Tag Archives: BBC

Star Wars Fan Fiction Experiment

One of the joys and hassles of writing speculative fiction is the world-building involved. I found that out recently when I started writing a new Science Fiction book. I’m at the stage in my writing at the moment where I just need to get on write and improve my storytelling skills (I think anyway) rather than focus on world-building, so that part of things can hold me back. So I had a think about Fan Fiction – as long as its not for profit then its allowed. So I thought I’d give it a go.

You can see my first effort and follow along with it as it progresses here at Wattpad. The story is called Into the Heart of the Empire. I don’t know what’s going to happen yet, so I’ll have as much fun as you will discovering the story too!

Here’s the start of it:

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away …

Following the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the Death Star, a new hope has been kindled in the universe. The Evil Empire is not all powerful. The Rebel Alliance has shown that it is possible to stand up for freedom and against oppression. Across the galaxy there are stirrings of resistance to the Empire.

Even in the heart of the Empire’s industrial infrastructure there is unease and a willingness to question the word of the Emperor and his forces of oppression. One such place is the Imperial dockyard on Malykan, a system of the Inner Rim.

The ship shuddered as it came out of hyperspace. The battle damage it had sustained made handling difficult and it felt like at any moment the drives might fail.

Jana Yaku could think of simpler ways to die than taking on the mission the Rebel Alliance had assigned her. To be fair to them, she had volunteered and she was the only pilot (she thought) that could pull this off. But still … she regretted her decision now.

The mechs on Yavin had patched up the ship has best they could. The whole point was that it was supposed to be battle-damaged—that was her cover story, but Jana wished that the Rebels who’d knocked this ship out hadn’t been quite as thorough in their work. That’s ironic, as it was her, in a Y-Wing bomber who’d disabled the Imperial Reaper class Escort frigate. Two proton torpedoes had ripped large holes in the frigate—one just forward of the engines and one taking out the Frigate’s bridge. Twisted metal and plastiglass had been bent and welded back into shape by the Engineers on Yavin, but where Jana sat on the bridge was still an uncomfortable and unnatural place to be.

“Reaper-class Frigate, The Ravager, please acknowledge.”

She sighed. She knew it wouldn’t be long until she got a challenge from the Imperial Navy. After all Malkyan had to be one of the most intensely militaries parts of the Inner Rim, given the Imperials built a large number of ships and weapons there.

TV Review: White Queen episode 1

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White Queen started last night on the BBC and it was Much better than I expected it to be. I have always been put off by the covers of the Philippa Gregory books into thinking the content is basically period romance. There is that in the TV series, but there is a bit more too. Political wheeler-dealing going on in the background. A nice bit of venom between some of the main characters and some good intrigue – did Edward really intend to marry her or was he leading her along. I guess that is all part and parcel of a good romance, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, but there was enough interest for a male viewer apart from the good looks of Elizabeth Woodville.

You can tell though that the main demographic for White Queen is female romance-reader – the lingering shots as Edward takes off his helmet. The love scene which is so tender and gentle and again lingering shots of Ed’s torso. But that doesn’t take away from the rest of it too much.

The historical realism I thought was a major strength – this did look like late 15th century England – the country house, the hunting lodge and the court all looked how they should. The gowns and the hair might have been a bit too flowing perhaps, but otherwise the appearance of the actors looked right as well. The only thing I did notice was that there were quite a few drainpipes, drain-covers and what looked like iron railings when Elizabeth is brought to court – difficult to cover some of these items up I guess – but surely they could have been draped with something – bit of a shame, because otherwise it all looked spot on.

Looking forward to episode 2.

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Dr Jekyll and Mr Holmes

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Dr Jekyll and Mr HolmesWith the excellent Sherlock BBC series getting such a good audience at present, anything Sherlock Holmes related is bound to be popular. I see that Titan Books are releasing another in their series of Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series in October 2010, titled The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Dr Jekyll and Mr Holmes

Here’s the synopsis:

When Sir Danvers Carew is brutally murdered, the Queen herself calls on SHERLOCK HOLMES to investigate. In the course of his enquiries, the esteemed detective is struck by the strange link between the highly respectable Dr. Henry Jekyll and the immoral Edward Hyde. Can he work out what it is that connects the two men or is it mystery even beyond the skills of the great Sherlock Holmes?

Sir Arthur Conan Doyles timeless creation returns in a new series of handsomely designed detective stories. The Further Adventures series encapsulates the most varied and thrilling cases of the worlds greatest detective.

Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review recently reviewed an earlier title in the series and didn’t give it particularly good reviews, so I’m not sure if I would read this one or not. However, I think the author might be different.

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Normans BBC series available on BBC iPlayer: Another one from Robert Bartlett

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about Inside the Medieval Mind, I should also mention that there’s a major BBC series running at the moment about the Normans in England. Again it is written and narrated by Professor Robert Bartlett. I haven’t seen any of them yet, but I am sure it is worth seeing.

Here’s a clip from YouTube about the Battle of Hastings in 1066:

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Inside the Medieval Mind: Great BBC Series

I caught the third episode of the BBC series Inside the Medieval Mind, presented and written by Professor Robert Bartlett. The episode I watched was on Belief. I thought Bartlett did a great job of not just recounting religious beliefs, but instead delved into beliefs around life and death and how the two were linked together. The series is actually a couple of years old I think, but I managed to catch an on demand episode last night via Virgin Media. It seems to be possible to watch the whole series online at OVGuide, but I haven’t tried it yet.

Here’s a clip:

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