Britain's Next Big Thing
Episode 4 (of 7)
Having Theo Paphitis as on-screen presenter (but not even narrator) on the first three episodes of this felt pointless, but now it's moved from wannabes pitching their product to the actual business of getting them on to shop shelves, he seems to have more to do. So that's nice.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Family Guy: Groundbreaking Gags
BBC-produced talking-heads documentary about Family Guy's extraordinarily outrageous humour -- and there's certainly plenty of it to talk about. If you've never watched the show, this is probably a good primer for why you may well not like it.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Have I Got News For You
41x04 (6/5/11 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
$#*! My Dad Says
1x09 Make a WISiH
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Articles
Character to release winning Blue Peter TARDIS console by Chuck Foster
(from Doctor Who News Page)
Remember in 2009 Blue Peter launched a competition for a viewer to design a TARDIS console to feature in an episode of Doctor Who? If I recall, it was widely believed by fans to be intended for episode 11, The Lodger... which it didn't turn up in. Now it's turned up in the new series, in the Neil Gaiman's episode The Doctor's Wife -- which was originally scheduled to be episode 11 of the last series. Wow. Anyway, said viewer design is (as I've said) finally making it on to TV... and making it into toy form too, as Who toy manufacturer Character are going to be making it into a playset! Lucky winner...
(from Doctor Who News Page)
Remember in 2009 Blue Peter launched a competition for a viewer to design a TARDIS console to feature in an episode of Doctor Who? If I recall, it was widely believed by fans to be intended for episode 11, The Lodger... which it didn't turn up in. Now it's turned up in the new series, in the Neil Gaiman's episode The Doctor's Wife -- which was originally scheduled to be episode 11 of the last series. Wow. Anyway, said viewer design is (as I've said) finally making it on to TV... and making it into toy form too, as Who toy manufacturer Character are going to be making it into a playset! Lucky winner...
Monday, 9 May 2011
TV
Case Sensitive
Part 1 (of 2)
Part 2 (of 2)
Another ITV crime drama with a female detective about people being drowned adapted from a novel. In the same week? Really, ITV? I didn't think as much of this as Vera -- indeed, some of it was downright laughably daft, unfortunately.
[Watch parts one and two (again) on ITV Player.]
Part 1 (of 2)
Part 2 (of 2)
Another ITV crime drama with a female detective about people being drowned adapted from a novel. In the same week? Really, ITV? I didn't think as much of this as Vera -- indeed, some of it was downright laughably daft, unfortunately.
[Watch parts one and two (again) on ITV Player.]
Sunday, 8 May 2011
TV
Exile
Part 1 (of 3)
Part 2 (of 3)
Part 3 (of 3)
Listings and reviews took to calling this a "psychological thriller", which I'm not sure is entirely accurate, but I guess they needed some way to pigeonhole it. In reality it combines two usually quite distinct genres: the "conspiracy thriller" and the "serious drama about illness", in roughly equal parts.
Jim Broadbent was exceptional as a man with Alzheimer's -- combined with Danny Brocklehurst's script, Exile gave a more realistic and thorough depiction than normally seen. The thriller side was pretty good with some nice twists, although the hand of "creator" (how can someone "create" but not write a three-part serial? Weird) Paul Abbott seemed obvious at times: John Simm as a roguish journalist investigating a cover-up that may involve his former best friend, while shagging said former-best-friend's wife? Straight out of State of Play, that.
Didn't overshadow it too much though -- this was a superior drama, proof (if it were needed) that claims we can't do Real Drama (provoked every so often by the likes of The Wire or The Killing) are unfounded. We do a lot of tosh, true, but other countries surely churn out a lot of crap that we simply don't see. In fact, if you put together all the high-quality drama the UK produces every year, it'd probably trump the amount of equally-good drama we see coming out of other countries. So there.
[Watch parts one, two and three (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Part 1 (of 3)
Part 2 (of 3)
Part 3 (of 3)
Listings and reviews took to calling this a "psychological thriller", which I'm not sure is entirely accurate, but I guess they needed some way to pigeonhole it. In reality it combines two usually quite distinct genres: the "conspiracy thriller" and the "serious drama about illness", in roughly equal parts.
Jim Broadbent was exceptional as a man with Alzheimer's -- combined with Danny Brocklehurst's script, Exile gave a more realistic and thorough depiction than normally seen. The thriller side was pretty good with some nice twists, although the hand of "creator" (how can someone "create" but not write a three-part serial? Weird) Paul Abbott seemed obvious at times: John Simm as a roguish journalist investigating a cover-up that may involve his former best friend, while shagging said former-best-friend's wife? Straight out of State of Play, that.
Didn't overshadow it too much though -- this was a superior drama, proof (if it were needed) that claims we can't do Real Drama (provoked every so often by the likes of The Wire or The Killing) are unfounded. We do a lot of tosh, true, but other countries surely churn out a lot of crap that we simply don't see. In fact, if you put together all the high-quality drama the UK produces every year, it'd probably trump the amount of equally-good drama we see coming out of other countries. So there.
[Watch parts one, two and three (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Films
An Education (2009)
[#51 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]
This has its UK TV premiere next Friday -- I'll try to have a review up by then, then.
[#51 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]
This has its UK TV premiere next Friday -- I'll try to have a review up by then, then.
this week on 100 Films
2 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...
Exam (2009)
Once (2006)
More next Sunday.
Exam (2009)
The film occurs in real-time (more or less) in a single room. These are two narrative tricks I always enjoy the potential of... Exam succeeds in both... Writer-director Hazeldine’s screenplay is inventive enough to keep the story rolling throughout the entire film, while the direction and camerawork keeps it visually interesting without tipping over into pointless flashiness.
Once (2006)
The musical bit is both traditional and revisionist. The songs still reveal character and emotion, in the way they do in all good musicals, but here the lead characters are a pair of musicians and the songs are (mostly) placed in a plausible context — strumming on the bus, writing lyrics to a tune, recording in a studio
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
TV
Doctor Who
32x03 The Curse of the Black Spot
A lot of previews/reviews referred to this as a "romp". Bit inaccurate, in my opinion -- it's a standalone story, a more straightforward adventure than the epic timey-wimey antics of the opener, but it's not got that distinct light silliness of a romp.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Doctor Who Confidential
6x03 Ship Ahoy!
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Event
1x18 Strain
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
4x03 (7/5/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Vera
1x01 Hidden Depths
ITV's newest detective drama. Don't normally watch any of their raft of similar programming, so not entirely sure what led me to watch this one... something a little different, I suppose.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
32x03 The Curse of the Black Spot
A lot of previews/reviews referred to this as a "romp". Bit inaccurate, in my opinion -- it's a standalone story, a more straightforward adventure than the epic timey-wimey antics of the opener, but it's not got that distinct light silliness of a romp.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Doctor Who Confidential
6x03 Ship Ahoy!
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Event
1x18 Strain
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
4x03 (7/5/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Vera
1x01 Hidden Depths
ITV's newest detective drama. Don't normally watch any of their raft of similar programming, so not entirely sure what led me to watch this one... something a little different, I suppose.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Films
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
[#50 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]
Halfway! Hooray! But I'm a massive 24 reviews behind -- one more and it'll be the most I've ever been behind. Ouch.
[#50 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]
Halfway! Hooray! But I'm a massive 24 reviews behind -- one more and it'll be the most I've ever been behind. Ouch.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
A day late again this week, purely because I wasn't paying attention. But there's a couple of new things, so that's nice.
Number of titles in collection: 1,304 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,109 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 195 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 3,238 [up 5]
Number of films in collection: 1,376 [up 7]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,810 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
A day late again this week, purely because I wasn't paying attention. But there's a couple of new things, so that's nice.
Number of titles in collection: 1,304 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,109 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 195 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 3,238 [up 5]
Number of films in collection: 1,376 [up 7]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,810 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 6 May 2011
TV
The Graham Norton Show
9x03 (29/4/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
House
7x20 Changes
Outnumbered
3x01 Programme 1 [2nd watch]
Caught the second half of this as BBC One started a repeat run of this tonight, presumably because it's about a year since it was first on. There's a fourth series coming, but it was only announced just over a month ago so I guess it'll be a while yet.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
9x03 (29/4/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
House
7x20 Changes
Outnumbered
3x01 Programme 1 [2nd watch]
Caught the second half of this as BBC One started a repeat run of this tonight, presumably because it's about a year since it was first on. There's a fourth series coming, but it was only announced just over a month ago so I guess it'll be a while yet.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Thursday, 5 May 2011
TV
10 O'Clock Live
1x15 (28/4/11 edition) [season finale]
Shame this ended the week before the Osama news! No idea if it's been recommissioned or cancelled -- the mixed reaction seemed to continue throughout the series.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Extraordinary Dogs
1x13 The Power in Movement 2 [final episode]
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
The Mentalist
3x18 The Red Mile
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]
1x15 (28/4/11 edition) [season finale]
Shame this ended the week before the Osama news! No idea if it's been recommissioned or cancelled -- the mixed reaction seemed to continue throughout the series.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Extraordinary Dogs
1x13 The Power in Movement 2 [final episode]
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
The Mentalist
3x18 The Red Mile
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
TV
Archer
2x01 Swiss Miss
Hooray to have Archer back! Has it really been over a year?! Still love it.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Yes, Prime Minister
1x03 The Smoke Screen
This is 26 years old now, yet policies and moves discussed in it are still coming to pass and/or still have some bearing on modern politics. Which I guess shows how slowly the world of politics moves -- something Yes [Prime] Minister consistently nailed, and time has proven it right.
2x01 Swiss Miss
Hooray to have Archer back! Has it really been over a year?! Still love it.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Yes, Prime Minister
1x03 The Smoke Screen
This is 26 years old now, yet policies and moves discussed in it are still coming to pass and/or still have some bearing on modern politics. Which I guess shows how slowly the world of politics moves -- something Yes [Prime] Minister consistently nailed, and time has proven it right.
"The Cast Of Doctor Who Read Celebrity Tweets In American Accents"
This is thoroughly, inexplicably random... but quite funny.
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
TV
Britain's Next Big Thing
Episode 3 (of 7)
Didn't much like the Habitat people...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
House
7x19 Last Temptation
Cheerio Masters! Really thought they were going to keep her on for a minute there.
Robot Chicken
1x02 Nutcracker Sweet
1x03 Gold Dust Gasoline
1x15 Kiddie Pool
1x04 Plastic Buffet
Episode 3 (of 7)
Didn't much like the Habitat people...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
House
7x19 Last Temptation
Cheerio Masters! Really thought they were going to keep her on for a minute there.
Robot Chicken
1x02 Nutcracker Sweet
1x03 Gold Dust Gasoline
1x15 Kiddie Pool
1x04 Plastic Buffet
Monday, 2 May 2011
TV
The Event
1x17 Cut Off the Head
We seem to be entering the final phase now. No idea if the series is getting a recommission or not -- signs weren't good, last I read -- so hopefully they'll bother to wrap it all up.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
$#*! My Dad Says
1x08 The Manly Thing to Do
The YMCA sequence... feels kinda clichéd, and it's certainly predictable, but at the same time it's well performed and consequently funny. So there.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher
ITV adaptation of Kate Summerscale's "non-fiction novel", as people seem to have taken to calling it (I thought it was just "non-fiction", but there you go). It was rather good, though seemed to lack the thorough whodunnit nature and unveiling of numerous dark secrets that praise for the book indicates. And it began at (or near) the end before flashing back to the start for no reason -- why?! This is a pointless and irritating trend in films/feature-length TV that really should end.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Yes, Prime Minister
1x02 The Ministerial Broadcast
1x17 Cut Off the Head
We seem to be entering the final phase now. No idea if the series is getting a recommission or not -- signs weren't good, last I read -- so hopefully they'll bother to wrap it all up.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
$#*! My Dad Says
1x08 The Manly Thing to Do
The YMCA sequence... feels kinda clichéd, and it's certainly predictable, but at the same time it's well performed and consequently funny. So there.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher
ITV adaptation of Kate Summerscale's "non-fiction novel", as people seem to have taken to calling it (I thought it was just "non-fiction", but there you go). It was rather good, though seemed to lack the thorough whodunnit nature and unveiling of numerous dark secrets that praise for the book indicates. And it began at (or near) the end before flashing back to the start for no reason -- why?! This is a pointless and irritating trend in films/feature-length TV that really should end.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Yes, Prime Minister
1x02 The Ministerial Broadcast
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Lunch
Gidleigh Park
Remember just over a year ago, when I went to Michelin-starred restaurant The Kitchin? Well, by a similar token, today I went to the two-Michelin-starred Sunday-Times-best-restaurant-in-Britain, Gidleigh Park.
It was very nice, thank you very much.
Remember just over a year ago, when I went to Michelin-starred restaurant The Kitchin? Well, by a similar token, today I went to the two-Michelin-starred Sunday-Times-best-restaurant-in-Britain, Gidleigh Park.
It was very nice, thank you very much.
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