Just in case you didn't find the first series enough, there's another series of Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul coming soon. You can get tickets to watch it (being filmed? Or just played on a big screen to you?) next Friday:
BBC Studio Audiences are delighted to announce that tickets are available for a special screening of Harry And Paul in August.
Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse first worked together in the late 1980s creating memorable characters like Stavros and Loadsofmoney on the cult hit show Saturday Live. They then went on to work on the enormously successful and multi-award-winning Harry Enfield's Television Programme and Harry Enfield and Chums with Smashie and Nicey, Tim Nice but Dim, the Scousers, the Slobs, Kevin and Perry and many others.
Last year they re-united for Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul, which was described as “hilarious, reminded us of what we have been missing since they last appeared together” and “the veteran duo are blazing a trail with this cracking comedy comeback”.
Now in this second series they return with many of the characters that made a big impact last time such as the amazingly fast talking surgeons, the Posh Scaffolders, Nelson Mandela as you have never seen him before, the I saw you Coming shop, the Polish café and many more plus some hilarious new additions.
To be part of the audience for this special screening taking place on Friday 1 August at the BBC Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London, call the BBC Ticket Line on 0370 901 1227* or visit the website by clicking here. Doors open at 7.15pm.
After extending the deadline a tad, it's time for me to reveal the winner of the Sky+ competition. The lucky person who'll be getting a money-saving voucher that entitles them to a free Sky+ box or half-price (or better) Sky+ HD box is...
Brace yourself for an attack of the snivels: here come the two saddest comic strips in the world (big nod of the head to Stuart for these). Certainly had me nearly crying on the way home from the take-away this evening...
Click this one to make it bigger, if necessary
I think I'm going to have to have another snivel again.
Is the nerd in your life worried? Has he seen the new teaser trailer for the movie The Watchmen and become anxious that it might not be identical, frame for frame, to the graphic novel? Is he already preparing a strongly worded letter to the Internet that will shake every major movie studio to its very core and make them very, very sorry indeed that they would dare to make a movie he will go to see only 15 times before buying it on DVD and Blu-Ray?
It stars Darren Boyd, Joanna Page (yes) and Brigid Forsyth and is really quite funny, if you're into slightly black, apparently un-PC yet not comedy. If you've missed any episodes - which is likely since it started its run on the 8th July - you can catch up using the iPlayer or through my last blog entry on the subject, which links to all four episodes. You can also find out more about the show from the British Comedy Guide, which has been good enough to quote me alongside The Guardian and the Daily Telegraph for some reason on its “press clippings” page about the show.
However, after having the show nudged back into my consciousness, I decided to investigate a bit to see if a second series has finally been commissioned. And lo and behold it has, according to writer Laurence Howarth. The second series should be airing next year some time - no word on if there have been any cast or character changes or when recordings are going to be. I s'pose I could ask, but that sounds a bit like hard work. Maybe later…
In a return to its roots, Today's Joanna Page eschews the excitement of the review and the intellectual delight of the polemic in favour of pure pictures, since it's time for the 2004 touring production of Billy Liar, which I obviously didn't see (even though it began its run at Bromley's Churchill theatre).
I can't even comment on the story, since although I've seen the movie version, it was so long go, all I can remember are about three images from the whole thing. And I haven't seen the TV series. Or read the book.
However, we had two contestants this time. Holding remote control one was Lesley Smith who didn't really plead at all, simply asked to be added to the list, which should technically have disqualified her from winning. However, she's away on business right now (judging from the out of the office reply message that she's been sending in response to the daily MINE email digest), so can't escalate her case easily.
Holding remote control two was a previous competition winner, Ms Rullsenberg, who while making quite a good case for why she needed Sky+, didn't officially enter herself into the competition. I gave her 'til Sunday to enter, but judging from her latest blog entry, she's very busy right now.
Tricky, hey?
So, I'm postponing the final decision and opening the floor to you, gentle reader. The competition will remain open another couple of days. If anyone else wants to enter, you still can. But if you think either Lesley or Rullsenberg (or both) are eligible to win the prize based on their current responses, speak up now!
Bear in mind, by the way, that the voucher's only valid until the 28th of July, so I'm going to need responses quickly!
Today's Sitting Tennant, is reassuringly fresh and up to the minute, since its from rehearsals of Hamlet. I don't know whether that warrants bonus points. Probably, particularly since it has Patrick Stewart looming in the background.
That puts Rosby in the lead with five entries, Persephone at four. Poly with three and a half, and Scott and Toby with two entries each.
On the witty and amusing captions front, Marie and Toby are now equal top with five captions each, with Persephone on four, Rullsenberg and Electric Dragon on two and Poly on one.
Feel free to suggest one for DT's skull tossing above.
Got a picture of David Tennant sitting, lying down or in some indeterminate state in between? Then leave a link to it below and if it's judged suitable, it will appear in the “Sitting Tennant” gallery in due course.
Christmas is a time traditionally associated with ghost stories. I don't know why that is - maybe it's a pagan hangover, since “let's celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ by scaring each other silly” doesn't strike me as a particularly coherent Christian concept.
Probably the most famous teller of Christmas ghost stories is MR James, the Cambridge don who used to gather friends and students round at Christmas and scare them silly with tales such as Whistle and I'll Come To You, A Warning to the Curious, The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral and Lost Hearts. These were eventually collected into various omnibuses and back in the 60s and 70s, the BBC started adapting the stories, airing a new tale at Christmas.
Initially, just one-offs, the strand eventually was formalised as A Ghost Story for Christmas, with Rosemary Hill as producer and Lawrence Gordon Clark as director. Sticking with James for the first few years, Hill strayed in 1975, getting Andrew Davies to adapt Charles Dickens' The Signalman for the strand. She then chose to forego literary sources altogether and began commissioning original stories instead.
The first of these was Clive Exton's Stigma (which I might deal with at a later time, if you're lucky), but for reasons known only to the Beeb, the strand concluded with John Bowen's The Ice House in 1978. Although BBC2 and BBC4 have repeated many of the episodes and the BFI have released some on DVD, The Ice House has never been repeated. It's a Lost Gem.
A&E has something of a thing for Benjamin Bratt at the moment. As well as starring in the colossally expensive The Andromeda Strain remake, he's now starring in the not-as-expensive-as-its-own-marketing-campaign The Cleaner.
Yep, in an effort to get away from being known as the “channel that likes to show Sopranos re-runs”, A&E is spending up to $8 million just on promoting The Cleaner, one of its first original drama series in a very long time.
Building on the dark and gritty image the network already has, The Cleaner explores the world of addiction, whether it's addiction to drugs, gambling, sex or alcohol. Bratt, in a role “inspired” by reality, plays William Banks, a man who attempts to get over his past heroin addiction by weaning others off their addictions.
Unfortunately, “inspired” seems to mean “converted into something a bit like every other television series you've ever seen - and about as realistic”.
Everyone's doing sterling work over on Monday's meme: the voice of the people is pretty clear and it appears to be saying, “Steven Moffat is top!” The only debate appears to be over which of his episodes are topper than the others.
Toby, meanwhile, has started up a counter-meme in response. He wants to know which three of nu-Who's guest stars have been the best. I'm guessing people like Lis Sladen and Catherine Tate don't count once they've become regular cast members on the main show or its spin-offs (Tobes: help me out here!). Ditto the Torchwood crowd.
Anyway, mine are:
Bernard Cribbins (for just being brilliant),
Julian Bleach (for being creepy enough to be Davros and doing a brilliant impression of the previous Davroses) and
John Simm (I'm not saying it was a subtle performance, only that it was the equal of David Tennant's, which is what you need from The Master).
As always, leave your own list on your own blog and a link on Tobe's blog or just post straight to Tobe's comments. And you can leave a link to yours here, too, if you want.
PS Toby suggests MINErs as a collective name for anyone who comments here regularly. Is this apt and should it be officially adopted? Do any of the assembled Welsh here feel upset at the suggestion they're miners (cf that Pot Noodle ad)?
You always know you're in safe hands with Nicholas Briggs. He's been doing Doctor Who audio plays for 20 years or more – writing them, directing them, acting in them – so he's pretty much got them down pat.
If he has an area of expertise, it's the Doctor Who continuity piece. Above all other Big Finish writers, he's the one most inclined to use an old enemy and reference continuity, all within the realms of a reasonably traditional story, albeit one unrestricted by special effects and design budget.
Guess whether Sisters of the Flame is a continuity fest (older fans may already spot the reference).
It's the trailer for the 24 movie that's going to precede the seventh series. It's set in Africa and will feature Robert Carlyle. You can probably work out the rest from the trailer.
Well, blimey. Would you look at that. A proper documentary. A proper, old-school documentary, two hours long, on Channel 4 at primetime. WTF?
As you might guess from the title, The Qur'an was all about the Qur'an (aka the Koran). In it, award-winning documentary maker Antony Thomas went around the world asking Muslims about the Qur'an, what it says and what they believe.
Not only did he gain access to everyone from the Grand Ayatollah of Iran and the Grand Iman of Egypt to lowly peasants in Afghanistan, he did this without special effects, celebrities, computer graphics or once stepping on to camera to talk about his feelings on the subject or the difficulties he faced making the documentary.
Today's Sitting Tennant comes from Persephone and is from the Doctor Who episode The Runaway Bride. I had cruelly overlooked it, so better late than never. It's not the exact same picture, since the original was too small for my wide blog, so I retook it. But that still counts
That still leaves Rosby in the lead still with five entries, but now Persephone is close behind with four entries while Poly, Scott and Toby have two entries each.
Meanwhile, Electric Dragon provided us with another funny caption for the last entry so his witty and amusing (WAA) captions tally stands at two. Marie is still ahead of the pack with five WAA captions, while Persephone and Toby are in second place with four each, Ms Rullsenberg and Electric Dragon are on two, and Poly has one.
Nice.
Got a picture of David Tennant sitting, lying down or in some indeterminate state in between? Then leave a link to it below and if it's judged suitable, it will appear in the “Sitting Tennant” gallery in due course.
Is there much point reviewing the first episode of a mini-series? No. With Generation Kill, there's even less point, since it's the creation of David Simon and Ed Burns, who also created The Wire – and we all know that reviewing that is like reviewing a chapter of a book.
All the same, I think it's worth giving a taster, just so you know whether to start watching the remaining six hours of the series.
My favourite film reviewer is Mark Kermode. You can see him on BBC2's Culture Show and listen to him on BBC Radio 5 Live, which helpfully carries a podcast of his weekly reviews for Simon Mayo. However, there's also a video stream, despite the fact it's a radio show, and… Continue reading
Doctor Who: Police boxes to make a come-back in Bournemouth?; Film: Justin Theroux to write Iron Man 2?; Joel Silver and the Wachowskis to make Plastic Man with Keanu?; Theatre: West End Art Theatre to close five months early; British TV: Patrick Baladi and Nicholas Burns join cast of… Continue reading
It's competition time again. This time, it's your chance to get Sky+ for almost free.No doubt you've heard of Sky+. It's a PVR for BSkyB that lets you record programmes, pause live TV and watch one programme while you record another.But it's pricey. The Sky+ box normally costs £75-£120 plus… Continue reading
Film: Trailer for The Spirit; British TV: ITV2 commissions drama Trinity…; …and cancels Jordan's chat show; Australian TV: Big Brother cancelled; US TV: Fringe episodes will be 50 minutes long; The first of the Heroes webisodes [video, US only]; Christina Ricci joining Saving Grace for three episodes; Crash won't… Continue reading
Had I been paying proper attention, I'd have noticed that Stephen Moyer, who plays the seemingly friendly vampire in True Blood, also played the seemingly friendly vampire best pal of Jack Davenport in Ultraviolet
Don't forget the Sky+ competition. Deadline for entries is Monday 21st July 2008
Lab Rats: BBC2, Thursdays, 9.30pm. Laughter count: a few, I guess. Not awful, not bad for a first episode, but needs some work. And it does have both Chris Addison and Geoff McGivern in it.
Ms Rullsenberg has 
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