Lord Samper's Library

I’ve spent the last week, or two, working my way through a rewatch of the ‘Slasher’ series and it has been great. Don’t worry, I’m not going to go into great detail here because, well… There are already posts here that do just that, I’ll link to them at the bottom of the post ;o) And that’s what led me to this post… I was (re)watching ‘Slasher: Ripper’ and realised that I’d never posted about it here. Being the kind of guy who ‘has to get the whole set’, that’s where this post comes in. And while I was watching ‘Ripper’, I found out that ‘Hell Motel’ has loose connections to the series so I gave that a go as well. While I’m hanging out with my daughters today, have a read and see what I thought of these two shows; both were good but I enjoyed one more than the other… ‘Slasher: Ripper’ (2023) It’s 1904 and the upper-class of Toronto are left reeling when one of their own is brutally murdered by a killer known only as ‘The Widow’. Detective Kenneth Rijkers must find the killer and his in...

  A couple of years ago, I showed my eldest daughter the first episode of the ‘Walking Dead’ (Season 1), just to see what she thought of it Two years on and we’re deep into Season 8 so it’s fair to say that the experiment has been a success ;o) We have hit a bit of a roadblock though as a certain character is about to die, and she’s not ready to see him go, so I’ve been looked at a couple of the ‘spin-offs’, just to keep things ticking over until we’re ready to go again. ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ is looking like a safe bet for future viewing, it will be a while before I give ‘World Beyond’ another go though… ‘Tales of the Walking Dead’ is an anthology series of stand-alone tales set in the ‘Walking Dead’ universe; it was also on sale, on Prime Video, so it seemed like a good ‘next stop’ in my journey to find more ‘Friday night zombie telly’. And… It’s not a bad series, not brilliant but not bad either. I spent most of yesterday working through all the episodes, which should tell you ...

I’ll be honest, I did an awful lot of ‘re-watching’ over the holidays and it was just what this Graeme needed, a large dose of ‘comfort’ movies and TV shows. I wasn’t a lot of good for much else anyway but it was nice to have something on in the background while I did things like wrap presents and so on ;o) I did manage to watch some stuff that I hadn’t seen before though, and because my reading plans absolutely went down the drain over the weekend, this post (right here!) is where I’ll tell you about it. Lets start with the obvious one… ;o) ‘Stranger Things’ (Season 5) My eldest daughter and I have been working our way through the series, over the last few years, and while I wasn’t too bothered about watching ‘Stranger Things’ back in the day, watching it with my daughter has been brilliant fun. Now, we really need to finish watching ‘The Walking Dead’ :o) Anyway, there was never any question that we wouldn’t finish it and… I’m not going to go into it loads (the internet has done that...

  It feels like a long old while since I’ve watched any ‘Classic Doctor Who’ for the blog; ok, July , this year just feels like it has gone on for as twice as long as normal… I was at a bit of a loose end, the other day, and figured it was time to do something about that. Scrolling through the ‘Doctor Who’ episodes on Prime Video, I thought that, instead of revisiting an old favourite, I’d take a chance on a serial that I watched back in the day but could barely remember the other day. So that is just what I did :o) And… The Doctor is enjoying the sun on a holiday island, until things get hotter than he bargained for... Rescued from the sea by Turlough, Peri Brown, brings a mysterious object to the TARDIS that her archaeologist step-father has found in a sunken wreck. When the Doctor’s robot friend Kamelion reacts to the object unexpectedly, it has bewildering consequences for the TARDIS crew. For Kamelion sends the Doctor and his friends to Sarn, a terrifyingly beautiful planet o...

After I finished work yesterday (the afternoon was back to back meetings followed by my end of year review, all I was good for was a nap and belated feeding of the cat and the rabbit. No reading happened last night but I do have some bits on the go which I’m hoping will make it onto the blog before the end of this week. Fingers crossed and all that :o) I did have a little browse through the ‘Classic Doctor Who’ stuff on Prime Video though, just to see what was what, and came across something called ‘Season 131’ that was only £2.99. I thought I’d have some of that and it turned out to be ‘The Awakening’. I don’t know why they couldn’t have just advertised it as ‘The Awakening’, it is clearly shown in the title sequence… Oh well :o) I’ve got vague memories of watching ‘The Awakening’ back in the day but couldn’t really remember it (to be fair, the story is a two-parter and I was all of nine when it first aired…) so I thought I’d do something about that last night. And… It’s 1984 and the ...

Yesterday did its best to defeat me but I fought it to a standstill. Well, a ‘standstill’ being about half five in the evening when I turned my laptop off and ordered a pizza ;o) I wasn’t in much of a state for reading so I ignored my latest TBR pile and settled down for a spot of TV instead… ‘Predator: Killer of Killers’ (2025) A Viking raider, a Ninja from Feudal Japan and a WW2 fighter pilot must each face a Predator on safari before going on a journey of their own… I’ll be honest, I love all the ‘Predator’ movies (even ‘The Predator’) so don’t expect too much objectivity here ;o) With that out of the way, ‘Killer of Killers’ is beautifully animated and looked superb from where I was sat. More importantly though, ‘Killer of Killers’ absolutely granted a longstanding wish of mine to see how a Ninja would do when facing off against a Predator; the inclusion of a Viking Shield Maiden was a very welcome bonus. I don’t want to give too much away other than to say that we’re left in no do...

That’s our lot for Season 2, now we sit back and wait for news about about Season 3. And I’ll be honest, there was a time when I wouldn’t have been waiting with the enthusiasm that I have right now. I’m not going to go into it all again, not in great detail, but I’ve had problems with Season 1 and a chunk of Season 2, up until a couple of weeks ago when things not only started to turn round but for me, shed a new light on a lot of what we’d already seen. As a result, I spent most of the last week looking forward to last night’s Season Finale. Was it any good in the end? Well… There was one bit that felt a little flat (for me anyway) but on the whole, ‘Shadow and Flame’ not only hit every target that it aimed for, it left the target a smouldering pile of splinters on the floor… Yep, I enjoyed it ;o) As always, I’ll try and avoid spoilers, where possible, as not everyone has seen the episode yet. That means no recaps here. If you want one of those, well… Wikipedia is always a good bet a...

I can’t quite believe that there’s only the one episode left, after this, and then Season 2 will be over. Seriously, how can a season that sometimes felt like it was dragging interminably suddenly be one episode away from ending? I’m half joking ;o) On the whole, I’ve enjoyed ‘The Rings of Power’ but it has always come with a slight feeling that the actual story was suffering under the weight of trying to get all the main players into position for what seemed like another round of getting everyone into position. All I’ve ever really wanted was for ‘Rings of Power’ to be actually moving towards something and last week’s episode felt like that was finally happening. I’m really happy to say that this week’s episode carried on in that vein and has made the Season Finale something that I’m really looking forward to. As always, I’ll try not to be spoilery about the content of ‘Doomed to Die’, just in case you haven’t seen it yet. Lets just say that Adar and Sauron’s plans are about to come ...

Work hasn't exactly been giving me a kicking this week but it has very definitely been letting me know who is charge (clue: I'm not the one in charge...) Oh well, one more day and it's the weekend ;o) So, not a lot of energy for reading then (although 'The Blacktongue Thief' continues to be excellent whenever I get a chance to read a few pages) so I thought I'd use last night to watch some utterly daft horror instead. That and the latest episode of 'Rings of Power'. Let me tell you all about it, daft horror first... 'Freddy vs. Jason' (2003) The children of Elm Street have forgotten Freddy Krueger. leaving him stuck in Hell. Freddy isn't without a plan though, enlisting the 'help' of Jason Voorhees to see if another killing spree will jog a few memories. Unfortunately for Freddy though, Jason is a little too good at what he does... With a group of teenagers stuck in the middle, these two horror icons will battle it out to the... Well,...

This post is a little bit later than planned but I’ll be honest, that’s been a running theme for everything this week… ;o) I’m so glad that it’s finally the weekend, how about you? I finally got round to watching ‘Halls of Stone’ last night and really wanted to get my thoughts down before the weekend brushes them all away; especially as last week’s episode really made it look like the show was finally starting to build up a head of steam. That wasn’t the case this week but I think that was all for a very good reason… As always, no episode recaps here. If you’re after one of those then I would go and read the latest post over at Reactor Magazine , I am constantly in awe of how thoroughly they recap and cover each episode. Just quick thoughts here I’m afraid, that’s about all I have the energy for right now. And with that said, lets have a quick chat about ‘Halls of Stone’. I’ll be honest, in the early stages of ‘Halls of Stone’, I was ready to come on here and have a right old moan. ...

  Sorry about the radio silence these last couple of days... Saturday was always meant to be a 'no blogging day'; yesterday was meant to be a blogging day but ended up being a 'hanging out with my daughters and playing FIFA, Crash Team Racing and Fallout' day instead. I regret nothing, especially when we met the dog in Fallout whom I haven't known for long but is clearly a good dog ;o) So yesterday's post becomes today's post instead. I'm a little bit late to the party (see the above paragraph) so I'm not going to go into great depth for this latest episode of 'The Rings of Power', everyone else has had a lot to say about it already. Nope, what you're getting here are quick thoughts and impressions (what little energy I have is needed elsewhere today, dammit). If you're after an in-depth recap of the episode, have a click Here . Otherwise, lets go... I'm running the risk of repeating myself a little too much but my main issue with...

I've been house-sitting this weekend and one of the things I've been looking after is an absolutely massive TV; well, far bigger than my plucky little telly. What better time then to get stuck into the first three episodes of the new season of 'The Rings of Power'? Nope, me neither so that's exactly what I did yesterday. In a world where you either hate 'The Rings of Power' or will defend it to the death, I've tried to plant myself firmly in the middle. There was a lot that I didn't enjoy about Season 1 but at the same time, Amazon Prime hasn't killed Middle Earth or anything daft like that. It was a fun show, with potential, that had an unfortunate habit of being a little too verbose at times. Like someone had read 'The Silmarillion' and thought to themselves, ' that's how we tell our story...' ;o) Well, lets see if the show has moved on from that... I'm not going to recap the episodes, this post from Reactor Mag does th...

Thankfully, it looks like Covid decided to pay me just a short visit :o) I’m still not a hundred percent, still feeling wiped out, but noticeably better than I was just a couple of days ago. Fingers crossed, I’ll get to enjoy some of my week off with my daughters. I still can’t really concentrate on books though so decided to go with another slice of ‘Doctor Who’, on the telly, last night. I don’t know where I got the idea to finally watch ‘Shada’ as the DVD was definitely not in a position to catch my eye and inspire a viewing… ‘Shada’ was what I was after though and once I’d found it (at the bottom of a small pile of MCU DVDS…) I settled down for a viewing and… ‘Delicate matter, slightly, It’s about a book…’ When Chris Parsons borrows a book from an elderly university professor, he is surprised to find it written in a strange alien language. He is even more surprised when the book is revealed to be not of this earth at all. Chris is about to enter a world of invisible spaceships, mon...

It feels like an absolute age since I last did one of these posts ( back in October last year to be precise ) and what better time to get back into it than a day when all my brain was really good for was watching ‘Doctor Who’ on the telly? Funnily enough, the last time I tried watching some ‘Classic Doctor Who’, for the blog, ‘Planet of Evil’ got the nod but a number of things prevented me from finishing it. Okay… I fell asleep and there was never a good time to get back into it after that, until now that is. Covid may have messed up my sleep routine but it was kind enough to leave me a small window of opportunity to finally watch this story. So that’s what I did, let me tell you all about it… The Doctor and Sarah answer an intergalactic distress call that takes them to a far-flung planet at the edge of the known universe. Arriving at the same time as a rescue team, they search for survivors of an earlier expedition. But will anyone be allowed to leave the planet alive…? I ended up rea...

I’m still that person who forgets he has Shudder and then goes on a mad watching spree to somehow try and justify the expense… I’d like to say that I’ll sort myself out but I’m a regular creature of habit so that’s not going to happen ;o) Halloween got me in the mood for some horror but after the bleak horror of ‘Lockdown Tower’, I needed something a little more light-hearted so when I realised that Season 4 of ‘Creepshow’ was on ‘Shudder’ and I had no other plans for Sunday, my afternoon and evening pretty much took care of itself. Just under six hours later… ‘Creepshow’ was just what I needed to get me over the bleakness of ‘Lockdown Tower’. It was a good mix of laughs, unsettling moments, full on scary bits and some particularly unlikeable people getting what they deserved. Not all of the episodes worked for me but enough did to make the Season a success, for me overall. Episodes are below followed by some quick thoughts on each… Episode 1 – ‘Twenty Minutes with Cassandra’ & ‘S...

It feels like an absolute age since I last did one of these posts because, well… It really has been a while . A fair bit has happened since then but some things still remain the same. Every now and then, I pop my head round the door of the Lewisham CEX and see if they have any ‘Classic Doctor Who’ that I don’t already have. If they do, I’ll buy it, watch it then post about it here; it really is that simple ;o) All of which brings me round to ‘The King’s Demons’, a story that I hadn’t seen since it first aired back in 1983. I was only seven at the time so could be excused for not remembering much more than a cool looking robot and the King singing a song. And then I watched it, the other night, and realised that those two bits were the only two memorable moments in the whole two episode story. At least this proves that my memory isn’t completely shot then but even so, a very disappointing story to sit through. There will be spoilers, just so you know... England, March 1215. King John ...

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts (way back in November last year, which feels like an awfully long time ago now)… Looking back at it, ‘Death to the Daleks’ put me off watching any more and when I finally got round to giving something else a go, my DVD player decided not to co-operate. I really should get Britbox I suppose, maybe one day. Anyway… One new TV later, and a copy of ‘Frontios’ that turned up a couple of days ago, and I was ready to give classic ‘Doctor Who’ another shot. And ‘Frontios’ ended up being a pretty good choice. An irresistible force draws the TARDIS to the barren surface of Frontios, where in the far future the last surviving humans cower amongst the ruins of their wrecked spacecraft. Under constant threat from lethal meteorite bombardments, few of the doomed colony realise that the ground of Frontios itself opens up and devours the unwary. Not permitted to assist, the Doctor’s attempt to leave is thwarted when the unimaginable occurs, the ...

Yes, I know that everyone else has already watched 'House of the Dragon' and said probably everything there is to say about it. Not me though, I never seem to watch TV shows at the same time as everyone else and come to the conversation at around about the time that everyone else has packed up and moved on to the next show. Dammit. I'm not as late to the party as I was to 'Game of Thrones' (I started watching the first season when everyone else was gearing up for the Red Wedding...) so maybe there's hope for me yet ;o) In the meantime, lets see if I can add anything new to what has already been said about 'House of the Dragon'... I'm working on the assumption that everyone else has already watched the show so if you haven't, beware of possible spoilers to come. The show is set 172 years before Danaerys Targaryen started measuring herself up for the Iron Throne and the Targaryen's rule under the kingship of Viserys. The King grows old though...

I’ve been all over the place today, heading into work when I really didn’t need to (long story) and then heading back across town to catch my youngest’s school play (which I absolutely had to do). Fun was had, chilli was eaten afterwards and work is slowly being caught up on. It hasn’t left a lot time for reading though, I’ve got a couple of books on the go and am planning on finishing one of them for a post tomorrow, but I did watch the latest episode of ‘Willow’ over the weekend (finally) so figured why not post about that instead? 😉 I’ll be honest, while I enjoyed the first two episodes, I’d completely forgotten that it was on and a new episode had dropped; which probably says a lot about this show and I. I watched ‘The Battle of the Slaughtered Lamb’ and… I don’t know, all of a sudden I’m not that sure… No sooner has Elora Danan got a little magic under her belt then she is kidnapped by Commander Ballantine under the orders of the Crone. The others must find her and enact a resc...