Being Human: Are You Listening BBC?

Dear Auntie Beeb: commission this as a series NOW!

Being Human is currently airing on BBC3 as a one off drama (and is available for the next four days on iPlayer here) and if the idea of a cleverly written, Brit made, supernatural drama series appeals to you then I urge you to check it out and make sure the BBC know you’ve enjoyed it (either by commenting here, or over on another review I found online).

The premise is neat: Mitchell is a vampire, George is a werewolf. Tired of living the unsettled life so typical of their kind, they decide to buy a house together and try to make a go of settling down. Mitchell suggests he’ll go on the wagon (ie, not drink blood), and George is adamant that he’ll lock himself away every full moon to avoid causing any trouble.

Things take an interesting turn when the couple find their new home comes with a little bit more than just fixtures and fittings, George bumps into an old girlfriend at the hospital that he and Mitchell work in (who thought he was dead), and Mitchell’s vampire buddies put in an appearance (who disapprove of his friendship with George).

The characterisation is a joy, and there’s so much potential with the characters that this pilot introduces. The performances are spot on, particularly George (Russell Tovey) who is totally convincing throughout, whether he’s being brilliantly menacing the night before the full moon, or bursting with excitement at the prospect of getting their own house. It’s also nice to see an old fashioned Werewolf transformation too…none of that CGI nonsense here, thankyouverymuch.

So if you’ve not seen it, go an have a look. It’s probably repeated on BBC3 again anyway, but as mentioned (and linked) above, you’ve got four iPlayer days left.

I just hope my prayers get answered, and the BBC finally realise that UK audiences would lap something like this up. We’ve not had a home-grown vampire series since Ultraviolet.

The Apprentice

I have to confess to being slightly addicted to The Apprentice this series. Despite managing to resist Alan Sugar’s beardy charms for the first two iterations, I’ve been powerless this time.

Up to now, I’ve managed not to blog about it, but I’m slightly stunned and can no longer keep from mentioning what must surely be the BBC’s flagship reality TV offering. Fans of the show will know precisely why I’m stunned: Katie removed herself from the competition at the last possible moment!

For anyone that doesn’t watch the show: Katie has bitched, back-stabbed, pouted, and schemed her way through the entire series. She has a face like a smacked arse, and yet has the most mesmerizing eyes. She’s eminently dislikable, and yet somehow difficult to not be impressed by. And, when faced with the prospect of being in the final, she turned it down because it wasn’t fair to ask her children and parents to support her in the endeavor.

You’d check first, wouldn’t you? Before even applying for the contest, you’d make sure Mum and Dad were OK with the implications of you winning. Unless, of course, you never intended to win. Did Katie just plan on becoming famous, then walking out at the last moment? Perhaps she intends to follow in the footsteps of previous pantomime reality TV dropouts, like Nasty Nick and all the other useless types whose names have long since dropped out of the accessible recesses of my memory, never to return.

Who knows. But it was a twist I didn’t see coming, and perhaps the reason why The Apprentice is a cut above the usual reality TV nonsense. Next weeks final sees the essentially useless Simon up against the impressively organisation Kristina. It’s a forgone conclusion, but the show is always so enjoyable that it really doesn’t matter.

The Underdog Show

What a piece of car-crash television this was! And yet, strangely compelling.

I found myself unable to switch off, convinced that this was crap, and in direct violation of my recently imposed “I Will Not Watch Crap” policy.

It was a total wreck: a group of seemingly senile judges (including Peter Purves, of “Peter Purves Customer Service” fame) sat smiling absent-mindedly into the camera, while a group of “celebrities” tried to look like they knew what they were doing, with a set of dogs who’ve been hand-picked from various shelters.

It’s basically celebrity Crufts, with the canine equivalent of juvenile delinquents. And it’s the dogs that kept me watching. Much hilarity ensued after placing a plate full of doughnuts, cheese, and pie on a table, and asking the dogs to ponce about and perform tricks. A plate of munchies so grand would have no problem tempting my good self away from pretty much anything, let alone a group of dogs who’ve never known such sugary delicacies. And things got a bit nasty when staff tried to part one dog from a large block of cheese.

And so it all went horribly wrong: the dogs decided they couldn’t be bothered (they’d much rather eat doughnuts), the celebrities put on a brave face, and the judges waited calmly for someone to tell them where they were. Ideally in a very loud, purposeful voice; “YOU’RE ON THE TELLY, LOVE”.

Couple that with a very uncomfortable looking Julian Clary, and the prospect of each dog being adopted via viewers phoning in after the competition (I can only hope the profits go to a good doggy cause), and this was some of the worst TV I’ve seen in recent memory.

And yet, I watched every second of it. Weird.

Jekyll & Hyde

I caught the back end of Chris Moyles (now there’s a thought) this morning. Their guest for today was James Nesbitt, predictably plugging the new series of Murphy’s Law which begins on Sunday.

Whilst chatting with Moyles, Nesbitt mentioned he was to star in a modernisation of Jekyll & Hyde. I hadn’t heard about this, and ordinarily I’d think it was a pretty crap idea. However: A) I quite like James Nesbitt, and I’d like to see what he does with the character, and B) it’s been created by Steven Moffatt, and by the sounds of it he’s been working on it for a while.

Moffatt, for those who don’t know, is the creator of the BBC Sit-Com Coupling, and the writer of (probably) the best Doctor Who episodes from the new series. I’m interested to see what his take on the Jekyll & Hyde mythos is.

Apparently the series is called Jekyll. Look out for it.

Doctor Who: 2 - 2: Tooth and Claw

Episode two of the new series starts badly. The "Crouching Tiger meets 28 Days Later" (the director's words, not mine) intro sequence is terrible. Even though a sick little part of me is quite pleased that the "unique way in which the BBC is funded" (my license fee) has given birth to a set of crimson-clad prancing monks performing wire-fu, it's still pretty bad. It's badly shot, the monks don't look terribly convincing and it just feels too cliched to be true. That, and it looks like one of those intro clips that the BBC show before programs.

Thankfully, things get better. Much better. This, I would say, is probably the best stand-alone Davies' episode yet. The script is spot on, with just the right amount of joking at just the right time ("got any silver bullets?" "Not on me, no"). The Torchwood carrot is nicely dangled once again (this is one of the things I like best about the episode, actually), and the concept itself provides a nice take on the Werewolf mythology, even if The Doctor's solution is characteristically bonkers.

The performances are great here too. Tennant seems far more comfortable than last episode, as does Billie (who's far better when she's just Rose, entertaining as last week's performance was). Pauline Collins' brilliant turn as Queen Victoria is consistently entertaining throughout the episode. Interestingly, The Doctor has changed his costume slightly here - he's expecting to land at an Ian Dury concert and has swapped shirt and tie for a less formal t-shirt ensemble - and I don't recall him doing that before. The suit and sneakers remain, but it's interesting (and quite cool) to see a Doctor that can vary aspects of the costume as it suits him.

The real star here is the Werewolf itself. It's clearly CGI, and the transformation sequence isn't likely to give Rick Baker or Rob Bottin any nightmares, but for the BBC on a Saturday night this was cracking stuff. The creature was nicely animated, well lit for the most part, and should provide the obligatory kiddy scares for this episode.

Another great night's telly. Next week: Antony Head(Master), K9, and Sarah-Jane. 

Doctor Who: 2 - 1: New Earth

The Doctor has returned!

Saturday nights haven't been the same since the last season of Doctor Who ended - the triumphant return of The Doctor last year (thanks to Russel T. Davies and the team at BBC Wales) proved that the BBC were more than capable of producing good Sci-Fi and raised the bar for Saturday evening TV. I have high hopes for the second season, and will be posting my thoughts as episodes air. Note: I know this isn't technically the second season of Doctor Who but for a large number of new fans, it is: I'll be referring to it as season two. I'll try to keep spoilers to a minimum too - I don't like having something ruined before I've had a change to watch it, and I'll try not to inflict that on anyone here.

Episode one kicks things off nicely: It's nothing earth-shattering, aiming only to provide enjoyable, light-hearted Saturday evening TV, and along the way prove to be suitably scary for younger viewers (something which Who should, ideally, always strive to achieve). David Tennant somehow seems to be slightly less effective here than in the Christmas special but still manages to be entertaining, and I have no doubt I'll become increasingly enthusiastic about his take on The Doctor as the season continues. Billy Piper has quite a lot to do: As the single common thread linking Eccleston's Doctor and Tennant's it's important for Billy to put in a good performance for the first few episodes, and in this one she does. It would've been quite easy for New Earth to be rendered unwatchable by a terrible performance, but Billy pulls it off. Performance aside, Billy's cleavage also makes more of an appearance here than ever before, and I'm sure fans will consider this a positive. I'm impartial of course, my job is simply to state the facts…

New Earth is, by and large, a success. Admittedly, it steals ideas from both the Matrix and Night of the Living Dead (but provides an entertaining new explanation of the zombie's reaching arms), features a race of feline nurses (that are far less ill-advised than I expected), and makes jokes about Chavs and body/gender-swapping. And while none of this is ever likely to be accepted, enjoyed, or encouraged by the armies of hard-core Doctor Who fans, the Saturday night audience attracted by the BBC last year will no doubt find much to enjoy again this time.