Gareth

"The Beginning" is a BBC box set encapsulating the first three adventures of the First Doctor, played by William Hartnell.

This is where it all began, folks. From such humble beginnings: two school teachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton follow one of their pupils home. Susan seems out of sorts with the world around her: she has an in-depth knowledge of history but her knowledge of science dwarfs even Ians, yet she has hardly any street savvy and acts extremely mysterious, so much so that Ian and Barbara want to learn more about her. When she leads them to a junk yard on Totters Lane and walks into a discarded Police Telephone Box they are both bemused. They are surprised when she never comes out, and shocked when they force their way inside and are faced with the incomprehensible sight of an interior that is not only completely alien but also much larger on the inside. It is then that they are introduced to Susan's grandfather... The Doctor.

This is a masterful introduction, full of mystery and intrigue and when we first see the TARDIS interior (even after 46 years) it's still a shock -and we know what to expect. Quite what this did to audiences back then is beyond me. The Doctor though is the real enigma. We are so used to the Doctor being a friendly and upbeat character that to see William Hartnell as an irascible and thoroughly unfriendly old man is a shock. In the early episodes of the series he is shown to be an unpleasant troublemaker and the story focuses on the plight of the two schoolteachers. This changes, of course, as the series progresses, but for these first three adventures we are witness to the growing tensions and disputes between the TARDIS crew.

The first adventure, "The Unearthly Child" has a rather forgettable storyline as the TARDIS crew are transported to the beginnings of time by mistake -due to Ian's meddling. However the storyline merely serves as a backdrop to the growing tensions between the two groups of characters: the school teachers and the time travellers. It's this tension that drives the story and means you can almost forgive the dodgy sets and special effects. However, one must remember that this was never envisaged being a cultural phenomena and none of the BBC executives had any idea what it would lead to. None of them could ever have dreamed it would become world renowned as one of the most popular science-fiction franchises.

The second adventure sees the TARDIS landing on an alien planet, which has been decimated by nuclear war. The Doctor wants to investigate further by Ian and Barbara want simply to go home. The Doctor deliberately sabotages the TARDIS so they will have no choice but to explore further, putting the whole crew at risk to radiation poisoning. On discovering a vast metallic city Barbara is separated from the others and trapped deep within where she is faced by something menacing and frightening. Something that would lodge deep within our collective subconscious and send child after child to the back of the sofa: The Daleks. I've often wondered about the reasons for their longevity - why they frighten people still. It could be because of their complete lack of emotion and their total single-mindedness. They are a faceless killer, one you can not reason with or emote against. They live to kill and destroy; annihilate and exterminate. And it is because of the Doctors meddling this time that the companions are threatened by this unimaginable evil.

With The Edge Of Destruction, the third episode in this box-set, the story focuses solely on the four characters and is centred wholly in the TARDIS. Something causes the TARDIS console to explode mid-flight, rendering the crew unconscious. When they all come to they're confronted by a TARDIS which behaves strangely: the main doors open of their own accord and tensions start to fray amongst the teachers and the time-travellers as they have to deal with the realisation that something very deadly might be going on. This is a tense and fraught episode, and a stroke of genius focusing on just the underlying conflict between the TARDIS crew. This is the type of story writing I feel is sorely missing from the recent episodes of Dr Who where they focus on either the big events happening at the cost of the interactions between the characters or focusing on minute details of the characters at the cost of the story.

This is where it all began, as I said at the start, and its easy to see why Dr Who has had such an impact on the imaginations of the thousands and thousands of lives its touched. It was a stroke of genius -as much as out of budgetary constraints, etc- for the writers to shroud the Doctor in mystery and led to the creation of one of the most enduring characters in popular culture of the last century.

I feel this is an overlooked gem, and I've only just seen it for the first time -and loved it! It's got everything! Great sets; amazing make up; an all-star cast; intriguing plot; Danny Elfman music... what more could anyone ask for?
Beatty has managed to capture the old ‘40's comics perfectly and the movie oozes class and charm from every scene. Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino deserve special mention as both manage to deliver career highs (Hoffman, miraculously so as he only communicates through barely legible mumbles.. hence his name!) and even Madonna is damn fine!

This is one of the best comic adaptations, since Superman: The Movie (the others seem to lose something in translation to me) and definitely deserves to be given a second chance. More people need to see this film just for it's entertainment value!!

I loved this film, which surprised me! I'm not Guy Richie's biggest fan -actually hated Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels - so was extremely sceptical when I heard that he was directing the new Sherlock Holmes film - but it just goes to show what happens when the story's right and the actors are spot on.

And weren't they just!! Robert Downey Jr was superb! Perfectly cast as Holmes and it was refreshing to see Watson played as more of a clued in & active participant -rather than a fumbling oaf as in previous regenerations - which was down to Jude Law.

In some ways, they've reduced Holmes down to a Victorian version of James Bond - and I should be really incensed at that. But the trouble is they've done such a damn fine job!!! Holmes is ever the enigma -here we see a man who can not function without Watson, and the relationship between the two is so hazy and although it's never stressed or hinted, there's a frisson between the two that is unmistakable (the phrase, like an old married couple, springs to mind.)

The action and fight scenes are well staged and nicely break up the film without being too distracting or erroneous. There are also lots of in-jokes for those people that have actually read some of the books, without being at the expense of those who haven't.

In short, I couldn't find anything about this film that I didn't like. There will be a sequel - one that the arch-fiend Moriatey will no doubt appear in. And I must admit... I can't wait!!

Originally conceived as a televised novel, Pennies From Heaven gave Dennis Potter the chance to flex his creative muscles. Potter had previously written many one-off drama's for the BBC in such programmes as Wednesdays Play and Play For Today, but Pennies From Heaven was the first multi-part production which allowed Potter to embellish and mix complex drama with darkly laced, musical fantasy.

This is a masterpiece, with a career-making performance from Bob Hoskins, which looks at the dark underbelly of post-war (WWII) Britain. Hoskins plays Arthur, a frustrated sheet music sales man; frustrated, though, in more ways than one. All he wants is to be loved by his wife, Joan (played masterfully by Gemma Craven), who is repressed and less than willing to give herself to Arthur's desires. Whilst on a business trip he falls in love with the innocent, but passionate schoolteacher Eileen (Cheryl Campbell) and when she becomes pregnant with his baby his life starts to slowly unravel.

This was groundbreaking and thought provoking when it first came out - the fact that, at any given moment the cast break out into song & dance routines from the 1930's is never explained, and heightens the unreality of the series. It also helps to further distance Arthur from his reality - in some respects I wonder if the whole series is portrayed from Arthur's point of view; even when we look at what is happening to the other characters, it's possible that we're seeing Arthur's own fantasies being enacted. This mixture of music hall and drama would be solidified with The Singing Detective and taken to new heights.

Pennies From Heaven has not aged at all and it is still far better and deeper than many drama's that have been produced since. All the performances are exemplary and Bob Hoskins proved to the world just how talented he really was. A timeless classic!

This ranks as 20th on the BFI's list of 100 Greatest British Television Programmes and, to me, is Dennis Potter's crown achievement.

The story is fabulously labyrinthine blending flasbacks; music-hall routines; hallucinations and fantasy. Michael Gambon gives the performance of his career as crime writer, Philip Marlow who is in hospital recovering from psoriasis. Whilst in the hospital he undergoes therapy to try and determine the psychological causes of the horrible affliction.

This is as deep as television can possibly get as Marlow is forced to come to terms with past torment and repressed memories as they threaten to erupt into his present and possibly destroy any chance of him ever having a future.

Throughout this epic mini-series Marlow's personality is peeled away as we see, through various invasive flashbacks, his childhood is laid bare. Inter-cut throughout this are various music-hall numbers -which were introduced thematically in Pennies From Heaven- but are actually given context throughout one of Marlow's hallucinations (he has an alter-ego, a private eye hired to clear another character's name).

It's so difficult to do The Singing Detective justice in a small review; it has to be seen to be believed. It's not an easy series to get into as it switches between past; present and fantasy (seemingly) at the drop of a hat, but it does reward the persistent. This is British drama at it's best and certainly deserves to be in the BFI's top one hundred!

Although this wasn't the first large scale historical drama the BBC had ever produced, it was by far the most sensational with -in retrospect- a stellar cast and cutting story. At the time it was seen as a huge risk with a cast of unknowns. Brian Blessed was seen as a huge risk as his previous roles had been in pedestrian police shows such as Z Cars, and bit parts. It was thought that he might not be able to carry off such a serious role as the Emperor Augustus.

It was also unheard of to have a historical drama, set in ancient Roman times, laced with contemporary speech and mannerisms and it caused quite a stir at the time (the same furore erupted when the book was released), however now it is seen as the norm.

It's hard to see just how revolutionary I,Claudius was and the question could be posed as to whether it can stand up with todays epics. There is only one answer and it is undoubtedly a yes! The quality of the acting is sublime - Derek Jacobi's Claudius is multi-layered, and so subtle. Forget the stammers and stutters - they're as much a part of Claudius' act as Jacobi's... even when we see him as an old man, Claudius is lightyears ahead of his contemporaries. I've already mention Brian Blessed, but I have to say that his performance as Augustus is superb. Yes, it's a blustering powerhouse (and would be caricatured to great affect by him in Blackadder) but beneath it is a man who knows he's past his prime and is actually frightened by the Sybiline prophecies he was witness to years before.

John Hurt plays a beautifully manic and mad Caligula, both fragile and dangerous by degrees. Sian Phillips is masterful as the cunning Livia, the powerful matriarch of the family - who's goal all along was the perpetuation of the empire, even at the cost of her own husband.

In I, Claudius the story is central - there are no grandstanding action scenes (mostly because of the budget more than anything I suppose) and the emphasis is placed on the characterisations and the dramatic script. It's a masterpiece of storytelling - due to the outstanding source material of Robert Graves' novels, and Jack Pulmans script - and needs to be seen as an great example of British television at its best!

This is, perhaps, one of the most lavish productions I've ever seen on the BBC and certainly the most visually stunning. It's quality all the way through - the cast is stellar with the likes of Christopher Lee, Stephen Fry, Richard Griffiths, Warren Mitchell, John Sessions and other sundry comedians (including Spike Milligan!); the script is sublime, witty and fast moving (without losing sense of the story) and the music is lush and suitably grand.

The thing I like most about Gormenghast is that it's tremendously quirky -all the characters have their own excessive idiosyncrasies and this highlights just how trapped they all are in their own little worlds. Their trapped by the weight of the past and tradition, whilst Steerpike, who hearkens from the kitchens, wishes he could be more like them. (the irony is that, if given a choice, they would probably wish to be free... or would they?)

Nothings ever what it seems to be - all the characters undergo dramatic changes, and those that are able to adapt to those changes are able to survive -and it's not always the obvious ones. The character of Steerpike is multi-faceted and Jonathan Rhys Meyers' performance captures all of these brilliantly. It's difficult to know whether to loathe or pity him. His actions are dastardly, but in relation to the yoke of tyranny that the Royal Family it becomes harder to judge.

This is a really great tv series and I'm really proud that the BBC gave the novels, by Mervyn Peake the treatment they so rightly deserved.

At once both a re-imagining of the Wizard Of Oz and a sequel; Tin Man acts a wonderful bridge to both without losing a sense of it's own identity - it's able to stand up on it's own two feet, so it's possible to watch it without having seen the Wizard of Oz film (for shame, if you haven't.. or read the book either..)

This is as lavish as it is deep - it's not just about finding the wonderful land of Oz (or the o-zee as it's called phonetically) it's about a quest for identity. DG is searching for her own place in the world - the same way that Dorothy was in hers. On the path she's joined by the Tin Man (a former law enforcer); Glitch, the straw-man of the story who's had his brain removed by the witch Azkadellia and then there's Raw who's a hybrid "viewer" who is the lion, in appearance if nothing else... there's flying monkeys that are genuinely creepy and keep an eye out for Toto too...

I love this series for it's depth and imagination and it's lush production values. It never scrimps on quality and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. This is a welcome and much loved addition to my collection and I can't recommend it enough.

At last -a geek friendly comedy series! (not counting the IT Crowd, of course...) If you love pop culture references (including a delicious reference to my own favourite Hawk The Slayer!) then this is for you. Not only are the writers geeks, but so are the characters and they often reference comics and classic films in their daily lives - re-enacting mock gunfights; playing endlessly on games-consoles and generally bumming around.

What makes this so funny is it's brazen dis-regard for the rules of television; each person has their own reality and just as Family Guy will segue way into fantasies; flashbacks and genuine tomfoolery so did Spaced (almost a decade beforehand).

This is genuinely funny and actually rewards repeat viewings as you pick up on the pop-culture references more. The performances are nothing short of inspired, both Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson are evenly matched and suit the roles perfectly (which as they wrote Spaced, makes sense!) but for me it's the supporting characters that are the real strokes of genius. My particular favourites are Tyres who is a raving bike messenger prone to hair-trigger mood swings (no doubt due to his incessant drug taking) and Bilbo who's the Hawk The Slayer loving comic store owner (played by Bill Bailey no less).

If you like Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz then this is where it all started, so buy it... watch it and be prepared for a thoroughly rewarding experience!

For me, this is the best adaptation of any of Thomas Harris' books. I remember reading Red Dragon as a teenager and being hooked, freaked and exhilarated at the same time. When I saw Manhunter a couple of years later those feelings became intensified - this was before Silence of the Lambs and way before Hannibal Lecter became a household name, and the part was played by Brit, Brian Cox.

What made this film so successful for me was manifold: The portrayal of Dollarhyde -the serial killer: This was a man that you felt sympathy for. The fact that the film devoted almost half it's run time to him and his love affair with the blind girl, Reba McLane is a testament to the strength of the story, characterisation and acting capability of Tom Noonan. If Francis Dollarhyde was a one dimensional character then this story could not have worked.

Brian Cox as Hannibal Lecter. I've heard and read plenty of reviews saying that his portrayal as not being as good as Anthony Hopkins. All I can say is that for me, Brian Cox is a far superior Lecter than Hopkins. Don't get me wrong - I have absolute admiration for Hopkins and think that he is a fine actor, but I feel he played Lecter too literally. In Silence of the Lambs, the first time you see him you know, without a doubt, that this is an evil man. When you see Brian Cox, you think that there must be some mistake - the man he portrays is a very amiable, chatty, up-beat kind of guy. You can understand why he was such a successful psychiatrist. It's not until he starts talking to Will Graham -the FBI Investigator, called into investigate the serial killings- and asking him leading questions (like "Dream much, Will?" or "Do you know why you caught me, Will?") that you see something more menacing behind the joviality. This is a subtle performance that rewards countless viewings and acts as a complete contrast to the Dollarhyde character.

And finally, Michael Manns direction: At heart, Mann is a technical director. His shot compositions are coolly calculated but no less effective. Manhunter has a detached feel to it that actually helps intensify the atmosphere of the film. This is a film where there is no black and white - just subtle shades of grey; where Will Graham is only a few steps away from the mind-set of the very serial killers that he's trying to catch. Every shot of this film is deliberate and really pushes the narrative forward whilst framing the action and characters perfectly. Each line of dialog is deliberate and calculated in a way that David Lynch would perfect in his later films.

To me, this is a far superior film than both Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs. It doesn't offer any easy answers, and the characters are far more subtle. I also love the music in the film -my favourite scene being the climatic use of Iron Butterfly's "In a Gadda Da Vida". Manhunter gets better with each viewing and firmly ranks as one of my favourite films!