#lizzy mcinnerny

[cptrs]

[petty-d4bblr]

Some Jo Jo McCann drama

[burningvelvet]

Lizzy McInnerny as Mary Shelley in Rowing with the Wind (1988)

[hislopchino]

The cast of An Evening with Gary Lineker (1994)

Photo from Mary Evans Picture Library

[evandstuff]

Behind the scenes photos from Midsomer Murders - The Stitcher Society.

(Photos from Harriet Thorpe’s Instagram.)

[kwebtv]

Nearly Famous  -  E4  -  November 8, 2007 - December 13, 2007

Drama (6 episodes)

Running Time:  60 minutes

Stars:

Aaron Johnson as Owen Stephens

Talulah Riley as Lila Reed

Tunji Kasim as Joe Bailey

Anna Brewster as Kate Sherman / Ryman

Jimi Mistry as Matt Bright

Rebecca Palmer as Jen Bracken

Lizzy McInnerny as Rita Rocheman

Ralph Brown as Dominic Soloman

Other Cast

Ella Jones as Sarah

Anna McAuley as Henri

Max Gell as Cal Redmond

Rosalind Halstead as Kelly Short

Gregg Chillin as Ash Chopra

Gina Bellman as Traci Reed

Nicolas Woodman as Jamie

[womenandbooksonfilms]

Lizzy McInnerny.

Remando al viento; Gomzalo Suarez, 1988.

[abriefingwithmichael]

Great start to the second series. Just like before: we get an astonishingly successful mixture of laugh-out-loud comedy and very real heartbreak. The show really hasn’t missed a beat since series 1. 

[claudia1829things]

"THE A.B.C. MURDERS" (2018) Review

"THE A.B.C. MURDERS" (2008) Review Years ago, I had once compiled a list of my favorite novels written by Agatha Christie. One of those novels was her 1936 mystery, "The A.B.C. Murders". The novel led to a movie adaptation, a radio adaptation and two television adaptations. One of the latter was the three-part miniseries that was adapted by Sarah Phelps for the BBC.

"THE A.B.C. MURDERS" is a rare tale from Christie. In it, Belgian-born sleuth Hercule Poirot helps Scotland Yard investigate a possible serial killer named "A.B.C.". The killer uses this moniker in the letters sent to Poirot before committing a murder; and leaves an ABC railway guide beside each victim. Although there are several mysteries written by Christie that features more than one victim, "THE A.B.C. MURDERS" marked the first of two times in which the victims have nothing in common whatsoever. Phelps made some significant changes to Christie's novel. One, this version omitted Captain Arthur Hastings from the plot. I found this incredible, considering Hastings had served as the first-person narrator for the 1936 novel. Chief Inspector Japp made an appearance, but his character was killed off via a heart attack in the miniseries' first episode and Poirot found himself working solely with Inspector Chrome, who was also in the novel. The Mary Drower character, who was related to the first victim, Alice Ascher, was also eliminated. Phelps made changes to the Donald Fraser and Thora Grey characters. Phelps included more detail than Christie in the story's Doncaster murder and added a fifth murder (at Embsay) to the story. She also added a romance for the Alexander Bonaparte Cust character in the form of his landlady's daughter. Phelps explored and changed Poirot's World War I backstory. She also made sure that the first three murder locations had some relevance to Poirot. He had helped deliver a baby aboard a refugee train that stopped in Andover. He had visited the Bexhill café where the second victim, Betty Barnard, would later work. And he had once attended a party at the home of Sir Carmichael Clarke, the third victim. I was surprised at how beautiful the miniseries' production looked. Although the novel was first published in 1936, Phelps had decided to set her adaptation in 1933. I thought Jeff Tessler's production designs did a superb job in re-creating 1933 England. A beautiful job. And his work was supported by Joel Devlin's excellent photography, which struck me as colorful and sharp; along with Andrew Lavin and Karen Roch's excellent art direction. Another aspect of "THE A.B.C. MURDERS"that impressed me were Lindsay Pugh's costume designs. I thought she did an excellent job in creating costumes for characters that varied in both class and gender in 1933 Britain. This also included costumes for characters that were impacted by the Great Depression, regardless of class. When it comes to Sarah Phelps' adaptations of Agatha Christie novels, I have mixed views. I really enjoyed her 2015 adaptation of Christie's 1939 novel, "And Then There Were None". I cannot say the same about her adaptation of the author's two other stories, "Witness For the Prosecution" and Ordeal By Innocence". How did I feel about "THE A.B.C. MURDERS"? I am very grateful that Phelps had basically stuck to Christie's main narrative from the 1936 novel. Unlike "ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE", she did not completely revise the narrative by changing the murderer's identity or motive. And unlike "WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION", she did not change the fate of the story's main protagonist. However, there were a few changes that I liked. One, she included more detail into the story's fourth murder at Doncaster . . . at least more detail than Christie did. In doing so, she prevented this part of the narrative from being irrelevant. And two, she included a fifth murder. Phelps did not have to do this, but I thought it filled the narrative rather nicely. I noticed that the movie went out of its way to get rid of both Arthur Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp. I thought I would be upset about this, but . . . I was not. Their lack of presence did not harm the narrative. More importantly, it allowed Poirot's relationship with Japp's replacement, the slightly xenophobic Inspector Crome to develop from a conflict to a working relationship with a hint of a possible friendship. This did not bother me since Poirot had to deal with a hostile Crome in the novel. And I feel that Phelps' portrayal of their relationship was better handled in this miniseries. Unfortunately, Phelps used minor changes in the story to continue her campaign to make her Christie adaptations more edgy and angst-filled. These minor changes included transforming the Donald Fraser character into this publicity hound trying to profit from the death of his fiancée, Betty Barnard. What was the purpose of this change? To criticize those who try to profit from the death of others via publicity? I found this irrelevant and unnecessary to the story. The miniseries also featured a potential romance between stocking salesman Alexander Bonaparte Cust and his landlady's daughter, Lily Marbury. In the novel, Lily was Cust's friend and nothing more. For some reason, Phelps thought it was necessary to create a romance in order to convey the idea of Lily walking on his back in heels as a means to release some psycho-sexual need to remove his pain. What was the point of this? To make Cust more interesting? What really irritated me was how Phelps changed the character of one of the supporting character by making that person knowledgeable of the killer's identity long before Poirot . . . and an accessory. Why? To make that character more interesting perhaps? It made me realize that this change made it easier for viewers to identify the killer before Poirot's revelation. The movie made one last change that I disliked . . . Poirot's personal background. Christie had indicated in many of her novels and short stories that before becoming a private detective, Poirot was a police officer in Belgium. For reasons that still astound me, Phelps had changed Poirot's background from former police detective to Catholic priest. Worse, she had created this mystery surrounding some major trauma during World War I that led him to leave the Church and become a crime fighter. What on earth? The problem with this character arc is that it had nothing to do with the main narrative. It played no role in Poirot's discovery and revelation of the actual killer. I will say this about "THE A.B.C. MURDERS". It did feature some excellent performances, save for one. John Malkovich was the second American actor to portray Hercule Poirot, the first being Tony Randall in 1965. I found his Gallic accent slightly questionable. But I still admire his portrayal of the Belgian-born detective and found it refreshingly subtle without any theatrics or histronics. Many have complained about Malkovich portraying the most dour Poirot on screen. I do not agree. The actor did an excellent job of conveying Poirot's grief over Japp's death, his weariness from the never ending encounters of British xenophobia and his personal ghosts from World War I. But I never regarded his Poirot as "dour". Frankly, I found David Suchet's portrayal of Poirot in the 2010 television movie, "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS"rather depressing. I thought Rupert Grint gave the second best performance as the slightly xenophobic Inspector Crome of Scotland Yard. I have a confession. I have always been impressed by Grint as an actor and at times, thought the HARRY POTTER franchise did not provide any real opportunities for him to convey his skills, aside from one particular movie. But I was really impressed by how he had conveyed Crome's journey from an angry and narrow-minded police officer to someone more open-minded, less angry and more willing to trust Poirot. There were other performances from "THE A.B.C. MURDERS" that impressed me. Eamon Farren gave a first-rate performance as the beleaguered Alexander Bonaparte Cust, a bedraggled traveling salesman who seemed to suffer from epileptic seizures. Anya Chalotra struck me as equally impressive in her portrayal of Lily Marbury, the daughter of Cust's landlady, who has been forced by the latter to prostitute herself for extra money. Tara Fitzgerald gave a very emotional performance as Lady Hermione Clarke, the ailing widow of the killer's third victim, Sir Carmichael Clarke. I could also say the same about Bronwyn James' portrayal of Megan Barnard, the sister of the second victim, Betty Barnard. James did an excellent job of conveying Megan's initial infatuation of Betty's fiancé, Donald Fraser and her jealousy. I found Eve Austin's portrayal of the shallow yet flirtatious Betty rather skillful and memorable. Freya Mayor gave an interesting and complex performance as Sir Carmichael's ambitious secretary Thora Grey. And Andrew Buchan seemed to be the personification of the literary Franklin Clarke, the sexually charming, yet eager younger brother of Sir Carmichael. The miniseries also featured first-rate performances from Jack Farthing as Donald Fraser, Michael Shaeffer as Sergeant Yelland, Lizzy McInnerny as Betty's mother, Mrs. Barnard, Christopher Villiers as Sir Carmichael Clarke and Kevin R. McNally as Japp. If I could name one performance that I found unsatisfying, it would Shirley Henderson's portrayal of Cust's landlady, Rose Marbury. I found her performance rather theatrical and filled with too many exaggerated mannerisms. I did not dislike "THE A.B.C. MURDERS", but I did not love it. There are aspects of it that I admired, including the production's visual style, writer-producer Sarah Phelps' adherence to the story's main narrative and an excellent cast led by John Malkovich. But I also feel that Phelps had added too many unnecessary minor changes to some of the characters and the story. And I suspect that she did this in another attempt to relive the glory of 2015's "AND THEN THERE WERE NONE". The 1939 novel was a rare creation of Christie's. If Phelps wants to write and produce another mystery on that level, I suggest she consider adapting a novel from another writer . . . perhaps P.D. James. Or she should consider creating her own mystery.

[tuseriesdetv]

Guía de series: Estrenos y regresos de julio 2017

Los veranos de sequía ya se acabaron, pero no nos referimos al cambio climático. Las cadenas apuestan ahora por una parrilla estival completa, variada y equilibrada para que no nos olvidemos de ver series ni en vacaciones.

¡Feliz julio!

Leyenda:

Verde: series nuevas. 

Rojo: series de las que haremos reviews semanales. 

Negro: regresos de otras series. 

Naranja: miniseries. 

Amarillo: tvmovies, especiales o pilotos. 

Morado: season finales. 

Morado claro: midseason finales. 

*

Calendario de series

1 de julio: Doubt (1bT) en CBS

4 de julio: 

The Words That Built America en HBO

Broken (1T finale) en BBC One

5 de julio: 

Snowfall (1T) en FX

The Windsors (2T) en Channel 4

7 de julio: Castlevania (1T) en Netflix

8 de julio: 

Still Star-Crossed (cambio de día) en ABC

Tour de Pharmacy en HBO

10 de julio: Will (1T) en TNT

11 de julio: 

In the Dark en BBC One

The Fosters (5T) y The Bold Type (1T) en Freeform

Still the King (2T) en CMT

12 de julio: 

Salvation (1T) en CBS

I'm Sorry (1T) en truTV

Suits (7T) en USA Network

14 de julio: Friends from College (1T) y To the Bone en Netflix

16 de julio: 

Game of Thrones (7T) en HBO

The Strain (4T y última) en FX

18 de julio: 

Shooter (2T) en USA Network

Being Mary Jane (4bT) en BET

21 de julio: 

Ozark (1T) en Netflix

Descendants 2 en ABC, Freeform, Lifetime y Disney XD

Raven's Home (1T) en Disney Channel 

23 de julio: Insecure (2T) y Ballers (3T) en HBO

24 de julio: 

Midnight, Texas (1T) en NBC

Somewhere Between (1T) en ABC

People of Earth (2T) en TBS

28 de julio: 

Room 104 (1T) en HBO

The Last Tycoon (1T) en Amazon

29 de julio: Still Star-Crossed (series finale) en ABC

30 de julio: Rick and Morty (3T) en Adult Swim

*

Estrenos de series

Snowfall (FX)

En 1983, nació la primera epidemia de crack en la ciudad de Los Ángeles. La serie sigue a ciertos personajes cuyas vidas se cruzarán debido a la droga, como un traficante de 19 años (Damson Idris), un luchador mexicano (Segio Peris-Mencheta; Al salir de clase, Isabel), un agente de la CIA (Carter Hudson) o la hija de un criminal (Emily Rios; The Bridge, Breaking Bad). Completan el reparto Michael Hyatt (True Detective, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), Amin Joseph (Baywatch), Manuel Uriza (The Bridge, Better Call Saul) y Tim Matheson (Hart of Dixie, The West Wing). Creada por John Singleton (Four Brothers, Boyz n the Hood), Eric Amadio y Dave Andron (Justified). Diez episodios. Estreno: 5 de julio

A favor: Los actores protagonistas cumplen y los personajes secundarios destacan.

En contra: De desarrollo pausado y poca verosimilitud. No engancha.

Will (TNT)

Un joven William Shakespeare (Laurie Davidson), en sus primeros días como dramaturgo, llega al teatro punk-rock del Londres del siglo XVI en esta versión contemporánea con una banda sonora moderna que ayuda a mostrar su imprudencia, su brillantez y sus tentaciones. Completan el reparto Olivia DeJonge (The Visit), Mattias Inwood (The Shannara Chronicles), Jamie Campbell Bower (Camelot, The Prisoner), Colm Meaney (Hell on Wheels, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Ewen Bremmer (Wonder Woman, Trainspotting), Max Bennett (The Duchess, Anna Karenina) y Jasmin Savoy Brown (The Leftovers). Diez episodios. Estreno: 10 de julio

A favor: Dicen que la música.

En contra: Encargada primero por Pivot y cancelada antes del estreno, es un invento curioso.

The Bold Type (Freeform)

Antes conocida como Issues, es un drama de Sarah Watson (Parenthood) inspirado en la vida de Joanna Coles, editora de Cosmopolitan, y producido por ella misma, que se centra en el amor, el sexo, la identidad personal y social y la moda desde el punto de vista de tres trabajadoras jóvenes de la revista Scarlet: Jane (Katie Stevens, Faking It), Kat (Aisha Dee; Sweet/Vicious, Chasing Life) y Sutton (Meghann Fahy; Miss Sloane, One Life to Live). Melora Hardin (Transparent, The Office) da vida a la redactora jefe de la revista. Les acompañan Nikohl Boosheri (Rogue), Sam Page (Desperate Housewives, Switched at Birth) y Matt Ward (Remedy). Doce episodios. Estreno: 11 de julio

A favor: La relación entre las tres protagonistas, sin centrarse en hombres o rivalidades.

En contra: Tomar como referente a Coles para crear una (buena) serie sobre otra cosa.

In the Dark (BBC One)

Adaptación de las novelas 'In the Dark' y 'Time of Death' de Mark Billingham. La detective Helen Weeks (MyAnna Buring; Ripper Street, Twilight: Breaking Dawn) está embarazada, es uno de los mayores retos de su vida. Cuando el marido de una antigua amiga del colegio (Emma Fryer; Ideal, Critical) es acusado del secuestro de dos chicas, Helen regresa a su pueblo natal y debe enfrentarse a su doloroso pasado. Entonces, una tragedia la arrastra a los bajos fondos criminales de Manchester y le hacen plantearse incluso su relación con las personas más íntimas. Completan el reparto Ben Batt (Scott & Bailey, Shameless UK), David Leon (The Refugees, Vera), Ashley Walters (Cuffs), Matt King (Peep Show), Clive Wood (Sense8, The Pillars of the Earth), Jamie Sives (Game of Thrones), Fisayo Akinade (Ordinary Lies, Cucumber), Tim McInnerny (Game of Thrones), Pearce Quigley (Detectorists), Sinead Matthews (Chewing Gum, Ideal) y Jessica Gunning (Fortitude, Pride). Escrita por Danny Brocklehurst (The Five, Ordinary Lies) y dirigida por Gilles Bannier (The Tunnel) y Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen (Taxi). Cuatro episodios. Estreno: 11 de julio

A favor: La solvencia de BBC en este tipo de dramas está más que demostrada.

En contra: Disfrutarla es cuestión de gustos.

  Salvation (CBS)

Un asteroide se acerca peligrosamente a la Tierra, y solamente un graduado del MIT (Charlie Rowe, Red Band Society) y un tecnólogo multimillonario (Santiago Cabrera; Heroes, The Musketeers) saben ver que la alcanzará dentro de seis meses. Intentarán avisar al Gobierno a través de Grace Barrows (Jennifer Finnigan, Tyrant), secretaria de prensa del Pentágono, antes de que sea demasiado tarde. Quizás entre el Vicesecretario de Defensa (Ian Anthony Dale; Hawaii Five-0, Murder in the First) y una escritora de ciencia ficción con aspiraciones (Jacqueline Byers, Roadies) se consiga un plan para salvar a la humanidad. Completan el reparto Shazi Raja (High Maintenance), Rachel Drance (Reign), Dennis Boutsikaris (Better Call Saul, Billions) y Aaron Poole (Copper, Incorporated). Escrita por Liz Kruger y Craig Saphiro, creadores de Necessary Roughnes y showrunners de la segunda temporada de Extant, recibió luz verde directa en octubre. Trece episodios. Estreno: 12 de julio

A favor: Ligera y fresca, al estilo CBS verano.

En contra: ¿Veis Zoo? Pues ese es el estilo del que estamos hablando.

I'm Sorry (truTV)

Comedia creada y protagonizada por Andrea Savage (Veep, Episodes) sobre una comediante, esposa y madre de padres divorciados que parece segura de sí misma pero expone su inmadurez y su inestabilidad emocional en los momentos más inesperados y menos oportunos. Tom Everett Scott (Scream, Southland) y Olive Petrucci interpretan a su marido y su hija. Kathy Baker (The Ranch) y Martin Mull (Veep, Sabrina the Teenage Witch) son sus padres. Judy Greer (Arrested Development), Jason Mantzoukas (The League), Lyndon Smith (Parenthood), Gary Anthony Williams, Steve Zissis (Togetherness) y Nelson Franklin (Veep) serán recurrentes. Además, tenemos cameos de June Squibb (Nebraska, Shameless) o Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex, Mean Girls). Diez episodios. Estreno: 12 de julio

A favor: Producen Will Ferrell y Andy Samberg, habrá que fiarse.

En contra: Parece muy olvidable.

Friends from College (Netflix)

Veinte años después de licenciarse en Harvard, estos amigos de la universidad deciden reencontrarse. ¿Qué tal va su vida amorosa? ¿Se caducan las viejas amistades? ¿Es la vida adulta mejor que la estudiante? Comedia creada, escrita y producida por Nick Stoller (The Carmichael Show, Neighbors) y su esposa Francesca Delbanco y dirigida por Stoller que tiene como protagonistas a Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother, The Avengers), Keegan-Michael Key (Key and Peele, Playing House), Fred Savage (The Wonder Years, The Grinder), Nat Faxon (Ben and Kate, Married), Annie Parisse (Vinyl, Person of Interest) y Jae Suh Park. Billy Eichner (Difficult People, Parks and Recreation), Greg Germann (Ally McBeal, Once Upon a Time), Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live, Ghostbusters) y Seth Rogen (Neighbors, Pineapple Express) son recurrentes. Ocho episodios. Estreno: 14 de julio

A favor: Un reparto magnífico (magníficamente desaprovechado).

En contra: Tramas sin gancho, risas inexistentes y personajes detestables y/o anodinos. Fatal.

Ozark (Netflix)

Jason Bateman dirige, produce y protagoniza este drama sobre droga y blanqueo creado por Bill Dubuque (The Judge). El asesor financiero Marty Byrde (Bateman) se muda junto a su familia de Chicago a un resort de las montañas Ozark, en Missouri, intentando así recuperar la gran cantidad de dinero que debe a un narcotraficante mexicano. Laura Linney (The Big C, The Truman Show), Julia Garner (The Americans, The Get Down) y Michael Mosley (Scrubs, Sirens) acompañan a Bateman. Diez episodios. Estreno: 21 de julio

A favor: Quizás lo más llamativo sea el enfoque distinto al habitual en el mundo de la droga.

En contra: Bateman como actor siempre ha sido regular, especialmente en drama.

Midnight, Texas (NBC)

Adaptación de la saga de novelas de Charlaine Harris (True Blood). Es un viaje a un remoto pueblo de Texas donde nadie es lo que parece: Midnight está lleno de brujas, vampiros, videntes y sicarios; es un refugio para los que son diferentes. Los habitantes han formado una familia y evitan que la policía, bandas de moteros o incluso su propio pasado se entrometan. François Arnaud (Blindspot, The Borgias), Dylan Bruce (Orphan Black, Heroes Reborn), Parisa Fitz-Henley (Jessica Jones), Arielle Kebbel (UnREAL, John Tucker Must Die), Sarah Ramos (Parenthood), Peter Mensah (Spartacus, Sleepy Hollow), Yul Vazquez (Magic City) y Sean Bridgers (Rectify, Room) forman el cast. Escrita por Monica Owusu-Breen (Fringe, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). Trece episodios. Estreno: 24 de julio

A favor: Festival de la carne.

En contra: Va a ser una mamarrachada pero de las malas.

Somewhere Between (ABC)

Laura (Paula Patton; Precious, Mirrors) sabe perfectamente cuándo y cómo asesinarán a su hija Serena (Aria Birch), pero no por qué ni quién. ¿Podrá hacer algo por evitarlo? J.R. Bourne (Teen Wolf, Revenge), Serge Houde (iZombie) y Devon Sawa (Nikita, Final Destination) también participan. Este remake de la serie coreana God's Gift: 14 Days recibió luz verde directa en diciembre. Escrito por Stephen Tolkin (Legend of the Seeker, Brothers & Sisters). Diez episodios. Estreno: 24 de julio

A favor: Recuerda a la trama de Premonition.

En contra: Será parecida a Premonition.

Room 104 (HBO)

Comedia de los hermanos Duplass (Togetherness) que contará en cada episodio una historia ocurrida dentro de esta habitación de un hotel corriente. Podremos ver a James Van Der Beek (Apartment 23, Dawson's Creek), Orlando Jones (American Gods, Sleepy Hollow), Amy Landecker (Transparent, Louie), Philip Baker Hall, Mae Whitman (Parenthood, Arrested Development), Nat Wolff (Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars), Karan Soni (Blunt Talk, I Live with Models), Poorna Jagannathan (The Night Of, Gypsy), Sarah Hay (Flesh and Bone, I'm Dying Up Here) o Jay Duplass (Transparent, The Mindy Project). Doce episodios. Estreno: 28 de julio

A favor: Desborde de imaginación con un punto de partida muy simple.

En contra: Quiere darle un giro a Inside No. 9, pero ya parte como segundona.

The Last Tycoon (Amazon)

Basada en la novela inacabada de F. Scott Fitzgerald, inspirada en el magnate cinematográfico Irving Thalberg y en su mentor Louis B. Mayer. Monroe Stahr (Matt Bomer; American Horror Story, White Collar) es el primer niño prodigio dentro de la producción de la industria del cine en los años 30, y quiere llegar a la cima contra su mentor y actual presidente del estudio, Pat Brady (Kelsey Grammer; Frasier, Boss). Brady, que empezó de cero, no tiene ninguna intención de volver a su situación anterior y hará cualquier cosa por mantener el éxito de su estudio. También protagonizan Lily Collins (Mirror Mirror, Okja), Rosemarie DeWitt (United States of Tara, Black Mirror) y Jessica De Gouw (Arrow, Underground). Jennifer Beals (Taken, The L Word) y Eion Bailey (Once Upon a Time, Ray Donovan) serán recurrentes. Escrita y dirigida por Billy Ray (The Hunger Games, Captain Phillips). Estreno: 28 de julio

A favor: ¿Empezar la serie por Matt Bomer? Sí.

En contra: No han conseguido crear personajes suficientemente interesantes.

[adventures-through-two]

Audio review: The Yes Men (Early Adventures 2.1)

Written by Simon Guerrier, and can be bought from Big Finish here

Plot: The Doctor, Ben, Polly, and Jamie land on an Earth colony he previously visited off-screen (and saved from invasion) as his first incarnation. While the Doctor and Polly try and discover the political mystery of the apparent assassination of Prime Designate Meg Carvossa,  Jamie and Ben get embroiled in a uprising from the servile robotic underclass.

Good bits:

It's always been a great shame that Michael Craze was never able to bring Ben Jackson to the audio arena that has rescued so many other maligned or forgotten characters with improved scripts and a greater opportunity to perform to the actor's strengths; indeed, he's one of the small cadre of companion actors like Ian Marter and Jackie Lane who haven't played their characters for Big Finish. Newcomer Elliot Chapman – while he doesn't have a lot to do in this story – takes up the mantle of the character excellently, and plays off well with Anneke Wills and Frazer Hines. I look forward to hearing more of his performance in later Early Adventures.

It's an interesting idea to have the Doctor return to an old haunt only to realise more problems have sprung up in his absence (like New Earth in Series 2 and 3, or as a more obvious example 20 and 21st century London, which seems in permanent crisis mode). This one takes the promising idea of a Doctor returning to see a former would-be companion, and both the script and Hines' performance as Two do well to highlight, first his determination to bring her killers to justice, and later his palpable disappointment when it's revealed that she's not the same person he left behind.

While for the most part the audio landscape is forgettable, there are some great 'moments' like the simulated mind-scape of Culloden Moor, and the surreal comical cliffhanger of part three. Stephen Critchlow has fun with the high-pitched eternally polite robots, and the sub-plot of Ben and Jamie's accidentally ending up masterminding a revolution is the memorable storyline that provides much of the story's interest and comic relief.

Character-wise, the differences of approach for each companion give a depth to their roles. Ben is more than happy to experience the luxury offered by robotic servants, while Jamie is uncomfortable, yet both – having sided with the robots – have a them vs. us mentality that draws them into conflict with the Doctor. Polly is the lady of ideas here, and it's often her quick thinking that makes the plot progress.

Not so sure bits:

I've read somewhere that Simon Guerrier didn't know when writing that Elliot Chapman had been cast as Ben Jackson, and so my criticism that Ben is barely in the story, and indeed, gets an episode's holiday in part three, is tempered somewhat. I do hope in the future Guerrier is able to bring some of his excellent First Doctor era character work that made The War to End All Wars, and the Oliver Harper and Sara Kingdom trilogies so outstanding, and give Ben a chance to shine.

For a Simon Guerrier work though, it's... kind of placid. The story muddles on at a regular enough place, but the central mystery of Who Killed Meg Carvossa isn't engaging. David Richardson as producer describes the story as a thriller in the style of Enemy of the World, but unfortunately it's just not very thrilling, and Jane Slavin (Meg Carvossa) and Lizzie McInnerny (her political rival) don't come across as distinct and engaging characters in their own right, making it hard to empathise with either. The story has some great ideas – the underground robot city who mimic human attitudes because it's all they've experienced, the oddly sterile, automated city, the eventual reveal as to why the city is so quiet and the colony politics at play.  The problem is both A and B plots feel intellectual in conception but struggle to feel real in performance, meaning it's difficult to root strongly for either side.

Overall: 

An adventure with interesting ideas that just never quite manages to get off the ground. 6/10

[abriefingwithmichael]

Another great one. The focus this time is very much on how out-of-touch Miri is. She’s twenty years behind the times. Banking and sex are her main concerns. 

Adrian Edmondson is scary good. 

The final scene was great. Perfect build-up. We knew what was going to happen. 

[nevernlandia]

Remando Al Viento, directed by Gonzalo Suárez  (2/3)