The Professionals #11: Spy Probe
by Ken Blake (Sphere, 1981)
Kenneth Bulmer returns to the house pseudonym and churns out a two-story tie-in novelisation as lopsided as its predecessor (by Robert Holdstock). Very shoddy prose and the second episode is barely an afterthought, though the first is a diverting enough, action-packed instalment.
The Shifting Landscape
by Katherine Kovacic (Echo, 2020)
audiobook read by Casey Withoos (W. F. Howes, 2020)
The rural setting leads to a more substantive, higher-stakes mystery, albeit one deepened by the strategic overlooking of at least two obvious lines of inquiry. Withoos’ audiobook reading captures the Australian flavour, while Hogarth the Irish Wolfhound again brings plenty of heart.
Parting Breath
by Catherine Aird (Collins, 1977)
audiobook read by Robin Bailey (Audible, 2014)
The mystery is mostly a snooze-fest, unearthing itself to no great interest or enlightenment amidst the tangle of university life (laboriously depicted). The chief—indeed, only real—appeal lies in Sloan’s self-aware musings and stoically borne verbal exchanges with Crosby and Leeyes.
How to Train Your Dragon
dir. Dean DeBlois (2025)
So faithful is this live-action remake to the original animated film, it barely warrants review. Mason Thames (Hiccup) and Nico Parker (Astrid) do bring a certain something to their roles. The setting, oddly enough, is so exotic as to look slightly unreal.
Black Mirror: Black Museum
by Charlie Brooker; dir. Colm McCarthy (Netflix, 2017)
Black Museum follows the same formula as White Christmas, and explores similar technology (and horrific misuses thereof), artfully weaving its three parts into a denouement that sees Letitia Wright’s character transformed from passive consumer of story to active shaper. Confronting but cathartic!
Grace, Series 2
by Russell Lewis (ITV, 2022)
More assured, more tonally balanced than the first series. Grace emerges as something of an oddity amongst TV detectives, relying less on a distinct sense of character than on John Simm’s verisimilitudinous inhabiting thereof, adding gravitas to otherwise routine facets of investigation.
Doctor Who: Nightshade
by Mark Gatiss; adapted by Kyle C. Szikora (Big Finish, 2016)
Though Gatiss aims for substance, Szikora’s adaptation isn’t always smooth. The character moments in particular—Ace’s romance, the Doctor’s weariness, though welcome additions—are handled far too quickly, given no more prominence than the confused monster shriekings so favoured by Big Finish.
Omniscient Reader: The Prophet
dir. Kim Byung-woo (2025) [South Korean, subtitled]
![Film poster: “Omniscient Reader: The Prophet” dir. Kim Byung-woo (2025) [South Korean, subtitled]](https://www.derelictspacesheep.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Omniscient-Reader_Prophet-2025.jpg)
Poorly received by fans of the original web novel, though quite passable when divorced from expectations. Visually, the film matches its more-expensive American counterparts. The acting is fine. Only the plot goes astray, squandering a decent beginning for action-heavy semi-closure without resolution.
The Lost Future of Pepperharrow
by Natasha Pulley (Bloomsbury, 2020)
audiobook read by Thomas Judd (Bloomsbury, 2020)
By far the most satisfying of the Watchmaker books. Pulley commits fully both to the speculative premise and to Thaniel and Mori’s relationship, at the same time crafting an immersive historical novel whose characters are rounded well beyond their contribution to plot.
Black Mirror: Joan is Awful
by Charlie Brooker; dir. Ally Pankiw (Netflix, 2023)
A satire that is at once awkward, confronting, darkly humorous and not far removed from where technology and society are heading. Annie Murphy and Salma Hayek come gloriously into their own as the layers come unravelled (taking an axe to Hamlet-like procrastination!).