New Year of Squee!

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year (well not yet, but you might be reading this post a bit late). Now pleasantries aside, to business!

We waited. We watched. We blogged. We bitched. And now, the moment has come, to make it all worth it...January 1st. Primeval. Is. BACK.

And now if you will forgive me, I feel like using everyones's favourite online exclamation. Squee! *Coughcough*, now I feel better.

Well everyone knows the story of how fans worldwide couldn't bear a world without Primeval in it. We complained until the eardrums of ITV executives burst, and their email inboxes melted. Mammoths were loosed on the motorways, and top government officials found socks in the breadbin (it's possible I may be exaggerating slightly). Anywhoo, long story short, we, the fans, beat those faceless execs down.

Chances are you know this. And chances are you've also been following such admirable blogs as Primeval Anomalies, who have been keeping us up-to-date with any tiny tidbit of news that trickles through. If so, you'll now know all about new characters, Jess and Matt (So far, incidentally, the jury's still out for me - Jess has a cool wardrobe, but she's almost offensively perky, reminding me of a small woodland creature which is beseeching you not to step on it. As for Matt, the whole "Bad or Good, Is he or Isn't he?" thing has kind of been done. Helen in series 1, Caroline in series 2, even Danny was portrayed as a mysterious potential enemy at one point!)

And now to the webisodes - five taster scenes available exclusively from itv.com, each lasting around 5 mins. Frankly, I'm amazed at ITV's foresight about this - so far they've been pretty clueless about Primeval fans' needs (cancellation, ITV, we do not forget!) But in an unusual blast of sense, some top bod somewhere has seen that a jump of a year might be too hard for even the best of fans to keep up with. These little clips show the events which bring Jess and Matt to the ARC, help us get to know the previously aloof Becker (I don't care what Sarah/Becker shippers say, I never considered him a proper ARC team player before) and just fill in some of the background. For example, the new 50/50 management split between Lester and some chappy called Philip Burton, or the new (and, I think much uglier) ARC building. I just hope they don't change their logo before I get a chance to buy my T-shirt! In all seriousness though, if you like Primeval (which I assume you might, if you've persevered with my ramblings thus far), check out the webisodes. The new content, references to old friends, and future happinesses will really get your TV tastebuds juiced. Less than a week to go my friends, less than a week to go...


Elsewhere, In The World of Doctor Who

It's here! The trailer for Doctor Who series 6 has landed. Critically, because it moves flipping fast (I suppose this is the point to keep us guessing), I had to grab my impressions as I watched, and they flew by quick. So here goes (this is not necessarily in order of appearance, but in order of memorable-ness) a greater historical focus - nazis, pirates, etc; a naked River Song; A beardy Doctor; another fez craving; the Doctor wearing a stetson now (stetsons are cool); what looks like the Whitehouse; a quite epic western landscape; an Ood (or perhaps two) and the fact that monsters are real.

Now if that doesn't whet one's appetite, what will?

Something I've noted with interest in this trailer, and in yesterday's Christmas Special, was the almost Gothic feel there's been. At the start of series 5, the Moff made a bit of noise about making Doctor Who darker, more of a fairytale. I also believe that comparisons to Tim Burton were made. Well I love the work of Burton, so I was well into that idea... Yet (to my mind) it just didn't materialise. With the exception of a few brilliant scenes like the young Amelia's house, and Liz Ten's masked wandering, Doctor Who remained unchanged - still brilliant, but definitely not living up to it's Burtonesque hype. However, yesterday's A Christmas Carol was finally in the promised new vibe. A victorian planet, where people wear velvet jackets, white lace dresses and flying goggles. Little boys are got up in stripy pygamas, old men grouch around in tall towers, and beautiful ice maidens hang out in the basement. The lighting was darker, richer, as were the concepts. And, from the teasing trailer, Series 6 seems set to be cut in the same cloth. Perhaps this change (if, it sticks around, that is) won't be to everybody's taste, but I'm loving it!

Oh yes, 2011's going to be a very good year for entertainment.
Sassy xx

Good Poster for the ARC?

I can completely picture one of the Primeval team posting this, with wonderful irony. *Giggle*

Adventures In the Capital

My Mum was right. That big souvenir balloon was a mistake...

Geography fact: London is the capital of the fair United Kingdom. Sassy fact: I have been there. Many times, as I have family both big and small living in its environs. Plus it does house a lot of fun things to do. Plus it has lots of hotels (not all of them great, but more on that later). Plus the trains running there are really regular... Plus... well you get the picture!

Anyhoo, that's the background. The short version of that little trip to nowhere is that I went on a lovely outing to London for my holidays! This is my main excuse for my less-than-regular blogging. Oh it was marvellous, children! Art, culture, fancy food, too many souvenirs, sunburn in the roasting heat of southern England and sore feet from all that darn touristing... Ach, well what can ya do?

People - Londoners in particular - HOW HOT IS IT IN LONDON?! I dunno how they stand it,especially on the tube, which is brilliantly organised, but rubbishly air-conditioned. And outside is burny too. I made the stupid mistake of forgetting my suncream... At Kew Gardens. I felt like a Pyrovile by the end of the day - by that I mean, on fire. Youch. And talking of fire, my hotel decided to test its fire alarms. At midnight. That was not very nice of them, was it? Still, crowd situation, call me insane but I always expect one of the Doctors to leap up and take charge OR a member of the ARC team to shout "You all need to evacuate, there's an anomaly in here!" He he, I kept myself amused.

But no, those were my only moans, the trip was lovely - the only thing we didn't do was the London Eye... I just don't trust it after that nasty business with the Nestene consciousness!

Keep the Blue Light Flashing, folks!

Sassy xx

Coming Soon to a Computer Screen Near You!

• Sassy's adventures in London - the full (barely) shocking truths.
• Sassy as Every SciFi star she has admired (there may be photos - be afraid, be very afraid)
• Dougie vs Davy: THE SHOWDOWN
• My adventures with the handmade jewellery world

All these treats await you... (Anyone know why I keep referring to myself in the 3rd person? I HATE when other people do that!! Note to self: Cut it out.)

Sassy xx

I'll Keep This Brief

Dear readers of SassySciFi. I shall take this chance to apologise for the fact that I haven't blogged in quite some time. The reasons for this are the following:

• Exams ended, term ended, I crashed out.
• Frenzy was epic, but exhausting, causing me to crash out.
• Doctor Who (every episode which has passed since my last post) has been epic - so epic, I can't quite get my head around reviewing it, right now!
• A crack ate me.
• I then turned into an auton, which, while meaning I could absorb the Internet, also severely damaged the creativity required to ramble randomly about my weird life.
• Then everything went kind of mental, and the world was saved by a man in a fez. Then 2000-odd years later, I was suddenly no-longer an auton (I may be confusing my life with someone else's, here...)
• I joined an obscure sect called The Cult of Moff, which worships a great man and genius.
• I realised I was crazy, and decided to leave the sect (but never stop loving the Moff)
• I remembered this blog, and decided to leave a post of lame excuses.
• My dog ate it.

I know this makes exactly NO SENSE, but it is rather late, and I am rather tired. (Slightly) more logical ramblings soon. Keep the Blue Light Flashing,

Sassy xx

PS - The IT Crowd. How good is it?! I fear that is how my life will end up, some day...

Things I Have Learned From Playing The Adventure Games

So the first installment of Doctor Who's The Adventure Games rocked onto our screens last week (much earlier than scheduled, which is most unlike the BBC... to give us pleasure rather than irritation from their shoddy scheduling!) so here's some lessons I've learned from the awesome game!

• Daleks are MUCH scarier when you are the actual one running away from them.
• I wouldn't be a very daring companion... When the game said I had to sneak through a Dalek patrol, I was like, "Oh noooo, can't I just hang out here, in this nice, safe little room?!"
• Amy looks like a chicken having a heart attack if she gets exterminated.
• I actually DO like video games! I was just playing the wrong ones...
• I totally can't steer - at one stage I spent about a minute walking the Doctor into the same wall!
• Most things are better free - love, chocolate, the Metro... But ESPECIALLY Doctor Who related things!
• The graphics fall down when they automatically zoom into the Doctor's head or a random wall - or maybe it's my fault and I'm just being dense?
• I will never stop loving Doctor Who!
• (But I think we knew that already!)

Sassy xx

The Podosphere

Those of you who are listeners of the Doctor Who Podcast (website link in the sidebar), featuring Trevor, Tom and James may have noticed a familiar face - or voice, in episode 21... Me, Sassy! Damn right, I sent in my audio feedback! To hear my own voice on the podcast was tremendously exciting. Unfortunately, it was done on my phone (my lack of sophisticated recording equipment is the reason I write a blog, rather than have a Youtube channel or do a podcast), and I had a relatively bad headcold, so I sounded proper nasal! As far as I know, I don't normally sound that way... So tune in everyone and hear my views on The Hungry Earth, it'll save me some time!

In other news, my exams are officially over! I've got a week to recover before returning to the grindstone of school. Now all I have to occupy my time is worrying about the results... And blogging about Sci-fi!

Talking of science (though not fiction) anyone know how to fix iTunes? Mine's gone mental and deleted half my tracks, for no apparent reason! I feel so aggreived, cause I work really hard to maintain my library, full of all my favourite music... Grr!

Oh well, lets wrap up there, since I've got no other news. Keep the Blue Light Flashing!
Sassy xx