TV

Colditz
1x02 Missing, Presumed Dead
Having spent episode one introducing us to a collection of characters and how they landed themselves in Colditz -- without a single scene at the titular prison -- episode two now jumps back to England to start again with a new chap. It certainly seems an unusual way to structure a series. And the number of scenes set in Colditz this episode? None, again.

Downton Abbey
1x06 Episode Six
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Dragons' Den
What Happened Next 5 Theo Paphitis [season finale]

Due South
1x04 Manhunt [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Poirot
12x02 Hallowe'en Party
ITV chose to air this on Wednesday. Much more appropriate today, I feel.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Articles

Johnny Cash comic hits iPhone, iPad by Mark Langshaw
(from Digital Spy)

the App scans the user's device for music by the late country and Western star to accompany each scene.

Ooh, that's clever then.

TV

Lots today, including Sarah Jane guest starring the Doctor. But first...

Colditz
1x01 The Undefeated
Apparently Colditz hasn't been shown on UK TV for 15 years, and next month's DVD release is the first time it's been out on DVD too. And there I was thinking it was popular. Still, it makes it understandable why Yesterday have made such a fuss about this repeat run, currently showing weeknightly at 10.
Episode one (which actually features no scenes whatsoever at the titular prison) is very of its time in terms of pace and style. Though that's not necessarily a bad thing -- look how much I loved The Sandbaggers, for instance -- it'll take a few more episodes for it to settle in and for me to decide what I really think.

Due South
1x03 Diefenbaker's Day Off [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
40x03 (28/10/10 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
3x03 The Blood On His Hands
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow
2x06 Leeds [season finale]
Please make it 45 minutes again! Everyone was very good tonight, but all were cut off far too quickly.

The Sarah Jane Adventures
4x05 Death of the Doctor Part One
4x06 Death of the Doctor Part Two
I think it's safe to say this is the story everyone's been waiting for (and I'm sure it got higher ratings because of it), as the new Doctor meets not only Sarah Jane but also another former companion, Jo Grant, and Russell T Davies writes for the 11th Doctor for the first time.
And it certainly paid off, both in excitement and emotion -- Sarah Jane's speech at the end, about the fates of other companions, was (for this Who fan, at least) incredibly moving. It also ably proves why a) all Who fans should be watching SJA, and b) why, for all the Moffat-love, RTD's departure is a loss to the series.
[Watch parts one and two, or a compilation of both, on iPlayer.]

TV

The Event
1x01 I Haven't Told You Everything
1x02 To Keep Us Safe
It feels like this has come in for quite a lot of flack, but personally I quite liked it. It's not the greatest start to a series ever, this is true, but while the writing, acting, etc, aren't exceptional they are fine -- which is more than FlashForward managed most of the time. I was also more engaged and intrigued than I was by Lost, plus it seems to have potential for on-going stories (something else FlashForward really lacked). So, we'll see... though the way the US viewing figures have tailed off (almost halving since the pilot) doesn't bode well for long-term success and/or renewal.
All that said, the SUV that could apparently travel as fast as a plane was ludicrous.
[Watch I Haven't Told You Everything and To Keep Us Safe (again) on 4oD.]

The Graham Norton Show
8x01 (22/10/10 edition)
Graham moves into the Wossy slot, but fortunately they haven't messed around with the format of his show. Super.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Living Free (1972)
[#111 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.

Several DVD-to-Blu-ray upgrades fiddle the stats this week; a few more are on their way to do the same next time too.

Number of titles in collection: 1,227 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,101 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 126 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 3,008 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,296 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,280 [no change]

Statistic of the week:

Number of double-dips:
119

With (as noted) several DVD-to-BD upgrades this week, I was curious just how many titles I've upgraded (i.e. double-dipped) in my collection. This number represents the number of times I've re-bought something I already owned, be it on DVD or BD, whether I kept the previous edition or not.

Incidentally, my most-dipped title is -- surprisingly, as I'm not especially a horror fan -- The Evil Dead. Not only that, but I still own all the copies I bought. (For the curious: my first copy was the fabulously packaged "Book of the Dead" Edition, my second a trilogy box set, and my third a box of banned films that happened to include The Evil Dead. Thanks to the trilogy set having two copies of the film (in its original fullscreen and cropped widescreen forms), I actually own four copies of it.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Dave's One Night Stand
1x02 Jack Whitehall
Despite the fact I usually loathe Jack Whitehall, this was rather good all round, particularly the songs by one of his guests.
[Watch it (again) on Dave's website. The first episode, starring Ben Elton, is also available.]

Dragons' Den
What Happened Next 4 Deborah Meaden
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Rob Brydon Show
1x01 (17/9/10 edition)
Still resolutely watching these entirely out of order. I don't think it really matters.
Who'd've thought Brydon's duets with Tom Jones would be so... good? He's surprisingly musical.

Films

Born Free (1966)
[#109 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
[#110 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Articles

Nolan: Dark Knight Rises finds the future in IMAX, not 3-D by Geoff Boucher
(from Hero Complex at the Los Angeles Times)

[It won't be in 3D because] we want the look and feel of the film to be faithful to what has come before... Our ambition for the third movie is to complete a story that has begun. This is not starting over, this is not rebooting. We're finishing something, and keeping a consistency with what's come before has real value.

Good point. Can someone please tell this to Peter Jackson before The Hobbit starts shooting?

Talking of which...

Peter Jackson explains Hobbit casting by Naomi Rainey
(from Digital Spy)
Richard Armitage does seem odd casting for a four-foot-tall stocky dwarf, but I can see where Jackson is coming from -- most of the lead characters are dwarves, so some variation amongst them makes sense.

TV

Band of Brothers
Part Six Bastogne [2nd watch]
This is one of the episodes that most sticks in my memory (as I may've mentioned, I haven't watched the series for almost a decade, so that feels a little significant). It was, naturally, another very good instalment.

Film 2010 with Claudia Winkleman
Episode 2 (20/10/10 edition)
In many respects, Film 2010's 8-year-old blogger should've been the best person to talk about Back to the Future. But then it's more than two years old, so I guess he refuses to watch it. (Thank God he didn't, incidentally. I hope he's gone now...)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Just Good Friends
1x02 Hello Again

Law & Order: UK
3x07 Anonymous [season finale]
Another good, strong episode for the season finale. I think L&O has improved a bit this series.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Mad Men
4x07 The Suitcase
Even by Mad Men's consistently high standards, this was an exceptionally excellent episode. Awards all round, please.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Podcast

Radio Free Skaro
#221 2 Entertain or Not 2 Entertain
Doctor Who-related podcast, which this edition has a lengthy interview with Dan Hall, commissioning editor (i.e. Man In Charge Of) the classic series DVD releases. If you're interested, be sure to skip straight to the interview (starts at 20:06, to be precise) -- the opening twenty minutes are an irritatingly waffley discussion of Sarah Jane Adventures and other really boring waffle about Who news, which simply proves some podcasters still need to learn how to edit -- and also that they really should edit.
As for the interview itself, as a Who fan and DVD fan I found most of it rather reassuring. There's a lot of discussion about things that feel irrelevant or don't need going over (it opens with a massively overlong chat about the syncing up of the US & Australian release schedule with the UK one), but the stuff on future Revisitations sets, the possibility of more animated episodes, the release of Shada and the possible potential for Blu-ray is all interesting.

Articles

Christopher Nolan reveals title of third Batman film and that ‘it wont be the Riddler’ by Geoff Boucher
(from Hero Complex at the Los Angeles Times)
While the title isn't the most exciting proposition -- The Dark Knight Rises -- I'm glad they won't be using the Riddler. He's different to the Joker, of course, but I was concerned that he'd be too similar to the way The Dark Knight used the Joker to really work as a different-enough villain. Personally, Catwoman seems the most obvious choice to me, but we'll see.
In even better news, though, it won't be in 3D! Hurrah! Here's hoping it'll all be in IMAX -- I likely won't be able to see it on an IMAX screen, but the IMAX segments of The Dark Knight look so amazing on Blu-ray that I want to be able to see it there.

TV

Band of Brothers
Part Five Crossroads [2nd watch]

Russell Howard's Good News
3x01 (21/10/10 edition; extended repeat)
In a Good News rarity, this edition's stand-up -- Jimmy McGhie -- was actually quite good and likeable. Wonders never cease.
Even better, they've finally started putting the extended version on iPlayer. I would say "well done" but, well, I'm not sure it's good to congratulate someone for something they should've done a long time ago.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Story of England
Part 4 Peasants Revolt to Tudors
"That the Pope of Rome is Father Antichrist, and false in all his workings, a false extortioner, and a deceiver of the people"
True today, of course, but written in the early 1400s. Seems people of the past were always more progressive than we think...
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Whites
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

Ronald D. Moore on Why Galactica Steered Clear of ‘Technobabble,’ Aliens by Lisa Grossman
(from Underwire at Wired)

I can’t tell you how many messages I’ve gotten that say, “I’ve watched this episode three times, and I hate it more every time I watch it.” Well, that’s a fan.

A spot-on description of sci-fi fans.
The whole article's interesting for anyone who likes Battlestar Galactica, though be warned it has some huge spoilers towards the end.

TV

Ask Rhod Gilbert
1x04 Episode 4
I think I must've misunderstood something: I thought Russell Kane was a comedian, but I've seen him on several programmes now and it's not just that I don't find him funny, the studio audiences never seem to laugh either.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Band of Brothers
Part Four Replacements [2nd watch]

Due South
1x02 Free Willie [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss
Part 2 Home Counties Horror
Mark Gatiss' excellent personalised history of horror films continues into the '50s, '60s and '70s with the rise and fall of Hammer horror, not to mention other British, British-inspired and gothic horrors. Plus, 'folk horror' films, a term Gatiss seems to have coined (at least, that was the impression the programme gave), covering the likes of Witchfinder General, The Wicker Man and Blood on Satan's Claw.
The series is so good, it's almost a shame it's so short and focused -- a couple more episodes dealing with pre-Universal horror and where the genre has gone in more recent years (as I believe tonight's final part only covers US horror in the '60s and '70s), done with the same level of insight and quality, would be most welcome.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Spooks
9x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

New Eighth Doctor costume revealed by Chuck Foster
(from Doctor Who News Page)

Considering he now exists solely on audio, and therefore in stories of dubious canonicity and outside the mass public consciousness (arguably, even outside mass fan consciousness), the reveal of a new costume for the 8th Doctor might just be considered an irrelevancy. Or, if like me you still love McGann's incarnation, it's a little bit interesting and perhaps even exciting.

I like where they've gone with it -- it echoes the TVM costume while being new, though the bag seems unnecessary. The retro sonic screwdriver is also nice -- it would fit neatly with the TVM-stlye console room, I feel.

Still, there's no denying this revisionism comes too late. Back when Big Finish did their second 'season' of 8th Doctor audio and the promo photos had a shaven-headed McGann, I felt they should've officially restyled the 8th Doctor with short hair and a more modern costume... more-or-less exactly the look the new TV series gave Chris Eccleston just a few years later, in fact. At this point, it's rather a last-ditch attempt to drum up more interest and make the 8th Doctor's adventures still feel current -- which Big Finish naturally want to do, as he's the most recent Doctor they're allowed to use.

TV

Band of Brothers
Part Three Carentan [2nd watch]

Downton Abbey
1x05 Episode Five
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Have I Got News For You
40x02 (21/10/10 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Just Good Friends
1x01 After All This Time

QI
8x06 Happiness (extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Sarah Jane's Alien Files
1x02 Episode 2
I'm warming to this a bit now... but perhaps that's because I watched it while wrapping some presents, which it happened to be the perfect length to cover.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Film / Theatre

Oklahoma!
A filmed version of the late-'90s West End revival, directed by Trevor Nunn and starring Maureen Lipman and a pre-X-Men Hugh Jackman.

this week on 100 Films

6 (six!) new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

The Band Wagon (1953)

In this behind-the-scenes musical, Fred Astaire plays Tony Hunter, a slightly washed-up star of stage and screen. One can’t help but wonder if his performance has an autobiographical edge. It’s of no concern to the viewer though, because he’s as wonderful as ever.

Brigadoon (1954)

The Scottish accents are appalling, the costumes and setting gratingly twee, the Highlands recreated entirely on a soundstage... But the ill-conceived cast, costumes and studio-bound setting begin to pale under the charm of Gene Kelly and the machinations of the plot. Even the Scottish accents, though consistently dreadful, eventually become less irritating.

Gigi (1958)

a film about largely horrid people doing morally dubious things. It begins with an elder gentleman singing Thank Heaven for Little Girls; not because they bring a youthful joy to old age, but because they’re a constant source of new young ladies for him to have affairs with — he’s a dirty old man really.

Grindhouse (2007)

Rodriguez packs every scene with at least one element you should expect from this style of cinema: graphic blood-spurting violence, horrific mutations, vicious zombies, over-the-top logic-light gunfights, entirely random explosions, clichéd dialogue, stock characters, extended shots of the female form… Have I missed anything? If I have, it’s probably there too.

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

at times it reminded me of Pride & Prejudice, albeit a version with much of the dramatic tension removed. For instance, Austen’s tale spends a long time creating a bad impression of Mr Darcy, only to eventually reveal his (mostly) good intentions. St. Louis manages all of five minutes in which the Darcy-ish character is suspected of having done something dastardly before the truth is revealed.

Witchfinder General (1968)

it’s more like an historical action-adventure [than a horror film], with soldiers dashing around the countryside, horseback chases, bar brawls, ambushes and the occasional sword fight.

More next Sunday.

TV

Argumental
3x10 (19/10/10 edition)
Poor Ben Miller -- he did really well and didn't win once.

Band of Brothers
Part Two Day of Days [2nd watch]

Merlin
3x07 The Castle of Fyrien
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
24x01 Episode 1
So Mark Ronson made for a pathetically weak host, which I suppose was to be expected. It just goes to show, reading aloud from an autocue requires more talent than you'd think. That Paul Foot guy was surprisingly good though.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Sarah Jane Adventures
4x03 The Vault of Secrets Part One
4x04 The Vault of Secrets Part Two
[Watch parts one and two, or a compilation of both, on iPlayer.]