Matthew Kresal
Bio
Matthew Kresal was born and raised in North Alabama though he never developed a Southern accent. His essays have been featured in numerous books and his first novel Our Man on the Hill was published by Sea Lion Press in 2021.
Stories (99)
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'Doctor Who': "The Tsuranga Conundrum" Review
Warning: Potential spoilers for the episode below. In the age of social media, kneejerk reactions have become the norm. TV, particularly those programs with a sizable following, is no exception, and the eleventh series of the BBC's Doctor Who is a case in point. If fans of the long-running show thought the era under showrunner Steven Moffat had been divisive, the first batch of episodes under new showrunner Chris Chibnall and new Doctor Jodie Whittaker proved to be even more so. Partly as a result of that, I found myself stepping away from the show's 21st-century incarnation for a bit, hoping to gain some perspective for when I did finally sit down to watch the remainder of it (you can read my reviews of "The Woman Who Fell To Earth,""The Ghost Monument," "Rosa," and "Arachnids in the UK" elsewhere on Vocal). In watching the fifth episode, "The Tsuranga Conundrum," I found myself particularly grateful for that distance.
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in Futurism
'Doctor Who Unbound: A Storm Of Angels' Review
Back in 2003, when the idea of Doctor Who coming back on television seemed unlikely, Big Finish engaged in a rather interesting experiment. They created a series of audio dramas "unbound" from the constraints of the show's regular continuity, asking "what if?" a fair number of scenarios had taken place. The first of which, penned by Marc Platt and titled Auld Mortality, explored what might have happened if the Doctor and his granddaughter Susan had never left Gallifrey. Then, in early 2005 just as New Who was getting ready to air, Big Finish returned to that Doctor and Susan with a sequel, one that took the tropes of the First Doctor era, and turned them on their head.
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in Geeks
'Doctor Who: The Third Doctor Adventures' Volume 5 Review
In 2015, Big Finish Productions took a bit of a gamble when they released the first set of Third Doctor Adventures with actor Tim Trealor stepping into the shoes of Jon Pertwee's legendary incarnation of the Time Lord. The result was a success that has spawned a range of stories with Trealor acting alongside Katy Manning, herself reprising her role of companion Jo Grant from the early 1970s. And yet, for fans of this era of Doctor Who, there has perhaps been a sense of something missing without the inclusion of the fuller UNIT team. So it is that Big Finish once again has rolled the dice to an extent with two more characters from the era finding themselves portrayed by new performers in this, the fifth volume of the series, as well as the addition of another figure making their debut in the range. It's a lot, to be sure, but does it work?
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in Futurism
Seeking Answers "Somewhere In the Skies"
In the last seven decades, there's been a lot written on the subject of UFOs. Both for, and against, their existence, government cover-ups, where they're coming from, and any number of other topics along the way. Despite all the volumes published, and the words written within them, it seems at times that the people involved often get left behind, swept up in the debates around the topic. Going some way to rectify that is Ryan Sprague's 2016 book Somewhere In The Skies with its decidedly "Human Approach to an Alien Phenomenon."
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in Futurism
Revisiting 'The Day After Tomorrow'
2019 marks the fifteenth anniversary of the release of The Day After Tomorrow. Co-written and directed by Rolland Emmerich in the midst of his being the modern "master of disaster," it was a sizable hit in cinemas and a TV re-run staple. How well has it aged though?
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in Geeks
'Doctor Who: The First Doctor Adventures Volume 2' Review
The end of 2017 saw the release of the first volume of The First Doctor Adventures, a set that reunited the members of the case who played the original TARDIS crew in the docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time. Perhaps aided by David Bradley having also just played the First Doctor on television via the Christmas special "Twice Upon A Time," the set was well-received. So it was no surprise that a second set soon followed in its footsteps, recorded at roughly the same time. How would this second set work out as it tried, once more, to recreate the feel of those ambitious early years of Doctor Who?
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in Futurism
Lifting Off to 'The Calculating Stars'
All stories start with a simple question: "What if?" That is especially true of the alternate history genre where writers imagine versions of history where things might have been different. In it, writers have presented everything from Axis victories in the Second World War (such as The Man in the High Castle) to JFK avoiding an assassin's bullet (such as in Bryce Zabel's Surrounded by Enemies). Human spaceflight, which has seemed grounded for so long, has also been a topic popular with writers such as Stephen Baxter with his tale of a 1980s Mars mission in Voyage. Few, however, have been as compelling or convincing as The Calculating Stars, the opening salvo in Mary Robinette Kowal's Lady Astronaut series.
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in Futurism
The Dream and the Nightmare of 'Red Plenty'
The Cold War has receded into history. With it went the Soviet Union, the communist superpower born out of the Russian Revolution of 1917 that collapsed in 1991. Making sense of it has been a difficult proposition at best. Going some way to fill in the gaps for a popular audience is Francis Spufford's Red Plenty with its compelling look into the era of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, that time when the dream of Red Plenty seemed within grasp.
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in The Swamp
Review—'Doctor Who: The Mega'
Given its more than 50 year history, it comes as no surprise that there would be stories written for Doctor Who on TV that never got made. From 2009 to 2013, Big Finish produced a sizable number of them as audio dramas in a range entitled The Lost Stories. Serving as the finale was the sole Third Doctor entry for the series, The Mega.
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in Futurism
Revisiting 'Washington: Behind Closed Doors'
Before House of Cards, before The West Wing, there was Washington: Behind Closed Doors. Broadcast in six parts on the ABC network in 1977, it followed hot on the heels of its source novel, former Nixon aide John Ehrlichman's Roman à clef The Company(later republished under the miniseries' title). The result is an intriguing blend of fact and fiction.
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in The Swamp
Regenerating 'Doctor Who: The Classic Series' with Ronn Smith
For fifty-five years, Doctor Who has been keeping viewers entertained with the adventures of the Time Lord through time and space. What began as a series of TV series has turned into an ever-expanding universe. The Doctor's adventures can be experienced not just on TV but in comics, novels, and audio dramas and anything in-between.
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in Futurism
'Doctor Who: The Eyeless' Review. Top Story - October 2018.
The return of Doctor Who to our screens in 2005 meant an end to fifteen years of ongoing literary adventures for the Time Lord. Though the novels spawned during that period were always technically "TV tie-in," they seemed to push the boundaries of the program. When the New Series Adventures started up, it seemed to very much be an end to an era. And yet, from time to time, writers from that period have returned to the Who literary fold. One such example is Lance Parkin and his 2008 Tenth Doctor adventure The Eyeless.
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in Futurism
