Afternoon all,
As promised- albeit a day late- is my television review of 2008. It's quite long, so you might want to get a cup of tea and a sandwich. New Years Eve was much fun, starting with cocktails and other drinks at a friend's before hitting town. We were in a bar for 12 o'clock and then went to a nearby club where I bumped into a few people I hadn't seen for a while, and had a drink and a dance. I was home at 3am. Yesterday was a chilled day, I watched the Doctor Who Prom and then stuck my DVD of Mamma Mia! in for an ABBA singalong.
Well, it's been something of a banner year for Who fans with all three branches of the Whoniverse on screen this year (and even coming together for the fourth season finale). Let's start with the parent show: Doctor Who. Despite some areas of the press decrying Catherine Tate's promotion to full-time companion, the rapport and chemistry between her and David Tennant made for some brilliant banter. It was also good not to have a companion who was in love with the Doctor, too. Donna was more level-headed, unafraid to speak her mind and sometimes the one to stop him. Particular highlights from Season Four of Who were The Fires Of Pompeii (if you were ever in doubt of Catherine Tate's acting ability, watch this episode; she is just brilliant); The Unicorn And The Wasp (a brilliantly knockaround adventure featuring Agatha Christie and a giant alien wasp); Midnight (Lesley Sharp leading from the front in an amazing and claustrophobic episode that strips the Doctor bare); Turn Left (Rose's return and Donna seeing how the world would be without ever meeting the Doctor) and The Stolen Earth (in which the Torchwood team and Sarah Jane come together to defeat the Daleks and their resurrected leader, Davros).
Torchwood produced a consistently good second series (with only Meat being subpar in my opinion). The inclusion of Captain John Hart, played to perfection by James Marsters, was inspired as was moving Martha over for a three-episode arc (despite her not having a lot to do after Reset). It was good to delve more into the character of Jack Harkness too, seeing some of his family life. Series highlights would be opening episode Kiss Kiss Bang Bang; the sublime Adam, in which a cuckoo in the nest alters the lives of the team; the amazing Reset which introduces Martha and has one of the strongest guest performances of the show (Alan Dale as Professor Aaron Copley); the spooky From Out Of The Rain; Fragments (which shows how Owen, Toshiko and Ianto came to be working for Torchwood) and the season closer Exit Wounds. If you're not in tears by the end of it, you're made of stone. Stone, I tell ya.
Last (but not least) the second series of The Sarah Jane Adventures brought Elisabeth Sladen back with a bang. There's a shifting around of cast here too, as Yasmin Paige (Maria) left and Anjli Mohindra (Rani) came in. I think too many people see it as 'just a kid's show' and don't consider that it has any depth to it. Wrong, wrong, wrong. There's plenty of depth to it- just one example is in The Mark Of The Berserker when Clyde has to deal with his estranged dad coming back. Season highlights include the stories Secrets Of The Stars and The Temptation Of Sarah Jane Smith (both by Gareth Roberts), quite sinister guest turns by Bradley Walsh and Russ Abbott and the return of the Brigadier!
Away from the Whoniverse, there's been a lot of very decent telly around. With Robin Hood put back til 2009, the BBC instead showed Merlin. In the same vein as Hood, it's a reimagining of one of the most constantly engrossing legends- this shows Merlin as a young man, heading to Camelot but warned to keep his magical gifts a secret upon pain of death. He is charged by the Great Dragon to protect the young prince Arthur so he can become the once and future king. The first season of any show always struggles to establish a tone and this was no different- a lot of the episodes were akin to 'Monster of The Week' stories. However, there was a strong cast, with a good mix of exciting young actors (in particular Colin Morgan as Merlin and Katie McGrath as Morgana) and more established veterans (Anthony Head and Richard Wilson) with some very strong guest performances too: notably Eve Myles as Mary Collins, Santiago Cabrera as Lancelot, Julian Rhind-Tutt as Edwin Muirden, Frank Finlay as Anhora and Michelle Ryan who was clearly having a ball as the evil sorceress Nimueh. It was a good series and I look forward to seeing what they do with the second season.
Apparitions was a drama I took a chance on, almost quite by accident. It contains one of my favourite actors- the ever-brilliant Martin Shaw- as Father Jacob Myers, a priest who gets drawn into the world of exorcisms. For a show that could have been quite fanatical about the religious aspects of the script, it was remarkably even-handed. Shaw's performance was always exceptional and he was joined by a very strong regular cast and some great guest performances, most notably Rick Warden in a dual role as a homeless man called Michael and a demon called Astaruth. I have no idea if the show is planned for a second season, but I would certainly watch if it did.
There were also some good adaptations of some giants of English literature, notably Andrew Davies' adaptation of Dickens' Little Dorrit (with an all-star cast, ranging from Matthew Macfadyen and Claire Foy to people like Amanda Redman, Tom Courtenay, Ruth Jones, Maxine Peake, Freema Agyeman, Eve Myles, Russell Tovey, Judy Parfitt and Andy Serkis to name but a few) and the relentlessly gloomy Tess Of The D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy which featured a brilliant and beautiful performance by Gemma Arterton as the doomed Tess, a strong performance by Ruth Jones again as Tess' mother Joan and the handsome Eddie Redmayne as Angel Clare. There were also some good one-off dramas which I enjoyed, such as The Curse Of Steptoe and Rather You Than Me which focused on the darkness behind celebrated comedians Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell throughout the making of Steptoe And Son and the struggle that Frankie Howerd had over his sexuality. Julie Walters and Anne Reid gave excellent performances as Mary Whitehouse and Dame Barbara Cartland in Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story and In Love With Barbara. I also caught the three ghostly stories that made up Mark Gatiss' Crooked House over Christmas and enjoyed them thoroughly. The second instalment- Something Old- was the most successful for me- really quite unnerving.
Crossing over the pond, let's see what US TV kept me interested.
The last six episodes of the first part of the fifth season of Nip/Tuck were just insane. There really is no other word for it. From the moment that the absolutely deranged Colleen Rose (a virtuoso performance by Sharon Gless, chewing the scenery at every occasion), the show- not exactly known for its restraint- went into overdrive. The episode Lulu Grandiron took things to high camp with a selection of guest actresses from 80s soaps. Meanwhile, Eden Lord's evil plan to get rid of Julia came to a head and the episodes were left on a proper cliffhanger as Sean's life hangs in the balance. What next for the series? Who knows, but the last eight episodes of Season 5 start to air from January 6. I cannot wait!
I managed to catch up with season four of Desperate Housewives and as much of season five as has been broadcast. The ladies of the Lane show no sign of letting up as there was a scintillating mystery in Season 4- why had Katherine Mayfair come back? Moreover, what's wrong with her daughter Dylan? Season 4 also saw a massive hurricane sweep through the town in two of the strongest episodes (Something's Coming/Welcome To Kanagawa) and the arrival of a gay couple to the street- Lee and Bob. It also ended with quite an audacious move: a jump of five years. Season 5 picks up five years later, with Lynette's family all grown up and causing trouble, Gaby having two kids of her own and Mike and Susan no longer together. However, Edie's back- with a new man. Neal McDonough's one of the best actors the show has ever had- there's a hint of real menace behind his eyes as Dave. I will say though that I did kinda guess why Dave's so interesting in Wisteria Lane but it's going to be interesting to see how that plays off. It's also good that they've finally given Andrew something to do- moving in with a handsome surgeon. Strong episodes of Season 5 so far include Mirror Mirror and City On Fire.
Heroes Volume 3- 'Villains'- came in for a lot of flak from fans and industry bods included. I personally loved it, although it's ironic to think that what should have been the most interesting episodes- the Eclipse two-parter which saw the Heroes without their powers- were for me the most unsuccessful. I also wasn't sure about them turning Hiro into a ten-year-old but that was a minor peeve. I can see how the shifting sand of the characters- being seen as good then evil- could get annoying but that for me was what this volume was about. There are shades of grey in us all; nobody is all good, nobody is all bad. It was brilliant to see Cristine Rose have more to do as Angela Petrelli has always been a fascinating character to me. Other good things about the volume include the return of Meredith (Jessalyn Gilsig) and Linderman (Malcolm McDowell), the introduction of characters such as Eric Doyle and Daphne and a sterling turn by Robert Forster as Papa Petrelli. Although Nathan Petrelli is a *bleep*. It'll be interesting to see which turn Volume 4 takes. I for one will be watching.
Finally, 24: Redemption. In lieu of a full 24 episodes of Kiefer Sutherland snarling and shooting at things, two hours will suffice. 
An interesting experiment, with some great performances- notably Powers Boothe, Cherry Jones and Robert Carlyle. It'll be interesting to see how this feeds in to Season 7 proper. We don't have much longer to wait for that.
In terms of comedy, both Little Britain USA and Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor were hit-and-miss (as is the nature of sketch shows). I just felt that the Little Britain boys just recycled sketches written for the UK for the most part, although some sketches (mostly including Bubbles) were very amusing. You can definitely tell it was a HBO production as there's no way even a fraction of that would have got onto American TV if it had been a network! Clone had some amusing moments too with nicely comedic turns by Jonathan Pryce and Mark Gatiss and a warm and empathetic turn by Fiona Glascott as acerbic barmaid Rose. However, the comedy highlight of the year was the second season of the wonderful and witty Gavin And Stacey.
Reality TV abounded this year as always. Considering I'm often a bit of a snob about certain forms for reality TV, I do appear to have watched a lot of it! Despite my best intentions, I did watch Big Brother 9 this year- it just so happened that it started off being quite interesting with Alexandra and Dennis being removed after some inappropriate behaviour. I have to admit to fancying Rex, although personality-wise he was a bit of a d!ck and I'm glad that Rachel won. Sir Alan Sugar started his search for The Apprentice again, eventually picking a bloke who admits to having lied on his CV. Isn't that a good example to be setting? There were some interesting tasks and moments throughout this year- Sir Alan's bollocking of Claire for one; the whole 'kosher chicken' fiasco and the cringeworthy tissue ads also stick in my mind. Strictly Come Dancing was interesting as sixteen celebrities foxtrotted, tangoed and cha-cha-cha'd their way towards the final. It will be remembered more for John Sergeant's shenanigans and the voting troubles had during the semi-finals probably more than any of the dancing- and I'm still annoyed that Cherie Lunghi got voted out so early. Stephen Fry In America was an enchanting look at the US of A and the various idiosyncracies and foibles of the various states through the eyes of an erudite and slightly shambling host. Meanwhile, The Last Millionaire challenged twelve young entrepreneurs to ditch the champagne life and rough it in six different cities around the world- Istanbul, Berlin, Cairo, Naples, Bangkok and Hong Kong- creating businesses from scratch. Whichever pair got the most money in a given week won and flew home. This was one competition that people were looking to get out of, rather than stay in. It was an interesting challenge.
So that was my TV year. Lots and lots. So what am I looking forward to in 2009? Well, the Doctor Who Specials (starting at Easter with Planet Of The Dead); Torchwood: Children Of Earth, the third seasons of Robin Hood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, the second season of Merlin, the conclusions of Season 5 of Nip/Tuck and Desperate Housewives, Season 3 of Heroes, the new ITV drama Demons and anything else that passes me by.
Happy 2009!
With love,
QB 