BBC Archives | Otaku No Culture

Star Light, Star Bright: Is Elizabeth Taylor Rebel Superstar a True Delight?

A thoughtful three-part primer on Elizabeth Taylor Rebel Superstar that spotlights the studio system’s control, her hard-won agency, and the legacy she forged beyond scandal, including her later advocacy and Live Aid appearance.

Passion Pictures
Coming to Hollywood Suite Dec 26th

At long last, the BBC documentary Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar is turning up on additional distribution channels. Not only does it offer a revealing look at the old studio system, it also delivers a fitting examination of Taylor’s life. Not everyone today understands how that system functioned, and I appreciate this work for acting as both a reminder and an introduction to how things once worked. Although she hit the scene years after Chaplin and the true Golden Age, she endured through its twilight and well into the Silver Age.

One detail that truly hits a nerve is how young performers were treated. They were expected to “perform” whenever required and were handled as commodities rather than people. While this exploitation predated the case of Jackie Coogan, whose earnings were famously squandered, the documentary makes clear that the damage took many forms.

Continue reading “Star Light, Star Bright: Is Elizabeth Taylor Rebel Superstar a True Delight?”

Talking About A New Generation with Doctor Who’s 14th Season (or is that one?)

There’s some revisionist changes to the changes of Doctor Who that few will appreciate, and what’s explored here concerns the misaligned episode “The Devil’s Chord.”

Doctor Who Season 14 Poster A lot has changed with The Doctor over the years. And to say which Doctor Who incarnation is better depends on whom you ask, which generation they’re from and if the show can survive the test of time. As for why The Beatles was chosen over the The Who to market the new era under Disney’s distribution network, that’s because the British Invasion with the former really changed the landscape of the music industry. Both gained recognition around the same time (1964).

With today’s woke culture inspiring Russell T. Davies to further change all that was classic with the series, I’m not as keen to call myself a fan of everything new. The Doctor’s reward of getting a new set of regenerations (“Time fo the Doctor”) is because he saved his homeworld from complete destruction. Unlike The Master, when he transferred his essence to other bodies to extend his own cycle (this character was originally male), the Doctor was keen to expire and let someone else save the universe. But the BBC said we can’t put an end to their best known media empire.

To explain how regenerations work, it’s all because of the power a black hole contains. If one can harness the energy from the singularity, it can supercharge the cells of a Gallifreyan body. The Eye of Harmony was made to contain all this power, and as for why this is important, perhaps Ruby (Millie Gibson) has some ability to tap into that or be a storehouse of energy too. Continue reading “Talking About A New Generation with Doctor Who’s 14th Season (or is that one?)”

Looking at Doctor Who at 60 after Three Specials and the Holiday One in Full

What I offer in this late review of Doctor Who and all four specials is in what my expectations are for this franchise’s future.

Doctor Who at 60 Years Spoiler Alert

After a good start to celebrate Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary, where I reviewed the first of three specials, the next one, “The Wild Blue Yonder,” sadly doesn’t raise the bar. It’s a surreal episode, and as for the third, “The Giggle,” that’s going to be an episode returning showrunner Russel T. Davies must have had a hard time writing. The result is neither nostalgia ridden or forward thinking.

It doesn’t feel like a full return to form when all fans got is the return of a few characters, like The Toymaker, played by Neil Patrick Harris. There should’ve been more acknowledgement of the past rather than simply recycling and retconning characters (namely Davros in the latest Children in Need special). The return of Mel is nice, but what about the others? And why does U.N.I.T. headquarters look like the Avengers Tower?

This headmaster missed an opportunity to recognise all 60 years and fill in the gaps when the Doctor was hit with a huge blaster! He could’ve suddenly reverse regenerated or have a moment where his entire life flashed before his eyes to answer those questions. That way, all of his past incarnations could’ve made an apperance. And to have the faces of past companions give their farewell would have done a better job at acknowledging all that history! A few lines here and there isn’t enough to acknowledge all that history. The specials just didn’t feel like an anniversary when there’s very little said about how long this Time Lord has been around.

Continue reading “Looking at Doctor Who at 60 after Three Specials and the Holiday One in Full”

On Doctor Who at 60 Years, Disney Plus’ Desire to Restart the Numbering System and Beyond

As much as I’d love to see Doctor Who last forever, it’s living on borrowed time.

Doctor Who at 60 Years As much as I love BBC’s Doctor Who, to distinguish between their time and what Disney Branded Television announced may well be troubling for anyone maintaining online episode guides. According to Dark Horizons‘ report over last weekend, the season count is being reset! And honestly, after catching David Tennant’s return and departure in the three anniversary specials, that’ll be the end for me.

Although I sense this announcement is more of a method to make the “acquisition of broadcast rights” more distinguished, there may be other reasons for the change. It’s about how their handling can be recognised in the eyes of many. What they’re doing is no less confusing than how LEGO Ninjago‘s seasons are represented. Series One to Ten are known as Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu (also known as the WILFilm years) and eleven on up is simply Ninjago (aka Wildbrain). The latest, which is sixteen, is Ninjago: Dragons Rising (also handled by this new studio). If there’s a rename to the British series because Disney wants to, I’m going to be furious!

When the two broadcasters made a deal to deliver Doctor Who to a worldwide audience rather than stay “in the country,” I’m sure the house of the mouse had some requirements. Although reports say the BBC has creative control, I suspect not every detail in the contract got revealed a year ago. I’m sure many coins from Disney’s golden vaults will get offered to influence how Doctor Who will now look!

Continue reading “On Doctor Who at 60 Years, Disney Plus’ Desire to Restart the Numbering System and Beyond”

Doctor Who Celebrates the Eve of the Daleks

This episode of Doctor Who has all the makings of showing just how dangerous a pair of Daleks are than just one.

Jodie Whittaker’s tenure as the Doctor is almost at an end, and with another New Year’s Day Special, Eve of the Daleks instead of Revolution, I have to wonder if this enemy will ever cease to amaze? Nearly every appearance manages to upgrade them somehow, and that’s when I watch Doctor Who.

The previous year’s holiday episode was good, because John Barrowman returned as Captain Jack Harkness. Flux was a season I more or less ignored. If all the seasons of the Doctor Who had to be ranked, I’d have to say this latest is not in any top ten. That season is more about bringing back the classic enemies and giving them a chance to shine one more time.

Continue reading “Doctor Who Celebrates the Eve of the Daleks”

The Stakes were Never Big in Netflix’s Dracula

Image result for bbc dracula poster By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Just how many reimaginings of Bram Stoker’s Dracula do we need? Let me count the works from this century: there’s at least a dozen—Untold, Dark Prince, and Reborn are perhaps the closest they can get to the book’s lore. The rest sticks around even after being “killed” so he remains a threat to humanity.

Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) developed this latest take and it’s a curious mix of period drama and Hammer style horror. This three-part series has each episode nearly movie length. Like the novel, it begins conveniently enough with Jonathan Harker (John Heffernan) visiting the Count (Claes Bang) and Mina (Morfydd Clark) swearing her eternal love. The nobleman has other plans and his lust for both the male and female gender goes nowhere fast. Either he’s too decrepit to get off, or those tones brought down for Netflix’s broadcasting standards.

Continue reading “The Stakes were Never Big in Netflix’s Dracula”

Pages: 12