ice Age movies took place on an earth that was orbiting a dead sun? Come on, that makes no sense…

Sigh.

Yes, I saw Ice Age: Collision Course. In the theatre. On purpose.

7 Things on a List on the Internet Designed to Make You Want to Click On It

Because what better way is there to kick off 2016 but with a list on the internet?

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Image courtesy of vectorolie at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Mission Impossible Rogue Nation (and a look back at the franchise as a whole)

I will get to my thoughts on the new film Mission Impossible Rogue Nation in just a moment, but first, a bit of context…

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the Mission Impossible franchise. For example, I love the original TV series from the 1960’s. (Do you guys even know that it’s based on a TV series? So many people I talk to haven’t got any idea). I loved characters played by the likes of Steven Hill and Martin Landau and Barbara Bain. I loved the weirdly repetitive formula with the self-destructing tape bit, the needless dossiers, the apartment scene, the really complicated scams, the brazenly confident drive away at the end of each job completed…

(A lot of nerdtalk about) Star Trek Into Darkness – with spoilers

Man, what an entertaining movie.  Not perfect, of course, but what is?  I had a rollicking good time watching Star Trek Into Darkness, even though the movie has a healthy dose of

Very Small Lists that are still Suprisingly Big: Simon Pegg

Third films in a series in which Simon Pegg voices a character who is a small mammal who at one point rides on the back of a flying reptile calling out crazy battle cries: