TV

Dragons' Den
9x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off
2x01 Episode 1
Mmm, cake...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless
4x51 (15/8/11 edition)
So, we have one team wondering if Winston Churchill was ever Prime Minister, which makes me despair for the state of education in this country (and they weren't even young), and a question about Pirates of the Caribbean that doesn't even acknowledge the existence of the fourth movie, which was released three months ago -- how long ago was this filmed?!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Comics

2000 AD #1743
Despite my best intentions I'm getting increasingly, ludicrously behind with 2000 AD (prog 1747 is in shops today). Should've known this would happen. Maybe a more concerted effort to catch up...

Articles

The 30 Harshest Filmmaker-on-Filmmaker Insults In History by Jason Bailey
(from Flavorwire)
Does what it says on the tin. Some of those are very funny... and some you may well disagree with.

5 Reasons You Should Be Sure to Watch The Hour by Caroline Stanley
(from Flavorwire)
Based on this mini summary of reviews, it seems like The Hour is going down quite well Stateside -- which is more than can be said for it over here. Despite reservations, I do like it.

TV

The Hour
1x04 Episode 4
You get the feeling The Hour is still finding its feet, trying to work out the right balance between its various themes and story threads. Unfortunately we're now two-thirds of the way through, with only two episodes to go -- it should've been in its stride long ago. It's not as bad as some say, though -- there's still good stuff here.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless
4x50 (12/8/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Let's Kill Hitler confirmed in UK for 27th August by Chuck Foster
(from Doctor Who News Page)
The BBC finally bother to confirm what everyone's known for weeks. Also of interest here, however, is the press pack for the series (including little previews of every episode tucked inside Moffat's introduction), Radio Times' review of the episode (from last night's press screening), and Ian Wylie's transcript of the Q&A from the same.

TV

Castle
1x10 A Death in the Family [season finale]
Channel 5 aren't going straight on into season two, sadly. Original UK broadcaster Alibi are being rather cunning though: they're repeating the second season in the same slot 5 had been showing the first (Fridays at 9), starting this Friday. Very sneaky-clever of them. I don't get Alibi though, so it'll be a wait (or download) for me.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Doctor Who
32x07a Prequel to Let's Kill Hitler
With the sixth/thirty-second series returning to our screens in a fortnight (probably), the BBC have released this under-two-minutes prequel to the mid-season opener. Like the three others it's something and nothing, but hey-ho.
There was also a screening of the episode at the BFI today, so expect the web/papers to be flooded with spoilers over the next two weeks.
[Watch it on the BBC Doctor Who website.]

Fiction

Torchwood: First Born by James Goss
Pages 167-210
Everything has taken A Turn For The Worse. Inevitable, really, but welcome -- bit of action 'n' all that. Past three-quarters now too (p.189), so this is the home straight.

TV

Dexter
5x03 Practically Perfect

Grand Designs Australia
1x05 Lake Bennett House
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Pointless
4x49 (11/8/11 edition)
When they decided to do a round based on Sunday newspapers, I doubt they imagined it would have changed so obviously by the time it was broadcast.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Proms 2011
Prom 38 Film Music Night
I think this is the first Prom I've got round to watching/listening to this year (but I always do badly, so that's no surprise). I do have one of the first few downloaded to get round to though, and the same for the Horrible Histories one. Anyway, I love film music, so this was a good'un... though considering there's a Spaghetti Western-dedicated Prom (held the same night, due on TV later this month) I can't help but feel the main theme to Raiders of the Lost Ark would've made a better encore. Hey-ho.
The full, information-packed programme for this Prom can be read here.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

Torchwood: First Born by James Goss
Pages 128-166
Between halfway and two-thirds (p.169, but this is close enough) we appear to be getting all the answers. And they seem to have come to our heroes quite easily -- "ooh, there's a suspicious base, I wonder what's going on there. Oi, employee, what's going on? Ok, thanks for telling me everything." -- so presumably there's a revelation or two (I believe there's a hint at something in the end of the chapter I've stopped at) and some form of exciting climax still to come.

this week on 100 Films

At last, a new review has been posted to 100 Films in a Year this week! Hurrah!

And so, the most fabulous thing was...

The King's Speech (2010)

The core of the film, the screenplay, is excellent — dramatic, funny, truthful. It won Best Original Screenplay… but surely it was an adapted screenplay? It’s so grounded in real events, based (at least in part, or so I thought) on the real man’s diaries and the book that was in turn based on them. When the Adapted Screenplay nominations include films loosely inspired by short films and semi-spin-offs from TV series that don’t even feature many of the same characters, never mind actually adapting their source for the big screen, surely something like this is definitely adapted?

More next Sunday. Hopefully a lot more. But we'll see.

TV

Castle
1x09 Little Girl Lost
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Pointless
4x47 (9/8/11 edition)
4x48 (10/8/11 edition)
Episode 47 had one of the more embarrassing finals I've witnessed... but I didn't care for one of the finalists, so I can't say I minded.
[Watch the 9/8/11 and 10/8/11 editions (again) on iPlayer.]

Ronnie Corbett's Comedy Britain
Episode 1 Comic Partnerships (of 2)
Episode 2 Solo Performance (of 2)
Ronnie Corbett takes a personal little toddle through some of the highs of British comedy from the past 50-ish years, accompanied by several modern comedy greats. Despite the presenter seeming out of place on the channel, it is quite an ITV-y show -- cheap & tacky title credits; ad break-friendly editing -- but note how the vast majority of the interviewees are what one might call 'BBC People'. For whatever reason, ITV's comedy track record really is appalling.
[Watch episodes one and two (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Source Code (2011)
[#73 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]

Articles

BBC One's Miranda repeat tops new My Family by Paul Millar
(from Digital Spy)

BBC One's repeat of Miranda was more popular than a new episode of My Family last night. The Miranda Hart sitcom... grabbed 4.11m (19.3%) at 9.30pm... prior to that My Family amused 3.79m (13.8%).

Finally, some justice in TV viewing figures.

Big Brother isn't watching you by Russell Brand
(from guardian.co.uk)
Quite long, but Brand is surprisingly worth reading for his thoughts on the recent UK riots.

TV

How I Met Your Mother
6x24 Challenge Accepted [season finale]
Pretty mediocre episode, especially for a finale, but neat twist at the end.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Law & Order: UK
5x05 Intent
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

The Rob Brydon Show
2x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Remember that Amazon US package that was definitely delayed and I was having to wait a frustratingly long time before they'd agree to send me a replacement?

Well, it arrived.

So they were right.

But I have it now, and that's the main thing.

Number of titles in collection: 1,357 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,128 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 229 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 3,358 [up 10]
Number of films in collection: 1,430 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,027 [up 22]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Pointless
4x46 (8/8/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Torchwood: Miracle Day
4x05 The Categories of Life
Torchwood's probably at its best when it gets dark, as here. I rather guessed where it was headed with that ending mind. We're only halfway through now so it's a good time for it to be really kicking off... but can it sustain it for the second half of the series?
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

BBC's Spooks axed after a decade by Tara Conlan
(from guardian.co.uk)
While I still quite like Spooks, this is overdue. To say they're ending it "in its prime" isn't true (in my opinion, obviously) -- it's prime was years ago; the first three or four series, I think. Since then it's becoming increasingly implausible, irrelevant and repetitive. It's also interesting how they talk about it being fast-paced and densely plotted... for its time. I think that's true: when it started it was those things; now it sometimes feels slow and simplistic, or if not the latter than over-complicated in the hope of doing something different to what they've already done.
But, like I say, it's still quite good, so better to end it now than let it really decline later.

TV

Pointless
4x45 (5/8/11 edition)
Stephen Sondheim might have written Mamma Mia!? Funniest thing I've heard in a long time.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Single-Handed
2x04 Between Two Fires Part 2
Well, maybe we'll get what I hoped for in the finale. We can add nasty cousin to the list too. And maybe some decent explanation about why Eithne seems to hate Gemma so much -- she's done nothing to her, and, in fact, has always been on Eithne's side.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Articles

Third Window after the riots
(from Third Window Films Facebook page)
One of the many independent companies affected by the Sony DADC fire speaks out about what this means for them. I imagine the story is exactly the same at all the other small companies. Fingers crossed that they're all able to ride it out in the long term. Bleeding Cool's list of how to help such companies is being continually updated.

TV

The Hour
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless
4x44 (4/8/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]