Thursday 30 October 2008

TV

The Graham Norton Show
4x04 (23/10/08 edition, uncut repeat)
I had a funny comment about this, but I've completely forgotten it. Oh well.

Little Dorrit
Part 2 (of 14)

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
22x05 (30/10/08 edition)
Russell Brand "had been filmed for this week's edition, but because he is not allowed to appear on the [BBC], that show has been postponed. Instead an episode filmed for the following week that features [James Allan from] Glasvegas, along with James Corden and Germaine Greer, will air in its place." (Source: NME)

Films

My Quantum of Solace Film Season #6:
Casino Royale (2006)
[4th watch; #72a in 100 Films in a Year 2008]

Articles

Doctor Who: The runners and the riders
(from BBC News)
Several obvious choices here, but I'm not sure how convinced I am by any of them, especially considering most of their ages -- RTD has several times made the sensible point that over a certain age most actors would find the gruelling schedule too much. Sure, none of them are old, but (bar two, one of whom is very unlikely now) they're all got at least 6 years on David Tennant now, never mind when they'd start (in a year-ish) or finish (four years at least, one would hope). Still, s'always fun to speculate!

Neil Gaiman exclusive! Part 3 by Jayne Nelson
(from SFX)
The third part of SFX's Neil Gaiman interview (the clue's in the title), in which he discusses the possibility of him writing for Doctor Who, as well as some general thoughts on the series as a whole and what he might've done with it. Also includes a funny comment from Steven Moffat.

Preacher Set for the Big Screen by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
After years of films-almost-getting-made and TV-series-almost-getting-made, I won't believe this til it goes before the cameras. That said, the existence of adult comic adaptations like Watchmen could help things along, especially if that's a success.

The latest on Ross/Brand can be found here and, especially, here.

a typically intelligent perspective

Normally I'd just bung this in today's Articles post, but it makes too much sense, so here it is by itself:

Welcome to the Blander Broadcasting Corporation by Mark Lawson
(from guardian.co.uk)

"while there is no defence for the incident, there's cause to worry that the rumpus will prove damaging to larger parts of broadcasting than the careers of Brand and Ross. After each of the recent public controversies over BBC programme... broadcasters and producers at the BBC have noted a reduction in courage, a paranoia among managers about making another mistake... The making of editorial policy at the corporation consists largely of padlocking doors that have just opened... And so, inexorably, all shows will be forced to become safer and blander."

"...it's a terrible mistake to impose a single tone or set of guidelines on thousands of different shows. As society becomes increasingly fragmented - containing, for example, older people who never swear and younger ones who never stop swearing - universal rules become increasingly futile. The fact that only two of Brand's actual listeners are reported to have complained about the original broadcast reminds us that definitions of acceptability vary widely among audiences, and the BBC's ability to compete will be greatly reduced if all are held to the same standard."

"...It still seems improbable that the BBC will permanently remove one of its most popular broadcasters, and the fact that the programme was recorded rather than live will make it hard to argue the presenters were finally responsible. But, once a prime minister gives backing to a newspaper witch-hunt, the momentum for dismissal can become unstoppable... Were the BBC to now sack Ross, he would probably be rapidly taken on by commercial broadcasters, or even by the networks of Rupert Murdoch, whose newspapers have been calling for his head."

Too true.

suspensions, resignations, and iPlayer nonsense

Ross suspended for three months
(from BBC News)

A relatively sensible step, especially with it being these three months -- March to May wouldn't seem a long time, but October to January will seem an age, what with all the fuss of Christmas and New Year. Hopefully it'll be long enough for people to calm down and gain a sense of perspective.

However, I dislike the controller of Radio 2 resigning. I always hate it when people are forced to resign over something they weren't even involved in, just because they're the highest person in the chain. It's also a stupid concept -- she made a mistake (well, she didn't, but for the sake of argument...) which she could learn from and be careful not to do again; her replacement has made no such error, leaving them more open to do the same / something else more easily, unaware of the early signs of where things are headed.

Back to Ross: amusingly, if you search iPlayer for "Jonathan Ross" or "Film 2008" or what have you then any programme featuring him seems to have been pulled. However, search the BBC's site more generally, and they can still be found. (That doesn't guarantee they still work however, as episode 8 won't play for me. I'm just glad I got round to watching the Daniel Craig interview before the show was removed!)

It also seems all his shows have been entirely cancelled. While it's understandable that Friday Night With... has been cancelled (as it's very much "The Jonathan Ross Show") I hope they can find an alternate presenter for Film 2008 -- people don't watch that for Wossy, they watch it for info on films, and removing it because the regular present is suspended wouldn't be in viewers' interests.

As with this week's big Who news, this has finally managed to garner some moderately-prominent coverage on US sites like IMDb too.

extended David Tennant / Lizo Mzimba interview

David Tennant to Leave Doctor Who (did you know?)

A much extended version of the Lizo video interview from yesterday.

Also features a somewhat natty 50-second trailer for The Next Doctor, including glimpses of the Cybershades in action.

And also -- "Tennant Steps Down As Doctor Who" is the #1 news story on IMDb. IMDb! That's American!

Oh, and something else I forgot to mention: I'm having a good old laugh at all the people who took Tennant's throwaway comment that Moffat was his new boss (made on a series four commentary track heard by reviewers on advance copies -- that'll look especially outdated when the set eventually hits stores next month!) as confirmation he would definitely be in series five. Fools!