Month: August 2006

Five US goes live in October

25 August 2006 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Five US, the channel made just for me, is to start broadcasting on October 15th, according to the Media Guardian. And so’s that other one they have planned, Five Life.

Five US will broadcast daily between 4pm and 1am. Vanished and Shark, which I’ve already previewed, will be two of the main attractions, as will Conviction from Law & Order creator Dick Wolf and Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King. Nick Thorogood will be the controller of both digital channels.

You can read the Media Guardian article to find out more about Five Life, since I don’t care. Five US is my channel.

News

ITV to remake Sapphire and Steel?

25 August 2006 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

Sapphire on Action TVI’ve not seen this reported anywhere else, but ITV has approached Sapphire and Steel creator PJ Hammond about a possible remake of the series. According to Action TV (which just did a Sapphire and Steel issue, so I suspect this is how the news came out), “it is very early days and no decision has been made with a possible new series.” But ITV are at least thinking about it.

What do you reckon? Good news or bad “trampled all over my memories” news?

News

ITV to remake Sapphire and Steel?

25 August 2006 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Sapphire on Action TVI’ve not seen this reported anywhere else, but ITV has approached Sapphire and Steel creator PJ Hammond about a possible remake of the series. According to Action TV (which just did a Sapphire and Steel issue, so I suspect this is how the news came out), “it is very early days and no decision has been made with a possible new series.” But ITV are at least thinking about it.

What do you reckon? Good news or bad “trampled all over my memories” news?

Some of my favourite TV characters

25 August 2006 Rob Buckley 23 Comments

Okay, so Scott’s already got in on the act and Lisa looks like she’s raring up to do her own posting elsewhere, but here’s a list of some of my favourite TV characters in response to Jess Whedon’s. In no particular order.

  1. Neil Burnside, The Sandbaggers. Lots of explanation over here.
  2. David Creegan, Touching Evil (US version). Lots of explanation over here.
  3. Stringfellow Hawke, Airwolf. Because he was just so hard
  4. Callisto, Xena: Warrior Princess. One of the few villains to have a good – and sympathetic – motivation. Plus how many characters get to die yet end up a god?
  5. Chandler, Friends. Fantastic until he got neutered by Monica.
  6. Lieutenant Castillo, Miami Vice. Even harder than Stringfellow Hawke. That’s how hard he was. The less he said, the harder he got.
  7. House, House. Do I really need to explain this one?
  8. The President, The West Wing. Moral, dynamic, powerful and a complete nerd who speaks Latin. We need more characters like this. He made me want to be American, anyway.
  9. Turlough, Doctor Who. Slippy, weasly and great fun – for three stories. Then he went off the idea of killing the Doctor. Oh well.
  10. Anya, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Just endlessly entertaining.
  11. James T Kirk, Star Trek. Well, he was great, wasn’t he?
  12. Spock, Star Trek. And so was he.
  13. Lynda Day, Press Gang. And so was she. Pretty much like most editors you’ll meet, in fact.
  14. DI Rosie Campbell, The Paradise Club. I just loved this posh, Oxford-educated police officer trying to spew out police slang, be street and it all going pear-shaped, every time.
  15. Chloe Sullivan, Smallville. Smart, funny, loyal, brave, and willing to put up with a constantly broken heart for the sake of friendship – the best sidekick a superhero could want
  16. Tony Hancock, Hancock’s Half Hour. The funniest man who ever lived.
  17. Avon, Blake’s 7. Seriously, just watch any episode and you’ll understand.
  18. Jarod, The Pretender. A genius who could be anyone he wanted to be. Great character, shame the show got silly.
  19. Nasir, Robin of Sherwood. Britain’s answer to Lieutenant Castillo.
  20. Austin James, P.R.O.B.E. Another genius, this one scientific. From the brain of Isaac Asimov and pretty much like all his other characters, James was the proto-House of his day

I’ve left a load out, I’m sure of it. But that’s a good crop to be getting on with. Depressingly few women in there, though. How do we up the quota? Give me suggestions!

UPDATE: And Stringer Bell from The Wire! He’s a drug-dealer, but he goes to economics classes in the evening. You’ve got to love that.

Another smokescreen to save myself from Internet wrath

25 August 2006 Rob Buckley Post a comment

I’ve not heard anything from Adam Buxton in reply to my email yet. Ah well, he’s probably busy or trapped under something heavy or something. C’est la vie.

To divert attention away from myself even more, I’d just like to point out that someone else has just reviewed series two of Screen Wipe for Off The Telly and he was more scathing about the first series than I was.

Go. Fly my pretties.

Meanwhile, also on Off The Telly, I was quite nice about Property Ladder…