Still trying to hold back time and tide which waits for no man,
Canute of Westminster smiles and clings to a palm of gold coins
presented by those with real power and with a vested interest.
The stones that grated under his feet, the shale, the battered million grains of sand
Are nothing but a memory in which money to be thrown is no object.
With regal boots, the King of Westminster waded into the fury and cried out,
“Why Neptune does thy take offence with the poor souls of this land?
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Anthony Howell, Julian Wadham, Lucy Briggs-Owen, Phil Mulryne, Beth Chalmers, Tim Bentinck, Alan Cox, George Rainsford, Kieran Bew, Blake Ritson, Sophie Aldred, Colin Baker.
The murky world of forgery and counterfeit are the next in line to be investigated by John Steed and it gets all a little too close for comfort for him as the net closes in the third of the rejuvenated lost stories of The original Avengers scripts, the Square root of Evil.
Mike Peters in Liverpool 2014. Photograph by Ian D. Hall
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Almost 30 years to the day since the album Declaration was released, Mike Peters found himself once more inside the 02 Academy and was greeted by all who wouldn’t let a rainstorm get in the way of listening to one of the greats of British Rock. Not greeted, lauded perhaps would be a better word, even praised and rightly so.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Martin Shaw, Lee Ingleby, Lisa McGrillis, Lee Boardman, Andrea Lowe, Pixie Lott, Lisa Riley, Isabelle Walters, Jodie Comer, Neil McDermott, Sean Kenney, Amelia Young.
The dying days of the 1960s saw the start of the decline of the family holiday parks as the British remembered them. They were going to have to modernise or become ancient history; they were going to have to compete with the cheap family holidays that were becoming the norm as venues in Spain were becoming tourist traps for the British holidaymaker. What wouldn’t have helped is a murder on the doorstep and the police in the shape of crusty cove George Gently investigating and poking his methodical nose into every nook and cranny.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The Midlands city of Leicester might not be the first port of call when people talk about music in the last 50 years but away from the city’s overwhelming love of sport with Leicester City, the ever popular rugby team, the legendary bowls player Tony Allcock and of course it’s entertaining cricket side, music does play a significant part in the heritage that you can feel as you step out of the train station and start to explore this historic place.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Gareth Thomas, Paul Darrow, Sally Knyvette, Michael Keating, Jan Chappell, Alistair Lock, Brian Croucher, Bethan Walker.
Nothing quite makes Science Fiction more entertaining than when the cast of your favourite programme have been set a problem which drives at the very psyche, the paranoia of the mind and the suspicion in those that you would normally defend with your life. It has been done so many times on screen and the tension it creates can be one of palpable enjoyment and dread that it might spill over too far. It is about the timing of the paranoia and suspicion and knowing when to pull back, leaving just the trickle of distrust seeping through after all is seemingly resolved.
Ian D. Hall 2014 (Inspired by Ezra Pound and Mike Batt.)
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The problem with graphic novels that are tied in to a television series is the sudden jump in character in one of the leads or the dropping in of new individual to the storyline, it can cause havoc. Unlike graphic novels or comic books that were produced first, for example the D.C./Marvel range or the likes of Sin City, Graphic Novels tie ups can leave the dedicated reader somewhat off balance. Not so with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus collections which even though are produced after the initial series of Buffy The Slayer programmes finishes have a wonderful way of keeping everything tidy, in check and thoroughly interesting.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Gwilym Lee, Fiona Dolman, Tamzin Malleson, Ann Eleonora Jørgensen, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Richard Cordery, Nicholas Jones, Adrian Lukis, Joanna Scanlan, Poppy Drayton, John Duggan, Marcus Hutton, Jonathan Barnwell, Caroline Goodall, Nicolaj Kopernikus, Thomas Thoroe, Julie Agnete Vang, Anick Wiget, Pete Meads, Marie Askehave, Hannah Blamires, Pamela Betsy Cooper, Susan Fordham, Anthony Farrelly.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It’s rare that you can listen to the tracks of a new E.P. and somehow be gleefully confused for a moment in that you think you have somehow mixed up the discs and what you are listening to is the cunning hybrid of 1950s rock and Roll and a touch of Metal, the atmosphere of 1960s screen adaptations of comic book tales and the directness of a mind-set determined to stand out from the crowd.