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I found this little nugget of 'What Could've Been' on IMDB.com, but I'd also heard actor Anthony Daniels say in an interview that he almost passed on playing one half of the franchise's signature robotic duo. Thank our lucky stars that Ralph McQuarrie's artwork was so inspired!
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
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It's hard to sometimes explain just how popular the original Star Wars was when it premiered theatrically back in 1977, but perhaps the easiest way for today's generations to understand is the tale of the toys: the manufacturer hadn't anticipated the film's popularity, and this meant that young boys and girls wanting an action figure of their favorite space hero had to wait ... and wait ... and wait ...
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
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It's a very natural and human impulse to look for meaning in practically everything we see. The reality of life is that there's no such thing as coincidence, and things happen for a reason. When that reason boils down to some simple effect or 'defect' made by the manufacturer, how silly do we look for having tried to come up with some grand conspiracy theory to explain it all? Pretty darn silly, if you ask me!
Now why do all of those Stormtroopers and Imperial officers have a British accent?
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
Now why do all of those Stormtroopers and Imperial officers have a British accent?
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
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To be fair, Doctor Who doesn’t get to do traditional ghost stories all that often, and much of that is owed to the fact that Science Fiction and ghosts (of a sort) just don’t mix that well. Granted, there will always be elements of SciFi and Fantasy joined at the proverbial hip, but combining the particular storytelling tropes from each rarely comes off so effectively as to reward fans of the separate genres: oh, we do so love our nitpicking! Still, when a “good attempt” is the best we can hope for, we’ll often settle for it so long as the finished work sits comfortably alongside the other hours of any given season without detracting from the total experience.
In that regard, this past weekend’s “Knock Knock” efficiently dabbled with the tricks of horror (i.e. the elderly landlord, the haunted castle, etc.) good enough to make the adventure believable but only so much if viewers accept the ‘Scooby Doo’ outcome as I was left wondering all too often exactly how and why this particular “universe” worked the way it did.
In that regard, this past weekend’s “Knock Knock” efficiently dabbled with the tricks of horror (i.e. the elderly landlord, the haunted castle, etc.) good enough to make the adventure believable but only so much if viewers accept the ‘Scooby Doo’ outcome as I was left wondering all too often exactly how and why this particular “universe” worked the way it did.
Bill Potts (played by Pearl Mackie) is on a mission with some friends (none of whom are particularly memorable) to find a place of their own for some off-campus living. Sadly, none of the available residences fit their agreed upon budget, but that’s when an elderly caretaker from a nearby castle (David Suchet) discovers the group and offers them the chance of a lifetime: they can each have a room in his stately mansion and not manage to ‘break the bank.’ Naturally, this creaky ol’ venue becomes a character all of its own in the story as its loose floorboards and fitted wood moldings hide a dark, dark secret, one that just might be the death of them all!
How the Doctor fits into all of this ends up being a nice comic turn to the established Capaldi/Mackie combo as she tells her friends that he’s her grandfather (a narrative throwback all the way to the beginning of Doctor Who when William Hartnell’s man from Gallifrey actually did have a granddaughter for a companion); it’s an inspired ‘zing’ for an episode that otherwise feels a bit disheveled for so early in a new season of Who. Even ghost-inspired tales usually earn an upturned nose from the Doctor, and this one never quite comes together the way a good yarn should but instead clumsily hits its predictable notes and reveals all too simply.
You’ve got victims? Check.
You’ve got an old house? Check.
You’re got a crotchety landlord? Check.
From there, screenwriter Mike Bartlett (his first foray into the realm of Who) proceeds to tie the dryads (wood nymphs) of Greek mythology into this growing universe. It may’ve worked had the whole idea of exactly ‘how’ and ‘why’ these alien cockroaches prolong the life of the landlord’s mother been aptly communicated, but otherwise it all comes off feeling a bit more magical or fantastical than what typically suffices for Who’s audiences.
Complaints aside, I’ll give credit where credit is due as “Knock Knock” does have some clever moments wherein the story deals in character.
How the Doctor fits into all of this ends up being a nice comic turn to the established Capaldi/Mackie combo as she tells her friends that he’s her grandfather (a narrative throwback all the way to the beginning of Doctor Who when William Hartnell’s man from Gallifrey actually did have a granddaughter for a companion); it’s an inspired ‘zing’ for an episode that otherwise feels a bit disheveled for so early in a new season of Who. Even ghost-inspired tales usually earn an upturned nose from the Doctor, and this one never quite comes together the way a good yarn should but instead clumsily hits its predictable notes and reveals all too simply.
You’ve got victims? Check.
You’ve got an old house? Check.
You’re got a crotchety landlord? Check.
From there, screenwriter Mike Bartlett (his first foray into the realm of Who) proceeds to tie the dryads (wood nymphs) of Greek mythology into this growing universe. It may’ve worked had the whole idea of exactly ‘how’ and ‘why’ these alien cockroaches prolong the life of the landlord’s mother been aptly communicated, but otherwise it all comes off feeling a bit more magical or fantastical than what typically suffices for Who’s audiences.
Complaints aside, I’ll give credit where credit is due as “Knock Knock” does have some clever moments wherein the story deals in character.
Bill clearly is trying to have a life outside of the TARDIS – something not necessarily all that fresh – and her explanations to that effect are delivered with the kind of terseness that’s been Capaldi’s mainstay for all of his seasons as the lead. She keeps dismissing the Time Lord so that she can be with her friends, and that hasn’t been the same for the previous all-too goo-goo-eyed companions of David Tennant and Matt Smith. Likewise – as he’s become expectant of said goo-goo-eyed admiration – the Doctor never accepts Bill’s dismissals, and he keeps twisting his explanation for staying in to whatever “fits” for the moment; this tete-a-tete works very well for the two actors, and it salvages an otherwise slog of an hour several times.
This all happens thankfully so, I might add, since Bill’s friends are really such dullards: flat, dimensionless wannabes who typically fill out roles in traditional horror films, the kind always opening that closed door when audiences are screaming to leave it shut. It’s a shame what suffices for a casual acquaintance these days, and Bartlett’s script deserved another once over so far as this longtime Who viewer is concerned to weed out some of its less-inspired stereotypes.
Also, dare I suggest that an actor the gravitas of Suchet ends up seeming wasted in such fluff? He might not have the resume of Anthony Hopkins, mind you, but he’s definitely filled out roles of greater substance than what Bartlett provided here. Who knows? His gravitas may’ve actually been a Godsend to an otherwise forgettable script as any lesser known commodity might have been even more easily blended in with the woodwork (pun intended).
For all its occasionally posturing, “Knock Knock” largely felt like filler – an episode meant to fill the whole until something else happens next week. Its characters aren’t particularly memorably – mainly, these side diversions are fodder for this week’s alien villain to “eat” – and its setting more likely won’t be revisited again any time soon as I suspect gears are decidedly shifting back toward The Vault and Capaldi’s upcoming ‘departure’ for greener pastures.
This all happens thankfully so, I might add, since Bill’s friends are really such dullards: flat, dimensionless wannabes who typically fill out roles in traditional horror films, the kind always opening that closed door when audiences are screaming to leave it shut. It’s a shame what suffices for a casual acquaintance these days, and Bartlett’s script deserved another once over so far as this longtime Who viewer is concerned to weed out some of its less-inspired stereotypes.
Also, dare I suggest that an actor the gravitas of Suchet ends up seeming wasted in such fluff? He might not have the resume of Anthony Hopkins, mind you, but he’s definitely filled out roles of greater substance than what Bartlett provided here. Who knows? His gravitas may’ve actually been a Godsend to an otherwise forgettable script as any lesser known commodity might have been even more easily blended in with the woodwork (pun intended).
For all its occasionally posturing, “Knock Knock” largely felt like filler – an episode meant to fill the whole until something else happens next week. Its characters aren’t particularly memorably – mainly, these side diversions are fodder for this week’s alien villain to “eat” – and its setting more likely won’t be revisited again any time soon as I suspect gears are decidedly shifting back toward The Vault and Capaldi’s upcoming ‘departure’ for greener pastures.
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When I was but an urchin, my parents gave me the motion picture soundtrack for Star Wars, and I played that thing (seriously) all of the time. Like so many of my generation, I could tell you visually exactly what was going on throughout each and every track of the John Williams score, and I'm thrilled to know that his work remains so universally praised today as when it first appeared alongside George Lucas's visuals on the silver screen.
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
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It sounds to me like a little bit of success led to a lot of imitators trying to recapture the visual appeal of the original Star Wars; but I'm certain the studio suits would just say that they were making solid investments for the future of their respective houses. Still, leaders lead, and followers follow!
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
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Why, what's in a name? Perhaps nothing, but -- in the case of this little astromech droid -- perhaps a bit of everything. It's amazing where inspiration comes from, and -- speaking as a budding writer myself -- I have scraps and scraps and scraps of paper with little tidbits just waiting for the right work as well.
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
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Life's funny little coincidences -- even though the Force teaches us that there is no such thing as coincidence -- certainly makes for interesting trivia on this side of the galaxy!
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
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Ah, the battle of the sexes! Anyone who follows the news today can tell you that there isn't a whole lot of differences between the guys and the gals, no? The men and the women? The shirts and the skins? Well, last I heard Harrison Ford didn't need to have his tackle taped down, but it would seem that the lovely Carrie Fisher did! (Well, maybe not her "tackle" per se, but you get the analogy.)
But Carrie's sentiments about there being no underwear in space aren't exactly true, as any card-carrying SciFi fanboy will tell you we got to see Ripley in the panties her mother laid out for her in the original Alien feature ... and what a pair of panties they were!
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
But Carrie's sentiments about there being no underwear in space aren't exactly true, as any card-carrying SciFi fanboy will tell you we got to see Ripley in the panties her mother laid out for her in the original Alien feature ... and what a pair of panties they were!
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
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There's always a debate about what film is actually "the most attended" by audiences without the scuttlebutt involving ticket prices, so this is what IMDB.com claims to be the last word on that front. It's certainly interesting that Gone With The Wind retains that title after so many years, but facts are facts, leaving Star Wars firmly ensconsed in second place. Still, not bad for a film about space pirates, Wookies, and robots.
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!
As always, thanks for reading ... and May The Force Be With You!