Things I'm Looking Forward To In 2011

1. Primeval

Well at least I don't have to wait long for this one; the series 4 opener is on the 1st of January and the second episode is shown the next day! Not only do we have the best characters returning (Lester being the most awesome) and the worst characters written out but we get two series in 2011. The first will premiere on ITV and the second will be shown towards the end of the year on Watch (all thanks to the unique joint funding that has brought Primeval back from cancellation).



It looks like the special effects budget has been improved, although the first few episodes seem very reptilian heavy. Despite having been rather sceptical when Primeval first arrived on our screens, it's grown on me and I think it can be excellent with the right people behind it. I'm quietly confident it finally has the right mixture of people and money to be a success.

2. Terra Nova

The pilot is due out in May, and I've been looking forward to it for a while. Steven Spielberg, Brannon Braga, time travel, dinosaurs and a family in peril?? How can I not get excited?

I don't know any of the cast and the plot is a little vague but I'm still eagerly awaiting our first look at this show!

3. Movies

Lots of movies to get excited about, but here are a few of the one's I'm looking forward to.

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn - Tintin. I mean, you have to see it don't you??
I Am Number Four - Only interested because everyone else keeps telling me about it.
Battle: Los Angeles - Really excited about this
Scream 4 - 1990s retro.
X-Men: First Class - I'm an X-Men completist. I suspect this will be shite.
Green Lantern - I don't know why but I think the trailer for this looked awesome. (Muscles I suspect ;) )
Rise of the Apes - I LOVE the Apes movies.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon - I was disappointed by the last movie. Let's hope they've learnt their lessons.

4. Doctor Who Series 6

I'll admit I was extremely lukewarm towards Matt Smith but the Christmas Carol episode and a rewatching of series 5 has made me rediscover my love for Doctor Who and with the following trailer how could you not get excited??



5. Torchwood: The New World

After the amazing Children of the Earth I am very excited to see what the 10 part story they are dreaming up at Torchwood towers is about!

6. Falling Skies



Steven Spielberg. Aliens. How can you go wrong??

7. The Walking Dead

Both the second series of the TV series and the continuing monthly comic series make The Walking Dead a highlight of 2011. You simply must check both out.

A Christmas Carol: 2010 Xmas Doctor Who Special

It just wouldn't be Christmas Day without a Doctor Who special! I imagine in a hundred years it'll be as much a part of the Christmas holiday as the Christmas tree and mince pies are today. Alright, a boy can dream can't he?

I was only saying to my better half today, whilst watching Scrooged, that A Christmas Carol must be the most adapted novel in all of history. So there was a big concern that Doctor Who's take on it might be dry, boring and old hat. Surely there's only so many ways to tell a story, after all. Yet I felt that this episode took the heart of the traditional Dickens story, and put a wonderful twist on it meaning it seemed fresh, and unpredictable.

I particularly liked the fact that as Kazran Sardick (this episode's Scrooge) was changed through the "Ghosts" process, there were unintended consequences blending the best of the old with the best timey-wimeyness one can expect from Doctor Who.

The acting was initially worrying but got stronger and stronger as the episode went on, the flying fish were an excellently alien but still charmingly kitsch addition and the flying shark was basically added just to please me. Surely a flying shark in a Christmas themed Doctor Who episode is as close to realising my ultimate dream as there can be?

The romantic/depressing subplot was played out with an unfamiliar subtlety. Whereas Russell T. Davies would have bashed us round the head with it, here it was allowed to just be and was all the more touching and upsetting for it.

And, as someone who hasn't particularly warmed to the Eleventh Doctor during the fifth/two hundredth and ninty first/twelth series of Doctor Who, I was mightily impressed by Matt Smith's performance and finally feel like I can accept him as our favourite Time Lord.

All in all an absolutely top notch episode of modern Doctor Who with the series 6/five million/-5 trailer looking totally epic!

Gay Pirates - Cosmo Jarvis

Can't stop myself sharing this absolutely awesome Youtube music video. Gay Pirates is one of the best Youtube productions I've ever seen:

The Walking Dead's First Season

So, after 6 awesome weeks we are at the end of the first season of The Walking Dead. Whilst, as a Brit, I'm used to short seasons, 6 episodes seems insulting considering just how great the show has been!

I'm usually the sort of person who finds any changes to the source material in a movie or TV adaption pretty disgusting. You should of seen my reaction, at the age of 10, to the differences between Jurassic Park the movie and the book (she's not meant to be the oldest, it's a Stegosaurus not a Triceratops! etc.). Unusually, I've been far more forgiving of this series. The changes have been fairly substantial, with totally new characters and some important characters missing. And the CDC storyline came out of nowhere. BUT it's all been handled well, scripted excellently and with enough nods to the source material to keep this fanboy happy.

If you think "Oh God, I hate gore and zombies" and refuse to watch this, I urge you to reconsider. Yes there is gore. Yes there are zombies. But it's so much more than that. This is, like the comic book, about the characters, and how they deal with their circumstances. And it will have you hooked!

I cannot believe there's nearly a year to wait for the next set of episodes! :( How will I cope??