MadCap's Mad Rantings - "Doctor...Who?"

Okay, so The Fugitive of the Judoon just happened and if you don't want spoilers on it, then I highly suggest that you give this a miss until you've seen it. You may also want to miss out on this until you see Spyfall as well, which I will also touch upon for background. If you have, then feel free to continue. As always, spoilers will begin below the cut.

Like many critics out there that don't have their head firmly up the rear ends of Chris Chibnall and the BBC, I've been very critical of the current run of Doctor Who that began when both Steven Moffat and Peter Capaldi left the show back in 2017. Chibnall started his run by making the controversial decision to cast a woman in the role of the Doctor, specifically Jodie Whitaker.

I -like many - scoffed at what was very clear pandering, but I was willing to give it a shot on the grounds that cross-sex regeneration had already been established in Moffat's era and had been hinted as being possible at least as far back as the Tom Baker era (both in and out of universe, Tom Baker apparently teased to the press that his replacement when he left in 1981 could be a woman). Whitaker is a talented actress, and I am of the belief that there is no bad actor who has ever played the Doctor regardless of their genitals.

Chibnall had written one of my favorite of the Matt Smith era episodes (Dinosaurs on a Spaceship) and is still very much acclaimed for the work he did with Russell T. Davies on Torchwood. So, I thought we'd see a bit of the Russell T. Davies era with all the crap thrown out and, perhaps, an interesting Doctor in spite of a grab bag of iffy episodes.

...and then Series 11 happened.

For the record, I don't blame Series 11 on Whitaker or actually any of the cast. Whitaker does well with what she's given, as do her companions. Unfortunately, what she's given is crap and she has too many companions. The writing, and the sentiment behind it, ruined what could have been some really good episodes.

The Woman Who Fell To Earth did a good job of setting up everyone in the new cast, Kerblam! had a decent episode marred with a somewhat muddied message in the end, It Takes You Away had potential up until the very end, and Resolution managed to make the Daleks terrifying up until it climbed into a steampunk Dalek casing. And then it became hilarious.

...and yes, I will be getting to all of those episodes (and the rest) when I review Series 11 at...some point...in my From Madcap's Couch series. Unless you're reading this at some point in the future after I've already done so, in which case - hi, future people! Did we manage to survive the Coronavirus?

Horribly dating myself aside, pretty much every other episode in Series 11 was either merely okay or really bad and it seemed that audiences agreed. Critics loved them, but then they seemed to care more about the social messages pushed or mocking the fans for thinking things were ridiculous than they cared about the actual content itself.

Whether or not that was a deciding factor, Chibnall and the BBC took a gap year. This was both a good idea and a bad idea. It was a good idea in that it would give him time to rework his approach and maybe glean something from the critics and maybe get a-

Oh...oh, well that's very unfortunate there, Chris ol' boy...

MadCap's Game Reviews - "The Outer Worlds"

So, have you ever thrown Firefly and Fallout into a blender and set the thing to "maximum overdrive"?

Don't do that, because you'll make a terrible mess of your kitchen.

Gamer kitchen safety tip, kids: Don't put discs into your blender.

...also, use a lid.

MadCap's Game Reviews - "Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order"

So, here we are again. Back in 2016, I expressed some concerns about everyone freaking out as if it were Armageddon when EA got the exclusive license to produce Star Wars video games. Given the company's complete lack of humanity and propensity for firing off live rounds from an automatic assault weapon into their feet, I could definitely understand the worry. However, it was something we could get past and look forward to better things in the future.

...then The Last Jedi happened. Though that really isn't the fault of EA (something that's already come up frighteningly often in this review).

What If...the Empire of the Wolf began in Tooth and Claw? (Part 2)

Last time...
Captain Jack Harkness woke up in a Torchwood he did not remember, in a timeline he did not remember, to find everything a little bit more werewolf-ish. After some investigation, Jack found himself on the run from Yvonne Hartman and the mysterious Emperor, alongside his old friends Gwen and Ianto. Jack had just managed to discover the location of the TARDIS when Ianto revealed himself to be a traitor, shooting Gwen and demanding Jack's surrender.

Needless to say, things weren't going very well for the poor fella.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - "Minos Mayhem, Chapter 11"

An Imperial prisoner transport was hardly a comfortable place by design. For the purposes of a night’s rest, however, it served well enough. When Calen settled into his small bunk, he did not expect that this night would be any more pleasant than any of the others he’d had of late. When he awoke in a familiar dreamscape...he found that he was right. The forest, the table with the feast, and Critus sitting at it in his robes and turban.

“Sleeping well?” He asked, languidly pouring himself another glass of some liquid from a crystal decanter.

“...oh, well, of course.” Calen replied dryly.“I often enjoy dreams where I’m assaulted by strange men in bathrobes.”

“Perhaps my previous attempt to convince you was...overzealous.” Critus quipped, ignoring the sarcasm dripping from every word of the younger man.

“What tipped you off? The blood cup? Maybe the feast of skeletons? The cryptic nonsense about the Path?” Calen asked as he watched the older man sigh, rubbing his temple. “Oh, I’m sorry. Is that annoying? Is it like someone invaded your dreams while you sleep?”

MadCap's Game Reviews - "Screencheat"

So, New Year's Eve saw me at Savannah's own Chromatic Dragon (if you're ever in the area, stop in. They have great shots along with food and games galore!) with Tina, and we had a grand old time playing this gem of a game. From developer Samurai Punk and brought to us by publisher Surprise Attack, Screencheat appears to be your typical first person shooter on the surface. It has several game modes you'd expect from a multiplayer FPS - Deathmatch, King of the Hill, Last Man Standing - as well as a few new ones such as Capture the Fun (just replace the llama pinata they give you with a flag and you already know what this is) and One Shot (it's exactly what you think it is). Nothing too special you might think, except for the title.

Screencheat.