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Review of Doctor Who The Day of The Doctor

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The Day of the Doctor, the BBC’s episode celebrating 50 years of Doctor Who was a huge success across the world.

Review of Doctor Who The Day of The Doctor
Movie Style Poster

They broadcast it simultaneously in 94 countries. Some of those broadcast took place in cinemas around the world. In the UK the box office takings put the epsiode in the top three Cinema showings for the week.  In the United States it took  $4.8 million at the US box office making it second only to The Hunger Games sequel.

And of course in the UK with 12.8 million viewers The Day of the Doctor was the most watched TV programme of the week.

But was it any good?

Let’s face it must have been almost an impossible task for producer Steven Moffat to get it right and keep everybody, fans and non-fans happy. He could’ve littered with in jokes and nods to the past and alienated the casual viewer. Or he risked annoying the fans by going light on past references.  As it turns out his nods the past were very subtly woven into the story, such as sign saying that the Chairman of the School Governors was Ian Chesterton – one of the Doctor’s original companions back in 1963.

The comic timing tension and camaraderie between David Tennant and Matt Smith I thought was marvellous. Tennant was not as over the top as he was towards the end of his tenure as the Doctor.

John Hurt as the previously forgotten incarnation Doctor was simply superb. His character was known as the “War Doctor” and his appearance completed a story arc that we’ve enjoyed since the programme came back in 2005. He was the Doctor who fought in the Time War. Rugged, battle weary, I loved his exasperation at the younger Doctors’ mannerisms .

The interplay between three doctors was very funny. I’m not sure about the Tom Baker cameo as the museum curator. He obviously wasn’t the Doctor himself but it was all obviously nice to see him and I have to admit I cried out at the glimpse of Peter Capaldi.

Moffat provided us with a roller coaster ride, resurrecting 1970s villains the Zygons in their phlegm spitting, shape-shifting magnificence. We saw  tantalising big budget Star Wars style glimpse of the Daleks versus Timelord battles. And he managed to bring Billy Piper back in a completely different role to that of Rose Tyler. In fact Billy Piper’s performance as the conscience of the ultimate weapon of mass destruction was sublime to say the least.

Thoroughly entertaining “The Day of The Doctor” succeeded in celebrating the past whilst setting up another 50 years of Doctor Who.

Review of Doctor Who The Day of the Doctor
Paul McGann, “I’m a Doctor. Though not the one you we’re expecting.

But for me the best thing about the 50th anniversary celebrations wasn’t this 75 minute special.

It was the 8 minute mini-sode that the BBC put on the internet a few days earlier.

When I watched that and heard the voice say, “I’m a Doctor. Though NOT the one you were expecting,” I gasped as Paul McGann appeared on-screen for the first time since 1996. He utterly nailed his performance. And now we know who he came to regenerate into the War Doctor by sipping a potion created by the Sisterhood of Karn. “Will it hurt?” he asked almost knowingly.

For me this was the best 8 minutes of Doctor Who made by the BBC since they resurrected the show in 2005.

Now it’s your turn: Do you agree with my review of Doctor Who The Day of the Doctor? What did you think of it? Was it a success? Did it do justice to the anniversary? Please let me know what you think. Leave a comment below or post a link to your own review.

First impressions of Les Mills Body Balance release 63 after Dunfermline Quarterly Workshop.

Fitness and Yoga, , , , , , , , , ,

Have you ever heard anyone say Body Balance is easy. I have. Quite a few Clubs position it to members calling it “the easy class”.

If you’re a Body Balance instructor, if you’re a participant in Body Balance class you’ll know that this is nonsense. Body Balance delivers a tough workout. Although not aerobically challenging, from a strength and flexibility point of view you feel the intensity.

But even I wasn’t ready for how tough Body Balance release 63 is.

Les Mills Body Balance release 63
Body Balance Release 63 Poster

They held the Quarterly Workshop at Club 64 in Dunfermline. The first thing I noticed was how hot the room felt. In fact it seemed hotter than a Bikram yoga studio. I had to place my yoga towel on my mat to stop myself from sliding off. The wooden floor became a sweaty sea slippery moisture.

However our master trainer was Ann-See Yeoh who delivered, as always, a fabulous experience both during the educational and taking us through the new tracks.

None of the poses appeared impossible to do for any of our participants. It’s just the combined intensity of everything together really took me by surprise. That combined with the hot room made it a very intense experience.

Here are a few things that I remember about the class.

  • The Thai Chi warmup flowed beautifully with figure eight arms sweeps, arm circles and birds tails.
  • Sun salutations challenges your arms and shoulders because on each round we go from downward facing dog, to plank, to crocodile, to upward facing dog and back to down facing dog twice in each salutation.
  • Standing strength set to “Only You” a song by Ellie Goulding lasts for 8 minutes and shatters your legs. In fact I was shaking by the end of those eight minutes.
  • In the abs track we see the return of “Pilates hundreds” and all sorts of combinations of crunches and hovers.
  • For forward bends and hamstring stretches we have an interesting new concept called the “downward facing dog flip”. I’m not going to say anything more about that. You’ll just have to wait until the new releases come out to see what that is.

This will be a very challenging but very exciting release and I can’t wait for my music and DVD to arrive so that I can start learning it and deliver it to my members in the New Year.

Now it’s your turn: Have you been to your Quarterly Workshop? What were your first thoughts about Les Mills Body Balance release 63? Please leave a comment or post a link to your own review.

Watch the Sizzler Video Preview for Les Mills Body Balance Release 63

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Since September we’ve enjoyed one of the best Body Balance routines Les Mills have produced so far. It’s a great workout with lovely music and the right balance between challenge and achievement.

Now it’s time to take a quick look at the next class which you’ll find in clubs late December or early January 2014.

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Looks like another great release. I heard Only You by Ellie Goulding and True Love by Pink in that short taster.

I can’t wait to go and see the full class at the Quarterly Workshops and to start learning for the next launches.

Now it’s your turn: What do you think of the video preview for Les Mills Body Balance release 63? Have you already seen the full class at the GFX event last week? Why not post your thoughts below or share a link to your own blog?

Watch the Sizzler Preview Video for Les Mills Body Combat Release 58

Fitness and Yoga, , , , , , , , ,

Do you want a sneak look at the next release of Les Mills Body Combat?

I can’t believe that we are up to number 58. The first release I did was number 8. That was so long ago.

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They don’t give much away do they? Obviously there’s more capoeira (a Brazilian martial art) with all those esquiva lunges.

I can’t wait for the quarterly training day and then getting stuck into learning this new class.

Now it’s your turn: What do you think about this preview video for Les Mills Body Combat release 58? What would you like to see in this class? More karate? More kick boxing? Please post a comment and share your thoughts.