It’s been 10 years since the tragedy of 9/11. Do you know how you can tell?
The date. Obviously.
The fact that virtually every new spy show or movie that comes out these days seems to be a comedy – or comedy-drama
In the last few years on TV certainly, instead of the hardcore likes of 24, Threat Matrix et al, we’ve had InSecurity, Covert Affairs, Chuck and Undercovers, to name but a few. To that list – for a brief time at least – let us add Chaos, a show which at first glance looks like a very bad spy comedy but which soon metamorphoses into a surprisingly-not-awful dramedy full of action, crossing, double-crossing and mildly humorous situations.
In it, CIA recruit Rick Martinez (Freddy Rodriguez) arrives on his first day at work to find government cutbacks have already made his job at the Clandestine Administration and Oversight Services (CHAOS) redundant. His boss (Kurtwood Smith) offers him the chance to stay with the agency provided he agrees to spy on a small department full of ‘loose cannons’ run by paranoid genius Eric Close (Dark Skies, Without a Trace, and Now and Again). He does and after they play with him for a while, he soon learns that they may actually be the only members of the CIA doing proper spy work any more…
Because it’s the law on US TV, there are no fewer than three Brits in the cast of seven: Carmen Ejogo, who hasn’t been in much; Christine Cole (as of episode two), whom you might remember from the terrifyingly bad Sky 1 Buffy rip-off Hex; and James Murray, whom you might remember from the quite reasonable ITV1 Doctor Who rip-off Primeval – he got killed by dinosaurs. Well, you would if he weren’t trying to do a (surprisingly acceptable) Scottish accent the whole time, anyway.
It’s Sister Chastity who’s this week’s triumphant winner in the picture competition, offering this delightful scene from Japanese Noh theatre. Or maybe not. She gets the regular 10 points then, rather than the secret, bonus 50 points for "David Tennant sitting down during a Noh theatre performance". Nice work anyway!
Hebbie: 60
Sister Chastity: 45
Rullsenberg, Toby: 30
Erin C: 20
Janice: 15
esgaril: 10
theriverlady: 5
Meanwhile, it’s a tie between Marie and Lisa G for top prize in the caption competition, which takes Marie into the lead again. Ooh, exciting!
Marie: 60
Rullsenberg: 55
Toby: 45
SK, Lisa G: 40
Electric Dragon, theriverlady: 35
Jane Henry: 25
Virpi: 15
Joe B: 10
Hebbie: 5
Got a picture of David Tennant sitting, lying down or in some indeterminate state in between? Then leave a link to it below or email me and if it’s judged suitable, it will appear in the “Sitting Tennant†gallery. Don’t forget to include your name in the filename so I don’t get mixed up about who sent it to me.
The best pic in the stash each week will appear on Tuesday and get ten points; the runners up will appear on Friday (one per person who sends one in) and get five points.
You can also enter the witty and amusing captions league table by commenting on Tuesday’s Sitting Tennant photo, the best caption getting 10 points, everyone who contributes getting five points.
Time for our regular look at what TV’s on at the South Bank in London in May. This month sees a preview of the new Damian Lewis TV movie about human trafficking, as well as a season of dramas, comedies and documentaries about the NHS that will include panel discussions with GF Newman, Jed Mercurio and Graeme Garden.
