April 2011 Archives

Doctor Who BBC1, Saturday 6pm
With Steven Moffat’s hand on the tiller and future episodes including one written by acclaimed fantasy author Neil Gaiman, this season promises to take the Doctor into darker territory than usual, while still retaining the family friendly aura that is so important. Breaking with tradition, the series opens with a two part story, which sees the Doctor, Amy and Rory travel to 1960s America for another reunion with the mysterious River Song. Doctor Who Confidential starts at 7pm on BBC3, but in the intervening 15 minutes there’s a last minute change to the schedule…

My Sarah Jane: A Tribute to Elisabeth Sladen CBBC, Saturday 6.45pm
Following the terribly sad passing of Elisabeth Sladen earlier this week, the CBBC channel, home to The Sarah Jane Adventures, pays tribute to and celebrates the life of this beloved actress.

So You Think You Can Dance BBC1, Saturday 6.45pm
Finally we get to start voting for dancers! Which reminds me, I must write up last week’s showcase special…

Coronation Street ITV1, Sunday 7.30pm
It’s all about the gays in Corrie this weekend. Sean Tully travels down to London to take out his son, Dylan, and meets up with his ex Marcus (Charlie Condou) — while back on the cobbles, Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley) returns to visit mum Eileen with his new man in tow.

United BBC2, Sunday 9pm
A haunting drama about the 1958 Munich air crash which killed eight young members of Manchester United’s football team (‘the “Busby babes”). David Tennant stars as coach Jimmy Murphy, Skins alumnus Jack O’Connell plays Bobby Charlton and Dougray Scott plays Matt Busby.

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher ITV1, Monday 9pm
A feature-length adaptation of Kate Summersale’s novel, starring Paddy Considine as the eponymous Scotland Yard detective who is called in to investigate the murder of a three-year-old boy in a respectable Wiltshire family home.

Glee E4, Monday 9pm
It’s Regionals, and New Directions are determined to win by singing original songs rather than American soft rock standards. Cue some hilarious snippets of songwriting attempts — including the unbelievably catchy Trouty Mouth, about the oversized lips of Chord Overstreet’s Sam…

The news, when it came last night, was devastating. Elisabeth Sladen, who played Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who and associated spin-offs from 1973, has passed away after a battle with cancer. She was 63.

When I first came to Doctor Who in the very early 1970s, Sarah was already part of the warp and weft of the series. Through her, I came to see the role of the companion as something that is taken for granted today: independently minded, funny, and for whom terror was a trigger for thought and action instead of just screaming.

Sladen’s performance did more than anything to convey the scariness of those episodes. Sarah frequently found herself in situations where she was clearly frightened, given away by the quiver of a lip, a tremble in the voice. If Sarah was scared, my five-year-old self surmised, it was okay for me to be too. But at the same time, her reactions were reassuring: in those situations she would do her best, like the Doctor she and I both idolised, to think her way out.

Checking out the nominees for the YouTube Audience Award for next month’s BAFTA TV Awards, the list does at least show the eclectism of British television audiences. But how on Earth is one supposed to pick a single show to vote for?

Of the six nominees, we have one sitcom, two British dramas, a Danish crime thriller and two documentary/reality shows:

The nominees (each of which is featured in the above YouTube playlist) are:

• Downton Abbey
• Miranda
• The Killing
• Sherlock
• My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding
• The Only Way is Essex

I’m not just saying it because The Stage concentrates on comedy and drama, but I really can’t bring myself to even consider voting for either My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding or The Only Way is Essex. The former sails perilously close to laughing at stereotypes at times, as indeed does the latter — although with TOWIE there’s a degree of collusion, as so many of the scenes are set up “for entertainment purposes”, as the disclaimer at the top of each show reads. Employing storyliners who normally work on soap operas has created a reality show that’s anything but.

No, if it were down to me it’ll be between the other four shows. I suspect it’d be a fool who bet against Downton Abbey scooping the prize, combining popular appeal with a sense of British tradition that so many found appealing on its transmission. Sherlock was popular upon broadcast, too, although I did find that the second of its three episodes was a major let-down.

Of the remaining two, while I personally love Miranda, the series has enough naysayers that it has no chance of scooping the top prize. And as for The Killing — there has been no more thrilling TV series broadcast on UK television this year, but despite the online chatter (and phenomenal ratings by BBC4’s standards) it remains a marginal taste.

No, I think Downton has it in the bag. But audience awards are mercurial things — after all, who would have thought that Waterloo Road would have beaten Doctor Who at the National TV Awards?

Which show would you have put on the shortlist? Which of the six will you be voting for? Let us know in the comments box below!

• Voting for the YouTube Audience Award is open until May 20 at youtube.com/baftaonline

The Reckoning ITV1, Monday & Tuesday 9pm

Broadly implausible thriller in which Ashley Jensen is offered an inheritance of £5 million, on condition that she kills a man who “deserves to die”. It’s the performance of Jensen and Max Beesley as her ex-policeman boyfriend who prevent you from turning off in disgust at the sheer ridiculousness of it all.

Glee E4, Monday 9pm

Unconventional substitute teacher Holly Holliday (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) is back at McKinley High — and this time she’s teaching sex education. Yeah, that’ll end well…

Game of Thrones Sky Atlantic, Monday 9pm

HBO’s take on the fantasy genre (based on George RR Martin’s novels) is about as far removed from Merlin as Deadwood was from Bonanza. A predominantly British cast including Sean Bean, Lena Headey, Mark Addy and Harry Lloyd lends weight to the proceedings. Read Mark Addy’s interview about Game of Thrones in this week’s print edition of The Stage

The Crimson Petal and the White BBC2, Wednesday 9pm

More Victorian misery, as Sugar (Romola Garai), now firmly esconced in the Rackham household, befriends Sophie, the young daughter of William and Agnes.

Secrets of the Arabian Nights BBC4, Thursday 9pm

The Tales of 1,001 Arabian Nights have been the source of many a children’s story, from Sinbad to Aladdin and Ali Baba. However, like many a fairytale, the original versions are much darker, and less suitable for children, than the versions we know now. Richard E Grant explores the tales which grew out of an Eastern oral storytelling tradition.

Wishful Drinking Sky Atlantic, Thursday 10.15pm

Carrie Fisher’s tales of personal self-destruction and rehab have been well documented in her books, most notably Postcards from the Edge. Here, she presents them in the form of a one-woman stage show which is every bit as funny and moving as her literary take on the same material.

The Graham Norton Show BBC1, Friday 10.35pm
The first in a new 12-episode run sees Graham’s red sofa being shared by the Doctor and Donna Noble, aka David Tennant and Catherine Tate, shortly to be reunited in Much Ado About Nothing at Wyndham’s Theatre.

The Taming of the Shrew/The Merchant of Venice BBC2, Saturday 12pm/1.55pm
An afternoon for Shakespeare fans, as BBC2 shows first Zeffirelli’s luscious 1967 Shrew, with the recently departed Elizabeth Taylor as Katherine and Richard Burton as Petruchio. That’s followed by Al Pacino playing Shylock in Michael Radford’s 2004 film, with support from Jeremy Irons, Lynn Collins and Joseph Fiennes.

So You Think You Can Dance: The First Live Show BBC1, Saturday 7.10pm
Unfortunately, severe illness has prevented me from blogging reviews of the last fortnight’s audition and choreography camp shows. We do seem to have ended up with 20 decent performers for the studio shows — although I’m a bit reticent about how partially-deaf Kirsty managed to sail through choreocamp despite completely failing one dance. Expect some of last year’s choreographers, including Kate Prince and Simeon Qsyea, to be making contributions — but hopefully some new names, too.

Britain’s Got Talent ITV1, Saturday 8.20pm
You know what to expect now, right? Well, the changes in the judging panel (Simon Cowell is off to launch The X Factor US, while moon-faced pompous arse Piers Morgan is disappointing millions by taking up airtime with his witless interview show on CNN) mean that we now have former America’s Got Talent judge David Hasselhoff and comedian Michael McIntyre joining actress Amanda Holden. Just don’t ask if the show exploits the perfomers…

Is Britain’s Got Talent guilty of cheap exploitation?

Ask Equity, and the answer would be yes, with the union claiming back in 2009 that the show is exploiting performers by not paying finalists in the show.

However, ask the question of those involved in the show and you aren’t likely to get much of a response — something that was made quite clear at today’s launch for the new series of the show, which starts this weekend on ITV1.

Have I Got News For You BBC1, Friday 9pm
The 41st series of the BBC’s topical panel show starts with a return to the series’ original Friday night slot. Jack Dee is the guest host, with Caroline Wyatt and Jon Richardson joining Ian and Paul

Friday Night Dinner Channel 4, Friday 10pm
You can tell something’s off when kids Adam and Jonny turn up for the weekly family dinner to find their dad actually wearing clothes - a suit, no less. When it transpires that Mum (the peerless Tamsin Greig) has invited young Tanya (Tuppence Middleton) to join them for dinner, Adam (Simon Bird) realises that she’s matchmaking… I’ve never been as enthused as some quarters about Robert Popper’s series, but as series 1 ends I’m glad it has been recommissioned.

When Piers Met Andrew Lloyd Webber ITV1, Saturday 9.10pm
Tolerate the unctuousness of Piers Morgan — surely television’s most unlikeable interviewer — and this profile of Lord Lloyd-Webber should hopefully reveal some insight into one of the world’s most successful musical theatre composers.

Waking the Dead BBC1, Sunday 9pm
The final story in the BBC’s long running series. Boyd (Trevor Eve) is being kicked upstairs and out of the Cold Case Unit, but before he does he wants to solve the mystery of 16 homeless boys who disappeared in the 1980s. The series concludes on Monday, but spin-off Body Farm starring Tara Fitzgerald is in the pipeline.

The Walking Dead Channel 5, Sunday 10pm
Previously shown on FX, this is the terrestrial premiere of the post-apocalyptic zombie thriller series that was well-received in its native US. Brit actor Andrew Lincoln stars as a county sheriff who wakes from a coma to find that the world has been taken over by undead cadavers…