Recent posts in the Programmes category

I had to read this news report several times before the words ‘human’ and ‘Tetris’ penetrated my conscious thought, then it took a while for me to work out that the words were meant to go together. The n when you add in the words ‘BBC1’, ‘Saturday night’ and ‘Dale Winton’, we have what adds up to some Hieronymus Bosch hellish vision of a new gameshow.

And yet…

Well, it seems the nation has gone mad for The Apprentice. While this fourth series of the series has smashed personal best ratings records pretty much episode to episode, I am somewhat surprised that the final managed to scale the heights of 8.9 million in the overnights. Even more startling is that over 10 million tuned in for the final 15 minutes as Sir Alan Sugar deliberated over the remaining candidates to choose Lee McQueen has his latest recruit.

I know The Apprentice is good - entertaining, funny, tense and infuriating all at the same time, I do wonder what it is about this particular series that has sent its popularity through the roof. Do we truly have a slow burning hit here that has smouldered away for three years to finally hit the mainstream? Yes, it did well last year on BBC1, garnering respectable ratings following the switch from BBC2, but this year has been something else.

…I am another story about a remake of The Prisoner…

Yes, the long mentioned, never made remount of cult classic The Prisoner is apparently back on, according to the fan club of the Patrick McGoohan original. In an “exclusive” news item on the website of Six of One, it is claimed that the remake will enter production in South Africa sometime in August and star Hollywood actor Jim Caviezel (The Count of Monte Cristo) as Number Six, with Sir Ian McKellen (summat about Hobbits) as Number 2.

The series, a joint venture between ITV Productions and American Movie Channel, is said to comprise six one hour episodes, all written by Lark Rise to Candleford scribe Bill Gallagher and directed by Jon Jones (Northanger Abbey).

TV Today is very happy at the news that sleuthing magician’s assistant Jonathan Creek is back for a one-off Christmas special as Alan Davies returns to his most successful role. There was some worry that the notion of a revival for Jonathan Creek was just based on an off the cuff comment from writer David Renwick that was picked up by the papers in a slow news week.

Thankfully not, and the BBC Press Office has confirmed the special episode, although it doesn’t indicate if the transmission is for Christmas, with a very non-committal “later this year” appearing in the press release.

While the final series of Jonathan Creek was, to be fair, not much cop, there’s still plenty of mileage left in the format, with Davies’s Creek still playing illusion designer to the irrepressible Adam Klaus, once again played by the brilliant Stuart Milligan. And it seems Jonathan, like James Bond, will have a new girl for a new adventure as Sheridan Smith arrives as the “fiercely sceptical” Joey Ross.

It’s about time here at TV Today that we started to give some kudos and nods to the unsung heroes of television, and I’m going to get the ball rolling with a request that we all put our hands together for Bernard Black, late of the much missed Black Books.

This week, as part of my quest to fill the grim hours of the summer TV schedules, I have watched all six episodes of the first series of Black Books. It remains as brilliant as ever. I love Fran (Tamsin Greig), I adore Manny Bianco (a sublime Bill Bailey), but both are put in the shade by Bernard, as played by the sitcom’s creator Dylan Moran.

Bernard is vile. He’s a rude, arrogant, elitist, filthy, chain smoking alcoholic. But, and this is the inspired brilliance of the character, he’s no idiot, and Moran’s cheeky, almost boyish charm renders him utterly likeable throughout all three seasons of the best sitcom of the last decade. And that’s no mean feat, as any students of quality comedy will know.

As we lurch ever closer to the long summer months where television becomes a wasteland desert of sport and Big Brother (how much longer must we endure this marathon of tedium?), I am arming myself against the oncoming storm. I am stockpiling DVD box sets of yesteryear TV classics and edgy contemporary stuff that I haven’t caught up with yet. Heading off into my summer TV bomb shelter, never will the words “Big Brother house, this is Davina,” ever have to assault my eardrums.

Currently winging its way to a non-disclosed south London borough is a shiny Seinfeld Season Four box set, along with Six Feet Under Season Two and The Wire Season One. My complete set of The West Wing has had a judicious feather dusting, ready to answer the call, and you know things are desperate when you’re eyeing those Blake’s 7 box sets with more than half an interested eye. Only open in an emergency…

But before that, a couple of nights ago I dived into a true classic to act as a premed for the coming ordeal. It’s been sitting on the shelf for a few months now, but I finally unfurled the cellophane on my beautiful three-disc set of the swan song of perhaps the world’s finest TV show. MAS*H - Goodbye, Farewell and Amen. I had forgotten just what a stunning, funny, heartbreaking two and a half hours of TV this was, something that probably passed me by when I watched it one Christmas Eve with my mum and dad on its original UK transmission.

A small story from the world of Doctor Who, and one that seems to be snowballing somewhat in a negative way for the BBC as they seek to squash the creative endeavours of fans in a what could be construed as unacceptably high-handed manner.

A Doctor Who fan who is known only as Mazzmatazz has fallen foul of the BBC’s legal arm for posting some really very cute knitting patterns on the internet, giving instructions on how to knit your very own Ood or adorable Adipose. The Beeb, not so much an Auntie in this case, more Big Brother, has ordered the knitting patterns be taken down as people have been stitching the critters and sticking them up on Ebay for cash money.

The BBC has said it is merely protecting its copyright, but I think they’re being a miserable bunch of old bean counters who should know better than to stamp all over the creative enjoyment of a fan of one of its shows.

So Davina McCall has finally decided to quit Big Brother following the end of the next series, if reports doing the rounds are to be believed. While nothing official has been issued on this subject from McCall, Endemol or Channel 4, I can’t say I’m surprised and am amazed it has taken the Big Brother veteran this long to call it a day.

I find myself rubbing my hands together in glee at the prospect of Davina leaving the Big Brother house for the final time -could this be the final nail in a reality coffin that has taken some hammering in the last couple of years? I do hope so - if ever there was a show that’s well past it’s sell by date, Big Brother is it. The race row of Celebrity Big Brother aside, slipping ratings, tedious housemates and a pervading sense of been there, done that has made the prospect of yet another summer of hell on Channel 4 as welcome as a new series of Rock Rivals.

Well thank goodness for small mercies. After the crazy and somewhat unfathomable decision to commission the dubious (i.e. terrible and inept) Phoo Action for a full series about 30 seconds after its pilot finished, Danny Cohen, controller of BBC3 seems to have seen some sense. Yes, rejoice ladies and gentleman, Being Human, the flat share comedy drama about a werewolf, a ghost and a vampire, has been given the go ahead for a full series with creator, Toby Whithouse, on board as writer.

I am so pleased about this. Being Human has been one of the few dramas this year, outside The Fixer and He Kills Coppers, to engage me as a viewer. The notion of a flat share between a trio of supernatural creatures almost seems a little obvious, but Whithouse’s pilot script pulled it off with some style and originality. It was also blessed with some great performances, particularly Russell Tovey as reluctant werewolf George and Andrea Riseborough as sweet-natured ghost Annie.

It’s always a nervous time for the established casts of soaps when a new producer rocks up on the backlot, full of fresh ideas, new visions, story ideas and inevitably clutching an axe with feverish steel in their eyes.

It seems that this may not be the case with the arrival of incoming Coronation Street producer Kim Crowther, who it seems has gone out of her way to reassure the show’s cast, including many of the veteran old guard cast, that they still have a future on the show.

This pleases me and it points to the nation’s favourite soap being in safe hands. I’ve argued before that one of the most valuable assets to a soap are the veteran characters - your Ken Barlows, Rita Sullivans and Emily Bishops. These characters are absolutely steeped in the history of Coronation Street - they are a touchstone and keep the show relevant to those members of the audience that have been there since year dot. To axe these characters would do a disservice to the fabric of the show, and I’m pleased that Crowther has clearly recognised this crucial aspect of her new charge.

TV Today will be watching developments on Coronation Street under the new broom with a sharp eye.

We don’t usually cast our eyes in the direction of sport around the corridors of TV Today towers, but this doesn’t really count as we’re talking about presenting talent, not the fellas who kick the balls around on the pitch. I note with some amusement Ian Wright has quit his role as a football pundit for BBC Sport, claiming that he had been cast in the role of a “comedy jester” between colleagues such as Alans Hansen and Shearer.

Um… if this is a plea to be taken seriously in his work by Ian Wright, who has been a pundit for the BBC for many years, it might help his case if, with the timing of a comedy jester, I wasn’t able to write the next line…

Ian Wright will present the new series of Gladiators on Sky One this summer.

Never mind eh, Ian? We’re sure this will bring you some credibility as a serious presenter.

I do love ITV sometimes. They finally pluck up the courage to stump up the cash for a top new US import and stick it front and centre in a prime time slot on Saturday night. It debuts to encouraging ratings. Hurrah! And then ITV has to put their hands up and say “Oops! There are nine episodes of this series, but we’ve only got time to show eight. So we won’t bother airing episode two. Hope that’s okay. Bye!”

Yes, this is the story of Pushing Daises, the quirky US drama starring Lee Pace and Blighty’s very own Anna Friel, the first episode of which formed part of a very strong night, alongside Britain’s Got Talent, in the ratings for ITV last Saturday. The episode pulled in a very healthy 5.7 million, a figure many (most?) ITV shows can only dream about these days. I’ll admit to being surprised by this figure (and I’m glad to be proved wrong, of course). With a target audience of bright young things who should be out having a good time on a Saturday night (after Doctor Who, of course), I felt ITV had misjudged the night and the ratings would be lacklustre at best. Pushing Daisies has a slightly oddball feel, more suited to a mid-week slot a la Desperate Housewives - or so I thought.

It’s been expected for a very long time, but as NBC gets ahead of the game in the States and announces the upcoming fall schedule, it has now been confirmed that the legendary ER will end following a 15th and final season.

I’ll admit to have only been following the current season’s showings on Channel 4 on and off, but this news saddens me as the hospital based drama has been one of the most consistently enjoyable and dramatically thrilling shows to grace TV screens across the world. We’ve loved these characters, cried with them, laughed with them and ER will be missed greatly. We will see hospital dramas again, but perhaps not of the like of ER.

While we were busy having fun with The Archers and Kevin Spacey yesterday, there wasn’t time to give Auntie Beeb a big thumbs up over the news that the rather excellent Cranford will return for two new episodes over Christmas 2009.

There are so few stories we get to comment on here at TV Today towers that have anything positive about them - we’re frequently being sniffy or shouty about one thing or another. Well, I am at any rate, but the news of this recommission is just plain nice and gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Without doubt, Cranford was my TV highlight of 2007 - studded like a tiara with star talent, funny, witty and poignant, the series embodied everything that is great about British television drama.

Before I go on, the next paragraph contains spoilers for the first run, so read on at your peril…