And You Thought It Was…Safe(?)

Category: Television

  • Trash Culture’s Dr. Who Reviews – The First Doctor (1963-1967)

    by Chad Denton What’s remarkable about William Hartnell’s interpretation of the Doctor is how much of a lasting foundation it has been, after so many decades and quite a few seismic shifts in culture. Hartnell’s Doctor is an eccentric with an insatiable curiosity and willingness (if not eagerness) to meddle in anything and with anyone; […]

  • Trash Culture’s Dr. Who Reviews – The Tenth Planet (1967)

    by Chad Denton It’s 1986, and the release of “Crocodile Dundee” isn’t the only thing that’s noteworthy. An international space agency has just launched the “Zeus IV” rocket on a routine mission from its base in Antarctica. Afterward the base’s crew are shocked when they spot the Doctor, Ben, and Polly sightseeing the wasteland of […]

  • The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

    “Art from adversity” is a tired cliche at this point, casually bandied about by all manner of creative arts professionals and self-appointed self-help gurus. If those people every wanted a Bond movie to back them up, they could do a lot worse than The Spy Who Loved Me. Nothing went right with this and it still […]

  • Trash Culture’s Dr. Who Reviews – The Smugglers (1967)

    by Chad Denton The Doctor is furious when Polly and Ben show up in the TARDIS and tries to explain to them that they’re now stuck with him indefinitely because he still can’t control where the TARDIS lands. They end up somewhere on the shore of Cornwall. Although they’re shocked to be so far out […]

  • Trash Culture’s Dr. Who Reviews – The War Machines (1966)

    by Chad Denton The Doctor lands in 1966 London with Dodo. Right away the Doctor notices a newly constructed tower and tells Dodo he can sense something “alien” and “powerful” about it, similar to the feelings he had when he first encountered the Daleks. Pretending to be a scientist and his secretary, the Doctor and […]

  • Trash Culture’s Dr. Who Reviews – The Savages (1966)

    by Chad Denton This time the Doctor and his companions found themselves on a planet that appears uninhabited by intelligent life except for a single city. The Doctor sets out to explore, leaving behind Steven and Dodo, and finds himself taken to meet the Elders, who run the technologically advanced society within the city. Both […]

  • Trash Culture’s The Simpsons, Season 1, Episode 3, “Homer’s Odyssey”

    by Chad Denton Well, it didn’t take them that long before they made a reference to the Odyssey.   Now I did say that I didn’t want these write-ups to be “reviews” in the strict sense, mostly because I’m more interested in exploring The Simpsons as a cultural phenomenon (but also because I think I suck at reviewing […]

  • Trash Culture’s Dr. Who Reviews – The Gunfighters (1966)

    by Chad Denton Looking around their next surroundings for a dentist to help with the Doctor’s toothache, Steven and Dido find out that they’re in the town of Tombstone in the Arizona Territory. Dido and Steven are equally excited, which only irritates the Doctor, still complaining about his tooth. Right away, Steven and Dido get a little […]

  • Trash Culture’s Dr. Who Reviews – The Celestial Toymaker (1966)

    by Chad Denton After the Doctor becomes invisible, the TARDIS materializes in the middle of a vast empty room. Dodo begs that they leave, but the Doctor remarks that he’s also intangible and can’t operate the TARDIS. Elsewhere a man dressed like a Mandarin sends two clowns to greet his “guests.” Back near the TARDIS, […]

  • Trash Culture’s Doctor Who Reviews – The Ark (1966)

    by Chad Denton Dodo frustrates Stephen by being clueless to an almost surreal degree, hopping out of the TARDIS without hesitation into a jungle and thinking she can just hop on a bus back to London. The Doctor actually agrees with Dodo – at least insofar as he thinks they actually are still on Earth […]