Press Gang

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On Christmas Eve I bought Press Gang written by Steven Moffat and created by his father Bill, the complete series on DVD.

I have vague memories of this when it was shown on the Australian ABC. Finally glad to get the chance to see this properly and at a time before Moffat takes over as showrunner of Doctor Who.

My timing of buying Press Gang is due to the recent passing of director Bob Spiers who had directed 23 of the series' 43 episodes.

 

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Page One:
Season 1, Episode 1.
A very good set-up for the series.
Noticed the sign warning that trepassers will be exterminated. Gee I wonder where Steven Moffat got that idea from.
Very funny about the lethal toy that was mentioned and ultimately revealed in this episode.

 

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Photo Finish:
Season 1, Episode 2.
This was not bad for a second episode plus it was very funny how Spike got an interview.

 

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Interface:
Season 1, Episode 6.
Very good mystery concerning the identity of a mystery writer.

 

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Monday-Tuesday:
Season 1, Episode 11.
The title refers to the episode alternating in scenes between Monday and Tuesday as the characters on Tuesday what happened on the previous day Monday.
A very good episode as it deals with a very serious subject. So serious that it leads to Lynda making a compelling decision and the absence of the funny dialogue at the end credits.

 

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Breakfast at Czar's:
Season 2, Episode 1.
Pretty good start to the second season which featured the first appearance of Gabrielle Anwar as Sam Black.
Things are sure interesting when Lynda had the entire Junior Gazette team working early hours in the morning to the anger of their parents as they are of course supposed to be in bed.

Incidentally given the title of this episode I was having breakfast when I watched this episode.

 

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Going Back To Jasper Street:
Season 2, Episode 3.
This episode intercuts between Lynda when she was a young girl and older Lynda as she tries to remember what happens back then.
A very good and intriguing episode.

 

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Something Terrible Part 2:
Season 2, Episode 8.
A very good conclusion dealing with a very serious and disturbing issue.
Colin surprises everyone with the conviction he has shown in selling the idea of special edition of the Junior Gazette on the issue to the staff. One wonders why he did not show this kind of conviction when he was briefly the editor at the end of season 1.

 

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Friends Like These:
Season 2, Episode 9.
A pop star is waiting for a train and the one person from the Junior Gazette who could interview him before he gets on the train is Sarah but she has just decided to quit the paper.
Very fun seeing Lynda trying to get Sarah to do this one last assignment as well as Spike and Frazz's method of delaying the pop star's train.

 

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Rock Solid:
Season 2, Episode 12.
Very funny Colin and Frazz in Kenny's closet.
Also funny is when a beautiful woman slaps Kenny and Lynda was unfazed about it.
Sad development at the end.

 

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The Big Finish:
Season 2, Episode 13.
The ended season 2 with Spike and Lynda waiting what is next in their future.
Very sombre atmosphere here.
Also pretty good singing from Lee Ross (Kenny).

The name of this episode is how Big Finish Productions got its name. Despite having written this episode, Steven Moffat, the incoming Doctor Who showrunner, has ironically not written a Big Finish Doctor Who audio adventure.

 

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Quarter To Midnight:
Season 5, Episode 3.
Lynda accidentally trapped in a vault and all she has to help her is her faulty mobile phone faulty being that the person on the receiving end can't hear what she is saying.
What a brilliant, very gripping on how Lynda was going to get out of the vault and the resolution to it is quite a surprise.

 

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There Are Crocodiles:
Final episode.
Very intriguing from the beginning as Lynda is interviewed by an initially unseen stranger.
A pretty good episode to finish off the series.

 

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In the DVD commentary for Press Gang: At Last A Dragon from Steven Moffat and Julia Sawalha they talked how convincing Dexter Fletcher played Spike even though Fletcher is actually British. On the subject of Spikes, this led to Moffat to talk about the guy who played Spike in Buffy as someone British who Moffat thought was not very convincing with the British accent.

So Press Gang had a Spike played by someone British, Dexter Fletcher, pretending to be American while Buffy had a Spike played by someone American, James Marsters, pretending to be British!

 

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At the moment I am going through the PDF files on the DVD release and I am currently reading Breakfast At Czar's magazine issue 2.

From this issue I have just finished reading the story The One That Got Away by Stephen O'Brien. This story provides the departure of Sam (as played in the TV series by Gabrielle Anwar) as there was no on-screen departure.

It is pretty good with very interesting last moments of Sam at the Junior Gazette.

 

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Lynda Day Not Dead!:
This is a story that was published in Breakfast at Czar's issue 3.
Written by Nicola 'Nik' Richardson it tells what happened to Lynda after the final episode.
Not bad.

 

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Began reading Breakfast at Czar's issue 4 which is a collection of short stories.

A Fresh Start:
First story.
Written by James M Sangster.
Taking place after the final episode There Are Crocodiles, it has Sarah being at university.
She sets up the campus newspaper and Spike visits.
I think this story would have made a good set up for a spin-off series featuring Sarah and her newspaper.

 

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Breakfast at Czar's 4

Playing With Matches:
Second story.
Written by Steve Lyons.
This takes place between Shouldn't I Be Taller & Breakfast At Czar's (the TV episode).
This has Lynda competing with Julie for a story for the front page.
Quite funny the lengths Lynda goes through to get a front page story.
Also played out well the sexual tension between Lynda and Spike at a time before they were a couple.

Coincidentally I am listening to the Big Finish Doctor Who story Time Works which is also written by Steve Lyons.

 

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Breakfast at Czar's 4

Placing The Blame:
Fifth story.
Written by Tonia JD Tidman.
This takes place after There Are Crocodiles.
An unwelcome figure from the past kidnaps Lynda in revenge for the Junior Gazette ruining his life.
It was well played out when Lynda talked to this person in giving himself into the police.

 

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Breakfast at Czar's 4

Closing:
Despite the name of the story this is actually the penultimate rather than last of these short stories.
Written by Laura Parker.
This takes place between The Rest of My Life & Yesterday's News.
Colin goes missing and it is very funny Lynda trying to track him down.

 

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Breakfast at Czar's 4

Sweet Sorrow:
Final story.
Written by Paul Condon.
Taking place after Holding On, the story explains why Kenny left the Junior Gazette for Australia.
Quite emotional reading Kenny and Lynda's last moments together and the immediate aftermath of it.