Thoughts On - Intergalactic - Updated

 Hey all,

            I have watched the first couple of episodes of SKY's new Sci-Fi show, Intergalactic. (No, this is not the TV sequel to the film Interstellar.) I'm not sure if it has gotten up to speed yet. The plot is a bit weak, the lead is a female cop, who is the only one who can pilot the prison transport, after a break out, who are trying to get to Arcadia (Paradise planet / heart of the rebellion etc. fill in the blanks of the dialog as you please.

          The first episode graphics were good, as you would expect from a pilot, to grab the audience's attention, the second was in the usual "Dr. Who" quarry setting they dig out for backward planets. Spaceship design - fair, a habitat ring above an engine module and cockpit. The acting is not fantastic yet, but I hope it will improve as it goes along. I presume this is their first gig, as it were. I can live with it for now.

       The early promotional hype was put out there as bait, this did have me wondering if it could stand on its own two feet. So far, this show has been better than nothing, but don't hold your breath for it being another series like Firefly, I don't think this is it. I could be pleasantly surprised, though.

Next episode - Steal from a fuel depot. Good luck all.... A bit more action in this one, but not enough to change my rating mark. There is 8 episodes in the series. I'm not sure yet about a season 2. There seems to be an underplot developing of the cops not being all that good and that they could be doing something naughty in the side. Warning, warning - plot twist, plot twist.

Next episode - The Mad Scientists Lab, as you do.

Updated 1 Nov 2021 - The season came to a close with myself still watching, so it did have some appeal to it, I'm not sure quite what though. The young and inexperienced actors did give it a sort of rough around the edges quality.

Rating 6 / 10.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

 

Thoughts On - His Dark Materials Episode 1 (No spoilers) - Updated.

 Greetings all,

                     I have just watched the first episode of the TV adaptation of  the children's / teen novel His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman. It started off very well. It has interesting characters right from the start. It is set on a world with a mix of technology and magic. It stars a young female lead with a hidden background, raised in protected surroundings. 

There are tales of mysterious goings on with magic, naturally, that the elite do not want known. Nasties are following orders from their boss and doing not nice things, as they like doing, for as yet, unknown reasons. Good people are trying to come to their victim's aid. There are assorted people with obscure histories or conflicting motives. All good stuff to mix together in a story plot.

I like the costumes and locations shown so far. The use of animal "Familiars" is well done. The acting is splendid. If it continues in this way throughout the series it will make very good viewing. I am looking forward to the next episode. Generally a good sign of quality.

Review - 4 out of  5.

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. A question for you, no-one has reacted to this review, Has this series been aired on the tv or box sets before? Please comment below to put my mind at rest. 

Thoughts on - Very Nasty Phishing - Updated again.

Hi all,
        I spotted a nasty scam the other day (7th April 2020) on my mobile Facebook page. It was supposedly an advert from Netflix, offering three months free tv in response to the Covid 19 virus. I thought Yaaay, good on them, I can watch some nice movies that I have missed.

Scrolling down, it asked me to enter my bank details for verification purposes. This is where I saw a red flag and got suspicious. Just to be on the safe side, I contacted Netflix by PC chat line, a very nice chap named Lucas who informed me that they were doing no such offer and that it was a scam.

The dirty rotten scoundrels, trying to get our cash in such a very despicable way. I'm just very glad I double checked it, loosing money is bad enough, but having money stolen from you, well that cuts to the bone. The company was based in Cyprus.

Report any scams to - Phishing@Company name. or phishing@gov.uk.


18 November 2020 UPDATE - The latest couple of scams I have come across are phone ones - 

1) - A robotic voice from an "internet Company" calls you to confirm a bill of £350 going out of your account-"Please press one on your keypad to speak to a Supervisor".   If you do this they can automatically get to your account and take money out.

2) - A variant on this one is that it claims "Your internet has been compromised by a virus and we are going to cut off your service."Please press one on your keypad to speak to a Supervisor".

3) - Another phone scam was a caller stating "Your PPI claim has been approved. You are owed £xxx." They will then try to get your bank details so they they can take money out of your account, not put it in.

In these or similar cases, just put the phone down and disconnect the call.

In instance 3) - Phone your bank to let them know that you have been targeted by fraudsters so that they cacn give you advice and track the spread of the problem.

Please spread this around to all of your friends and family so they are not duped by them.

Stay safe out there everybody, be alert for the scammers.

Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts on - HBO TV Show "Avenue 5" - Updated twice.

Avenue 5

Hi all,
        I have just suffered through the second episode of "Avenue 5" by HBO, starring Hough Laurie. In my humble opinion, this show is a waste of airtime, so far. The plot is as follows- A luxury space liner doing an 8-week tour of Saturn has a disaster and will be coming home the long way, which will take 3 years, fair enough. But, what sort of a spaceship name is "Avenue 5" ??? The costumes and interior sets are good and the spacecraft looks cool.
           It seems to me that the scriptwriters would not notice a good gag if it bit them in the leg. I have seen the first two shows and both have been unmitigated disasters. My first reaction when the first show ended was "Is that it ?" If you have read some of my previous articles, you know I like my sci-fi nice and crunchy. .Individual plot bits held promise, like the fake captain who is as useful as a chocolate teapot and the old grizzled astronaut.

I hope the show improves, for the cast's sake, but so far, it is nowhere near "The Orville" standards, let alone Space 1999 or "Firefly / Serenity", so another six chances to redeem themselves, fingers crossed.

Rating 1-10. That's being generous.

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. I will update this as the show goes along.

Update -  4th March 2020.

It's now about show 5 or 6 and it's not getting any better. There has been the odd smile along the way, but nothing to shout about. Certainly, a failed space shot that deserves to just drift into the blackness and be forgotten.

Update - 8th April 2020.

This is very strange to say, even in these strange times, I did quite like the last couple of episodes that I watched of the show. I was not expecting that at all. I suppose all the madness had finally come together and gelled.
Revised 3-10.


Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts On _First Man Part 1. (No Spoilers)

Hi all,
          Going in to see this much-anticipated film, I was not sure what to expect, was it a documentary, a biography, an action film or what? I had not seen a trailer to it, because I wanted it to keep my impressions of the film unsullied by little clips of action.
        It begins when he is taking part in the X-15 program, during his test pilot days, this was a good starting point, as it showed Armstrong could get out of some tricky situations when he had to. Next came the Gemini 8 mission, the task was to find and to dock with an unmanned Agena capsule, which they did, but not without a little bother along the way.
          They did not shy away from showing the disasters that befell the Astronaut Corps, but they did ignore any mention that there had been any female participants. The "Mercury 13" women were not given a mention at all.
          They fast forward again to the Apollo 11 mission.  There were very nice Spaceship mockups and filming here of some of the drama they went through. I say some as I wished the film would have been longer so they could have included more of the story. (No, I do not mean aliens.)
            As to the acting, the wives were mainly seen and not heard. Many of the astronauts were just "there", you were supposed to work out who was who in many cases. For instance, Mike Collins and Edwin " Buzz" Aldrin, the other two crew members on Apollo 11, their names were barely mentioned at all.

Part two will include what I would have added.

Rating - 7 out of 10.

Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts On - Star Trek Discovery (Spoilers alert) Part 1

Hi all,
           My first reaction to watching the Pilot episodes - "You've got to be kidding me"! The episode length was too short. The show credits were rubbish. The bridge design bore no relation to any "canon" starship that had gone before. The female lead character has a male name, why? She is a human version of a Vulcan, illogical to even try? Brought up by Sarek, rubbish. They complete a mind-meld over Interstellar distances - more rubbish.

There was a very poor plotline. The length of the actual episodes is pathetic. The first thing you see them do is to bend, if not break, the "Prime Directive". The Klingons looked nothing like I expected, that is in the little time when you could actually see them, the sets were too dark. The Klingonese language sounded like they were eating a mop head. After all of the above, this is not the starship or characters that we will see in the rest of the shows, apart from two, I think. Deep sigh of relief.

I'm glad I was watching at a pal's house and had not bought that rubbish.

Must do much better.

Rating  - 3 out of 10.

I am going to cheer myself up by watching Star Trek: Horizon, a fan film.

Additional: Since this initial posting went out, I have been catching up on what some of the other reviews have been saying, not to mention the convoluted history of the show in regard to the CBS and Paramount buyout and copyrights.

What it boils down to is that they had to make it look different from the original "Prime" universe, which was a shock, but why not say so and be honest and upfront about it all. That still does not excuse the awful script decisions though. No doubt there will be more for me to find out.

I have seen talk of a different ST series being prepared if this series bombs. 13 episodes to go, or rather 13 tiny episodes "to boldly go......"

What did you think of it?

I have heard from one source that part three is better, so fingers crossed again.

"Give me your thoughts...." to quote a phrase.

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. 20 April 2019 -I have now bought series 1 of Discovery, look forward to a review soon.

Thoughts on - TV Supergirl Series 2 Episode 1 (Spoilers)

Hey folks,
               I have just watched the latest TV episode of Supergirl (Series 2 Episode 1 - October 2016), change is very much in the air.
                There is a new base for the Defense force. Fair enough, a new set to stop the audience from getting bored. We are just suppose to ignore the fact that there was no mention of it before, no intelligence etc. came from it. Such is life.
               Superman and Kara finally get together in the same place, it should have happened ages ago, possibly it was supposed to, but we never got to see it. So Clark / Superman is going to be in the show some more ? So this must mean there will be stronger baddies to go up against.
               Kara and Jimmy's relationship, is it all systems go ? yes / no, yes / no, just keep us guessing. Par for the course.
               Is Lady Lexx a goody two shoes ? I doubt it very much. But she looks like an interesting new character to develop. I am glad they had not forgotten Lex and co.
               So Kara's new job is a reporter. Hmmm, so hopefully there will be less of her as a  Catco runaround person, I thought it was it was getting a bit stale. (Good luck, Miss Tesssmacker. Is she a spy for Lady Lexx ?)

Lets enjoy together.

Ivor