TV

The Armstrong & Miller Show
3x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Coronation Street
6/12/10 edition 1
6/12/10 edition 2
I don't normally watch soaps (as I'm sure you've noticed), but this is Corrie's Big Dramatic Tram Crash Week -- including The Live Episode -- so I thought it might be worth a go. Turns out, soaps are about as good as I think they are (i.e. not very), but the crash itself was rather good.
[Watch both episodes (again) at the above links.]

The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
3x07 Red Hot
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Fiction

Star Trek: Countdown by Mike Johnson, Tim Jones & David Messina
Number Two (of Four)
See, I hadn't forgotten... I just don't get round to these things very quickly.

TV

Due South
1x23 Letting Go [2nd watch; season finale]

The Event
1x08 For the Good of Our Country
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Graham Norton Show
8x06 (3/12/10 edition)
Ugh.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Robert's Web
1x02 (3/12/10 edition)
I think it's fair to describe the quality of this as "...mixed".
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Films

Surrogates (2009)
[#118 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Collection Count

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

Nearly Christmas now -- which hopefully means a big jump in numbers, of course -- but, me being me, that doesn't mean I've stopped buying things. This week's lot includes another "Complete Series" Blu-ray set, hence the big jumps in discs and TV episodes. Lovely.

Number of titles in collection: 1,247 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,096 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 149 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 3,093 [up 43]
Number of films in collection: 1,319 [up 5]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,472 [up 120]

Statistic of the week:

Number of titles rated 12:
188
(15.1% of the total)

I've now covered titles rated U, PG, 15, 18 and those unrated, so that only leaves the 12s. (And a bunch of foreign ratings where I only have a handful in each, but shh.) So, job done!

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Due South
1x22 Victoria's Secret Part 2 [2nd watch]

Live at the Apollo
6x02 (2/12/10 edition)
Lee Mack's everywhere at the minute: he hosted HIGNFY the other night, he hosted this (which is last week's), and he's the host of tonight's (i.e. not the one below) Buzzcocks. Madness.

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
24x07 Episode 7
Oh my lord, that might just be the worst episode of Buzzcocks ever. Tim Westwood is a horrid person and an appalling host. How does he have a career?!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

It's a Dog's Life by Michael Morpurgo & Patrick Benson
Lovely.

TV

Due South
1x21 Victoria's Secret Part 1 [2nd watch]

Mad Men
4x13 Tomorrowland [season finale]
Low-key, even by Mad Men's standards. Previous seasons have ended with cliffhangers or big changes; despite Don's sudden engagement, I wouldn't say this had either. Not as enticing for next year as the season three finale was, then, but Mad Men is always worth watching.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Miranda
2x04 A New Low
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Story of England
Part 6 Victoria to the Present Day [final episode]
Taking my usual style of watching at the last possible minute to the extreme with this one: I downloaded it on the last day it was available from iPlayer, then at the end of the 30 days you have to watch a download I played it, in order to buy an extra seven days in which to watch it. Today (of course) is day seven.
Amazing how time flies, too -- doesn't feel like five weeks (or, long enough to re-run the whole series at one a week) since I watched the previous episode.

Fiction

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus
Chapter Two in which Owl does a crossword, and a Spelling Bee is held
While these are quite good, I can't help but feel they're a bit over-written -- Milne's stories weren't quite so lengthily detailed, I swear. Plus, isn't "Spelling Bee" an Americanism? Certainly feels like one. Tsk.

TV

Due South
1x20 Heaven and Earth [2nd watch]

Have I Got News For You
40x08 (2/12/10 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
3x06 Pink Chanel Suit
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

QI
8x11 Highs and Lows (extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

The Wolfman: Unrated Version (2010)
[#117 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

TV

Due South
1x18 The Deal [2nd watch]
1x19 An Invitation to Romance [2nd watch]
BBC Two have taken a break from their Due South repeats this week, for some sport or other, which is fortunate for me because I'm about 8 episodes behind.

TV

Due South
1x17 The Blue Line [2nd watch]

House
7x07 A Pox on Our House

The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
2x03 Episode 3

The Rob Brydon Show
1x06 Centenary Special [season finale]
This may just be the oddest episode of a chat show ever, set (yes, it has a special setting) decades in the future, with a 100-year-old Brydon looking back at his first series all those years ago in 2010. What this means in practice is a few highlights and lots of outtakes from the other five episodes, but it's certainly an unusual -- and, in fairness, entertaining -- way of presenting them.

Strictly Come Dancing
8x21 Week 10 Results (aka Movie Night Results)
More film-inspired routines, hurrah. Also, farewell to the dancer the 2010 series will surely be most remembered for.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

The Outrage (1964)
[#116 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

this week on 100 Films

2 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

The History Boys (2006)

Nicholas Hytner’s film of Alan Bennett’s play, about a group of unlikely ’80s grammar school boys trying out for Oxbridge, sticks with a Bennett screenplay and the original West End/Broadway cast. However, it succeeds in not being very stagey — to the credit of Bennett’s screen adaptation and Hytner’s direction, I should imagine.

Total Recall (1990)

the joy of Total Recall is in discovering another ’80s blockbuster (ignore the fact it was released in 1990), the kind of thing I grew up watching on rented videos and BBC One Bank Holiday schedules, whose practical effects and general style and tone vividly recalls that era for me

Plus, as you've undoubtedly noticed, it's now December, which means the November update went up this week too.

More next Sunday.

TV

Colditz
2x12 Death Sentence
2x13 Liberation [series finale]
And so that's that. The title of the final episode probably gives a fair idea of what happens.
And while that's all well and good, the series ends the moment they all leave Colditz -- a fitting final image, maybe, but this is the series that began with three whole episodes set outside the camp. It might have been nice to see some of the characters return home, particularly Lt. Carter, who's spent much of the series missing his wife. With so much time passed (the series began after Dunkirk and ends at the end (more or less) of the war), it would have been nice to spend half an episode or so seeing how things have changed for these men when they get back home. Plus, on a more personal note, I wouldn't've minded a bit more time given to the ending of my favourite character, Hauptmann Ulmann. Can't have it all.
But hey-ho -- these things aside, it was rather good.

Have I Got News For You
40x07 (25/11/10 edition; extended repeat)

Merlin
3x13 The Coming of Arthur Part Two [season finale]
Good finale, I thought. I like that it doesn't feel the need to end on a cliffhanger. They can be effective, but I can't help but feel too many series resort to them. Wrap things up for a bit! Also, nice amounts of the myth cropping up now. I wonder if we'll see Arthur fully installed as King for a season or two before the producers' five-year plan comes to an end...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Miranda
2x03 Let's Do It
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

QI
8x10 Health and Safety (extended repeat)
XL repeats skip two episodes to come back in sync with BBC One. Just in case you were trying to keep track.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Strictly Come Dancing
8x20 Week 10 (aka Movie Night)
I'm usually in the room when Strictly's being watched, but rarely or barely watch any of it myself. Movie Night's a different beast though, what with being a film fan, and I found it all rather entertaining. Except Gavin Henson. But Matt Baker's Austin Powers was particularly spot-on.
[Watch it (soon) on iPlayer.]

Articles

How to design a Hollywood poster: just add sparks by Ali
(from TheShiznit.co.uk)
It's funny because it's true.

Collection Count

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

Except last week, which fell apart due to an abundance of real-world commitments and an equal abundance of new titles. And not just any new titles, but a complex array of (mostly last-minute) BD-to-DVD upgrades -- things like a "complete series" set with four seasons replacing the three individual seasons I had; or BD-to-DVD upgrades where I may or may not be keeping the original DVD. For instance, despite the number of titles only going up one, there are seven new titles in my collection this week.

It all sounds trivial -- and ultimately, it is -- but it still required working out.

Number of titles in collection: 1,242 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,096 [down 6]
Of which Blu-rays: 146 [up 6]

Number of discs in collection: 3,050 [up 10]
Number of films in collection: 1,314 [up 6]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,352 [up 19]

Statistic of the week:

Number of Digital Copies:
Continuing my recap of early stats of the week, here's one from exactly a year ago again.

The number stands at 16, up 6 from last year (actually up 7, but I just upgraded a DVD that had a digital copy for the Blu-ray that doesn't). That means 1.3% of my collection has one, which is up 0.4% on last year -- more digital copies around then, but still hardly a significant number.

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Colditz
2x11 Chameleon
As the Allies approach and German defeat seems increasingly inevitable, Major Mohn finally gives up hope in the Third Reich and tries to strike deals to save his own skin. Of course, as the most hated man in Colditz, he soon finds he has no friends -- indeed, only outright enemies -- on both sides. A long-awaited tearing down ensues, though it seems he has escaped... for now...

The Event
1x07 I Know Who You Are
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Graham Norton Show
8x05 (26/11/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Robert's Web
1x01 (26/11/10 edition)
New Internet-based comedy -- a panel show without any panels, if you will -- hosted by Robert Webb. Do you see what they've done with the title? Do you?
Yes, well, the show itself is better than that.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Articles

Disney will set sail for Pirates of the Caribbean 5 & 6 back-to-back by Drew McWeeny
(from Motion Captured at HitFix)
Because that produced such high-quality cinematic delights last time round. On the other hand, they did make a ton of cash.