Tennant fans: Poly’s been lucky enough to see a screening of Recovery, and has posted a review of it over on what looks like her brand new blog. Enjoy!
Year: 2007
US TV
Lost: We’re not in England anymore
Oh dear. There’s a stonking number of Brits and Australians* in the cast of Lost, aren’t there? So how come, when the show does its first proper flashback to England, they still manage to put together something that doesn’t even approach realism.
Not since the likes of The Fall Guy and other 80s classics of television have we been subjected to such tourist rubbish. UK viewers who haven’t seen the episode yet: I’m not spoiling you, I’m preparing you.
* Every single Australian over the age of 21 has been to London on a backpacking holiday at least once, so they could provide useful advice, too, I’m sure.
Thursday’s post-Valentine’s news
Get any heart-shaped chocolates?
Doctor Who
- Tom Ellis (Ed: Who he?) is to appear in the series finale according to The Sun.
Theatre
- First Spamalot. Now Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy). Eric Idle does another Python musical. [via “Theatre is life…”]
Film
- John Rambo no longer works alone. He has a partner, probably with a very large gun.
- Biopic of Milli Vanilli? (Ed: shurley shome mishtake?)
- James Cameron weighs in on Peter Jackson v New Line
- Oh dear. 300 got booed at Berlin. But almost all the reviews are positive. Weird.
- Maggie Gyllenhaal to replace Katie Holmes in the next Batman movie?
- JJ Abrams may be off Star Trek XI to direct a Stephen King movie instead.
- Christopher Eccleston gets to be the villain in The Dark is Rising.
British TV
- Oh no! Still no third season of Extras planned. Instead, a “drama based on an urban conspiracy theory”.
US TV
- Carson of Queer Eye is to host a US version of How to Look Good Naked.
- NBC isn’t sure what to do with Studio 60 once it’s on hiatus.
- Love that new girl, Nikki, on Lost? No. Oh well, looks like she’s off to Football Wives anyway.
- Clips and stuff from the next episode of Heroes.
- There’s now a Ben & Jerry’s Stephen Colbert ice cream: “The sweet taste of liberty in your mouth”.
- Jimmy Smits has a new show. He’s going to be selling rum. There’s different.
- Patrick Stewart describes ST:TNG as a calamity. Not quite sure why.
- Kevin Smith to direct The Reaper for The CW. Doesn’t bode well for Supernatural.
- More pilots.
Adam Buxton declares peace
Hooray! The not-quite war is over! Peace has been declared.
UK TV
Review: Life on Mars 2×1-2×2
In the UK: Tuesdays, BBC1, 9pm with the following episode on BBC4, 10pm
In the US: Coming to BBC America later in the year. With edits again, probably.
Characters re-cast: 0
Major characters gotten rid of: 1
Major new characters: 0
Format change percentage: 10%
It’s always a tricky thing reviewing Life on Mars. Can you praise/slag off an hallucination? Is it even an hallucination or is it regular drama with a sci-fi twist? Until the end of the series, we won’t know.
So I’m going to tread my way gingerly, here. First, I’ll lay my cards on the table and say I don’t think the first two episodes were quite as good as last year’s cracking crop. I think it’s now playing to the audience a bit too much and crosses from parody into self-parody a bit too often.
But let’s face it. It’s still bloody good fun.