TV

Argumental
2x07 (13/10/09 edition)
Series two resumes after a five-month gap (as suspected). Rufus Hound made an argument that certainly showed he has some balls (ho ho!)

FlashForward
1x03 137 Sekunden
I can see why this episode prompted TV.com to suggest we all just give up on FlashForward now. It's riddled with so many holes, inconsistencies and plain old flaws of logic that I don't even feel capable of listing them here. Disheartening.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Generation Kill
Part 2 The Cradle of Civilization
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

House: An Insider's Guide
Sky1's attempt at a season six preview. Bit of nothing, really.

TV

FlashForward
1x07 The Gift
FlashForward in good episode shocker! Finally, an answer... of sorts. Still had more than its fair share of dodgy moments though.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

House
6x07 Known Unknowns
Sky1 catches up with the US showings this week, apparently, so I guess we're headed for a Christmas break too now. Which just reminds me that 24 Day 8 must be starting in January, and I've still not seen Day 7. Oops.

TV

10 Minute Tales
Episode 3 Ding Dong
Episode 4 Let It Snow
Episode 2 The Walkers
Episode 6 Dog Alone
Ohhh, they're all Christmassy themed! And all about a man & a woman in some way!
(Note the ridiculous typo in the URL for Dog Alone, which makes its episode page impossible to find without searching Google.)

FlashForward
1x09 Believe
FlashForward is, on the whole, still A Bit Rubbish, but this episode's main plot is actually quite good and sweet. Just a shame we have to suffer the on-going stories in the middle of it.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

TV

...sings The Beatles
Culled from the BBC's extensive archives, a selection of Beatles covers from across the decades. They ranged from truly great to truly bizarre, but at least were never less than interesting -- just like the group being covered then.

The Beatles On Record
A rather nice documentary (as in good, not saccharine), covering the Beatles' work album by album. It largely leaves aside the oft-covered hype and media reaction that permanently surrounded them, and instead focuses solely on the music, a surprisingly rare occurrence for such a documentary. Another welcome rarity is the choice of narrators: the only voices we hear (aside from the odd reporter or somesuch) are the Beatles themselves, plus producer George Martin. No other voiceover narration to guide us through the 'story', no semi-qualified semi-famous (for now) people offering their semi-interesting opinion (and that's being generous) -- just the Beatles themselves, looking back on their own work. It's this undiluted, well-informed focus that makes this such a worthwhile effort.

See also the BBC's Beatles Week page.

FlashForward
1x02 White To Play
Fans of 24 with a good memory for the names of guest stars may've had fun with this episode. Not wishing to give too much away, but the actor in question was excellent at a similar role in 24, so that bodes well here. As does the developing mysteries, though the constant reminders and flashbacks of things we've already seen are too heavy-handed. Please, FlashForward writers, assume your audience has some memory.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

House
5x12 Painless
It's funny: in the early days of House most of the regular characters were a tad bland and even add to differentiate, with the clinic patients and Mystery Ailment Of The Week providing most of the humour and drama. Now, however, the 'main' plot takes a backseat (in the interest stakes at least) to the developing character arcs. This isn't a criticism, just an observation -- House now is a surprisingly different show to the one it started out as.

TV

FlashForward
1x10 A561984 [midseason finale]
And FlashForward returns in... Christ, I dunno -- ages. Maybe it'll get better...
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

How I Met Your Mother
3x20 Miracles [season finale]
Surprisingly, nearly caught up with E4 now (though only cos they switched from "every weeknight" to "every Thursday").

Survivors [2008]
2x01 Episode 1
After an unsatisfying first season finale, Survivors returns with a bang: loads of info about the shady organisation barely glimpsed previously, lots of other character and plot advancement (well, sort of), and some truly epic sequences on deserted city streets and in a collapsing hospital -- very impressive effects work there as well. Next week also looks heavy on arc plot -- maybe Survivors is shifting from a largely "encounter of the week"-based format into a more serialised one? Ideally, I hope they can strike a better balance between the two.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

FlashForward
1x21 Countdown
It's quite hard to feel any sympathy for the breakdown of Dem & Zoe's engagement, considering she's been an unlikeable pussy-whipping bitch throughout. Good riddance to her, in fact. Indeed, FlashForward routinely fails on all emotional fronts -- the supposedly moving scene between Mark and Charlie was a particularly weak and over-sentimental example in my opinion.
Still, only one more ep to go, and then we'll have all the answers we're ever going to have.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

You Have Been Watching
2x06 (20/5/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

TV

FlashForward
1x14 Better Angels
FlashForward in almost-a-good-episode shocker! (Maybe the "almost" is a tad unfair. But the Benfords do grate rather.)
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

TV

FlashForward
1x17 The Garden of Forking Paths
This episode was on a few weeks back, but it's quite funny to watch it having just heard about FlashForward's cancellation: it contains the first obvious hints at the producers' seven-year plan, with the revelation that "The End" (of the world, presumably) will occur in December 2016. Something we'll now definitely never see. But hey-ho, we don't have to sit through the 132(ish) episodes it would take to get there.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

You Have Been Watching
2x05 Best of the Bastards
(If the attentive among you are wondering where episode four got to, it was the election night special. You can watch it, by itself, on 4oD.)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

TV

FlashForward
1x15 Queen Sacrifice
FlashForward is definitely improving. It's fixed one of it's biggest flaws: previously, every episode just meandered on a bit with the series arc. Now, it offers up a self-contained story per episode that feeds into the overall story, as well as continuing it. This is what other arc-centric shows like 24 and Lost have always done, even when their on going plot has been the focus for most viewers, so it's good to see FF finally realise this.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

The Graham Norton Show
7x04 (3/5/10 edition)

[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

FlashForward
1x05 Give Me Some Truth
FlashForward hits new heights of lunacy with a Big Dramatic Shoot-Out set to some chart-bothering pop-rock. Except it's '80s chart-bothering pop-rock. I just can't tell if it's meant to be a comic bad-'80s-movie-style gunfight or if the producers actually thought this was a cool idea. Either way, it just seems laughable for all the wrong reasons.
Oh dear.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Have I Got News For You
38x03 (30/10/09 edition; uncut repeat).
[Watch it (again) 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.]

TV

FlashForward
1x18 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
More flashback-driven twists! Intrigue-tastic.
I'm almost beginning to like FlashForward now, which is sod's law considering it's been cancelled. Alternatively, maybe it's because I know it's All Over in just four more episodes that I don't mind so much.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

The Graham Norton Show
7x06 (17/5/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Russell Howard's Good News
2x08 Best Bits (extended repeat) [season finale]
Mostly hilarious, though the extended repeat's stand-up was a single routine, one so bad I'd actually wiped it from my memory (but I had seen it before -- I eventually remembered).
Also included in the extended version were some new bits cut from the series, including a selection of particularly funny montages. I would've linked directly to them on iPlayer, but for no known reason the BBC still insist on not putting the extended show up. Bastards.
[Watch the whole episode (shorter version only) on iPlayer.]

Articles

FlashForward fans for 'blackout' protest by Mike Moody
(from Digital Spy)
As fan campaigns to bring back TV shows go, this is a nicely original but very relevant one. Well done FlashForward fans.

Sex and the City 2: What happened to good old Sex? by Victoria Coren
(from Comment is free at guardian.co.uk)
An interesting, humorous take on the widely-despised sequel, which finds it to be "the most radical and challenging film of the year".

TV

FlashForward
1x22 Future Shock [series finale]
After spending most of the series not being too fussed about it -- indeed, I've criticised it often enough -- the mystery-packed cliffhanger ending has left me wishing they'd got a second series. Damn you, FlashForward!
That said, I won't miss Mark Benford one bit.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

TV

FlashForward
1x08 Playing Cards with Coyote
Funny, I assumed all the men had the three-star tattoos from the get-go, making that a total non-twist. Ho hum, nothing out of character for FlashForward in that.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

The Graham Norton Show
6x08 (23/11/09 edition)
Yes, last week's -- the 'Welsh Special'.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
3x07 Dowisetrepla

TV

Doctor Who
8x01 Terror of the Autons Episode One

#bbbDW50 moves on to the Third Doctor today, with the second of three stories I've never seen. It also has the distinction of being the best-regarded story I've never seen… of those three. It came 51st on DWM's Mighty 200, leaving it overall the 6th highest-rated story we'll be watching during this project.

So far we've had the Daleks and the Ice Warriors, and here we get the Autons and (in his first appearance) the Master. Not every story in this season features a well-known or returning villain, but I've done a fair job of including most of the main ones -- this is a celebration of the series' history on its golden anniversary, after all. Which others will turn up before we're done? Well, that's a surprise.

This is also the first story for Jo Grant, who of course popped up in The Sarah Jane Adventures a few years ago. Again, my choices partly keep in mind my co-viewer, often showing them the origins or earlier versions of things they'll be familiar with from the new series (and, obviously, its spin-offs).

It's a great introduction for all these new characters too, with both Jo and the Master making their mark from the off. It's a funny one to jump into from the black and white era -- when Who went colour it didn't do it by halves: this is full-on vibrant and psychedelic, from the Doctor's outfits right on down.

It's a pretty cracking tale too, as you'd expect from writer Robert Holmes, although the direction (by producer Barry Letts) is spoof-level awful. One shot in particular sees Jo's face obscured by a prop, at which point the camera slowly and 'subtly' tries to correct the angle so we can see her... except she really is badly hidden, so it keeps trying again... and again... That's on top of numerous instances of poorly-chosen close-ups (showing an actor who isn't talking, then cutting away as soon as the one you're watching begins to speak) and an over-reliance on blue screen (aka CSO), which I guess was New and Exciting at the time (there are more 'virtual sets' here than we have nowadays!)

Ah well, it's all good fun.


Friends
1x12 The One with the Dozen Lasagnas [goodness-knows-what-th watch]


The Newsroom
2x02 The Genoa Tip
I guess I'm not alone in not so much watching the story as playing "guess how it'll all go wrong!" That's what happens when you open your series with a flashforward showing that it's all going to go wrong...

TV

Baking Made Easy
1x06 Time to Bake [final episode]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Due South
2x17 Red, White or Blue [2nd watch]

Episodes
1x06 Episode Six
Surprised to find this reaching its series-opening flashforward near the start of the penultimate episode -- I'd assumed it'd be this one's ending, or somewhere in the finale. It's quite nice when a TV programme manages to genuinely surprise you in a good way.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Outcasts
1x03 Episode 3
I've read Outcasts gets better as it goes on. While it has its moments -- as it has since the start -- there's not yet any sign of significant improvement.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Yugo the Negotiator
1x04 Hero
Yugo continues its steady improvement with the kind of style I often like: a serial drama where each episode works as a standalone segment of the tale too. Here, Yugo has been captured by the terrorists and must prove his worth before negotiations can begin. The series also employs a technique used to Grown Up Clever Series like Mad Men: we're given individual scenes subtly furthering other plot threads with minimal explanation -- if you don't know what's going on they're a meaningless aside. That might sound obvious -- of course it's how you tell a story -- but, actually, many series wouldn't dare let them pass with so little explanation of what we're seeing.

TV

FlashForward Trailer
I'd vaguely heard of this before, but didn't realise it was being pitched as such a Big Thing until now. It certainly looks mystery-packed and promising, and one can only hope it lives up to the hype, but the real question is: will the main story be solved in one season a la Heroes, or far too many, a la Lost? Only time (or, y'know, a decent creator interview) will tell.
(Incidentally, it's just been announced that in the UK it will air on Five and its associate channels.)

Mock the Week
7x03 (23/7/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Taking the Flak
1x01 Bigfooting
A strong start for this African-set war-based news sitcom, which seems to have been buried in the schedules for no good reason. That said, perhaps trimming this hour-long opener down to the regular length of 30 minutes might've kept the joke-rate higher. Nonetheless, a lot of promise, so fingers crossed it can deliver.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

FlashForward finale: Did advance planning do more harm than good for the show? by Lynette Rice
(from Hollywood Insider at EW.com)

Steampunks gather for Great Exhibition by Mark Ward
(from BBC News)
It's funny how older stories sometimes turn up in BBC News' "most popular" list, like this rather cool one from the end of March.

TV

FlashForward
1x04 Black Swan
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Life
Part 2 Reptiles and Amphibians
Crikey this looks stunning in HD.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Life On Location
Part 2 Chasing the Dragon
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Russell Howard's Good News
1x01 (22/10/09 edition, extended repeat)
Faintly topical, rather lewd, very BBC Three.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]