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Ms Ma, Nemesis (Viki, 2018) This is a bit of a departure from what I've reviewed so far, in that it's not a high-production-value Netflix-style series. It's also got a slightly weird format, of 32 half-hour episodes, apparently to fit in more adverts when it was aired. This series, as I noted...

Hmmm. It depends on the setting, but I’d have said: - Very large, very rich, very lucrative company that employs a lot of people. - Usually exploits its employees and probably its customers. - Is part of a system of similar companies who collectively extract value from the population and work...

I think this takes us again to - to what degree is imperialism and colonialism part of cyberpunk? It’s obviously a huge part of steampunk. I’d say that baseline cyberpunk (starting from Gibson) is mostly concerned with the plight of people in rich Western countries - even there, everyone is...

Quite. And the British EIC was finally finished (though not officially dissolved until 1874) when its mercenaries decided to join the Indian Rebellion in 1857, which had to be put down by government troops, leading the crown to take over as rulers of India (and giving Victoria a new title in the...

How very interesting. Did she anything about how she found out about it, who runs it, what other kinds of kids attended, and so on? It’s fascinating that there’s a demand and that parents consider it worth making time for in their children’s demanding extracurricular schedules. Do they value...

If I’d been the GM I’d definitely have gone there.

I personally think Steal has a brilliant setup for a sequel, perhaps as a Person of Interest type series, but the writer didn’t go there in the ending, which is probably wise.

Yes, it’s not explained for ages why their faces look like that (they all look as if they have acromegaly or similar) until after the heist, and almost in passing, you could easily miss it if you haven’t worked it out.

Turner really holds the show together - it’s a very strong performance, and it’s supported by the fact that she looks like a very stressed office worker who doesn’t look after herself and gets no sleep, because that’s exactly who her character is. (On the other hand Rhys, who is a DI who...

Strength. I try and roleplay Raistlin types with their wimpy Str 8 or whatever but then I catch sight of my sweet guns in the mirror* and I just can’t do it. *You don’t have a mirror at your table? Huh, weird. More seriously, it’s Wisdom. Wisdom (in my opinion) is common sense, balance...

Yes, Steal does this a lot. The first episode with the heist where you start thinking “that’s silly, you can’t just break into a pension fund office and transfer £4bn, there are all sorts of checks” immediately then walks you through how it works, very convincingly. They even have a Stingray for...

I can’t see one that’s about all adventures (not just 3E or 4E) so I thought I’d start one. For what it’s worth, I don’t think favourite means best in any way, it’s what you still remember years later, and still holds a precious place in your heart. For me, my favourite adventures are...

(Looks up from his wasabi custard coated steak) “Vandals, I tell you, there’s no hope for some people.”

Now watching Steal, which is a beautifully put together series. It’s well written, tightly plotted, and doesn’t treat you like an idiot - it’s like reading a great thriller, you have to stop and look stuff up occasionally (ANPR is automatic number plate recognition, by the way). Unlike The Night...

Oh, absolutely, and I wish them and their children the very best with it. Who’d want to be famous? Not I. (And it’s not the parents’ decision if people are horrible about their kids on the internet, it’s only their decision initially whether and how to expose them to it.)

Sadly, I doubt it, at least about this. Sure, some people will think it's a nice story. Some won't. And in the public domain about the children of celebrities, the tiny number who will be weird and horrible about it are amplified.

Yeah, this is a huge issue. I’m sure there are as many definitions of steampunk as there are people, but for me the commonest thread seems to be riffing off Victorian science fiction (Verne most notably). So we have lots of references to the Nautilus, the Baltimore Gun Club, Around the World...

I really hope Chris Hemsworth discussed doing this with a publicist before saying that on The View, though. I'd have thought so, it's not a sensible thing to just blurt out spontaneously - anything you say on The View should be planned and curated to a T. In any case, it's then reported in...

I think it’s different to tell that story to your friend down the pub than to tell it to a hired publicist who will then write an article about it which will then be discussed by millions of people on social media for a few days. This story reminds millions of people that India Rose Hemsworth...

We need Dr Ball. Dr Ball to the ER! There’s a woman who’s just given birth who’s lost the will to live! “I’m a doctor, not a torturer! This is a vitamin injection! Good day, sir!”