I do love the 'alternate history' genre, so I was delighted to see this when I got a free three months Apple TV with my new iPad and decided to give this a try. It's a great romp through history-not-as-we-know-it, with some great characters and casting.
And although the hard science in it often leaves me baffled it's full of really human storylines, and unexpected (and often tragic) setpieces. It's very much a soap-opera rather than a drama, despite some really nail-biting scences of peril.
Not a character I ever really read much about, when the trailers for this one debuted I was 'What?! Really..?'
But it worked! It was such a difference from the other Marvel offerings, and it really did have a charm all of its own. It introduced a community that didn't seem to feature anywhere else in the genre too, parts of New York that didn't get much screen time, and above all, it was fun.
Families of the men killed in the world's worst oil rig disaster have branded plans to make a television drama out of the tragedy 'an invasion of our deepest wounds'. In all, 167 men died when a gas leak set off explosions that ripped apart the Piper Alpha platform 120 miles off the Aberdeenshire coast in July 1988. The BBC and STV Studios are looking to make a factual drama to retell the events of that night. But families of workers who died say their loss should not be 'trivialised into a plot for entertainment'.Why not? This is no different to other disasters.
Patrick McLaughlin's father Charles, an electrician, also died in the disaster, aged just 46. Mr McLaughlin said: 'To have actors who could be portraying someone who was killed that night doesn't feel right. I know if there was someone playing my father I wouldn't be happy. Families have been through enough.'
Welp, it's a historical disaster, like Chernoble or Bhopal or 9/11. And no-one objected to those, or if they did, they were rightly ignored.
I didn't bother with Paramount, I had too many other services on the go, so I missed this first time around. But Apple TV offered the entire first season to buy and download, so I treated myself. And I was impressed!
If the 'Star Trek: Discovery' season 1 hadn't ended so badly (I really liked the direction it appeared to be taking, until that penultimate episode) this slot might well have been taken by that show instead. But they dropped the ball and Anson Mount's team picked it up and scored that touchdown in grand style. This is so very reminiscent of 'old' Trek, only with 2023 CGI.
A show based on comics I never read, and with a seriously odd premise, when this popped up I was somewhat dubious. It had alternate realities (which I love) and time paradoxes (which I don't!).
The initial episode was pretty confusing, but I stuck with it, and I'n really glad I did. That dance sequence to 'Footloose' was the high point, without a doubt.
A Marvel show with two 'minor' characters on a buddy mission? Ugh! This shouldn't have worked!
But...it did, and a lot was to the credit of Sebastian Stan and Antony Mackie, whose chemistry together on screen turned what could have been a dull affair into a great show.
You can't really go wrong with a Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett team up, and when that's turned into a show with a David Tennant/Michael Sheen team up, how could you possibly lose?
I'd never actually got around to reading the book, it was always on my 'To Be Read' list, so when the TV show was announced I thought I'd see that first. And what a show! I honestly believe it wouldn't have worked with any other pairing.
Disney+ has been an absolute powerhouse for Marvel, and clearly the back catalogue is vast, so I was a bit surprised they went with this particular character.
I did at least know the character and some of the backstory this time, though it was never a series I read, as he turned up in lots of other comics I was reading at the time. But I was surprised at the choice. And the very first trailer - introducing us to Oscar Isaac's rather strange interpretation of an English accent - didn't really make me say 'Wow! Got to catch this one!'.
But of course, I did, and was hooked! The main protagonists worked well, and F Murray Abraham's Khonshu was a delight! And there were some inspired musical choices. I see a second season isn't on the cards, and that's a real pity.
After several films with different actors playing Clancy's titular hero, I was somewhat dubious about the prospects for a TV version.
But I should have known Amazon hardly ever lets you down! John Krasinski was great in the role. The show was fast-paced and had some spectacular scenes, including one set in London.
Whites Only: Ade’s Extremist Adventure, Ade Adepitan’s attempt to see if “racial separatism can ever be justified” becomes a cautionary tale for black people who think they can one-of-the-good-ones themselves out of white supremacy.The programme follows the charming presenter and Paralympian on his trip to Orania, a “whites-only” town in South Africa, to learn about why they founded this community (racism), what their values are (racism) and why it celebrates the architects of apartheid (racism). He meets estate agents, students and town leaders to enquire politely about their “whites-only” space with the levity of someone discussing the weather.
It's clearly entertainment, rather than searing social commentary, so what did you expect?
He suggests their “racist past was just overshadowed by apartheid”, asks his subjects gently if there were “negatives” to the Afrikaans history in the region and, in a moment of astounding respectability politics, all but grasps a string of pearls as he defends British democracy and says: “I support BLM [Black Lives Matter], but I don’t go out rioting!” Not only is this a particularly tone-deaf thing to say in South Africa, but it also suggests that he also needs to read up on Mandela.
Yes, it seems for Laila being a non-rioter is a no-no. It makes him 'inauthentic', I suppose. What lovely people write for the 'Guardian'.
Being a black “chilled-out guy” is a feeble response to white supremacy; the Oranians are unmoved by his politeness.
It's be rather a different sort of show if he'd gone in screaming and shouting at them, Laila.
Adepitan concludes there were very fine people on both sides, but places like this will inevitably end with “me and you meeting on the battlefield”, seemingly unaware that the failure of his approach makes the case for militant action on racism.
Yes, because a TV presenter who doesn't act like an animal makes the case for all people of the same race everywhere to do so.
Really, Laila? After all, it's not like they seem to need your encouragement, is it?
Confession time: I loved the PC games. And I read the books, though didn't enjoy them quite as much. So when they said they were filming it, based on the novels, I wasn't expecting much. When they said they were casting Henry Cavill, even less, as I'd found him rather wooden in 'Superman'.
But I was wrong! He was amazing in the role. So it was a sad day when the creators decided he wouldn't continue.
When I first saw a new Star Wars show announced on Disney+, and then saw what the title was, I was a little perplexed.
Sure, we all knew Boba Fett (who later got his own show, though it didn't have the impact of this one!) but a show about a character whose defining feature is that he never takes off his helmet to show his face? And you cast Pedro Pascal? How will that work?
And it did! Thanks to a certain marketing goldmine in the form of 'Baby Yoda'. The second season couldn't quite match the first, but it was still far more watchable than anything on terrestrial TV.
And the theme tune was pretty good too!
There's no doubt that streaming TV has been the premier entertainment breakthrough of the...what are we calling that decade? Well, 2010 onwards, anyway.
And NetFlix was orginally the brand leader here, and this one was the jewel in its, well, you get the drift!
I was a bit sceptical at first, despite the stellar casting, but long before the mid-season episode, I was hooked. I did wonder how they were going to deal with the passage of time, but I shouldn't have worried; each change of cast seems to have been spot on.
And the stunning opening titles really set the scene.
James Martin and the production company responsible for developing his Saturday morning show have released a joint statement after the TV chef was accused of bullying crew-members on 'multiple occasions.'
Since when was understandable anger at damage to your home called 'bullying', then?
The production company has made numerous shows with Martin and have taken responsibility for a separate incident, where his home and garden were damaged while filming in 2018. A Blue Marlin spokesperson said: 'An unfortunate incident occurred after filming James Martin's Saturday Morning in 2018 where James' home was badly damaged.
'Blue Marlin Television accepted responsibility. James was shocked by what had happened and on reflection acknowledges he responded emotionally, which he wholly regrets.
'James apologises for any offence or upset caused, as he did at the time to the crew involved.'
Why should he have to apologise for a perfectly understandable reaction, when other TV stars let their emotions leak all over the place, and are praised for it?
And who is it that decides who is the target of the Two Minute Hate?
...in her introductory scene, taking care of drunk punters who get aggressively handsy with a waitress, by stabbing them in the legs and smashing their faces on tables, before continuing to play her bowed zither thingy and sing about people power. We like her immediately.Grrrl power, eh?
...meanwhile, a young princess called Merwyn (Mirren Mack) is undergoing an awkward coming of age. She feels she is bound for greatness, but to realise her destiny she will have to navigate a court full of men bent on assuming absolute power and wielding it nefariously. What will she need to do to survive, and will she make anything better if she does?
The 'Guardian' - always and forever proving the point that if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail...
The show's quite good, actually, for all it got roasted by critics. At four episodes, it doesn't outstay its welcome.
Well, to close this down, it's the series I never should have loved. A show about a Democrat President in the White House? And he's a great President, despite flaws? Get outta here! Liberal wish fulfillment!
And yet it turned out to be one of the best things on TV. And I've watched the whole thing several times, and once more at the start of the first lockdowm. It's true comfort tv, with a superb cast, snappy writing, nail-biting cliffhangers and above all, music choices that were spot on.
The children's choir singing 'The Little Drummer Boy' as Toby & Mrs Landingham attend the funeral of a homeless veteran, Jeff Buckley's haunting 'Hallelujah' as CJ gets some awful news, 'In A New York Minute' as Josh wrestles with another 'Big Block Of Cheese Day', and of course, this one:
Regular readers may remember I rewatched this show last year.
When it first launched over here, I didn't watch at first - I was all 'X Files'ed out. And the adverts I saw for it leaned heavily on comparisions to that, which really didn't do it justice at all.
But I picked it up around about the time Series 3 debuted, and was instantly hooked and used catch up to watch from the very beginning. It was perfectly cast, impressive in scope, and even the occasional 'comedy' or 'innovative' episode was superbly done.
And it wisely didn't outstay its welcome, as that show did. In fact, I could have watched another series or two!
The news that there's to be a reboot (maybe) of this amazing show did fill me with a bit of trepidation, it has to be said... it was truly a new sort of sci-fi saga when it launched in the early 90s, with a breadth and scope that was so very refreshing.
The five-year plan drafted out by its creator, J. Michael Straczynski, helped it quickly become one of my favourite shows. And did I think I'd ever say that about a show often described as 'The UN - but in space!'..?
Another sadly short-run show, Joss Whedon's 'Firefly' was a revelation. Space cowboys? Civil war references? Libertarians in space? What are they smoking in Hollywood?
But stellar casting, an awesome blend of gritty realism and stunning visuals, a haunting theme and tight scripting made it a surprise hit, though not with short-sighted studio executives or tv schedulers, who did their level best to shoot it in both legs before it had even got off the starting blocks.
Oh, boy, when they say some series should stop rather than drag on, a picture of this one always comes to mind. Yet when it started out, it was an utter phenomenon, and I can remember tuning in to every episode with anticipation. As a lifelong reader of 'Fortean Times' it was always a pleasant suprise when the 'monster of the week' was a familiar myth.
And I still do enjoy the first five or so seasons and watch them again and again. The titles, the stunning music, they all bring back memories:
We just don't talk about how it all ended. Or started up again (briefly) in what must be the most disastrous decision ever taken in tvland!
