Tuesday 30 January 2018

Looking Back At Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials



Originally published on Set The Tape

Sequels can be hard to do, you’ve got to build upon the first film in new and interesting ways, you have to develop the story and characters, and you have to top what came before. This can be even harder to do when making a planned series. Not only do you need to make a sequel, but it needs to feel like a part of what came before.

Certain series that are adapted from books do this quite well, The Hunger Games gave us a sequel that followed a very close formula to the first film, but with more gloss and higher production values, bigger stakes, and better characters. It felt like the natural progression of the story. The Scorch Trials, however, doesn’t feel like the natural next step from The Maze Runner, and because of that it’s so much better than its predecessor.

The first film centered on interpersonal drama, mystery, and an almost unseen threat, The Scorch Trials takes a step towards something grander, with the stakes being the survival of the planet, the threats being multiple, and the set pieces dwarfing what was done in the first film.

The maze is gone, replaced with a barren, desert landscape, filled with the ruined and decayed cities of the civilisations that came before. It’s post apocalypse time, and the series definitely benefits from it. As does it from a more obvious enemy for the Gladers to contend with.

This film sees our young heroes having to not only contend with Cranks, humans that have been mutated by the Flare Virus into zombie creatures with plant like vines growing out of them, but they’re also being hunted by WCKD (pronounced Wicked), an evil corporation with their own military.


The constant threat, from both humans and the infected, means that The Scorch Trials doesn’t get to slow down the same way that The Maze Runner did, though this doesn’t mean that the film misses out on character development. The new challenges facing the Gladers means that they’re tested in ways that they weren’t before, and the characters have to adapt and grow, creating some interesting new dynamics between the group, particularly with Teressa (Kaya Scodelario).

The Scorch Trials larger scope means that it’s also able to introduce more characters into the world, expanding not just the roster of heroes, but providing some much-needed back story and history to the films universe. These new additions work well in the film, particularly Rosa Salazar as Brenda, who feels a lot more natural as a love interest for Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) than Teresa did.

The only misstep in the new additions to the cast is Aidan Gillen as Janson, the representative of WCKD who tries to convince the heroes that they’re the good guys. Perhaps it’s just me, and this is largely down to something that has nothing to do with The Scorch Trials, but if you want to make me think that WCKD is on the up and up, don’t have their front man be played by Lord Baylish from Game of Thrones. No one is ever trusting that guy.

The Scorch Trials is a very different film to what came before it, yet feels like a natural progression to a story that is still something of a mystery. How this series will play out in its final part, whether it will continue on as in this film, or if it will make another big leap; and if we will be provided with all of the answers to the mysteries, remains to be seen, however, whatever is to come in The Death Cure is sure to be interesting.


Go to Amy's Blog

Monday 29 January 2018

Eccentric Earth Episode Five Show Notes



Welcome to the latest show notes for Eccentric Earth, where I will include the research for each episode (essentially my script), along with a number of photographs and documents.


Episode Five - Boston Corbett

Thomas P. Corbett was born in London in 1832, before immigrating to the United States with his family in 1839. The Corbett family moved around frequently before eventually settling in the town of Troy, New York.

As a young man, Corbett began apprenticing as a hatter, a profession that he would hold intermittently throughout his life. As a hatter, Corbett was regularly exposed to the fumes of mercury nitrate, then used in the treatment of fur to produce felt used on hats. Excessive exposure to the compound can lead to hallucinations, psychosis and twitching, known as the 'hatter's shakes'.

After working as a hatter in Troy, Corbett returned to New York City. He later married, but his wife and child died in childbirth. Following their deaths, he moved to Boston.

Boston, circa 1850.



Corbett became despondent over the loss of his wife and child and began drinking heavily. He was unable to hold a job and eventually became homeless. After a night of heavy drinking, he was confronted by a street preacher whose message persuaded him to join the Methodist Episcopal Church. Corbett immediately stopped drinking and became devoutly religious. After being baptised, he subsequently changed his name to Boston, the name of the city where he was converted.



He regularly attended meetings at the Fulton and Bromfield Street churches where his enthusiastic behaviour earned him the nickname 'The Glory to God man'. In an attempt to imitate Jesus, Corbett began to wear his hair very long. He also became a regular at sidewalk churches around the city, peppering street preachers’ prayers with boisterous refrains of 'Glory to God!' and 'Come to Christ!'

In 1857, Corbett began working at a hat manufacturer's shop on Washington Street in downtown Boston. He was reported to be a proficient hatter, but was known to proselytise frequently and stop work to pray and sing for co-workers who used profanity in his presence.

The ministers eventually encouraged him to stake out a corner of his own, not so much because the young man had potential but to keep his annoying chorus at a distance. Corbett, now 26, took the advice. He began working as a street preacher and would sermonize and distribute religious literature in North Square. Corbett soon earned a reputation around Boston for being a 'local eccentric' and religious fanatic.

On July 16, 1858, Corbett was propositioned by two prostitutes while walking home from a church meeting. He was deeply disturbed by the encounter. Upon returning to his room at a boardinghouse, Corbett began reading chapters 18 and 19 in the Gospel of Matthew, 'And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee....and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake'.

Inspired by the words, and in order to avoid sexual temptation and remain holy, Corbett took a pair of scissors, snipped an incision under his scrotum, and removed his testicles.

He then ate a meal and went to a prayer meeting before going to hospital to seek medical treatment.

 The soldiers of Company I of the 12th Regiment New 
York Militia.
Weeks after healing, the castrated hat maker moved to New York City and resumed his trade. He remained a zealot, often attending the lunchtime prayers of the YMCA’s Fulton Street meetings.

In April 1861, early in the American Civil War, Corbett needed to decide if he would become a pacifist or a soldier? After prayerful consideration, he chose soldier and enlisted in Company I of the 12th Regiment New York Militia to join the Union Army in the Civil War.

Corbett's eccentric behaviour quickly got him into trouble. He carried a bible with him at all times and read passages aloud from it regularly, held unauthorised prayer meetings and argued with his superior officers.  Corbett would tell the women at his church that when he came eye to eye with his grey-suited enemies, 'I will say to them, ‘God have mercy on your souls’—then pop them off'.

Corbett also condemned officers and superiors for what he perceived as violations of God's word. During a drill in New York’s Franklin Square, Colonel Daniel Butterfield was livid at his troops’ improper formations and gave them a tongue lashing laced with profanities. Corbett, who had yet to see a second of fighting, barked back: 'Colonel, don’t you know you are breaking God’s law?'

He was sent to the guardhouse for several days but refused to apologise for his insubordination. Whilst in the guardhouse he proceeded to one-up his commanding officer by singing hymns at the top of his lungs. Butterfield sent a messenger to warn the impetuous prisoner to stop it or else. Corbett kept on singing.

When Butterfield finally offered to release Corbett in exchange for an apology, Corbett responded, 'No, I have only offended the colonel, while the colonel has offended God, and I shall never ask the colonel’s pardon until he himself has asked pardon of God.'

 Colonel Daniel Butterfield was not 
happy with Boston's shit.
Due to his continued disruptive behaviour and refusal to take orders, Corbett was court-martialed and sentenced to be shot. His sentence was eventually reduced and he was discharged in August 1863.

Corbett re-enlisted later that month as a private in Company L, 16th New York Cavalry Regiment.

On June 1864, while hunting Confederate Colonel John S. Mosby's men in Culpeper, Virginia, Corbett had found himself cornered by the so-called Gray Ghost’s troops near Centreville. His fellow soldiers were “nearly all compelled to surrender,” according to Harper’s Weekly, but not Corbett. He “stood out manfully, and fired his revolver and 12 shots from his breech-loading rifle before surrendering. . . . Mosby, in admiration of the bravery displayed by Corbett, ordered his men not to shoot him.” Instead, Corbett was sent to Andersonville, the most notorious Civil War prison.

Corbett was held prisoner at Andersonville prison for five months. Nearly one-third of the 45,000 Union soldiers sent to Andersonville died there, but Corbett managed to survive his incarceration.


He was released in an exchange in November 1864 and was admitted to the Army hospital in Annapolis, Maryland where he was treated for scurvy, malnutrition and exposure. On his return to his company, he was promoted to Sergeant.

Corbett spent some time recuperating at a hospital in Annapolis, then rejoined his regiment. Within a few months, the war was over.

On the evening of April 14, 1865 President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Whilst attending a production of the play ‘Our American Cousin’ at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., Lincoln was shot in the head by the well known actor John Wilkes Booth.

On April 24, 1865, Corbett's regiment was sent to apprehend John Wilkes Booth, who was on the run since the assassination then days earlier. The detachment left Washington via steamer on April 24 and headed about 50 miles down the Potomac to a landing at Belle Plain, Virginia.

Artists depiction of John Wilkes Booth shooting
Abraham Lincoln.
After a day of fruitless searching, the volunteers received a tip from a fisherman and his wife that men fitting Booth’s and his accomplice David Herold’s descriptions had crossed the Rappahannock River and were headed toward Bowling Green in Virginia’s Caroline County. The same informants suggested that the men were aided by a soldier named Willie Jett, who happened to be sweet on the daughter of a certain innkeeper in Bowling Green.

It was now midnight on April 26. After knocking on several doors there, Doherty’s men found Jett at a hotel and rousted him from bed. Jett wasn’t about to give up Booth and Herold, but Doherty informed him that he 'should suffer' if he didn’t do so. Jett agreed to lead them 12 miles to land near Port Royal owned by a farmer named Richard Garrett, where Jett had left the men two days earlier.

'Arriving at Garrett’s Farm', Corbett later wrote, 'the lieutenant said to me, ‘Mr. Booth is in that house, ride through the command, and see that every man’s pistol is in readiness for use'.’

When Doherty asked after the fugitives, Garrett claimed they were in the woods. Doherty didn’t buy it. So, as he later told the Washington brass, he 'seized this man by the collar, and pulled him out of the door and down the steps, put my revolver to his head and told him to tell me at once where the two assassins were; Garrett replied, ‘in the barn'.

It was after 2 AM by now. Doherty’s men descended on the tobacco barn and formed a ring around it, Corbett included. From inside, Booth was trying to talk himself out of the jam. 'Captain, draw off your men fifty yards!' Booth shouted, according to a soldier in the 16th Cavalry. 'A cripple as I am with only one leg and cannot walk without a crutch. I would like a chance for my life'. Doherty refused.

The back-and-forth between Booth and Doherty continued for an hour, until Booth yelled that there was 'a man here who wants to surrender awful bad'. Out came Herold, the accomplice. And Booth started talking again.

Concluding that their target was never coming out, a federal investigator named Everton Conger took a clutch of dry hay, lit it on fire, and stuck it through a crack in the barn. The barn was set on fire in an attempt to force him out into the open, but Booth remained inside.

John Wilkes Booth dies of his wounds on the Garrett's porch.
Corbett was positioned near a large crack in the barn wall. In an 1878 interview, Corbett claimed that he saw Booth aim his carbine, prompting him to shoot Booth with his Colt revolver despite Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton's orders that Booth should be captured alive. Lieutenant Edward P. Doherty, the officer in charge of the soldiers who captured Booth and Herold, stated that 'the bullet struck Booth in the back of the head, about an inch below the spot where his shot had entered the head of Mr. Lincoln'. Booth's spinal cord was severed.

Booth was carried to the front porch of the Garrett house and placed on a makeshift mattress. 'Kill me', he whispered later. He asked to see his hands, so one of the soldiers lifted his paralysed limbs. 'Useless, useless', Booth muttered. He died around 7 am.

Lt. Colonel Everton Conger initially thought Booth had shot himself. After realising Booth had been shot by someone else, Conger and Lt. Doherty asked which officer had shot Booth. Corbett stepped forward and admitted he was the shooter. When asked why he had violated orders, Corbett replied, "Providence directed me". He was immediately arrested and was accompanied by Lt. Doherty to the War Department in Washington, D.C. to be court martialed.

When questioned by Edwin Stanton about Booth's capture and shooting, both Doherty and Corbett agreed that Corbett had in fact disobeyed orders not to shoot. However, Corbett maintained that he believed Booth had intended to shoot his way out of the barn and that he acted in self-defense. He stated, 'Booth would have killed me if I had not shot first. I think I did right.' Stanton paused and then stated, 'The rebel is dead. The patriot lives; he has spared the country expense, continued excitement and trouble. Discharge the patriot'.

Upon leaving the War Department, Corbett was greeted by a cheering crowd. As he made his way to Mathew Brady's studio, the most famous photographer of the era, to have his official portrait taken, the crowd followed him asking for autographs and requesting that he tell them about shooting Booth. Corbett told the crowd:

Boston Corbett's portrait Mathew Brady's studio.
‘I aimed at his body. I did not want to kill him....I think he stooped to pick up something just as I fired. That may probably account for his receiving the ball in the head. When the assassin lay at my feet, a wounded man, and I saw the bullet had taken effect about an inch back of the ear, and I remembered that Mr. Lincoln was wounded about the same part of the head, I said: 'What a God we have...God avenged Abraham Lincoln'.

Eyewitnesses to Booth's shooting contradicted Corbett's version of events and expressed doubts that Corbett was responsible for shooting Booth. Officers who were near Corbett at the time claimed that they never saw him fire his gun (Corbett's gun was never inspected and was eventually lost). They claimed that Corbett came forward only after Lt. Colonel Conger asked who had shot Booth. Richard Garrett, the owner of the farm on which Booth was captured, and his 12-year-old son Robert also contradicted Corbett's testimony that he acted in self-defense. Both maintained that Booth had never reached for his gun.

While there was some criticism of Corbett's actions, he was largely considered a hero by the public and press. One newspaper editor declared that Corbett would, 'live as one of the World's great avengers.' For his part in Booth's capture, Corbett received a portion of the $100,000 reward money, amounting to $1,653.84 (equivalent to $26,000 in 2017). His annual salary as a U.S. sergeant was $204 (equivalent to $3,000 in 2017).

Corbett received offers to purchase the gun he used to shoot Booth. He refused stating, 'That is not mine-it belongs to the Government, and I would not sell it for any price.' Corbett also declined an offer for one of Booth's pistols as he did not want a reminder of shooting Booth.

After his discharge from the army in August 1865, Corbett went back to work as a hatter in Boston and frequently attended the Broomfield Street Church. When the hatting business in Boston slowed, Corbett moved to Danbury, Connecticut to continue his work and also "preached in the country round about." By 1870, he had relocated once again to Camden, New Jersey where he was known as a Methodist lay preacher.

Corbett's inability to hold a job was attributed to his fanatical behaviour; he was routinely fired after continuing his habit of stopping work to pray for his co-workers. In an effort to earn money, Corbett capitalised on his role as 'Lincoln's Avenger'. He gave lectures about the shooting of Booth accompanied by illustrated lantern slides at Sunday schools, women's groups and tent meetings. Corbett was never asked back due to his increasingly erratic behavior and incoherent speeches.

R.B. Hoover, a man who later befriended Corbett, recalled that Corbett believed 'men who were high in authority at Washington at the time of the assassination' were hounding him. Corbett said the men were angry because he had deprived them of prosecuting and executing John Wilkes Booth themselves. He also believed the same men had gotten him fired from various jobs.

In a letter appearing in the Cleveland Leader, a soldier named Private Dalzell, surmised to be a friend of Corbett’s, claimed that Corbett was 'pursued by threatening letters every day' and received 'no less than a dozen' along the lines of one that read: 'HELL, September 1, 1874. —Boston Corbett, Nemesis is on your path. J. Wilkes Booth.'

Corbett's paranoia was furthered by hate mail he received for killing Booth. He became fearful that 'Booth's Avengers' or organisations like the "Secret Order" were planning to seek revenge upon him and took to carrying a pistol with him at all times. As his paranoia increased, Corbett began brandishing his pistol at friends or strangers he deemed suspicious.

While attending the Soldiers' Reunion of the Blue and Gray in Caldwell, Ohio in 1875, Corbett got into an argument with several men over the death of John Wilkes Booth. The men questioned if Booth had really been killed at all which enraged Corbett. He then drew his pistol on the men but was removed from the reunion before he could fire it.

In 1878, Corbett moved to Concordia, Kansas where he acquired an 80 acre plot of land through homesteading. He built a one-room hovel with a wooden floor and rocked walls. Suspicious of anyone who ventured near his dugout, fearing that someone, perhaps Booth’s avenger, was out to get him, Corbett presented his pistol to most who approached. He even shot at children who got too close.

During this time he continued working as a preacher and attended revival meetings frequently. On Sundays, he rode into town to attend church astride his only friend, a pony named Billy. At the end of the sermon, he’d tell the preacher, 'The Lord wants me to say a few words.' Then he’d remove a pistol from each boot, place the guns on either side of the Bible, and hold service.

 Topeka Asylum for the Insane.

Due to his fame as "Lincoln's Avenger", Corbett was appointed assistant doorkeeper of the Kansas House of Representatives in Topeka in January 1887. On February 15, he became convinced that officers of the House were discriminating against him. He jumped to his feet, brandished a revolver and began chasing the officers out of the building. No one was hurt and Corbett was arrested.
The following day, a judge declared Corbett insane and sent him to the Topeka Asylum for the Insane.


On May 26, 1888, as the inmates were exercising, Corbett spied a delivery boy tethering his horse in front of the asylum. He broke away from the group, jumped on the horse, and took off on horseback. He then rode to Neodesha, Kansas where he briefly stayed with Richard Thatcher, a man he had met while they were prisoners of war. Whilst there he tied a note to his “borrowed” horse, explaining who its rightful owner was, and set it free. When Corbett left, he told Thatcher he was going to Mexico.

It is unknown if Corbett ever reached Mexico, though some believe that rather than going to Mexico, Corbett settled in a cabin he built in the forests near Hinckley, in Pine County in eastern Minnesota. He is believed to have died in the Great Hinckley Fire on September 1, 1894. Although there is no proof, the name 'Thomas Corbett' appears on the list of dead and missing.

In the years following Corbett's presumed death, several men came forward claiming to be 'Lincoln's Avenger'. A few years after Corbett was last seen in Neodesha, Kansas, a patent medicine salesman in Enid, Oklahoma filed an application using Corbett's name to receive pension benefits. After an investigation proved that the man was not Boston Corbett, he was sent to prison. In September 1905, a man arrested in Dallas also claimed to be Corbett. He too was proven to be an impostor and was sent to prison for perjury, and then to the Government Hospital for the Insane.

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Eccentric Earth Episode 5 - Boston Corbett



Join me, your host Amy Walker, as I delve into stories from across history. This week I'm joined by Han Burch to talk about Boston Corbett, the man who took religious fanaticism a little too far, and played a major part in the events around Abraham Lincolns assassination.


Show Notes: Episode Five Show Notes

Twitter: @Eccentric_Earth
Facebook: @eccentricearth
Instagram: Eccentric_Earth
Email: EccentricEarth@outlook.com

iTunes: Eccentric Earth
aCast: Eccentric Earth
Podbean: Eccentric Earth

Eccentric Earth is a Trans-Scribe Production
Hosted by Amy Walker
Theme music http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Thursday 25 January 2018

'Aliens vs Predator: Requiem' 10 Years On



Originally published on Set The Tape

The first Aliens vs Predator split a lot of audiences, with some loving the more watered down adventure style story and lack of horror, whilst others felt that the end result failed to represent either franchise well. Luckily, the sequel, Aliens vs Predator: Requiem, managed to bring audiences together… by being an awful, awful film.

Directed by Colin and Greg Strause, or ‘The Brothers Strause’, it’s quite obvious that this is their first time overseeing a large screen feature film, with very little flare to the proceedings. The film is dull, spending most of its time in dark locations that fail to grab attention or pop on the screen. Even the daylight scenes fail to have any kind of significant look or style to set it apart. The only moment that does look new and interesting is the brief appearance of the Predator home world, though this barely lasts five minutes.

The story, a direct continuation of the first film, picks up very shortly after the closing moments of AVP, with the Predalien hybrid loose on a Predator ship, which subsequently crashes outside a small town in America. Due to all of the Predators on the ship being killed, and the Predalien being a Queen (something that is never stated in the film and only explained in the behind the scenes materials on the DVD and Blu Ray), a specialist Alien hunter is sent to Earth to destroy it.


As far as a set up goes, it’s not the worst in the world. Watching Aliens overrun a town full of people should be entertaining, but it fails to live up to expectations. Seeing the remains of the colony on LV-426 in Aliens following the alien attack was frightening and full of mystery; seeing a similar scenario play out on modern day earth fails to capture any of these feelings, despite trying to recapture the horror of the original.

The characters that inhabit the town lack any interesting qualities. There’s an ex-con called Dallas (Steven Pasquale) and his brother Ricky (Johnny Lewis), whose story is filled with teen dating drama and lost car keys; then there’s Army mother Kelly (Reiko Aylesworth) who has just returned home from tour and is struggling to reconnect with her daughter Molly (Ariel Grade). The film wants the audience to connect with these characters and care about them, but it never gives Kelly and her daughter time to develop on screen in any meaningful way, and Ricky and Dallas are boring and dull in their scenes.

Unfortunately the film isn’t able to make up for this lack of characterisation with good action, as the vast majority of the picture is too dark and dull to be able to really know what happens. However, there is one scene that sees the Predator, Wolf, hunting Xenomorphs in the sewers that stands out as one of the sci-fi actioner’s best scenes, although it’s not hard to stand out against the rest of the feature.


The poor characters and lacklustre action is let down even more by a plot that makes little sense. For example, why would the Predators send their best hunter to erase all evidence of the Xenomorphs, yet allow him to hunt humans? The fact that the Predalien is also a Queen, but this is never explained, leads to what seems to be inconsistencies in the plot too, especially in how it builds its forces. Instead of laying eggs and creating new facehuggers, the juvenile Queen implants embryos directly into its victims, leading to a particularly gruesome scene involving a maternity ward.

Aliens vs Predator: Requiem fails to capture any of what made the first film bearable, or the original franchises good. Yes, it’s darker and gorier than AVP, but that on its own doesn’t make for a good film. Thankfully, being so poor put an end to the AVP franchise, allowing filmmakers to concentrate on their own independent series’ instead.


Go to Amy's Blog

Wednesday 24 January 2018

Looking Back At Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles



Originally published on Set The Tape

The Terminator franchise is one that’s beloved by a lot of people, whether it’s sci-fi fans, those who like Arnie, or simply those of us who grew up watching Terminator 2: Judgement Day on VHS over and over again. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot about the franchise that people actually like.

Before you jump into the comments section and call me crazy for saying this: the first two films are excellent, with the original being one of my all time favourites and a great example of how to blend sci-fi and horror. But ask yourself, after those two, where are the highlights?

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines came out to high expectations, but let a lot of people down for its watered down action, dull cast, boring plot, and a villain that was best forgotten. Terminator Salvation had a hard time straight away because of the poor quality of the third film, and despite having some strong supporters (myself included) it seems to be the film that divides fan opinion more than any other. Terminator Genisys tried to reboot the franchise, retelling the story of the first film but playing with the timeline, and was pretty much universally hated for trying to ruin the only good parts of the series.

The comics have never done particularly well, especially when compared to its closest counterparts like the Aliens or Predator books. There have also been very few good video games, except for some great ones from 20 years ago.

Then there’s the franchise’s one television outing, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which like Terminator Salvation seems to divide opinion on whether it was actually any good or not.


I’m going to weigh in my opinion straight away, it was good. However, it was far from perfect, and I can understand why those who tuned in for only the first several episodes would call it bad.

The show was a slow burner, choosing to focus on the characters more than the fight against the future machines, or stopping the creation of Skynet. Whilst viewers are happy to watch a two-hour movie with several action sequences and high octane violence, depriving them of this for multiple episodes in order to tell a slower, more nuanced story left many fans feeling short-changed.

The first season really highlighted this. Episode one crammed a lot of stuff into its run time, introducing the characters of John Connor (Thomas Dekker) and his mother Sarah (Lena Headey), getting them to meet up with their robot protector Cameron (Summer Glau), introduced the villain for the season, the FBI officer hunting them down, Sarah’s fiance, and transporting the three of them forward in time a decade to stop the rise of the machines. It was a lot for 45 minutes.

After that, things slowed right down. Instead of car chases, gun fights, and explosions, we were given a story of Sarah and John’s relationship, the pressure John faced knowing his destiny, their establishing a false identity, John going to high school, Cameron trying to blend in, resistance cells from the future, and a chess computer that may end up killing humanity. Not exactly exciting stuff.

Despite this, the first season was able to deliver some excellent set pieces, and some very tense confrontations with the Terminators. It also expanded the mythology of the franchise, introducing Derek Reese (Brian Austin Green), the older brother of John’s father Kyle. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough to keep everyone hooked, and the show lost a lot of viewers heading into its second season, which was a huge shame, because season two is where the show got seriously good.


Yes, the return added more action, but it also played with expectations and took the franchise into some very interesting areas. We learnt more about the future war and about how the Terminators made themselves more human. We also saw that not every member of the resistance believes in John Connor as some kind of messianic figure, and even believe some of his choices were against those in humanity’s best interests.

In the present, we were introduced to one of the more intriguing characters the franchise has ever had, Catherine Weaver (Shirley Manson), the head of a tech company who turns out to be a T-1000 liquid metal Terminator. However, instead of fighting for the machines, it turns out that she has travelled back in time as an ally of the future John Connor to create her own AI to fight and stop Skynet, thereby saving humanity. We also get the shock revelation that the T-1000 Terminators cannot be reprogrammed the way conventional ones can, and literally choose to switch sides because their intelligence is that advanced.

Unfortunately, all of these revelations and plot twists (including a series finale that sees the teenage John and Weaver in the post-apocalyptic future) weren’t concluded as the series was cancelled due to low ratings. The first season’s slow start had come back to spell the end of the show as it was becoming one of the best parts of the Terminator franchise. The show was full of potential that was never reached. It was able to deliver competent action, it had interesting and layered characters, it had a plot that was bold and unafraid to mess with expectations. Unfortunately, it didn’t show this to begin with.

When you mention Chronicles to people, you’re going to get one of two reactions: ‘it was boring and shit’, or, ‘it was great, it shouldn’t have been cancelled’. Those who say the first are the ones who jumped ship after the inaugural season, whilst those who stuck with it grew to love it and wanted the story to be resolved, because god damn it, that cliffhanger is not the way to leave things!

If you watched the first season and didn’t think much of it, I urge you to go back and re-watch it and stick with it through to season two. If you never saw it at all, go and watch the whole thing. The show gets too much hate for what it was, and is in no way the low point of the franchise (I’m looking at you Genisys). It’s about time people gave this missed gem another shot.


Go to Amy's Blog

Monday 22 January 2018

Power Rangers Lord Drakkon Legacy Figure Announced



Lord Drakkon, the popular evil alternative universe version of Tommy Oliver introduced in BOOM! Studio's ongoing Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic, has been announced as the latest addition to the Legacy line, with an action figure being released at Power Morphicon 6 in 2018.

The event, the official Power Rangers convention, will take place on August 17th - 19th in Anaheim, California.

The Lord Drakkon figures will be available to buy at the event to those with memberships, with different memberships limiting the number of figures that can be bought, ranging from two to ten figures.

The figures will sell for $50 each, and are sure to be highly popular. No images of the figures have yet been released.


Go to Amy's Blog

Eccentric Earth Podcast Episode 4 - Elizabeth Fry



Join me, your host Amy Walker, as I delve into stories from across history. This week I'm joined by Chris Haigh to talk about the amazing Elizabeth Fry, and her campaign to make the world a better place.


Show Notes: Episode Four Show Notes

Twitter: @Eccentric_Earth
Facebook: @eccentricearth
Instagram: Eccentric_Earth
Email: EccentricEarth@outlook.com

iTunes: Eccentric Earth
aCast: Eccentric Earth
Podbean: Eccentric Earth

Eccentric Earth is a Trans-Scribe Production
Hosted by Amy Walker
Theme music http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Eccentric Earth Episode Four Show Notes



Welcome to the latest show notes for Eccentric Earth, where I will include the research for each episode (essentially my script), along with a number of photographs and documents.


Episode Four- Fry's Crusade

Elizabeth Gurney was born on 21st May 1780 in Gurney Court, off Magdalen Street, Norwich, Norfolk, England into a prominent Quaker family. The Gurney family were descendants of Hugh de Gournay, Lord of Gournay, one of the Norman noblemen who accompanied William the Conqueror to England in 1066. In the 17th Century the family had become devout Quakers, and moved to Norwich, becoming active in the woollen trade. Ten years before Elizabeth’s birth, her father had also entered the world of banking, having established Gurneys Bank in the city. The Quaker bank became renowned for its honesty, reliability and fair dealings, and so people entrusted the Gurney family with their money for safekeeping, making the Gurney family one of the most respected in Norwich . Elizabeth’s mother, Catherine, also came from a banking family, the Barclays, who were among the founders of Barclays Bank.
Elizabeths mother was an incredibly progressive woman, and believed all girls should be educated, she also instilled her children with good values, she believed that it was the responsibility of rich people to help others through charity work. She took her children to visit poor families, often bringing them food and clothing. Whilst Elizabeth wrote that she did not like her lessons much at this young age, bored with subjects such as Latin, she did develop a deep love and curiosity for nature.
Unfortunately, her mother died when Elizabeth was twelve years old. As one of the oldest girls in the family, Elizabeth then became partly responsible for the care and education of the younger children, including her brother Joseph John Gurney, a philanthropist in later life, and her sisters Louisa Gurney Hoare, who would go on to be a writer on education.
Earlham Hall, Elizabeth's childhood home.

Following the death of her mother Elizabeth's father paid for a teacher for her and her siblings, and Elizabeth studied history, geography and French. Elizabeth had a friend, Amelia Alderson. Amelia's father was a member of the Corresponding Society group that advocated universal suffrage and annual parliaments. At the Alderson home Elizabeth was introduced to the ideas of Mary Wollstonecraft, Tom Paine and William Godwin. Amelia's father talked to the girls about politics and new ideas, something that was rarely done at the time. Elizabeth was excited by new ideas. She wore a French hat to celebrate the French Revolution and was often seen in brightly coloured clothes, and became well known for wearing purple boots.

Elizabeth could be obstinate but she was always very concerned for others. Before the age of 15, she asked her father several times to take her to see the women at the House of Correction in Norwich. Eventually he gave way, and they went. Elizabeth held her father's hand tightly as she watched the poor women. On returning home she contrasted their lives and surroundings with her own and asked: "If this is the world, where is God?"
William Savery.
As a teenager, she became sympathetic to the Republican views of Thomas Paine, through links with a member of the Corresponding Society, most likely her friend Amelia’s father.
She attended the Sunday Quaker meetings but paid little attention. However, when Elizabeth was eighteen she heard the American Quaker and abolitionist, William Savery, preach in. She was incredibly moved by what she heard in the meeting, and later said, "I have felt there is a God".
Elizabeth begged her father to invite Savery to dinner. Afterwards she wrote in her diary: "Today I felt there is a God. I loved the man as if he was almost sent from heaven - we had much serious talk and what he said to me was like a refreshing shower on parched up earth."
After meeting William Savery, Elizabeth decided to devote her energies to helping those in need. Over the next few years she collected old clothes for the poor, visited the sick and realising that many poor children were never afforded the opportunity to learn, and most never went to school, started a Sunday School for poor children in her own home.
She began to be more serious and her family noticed the change in Elizabeth. She went to London but found the theatres and other entertainments 'artificial'.
Then, whilst visiting her cousin in Coalbrookdale, she met an elderly Quaker, called Deborah Darby. At one meeting this lady rose to her feet, pointed at Elizabeth and said, "Thou shalt be a light to the blind, speech to the dumb and feet to the lame."                                                                        Elizabeth saw this as a sign from God.  
The trappings of society became less interesting to her. She wrote in her diary, "I felt myself under the shadow of the wing of God ...  I know now what the mountain is I have to climb." She decided to be a "plain" Quaker and gave up her fashionable clothes for a simply cut dress and a high, white linen cap.
In July 1799, Elizabeth was introduced to Joseph Fry, a banker and part of the Fry's chocolate-making family. Fry, a shy plain Quaker,  asked her to marry him. At first she refused but, the following year, when she was 20 years old, on 19th August 1800, they married. Elizabeth moved to London. The Frys were rich enough to employ servants and this allowed Elizabeth to continue her work.
Artist depiction of London's poor.
Elizabeth began visiting the poor and was appointed by the Friends of Gracechurch Street Meeting, as a visitor to the school and workhouse at Islington. In her quiet way she was very determined. One day Elizabeth was talking to a beggar holding a half-clothed infant, very ill with whooping-cough. It became clear the child did not belong to the beggar. The woman tried to elude Elizabeth but she followed her despite the danger. She found, in a filthy house, a number of sick and neglected infants.
The next day she sent a doctor to tend the children but they had disappeared. It turned out that these were parish children, kept by the woman purely to gain money from the authorities as their nurse. If they died, their deaths were concealed. Such situations were not uncommon and it was not always possible for Elizabeth to help but she did what she could.
In 1808, Jospeh's father died and early the next year Elizabeth moved from the city to live in the now vacant Plashet House, in East Ham.
In Plashet, she set up a girls' school, tended the sick in the local community and encouraged mothers to have their children vaccinated. She was also an excellent speaker and, by 1811, was recorded as a Quaker minister, travelling long distances to minister.
Despite these good works, the demands of motherhood occupied most of her time: between the years of 1800 and 1812 she had given birth to eight children. She wrote in her diary, "I fear that my life is slipping away to little purpose."
Newgate Prison, London.
In 1813, however, she was to make a visit that would change her life. Stephen Grellet, a family friend, had visited Newgate Prison and was appalled at what he saw. Elizabeth immediately enlisted some friends to make clothes for the near-naked children he described. The next day she went to the women's section of the prison. What she saw horrified her. 300 women (convicted criminals and those yet to be tried) and numerous children crowded together in two small, stinking wards.  
All types of criminals were mixed together, the hardened criminals and the young, first-time offenders. She saw women stripping off clothes from a dead baby to give them to another child. The female prisoners slept on the floor without nightclothes or bedding. The women had to cook, wash and sleep in the same cell.  Many of the women and the children were sick. On a second visit, Elizabeth handed out more clothes and bedding she had collected for them.
Elizabeth was unable to return to Newgate for three years because of two more pregnancies, poor health and the death of her daughter Betsy, aged 5, but the memory never left her. In 1816, she went back to the prison. At the gate the turnkey tried to persuade her not to enter, thinking she would be in danger. She went in and found the women fighting. She prayed for them and on one visit she turned to them and asked, "Is there not something we can do for these innocent little ones?"
The women stopped fighting and began to talk about what they could do. For the first time they felt that somebody cared about their children and this touched them. Elizabeth continued her visits. 
Elizabeth reading to female prisoners and their children
at Newgate Prison.
The women decided they would like to start a school in the prison. They asked Elizabeth if she would help Mary Connor, a prisoner, to get the resources she needed to run it. At first the governor did not think it would work, but, after seeing the improvement in the women's behaviour, he agreed.
In 1817, Elizabeth founded the 'Ladies' Association for the Reformation of the Female Prisoners in Newgate' which helped organise the school and provided materials for the women to make clothes and items to sell. She introduced rules for behaviour, voted for by the prisoners themselves.
For the rest of her life, Elizabeth would devote herself to humanitarian causes, beginning with the treatment of the female prisoners at Newgate Prison. It took many years of perseverance and patience.

In February 1818, Elizabeth was asked to give evidence to a Parliamentary Commission on the conditions in the country's prisons.  Although the MPs were impressed with Elizabeths's work, they disapproved of some of her ideas.  
With her brother Jospeh Gurney, she also took up the cause of abolishing capital punishment. At that time in England, over 200 offences were punishable by hanging, including being in the company of gypsies for more than a month, damaging Westminister bridge, cutting down young trees, Impersonating a Chelsea pensioner, and writing a threatening letter. 
Elizabeth and her brother, Joseph, pleaded to the Home Secretary, Lord Sidmouth, for the lives of Charlotte Newman and Mary Ann James, accused of forgery, and Harriet Skelton, who had passed forged banknotes under pressure from her husband, all of whom were sentenced to death. In April 1818, Sidmouth rejected their arguments and insisted the executions went ahead. Lord Sidmouth warned that Fry and other reformers were dangerous people as they were trying to "remove the dread of punishment in the criminal classes".
Queen Charlotte.
That same month, Elizabeth went to the Mansion House and met with Queen Charlotte, wife of  George the third. After this her work became well-know and her life very busy.
During the bitter winter of 1819 to 1820, she set up a 'Nightly Shelter' in London after seeing the body of a young boy in the street, and in Autumn 1818 Elizabeth and her brother Joseph went on a tour of prisons in Scotland and the north of England. They found conditions as bad, if not worse, than Newgate.  
After their tour, Joseph and Elizabeth published a report of what they saw. It was also during 1818 that Thomas Fowell Buxton, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, was elected as MP for Weymouth. He was now able to promoted Elizabeth's work in the House of Commons. 
In the autumn of 1820, Elizabeth, with her husband and two elder daughters, undertook a journey that included visits to many of the most important prisons in Britain. They strove to establish visiting committees where they did not exist.  
They visited Nottingham, Lincoln, Wakefield, Doncaster, Sheffield, Leeds, York, Durham, Newcastle, Carlisle, Lancaster and Liverpool besides many others. This was just one of many tours of prisons Elizabeth would make during her life. 
By 1820, Elizabeth Fry had become a well-known personality in Britain. It was extremely unusual for a woman to be consulted by men on a professional basis.  Elizabeth was criticised for playing this role and was attacked in the press for neglecting her family.
Elizabeth was undeterred. In 1821 she formed the 'British Ladies' Society for Promoting the Reformation of Female Prisoners', uniting the ladies' groups that had sprung up across the country. This organisation would campaign for many improvements: in British prisons, on the convict ships, and in Australia. It also set up establishments for destitute women leaving prison.
The next Home Secetary, Sir Robert Peel, was more sympathetic to the cause and reforms were introduced. The reforms (including the 1823 Gaols Act) saw women prisoners guarded by other women and allowed regular visits from prison chaplains. The prisoners were also given things to do that helped them develop skills and were taught how to read, and gaolers were to be paid. The reforms, however, did not apply to debtors' prisons or local town gaols.
Although prison reform was Elizabeth's main concern, she continued to campaign for the poor. In 1824, she took a holiday in Brighton where she was shocked by the large number of beggars in the streets. She established a team of voluntary visitors who would go into the homes of the poor, where they would provide help and comfort.  The scheme - the Brighton District Visiting Society - was a great success and soon there were District Visiting Societies in towns all over Britain.
Elizabeth also had her own problems to face. In November 1828, Joseph Fry was declared bankrupt. Although not involved in her husband's business dealings, the bankruptcy affected her good name. There were totally unfounded rumours that money from her charities had been used to support the bank. Elizabeth's brother, Joseph Gurney, took over Fry's business interests and made arrangements for all debtors to be paid and for Elizabeth to receive £1,600 a year. This enabled her to carry on her work.
During her many prison and hospital visits, one of the main things that concerned Elizabeth was the treatment of the mentally ill. She asked that the practice of idle visits to stare at the insane be stopped. In correspondence to St. Petersburg she recommended that inmates be treated with the same consideration as sane people and be allowed to exercise in the open air. She felt that all but the violent should dine together at a table covered with a cloth and furnished with plates and spoons.  
Florence Nightingale was heavily influenced
by Elizabeth Fry's work.

The Dowager Empress, visiting in 1828, followed this advice and was delighted with the results. 
Another concern of Elizabeth's was the quality of nursing staff. She started a training school for nurses  in Guys Hospital in 1840. The nurses were dressed in uniforms and instructed to attend to both the patients' spiritual and physical needs. Florence Nightingale was influenced by Elizabeth's views on the training of nurses and, when Florence went to the Crimea, she took a group of Elizabeth's nurses with her.
For half a century, Elizabeth's whole life was dedicated to the poor. She spoke widely on these issues and became well known in society. She had her critics, some said she enjoyed her status too much, attracting attention from dignitaries and even royalty but she was supported by her husband, family and the love of the people that she helped. 
Queen Victoria took a close interest in her work and the two women met several times. Victoria gave her money to help with her charitable work. In her journal, Victoria wrote that she considered Fry a "very superior person". It is claimed that Victoria, who was forty years younger than Elizabeth Fry, might have modelled herself on this woman who successfully combined the roles of mother and public figure.

One prisoner, on her way to a transportation ship, called out to Elizabeth, "Our prayers will follow you, and a convict's prayers will be heard."
Between 1838 and 1842 she carried her work to European prisons in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Prussia and Switzerland. Elizabeth continued to work, whenever she was able, until she died on 12th October 1845, although during the last years of her life she became very weak. Her remains were buried in the Friends' burial ground at Barking. Over 1,000 people stood in silence as her body was buried – a mark of respect for a truly remarkable woman.
There are a number of memorials which commemorate places where Fry lived. There are plaques located at her birthplace of Gurney Court in Norwich; her childhood home of Earlham Hall; St. Mildred's Court, City of London, where she lived when she was first married; and Arklow House, her final home and place of death in Ramsgate. Her name heads the list on the southern face of the Reformers Monument in Kensal Green Cemetery, London.
Due to her work as a prison reformer, there are several memorials to Elizabeth Fry. One of the buildings which make up the Home Office headquarters, 2 Marsham St, is named after her. She is also commemorated in prisons and courthouses, including a terracotta bust in the gatehouse of HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs and a stone statue in the Old Bailey. The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies honours her memory by advocating for women who are in the criminal justice system. They also celebrate and promote a National Elizabeth Fry Week in Canada each May.
Elizabeth Fry as depicted on the back of the £5 note.

Elizabeth Fry is also commemorated in a number of educational and care-based settings. The University of East Anglia's School of Social Work and Psychology is housed in a building named after her. There is an Elizabeth Fry Ward at Scarborough General Hospital in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom. A road is named for Fry at Guilford College, a school in Greensboro, North Carolina, which was founded by Quakers. There is a bust of Elizabeth Fry located in East Ham Library, Newham Borough of London.

Quakers also acknowledge Elizabeth Fry as a prominent member. Her grave at the former Society of Friends Burial Ground, located off Whiting Avenue in Barking, Essex, was restored and received a new commemorative marble plinth in October 2003. In February 2007, a plaque was erected in her honour at the Friends Meeting House in Upper Goat Lane, Norwich. Fry is also depicted in the Quaker Tapestry, on panels E5 and E6. She is also honoured by other Christian denominations. In the Lady Chapel of Manchester's Anglican Cathedral, one of the portrait windows of Noble Women on the west wall of the Chapel features Elizabeth Fry. The Church of England includes her on its liturgical calendar on Oct. 12.
Since 2001, Fry has been depicted on the reverse of £5 notes issued by the Bank of England. She is shown reading to prisoners at Newgate Prison. The design also incorporates a key, representing the key to the prison which was awarded to Fry in recognition of her work. However, as of 2016, Fry's image on these notes will be replaced by that of Winston Churchill. She was one of the social reformers honoured on an issue of UK commemorative stamps in 1976.
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Friday 19 January 2018

Star Trek: New Visions Volume 6 - Book Review



Originally published on Set The Tape

Star Trek: New Visions is a strange comic book series. There’s no art inside the pages of this book. Instead, the story is told in a photo montage style, using images from the original Star Trek television show, as well as new computer generated elements, to tell original stories.

The sixth volume collects together three issues of the series: issue #15 ‘The Traveller’, issue #16 ‘Time Out of Joint’, and issue #17 ‘All the Ages Frozen’. Whilst most comic series tell a story across several issues, bringing them together in one story in the graphic novels, Star Trek: New Visions tells a complete and self contained story in each of their issues, meaning that we get treated to three different and distinct Star Trek adventures in one book.

In the first story the crew of the Enterprise come across a mysterious ship, home to a humanoid entity called The Traveller, who is at war with a mysterious race. The second story has the Enterprise come under attack by strange aliens with a power over time, shifting Kirk through his own timeline. And the third story sees the crew going in search of missing Federation scientists, but discovering a long lost civilisation instead.

The stories are well told, and despite only being a single issue long, have a well put together pace, never feeling too short, but not overstaying their welcome. This quicker, snappy pace feels very much in line with the classic Star Trek series; a show that very rarely told stories over more than one episode, and often had plots move quickly.


The writing captures this feel incredibly well, with a great deal of the dialogue fitting in with the original show. The writing never feels too high concept, and a lot of the story is told in simple ways, and whilst this may put some people off, it does make it fall more in line with the show that it’s emulating.

The biggest issue for myself, however, is the artwork in the book. Photo comics are always a stand out, because they’re very rarely done in the industry. Whilst in many cases this comes down to people not always being able to create the kinds of images they want, Star Trek: New Visions is able to draw from the original series in order to tell its stories.

This means that this is the comic that looks more like Star Trek than any other book you’ll read, because it’s made from Star Trek. However, the panels are made up from several different elements, and can often feel slightly off. Dimensions and sizes are sometimes wrong, colours don’t always match, and characters can appear like they’re not quite real.

This sense of something not quite right is often compounded when images from the original series are combined with completely new CGI images, where it’s very obvious that we’re not looking at images of the show, but photoshopped pictures. Perhaps it’s just me, but this makes the book hard to read in places? This may not be an issue for everyone, but it’s possible that it may drag you out of the book and spoil your experience.

Overall, Star Trek: New Visions is a well made and competently made book, with some interesting and engaging stories within its pages, but an interesting and unique art style may put some people off.


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