Review: Blackadder: The Cavalier Years

"Baldrick, your brain is like the four-headed man-eating haddock-fish beast of Aberdeen. It doesn't exist."

I post so rarely nowadays, Blackadder is a nice treat. The Cavalier Years was a Comic Relief Special, set in the period after the English Civil War. It had its own Edmund, its own Baldrick and a low budget, reusing sets from Blackadder III. Steven Fry also stars as Charles I.
     Atkinson doesn't really get much oppurtunity to develop this Blackadder, but through his efforts, he can be seen as a cross between Blackadders II and III - constantly pandering to their monarch, but at the same time outwitting them in a near-murderous fashion. It marks a progression between the two, and I like watching this between those two series. Fry's Charles I is also a good character design, although it's a clear pastiche of the current Prince of Wales - and a good one, at that.
     The plot basically surrounds Blackadder trying to avoid the Roundheads and save Charles' life. Baldrick accidentally becomes his excecutioner in the process. The episode was for an audience already accustommed to the with of Series II and III, and so it's packed with brilliant one-liners (see quote).
     Overall, it's funny, and that's what matters. It acts as a decent enough homage to that particular era, and its Blackadder III ideas makes it a great piece to watch beforehand. On Saturday, I go forward a few hundred years to a Butler, E. Blackadder Esquire, in Blackadder III.

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Review: Merlin 3.3: Goblin's Gold

Distinguished Actor and Comedian, Richard Wilson.

"Merlin! What have you done?" - The Continuity Announcer for BBC1

When I saw the trailer for this episode, laden with ridiculous, childish humour, I was horrified. So early in the series, and Merlin was making a misstep that I fear could never be fixed. Then I watched the episode. It wasn't as bad as I feared, but it still didn't rise to the standards of Series Two. While it did stroke the mythology once in a while, the incursions were brief, and mostly the episode was mindless filler.
     Merlin goes to fetch a book for Gaius, and in the porcess finds a secret room. In the room, he accidentally releases a Goblin from its lead cage, which then goes about vandalising the castle and playing pranks. Yeah, because this series of Merlin is so much darker in tone. When Merlin and Gaius get round to trying to catch the Goblin, it possesses Gaius and makes him become a straight-talking, rude prankster who likes to lick gold coins. Among his escapades are:

• Making Uther bald
• Telling everyone about how Merlin is a wizard. (Unfortunately reversed by the end.)
• Making everyone in the throne room flatulate. (The real down point of this episode.)
• Burping loudly.
• Insulting knights and getting hideiously drunk.
• Exorcising money from the townspeople by selling fake potions.
• Scaring Morgana.
• Giving Arthur the ears and voice of a donkey.

Regardless, the status quo (or whatever seems to be reminiscient of that in Series Three) is restored by the end of the episode. While the episode wasn't the train wreck I imagined it to be, one still has to consider the sparse amount of influence it actually had on the overall plot. This felt more like a Series One episode - but it shouldn't. It really shouldn't, not at this stage.
     Series One of Merlin was battling, in spirit, with the other Doctor-Who filler Robin Hood. They both had medieval fantasy based off of a British myth, but Merlin was still finding its feet and thus Hood proved more popular. When the already shoddy Robin Hood declined in its third series (as we witness here) Merlin's second series became high-quality entertainment. And now it seems to have snapped back to the first series again. Why? It can't be budget, because it's got the highest budget the show has ever had.
     Merlin needs to pull its socks up if it's going to get anywhere with the already stunted mythological side of things. Next weeks' episode looks like even more filler.

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Review: Doctor Who Classic: The Invasion

1969. The Invasion is a powerful story, and it's also a long one - it's eight episodes and 200 minutes leave plenty of time for the slow-burning thriller to mature. While one would think that this length could bore viewers, Invasion manages to keep one's attention for all three and a half hours....
     Tobias Vaughn is the head of International Electromatics, which controls all of the world's electronic goods. He and his secret police control areas of housing and have sites all over the world. When The Doctor arrives, with Jamie and Zoe in tow, they seek out their old friend Proffessor Travers, to help them fix some of the TARDIS' circuits. Instead, his collague Professor Watkins has moved in in Travers' absense - but now even he has gone missing. As The Doctor and Jamie explore IE and their plot to control the world, they also meet UNIT, led by the Doctor's friend The Brigadier (who would later star in episodes with UNIT until the show's final series in 1989). By the half-way point in the story, it is revealed that Vaughn's allies are a very early form of the Cybermen.
     The most interesting thing in this episode is definitely Tobias Vaughn. Kevin Stoney does a wonderful job in creating Vaugn's silent megalomania, and his overall sense of authority from the word go. The tone of the story is also quite dark, despite there not being many particularly dark things in it.

     Like The Moonbase, two episodes of The Invasion are missing - Episodes 1 and 4. However, an extra slice of budget for animator group Cosgrove Hall (who had created non-canon Scream of the Shalka and later went on to broadcast the canon Infinity Quest) meant that they, using photographs and sound recordings, were able to recreate the lost episodes. And they fit rather well; in some places I think they work rather better than the filmed episodes, with much more of a dark tone and feel.
     So, to sum up, The Invasion is a triumph. Well written, well directed by Douglas Camfield, and it's a tense, slow-burning sci-fi thriller that is well-worth the time and money spent on it.

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Review: The Resistance, Revisited

The Resistance, Muse (2009)

Times change. Opinions change with them. Long-term readers of the site will remember my earlier review of The Resistance. It was a little confused; half-way through the review, I suddeny started to love the album. To clarify the issue, I present to you this review.
     The Resistance is the latest in British indie-rock band Muse's repetoire of albums, and in my opinion it is by far the most immersive album. It has long been said that art can take one to another world; mentally, of course, Muse succeeds here where many others have failed.
     So what is the secret to the sheer number of great hits on this album? Three things. The first is continuity. Each song has a distinctive sound and yet blends in with the ones around it. The second are the instruments involved. As well as having brilliant rock, Muse blend classical music into their pieces, taking the best from both and making something that feels both enjoyable and emotional to listen to. The third are the lyrics, which are powerful yet appropriate, stirring and yet silently witty.
     Yes, this was just an excuse for me to gush over Muse, but that's my point. A line in my first review said that you had to concentrate. I now believe that the opposite is true. If you can sit back and listen to the music, without expecting anything of it, then The Resistance will blow you away. Get caught up in the hype, and you may be a little too ready to enjoy it.
   
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Overview: Blackadder II

"It isn't every day a man wakes up to find that he's a screaming bender with no more right to live on God's clean earth than a weasel. Ashamed of yourself?" - The Apocathary, Bells

After The Black Adder, the budget for the series was cut due to low viewing figures. Changes had to be made, and anyone that's read my Red Dwarf reviews will understand why they were for the better. More focus on writing and continuity made the show completely different - and certainly more laugh-out-loud that its predecessor. The series was now written with Ben Elton instead of Rowan Atkinson, and the loss of his slapstick nonsense meant that finally all of the humour came from the dialogue or the plot.
    We now find Edmund's grandson (The Black Adder had a child?), his surname incorporating his grandson's nickname. Unlike the stupidity of his relative, Edmund here is the far superior intellect when compared with the now repulsive Baldrick and Lord Percy. He is quite charming and witty, but is constantly pandering to the needs of Queen Elizabeth. Baldrick, on the other hand, has become the epitome of filth.
     The series has a good variety of episodes and themes, with a seemless introduction in Bells and a suitable finale in Chains. The new cast additions are of high quality as well - actors returning in later series include Steven Fry, Miranda Richardson (here playing the hysterically mad Queen Elizabeth), and Rik Mayall. The two most prominent guests are Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor) and Hugh Laurie, who would later play a recurring part in later series.
     Overall Blackadder II is much funnier than it's predecessor, with better writing, character design and certainly a more interesting setting. Next week I follow Edmund's similarly named grandson, Edmund, in the Comic Relief Special, Blackadder - The Cavalier Years.

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Review: Chasing Lights

Chasing Lights, The Saturdays (2008)

For me there are three types of music - Music played by proper musicians, Music I like to Listen To, and then Chart Music. Very rarely, the last two overlap, but here they do not. When I review Chart Music, I always manage to find some problem or just some way of not liking it. But I've set myself a challenge. Listen to some stereotypically Chart-Pop and see what I can make of it. Cue The Saturdays.
     The high-time of my music Nostalgia is Summer 2008, and this is where The Saturdays really stepped onto the market with single "Up". It was formulaic, but catchy, and so it of course shot up the charts. The rest of this albums' singles and all of the tracks in general are quite similar - electro-pop melodies with little passion or energy, mostly about talking to some man about some vague relationship troubles. Does it entertain? To the populist mind, yeah. They're ok songs for the teen market, and qualify well for the Chart Music category. As a more experienced and private thing? Well, for nostalgia maybe, but no self-respecting person listens to The Saturdays for their entertainment value.
     Looking at the group dynamic, it's certainly a strong bond. You get a certain feeling of sisterly bonding but each is audibly different enough to stand out in her own right. The problem is more structure and content than anything else - songs that have lazily repetitive lyrics with uninspiring subjects. The Saturdays fill the Chart niche just fine, and I don't think they want to climb out of it.

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Review: Happiness (and 150th Post)

Happiness, Hurts (2010)

Ironic album titles are nothing new. Only a few years ago, Leona Lewis had the hit single, "Happy," which was about feeling down. Here, an entire album gets the treatment, as a series of sad, down or outright deppressing songs are collected into "Happiness". The name of the band should have tipped you off, though.
    Happiness is, of course, about looking back upon despair, and that it does in many varying ways, utilising many different musical styles in the process. Maybe light rock is your forte, or maybe gospel choir-infused indie pop? Regardless, the songs are entertaining enough in their own right and the album flows well. It isn't what I would call an "emo album," - what my mother would refer to as, "Songs to slit your wrists to." There's a definite twinge of hope amongst the sorrowful chords, some little spark that stops Happiness from going too far. Whatever it is, it works well to make the album less generic.
      Notable tracks... are everywhere. I couldn't really pick out any tracks better than the others. Of note, of course, is "Devotion", which features Kylie Minogue - a positive sign to see big celebrities sponsoring actual talent for a change ("cough"Justin Bieber"cough"). Happiness is an entertaining album to listen to in all moods, with its freshness of tone and its hopeful "twinges" that bring everything together.

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This is Audenshaw Reviews' 150th Post, and I'd like to say that so far, I have had a lot of fun. Occassionally it has felt like a chore, or an extra piece of work to complete, but I see it more as a hobby. And, like all hobbies, my writing has changed a lot over the past months. Why don't you go and check out my older posts, in the archives to the right? Some are bad, others masterpieces. Regardless, I hope this blog continues for another few years, and that my readership grows with it.

For the 151st time, Thanks.

Review: Merlin 3.2: The Tears of Uther Pendragon (Part Two)

It's very often the case, with Saturday entertainment shows like this and Doctor Who, that a terrible first part is followed up by a much better second. And this is the case here, with Tears Part Two being far more enjoyable than last week's narrative casuality. While some of the aspects I was disappointed at last week still remained, it managed to pull itself together enough for me to overlook them.  
     Merlin has been carried off by The Dragon after he's been poisoned by Morgause in the woods; back in Camelot, the armies of Cenred apporach and Arthur feels the need to stand and fight while his father lies ill and enchanted in bed. Meanwhile, Morgana begins to work of taking the castle down from the inside. As the battle commences, Merlin and Arthur must help each other to defeat the enemy.
    There were some quite good scenes between Merlin and Arthur, which harkened back to their Series Two characterisations as good colleagues. Uther's hauntings in both episodes served to take the show another notch down the route of it being a darker and more adult programme. To help this, we also get some CGI undead and less of the horribly clownish evil-acting from Morgana and Morgause. Still some melodrama, yeah, but that's Merlin's bread and butter.
    Overall, a vast improvement on last week. Tears Part Two managed to make scrambled eggs into an ommelette, take a stumbling set of story ideas and fashion them into an entertaining piece of work. It seems now that the dynamic for this series will have the evil Morgana attempt to destroy the kingdom once-per episode, and Merlin has to fix things without anyone noticing his magic. It's a shame that once again it adheres to a formula, and thatthe formula is so predictable, but I think that the show will try to vary where its going this year.
     A look ahead to the next episode and... oh my. Oh god no. This is horrible. Horrible.

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Review: Scouting for Girls

Scouting For Girls, Scouting For Girls (2007)

Prior to me becoming a real fan of current music, I'd often be surprised when certain pop songs in the charts all belonged to artists that I'd heard of from the same place, like I'd never made the connection. Here we have a band that has produced a series of very memorable, very enjoyable soft-rock songs, and here they are, condensed into one album, as well as a lot more of the same. While a large amount are covers, the Scouts give their own, memorable touch.
     The album's main vibes are, as is exceedingly common, relationship based. Luckily this is done well, with believable vocals and realistic sentiment (well, for the most point.) The songs have an inescapable charm about them that distingushes them from other bands (and perhaps the song's original versions), and they all sound different enough for you to have an interesting and dynamic experience.
      It's against my reputation as a critic to accept that I find no negative criticism of Scouting For Girls' eponymous album, but I'm willing to risk it. SFG as a listening experience is an exceedingly pleasant one; the lyrics are fun in some place and profound in others, and there's enough variation in style and tone for it to not grow stale. It's just a fully enjoyable album.

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Review: Life for Rent

Life for Rent, Dido (2003)

Music can trigger memories. You can be anywhere, at any time, and when that song or artist plays, you're suddenly thrown back to a happier (or sadder) time. When I sit here and review Life for Rent by Dido, I am called back to trips across the penines in our Toyota, the cold and the wind battering the sides and misting the windows. But here, I have to be critical.
      Luckily for me and my memories, Dido's album is a wonderful set of tracks that are a joy to listen to in all moods. Her USP is perhaps her light, almost silky vocal quality, and the way she conveys emotion is especially skillful. Making use of a range of instruments, her lyrics are powerful but still light enough for a casual listening. The singles that shine the most on this album are the now-famous White Flag, the titular song, and Sand in My Shoes.
    Seeing as this is Dido's second album, I'm sure you'd expect me to comment on how it compares to the first. No such luck, I'm afraid. Not only haven't I listened to that album, it's simply that this is the album that I feel the most connection with - the one most rooted in memory, and the one I'm using as a gauge for all of Dido's work on the whole. And here we come to the main critisism of Dido's work... her voice never varies from song to song. No experimentation. No difference in key, or genre, or anything. If any two of the none-shining songs were played in a supermarket, I would recognise the artist but not know the difference between the two. It would help as well if she managed somewhere along the line to sing about something other than relationships.
     To summarise, Dido is a great vocal artist in her own right - emoteful, light, and very good at getting across what she wanrts to say. However, her songs need some variation, and if she can experiment with different genres, then she would cease being a great artist and become an excellent one.

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