Christmas Preview

     The rumours about the festive TV schedule have been leaking through for some time now so I thought it might be time to share some of those rumours. These are all pretty much confirmed now and I’ll keep you up to date with things right up until Santa leaves Lapland.

DOCTOR WHO is on his way back to screens on Christmas Day with a Narnia themed jaunt entitled The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. Of course, if it’s like last years festive edition expect a totally new twist on a classic tale. Claire Skinner, Alexander Armstrong and Bill Bailey all star.

DOWNTON ABBEY get’s it’s first Christmas Special over on ITV. At the end of the last series Mr Bates found himself arrested over his ex wifes murder so expect that to play some part. Nigel Havers is set to star.

BBC 1 are showing a new take on THE BORROWERS starring Christopher Eccleston, Stephen Fry and Victoria Wood. The story follows the tiny people who live under the floorboards as they begin to explore the world beyond the carpet.

ABSOLIUTELY FABULOUS returns for the first time in 7 years for a 20th anniversry special. All of the original cast are set to appear in 2 festive specials.

THE ROYAL BODYGUARD is David Jasons first sitcom in almost 20 years. He plays the hapless head of security at Buckingham Palace carpark who unwittingly saves the queens life. After being promoted to Royal Bodyguard he is soon upsetting dignataries and the royal family themselves.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS is another of BBC 1’s big festive treats. Starring Ray Winstone, Gillian Anderson and Douglas Booth it is airing in anticipation of Dicken’s 200th birthday next year.

     So there you have it for a quick taster of what is to come over Christmas on the box. I’m going to finish off with the trailor for the Christmas edition of Doctor Who.

 

The Telly Addicts Hall Of Fame–London’s Burning 1988-2002

Back on the 7th December 1986 ITV broadcast a 2 hour TV movie about a fictional London Fire Brigade, entitled London's Burning. That TV movie went onto become a hit series that ran for 14 years between 1988 and 2002.

     So what makes London's Burning worthy of entry into The Telly Addicts Hall Of Fame? Well at it’s height it regularly received 17 million viewers. In fact it’s record was a figure of 18.86 million for the final episode of series 4. That episode dealt with a spectacular 20 pump warehouse fire. Although the series became reliant on the big disasters, it also dealt with the human side of being a fire-fighter. The characters often suffered from Post Traumatic Stress as a result of ‘the job’. Their wives and husbands also suffered as a result of the dangerous job their other halves did.

     Despite the drama that being a fire fighter entailed, there was still quite a lot of humour within the show. In fact for the first 3 series it was treated as a Black Comedy. It was at the end of the 4th series that a huge climax was planned. The climax was a huge warehouse fire which ended with one of the fire-fighters being trapped under a collapsed wall. This episode is the one which drew the record audience figure for the entire shows run.

     Because of those record breaking figures it became part of the series to have one major disaster per series. These included such things as a collapsing fairground ride like in series 5. Despite the strong ratings the series began to wane in the mid nineties with figures falling below 16 million. It was for this reason that the shows producer, Paul Knight, decided to introduce a real shock into the show by killing off one of the shows main characters at the beginning of series 9. The character was to be Sub Officer John Hallam who had been with the show from the beginning. He fell 80ft from a gantry while recuing some girls from a warehouse fire. This event and the subsequent fallout helped to get London's Burning back on track. Series 9 is widely regarded as the shows best series.

     After series 9, budget cuts meant that the show began to explore the home lives of the fire-fighters more. This essentially sounded the death knell for the show and despite managing another 4 series, London's Burning was cancelled in 2002. The last episode was broadcast on 25th August 2002.

    I’m going to finish off with a clip from the show and that huge shock at the beginning of series 9 in which John Hallam died.

Pan Am: First Look

Nowadays air travel is a bit of a nightmare. If you’re not having to swipe a credit card before using the lavortory, you’re having to put up with the pretty useless steward service. Of course, we live in an age of Ryanair and Easyjet, an age of the so called ‘budget airline’. Pan Am deals with a time when flying was a nice experience, 1963 to be exact. Of course this was also a time when the Cold War was heating up and when people were still getting over the Second World War. This show deals with those things as well as showing us how air travel should be.
     It was billed as 'Mad Men in Flight’. I’ll admit with some shame that I’m yet to watch Mad Men and so couldn’t really to the whole comparrison thing between the two. What I will say though is that this show is excellent. I read a review by Richard Arnold in The People in which he heavily critisised the show and he couldn’t be more wrong. The man is an idiot, I’m going to leave it at that.
     Firstly, the 1960’s setting means that we get a great soundtrack of a lot of 60’s swing straight out of The Great American Songbook. We also get the classic 60’s glamour and there isn’t a swear word in sight. It’s really easy viewing. Of course it is a little far fetched at times. One of the stewardesses has been employed by the Secret Service for example. There are some really intelligent and touching moments too though. One of the stewardeses is French and has to go to Berlin on a flight in a more recent episode. Seeing her trying to deal with being on German soil when her parents were killed by the Nazis when they occupied her country was actually quite emotional.
     The show is currently airing every Sunday on ABC in the states and every Saturday on BBC2 over here.

Once Upon A Time: 2nd Review ***SPOILER ALERT***

     Around 4 weeks ago I wrote a First Look Review on this new American show and I guess that the time is right for a bit of a catch up. Firstly, I am loving this show. It’s a pity that it hasn’t yet been picked up by a UK broadcaster although I’m sure that it’s only a matter of time. I personally expect it to be on Sky 1 sometime next year.
     As of writing, it is currently 4 episodes in and it keeps getting better, episode by episode. The mysteries that were a big part of Lost are big in this show although we are finding out the answers pretty quick. That’s not a bad thing though as it gives us more time to enjoy the show. With Lost, the mysteries were used to drive the story whereas with Once Upon A Time, they are used as episode devices. The big thing with this show is the fairy-tale element. It’s great seeing the different fairy tales play out. The clever thing that the writers have done though is to show very little of what we already know. For instance, the only familiar bits of Snow Whites story we have seen are her receiving Prince Charming's kiss as she lays in that famous glass coffin and the wedding. The writers have shown more of the untold stories such as how Snow White and Prince Charming meet and the months after they got married.
     In the most recent episode we saw the Cinderella story. That story is perhaps the most famous of all. Who doesn’t know how Cinders is sent to the ball by her fairy godmother? It is a story that is so familiar, until the writers of Once Upon A Time got hold of it that is. In their version, Cinders is visited by her Fairy Godmother as normal until Rumpelstiltskin arrives and kills her! The Fairy Godmother that is, not Cinders. He then offers Cinders a deal in that he’ll send her to the ball if she promises to give him her first born child. We then cut to Cinders and her Princes wedding, cutting out the part we already know. It’s doing things like this that are keeping the show fresh.
     Another big Lost device was the use of flashbacks against the present story. More often that not, what we saw in the flashbacks mirrored the theme of the present day story. A similar thing is used in Once Upon A Time in that what we see in the Fairy Tale world is mirrored in the present day story. It is still a very clever way of telling the story.
     I know that I’m comparing it a lot to Lost but it is written by the same duo that wrote a lot of the early Lost episodes. Also, being a huge fan of Lost I find myself comparing every new show to it.
     I’m currently working on a number of year review posts and I’m sure that this show will work it’s way into some of them. Definitely a front runner for my Show Of The Year 2011 and definitely one to look out for in the new year.

An Idiot Abroad 2: Series Review

     The first season of An Idiot Abroad was a huge success. Karl Pilkington, the round headed buffoon as referred to as by Ricky Gervais, was sent around the world to see the seven wonders of the world. These included the Pyramids in Egypt, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil and India’s Taj Mahal. These things have been seen on the telly so many times they have actually become pretty boring. That’s where Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant came in. They cooked up all manner of things for Karl to do while en route to the wonders. Whether it was a camel ride across the desert or a starring role in Brazils famous mardi gras festival, Karl was coerced into doing many wacky things for our entertainment. It was quite surprising when he ended up doing a second season, although as Karl himself said, after doing a show with the title of ‘An Idiot Abroad’, the job offers didn’t exactly come rolling in.
  
     The second season involved a bucket list. For those who don’t know, a bucket list is a list of things to do before you ‘kick the bucket’. A list was made of things that people wanted to do before you die. Things on it were things like seeing whales in the wild, doing route 66 and swimming with dolphins. Each episode involved Karl picking something from the list and going off to do it. As with the first season though, Ricky and Steve didn’t let him off that easily and had him doing all manner of horrible things. An example is that in episode 1 he picked ‘living on a desert island.’ Karl had images of a bounty advert, what he got was a wind and rain swept rock in the South Pacific.

     My main problem with the series was that it was all really familiar. I had been really looking forward to it as I loved the first series and maybe I built it up in my mind to much. There is only so much of Karl moaning that I could take though. There were times when it felt like he was moaning for the sake of it, moaning because that’s what we all wanted. Don’t get me wrong, the genius of the first series was Karl moaning. I just think that in hindsight, one series was maybe enough with the odd special every now and again. It’s not Karl's fault that this second series fell a bit flat. I think that a second series was pretty much demanded but I’m sure that a third won’t be. In fact my sources inform me that they are just going to leave it at the two seasons and I for one am pleased by that.

6/10

The Walking Dead Season 2

 

     The dead are walking again as AMC’s hit zombie apocalypse drama returns for an inevitable 2nd season. Despite being relatively short for an American series (the 1st season consisted of just 6 episodes), it was a huge hit both in the states and over here. I for one had been awaiting the 2nd season with some anticipation.

     For those of you who aren’t in the know, The Walking Dead is set after a Zombie apocalypse. The opening was clearly inspired by brit flick 28 Days Later as main character Rick Grimes wakes in a hospital bed. The first season followed him as he hunted for his wife and child before being reunited with them. A fight for survival in the ruins of Atlanta was the 1st seasons main focal point as Rick and his fellow survivors battled against a city overrun by Zombies. The season came to a close after a tense episode set in the CDC where the last surviving doctor explained a few things about the Zombie Apocalypse. It ended after the CDC exploded with Rick and his band of survivors heading back on the road.

     Season 2 began how season 1 ended and 3 episodes in, I am impressed. The basic premise has remained and the structure is unchanged. The Zombies often appear unexpectedly and there are still odd bits of humour to break up the tension. The tension is what makes this show so great though. It genuinely feels like nobody is safe. In episode 3 (due to air on FX this weekend) one character does something that literally changes everything and that is the beauty of this show. The writers are prepared to literally throw their characters to the dogs.

     There is still an air of mystery also. As of writing we still don’t know what has happened to Merle. He was the guy who got handcuffed to the pipe in Atlanta. When the rest of the survivors went back, he was gone. He is expected to return at some point although where and when remains a mystery.

     It has recently been confirmed that The Walking Dead has been renewed for a 3rd series. The show is currently airing on Sunday nights in the states with the same episode showing on FX at 10pm on Friday nights over here.