STACK #187 May 2020

FEATURE TV

EARTH FROM SPACE

Bringing a lofty new perspective to the nature documentary, as well as taking the term eye-in-the- sky to its apogee, this four-part series provides an amazing look at our planet from orbit. High-tech satellites zoom in on individual animals, penguin colonies, elephant herds and plankton blooms with incredible clarity, and peer into previously inaccessible areas of the globe. The changing surface of our world is also charted, as cities expand and forests diminish, with the dulcet tones of narrator Chiwetel Ejiofor as a guide. "The reason this series has been made now is because the

technology is so good that every pixel of a satellite image is 30cm on the ground. So we can track an image from as far away as possible to as close as possible," explained producer Chloë Sarosh in an interview with The Guardian . “The timing is so precise. We had to have cameras on the ground and a drone in the sky at the exact moment the satellite was going over in its orbit.” A breathtaking spectacle that will leave you on a, well, high, this is another landmark achievement from the BBC's Natural History unit. Out May 6

RE-RELEASES

LES MISERABLES

DOCTOR WHO: THE COMPLETE FIRST SERIES

If you’re primed to belt out a stirring rendition of I Dreamed a Dream when watching this lavish BBC mini-series adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel, you should revisit the movie instead. This is Les Mis without the songs, which may sound like sacrilege but actually works to the story’s advantage. This post-Napoleonic tale of love, injustice and redemption is given more room to breathe over six hour-long episodes, expanding portions of the novel previously truncated for the

After almost two decades off the air, the British institution that is Doctor Who was revived in 2005. Showrunner Russell T. Davies didn't disappoint the fans, dutifully capturing the flavour of the 'classic series', reintroducing iconic monsters like the Daleks and the Autons, and casting Christopher Eccleston as the ninth incarnation of the travelling Time Lord. Not only was Doctor Who back, it was good. Really good! Credit must also go to Billie Piper as companion

stage and screen. The Wire ‘s Dominic West is perfectly cast as the glowering Valjean, with strong support from David Oyelowo as Javert and Lily Collins as Fantine. Out May 6

Rose, who quickly won the hearts of Whovians – and the Doctor. Then of course there is John Barrowman's colourful Captain Jack Harkness, who would become a series regular. Out May 6

Four Doctors come face to eye-stalk with the Daleks in this collection that rounds up some of the best new series episodes featuring the Time Lord's arch enemies. Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston gets reacquainted with his nemesis in Dalek ; David Tennant attempts to stop a Dalek invasion of Earth in the epic two-parter The Stolen Earth / Journey's End (which also features Cybermen); Matt Smith braves the Asylum of the Daleks , which is as scary as it sounds; and a miniaturised 12th Doctor, Peter DOCTOR WHO: THE DALEKS

Capaldi, ventures Into the Dalek . Included as a bonus feature is the six-part Tom Baker classic Genesis of the Daleks , along with a new documentary chronicling the history of the Doctor's famous foes. Out May 6

images © BBC

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