TV

Gilmore Girls
5x19 But I'm a Gilmore!

TV

Cracker
1x02 The Mad Woman in the Attic Part 2
Ah, proper intelligent drama. Despite what some people would have you believe, we do still get stuff this good on TV these days, it's just rare... as rare as it surely was back then, I'm certain.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

QI
6x05 France (extended edition)
"We've invaded Britain. LOL." "O.M.G."
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

ITV Stockwell drama draws just 1.4m by Neil Wilkes
(from Digital Spy)
"A one-off drama based on the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes pulled in just 1.4 million viewers to ITV1... Stockwell, recreating the controversial chain of events leading to de Menezes' death at Stockwell tube station in July 2005, pulled in just 1.39m... ITV was beaten by all other terrestrial channels over the period, including Five, which enjoyed an audience of 2.1m for Wesley Snipes thriller movie The Contractor." Ha, how pitiful! Clearly they misjudged people's interest there then.

New Skins pulls in 833,000 by Neil Wilkes
(from Digital Spy)
"The third series of the teen drama, which introduced an almost entirely new cast, averaged 665k [with] an additional 169k on E4+1. The figures are down around a third on the premiere of series two, which managed 1.06m and 237k... The first series premiered to 1.48m." Oh dear oh dear. Or, alternatively, oh yes oh yes!

Ross sparks new row with 'OAP sex joke' by Daniel Kilkelly
(from Digital Spy)
Note how DS report this fuss over nothing (no, it really really is this time), but haven't bothered to mention that:

Ross TV return is watched by 5.1m
(from BBC News)
Ha!
"Ross's last chat show in October before his suspension was watched by 3.74m."
Double ha!

TV

Demons
1x03 Saving Grace
"You can't smite your way into Luke's heart." Yep, dialogue doesn't get any better than this.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Eurovision: Your Country Needs You
Episode 4 (of 5)
It's the semi-final! Already! Considering how most TV 'talent' contests sprawl out to the length of an American TV season these days, I suppose we should be thankful that this is so incredibly -- and, let's be honest, mercifully -- short.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
16x01 (23/1/09 edition)
Hurrah, he's back! With a pleasantly long opening applause from the audience and, if you ask me, just the right degree of apologising and making light of things. Sachs' family can sod right off at this point. Asking Tom Cruise about breaking wind clearly shows he's not toned it back completely (even if, at times like that, I'd rather he had). All things considered, a fairly triumphant return, if you ask me.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
5x18 To Live and Let Diorama
Woah, sudden-time-jump-catch-up-with-events-through-snatches-of-conversation-tastic! A technique that should not be done too often, I feel -- I seriously thought we'd accidentally skipped an episode.

Hunter
Part 1 (of 2)
Part 2 (of 2)
The pair of detectives from Five Days are back -- there just part of a large ensemble cast, here the leads in a new mystery. Quite what inspired this I don't know, but inspired it is, because Hugh Bonneville and Janet McTeer are brilliant, and thankfully devoid of most cop show cliches (he shaves! he drives a proper modern car! and so on). The story itself is also suitably unusual. Pray a full series follows.
On an incredibly trivial note, the title credits were very swish -- especially the lovely bit where, after the lead's names, it said "Return"... which then 'unscrambled' itself into "Hunter". Cleverness!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Sutherland: '24 movie may be set in UK' by Lara Martin
(from Digital Spy)
Says star Kiefer Sutherland, "we didn't have a really strong audience, it took us a long time to build in the States, whereas the show took off [in Britain] right away... It was the success of the show here in England that allowed us to continue working in the States, until we built up an audience... When we have talked about doing a film, which will take place after the series has finished, England has always been a part of that discussion." Whoo!
Also in this article: "The eighth and final season is scheduled to begin filming later this year." "Final"? Hadn't heard that before. I knew an eighth was commissioned, but that by no means it's "final" -- most US TV is commissioned year-by-year anyhow. As DS cites no sources, and they're hardly the world's (or even the country's) greatest journalists, I'll take this with a pinch of salt til I see confirmation.

Sachs's daughter blasts Jonathan Ross by Daniel Kilkelly
(from Digital Spy)
Sachs doesn't like Ross; but he's moved on. His family can't seem to let go. Please, your time in the limelight is over, so just sod off you stupid cow.

TV

Cracker
1x01 The Mad Woman in the Attic Part 1
I never really thought I'd be grateful for the existence of ITV3, but, thanks to them, I'm finally getting to see Cracker (having only previously caught the 2006 special).
Directed by Michael Winterbottom -- he who would go on to make the likes of Jude, 24 Hour Party People and 9 Songs -- it starts off looking much more like a film than a TV drama, which is especially exceptional for 1993. It's also engrossingly written, justifying all the praise that surrounds it, though in an age where every TV cop has some kind of emotional/home life issue, the amount of time spent focussing on Fitz's gambling/drinking/marriage is a bit irritating at times.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Gilmore Girls
5x17 Pulp Friction

Films

No Country For Old Men (2007)
[#5 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
We watched most of this in a seminar today, making it from beginning to end in an hour and a half, including pauses for discussion -- and it's a two-hour film. As most will surely agree, this isn't the ideal way to first see a film, so I felt duty-bound to sit down and watch it properly this evening. (So I guess this is kinda "1.5 watches"...)
Reviews are shockingly behind at 100 Films, so lord only knows when this'll turn up there.

Poem of the Week: The Raven

by Edgar Allan Poe

Having skipped a week (oops; but I've been busy!), Poem of the Week is merrily back now (obviously). And it's also one week out of date, as watching Vincent last week made me want to post this.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor", I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door —
            Only this, and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; — vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore —
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore —
            Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me — filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door —
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; —
            This it is, and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you" — here I opened wide the door; —
            Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!" —
            Merely this, and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice:
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore —
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; —
            'Tis the wind and nothing more."

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door —
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door —
            Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore —
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
            Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marveled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning — little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door —
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
            With such name as "Nevermore."

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered — not a feather then he fluttered —
Till I scarcely more than muttered, "other friends have flown before —
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
            Then the bird said, "Nevermore."

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore —
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
            Of 'Never — nevermore'."

But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore —
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore
            Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er,
            She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then methought the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee — by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite — respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
            Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! — prophet still, if bird or devil! —
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted —
On this home by horror haunted — tell me truly, I implore —
Is there — is there balm in Gilead? — tell me — tell me, I implore!"
            Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil — prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us — by that God we both adore —
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore —
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
            Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend," I shrieked, upstarting —
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! — quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
            Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
            Shall be lifted — nevermore!

First published in January 1845. I can't say the following for most poems, but as this is Poe it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise: you can find a surprisingly detailed article on this piece at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (and font of all knowledge).

If you want, you can also hear the poem read (in two different versions) at Wikisource. However, I should point out that the first one has one of those slight-but-irritating voice impediments (and the accent to go with it), and the second is read by someone from Stuttgart. You may think the German accent goes well with the content, I don't know -- personally, I found it surprisingly apt... mostly... -- but it's worth nothing.

TV

Gilmore Girls
5x16 So... Good Talk

There's very little going on round these parts at the minute because I've been busy working on a big pile of essays for my Masters. Things should return to normal shortly however, with plenty of TV catching up to do.

Articles

24 writers use T-shirts to improve show by Ben Rawson-Jones
(from Digital Spy)
"I walked into the writers' room in the first month or two and they were all wearing T-shirts that said 'Season Six' on them just to remind themselves. So there was definitely a concerted effort to bring it back." Dear God, I hope they've succeeded. I'll find out once I can begin catching up -- five episodes to watch already!

C4, Five beat ITV, BBC in 9pm slot by Neil Wilkes
(from Digital Spy)
Well, I never!
One thing I particularly hate about Digital Spy is their insistence on using US-style headlines. You're British for Christ's sake! "C4 and Five beat ITV and BBC in 9pm slot", thank you very much.

Tarantino confirms new Kill Bill by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
No, not Vol.3, but The Whole Bloody Affair -- and about time too!

U2 album cover called "rip-off" by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
Bloody U2.

Oh, and the Oscar noms were announced today too. But I'm sure you didn't fail to miss that.

TV

Lark Rise to Candleford
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Sandbaggers
2x05 It Couldn't Happen Here

The Secret Life of Elephants
Part 2 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Argumental
1x11 (19/1/09 edition)

President Obama: The Inauguration
...as the BBC's coverage dubbed it; it's probably officially known as "The Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America", or somesuch.
The BBC had a slightly irritating tendency to natter over bits of the ceremony. Not the most important bits, granted, but not 'nothing' bits either.
[Check out BBC News' full online coverage of the inauguration here. The programme itself should be coming to iPlayer soon.]

Films

Serenity (2005)
[5th watch]
Now that's a gorram good film. Would rather watch this than Star Wars any day. Haven't actually seen it since it was on the big screen, at my uni's cinema society (when I saw it twice, back-to-back) -- the best part of three years ago now!
Oh how I wish they'd make a sequel.

TV

QI
6x04 Fight or Flight (extended edition)
What's the point in watching the Friday night broadcast when there's an extended one on the next day that's also available on iPlayer? (Well, it was extended on the iPlayer on the telly.)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Having a lot of work to do in a very short space of time (12,000 words by next Friday) means one thing: lots of time procrastinating. And the easiest way to procrastinate is reading things on the Internet. So a whole load of articles today -- and these are just the most interesting.

Though, first, some very sad news...

TV presenter Tony Hart dies at 83
(from BBC News)
Who didn't watch at least one Tony Hart-fronted show in their time? (Well, the very young, the elderly, and foreigners, but still.) The BBC have a full obituary here.

On to other news... (Stay tuned til the end for all the juicy goodness.)

Jericho feature in the pipeline by Sarah Rollo
(from Digital Spy)
Aiming to follow the Firefly / Serenity model, I wager. While Jericho's fanbase is dedicated, I doubt it's quite as dedicated as Firefly's was. But we shall see. If it even gets made, that is.

Legal downloads swamped by piracy
(from BBC News)
While legal downloads have increased -- "a 25% rise since last year with downloads now accounting for a fifth of all recorded music sales" -- they're still swamped by the illegal (more relevant to consumers, "free") kind -- "95% of music downloaded online is illegal". To bung some basic maths on that, almost 80% of all music acquired is acquired illegally!

The pre-owned gaming debate by Liam Martin
(from Digital Spy)
I'm not much of a gamer any more, but this is nonetheless an interesting feature on the impact of the sales of pre-owned games on the industry. Occasionally written like a poor student essay ("So far, both sides of the business spectrum have been examined, but what about the consumers?"), it still has some interesting quotes and things to say -- basically, buying pre-owned feels good for the consumer, but it could kill the industry.

And be sure to look here for all today's TV news.

Articles: TV news

Heroes 'will start from scratch'
(from BBC News)
"Heroes is returning to its roots in a bid to turn round falling audience figures in the US. Creator Tim Kring said series four will start "pretty much from scratch", after fans criticised a lack of direction in the second and third series." But then, remember what Kring said before the start of the third season? So I'll believe it when I see it.

ITV's Demons drops to 4.2m by Neil Wilkes
(from Digital Spy)
"ITV1's fantasy drama Demons lost another 650,000 viewers last night (Saturday), according to early figures. The third episode pulled in 4.18m... The audience is down almost 1.6m on that for the first episode." Oh dear oh dear. No second series then, I'm guessing.
(On an only-vaguelly-connected note, I love how Digital Spy's staff seem to work every day of the week! Either they have no life, or really love their job. Says the man who updates his blog every day. Hey, at least mine's a hobby.)

Jones feels Gavin & Stacey pressure by Alex Fletcher
(from Digital Spy)
Mostly interesting is something I hadn't yet heard: Gavin & Stacey is definitely getting a third series! Hurrah!

Laurie: Accent caused UK House flop by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
"Hugh Laurie has claimed that his American accent is the reason for House's failure in the UK." For one, it's not really a "failure", is it? If it were a failure it wouldn't still be on a Freeview channel in a primetime slot. And to be honest, I rather suspect it has more to do with it being on Five. Five's ratings may've gone up in the past few years, but back when House started it was still before all this "everyone must have digital TV" stuff that's going on now and Five wasn't available everywhere (far from it!) Plus that there's a huge discrepancy between US and UK viewing figures anyway, and I expect he sees both, making the UK ones look teeny-tiny by comparison.

New Argumental on Dave in March by James Welsh
(from Digital Spy)
Hurray!
That's all.

Ross will not apologise for prank again
and
Jonathan Ross plans new Sachs apology
by Daniel Kilkelly (from Digital Spy)
Don't you just love it when there's a pair of stories like that? I guess we'll have to wait til Friday night to find out which is true, though the latter sounds more convincing.
The pair of stories also have an interesting line in establishing Ross' true thoughts about the affair and the BBC: "Being suspended hit Jonathan hard -- but he says, 'I have learnt my lesson'", and "Jonathan feels let down by some aspects of the BBC... It was a pre-recorded segment and he expected those who needed to check and follow through to do so. He was aware of the potential pitfalls and alerted other people at the BBC before it went out."

Ryan tipped as new Who assistant by Daniel Kilkelly
(from Digital Spy)
I'll believe it when I see it, considering the source; but, considering her recent recurring role in Merlin, her previous appearance in a Moffat production (Jekyll), and that she (supposedly) auditioned when Rose left, it's not at all implausible. She'd certainly be better than Lily bloody Allen. She's probably older than the new Doctor though, isn't she? But then, so's almost everyone they might consider, so...

Websites

comparethemeerkat.com

Have you seen those annoying ads on the telly? (If not, check it out here.) Despite the high level of irritation they provoke I couldn't resist checking out the site, just to see what, if anything, was there.

Of course, it's mainly an excuse to get you to visit comparethemarket.com -- which I made a point of not doing -- and if you're on there long enough it'll even warn you that it will auto-forward you to the real site, unless you're really interested in comparing meerkats. This side of thing filters through to every element -- take the FAQ, for example: while trying to be amusing, as if really part of a meerkat-comparing site, it's also (unsurprisingly) all about how good the main site is.

And behind all this, you genuinely can search for and compare meerkats. My God is it an over-developed ad tool! They're silly meerkats, of course -- they can scubadive, or fly helicopters, or come from locations as diverse as New York, Rio, and Western-super-Mare -- but some of it's actually mildly amusing... very mildly...

On the other hand, I'd've been more annoyed if you couldn't compare any meerkats, so it's good really... mildly good...

TV

Demons
1x02 The Whole Enchilada
Yes, I'm watching this exactly a week behind. But at least I've got round to watching it, unlike Apparitions or Dead Set, which I still have all of recorded.
The title song is really, truly dreadful -- big dramatic pre-titles, you expect a decent theme kick-in, like you get with Who, or even EastEnders's closing theme... but no, it's some silly disposable pop trash. That should be changed.
As noted at the time, Demons' ratings dropped for this episode. It's not that bad, and it's wonderful to have so much telefantasy (as it used to be known, back in the day) on TV these days, so hopefully it will continue to do OK. Or at least that they'll cancel it for something better.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Eurovision: Your Country Needs You
Episode 3 (of 5)
We don't have a hope of winning Eurovision anyway, but these acts certainly aren't going to do us any favours. At least Charlotte's gone -- despite what the judges... sorry, panel... sorry, what are they?... Anyway, despite what they had to say, her rendition of Duffy's Rain On Your Parade was literally no better than mediocre karaoke. No wonder she ended up in the Sing Off... sorry, "Danger Zone".
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Live at the Apollo
4x06 (16/1/09 edition) [season finale]
Russell Howard: hilariously funny, lots of sensible points about the world too.
Jo Brand: somewhat disappointing, especially coming right after.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Oedipal snakes

Tonight sees the terrestrial TV premiere of Snakes on a Plane on Channel 4; at 10pm for those who are interested.

In acknowledgement of this -- and as part of my general review catch-up on 100 Films in a Year -- I've today posted my thoughts on the Samuel L. Jackson-starring B-movie-esque Oedipally-catchphrased Internet-fandom-engendering horror/thriller.

And you can read them here.

TV

Lark Rise to Candleford
2x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]