Wizards vs. Aliens

[J.R. Southall]

Some of you will have already seen this after I tweeted it yesterday, but for those who haven't, it looks like RTD et al are putting together a kind-of follow-up series to the Sarah Jane Adventures:

http://www.starburstmagazine.com/new...-up-on-the-way

Could be in the area of SJA meets Harry Potter meets Merlin.

[Rob McCow]

Hmm - intriguing. What I'd really like to see from RTD's team are a few more non-sci-fi adult comedies or dramas, perhaps? Although they do put the family stuff together really well.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

It's worth making clear this is a whole new series which is currently the RTD is working on which he'd precommitted to before personal circumstances prevented him working on his upcoming American series Cucumber.
Aside from it probably taking the same broadcasting slot there is no direct link to SJA (or Doctor Who) in character or plot terms.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Observant UK viewers may have recently noticed that the BBC have started airing a trailer for the upcoming CBBC series Wizards vs. Aliens, from the team behind SJA...

This is the first officially released photo (which the observant will have spotted in the recent Sarah Jane Companion Volume Three) showing new stars Scott Haran as Tom Clarke and Percelle Ascott as Benny Sherwood



Other casting confirmed so far includes Don Gilet (Lance in The Runaway Bride, The Line of Beauty, EastEnders and many other credits) and Nina Sosanya (Fear Her and Casanova) as Benny's parents, and other guest stars include Annette Badland, Michael Higgs (Eastenders), Jefferson Hall (Doctors) and Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) and as mentioned by Russell T Davies in the Sarah Jane Companion the first episode features a very special guest apperance by Brian Miller, the husband of Elisabeth Sladen.

[Dino]

I'm really looking forward to this. It's about time we had another fantasy kids show. I hope it does well and I know, expectations and that, but imagine how interesting it'll be by it's third series?

Not seen the adverts, any idea when we can expect to see the first episode?

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

No news on broadcast dates yet but it's another case of being exclusive to CBBC so anyone who doesn't have a decent freeview signal or access to iplayer won't get to see it until it's out on dvd.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

I think most people can pick up the picture wireless these days.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Latest guest star announced... Brian Blessed!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Apparently the Aliens, the Nekross will be unveiled on Newsround tonight at 5pm!

Apparently Brian Blessed is playing the voice of the Nekross King!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Coming later this month...



Meet the Nekross...



Larger versions can be viewed here

[J.R. Southall]

I've just watched the first episode of this (I'm reviewing it for the Starburst website ahead of transmission), and all I will say is that it does not disappoint!

[Alex]

I watched the first episode tonight and thought it was fairly okay. It didn't grip me in the way Who does, and the villains of the story were a bit naff (Brian Blessed especially, sadly, who I thought went way over the top with the Mua-ha-ha-ha bits) but I'll definitely watch the second episode to see how it develops.

[J.R. Southall]

Aw it was splendid!

This is CBBC, remember. By which I don't mean that you should make allowances for any dip in quality (the quality's right up there), but that because it's on a children's channel, you must certainly make allowances for the way in which it functions. I'm not sure people always make that distinction.

[SiHart]

I feel much the same as Alex- it was good, but I wasn't gripped by it in the same way I was instantly by the SJAs... maybe it's the lack of direct Who connections. Anyway I shall persevere and see where it goes. Maybe once the set up is done I'll enjoy it a little more.

Anyone else been watching?

[Jonno]

Yeah, I've enjoyed it on the whole. As regards BB, I had no problem with his iconic voice, I just thought the King itself looked a bit silly and not as good as the other Nekross. I thought Annette Badland was good, and nice to see Brian Miller, though I wasn't clear what happened with his character at the end, unless he and his Dad return in future episodes?

A promising, if unspectacular, start.

[Nyder]

I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Maybe it's going to take time to get to know the characters. I'm not saying it's bad - it's probably just me missing the SJAs too much! I did like the goblin character though - hope we see more of him!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Whilst it wasn't perfect I really enjoyed it.

Let's remember how slightly shaky "Revenge of the Slitheen" was after the fairly confident start to SJA we got with "Invasion of the Bane". I think this series has the potential to develop as it goes along.

I'd like to see the shift from awkward classmates to friends between Tom and Benny justified a bit more as it seemed a bit helped along by narrative convenience but that said Scott and Percelle are both very engaging leads.
I hope that no one gets any silly ideas about killing Annette Badland off and very much looking forward to meeting Benny's parents next week.

[Nyder]

Just caught up with yesterday's episode. I enjoyed it a lot far. I have a feeling I'll be in the minority as it was very knockabout. But it worked for me :-)

[Dino]

I'm not going to lie, my interest is waning. But I'll keep watching. It just needs to go in a different, faster gear. I can't wait for the "All is lost!" episode that a drama like this needs. Of course I'm not expecting horror and darkness, but it needs something else to happen. Hopefully this new character might be that injection.

[Nyder]

I enjoyed it a lot far.

What the bloody hell am I on about? Nyder's talking gibberish again!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Publicity pic for friend of PS Joe Lidster's new dark wizard story beginning tonight...

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Loved "Rebel Magic" - definitely up there with Joe's great scripts for SJA in terms of quality story telling although if they could've found a way of doing it with less obligatory Brian Blessed scenes it would have been perfect.

Looking forward to seeing Gwendoline Christie looking more like her "Game of Thrones" human self in next week's story which looks like another good 'un.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Oh and I assume we all recognised the customer in the blue hoodie in the pizza shop in part one who left just as Tom and Jackson were coming in.

[SiHart]

I know I should, but I really haven't managed to summon up the enthusiasm for watching any more of the series after the first story.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I know I should, but I really haven't managed to summon up the enthusiasm for watching any more of the series after the first story.

Skip last week's and watch "Rebel Magic" - it's not perfect but it's classic Joe and worth watching for that alone and the writer's walk-on in Part One