Every weekday, TMINE brings you the latest TV news from around the world
French TV
Trailer for France 2’s La Garçonne (it’s a bit hard to translate this one. It can mean ‘boyish’, but it’s really the feminised form of ‘the boy’ and since it’s about a woman who pretends to be a man to escape from the police in the 1920s, you get the idea of what they’re going for here), with Laura Smet, Grégory Fitoussi, Tom Hygreck et al
UK TV
Sky Witness acquires: Fox (US)’s 9-1-1: Lone Star and CBS (US)’s FBI: Most Wanted
A temporary replacement for TMINE’s Orange Thursday feature in which I review a readily available movie you’ve probably already seen
Streaming services, but particularly Disney+ have been among the biggest beneficiaries of lockdown. I guess someone has to be, I guess?
Trouble is, they’re struggling a bit to add new stuff. That means you’re basically restricted to whatever they had in the pipeline pre-Covid and their back catalogue. And in Disney+’s case, that pipeline is basically zilch, so we’ve been working our way through the archive.
I’ve already documented our journey so far through all those old Disney movies we’ve somehow missed. Since then, we’ve not watch that much more, but having watched the original cartoon Aladdin (1992), we decided to watch the live action Aladdin (2019), which saw Will Smith take over the role of the genie from Robin Williams.
Now, I have to say, we were braced for the worst. Disney’s live-action remakes have generally been sub-standard. They’ve been okay, just not that great, particularly when compared to the originals.
And here we were presented with something that not only didn’t feature Robin Williams and featured Will “bit of a career slump” Smith, not only didn’t have any big names or cast, not only was live action, but it was directed by none other than Guy Ritchie.
Yes, him. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels himself. I mean, this was going to be bland at best.
But you know what? We actually really enjoyed it. Not only was it in some ways an improvement on the original and the best of the many live action remakes we’ve now seen, Aladdin (2019) it’s enjoyable as almost any of the classic Disney cartoons we’ve seen, too.
An occasional look at what classic TV shows Talking Pictures (Sky 328 | Freeview 81 | Freesat 306 | Virgin 445) is going to be airing soon
The week starting August 31 is packed with new shows. Well, they’ve all been on before, but you know what I mean.
The Brack Report
Starts: Monday, August 31, 6pm (weekdays)
So here’s remarkable. Literally the only information about this 1982 Thames TV show comes from Talking Pictures – there’s almost nothing on the Internet. Not Wikipedia. Not IMDb. Not the BFI.
Here’s what they say: “Scientist Paul Brack is working on a project at one of Britain’s nuclear power stations, which suddenly becomes the focus of a potential disaster.”
Stars: Donald Sumpter, Jenny Seagrove, Patricia Garwood, Neil Nisbet, Richard Hampton.
Hazell
Starts: Monday, August 31, 9pm (weekdays)
Nicholas Ball stars in his best-known role as a tough, charismatic private detective in this hit Thames series, first aired in the late 1970s and created by journalist and novelist Gordon Williams, and future England coach Terry Venables.
Hazell paid homage to classic film noir while boasting rounded characterisations, sparkling Cockney dialogue and highly credible action scenes, all set in the kind of seedy London locations that would be revisited in Minder – the series created by screenwriter Leon Griffiths following his work on Hazell. Other high-profile writers included Trevor Preston (The Sweeney) and author Richard Harris (A Touch of Frost).
Following the curtailment of his police career after an injury and subsequent slide into alcoholism, the newly reformed James Hazell sets himself up as a private eye. Utterly ruthless when he needs to be, Hazell is also blessed with a breezy charm, effortless style, robust sense of humour and the ability to think on his feet – vital when tackling blackmail, missing persons cases, organised crime and the drugs trade… or dour Scottish CID adversary ‘Choc’ Minty (Roddy McMillan).
Desmond McNamara stars as Hazell’s cousin and assistant Tel, with Barbara Young as landlady and sometime employer Dot – one of British TV’s first regular gay characters
Lytton’s Diary
Starts: Tuesday, September 1, 3am (weekdays)
London gossip columnist Neville Lytton exudes a sophisticated charm that masks a tenacious commitment to his job. All the while, Lytton struggles to keep his love life in order, write a novel, and fend off an old rival at the Daily Post.
Stars: Peter Bowles, Holly De Jong, Adam Norton, Harriet Keevil, Bernard Lloyd, Lewis Fiander, Bernard Archard, Anna Nygh, Jeffrey Segal
Danger UXB
Starts: Tuesday, September 1, 5am (weekdays)
Danger UXB chronicles the exploits of the fictional 97 Tunnelling Company, which has been made a bomb disposal unit, and specifically 347 Section of the company, to deal with the thousands of unexploded bombs (“UXBs”) in London during the Blitz.
As with all his fellow officers, Lieutenant Brian Ash must for the most part learn the techniques and procedures of disarming and destroying the UXBs through experience, repeatedly confronted with more cunning and deadlier technological advances in aerial bomb fuzing.
The series primarily features military storylines, though among them is a romantic thread featuring an inventor’s married daughter, Susan Mount, with whom Ash falls in love, and other human interest vignettes.
Stars: Anthony Andrews, Maurice Roëves, Ken Kitson, Kenneth Cranham, Judy Geeson
Josh Gad’s ‘Reunited Apart videos’ have been among the highlights of the Covid lockdown Zoom videos for charity. Bringing together the casts of classic movies (predominantly from the 80s), we’ve had reunions of the cast and crew of not just Back to the Future, but Splash and Lord of the Rings as well.
However, Gad isn’t quite done. While not ‘saving the best for last’, since they’ve all been good, he’s actually managed to organise reunions for Ghostbusters and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off as well. That’s impressive, don’t you think?
