SF Universe

Author: Phil Friel

  • BEYOND THE BARRIERS OF SPACE AND TIME edited by Judith Merril

    This time around, we have an SF anthology. This one is an oldie, from 1955, and is compiled and edited by Judith Merril, another of my favourite anthologists. This is the first Judith Merril anthology that I’ve featured on this blog, and most certainly won’t be the last. TITLE: BEYOND THE BARRIERS OF SPACE AND…

  • Happy 52nd Birthday Doctor Who!!!

    It was on this day, fifty-two years ago, that the very first ever episode of Doctor Who, An Unearthly Child, was broadcast by BBC One, on the evening of Saturday, 23rd November, 1963. The world of television sci-fi would never be the same again. This story introduces us for the very first time to a…

  • Doctor Who: The Zygon Inversion

    In less than an hour, at 8pm, The Zygon Inversion, the eighth episode of Doctor Who, Series 9, will air on BBC1, with the second half of what looks to be a very good two-parter, which had a very interesting start last week with The Zygon Invasion. The Zygon Invasion was definitely a step up…

  • Doctor Who: The Zygon Invasion

    The Zygon Invasion, the seventh episode of Doctor Who, Series 9, has just started on BBC1. It moves us into the second half of this series\’ block of stories, with the beginning of what looks to be a very good two-parter, finishing off next week with The Zygon Inversion. Great start so far. The Doctor,…

  • TOM’S MIDNIGHT GARDEN (1958) by Philippa Pearce

    This time out, I’m going to take a look at something completely different. It’s a classic Young Adult/children’s novel written by a British author who is very famous on this side of the Atlantic, but is probably a lot less-known to readers in the US. Ann Philippa Pearce OBE (22 January 1920 – 21 December…

  • Doctor Who: The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived

    This week’s episode of Doctor Who, The Woman Who Lived, which aired on BBC1 at 8.20pm last night, marks the half-way mark of Series 9. It\’s a direct follow-on from last week\’s episode, The Girl Who Died, and they form two self-contained stories in a prequel/sequel format, as opposed to the first two Series 9…

  • Doctor Who: The Woman Who Lived

    The Woman Who Lived (written by Catherine Tregenna), this week\’s episode of Doctor Who, will be starting shortly on BBC1, marking the half-way mark of Series 9. The Girl Who Died was an okay story, although not earth-shatteringly brilliant. I suppose after the incredible series-opening two-parter, it was bound to be downhill the rest of…

  • Happy Back to the Future Day!

    Has anybody seen any Deloreans recently? \’Cos today, Wednesday, October 21st, 2015, is Back to the Future Day!! It\’s time to get out your Back to the Future Box-Sets, and stick on the classic 1989 movie sequel Back to the Future II, the future leg of the classic time travel/time loop romp. The entire trilogy…

  • Coming Up Soon – Doctor Who: The Girl Who Died

    This week\’s episode of Doctor Who, The Girl Who Died, is starting in just over twenty minutes on BBC1. We\’re almost half way through Series 9 already. It only seems like a week or two since it started! The Girl Who Died is of interest to me because it is written by Jamie Mathieson, the…

  • Doctor Who: Before the Flood Starting Soon!

    Only a few minutes left before the start of Before the Flood, the second part of last week\’s opener, Under the Lake. I can\’t believe we\’re at episode four of Season 9 already! Under the Lake was a pretty good start, a nice homage to the classic Doctor Who \”base under siege\” theme. Hopefully Before…