IT’S the swinging sixties and Radio Rock is a pirate radio station under the captainship of Quentin (Bill Nighy), broadcasting from the relative safety of the North Sea with an eclectic roster of DJs including brash American chatterbox The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman), sarcastic and cruel Dave (Nick Frost), love-sick Simon, sex god Midnight Mark (Tom Wisdom), goofy Angus “The Nut” Nutsford, newsreader On-The-Hour John and the aptly named Thick Kevin.
Quentin's god-son Carl (Tom Sturridge) joins Radio Rock for the summer at the behest of his mother (Emma Thompson), in the hope the lad will mend his ways. Instead, Carl embarks on a journey of sexual self-discovery. The Boat That Rocked certainly rocks and rolls to a thumping soundtrack which includes The Beach Boys, Jeff Beck, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, The Rolling Stones and The Who and is packed with star turns. However, Richard Curtis’s script springs a leak early on as it attempts to keep afloat too many thinly-sketched characters and gradually loses ballast under the weight of its own unfulfilled ambition. As is fast becoming the norm, Nighy pilfers most of the chuckles.
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Doctor Who – The Twin Dilemma (Cert PG)
COLIN BAKER makes his first appearance as the sixth Doctor in this four-part storyline from 1984. Having regenerated, the Timelord seems to be out of sorts, attacking his companion Peri (Nicola Bryant) before retiring to the isolated asteroid Titan 3 to pursue a life of solitude. However, a race of giant gastropods led by Mestor (Edwin Richfield) stirs the Doctor back into action.
The nefarious creatures intend to take over the galaxy. Can anyone stop them? Packed full of extras which include an actors commentary and various Baker interviews, including one from Blue Peter, this will be a hit with Doctor fans and Baker makes a cracking debut, but it is not really regarded as one of the must-buys.
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Hannah Montana: The Movie (Cert U)
TO HER classmates and most of her friends, Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) is just a normal, clumsy teenager. However, to millions of screaming fans, she is global pop superstar Hannah Montana – a secret known only to her father Robbie (Billy Ray Cyrus), brother Jackson and close friends. When Miley gets too big for her boots, her father drags her back home to Crowley Corners, Tennessee. At first, Miley resents being taken away from her glitzy lifestyle; however, she soon settles back into small-town life until the roving lens of the paparazzi threatens it all.
Hannah Montana is a marketing phenomenon and this film, a sentimental rites-of-passage drama promoting the value of friendship ahead of material wealth, is only going to add to that. Aimed squarely at girls under the age of 12, it won’t pain adults too much to watch it.
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