TV

The Graham Norton Show
28x12 New Year's Eve Show
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Last Leg
20x09 The Last Leg of the Year [2020]
Apparently the last time I watched The Last Leg was over five years ago. It doesn't seem to have changed much.
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2020 ep6 Durham v Downing, Cambridge
Christmas 2020 ep7 New College Oxford v Reading
Christmas 2020 ep8 Semi-Final 1
Christmas 2020 ep9 Semi-Final 2
[Watch this series (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Yesterday, I set a record for the highest number of new films I've watched in a year. But today, I'm just trying to make sure December 2020 doesn't fall short of my goal of 10 new films per month...

Death to 2020 (2020)
[#264 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Does this count as a film or a "TV special"? Netflix have well and truly blurred the line at this point — so I'm going with "Film", because I need it to reach my target.

Minions 3D (2015)
[#263 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

Not Going Out
11x00 Resolutions [special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2017)
[#261 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Under the Skin (2013)
[#262 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Blindspot 2020 #12 (i.e. the last one — hurrah!)

Films

Tenet (2020)
[#260 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
+ several featurettes from the film’s special features (8 out of 13, to be precise); mainly ones about how they achieved depictions of time running simultaneously forwards and backwards

Films

Presto (2008)
[2nd watch]
Saw this in the cinema before WALL-E with my mum, but she couldn’t remember it so we pulled it up on Disney+. She still didn’t remember it, but it is bloody good.

Soul (2020)
[#259 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

this week on 100 Films

There was just my final pre-Christmas monthly TV column over at 100 Films in a Year this week...





More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

This would've been a running time update, but I've pushed it to next week to cover the yearly totals. I'm not currently expecting anything between now and next week, but you never know (especially with my procilivity for caving to sales).

Number of titles in collection: 2,509 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 1,081 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,428 [up 7]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 93 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 6,438 [up 10]
Number of films: 2,886 [up 8]
Number of additional cuts: 203 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,982 [no change]
Number of short films: 807 [up 4]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2020
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Dad's Army
7x06 Turkey Dinner [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got 30 Years for You
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Morecambe and Wise Show
The Lost Tapes Episode 1 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Russell Howard Hour
4x15 The Big Issues [special]

University Challenge
Christmas 2020 ep5 UCLAN v Loughborough
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories —
Part V: Christmas Adventures edited by David Marcum
The Stolen Relic by David Marcum
Not sure how I feel about the religious, supernatural aspect of this story, but it gave it a suitably seasonal aspect, at least.

TV

Blankety Blank
Christmas Special
I'm always up for a revival of Blankety Blank (the last one was on ITV in 2016), and this is no exception. It was pitched as a Christmas one-off, but I would imagine they'll be more if it was a hit.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mrs Brown's Boys
Mammy of the People [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Strictly Come Dancing
18x18 2020 Christmas Special
Unable to do their usual Christmas special, Strictly resorted to a viewer-voted countdown of the 25 best dances from the show's history — which, in many respects, made for a more entertaining special than usual.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Wheel
1x05 Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

And also...

La La Land (2016)
[final 20 minutes]
I'm counting this in the TV section rather than Film because we only caught the last 20 minutes on BBC Two before calling it a night for Christmas Day (so it's not a proper, i.e. full, rewatch). But I have to mention it anyway because, my God, what an ending! And what a remarkable, strangely fitting capstone to this most unusual Christmas.

Fiction

The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories —
Part V: Christmas Adventures edited by David Marcum
The Adventure of the Missing Irregular by Amy Thomas
The Adventure of the Knighted Watchmaker by Derrick Belanger

These were both pretty good, I thought. Glad to see the collection picking up.

TV

Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomine for Christmas
Very silly, of course, but all in the right spirit. There's a slightly extended version also available on iPlayer, so I might (re)watch that at some point. [Watch the BBC Two edit (again) on iPlayer.]

Ghosts
2x07 The Ghost of Christmas [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse
Sometimes, I count TV movies as movies for 100 Films. And sometimes, I don't. Maybe I should be more consistent on this...

University Challenge
Christmas 2020 ep4 Nottingham v Sheffield
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Upstart Crow
4x00 Lockdown Christmas 1603 [Christmas special]
Apparently it's been two years since the last episode of Upstart Crow, which amazed me when I realised it because, well, it doesn't feel like it's been that long. I have nothing more insightful to add to that — it's just weird.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two (2020)
[#258 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
A proper Christmas film for Christmas Eve Eve.

Die Hard (1988)
[5th watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #45. Another proper Christmas film for Christmas Eve Eve.

Fiction

The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories —
Part V: Christmas Adventures edited by David Marcum
The Case of the Ruby Necklace by Bob Byrne
The Jet Brooch by Denis O. Smith

Every Christmastime for the past five years, I've intended to actually read this collection. In 2016 (when it was published and I bought it), I actually started it... but only managed the introductions (of which there are five! Slightly excessive, I feel), and first piece, a poem, of which my only comment was "oh dear". This time, I re-read the intros, but skipped the poem.

Sadly, the first story didn’t give me any more confidence about the quality of these pastiches — it’s scattered with blatant Americanisms and bits of prose that are on the surface adequate but lack refinement. It’s also not a particularly engaging or remarkable mystery; and the Christmas setting is entirely incidental and not even atmospherically evoked. Either this is just a misguided way to start the collection, or it really shows just how special Doyle’s writing was (or perhaps the kind of authors who focus on pastiching someone else’s characters are at the same level as self-published internet fan fiction, even when they appear in a professional-looking printed volume).

Fortunately, the second of these stories was considerably better; not without issues (the climax, where everyone is happy to blurt out every little detail with only the mildest prodding) was a little lacking in stylistic nuance for my taste, but the mystery, its investigation, and its solution were all neat enough.

There are a total of 31 pieces in the book, which would be perfect for filling December — if one started it on time, which, obviously, I did not. Let's see how much further I get before the season ends and reading these feels inappropriate...

TV

The Goes Wrong Show
2x00 The Nativity [Christmas special]
The BBC list this as being in "series 2" but don't give it an episode number, so I'm assuming (hoping) it counts as a special and that means there's six more episodes on the way — because the more the better, in my opinion! Quite how they keep coming up with so much pure hilarity from what sounds like it should be an easily-exhaustible concept is beyond me.
[Watch it (again and again) on iPlayer.]

Small Axe
Lovers Rock
[#247 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
This has been appearing on "best film of the year" lists — it was Sight & Sound's #1, even. I... had a very different reaction. I'm not a fan. [Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Ghosts
2x06 Perfect Day [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

His Dark Materials
2x06 Malice
2x07 Æsahættr [season finale]
Some have thought this second series boring, but I mostly enjoyed it — the benefit of watching it all in just six days, perhaps. Apparently the third (and final) series isn't yet officially commissioned, but I really hope we get it. [Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]

Staged
1x06 The Cookie Jar [2nd watch; extended]
[Watch the extended episodes (again) on Netflix.]

The Vicar of Dibley
...in Lockdown Episode 3 (of 3)
Because of its bitty, sketchy nature, I'm sure this series of three short episodes will work just as well as a single half-hour compilation — especially as that contains extra material (to run 34 minutes vs the three parts' total of 27). Wish I'd just waited now...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2019/2020 Episode 10 (of 10)

Ghosts
2x05 Bump in the Night
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

His Dark Materials
2x05 The Scholar
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

It'll Be Alright on the Night
34x04 (19/12/20 edition)
I know bloopers are pretty much lowest-common-denominator comedy, but they can be funny. Not this selection, though — this was dire.
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Staged
1x04 Bara Brith [2nd watch; extended]
1x05 Ulysses [2nd watch; extended]
[Watch the extended episodes (again) on Netflix.]

The Vicar of Dibley
...in Lockdown Episode 2 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

7 new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


The 100-Week Roundup XV

Featuring...
- The Other Side of the Wind
- Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero
- Paper Moon
- Hitchcock/Truffaut

Read more here.


A Christmas 100-Week Roundup

Featuring...
- The Christmas Chronicles
- The Man Who Invented Christmas
- A Christmas Carol

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Ghosts
2x04 The Thomas Thorne Affair
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

His Dark Materials
2x04 Tower of the Angels
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Neil Brand's Sound of TV
1x03 The Score [series finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Richard Osman's House of Games Night
1x05 Episode 5 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Staged
1x03 Who the F#!k is Michael Sheen? [2nd watch; extended]
[Watch the extended episodes (again) on Netflix.]

The Vicar of Dibley
...in Lockdown Episode 1 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Just two new additions this week — quieter than normal as of late, but not every week can be a big one (they certainly shouldn't all be!) They're both 4K, which is nice — I'm almost at 100 titles on the format. I won't get there this year now, so we'll see just how quickly 2021 gets me to it.

Number of titles in collection: 2,502 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,081 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,421 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 91 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 6,428 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,878 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 203 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,982 [no change]
Number of short films: 803 [up 5]

Next week's update will include whatever I get as Christmas presents, so that's 50/50 on whether it'll be a big haul or just a modest addition. See you then, faithful reader.

TV

Ghosts
2x03 Redding Weddy
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off
11x10 The Final [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x10 Episode 10 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

His Dark Materials
2x03 Theft
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Leverage
1x03 The Two-Horse Job

Staged
1x02 Up To No Good [2nd watch; extended]
[Watch the extended episodes (again) on Netflix.]

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2019/2020 Episode 9 (of 10)
I'll never understand the Beeb's scheduling of Celebrity Mastermind: they show almost all of it daily around Christmas, but then let the last few episodes peter out well into the new year — this "Christmas 2019" episode didn't air until March 2020, and the series didn't finish until April! The upcoming 2020/21 series is extended (14 episodes instead of 10), so that'll probably end up running 'til next summer...

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x09 Episode 9
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

His Dark Materials
2x02 The Cave
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Leverage
1x02 The Homecoming Job

Staged
1x01 Cachu Hwch [2nd watch; extended]
If you didn't know, Netflix has an extended version of this BBC lockdown hit — there's about 29 minutes of new material spread across the six episodes, which is a fair old chunk (equivalent to almost two whole extra episodes, given the original-cut episodes’ short running time). Hence why I'm now rewatching it: because it was good and I'd like to see the extra stuff. Plus, there are new episodes coming in January, so it's a good time for it.
[Watch the extended episodes (again) on Netflix.]

TV

His Dark Materials
2x01 The City of Magpies
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Leverage
1x01 The Nigerian Job

TV

Ghosts
2x02 About Last Night
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Richard Osman's House of Games Night
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Smiley’s People
Part Six (of 6)

TV

The Good Place
4x13 Whenever You're Ready [series finale]
A surprisingly emotional finale. I'm gonna miss this crazy gang.
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off
11x09 Patisserie Week
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Smiley’s People
Part Five (of 6)

TV

The Good Place
4x11 Mondays, Am I Right?
4x12 Patty
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

Neil Brand's Sound of TV
1x02 Advertising and Jingles
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Smiley’s People
Part Four (of 6)

this week on 100 Films

Just one post on 100 Films in a Year again this week, and it wasn't even a film review. Must try to rectify that soon...





More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

11 new additions this week, one an upgrade from Blu-ray to Blu-ray, which makes for a net total of 10 — and that means I land on exactly 2,500 titles in my collection! Mindboggling. In just a couple of weeks, we'll find out exactly how many of those were added this year — it's felt like rather a lot...

Number of titles in collection: 2,500 [up 10]
Of which DVDs: 1,081 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,419 [up 9]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 89 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 6,424 [up 12]
Number of films: 2,876 [up 10]
Number of additional cuts: 203 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,982 [no change]
Number of short films: 798 [up 6]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Good Place
4x10 You've Changed, Man
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x08 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Smiley’s People
Part Three (of 6)

Who Dares Wins
12x06 (3/8/19 edition)

TV

Ghosts
2x01 The Grey Lady
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Good Place
4x09 The Answer
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

Smiley’s People
Part Two (of 6)

TV

Ghosts
1x06 Getting Out [season finale; 2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Good Place
4x07 Help Is Other People
4x08 The Funeral to End All Funerals
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

Smiley’s People
Part One (of 6)

TV

Elementary
7x12 Reichenbach Falls
7x13 Their Last Bow [series finale]
So, that's the end of that. The last episode kind of felt just like a series of fakeouts, with a bit of an inconclusive final beat (the episode title is far from accurate), but hey-ho.

Ghosts
1x05 Moonah Ston [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Good Place
4x06 A Chip Driver Mystery
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off
11x08 Dessert Week
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

TV

Baptiste
1x06 Into the Sand [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Elementary
7x11 Unfriended

The Good Place
4x05 Employee of the Bearimy
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

Films

Agatha and the Midnight Murders (2020)
[#256 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

Baptiste
1x05 Lucy
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Good Place
4x04 Tinker, Tailor, Demon, Spy
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

TV

Baptiste
1x04 Vertrouwen
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ghosts
1x04 Free Pass [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Good Place
4x03 Chillaxing
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off
11x07 1980s Week
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Richard Osman's House of Games Night
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

As 2020 races towards its conclusion, it was time for the penultimate monthly review of the year at 100 Films in a Year this week...





More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

Even as we head towards Christmas, I'm still growing my collection, with seven new additions this week (one a DVD-to-BD upgrade).

Number of titles in collection: 2,490 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,080 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,410 [up 7]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 88 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 6,412 [up 8]
Number of films: 2,866 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 203 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 8,982 [no change]
Number of short films: 792 [up 7]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Baptiste
1x03 For Blood
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Elementary
7x10 The Latest Model

The Good Place
4x01 A Girl from Arizona Part 1
4x02 A Girl from Arizona Part 2
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Richard Osman's House of Games Night
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Sound of TV with Neil Brand
1x01 Theme Tunes
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Baptiste
1x02 Measure of a Man
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ghosts
1x03 Happy Death Day [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off
11x06 Japanese Week
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Richard Osman's House of Games Night
1x01 Episode 1
This daytime quiz was such a hit during lockdown that they've given it a primetime evening variation, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's quite good fun, with a nice degree of play-along-at-home-ability.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Baptiste
1x01 Shell
Instead of a third series of The Missing, they created this spin-off for its hero detective, in which the detective who previously searched for a missing person now… searches for a missing person. Hmm.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

TV

Elementary
7x09 On the Scent

Ghosts
1x02 Gorilla War [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off
11x05 Pastry Week
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Films

Klaus (2019)
[#255 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]