An MI High Story

I wrote a short story a while ago about a mission for Keri, which I feel the need to put up on my blog as I put a surprising amount of effort into it. It was loads of fun to write! I formatted it as a book as well, with the cover inspired by Harry Potter, so a PDF of that can be found HERE.

The front cover is shown below, although it doesn’t include a picture of Keri because there are very few good quality pictures of her as she was new to MI High when I created this.

Keri Potter Cover So here’s my story:

Keri wandered around the school, admiring the work of fellow students on the wall and laughing at the misused apostrophes and forced semicolons. ‘What a rubbish school this is’ she thought to herself. ‘We don’t even do GCSEs, and none of the teachers know anything!’

Keri walked down the echoing corridors. Although everyone was in a class, the noise of loud children and unproductive lessons carried around the school. Keri reached the store cupboard and looked around secretively. ‘Good, no one here!’ she thought to herself, ‘Now time for something cool,’ Keri slid back the switch outside the door to reveal a thumbprint system. She scanned her finger and the door swung open, inviting her in. 

As Keri pulled back the broom in the cupboard she was flung downwards at a shocking speed, her hair flying upwards and her clothing somehow changing itself in this process. She stepped out of the lift, looking at the tight black clothes she was dressed in and smiling in approval. “Being a spy is the coolest job ever.”

“Welcome back to MI High” Frank said. “I’m glad you got my message. I’ve got a mission for you, but Aneisha, Tom and Dan are on a school trip. This is a big responsibility for you, but I’m afraid you’ll have to do it on your own.”

“Well I’ll try my best!” said Keri enthusiastically. “School spies are seriously underestimated!”

“You’re right.” replied Frank. “There’s a little bakery, ‘Brian’s Bakery,’ just down the road that’s just started up. We think it has something to do with the sudden strange behaviour of local people. Just look at this!” Frank showed Keri a video of people from St Hearts school running around and yelling, “We want cakes! We want cookies! We want Brian’s Bakery!”

“Oh.” Said Keri. “That’s pretty dodgy!”

“Your job is to find out just what Brian’s Bakery is doing. It’s not just children at St Hearts that are acting this way, but people everywhere, even the Prime Minister is reported to be a great supporter of Brian’s Bakery. Something seems pretty strange.”

“I’m on to it.”

“Oh, and one last thing, Keri. Here are some random gadgets that you may find useful – a spy pod to find out about the people you meet on, a coat which changes into a parachute and high heeled boots which can activate a laser out of the heel, responsive to your command.”

“Niiice!” said Keri, admiring the gadgets. “Do they do these shoes in red?”

Frank sighed and buried his face in his hands, “Just focus on the mission please Keri.”

Two hours later Keri had managed to fool her head teacher Mr Flatley into thinking that she was on an environmental project run by the government in order to escape school. She went to Brian’s Bakery, dressed especially for the job – she looked much older in her bright orange wig and jet black suit, finished off with the high-heels and jacket that Frank had given to her.

“Hi.” Keri said when addressing the bald man at the desk in the bakery store, “I’m here from the Food Hygiene Scheme, to check how clean your bakery is. Don’t worry; it’s just a basic procedure that the government have to follow for any new food-based shops.”

The man examined Keri, not seeming to believe Keri’s story, but Keri flashed an ID card confirming her story which MI9 had given her. “Oh come through then, but there ain’t nothing to see ‘ere, love.” The man said, leading her behind a screen into the back of the building.

“I’d like to be on my own, if that’s alright? You know, it’s all part of the strict regulations.” Keri said, keeping the screen held for the man to exit. Once he’d left Keri examined everything, taking in the ingredients and layout of the area, but nothing shocking or surprising was apparent to her. ‘Oh dear,’ she thought to herself. ‘Frank won’t be impressed at all. I need to come back with something good. This is my chance to shine! I want him to know that I’m a good spy.’

Then suddenly she heard it. It wasn’t loud but it was definitely there, a muffled noise, the noise of a person trying to speak. As she went further into the room it grow, and the sound of the person’s fear and desperation became apparent to her. “I’ll let you out,” she whispered, hoping that this may provide some comfort for the person. 

She tracked down the source of the noise – it was coming from the trap door under the floorboards. A man tied up and gagged was revealed to her when she pulled back the ingredient boxes and lifted up some loose panels. He was trembling, his face red from screaming and tears sat in his eyes; he was in a terrible state. Keri untied him and found him some water and food, but the man was too tired to speak. Eventually he whispered, “I’m the real Brian. He’s taken over my bakeries. I don’t know what he’s doing but I can bet you it’s dodgy.”

Just then the fake Brian arrived, and the two men looked so similar that side by side they were practically impossible to tell apart. “You’re a copy of Brian! An android!” Keri exclaimed. “You look exactly the same!”

The fake Brian replied in a woman’s voice, “I copied his genetic sequence. Now I, the Crime Minister, can control my copy of Brian!”

“The Crime Minister!” Keri shrieked. “I should have known you’d be behind this all.” Then Keri ran at the fake Brian, forcing her fingers into his back and twisting to make his face twist and his body fall to the floor. “Five Finger Twist!” Keri laughed. “It works on androids too!” “Not so fast!” boomed the voice of the Crime Minister. “You may have broken my android but you haven’t destroyed me.” A mist filled the room and almost immediately died down, and there she was, suddenly standing before her. “Oooh, I do love a dramatic entry!” she shrieked and her cackling laugh rang through the room.

“What you’re doing is wrong!” Keri exclaimed. “What are you even planning on doing?”

“With Brian’s Bakery being controlled by me I can be in control of the whole world, just you watch me. The drugs I put into the food here are highly addictive but also make people respond to my command. They will work for me and give me all their money!” She smiled to herself smugly.

“You won’t get away with it; I won’t let you!” Keri yelled angrily.

“Oh won’t I?” asked the Crime Minister, as several of the ingredients boxes opened up to reveal robots armed with guns. “I’ll kill you first,” she spat cruelly.

“Oh really?” questioned Keri. “Well I have a secret up my sleeve, or should I say on my shoes?” and with that she pulled off her high-heeled shoes and aimed the lasers at the robots, activating them and making the robots fall to the floor.

“My army!” the Crime Minister cried out, running to her fallen robots. “You’ve caused too much damage, stupid school child. You will never win – just give in now and I’ll let you rule the world with me! I’ve always wanted a daughter and I can see that our minds think alike”

“No!” yelled Keri, and she pulled off her coat and surrounded the crime minister in the parachute. “I had my doubts about the use of this gadget,” Keri laughed, looking down at the Crime Minister frantically trying to escape from the grasp of the parachute she was entangled in, “but this parachute has saved my life.” Keri proudly pulled out a pair of handcuffs and took pleasure in placing them on the Crime Minister. “Who would have guessed it?” she said to herself, “Keri saves the day!” 

Doctor Who – Series 8, Episode 1

So, on Saturday the first episode of series 8 was shown, and we could finally make proper judgements on the 12th Doctor, Peter Capaldi, after he took over from Matt Smith.

Doctor Who: Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman

Was the episode good? That’s questionable. Is Capaldi a good Doctor? We can’t really say that yet, but of course he will be. It always takes a short while for the new doctor to grow on you. Will the series get better? Probably.

I understand that the new doctor has to be different but I feel as though it was badly directed and arranged, as the writer, Steven Moffat, seemed more intent on throwing in as many reference to other programmes, etc. than creating a good storyline. Also, at the beginning Capaldi was a bit difficult to hear as he kept mumbling, and it wasn’t very fast-paced at all so got a bit boring.

It had all been built up before it was shown, with the BBC showing pictures of scenery involving dinosaurs, when in actual fact the dinosaur was only a feature mainly at the beginning, not the main storyline. Instead it was a tool for the Doctor to try to show his humour by (sort of) flirting with it. It was only half way though when the storyline became decent and something was actually happening. I think that Jenna Coleman (Clara) will be a good companion for the new Doctor and it’s good that she’s stayed on as it’s nice to have some continuity. The brief appearance of the previous doctor Matt Smith also eased the transition between the two, which was a good addition to the episode.

Peter Capaldi

When the storyline picked up it definitely picked up but I must admit that I was slightly underwhelmed with the episode overall.

The main problem with the episode was the lack of a strong plot and also some parts of the script where the aim was humour but it didn’t really seem to fit the character. Nevertheless, it’s good that Doctor Who is back, this time with a more serious doctor which should make the stories more interesting and different from before.

I’m sure Capaldi will be great as he’s a great actor, but I feel as though the script let it down a bit.

Not Going Out TV recording

Last week I went to my first TV recording, and what’s a better first recording than Not Going Out?

The filming took place at Teddington Studios, and my friends and I had been eagerly anticipating the recording so we had a Not Going Out marathon beforehand whereby we intended on watching all (or most) of the episodes. However, we ended up only watching just over half of them as they seem not as enjoyable when you watch them one after the other and we had hardly any motivation to watch them.

Teddington

(image from here)

The appearance of the studios wasn’t quite as I’d expected it, but I don’t really know what I expected. The interiors showed a mass of cameras and wires (as expected) all in quite a small space, with wires everywhere and a couple of screens for the audience to view the filmed acting and prerecorded parts on.

As the set was unusual (and I won’t give away any more than that to prevent spoilers), it was different from usual, not including the pub or flat, and most of it couldn’t be seen by lots of the audience. Nevertheless it was an interesting episode and had many very funny lines. I love the way it’s always put together to show the personalities of each character, and Katy Wix’s character, Daisy, is especially funny.

I’d have to say that TV recordings aren’t as good as radio ones as each scene has to be filmed at least twice (often more) and the cast kept forgetting lines (especially Lee Mack) as they couldn’t have their scripts in front of them.

A person was allocated to keep the audience entertained whilst they waited for the next scene to be filmed, but it got a tad annoying after a while, as he was making jokes about the staff and talking to someone in the audience called Emma who seemed to want to tell everyone about her not-very-exciting job and any minor detail she could give, which was mildly amusing at first but then got a bit wearing. Also, two members of the audience had Lee Mack’s book and wanted to get them signed. However, they were passed around the whole audience (well, almost whole audience; they didn’t quite meet my side) before Lee Mack signed them, so contain many drawings of penises and forged Lee Mack autographs.

It’s really nice that once you get your ticket stamped you get a raffle ticket for the nearby pub, giving you a free drink, which was lovely after waiting outside in the burning sun for a couple of hours.

Although the recording was very enjoyable I find it somewhat disappointing that the funniest parts were on the prerecorded VT and I couldn’t watch much of it live, but I think that part of the problem was the particular set used.

Outside I met Hugh Dennis! I’ve met him a while back but was reminded just how nice he was as he was willing to stop to have a picture. I didn’t meet Lee Mack, Katy Wix or Sally Bretton as I had to leave as not to miss the last train. This series of Not Going Out should be really good as I love Lee Mack’s writing and humour, and Hugh Dennis is a great guy who should fit in well with it all.

Hugh Dennis

The wonders of M.I. High

As Atlantis, Doctor Who, Sherlock and pretty much every other good programme has ended its current series and is no longer being shown, I was worried that there wouldn’t be much on the television to watch that is of any interest to me (even though I don’t usually watch much anyway).

M.I. High Group photo

BUT M.I. HIGH IS BACK!
Series 7 of M.I. High started this week and M.I. High is now to be shown on Mondays at 5.30pm on the CBBC Channel. Now if that isn’t good news then what is? 🙂

If you haven’t watched M.I. High before then you’re kinda missing out on the fun. I mean, M.I. High is not a particularly great programme, nor are the storylines well thought through, but that’s what makes them so great – teenage actors who aren’t particularly great at acting, weak story lines, strange villains, a few bad jokes or attempts at humour and always being really predictable; it’s a good way to brighten up any day! It’s about secret agents who solve crimes and have a secret base under their school and always manage to save the day despite all the problems they face.

There are 3 characters from the previous series (Aneisha, Daniel and Tom) and a new character, Keri, who was introduced in this week’s episode, ‘The Mayze’ (it is actually spelt that way, I didn’t misspell it).

M.I. High Keri

Although I am probably a bit old for M.I. High – well, I am a bit old for it – I love watching it and have grown up with it so it is part of my childhood. It is a bit of a shame that the no longer have the villain of the Grandmaster, who was replaced by the Crime Minister in the previous series, and they now fight against the criminal organisation ‘KORPS’ rather than ‘S.K.U.L’ as it was in the past. Despite this, it is still pretty amazing and the idea behind it is still the same. So if you ever want to watch some over-the-top and extremely unconvincing acting, then watch some M.I. High!

M.I. High, The Crime Minister

Sherlock: The wait is over

As Series 3 Episode 1 was to be shown yesterday after the long wait following the Series 2 finale, ‘The Reichenbach Fall,’ my friends and I decided to have a Sherlock Marathon, and by that I mean watch every episode of Sherlock from series 1 and 2 and the short Christmas Special, timing it so that we could watch the new Series 3 episode ‘The Empty Hearse’.

Having watched the Sherlocks quite a few times already, I had feared that this experience would be terribly boring, but luckily it actually wasn’t and it built up our excitement for the new episode as we counted down to 21:00.

The Empty Hearse was pretty freaking amazing. It started off with a rather funny explanation to how Sherlock had faked his death, which made us a bit worried – two years wait for that explanation? Luckily that was just Anderson’s theory. There was another funny theory by a fan club member which was pretty much just fan fiction. In fact, the whole episode was to some degree, but that just made it brilliant.

Moriarty and Sherlock shippers would probably have been overjoyed at the almost kiss shared between them, and rightfully so.

Sherlock Moriarty kiss

There was, as always, a great storyline, but I think that the best part of the episode was seeing how things had changed over the time Sherlock had been away – John Watson’s moustache and wife, and the greetings given to Sherlock by his friends. Although it was sad at first that John Watson didn’t want to be associated with Sherlock and kept his distance, it was nice that he kept thinking of Sherlock (and Sherlock of him) as they imagined each other’s voices making comments as they worked.

Well, this was very much worth the wait and a great start to the New Year, although it is a shame that Moriarty is dead and no longer going to be a villain. Nevertheless, series 3 looks very promising and I can’t wait to watch the next episode, ‘The Sign Of Three’ on Sunday! The trailer looks good too! But all of the episodes are to be so close together and it seems such a shame that Sherlock Series 3 will end so soon, just after starting up again.

Sherlock and John

50th Anniversary: The Day Of The Doctor

Yesterday, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the much loved British TV series, people gathered around the world to watch the 75 minute long special, The Day Of The Doctor. This episode included many Doctors and past faces, which was rather exciting seeing them all in one place! Newly introduced was John Hurt, in the role of the ‘War Doctor,’ which, I must say, he did a good job of.

So the episode was full of humour, fun, rewriting and reliving history, accompanied by the confusing storyline and unexpected twists. A brilliant part was the Zygons (the large, rubbery shape-shifters first introduced when Tom Baker was the Fourth Doctor) as I hadn’t seen them before and so they were quite amusing, and luckily not as scary as some of the others (I am easily scared). All the same, the daleks were made to seem innocent at some points, and this never fails to amuse me. A dalek, lying helplessly on the floor, shouting, “EXPLAIN.” Argh, you can’t help but to feel a bit sorry for them; they just seem so innocent!

Daleks

Then came the line said by John Hurt, as seen in the adverts,
“I’m looking for the Doctor.”
To which David Tennant and Matt Smith exchanged glances, and in response came the reply “Well, you’ve certainly come to the right place.” as the three doctors came face to face. Aaaah, you’ve got to love it.
There were also many other references to previous episodes, such as the “I don’t want to go.” said by David Tennant, the 10th Doctor, the last words he had said in his moving regeneration scene. THAT WAS GREAT.

Doctors

A worrying part of the episode was when I thought that Moffat might have rewritten the history, meaning that the previous episodes didn’t make sense if Gallifrey hadn’t been destroyed. However, all ended out well, really, and y’know what? It did make sense. So hooray Steven Moffat! The episode concluded with the real meaning of the piece ‘Gallifrey Falls No More,’ which although was expected, was quite cool anyway. And there was the line-up of the Doctors, where you can just imagine the excitement of all the fans watching it as the doctors are shown standing together. Great!

Zygon

So even if you’re not a great fan of Doctor Who, I would advise you watch it – I’ve watched it twice, and it’s still all rather exciting.