TV

Downton Abbey
2x01 Episode 1
2x02 Episode 2
Episode 3 went out tonight -- about time I got caught up with ITV's ratings juggernaut.
The new series begins about two years on from where the last one left off, which is nice because it means things get a wriggle on and there's lots to find out. Indeed, for a genteel Sunday Night drama, Downton moves through plot points at a surprising lick. Criticisms levelled at some of the blunt dialogue or soapish plotting aren't misplaced, but it's good fun as much because of that as anything else.
And then for episode two, we get a handy marker telling us it's now April 1917. Thank goodness for this and I hope it continues -- I was rather surprised, and then bemused, when last year's finale suddenly revealed two years had supposedly passed during the course of the series (when it had felt like months, at most).
[Watch episodes one and two (again) on ITV Player.]

The Great British Bake Off
2x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Centurion (2010)
[#82 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]

this week on 100 Films

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

The House on 92nd Street (1945)

On the one hand we have a double-agent spy thriller, which has a noir-ish tinge but isn’t the most representative film of the genre; on the other, a fairly factual look at the contemporary workings of the FBI. Many of the smaller parts were played by real FBI agents and a lot of time is put into showing how they really work and investigate a case. At the time I imagine this was a fascinating procedural; now, we’re all a bit more familiar with how such things go, but it still works as an historical document.

Valley of Fear (1983)

The negatives of the previous films still remain, primarily the weak ’80s TV animation. It’s not as badly designed as the bright-and-colourful version of Baskervilles, at least. O’Toole’s performance is nothing to write home about either.

Plus we're now in October (dear God, where did the year go?!), so there was also the update for September.

More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
32x13 The Wedding of River Song [season finale]
I don't know about you but I guessed most of the twists in this episode, including how the Doctor survived, what the eyepatches were for, and what The Question would be. But that doesn't matter one jot because, as with all the best stories, this was about far more than just what the twists were. It was rollicking good fun, in fact. Just a shame we'll have to wait another year -- at least -- to find out the ultimate significance of said Question.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who Confidential
6x13 When Time Froze [series finale]
So that's it! Goodbye Doctor Who Confidential -- your quality level may have been inconsistent, but you will be missed.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Jonathan Ross Show
1x04 (24/9/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Merlin
4x01 The Darkest Hour Part One
Ooh, it certainly is dark this year, isn't it? And a bit too stuffed with slow-mo, actually. Following Doctor Who could have made it look bad, but actually it held up decently enough.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless
5x22 (27/9/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Comics

2000 AD #1748
Crikey, I've got massively behind on 2000 AD. I blame all those New 52s I've been reading. If anyone still cares (if they even did in the first place), the ECBT 2000AD reviews for this Prog are here, here, here, here and here.
Next Prog, all the stories that began with my first issue end, so I'll offer some thoughts on my first batch of 2000 AD tales then.

All Star Western #1 by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti & Moritat
Probably my most anticipated comic in DC's New 52, and luckily it lived up to my hopes. More when I publish my big review post of all the books I've read (so far), which I think will be on Monday.

Batman: The Dark Knight #1 by David Finch & Paul Jenkins
This seems to have been the most criticised of the four Batman-starring books. What did I think? See above.

Articles

Don't put your daughter on the stage Mrs Worthington... by Bethany Black
(from Bethany Black)
Following yet more criticism of Mock the Week not featuring enough female panelists, a working female stand-up outlines why it's if anything over-representative of women in her profession. It's a lengthy article but one that's definitely worth a read if you're interested in that world. It also has something to say about those kind of people who don't adjust their view to fit the facts, but bend the facts to fit their view.

My Next New Beverly Season: ‘Films Edgar Has Never Seen’ by Edgar Wright
(from edgar wright here)
Director Edgar Wright is scheduling a season of films he's never seen. Never mind that, though: the best part of this is where he talks about how it's OK to have not seen certain films for whatever reason, despite the one-upmanship common among film fans. "I am a firm believer that it’s never too late to enjoy a movie," he writes, "I see filling in the gaps in my film knowledge as a lifetime pursuit." Too true.

Sherlock meets Doctor Who trailer

This is exceptionally well put together...

TV

Perfect Couples
1x04 Perfect Health
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

QI
9x03 Imbroglio (XL edition)
[Watch QI XL (again) on iPlayer.]

Wilfred
1x04 Acceptance

Comics

Aquaman #1 by Geoff Johns & Ivan Reis
Another book I read digitally but now intend to buy in print and get at least an issue or two more of. More thoughts when I do my end-of-issue-1s wrap-up, soon (I know they're all out, but I haven't received all of mine yet). For some detailed thoughts, there's always CBR's review.

Daredevil #3 by Mark Waid & Paolo Rivera
Slightly damp squib of an ending. At least it explains who that villain is, but that means pages and pages of exposition-fuelled nattering. The final fight on a busy road sounds a good, visually dynamic idea, but I felt there was little sense of where the fight was taking place -- it may as well have been down an alley or something. Still, the closing pages, and the new setup for how Matt can defend people without being in court, work well. The CBR review has the complete opposite view on the book's two halves, however. I take their point about a sound-based villain being a perfect idea for a Daredevil story, but I didn't care for how he was used.
Also this issue, in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 9/11 is a strip called Moment of Truth by Bill Jemas and Mark Bagley, based on the story of a Marvel employee's father, excerpted from a previous collection. It's a moving tale told without words. Great tribute.

Articles

The DC Comics New Reader Litmus Test: The New 52 Week 3 by Josie Campbell
(from Comic Book Resources)

Comparing their issues to watching only the first ten minutes of a television show, no one felt they received a fully rounded and complete story, and all were disappointed with how short their issues were.

And that, I think, is one of current comics' problems with appealing to new readers: they want a sizeable chunk of story for their $3-one-a-month. Not unreasonable, that. Considering how popular serialised TV shows are now, I don't think people would necessarily object to a story that didn't completely resolve in one issue, but I think they want to feel they got "an episode of TV" rather than "one sixth of an episode of TV".

(For the first two parts of this experiment, look here.)

Collection Count

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

Absolutely no change this week, for the first time in exactly a year (must be something about this time of year, I guess).

Next week: some additions. Hopefully.

Number of titles in collection: 1,386 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,139 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 247 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 3,433 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,466 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,162 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Billy Connolly's Route 66
Episode 2 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Outnumbered
4x05 Episode 5
Twists! Cliffhangers! Not what you expect from Outnumbered, really... but it's still brilliant. And Karen may just be the best sitcom character ever. Her "oh Jesus" on seeing Angela was perfect.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
5x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Comics

Batgirl #1 by Gail Simone & Ardian Syaf
A book I've grabbed a bit later, because it's proved one of the best-selling and apparently-popular of DC's relaunch. Personally I didn't quite latch on to it. It felt a lot briefer than the other books I've read so far, for one thing -- the CBR review puts it best: "it feels like Batgirl #1 has barely gotten moving full steam ahead when we get to the cliffhanger". Exactly how I felt. Perhaps, however, that my chosen reading format was part of the problem: whereas I've read the rest (so far) in print, this was in digital, and I think I perhaps didn't savour the art and storytelling as much because of it.

Batwoman #1 by J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman
This one was scheduled to kick off long before the New 52 were announced (indeed, an issue #0 was published almost a year ago) and was highly anticipated. I'd also heard reports it was therefore hard to get into for new readers, presumably because it hadn't originally been intended as a complete jumping-on point. It's OK, though the backstory that's half-explained could do with greater explanation. Also read digitally; good enough that I'm going to re-buy and re-read in print, I think.

Articles

Dear DC Comics, by Michele Lee
(from Michele Lee)
There's been a lot of controversy surrounding the depiction of women in some of DC's relaunched comics. Here, a 7-year-old manages to get a better handle on what's wrong than the people at DC have (who just advised "look at a book's rating before buying"). It's certainly worth a read as a demonstration of how simple this is... yet DC seem unable to grasp it.

New 52 Pickup | Week 5 — decision time! by Steve Sunu
(from Robot 6 at Comic Book Resources)
The final summation of DC's 52 new #1s, ending with Sunu picking the 26 he'll buy #2 for. Except he only picks 25 -- the 26th is up to readers. Gasp!

Star Trek: The Next Generation is Coming to Blu-ray in 2012 by Angie Han
(from /Film)

In order to release the Blu-rays in high-definition, CBS dug up the original film negatives — over 25,000 reels — and edited them to match the original episodes precisely. Special effects were recreated, rather than upconverted from video tape. The end result will be all 178 episodes in high-definition 1080p, with 7.1 DTS Master Audio.

Crikey!

We will "save good television" say Doctor Who Confidential campaigners by Tim Glanfield
(from Radio Times)
RT interviews the anonymous person behind @SaveDWC.

TV

The A to Z of Crime
Episode 4 MNOP (of 6)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Pointless
5x20 (23/9/11 edition)
5x21 (26/9/11 edition)
Christ almighty that pair of cackling chatterboxes (in the second of these episodes) were annoying. Thank goodness they made it to the final so I don't have to suffer them again in the next episode! Never have I been so glad that just two people remembered an answer, or that a name the contestants misremembered turned out to be pointless. (I'm cruel, I know.)
[Watch the 23/9/11 and 26/9/11 editions (again) on iPlayer.]

Wilfred
1x03 Fear
Yeah, it may be five weeks since I last watched this (feels longer), but I hadn't forgotten it, no.

Articles

DC Comics: Bad at Math by David Willis
(from Shortpacked!)
Short comic that demonstrates why, for all its successes, some of the (controversial) moves in DC's New 52 are doing nothing at all to help the cause of boosting comic readership; indeed, they may be actively hindering it.

Doctor Who Confidential Axed by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
"Scrapped due to cost cutting measures. See, this is what happens when you moan about the license fee". Disappointing news. I know I've moaned about Confidential's quality, but overall it's a pretty good show. Plus, it makes up the vast majority of nuWho's DVD extras. What are we likely to get in its place? Nothing, I'd wager.
If you want to try to save it, there's @SaveDWC on twitter and a petition here.

In Defence of: Doomsday by Fergus Burke
(from The Movie Bit)
Not the Doctor Who episode, or one of any number of other things with that title, but the 2008 Neil Marshall film. As the article so rightly puts it, though Marshall's "film's rank fairly highly on the internet site Rotten Tomatoes, one is continuously shit on. Can you guess which?" Yes, this one. I've not seen it, but I do have it on DVD (story of my life), and this goes some way to reigniting my interest in seeing it.

The Wolverine script rewrite explained by Hugh Jackman by Mark Langshaw
(from Digital Spy)
To summarise: "We've got the best script we ever had, but a less-acclaimed director than the one we used to have is working on it now and he wants to put his own stamp on it."

TV

Mock the Week
10x09 (22/9/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless
5x19 (22/9/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
[#81 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]

Comics

Batman #1 by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo
One of the few New 52 books to receive a resounding five stars from CBR, I'm not sure I was quite as taken with the book, but it does have a good setup (much more new-reader-friendly than Batman and Robin) and an intriguing plot.
Shame about the change of cover, though. The atmospheric original is on the left, the cartoony released one on the right. Click to enlarge.

Daredevil #2 by Mark Waid & Paolo Rivera
I would say CBR's 4-star review sums up most of my thoughts, though also note how may references it makes to past storylines -- potentially problematic for any new reader, and while I got by with much of it I had no idea I should/could have recognised the villain(s). Hopefully their pre-existence won't be too key to the story, then...

Articles

Doctor Who: The Complete Series Six Boxed Set confirmed for 21st November by Chuck Foster
(from Doctor Who News Page)
Only four audio commentaries this year? They're getting worse. I remember when the nuWho box sets were world-beaters: commentaries for every episode, Doctor Who Confidential Cut Downs, additional featurettes... Now we still get the shortened Confidentials, but they're quarter-length rather than half-length, a vastly reduced number of commentaries, no extra behind-the-scenes extras... We do get some new mini-episodes written by Moffat himself, but if they're anything like the online prequels or the two shorts on the previous box set, they're barely worth bothering with. Why not record more commentaries? How hard can it be to re-package some of the material from Confidential into extra featurettes in addition to the cut-down episodes? It just reeks of missed opportunities.
I do like those lenticular prints, though -- I hope there's a Blu-ray version too. Just a shame you have to get that nasty Silence-head cover to have them.

Photography and Contempt of Court by David Allen Green
(from New Statesman)
You may have heard the news story about the teenager jailed for two months simply for taking a photo in a courtroom. "A ridiculous overreaction!" was basically the tone of most reports. This, however, shows why you shouldn't believe everything you read: there's more to the story, and the sentence isn't so ludicrous after all.