I've been meaning to write a blog for some weeks but I've been sidetracked by work. I've continued watching Young Indy and I'm still enjoying it. I've contributed so much to the show now that I've been given the position of editor for the series. Editor! Yahooooo! I can't believe it. I'm new to this but I plan on carrying out my new TV.com role to the best of my abilities. It's terrific experience for me doing editorial work as this is something I like to get into within film and TV.

I have decided while watching episodes of Young Indiana Jones to watch my Doctor Who: Davros Boxset as it's just sitting on my shelf. It contains the classic Genesis of the Daleks, the cheesy and flippant Destiny of the Daleks, the rather poor Resurrection and Revelation of the Daleks as well as the special edition (the reason I bought the boxset) of the fantastic Remembrance of the Daleks. Yes, the best episode of Doctor Who ever!!! Okay, it's not the very best story (Genesis is) and I'm of course being biased but Remembrance contains so many great things it feels like the best episode. And it is seen as a classic...

Ten Reasons Why Remembrance of the Daleks is the best episode of Doctor Who

(please try not to take offense at my OTT fanboy appreciation shown in this list. I'm just exaggerating for comedy. I just need to let it all out)

1) Doctor Who? Sylvester McCoy's 7th Doctor is "much more than just a Timelord".

2) "No Coloureds" The story deals with racism through the 1960s time period and through the Daleks themselves. Two sets of Daleks battle it out. One group wants to purify the other. One group can't accept the others differences the same way Ace finds a sign that says "no coloureds".

3) Back To The Beginning It was the show's 25th Anniversary and so they decided for this story to bring the series right back to the beginning where it all started. Remembrance begins immediately after the events of pilot episode The Unearthly Child.

4) He Did What? You don't mess with Sylvester McCoy. He might be short and carry around an umbrella like a clown but he means business. Let's think about how many times the Doctor has had friends and companions killed by those mechanical terrors. The Doctor never retaliated because he always believes in giving the Daleks another second chance. I ask you how many more chances do they need to change?! The 7th Doctor doesn't take any BS. Throughout the story he sets into motion a chain of events that will get rid of the Daleks once and for all. No more second chances. Now what other Doctor would do that. Oh sure, the Daleks later reappear in the new series but at the time I don't think they were planning on bringing them back. Apart from Davros' escape by the end of the story there's a finality to the Daleks destruction.

5) Ah Yes, I'm Loving This The opening CG intro and Keff McCulloch theme tune still impresses and still draws you in. Even the weakest McCoy episodes come off great thanks to the intro. In fact you might watch Doctor Who just for the 1987-1989 opening credits. It's like it's saying to you "come on we're gonna have a good time". And McCulloch's score...say what you will about his music but he really knew how to convert the emotional drama of the show into music. I still listen to his OTT synthesizer score for this story every week. Yes it's true...I really am that sad!

6) Daleks Now Go Up Stairs! Up until this point the Daleks were ridiculed because they couldn't climb stairs. Even the 7th Doctor knows to climb the stairs at the end of Episode 1. But this time the Daleks are prepared. Witness the sight of a Dalek levitating up a staircase after our hero. And this did not happen first in the new series either. McCoy didn't see that one coming...

7) WTF?! Moments Early in Episode 2 school Headmaster Mr Bronson or what ever his name throttles a military double agent in the cemetery. Under Dalek control Mr Bronson wants answers as to the location of the enemy. The guy knows nothing "I only work for Mr Ratcliffe!" he says in fear. When the Daleks see they're wasting their time they terminate their link with him, thereby shutting off the headmaster's brain! As he collapses he conveniently falls down dead next to a tombstone that just happens to read "in loving memory". WTF?! You can't make this stuff up.

A couple of scenes later the Doctor, in possession of the Hand of Omega, attends the funeral of this powerful weapon. The priest of course is blind. WTF?!

In one of the show's best cliffhangers the Daleks blast Ace's boom-box into very small pieces. Ace is angry...She hits a Dalek with a powered up baseball bat! It's like something out of Final Fantasy. A powered up baseball bat?! WTF?!!! It's so crazy but so cool. She then slides across the floor, runs along the school tables, crashes through a window back into the school corridor and proceeds to escape carrying a rocket launcher! And when those Daleks corner her we just need to see the next episode. They'd never did anything like this on the series before. K-O-O-L...cue titles. See it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNkJpfzFCRI

Bring In On... Towards the end both sets of Daleks are engaged in a massive battle. If Daleks in a shootout doesn't excite you how about a Special Weapons Attack Dalek (my friend calls it the Arnie version) or the Daleks battling each other under Waterloo Bridge! No it's not Wales doubling for Waterloo Bridge the Daleks are actually fighting under the real Waterloo Bridge! A battle so big the London Fire Brigade were called because somebody thought they'd heard a bomb go off!

9) A Double WTF?! Moment. I've said that the great thing about the 7th Doctor (and why I appreciated him more than the other Doctors) is because he wasn't a delivery boy. He gets rid of the Daleks. He's mastering his destiny. No second chances. But it's not just that that makes him great it's how he does it. In Episode 3 he enters the Daleks secret hideout and shuts off their time controller thingy (okay so it's a plasma ball, use your imagination). He then has the audacity to leave the Daleks his calling card (it has a question mark embossed on it). Now I ask you what other Doctor ever left their calling card behind for enemies to look at? Here's a Doctor that not only screws the Daleks over but then rubs it in their faces. That's why McCoys the best Doctor, because of moments like this.

10) Are You Talking To Me? When the Dalek Shuttle Craft lands in the school playground everyone in the chemistry lab hides as the windows are blown in. To end Episode 3 the most surprising thing happens when the Doctor brakes the forth wall, telling the audience that he things he may have miscalculated. First time I saw this story I wasn't expecting that. Well actually I wasn't expecting any of what was on this list.

I haven't added any images or anything visual apart from the You Tube link as first of all I'm a bit too busy at the moment and secondly it spoil the surprise of actually seeing it for yourselves. But I hope you enjoyed that list and didn't take it too seriously. You should check it out. You might get into the series as it's a cool story and my personal favourite.

So, is anybody reading this? With all the recent glitches on TV.com lately like many people I've been worried about posting a new blog entry. There have been reports of new blogs disappearing as old ones are being brought back. It's not exactly reassuring for people like me who spend about an hour writing something to post. My mail is probably safer at the moment! For those who read my last blog you'll know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I've been going through my Young Indy DVD's and watching the countless documentaries included on the sets. There are many but I've learned so much from them. I mean, the educational value is high. The episodes as mentioned in my last blog are excellent. I believe they spent something like $1.5 million per story and it always looks lavish as a result. One of the things I'm most impressed with is the continuity. Events from one episode are referenced in other episodes and please be aware that the episodes were originally shot as well as aired out of continuity. One week they'd have an episode with Young Young Indy played by Corey Carrier and the next week it'd be an episode with Young Indy played by Sean Patrick Flanery. It's ultimately foolhardy but genius when you think about it. Imagine this: you watch an episode with teenage Indy who supposedly knows Pablo Picasso and then some weeks later they air an episode where an eight year old Indy meets Picasso for the first time. No wonder the show got cancelled but the writers must be given credit for keeping track of the show's continuity. Even afterwards when the series was being re-edited they added new linking scenes with references to episodes we still haven't seen. It's frustrating but amazing at the same time. I'm currently contributing reviews and trivia for TV.com's Young Indy page and I can understand why people have hardly contributed anything before. It's a continuity nightmare!

At the moment I've finished watching the Young Young Indy episodes with Corey Carrier and am making my way through the Young Indy episodes with Sean Patrick Flanery. Stargate SG-1 fans may remember Flanery from the Season 5 episode Ascension. I'm sure you remember, he played an ascended being called Orlin that befriends Samantha Carter. Still don't remember? At the end of the episode he built a mini Stargate in Carter's basement. Yeah, now you remember! At the time I was so excited to see Young Indy in Stargate. One of the last episodes of Young Indy I watched was called Love's Sweet Song (London, May 1916). It featured a young Elizabeth Hurley and might be one of the series best episodes. It also features the most OTT line in the series delivered by Hurley, which made this viewer actually rewind the DVD to make sure that I wasn't going crazy as to what I'd just heard but you'll have to read my review to find out what she said.

Finally, like many Ninja Turtles fans I'm incredibly excited by the new TV movie Turtles Forever. To celebrate the Turtles 25th anniversary they've made a 70 minute film combining the 2003 Turtles with the 80s Turtles. It's the same animation style for the 80s Turtles that the original series had as well. A new episode with the 80s Turtles? I cannot wait and I'm really looking forward to it even if they don't get the original voices for our crime fighting pizza-loving heroes.

I'm a bit late writing this blog, I should have done it at the start of the week. Oh well, I guess I just didn't have the time. Anyway, I just wanted to mention that I've finished seeing Season 3 of Stargate SG-1 (the finale has always been great) and have decided to give my Stargate DVDs a rest for a while. There is such a thing as saturation. Instead I've decided to start watching those Young Indy DVD boxsets I bought for my birthday. I always loved this show. It takes history and twists it slightly to incorporate our hero into real events. In that sense the show is both historical and a fictional adventure. It works so well and it was done on a huge scale. I think it was filmed in something like 23 countries over five years. Personally I appreciate the re-edited VHS/DVD versions of the stories rather than the original TV airings. I was never too keen on George Hall as a 90 year old eye patch wearing Indy. Someone on another website mentioned that the re-edits work better because the stories feel like they're happening now and not in flashback. Lets be honest, was there anyone who met 90 year old Indy in the series that was really interested in listening to his stories? Did any of these people actually learn anything?! The re-edited versions have their problems (continuity errors) but it feels less like a soap opera and more a historical narrative.

To get the complete Indy experience I also bought the 1994 video game for the Sega Genesis or Mega Drive. "Instruments of Chaos Starring Young Indiana Jones" to give it its full title. A game never released in Europe making it the kind of treasure Indy would love to uncover. It doesn't work on my Mega Drive because it's NTSC but that's where my trusty Game Genie comes in! Using this device I can trick the game into thinking my console is American. Perfect! The game is okay, special mention must be given to the fantastic whip you use. You actually have to build up momentum before whipping something. Ultimately what really drags the game down is the high difficulty. Everything is after Indy (road workers, snakes, bats, etc), poor guy even keeps getting struck by lightning on the London level. What are the chances of that happening to Indy in a film anyway?

Speaking of detours two weeks ago I ordered James Bond: The Duel for the Mega Drive. I love these old games! Anyway I expected to collect it from the post office on a Saturday as I work during the week. You can imagine my surprise as well as my parents when a police car pulled up outside my door and a police woman gave me my packaged Bond game in person! The police!!! A game about the secret service being delivered by the police!!! See, even the police know how important and confidential James Bond is to this country! Actually the reason they were doing this was because of fraud in my area. I think they were trying to find packaged drugs or money so they were opening suspect packages which included my game. It's still great though. But it must be time consuming having to go round everyones houses to deliver re-packaged post in your police car. I won't forget this one...

On a final note I watched the Young Indy pilot episode and noticed that the sneaky French journalist in it was played by Tony Robinson! Once you get past the idea of Robinson doing a French accent in retrospect it's quite interesting. He's playing a character in 1908 chronicling Egyptian artifacts and now Tony Robinson uncovers artifacts for real in TV show Time Team. This interest in archeology had to start somewhere and this pilot episode may have been a catalyst for that show. Weird but cool!