Warning: contains spoilers for The Woman Who Fell To Earth

The Thirteenth Doctor wasn’t the only new adventurer we met in Sunday’s history-making Doctor Who series eleven premiere. We were also introduced to the Doctor’s latest Companions—or, as they’re called in this season, Friends.

We had a chance to chat with Mandip Gill, who plays Yaz, about where her character comes from and where her character is going now that she’s been swept up into all of time and space alongside the Doctor.

“She’s got a family unit back in Sheffield that she’s very close to,” Gill said of Yaz. “So she has that home connection to Sheffield and to her family. Like we focus on Ryan and Graham’s background [in the season premiere], we do go on to learn about Yaz’s background at some point.”

One of the details about Yaz’s background we do get in the series eleven premiere is her previous connection to Ryan (Tosin Cole). The two characters went to school together, but haven’t seen each other in a long while—long enough that they don’t recognise each other immediately.

“They are like brother and sister,” said Gill of the dynamic, referencing a moment in the car in the season premiere when Yaz bugs Ryan to hand over his phone, which he does with an eye roll.

Gill did tease that the Yaz/Ryan relationship could develop into something else, saying: “They could be a little bit more, because you see that really kind of flirty smile that she gives him when she realised that it’s Ryan and that he is grown up and whatnot. But we have not touched upon that yet. I want to say, not never… but I think, at this point, he is that annoying brother.”

We also know from the first episode that Yaz is a police officer. It might not be what is expected of her, said Gill, but: “I think she does that job because she likes to help people and she is good at helping people.”

It’s one of the many reasons why Yaz is so affected by Grace’s (Sharon D. Clarke) death. Gill told us that there was a scene cut from the premiere that sees Yaz trying to save Grace after she’s fallen.

“So there was a scene actually in which I perform… I tried to help Grace when she’s dying on the floor,” said Gill. “So, with that scene in, you could see that Yaz was bothered, really affected by the death I think. And, obviously, you know when they’re in the town and she says ‘How are you Ryan’s nan?’ She’s obviously met Ryan’s nan [before], knows Ryan’s nan from years ago.”

Gill said that the characters do continue to talk about Grace throughout the season and that “seeing Ryan upset also really affects [Yaz].” 

We don’t see much interaction between Yaz and Graham (Bradley Walsh) in the season premiere, but Gill said that Yaz sees him like an older family member.

“You know what? I think she actually sees him like a grandad,” said Gill. “Not in the way like: you should hold back or whatever, you’re a bit older or whatever, but they go off and do things together and it’s not weird at all.”

At the end of the The Woman Who Fell To Earth, we see Yaz, Ryan, and Graham unintentionally swept away into the vacuum of space alongside the Doctor. How does Yaz react to being brought on adventures with the Doctor?

“You will see she always makes sure she can get home,” said Gill. “And, for me, that shows how she is excited about this, but she doesn’t know where it’s gonna lead her. And so she needs to make sure that she can jump ship at any point.”

Gill said she is “so excited for the next episode,” adding that all of the episodes of the season are “written so well.”

“[The writers are] all from different backgrounds and have worked on a lot of different things and they’re established writers in England. They’re all very different. Their storytelling is very different. The themes of each episode are very different and they jump between episodes about historical events, futuristic events. They’re all written very differently, and it’s really exciting as an actor to be able to jump between totally different stories.”

Gill has been kept quite busy with her work on Doctor Who—both making and promoting the new season—but she has another project coming out soon called The Flood, which she is “quite proud” of.

Gill stars alongside Game Of Thrones‘ Leda Headey in the film about the refugee crisis in Calais. The film is currently in post-production and will be coming out soon, said Gill, adding that her character in The Flood “is completely different to my character that I play [in Doctor Who].”

Gill takes the responsibility of storytelling very seriously. “I am very conscious of the stories I will be telling or the stories that I think need to be told,” said Gill, marking Doctor Who series eleven as very special indeed.

Doctor Who series 11 continues on Sunday the 14th of October at 6.55pm on BBC One.

After nearly a decade away from the big screen, Michael Myers (aka The Shape) is back in the somewhat confusingly titled Halloween. This entry ignores all previous sequels and follows the events of the original movie only, with Michael once again coming face to face with Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) for a final showdown. Like pretty much every sequel in the franchise, however, Halloween had a tricky path to getting made, and listed below are seven Halloween sequel concepts that failed to get off the ground for a variety of reasons.

Halloween II: High Rise Horror

John Carpenter has made no secret of the fact he didn’t want Halloween to spawn a sequel. He felt the story had been told in the original and wanted to move on to new projects. Since Halloween had kicked off a series of profitable low-budget slasher movies – including Friday The 13th – the studio felt there was more money to mine from the property, so when Carpenter learned a sequel would happen regardless, he decided to accept the “nice sum of money” he was offered to write and produce.

The first concept he conceived for Halloween II featured Laurie Strode living in a high-rise apartment building when The Shape returns to ruin another Halloween. This version would have been set a few years later as a way to acknowledge time had passed between entries, but Carpenter eventually had a change of heart and decided to pick up straight from the ending of the first movie. That, and he had also explored similar territory in his 1979 TV movie Someone’s Watching Me! Producer Debra Hill also revealed they considered filming the sequel in 3D, but decided against it as Halloween II mostly takes place at night.

Halloween IV: The Bogeyman Version

Carpenter made sure to end Halloween II with both Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis blown to pieces so no more sequels could happen. Universal requested one regardless, so Carpenter and Hill decided to make an anthology movie instead with no ties to the first two. This resulted in Halloween III: Season Of The Witch, which sees a doctor trying to stop an evil toymaker’s murderous plot. While the movie has since been reassessed as an atmospheric and eerie horror tale, it was a critical and commercial dud in 1982. Audiences had come to associate Halloween with Michael Myers and felt jilted by the anthology switch.

With the 10th anniversary of Halloween approaching in 1988, financiers felt there was life in Michael yet and wanted him back. They came to Carpenter and Hill once more, who would approach author Dennis Etchison to pen a draft. Etchison’s story would be a psychological spin on the Michael myth. Both Myers and Dr. Loomis remain dead following the events of Halloween I & II, and Haddonfield was so devastated by that night they banned Halloween completely. The parents thus become furious when a drive-in theatre plans a night of horror movies on Halloween and they try to get it cancelled, but it seems this attempt to suppress Michael’s memory only serves to bring him back…

The script primarily explores the trauma that night dealt on Haddonfield, and if it’s better to forget or to confront the horror of the past. The story focuses on Tommy Doyle and Lindsey Wallace – the kids Laurie Strode babysat in the original – and while Lindsey can’t remember that night, Tommy has been scarred by it. Lindsey’s overprotective mother tries to keep them apart they become drawn to each other. The script also questions if Loomis’ treatment of Michael was partially responsible for his rampage, with an old videotape showing the late Doctor ranting at a young Michael during a therapy session, labelling him a monster.

Etchison’s Halloween IV plays up the mystery of whether Michael is somehow alive, or if the unseen killer is a copycat or possessed by his spirit. The movie finally reveals that Michael’s become some kind of phantom, who is able to regrow lost fingers and withstand gunshots; he even grows to 12 feet in the finale. He goes on a rampage at the drive-in – which happens to be showing Carpenter’s The Fog and Christine – and the script even throws shade at his rival Jason Voorhees, with an image of the hockey-masked killer turning to flame as Michael is framed by the burning screen.

This take on Halloween IV has intriguing ideas and setpieces, but the script needed work. The psychological elements are bolted on to a bland story of dumb teens getting drunk and slaughtered and the finale feels abrupt. With some work, it could have been something special, but producer Moustapha Akkad felt the idea was too cerebral and wanted Michael as a flesh and blood killer. Carpenter and Hill thus sold their rights to the series and moved on.

Halloween V: The Misunderstanding Of Michael Myers

Halloween IV: The Return Of Michael Myers was a solid hit and a sequel was immediately greenlit. Return ended with Michael’s niece Jamie attacking her stepmother and seemingly being possessed by his evil spirit, suggesting she would become the franchise’s next killer. Having learned the financial lessons of Halloween III, Akkad wanted to keep Michael front and centre. Dominique Othein-Girard was hired to direct, but his initial pitch to Akkad didn’t go so well. He was paired with writer Robert Harders, who had a drastically different take on The Shape.

Harders pictured the movie opening on Michael’s body, which is brought back to life by lightning at the bottom of the mine shaft he fell into during Halloween IV’s finale. The writer pictured Michael as Frankenstein’s Monster, and when he’s resurrected the evil that once poisoned him has gone. He’s now a gentle creature, but of course being Michael Myers, the locals want to destroy him. It’s up to Dr. Loomis to save him, who recognises that maybe there’s a chance to reach the humanity inside the patient he’s spent the last three movies trying to destroy. Michael would have killed people, of course, but only out in self-defense, before he’s finally destroyed in the finale. It certainly would have made for a departure from series norm, which is why Akkad rejected it, fearing fans just wouldn’t accept it.

Halloween VI: A VR Trip To Hell

Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers wasn’t well received, so the series once again went into hibernation. In the period between 5 and 1995’s The Curse Of Michael Myers, another script dubbed Halloween 666: The Origin by Phil Rosenberg was considered. This draft found Michael hiding out as a homeless person five years after his last rampage, and a reporter named Dana coming to Haddonfield to do a story on Halloween. Tommy Doyle also would have been a main character, and helped Dana investigate once she realises she’s also a forgotten Myers sister.

Some fairly outlandish concepts appeared in this draft, such as Tommy possessing a virtual reality program that lets him visit the netherworld and see Michael’s family being cursed during a Samhain festival. Dr Loomis would have made a cameo as a patient in his former asylum, having seemingly committed himself, and passing the torch to Tommy. There would have been some gruesome kills too, with Michael shoving a rat down a character’s throat. Ultimately, Akkad’s hatred of the script led to it being binned.

Helloween: Michael Meets Pinhead

Following the huge success of Freddy Vs Jason, various team-ups between horror royalty were considered. Dimension owned the rights to both Michael and Pinhead from Hellraiser, and approached John Carpenter and Clive Barker about collaborating on a crossover; remarkably, both men were receptive to the idea. Pinhead star Doug Bradley revealed Barker would have written the script while Carpenter directed, but whereas Dimension was keen on the idea, the Akkads were not, so the idea was quickly abandoned.

Filmmaker Dave Parker had previously pitched Dimension on a Michael V Pinhead matchup during the 1990’s and came up with a reason for the two to butt heads. His concept would have revealed Sam Hain – The Lord of the Dead – escaped hell when young Michael Myers came across the Lament Configuration puzzle box and possessed his body, which is why he can never die. The story kicks into motion when some characters find the box inside the Myers house. They solve it, Pinhead shows up and realizes who Michael is and the two square off, and the finale takes them both to Hell. Dimension didn’t see value in the concept at the time, so it never developed beyond Parker’s pitch.

Halloween 3D: Zombie Michael

Rob Zombie’s Halloween movies remain arguably the most divisive entries, with the filmmaker reimagining Michael’s origin and upping the levels of profanity and bloodshed. Some fans loved his uncompromising interpretation, whilst others absolutely hated it. Zombie’s Halloween II Director’s Cut left no hope of a sequel, with the franchise’s key players Laurie, Michael and Loomis all lying dead when the credits rolled.

The theatrical ending left some wiggle room and while Laurie survived, it implied she had inherited her family’s madness. Halloween II wasn’t much of a success but Dimension planned to jump straight into another movie to capitalise on the 3D craze. They hired writer Todd Farmer and director Patrick Lussier – the duo behind My Bloody Valentine 3D – to develop it, with time proving so tight Farmer had just over a week to write the first draft.

Farmer’s script reimagined the ending of Halloween II; instead of Laurie stabbing Michael to death, she’s actually stabbing Dr. Loomis’ body instead. The first act sees Michael and Laurie run away together pursued by police, with Michael slaying a bloody trail through various victims before being set on fire and vanishing. Laurie is committed to an asylum and the script jumps ahead in time. The first act was intended to wrap up the loose ends of Zombie’s take, with the rest of the script leaning closer to a more traditional Halloween sequel.

Most of the 3D takes place in the hospital, with the head doctor being a role that was earmarked for Tom Atkins, who also played the main character in 1982’s Halloween III. In a nice touch, he would have switched off a TV playing the infuriatingly catchy Silver Shamrock theme. Eventually, Michael returns, leading to many gory deaths and a bleak showdown in a concert designed to look like a giant pumpkin. Laurie commits suicide to free herself of her brother, and Michael slaughters the rest of the protagonists before escaping into the night. The script also had a gruesome unmasking of Michael, revealing underneath his new mask is the old one, which melted into his face following the fire in the first act.

Dimension loved Farmer’s script, but with the duo committed to shooting Drive Angry first and a lack of prep time, the project was shelved and eventually cancelled.

Halloween Returns

Halloween Returns came extremely close to filming in 2015 and in keeping with the franchise’s twisting timeline it would have acted as a sequel to the first two movies only. The story would have picked up ten years later in 1988, with Michael on death row for his crimes. Officer Hunt – who played a supporting role in Halloween II – was the main character, with his daughter becoming Michael’s target after he sees her attending his planned execution. A freak power outage lets The Shape escape, and he starts a new massacre in Russellville, a neighbouring town of Haddonfield.

Halloween Returns would have been made by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan (writers of Saw IV-VII) and it was gearing up to begin filming. Dimension then lost the rights to the property, causing an abrupt cancellation in December 2015 and Blumhouse swooping in to claim the franchise. Halloween Returns was set to follow the tone of the original movies, right down to the 1980’s setting, but with more intense kills. It wasn’t to be, though, which could be for the best in light of the acclaim Blumhouse’s new sequel is receiving.

After nearly a decade away from the big screen, Michael Myers (aka The Shape) is back in the somewhat confusingly titled Halloween. This entry ignores all previous sequels and follows the events of the original movie only, with Michael once again coming face to face with Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) for a final showdown. Like pretty much every sequel in the franchise, however, Halloween had a tricky path to getting made, and listed below are seven Halloween sequel concepts that failed to get off the ground for a variety of reasons.

Halloween II: High Rise Horror

John Carpenter has made no secret of the fact he didn’t want Halloween to spawn a sequel. He felt the story had been told in the original and wanted to move on to new projects. Since Halloween had kicked off a series of profitable low-budget slasher movies – including Friday The 13th – the studio felt there was more money to mine from the property, so when Carpenter learned a sequel would happen regardless, he decided to accept the “nice sum of money” he was offered to write and produce.

The first concept he conceived for Halloween II featured Laurie Strode living in a high-rise apartment building when The Shape returns to ruin another Halloween. This version would have been set a few years later as a way to acknowledge time had passed between entries, but Carpenter eventually had a change of heart and decided to pick up straight from the ending of the first movie. That, and he had also explored similar territory in his 1979 TV movie Someone’s Watching Me! Producer Debra Hill also revealed they considered filming the sequel in 3D, but decided against it as Halloween II mostly takes place at night.

Halloween IV: The Bogeyman Version

Carpenter made sure to end Halloween II with both Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis blown to pieces so no more sequels could happen. Universal requested one regardless, so Carpenter and Hill decided to make an anthology movie instead with no ties to the first two. This resulted in Halloween III: Season Of The Witch, which sees a doctor trying to stop an evil toymaker’s murderous plot. While the movie has since been reassessed as an atmospheric and eerie horror tale, it was a critical and commercial dud in 1982. Audiences had come to associate Halloween with Michael Myers and felt jilted by the anthology switch.

With the 10th anniversary of Halloween approaching in 1988, financiers felt there was life in Michael yet and wanted him back. They came to Carpenter and Hill once more, who would approach author Dennis Etchison to pen a draft. Etchison’s story would be a psychological spin on the Michael myth. Both Myers and Dr. Loomis remain dead following the events of Halloween I & II, and Haddonfield was so devastated by that night they banned Halloween completely. The parents thus become furious when a drive-in theatre plans a night of horror movies on Halloween and they try to get it cancelled, but it seems this attempt to suppress Michael’s memory only serves to bring him back…

The script primarily explores the trauma that night dealt on Haddonfield, and if it’s better to forget or to confront the horror of the past. The story focuses on Tommy Doyle and Lindsey Wallace – the kids Laurie Strode babysat in the original – and while Lindsey can’t remember that night, Tommy has been scarred by it. Lindsey’s overprotective mother tries to keep them apart they become drawn to each other. The script also questions if Loomis’ treatment of Michael was partially responsible for his rampage, with an old videotape showing the late Doctor ranting at a young Michael during a therapy session, labelling him a monster.

Etchison’s Halloween IV plays up the mystery of whether Michael is somehow alive, or if the unseen killer is a copycat or possessed by his spirit. The movie finally reveals that Michael’s become some kind of phantom, who is able to regrow lost fingers and withstand gunshots; he even grows to 12 feet in the finale. He goes on a rampage at the drive-in – which happens to be showing Carpenter’s The Fog and Christine – and the script even throws shade at his rival Jason Voorhees, with an image of the hockey-masked killer turning to flame as Michael is framed by the burning screen.

This take on Halloween IV has intriguing ideas and setpieces, but the script needed work. The psychological elements are bolted on to a bland story of dumb teens getting drunk and slaughtered and the finale feels abrupt. With some work, it could have been something special, but producer Moustapha Akkad felt the idea was too cerebral and wanted Michael as a flesh and blood killer. Carpenter and Hill thus sold their rights to the series and moved on.

Halloween V: The Misunderstanding Of Michael Myers

Halloween IV: The Return Of Michael Myers was a solid hit and a sequel was immediately greenlit. Return ended with Michael’s niece Jamie attacking her stepmother and seemingly being possessed by his evil spirit, suggesting she would become the franchise’s next killer. Having learned the financial lessons of Halloween III, Akkad wanted to keep Michael front and centre. Dominique Othein-Girard was hired to direct, but his initial pitch to Akkad didn’t go so well. He was paired with writer Robert Harders, who had a drastically different take on The Shape.

Harders pictured the movie opening on Michael’s body, which is brought back to life by lightning at the bottom of the mine shaft he fell into during Halloween IV’s finale. The writer pictured Michael as Frankenstein’s Monster, and when he’s resurrected the evil that once poisoned him has gone. He’s now a gentle creature, but of course being Michael Myers, the locals want to destroy him. It’s up to Dr. Loomis to save him, who recognises that maybe there’s a chance to reach the humanity inside the patient he’s spent the last three movies trying to destroy. Michael would have killed people, of course, but only out in self-defense, before he’s finally destroyed in the finale. It certainly would have made for a departure from series norm, which is why Akkad rejected it, fearing fans just wouldn’t accept it.

Halloween VI: A VR Trip To Hell

Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers wasn’t well received, so the series once again went into hibernation. In the period between 5 and 1995’s The Curse Of Michael Myers, another script dubbed Halloween 666: The Origin by Phil Rosenberg was considered. This draft found Michael hiding out as a homeless person five years after his last rampage, and a reporter named Dana coming to Haddonfield to do a story on Halloween. Tommy Doyle also would have been a main character, and helped Dana investigate once she realises she’s also a forgotten Myers sister.

Some fairly outlandish concepts appeared in this draft, such as Tommy possessing a virtual reality program that lets him visit the netherworld and see Michael’s family being cursed during a Samhain festival. Dr Loomis would have made a cameo as a patient in his former asylum, having seemingly committed himself, and passing the torch to Tommy. There would have been some gruesome kills too, with Michael shoving a rat down a character’s throat. Ultimately, Akkad’s hatred of the script led to it being binned.

Helloween: Michael Meets Pinhead

Following the huge success of Freddy Vs Jason, various team-ups between horror royalty were considered. Dimension owned the rights to both Michael and Pinhead from Hellraiser, and approached John Carpenter and Clive Barker about collaborating on a crossover; remarkably, both men were receptive to the idea. Pinhead star Doug Bradley revealed Barker would have written the script while Carpenter directed, but whereas Dimension was keen on the idea, the Akkads were not, so the idea was quickly abandoned.

Filmmaker Dave Parker had previously pitched Dimension on a Michael V Pinhead matchup during the 1990’s and came up with a reason for the two to butt heads. His concept would have revealed Sam Hain – The Lord of the Dead – escaped hell when young Michael Myers came across the Lament Configuration puzzle box and possessed his body, which is why he can never die. The story kicks into motion when some characters find the box inside the Myers house. They solve it, Pinhead shows up and realizes who Michael is and the two square off, and the finale takes them both to Hell. Dimension didn’t see value in the concept at the time, so it never developed beyond Parker’s pitch.

Halloween 3D: Zombie Michael

Rob Zombie’s Halloween movies remain arguably the most divisive entries, with the filmmaker reimagining Michael’s origin and upping the levels of profanity and bloodshed. Some fans loved his uncompromising interpretation, whilst others absolutely hated it. Zombie’s Halloween II Director’s Cut left no hope of a sequel, with the franchise’s key players Laurie, Michael and Loomis all lying dead when the credits rolled.

The theatrical ending left some wiggle room and while Laurie survived, it implied she had inherited her family’s madness. Halloween II wasn’t much of a success but Dimension planned to jump straight into another movie to capitalise on the 3D craze. They hired writer Todd Farmer and director Patrick Lussier – the duo behind My Bloody Valentine 3D – to develop it, with time proving so tight Farmer had just over a week to write the first draft.

Farmer’s script reimagined the ending of Halloween II; instead of Laurie stabbing Michael to death, she’s actually stabbing Dr. Loomis’ body instead. The first act sees Michael and Laurie run away together pursued by police, with Michael slaying a bloody trail through various victims before being set on fire and vanishing. Laurie is committed to an asylum and the script jumps ahead in time. The first act was intended to wrap up the loose ends of Zombie’s take, with the rest of the script leaning closer to a more traditional Halloween sequel.

Most of the 3D takes place in the hospital, with the head doctor being a role that was earmarked for Tom Atkins, who also played the main character in 1982’s Halloween III. In a nice touch, he would have switched off a TV playing the infuriatingly catchy Silver Shamrock theme. Eventually, Michael returns, leading to many gory deaths and a bleak showdown in a concert designed to look like a giant pumpkin. Laurie commits suicide to free herself of her brother, and Michael slaughters the rest of the protagonists before escaping into the night. The script also had a gruesome unmasking of Michael, revealing underneath his new mask is the old one, which melted into his face following the fire in the first act.

Dimension loved Farmer’s script, but with the duo committed to shooting Drive Angry first and a lack of prep time, the project was shelved and eventually cancelled.

Halloween Returns

Halloween Returns came extremely close to filming in 2015 and in keeping with the franchise’s twisting timeline it would have acted as a sequel to the first two movies only. The story would have picked up ten years later in 1988, with Michael on death row for his crimes. Officer Hunt – who played a supporting role in Halloween II – was the main character, with his daughter becoming Michael’s target after he sees her attending his planned execution. A freak power outage lets The Shape escape, and he starts a new massacre in Russellville, a neighbouring town of Haddonfield.

Halloween Returns would have been made by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan (writers of Saw IV-VII) and it was gearing up to begin filming. Dimension then lost the rights to the property, causing an abrupt cancellation in December 2015 and Blumhouse swooping in to claim the franchise. Halloween Returns was set to follow the tone of the original movies, right down to the 1980’s setting, but with more intense kills. It wasn’t to be, though, which could be for the best in light of the acclaim Blumhouse’s new sequel is receiving.

Nintendo has released a “souped-up” version of The Legend Of Zelda on the Switch’s Online service.

This new version of The Legend Of Zelda (which was added to the service alongside Solomon’s Key, NES Open Tournament Golf, and Super Dodge Ball) is quite unlike any version of the game we’ve seen before. We suppose that you could refer to it as Zelda’s “easy mode” or a version of the game that has quite a few cheat codes enabled.

When you start this special version of The Legend Of Zelda (which Nintendo has seemingly dubbed “Living the Life of Luxury”) you’ll immediately have access to a ton of rupees and special items. Specifically, you’ll have immediate access to the White Sword, the Magical Shield, the Blue Ring, and the Power Bracelet. Anything you don’t immediately have access to will be easy to buy given how many rupees you start this version of the game with.

Nintendo hasn’t directly stated what the “point” of this version is, but it seems pretty clear that it’s intended to help people who are maybe not as adept at old-school games. While we imagine that’s not something that a lot of Zelda and NES fans will want to hear, Nintendo does kind of a have a point. The original Legend Of Zelda isn’t “hard” in the same way that titles like Mega Man and Castlevania are, but it can be a somewhat confusing and challenging game that some might easily give up on.

So far as that goes, this new starting loadout is actually quite helpful. It’s not exactly an “instant win” button (you’ll still have to navigate some of the game’s puzzles), but it does make many early encounters much easier. Besides, after you beat this version of the game for the first time, you will be able to access a second quest that is much more difficult. It’s not clear whether this second quest also grants you the additional starting equipment.

Of course, the most interesting thing about this game is the idea that Nintendo might release more altered versions of classic NES titles via the Switch Online service.

Pet Sematary is being brought back to life on the big screen. Paramount has revived the 1983 novel-turned-1989 movie into what it’s hoping will be another slam dunk adaptation of Stephen King’s work, following on from Warner Bros’ box office-storming success with last year’s It.

Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer (Starry Eyes) have reteamed to direct this one, from a screenplay by Jeff Buhler, and they’ve lined up a cast that includes Jason Clarke (Winchester, Brotherhood), John Lithgow (Dexter, Raising Cain) and Amy Seimetz (Alien: Covenant). Clarke stars as Louis Creed, a father who will come to regret laying his child’s dead cat to rest in a haunted burial ground.

Here’s the first trailer, and it looks like a good’un. See what you think…

Pet Sematary remake release date

The film is currently scheduled to be released on 5th April, 2019.

Pet Sematary remake poster

There’s an ominous first poster now, too. Here’s that…

More as it arrives.

“At no point did I think, when I was little, ‘I’m gonna grow up and have a TV show,'” artist Christine McConnell says, taking a break from working on her latest project in the uncharacteristic autumn heat. 

McConnell’s childhood lack of a belief in receiving a TV show is part modesty but also part practical. There haven’t been many TV shows quite like McConnell’s upcoming Netflix series: The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell. On the show, McConnell plays a fictionalised version of herself that lives in a spooky mansion along with some friendly, Halloween-themed puppets. In each episode McConnell embarks on a different craft idea or baking project, all centred on her own cheerfully dark aesthetic. 

The show is specifically built with her talents and interests in mind. McConnell is a new kind of “multi-hyphenate” with her popular Instagram describing her as an “Artist – Photographer – Baker – Author.” 

Through the magic of social media, McConnell basically built a career being herself – taking dark, lovely photographs, and creating Halloweentown-esque recipes and crafts. In 2016, she published the well-received book of recipes and crafts, Deceptive Desserts: A Lady’s Guide to Baking Bad!

Despite all of the social media and publishing success, McConnell is just as surprised as anyone that her unusual Netflix show is actually becoming a “thing.” 

“There were so many opportunities for somebody to say no and stop this whole thing in its tracks, and they just… people just kept saying, ‘Okay.”

We caught up with McConnell to discuss her unique career, upcoming Netflix series, and why Halloween is the best time of year.

We’ve seen the trailer now and taken in the aesthetic but what from your perspective, what is The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell all about?

Good question. I’m not entirely sure I know. It’s basically like a fantasy version of my whole life where I do all of these weird, creepy projects. In the show, I actually show how to do all of these projects, so it is kind of a scripted show, kind of not. The “plot” starts with the arrival of a new guest in the house and the season ends on Halloween night. It kind of is a weird mish mash of The Addams Family and like a Martha Stewart how-to show. I don’t really think that there is something completely to compare it to, but I think that’s the rough draft of it. 

The show seems difficult to describe. I also think, your career in general, seems difficult to describe. How did you get your start in all of this?

At no point did I think, when I was little, “I’m gonna grow up and have a TV show.” I’ve never even acted before this show. That’s something else I’m a little concerned about, but we’ll see. I’ve always been creative. I’ve always been making weird projects just for fun with no real ambition for any of this. I’ve always been drawn to things that were dark and spooky, but at the same time, I loved that pastel world of the 1960s. This is just a very odd mish mash of all of the things that I like, and I’ve just collectively gotten better and better at as times gone on, at figuring out how to do these projects and make them real. 

I was doing secretarial work in my twenties, and not very well. I decided to stop doing that and I went to hair school. I was thinking, “Oh, maybe I could end up doing hair for people who are on TV, or in movies, or something like that.” While I was doing that, I started doing these photo shoots. Once I got out of that school and actually started practicing it, I just, in all of my free time, started baking. A girlfriend told me about Instagram and was like, “Oh, you should get that.” So I did it and its just been this really slow trickle towards where we are now. But I would say, maybe like ten years ago, I was going in a totally different direction and then just completely realigned everything. It’s just been a weird roller coaster to this point.

Where were you geographically through all of this?

California. I grew up about an hour and a half outside of L.A. It’s kind of a … I mean, I think everybody thinks they come from a podunk town, but it’s a little bit like that. I lived in Orange County for a while. I lived in North L.A., like the Pasadena area. And then, once momentum started happening and I got a book deal, I bought a house in the mountains of Southern California. I bought this house and totally made it over. Actually, the entire show is designed after my house. Obviously, it’s a much prettier house than the show. They’ve done a lot more intricate, fun stuff with the set, but it’s all basically based off the actual house I live in.

Gotcha. I’ve actually, weirdly, never been to Southern California. Do you think anything about the area influenced your aesthetic and your interest?

I don’t think so. I don’t know if this is a terrible thing to say, but I’m not that crazy about California. I’m a huge, huge fan of back east and I just love the old architecture. I think people strive to go towards the things they’re not familiar with. I grew up, obviously, in Southern California, where most buildings are new. I love the East Coast – the seasons and everything about it, so no is the answer.

If you moved to Ohio (Ed Note: The interviewer is from Ohio and can’t shut up about it.), you could probably buy the equivalence of the mansion from your show.

Completely. Completely. That’s actually my next step if things work out the way I hope, I would love to buy a big, creepy, old Victorian house and completely remake it into something magical and spooky. 

That’d be wonderful. I guess moving forward a little bit, how did the Netflix show come about? I mean, I know you had the book deal and your Instagram’s been going strong, I’m just wondering what the process was like to bring it to the screen.

It was weird. Like I said, it’s still, when people say it to you, and you’re like, “Oh, this is actually really happening.” Super surreal. I had been approached by, I don’t know, about three hundred different production companies wanting to do a show. They all wanted to do a reality show, just come film me at my house doing stuff. It just wasn’t my thing, it just wasn’t what I was into. Then somebody from Wilshire Studios, which is attached to NBC Universal, reached out and wanted to have a meeting. She had a crazy idea. She was like, “What would you think about getting together with Henson?” Obviously, I freaked out. I was like, “Is that even a possibility?” She said, “I don’t know. Let’s have a meeting.” A week later, we were meeting with them. They were so excited.  

It took a year to shoot like a sizzle, basically. I really worked out the guidelines of what this world would be. We shot it, and I knew I really wanted Netflix just because their programming is so racy. It’s not like a normal network where you have all these restrictions, and you can’t say this, you can’t do that. Though they have some – I didn’t get away with everything I wanted in the show. I asked the production company, “Is it possible that we could get a meeting with Netflix? Is that doable?” They said, “I don’t know. We’ll see.” It turned out to be our first pitch and they were the one … I think they called right after we left. It was super. There were so many opportunities for somebody to say no and stop this whole thing in its tracks, and they just, people just kept saying, “Okay.” It was very strange, like I said. They told me the statistics going in, but out of all of these sizzles, I think, I could be wrong, but I think they said something like ninety nine per cent get a “no” here. I went in assuming this was gonna be a no, and it just kept being yes.

Well, you told me a little bit about, I guess, the concept behind the show. I was wondering, in the nuts and bolts of it, what is the format of each episode? Are they built around recipes or concepts? How did you pursue it?

Essentially, there’s a multitude of projects that cover several different bases, like baking, crafting, things like that, home decoration, dress-making. A lot of different things we touched on each episode that’s then based on the theme of that episode. What I did was, I rough drafted a couple paragraphs for what each episode could be, and sent it to them. They retooled it and made it work into, there’s like a whole story arc that starts from the beginning to the end. Each episode is its own kind of special story.

I wanted to talk a little bit about your influences for horror, photography, and cooking. Starting off with horror and a spooky aesthetic, when did you first realise you were into that? What kind of influences did you have in terms of movies, or images, or anything of that nature?

Geez, so many. I’ve literally been into this whole thing for as long as I can remember. I used to watch old Vincent Price movies when I was little. My Mom loves Dark Shadows so I used to watch that. Addams Family,The Munsters – I just was always drawn to that. If I had an idol, Marilyn Munster from The Munsters might be it. I loved that she looked pretty and normal and then she lived in this bizarre world. It was all normal to her. I almost wanna say the show for me, is based off a growth of Marilyn Munster. I’m trying to think, I started reading Goosebumps, which sounds silly, in elementary school. That sort of like really got things going. Then I bumped up to Dean Koontz and Stephen King by high school. It’s just kind of always been a huge draw to me. My aesthetic and style, kind of falls into a… I don’t like going too bloody and dark with what I do, for the most part. I have occasionally. It’s sort of walking this playful line and I think that probably stems from The Munsters, or something like that. 

How about in the sense of, say, photography?

That’s such a funny thing because I am a photographer, but I almost think of it as just a means to an end. I started doing, obviously, the Instagram thing, for effort though. Then I got bored with that and was like, “Okay. Let’s start telling a story with theses pictures.” I do really like Annie Leibovitz’s work. There’s like several others that I’m fond of but she stands out the most as far as her style goes. If you want to compare my stuff to somebody, it would probably resemble hers the most. I never went to school for photography. I never went to school for photo editing. I just started practicing on the cheapest camera ever. Then as work came in and I was able to afford it, I just started getting better and better at it, and creating all the sets.  

When I first started, I was asking my mom to take all of these pictures for me. I was probably like eighteen, or nineteen, or something. Obviously, she got bored with it. I sensed that she was bored taking pictures. I was like, “Okay, I should just get a tripod, and set this up, and start doing this.” From that point, I really just started figuring out how to do everything myself. I think I prefer that environment where you’re not asking anybody for anything because you know you’re willing to do anything that it takes to get what you need. 

What are some culinary influences? When did you first like to bake, and cook?

Actually, this sounds really silly. I saw that movie Django Unchained. I had never baked before really. I think I made brownies, or something. They kept talking about white cake in that movie. I was like, “Oh, white cake sounds good.” I was like, “I think I’ll bake a cake. I’ll see how this works.” I followed some super old recipe. It didn’t taste good, but it was pretty. It kind of just started this, “Oh, I like this medium. This is a fun medium to work in.” I’m not crazy about fondant, so I just immediately started sculpting butter cream, and doing things like that. Then I found more icing, and it just opened up all of these cool doors, to basically, to create the art that was in my head in something that I also love ’cause I’m a huge sugar fiend. 

Yeah. I get it.

I can’t have a tonne of it, but I pretty much, every time I don’t have to go to a meeting, or don’t have to go somewhere for a week, I’ll have a day where I just go crazy and get a bunch of doughnuts and whatnot.

Yeah, that’s good for sanity. 

Exactly.

What’s your favourite thing you’ve ever made? It could be a recipe or just some piece of art. Does anything jump to mind?

You know what I find is that I keep getting better at everything I do, so it’s always usually the most recent thing I’ve done. I just recently did a Freddy Mercury birthday cake for 20th Century Fox. I tried sculpting a face and I was so happy with how it came out. I was so happy with the design and everything, so I wanna say, at the moment, that’s my favourite. But in a month, it might be different. 

I think what I’m working on right this second, might end up being my favourite.

Any hints on what you’re working on right now? You’re outside it sounds like. 

I’m outside. I mean, I’ll tell you. I haven’t told anybody what I’m up to. I decorated my parents’ house for Halloween before, and I’m doing it again this year. It’s considerably more over the top than I’ve ever done before. I’ve recreated the entire façade of their house, that is foam core, shingle by shingle, and I’m doing something pretty spooky.

Nice. Thank God it’s almost Halloween again.

I know. I’m so jazzed. I love this time of year. 

What are you most excited about for people to see your new show?

I think the fun, and the darkness, maybe. I just really love my brand of marrying these two things that are dark and scary with things that are silly and fun. I feel like the show is kind of like a window to my life that I really don’t get to show very much. I’m excited for people to see that, and hopefully, enjoy it.

The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell debuts Friday, October the 12th on Netflix.