I’ve created Richard’s Writing to showcase my writing in its many forms, spanning almost 30 years of writing for teletext (if you can remember that far back!), games manuals, magazines, fanzines and the web.
Feel free to peruse the site at your leisure. If you wish to get in touch about one of my pieces or to discuss a writing project then please select the About link, where you can find contact details.
The second Alien prequel arrived in the cinema five years after Prometheus; the first prequel that ended up having a very mixed reception from general critics and Alien fans alike. As pre-production ramped up on Alien: Covenant, rumours centred around Noomi Rapace not being in the sequel, and that story was all but confirmed as production began. However, during filming it was eventually revealed that she would be back, but clearly Dr Elizabeth Shaw wasn’t going to be a major character in the plot. Then, as filming progressed we got to see the first publicity shot of lead actor Katherine Waterston looking very Ripley-esque in a vest and holding what looked like a gun in her lap at the end of a spaceship corridor.
Continue reading Alien: Covenant (2017) Review
The bulk of this review was written in the year or so after the film came out. At that time, there was no hint that a sequel would be made. Please take that into consideration when reading what follows below!
Soon after Ridley Scott’s take on ‘Robin Hood’ came out in 2010, an announcement was made that revealed he was to act as producer on a prequel to his 1979 science fiction classic, Alien. As the months went by, Ridley was promoted to director. However, soon after that announcement came another. The movie was no longer a direct prequel but was set in ‘the same universe’. That really got the Alien fans confused. What was going on? It really didn’t auger well for the film if they kept publicly changing their mind.
Published for the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga by Image Works (1990).
This review was originally written for the Amiga Games Database web site in 2008 and appears here in a slightly edited form. It’s a review of an old 16-bit computer game from 1990 and NOT about the 2014 movie starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock!
In my opinion, “Gravity” is one of those 16-bit computer games that never quite got the success it deserved. If you like your science fiction to be grounded in science fact, and you also like complicated 3D strategy games, then “Gravity” would have been right up your street.
This review is full of spoilers, so please don’t read any further if you’ve not seen The Force Awakens yet! Also, I’ve only seen the movie once so I might have blinked and missed the odd clue or reference to things I mention in the review.
Of course, it goes without saying that I’m a Star Wars fan. I was ten and a half years old when I got to see the original ‘Star Wars’ in a UK cinema. As it was for millions of other people, it was unlike anything else I’d ever seen before. It was a game changer in every way possible. From that moment I was hooked, and the next five or six years were a blur of waiting for, watching or reading about Star Wars any way that I could. The Empire Strikes Back was – and still is – the best movie sequel ever, and whilst Return of the Jedi was a bit of a let down, in hindsight it was okay compared to the prequels that emerged years later.
Anyway, fast-forward almost 38 years. The cinema scheduling deities had deemed that the release of Episode VII in the UK was to fall on our oldest son’s 9th birthday. As a result, he had been planning his 2015 birthday party the moment he knew. He was naturally extremely excited to be seeing a Star Wars movie in a cinema for the first time, on the day of release and on his actual birthday. Could it get any better?
An edited version of this article was published in Retro Gamer, Issue 64 (2009).
Terry Pratt was working for EMAP on an innovative and very popular UK computer magazine when the idea of setting up a video games publisher was first suggested.
“I was the Editor for Computer & Video Games magazine since its launch back in late 1981, and a few years later I had the idea that we might be able to create a software company”, remembers Terry. “I then sold that idea to a number of Boards at EMAP and set it up with Bill Delaney, who was working as Advertising Manager for one of EMAP’s other computer magazines at the time.”
This article was originally published on The Match web site in late October 2014.
The latest batch of leagues games have resulted in Luton reaching the top spot in League 2 with two thirds of the season yet to be played. Last year, we reached the top of the Conference in December and stayed there for the rest of the season. This time around, we’re hoping that we haven’t peaked too soon but are happy to be there none-the-less.
The unbeaten league run is now up to nine, with one draw and seven consecutive wins contributing to the points haul. Most Luton fans would agree that we’re not yet playing as consistently as we know we can, but it’s the ability to grind out results that wins promotion and championships. You can’t play well for 90 minutes and you can’t do it every game. At the moment, we’re resilient and have a few purple spells during games that are enough to win us the points.
Continue reading Football: Is This a Dagger That I See Before Me?
This article was originally published on The Match web site in October 2014.
It might not yet be on a par with the unbeaten run of last season, but thirteen points out of fifteen and just one goal conceded is a good little run in anyone’s book. It’s even more impressive when you consider that we’ve had to endure a number of injuries, players playing out of position and a bout of sickness along with the usual day-to-day problems faced by any professional football club. Do we use these as excuses? No. We use them to fuel the kind of dogged determination that got us back into the football league in the first place.
This article was originally published on The Match web site in late August 2014.
It’s been a mixed start back in the football league for the Hatters. Taking a leaf out of the John Still Book of Football Management, let’s examine the first group of matches and try and gain some perspective over what’s happened so far.
This article was originally published on The Match web site in late July 2014.
Anyone who has supported a football club for any significant length of time can nod wisely when pre-season comes around, because you learn over the years that pre-season is not a reliable barometer for how your season will turn out. Like our last few managers have said, don’t get too carried away with the victories and don’t get too despondent at the defeats.
This article was first published on The Match web site in July 2014.
There was an open top bus parade for the Skrill Premier Champions (inaugural and unique as it turns out!) a few weeks after the 2013/14 season finished. On the erected stage in St. George’s Square in Luton and under the basking hot May Bank Holiday weekend sunshine, Andre Gray was casually asked if he was going to be at Luton next season. He laughed somewhat nervously, and avoided answering the question in front of twelve thousand Hatters fans. At that moment, the tongues started wagging, the texts started texting and the unthinkable became… thinkable.