Well something mildly interesting happened to me this weekend. I got a nice little alert requesting I watch a pilot for a new BBC show and offer my opinions. The show is called Pulse and is described as Supernatural, Medical, Horror Drama. That seems a bit wordy for a genre. I'm not sure it'll catch on. I'm not really fan of the whole horror scene and medical horror is the worst to be honest. It's the cutting and implanting and... it's icky. However I am fond of the supernatural drama side, and since it's on the BBC, I didn't really think it could be that scary.
For a pilot, it was pretty good, and like most BBC shows, I expect it will get better from here. The first episode follows a girl called Hannah who has just resumed training at a hospital after "going crazy". Well, I'm not sure how crazy she went, but this immediately makes me wonder whether or not she's really cut out for medicine... but I guess everyone deserves a second chance. Long story short she finds out there's something weird going on at the hospital to do with a patient being given injections in the middle of the night that aren't recorded on his chart. Of course you can see it coming straight away that no-one is going to believe her because she's "the crazy one".
Looks like this is going to be one of those "edgy" BBC3 dramas where "edgy" means everyone is having sex with everyone else. Just once I'd like to see drama with "edgy realism" where not everyone was a slut. I don't live like that, and neither do my friends, so why do so many people on tv? Alright, maybe one or two people in a group might behave like that, but not everyone! Balance is key.
If you're worried about the horror side, I'd say not to worry. Obviously it's not suitable for kids, but anyone over the age of 16 should be okay. There's a lot of blood splattered about, but I'd say the worst part would be when the guy wakes up on the operating table... but that might just be a personal phobia.
A fun game when watching any BBC drama is looking out for people you've seen before. Spotted in this episode was Gregg Chillin as Rafee Hussein. You might recognise him from The Queens Nose, Being Human or Nearly Famous (a channel 4 show that no-one else in the world seems to have seen). Nothing wrong with using the same actors over and over again, he's a good actor, though it does distract me for several minutes while I try to figure out where I've seen them before.
In conclusion, it was a strong show, and I certainly want to find out what's going on at that hospital. If you're interested, you can watch the pilot online now, and send your own comments direct to the BBC just click HERE. Or you can wait until it's BBC at 9pm on thursday the 3rd of June. Me? Well I'll be watching The Big Bang Theory on Channel 4, so this might be one that I follow on the i-player.
Monday 31 May 2010
Sunday 30 May 2010
Saturday Night & Eurovision
Ah Saturday Night. The one night a week that there is bound to be something good on TV. Many a family across the UK come together for some well earned "family time". Sadly, I find myself without family at the moment. Not that there's anything wrong with them, I'm just living at university at the moment. Nevertheless, my enjoyment of Saturday night TV is not diminished. 6.30pm usually finds my cross legged in front of the box, ice cream in hand eagerly enjoying the latest episode of Doctor Who. This comes much to the disgust of my housemates, who would rather do anything else. Last Saturday they declared that football took priority and cast me out on the street. Undeterred ended up cross legged on a sympathetic friend's floor. It'll take more than football to keep me from my weekly who fix.
After Doctor Who, I've been watching Over The Rainbow, the Andrew Lloyd Webbers latest search for a new Broadway "star", but that finished last week. I really didn't enjoy this series as much as I have done the previous ones. I miss John Barrowmans wit and campness. The show just isn't the same without "Fantastic! Fantastic! Fantastic" Mr Barrowman. Another frustrating element is that I was expecting a search for a male star this time. I love watching the girls sing but those Josephs had... appeal the girls just can't deliver.
We're currently in the midst of another round of Britain's Got Talent, a show which conclusively proves... Britain THINKS It's Got Talent. There's some sheer rubbish ends up on this show (and a lot of it even gets through to the next round), but I guess that's part of the fun. What really gets to me is the amount of singing acts that turn up. You have to wonder why they don't audition for the x-factor if they really want singing success. Last years winners Diversity have also inspired a multitude of dance acts, mostly repeating the same old stuff we've already seen many times before. They really need to step up their game if they have any chance of winning. This is another show that's just getting old now. For a variety show, it needs a bit more variety if it wants to avoid getting stale.
Lastly, I've been following Casualty. This is seen to be a rather odd choice, in fact I don't think many of my friends watch it. It all started as something I did with my mum, but now it's a show I watch every week. Most of the time I question why I do, as it's possibly the most depressing show I watch. There's death, disease and misery (and that's just the doctors!). The current appeal comes from following the stories of the F2s, the trainee doctors. Maybe I just relate to them because they are young, starting out in the world, trying to find their feet, or maybe it's just because they only started over Easter so I've been able to follow their entire story and I'm not being confused by some part of the back story that happened over a year ago. That said, the show seems to be loosing F2s at an alarming rate. They started off with about 12 and they seem to be down to two... I'm not even sure where they all went! But Yuki is my favourite, so I don't mind :D
So, I think I've established, Saturday Night Tv is one of the highlights of my week, but I was quite content to ditch the usual schedule this week in favour of EUROVISION! This year saw a rather condensed show. They ditched the naff VTs of each country's scenery, daft hats and weird trivia in favour of a pre-midnight finish. Not complaining, I got to watch the whole show on campus and still manage to get a late bus home. UK were... well we were rubbish. Come on Pete Waterman, it's 2010. We've moved on from the 90's, it's time for you to move on too. Or retire... on second thoughts, just retire. Perhaps the right singer could have made it work, but Josh Dubovie was out of tune, and not even in time with the music. The saddest part was the look on his face about half way through, when he seemed to realise just how bad it was. BBC news this morning reports he is "still smiling", but this must be a brave face for the cameras. I don't blame him. He shouldn't have been put on the stage! UK just doesn't take the competition seriously. Turkey's entry MaNga are MTV award winners, and accordingly came second. Britain have got some great artists, but we have something against sending people who are already established. Imagine if we stuck Robbie Williams up there. We'd win by a landslide.
I expected Cyprus to do better, but it seems no-one really warmed to the fact that they'd nabbed a little welsh lad to sing for them. Perhaps Wales should consider entering solo next year? With talent like that, I reckon they'd do quite well.
The winner Lena... she was okay... From the black lipstick I was expecting something a little more alternative from her. She was referred to as "The German Lilly Allen", but I think that's a bit of an insult to Lilly Allen. The song... well it didn't make sense to me, containing stunning lyrics like "I painted my toe nails for you". Is this considered a romantic gesture in Germany? Personally, I just paint my toe nails when I'm bored, or I know I'm going to be wearing strappy shoes. I don't think I've ever painted them for someone else... Upon winning Lena came across as quite the diva, refusing to hold her trophy or flowers claiming she didn't have the strength... she was also reported to be very subdued in later interviews. Guess it was past her bed time.
After Doctor Who, I've been watching Over The Rainbow, the Andrew Lloyd Webbers latest search for a new Broadway "star", but that finished last week. I really didn't enjoy this series as much as I have done the previous ones. I miss John Barrowmans wit and campness. The show just isn't the same without "Fantastic! Fantastic! Fantastic" Mr Barrowman. Another frustrating element is that I was expecting a search for a male star this time. I love watching the girls sing but those Josephs had... appeal the girls just can't deliver.
We're currently in the midst of another round of Britain's Got Talent, a show which conclusively proves... Britain THINKS It's Got Talent. There's some sheer rubbish ends up on this show (and a lot of it even gets through to the next round), but I guess that's part of the fun. What really gets to me is the amount of singing acts that turn up. You have to wonder why they don't audition for the x-factor if they really want singing success. Last years winners Diversity have also inspired a multitude of dance acts, mostly repeating the same old stuff we've already seen many times before. They really need to step up their game if they have any chance of winning. This is another show that's just getting old now. For a variety show, it needs a bit more variety if it wants to avoid getting stale.
Lastly, I've been following Casualty. This is seen to be a rather odd choice, in fact I don't think many of my friends watch it. It all started as something I did with my mum, but now it's a show I watch every week. Most of the time I question why I do, as it's possibly the most depressing show I watch. There's death, disease and misery (and that's just the doctors!). The current appeal comes from following the stories of the F2s, the trainee doctors. Maybe I just relate to them because they are young, starting out in the world, trying to find their feet, or maybe it's just because they only started over Easter so I've been able to follow their entire story and I'm not being confused by some part of the back story that happened over a year ago. That said, the show seems to be loosing F2s at an alarming rate. They started off with about 12 and they seem to be down to two... I'm not even sure where they all went! But Yuki is my favourite, so I don't mind :D
So, I think I've established, Saturday Night Tv is one of the highlights of my week, but I was quite content to ditch the usual schedule this week in favour of EUROVISION! This year saw a rather condensed show. They ditched the naff VTs of each country's scenery, daft hats and weird trivia in favour of a pre-midnight finish. Not complaining, I got to watch the whole show on campus and still manage to get a late bus home. UK were... well we were rubbish. Come on Pete Waterman, it's 2010. We've moved on from the 90's, it's time for you to move on too. Or retire... on second thoughts, just retire. Perhaps the right singer could have made it work, but Josh Dubovie was out of tune, and not even in time with the music. The saddest part was the look on his face about half way through, when he seemed to realise just how bad it was. BBC news this morning reports he is "still smiling", but this must be a brave face for the cameras. I don't blame him. He shouldn't have been put on the stage! UK just doesn't take the competition seriously. Turkey's entry MaNga are MTV award winners, and accordingly came second. Britain have got some great artists, but we have something against sending people who are already established. Imagine if we stuck Robbie Williams up there. We'd win by a landslide.
I expected Cyprus to do better, but it seems no-one really warmed to the fact that they'd nabbed a little welsh lad to sing for them. Perhaps Wales should consider entering solo next year? With talent like that, I reckon they'd do quite well.
The winner Lena... she was okay... From the black lipstick I was expecting something a little more alternative from her. She was referred to as "The German Lilly Allen", but I think that's a bit of an insult to Lilly Allen. The song... well it didn't make sense to me, containing stunning lyrics like "I painted my toe nails for you". Is this considered a romantic gesture in Germany? Personally, I just paint my toe nails when I'm bored, or I know I'm going to be wearing strappy shoes. I don't think I've ever painted them for someone else... Upon winning Lena came across as quite the diva, refusing to hold her trophy or flowers claiming she didn't have the strength... she was also reported to be very subdued in later interviews. Guess it was past her bed time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)