TVSquad

(S04E05) Yet another classic Doctor Who villain gets an update. This time it's the Sontarans in their first television appearance in 23 years.

For a revision, it's actually pretty accurate to the original series. The only difference with the Sontarans now is that they're all short. This is actually an improvement on the original series since they've always been from a heavy gravity world yet appeared at normal size (which always struck me as a little odd, unless the Sontarans we've seen historically were the professional wrestler versions).

(S04E04) The Ood return.The race was seen two years ago in the two-parter "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit" as a servant race. In this episode, we learn exactly why they're so good at being servile. Here's a hint: it's not by choice.

Arriving on the planet known as the Ood-Sphere in the year 4126, the Doctor and Donna find the planet's Ood-production factory which prepares them for shipping throughout the three human-occupied galaxies.

(S04E03) The Doctor and Donna land in ancient Pompeii, and it's Volcano Day (a phrase used by Christopher Eccleston a few seasons ago to describe when Mount Vesuvius erupted). As usual with Doctor Who, a race of aliens are involved and this time they're called the Pyrovile. They are trying to harness the power of the volcano for their own nefarious needs and are turning local humans into creatures like them as a side-effect.

(S04E02) Catherine Tate returns as Donna Noble from last year's Christmas Special "The Runaway Bride" and this time she's going to stick around for a little while. While investigating a shady weight-loss company called Adipose (named for the scientific name of fat tissue), the Doctor and Donna run into each other.

For a Doctor Who episode, this was a great episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures. This goes back to my statement from last week in which Russell T. Davies, while not a bad writer, simply cannot write science fiction.

(S02E13) Well, despite some ups and downs throughout the season, to say that this second run went out with a bang, both literally and emotionally, would be an understatement. Definitely, this ranks as one of the best episodes of the series so far and so amazingly surpasses the first season finale in every way. Where that was a silly overblown giant monster romp, this one existed on a much more intimate level within the lives of our cast of characters.

The cast and crew spent all season really fleshing out this team for us and making us learn to love and care for each of them; all of it leading to this stunning finale. Now the events herein could really resonate. Now you might be asking why such a generic Torchwood picture for such a key episode? I see it as a tribute. To what? Well, if you've seen the episode, maybe you know what. If not, what the hell are you doing here? Go watch it already.

(S04E01) Originally broadcast at the 2007 Christmas Special on the BBC, Season 4 (or Season 30, depending on who you ask) kicks off with "Voyage of the Damned" on the Sci Fi Channel. Having been a fan of the show for a long, long time, it is my pleasure to review this season for TV Squad.

Apparently, showrunner Russell T. Davies wanted this year's Doctor Who Christmas Special to have a disaster theme, so he used a name from one of the most famous disasters in history. The episode begins where the season 3 finale left off, right after the Doctor's previous traveling companion Martha Jones leaves him after they defeated his arch-nemesis, the Master (and after the events of Time Crash). It seems that the Titanic (or rather, a Titanic) crashes into the hull of the TARDIS when he forgets to raise the ship's shields.

A fellow named Simon White is selling his Tardis on eBay. Why? Jesus.

Okay, maybe that's not the best way to put it. According to White, he has been a hardcore Who fan for most of his life, going as far as spending years and years building a K-9, cyberman and Tardis in addition to collecting figurines. After a lot of troubles with bipolar disorder and alcoholism in his adult years, he found God and ceased his self-destructive ways. Despite claiming that his fandom was the only thing holding him together in his rough times, White is now dumping his Who love and toys, calling it a symbol of the "greatest lie that Satan ever told." He'll be selling his entire collection of goodies, worth an estimated £7000, in magazines and on eBay.

Hear that sound -- a nearly inaudible rumbling coming over the horizon? Everyday it is getting louder and louder. Soon, the stampede that is the return of scripted series back from the depths of the WGA strike will overrun our televisions and computer screens, bringing overwhelming joy to our lives.

Okay, that statement may be a little flowery, but the sentiment is still there. After a very long dry period a good many of our favorite comedies and dramas are returning to the television landscape. We've had a taste of it these last few weeks with the return of shows like The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Dirt, The Riches and Smallville. That was just a preview of what is to come. Over the next few weeks we will see the return of The Office, Scrubs, Ugly Betty, all of the CSIs, Battlestar Galactica, and Lost, among others.

Nobody would ever confuse Rufus Sewell for Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation), right? Well, super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer has chosen Sewell for the lead in the $4 million pilot of the British drama series Eleventh Hour. Presumably, Rufus will be playing the same role Patrick played, that is Professor Ian Hood, Special Advisor to the government's Joint Sciences Committee, enlisted to tackle all kinds of dangerous threats stemming from science gone awry.

The Saturn Award nominations are in, and many popular sci-fi and fantasy shows made the cut. Returning favorites like Lost, Heroes, and Dexter were recognized by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, as were newcomers Pushing Daisies and Journeyman.

With seven nominations, Lost is ahead of Dexter and Heroes, which received five and four nominations, respectively. Heroes was the big winner last year, taking home awards for Best Network Series as well as acting awards for Masi Oka and Hayden Panettiere. Both actors received nominations this year, along with co-star Greg Grunberg.

The BBC may be preparing to distribute some of its more popular programs via Apple's iTunes store. The Register is reporting that details on the partnership could be announced as soon as Tuesday.

UK residents can already watch a number of BBC shows online using the iPlayer service, which lets users watch any show that's been broadcast within the last 7 days for free. But the iPlayer is only available to British residents who pay for the BBC's programming with their taxes. Outside of the UK, you have to pay if you want your Doctor Who.

It's not clear right now whether any shows the BBC distributes via iTunes will be available outside of Britan or not. Apple charges UK customers £1.89 to download a television episode, which is almost $2 more than the $1.99 US customers pay. So while it's possible the BBC won't want to sell its content at the lower prices, some money is better than no money, right?

Update: It looks like BBC content is now available at the UK iTunes store, but not the US store.

Did you really think Captain Jack wouldn't be back? Now in its second series/season in both the UK and the US, we're going to do things a little differently with our Torchwood reviews this year. The fine folks on both sides of the pond finally got things squared away so that new episodes air much closer in the US to their initial UK airing. The third episode airs this Saturday, February 9, on BBC America, which is a little more than a week after the UK airing. To minimize any "spoilery" concerns, the episode reviews will follow the US airings.

But before we can get to that, we need to play a little bit of catch up, so look for an overview of the first two episodes of Series/Season Two after the jump. And about that image up there spoiling the first episode? Hey, that might just be a flashback sequence. That's right, I got you there.

In the No Duh News category, Sci Fi Channel has reported that they've acquired the fourth series (or season) of Doctor Who for air beginning in April. What's great additional news is that they've also picked up The Sarah Jane Adventures as well. The latter series focuses on Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane, one of the most popular and famous "companions" in Who History, as she battles to keep Britain and the world save from alien encounters and invasions.

Sarah Jane is aided by a small group of children in her quest. And while the series has a lower budget than Who and is geared more towards a children's audience, I still found it to be tremendously fun. And any opportunity to see K-9 is worth it in my book!

Good news for Doctor Who fans, in particular fans of actress Billie Piper, who played the part of Rose Tyler from the show's return in March 2005 until July 2006.

The British actress will be returning in no fewer than three episodes in the forthcoming series -- set to air in 2008 -- giving the Doctor three companions over the course of series four.

Piper's character was stranded in an alternative universe (forever, it seemed) at the end of season 2, but she will now return for a three-part story arc -- and with a bit of luck, we'll see her team up with Martha Jones to vie for the Doctor's affections.

Before that happens, Doctor Who is set to return to our screens on 25 December in a Christmas special entitled 'Voyage of the Damned' -- so stay tuned to TV Squad for a review.

Just as happened with parent series Doctor Who, those of us stateside won't have to wait as long after the British airing of Torchwood's second season to see it here, though ironically it has yet to be announced when it will premiere on BBC Two in the UK. TVGuide.com tells us the second season of BBC America's biggest hit comes to us beginning January 26. And with James Marsters (Buffy/Angel) dropping in for a guest shot, and Doctor Who's Freema Agyeman (companion Martha) checking in for an extended stay mid-season, this second go round with Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen and the gang is shaping up to be more exciting than the first.

Marsters will play a time-agent criminal who "goes around in different times killing people with no remorse at all." His character Spike, remains one of the most popular in the Buffy-verse, so I expect Torchwood's ratings to see another "spike." (Boo! Boo! Hiss! Get off the stage!).