Gracie Abrams and Paul Mescal. Getty Images for BAFTA
After three awards shows, all in Los Angeles, Hollywood’s A-list is heading across the pond. Yes, it’s time for the BAFTAs, the annual ceremony that honors the best in British and international cinema. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the BAFTAs are once again taking place at Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre tonight, Feb. 22, but with a new host. This year, Alan Cumming is taking over duties from David Tennant, who hosted the ceremony for the past two years.
Even a Time Lord (or a guy who’s spent a great deal of his career wrangling Time Lords) can’t confirm when Doctor Who will return. But the BBC has made assurances we’ll see the TARDIS again, with or without Disney assistance, and while viewers may have had mixed feelings about the Fifteenth Doctor’s farewell, there’s still a ton of goodwill for Doctor Who as a franchise. Fans want to see it succeed, and two of the show’s most beloved stars have an idea of what might be the way forward.
As the Radio Times reports, David Tennant (the Tenth and Fourteenth Doctor) and Billie Piper (who played Rose Tyler and was last seen regenerating out of Ncuti Gatwa, somehow) were at the recent Los Angeles Comic Con and agreed they’d love to do a Doctor Who movie.
“I always was pitching for that,” Piper said. “Where’s the film? … I loved it that people went to see the last Doctor Who episode [‘The Reality War’] in the cinema. I just loved that. I would love the Doctor Who experience on the big screen. They’re sort of like films anyway. But yeah, I’d do that. Wouldn’t you?”
“Oh, for sure, yeah,” Tennant said. “We’re available!”
You can’t tell from that brief exchange if the stars had a TV movie in mind—or an actual Peter Cushing-style theatrical production. It does make a certain amount of sense, though, to shake up the formula as a sort of reset before Doctor Who returns to its episodic roots. You can almost see the Dalek and TARDIS-shaped popcorn buckets.
While we ponder Doctor Who‘s uncertain future on screens, it lives on in comics—as well as a five-episode spin-off series, The War Between Land and Sea, coming to the BBC and Disney+ sometime next year.
There is an ever-burgeoning genre in the world of film and TV: that which can be ascribed to something like a “rest home caper.” From Book Club to Poms to Queen Bees to A Man on the Inside, the growing genre isn’t without its merit. However, apart from A Man on the Inside, there has yet to be a truly standout offering within this category in recent years. The Thursday Murder Club proves no exception to the rule. And, like most movies (whether Netflix or otherwise), it is adapted from a novel of the same name. Though one imagines the book’s author, Richard Osman, didn’t quite have this in mind when envisioning the translation of his work from the page to the screen (but then, he likely never suspected that Netflix and co. would come knocking on his door at all, so why not just take it as a blessing, no matter how the final product turned out?).
Of course, to cushion the blow of the, shall we say, “wonky” execution, there is the cast: Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie. A veritable who’s who of British heavy hitters of “a certain generation.” But it’s Imrie who has the most experience with this genre, having previously appeared in Calendar Girls and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (along with its sequel). Alas, her “experience” with this kind of material does little to spare it from being a hatchet job. Regardless of Steven Spielberg being a producer on the project via Amblin Entertainment. And yes, one imagines that it was Spielberg’s long-standing relationship with writer-director Chris Columbus that landed him the gig, replacing Ol Parker as director. Yet it is Parker who has more adjacent experience with the “rest home caper” genre, with The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again all under his belt. No matter, apparently. The production went on with Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote taking over the screenwriting process and, in so doing, trimming away here and there at the book’s original structure, which often features diary entries from Joyce (Imrie), the retired nurse that Elizabeth (Mirren), Ron (Brosnan) and Ibrahim (Kingsley) invite into their club to help them with a particular “humdinger” of a case involving a woman named Angela Hughes, whose murder ultimately went unsolved in 1973—indeed, the Thursday Murder Club specializes only in cold cases.
Cold cases that require a sharp mind to solve. So it is that, by bringing Joyce into their group, she quickly learns two things: 1) part of the reason she’s been enlisted is to replace Penny Gray, a former detective inspector recently transferred to hospice care and 2) because of Penny’s former profession, they have access to these types of files that would otherwise be confidential. In the book, Joyce acknowledges these two points as follows: “I suppose there had been a vacancy, and I was the new Penny… Penny had been an inspector in the Kent Police for many years, and she would bring along the files of unsolved murder cases. She wasn’t really supposed to have the files, but who was to know? After a certain age, you can pretty much do whatever takes your fancy.”
To that point, when you get right down to it, that is what this genre is all about—reminding people that the elderly aren’t to be underestimated or written off. For to do so is often at one’s own peril. And yes, it’s also a “gentle” nudge for those audiences outside the demographic it’s aimed for to remember that they, too, will “be there” someday. Albeit probably not in a place as tony as Coopers Chase, which also happens to be one of the linchpins to solving this seemingly quagmiric mystery. One that all goes back to the murder of Hughes.
However, it isn’t Penny who brought this cold case to the TMC’s attention, which should be the first red flag to viewers. Instead, it’s Elizabeth who fished it from the proverbial wreckage, curious at how a woman could have died from a stab wound in that particular part of her body so quickly—this stabbing done before being thrown out of a window. And thrown out of it just as Hughes’ boyfriend, Peter Mercer (Will Stevens), happened to be walking home from the pub, seeing a masked man run away from the scene of the crime. It is from this very moment, the outset of the movie, that the believability factor, combined with the acting delivery, is made apparent in its badness by how “la-di-da” this Peter character is about chasing after his girlfriend’s presumed aggressor, barely bothering to walk after him, let alone run as he shouts, just once, “Stop!” But, of course, after about another two hours of circuitous attempts at offering “red herrings” (in the spirit of Agatha Christie, which the book version of The Thursday Murder Club had intended), the viewer is at last shown, in an extremely dry iteration of how Mystery Incorporated (a.k.a. Scooby and the gang) unveils their findings, who the true killer is. And, in truth, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! actually does offer more sense (and entertainment) in terms of the final results of their cases.
With The Thursday Murder Club, it’s obvious that the tone and wit of the book dissipated in the translation, making the way in which the case unfolds less of a “joy” and more of a grin-and-bear-it fest. And no, even the presence of some younger British heavy hitters, like David Tennant and, increasingly, Naomi Ackie, can’t do much to alleviate the core problem of the movie: it insults the intelligence of its intended audience with its hyper-saccharine nature. To be sure, Chris Columbus does tend to be responsible for making these types of movies (e.g., Gremlins and The Goonies). However, in the past, the final result has been far more, let’s say, “aware of itself” (see also: Mrs. Doubtfire, the obviously far better collaboration between Columbus and Brosnan).
Whereas, with The Thursday Murder Club, it’s clear that Columbus feels there is an “elevated” aura to it…and surely, in part, because of the “Spielberg cachet.” What’s more, Spielberg, too, is well-known for being a champion of the saccharine. But, like Columbus, he has had much better luck in the past with carrying it off than he does here, where the mantra of everyone involved seems to be, “Just an entire vat of sugar makes the medicine go down” (even if you might almost immediately yak it up right after).
That medicine, in this scenario, being the notion that—gasp!—the elderly can have a life after “a certain age.” Can still use their bodies and, even more importantly, their minds to great effect. Often to greater effect than those younger than they are. Just not when it comes to this particular adaptation of a book.
NEW YORK (AP) — The notion that online gaming could help players develop charitable habits seemed bold when the anti-poverty nonprofit Comic Relief US tested its own multiverse on the popular world-building app Roblox last year.
As philanthropy wrestles with how to authentically engage new generations of digitally savvy donors, Comic Relief US CEO Alison Moore said it was “audacious” to design an experience that still maintained the “twinkle” of the organization that’s behind entertainment-driven fundraisers like Red Nose Day.
But the launch was successful enough that Comic Relief US is expanding the game this year. Kids Relief’s second annual “Game to Change the World” campaign features a magical new Roblox world, an exclusive virtual concert and a partner in children’s television pioneer Nickelodeon.
The goal is to instill empathy and raise money through a scavenger hunt across various realms, including SpongeBob SquarePants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Users travel through portals to collect magical tools that will improve their surroundings. The net proceeds from in-game purchases will be donated.
The community-building inherent in collaborative gaming is intended to subtly encourage off-screen acts of kindness.
“It’s a little bit like me helping you, you helping me — all of us together. I love the idea of doing that in a game space,” Moore told The Associated Press. “It’s not meant to be a banner ad or a sign that says, ‘Do Good.’ It’s meant to be emblematic in the gameplay itself.”
Nickelodeon is also promoting an instructional guide for kids to start their own local projects in real life such as backpack drives.
Quests are delivered from wizards voiced by “Doctor Who” icon David Tennant, “Veep” star Tony Hale and “Never Have I Ever” actress Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. One wizard invites users to “embark on an enchanted journey to awaken the heart of your community.”
The campaign will culminate in a weekend music festival on Roblox beginning Sept. 13 that features rock band Imagine Dragons, whose lead singer Dan Reynolds has focused his philanthropy on LGBTQ+ causes. Virtual acts also include Conan Gray, Poppy, d4vd and Alexander Stewart — all musical artists who got their big breaks on YouTube.
Moore said she was “blown away” by last year’s numbers. The inaugural game has been played for over 32 billion minutes and one performance received the highest “concert thumbs up rating” ever on Roblox, according to Comic Relief US.
Charitable donations are increasingly being made through gaming, according to business strategist Marcus Howard.
The fit comes naturally, he said, considering that young people value experiences such as gaming over the material possessions that past generations might have bought at a charitable auction.
“It just makes sense,” Howard said.
But he finds that partners must overcome the negative stigma associated with online chat rooms. To its credit, Howard said, Roblox combines the creativity of popular competitor Fortnite with less “toxicity” because of its emphasis on cooperation over competition.
Comic Relief US kept in mind the need to build a game that appeals to both children and their parents, Moore said.
To navigate that tricky balance, the nonprofit has adopted a mindset that she credits Nickelodeon with originating: Include parents in the conversation but speak to their children.
“Good games are good games,” Moore said. “Good games that make me feel good are good things.”
___
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and non-profits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
The BAFTAs red carpet has begun. BAFTA via Getty Images
Awards season is in full swing, and after a flurry of ceremonies in Los Angeles, it’s time to head across the pond. Tonight (Feb. 18), the British Academy of Film and Television Arts will host their annual Film Awards, celebrating the best in cinema. Oppenheimer received the most BAFTA nominations (a staggering 13), with Poor Things coming in second (11 nods).
David Tennant is hosting the 2024 BAFTAs ceremony, held at Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre. It’s always an exciting night, as A-listers flock to the British capital to fête the best and brightest in the film industry. The star-studded red carpet never fails to impress, as attendees go all out for the glamorous evening. Below, see all the most exciting moments from the 2024 BAFTAs red carpet,
David Tennant is set to host the BAFTA Film Awards for the first time.
The actor — best known for playing Doctor Who — will oversee proceedings during the U.K.’s biggest night for film on Feb. 18 at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
“I am delighted to have been asked to host the EE BAFTA Film Awards and help celebrate the very best of this year’s films and the many brilliant people who bring them to life,” said Tennant, whose career across film, TV and stage also includes “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “Good Omens” and “Broadchurch.” He can currently be seen playing Macbeth at the Donmar Warehouse.
“We are over the moon that David Tennant will be our host for the 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards,” added BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip. “He is deservedly beloved by British and international audiences, alike. His warmth, charm and mischievous wit will make it a must-watch show next month for our guests at the Royal Festival Hall and the millions of people watching at home.”
Tennant follows previous hosts Richard E. Grant and Rebel Wilson, who helmed the ceremony in 2023 and 2022, respectively, with the British Academy — which long relied on the services of Stephen Fry — now appearing to go with new faces each year.
The news comes just ahead of the revealing of the BAFTA longlists, covering all 24 categories, which will be announced on Jan 5. The final nominations will be unveiled on Jan. 18 by former Rising Star award nominees Naomi Ackie and Kingsley Ben-Adir.
The BAFTA Film Awards will be broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer in the U.K., and on BritBox International in the U.S., Canada, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway and South Africa.
Some of you may be surprised that a gay Call of Duty ship is in the top ten of fanfiction site Archive Of Our Own’s annual, unofficial roundup, but I’m not. Not long after the 2022 release of Modern Warfare II, a bevy of TikToks bimbofied Call of Duty character Simon “Ghost” Riley, who is only ever shown in-game wearing a full face mask with a skull emblazoned on it. The baby girl-ification of the decidedly masculine character led to a massive increase in Archive Of Our Own (AO3) stories shipping Ghost with fellow hard-boiled military man, John “Soap” MacTavish.
This Modern Warfare 3 Gameplay Feature Spices Up A Weak Campaign
According to the roundup, which ranks the pairing tags with the “greatest gain in total fanworks” posted to AO3, the two potential lovebirds are the sixth-most popular ship on the site, and the second-most popular from the world of gaming, falling behind only Genshin Impact’s Kaveh and Alhaitham. The next gaming ship on the list? Baldur’s Gate 3’s vampire hottie Astarion and the player-character Tav. Check out the entire list below.
As you can see, Good Omens’ angel and devil duo Aziraphale and Crowley top the list, likely thanks to the performances from Michael Sheen and David Tennant in the Amazon Prime series based off of the Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett book of the same name (they were 30th last year). In second place, we’ve got a tried-and-true ship: Harry Potter’s Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, followed by Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya from the BungouStray Dogs manga. In fourth place, the holdovers of 2022 stand strong: Stranger Things’ Eddie Munson and Steve Harrington, though they’re down from their first-place ranking in 2022. The newest addition to the AO3 rankings is Genshin’s fifth-place spot, which is rather impressive, and then there’s our Call of Duty Task Force 141 boys, who jumped up a whopping 75 spots this year—and I think I know why.
Call of Duty’s Ghost and Soap, in love
Late last year, Ghost became such an iconic character for shippers and ThirstTok fans that even wildly popular influencer Brittany Broski (you may know her as Kombucha Girl, though she has long since grown beyond that moniker for me and millions of others) was openly pining for him on the social media platform. In September of this year, Broski bought herself a Cameo (a personalized celebrity video you can purchase for yourself or a really funny birthday present) from former Ghost voice actor Jeff Leach, who offers videos of himself wearing full Ghost cosplay for $99. The subsequent clip of her watching her personalized Cameo almost sent me into orbit.
Though it may initially seem like there’s several degrees of separation between the inherently masculine and bombastically bro-y Call of Duty series and very graphic, gay fanfic, AO3’s 2023 roundup is here to dispel your disbelief. I did a cursory glance to see what kind of content was on offer and found comics depicting Ghost as an actual ghost who provides emotional support for a very-much-alive Soap, a story where you’re a new recruit to Task Force 141 and the masked man piques your sexual interest, and one where Soap’s aunt brings home a new SAS boyfriend for Christmas who turns his attentions to her nephew instead. The Ghost content is either deliciously raunch or adorably sweet, but almost all of it is very, very gay.
The layered, complicated connections between the military and LGBTQIA+ people has a long and messy history, but clearly something about Ghost and Soap is clicking with fanfic writers across the world. Are there any other additions to this year’s list that surprise you?
Correction 01/02/2024 at 4:00 p.m. EST: It’s Michael Sheen in Good Omens, not Martin.
Traveling with the Doctor is not safe and many companions already know that. So why did the Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris) have to hurt the Doctor like this? In “The Giggle,” we had to watch as the Toymaker uses fun puppets to completely wreck our emotions. At least, my emotions.
As the Toymaker forces the Doctor and Donna through a fun house of doors, he leads them into a room for his “game.” The Doctor (David Tennant) knows what the Toymaker can do. It is why he asked Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) to go back to the TARDIS the minute he realized who he was dealing with. Still, what ended up causing me such a visceral amount of pain was simply the Toymaker telling Donna the truth about what happened after she left.
Before the two even realized who they were up against, Donna was trying to ask the Doctor about himself and the non-stop world he was living in. He essentially ignores Donna, as he is wont to do, and instead points them in the direction of the Toymaker’s shop. But this led to what the Toymaker was teasing regarding all the companions that came after Donna Noble.
Donna didn’t know about the regenerations after her Doctor. She didn’t know about the other “companions” and the Toymaker didn’t leave any nuance in describing their endings. And let me tell you, laying out their stories with the Doctor like that, without any kind of explanation? It was brutal and wholly unnecessary.
My girls don’t deserve this!
The Toymaker uses puppets to show Amy Pond dying while the Doctor points out that she dies of old age, years after she is trapped in New York. Then he shows Clara dying and the Doctor again interjects that it was her own choice after she was done traveling. Bill Potts, who does die but whose consciousness lives on, is the one that the Doctor has a hard time justifying, and you can see it as he struggles to address it.
All three of these women trusted the Doctor. He tried to keep them safe and he did, for the most part. But the Toymaker sharing these stories without the nuance theydeserve? That was rude to Donna. It was rude to Amy, Clara, and Bill. But boy was it rude to me, who loves Amy, Clara, and Bill oh so very much. Toymaker, that one hurt. Especially watching the strings of my beloved girls getting cut and falling to the stage below. Why did you have to make David Tennant relive that and cry?
Doctor Who is back, and this time, with the return of David Tennant and Catherine Tate. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the series, we as fans have been gifted with three specials that bring back Donna Noble (Tate) and reunited her with her Doctor (Tennant)—though the third is yet to come.
So now that we are deep into the specials, which is the best? This is an impossible feat, I know, mainly because seeing the Doctor and Donna back as friends is enough for me to love an episode, and I don’t really need much else more, but in ranking the episodes, we can rank them based on a couple of elements. Still, the specials are just a treat to us all, and we can love that we have them! Ranking them is just fun for now, and we can acknowledge that we just love them all for different reasons, too.
This feels like picking my favorite child, so please know that my ranking is completely subjective and not really based on anything other than simple facts and could easily change on a whim. But, for now, here is my ranking of the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials from worst to best.
2. “Wild Blue Yonder”
(Disney+)
The only reason that this is not the best is because “The Star Beast” gave us the return of Donna Noble as we know and love her. That’s the true reason. A masterclass of Tennant and Tate’s ability as actors, “Wild Blue Yonder,” is an episode that is completely down to their performing skills. Really calling back to the Russell T. Davies era of the show (prior to his, return as showrunner with these specials, as well), the episode only works because of their skill as actors and their trust in each other.
Fun, weird, and just really an episode that let Tate and Tennant have fun with these characters, it felt like a return to Doctor Who. Still, for an anniversary special, it wasn’t anything particularly special outside of the ending, with the brief, postuhmous return of Bernard Cribbins as Wilf, and so for that, it is placed at the bottom of the pack. But it is still a perfect episode of Doctor Who.
1. “The Star Beast”
(BBC)
“The Star Beast” brought us back Donna Noble so of course it is the best. While I will be saying “The Meep” for probably the rest of my life every single time I see Miriam Margolyes out in the wild, “The Star Beast” as an episode really just felt like the return to the series that many of us had been missing. While Jodie Whittaker nailed playing the Doctor, the Chris Chibnall era of the series did change the feel of the show.
It made it, for many of us, feel like a different series. That isn’t a bad thing but does change what we love about it. With Davies’ return and bringing Tennant and Tate back, “The Star Beast” just felt like taking our own TARDIS back to 2010 and returning to the era of Doctor Who that Tennant and Davies shined in.
So when the third special drops on Saturday, December 9, where will it land in the ranking? We’ll find out (and update you here) soon enough!
Doctor Who is back and more nostalgic than ever for its 60th anniversary special. David Tennant is back in his Converses as the Doctor with Catherine Tate reprising her role as Donna Noble.
The two came back with a bang in “The Star Beast” and reminded fans why we loved their pairing in an incredible episode from Russell T. Davies. But one hard-hitting moment came when the Doctor asked about Donna Noble’s grandfather Wilfred “Wilf” Mott. The Doctor believes for a moment that he’s passed away and remarks that he loved him. He is then told that Wilf is alive and living in retirement housing.
Bernard Cribbins, who portrayed Wilf, sadly passed away in 2022. Cribbins had filmed appearances for the 60th-anniversary specials before his passing. Tennant’s Doctor sacrificed himself for Wilf, which caused his regeneration. While Wilf doesn’t appear in this episode, the show still gives him a lovely moment, and a gift to fans by keeping the character alive. It’s a bittersweet but lovely moment.
It’s nice to know that he’s doing so well.
Wilf is one of those characters that you just want to protect with all your heart. Out of all of the companions and their families, he’s the one who most wanted to join the journey. Wilf believed in aliens and the world the Doctor brought to Donna’s doorstep. When he finally got to travel with the Doctor, he had the time of his life.
Knowing that he’ll come back one last time is lovely. It’s obviously emotional because we know this will be the last time we’ll see Cribbins in the role. Hopefully, we’ll get to see Wilf living comfortably, knowing Donna is happy and healthy with her memories of the Doctor restored.
Wilf getting to see the Doctor once more with Donna is going to make me cry. I know that for a fact, but I am happy that the show has given him a fitting farewell.
You could certainly accuse creators within the Star Wars franchise of needlessly injecting their media with heavy doses of fan service, and Ahsoka series creator Dave Filoni might be the guiltiest of them all. There’s a reason a tweet from April 2023 sharing a fake page from a Filoni script that follows the famous “and my ax” format from The Lord of the Rings but with Star Wars characters is so funny—because it feels, in part, like something the man blessed with George Lucas’ trust would try to pull off.
Fortnite Introduces Force Abilities In Latest Star Wars Collab
There are moments throughout the first episode of the new Disney Plus Ahsoka series that feel a bit like that tweet, and a bit like Filoni, who helmed the animated Star Wars: Rebels series, just wanted to finish telling that show’s story. But even though the frequent nods to content and characters from that beloved series may sometimes make Ahsoka feel like it’s only for the initiated, it still manages to be a compelling standalone story in its own right—maybe not as well as Andor does, but far better than, say, The Book of Boba Fett.
Ahsoka begins with something that makes me genuinely squeal with delight: a traditional Star Wars opening crawl (though in a striking red font), filling you in on the key story beats you’ll need to know going in. This is a brilliant move by Filoni—not only does it help Ahsoka feel more like a full-blown film (which it does throughout the first two episodes that aired on August 23 thanks to fantastic VFX and excellent pacing), but it gives a little bit of context for fans who may not have sat through some 200 episodes across two different kids’ shows.
The crawl tells us that Morgan Elsbeth, an ally to Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn, has been captured by Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and is being transported by the Rebel Alliance. Cue a giant Rebel ship sweeping into view, and a nice look at how the new government is running—a ship sending out an old Jedi signal is asking to board, but the Rebel captain thinks its passengers are bluffing. Most of the Jedi were wiped out during The Clone Wars, remember?
The captain was right to suspect them, because it turns out they’re two red-lightsaber-wielding bad guys named Baylan Skoll (RIP Ray Stevenson) and Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno). Both Stevenson and Sakhno shine in their respective roles—Stevenson playing Baylan like a classically trained Shakespearean villain, Sakhno imbuing Shin with a feral, twitchy energy like a corner feral cat. They kill everyone on the ship and release Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto, who first played the role on The Mandalorian), who tells Baylan that there’s someone after the “map”: Ahsoka Tano.
This is an early reminder that Filoni likes the toys in his sandbox a bit too much, as Inosanto’s somewhat bizarre line-read (she just says the name “Ahsoka Tano” before it cuts to the show’s title card) would have been so much more powerful if she never said it all. Instead, we just get snapped right to the name of the show. Listen, Ahsoka is Filoni’s best girl (and mine, too), so I’ll let him have this one.
Dave Filoni loves Ahsoka Tano.Photo: Kate Green / Disney (Getty Images)
Then we see Ahsoka herself, walking through the ruins of what appears to be an old Jedi temple. It’s great to see Dawson physically embody the role—she is reserved, almost stoic as she moves through this space, but still occasionally offers flashes of playfulness that remind us of a younger Ahsoka. And, thankfully, her fucking lekku are finally the right length. In a scene that feels straight out of Indiana Jones, Ahsoka uses her dual lightsabers to slice through the ground and drop straight into a secret room that demands she complete a puzzle to get the object she’s looking for. She does so with ease, but when she tries to communicate with Huyang (a Jedi engineer droid voiced by David Tennant), she realizes something’s not right.
She’s attacked, and we get our second lightsaber fight of the show before we even hit the 15-minute mark (hell yeah). The fight is choreographed well, and it’s clear that the team made sure Dawson’s movements (and that of her stunt double, Michelle Lee) echo Ahsoka’s competency with many fighting styles—she can move swiftly and lithely when needed, but stand tall and powerful to deflect hard hits or blaster shots as well.
It’s a great fight, but it’s the scene afterwards that gives me pause—Dawson, clearly trying to embody an older, more stoic Ahsoka than the one we know from the animated shows, can occasionally feel stiff, a stark contrast to the lively take that voice actor Ashley Eckstein brought to the character. This could, perhaps, be because this is a much older Ahsoka Tano than the teenage girl in Clone Wars (she’s certainly more reserved in Rebels, and she’s in her forties now), but it feels jarring, especially since she is such a beloved character. As my partner said during the first episode, “Those contacts don’t help, do they?” Dawson feels the most like Ahsoka when she invokes a sort of bemused disdain, which we luckily get more of in the second episode.
Ahsoka and her rebels
I love a motomami.Image: Lucasfilm / Entertainment Weekly
Ahsoka believes the map will help lead her to the location of Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), the last leader of the Empire and its heir apparent. At the end of Rebels’ final episode (which aired back in 2018), Jedi Ezra Bridger used hyperspace-traveling space whales called purrgil to banish himself and Thrawn to the remotest corner of the universe. Ahsoka hopes that the map will find them both, so that she can save Ezra and also prevent Thrawn from retaking his mantle as imperial leader and plunging the galaxy back into war.
She’ll need help, however, so she turns to two of her oldest and closest allies: General Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo). Here is where Ahsoka slows down a bit too much for some, as it tries to give the audience a better understanding of the dynamics between these three women, which were properly fleshed out across 75 Rebels episodes. Ahsoka used to train Sabine, a Mandalorian warrior and close friend to Ezra, as her Padawan, before it became clear that the two weren’t a good fit, and they both fought alongside Hera (who lost her partner, a Jedi named Kanan Jarrus) in the rebellion for years.
Unfortunately for Dawson, her reserved approach to Ahsoka only makes it harder to fully dig into her relationship with Hera (who Winstead plays like a concerned but feisty aunt through several pounds of some of the worst FX makeup I’ve ever seen) and Sabine (who Bordizzo portrays beautifully as a brash, angsty riot grrrl who uses her cool speeder bike to do an Akira-esque slide when you first meet her). Whenever they’re interacting, she feels more like an exasperated mom than a former pain in the ass herself (which Ahsoka was, just ask her older master, Anakin Skywalker). It’s unfortunate, but I’m hoping that the three women stretch and flex into their roles in future episodes.
Awoop, jumpscare.Image: Lucasfilm / Entertainment Weekly
Aside from the trio’s dynamic, however, Ahsoka looks and feels great. The lovingly recreated locations from the animated series (Ahsoka’s ship, the planet Lothal, Ezra’s crow’s-nest home that Sabine now lives in), all look amazing, like something out of a full-fledged Star Wars blockbuster. The animatronic Lothal cat has dethroned Grogu as the cutest Star Wars puppet in my opinion, and aside from Ashoka’s contacts and Hera’s far-too-cartoony outfit, the costuming and set-dressing are all top-notch. The lightsaber battles crackle and snap—there’s energy in every swing of the sword or blaster deflection that feels purposeful and well-directed, and the ASMR-heavy moments (Ahsoka twisting and turning stone columns to complete a puzzle, Sabine shifting a metal sphere to reveal a map) are tactile and almost sensual.
The episode ends with a fantastic lightsaber fight—Sabine, ever the stubborn one, takes the map off of Ahsoka’s ship despite her protestations, and discovers exactly where it leads before she’s attacked by Shin and her droids. Sabine gets a saber straight through her abdomen, something that Star Wars doesn’t do all that often (I gasped so loud I woke up one of my cats), and it fades to black. We know Sabine survives, but will her already fractured relationship with her former master, Ahsoka?
There’s love in every Ahsoka detail, like a jade heart sewn into the pocket of your jeans. You just have to allow for the hope that, like all things, it’ll get better with age.
I could say that Doctor Who is literally about a mad person in a box traveling through all of time and space and I would technically be correct, but at the same time I’d be oh so wrong. Airing its first episode on November 23rd, 1963, Doctor Who is nothing short of a phenomenon, first catching the love and admiration of the British public then going on to attract Sci-Fi lovers everywhere.
The show in a nutshell is an emotional journey and a tale about love, contradiction, aliens, and adventure. It must be doing something right since it’s been around for nearly 60 years. Although 15 of those years were due to a hiatus, there was so much love surrounding the show that it was brought back in 2005 and has been going ever since. There is no denying that the series has produced some of the best moments in sci-fi television history.
New Who
Brought back by Russell T Davies in 2005, Who has remained a constant fixture in the genre even though there as been contention as to the direction of the recent seasons. There’s been some downs over the the years, but trust me when I say the ups have been nothing short of spectacular.
Whovians around the world are now preparing for a highly anticipated 14th season that will see the return of David Tennant, Catherine Tate, showrunner Russell T. Davies, and the newest actor to play the Time Lord, Ncuti Gatwa. While we await the new season planned to air in 2023, let’s take a look at the top 10 episodes of Doctor Who. This list will be focused on New Who, so anything before 2005 won’t be here.
10. The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon
This was a perfect opener to a season that would leave us tearful, amazed, and downright gobsmacked as to how this was teed up since Silence in the Library. The first episode of series 6 gave us Eleven, River, Rory, and Amy summoned to Utah, where they bore witness to the death of the Doctor. Every second was glorious. In this two-part season premiere, we were taken on a rare trip to America where we were introduced to “The Silence.” We only had them for a brief moment, but they cemented their place as one of the most terrifying creatures in Doctor Who history.
9. Listen
Peter Capaldi’s Doctor was definitely a grower. His episodes drew some of the lowest ratings, but when asked about today, there is a certain fondness that he evokes. That’s often due to episodes like “Listen.” Despite being a show about aliens, Doctor Who doesn’t tend to veer into the horror category as much, but “Listen” is an example that shows they have no bounds to the type of story they can tell.
Listen is suspenseful from beginning to the end. The episode is unsettling because we have no clue if the “Listener” is real or not, and it preys on some very real sentiments that can be found in the real world about the Boogeyman—a creature hiding under the bed. It’s no surprise that the episode was the first of Doctor Who to be nominated for the Bram Stoker Prize, an award granted for works of horror that have been amazingly written.
8. The Fugitive of the Judoon
At this point it’s common knowledge that Jodie Whittaker hasn’t had the best run as the Doctor. This has nothing to do with her performance, but just the lackluster stories and scripts that she’s been given. That said, “Fugitive of the Judoon” is not only Thirteen’s best work, but it’s one of the best of the series as a whole.
The episode is a precursor to the two-part season 12 finale and focuses on Jo Martin, who is revealed to be a never-before-seen incarnation of the Doctor who had her memories locked away. The episode had us hooked from beginning to end and offered a jaw-dropping moment after a season of episodes that bore no real impact. Added to the cherry on top of an already perfectly frosted cake, we got Jack Harkness back.
7. The Day of the Doctor
As we are nearing what is expected to be a fabulous 60th anniversary, I would be remiss not to include the show’s spectacular 50th anniversary special. What do you get when you put Matt Smith, David Tennant, Tom Baker, and Billie Piper all in the same episode of Doctor Who? Excellence, that’s what. It was also our first full introduction to the War Doctor, and it was a marvel to see the Doctor interact with a part of himself that he held a large amount of contempt for and come to peace with his actions. This episode is one for the history books.
6. Human Nature/The Family of Blood
This is everything Doctor Who was meant to be, while at the same time never having attempted anything like it before. This episode focuses on Ten rewriting his biological code in order to appear human (harkening back to the fugitive Doctor) and taking on the alias “John Smith.”
The Family of Blood were a family of hunters intent on finding the Doctor to take his immortality. In the end, the Doctor was hiding from them not because of what they could do to him, but because he feared what he could do to them. Ten has always been a complex and rather intense Doctor, but the punishment he bestowed upon the Family definitely showed his fury.
5. The Eleventh Hour
We all have our gripes with Stephen Moffat, but you have to admit when he was good … he was fantastic. It was going to be a hard time for whomever piloted the TARDIS after David Tennant, but Smith being a relatively unknown name at the time in addition to being the youngest person to take on the role, had a harder time than most would have. All of those doubts, however, disappeared within the first 5 minutes of “The Eleventh Hour,” and he was cemented as the Doctor by the end.
4. Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
The fact that the first time we see River Song is also the last time we see River Song will never cease to blow me away. As an avid reader, a planet filled with books seems like a dream, but nothing is ever that simple with this show. Cue the Vashta Nerada, and it turns into a nightmare real quick.
This might be a controversial take, but “Silence” and “Forest” kind of set up the entirety of Eleven’s character arc, but it worked because of how good it was. River Song and the Doctor gave us some of the best stories to date, and the fact that it was based upon two people meeting at the opposite ends of their timelines … yeah. Stephen was brilliant for that one. Plus, it holds up till this day.
3. The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End
Anything with Captain Jack in it is going to be a win regardless, but this two-part crossover featuring Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures was excellent. The Daleks have been featured in Doctor Who so many times that certain aspects may seem a bit stale, but that was far from the case here. The episode concluding with Doctor Donna, and a tearful goodbye between Rose and Ten, made this one of the most emotional moments of the series. However, with the return of Catherine Kate for the 60th anniversary special, we could see Donna finally get the ending she deserves.
2. Vincent and the Doctor
This is what television was supposed to be, and I witnessed it firsthand. Doctor Who is known for going back in time and making historical figures part of the narrative. Queen Victoria, Madame de Pompadour, and Agatha Christie have all had their moments, but Vincent van Gogh shined the brightest.
Amy and the Doctor travel to Van Gogh’s time to meet the painter and have to go through the delicate nature of his mind. Written to portray the life and suffering of the man, and a real portrayal of his demons, “Vincent and the Doctor” will go down in history as one of the most poignant and heartfelt moments of the series.
1. Blink
“Don’t blink. Don’t even blink. Blink and you’re dead.” These are the words that kept me up at night. In addition to being the best episode of Doctor Who, “Blink” is the most popular and for good reason. The weeping angels are the most terrifying creatures in Doctor Who history.
Based on the ingenious premise of statues that are only statues when someone is looking at them, you have something that’s never been done before. The episode that introduces them barely features the Doctor at all. Instead, Sally Sparrow is tasked with rescuing Ten and Martha as they’re trapped in 1969.
It’s the end of an era for “Doctor Who” as Jodie Whittaker regenerated on Sunday, bringing a close to her run as the Thirteenth Doctor and first woman in the title role.
“That’s the only sad thing: I wanna know what happens next,” the Doctor said as she began her regeneration. “Right then, Doctor whoever I’m about to be… tag! You’re it.”
Her transformation led to a very familiar face: David Tennant.
Tennant, who played the Tenth Doctor in a previous run, will now also be the Fourteenth, and will star with returning companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) for three specials that are set to air next November for the show’s 60th anniversary.
“If you thought the appearance of David Tennant was a shock, we’ve got plenty more surprises on the way!” showrunner Russell T Davies ― who, like Tennant, is also returning for a second run with the series ― said in a news release.
“The path to Ncuti’s Fifteenth Doctor is laden with mystery, horror, robots, puppets, danger and fun! And how is it connected to the return of the wonderful Donna Noble? How, what, why? We’re giving you a year to speculate, and then all hell lets loose!”
Both Tennant and Gatwa feature in a sizzle reel released by the BBC teasing next year’s episodes:
