What Else Is Everyone Watching At The Moment?

[orokiah]

The Riches on Virgin 1. Eddie Izzard's accent took a bit of getting used to but it's awesome stuff.

It had me hooked from the first episode but the show really hit its stride in this week's (the third): Wayne blagging his way through his first day as a lawyer and his use of a rock as a motivational tool was brilliantly played and written, as was Dahlia's cunning (and surprisingly moving) plan to get her kids into the school of her choice. It's funny but very very dark at the same time: there's a lot of tension in the way they're living a lie and might get found out at any second, as well as the undercurrent of menace in the ever more unhinged Dale's attempts to track them down.

Also loving the new series of Top Gear - the amphibious car reprise on Sunday night was hilarious. It's comedy gold at times.

[fenris]

Californication on Five has swiftly become Must-See TV, especially now that the gratuitous nudity of the first few episodes (clearly intended as an audience-grabbing gimmick) has been almost entirely phased out.
David Duchovny has managed to sweep all lingering memories of Fox Mulder aside - he is struggling, self-loathing writer Hank Moody, and although it's still early days, this may be Duchovny's career-best performance.
Playing his ex-girlfriend is Natascha McElhone, not only a fine actress but also a long-time resident on my personal list of Most Beautiful Women in the World. Madeleine Martin as Hank's twelve year old daughter Becca is also a real find, and rounding out the cast is Rachel Miner, who effortlessly manages to be temptation personified as 'Dani California', the very personal assistant to Hank's agent.

[orokiah]

Ye olde repeats of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (UK version) on the newly-renamed Dave channel. Not sure if they had them on before they rebranded or if I've just never noticed them in the schedule before but they rock.

I remember watching this show late on Friday nights on Channel 4 in the late nineties. It was brilliant the first time and it's every bit as good almost a decade later. Caroline Quentin is a bit of a weak link, but the rest of the line up, Ryan Stiles and Greg Proops in particular, are/were fantastic.

I guess it goes to show that good humour never gets old...you can't say the same for some of their outfits though.

[Beattie~Babe]

orokiah said:

Ye olde repeats of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (UK version) on the newly-renamed Dave channel. Not sure if they had them on before they rebranded or if I've just never noticed them in the schedule before but they rock.

I remember watching this show late on Friday nights on Channel 4 in the late nineties. It was brilliant the first time and it's every bit as good almost a decade later. Caroline Quentin is a bit of a weak link, but the rest of the line up, Ryan Stiles and Greg Proops in particular, are/were fantastic.

I guess it goes to show that good humour never gets old...you can't say the same for some of their outfits though.

I saw one of the episodes being filmed all those many years ago .... I dont know if you remember any of the episodes with Stephen Fry Orokiah , but it was the one with 'Worlds worst thing to say to the Queen ...... ' episode.

Im addicted to watching 'Dave' now. Its giving me a chance to watch QI & Who's Line again ......

[orokiah]

cc said:

I saw one of the episodes being filmed all those many years ago .... I dont know if you remember any of the episodes with Stephen Fry Orokiah , but it was the one with 'Worlds worst thing to say to the Queen ...... ' episode.

Lucky you...I'm so jealous! I'd love to have seen the show being filmed. If they ever brought it back I'd be queuing up for tickets.

It's supposed to be coming out on DVD soon too.

[DreamDangerously]

Did anyone else watch Boy A on Monday night?

I thought it was truly one of the most remarkable pieces of TV drama that I've seen on TV in a long time.

To deal with such a difficult subject, the re-introduction of a young murderer who has spent his whole life in institutions in to society, and his struggle to create a clean slate for himself, was intelligent, moving and absolutely stunningly well acted.

It was difficult viewing and it challenged a lot of preconceptions about the notion of 'evil' people, rehabilitation and tabloid justice.

Andrew Garfield (Tom in Sugar Rush) was absolutely stunning as Jack.

Programmes like this are like the epitome of what TV should be about, rather than dreck like I'm a Celebrity Wanker Watch me Eat Bugs.

[fenris]

I've stumbled across a wonderful little series, hidden away on Sumo TV - which if you've never heard of it, is one of the many non-descript, no budget channels that take up space in the satellite and cable schedules. Sumo TV's output (Sky channel 144) mostly consists of amateur videos of the kind normally found on YouTube, plus the occasional sci-fi or horror movie. But it's recently coughed up a true gem - Cult45.

Cult45 is a half-hour show, currently being screened at 23:00 each Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, dedicated to rare cult movies. Two presenters - a guy called Matt and a rather fetching redhead named Emma Bain - discuss various sub-genres while either larking about in a wood or standing in the middle of a field, their dialogue intercut with clips from the relevant films.
Although it's covering similar ground to earlier series such as Channel 4's Incredibly Strange Film Show, Five's much missed (well, much missed by me, anyway) outThere, and Bravo's Shock Movie Massacre, the films put under the spotlight in Cult45 are often so obscure and bizarre, they make the movies that featured in those previous series look positively bland and mainstream in comparison.

Another welcome bonus is that Emma Bain is genuinely engaging, and - refreshingly - seems to have been given the presenting job due on her quick wit and quirky personality, as opposed to her looks. Don't get me wrong, I personally think she's very pretty, but she's definitely a girl-next-door type, as opposed to the usual identikit blonde, and she makes a nice change compared to all the slim, tanned, part-time models with perfect hair and teeth who usually front satellite and cable shows.

[orokiah]

Watched the first couple of episodes of Moving Wallpaper and Echo Beach last week, and I wasn't disappointed.

MW is the better show, with Ben Miller giving a great performance as egotistical producer Jonathan Pope. His tirade about the formulaic nature of Casualty in the second episode was genius -- hilarious stuff, and spot on. The crossovers set up in MW are really what make EB worth watching, and there's a lot of fun to be had looking out for them. The show does seem a bit po-faced coming straight after the far funnier MW but it's an adjustment worth making.

You get far more out of it watching them together, but just as MW could work on its own, EB is a fair enough stab at soap in its own right -- they really have ticked every box there is at the British Soap Awards, and used every cliche (love triangles...dark secrets...and no doubt budding lovebirds Jimmy and Abi will turn out to be half-brother and sister somewhere down the line).

Having a cast populated by former stars of other soaps was also an inspired choice. Personally I don't think Jason Donovan's English accent is all that bad, but it's getting enough commentary to make me wonder whether it's deliberately pitched off-centre, and whether Jonathan Pope might be taking Donovan to task about it in a future edition of MW.

EB in particular seems to be getting a mixed reaction but I'm really enjoying both shows so far. I do think a twelve week run might be stretching it, though.

[fenris]

fenris said:

Danny Cohen, Controller of BBC Three, today announces the commission of bold new drama pilots to transmit later this year. A combination of hot new talent and established names will produce the pieces, which cover a wide range of maverick tales set both in the present day and the future.
Danny Cohen comments: "I'm very excited by the fresh feel of the drama pilots that we've commissioned. They are bold, vibrant pieces that draw together emerging talent with some of the strongest voices in British drama. These pilots are the first step in the development of a new generation of youthful drama series for BBC Three."

The first of the pilots is being screened on BBC Three this week. Phoo Action is based on Jamie Hewlett's sci-fi comic strip Get the Freebies, and stars Jamie Winstone (whom I've always considered as being an Amber Sainsbury lookalike) as teenage heroine Whitey Action. Amongst the writer is Jessica Hynes of Spaced fame. It debuts on 12/02/08 at 21:00 and is repeated on 13/02/08 (0:00 and 22:45) and 14/02/08 (02:15).

[WarrenWitchesRule]

So did anyone watch Phoo Action or Being Human?

[orokiah]

I saw Being Human and thought it was excellent: dark, funny and intelligent. The friendship between Mitchell and George felt very real and the adorable Annie rounded off the ensemble perfectly. There was a nice mix of humour and pathos in her character, and I also loved the fact they established so firmly that she can't eat or drink. If only they'd do a Hex crossover so she could meet Thelma.

Not sure how well the grimy flatshare part of the drama married with the vampire plot, but that seemed more of a set up for a future series. There were definite seeds of potential storylines being sown in the dastardly plans of Adrian Lester and his vampire cult (which felt very Ultraviolet) and the mystery of how Annie died. I'd like to think Julia might return too.

It's got great potential and I hope it goes to a full series...if the fact BBC3 have already recommissioned Phoo Action doesn't scupper it. Then again, if the pilot is any hint at how good a series might be, it deserves more than a future of languishing in digital obscurity. I think it's a show that would work very well in the BBC2 Wednesday night Heroes/Torchwood slot.

Not seen Phoo Action yet. Was it any good?

[fenris]

I didn't see Being Human when it was screened on Monday night, but I caught last night's repeat and absolutely loved it. The three main characters are well drawn - nervous & houseproud George, seemingly laid-back but quietly tormented Mitchell, and scatty & talkative Annie - and they complement each other wonderfully. I admired how the scriptwriters bravely didn't let themselves get bogged down with explaining how Mitchell and George respectively became a vampire and werewolf, how they first met, and the circumstances of Annie's death (there'll be plenty of time for that if a series gets commissioned). Instead we had the effective and quite touching plotline concerning George's ex-girlfriend Julia, and also some expert teasing about whether Lauren (the nurse whom Mitchell drained in a moment of weakness in the opening scene) had been successfully turned or not, with the answer only revealed just before the end credits rolled.

I also enjoyed the subtle bonding between Annie and Mitchell, both dead people walking ("I'm not your first ghost, am I?" She remarks to him). The scene in which they compared notes about dying - with Annie describing it as "a corridor with men with ropes and sticks" - was both intriguing and mildly eerie. And there were some nice little touches, such as George mentioning that he'd abandoned the teachings of his (Jewish) faith after becoming a werewolf.

I think there's a definite Hex influence in Being Human, in the form of Annie. Before Thelma came along, ghosts in films and TV shows were strictly incorporeal beings, walking through walls & doors and unable to touch anything. Thelma - able to touch and hold anything that wasn't living - changed all that, and although Hex wasn't a hugely popular show, I doubt the makers of Being Human would have had Annie physically interacting with her surroundings and repeatably making hot beverages if Thelma hadn't paved the way.
Having Annie come to Julia's rescue beneath the hospital (actually grabbing her by the arm and pulling her clear) was the highlight of the pilot, and the subsequent explanation that as a side-effect of spending time with Mitchell and George - who can see and hear her - she has become more 'real' and capable of being seen by others, was a clever one.

If there was a weakness, it was the cliched subplot about the vampires wanting to come out of hiding and rule the world, their logic being that it's their rightful place as they're on top of the food chain. This has been done too many times before, and seems a bit overly ambitious for a series the scale of Being Human to attempt, let alone pull off. Could a lone vampire fifth columnist, a werewolf and a ghost really stand against a mass undead uprising? That said, Adrian Lester was a superb villain, nicely underplaying his role with an edge of persuasive. authoritarian menace.

Of the six pilots in this season, I don't know the limit on the number of series BBC Three is prepared to commission. As orokiah has mentioned above, a full series of Phoo Action has been confirmed (reportedly the decision had already been made before the pilot was screened) and having already greenlit one fantasy series, will the Beeb be prepared to commission another?

[WarrenWitchesRule]

Mitchell reminded me very much of Michael Fassbender's performance as Azazeal

[fenris]

fenris said:

Sumo TV's output (Sky channel 144) mostly consists of amateur videos of the kind normally found on YouTube.

Sumo TV have re jigged their last night schedule and unveiled several new programmes this month, and two of the debuting shows that I've seen are Japandemonium (Saturdays at 23:00) and In Bed With Sim-Wise (Fridays and Sundays at 23:00).

Japandemonium is basically another showcase for home-made footage taken from various websites (a Sumo TV staple), the only difference being (as indicated by the show's title) that it all originates from the Land of Rising Sun. The series' host is an oriental girl named Yanni, and instead of presenting from an anonymous studio, she introduces clips while clutching a microphone and standing in the middle of a half-empty sushi restaurant. This results in the bizarre and distracting sight of food-laden dishes moving behind and in front of her on conveyor belts, and patrons chatting and stuffing their faces in the background. Which to be honest is often more entertaining that the clips themselves.

In Bed With Sim-Wise is an hour-long show presented by glamour model Alex Sim-Wise, whom I confess I'd never heard of before, but a quick search on Google reveals that she's posed for The Sun's Page 3 and the UK version of Playboy, and apparently has quite a fanbase. The show itself seems to be an attempt to create a late night, post-watershed version of a Saturday morning children's programme, with the brunette Sim-Wise and her best friend/sidekick/co-presenter - a masked blonde identified only as 'Prolapse' - sitting or lazing about on a bed, yelling, whooping, and reading out fanmail. This is intercut with various short amateur films, mostly made by and featuring Sim-Wise herself, consisting of meaningless, incoherent scenes randomly edited together, in a manner reminiscent of pretentious film students with more enthusiasm than experience or talent. For example, 'Avocado Shock Treatment' has Sim-Wise jumping up and down in her underwear, intercut with a giggling Prolapse (without her mask, but with a black bar digitally imposed over the top half of her face) summiting herself to mild electric shocks and yelping "Never be friends with a glamour model!" Every time Prolapse receives a shock, the film cuts to footage of Sim-Wise manhandling two avocados in supermarket. And that's it.
The most intriguing aspect of the show is Prolapse going to great lengths to hide her identity, especially since she and Sim-Wise are clearly great mates. Maybe she's just publicity-shy, or perhaps she believes her family and/or employers might disapprove of her involvement in the series.
Sim-Wise herself has an enthusiastic onscreen presence, and surprisingly while most glamour models these days are bottle blonde, plastic, perma-tanned WAGs-in-waiting, she possesses the same kind of unassuming, non-manufactured prettiness as the various fresh-faced young girls you see walking down the street every day.

[Beattie~Babe]

Im looking forward to the new 4 part 'docu dramas', starting next week, revealing the stories behind some of Britain's best loved television entertainers, and their achievements......

Phil Davis, Trevor Eve, Jason Isaccs and Ken Stott are to star in a season of new one-off dramas for BBC Four revealing the stories behind some of Britain's best loved television entertainers, and their achievements.

The four-part season will explore the extraordinary lives of Hughie Green, Tony Hancock, Frankie Howerd and the two actors who played Steptoe And Son: Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell.

Hughie Green was the avuncular front man of the hugely successful family TV shows Opportunity Knocks and Double Your Money. But behind the scenes he lived a very different life.

Hughie's professional rivalry with Stars On Sunday presenter Jess Yates and serial womanising ultimately produced an explosive celebrity secret – Green was the real father of the late TV personality Paula Yates.

With Trevor Eve (Waking The Dead) as Green, Hughie Green, Most Sincerely is a parable about the destructive power of success and celebrity, but also an exploration of what family and fatherhood meant to this iconic character.

Based on the inside story from Green's family, friends and peers, it is being made by BBC Drama Production and is written by Tony Basgallop (Hotel Babylon, To The Ends Of The Earth), directed by Dan Percival (The State Within, Dirty War), and produced by Ben Evans (Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!, Fear Of Fanny).

Steptoe And Son remains a landmark in the history of British television. It gave birth to the modern sitcom and transformed its actors – Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell – into national treasures.

The sitcom told the story of two rag-and-bone men trapped together for all eternity. But behind the scenes, out of the public eye, an even stranger story was playing out. The Curse Of Steptoe uncovers an unexpected and incredible tale of life imitating art.

Starring Phil Davis (Five Days) as Wilfrid Brambell and Jason Isaacs (The State Within) as Harry H Corbett, The Curse Of Steptoe is both a hilarious romp through the land of Sixties sitcom and a poignant story of two men, yoked together, unable to escape their inner complexities and desires, or for that matter, each other.

How their personal problems and antipathy helped the show achieve success is one of the most revealing stories from the annals of BBC light entertainment history.

Writer Brian Fillis (Fear Of Fanny) delivers a sharp, witty and moving script based on interviews with colleagues, friends and family of Harry and Wilfrid, and Steptoe writers, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

From BBC Drama Production, this 1 x 60-minute film is being directed by Michael Samuels (Our Hidden Lives, The Falklands Play), and produced by Ben Bickerton (The Afternoon Plays).

Frankie Howerd is to this day an enduring and celebrated icon of British comedy, and his "thrice nays" and "titter ye not" have been immortalised in the canon of comedy catch-phrases.

However, during Howerd's lifetime his popularity and his moods went up and down more often than a well-placed innuendo. Behind the scenes was a man riddled with professional doubts, conflicted by his homosexuality and wracked with depression.

Still to be cast, Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me is the moving, humorous and poignant story of Howerd's fight with his inner demons, as seen through the eyes of his long-term partner Dennis Heymer.

This is the first time that the true story of Howerd's inner life has been told, as he kept his sexuality and relationship with Dennis secret until his death in 1992.

The writer Peter Harness has constructed this story from intimate interviews with Dennis himself. Peter's credits include: BBC Four's A View From The Hill and, currently in production for BBC Films/Heyday Films, Is There Anybody There?

Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me, a 1 x 60-minute film being made by BBC Drama Production, is directed by John Alexander (Shadow In The North; Sense And Sensibility) and produced by Ben Evans.

As announced by the BBC last week, Ken Stott (Rebus, Messiah) is to play troubled comic genius Tony Hancock in Hancock & Joan, which will also form part of the season.

Also starring Maxine Peake (Cinderella, Shameless) as Joan, the drama charts the final year of Hancock's life and the love affair with his best friend's wife, his battle with drink and his final fateful series in Australia.

Only months after her marriage to Dad's Army favourite John Le Mesurier, Joan Le Mesurier fell in love with his best friend, the godfather of British sitcom, Tony Hancock.

Tony was fresh out of rehab and desperate to resurrect his career with the offer of a new series in Australia. John stood by as Joan and Tony embarked on an obsessive and passionate love affair. Though clearly besotted with Joan, Tony was struggling with drink and violent depression.

After months of turmoil, Joan gives him a final ultimatum – if he makes a go of Australia and keeps off the booze for a year, she will leave John and marry him. Tony left for Australia determined to win Joan over. But tragically he never returned.

Based on Joan Le Mesurier's autobiography, Lady Don't Fall Backwards, and Edward Joffe's Hancock's Last Stand, this moving 1 x 90-minute film tells the story of Hancock and Joan's love affair and its tragic end.


The Curse of Steptoe & Son starts Wednesday 19 March 9.00pm on BBC 4