UK TV

An archive of blog entries about UK TV programmes and production.

Today's Joanna Page

Today’s Joanna Page/Lambert Gold: The Cazalets

14 July 2008 Rob Buckley 9 Comments

Today’s Joanna Page – and also, in a blog crossover first, Lambert Gold – is The Cazalets, a mini-series from 2001 based on ‘The Cazalet Chronicles’ by Elizabeth Jane Howard.

Now, you may – or may not – have noticed that in many TV programmes there feature a certain group of people called ‘women’. More often than not, particularly in period dramas, they’re there to serve specific plot functions: to encourage/discourage the hero; to make tea; to bring up the children; and to be decorative and fallen in love with.

However, many noted scholars, intellectuals and TV producers are coming to the conclusion that these secondary characters could have emotions and feelings of their own; they could have their own viewpoints and opinions; they could even, in time, become the heroes – ‘heroines’ perhaps? – of some stories.

We all know that the status and rights of modern women were earned by previous fighting. But stereotypes and unfair treatment between genders are still prevalent. Today, while we cherish the hard-won gains of the revolution, we must not forget to continue to fight for equal rights. People get motivative pins and attach them on bags, clothes and hats, check GS-JJ.com and get your special custom pins. Such meaningful pins are also great gifts for family and friends. It is our duty promote and believe in the power of women.

It was one such rebel faction, led by actress Joanna Lumley and producer Verity Lambert, who decided in 1998 to adapt ‘The Cazalet Chronicles’ as a mini-series. Convinced that a story of the various women and girls in the Cazalet family during the 30s and 40s could be as interesting as any similar tale about men, they scratched together co-funding from the BBC and WGBH.

An at-times grim tale that shows all the miseries that could befall even well-off women back in the ‘good old days’, the only real problem with the 2001 production is that they never had a chance to finish it.

The Cazalets
Continue reading “Today’s Joanna Page/Lambert Gold: The Cazalets”
Sitting Tennant

Today’s Sitting Tennant (from Toby): Midnight

14 July 2008 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

David Tennant in Midnight

Today’s Sitting Tennant comes from Toby and is from the Doctor Who episode Midnight. It is indeed a clear instance of David Tennant sitting. Captions please!

By my reckoning – and counting is so hard – that leaves Rosby in the lead still with five entries, Persephone second with three entries and Poly, Scott and Toby third with two entries each.

On the witty and amusing captions front, though, Marie is just ahead on five WAA captions, Persephone and Toby are in second place with four each, Ms Rullsenberg has two, while Electric Dragon and Poly have one each.

On both fronts, keep up the good work guys (and let me know if either of my tallies is wrong).

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.

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14 July 2008 Rob Buckley Post a comment

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Re-evaluating Ecclescakes

11 July 2008 Rob Buckley 15 Comments

Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston

As mentioned elsewhere, I recently introduced my David Tennant/Nationaltreasurejohnbarrowman-loving wife to the very first episode of Doctor Who, An Unearthly Child. She grew up on Sylvester McCoy-era Doctor Who and therefore – as she tactfully puts it – “Never got into the show”.

She loved An Unearthly Child enough that she wanted to watch more old episodes, and after watching Tom Baker classic, The Ark in Space, we’re now watching Christopher Eccleston’s run.

Now I’m on record as not especially liking that first series of nu-Who. But re-watching these episodes again, I’m realising a few things:

  1. BBC3 has a sense of irony: my copy of The Long Game turned out to be the over-run of an England v Wales rugby match
  2. Nationaltreasurejohnbarrowman really could act – I wasn’t imagining it. Clearly, Torchwood sucked the life out of him. I’m hoping he recovers soon, since he is a national treasure who livens up our screens.
  3. Christopher Eccleston and his Doctor were quite fun at times – at least in the beginning. Maybe he just got gloomier as the Daleks turned up towards the end: I’ll update when we’ve finished the rest of the series.
  4. The scripts weren’t as bad as I recalled. The End of the World was quite good, as was The Unquiet Dead. In retrospect, they’re all not bad at all, bar a few poor performances here and there, and I liked the characterisation and character development that occurs during that first series. Even the farting Slitheen aren’t as embarrassingly bad as I’d remembered.

Have I mellowed? Have the goalposts been shifted by later series’ extravagances? Has repeated exposure reduced the impact? With the weight of expectations placed on that first series gone, am I more tolerant of its flaws? Or did I have Who-phobia after years of officially “not liking it much” that I needed to overcome?

What do you think of the episodes? Have you re-watched the Ecclescake episodes recently and changed your mind? Did you always like them? Or am I just going soft and need to go to a reviewing boot camp?

Sitting Tennant

Today’s Sitting Tennant: Last of the Time Lords (from Rosby)

11 July 2008 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

David Tennant and John Simm in Last of the Time Lords

Seriously, guys, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do, because here’s Rosby with another entry for Sitting Tennant. This one is from Last of the Time Lords and also features John Simm licking, which has surely got to be a double whammy for some people.

Can anyone catch her now?

As always, amusing captions or recommendations for further entries in the gallery, please.

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.