I'm sure others associated with this site will be more qualified to speak on this series, but for me it was the best programme on Saturday night.
That admittedly is not saying much; outlasting Celeb Wrestling and scheduled against 20 year old films isn't going to snatch the viewers over to ITV. Russell T Davies popular culture references may not have been the purists idea of a return to form, but it made 'The Doctor' identifiable for the casual audience, enough to encourage further investment of time and attention.
Personally, I thought the casting of the leads was inspired. Most people know Eccleston is a great actor, with the nous the choose good enough parts, and the ability to make them believable. From Let Him Have It and Hearts and Minds,
Likewise, most of the Doctors Assistants' would never profess to be as 'chav' as Rose Tyler. I mean of all the assistants to go out and pick, we get a Jade Goody wannabe. But it works. The naiveté, innocence, and at times overall stupidity makes for an interesting juxtaposition of characters. Dare I say it, but Billie Piper fleshes out Rose to become a character of almost equal standing - more a younger sister, than an able assistant.
Tie into that Doctor Who's version of Zapp Brannigan. Noel Clarke's Mickey was alright but unimportant, Bruno Langley's character lost his usefulness the episode after he was introduced, but in John Barrowman, we had the rise of a man from coward to one of such gusto, bravado and unquenchable thirst for heroism, that Captain Jack may have been a character that was cartoony, corny, but ultimately more than welcome.
Of the three, only Piper will definitely reappear. Originally believed to be the cause of the resurrection of the Daleks, Rose turns out to be the, ironically enough, 'exterminator', but the twist (if i've understood this right) was Badwolf was the imprint of Destiny. It had nothing to do with an evil race like the Daleks, or one of the other beastly encounters during this superb series, but was merely a trail left by the Time Vortex marking Rose's journey, and leading her back to save the Doctor, as a gift for all the countless times she was saved by him. This of course leads to her life being unable to cope with the information, so what does the Doc do, he sacrifices himself to save her. This time, at the price of regeneration.
And so we get a glimpse of David Tennant. I thought he said he would use his Scottish ccent? Then again, perhaps it would tiresome to find his justification for it was "Lots of planets have a Scotland!"
House (10pm, Thursdays, Five)
Channel Five have indeed pulled another masterstroke. Acquiring the terrestrial rights to House means they can once again be seen as more than a joke channel. For all the cheap invasive shows, which Channel 4 has now copied, The Shield and House are Five's two shining lights, which Channel 4 does not currently have whilst Sopranos is off until 2006.
The success for House is no doubt down to two people. Much has been said over here about Hugh Laurie's performance as Doctor Greg House, but the quality of the show owes a huge debt to Paul Attanasio. The man who adapted Homicide from book to TV show, and wrote the screenplay for the excellent Donnie Brasco, has created a monster of a hit. It's the medical drama that was missing. We'd had hospital based soaps, trauma based dramas, even the forensic and coronary sides of medicine.
Never has the focus been on tackling one mystery ailment each week. That in itself could get formulaic and repetitive, but thankfully the supporting cast help move the pace of the story along to keep the viewer interested, whilst Laurie (as House) delivers wisdom in a deeply voiced Dr.Cox like manner, but less OTT. He's abrupt, but it gets the job done. It's the most un-Hugh Laurie like role we've seen from Hugh Laurie, and he does it brilliantly. Think Hugh Laurie, and the uppity character of Wooster, and various snooty Blackadder roles immediately spring to mind, followed by his excellent turn as the passenger on the Friends UK episodes (the only saving grace among UK actors).
House should make us all think a little differently of him.
Craig Aston.
We have no fear here at Garbled. We invite your mockery. For every year we tend to review Big Brother on the basis of the first few days, and (almost) every year our predictions go awry. But then that's part of the fun, predicting whether or not it's going to be a good series this year, and whether or not anyone will actually be watching in eleven weeks time. Guessing who will end up with who, and who will end up beating someone up. Etc, etc, etc, etc.
And this year looks set to be a pretty interesting series. Though whether it'll make for a good one is a different question. Previously we've seen a carefully chosen mix of characters, certain people have only made the show because the producers know they'll wind someone else up (Emma from BB5, yes we mean you), some have been put in to be a calming influence, some to provide nudity for the teen audience. And some have been just bland. We're never quite sure how they got through. Maybe they lied on their application form.
Though that of course all depends on what you what from Big Brother. Personally it's the humour the show generates that I favour. Sod the big fight night last year, seeing Victor politely ask for milk after a big rant was a far better moment. Stu was great before sex made him weak and meek. Ahmed's hatred of Marco, Nadia's crying for cigarettes (whaddya mean you weren't supposed to laugh then?), Michelle and Emma's bedsit antics, the list could go on and on. Whether we'll get anything like that this year is worryingly open to question however, as so far nobody seems naturally funny.
Thankfully there are glimmers of hope. Mary being the first. Okay, she's as mad as a horse who thinks he's a postbox, with views and opinions on witchcraft that I personally think are such insane rubbish that you have to query how intelligent the lass really is. But underneath the weirdness there seems to be a genuinely smart, sweet and funny lass. Hopefully she'll bring a calming influence to the house, allow moments that you'll remember for years to come. Don't get me wrong, I don't want a boring house - we saw that on BB4 and Christ let's hope we never see it again - but one filled with constantly pointless arguments will soon annoy. Derek also shows promise, as do Maksoi, Sam and Kemal, especially if he learns that subtlety can be appealing too. I've little optimism for Lynsey, Saskia, Maxwell, or Craig. But yet again I'll use the old get out clause of "these being early days". In two weeks time every might have changed.
Right now, I'm really hoping that'll be the case.
Have I Got News For You (9pm, Fridays, BBC1)
The continuity announcer on BBC2's repeat of HIGNFY described the show as a "Satire Grenade" this week. Which made me laugh more than anything in the show itself. Sadly, "Satire water balloon which fails to burst and just lies there looking forlorn and unloved" is a far more accurate description these days.
Many claim that Angus Deayton's departure was the beginning of the end for the show, but the decline had begun long before this. Indeed it could be claimed that despite claims to the contrary, it's just never been as sharp or as inspired since the move to BBC1. It feels safer, more predictable, more familiar. It's like a drunken Uncle at Christmas, who might be slightly cheeky, but will never truly offend or astonish. Whilst it's fun to see him once a year or so, any more than this and you'll soon get bored.
But real responsibility for the show's lack of laughs must lie with Hislop and Merton. Maybe it's unfair to blame them for putting in such repetitive performances week in week out, but then again they pick up hefty pay cheques for doing so, and it's time they began to put some effort in to the series again. Right now it's just too painfully predictable. Each episode will have a reference to Ian's lack of pop culture knowledge, Paul will go off on an absurdist but increasingly weak commentary, whilst the presenter reads the autocue with a sometimes alarming lack of skill. Alarming when you find out how much they get paid to appear on the show anyway.
Once upon a time the BBC lawyer's hated this show. Once upon a time it felt like the one place on tv where the news would be reported honestly. Now it's safer than an episode of Ballymory, and only vaguely more interesting to watch.
18 Stone of Idiot (10.15pm, Fridays, C4)
You won't be able to contact the trading standards association over the title of this show. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Even if this particular tin is a huge ranting fat man.
It's disappointing though. Johnny Vegas has proved himself to be an extremely clever comedian, hiding underneath the guise of a drunken if lovable lout. His sitcom, Dead Men Weds, was an underrated gem, one which let the comedian really show what he's capable of. His ramshackle stand up gigs are often praised highly - when he turns up vaguely sober at least - and his BBC3 sitcom's supposed to be fairly decent stuff too.
But now this. Now this latest spawn of the devil. Or "The Word" as it used to be known back in the Eighties. Like The Friday Night Project shown a month or so back, it's tv that wants to seem dangerous, it wants to appeal to a drunken audience who want to be shocked and surprised. It fails dismally sadly, by being horribly predictable. Take the tv democracy section for instance. Okay, you might not have guessed that Vegas would drink out of a shoe, but then did you ever want to see this? And the rest of it was a big old giant con, with preprepared parts making it clear that at least some of the audience had been given their requests prior to filming. And none of these pre-filmed moments raised more than a slight chuckle.
Ray Winstone's interview revealed nothing new about the man - perhaps bar the fact that no, he never has stuck his finger up his arse for sexual thrills - but did you really need to know that? At one point Winstone commented that "He didn't realise it was this sort of show", and I really wish it wasn't either, as it squanders Vegas' talents so painfully. When Vegas is given time to insert his stand up routines in to the show it's watchable. Alas that's only about five minutes per show, and the rest is tv that wants to be startling and original. That it doesn't come close just goes to show how lazy tv producers are these days. Vegas claimed at the beginning that he wasn't a presenter or a comedian, but an entertainer. But this will only entertain the drunkest of the drunks post pub on a Friday night. Let's just hope he changes his mind soon, and realises he's far more interesting as a comedian.
The O.C. (2.35pm, Sundays, C4)
Everyone I know who watches The O.C. sites it as a guilty pleasure, the kind of tv that you’re not supposed to really like, but if you do admit to seeing it, you have to claim that you watch it ironically of course. It’s the new Dawson’s Creek after all, with a group of super self-aware teens regularly getting in to all too unbelievable scrapes whilst romantic dalliances bubble along in the background.
But series creator Josh Schwartz deserves more credit than he’s given. Whilst The O.C. all too often teeters on the edge of going all soapy, it just about manages to feel believable. So whilst this year alone we’ve had illegitimate daughters pop out of nowhere, long lost believed dead lovers come back, a straight character turn gay at the drop of a hat (er, well, it was an item of clothing anyhow), a mother blackmailed over a porn tape she made years ago, and countless other contrived plotlines, The O.C. manages to carry them off with style and panache, indeed it's only creating a list like this that may make you realise how silly the storylines can get from time to time.
So what really makes The O.C. enjoyable? And not just another throwaway soap? The Cohens. Sandy and Seth to be precise. Adam Brody's not exactly subtle portrayal of Seth Cohen, the king of geeks, who really shouldn't be as confident as he is, is the refreshing element that sets it apart from all the imitators. His delivery of the self-referential lines is with such charm that you let him get away with it - even in the episode where he spent the whole running time moaning that proceedings just weren't as fun as they were last year. That episode came a little too close to self-parody, but managed to pull it off, and it's all thanks to Brody's skill as an actor. It's not just this alone though, the show'd be all too teentastic and without depth if it wasn't for a certain Peter Gallagher. His Sandy Cohen adds gravitas to the series (and the most bizarrely captivating eyebrows ever seen on tv), he stops it being a fest of beautiful babes wandering around in implausibly tight swimwear, he adds a needed morality to the show, but without being humourless.
So make excuses no longer to why you're not available on a Sunday afternoon. There's no need to feel shame, The O.C.'s a smart little show, funny, intelligent, and so much better than any teen drama made in the UK of late.
Alex Finch.
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