“The Guardians of Prophecy” is a Doctor Who audio play released by Big Finish Productions is one of the Lost Stories episodes produced in 2012.  Jonathan Morris adapted the original script from Johnny Byrne and did so quite nicely.  Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are the leads in this pretty entertaining tale which is meant to be a sequel to the television serial “The Keeper of Traken”, which starred Tom Baker.

The planet Serenity is the last world of the Traken Union that survived the destructive force unleashed by the renegade Time Lord known as the Master.  The Doctor and Peri are forced onto the planet where they encounter tomb raiders and the evil beings known as the Melkur.  The Melkur are dormant on a planet such as Serenity and can awaken when another evil force gives the green light.  In this case, an ancient and sleeping being known as Malador will be the catalyst.  Stephen Thorn provides the menacing vocal performance when the malevolent Malador arises and does so quite compentently.  Thorn actually has a well-established history with providing his talents to megalomaniacal powerhouse villains in Doctor Who.  He performed in such classic television serials such as the “The Three Doctors” and “The Daemons”.  Thorn has a distinctive voice which serves this story quite nicely as well.

I am not the most enthusiastic of fans when it comes to revisiting old stories or villains which appeared only once before in the series, however this one was done was quite effectively.  At the risk of being repetitive, Colin Baker’s performance as the Sixth Doctor remains as energetic and compelling as ever in this one.  Even when revisiting somewhat what would have been the more acerbic television version of this particular incarnation, Big Finish does a much better of making him much more likeable.  Even Peri is a companion who I have come to miss when Big Finish goes a while without having her paired with the Doctor.

Graham Cole had a pretty amusing role as renowned safecracker Ebbka. Really, the guest cast all handled their various parts quite well.  I can’t think of anyone who I thought was a bit of a weak link when it came to the performers.

I had some minor trouble with Malador in that there was a certain lack of originality in his presence.  He just seemed like type of villain I have heard a little too often at times.  Of course, I sometimes find the idea of characters like this vocalizing their appreciation for Evil a little strange.  Most people who carry out dastardly deeds seem to excuse it somehow or make themselves the victims in their own head.  Even the people most recognized as evil don’t seem to actually see themselves as some epitome of Evil.  Doctor Who is pretty strange overall, so I guess I should be more forgiving, however that mentality of Malador just sort of stuck out to me, and I think a little better effort could have helped him stand out more.

In spite of that, there was still quite a lot of enjoyment I found in this episode.  It still seems to have other complexities and layers in the writing and character development that makes it easy to appreciate.

I will also mention that the scene where Malador psychically tortures another character to death was performed a little too well.  That was quite chilling, and it takes quite a bit to rattle me.

This episode had a couple of blemishes, in my opinion, but nothing that really dampened by enjoyment to any significant degree.

“Devil in the Mist” is a Doctor Who audio play released by Big Finish Productions.  Cavan Scott is the author who was able to bring back the shape-shifting android known as Kamelion.  Peter Davison is joined by Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson with versatile voice impressionist Jon Culshaw joining the crew as Kamelion.

The Doctor, Tegan, Turlough, and Kamelion find themselves aboard a prison ship where the sole inmate known as Nustanu has the unique ability to transform into mist.  Nustanu is under the watchful eye of two alien guards who resemble the hippopotamus, however it all goes a bit wrong when they crash on a planet and the prisoner makes hi escape.  The Doctor suffers a grievous while Tegan is separated from her friends and has to contend with Kamelion.  Kamelion has the rather unfortunate problem of being easily influenced by the strongest personality nearby.  He was first encountered in the television serial “The King’s Demon” and met a tragic end in “Planet of Fire”. Big Finish has decided to provide some new adventures for the hapless android.

Simon Slater pus in an effective performance as the former warlord with the dangerous talent of transforming into mist.  Anjella Mackintosh and John Voce are the two guards, known as Orna and Rako, respectively.

This actually turned out to be quite compelling.  The Doctor coping with paralysis is not something that has been explored before.  Tegan gets a pretty good opportunity shine as well.  The realization of Kamelion was pretty well handled as well.  It isn’t surprising that Culshaw would do well.  He is quite the performing veteran and is well known for his uncanny impressions.

Davison is quite good as well in this one.  His chemistry with Fielding and Strickson has not waned at all.

It was hard to imagine aliens who resemble hippos in this one since there was not much of a voice modulation, but the twists and turns the story takes keeps me from minding that too much.

This episode is a strong start to the monthly range of 2019.

“Gorky Park” is a thriller by Martin Cruz Smith which brought Russian homicide investigator Arkady Renko to literary life.  It starts off with Renko being called out to a scene where three corpses are found in the frozen landscape of Gorky Park.

Renko finds a much more complicated situation when the brother of one of the victims arrives on a mission of revenge.  He is also getting enmeshed in the machinations of the KGB and a millionaire fur dealer from America.  His marriage is collapsing as he is falling in love with a beautiful dissident with a ruthless streak.

This book was published in 1981 and has all kinds of glowing reviews.  It was adapted into a movie, starring William Hurt, a couple of years later.  I actually had some trouble staying interested in this one.  It got to be somewhat too complicated for my taste as far as the plot goes.  I didn’t find Renko all that interesting or unique as a main character. Even though the setting was somewhat exotic, I didn’t really get drawn into anything special about Moscow or the culture there.  It was just navigating through one gruesome death after another and shifting alliances.  I made it through the book and was glad to read it in some ways.  In other ways, I just had a hard time caring the deeper the story got after the initial murders.

I can’t say that Michael Cruz Smith is a terrible writer, but it seems that his style of prose just fails to resonate in any memorable way with me.

I will next try out a new writer, to me anyway, with Candice Fox’s “Crimson Lake”, which apparently will be taking place in Australia.  Hopefully, this is will turn out to be a newly discovered literary gem for me.

“Captain Marvel” is the latest cinematic release from Marvel Studios.  Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck directed this film which they co-wrote alongside Geneva Robertson-Dworet. Brie Larson tales on the title role alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg, Jude Law, and Annette Benning.

The movie starts off with the introduction of a Starforce member named Vers who is in service to protect the Kree Empire.  When a mission brings her to 1995 Earth, she meets Nick Fury and Phil Coulson of SHIELD an is even more baffled to find memories being stoked of a prior life as Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot who had been presumed dead six years earlier.  Carol brings an impressive array of superpowers with her but has no memory of how she acquired them.  She also finds that her real home has been caught between a conflict between the Kree and another race known as the Skrull, but it no longer becomes clear which side she should be on for a time.

Captain Marvel suffers a bit from seeming too invulnerable.  Once she masters her abilities, the villains really don’t seem to be that much of a threat, which rather removes any sense of real tension.  Jude Law plays her mentor initially, named Yon-Rogg, however it doesn’t take long to realize that he has a darker agenda.  Jackson ends up, rather unsurprisingly, being the best addition to the cast.  He has been playing Fury for quite a few years in the Marvel films, but the audience gets to see a younger and less cynical version.  Larson is fine, I suppose.  I don’t think the writing really served her talents all that effectively.  She has a few amusing lines, but her delivery seemed a bit off to me.  It took me quite a while to get all that engaged by her performance.  There just seemed something to be rather by the numbers in this latest superhero origin story.

The visual effects were pretty spectacular, but that is getting to be pretty par for the course in these installments.  I just found the whole experience to be rather bland overall.  Jackson is always good, but he was merely a major reason why I didn’t dislike this movie more, but that shouldn’t be the goal of any actor in any film.

It’s a very uneven movie that left me vacillating between finding it tolerable and agreeing with other criticisms I had heard.  It works well enough as part of the Marvel film series for the most part, but it ended up merely being not that bad where it should have been better.

“A Madea Family Funeral” is apparently Tyler Perry’s final cinematic turn as the formidable Mabel “Madea” Simmons.  All of the usual characters return with a few new ones.  An anniversary party turns more grim when there is a death that occurs in awkward circumstances.  Well, it would be more grim of this wasn’t a Madea film.

Madea also finds herself as a not so silent observer to all kinds of infidelity riddling what was supposed to be a joyous occasion.

Perry has announced this as his last film appearance as the gun-toting, quick-tempered matriarch of the Simmons and her various older relatives.  I just wish there was something to mark this as something unique in the series.  It just felt like I was watching another Madea movie.

Some scenes are quite funny, however other moments didn’t quite work for me.  The scene in the hospital waiting room with Madea slapping people around sounds ridiculous when describing, however I got pretty light-headed from laughing so hard at the one.

Perry’s writing is somewhat of a roller-coaster of enjoyment for me.  Some of the lessons or points he tries to convey are sometimes hammered in when a more subtle approach could have worked better.

I haven’t watched every Madea movie out there, but I do find myself a little melancholic about the thought of not having a new installment produced.

The movie was pretty fun in spite of the moments of incoherence in the writing.  If Perry does hold to his intention to give Madea a permanent rest, I will still be interested in whatever he works on next.  I just like the guy and hope he continues to do well.

As for the movie, it’s no worse than any of the previous ones, but it should have felt a little more special.

“Greta” is a film directed by Neil Jordan and was written by him and Ray Wright. Isabelle Huppert plays the title role who stalks the fragile, sensitive Frances, played by Chloe Grace Moretz.  Frances is living in New York with her more assertive friend, Erica, played by Maika Monroe.  Erica could have been a little more annoying as is usually the case in these types of movies,  but she really ended up being rather likeable.  She gets even more important as the movie foes along.

The performances were solid and convincing even if some of the character motivations fall a little short of that sometimes.  This is one of those films where the cast really delivers something pretty enjoyable in spite of a few shortcomings in the writing.  The writing isn’t necessarily bad, but there were still not as many surprises or originality as I would have liked.  Huppert does come off as rather creepy in spite of her rather matronly appearance.  Stephen Rea and Colm Feore help round out the main cast and as expected hold up their parts quite well.  These are two very experienced and busy guys, and their participation in this particular piece certainly validates why they show up so often.

I would be interested to see more of Maika Monroe’s work though.  I have seen quite a bit of Moretz recently and she does fine playing off the obviously more experienced Huppert.

The movie starts off with Frances finding a handbag on the subway and tries to do the right thing by bringing it to its owner, Greta.  However it appears that it was a trap since Greta is dangerously desperate for companionship.  She would apparently leave handbags all over the subways as lures for unsuspecting Good Samaritans. I have a little trouble that even someone as nuts as Greta would take a chance like that since anyone could show up at her door whose intentions are less trustworthy than hers.  That could have been more interesting movie, in fact.  Two psychos trying to out-crazy each other. That seems even more absurd, but I would love to see someone write that.

It’s still ended up being a pretty good movie in spite of the cracks in believability.

“The Gemini Contagion” is a Doctor Who audiobook from BBC Audio.  Actress Meera Syal presents this story penned by James Arnoff which features the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond.

The Doctor and Amy arrive on the planet known as Vinsk where a new hand wash known as Gemini is about to be released.  However it contains something called a Meme-Spawn which is a peculiar organism which can make people fluent in every language.  That sounds like a useful gift, however it all goes quite wrong since this is Doctor Who. It’s up to the erratic Time Lord to sort out the problem before Amy suffers from the more virulent effects of Gemini.

Unfortunately, this was something to be shrugged off.  Once again, it is not a bad story, but I didn’t find much to be uniquely memorable.  Syal is a pretty good presenter though. The story was competently written, but not much more than that.

“The Hunting Ground” is a Doctor Who audio play released by Big Finish Productions.  AK Benedict is the author of this particular episode which stars Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.

The Doctor is traveling on his own when the TARDIS brings him to Iceland where he finds a frozen corpse of someone killed by alien technology.  He is joined by Inspector Yrsa Kristjonsdittor, who initially suspects him of the crime.  It does not take long for the Doctor to track down an alien hunter and then find himself as the prey yet again.

Amy Beth Hayes plays the intrepid inspector whose own painful past is also at the heart of the mystery, and she does a pretty good job.  I thought there were echoes of a previous recurring character from Big Finish, DI Menzies.  It’s often amusing when the Doctor has to convince the local constabulary of his good intentions in spite of his bizarre appearance.

Michael Griffiths plays the Hunter, who actually has a bit of a snarky wit to rival the Doctor’s.  It makes a nice change to have an adversary who does something a bit more than bellow threats and boasts.  Especially since the Hunter is described as being over twelve feet tall.

Yrsa also finds a conspiracy connected to the Hunter which led to the murder of her father.  It was kind of interesting that she spent much of her time independent of the Doctor making her own discoveries.

Of course, the Doctor’s encounter with the two headed, persnickety accountant, Marfick, played by Joe Jameson and Will Hislop, was pretty entertaining as well.  Jameson and Hislop were well cast as the bickering, hyperattentive accountants who are also having to elude the attentions of the Hunter.

It’s not always the easiest story to follow, but Baker’s performance is energetic enough for me to mind too much.  There were some familiar elements that have been explored before in Doctor Who, however it was presented in a way that much of it still felt fresh. Baker is still a powerful presence in these things.  This was a pretty grim story, yet the humor didn’t seem out of place.  That’s one the charms of the series as a whole.

This turned out to be a solidly entertaining piece, and I would be interested to see AK Benedict contribute further to the range.

“Fighting With My Family” is the biographical film about the rise of Saraya “Paige” Bevis from the streets of Norwich, England as she seeks her place in the WWE.  It was conveniently written and directed by Stephen Merchant.  I like it when the writer and the director are same.  It cuts down on the name checking.  Florence Pugh takes on the lead role and does quite well with it.  Paige was apparently just 18 years old when she started on this rather bizarre career path and was the youngest champion of the WWE Divas.  Nick Frost and Lena Headey play the eccentric, uncouth, yet strangely charming parents who have fostered this obsession for wrestling in their offspring.  They run their own wrestling company in England.  Jack Lowden plays the brother who also wanted to cash in on an opportunity to shine in the WWE, but fate had other paths for young Zak Bevis.  Of course, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson had some amusing moments in this one.  Vince Vaughn plays the fictional, I suspect, coach who oversees the grueling tryouts.

It’s a little hard to feel that emotionally engaged to a film that has a staged sporting event as the backdrop, however it’s not impossible.  I am not a wrestling fan, but I connected with the family dynamics in the story.  There were the familiar aspects such as envy from a less successful sibling and desperation to get out of the confinements of an overly familiar neighborhood.  It also dealt with the feeling of loneliness when one if different from their peers and has unusual ambitions.  The script had some clever retorts and other moments.

Having a film focus on WWE is not that common, but much of what was depicted in this film has been seen before.  Even in spite of a certain lack of originality in some aspects, the film still manages to be quite enjoyable.  The performances were solid.  The other characters were charming.  Pugh puts in a very effective and convincing performance. Some events depicted in the film I could easily spot as artistic license, however even that was not too terribly distracting.  This falls short of being a masterpiece of any sort, but I found it quite more enjoyable than I expected.   That’s saying something from someone who doesn’t follow wrestling at all.

“Combat Magicks” is a Doctor Who novel written by Steve Cole.  It features the version of the Doctor currently played by Jodie Whittaker.  The Doctor and her companions arrive in Gaul in the year 451 where they encounter Atilla the Hun on the eve of his battle with Roman Empire.  As expected, the TARDIS travelers are split up.  Ryan comes across a group known as the Legion of Smoke , which is a group that finds and studies extraterrestrial equipment.  I guess it’s some precursor to Torchwood.

The Doctor and Yasmin are taken by Attila the Hun while Graham ends up in the Roman Army camp.

There is an alien presence assisting both sides of famous war.  The dead aren’t staying dead.  All kinds of chaos ensues.  These aliens, known as Tenctrama resemble witches, which has actually been done before in the series.

The historical setting is somewhat interesting, but much of this novel feels very much like a retread.

This iteration of the Doctor comes across a little better in print than she does on the screen.  Cole is not an incompetent writer, but he doesn’t do much to significantly grab my interest in this one.

The next effort of literary enjoyment will come from Martin Cruz Smith’s mystery that takes place in Moscow, “Gorky Park”.