January 2008 Archives

Further to Tuesday’s discussion of the nature of “buttocks” on television (remember, that word needs to be read in the style of Forest Gump), it would seem churlish not to at least draw attention to further developments in the row between the FCC and ABC over said anatomy appearing in an episode of NYPD Blue from 2003. Let’s just read that again, shall we? Yes, that was an episode of NYPD Blue from 2003…

It seems that by drawing attention to this particular example of indecency on US network television so far after the fact, it seems that some wag has posted the offending clip on Youtube, resulting in it being accessed some 1.3 million times in two days, as reported by the venerable IMDB yesterday. That works out at about a dollar per person in relation to the $1.4m fine said to have been levied against ABC and the network’s affiliate stations.

Good news for fans of ITV’s portal-hopping, monster chasing Saturday night adventure drama. Halfway through transmission of the Douglas Henshall starring Primeval ITV has confirmed it will be back for a third series, with production slated to begin in March for a 2009 transmission.

This is clearly good news for ITV. As we have noted several times in recent weeks, Michael Grade’s troubled network appears to be having great difficulty in floating any successful new dramas. With Primeval pulling in ratings of 5 million plus, at least some old nonsense with dinosaurs is doing decent business.

I’m just not sure about some of the things being uttered by the high-ups involved in the making of Primeval. Tim Haines, executive producer of the show, has said:

…after five years of arguing with the FCC over just what a brief flash of a naked woman’s buttocks on an episode of NYPD Blue from 2003 actually means… It’s an argument that is set to cost the American television network $1.43m according to Digital Spy.

This story amuses and angers me in equal measure – it could be an unmade episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. One can only imagine the five years of meetings and exchanges between ABC, broadcasters of NYPD Blue from 1993 To 2005, and the Federal Communications Commission (aka FCC) on this very um, touchy subject.

This straight-faced statement from FCC commissioner Deborah Taylor clarifies the commission’s somewhat po-faced position in this insane argument:

Coronation Street (Monday 7.30/8.30pm)

If you’re still missing Vera Duckworth, then you’d better get your hanky out again tonight as it’s time for the final goodbye. It’s the funeral of one our favourite Corrie legends, and Jack is a shadow of his former self as the hearse pulls up on Coronation Street. This is likely to be an emotional pairing of episodes, and with a return for Terry Duckworth alongside, the sparks are sure to fly.

The Palace (Monday 9pm, ITV1)

Oh come on! You just have to, if only to point and laugh. It’s worth every second.

Damages (Monday 10.35pm, BBC1)

This excellent US drama continues in great style. There are more twists and turns in a script that teases the audience just enough with tantalising glimpses of the future to keep you hungry to see more. We know it finishes with murder, but just who did it? I can’t wait to find out! The performances of Glenn Close and Rose Byrne, not to mention a fine supporting cast, remain stunning.

Mistresses (Tuesday 9pm, BBC1)

Four episodes in and we know exactly where we are with Mistresses. And that’s never a bad thing with a character-based drama like this. Katie plunges headlong into an affair with the son of her dead lover, but will the truth come out between the sheets? Elsewhere in our delicious coven of lovelies, Trudi’s relationship with the somewhat passively sinister Richard takes an odd turn.

Clocking Off (Tuesday 9pm, ITV3)

With Shameless still doing the business on Channel 4, check out another fine Paul Abbot drama when ITV3 embarks on a repeat of the classic Clocking Off, first shown on BBC1. It’s a six-part trawl through the lives of the staff of a textiles factory where each story winds through all the others. Its closest contemporary cousin is Jimmy McGovern’s The Street and it’s just as good. With a cast that includes Sarah Lancashire, Phillip Glenister, John Simm and David Morrissey, can you really resist? I know I can’t!

Masterchef (Wednesday 8.30pm, BBC2)

It’s still going and I’m still loving every minute. John and Gregg’s boats are being floated and switches flicked by some of the food being cooked in this year’s competition, and I think we tune in as much for what they’re going to come out with as it is for the cooking. If not more so…

Torchwood (Wednesday 9pm, BBC2)

It’s Wednesday, it’s 9pm, it’s Torchwood! (no, you don’t have to shout it back…). And after my cautious comments on last week’s episode, thankfully this script from Who scribe Helen Raynor keeps the character elements in place all the way through. It’s a relief, and shows just how wonderful this show can be when it plays things with some subtlety. In 1918, Torchwood froze a patient from a mental hospital, and our modern take on the team are getting him out of the fridge for his annual breath of fresh air. And then Tosh falls for him. Oops! Good stuff, and for Helen Raynor I hope it’s a chance to forget last year’s New York Dalek story from the parent show (although I don’t think the weaknesses of that two-parter were down to the writer).

Wonderland (Wednesday 9.50pm, BBC2)

This wonderful and slightly leftfield documentary series continues with a film about Second Life, the virtual world where fortunes can be made, you can watch Jimmy Carr play a stand-up gig (!) and you can fall in love. It focuses on a bored American housewife who found love as a sexy babe with a muscle-packed warrior who turned out to be a bloke called Eliot who lived in Britain, all within this fascinating environment. It’s an affecting piece, but best not to think about it too hard. The PC is just in the corner of the room…

EastEnders (Thursday 7.30pm, BBC1)

As we say goodbye to one soap legend on Coronation Street, another soap legend continues to wow us over on t’other side tonight. This episode is an indicator of just how far EastEnders has come in the last year to possess the confidence to attempt this soap first – a one hander for Dot Cotton. Tony Jordan returns to Enders scripting duties and provides June Brown with a 30-minute monologue as Dot records an emotive message for her ailing husband Jim. June Brown is amazing here, making the whole thing look so effortless, and I don’t think there’s another soap actress out there who could carry this. Oooh, I say!

Trial & Retribution (Thursday 9pm, ITV1)

I have no idea if I actually like this show or not. I just tune in to watch Victoria Smurfit. A couple of weeks ago I described the look on DCI Roisin Connor’s face as something akin to being goosed. This week I’m going with “cat with a hairball”. Please, can somebody on that show give the poor woman a script where Roisin smiles or something? She looks like she needs it.

30 Rock (Thursday 11.05pm, Five)

It’s on at a crazy time, but hey, you’ve all heard of Sky Plus, haven’t you? As always there’s a cracking pair of episodes on tonight, made even more delicious as the first guest-stars Nathan Lane as Jack’s brother. Laugh out loud funny, sit-com’s rarely come funnier than 30 Rock.

Looking at Media Guardian’s round up of last night’s TV ratings landscape, there are some interesting points to consider, especially in light of ITV’s desire to reposition and the continuing battle of the 10pm news bulletins.

The nexus point for the evening is centred on the 9pm slot, which has become a bloody battleground of late, with all channels slugging it out for whatever spoils they can get. And this isn’t good news for an ITV desperate to reposition itself, thanks to some pretty stiff competition across the board.

Amanda Redman starrer Honest tumbled further in the ratings on its third ITV outing, taking in 3.7 million viewers compared to a starting innings of 6 million. Redman’s BBC vehicle, New Tricks, can easily knock on the door of 10 million, week in, week out, so it’s slim pickings over in the independent sector.

I’m not sure if you can actually hang knitting needles up, but it seems the right thing to say in light of the announcement that Geraldine McEwan will be saying goodbye to the role of Miss Marple after three years. With two more Marple investigations to be shown, McEwan will have clocked up 12 appearances as Agatha Christie’s much-loved amateur sleuth by the time she bows out.

“I am sure that my successor, whomever she may be, will thoroughly enjoy her time with the production team and with the extraordinarily talented group of writers and actors that they come up with for each series,”

the actress has said on the announcement.

I’ll be honest, I’ve never been that sold on these Miss Marple adaptations. They feel a little bit too camp, too slight for my liking, and McEwan never entirely convinced in the role – perhaps she wasn’t entirely convinced herself. But I know that many people do enjoy the show, and McEwan is one of the finest actresses we have, so I’ve decided I’m going to be sad about this news.

As you’ll see from the News section and Scott’s previous posting, today saw BBC Three controller Danny Cohen unveil the new look for his channel, complete with the logo and idents that will debut next month.

On the whole it doesn’t look too bad. The logo itself is a bit humdrum and placed out of context looks a bit limp and indistinct. It wouldn’t look that out of place on a Saturday morning kids show. In the 80s.

But I’m being disingenuous. It does appear that the new branding will probably work much better taken as a whole with what appear from the pictures provided to be rather detailed, animated idents. So far, so good…

A month ago, TV Today alerted you to the bright new rebrand awaiting BBC Three as they rolled out a teaser microsite featuring their new look and feel.

Today, the full extent of how the channel is changing was revealed to the press — and we were there to find out all about it on your behalf.

A full photo report after the jump, or head over to the News section for the big headlines or Mark’s reaction to the relaunch…

Coronation Street (Monday 7.30pm, ITV1)

I’m still quietly sobbing after Friday’s pair of Corrie episodes. The Street will definitely never be the same again, and tonight Jack shows signs of difficulty in coming to terms with the loss of Vera. Bill Tarmey is on blinding form, putting in some of his finest Corrie work in 30 years. Can I suggest a deserved nod for Best Actor come next awards season?

The Palace (Monday 9pm, ITV1)

Ah, my favourite guilty pleasure of the week, and it’s only episode 2! King Richard isn’t given long to get used to his new title when tubby little brother George may be responsible for a hit and run. Predictably, Princess Eleanor uses the situation to strengthen her own position, while the private staff try not to look like they’re about to stab each other in the back. Utterly preposterous, but ridiculously enjoyable.

City of Vice (Monday 9pm, C4)

There a certain charm of City of Vice. It’s a bit obvious in places (the stylised flights around the map of London are a tad overdone), but it does look good, and Ian McDiarmid and Iain Glen as the brothers Fielding certainly put in the work. This week, the Bow Street Runners are called to the murder of a homosexual clergyman at Molly House, a well-known brothel. I worry that this series is going to be an endless parade of murders in brothels, but that was a theme of the day, so maybe that’s all we’ll get.

Emmerdale (Tuesday 7pm, ITV1)

With the soaps banned from the ITV weekend schedules, this has left Emmerdale with a surplus of episodes to get through – so let’s just have one hour-long episode a week! Hooray, the ratings could certainly do with it. Poor Sam Dingle doesn’t have much luck, does he? Tonight, after a night in the cells, he dobs Eli’s little drug operation in to the cops. There’ll be fog before teatime, mark my words!

Mistresses (Tuesday 9pm, BBC1)

Things are really hotting up now in this great BBC drama, but is it wrong of me to shout at the screen whenever Katie (Sarah Parish) pulls away from snogging the son of her deceased lover? Just do it love, you know you want to. What I like about Mistresses is that it isn’t just a lowest common-denominator drama about shagging. Each character’s story is well-judged, and the talented cast make these ladies very likeable, even the one’s embarking on questionable courses.

Torchwood (Wednesday 9pm, BBC2)

Torchwood is a much more polished piece of work these days, and we can all be thankful for that. The dialogue fizzes that little bit more, the cast fire off each either with extra chemistry, and the storytelling has been tightened up nicely. What this always intriguing show doesn’t seem to be able to do is resist the temptation to turn the gore factor up in the last real. Take tonight’s episode, Sleeper. It’s a great idea, about a woman who has no memory of a murder she’s committed. It’s sensitively, quietly told and I was hooked – and then it lost me 25 minutes in by getting silly and feeling the need to throw blood around with gay abandon. I still have massively high hopes for this year’s Torchwood, and even with reservations, it’s still a massively improved show.

Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA (Wednesday 10pm, C4)

Gordon Ramsay’s bid to conquer the culinary world continues as he takes the massively popular Kitchen Nightmares format to the USA. This is doubtless going to be even shoutier than the British variety, and I’m not sure that the American chefs will put with being treated like trash by GR. Sounds like it’ll be even better than the our home-grown version!

Fairytales: The Emperor’s New Clothes (Thursday 9pm, BBC1)

Denise Van Outen stars in this typically limp update of a classic fairytale as the soap star who wants to put her rivals in the shade on the red carpet. She teams up with a fan (Life on Mars alumnus Liz White) to cook up a plan that could make her shine more than she knows. It’s better than some of the other outings in this series, but not by much. Shame.

Moving Wallpaper (Thursday 9pm, ITV1)

I feel the need to defend Moving Wallpaper – its ratings are hardly setting the world on fire, which is sad. It’s clever (but not overly so), funny and entertaining. Just what ITV needs really. But why isn’t it doing the business with the audience? Perhaps scheduling an episode on Thursday and Friday is just one step too far, or perhaps it’s perceived as just a bit too “media”. Whatever the reason, I’m firmly standing behind it and urge you all to watch it immediately!

Coronation Street (Friday 7.30/8.30pm, ITV1)

A very sad day for fans of Coronation Street as we say farewell to one of the show’s best loved characters and actresses. Tonight, Vera Duckworth passes away in a storyline that has been kept very close to ITV’s chest. Nobody knows how this legend will leave the cobbles, and I shall be watching, hanky in hand. This is a doubly sad event, as actress Liz Dawn’s reasons for leaving the soap she has inhabited after 30-odd years have been brought about due to ill health. Vera and Liz, TV Today shall be raising a glass to you tonight – you are an original and you will be missed.

Jam and Jerusalem (Friday 8.30pm, BBC1)

In tonight’s episode of this delightfully sleepy and lovely comedy, David Mitchell’s local doctor, James, is centre stage at a battle re-enactment is cancelled on health and safety grounds. The doc was due to play the king, so it’s no wonder he’s a bit miffed (in a way that only a character played by David Mitchell can be). Will an afternoon of safe games organised by the stalwarts of the WI be adequate replacement? What do you think?

Moving Wallpaper (Friday 9pm, ITV1)

There seems to be a consensus about Moving Wallpaper and Echo Beach. Get rid of Echo Beach – it doesn’t appear to serve much purpose once the initial bout of in jokes have been expended. Its storylines are limp and the novelty of seeing Jason Donovan and Martine McCuthcheon in a sub-soap drama just isn’t enough to carry it on. Moving Wallpaper, on the other hand, is actually rather good. Funny, well acted, and original in its execution. It represents the first genuinely promising show to come out of this new, funkier ITV.

Gordon Ramsay: Cookalong Live

Concluding the Big Food Fight season, Gordon Ramsay talks the audience through cooking a three-course meal from scratch in 60 minutes. I wonder if it comes complete with swearing?

Primeval (Saturday 7pm, ITV1)

Last week our heroic team battled raptors in a shopping centre. This week it’s giant worms in an office block. And therein lies the underlying weakness of Primeval – script conferences must be a random round of pairing beasties with location. As this series progresses, there had better be some proper plot development, otherwise Primeval will get to the end of this season still treading water. When we get to chasing a brontosaurus round a badminton court, then we’ll be in trouble.

Law and Order (Saturday 10.30pm, Five)

With the development of a domestic spin-off from this venerable crime show in the offing, it seems an opportune moment to check out the first episode of the 14th series of Law and Order. Even now it’s still solid, tight drama with great dialogue and characters, which is all we can hope for in this day an age. Maybe I’m getting old, but I’m finding I prefer more sedate fare like Law and Order nowadays as opposed to be the brashness of CSI.

Wild at Heart (Sunday 7.50pm, ITV1)

I’m not the biggest fan of Wild at Heart, but it’s perfectly inoffensive television to while away an hour on a Sunday night. The big change this year will be the departure of Amanda Holden within a few episodes, leaving the role of Sarah Trevanion after two years. Coming in to replace her will be ex-‘Ender Jessie Wallace as new girl Amy Kriel. Expect the usual mix of cracking scenery, wild animals and some vague drama involving a sick lion. Bless.

Messiah (Sunday 9pm, BBC1)

Marc Warren steps into the fray to take over from his old The Vice mentor, Ken Stott, in this always brutal, never dull crime drama. It’s essentially a whole new set up with no connection to previous series, which is a shame as I’ll miss Neil Dudgeon’s down-at-heel sidekick. Haunted cop (sigh) Joseph Walker leads his team in the hunt for a serial killer – but are the cops themselves all part of the killer’s plan? It doesn’t sound any different to any other Messiah episode, but it will still be hugely entertaining. Concludes Monday.

Monk (Sunday 7pm, Hallmark)

A new series for Tony Shaloub as the OCD detective. It’s brilliant and criminally overlooked in the UK.

In this week’s print edition of The Stage (and online in our News section yesterday), Matthew Hemley reports that some professional tribute acts have hit out at BBC1’s Saturday night show, The One and Only.

Matt’s story has since been picked up by the Press Association — although notably without the comments of a professional who was broadly supportive:

Elvis impersonator Steve Preston said: “I think the principle of it is all right. I am not sure the top impersonators are there, but a primetime Saturday night show like this keeps our business in the public arena.”

As I blogged earlier this week, I was in the studio audience on Saturday’s live show, as a guest of the BBC and the show’s makers Endemol. And as I said there, the audition shows the previous week were excruciating to watch — but the performances in the live studio environment redeemed the series.

Do any of us actually care about the supposed battle of the news playing out at 10pm every night? I can’t say it’s really occurred to me all that much – I’ll flick the telly on and watch one or the other. The concept of brand or loyalty when it comes to the premier broadcasters’ main news bulletins is something I find a bit odd.

Okay, so ITV’s News at Ten has the bongs of Big Ben. Yes, and? Likewise, the BBC news has national treasure Hugh Edwards. And your point is?

Yet, our beloved navel-gazing media seems obsessed with the state of out broadcasters’ news services, the BBC/ITV 10 O’Clock face off in particular getting a great deal of attention. I do think the return of News at Ten to ITV is quite a sensible business decision in terms of ratings. However, there does appear to be a bizarre love-in at ITV with the concept of a News at Ten hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald with all the bongs present and correct. This in itself undersells the programme’s return merely as an exercise in nostalgia – heck, let’s bring back Sandy Gall and Sir Alastair Burnet while we’re at it!

Last night saw the press launch of Ashes to Ashes, the much-anticipated follow-up to Life on Mars.

Which is pretty much all I can say, as the PR company are being very strict on embargoes. A full Square Eyes special preview will emerge nearer the series transmission date, which is currently scheduled for February 8th or thereabouts. We’ll also have interview material from stars Keeley Hawes, Philip Glenister and a couple of other members of the cast, both on the blog and in the weekly print edition of The Stage.

What I can say is that, for the most part, any fears I had about whether or not the series could work as a 1981-set sequel to the 1973-based original were well and truly laid to rest by the time the end credits rolled.

Except for one very small thing…

This is a really difficult piece to write for TV Today, and I don’t really know where to begin. We pride ourselves in these hallowed corridors that we watch the best TV, slicing through the bluster, spin and episodes of Tittybangbang to bring you the truth behind the telly.

But now I feel I’ve let you down. I had a moment last night that caused me to question everything I know to be true, to doubt my ability to judge between a Life on Mars and a one-off adventure drama for ITV starring Nigel Harman.

Yes, ladies and gentleman, I have something to tell you…

Coronation Street (Monday 7.30/8pm, ITV1)

Corrie appears to have recovered from its Christmas slump and some big storylines are finally moving on. Tonight, it’s Ryan Connor’s birthday and Nick is keen to give the lad a pressie. Will he be so keen to accept when he learns the truth about Nick’s real identity?

The Palace (Monday 9pm, ITV1)

This is either going to be a huge hit, or crash and burn like Windsor castle, as The Palace seeks to lift the lid on life behind the balconies of royal life. Sadly The West Wing this ain’t, as we follow the ups and downs in the life of a fictional British royal family. Party loving Prince Rupert is a bit shocked when his dad goes to the big palace in the sky, elevating him overnight to the throne. It’s all a bit silly, to be honest, and not in a Hotel Babylon kind of way. Still, it has Jane Asher as Queen Charlotte, so at least it has something going for it. Just…

City of Vice (Monday 9pm, C4)

Oooh nice, a slick historical crime drama, providing a welcome alternative to the silliness on the other side. City of Vice stars Ian (The Emperor) McDiarmid as Henry Fielding (writer of the bawdy Tom Jones) alongside Iain Glen as his blind brothe, John. Together they turn detective upon learning of the savage murder of a prostitute. This is supposedly based on historical fact taken from documentation written at the time, but that I feel is stretching things a tad. That being said, it’s well made and has a great feel to it. More please!

Mistresses (Tuesday 9pm, BBC1)

Guilty pleasure or just simple pleasure? Mistresses succeeds because it is a solid, line and length drama about four women. They are strong, confident and very well realised, even if Sarah Parish always seems to play characters with a slightly tragic streak to them. All the Sex and the City-ness of Mistresses has, I feel, been overplayed by the publicity machine, so ignore that and just enjoy a well acted, well made piece of TV drama.

Shrink Rap (Tuesday 10pm, More 4)

This edition of the Pamela Connolly hosted interview show is bound to get a little bit of attention as this week her subject is former Not the 9 O’Clock News colleague Chris Langham. There isn’t much more to say than that – watch it and make your own mind up.

Masterchef (Tuesday 8.30pm, BBC2)

I miss the Goes Large tag, but Masterchef is still as good as ever. However, I’m not sure I like the new timeslot. It’s great that this 30 minute ritual has become popular enough to be promoted to prime time, but I want to sit and watch this when I’m having my tea. But the competition will still Change. Somebody’s. Life!, so I shouldn’t complain too much.

Torchwood (Wednesday 9pm, BBC2)

“Miss me, kids?” asks the exuberant Captain Jack Harkness when Torchwood returns for a second series on a new channel. Well, now he mentions it, I have a little bit. I know I gave Torchwood a bit of a drubbing first time out, but I’m still glad the show is being made. This year I expect a slicker operation, with more likeable lead characters, but still with the same pedal to the metal pace that typified series one. In Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Buffy alumnus James Marsters turns up as rival time agent Captain John Hart to cause mayhem in Cardiff. Okay, count me in – cautiously…

Grand Designs (Wednesday 9pm, C4)

Kevin McCloud is back to wander sagely round building sites and shake his head at the insanity of some of the housing projects this always excellent show covers. Tonight another couple with more money than sense embark on yet another adventure in stupidity – and we will lap it up!

Mark Lawson Talks to Russell T Davies (Wednesday 11pm, BBC4)

On the night of Torchwood’s return, Mark Lawson invites its creator, Russell T Davies, in for what is sure to be an exuberant and entertaining chat.

Fairy Tales (Thursday 9pm, BBC1)

Well at least this can’t be any worse than last week’s utterly baffling offering from these supposedly updated takes on our favourite fairy tales. Maxine Peake plays the down at heel university cleaner who is desperate for a job as a research assistant with the somewhat obviously named Professor Prince (James Nesbitt). Sadly, two vacuous, shallow students also want the job, but with the help of Mona Hammond’s kindly elder cleaner, can our Cinders be the belle of the ball and get the job? Oops! I just gave the game away there. This is an enthusiastic stab at updating Cinderella, but I fear the whole exercise is a bit of a damp squib all round. Shame.

Trial & Retribution (Thursday 9pm, ITV1)

This ITV perennial returns for a new run of investigations in the company Chief Superintendent Michael Walker and DCI Roisin Connor. The problem with T&R is that I can never pay attention to the convoluted storylines as I’m fascinated by the one-note expression Rosin’s face. Victoria Smurfit, God bless her, plays the character with wide-eyed surprise, as if she was constantly being goosed. To be fair to Smurfit, who is a good actress, she’s been saddled with a fairly dreary character, so it amazes me she makes as much of it as she does.

On Saturday, I was invited along to BBC television centre, as the guest of Endemol and the BBC’s press teams, for a VIP evening at The One and Only, the BBC’s tribute act-based talent competition.

Having been to several showcase events (including the Showcall four-day industry extravangazas organised by The Stage), I’ve seen a fair few tribute acts over the last few years. And while I thought that the pre-recorded audition shows shown last week were repetitive and dull, I’m happy to say that the live performances were anything but. In conversation with people who watched from home, though, I get the impression (excuse the pun) that some acts worked better in person than they did on screen…

TV Today readers may not have noticed, but we have a new podcast available for download now, featuing Nuala Calvi’s interview with Sound of Music star Connie Fisher.

During the 50-minute interview, which was conducted before Christmas, Connie talks in detail about her time on How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, her transition to West End leading lady, her much-publicised illness and her friendship with both Andrew Lloyd Webber and fellow TV talent show alumnus Lee Mead.

Connie also talks about one of her post-theatre jobs, in the ITV drama Caught in a Trap. She will play the fan of a musical performer (in her case, Elvis Presley) whose obsession takes over her life.

Aren’t we relieved we don’t know any people like that? :-)

• The Stage Podcast: Connie Fisher
• Got iTunes? Subscribe to the iTunes Enhanced podcast

• Got a different podcast player? Subscribe to the MP3 podcast

• Read an abridged print version of this interview

Jam and Jerusalem (Friday 8.30pm, BBC1)

A new pleasure in my viewing week. As I said last week, I wasn’t sold on the first series, but this second run of Jam and Jerusalem has captured my heart in a big way. Funny and poignant in equal measure, this is perhaps Jennifer Saunders’ best work, lacking some of the hysterical bluster of her other outings. Less can most definitely be more…

Jamie’s Fowl Dinners (Friday 9pm, C4)

As Jamie supposedly grovels his way back into the favour of Sainsbury’s after an attack on his employer for refusing to attend a debate on battery chicken farming, this is the show that sparked the story. It continues the Big Food Fight season, started with Hugh’s Chicken Run, and seeks to highlight the conditions our chickens are reared in. Thought provoking.

Al Murray’s Happy Hour (Friday 10pm, ITV1)

Not sure why this was recommissioned, but never mind. Murray’s Pub Landlord character has just about come to the end of his natural, but still he soldiers on with this oddly pitched chat show. I’d be tempted to just hold out for the new series of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on BBC1 at 10.35pm.

Damages (Friday 11.35pm, BBC1)

I heartily recommend you take the opportunity to catch this repeat showing of the first episode of this excellent US legal drama. It’s stunningly good, and Glenn Close is a joy to behold – she’s like a better-dressed Cruella de Vil – and she’s supposed to be the good guy! The second episode is on Sunday at 10.30 on BBC1.

The TV Show (Saturday 4.15pm, C4)

Monthly live discussion show presided over by Krishnan Guru-Murthy. A studio audience dissect the TV shows they’ve watched over the last month. They discuss what they’ve loved, what they’ve loathed, and also have the opportunity to tackle broadcasters on pertinent issues. Odd, but right up TV Today’s street.

Harry Hill’s TV Burp (Saturday 6.30pm, ITV1)

It’s all right. Everything is going to be okay. Harry is back with his uniquely skewed (and bloody funny) look at the past week’s TV schedules. He starts this new run with a look at what’s been occupying our screens since the show was last on, and if Bear Grylls isn’t a weekly fixture, I’ll be writing to my MP. Welcome back Dr Hill, you’ve been away too long.

Primeval (Saturday 7pm, ITV1)

Yes, it’s back and as fun and entertaining as ever. Check out our special preview earlier in the week for what we really thought about tonight’s opener, but rest assured, Primeval won’t disappoint. The final episode of series one can be seen earlier at 1.45pm on ITV1.

ER (Saturday 8.05pm, C4)

Huh? ER on a Saturday? Is nothing sacred? If Channel 4 is looking for a reason to ditch this long-standing import, then this is the perfect slot to kill off what audience the show still has. After 14 years, ER still manages to be just as great as it always was. You can catch up with the cataclysmic events of the previous series directly before this at 7.05pm. Will Neela survive the carnage at the anti-war rally?

Dancing on Ice (Sunday 5.50pm, ITV1)

This is madness if you ask me. Dancing on Ice is a Saturday show, pure and simple. The Sunday ITV schedule is just incapable of supporting a two-hour light entertainment reality format and shunting Dancing on Ice here is ratings suicide. On Saturday I’m bang on for vegging out in front of some undemanding, glitzy talent show. On Sundays I want bite size chunks of light drama and the like. I’m thinking about work, I’m getting my gym kit together, I’m thinking about my packed lunch (not unusual, I assure you). Mum is washing up, getting the kids bathed, making up school bags, Dad is asleep on the sofa and the kids have that miserable, impending school feeling. Saturday’s are like a free night, when a certain portion of our responsibilities can be dismissed. We get a takeaway, we kick our shoes off, and we don’t feel guilty for giving two hours to a TV show. I’m happy to be proved wrong, but I think this is a bad move. Oh, as for the show itself, some celebs skate. Or something.

Lark Rise to Candleford/Sense and Sensibility (Sunday 7.40/8.40pm, BBC1)

Speaking of questionable decisions, has somebody been sniffing the tippex in the scheduling department at BBC1? Who thought it was a good idea to schedule two costume dramas back-to-back on a Sunday night, especially after we gorged on the delicious Cranford just before Christmas. Have you ever heard of variety? Why not hold back Lark Rise… for a month or two and keep your powder dry in this genre, rather than giving your audience it full in the face with both corseted barrels. It doesn’t matter how good they are, this is one too many even for my palette, and Lark Rise is going to lose out to Sense and Sensibility if I’m forced to make a choice.

Kingdom (Sunday 9.20pm, ITV1)

Now this is more like it! Gentle, undemanding, well made drama in the company of lovely and fluffy Stephen Fry. Here at TV Today we liked the first series of Kingdom, and I hope that the ratings can hold up for this second run. In this first episode, Peter helps out with the WI’s fight to save the lighthouse from closure. You see? Completely undemanding. Bliss.

So the BBC have now secured an arrangement with the distributors of new US legal drama Damages that will ensure it can be shown via its iPlayer service, after episode 1 was removed from the service earlier this week.

MediaGuardian reports that the new deal will allow a streaming version to be included in the BBC’s on-demand service, but that unlike the rest of their content, it will not be made available for download by the service’s Windows-based users.

So, if you want to have a local copy to play at your convenience, you’ll still have to use iTunes. Or, as Ian pointed out in the comments, use the old-fashioned broadcast repeat and use the home recording method as usual…

Now that the iPlayer is live and active, the BBC will hopefully sort out its on-demand rights well in advance. Let’s hope Damages is the last, as well as the first, programme to suffer from this sort of confusion.

As something of a crime fiction daftie (as I’m known round these parts) I must admit to being rather enthusiastic about today’s news that actor-writer-director Kenneth Branagh is to take on the role of Swedish detective Kurt Wallander in a lavish BBC production based on the books by Henning Mankell.

Branagh, who has been concentrating on film work, will play Mankell’s somewhat dour Swedish policeman in three 90 minutes films to be produced by Andy Harries. This will mark Branagh’s return to the small screen for the first time since 2002’s Shackleton. The three films have a rumoured price tag of £6 million, which seems a little steep considering the Beeb’s current financial uncertainty. On the other hand, this direction may fit with a desire for less output but more high quality, prestige showings from Auntie. As with all these things, budget figures are usually pie in the sky, so we’ll take that with a pinch of salt at this stage.

Further to yesterday’s preview of Primeval series 2, I noticed something on the ITV website that I found a bit worrying…

Primeval is classified under the heading of “Cult”… Oh dear, is this a case of those ITV executives lacking any sense of imagination and scope? I would say so. It has dinosaurs and sparkly shiny holes that people jump through, so it can only appeal to young children and 40 year olds who still live in their parents’ basement.

Some London buses are currently carrying the publicity campaign for the second series of ITV’s monster mash sci-fi show, Primeval.

Run London!

it proclaims, depicting a figure running away from a nasty beastie. Now, to Londoners, this is fine – the annual Nike 10k race in our fair capital uses that very slogan, and so to the metropolitan populace is reasonably familiar.

So what’s my point, you ask? Well, as the second series returns to our screens, this did make me wonder about one of the limitations of Primeval. Aside from a couple of trips to the New Forest, every visitation from the nasty scaly monsters from the past has taken place in the London environs. A swimming pool here, a tube station there. Is this deliberate, a plot point to be examined in the future? Is there a reason why there have been no sightings of a T-Rex on the Champs-Elysees, or why we haven’t seen a Brontosaurus chugging down Blackpool’s Golden Mile?

Something very odd is going on when it comes to the BBC’s (frankly rather wonderful) iPlayer, when it comes to last Sunday’s Damages, the legal drama starring Glenn Close.

As of today, the series is being sold through iTunes, with the first episode, Get me a Lawyer, available for free. And, as paidContent:UK and Pocket-lint point out, there is no sign of the show when you search on iPlayer.

Which is very odd, because I watched it streamed on demand from iPlayer just yesterday. And, when going through my web browser’s history, I am able to access the page for Damages without problem, and the streaming still works.

One hates to jump to conclusions, but it does look as if the online rights for this particular acquisition have been sold from under the BBC’s feet — in which case, it would highlight one of the difficulties in trying to provide a coherent service when so many commercial partners, each with their own agenda, are involved. It’s a shame, because it now means that if I miss another episode on its Sunday transmission, I’ll have to wait for the DVD — there’s no way I’m paying £1.89 for each of the remaining 12 episodes. Over 22 quid for 13 episodes isn’t particularly good value.

You may, of course, disagree — if you do, follow this link and you can get each episode every Monday. And even if you don’t want to buy the whole series, you can use the same link to download Sunday’s episode for free and view at your leisure.

Oh my. How frustrating that a small point made at the end of our sizeable interview with John Barrowman should get so misinterpreted by the mainstream media.

Normally, we revel in the attention when the press pick up an element of one of our interviews, but in this case it would have been far nicer if they’d been accurate in their reporting.

From today, ITV1 has tweaked its schedules, as its peaktime soaps shuffle up more closely to free up the Sunday evening schedules, and its daytime soap, The Royal Today, launches.

While the effect is such that it makes it easier to see just how much of the channel’s output is new drama, the sheer bulk of that comes in the form of continuing serials. And how well will lovers of the soaps be treated by this change of scheduling?

MI High (Monday 5pm, BBC1)

A return of the silly but well-made children’s drama from Kudos. It’s Spooks Jnr in all but name, and very entertaining.

Masterchef Goes Large (Monday-Friday, 8.30pm, BBC2)

A new prime time slot, but it should still be business as usual in a new series of perhaps the best show on the box. Gregg will still like his puddings and shout a lot, John will state the bleedin’ obvious with alarming regularity, and the amateur cooks will fall to pieces when their roux goes lumpy. It will be utterly addictive, so set the Sky Plus on series link immediately! If Gregg doesn’t exclaim: “This competition. Just. Gets. Tougher!” at the beginning of every episode, then I want my money back.

Wire in the Blood (Monday 9pm, ITV1)

It’s been a while since we’ve had one of those TV detective abroad stories. Morse went Down Under for a case, and Fitz headed to Hong Kong in Cracker. Now Dr Tony Hill gets to try out his southern drawl on the population of Texas – of course, he still sounds like he’s in Newcastle. It’s an odd show, Wire in the Blood, and one I can never quite get to grips with. The stories are harder to follow than an episode of Waking the Dead and the characters are always routine thumbnail caricatures, but, but… There’s something in Robson Green’s twitchy turn as Hill that is endearingly watchable, despite the subject matter. The Texan location makes absolutely no difference to the story, so not entirely sure why they bothered.

Hugh’s Chicken Run (Monday 9pm, C4)

One of my food heroes, Hugh Fearnley-Whitingstall, embarks on a quest to convince the town of Axminster to go free range, thus kicking off the highly commendable Big Food Fight season. The thinking woman’s foodie crumpet, Fearnley-Whittingstall is a huge advocate of organic and free range food production and here he opens an intensive chicken rearing operation and compares and contrasts with a free range unit next door. It’s brilliantly done, and some of the scenes are quite distressing, not least of all Hugh’s reaction to what he’s doing to these poor chickens.

Mistresses (Tuesday 9pm, BBC1)

Mistresses has guilty pleasure written all over it, and thank God for that. Four friends, all involved (or not) with a string of disparate lovers, married or otherwise, routinely get together to talk about their various conquests over a cheeky round of cocktails. Sound like a Sex and the British City? Well, that sells it short, because the performances here from a group of talented actresses, led by the always-watchable Sarah Parish, are a hell of a lot better than Carrie and Co. The whole women behaving badly shtick can be overplayed at times, but the truth is, women do behave badly as much as men, so why shouldn’t they have some fun. Hugely enjoyable.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Tuesday 9pm, Five)

The show that pretty much saved Five is back for a new series. Oh come on, if it wasn’t for Five’s canny acquiring of a show that still had an uncertain future early in the day, the beleaguered channel would have had a much more difficult time of it. Sara is still stuck out in the desert, stranded by the “Miniature Killer”, and it’s up to Grissom and the team to find her. Same old, same old, but still fabulous entertainment.

Shameless (Tuesday 10pm, C4)

Oh. Is Shameless still going? I find it quite sad that I don’t really care. Still, it will always have a lot going for it – sharp writing, good performances, but I find the absence of previous favourite characters to be a real obstacle in enjoying Shameless any more.

Honest (Wednesday 9pm, ITV1)

I’m not sure about Honest, to be erm… honest. Amanda Redman (always fantastic) plays the matriarch of a dodgy family who has to keep things together when her hubby is sent down. Her solution to the problem is to get the family to go straight and take honest jobs for a change. It has a good cast – Sean Pertwee plays the family’s copper nemesis – but whether this can spin out to six episodes remains to be seen.

Barry Humphries: the Man Inside Dame Edna (Wednesday 10pm, C4)

Nice little documentary that follows Barry Humphries on his 2007 Australian tour. He revisits the touchstones of his childhood and wonders how much Edna and his other creations have been influenced by his experiences and vice versa. If that makes sense…

Fairy Tales (Thursday 9pm, BBC1)

After Chaucer and Shakespeare, the Beeb now turns its attention to putting a modern spin on some well-known fairy tales, starting with Rapunzel. I’m not sure what it is about Rapunzel that suggests setting it in the world of tennis, but here, Lee Ingleby stars as rubbish tennis player Jimmy Stojkovic, who resorts to masquerading as a woman to stay in the game. So far, so Carry On. Over the course of some silly slapstick comedy, Jimmy falls in love with star player Billy-Jane Brooke, known as Rapunzel thanks to her long hair, and so the comedy just keeps on coming. I simply can’t see the point of updating these stories, only to make them completely unrecognisable from the source material. It’s fun, but ultimately pointless.

Moving Wallpaper/Echo Beach (Thursday 9pm/9.30pm, ITV1)

Finally, the great experiment reaches our screens, and I can’t help but wonder what the core ITV audience will make of this. Rarely do shows set behind the scenes on TV shows make the grade – they are more often than not too knowing and full of in-jokes that alienate a non-media audience. The exceptions that spring to mind are Larry Sanders and 30 Rock, but there the writing is absolutely top-notch (although I’ll gamely defend Studio 60). In Moving Wallpaper, Ben Miller is the executive in charge of a soap, Echo Beach, and it’s vaguely funny in a dull kind of way. Following directly on is Echo Beach itself, set around a Cornish community and starring Jason Donovan and Martine McCutcheon. Erm… And that’s about all you can say. There are elements that cross over from Moving Wallpaper into Echo Beach, but it’s all a bit lacking in substance and isn’t as clever as it thinks it is. High commendation for trying something new, but I’m not sure if this will take with the audience.

Coronation Street (Friday 7.30pm, ITV1)

Liam and Maria head off to the Lakes for a dirty weekend, and it almost ends in tragedy when Mr Connor goes for a tumble while looking for the couple’s dog. There’s a suitably big budget feel to the air rescue scenes (there are helicopters and everything!), adding a bit of gloss to Corrie for a change. I hate to say it though, ‘Enders is just pipping The Street for me at the moment. Just.

Jam and Jerusalem (Friday 8.30pm, BBC1)

I rather enjoyed the New Year episode of this Jennifer Saunders comedy, so I’m going to give it a second chance after not being that sold on the first series. It does seem there is a real heart to this deceptively gentle piece, and there’s no denying the cast is top-drawer. Sue Johnston is on career best form, and the likes of Maggie Steed and Pauline McLynn provide able support.

Bike Squad (Friday 9pm, ITV1)

An odd one this, and clearly something that ITV is sneaking out the back door. Mark Addy and Maxine Peake star in this confused comedy drama about a couple of hapless coppers who are transferred into a bicycle unit in the hope they’ll just go away. There are some funny moments, but these are offset by some unusually inappropriate material that doesn’t sit right with the tone of the piece. Don’t hold your breath for a series.

Greatest Comedy Catchphrases (Friday 9pm, C4)

Oh please, do give me strength. Lazy, Channel 4, very lazy!

World Darts (from 1pm, Saturday, BBC1/BBC2)

Oh blimey, there goes the weekend. This is the cross I bear: Mark Wright loves the arrows. Are. You. Ready?!

The One and Only (Saturday, 7.20pm/9.25pm, BBC1)

Could this be one reality singing show too far for the bouncy Graham Norton, as he presides over the search for Britain’s best tribute act? Mmm, possibly, but there ain’t much on over on the other channels so it might do the business (let’s face it, nobody will be going out this weekend). The prize is pretty good too as the winner gets the opportunity to appear in a top Las Vegas impersonator show, so it’s all to play for.

When Britain First Had Talent (Saturday 7.20pm, ITV1)

A concise history of British television’s talent show tradition, going right back to the golden age of Opportunity Knocks and New Faces. Looking back, it’s amazing to realise some of the big names these shows introduced us too – yes, the Chuckle Brothers started here in 1974, fact fans! A mild diversion, no more, no less.

Casualty (Saturday 8.35pm, BBC1)

Well it’s either that or Rosemary and Thyme on ITV3. If you want to avoid the New Year blues, it’s probably best to stay away from the box tonight…

Sense and Sensibility (Sunday 9pm, BBC1)

It’s a brave man who takes on adapting Sense and Sensibility in light of the definitive film spin from Emma Thompson and Ang Lee. But there are none braver than Andrew Davies when it comes to the business of costume drama, and his S&S manages to plough a new furrow through the Austen classic, while retaining that essential charm. It’s no Cranford, but then, what is?

Foyle’s War (Sunday 9pm, ITV1)

Three new investigations for Michael Kitchen’s leisurely wartime detective. Foyle is called out of retirement when an apparent suicide turns more sinister. This is the kind of show that ITV seems keen to do away with, but there is still a place for well-made crime fare like Foyle’s War in the schedules. It isn’t bright or edgy, but it is entertaining.

Damages (Sunday 10.20pm, BBC1)

A hugely feted US drama starring Glenn Close and set in the world of top-flight litigation lawyers in New York. I hope this does well – Close is amazing, and the tone is perfect, zipping between glitz and brutality at the drop of a hat. From the first scene, questions are thrown around with abandon, and the conclusion, 13 episodes away, is likely to be spectacular. Brilliant.

Sometimes you just can’t keep a good franchise down. Law and Order, that mot venerable of US crime shows, is to have another incarnation, and this time, it’s coming to Blighty!

The story has hit the wire this morning that the boffins at Kudos, those talented chaps who make Spooks and the upcoming Echo Beach/Moving Wallpaper, are currently in negotiations with NBC and Law and Order creator Dick Wolf to produce Law and Order: London for ITV.

Straining under mountains of turkey curry and too many sherries, TV Today, like phone competitions at the BBC, is back! Apologies for the lack of postings over the festive period - it seems there were rather more top television treats on this Christmas than usual, and we were so wrapped up watching them that it seems we forgot to write! Personally, To the Manor Born, Extras and, of course, Doctor Who all delivered, and it’s great to see EastEnders back on blistering form.

But like the Blue Peter team coming back from the Summer Expedition, your faithful TV Today correspondents have returned, and we’ll be reporting direct from the coal face of this business we call telly on all the top stories in front of and behind the cameras. Well, from our armchairs at any rate…

Will this be another scandal-fuelled year for the goggle-box, or will the television industry emerge from rehab a leaner, meaner and, more importantly, enjoyable mainstay of popular culture? And will Primeval season two be any good?

2008 - be good to us!