Saturday 10 October 2009

TV

The Graham Norton Show
6x01 (5/10/09 edition)
Worries that Graham would be neutered by his move to BBC One prove to be unfounded, thankfully, but the show has been affected in other ways. Primarily, the number of guests: yes, he technically had two in 30 minutes before, while this new format is 50 minutes; but the uncut editions lasted 45 and worked fine with two guests, so upping the number to four just crowds things. Jonathan Ross has lots of guests because he simply interviews them; Graham does lots of silly audience things and other asides, and they're lessened by the too-many-guests issue. Maybe things will settle as the series progresses...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

House
5x20 Simple Explanation
The one in which you-know-who does you-know-what (if you've seen it, you'll surely remember; if not, I won't spoil it). It's another in a run of beautifully complex episodes for House -- complex in terms of its regular characters and their lives rather than the Case of the Week. Again, it marks this year out as an exceptional one for the series. Also worth noting in this episode is the way it's been shot, gaining an unusually cold, grey palette after Foreman and Thirteen discover... well, you know.

Films

Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982/2007)
[#58 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Numbering this may be bending the rules slightly (I've seen the 1992 Director's Cut before). But come on, this is Blade Runner -- in its final form after 25 years! The rules are justifiably bent.

DVD Extras

Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner
[1st half]
At just over 3½ hours long, this is a seriously in depth look at the making of Blade Runner, found on disc two of both the DVD and Blu-ray releases (in each case, the disc's a DVD). You'd think at that length it would be complete, but the five-disc editions of the film include the same again in further featurettes and interviews -- not to mention the four audio commentaries, 46 minutes of deleted scenes and five cuts of the film.
The four segments that make up this first half cover screenwriting & funding, casting, pre-production (with a focus on design) and some of the filming and atmosphere on set.

Fiction

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein - Book Three: Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz
Chapters 51 - 56
Pieces move into place as the final end draws near. They do an awful lot of moving into place though...

Articles

Barry Letts (1925-2009) by Anthony Weight
(from Doctor Who News Page)
Sad news indeed as one of the key figures in the history of Doctor Who passes away (ironically, the same day as his autobiography was announced). Letts worked on Who as a director, producer, writer, executive producer, novelist and DVD commentator, and in his time guided the programme through significant change in the Jon Pertwee era, helped create Sarah Jane Smith, and cast Tom Baker in the lead role. His influence can't be underestimated.