Reviews in Time & Space: Doctor Who 12x04 - Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror

If there's one thing this current era of Doctor Who will be remembered for (aside from the obvious of course), it'll be its return to the show's historical roots. Before the days of Daleks and Cybermen, Doctor Who was perceived as a time-travelling show which would educate as well as entertain. Chris Chibnall's time as show runner has already seen the Doctor meet the likes of Rosa Parks, King James I, Ada Lovelace and Noor Inayat Khan - and now that continues on in the fantastically named Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror. Written by Nina Metivier and directed by Nida Manzoor, series 12 episode four puts a new spin on the Serbian-American scientist and his struggle for recognition during his lifetime.

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Taro

Release Date: November 2019

RRP: 6050 yen

For a time it seemed like Bandai Tamashii Nations' plans for integrating the Ultra Series into the S.H. Figuarts line were clear. Working from the very beginning they'd tackle a new series each year – starting with Ultraman in 2016, Ultraseven in 2017 and so on. This pattern lasted as far as The Return of Ultraman in 2018, before Bandai decided to throw all my carefully planned theories out the window at the end of last year with the release of S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Taro. Completely skipping over Ultraman Ace for the time being, Taro's surprise announcement was likely to do with his involvement in the then-airing Ultraman Taiga, where he is of course the titular hero's father. Coming at such a late point in the year Taro is currently the only release from his 1973 series in the line, however if the 2019 Tamashii Nation event was anything to go by hopefully it won't be long before he's joined by a kaiju or two.

Reviews in Time & Space: Doctor Who 12x03 - Orphan 55

After all that excitement and series-wide arc teasing from Spyfall, it already feels like Doctor Who could do with a bit of a breather and a well-deserved holiday. But of course, no holiday ever goes according to plan in this show. Entitled Orphan 55, episode three takes the Doctor and fam to a far away holiday resort with a dark secret. The story was directed by Lee Haven Jones and written by Ed Hime, making it the first episode of series 12 to not have been penned by show runner Chris Chibnall.

Toybox REVIEW: Star Wars Black Series Purge Stormtrooper

Release Date: October 2019

RRP: $24.99/£23.99

The end of 2019 saw the world gripped by a new wave of Star Wars mania not only coming from both The Rise of Skywalker and The Mandalorian, but from Jedi: Fallen Order - the brand new video game thrusting players back to fallout of Order 66 and the great Jedi purge. The release of the game was also celebrated as part of Triple Force Friday with a wave of new releases from Hasbro's Black Series line, which also included a few store exclusive releases to keep collectors on their toes. If fans wanted to bolster out their Stormtrooper ranks with Darth Vader's elite Jedi extermination unit, they'd need to visit GameStop to get a hold of the Black Series Purge Stormtrooper figure. In the US the figure was also available to those who preordered the special edition of the game, while in the rest of the world fans unfortunately needed to clamour to whichever online retailer was lucky enough to have it for sale.

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts -Shinkocchou Seihou- Garo (Saejima Raiga)

Release Date: October 2019
RRP: 9082 yen

Despite first being unveiled at the Tamashii Nations event all the way back in 2014, it would take S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou Garo a further four years to finally see release. The end result though was certainly one of the figures tokusatsu figures Bandai Tamashii Nations have ever produced – one so good that they certainly weren't going to be content with only releasing it just once. First we got the Saejima Kouga version, and now his son carries on the legacy of the Golden Knight with the Tamashii web exclusive S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou Garo (Saeijima Raiga) version! First appearing the Makai No Hana ("Makai Flower") series, Raiga's story recently continued in the 2019 film Gekkou No Tabibito ("Moonbow Traveller") – finally reuniting him with his father as well as yielding a few other surprises for long time GARO fans. One surprise which this particular figure also shares…

First Impressions: Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story

You can watch Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story on Funimation Now, Crunchyroll & Hi-Dive

Nine years ago Puella Magi Madoka Magica was released, and anime was never really the same again. While it was far from the first magical girl series to put a darker spin on the genre, it’s success has led to more than just a few pale imitations. Madoka Magica also helped put Gen Urobuchi on the map, and arguably he’s gone on to become one of the most well known writers in modern anime fandom. Well it’s the beginning of a new decade and the world of Madoka is back, in the brand new spin-off series Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story. Based on the mobile game of the same name, this series lacks the Urobuchi touch but does feature several familiar names from the original. Shaft are still fronting the series, with Gekidan Inu Curry (the team behind the witches and labyrinths of the original series) are now directing and writing. For worldwide release the series will be made available first on Funimation Now, and then on both Crunchyroll and Hi-Dive a few days after its Japanese broadcast.

Reviews in Time & Space: Doctor Who 12x02 - Spyfall, Part Two

The Master is back! The Doctor is trapped in an unknown place and her companions are falling their deaths! If there was anything Spyfall Part One succeeded in, it was giving Doctor Who the kind of jaw-dropping cliffhanger that the show hasn’t seen for a good while. Thankfully it’s mid-week debut on New Year’s Day meant that fans didn’t have to wait long for the second part, which saw the series return to its current Sunday evening time slot. Written by series show runner Chris Chibnall and directed by Lee Haven Jones, Spyfall Part Two already has a lot riding on it.

Movie REVIEW: Thunderbolt Fantasy -Bewitching Melody of the West-

Thunderbolt Fantasy -Bewitching Melody of the West- is available in streaming form on Crunchyroll

As well as continue to prove that ornate puppet murder is the way forward for entertainment, Thunderbolt Fantasy season 2 presented fans with plenty of new things to speculate on. One such topic was the prominence of Làng Wū Yáo, the mysterious red haired musician and old acquaintance of Shāng Bù Huàn. Voiced by Takanori Nishikawa (better known by his stage name T.M. Revolution), the character was created as a means for the musician to promote the franchise but quickly added to the series proper by creator Gen Urobuchi. Now his origins are explored in Thunderbolt Fantasy -Bewitching Melody of the West-, a new feature-length presentation released at the end of 2019.

Reviews in Time & Space: Doctor Who 12x01 - Spyfall, Part One

With no Doctor Who on television screens since Resolution, 2019 has felt like an especially long year. But with the dawn of 2020 that long wait is finally over, as the 13th Doctor (and fam) return for the show’s 12th series since it’s 2005 relaunch. Already we know from the trailer that this series promises both Cybermen and Judoon, and if you’ve been paying any attention to the filming pictures in the last year a few other surprises along the way. The series kicked off on New Year’s Day with the secret agent-styled Spyfall, Part One, the first two-part story since 10th Doctor swan song The End of Time to retain the same title across both parts.

Favourite Toys of 2019

Has another year gone by already? 12 months a whole lot of reviews later the time has come to sit down and think about what were some of my favourite toy releases from 2019. As usual it's worth noting that I'm only counting figures that were first released in 2019 (so reissues like the excellent S.H. Figuarts R2-D2 are sadly disqualified) and that I've managed to review for the blog so far. There are a fair few releases from November/December that I sadly haven't got around to yet (or in some cases, haven't even arrived yet), but even so I'm fairly confident in my picks this year. So without further ado, let's bring on the list and find out what my favourite toys of 2019 were!

(and if you think including two-packs is technically cheating, you might want to look away now)