Mortal Kombat XL: Shinnok's Wrath - Monday 1st May!

MORTAL KOMBAT XL

SHINNOK'S WRATH - MONDAY 1st MAY 2017

Elder God Shinnok seeks dominance and complete control on Earthrealm to become the supreme ruler and take his revenge upon the Elder Gods. Shinnok is a threat to all of creation, he carries death in his path, and only darkness lies in his wake. 

Doctor Who Review: Thin Ice

DOCTOR WHO - SERIES 10 EPISODE 3: THIN ICE

Thin Ice. London 1814. The entire city has turned out for the biggest Frost Fair in decades. But beneath the frozen Thames, revellers are disappearing, snatched through the ice and pulled into the depths where a terrifying monster lurks. Will the Doctor and Bill stop the slaughter before they too are dragged into the icy waters?

I always love period episodes, episodes set in the past, particularly ones set in this period, the Victorian/Edwardian sort of era. That's my favourite time period. I love the whole gloomy industrial atmosphere of the setting of London at that time, I love the costumes, the tone of sense of place of where you are is very apparent and the times is very apparent too when Bill comments on the colour of her skin and slavery and she is verbally abused in the story for being a coloured girl.

I had a feeling that when the events of last week's episode leading into this one from last week and then seeing the next time trailer, I had very optimistic thoughts for this one and thought 'this looks good', 'this looks interesting'. And then actually having watched it, it didn't disappoint. It was a very good episode, compared to last week's which was a bit of a dud, this one was excellent. I love the idea of the monster in the frozen Thames, I loved the whole atmosphere of the market stool on the ice. It reminded me of a big finish story which you'd expect to listen to on audio, maybe with the Fifth or Sixth doctor?

The title, one can only think did Sarah Dollard come up with that title herself? because there is a seventh doctor and Ace story called "Thin Ice" with the ice warriors in it. Coincidence?

This is Sarah Dollard's second Doctor Who story, and the story quickly moves its constituent parts into place. Even in the pre-credits sequence, you get the reveal of the monster under the frozen Thames, we have learned that the TARDIS has steered the Doctor and Bill to this location and that danger lies ahead. Also, a quick trip to the TARDIS wardrobe. I liked both Bill's and the Doctor's costume in this episode to adjust to the time period in which they are in. 

The Doctor doesn't usually bother changing his costume to suit the period, the only other time where I can recall he changed his outfit to suit the victorian period was in 'The Talons of Weng-Chiang' where he dressed in that Sherlock Holmes get up. Though there are photos of the Ninth Doctor in a victorian outfit for 'The Unquiet Dead' which is a shame that he see him wear in the episode. It's a very Dickensian look, especially with the top hat which I thought was a nice touch and actually suited Capaldi well, he suits wearing hats and I think his Doctor could pass off wearing hats. 

It starts off being like one of those mystery episodes, we're not quite sure straight away what's going on. 

But then there are strange lights under the ice? Dollard’s script soon begins to escalate the mystery here, with Thin Ice going about its business a little quicker than the episodes we’ve seen thus far this series. We get children luring people to the lights, which then pull people down into the Thames and, more pertinently, the teeth of the massive creature we saw at the start. The internal logic of the story then plays out, with Nicholas Burns’ particularly slimey Lord Sutcliffe overseeing a plan that involves sacrificing people and it’s a very cold drama at times, with a young child proving to be fish food, creating fuel, and a bit of good old-fashioned child labour thrown in for extra measure.

To unravel all of this, Thin Ice becomes more of a Peter Capaldi-centric episode, albeit hinging, again, on a choice that Pearl Mackie’s Bill is forced to make. I liked the Doctor and Bill's partnership in the ways in which they played off each other in this episode. It almost reminded me of another successful and famous Doctor and companion partnership. I think you guess whom I'm talking about. The Seventh Doctor and Ace. And when you think about it Bill is a bit like Ace in a sense, only she doesn't want to blow stuff up. But I think the whole teacher and student thing is working really well. 

It's one of those episodes that you can get so sucked into it that you can just run away with it and enjoy it no matter what happens. Those are the episodes which I really enjoy over all others and it was actually not too complicated a plot to follow, everything made sense, the pace of it was good, Peter Capaldi and Bill were excellent, it's all you could really expect to see. 

I didn't really feel that it needed to end with them coming back to the doctor's office, I would have liked them to stay a little longer and for it to end on a light humorous note as for the whole of the episode has been bleak and mysterious, a light humorous note would have finished it fine for me. 

I don't really care about that sub plot with what's going on in the vault. It's something that's going to drag on throughout the whole of the series. And that bit at the end was the only part I didn't really like. But overall, a very enjoyable episode. One of my favourites of the series and the whole of the new series.  8/10.

Next week's looks as if it's going to be another good one too. Let's hope so. 

SJA Reviews: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SARAH JANE?

Written By: Gareth Roberts

Directed By: Graeme Harper 

Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane. The story which suggests to the audience what if Sarah Jane was not around to save the day? and what would happen as a result of that. 

I've never been too keen on this one if I'm being quite frank, my feelings towards this story are very similar to Doctor Who stories where the doctor's involvement is minimal. Stories like "Blink" where the Tenth Doctor's trapped in 1969 without the TARDIS. I think because this story doesn't have much of Sarah Jane in it, it's all down to Maria to work out the mystery of what happened to Sarah Jane. So this is a story that belongs to both Sarah Jane and Maria. In the sense that Maria is really the character which is leading this story forward whilst we get to know a lot about Sarah Jane's back story which has never been explored before until now.

So the story goes that some creature takes Sarah Jane Smith and Luke out of time completely so that they had never existed. In the meanwhile, a meteor is about to crash land on Earth and destroy all life on earth. Sarah Jane has a plan on stopping the meteor before it collides with earth but with her taken out of time, there is no one to stop that from happening. 

There is a new woman living at 13 Bannerman road, Andrea Yates, who was Sarah Jane's friend when they were at school together. Maria is the only one who can remember Sarah Jane because the day before Sarah Jane got taken out of time, she gave a small silver box to Maria and the box itself acts as a force shield so that when time got affected it had no effect on Maria at all. It is then, that Maria gets caught up in working out the mystery of whatever happened to Sarah Jane. 

It turns out that Andrea had made a deal with the devil, the devil being this creepy mysterious creature in a black cloak known as "The Trickster" who later goes on to be one of Sarah Jane's arch enemies. 

So that's the basic outline of the story, it's all about getting Sarah Jane back in time so that she can stop the meteor from destroying Earth. 

Commenting on something else now, It was really good to see the graske back. The graske were an alien which appeared in a webisode game at Christmas 2005 shortly after David Tennant became the doctor, and it seemed like an interesting choice to bring them into this series. They are nasty little creatures and I felt it made a nice edition, even if it was just one graske in the whole story. 

Another good bit was seeing Alan Jackson prove his worth to the series, because even though he can't remember Sarah Jane, it's Alan who pretty much saves the day because Maria gets taken out of time as well, and time gets reset again so it's as if Maria has never existed, even her own Mum can't remember her and then suddenly the tables turn and something in Alan just clicks and that's what made the story interesting for me, because you just go "Yes, Alan is on it! Finally, we are getting somewhere" because the story in part one in terms of pace is very slow and boring and ends on a brilliant cliffhanger and then the pace and the excitement of the story finally picks up once Alan has the box and can remember Maria when no one else can, he clocks it and gets onto knowing the truth. 

I also liked how emotionally centred the story was with Sarah Jane's side of the story, although I think the script went into a bit too much depth, and it got very personal to Sarah Jane which I didn't feel that the story really needed and as a result of that, I didn't like how simply the Trickster was defeated in this story and indeed all of the stories he appeared in, because it just got dull and repetitive. The ending was cut short for me and it wasn't that great an ending if I'm honest.

As I said before, not all that keen on this one and like Warriors of Kudlak it just lacks excitement for a while until it's picked up towards the end and then drops back down again. It's a pity that the storytelling does that and doesn't stay consistent throughout. It's another reason why I think "Invasion of the Bane" did well, as that was non-stop and felt a bit like a Doctor Who story.

Part One was a bit slow to get started because you've got all this explaining to do and then you got the mystery to work out of what happened to Sarah Jane etc. Once that's worked out it's all about how you can get Sarah Jane back in time to stop a disaster from happening in order for the world to be saved. 

So yeah, lack of Sarah Jane, lack of excitement and pace and things that didn't quite add up are my mains reasons for not liking this story that much, but there are worse stories to come than this one. 

I'll give it a 4/10.

Next Week: The Lost Boy (The Series One Finalie)

NOTICE: No gameplay videos tomorrow - Saturday 29th April 2017

This is just a brief notification to inform you If you were expecting any gameplay videos tomorrow, there are no plans to upload any new gameplay videos tomorrow (Saturday 29th April) The reason being is because of social activities I have going on tomorrow which prevent me from having the time to record and upload videos.

So I'll be altering my plans for MKX and Injustice videos for the weekend.

Just thought you should know.

Thanks.

Update: 28/04/17

Hello.

Just giving you an update in regards to what's going on with me the last few days.

As you may or may not know, I've been struggling with depression and anxiety issues recently. so much so I took time out for myself to try and sort it out. Now that some action is in place and given that the last few days have been really good, I feel I'm in a much better place, and last night I felt good in myself for the first time in months. 

I happen to come across this song which I wanted to add, which basically sums up if I ever I feel down again, I can listen to it and I can feel in a more motivated mood. 

Things are looking up and I have great support behind me. I'm on the mend.

Mortal Kombat XL: Predator's Hunt!

MORTAL KOMBAT XL

PREDATOR'S HUNT: FRIDAY 28th APRIL 2017

Predator has arrived and he is thirsty for blood. As he begins his hunt, Predator stalks the realms for prey to spring on. Beware the Predator.

Doctor Who REVIEW: Smile

DOCTOR WHO: SERIES 10 EPISODE 2 - SMILE

Smile. The Doctor takes Bill to a spectacular city on a distant planet, but where are all the colonists? A band of 'cute' robots hold the deadly answer.

So Doctor Who this week takes us into the future, as we've never quite seen it before until this point in the series. Bill decides she wants to go on a trip into the future, to see what the future holds in the store, the TARDIS lands just outside this city and in this city there are these little robots which are classed as cute, and they communicate through emojis. Emoji's being a big thing these days, they've fitted into the modern culture of our society through social media, more or less everyone uses them. But the planet is empty, where is everyone? and it brings up a mysterious mystery for the Doctor and Bill to solve as the story goes along. 

Now for me, the first two episodes of a new series of Doctor Who are very important because it is Episode Two which is the episode which sets up the whole series because Episode One's got the job of the introduction. 

Episode Two are sort of like the comic relief episodes which gets the audience in a cherry mood, give them a little bit of laugh because as the series later goes on, things start to get more serious. 

As far as Episode Two goes for me in the past, The End of World I'm not so keen on, Tooth and Claw was really good, The Shakespeare Code - I like that, Fires of Pompeii - It's ok, Beast Below is bad, Day of the Moon which was the second half of that two part story with the Silence - I enjoyed it but it's not one of my favourites, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship was good, Into the Dalek was good, The Witch's familiar (Second half of the first two-parter with Davros) Yes that was good but again not a personal favourite of mine.  So it's a mix and match of what I think of how well the series has been set up. In the case of Smile, Series Ten has got off to a steady start. 

In short keeping things brief and to the point, I feel like this story had a lot of good ideas in it, but they all just didn't quite add up, the ending was particularly weak. The emoji bots were not as dramatically exciting as the trailers made them out to be, they didn't do much at all and they're not scary. I felt the pacing of it was a bit slow and boring, there just wasn't enough tension and it lacked suspense for me. 

The location, I loved. It was shot in Valencia, very beautiful, efficiently exuberant and overall just interesting. 

As far as The Doctor and Bill's relationship is concerned, that was a main focus point of the story because, for the majority of it, it's just the two of them. I feel like I need to see more episodes in order, to sum up, what they're relationship is about, It's still trying to do the teacher and student thing which was established last week but also trying to give Bill an identity in working out who she thinks the Doctor is. You can't sum up their what their relationship is in one story is what I'm saying. I'm still not sure whether I like Bill or not. That's something I'll later decide for myself.

I liked how events led into next week's episode which looks very interesting, especially from what I've read about it, in Doctor Who magazine. 

Overall a good effort, but doesn't quite do it for me. So it's going to have to be a 5/10.

What I will add to that is the title was a lot better than "The Emoji Planet" which was what it was rumored to be.

Next week: Thin Ice. 

SJA Reviews: Warriors of Kudlak

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES: WARRIORS OF KUDLAK

Written By: Phil Gladwin

Directed By: Charles Martin

Warriors of Kudlak bases itself around this alien war general in association with his business partner Mr Mark Grantham, kidnapping young children who come to play their laser tag game "Combat 3000". It's not just in London, kids who play this game go missing all across the country. So what's going on? What has Kudlak got to hide? why is he kidnapping children? what does he need them for? why is Grantham helping him? and what's all this got to do with laser tag? 

Warriors of Kudlack is the third installment of series one of SJA, I have to say, I look back on this one as not being a fond favourite of mine. I'm not quite sure what the definitive reasoning towards why that is, I'm not that keen on it as I am on other stories. It's on par with "Whatever happened to Sarah Jane?" as being the weakest story in the first series for me, which is a shame in follow-up to "Eye of the Gorgon" which is a very good story. 

It's the first story to have a male director because, for the first three stories, they've all been directed by Alice Troughton. This is the first time that a male director steps up to the plate, and in this case, it's Charles Martin. Philip Gladwin is the writer of this story, I think this is the only story he wrote for SJA, he never wrote for the series again. So you've got the combination of Gladwin's material and Martin's directing into the mix. I think in regards on commenting on that combination briefly, I think the directing is a lot better than the actual story and script because it makes the story have more life to it. True, you can say that about any script, but I mean, that Martin gives the story a sense of exciting essence about it, the story as a story reading it on paper wouldn't interest me at all. But it's the director that gave much more life to the story which helps it a lot. 

The story goes that this laser game, a bit like Quazar if you've ever played that, Combat 3000 is the centre point of kidnappings of young people, all of whom are going missing as a result of Mr Kudlak, an alien, transporting off somewhere else. So these kids are going missing, no one knows all the answers yet, what brings this to Sarah Jane's attention is when one of the boys Lance, goes missing and his mother is worried sick about him, so she agrees to help her. What's interesting here is Sarah Jane doesn't suspect anything straight away, she has assumptions but nothing concrete to make her sure of the facts. In Lance's disappearance Luke feels bad because he made fun of his name, and that causes Luke to think that maybe he is partly to blame for Lance going missing, he goes off and Clyde follows after him leaving Sarah Jane and Maria to work out what actually happened. 

I liked all the sciency stuff behind the entanglement shells, I thought that was explained really well and gives an actual reasoning behind the storms, because every time someone goes missing, it's been raining, so when it rains it means that someone is about to be teleported. Sarah Jane and Maria work this out and then with the help of Mr Smith pin it down to Combat 3000. At the same time, Luke and Clyde have gone to play that very same game. 

Impressed by their skills in the game, Kudlak decides he wants Luke and Clyde to be his next selection of children to kidnap. So when they get teleported its a question of working out who Kudlak is and where has he been teleporting the children to, and can Sarah Jane and Maria get them back?

Essentially the main message behind this story is 'don't take war games too seriously' you have games today like Call of Duty, amongst many other fighting games, that young people become addicted to, and with the graphics and stuff you can do today, those games a very life like and war in real life is very real, you have wars that go on today which have many casualties. The aliens in this see the children play their games, not realising it's just a game and think 'oh these are skilled fighters, we can use them in our war' when in actual fact and Maria says this in the story, "We've seen what adults and their wars have done to world and we don't want any part in that." So yes, don't take war games too seriously, even if you like shooting virtual people and blowing stuff up. 

This episode very much belongs to Luke in the sense that at the very beginning, he feels as if he doesn't fit in or has been finding it hard to fit in, he tries to master being funny but can't quite do that and he also doesn't understand games so that's why he and Clyde go and play Combat 3000. He's also the one that when all the kids get kidnapped and sent up to the spaceship, he's the leader, he's the one that takes all the action and helps get them back home. So it just goes to show, Luke's starting to feel like everyone else in the sense that he is still trying to work out his place in this world and work out how things in the world work. 

This is also the first story partly set not on earth, we get to up into space for a change. It's great to have a change of scenery, my favourite scene is the bit where Sarah Jane and Maria are looking down on the earth and they're both very reflective on such an incredible sight. 

Overall, there are bits of this I enjoy, I'm just not overly keen on the story as a story and the conclusion was a bit rushed as well. 

4/10.

Next week: Whatever happened to Sarah Jane. 

DOCTOR WHO REVIEW: The Pilot

DOCTOR WHO: SERIES 10 EPISODE 1 - THE PILOT

Doctor Who returned to our screens last night after a year's absence, and during that time, a lot has happened and a lot has changed in regards to the production and regards to the story.

We've got two new companions in the form of Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts and Matt Lucas as Nardole. 

Steven Moffatt is stepping down as show runner after this series.

Peter Capaldi has also stated that this series is to be his last as the current doctor. 

A lot has gone on with the production over the course of last year. There's no harm in saying this now that there was an issue with the budget and that's one of the reasons why there was no series last year because the production company couldn't afford to do a series last year. But it's back now, there's a new team in the TARDIS with new adventures to come, all of which look very promising. I've been following the progression of this series as updates have been released online, in Doctor Who Magazine, on TV, in Interviews with Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie and Steven Moffatt and all of which have shown that this new series has a lot of promise, wants to be different to any other series of Doctor Who that has gone on recently, that much is evident the way Pearl Mackie talks about her character Bill in the fact that she says "She's very real" in the fact that she reacts to the unusual, alien things she sees naturally, she freaks out, she needs to take a breath to process it all in, as well as showing true investment and excitement for the adventure of it all. 

So "The Pilot" an interesting title, given what the word "Pilot" means in television terms and especially when starting a new series of Doctor Who. It's almost like, you're re-introducing a whole new audience to the show who have never seen it before, and welcoming back the loyal fans like myself who have stuck with the show through thick and thin. 

The story, in short, is about us getting introduced to the new companion, Bill, and how she comes into the Doctor's world of time and space travel in the TARDIS and basically how she becomes a companion. 

Without giving too much away, to tell you a little bit about the story, The Doctor is working undercover at a university, for what reasons we don't know, it's never explained clearly as to why he's there. But he's playing the role of a tutor who gives the most extraordinary lectures, this fascinates and interests Bill a lot, so much so that she goes to his lectures and the Doctor notices and acknowledges that, so he invited Bill to his office to ask her if she wants private tutorial lessons. And that's everything that happens in the first three minutes, in the pre-title sequence. So already, it get things off to a good start. Not sure what was going on with the whole Nardole/ robot thing. That to me was a bit odd, but I'll over look it as it wasn't a massive issue. 

As the story goes on, Bill continues to learn more about the doctor and his activities as she's  very inquisitive and her interest and fascination is something which could lead her into danger and a lot of trouble, which in this case it does, when she befriends this girl called Heather who is not all that she seems. And that's all I will say without giving too much away for anyone who hasn't seen the episode yet, but for me, I really enjoyed it. 

I never thought I would say these words, but, "How good was that?" seriously. I was smiling after watching it thinking, "gosh, wasn't that good." You're probably thinking "My god! An episode of Doctor Who that Daniel actually liked" well I did. I was grinning at the end of it, feeling really pleased after watching it. That's the mood I want to be in when I watch Doctor Who all the time. It's that pleasure and satisfaction I can't get from any other show, it's the fact that it was adventurous, mysterious and in some cases emotional, in the connection that Bill had for Heather, especially in the final scenes of the episode. Now, I have been one in the past for saying "oh emotional, soppy endings, I hate them" that is only the case, when a monster or alien threat is defeated by soppy sentimentality, like in 'Closing Time' where Craig blows the cybermen up with love or in 'The Rings of Akhaten' when Clara defeats the sun creature with her leaf, it's stuff like that I don't like, because it just gets boring after a while. This wasn't the case with Bill and Heather, I felt a bit of a connection with those two throughout the whole episode, particularly from Bill's perspective. That's what made the relationship work and what made it hard for Bill in the end, but she did it, and she managed to overcome the obstacles which she faced in the episode, and I felt like she managed everything really well. 

In regards to my comments on Pearl Mackie, I thought she was really good as well. I liked Bill in that episode a lot. I'm not sure, how I feel about her as a character yet, I think I'll know whether I like her or not after a few more episodes have gone out. But, judging from just that episode alone, yes, she's a good character, and Mackie plays her really well. I'll forgive her for making that comment on the one show for thinking that the TARDIS ran engine oil. I also liked Bill's back story, not that we got very much of it, but we got enough to know that she works in the university canteen, likes serving chips, lives with her foster mother because her mother died when she was young. So all of that just adds something to do with Bill's background and makes the audience get to know her a little bit as a person.

Peter Capaldi, I'll say what I always say. His Doctor is brilliant, he's just as good in this episode as he is in any other. 

Even Nardole wasn't so bad. His character has changed a bit and become less and less annoying since I saw him last. In "The Husbands of River Song" I couldn't stand him. In "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" I did sort of have the impression of "Oh, why are you here" and he was okay in that, a bit annoying in places but nowhere near compared to how annoying he was before, and in this, considering we're stuck with him whether we like it or not, I get that he's meant to be the comic relief character, so all the jokes are going to be on him, and I'd rather have him than Strax any day. I think, as long as he stays as he is now, he's fine with me. He's toned down a lot, so he's not quite as annoying as character. So I didn't mind him in this, I thought he was pretty good. 

The water creature and all the visual effects surrounding her were absolutely amazing to see, she was a bit creepy, she looked very sinister to the average eye, and to someone who has never seen Doctor Who before, this could come as something new and interesting. 

Bill's reaction to the TARDIS, Yeah, a bit obsolete and weird to say it looks like a kitchen. That's a bit of weird comment to make. I don't know why she'd say that, but again, I'll over look it because it's not a big issue. 

Good to see the Daleks again, if only for a short while, that's their appearance for this series ticked off and the production can keep their license to use them. My one tiny criticism I'll make about the Daleks is, the design is wrong. If it is as the doctor says in his past, and the Daleks are fighting the Movellans, surely they should be the grey and black colour scheme as they were in Destiny? That to me would make much more sense and fit into the version of events better. Not that we sure that many Daleks in the episode anyway, just one. That's my only thing I'd pick about the Daleks, it's the fact that it would have been better to have proper Destiny Daleks rather than the usual 2005 model that we're used to seeing.

The Movellans, the less said about them, the better. It's good to see that the production today is still making nice nods and references to the old series, as not to forget where the new series originated from, but it's kind of like those references and nods have gone into over drive and there are too many in the show now, with the doctor having his picture of Susan on this desk and a collection of all his sonic screwdrivers, which look like toys and probably were the toy versions as well. In my personal opinion, it's just as well we didn't see much of the Movellans, because they looked ridiculous back 1979 when they appeared in "Destiny of the Daleks" and they're not my favourite, so even though it was good to see them, also good not to see too much of them. 

For me, visually, the best bit to see was the edge of the universe, it may look like a bleak, colourless quarry to average eye, but to me, that landscape looked visually spectacular, I loved all the colours and wide ranged atmosphere. Probably the best location in the episode that the Doctor, Bill and Nardole went to. 

The last scene of the episode was also really good as well, as well as being very well acted. It shows that in the space of forty-five minutes, give or take, the doctor and Bill's relationship starts as being the tutor and pupil relationship but turns into something much more complex and deeper than that. 

The next time trailer looked good. Didn't say anything about the episode though. Not sure what to make of it yet. I hope it's not going to be one of those stupid, comic relief style funny episodes. The coming soon trailer which followed it looked good as well. This series shows a lot of promise and I just hope that such promise, doesn't end up getting thrown away like Series Nine. 

I'll give "The Pilot" a 7/10.

NEXT WEEK: Smile.

SJA Review: Eye of the Gorgon

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES REVIEW: EYE OF THE GORGON
Written By Phil Ford
Directed By Alice Troughton

Hello again everyone.

I hope you've had a good week and are enjoying the easter weekend.

This week's review is of "Eye of the Gorgon" the second story of the first series in the Sarah Jane Adventures. This story has always stood out as being one of my favourite stories to watch. I always have a good fondness for this one in particular, it's probably the strongest story in the first series for me, apart from Invasion of the Bane if you count that as being part of series one.

So it's a story which is basically about friendship, about trust and about treating everyone equally, as well as that there is an a science fiction twist on the gorgon myth which is all very exciting. If someone pitched this idea of a story to me to write, I'd really run with it and grasp upon it with two hands.

Giving a brief synopsis of the story, Lavender Lawns, a nursing home, is being haunted by a ghostly nun and Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde go over there to investigate the claims from the residents who have seen her. Whilst on their visit Luke befriends one of the residents Mrs Nelson Stanley who has an alien artefact in her possession which she gives to Luke to look after because she's worried about who might be watching her. Meanwhile Maria and her dad are dropped with a bombshell when Maria's mum Chrissie comes back to stay but her visit in coming back causes more harm than good. Later you find out that a group of nuns are looking for the very same alien artefact (an ancient talisman) which was given to Luke. But what are their purposes for wanting to get it back?

In order to try and find out more about the alien talisman, Sarah Jane and Maria go back to Lavender Lawns to talk to Mrs Nelson Stanley, only Mrs Nelson Stanley has alzheimer's and often recalls moments which has happened in her past, it is from her they learn that they are up against a gorgon.

Luke gets kidnapped by the Nuns which brings Sarah Jane, Maria and Clyde to the abbey where it is confirmed that the nuns are keeping an age-old gorgon in their care. When Sarah Jane refuses to surrender the talisman to the nuns, they keep Luke and Clyde as hostages in the abbey and take the gorgon and Maria to Sarah Jane's house where the gorgon turns Maria's father to stone and for the rest of the story, it's a race against time to try and find a way of defeating the gorgon and turning Alan Jackson back from stone.

There's a lot at stake here and there's a lot to lose in this story for a lot of characters, the danger and the threat feels very real, so real in fact, the monsters very nearly succeed in their invasion. It also allows the audience to be educated on the greek myth of the gorgon, especially for people who have never heard of that story before. But for those of the audience watching who do know of the myth, we already have an advantage from some characters like Maria who didn't know that you could use a mirror to reflect off the gorgon's power and turn her to stone. It's blatantly obvious to us as a viewer watching it, that you just scream at the telly "use the mirror!".

I liked the sense of thrill and adventure with this, is a sense of thrill like no other in series one in the fact that the clock is ticking, the chase is on to find out the answers and solve the problems before its too late. As a contrast to that, there are also some lovely suttle moments which make the drama more warm and real to real life, that is achieved with the character of Bea Nelson Stanley. Old age is something which are society ignores or pushes to one side, and Bea is an example of getting that message across of don't write them off because their old. It is a horrible reality in which they face, that much is true when Maria says "with no one in the world, who really knows you or cares". It's heartbreaking to think that we could all get to that stage and not think anyone cares about us, because all our loved ones are dead or elsewhere, and we are on our own, when in actual fact, old people have so much greater stories to tell than the rest of us and that we should treat everyone equally with the kindness and respect that they deserve. I don't know whether that was the intention in the script, but that's what I got from it. I liked all of Bea's scenes with Maria and I liked how Maria could connect with Bea on an emotional level, especially when she's trying to get her to remember stuff about the gorgon.

I thought Elisabeth Sladen was particularly good in this story, amongst all the rest in the first series, apart from her performance in "The Lost Boy" the series one finale, this one stands out as being her best performance of the series. I also liked Sarah Jane's costume, with the maroon coat and the white shirt, waist coat, jeans and boots, it's a nice look for her. I thought she looked quite trendy for an alien investigator. I don't why we didn't see that look more often, I don't think we see the maroon coat again in the series or in other stories. I think it's just for that one, but I could be mistaken.

Maria's very good in this. I think this a story about Maria, just as much as it is about Bea Nelson Stanley, because it's through Maria's part of the story that she's really struggling to cope with being part of a divorced family, so much so that she lashes out at both her parents and in doing what she does in running off, she actually puts her dad's life at risk and is in danger of losing her family which puts everything on the line for her to fix things and put things right.

On a personal level, I thought it was great to see a guest appearance from Doreen Mantle as Mrs Randell, she's only in two scenes, but seeing as I know her as Mrs Warboys from One Foot in the Grave, I just go "Oh, it's Mrs Warboys!" whenever I see her in it.

In effect, I really enjoyed the pace, progression and depth to the story telling, so much so I think this really stands up as being acceptable today as a good piece of children's drama, written by a very good writer in Phil Ford and a constructive thoughtful direction in Alice Troughton.

8/10

Next Week: Warriors of Kudlak

Mortal Kombat XL: Bunny Day! Easter Special

Hey, everyone.

I'm here to give you yet another Mortal Kombat update for Easter. There is a special Easter themed premium tower called "Bunny Day" which symbolises the occasion that it's Easter. Where one kombatant takes on eight opponents with a very special Easter themed modifiers. As you progress up the tower, you'll be faced with different modifiers concluding with one final fight with everything all at once to deal with as well as beat your opponent during the match. The mode of difficulty progresses as you make your way further up the tower.

This provides an exciting, fun challenge to complete.

The Easter tower will be uploaded on Easter Sunday. 16th April 2017!

This Sunday will be the sort of Easter bumper pack. I'm off for Easter at the moment, and normal videos will return on the 24th April to finish off the spring season.

Until then, hope you have a wonderful bank holiday and keep enjoying my Mortal Kombat gameplay videos.

SJA Review: Revenge of the Slitheen

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES REVIEW: REVENGE OF THE SLITHEEN
Written By: Gareth Roberts
Directed By: Alice Troughton

Hello everyone and welcome to another SJA Review. In today's review, I'll be reviewing the first story of the first series of the Sarah Jane Adventures which is "Revenge of the Slitheen". The big green farting aliens from Series One of Doctor Who, come into Sarah Jane's life to cause the biggest power cut in the world's history.

So even though 'Invasion of the Bane' was the story which started everything, 'Revenge of the Slitheen' was that first story, the one which got the ball rolling for the series and as such set up the boundaries of the quality of stories to expect in this years series.

The story is set based around a secondary school and weird things happening there since a new technology block has been built. School dinners are off, teachers are acting suspiciously and farting a lot, power drains happen in the evenings and it all leads back to the school.

Maria is adjusting new life and starting a new school, but luckily for her, she has Luke to keep her company, they befriend another boy Clyde who sees himself as being the class joker and the cool kid as a way of fitting in with the rest of the class. In starting a new school Maria and Luke find that it's not all that it seems. With the aid of Sarah Jane and Clyde they discover that the teachers are not teachers but aliens called Slitheen who are former enemies of the doctor. They've taken control of the technology block and are trying to come up with a solution to an equation which if completed will allow them to switch off the sun. Sarah Jane investigates the company controlling the science block while Maria, Luke and Clyde investigate the school. In doing so they very quickly run into trouble.

And that's all I'll say about the story without spoiling it for people reading this who haven't seen it yet.

Offering my opinion on the story, in a round about sort of way it's a good story with a very simple plot to follow. With a children's programme, you can't really have what you have with Doctor Who now which is over complicated storylines and plots because the audience just think it's too confusing and don't like it, but that's just Steven Moffat trying to be clever. It's easy enough to get the premise of what the stories about in a child's mind and of course, speaking from experience watching it for the first time, I just wanted to see the Slitheen. Which seems a bit silly, given that their name is in the title, but it's all about teasing the audience for those who are so looking forward to seeing them.

It reminded me of "School Reunion" a bit. The school being a give away to that. I liked the mystery behind what was going on to the school it asks questions to work out the answers to as you're watching it, it'll make you want to watch and find out what's going to happen. Sarah Jane does what she does best, as an investigative journalist, we get to see her do some investigating which is brilliant and always fun and exciting to see.

For the majority of us who watch Doctor Who and are avid fans, will have seen the Slitheen stories in series one and will know all about them because we've seen them before in Doctor Who so we don't have to get to know the monsters or what their plans are, because Slitheen are just sooth sellers who will sell anything for a profit and they're ruthless at that. It's what makes them menacing, with the farting there to provide comic relief which doesn't always work. As a Doctor Who fan, you're watching this story and thinking you have one up on the characters in the story because when they first meet the Slitheen they don't know how to fight them and you as the viewer try to help them out with the information you know. For instance, in the scene where they work out that vinegar is the Slitheen's weakness you're just screaming at the television going "It's Vinegar!" and that is always fun. It's also reassuring for the viewer to feel they're involved with what they're watching on screen.

The conclusion to this story for me, seemed a bit rushed which was a shame. It was sort of wham bam, thank you ma'm and that was it. Clyde joins the group, the end. It's almost as if they didn't allow time to draw the Slitheen part of the story to the end in order to fit in the bit with Sarah Jane and Clyde, I don't quite know what it is about the ending which I don't like, but to me the ending scenes where the Slitheen are defeated was a bit rushed. It also left unanswered questions about what was going to happen with the school, and there's still a secret room with a reactor there which went into overload, shouldn't the school have blown up? There were just some things left unanswered for me.

Sarah Jane was good in this story, don't think we really saw enough of her get into much action. I mean yes, I mentioned before about her investigating and being a detective and using her skills that she has, and that's all great, In Part Two of the story she doesn't really do much, it's all in Maria, Luke and Clyde.

The Slitheen were good, although you could have probably come up with a different monster with that plot line and it probably would have worked just as well, if you can get passed the farting it then that's all good, I don't really mind them.

Overall, it's okay. Nothing special and for a first story, it doesn't really lift your spirits in thinking "wow! that was a great opening story to start the series!" it was just okay.

6/10

Next Week: The Eye of the Gorgon.

Gameplay Videos

GAME PLAY VIDEOS

Hello everyone.

This is a post about the gameplay videos that I got going on on my channel recently, I'm basically going to talk about what's happening with those over the next few months. I've new seasons of Mortal Kombat videos to come as well as Injustice 2 coming out in May and the new revamped Crash Bandicoot trilogy coming out at the end of June so there's lots of new stuff to come, lots to look forward to.

Mortal Kombat XL - Season 3 (Summer 2017)

So now that I have stopped for Easter, it's time to think about what's going to happen with season three of Mortal Kombat videos. I've got lots of exciting plans for the summer season which will see MKXL through from May til the middle of July. These include the normal daily videos that I do as well as occasional extras such as tower challenges, invasion boss fights, invasion tower challenges, test your luck matches, survivor challenges and online matches such as ranked, player and king of the hill. 

Even though I have stopped for Easter, Spring season will not conclude until start of May. I'll take a spring break in May. After that I will start the new season of videos. 

Mortal Kombat Season Two will continue on Monday 24th April.

There will be an Easter special at Easter so keep a look out for any updates on that. 

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Season 2 / Injustice 2 - Season 1

So, Injustice. Injustice: Gods Among Us will still continue after easter, but only for a certain amount of time just to finish off the first season and when Injustice 2 comes out in May, that's when the first season of those videos will start. 

I've worked out that what I will have to do with my Injustice videos is simply go back and forth between Injustice: Gods Among Us and Injustice 2. Each season will just take it in turns each season of the year. So Injustice: Gods Amongs Us season one was in the spring, Injustice 2 season one will be in the summer and then I'll just keeping swapping them around like that. 

Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed videos I do when I can. And they are going to be very out of sync with the continutity of the story. I don't know what people who watch intend to expect from them, I'll just do what I can and my viewers can be kept up to date with where I am in the game. 

Crash Bandicoot

I have been waiting for ages for this. So hyped for this coming out, when it does eventually come out. I thought it was coming out at the end of February but it's not, it's actually coming out on the 30th June. Which did annoy me a little, I'd love it to be out now, but I guess I'll just have to wait. 

It looks amazing though, I love how the games company which revamped this have recaptured a childhood memory of mine and brought it back so I can enjoy it all over again. 

My Aspergers Story - Part Five: Looking to the Future! You are not alone.

Hello

Welcome to the fifth and final part of my Asperger's story.

This final part is about the future and where do I got from here, what I have learnt from my past experiences and how people can work to making Autism something which is better understood so we can make things so much better.

So, here I am. Still in one piece. I've got a lot to be positive about, look forward to, and a lot to be thankful for.

Where to go from here? That's a very broad question in terms of the retrospect and the many different path ways in which I could go from where I am now. I've got to get used to and adapt to adult life and I am soon going to go out into the big unknown which is the world. It'll give me many things to strive towards. Getting a job, making a good living, providing a steady income, saving up to buy my own flat or house or even being someone's lodger, just moving on with the next steps in my life and how they are going to challenge me to become the person my adult self will have the pleasure of being.

As well as that just enjoying the bits in-between, seeing friends, making new acquaintances, possibly even dating. The thought of dating scares me a bit because you're put your heart on the line with the risk of getting your feelings hurt and your heart broken, but it could be so worth it if I was to meet the person who is my other half. I can't wait to meet my other half, whoever that person is. My uncle Charlie always says to me "There is someone on your wave length, you just haven't met them yet". Then of course, there is children, I don't want to think about the prospect of having any children of my own just yet. I'm only twenty-one, life hasn't started for me yet.

Talking about what past experiences with people have taught me is I've learned a lot about assessing people and people's attitudes towards me.

I mean this in the sense of me learning to know when not to be so in people's faces and to be more aware of things like personal space and thinking more before I do things or even just simply checking with someone to ask advice and see if what I'm thinking of doing is okay, because usually I'll have an idea in my head to do something and once the idea is there it'll stay there until I carry out that idea or I will just do something without thinking of the consequences to come, a lot of things backfire on me and I'm often surprised as to why they have, so it's always best to ask a friend or a family member if what they think I'm doing is a good idea.

That's not to say that I am an unable person, I am perfectly able and capable of making my own decisions and most of the time they turn out alright, it's just sometimes it's best to hold my horses and take a precaution to prevent myself from making any new mistakes with people. The last thing I want to do something which will upset someone or make them feel uncomfortable around being with me.
That's the last thing I would want.

If I upset someone, without that being my intention, that's what really hurts me. It's the thought of inflicting a negative, unwanted feeling on to someone that I care about which shakes me up and my anxiety flares up because of it. Because it was me who inflicted that feeling onto that person, I have done this to that person and I have nothing and no one to blame for it except myself.

I think the problem there is I am too aware of the things which are going on around me and I let outside things affect me too much. What makes you depressed, ultimately is what's in your thoughts. I am completely aware of that. And it's very difficult to not believe your thoughts because you just can't help but get carried away into believing them. At the end of the day, you live in your head, what else are you supposed to believe? what else are you supposed to listen to? That can prove to be very hard at times.

But I feel I have got a lot better and now I think certain experiences were meant to have happened to me for a reason so that I don't make those same mistakes again and that helps me become a better person and keep more friends, which is brilliant. It boosts up my confidence and it shows me that I am learning.

The Autism spectrum varies so much and ranges from Asperger's all the way through to forms of non-verbal autism, so you will never meet someone on the autistic spectrum who is exactly the same, there is a spectrum. And with that spectrum comes certain trates in behaviour, such as lack of social skills and obsession with routine.

The earliest memories that I have, I've always known that I was different from my sisters and their friends but it is just normality for all of my family, they don't know any different, and I'm so grateful that the people in my family have that empathy, understanding and patience that they do in order to allow me to be who I am because they've experienced life with me as I've grown up.

And the problem is that someone who is not aware of Autism, may not even know that that person has a disability, for instance say when I get really stressed out, I start hitting myself and start having a fit and they could just think "oh well, why is he doing that?" without the understanding of the basis of knowing that me doing that comes with one of the trates of having Asperger's.

It's simple what we need to do and what action we need to take. We just need to educate people about people with Autism, because we really are no different to anyone I would class as 'normal' (people without a disability) our brains just function differently, we process things differently, Autism is not a disease. You can't catch anything.

The main thing is to educate people and bring awareness and let people know how hurtful their comments can be, whenever someone says anything negative about anyone, and I'm speaking much more broadly here when I say this, they don't have to be disabled, or autistic, any negative comments to anyone are not nice and they don't do anyone any good.

It would be great for more and more people just to have a certain awareness towards Autism, you don't have to be in a wheelchair to be disabled. You may look at me and not recognise that there is anything different about me, so if more people were to pick up on the typical autism trates, so when they do meet someone with autism, they can be more patient, and not be so quick to pass judgement and not be so quick to assume things about them, because this is something that can take a big change  to get everyone to be more aware to start treating everyone a bit nicer it would make a huge difference.

I also think it's great that celebrities speak up about Autism and make people more aware just from talking about their experiences. I don't know if you saw Amy Willerton on This Morning on Tuesday, she was on there talking about her brother and how he was bullied for having a disability, that for me I see as being a really good way of getting people more active with the idea of what Autism is or just being aware of Autism in general, especially for people who have never heard of it before. The more people understand the better things will become.

Amy Willerton on This Morning, Tuesday 4th April.

You may not know this but, some of the most creative and successful people in the world have in fact got Autism. Steve Jobs co-founder of Apple Inc. He had Autism. Bill Gates, billionaire business magnate and co-founder of Microsoft, He has Autism. Anne Hegerty from The Chase - she has Aspergers, Tim Burton - Hollywood director, he has Aspergers. Robin Williams had Asperger's. There are so many celebrities and hugely successful people in the world who have Autism that you probably didn't even know. You shouldn't judge somebody before you've had the opportunity to get to know them.  

I'm not quite sure where to start or how to phrase what I would like to say next, but the overall message I am trying to get across is we are all human, we all have our own quirks and habits and talents which make us unique and make us the people that we are, whether that be a good, kind, loving person or a rude, ignorant person we are all as one and that there is no major difference between you or I.

Today we live in a much-changed country. Britain is a very liberal, very tolerant, very accepting country now. Things like autism is made aware across Radio, Television, Film, Books, everywhere and with the advent of social media, people are far more welcoming and open to the different life styles and personalities. What I want to say to people who have the same condition as me or who have higher cases of autism who are struggling with their identity or are having trouble coping with life in general, is the quite straight forward message of "You Are Not Alone!" You will never be alone. There is always somebody you can talk to, A close friend, a family member or even someone who has been through the same shit as you, who knows what it's like, those people are always happy to talk to you, give advice or just listen.

There are plenty of organisations: The National Autistic Society, Brainwave, Autism Alliance all of these organisations and many more are staffed by wonderful, caring people who understand and are here to help you and they will guide you through. Never feel you have to suffer in silence. Don't be silent, speak out and that should make you feel much better about yourself and be much happier.

People say that "you should be proud to be who you are" but that is something which has never run true for me because surely the reverse of that is something to be ashamed of. You can't be proud or ashamed of being black or female or just being human. My Asperger's is something which makes me what I am, I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's a chronic incurable condition, it's not something I can change no matter how many people told me that I could. It's part of me.

I'd like to mention a quote from Noel Coward which is in my opinion, the best quote to abide by in life and that is "Work hard, do the best you can, don't ever lose faith in yourself and take no notice of what other people say about you".  Because after all the only person in control of your own life, is you; and you are not alone. It's nothing to do with being proud, ashamed or quiet, as long as you are happy living your life that is the only thing in this world that matters. You control your own life.

If you have doubts, as I said before, you can always talk to somebody, just talk through your troubles. It may be that your part of a family which is very welcoming, accepting and loving of you - wonderful, you may have your support structure: friends, work colleagues, distant relatives or anyone - that's even better. To have someone who can comfort you, keep you going and just give you a welcome hand or even a shoulder to cry on if you need it, or just a cuddle. But if you haven't got that, then reach out. There are people who are out there and they will do everything they can to support you, help you and take care of you. You are never ever alone!

Life can be very tough for someone with Autism, you may feel that are lots of barriers in your life, people who don't like you for no apparent reason other than they think your weird or different and they pick on you for that, and it's ok to be angry, it's ok to stand up for yourself, and these negative people may fight against you but you do not have to give in to them, try ignoring them and shutting them out, I know that's easier said than done but they do what they do to get a reaction from you so if you don't give them the reaction you want and make it look like you don't care, they will eventually get bored and leave you alone. Alternatively, there is always someone you can talk to, to get these people to stop, parents, teachers, the police if necessary, no form of bullying is ok. Bullying is something which really disgusts me!

Autism Awareness has grown so much through the mediums of social media these days, and it's wonderful, it's making people so much more aware of identifying the trates of someone with Autism and how to deal with them, because autistic people are exactly the same as you or I, they are just people who want to be loved, who want to be accepted, who want to be understood. That is all. But it will always be a struggle until there is such a thing as full equality in people's minds. And until that happens there will always be a struggle, they'll still be bullying, they'll still be ignorant people who think of Autistic people as being "diseased" of "retarded". And they'll still be people who will suffer, they'll still be people who don't feel accepted and live their life socially isolated, and that to me is a tragedy.

Who gives a fuck what other people think! They're ignorant! They don't have the understanding of the world like you or I, they don't have the mind set to be more understanding or accepting. You are who you are and you're awesome for being you, quirky, unique, special YOU!

Don't lose faith, keep going, live life and enjoy it.

You are amazing!

Thank you.