In The Absense of TV - Part 1

In The Absence of Television - Part 1

TV licences are expensive! They currently cost £145.50 a year, and there's no student discount. Understandably, not many students have TV in their room, including me. This is difficult for a self confessed TV addict like me. Of course, there are many places to catch up on your favourite TV programmes, and I'll be covering those in part 2, but today I want to talk about StarKid!

I first got introduced to StarKid about a year ago, when I stumbled across A Very Potter Musical. If I had to sum A Very Potter Musical up in two words, they would be Totally Awesome. I've since been on to get the soundtrack, and it currently wakes me up in the morning. It follows the story of young wizard Harry Potter as he returns to Hogwarts, takes part in the Triwizard tournament and defeats the evil lord Voldemort... yes this does sound a little familiar. The plot is based on the latter half of the Harry Potter series, albeit with a little artistic licence. The story has been set to a wonderful soundtrack by Darren Criss, who plays Harry (he's been in Glee don'tcha know?), and the script is both hilarious and moving, often at the same time. It's some going to get through the whole lot, but it breaks up quite well into 10 minute segments. I watched it over the course of a few days, whenever I had a spare few minutes, and it works well in that way. The whole thing is available on YouTube, although the sound quality is quite sketchy, and the best thing is, it's completely free and legal! Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmwM_AKeMCk

At the end of watching A Very Potter Musical, I missed it. I watched it again of course, but it's just not quite the same. Fortunately for you, there's a sequel! A Very Potter Sequel is in fact a Prequel (Timey Wimey), and follows some of the events of Harry's first years at Hogwarts... with a few changes. In the beginning the remaining death eaters, lost without Voldemort, use a time turner to go back in time with the plan to kill Harry before he destroys Voldemort. The potter kids are all a bit younger and more naive, none more so than the fabulous Loren Lopez as Draco Malfoy, but nonetheless hilarious as ever. If you've seen A Very Potter Musical, this is the obvious next step, with more emotion, laughter and music... and better sound quality. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OepW-AG-Ris

The next StarKid musical takes a massive leap away from the family friendly realms of Harry Potter parody. The awkwardly named Me and my Dick follows main character Joey and his Dick through their various romantic misadventures. It's definitely one for an older audience, but maintains high quality humour and songs. Only trouble is when it comes to asking other people if they've seen it... Again, it's all on YouTube, free and legal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmpnUf_TiG4

After this, desperate for more StarKid content, I came across Little White Lie. To be honest, I wish I hadn't. It's a change from the usual StarKid format. It's shot in several locations, rather than on stage. It's not so much of a musical, as a soap with some music in it, and it doesn't look like it'll ever be finished. Though Darren, Brian and Loren do brilliant jobs on their character, the rest of the cast is lacking, particularly the lead, who’s constant moodiness could almost outshine Twilights notorious Bella. If you must try it, you can catch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWhi__zmDSY

Doesn't look like you'll have to wait too long for a bit more StarKid, their new musical Starship shows in Chicago from February 11th to the 23rd, and I'm sure we'll see it on YouTube not long after. For more info, check the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFn_fpYn68k&feature=sub

Single X Deserate Sci-Fi?

Okay. Yes. I am a very bad blogger. In my defence I have been extremely busy. I've barely had time to watch any TV, never mind blog about it. I'm back at uni now, working on my dissertation. I've got a presentation coming up and I detest presentations. Doesn't help that it needs to be 10 minutes long, and it's currently 7 minutes long. Stretching out a presentation by three minutes doesn't seem like much of a task, but it seems that no matter how much extra I say, it's still only taking 7 minutes. Perhaps I should try to talk slower?

Being back at uni has of course put a fairly big restriction on my TV watching. I'm on campus, and don't have my own TV, and the uni has banned 4OD for reasons beyond my comprehension, so I've fallen way behind on Ugly Betty. Fortunately two of my flatmates have TVs and both watch Desperate Housewives! So I'll be watching that tonight. Huzzah! Looking forward to seeing Vanessa Williams (Wilhelmina from Ugly Betty). I'm hoping to see something new from her. It would be very easy for her to play the bitch again.

I've also been able to watch X-Factor, with the lovely Steph (who doesn't read this, but deserves much credit). There are some real characters this year. I'm particularly enjoying Storm, who always puts on a show... even if his singing is a little off :P. Wagner really bugs me though. I hope he gets voted of tonight.

Single Father is also on tonight, but I'm gonna miss it and I-Player it tomorrow. Now, the BBC promised me a dramatic comedy, I'm sure and it has NOT delivered. Drama, yes, but it's a total tragedy! Really had my eyes tearing up last week and I don't think it'll get any more cheery. Lovely to the gorgeous David Tennant again though. And he's all Scottish *shiver*. Not keen on the new hair though... bring back the doctor's 'do :P

On a completely different note, I've also been watching Battlestar Galactica. Something that struck me in the first episode is how heavily Sci-Fi leans on stereotypical characters. It's a fledgling theory at the moment, but I'm fitting new shows into it all the time. There's always the Captain Man's Man who wants to kick some arse and shoot up some aliens (Jack O'Neill, Stargate, Mal & Jayne, Firefly, Whatshisface, Battlestar Galactica), there's always the pretty tomboy (Kaylee, Firefly, Sam Carter, Stargate, Lila, Futurama), I'm also considering adding Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica, but I've been told in the original her character was a guy. No sod it, STEREOTYPE! Then there's the geeky one (Daniel Jackson, Stargate, Simon, Firefly, dunno his name yet, Battlestar Galactica, half the cast of Star Trek :P) I'm going to stop there, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to come back to this rant.

The Next 6 Months on The BBC

As I write this the sun is streaming in through the window, but yesterday was a very different story. The world went dark in the afternoon and heavy rain fell over the town as I struggled with the last of my shopping. Summer is officially over and autumn has begun. Usually I would mourn the loss of summer, but this year I'm excited for the start of woolly hat and thick sock season, not least because I look really cute in my hat. The BBC is encouraging my excitement, releasing a Drama Showreel, with teasing glimpses of what we can expect over the next 6 months. Don't just take my word for it, take a peak for yourself!

Exciting stuff isn't it? And a hell of a lot of familiar faces. Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham Carter make up the big names, there's a whole host of those BBC regulars who crop up in EVERYTHING, and all 3 of our Nu-Doctors! Not to mention sneaky clips of the Doctor Who Christmas special.

Christopher Eccleston will be appearing in the first two episodes of new drama series Accused, which follows the stories of people accused of serious crimes as they make their way through their court cases. It looks like a pretty strong cast, though sounds a little dry for my tastes. The perfect step for Christopher Eccleston, who seems desperate to avoid being known as the 9th Doctor.

David Tennant stars in new four part drama Single Father, a tale about a man struggling to raise his four children alone after his wife's unfortunate death. It promises to be a tear jerker, but also very funny. Lookit! He's got a new haircut!

Matt Smith takes the lead role in Christopher and His Kind, a story about a man escaping his restrained life in England for one of decadence in 1930's Berlin. After having his heart broken he sets out on a voyage of self-discovery. I've been seeing this picture for a while. I thought it was a fragrance advert to be honest, but it turns out to be a shot from this show.

And finally... looks like another Dickensian Christmas for Doctor Who (perhaps with The Doctor taking on the role of Ghost of Christmas Past?) In case the glimpses from the trailer haven't satisfied you enough, here's another trailer, just for the Christmas Special. Because I love you THAT much :D

EDIT: Well I've been fooled! That's a fan made trailer. I must apologise for misleading you and promise to do more research in the future. It is however, a VERY good trailer. Click Here to see how it was done. Well done dwcast25.

Back From Disney!

What's that? Oh you've really missed me. Oh, I've missed you too! Yeah, it's been a bit quiet on the blogging front, because I've been in Euro Disney! It was so super duper awesome! Here's a picture of me and my best friends in front of the magic castle :D

And while we were there, we saw a girl who looked a lot like Lex, from you-tube. James shouted "Lex!" But she didn't turn round, so we figured it wasn't her, but when I got home and checked out her twitter, turns out it was her :O Crazy stuff. Probably the closest I'll ever get to a YouTube celebrity... oh well. On with the TV stuff.

Now, you may recall I was quite devastated to be missing Derren Brown's next big special (Hero at 30,000 feet) which aired on the day we flew out to France. Fortunately I managed to pick it up on 4od on my return. Derren said this was his favourite show to date, but I'm going to have to disagree with him. Though the show had a lovely message to go with it, we didn't really see anything new from Derren, and the show lacked the WOW factor of shows like The Heist and Russian roulette. I'm expecting something new from Derren soon, as he has been filming all summer and I've got a friend who has been to one of his filming evenings. Perhaps another series of Tricks of The Mind? It would make my season :P

I also missed a stunning episode of Casualty while I was away, which I managed to catch up on this morning on the I-Player. In the aftermath of last week’s shooting, someone has to take the fall and Charlie is in the firing line. I spent the majority of the episode on the edge of my seat. Another very strong Casualty episode, when I was expecting them to have a lower episode after all the excitement of last week’s feature length episode. As usual you've got all the heart-warming hospital moments, funny one liners and devastating blows. The whole range of human emotion in one hour. Worth staying in on a Saturday night for... or you know, watching on the I-Player half a week later.

In contrast, this week’s Waterloo Road had a Sex Education Special that felt like an hour long public service announcement. We went through the stories of "The one who thinks sex will make her happy" "The one whose condom broke" "The young single mum" and "The one struggling with his sexuality" With disaster and tragedy all round. The majority of these stories seemed to fly up from no-where. Two of the characters have never been seen before (and will probably never be seen again) and that poor lad has never given any indication of being gay before. Sorry Waterloo Road writers, D-, Could do better.

The Autumn Season Begins

Shhh... Listen... do you hear that? That is the blissful sound of silence. No longer do the kids crowd the streets screaming and dancing and I will no longer have to battle against tweenagers to browse the DVD sale in HMV. Life has returned to a state resembling normality as we are now in September and school is back in session.

Of course it's not just the real world in which school is back in. This week we got treated to two wonderful episodes of Waterloo Road, which as per usual started with a bang. We are welcoming a new Head Mistress in the shape of Karen Fisher (Amanda Burton), who starts with drastic new policies, much to the annoyance of the existing teachers, but it all works out in the end and she solves a lot of the schools problems... much like every other new head in this school. The story line seems much a carbon copy of when Rachel Mason started! Come on writers, get your act together! She's also got a whole host of personal problems including a missing child, a delinquent daughter and a cheating husband... also seems to be showing signs of early depression (though I can see why). From the brief glimpses we've seen it looks like her missing daughter is played by Tina O'Brien, so I can't see her staying missing for very long.

Also new staff wise is the stunning Francesca Montoya (Karen David), Head of Spanish. Not sure why they need a Head of Spanish, since there is no one else in the Spanish department for her to be head of. Spanish seems to have replaced French as the only language taught at this school. The two French teachers, Stephanie Haydock and Jo Lipsett have disappeared without explanation! I'm really not sure how this school gets through any of its exams... apart from English, the only fully staffed department.

Casualty also returned to our screens this week, after a 1 week absence. It made up for this loss with a feature length episode! Yay! My Dad keeps telling me I shouldn't watch Casualty as I "can't handle it". Excuse me if I find the death of several college kids upsetting! I'm not going to give much away about this one, I recommend picking it up on the I-player. Even if you've never seen Casualty before, now is a good time to pick it up, as the plot of this special episode takes place completely out of existing plot lines, showing the hospital dealing with a great amount of pressure after a shooting in a college. I hope the rest of the series can keep up the drama all the way through autumn. Now, go on, what else are you going to do with the next hour and a half? Click Here

X-Factor has also shot back onto our screens with the usual array of delusional wannabes, quiet superstars and diva strops. Yes, it is becoming one big massive cliché (if I hear "1 million percent yes" one more time, I'm going to beat Simon Cowel to death with a math textbook), but it's still sociable Saturday Night television! Worth sticking with through the auditions, but only time will tell if the talent will keep me interested through the live shows.

This Weeks Recommendation: I'm dying to watch Derren Brown: Hero at 30,000 feet on Wednesday at 10pm on Channel 4, but I'm going to be out of the country! Yes, I'll be jetting off to Disney Land Paris, obscenely early on Wednesday morning, but I hope there's nothing stopping you enjoying it. I'll be catching up on the magic some time Monday. For those of you who have been living under the proverbial rock, Derren Brown is a Psychologist, Illusionist and Showman who performs seemingly impossible feats using his odd array of skills. The man himself says this is his favourite show to date, so it will be well worth a watch. Enjoy, and I'll see you some point next week :)

P.S. The rather wonderful James Raynard (CottonWoolWorld) was lovely enough to give me a shout out on his latest vlog! Isn't that nice of him? Since he said very nice things, and is a clever, interesting and funny guy (and has, what I've been told is "an adorable English accent") you should go check out his videos! HERE

If the doctor was stuck in the 18th century...

If you've read any of my blogs before you have picked up on the odd little hint that I am quite fond of a little show called Doctor Who? What's that? Obsessive? Maybe.

I first heard about the BBC3 version Casanova this term, from a friend who shares my appreciation of David Tennant's fine acting skills (read: pretty eyes). I heard about it again whilst reading Russell T. Davis's a writer’s tale, and once more while Tumbling... "That’s it", I decided, "I must watch it". So I have.

Casanova IS The Doctor. If I'd been sent to this show and given the preamble that The Doctor was stuck in 18th century Italy, without a companion, or his Tardis, so had renamed himself Casanova and was just going wait it out, I would full on believe it. I know David Tennant is a very capable actor, and can play more than the one part, as seen in Blackpool, and St Trinians 2 and Harry Potter. Likewise, Russell T. Davis is fully capable of writing more than the one character. The 9th doctor is completely different from the 10th. And yet Casanova is completely the same as The Doctor... even down to the way he says "Well..." (You know the way I mean :D)

I'd definitely recommend Casanova to grown up fans of Doctor Who (not one for the kids! Some very grown up scenes), even if they are not usually fans of period drama. It's written in a very modern way to make the characters very relatable to a current audience. Sort of reminds me of the way Desperate Romantics was written... but I think I'm the only person in the world who watched that. What can I say, Aiden Turner rox my sox.

P.S. Just watched the last episode. One of the characters says "Still running?" And I couldn't help but laugh my socks off. Can't be a coincidence. Will investigate further.