05May

Love Soup: Whose God is it Anyway?

posted by Steve Bowbrick

I should start by saying that the best comedy on British telly at the moment is toe-curlingly rude secondary school sitcom The Inbetweeners. It’s on Channel 4, though, which means I can’t embed it here. So here’s episode 10 of Love Soup series two instead: also brilliant (and pretty rude too). Love Soup’s quite difficult [...]

04May

The Age of Terror: The Paris Plot

posted by Steve Bowbrick

Did you know this? Did you know that Algerian Islamists planned and set out on a 9/11-style attack on Paris in 1994? Did you know that the plane actually made it into French aerospace and onto French soil? Did you know that the terrorists shot and killed three passengers and were subsequently killed themselves when [...]

29Apr

Doctor Who: The Sontaran Strategem

posted by Beeker Northam

To the other delight of early evening Saturday. I’m not going to try to write much about this because I’m basically an ignorant Doctor Who neophyte who’s turned up very, very late. But surely, even for the old timers this was a special one. On top of the expected but marvellous geekery [...]

29Apr

I’d do anything

posted by Beeker Northam

I fell for this hook line and sinker with the first episode I’ve watched - this one. I love it. All. The febrile speculation about ‘The Nancys’. The overacting. The Andrew Lloyd Webbering. The pompous, shouty judging. To say nothing - or not enough - of Barry Humphries. [...]

28Apr

Made in England by Seth Lakeman

posted by Steve Bowbrick

Entirely satisfactory clash-of-cultures music doc from Devon folkie Seth Lakeman and Brummie hip-hop crew Moorish Delta 7 (MD7). Creativity and curiosity on both sides make for a thoroughly convincing ‘mash-up’ (I think that’s what the young people call this sort of thing). Heartwarming.
(Sorry, only two days to go on this one. Thought it was worth [...]

24Apr

The Holy Show

posted by Steve Bowbrick

Terrific documentary about an Irish Catholic priest with a secret. The anchor for the story is the 16mm footage taken by student film maker Alison Millar years before the secret was revealed. The story has drama, pathos, humour and some truth about Irish society. The film is a BBC Northern Ireland/RTE co-production.

05Apr

Doctor Who: Partners in Crime

posted by Juliet Bowbrick

Dr Who returns for what will no doubt be a triumphant fourth series. Tennant and Tate seemed to be shot in a golden light, reflecting perhaps the love and esteem in which Russell T Davies and the rest of the country holds them. Whether Tate will find the same place in the nation’s hearts that [...]

05Apr

Holby Blue

posted by Steve Bowbrick

Early evening crime in Britain is pretty wholesome stuff: more soap than episodic drama. Later in the evening things get a bit tougher and more inventive (with, like, time travel) but before the kids are in bed it’s all nicely-starched uniforms and cheeky shoplifters. Holby Blue’s an interesting effort to bridge the gap. A pre-watershed [...]

27Mar

The Apprentice

posted by Steve Bowbrick

This is really good primetime TV. The kind of stuff you watch from between your fingers: a crowd of young people apparently selected because they have both low self-esteem and over-confidence issues (I think it’s called a ‘personality disorder’). Anyway, they make for utterly gripping viewing and I will certainly be glued to the screen [...]

16Mar

I’d Do Anything: Auditions Show 1

posted by Steve Bowbrick

I’m posting this as a test. If you can watch this show without crying you are a affectless sociopath and should surrender yourself at the nearest police station right away. My wife, most of my children, the dog and I blubbed more-or-less continuously. We’ve booked our appointment for the duration of the series. No normal [...]