Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Days Could Be Numbered

We are now into the final countdown before uniquely named megastar Benedict Cumberbatch joins the Marvel Universe as Doctor Strange. It’s weird to think that just 6 years ago those 6 syllables didn’t trip off our tongues as regularly as they do now. Today, Cumberbatch is an Oscar nominee, a household name, and the leader of of a tribe of groupies who call themselves ‘Cumberbitches’ – high praise indeed.

In an interview with GQ Magazine, the Sherlock star suggested that he might be hanging up his deerstalker after season 4. “It might be the end of an era. It feels like the end of an era, to be honest,” Cumberbatch explained. “It goes to a place where it will be pretty hard to follow on immediately.”

But before you fake your own death in protest (a la season 2) Benedict is not burning any bridges with Conan-Doyle‘s famous detective. “We never say never on the show. I’d love to revisit it, I’d love to keep revisiting it, I stand by that, but in the immediate future we all have things that we want to crack on with and we’ve made something very complete as it is, so I think we’ll just wait and see. The idea of never playing him again is really galling.”

Sadly, it seems Sherlock is a victim of its own success. Both Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman – who plays John Watson – are never short of job offers. According to IMDB, Benedict Cumberbatch has eight upcoming projects (including Avengers: Infinity War and yet another version of The Jungle Book) and Freeman has five. That won’t leave a lot of time for filming numerous 90 minute episodes of Sherlock!

So, the message is, Sherlock fans: enjoy season 4, as it could be your last visit to the mind palace!

Sherlock season 4 is due to air in 2017 (date TBC)

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Archer is Literally Ending After Season 10

There’s good news, and there’s bad news… The good news is that animated spy comedy Archer has been renewed for 3 seasons, taking it through to 2019. The bad news is that creator Adam Reed has said once those three seasons have been made, that’s the end of the road for Sterling, Lana, Mallory and co.

Talking on the Murmur podcast, Reed said “The plan is to end Archer after Season 10. I don’t know that anybody has talked about that, but that is definitely my plan, is to do eight, nine, and 10 — and they’re gonna be each shorter seasons of just eight episodes — and then wind it up.”

It took a while for FX to renew the show, possibly because Reed initially said he planned to end it after season 8, however he then had what he called a “brain explosion” about how he could keep momentum for an additional two seasons.

He went on to assure fans that the three upcoming seasons would not only be different from each other, but also different to anything that had gone before. Considering the cliffhanger at the end of season 7, I’m really interested to see how they’re going to pick up when Archer returns early next year.

If you can’t wait that long, please enjoy some of my favourite Archer character’s best bits:

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The Expanse: S1 Ep 8 Salvage

Two worlds of The Expanse universe finally collide in the eighth episode of SyFy’s popular TV series. Finally the build up is over!

I’m changing things up a bit for this episode’s synopsis. Normally, I divide the plots and sub-plots out by location but for this episode, I’ll tell the story from character experience. This is the most important episode to date and the climax of the season.

There are few subplot points that take place on Tycho Station and Earth, but the total screen time for both of those take up about 2 minutes of the entire episode. The majority of this episode deals with the immediate events leading up to the climax.

First. Miller.

Miller is on his way to Eros. He meets another passenger who can see that it’s Miller’s first time traveling. The other passenger is Mormon and is preparing for the Nauvoo voyage into space. Their conversation causes Miller to wonder just what the hell he’s doing.

When he finally arrives on Eros, Miller heads straight for the docks where the Anubis shuttle is. He has a tough time with the dock master, but he finds the shuttle is registered to Lionel Polanski just as security gets to the room and arrests him for being tough during his tough time.

His friend from Eros has him released. He takes Miller for a tour of Eros Station.

As they sit down to a meal, Miller tells what he’s really on Eros for. He asks his friend to help him locate Julie Mao. His friend is reluctant, but finally shows Miller proof that Julie Mao is on Eros Station. Seems she’s registered at a seedy hotel under the name Lionel Polanski.

Miller immediately leaves to go find her.

Next. Holden & Crew.

Holden and crew come across an abandoned ship on an asteroid. It turns out to be a stealth ship like the ones that attacked the Canterbury and the Donnager.

The ship is well hidden in a crevice of the asteroid but they’re able to dock and board.

It’s eerily quiet. At first, it appears nothing is out of the ordinary. As they go deeper, they start seeing signs of a struggle. The scene tension builds until they finally come across the suit of a Belter, however, they know the ship is not from the Belt. They realize this is the ship that attacked the Canterbury.

As they search inside and outside of the ship they find clues as to what happened. Amos discovers a locked safe on the flight deck. They decide to restore power to provide light.

When Holden and Naomi get to the power reactor they discover a few curious things. Then Holden sees there is some sort of living creature that has nested or attached itself to the ship’s reactor.

We also see a mysterious blue light creeping along the halls of the ship.

Holden and Naomi go in for a closer look at the alien creature.

Amos finds the ship’s name: The Anubis. It’s the ship Julie Mao was on.

Just then, the alien begins to come alive. Naomi quickly surmises it’s absorbing energy from the reactor and shuts it down.

Everyone gets off the Anubis as fast as possible.

Back onboard the Rocinante, Kenzo is begging Holden to let him go with them to Eros. Holden agrees if the spy uses his contacts to help Holden and crew find Lionel Polanski.

Holden decides to destroy the abandoned ship based on what they found aboard. They torpedo it as they speed towards Eros.

Finally. They Meet…And Things Get Really Good

While Miller is on his way to the hotel to find Julie Mao, Holden and crew have also docked on Eros Station. Their stowaway, Kenzo, takes them to the seedy hotel where Lionel Polanski is registered. Something is fishy, but Amos can’t quite put his finger on it.

Kenzo

 

As Holden talks to the Concierge, random people are slowly flowing into the lobby. As Holden leaves to go to the room to finally meet Polanski, Kenzo realizes what is going on and runs. Amos pulls a gun to stop him and then all hell breaks loose. It turns out the rest of the people in the lobby were actually the hit squad sent by U.N. Undersecretary Errinwright back in Episode 7.

Holden and crew are pinned down. Just as things are about to get really bad, Miller shows up.

Finally, Holden and Miller come face to face.

They get out of the situation and begin to figure out what’s going on.

Right now, no one knows that Lionel Polanski is the pseudonym that Julie Mao goes by. They get to the hotel room. Miller is asking for Julie. Holden and crew don’t know that Polanski and Mao are the same person.

Finally, in the bathroom, they find Julie Mao’s body. It’s crystalized. It’s the same crystalline gunk they found on the stealth ship and it’s all over the room and her naked, dead body.

Season 2 is getting close, folks. Recap the first season of The Expanse TV series here and get to know the cast here.

American Horror Story: Roanoke “Chapter 3”

Hi AHS fans. I’m in for the lovely Presh this week, as she’s not feeling so good. Wishing you a speedy recovery girl!

Last week we left the Miller clan in a shocking cliffhanger – Lee‘s daughter Flora was missing and a yellow hoodie belonging to the little girl was hanging up in a tree about a hundred metres above their heads…

Roanoke Chapter 3

The police (i.e. the local cynics) recover Flora’s distinctive hoodie from the high tree. The family launch a search party for the little girl throughout the woods, however Lee explains she was not hopeful, because of her experience as a cop. In her interview, she talks us through the timescale milestones when a child is missing, and how the likelihood of finding the child diminishes as time goes on. Pretty quickly into the search, Lee finds something, which is revealed to be Flora’s doll, which has been dismembered and the head replaced with the head of a dead pig. The weird display is also covered in blood. (This whole episode is full of solid gold Angela Bassett performance – she’s brilliant!)

The Millers go further into the woods, and find a creepy farm, known to be the residence of the hillbilly weirdos, the Polks. There is another creepy offering on the ground – this time though it’s a dismembered pig with Flora’s doll’s head. They look around the house, and the place looks deserted. There’s flies buzzing about everywhere and rotting animal bits in the fridge. It’s pretty gross! They go out to the barn and find some dirty children suckling on a pig.

The Polk children – cleaned up and detached from the pig

The Polk children are at the hospital, having been cleaned up, and are being questioned. The police can’t get any sense out of them and they are shouting something unintelligible. Mason turns up and loses the plot with Lee, Matt and Shelby, who are anxiously waiting for news of Flora. Back at the creepy house, Mason attacks Lee and accuses her of hiding Flora to keep her from him. Shelby defends her sister in law, but Mason insists he will tell the police about Lee’s kidnapping indiscretion from  last week’s episode. Mason leaves and the family try to rest, however Matt is woken by a call in the middle of the night. The police have found a body. It has been burned beyond recognition and is strung up on one of the Blair Witch style scaffolds – it looks far to big to be Flora! Lee is handed a ring taken from the body, and she identifies it as Mason. Matt and Shelby check the security cameras, and realise that Lee left the house 15 minutes after Mason and returned four hours later. She has no alibi for the time of the murder. Lee walks in on their discussion and is angry that Shelby doesn’t trust her. They are interrupted by the arrival of a strange man called Cricket Marlow (Leslie Jordan). He’s a psychic investigator who has been sent by the spirits to help find Flora – because of course he is! He walks through the house and locates the area where Flora was hiding last week, opening the little cupboards and finding a bonnet. He also name-checks ghost buddy Priscilla, and explains that Flora is not dead, but hiding with her friend.

Cricket Marlow – Paranormal PI

Cricket sets up a seance to call Priscilla, but instead gets The Butcher. She chops their candle in half and smashes all the windows. She tells Cricket that she doesn’t have the child, and if she did she would have killed and eaten her. (Also, we get another awesome accent from Kathy Bates – it’s as good as the Freak Show one!) Cricket shouts ‘CROATOAN!’ which is the word that the Polk kids were shouting at the farm. Cricket says he can take the Millers to Flora… for $25,000. Matt is angry and accuses Cricket of being a con man. Lee takes the far more reasonable action of holding Cricket at gun point! Matt talks her down, and throws the psychic out, but Cricket tells them he will be invited back. He whispers something to Lee then leaves.

This is where the episode breaks slightly from the convention – we hear the voice of the interviewer (Cheyenne Jackson? Possibly!) asking Lee about Emily. Lee is shaken and asks for the camera to be switched off and we see candid footage of her sorting herself out. Lee reveals that she had another daughter when she was much younger and she went missing too. What?!? Lee left the 4-year-old Emily in the car when she went to run errands and she went missing.

Lee is freaking out!

Lee goes back to see Cricket and pays the fee, but Cricket can’t take her to Flora just yet. He explains that the Butcher is part of the lost colony of Roanoke, which Lee calls bullshit on, as Roanoke is miles away. Through flashback, Cricket explains that the Butcher – real name Thomasine White – was the wife of the leader of the colony. He went off on a supply run, leaving his wife in charge. The men of the colony don’t like being bossed around by a woman, so they revolt and put a spiky iron mask on her an leave her to die in the woods. The final betrayal for her is that her son Ambrose (Wes Bentley) locks the mask (although he looks really unhappy about doing it – maybe it will save him later!) After a few days in the woods, Thomasine is dying, and is attacked by something in the shadows. She is rescued by the Horned Woman, who offers her a still beating heart, which Thomasine eats – naturally. The delicious raw heart gives her new strength and she returns to the colony and delivers a cleaver to the head to all who betrayed her – with the exception of Ambrose, who is on a last warning. She then decides to move the colony a few miles in land – right to the spot where the Millers currently live!

Cricket and the Millers (which, incidentally, would be a very cool band name) head out to the woods to bargain with the Butcher for their lives. Cricket asks her to get Priscilla to return Flora in return for them leaving. Shelby is shocked to learn that Matt has agreed that, in addition to this, they will also burn down their home to ensure no one else lives there. Matt is conspicuous in his absence so Shelby goes looking for him. Luckily, Matt is safe! He just went off to get coffees for everyone because they were looking tired. Matt is a hero! Just kidding… Matt is in a trance, having sexy times with the Horned Woman next to a dead pig, being watched by two horny hillbillies. Later, Matt returns home with no memory of what has happened. Shelby is understandably miffed, and calls him out on it – Cuba Gooding JR pulls out his finest OJ ‘I didn’t do it!’ acting. They are interrupted by Lee getting arrested – presumably the work of an angry Shelby…

Matt was as shocked as anyone about the events!

That’s it for another week. Hopefully Presh will be back in action for episode 4, but if not, I’ll join you again for the crazy world of Roanoke! Chapter 4 will air Wednesday 5th October 2016 10pm (US) on FX.

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OUAT – Robin Returns in SN6

When last we saw Robin Hood, played by Sean Maguire, he looked like the pics above.  I’m not afraid to admit that there were tears shed in my living room… not mine.  Really.

Whatever.

In my review of the OUAT SN6 premiere, I told you that I thought they were working up to bringing Robin back.  Some of you judged me.  Oh, c’mon, ya know ya did.  Some of you said… It won’t happen.  Don’t lie.  I won’t name names… but you know who you are.  Well, guess what…

I. Was. Right!

OUAT muckity mucks have announced that Sean Maguire will be returning to Storybrooke in SN 6 for a few episodes.  However, they’re keeping mum on the wheretos and the howfores of Robin’s return.  They did say that Robin was not returning from the dead, and that they’re hoping that how he returns will be a surprise and unexpected.  Here’s what I’d love to see… a whole “Wonderful Life” thing for Regina with Robin as her Clarence, where he helps her to let him go and move on.  That would be just awesome.

The only thing that would be awesomer (shut up, if Trump can make up words, so can I) would be if Robin came back from the dead with a “Just kidding, I’m fine” thing.  ‘Cause seriously, I need …. never mind, it doesn’t matter what I need.  They gave me Hook back, and I know I should be happy with that.

But, I do miss Sean… soooooo glad he’ll be back, even if it’s just for a few episodes.

Ripper Street is Back 12th October

In a surprise move, fans of Ripper Street will be treated to two seasons in one year, as Amazon has announced the latest series will arrive sooner than expected. This will be a huge relief for fans, who were left with a gripping cliffhanger at the end of season 4.

The Victorian crime show was killed off by the BBC in 2013, but was later resuscitated by online streaming service. Now the show is ending on its own terms at season 5, which will see all six episodes arrive on 12th October.

The series will make up one single story and (according to Amazon’s publicity) “Our heroes become fugitives, forced to operate outside the law as they pursue the most insidious enemy they have encountered yet.” The enemy in question is “a serial killer with subhuman desires, but a superhuman ability to avoid apprehension”, played by Jonas Armstrong (Robin Hood). Is it going to be the eponymous Ripper they come across?

All the usual suspects will be returning, as well as a fan favourite from season 2 Detective Inspector Jedidiah Shine (Joseph Mawle – Game of Thrones).

Bad guy DI Shine (Joseph Mawle) makes a welcome return

Catch the whole thing on 12th October on Amazon.

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Good Girls Revolt Trailer Lands on Amazon

Next month, Amazon launches the 1960s drama Good Girls Revolt, which tells the stories of female journalists fighting for equality. The series is based on the true story of 46 female members of the Newsweek staff taking legal action against the publication for “systematic discrimination” against women in terms of hiring and promotion. Although the series uses real events and Lynn Povich‘s memoir of the events, most of the characters and settings are fictionalised. Newsweek becomes News of the Week, and the leading roles are possible composite characters of real men and women involved in the events. The show is created by Narcos writer/producer Dana Calvo, and is pitching itself as a stylish, cool Mad Men style affair. This time though, the Don Draper types take a back seat and the spotlight on ladies such as Jane (Anna Camp – True Blood),  Patti (Genevieve Angelson – House of Lies) and Cindy (Erin Darke – Don’t Think Twice). The show will nod to real characters too, with Grace Gummer (Mr Robot) appearing as feminist powerhouse Nora Ephron.

Watch the trailer here:

The series launches on 28th October 2016

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Modern Family To Feature Transgender Child Actor

ABC’s award winning sitcom Modern Family has never been afraid of breaking new ground, both in story-lines and innovation. It was one of the first shows to feature a committed gay couple (culminating in one of the first gay weddings in 2014)  and last year filmed an episode entirely shot using an iPhone. They are now pitching another first: they are the first television show to use an openly transgender child actor.

The episode, “A Stereotypical Day” is due to air tomorrow (28th September) and, according to Variety, will feature 8-year-old Jackson Millarker. The story will focus of Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) being overcome with pride that their daughter Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) wants to invite her trans friend Tom (Millarker) over for a play date. As Cam and Mitchell are notoriously a bit pompous and self-congratulating (for comedic effect), they see it as a sign of their awesome parenting that their daughter is so open minded. However, their joy is short lived, when they overhear Lily insulting her friend, and they use the moment as an opportunity to  teach her. This being Modern Family, I assume it will all resolve nicely by the end!

Fans have taken to social media to praise the show for the move and to demand that Hollywood do more to include trans actors:

First transgender-centric episode, and first trans-kid on #TV. Modern Family trully a forward show #wow #lgtv https://t.co/Ys7vQgkmse pic.twitter.com/sw6Y2rTb8c

— Ze D. Kya (dekya) (@zedekya) September 27, 2016

"Modern Family" has cast a Trans child actor to play one of Lily's friends. If they can cast Trans actors, so can the rest of Hollywood.

— ZackPas+ (@dapperzack) September 26, 2016

Thank you @ModernFam for casting a child #transactor! #translivesmatter #lovewins #livingourtruth #transchoruslahttps://t.co/pKMxt4i3iz

— TransChorusLA (@TransChorusLA) September 26, 2016

However some fans are still critical at the decision to cast heterosexual actor Stonestreet as gay character Cam:

"Modern Family" casting trans child but still has fake gay Eric Stonestreet https://t.co/R6em93syxh

— Robert Heikkila (@newsouth418) September 26, 2016

‘A Stereotypical Day’ is the second episode of Modern Family‘s 8th season, and will air tomorrow night (28th September) on ABC.

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The Fall Schedule: November and December Previews

We’ve got a lot of new and returning TV hitting the screens in September and October, but it’s not too early to think about the shows that are heading our way in November and December. There’s a few teasers being released, which I’ve collected for you here!

All details are correct for the USA at the time of writing. For your country, please check your TV guide.

Date	Show	Network	Season
5th Nov	The Crown	Netflix	1
15th Nov	Good Behaviour Sweet/Vicious	TNT MTV	1 1
17th Nov	Undercover	BBC America	1
20th Nov	Librarians The Affair	TNT Showtime	3 3
21st Nov	Search Party	TBS	1
25th Nov	Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life	Netflix	8
30th Nov	Incorporated Vikings	Syfy History	1 4 (second part)
7th Dec	Shut Eye	Hulu	1
9th Dec	Fuller House	Netflix	2
11th Dec	The Hollow Crown: The War of the Roses	PBS	Miniseries

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life premiers 25th November

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The Fall Schedule : October

The Fall Schedule if in full swing now, bringing together a host of old and new quality tv. I’ve put together the air dates for new and returning shows in October (September is available on a separate post) so you can make a note of when your favourite shows are back. Remember to keep an eye on Skatronixxx.com for reviews of all the best shows.

All details are correct for the USA at the time of writing. For your country, please check your TV guide.

Date	Show	Network	Season
2nd	Westworld Madam Secretary Shameless Elementary	HBO CBS Showtime CBS	1 3 7 5
3rd	Scorpion Conviction Timeless	CBS ABC NBC	3 1 1
4th	The Mindy Project The Flash No Tomorrow	Hulu The CW The CW	5 3 1
5th	Arrow Frequency	The CW The CW	5 1
9th	Divorce Insecure	HBO HBO	1 1
10th	Supergirl 2 Broke Girls	The CW CBS	2 6

The Flash season 3 premiers 4th October

Date	Show	Network	Season
11th	The Middle American Housewife Fresh Off the Boat The Real O’Neals Chicago Fire	ABC ABC ABC ABC NBC	8 1 3 2 5
13th	Legends of Tomorrow Supernatural Falling Water	The CW The CW USA	2 12 1
14th	Haters Back Off	Netflix	1
17th	Jane the Virgin The Odd Couple	The CW CBS	3 3

Supernatural season 12 premiers 13th October

Date	Show	Network	Season
19th	Chance	Hulu	1
21st	The Vampire Diaries Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	The CW The CW	8 2
23rd	The Walking Dead Comic Book Men	AMC AMC	7 6
24th	Man With A Plan	CBS	1
26th	Rectify	Sundance	4
27th	The Great Indoors Mom Life in Pieces Pure Genius	CBS CBS CBS CBS	1 4 2 1
29th	The Fall	Netflix	3
31st	People of Earth	TBS	1

The Walking Dead season 7 premiers 23rd October

Loved this? I’ve also done some November & December previews!

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