I was just about to scribble down a third-episode verdict on Kidnapped, when lo-and-behold, it turns out they’ve decided to end it by the 13th episode. The verdict, more or less, was going to be “quite dull”, so don’t bother investing too much of your life in it if you haven’t started yet.
Why what happened in Vanished happened
Still no spoilers for the benefit of UK readers, but if you want to know why they took the decision to do what they did in the US on Monday with Vanished, Ausiello has the lowdown.
PS Woo hoo! I have the Internet back!
UK TV
Review: The Outsiders
In the UK: Tuesday, ITV1, 9pm or something. Ask my PVR.
In the US: For the sake of our national pride, no other country must be allowed to see this programme.
Ah if only all comedies were as funny as The Outsiders. What a shame The Outsiders, starring former EastEnder Nigel Harman, was supposed to be serious: an exciting escapist action drama in the same vein as The Avengers, Mission: Impossible, and Spooks. The kind of show where the Vatican has a secret police force.
Problematically though, everything about The Outsiders seemed calculated to insult the intelligence of everything larger than a single-celled organism, much like the majority of ITV1 shows.
It wasn’t so much the plot that was the problem – I’ve seen far, far worse, although this really had some choice scrapings from the bottom of the cliché barrel. The story, in fact, was very much a rip-off of Alias‘s Rambaldi plotline, which also featured shadowy organisations trying to find the secret of eternal youth by locating the work of Renaissance artists; there were even frequent trips to continental European nightclubs to avoid the authorities, a trick much beloved of Sidney Bristow. But like all British attempts to do US-style dramas, it was embarrassing in the exact same way as watching someone’s dad trying out a particularly tight pair of leather trousers at a local disco.
No, the biggest crime against humanity committed by The Outsiders was the dialogue.
US TV
Third-episode verdict: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
In contrast to some of the other series that premiered last month in the US, Studio 60 has been slowly improving rather than losing its shine. While ratings haven’t been good, quality has gone up and the show is now recognisably the work of Aaron Sorkin, the man behind The West Wing.
It wasn’t looking quite so rosy last week, when the big opening sketch that was supposed to relaunch “Studio 60” turned out to be a Sorkin favourite, a Gilbert and Sullivan set piece. Oh, oh. Impressive, but lacking the vital ingredient of all comedy sketches: humour. Nonetheless, you could see how it might have worked in the context of the rest of the show – which of course we never got to see.
This week, however, things perked up.
Continue reading “Third-episode verdict: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”
Audio and radio play reviews
Review: Doctor Who – The Gathering
If you’re a fan of the fifth Doctor Who and, in particular, of Tegan, you’ll want to listen to The Gathering, since it’s likely to be Janet Fielding’s only return to the role. Set in present-day Brisbane, it catches up with the Doctor’s only Australian companion and discovers what she’s been up to in the last 20 years.
There’s a problem though. There was another Big Finish release in September: The Reaping, also by Joseph Lidster. It turns out that The Gathering is a sequel to The Reaping. But because we’re dealing with time travel, The Reaping is also a sequel to The Gathering.
Curses.
The good news, though, is that it’s perfectly possible to listen to The Reaping without then listening to The Gathering. If anything, you’re better off not listening to The Gathering since it only muddies the waters. The other way round? Not so easy…