THE CRUNCH - A Little Deduction...

The game is afoot!
We are still a year away from the third series of BBC's Sherlock, but we already have some clues as to what the show's next season will entail; Rat, Wedding and Bow.
So I've been doing a little detective work of my own, trawling through the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories, and this is my final report on the case.

Rat
This is probably the hardest of the three words to figure, as none of the original Sherlock Holmes stories include a Rat. Doyle uses dogs, snakes and even seaweed as murder weapons, but on no story does a rat bare any relevance.
Of course, there are a few obscure references. In The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire, Holmes refers to another case involving "the giant rat of Sumatra". Could this tangent be the source of the first episode?
Or, it could be possible that this will be a completely new story. In series 1 we had The Blind Banker, which wasn't linked to any particular short story or novel. Maybe we're going to see a return to this form. But this seems unlikely considering we know that the story will be based at least partly on The Adventure of the Empty House.
To be honest, I'm bluffing. This clue has got me completely stumped.

Wedding
Ah ha! This ones a bit easier. There are three main stories that stand out for weddings:
In A Case of Identity, a wedding is aborted at the last minute when the groom mysteriously disappears. In The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor it is the bride who disappears, this time after the ceremony. And in The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist, a woman is nearly forced to make her vows.
While any of these could be the source for the second episode, I think there is a much more likely candidate.
Each series has had one episode based on one of Doyle's epic novels. Series 1 opened with A Study In Pink (An interpretation of A Study In Scarlet) and in Series 2 we were treated to The Hounds of Baskerville (inspired by The Hound of the Baskervilles). So, I'm hedging my bets on an adaptation of The Sign Of Four, the story in which Watson meets his future wife and becomes engaged.
Steven Moffat has said ever since the first series of Sherlock that he has wanted to explore Watson's marriage and his emigration from 221B. This theme has already been explored satirically and successfully by Guy Richie's film adaptation Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game Of Shadows, and could this have prompted the Moff to bring this story arc to his modern-day interpretation?

Bow
The obvious piece of Sherlock Holmes history that this points to is Doyle's penultimate short story collection, His Last Bow, at the end of which Holmes retires from detective-work all together. Moffat has already confirmed that this series will end in another cliff-hanger that will top the fall of Series 2. Maybe Holmes' retirement is linked to this cliff-hanger in some way.
His Last Bow is also the title of one of the short stories from this anthology. Unlike most of the other Sherlock Holmes stories, it is written in the 3rd person, and not from the point of view of John Watson. Bow is also unlike other Sherlock Holmes stories in that it is a spy story, and not a murder mystery. Could the season finale revolve around an espionage story more suited James Bond or Jason Bourne?

Those are my predictions for the next series of Sherlock. What do you guys make of the clues? Let us know in the comments.
Tom :)

TV NEWS - Emmy Award Nominations and Red Dwarf X Trailer

British TV In Emmy Nominations
Alot of British shows have made the cut in the Emmys. Here's our round-up:
ITV's Downton Abbey has recieved 5 nominations:
 - Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series (Michelle Dockery)
 - Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series (Hugh Bonneville)
 - Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series (Maggie Smith and Joanna Froggatt)
 - Outstanding Director For A Drama Series (Brian Percival)
 - Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series (Julian Fellowes)

Channel 4's Shameless has recieved 1 nomination:
 - Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series (Joan Cusack)

BBC's Luther has recieved 4 nominations:
 - Outstanding Miniseries Or Movie
 - Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or Movie (Idris Elba)
 - Outstanding Directing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special (Sam Miller)
 - Outstanding Writing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special (Neil Cross)

BBC's Sherlock has recieved 5 nominations:
 - Outstanding Miniseries Or Movie (A Scandal In Belgravia)
 - Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or Movie (Benedict Cumberbatch)
 - Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or Movie (Martin Freeman)
 - Outstanding Directing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special (Paul McGuigan)
 - Outstanding Writing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special (Steven Moffat)

BBC's The Hour recieved 1 nomination:
 - Outstanding Writing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special (Abi Morgan)

What are your predictions/hopes? Let us know in the comments
For the full list of nominations, click here.

Trailer For Red Dwarf X
A trailer has been released for the new series of the hit comedy Red Dwarf.

This series (which will be tenth series of Red Dwarf) will be aired on Dave. Looking forward to it? Let us know in the comments...

That's all for this week. No games news tomorrow, but we will have film news on Thursday, as well as a review of The Amazing Spider-Man. See you then...

Tom :)

TV NEWS - Doctor Who, Sherlock and The Walking Dead (Spoilers)

The Walking Dead Season 3
The series will be 19 episodes long and feature some new characters.
Danai Gurira's character, Michonne, has been described as "...awesome. She's sexy. She's a badass." by Laurie Holden and Danai herself as "really impressive, and she brings the character to life." by Gale Anne Hurd.
David Morrissey has said that "...people are going to be blown away" by his new character, The Governor. Glen Mazzara also said"...he thinks he's the Messiah." 
Actor Chandler Riggs said that his character Carl was "...growing up. He's definitely not a kid anymore ... He's more of a solder, more part of the group."
And producer David Alpert promised that "We're going to kill so many people ... people that you care about and love".
A new clip was put online but has now been removed due to copy write but there is a picture seen above.


Doctor Who

Mark Gattis is writing a victorian-set episode for after christmas and the guest actors and some screen shots have been revieled! It is the ninth episode and it is called The Crimson Horror. See the updated episode guide here.


Dame Diana Rigg is playing Mrs Gillyflower, a woman with a dark secret known to the inhabitants of Sweetville as "the Ice Lady", who does something dastardly to new companion Clara that the Doctor (aided by a couple of old friends) has to reverse. These old friends appear to be Madame Vastra and Sontaran Strax.


Dame Diana Riggs's daughter, Rachael Stirling, is playing her daughter! She has been seen on set wearing prosthetics for a burnt face! Whats that about, Ice lady and fire daughter ?

Madame Vastra

Sontaran Strax

For those of you who don't know Dame Diana Rigg is best known for her 60's roles in On Her Majesty's Secret Service and the UK TV show The Avengers and Rachael Striling was in Snow White and the Huntsman.


Sweetville's match factory, which goes by the name of Brightwell and Hyman, is a place regarded suspiciously by the locals, and will play a part in the episode's story.


But wait there is more!!!


Also in this episode has the guest actors Catrin Stewart, David Warner, Liam Cunningham and Brendan Patricks like OMG (no i don't recognise the names either).


Okay so the girl to the left is Catrin Stewart. She played that girl in Misfits that could turn things to ice and then blew her self up by having sex with Nathans long lost brother! (what I told you it had spoilers). And this episode has an Ice Lady too! But more importantly she was the girl that was with Madame Vastra in A Good Man Goes to War half way throught the last series of doctor who!


David Warner is older and been in all the high geekness movies from Tron to Star Trek. 


Liam Cunningham is a main character from Game of Thrones and has been in loads of stuff! Apparently he has been teased to include the words "meat", "klaxon" and "Vienna".


Brendan Patricks is the guy to the right. He is from Downton Abbey.




More Pictures?:

Loving the new hat Matt! and whats with the tweed waist cote and bow tie...

What really? More Who News!
Yerp. However it is about a different episode.

The writer of Luther and Spooks, Neil Cross, is writing his first episode for Doctor Who. Not much is known about it but we know it will star Jessica Raine (seen right) and Dougray Scott (seen left). These pictures are not from Doctor Who. (Your a goon if you thought they were)


Jessica is from Call The Midwife and The Woman in Black.

Dougray is from Mission: Impossible II and Desperate Housewives.


And yes I used their first name not the conventional second name, get over it.

Sherlock and Sky
Sky Living will be playing host to the US show Elementary in the UK this autumn. We have been told that Jonny Lee Miller plays Holmes as an ex-pat Brit with a history of drug abuse whose father employs Lucy Liu’s live-in assistant Dr Watson to aid his recovery. Romantic complications, we’re told, ensue. 
Really Romantic complications, Shelock can't have romantic complications!! and a history of drug abuse, isn't he suppose to be a hero, a role model, what is up with this america? >:O Nice to know sky have the same idea and put it on an inconspicuous channel!

:Enter Enraged Rant Here:

In case your interested Sky have also bought Vegas and The Following which will be on Sky Atlantic and DC Comics adoption Arrow which will be on Sky1.

They Arrow looks like a rip off of hawk eye (well he came first but still), but a good one. The Following look like a aright horror thing ! Trailers Bellow (second Arrow trailer here, for more information click here). Vegas looks terrible.

Benedict Cumberbatch, everyone's favourite modem Sherlock, has a guest role in the US show The Simpsons! You may have heard of it. This will add to his roles in The Hobbit and Star Trek later this year. We think he will not however be playing Sherlock but an unknown and unconfirmed character. Benedict said:
"I was at a meeting in the same place The Simpsons is recorded and heard there was a part going in an episode. I said 'I hate to muscle in here guys but could I record it?' Next thing, I'm standing in a room with all those famous voices; Bart, Marge, Homer, Lisa."


And Finally, if a slip of the tongue courtesy of Dredd’s Karl Urba is correct then it is sort of confirmed that Benedict will be playing Gary Mitchell, a villain from the original series of Star Trek in the new Star Trek sequel. (Yes I know this is movie news but it fits better here!) Mitchell was a member of the Starfleet Academy who was exposed to a magnetic storm aboard the SS Valiant, leaving him with godlike telekinetic powers and a decidedly nasty temper. 


And that's all, sorry about all the spoilers
Kieron :O

TV GALLERY - The Changeable Moriarty

A new trend seems to have sprung up across a few social networking sites inspired by the TV show Sherlock. The same two pictures of Andrew Scott as Moriarty are shown with different captions each time. We thought they were very funny, and wanted to share them with you...

Tom :)

THE CRUNCH - 5 Things We Want In Sherlock

A couple of weeks back, we wrote an article with a list of 7 things we wanted to see next year for Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary. You can view that article here. Since that article was so popular, I decided to write another one. Here are 5 things I'd want to see in the next series of Sherlock...

Oh, and a quick warning, if you plan on reading the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books (which I recommend), this article does contain spoilers.

Moran is arrested

1. The Gun
Mark Gatiss has confirmed that the first episode of the new series will be based on Conan Doyle's The Adventure of the Empty House. In the short story, we learn that Moriarty's men had been building a very special weapon, a gun that can fire nearly silently. This seemed revolutionary for the time, although now seems a bit dull now that we have developed silencers. But the idea of a secret weapon is very exciting, especially if it's being developed outside of the authorities by Moriarty's league. So in a modern setting what could this weapon be? Nuclear missiles? Lazers? If you have any ideas, let us know in the comments.

Sherlock diguised as a security guard

2. Disguises
Throughout all the Sherlock Holmes books, the great detective uses various disguises to spy on criminals and blend in with eye-witnesses. This hasn't really been exploited in the TV series yet, except for a brief, almost unnecessary, moment in the series 1 finale The Great Game, in which Sherlock breaks into an art gallery disguised as a security guard. I think there is alot of fun to be had here, especially considering that even Watson didn't recognize Holmes in the books when he was in disguise.

Tom Hardy in Inception

3. Charles Milverton
In The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton, Conan Doyle introduces us to a character that Holmes describes as "The worst man in London". Quite high praise, considering Moriarty. Milverton is a suave and sophistcated con-man and black mailer, and I think there's alot more potential for a recurring enemy than there is with Colonel Sebastian Moran, who in the books is Moriarty's right hand man. Moran on screen would be too similar to Andrew Scott's Moriarty, who we've only just lost. Milverton on the other hand, is very different in character. So who could play this slimey aristocrat? For me, two actors spring to mind. One is Inception's Tom Hardy. The other is Being Human's Damien Maloney. Hardy is unlikely to play the role after his current successes in big films such as Prometheus and the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises, so Maloney seems a safer bet.

4. Stanley Hopkins

Marshall Lancaster in Life On Mars

In the books, Inspector Hopkins is a young and excitable Scotland Yard detective who sees Holmes as a mentor and tries to employ his methods in his own investigations. He never does succeed however, and calls in the consulting detective on a number of occasions. He's a very funny character, and would be great to see in the TV series. But where could Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, two writers very much grounded in Doctor Who, find a young and excitable actor? *Cough* Matt Smith *cough*. Understandably, they may want to avoid the crossover, so another possibility could be Life On Mars's Marshall Lancaster.

5. The Sign of Four
Finally, I've picked out my favourite Sherlock Holmes story. The Sign Of Four is the second Sherlock Holmes novel and is part murder mystery, part treasure hunt, part adventure epic. What could be more suited to the current TV show, where we have seen Sherlock and John track down Chinese smugglers? Best of all, the whole story culminates in a boat chase down the Thames. Imagine modernising that!

So there's my list. What would you like to see in the next series of Sherlock? Let us know in the comments.
That's also all for this week on Crash Hub. Hope to see you again on Monday.
Tom :)

TV NEWS - Doctor Who News...and Not Much Else

Doctor Who Returning Character and Episode Title
According to the Evening Standard, Madame Vastra (who first appeared  in the Who episode A Good Man Goes To War) will be returning for the latter half of the upcoming series. It is also reported that Vastra, who is Silurian and lesbian, will fall for the new companion. For more on this, click here.

Also in the Whoniverse, the first episode has finally got it's title. The episode, which will feature every type of Dalek ever (apparently) will be called Asylum of the Daleks. As much as this news does excite us, it still tells us absolutely nothing! For more on this story, click here. For our updated episode guide of the upcoming series, click here.



And One More Thing...
And since there's such a lack of news, I thought I'd share this picture I found on Facebook. Made me giggle.

There's this weeks TV news. Let us know your thoughts in the comments, especially on the return of Madame Vastra.

Tom :)

TV NEWS - Marvel animated series, Cuckoo commissioned and more

Marvel Universe

So the recent smash-hit film Avengers Assemble is getting it's own spin-off animated series which has all the same characters as the film with the added character of Falcon. He is said to be a little younger then the others and greener, adding an extra dimension to the team. This also aids the rumour that Falcon will be joining the film avengers sequel, maybe we will see him in Captain America 2.

There is also an up comming series called Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. This is all the hulk like characters from the marvel universe (apart from the Thing or Juggernaut and maybe some others I can't think of). The agents include Hulk, the Red Hulk, She Hulk (imaginative but has been around for +30 years), Skaar (the teenage barbarian Hulk) and A-Bomb (the Blue Hulk). I hope these characters have other reasons for being like hulk and don't all change if you try to kill them and stuff. This also seems a bit of a dysfunctional unit as Hulk can't actually control himself!!

BBC Three's Cuckoo Commissioned 

Greg Davies

This is a comedy set to be on BBC Three later this year. It is starring Greg Davies, Helen Baxendale and Andy Samberg. It will be in 6 parts, written by Robin French and Kieron Quirke and directed by Ben Taylor. The offical synopsis is: "When Ken (Greg Davies) and Lorna (Helen Baxendale) collect their daughter (Tamla Kari) from the airport, they're horrified to learn that she's returned from her gap year with more than just a henna tattoo and braids in her hair. At the arrival gate, she promptly introduces them to her new husband, Cuckoo (Andy Samberg) - the squared-jawed, self-appointed spiritual ninja who is now their son-in-law. Cuckoo is every parent's worst nightmare - a slacker full of outlandish, New Age ideas. Ken and Lorna have no choice but to welcome him into their family home - and if every Englishman's home is his castle, then this hippie has stormed Ken's fortress and plundered everything, most unforgivably, his princess."

Joseph Gilgun

Sherlock

Benedict Cumberbatch has said that he would always find time to do Sherlock and said he is more than happy to carry on playing the role even when he's in his 50s. He is only 35. Its not like they are going to run out of story's with only 3 a year.

Misfits

I found this interview with Joseph Gilgun after he was nominated for BAFTA's, I found it very funny and he talks a bit about Misfits series 4. See it here. 


Star Wars Clone Wars Series 5 Trailer 

Kieron :O

TV EPISODE GUIDES - Sherlock Series 3

Will keep this updated every time we find out more so you can keep checking back. This guide was last updated 17/06/12.

Episode 1
Directed by: t/b/a
Written by: Mark Gatiss
Original Air Date: t/b/a
UK Viewers: t/b/a
What we know so far:
 - Will be loosely based on Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of the Empty House"
 - Rumours that it will include Sebastian Moran, who is the villain in the original story. In the books, Moran is Moriarty's right hand man.

Episode 2
Directed by: t/b/a
Written by: t/b/a
Original Air Date: t/b/a
UK Viewers: t/b/a


Episode 3
Directed by: t/b/a
Written by: t/b/a
Original Air Date: t/b/a
UK Viewers: t/b/a
What we know so for:
 - Steven Moffat has promised another shocking finale to the Series

THE CRUNCH - Doctor Who 50th

Ealier this week, the current Doctor posted the above on Facebook. So we thought we'd answer. We've both decided on our three things we'd want to see when the show turn 50 next year...

Tom's List
1. Russell T Davies
No offence Steven Moffat, but since the takeover in 2010, Doctor Who just hasn't had the same feel it had following the 2005 re-boot. The traditional format has been messed around too much (this message also goes to the makers of the new James Bond movies). There's no denying that Moffat can write fantastic Who scripts - The Empty Child was the best episode in Series 1 - but he just hasn't recently. For a good celebratory episode next year, it needs to be at least co-written by Davies.

2. 2005 Daleks

Not the new corny Teletubby ones that look like free-bees out of a cereal packet. The really cool ones from the re-boot, the worn, "used-future" look. The slightly shorter ones that looked like they'd been pulled out of a chimney. The ones who had the supreme brains to create their own pig slaves and nearly re-create their entire race, not the new ones who got fooled by a jammy dodger. You get my drift.

3. The Master - As Played By John Simm
The Master is definately the best baddie we've had since 2005. John Simm pitched this part perfectly. And for some reason, he's only appeared in four episodes over the last six series' and the Daleks and Cybermen have been in...alot. This is the most important on the list, WE WANT THE MASTER!

Kieron's List
4. The Repeat 
The Doctor goes to a point and place from a previous doctor had to stop some big evil thing, the older the better. And tries not to get involved as he can't be seen by his old self or change his history. We see a classic villain from years ago run behind and around them. A twist could be added where the doctor accidentally screws it up and has to fix it before his old self finds out.

5. Dinosaurs Paradox

Cause a paradox where dinosaurs weren't made extinct and evolved to become the most intelegent species on earth meaning that humans never existed. However time rewrites itself meaning his companion fades into a more lizard like appearance. The new most intelligent species in the present day is much more advanced. Doctors companion doesn't know any different and the doctor has to convince her to help him write the problem. Or it could be that Silurians are these people.

6. TARDIS Damage
The TARDIS is damaged so it slows down and speeds up time randomly but not to the doctor or his companion. Shush this is the best picture I could find for slowing down time!


Tom & Kieron
7. Life On Being Sherlock Who
An Avengers like dream team with the best BBC characters: Sherlock, Hal, Tom and Alex, Gene Hunt and of course The Doctor. With Mycroft as the Nick Fury guy. Maybe The Doctor gets Gene from the past and he can see Alex because he has died loads!


And that's it for another week here at Crash Hub. Next week we will of course have all the usual. Also, over the weekend, we will be uploading episode guides of Primeval Series 5, Doctor Who Series 7 and Sherlock Series 3.
Tom :) and Kieron :O

TV NEWS - David Tennant Cast In "Broadchurch", Sherlock Series 3 Update and Results of The Voice UK

Hello, hello, hello. Here's the dose on the last week in TV.

David Tennant Lands Police Drama Role
Ex-Doctor Who David Tennant has been cast in new detective drama "Broadchurch" which is expected to air January 2013. The series will be written by Chris Chibnall (Torchwood, Camelot), produced by Richard Stokes (Torchwood, Silk) and directed by James Strong (United, Silent Witness). The series is said to have been inspired by the Danish crime series "The Killing".
For more on this story, click here.

Mark Gatiss Confirmed For First Episode Of "Sherlock" Series 3
Mark Gatiss has confirmed that he will be writing the first episode of the third series of Sherlock which is due to air next year. Gatiss, who is a co-creator of the show and also appears in the series as Mycroft Holmes, has said that the episode will be a version of the Conan Doyle story, "The Adventure of the Empty House", but isn't saying how closely they will stick to the original. "As before, we cherry pick...They're always less literal adaptations".
Also in Sherlock, fellow co-creator Steven Moffat has promised another big finale to the third series. "Like [series 2], it will all build up shockingly to the last 20 minutes...".
For more on this story, click here.

Leanne Mitchell Wins The Voice UK

The 28-year-old who was mentored by Sir Tom Jones won the TV contest. The final of the show was watched by around 7.1 million people. Unfortunately, this means there will be a second series.
For more on this story, click here.

And there's the stories from the last week of TV news. Tomorrow, Kieron will have the latest from the gaming world. I'll be back on Thursday with news on the latest movies.
Tom :)