Captain’s Log

There’s often talk in the office - when we used

First Contact Hailing Frequencies Open!

Gurpreet Bhatia, email With the recent announcement that Zack Snyder’s

SAVIOUR OF THE UNIVERSE

P ATHETIC EARTHLINGS. Who can save you now? When Ming

LADY IN THE WATER

WHAT IMAGE DOES THE phrase “refugee camp” bring to mind?

SPIDES LIKE US

POP QUIZ: WHAT ARE YOUR TOP five German SF/fantasy TV

COOFFEE AND TV

THIRTY YEARS AGO, TELEVISION was not prepared for how director

THE FINAL FRONTIERS WILLIAM SHATNER

OUR LIVES ARE consumed in mysteries,” says William Shatner, on

SIDEWAYS IN TIME

THE INNOVATIVE 26-PART science fiction series Timeslip was shown on

FAME BY FRAME

"I ONCE HAD THE LUXURY OF choosing eyeballs,” says Vanessa

MING-NA WEN

In her three-decade-long acting career, Ming-Na Wen has embodied, or

DEAD END

WHO HASN’T experienced that unshakable feeling that forces are somehow

PAUL TREMBLAY

IT’S ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF MY BIGGEST FEARS that I

Fowl Deeds

“WHEN YOU CAN WALK PAST A SET AND there’s a

Viva Las Vistas!

IF YOU WANT AN EXAMPLE OF someone doing a post-apocalyptic

The Long Goodbye

WHEN THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 SHUT down television productions in

Mirror Universe

FOR THE ENTIRE SEVEN-YEAR run of The 100, the last

Many Scrotnig Returns

AFTER COMMEMORATING ITS 40th birthday and 2,000th Prog in recent

EVE SMITH

Kate works in a hospital where no one ever gets

Penny Dreadful

This issue I’m celebrating all things that are short –

Retro-active

In an alternative universe - and, some might argue, the

Stars Signs

STARTING WITH CANCER and ending with Gemini, each issue of

THE VAST OF NIGHT

If the sole measure of a film’s success were its

BRAHMS: THE BOY II

“Can’t wait to have this guy in the house,” mutters

DOLITTLE

Despite the star wattage of Robert Downey Jr, Emma Thompson

LUZ

This enigmatic German horror is slight (the credits roll at

SNOWPIERCER Season One

Cast Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs, Mickey Sumner, Alison Wright, Iddo

JENNIFER CONNELLY

I feel like the person that you first meet in

BATWOMAN Season One

EPISODES 1.01-1.20 So, you go onto Rotten Tomatoes and you

ALEX RIDER

EPISODES 1.01-1.04 While this isn’t the first screen adaptation of

BIRDS OF PREY

Once upon a time in Hollywood, actors had an uneasy

BLOODSHOT

2020| 12| Blu-ray (4K/standard)/ DVD/download Director David SF Wilson Cast

ONWARD

2020| PG| Blu-ray (3D, standard)/DVD/ download Director Dan Scanlon Cast

A WORD AFTER A WORD AFTER A WORD IS POWER

Since winning the Canadian Governor General’s Award in her mid-20s,

DARLIN’

Pollyanna McIntosh makes her feature-directing debut with this uneven but

AFTER MIDNIGHT

• Break-ups can make you crazy, especially if one party

PENNYWORTH

• Who’d have guessed that giving Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred

DREAM DEMON

BLU-RAY DEBUT Judging by the title, you’d think this long-lost

THE MAD FOX

BLU-RAY DEBUT “Diverse” doesn’t quite cover the work of Japanese

THE LIGHTHOUSE

All credit to Robert Eggers. It takes some doing to

BLOOD TIDE

If a honeymoon sets the tone for a marriage, newlyweds

VIVARIUM

• With its themes of entrapment and soul-crushing repetition, Vivarium

THE INVISIBLE MAN

other revivals of figures used in classic Universal horrors -

(ROUND UP)

Line Of Duty meets Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) in CODE

THE SUNKEN LAND BEGINS TO RISE AGAIN

There are lives that play out in the margins of

WONDERSCAPE

A group of kids are sucked into a fantasy gaming

A COSMOLOGY OF MONSTERS

Shaun Hamill’s debut arrives with a fierce buzz and a

DEVOLUTION

A community isolated through natural disaster is faced with a

MEXICAN GOTHIC

There are shades of Daphne du Maurier in this twisty

HARROW LAKE

A small town, an urban legend and a great big

RED NOISE

Sci-fi that’s actually just a Western with spaceships and lasers

REISSUES

If you haven’t had enough of reading about deadly outbreaks,

MIDNIGHT’S TWINS

At times this debut novel bursts with creativity: fitting, as

A DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAGICIANS

Thinking Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? No, this is no pulpy

WE RIDE THE STORM

Devin Madson returns to the world of her self-published Vengeance

ALSO OUT

As ever, there are lots more books we couldn’t fit

JOKER/HARLEY: CRIMINAL SANITY

ISSUES 1-4 Once again testing the theory that there’s no

PLUNGE

ISSUES 1-3 The latest release from DC’s new Hill House

STRONTIUM DOG: SEARCH & DESTROY

COLLECTION One of 2000 AD’s most popular characters, Johnny Alpha

SNOWPIERCER

GRAPHIC NOVELS If watching the Netflix series prompts you to

ADVENTUREMAN

ISSUE ONE Having made his return to superhero comics last

THE ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE: GREYMOOR

VIDEOGAME In introducing players to The Elder Scrolls Online’s newest

THOSE WHO REMAIN

VIDEOGAME For budding filmmakers, no-budget horror is the go-to format

DOCTOR WHO: STRANDED Volume One

AUDIO DRAMA Doctor Who stories that maroon the Doctor on

THE HUMAN FRONTIER

AUDIO DRAMA This ambitious Big Finish Original is so overflowing

PODCAST ROUNDUP

Knowledgeable hosts John Champion and Ken Ray are covering every

ARTHURIAN LEGEND

Who is generally believed to have been the author of

Return To Oz

Mention the cult live-action Disney movie Return To Oz and