LATEST ADDITIONS

The bigger brother of the TX-NR709 (reviewed in HCC 202), Onkyo’s TX-NR1009 boasts a bulkier frame, greater muscle and a fuller spec sheet – including a claimed 9 x 180W power output (into 6Ohms) and DTS Neo:X, the latest audio mode to deliver extra front height and width channels.

During the golden age of cinema, the so-called ‘studio system’ ensured Hollywood could monopolise the biggest stars of the era to guarantee box office returns. Today, audiences are more fickle. Even A-listers can be a gamble. If you want to put bums on seats, shift Blu-rays by the bucket load and rack up those streaming receipts, then you need heroes. Really big ones, preferably with iron suits, hammers and shields. And if you’ve got a Hulk, that helps too.

It’s a good time to be a fan of classic Doctor Who right now. Not only did we have the news about the rediscovery of two missing episodes at the end of last year, but the DVD range is also getting closer to the end, with fewer than 15 complete serials still awaiting release at the time of writing.

YouView, the perennially gestating terrestrial digital/IPTV TV service, has finally arrived… in the guise of a rather anonymous-looking digital recorder from Humax. Developed by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, TalkTalk, BT and Arqiva, to the tune of £70m, the service was originally expected to launch in 2010. But at times it looked like it might never appear.