UK Edition
Feeds
So EastEnders - which has been rather entertaining of late – was hogtied this week as the focus remained on this dreary tale with the supposed respite coming from Little Mo’s attempts to get little Freddie off to sleep.
Who cares?
I wanted more of the Honey and Jack stuff, which was nicely played, and more focus on little Ben Mitchell, who looks destined to be the unluckiest kid in soap history. There’s loads of stuff they could have used to keep the pot boiling, more hints on Joe’s dark past would have been good. Is he a mass murderer or just a shoplifter?
Things were so dreary this week that I wondered if the writers had taken a week off and let the cast make it up as they went along.
Another thing, the entire cast of Emmerdale aside, is Dawn Miller the most irritating character in soap?
Pretend sport
Some of our finest athletes are taking part in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne having dedicated their lives to getting to the pinnacle of their chosen sports. So it’s quite sad for them that many of us are happily forgoing their Herculean efforts to watch the likes of Bernie Nolan falling out a kayak in The Games.
The presence of a Liberal Democrat MP means that even the most dedicated reader of Heat magazine probably didn’t know all the celebrities. As I write this I haven’t taken a dislike to anyone yet, not even former Blue Peter daredevil Peter Duncan who I still have hopes to emerge a version of The Fast Show’s Competitive Dad. That said Amanda Lamb is quite close to getting on the old nerves.
I’m sad that Goldie isn’t there, as he would have livened up the rather dull Big Brother-style live streaming each evening after the events have taken place. At least it gave us Adam Rickett’s kid-at-Christmas style expression when he managed to successfully land in water skiing for the first time ever. It still wasn’t as entertaining as seeing irritating Radio One presenter JK hit the drink at speed or MC Plat’num’s valiant but failed efforts to stay on his skis after a disappointing jump. Mind you, it’s difficult to feel empathy from someone who is misguided enough to think that an apostrophe is cooler than the letter i.
Jamie Theakston and Kirsty Gallacher host things so smoothly that they could probably do it in their sleep. Indeed at times it seems they might be but thankfully Justin Lee Collins and Caroline Flack are on hand to inject a bit of life into E4 proceedings.
Real Sport
With test cricket, 6 Nations rugby, Grand Prix qualifying and the Commonwealth Games to choose from on Saturday afternoon, I foolishly tuned to Prem Plus to catch Everton taken my beloved Aston Villa. The teams ran out to the theme from Z Cars but due to the ineptitude of the Villa defence, the theme to The Muppet Show would be more appropriate.
Despite the failings of my own team, I love my football but I can’t agree with the BBC screening it in prime time on its main channels on three nights as the FA Cup quarter Finals get underway. I can easily defend the World Cup saturation because it’s only once every four years but there’s no excuse for this, particularly when the Commonwealth Games is to be shown on the other channel.
For many people, especially the elderly and the housebound, television can be a lifeline and many of those most affected only have the terrestrial channels. The amount of coverage this week seems to be overkill.
Meanwhile in Melbourne, The Isle of Man’s Mark Cavendish took a gold medal in the cycling. It can’t be easy to ride a bike when you’ve got three legs.
Hold the Mayo
Alistair McGowan first came to my attention because he managed a passable impression of Trevor Brooking. At least he’s got that to fall back on because his new detective show Mayo is a bit of a dud.
I don’t buy the “chemistry” he’s supposed to have with DS Jones and the budget seems to have been blown on Jessica Oyelowo’s wardrobe rather than a decent script. Mayo’s relationship with his two scruffy sidekicks put a little in mind of Lovejoy only without the wit.
If I was a scheduler I'd move this quick because the sublime Planet Earth deserves a great inherited audience than this is likely to provide.
Spectacular
I’ve already started to save for my HD-DVD player.
The reason?
I’m blown away by Planet Earth’s imagery in standard definition and can hardly wait to see it in all it’s glory.
There was more footage of the elusive snow leopard in this than I’ve seen in whole shows devoted to the creature in the past and the Diaries feature showing the efforts that have to be gone to in creating this masterpiece are fascinating.
The whole thing is capped off by David Attenborough’s marvellous commentary, striking a perfect balance between information and enthusiasm.
Quite simply, we’ve never had it so good.
Yes, Prime Minister
A hugely entertaining in-depth profile of former PM Harold Wilson aired on ITV1 of all places, though it was screened when many of those who remember the glory days of Wilson would be tucked up in bed with a mug of Horlicks.
The fascinating thing about this was how he managed to rise to power in the first place, especially as many of his fellow Labour Party members of the day scarcely had a good thing to say about him.
It probably says a lot about our regard for politicians as a whole that he rose in my estimation every time a barb flew in from the likes of Roy Jenkins or Denis Healey.
It was far more entertaining the BBC Two’s semi-dramatised The Plot against Harold Wilson which suffered from a plodding pace, an overly wordy style and the woeful miscasting of James Bolam, who didn’t even seem to attempt to get close to character of the Yorkshireman, even playing him in a Geordie accent.
Odd.
Stop messing about
Kenneth Williams was such a unique and talented performer that it was a stiff task to emulate him but was accomplished with a fair degree of success by Michael Sheen in BBC Four’s Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! which proved to be ratings gold for the niche channel.
It was a pity that any deficiencies in his take on Williams were highlighted by the fact that the show was bookended by shows featuring the man himself but it was still a sterling effort and an enjoyable if at times annoyingly episodic account of the life of a seemingly much troubled performer based on his remarkably pithy and honest diaries.
The drama didn’t shy away from the shady areas of Williams’s persona while Cheryl Campbell was wonderful as his doting mother. Thankfully the impersonations of other big names are kept to a minimum and the piece managed to shed some light on what was apparently a very complex and fragile personality.
Top stuff.
Cures you whisper make no sense
Die hard fans may disagree with me but I think that Coronation Street has been in the doldrums for far too long so it’s good to see signs that it has ambitions to get back to former glories.
Hats off to Johnny Briggs as he takes Mike Baldwin down his final heartbreaking storyline. He is playing it wonderfully well and keeping it gutwrenchly real, though I remain unconvinced by his “instant” family. There was a marvellous scene with Rita where he twice failed to grasp the fact that Len Fairclough was no longer with us. It is quite moving, even upsetting to see a great character going out in this way but it’s much better than him going out with a whimper.
Add to that a bit of dramatic meat for Ashley to get his teeth into and things are definitely looking up down Weatherfield way.
