Month: June 2006

No more Colin and Edith?!

30 June 2006 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

They’re changing the Radio 1 schedules and Colin and Edith are going solo! It’s the end of an era, I tell you (don’t forget they were both hosts of Ri:SE when that started…). Says Colin about his move to the 10pm slot

“The only downside will be my partnership with Edith coming to an end but our friendship comes first and Edith knows that I belong in the darkness, and wishes me well.

”I am sure we’ll be thrown together for every big Radio 1 event in the future. I’m just glad we didn’t reach the stage where we had to work out custody of the kids.“

The best vampire show ever

30 June 2006 Rob Buckley 18 Comments

All that talk of Blade and vampires puts me in mind of the best vampire show ever – Ultraviolet, which is not to be confused with the film out this summer of the same name. Currently airing in the UK on the SciFi channel, Ultraviolet updated vampires for the 90s, asking what it would really be like if they existed: would they be content to be allergic to sunlight or would they try to do something about it using modern technology; how about wooden stakes through the heart in an era of kevlar vests; and can you write off an entire group as ‘evil’ or do they have as much right to live as we do? It was adult, intelligent and populated by heavyweight acting talents like Jack Davenport, Idris Elba, Susannah Harker and Corin Redgrave.

Here’s one of my favourite scenes from my favourite episode, Terra Incognita: vampire Corin Redgrave emerging from his high-tech coffin. Enjoy!

A Who event up North

30 June 2006 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Most of my Who event news is London-oriented. I’m a Londoner. It’s the only important place in the world (except Wales, of course). But as a concession, here’s a piece of news for Northern Who fans.

This is Lancashire reports that Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Eugene Washington (from School Reunion), K9 and writer Bob Baker will be at Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s Paradise Rooms on Saturday, July 8. Visitors will also be able to see the final episode of the current series, Doomsday, on a big screen. As if that weren’t exciting enough…:

Organisers The Who Shop, a London-based retailer of Doctor Who memorabilia, promise mystery guests, exclusive merchandise stalls, interviews and, most intriguingly of all, a world exclusive announcement.

Tickets, including a sit-down buffet meal, are priced at £25 and the event begins at 5pm. Contact The Who Shop on 020 8471 2356 or visit www.thewhoshop.com for more details.

No DT, I’m afraid, but at least you’ll have something Who-y to do now.

US TV

Review: Blade 1×1 (US: Spike TV; UK: Bravo)

30 June 2006 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

As you all know from yesterday’s blog, Bravo has bought the rights to air Blade: The Series in the UK. The first episode aired on Wednesday on Spike TV in the US. I’ve watched it and can now reliably inform you that it isn’t that good. Did you see that one coming?

Starring Kirk ‘Sticky’ Jones (aka Sticky Fingaz), presumably because he knows a little kickboxing and looks a bit like Wesley Snipes, Blade is a continuation of the movies. I would elaborate about the pilot’s plot but it adds nothing that you haven’t seen in the Blade movies already, bar the introduction of the series’ new characters: an Asian guy to help Blade; the big bad English vampire villain (Neil Jackson, last spotted in Sugar Rush); and a woman (Jill Wagner, a commercials model in her first acting role) who’s looking for the people who killed her brother. Naturally, those people turn out to be the vampires. Then – shock, horror – she gets turned into a vampire. Oh what will Blade do? What a dilemma!

But no one will actually be watching Blade for anything other fights and potential girl-on-girl lesbian vampire action so why waste time on plot description? Let’s get down to the ‘important’ stuff.

  • Martial arts: pretty average; some very obvious wire work; mostly kickboxing with a couple of locks added for good measure. Where’s Wesley with his capoeira when you need him?
  • Girl-on-girl action: not much at all – just a vaguely implied desire to kiss at one point. Sorry guys. Jill Wagner’s quite good looking though if that’s any consolation.

So basically, 90 minutes of wasted time. Naturally, though, the pilot got the highest ever ratings for Spike TV for an original series premiere, with 2.5 million tuning in. Tune in next week for more of the same.