THIERRY ATTARD'S DOUBLE FEATURE

WOLFF - KAMPF IM REVIER (SAT.1)

2012-01-18T08:33:00.034+01:00

Andreas Wolff is back. Left dead in the finale of the long-running German crime drama Wolffs Revier, the Hauptkommissar returns in a TV movie called Wolff - Kampf im Revier.

Wolffs Revier ran from 1992 to 2005 on private channel Sat.1 and concluded with a 90-minute special, Wolffs Revier: Angst, in May 2006. Created by the great scriptwriter Karl Heinz Willschrei (Tatort, Der Alte, Ein Fall für Zweï), it starred Jürgen Heinrich as Wolff. Klaus Pönitz was his partner Günther Sawatzki, later replaced by Steven Merting as Tom Borkmann. And Nadine Seiffert was Wolff's daughter Verena. The theme intro was composed by Klaus Doldinger.

« I can't bring people back from the dead. It's not a pretty picture. I DON'T LIKE DOING IT! »

The channel should have followed the wise words of Aladdin's genie instead of commissioning this disappointing Wolff - Kampf im Revier. Heavily injured five years ago, Andreas Wolff endured a coma, a painful rehabilitation, and now he works as a lecturer at the police academy. But he struggles to cope with his everyday life with an addiction to drugs. Worse, he becomes the #1 suspect in a murder case. Actually the idea to age Wolff in full Horst Schimanski mode is really smart. Except that the excellent Jürgen Heinrich is treated like a guest star in the revival of his own show.

Intended as a pilot, the TV movie is mainly centered on Kommissar Marck (Stephan Luca), a former student of Woff, and his new partner Vicki (Nadeshda Brennicke). With a little time and less running, Marck could certainly do well in one of the Tatort series from ARD. The problem is that Kampf im Revier is "sold" with Wolff's name in front of it. At least Heinrich, rather impressive in the action sequences, has some fun doing the White Rabbit. Back as Verena Wolff, quasi-mute Nadine Seiffert has less luck in a nod to the Saw movies.

Produced by Producers at Work for Sat.1, Wolff - Kampf im Revier is written by Anna Dokoupilova (Der letzte Bulle, Doktor Martin) with additional script work by Annette Simon, and directed by Christian Alvart. A sour return with a sour ending, anyway it seems ratings will spare us a series.

In German:

http://www.sat1.de/film/der-sat-1-filmfilm/wolff-kampf-im-revier
http://www.quotenmeter.de/cms/?p1=n&p2=54387&p3=
http://meedia.de/fernsehen/schwaches-comeback-fuer-kommissar-wolff/2012/01/18.html (Ratings)

EIGHT IS ENOUGH

2012-01-15T11:02:00.003+01:00

Hustle, the BBC One hit drama created by Tony Jordan and launched in 2004, returned on Friday for the premiere of its eighth and final series. Original cast members Adrian Lester, Robert Glenister, Robert Vaughn and Rob Jarvis are back with Matt Di Angelo and Kelly Adams - aboard since series five.

After making money from the London 2012 Olympics, Mickey Stone and his team of conmen have a new mark found by Albert: Dexter Gold, a fast-talking, smooth-dressing and ruthless "cash for gold" businessman. His gold exchange activity is designed to part the old and vulnerable from their treasures in return for a pittance but Dexter is also a middle man for stolen gold bullion. He likes war movies so the grifters pose as a rogue army unit and convince him they have some of the gold of Colonel Gadaffi.

« When you think about it, we're a bit like Robin Hood.
- Yeah, well, we do take from the rich.
- Only instead of giving to the poor...
- ... We buy clothes. »

A suprisingly weak opener, written by Tony Jordan and directed by Alrick Riley, in which the talent of guest star Paterson Joseph (Survivors) is wasted as he plays one the most caricatural adversaries of Mickey's gang. The team depreciates its own standards by targeting a 21st century Nellie Oleson. They are also so self-conscious it recalls the darkest hours of the fourth series. The fate of Eddie's beloved photo of footballer Ian Rush is painfully stretched as a "subplot". And the reappearance of Dexter near the end of the episode is non-necessary and far-fetched.

It's nice to see Hustle back for this last run. We'll miss our favourite con artists, let's hope this was an accident. Next week the great Bill Bailey is back as Cyclops, the character he played in the fifth series.

http://www.cultbox.co.uk/spoilers/episode-guides/2593-hustle-series-8-episode-guide
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13307876
http://www.daemonstv.com/2012/01/13/hustle-series-8-episode-1-bbc/

SOKO LEIPZIG - DIE SCHWARZE WITWE (ZDF)

2012-01-09T13:58:00.025+01:00

SOKO Leipzig members Ina and Jan are investigating an apparent suicide while their boss Hajo Trautzschke awaits the arrival of his friend Jack Meadows, a retired British cop. In a bar, Jack spots a familiar face from a case unsolved in London.

Aired since 2001 on German pubcaster ZDF, UFA Fernsehproduktion's "Krimi-Serie" SOKO Leipzig is one of the spin-off series of SOKO 5113, launched in 1978. In 2008, ITV and ZDF joined forces for a crossover between SOKO Leipzig and the long-running police drama The Bill, produced by Talkback Thames (owned by RTL Group via Fremantle Media) (1). Two versions were filmed simultaneously by British director Robert Del Maestro, with a script jointly written by Frank Koopmann & Roland Heep and Steve Bailie. This special, in which Hajo Trautzchke (Andreas Schmidt-Schaller) went to London with his colleague Ina Zimmermann (Melanie Marschke), aired first on ITV1 in november 2008 as a two-parter called Proof of Life.

« Einmal Cop, immer Cop. »

In september 2009, the German version, titled Entführung in London ("Abduction in London"), aired as a special feature-length episode of SOKO Leipzig. The Bill was axed by ITV1 in 2010 after 27 years but one of its characters, Jack Meadows, played by Simon Rouse, is now retired and visiting Leipzig for a 90-minute special of SOKO Leipzig. In Die schwarze Witwe ("The Black Widow"), aired by ZDF on December 30, 2011, Jack arrives in his own Cessna - called "Jack's Sparrow"! - to spend a few days with his friend Hajo. Meanwhile, Trautzchke's colleagues Zimmermann and Jan Maybach (Marco Girnt) investigate the death of Leo Karmann, a geologist who apparently threw himself out of the window. But they clash with LKA detectives Stravinsky (Robert Dölle) and Müller (Michael Schenk).

As Jack Meadows is having a drink with Hajo, he sees a face from the past: Karen Bishop, suspected of having murdered her husband in London. But in Germany the woman is known as Irene Karmann (Anica Dobra), and she's the wife of the dead geologist. Is Meadows really visiting a friend or is he in Leipzig for some unfinished business? Why is he carrying a gun? And will his friendship with Hajo Trautzchke be jeopardized by Irene? « Schuldig oder nicht schuldig. Das ist die Frage, » in this brilliant episode written by SOKO Leipzig scribes Markus Hoffmann (SK Kölsch, Alarm für Cobra 11) and Uwe Kossmann, and directed by Robert Del Maestro. Del Maestro worked on several SOKO Leipzig since Entführung in London/Proof of life and is undoubtedly the ideal director for this reunion.

Past the oddity of hearing Simon Rouse dubbed in German with an English accent, the actor is excellent and shares great scenes with a thespian of Andreas Schmidt-Schaller's caliber. Jack Meadows fits naturally in the "Krimi" atmosphere, and retirement suits him well enough to believe that he would deserve his own special as a private investigator. The music is composed by Andreas Hoge and the cinematography is by Christian Paschmann and Gareth Hughes. SOKO Leipzig: Die schwarze Witwe is produced by UFA Fernsehproduktion Niederlassung Leipzig and Norbert Sauer for ZDF and ZDF Enterprises. Henriette Lippold, Norbert Sauer and Jörg Winger are the producers.

(1) From 1994 to 2006, German private channel RTL even aired a local adaptation of The Bill called Die Wache.

http://www.robertdelmaestro.com/main.html
https://backstage.rtlgroup.fr/public/htm/en/Dailynews_FS.aspx?id=dailynews_3FF685498F8E4793A4BF6022697C8963&newsdate=17112008
https://backstage.rtlgroup.fr/public/htm/en/Dailynews_FS.aspx?id=dailynews_0647E8B245B74E559E5B01B2BCA97CEE&newsdate=07092009
http://www.wunschliste.de/4543/episoden

MAKE NOISE IN THE LIBRARY

2012-01-06T14:00:00.012+01:00

January promises to be a good month for French-speaking fans of Doctor Who. The books featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond will be soon available in French language, thanks to Parisian publisher Milady (Assassin's Creed, X-Files, etc.)

The programme of Milady for the Doctor Who license looks very ambitious. They intend to release twelve adventures of Eleven and Amy and two with the Ninth Doctor during the whole year 2012. Three books are announced for January 20:

- Apollo 23 (Apollo 23) by Justin Richards.
- La nuit des humains (Night of the Humans) by David Llewelyn.
- L'armée oubliée (The Forgotten Army) by Brian Minchin.

Horloge nucléaire (Nuclear Time) by Oli Smith, and La chasse au mirage (The Glamour Chase) by Gary Russell, should follow in February. The two adventures of Nine announced are Rien qu'humain (Only Human) and Les voleurs de rêves (The Stealers of Dreams) - for September and November 2012, respectively.

In French:

http://www.milady.fr/
https://twitter.com/#!/MiladyFR
https://www.facebook.com/milady.editions
http://milady-le-blog.fantasyblog.fr/
http://www.doctor-who.fr/
http://doctorwho.xooit.fr/t2576-Milady-edite-les-DW-Books-en-Fancais.htm

ENDEAVOUR (ITV1)

2012-01-03T10:00:00.048+01:00

1965, in a Midlands town. Young Detective Constable Endeavour Morse is writing his letter of resignation from the police force but the case of a missing schoolgirl brings him back to Oxford.

Endeavour, the two-hour prequel to the long-running Inspector Morse series (thirty-three episodes from 1987 to 2000), marks the 25th anniversary of the very first episode of the popular crime drama starring the beloved John Thaw as the novelist Colin Dexter's creation. Kevin Whately, who co-starred as his sidekick Robbie Lewis, has his own spin-off since 2006 with Lewis - known as Inspector Lewis in the US. Shaun Evans (Teachers, Martina Cole's The Take) has the daunting task to play a younger version of the iconic role in this one-off drama aired yesterday night on ITV1.

Endeavour has the necessary blessing of Colin Dexter, who first wrote a short story with young Morse for the Daily Mail in 2008, and appears in his traditional cameo. The script takes a host of precautions to conquer fans with astute references and nods cleverly brought, starting with the car - not yet burgundy. It's penned by Russell Lewis, whose work on Morse, Kavanagh QC (with John Thaw) and Lewis confers him an indisputable legitimacy and confronts the disillusioned young copper to apparently respectable members of the Oxford community with their weaknesses and passions.

Lewis and director Colm McCarthy (Injustice) succeed with the re-creation of the familiar environment from the Inspector Morse and Lewis dramas. But as good as Shaun Evans is in capturing manners and attitudes of the character, it takes time to get used to the idea that this Doctor Who-ish young man is the same Morse we all knew. And Endeavour is essentially the sidekick of DI Fred Thursday, played by the talented Roger Allam who steals the episode in the role of Morse's mentor. He already deserves a spin-off series as the missing link between Maigret and Gene Hunt.

Guest stars include James Bradshaw as a younger Dr Max DeBryn (1), the excellent Patrick Malahide, and Charlie Creed-Miles who shined last summer in Injustice. With 6.8m viewers and a 28% share (ITV+1 included), a subsequent series could easily follow what was announced initially as a one-off. Although the young Endeavour Morse will of course have to be very rapidly less mousy to be really interesting. The paradoxical challenge of Endeavour is to find its own style in the shadow of the portrayal of Morse by the great John Thaw.

Like in Morse and Lewis, the sublime music of Barrington Pheloung is a character in its own right. Endeavour is a co-production of Mammoth Screen and Masterpiece in association with ITV Studios.

(1) Played by Peter Woodthrope in Inspector Morse.

http://www.crimetimepreview.com/2011/12/endeavour-with-shaun-evans-preview.html#more
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8981314/Endeavour-Will-the-frosty-reception-for-the-new-Morse-thaw.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jan/03/endeavour-tv-ratings?newsfeed=true

HEATHERS

2012-01-02T09:34:00.053+01:00

Sherlock - A Scandal in Belgravia (Series Two, Episode One). Sherlock and John are summoned by the highest authorities for a very delicate case involving Irene Adler, a shadowy character who has the power to compromise a very important personality.

Sherlock, the BBC 2010 hit from Doctor Who supremo Steven Moffat and actor/scriptwriter Mark Gatiss, is back since yesterday on BBC One for a second 3 X 90-minute series. This modern take on the Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was launched during summer 2010 with impressive ratings, a warm reception from the public, and a concert of critic praises celebrating Moffat and Gatiss's "re-imagining". Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman return as Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr John Watson, as they were left in the swimming pool cliffhanger of The Great Game, facing the nefarious Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott).

Hailed as the second best thing since the invention of running water, the first series of Sherlock was a glorified British answer to The Mentalist. You had to come back from Gilligan's Island and have been deprived of the gazillion repeats of Monk to buy without a smile Sherlock's « I'm a consulting detective. I'm the only one in the world. I invented the job. » You had also to taste the on-screen text and graphics showing phone messages and even morphing Sherlock's deduction into an advert for a credit card. A Scandal in Belgravia premieres the new series as an update by Moffat himself of A Scandal in Bohemia and its central character, Irene Adler, "the woman" in Holmes's life.

Played here by Lara Pulver, seen this autumn in the final series of Spooks, she now walks in the shoes of Lady Heather - the recurring character from CSI (Melinda Clarke), as a high-end professional dominatrix known in some circles as "The Woman". Sherlock's services are required by his brother Mycroft (Mark Gatiss), on the behalf of the government, to handle a delicate situation where she could compromise a young female member of the monarchy. But Holmes and Watson have to face the most glamorous adversary, CIA agents, international terrorism, and a X-Files type state conspiracy where Mycroft does a Cigarette-smoking man tribute act.

Director Paul McGuigan brings back the on-screen text and adds a deduction sequence which will sound familiar to the fans of Hustle, but credits must be given to him and director of photography Fabian Wagner for the cinematic feel of this episode. Some may prefer the less obvious game of seduction by Gayle Hunnicutt as Irene in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984) and Andrew Scott may not fit the traditional image of Moriarty - which is precisely why he's a smart choice. The episode sometimes stretches to reach its duration and Steven Moffat, who knows how to pen good lines, cannot resist a few easy tricks of the kind he uses in his Who finales.

Kudos to the BBC for starting the new TV year with a drama eagerly awaited by its fans. Though a few of us will be allowed to search something else for the second best thing since the invention of running water. Sherlock is produced by Steven Moffat's Hartswood Films for BBC Wales (with US pubcaster PBS's Masterpiece).

http://danowen.blogspot.com/2012/01/review-sherlock-21-scandal-in-belgravia.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/sherlock/

DIE TRIXXER (RTL)

2011-12-30T09:26:00.055+01:00

In Berlin, a team of con artists helps a group of pensioners to get their money back and targets a ruthless mob boss.

In november, French private channel TF1 aired Con Me If You Can! (international title of Ni vu, ni connu). A terrible 90-minute comedy blatantly "inspired" by Hustle and Leverage. But three years ago, German private Channel RTL ordered a 45-minute pilot called Die Trickser, about a team of top notch grifters fighting for justice with sophisticated plans and tricks of the art. Produced by Endemol, it was written by Timo Berndt (Wilde Engel, Der Clown) and directed by Oliver Schmitz (Doctor's Diary). Die Trickser starred world class German actor Reiner Schöne (his impressive resume includes Knots Landing and Babylon 5) as Alouis, the team leader. It also starred Anja Nejarri, Mirko Lang (Post Mortem) and Gregor Törzs.

RTL didn't greenlight a series but commissioned a 90-minute second pilot, produced by Wiedemann & Berg Television, the joint venture between Endemol and producers Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann. Written by Ulf Tschauder (GSG9) and Christoph Darnstädt (Das Experiment), and directed by Dennis Satin, Die Trixxer - note the two Xs - aired yesterday night on RTL. Reiner Schöne is back as Alouis with the other original cast members. Anja Nejarri is his daughter Maya (a former cop), Gregor Törz is Sebastian - owner of a café in Berlin which is the team's HQ, and Mirko Lang is ambitious newcomer Len. Markus Boysen, as arms dealer Brahms , and Anna Julia Kapfelsperger, as his scatterbrain daughter Buschi, are amongst the guest stars.

90 minutes is 45 too many for the uninspired result. Two Xs in the title don't save Die Trixxer from its lack of charm, rythm and characterization, in spite of the always valuable presence of Reiner Schöne. And the situations are inevitably deprived of originality. The redeeming quality of this second pilot is that it doesn't use excessively the visual and music codes of its illustrious predecessors, unlike Con Me If you Can! Though we're not spared a Mission: Impossible peel off. Holger Handtke is excellent as Brahms's henchman Melström, and Susanne Szell (Verliebt in Berlin) plays a LKA officer.

Ratings were not satisfying enough for RTL to order a series. From what we know Mickey Stone sleeps well. He even returns very soon on BBC One for the highly awaited final series of Hustle.

In German:

http://www.rtl.de/cms/sendungen/serie/die-trixxer.html
http://www.quotenmeter.de/cms/?p1=n&p2=54015&p3=
http://www.quotenmeter.de/cms/?p1=n&p2=54060&p3=
http://www.dwdl.de/nachrichten/33618/die_trixxer_rtl_testet_ende_dezember_neue_serie/

ADVISORY: IT WAS A (FILL THE BLANK) YEAR

2011-12-28T16:15:00.011+01:00

It's the end of the year and Brit telly gave us some magnicent things for this Christmas holiday, like The Gruffalo's Child and The Borrowers (definitely our favourite of the winter season). But also some good ones, like the Downton Abbey special, and unfortunately some terrible: The Royal Bodyguard and the pathetic new Absolutely Fabulous.

The jury is still out on Great Expectations and now you know our opinion about The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe.

2011 was a complicated year for this little blog and your humble servant, and this december fares no better. But you're always there with your constant interest, your enduring fidelity, your support and your trust. Allow me to thank you and to wish you in advance all the best for 2012.

http://twitter.com/thierryattard

P.S. Yes, it's me and one of my review subjects. Why?

INTO THE WOODS

2011-12-26T13:49:00.048+01:00

Doctor Who - The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe. Yesterday BBC One aired a delightful and funny piece of mystery and suspense taking place in a snowy forest. The Gruffalo's Child was magnificent, a superb appetizer before the eagerly expected television event of this 2011 Christmas holiday: the Downton Abbey special on ITV1. In-between the Beeb aired Doctor Who.

Doctor Who is all angst for its loyal fans these days: changes in the production team, interrogation about the schedule of Series 7 and its number of episodes, what looks like communication mishaps around rumours of a movie project, etc. This after the totally unsatisfactory sixth series, with its budget arbitration and blatant writing issues. As the celebration of our favourite time lord's 50th birthday comes closer, Doctor Who Confidential has been axed, Torchwood will be remembered as a global laughing stock, and we miss the wonderful Elisabeth Sladen.

In The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe, the Doctor (Matt Smith) escapes from a spaceship before its destruction, falls into space and must catch a space suit before reaching the Earth. He "gets dressed in a hurry" and crashes in 1938's England, where he's rescued by Madge Arwell (Claire Skinner). Three years later, during World War II, Madge's husband Reg (Alexander Armstrong) is presumed killed while flying his bomber home. She won't tell the news to her children, Lily (Holly Earl) and Cyril (Maurice Cole), until after Christmas, which they must all spend at their uncle Digby's house. The house has a new caretaker, the Doctor, who always pays his debts.

Sold as the "most Christmassy Christmas special ever", 2010's A Christmas Carol was in reality just plain bad: Dickens goes Top of the Pops, with Michael Gambon as Scrooge, Katherine Jenkins as herself, and Bruce from Jaws. This time, Who supremo Steven Moffat goes into C.S. Lewis's territory with a nod to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And past the shaky and gratuitous pre-credit sequence, and the irritating scenes with Matt Smith as Willy Wonka in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, viewers can embark on a story surprisingly more faithful to the spirit of Christmas than last year's mess.

Of course most of the light of this episode seems provided by candles - like in many BBC contemporary dramas - and some sfx range from clumsy to near embarassing, but The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe succeeds in delivering an average hour of family entertainment. Which is even more than what you can say of the majority of Series 6, especially after the disastrous The Wedding of River Song. Besides, unlike the previous series, the special does a proper use of its guest talents - particularly the great Bill Bailey. The Harvest Rangers of Androzani Major (hello, reference alert!) are a pure comedic treat.

Innocuous, this 2011 Christmas "special" brings nothing to the mythology but at least doesn't scorn it. A solace in these uncertain times. Oh, could have done without the Ponds.

Directed by Farren Blackburn.

TWO ACT TRAGEDY

2011-12-11T11:03:00.059+01:00

Launched in september 2010, ITV1's ratings juggernaut Downton Abbey arrived yesterday night in France on TMC, the DTT channel which aired the recent Agatha Christie's Poirot TV movies.

Series one of Downton Abbey, the lavish period drama penned by Oscar-winning scriptwriter Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park), started yesterday in France on digital terrestrial channel TMC - owned by private channel TF1. One month after the second series finished its run on ITV1 with more than 10 million viewers (1). When the news that TF1 acquired Downton went public it actually raised a certain amount of perplexity, as the big budget and multi-awarded costume drama from Carnival Films (which is owned by NBC Universal) doesn't fit the channel's drama line-up. But TF1 owns DTT channels TMC and NT1, and TMC aired the latest Agatha Christie's Poirot in prime time this autumn.

French viewers love British detective stories and the Belgian detective sleuth gets more than decent ratings, even in repeats. Last summer TMC re-ran Poirot on afternoons with an average of 400.000 to 500.000 viewers... while pubcaster France 2 re-aired different episodes simultaneously with the same numbers! DTT saturday nights are usually ruled by The Simpsons, whose reruns are regularly followed by more than a million viewers. Last september TMC aired The Clocks, a 2009 Poirot, on a saturday night and won a #4 with 1.295.000 viewers (6.2%). Last week, Murder on the Orient Express caught 1.035.000 viewers (4.2%). The episode was immediately followed by a promo for Downton Abbey.

Both Agatha Christie's Poirot and Downton are period dramas, both are Brit and Carnival Films even produced Poirot for a while. TMC announced the arrival of Downton last september and waited the pre-Christmas holiday season to air it as a television event, but with a twist: the first four episodes yesterday night (from 8.45 pm to past midnight) (2) and the remaining three next week. In France, there's only one programme per prime time and dramas are frequently aired with two or three episodes a week - the third one being generally a rerun. Poirot is feature-length and a repeat is aired back-to-back with brand new episodes. Whereas the first series of Downton Abbey has a 1 x 65-minute premiere and 6 episodes around 48 minutes each, less advert time, but four episodes the same night is no less than force-feeding.

At least TMC wisely made it available in "multilingual" mode (French + original dialogues), which was deeply appreciated for some good reasons. 878.000 viewers (3.7%) watched Downton's first episode - Poirot's Hallowe'en Party captured 950.000 viewers (4.1%) on november 26 - while the three others were followed by 700.000 (4.9%).

(1) http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2011-11-07/downton-abbey-series-two-finale-delivers-a-ratings-high-for-itv1
(2) They were repeated this afternoon.

All ratings from http://www.ozap.com/ except http://www.toutelatele.com/article.php3?id_article=37084 (In French)

RETURN OF THE WOLFF

2011-12-05T15:28:00.028+01:00

This is a very good news for fans of the long-running German crime drama Wolffs Revier: Berlin cop Hauptkommissar Andreas Wolff will be back next month in a TV movie.

Wolffs Revier ran from 1992 to 2005 on German private channel Sat.1 and concluded with a 90-minute special, Wolffs Revier: Angst, in May 2006. Created by the great scriptwriter Karl Heinz Willschrei (Tatort, Der Alte, Ein Fall für Zweï), it starred Jürgen Heinrich as Wolff. Klaus Pönitz was his partner Günther Sawatzki, later replaced by Steven Merting as Tom Borkmann. And Nadine Seiffert was Wolff's daughter Verena. The theme intro was composed by the legendary film and television composer Klaus Doldinger.

Left dead in Angst six years ago, Hauptkommisar Wolff comes back in Wolff - Kampf im Revier, which will be aired by Sat.1 on January 17, 2012. He was only heavily injured but struggles to cope with his everyday life and his job, and is addicted to drugs. Stephan Luca is Kommissar Marck and Nadeshda Brennicke is Marck's partner Vicki. Nadine Seiffert is back as Verena Wolff.

http://www.quotenmeter.de/cms/?p1=n&p2=53629&p3= (In German)
http://www.wolffs-revier.de/ (In German)

TROISIEME CHANCE

2011-12-03T11:35:00.040+01:00

In spite of the spectacular flop of its last attempt three years ago, French private channel TF1 still wants its feuilleton quotidien. But for now only pubcaster France 3 knows how to turn lead into gold with Plus belle la vie, launched in 2004.

Laurent Storch, chairman of TF1 Production - also in charge of TF1 Films Production, as well as drama and youth programmes for TF1, has announced the filming of two pilots for a possible feuilleton français quotidien (a daily French serial). This one should be "comedic and societal" and aired in what is called in France "access prime time" (1). The genre is generally synonym of daily soap but while soap operas are culturally despised in France, le "feuilleton quotidien" remains one of the French television's wildest dreams. Why? Because of Plus belle la vie (dubbed PBLV), the local equivalent of Corrie or EastEnders.

Launched in 2004 by France 3 at the most strategic 8.20pm slot, right versus these institutions that are the 8pm news sessions of TF1 and France 2, PBLV began with lacklustre ratings. Nevertheless, France 3 believed in its investment and after hard retooling the feuilleton became one of the most watched programmes of the country, and raised appetites. Then TF1 bought Sat.1’s Verliebt in Berlin (2005-2007), the German adaptation of Columbian global phenom format Yo soy Betty la fea. And France made a triumph to the romance between Lisa Plenske and David Seidel, which became the N°1 guilty pleasure of 2007.

Public channel France 2 and TF1’s rival M6 tried to launch their own daily soaps in 2008. But Cinq soeurs and Pas de secrets entre nous, from the same production company (Marathon, producer of St Tropez), failed to attract viewers. TF1 answered with one of the most ambitious gambles of the history of French television, Seconde chance: 2700 m2 of sets at the Bry sur Marne studio facilities with 450 professionals rotating on this one site (150 alternating on the sets), 15 writers working there for a 22 minute format shot in HD, a title song performed by a former candidate of the Gallic Fame Academy, a viral marketing campaign, catchy promos and a 28 million euro budget.

TF1 cautiously tested 10 episodes with panels before ordering 180 episodes to Alma Productions, their subsidiary then behind crime drama RIS (adapted from an Italian format) and the French Law & Order Criminal Intent but also L’Hôpital, so bad it won a Gérard (the French Razzies). Seconde chance started in september 2008 and six months later ratings still didn't meet the expectations raised by costs and logistics. Axed in april 2009, it rejoined campy gems like Riviera (1991, a costly USA-France venture), Foreign Affairs (1992, a co-production between The Netherlands, Canada and... Argentina!), Secrets (1992) or Eldorado (1992-1993). However, one month before Seconde chance's demise, M6 boldly came back in the game with Paris 16ème, produced by CALT Production (Caméra Café).

CALT's effort had an estimated budget of 17 million euros, 9 sets created by a team of 70 crew members, 26 writers, 7 directors and 180 shooting days for an initial deal of 80 episodes filmed simultaneously by two production units. But Paris 16ème didn't last beyond the 80th episode, like Seconde Chance it was filled with clichés and terrible lines, and both aped American hits like Ugly Betty or Gossip Girl.

(1) From around 6pm to 8pm.

http://www.toutelatele.com/article.php3?id_article=36881 (In French)
http://www.wat.tv/video/tf1-aura-son-feuilleton-quotidien-4kwel_2exyh_.html

ADVISORY

2011-11-29T12:33:00.013+01:00

You know that time of the year when you catch something which leaves with you the impression that you bumped into a Routemaster right in the middle of the road? Today I do.

Will return to the case of the French Doc Martin ASAP. Those who follow your humble servant on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/thierryattard) already know my opinion about yesterday's episodes. Let's say that the ratings were absolutely not a surprise (1) .

Tomorrow, Torchwood: Miracle Day starts on French DTT channel NRJ12. Surely a new primetime comedy slot or something. How fortunate we are.

Now, back to this morning's bleh mode. Thank you for your patience, your fidelity, your interest and your trust.

(1) http://www.ozap.com/actu/audiences-france-2-leader-tf1-et-direct-8-faibles-enquete-exclusive-progresse/437957 (In French)

DOC'S DISORDERS

2011-11-22T08:45:00.033+01:00

Doc Martin, the French adaptation of ITV1's ratings juggernaut, is back. Private channel TF1 aired yesterday the first two episodes of the 6 x 52-minute second series with Thierry Lhermitte (The Dinner Game) as Dr Martin Le Foll, the curmudgeonly GP of Port-Garrec.

Adapted initially by scriptwriter Eric Kristy from ITV's dramedy Doc Martin, starring Martin Clunes, the Gallic transposition is the third foreign version of the format sold by DRG (distributor of the original). Doktor Martin, starring Axel Milberg as Dr Martin Helling, ran in 2007 and 2009 on German pubcaster ZDF. In Spain, Gonzalo de Castro starred as Dr Mateo Sancristóbal in Doctor Mateo from 2009 to 2011 on Antena 3. French channel TF1 aired the first series of its Doc Martin, produced by Ego Productions, in January 2011 (with an average of 7m viewers). And since this month there's also a Greek version called Kliniki periptosi, aired on Mega.

While series one of TF1's Doc Martin succeeded in delivering an enjoyable French transplant, the second series's first couple of episodes take a number of liberties with their Brit equivalent. They swap events from an episode to another (and vice versa), alter an essential new character and try to rebalance the whole thing with "fresh" elements and transitions. They also rely very heavily on the cop character, played by comedian David Strajmayster - aka Doudi (revealed by the shortcom Samantha Oups! ) - to provide most of the comic relief.

The result is definitely uneven: the gallicization stays fun within the limits of the situations and dialogues of the original, but loses its appeal when the episodes play Meccano with the structure of the source material or walk away from it. Movie and stage actor Thierry Lhermitte remains an excellent Doc and the fictional Breton village of Port-Garrec (actually Clohars-Carnoët and the Port of Doëlan) is as magnificent as ever.

Episode one and two caught respectively 6.2m and 5.3m viewers below the first series's launch (8.9m and 8.2m).

http://www.newstele.com/article-inedit-la-saison-2-de-doc-martin-arrive-le-lundi-21-novembre-sur-tf1-87681199.html (In French)
http://www.ozap.com/actu/audiences-tf1-et-m6-decoivent-canal-tmc-et-france-2-puissantes/437840 (In French)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZnH_k3Xyks (Trailer of the Greek version)

COUNTDOWN TO OBLIVION 2011-2012 (HAT ATTACK EDITION)

2011-11-16T07:28:00.017+01:00

As we did last year, we note the cancellations of the US network season as they arrive but we don't do sitcoms. Net dramas can be a laughing stock in their own right.

Most of the new shows announced last May seemed excellent candidates for our "countdown".

- The Playboy Club (NBC)

- Charlie's Angels (ABC)

- Prime Suspect (NBC) - You mean they made their own version of an acclaimed Brit crime drama which starred a revered actress who marked the History of UK television. And it didn't work?

« Who loves ya, baby? » (Lieutenant Theo Kojak)

The original Prime Suspect, created by Lynda La Plante (Widows), ran from 1991 to 2006 on ITV and starred Helen Mirren as Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison. Tennison was a no-nonsense uncompromising cop working on the hardest cases in a male-dominated professional environment. The totally unnecessary stateside adaptation, with Maria Bello as Detective Jane Timoney, will shut down production after 13 episodes.

Prime Suspect is not officially cancelled yet, as it is reported that NBC execs are still "considering their options". According to Deadline's Nellie Andreeva people on the show were told that it has been cancelled. Do the Peacock's options include using a time machine and NOT doing it?

http://www.deadline.com/2011/11/nbcs-prime-suspect-to-shut-down-production/

BLOOD ON THE DOCKS (DEUX FLICS SUR LES DOCKS)

2011-11-13T09:40:00.017+01:00

This is a drama you'd rather expect on ITV1 but French pubcaster France 2 aired on Friday the premiere of Deux flics sur les docks, adapted from the Faraday books by English crime fiction writer Graham Hurley.

France 2's detectives sound Brit this fall. In October the French public channel aired a new episode of Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie, adapted from Christie's books but set in 1930s France with a French sleuth. Now Graham Hurley's Portsmouth DI Joe Faraday goes Gallic in Deux flics sur les docks (Blood On The Docks). The 2 X 90-minute drama is astutely set in Le Havre, and stars actor/director Jean-Marc Barr (The Big Blue, Europa) as Capitaine Richard Faraday and Bruno Solo (Caméra Café) as Capitaine Paul Winckler. Mata Gabin plays their boss Lucie Dardenne.

In Les Anges brisés (adapted from the book Angels Passing), Richard Faraday investigates the death of a teenage girl. His former partner, maverick cop Paul Winckler, leads him on the trail of a young black boy caught by CCTV. The victim was best friend with the daughter of Bazza Sawty (Emmanuel Salinger), local entrepreneur, mobster, and a pal of Winckler. Meanwhile, Paul must team up with newbie Lieutenant Julie Fabian (Liza Manili) and Richard tries to hide his relationship with journalist Mary Devlin (Agathe Dronne) to his deaf-mute son Lulu (Jean-Marie Hallégot).

Les Anges brisés is adapted by Bernard Marié (Central Nuit/Night Squad) and directed by Edwin Baily, director of Petits Meurtres en Famille - the 2006 miniseries which spun off Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie. The choice of Jean-Marc Barr and Bruno Solo is rather original as they don't belong to the shortlist of the 5 or 6 actors usually cast in the genre on French TV. Let's hope though that Barr will bring more consistency to his empathic French Faraday (half American, like the actor) in next week's Lignes Blanches, adapted from Cut to Black. The impressive Bruno Solo, in an unusual non-comic role, steals the premiere as Winckler.

Deux flics sur les docks is produced by Gétévé (Zodiak France) and France Télévisions, with the support of Région Haute-Normandie, and is distributed by Zodiak Rights (Being Human) (1). Jacques Salles and Christian Charret are the producers and Muriel Paradis exec produce. Stéphane Moucha (Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie) is the composer. Overall a valuable effort, Les Anges brisés looks definitely like the kind of drama ITV, Sky or the Beeb could commission. France Télévisions also co-produces BBC One's Death in Paradise.

(1) http://www.zodiakrights.com/Programme.aspx?id=6402

http://www.grahamhurley.co.uk/
http://www.citeartistes.com/deux-flics-sur-les-docks.htm (In French)
http://www.adcine.com/collection-Graham-Hurley-les-anges (In French)
http://geteve.fr/en/

CON ME IF YOU CAN! (TF1)

2011-11-08T08:41:00.051+01:00

US networks spend fortunes in development, ordering myriad of drama pilots to get one or two regular shows but French television, of course, cannot do that. When you're not pubcaster group France Télévisions (with the licence fee money) or pay TV Canal Plus (home of Spiral) and want to limit risks, then it leaves you two options: buy a foreign format or seek inspiration elsewhere.

TF1 does both. It aired the French official version of Law & Order: CI and has "The French CSI", RIS Police scientifique, which is actually the official remake of an Italian format. The private channel also airs an adaptation of ITV1's juggernaut Doc Martin. But sometimes they find their inspiration abroad without necessarily buying the format: the laughable L'Hôpital was a copycat of Grey's Anatomy, the costly soap Seconde chance was the French Ugly Betty, and the short-lived La Loi selon Bartoli was basically France's answer to The Mentalist and House.

Yesterday night TF1 ventured into another familiar territory with Con Me If You Can! (international title of Ni vu, ni connu), a 90-minute TV movie aired in their primetime Monday night comedy slot. Lino Vars (Thierry Neuvic) is a good husband and father. His wife Karen (Laure Marsac), a frustrated painter, thinks he works as an airline pilot and ignores that Lino is actually a top notch con artist. With his friend Oscar (François Mercantal) and Eléonore (Lizzie Brocheré), a young actress, they form a team of grifters targeting the rich and the powerful. Commissioner Chambort (Francis Perrin) dreams to catch Vars, although his idiotic assistant Camus (Raphaël Lenglet) is of no help.

The team's latest con, selling the Eiffel Tower to a Russian mob boss, backfires when the man wants revenge. Lino Vars finds in the situation an opportunity to con a famous painter who made a fortune with an idea of Karen. Written by Stéphane Kaminka and Brigitte Laude, and directed by Christophe Douchand, Ni vu, ni connu is an assumed nod to the movie Catch Me If You Can (2002). It also borrows visual and music codes to a genre popularized on TV by Hustle, the BBC/Kudos hit, whose notoriety is here far from equivalent to what it is in the UK.

Of course Hustle itself is not the epitome of originality (see Ocean's Eleven and a 2003 movie called Confidence) but it makes the difference with its style and its great cast, starting with its lead Adrian Lester. Past the similarities with Hustle or Leverage, Con Me If You Can! is a standard monday night TF1 comedy. Amusingly, the talented Francis Perrin - who plays the cop - was a con artist in a wonderful French comedy series of the 80s called Le Mythomane.

Ni vu, ni connu, a Franco-Belgian co-production by GMT Productions (Julie, Police Commissioner/Julie Lescaut), with Stromboli Pictures, RTBF and TF1, attracted 5.109.000 viewers (19,5%). Castle won the night with 6.111.000 viewers for France 2 (21,8%). From what we know, Mickey Stone sleeps well.

http://www.tf1international.com/fiche.php?Film=892
http://www.ozap.com/actu/audiences-tf1-petit-leader-castle-puissant-france-4-et-france-3-faibles/437596 (In French)

NORTH & SOUTH (FRENCH REGION 2 DVD)

2011-11-07T08:56:00.004+01:00

North & South, the four-part 2004 BBC drama serial adapted from the classic by Elizabeth Gaskell, arrived last week in France thanks to the wonderful folks from Koba Films. And with a French-speaking dubbing specially done for the occasion.

Review in French here:

http://thierryattard.blogspot.com/2011/11/nord-et-sud-koba-films.html

CASCARA 5-0

2011-10-27T06:53:00.024+02:00

Death in Paradise - Episode One. The Brit chief of the police force on the Caribbean island of Saint-Marie is found dead in mysterious circumstances. Detective Inspector Richard Poole arrives from London to investigate.

He's the best for the job except he hates sun, sea, sand and can't stand heat. And the airline has lost his luggage.

« French, great. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. »

Created by Red Planet Prize finalist Robert Thorogood, Death in Paradise is the writer's first television screen credit and stars Ben Miller (The Armstrong and Miller Show, Primeval). This new procedural is set in a fictional Caribbean island and actually filmed in Guadeloupe. It is a co-production between Red Planet Pictures and Atlantique Productions (a Lagardère Entertainment company) in association with Kudos Film and Television, for the BBC and French pubcaster group France Télévisions. BBC One aired on tuesday the premiere of this 8 X 60-minute series.

Written by Robert Thorogood and directed by Charles Palmer (Doctor Who), the first episode of Death in Paradise introduces Miller's character, Metropolitan Police DI Richard Poole. London assigns him the case of DI Charlie Hulme (Hugo Speer), the beloved chief of the Saint-Marie police, found dead in the locked panic room of a mansion belonging to the wealthy James Lavender (Rupert Graves). As brilliant as Poole is, the island is the last place on Earth where he wants to be: literally "unsuited" to the Caribbean way of life, he hates the sun, sea and beaches, and his methods are incompatible with the local style of policing.

« This is not going to go well. »

The cops of the resourceless Honoré Police station are laid-back and clueless beyond cliché, with the exception of Sergeant Lily Thomson (Lenora Crichlow with her best Rihanna accent) and Commissioner Selwyn Patterson (Don Warrington). Dwayne Myers (Danny John-Jules, the legendary Cat from Red Dwarf) fraternizes with suspects and Fidel Best (Gary Carr) shows his expertise in goats - the animal ends in a cell. Think Cascara, the island in the 1985 comedy Water, but without the singing rebel. Not the ideal workplace when you rely heavily on computer equipment, forensics and a laser tape measure for your investigation.

Ben Miller plays a Doc Martin version of Primeval's James Lester, CGI lizard included. With his homeland bins problem Poole could even easily fit in Armstrong & Miller. The "quintessential English" detective needs urgently to evolve outside of the patronizing idiot abroad he looks like. Also he can't stretch his aversion to "paradise" eternally, now that he must stay and team up with French undercover cop Camille Bordey (French actress Sara Martins). And to avoid flirting with embarassment Saint-Marie should be more Portwenn or Jersey and less Cascara or San Pietro. Remains a light-hearted old school crime mystery; people like classic whodunnits with seemingly annoying sleuths - this episode attracted nearly 6m viewers.

Death in Paradise (Meurtres au Paradis in French) is certainly not original but neither was Murder, She Wrote. It sails in the Midsomer Murders comfort zone minus the gruesome, and tourists will helpfully contribute to the body count while citizens of Saint-Marie kill each other. Please spare the goat and the lizard.

Next week: Give him a cup of tea, for God sake!

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a347575/death-in-paradise-touches-down-with-nearly-6m.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8848679/Death-in-Paradise-BBC-One-review.html
http://www.theartsdesk.com/tv/death-paradise-bbc-one
http://www.crimetimepreview.com/2011/10/death-in-paradise-starring-ben-miller.html
http://www.simplytv.net/2011/10/death-in-paradise-series-1-episode-1_26.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8845898/Death-in-Paradise-Ben-Miller-on-heatstroke-getting-divorced-and-his-Potato-Years-interview.html

THE ASTRONAUT'S HUSBAND

2011-10-19T06:00:00.010+02:00

Doctor Who - The Wedding of River Song (Series Six, Episode Thirteen). Written by Steven Moffat and directed by Jeremy Webb.

On the 13th of September 1999 the Moon didn't leave Earth's orbit - or someone would surely have noticed. And on the 22nd of April 2011 nothing happened either.

« If God had a name what would it be?
And would you call it to his face?
If you were faced with him
In all his glory
What would you ask if you had just one question? »
(Joan Osborne - One Of Us)

One day... No one dies. And London goes nuts. The sky looks like a Ford Mondeo advert, parks go Primeval, Charles Dickens (Simon Callow) is asked about his Christmas special on BBC Breakfast, and Bert Large - or is it Winston Churchill? (Ian McNeice) - is the Holy Roman Emperor. It's always two minutes past five in the afternoon and Silurian doctor Malokeh (Richard Hope), Caesar's personal medic, sees nothing wrong with that. Something has happened to time and the Doctor (Matt Smith) does the "It's" man from Monty Python's Flying Circus. Why can't he just be a good boy and die on this 22nd of April? Because of a woman, says our favourite time lord although we can suspect there's far more behind this mess than "hell in high heels".

« This is absurd. Other worlds, carnivorous skulls. Talking heads. I don't know why I'm listening to you. » (Emperor Bert Large)

The Doctor "marries" River Song (Alex Kingston), the daughter of Amy Pond agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Karen Gillan), and cheats death by pulling a Meet Dave in the finale of Doctor Who's sixth series. There's a Dalek... Oops, sorry! There was. There's also a viking who dies in an 80s Italian horror movie, Dorium Maldovar (Simon Fisher-Becker) as Alfredo Garcia, trains, pyramids, Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) as ARC's Captain Becker. And poor Frances Barber covering for Joan Collins as the queen of panto villains Madame Kovarian - whose only goal in life just to p**s off everyone. Oh, almost forgot Meredith Vieira (Hello, lovely American viewers!) and Roger from American Dad plus some pals all dressed to kill for the occasion.

« Oh... that man. He's always one step ahead of everyone. Always a plan. »

Another series of Steven Moffat's big Timey-Wimey scheme is finished and aspirins will not be included in the DVD boxset. Series six was uneven, often talkative, looking overinvested in terms of production values at some points and the contrary at some others. « Budget cuts are tough: I don't like them, but they force you to be creative, » said the Great Moff in 2010. And budget arbitration forces you to manage. Who cares anyway? Most fans love Moffat's Doctor Who and the work of his fellow writers is unreservedly hailed as genius. Rating panels love it too and so does the American market (Matt Smith was again a guest on Craig Ferguson's show this monday). And BBC Worldwide adores it (the brand is commercially at the top globally).

« Those reports of the sun spots and the solar flares. They're wrong. They're aren't any. It's not the sun. It's you. The sky is full of a million million voices, saying, "Yes of course. We'll help." » And yeah, yeah, God is great. Yeah, yeah, God is good, says the song. In an aborted timeline, in a world that never was, nothing happened. The Brigadier is gone; Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith; Torchwood has become a global laughing stock. « On the Fields of Trensimore, on the Fall of the Eleventh, when no living creature can speak falsely or fail to answer, a question will be asked. A question that must never ever be answered. »

Doctor What?

COUNTDOWN TO OBLIVION 2011-2012 (BAD LUCK CHARLIE EDITION)

2011-10-14T22:00:00.002+02:00

It's October and the US Network 2011 Fall season has now another major casualty. As we did last year, we'll note the cancellations as they arrive but we don't do sitcoms. Net dramas can be a laughing stock in their own right.

Most of the new shows announced last May seemed excellent candidates for our "countdown".

- The Playboy Club (NBC)

- Charlie's Angels (ABC) - The unnecessary remake/reboot (or whatever you call it) of the 1970s hit series was doomed right from the "ABC orders a new Charlie's Angels" bit. Cancelled after 8 episodes (pilot included).

http://www.deadline.com/2011/10/abc-cancels-charlies-angels/

See also:

http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2011/10/countdown-to-oblivion-2011-2012-mister.html
http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2010/10/archies-angels-full-throttle.html

WÜNDERFUL STUFF (INDEED)

2011-10-12T17:44:00.024+02:00

The advert for yogurt brand Müller's Wünderful Stuff, their new advertising UK campaign, is the coolest animation-related thing since Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band.

The new 90-second ad, aired for the first time last saturday during The X Factor on ITV1, is from the TBWA\London advertising agency. It stars KITT from the 80s Knight Rider series, Yogi Bear, some Mr Men characters, Muttley - the dog from Hanna-Barbera's Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines, a robot, unicorns, and some severe employees who look like they work for the banking or finance sector. Oh, there's a ant too.

This amazing commercial, central to a £20m integrated advertising campaign, is directed by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet. It mixes live-action, traditional hand-drawn 2D and digital 3D animation. Partizan Lab is the production company and The Mill (Doctor Who) is behind the post-production. The superb epic piece of music is composed by Guy Farley.

Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBujoJpDxo0

http://www.tbwa-london.com/#gsi0ci0q
http://www.partizanlab.com/partizanlab/home/
http://www.themill.com/blog/2011/october/10/we-help-mueller-stir-a-little-bit-of-wuender-alongside-tbwa-london.aspx
http://www.guy-farley.com/index.htm

See also:

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2011/october/muellers-new-wuenderful-stuff-spot
http://randymatheson.com/muller-wunderful-stuff-yogurt-campaign-features-unicorns-yogi-bear-k-i-t-t/

HIDDEN (BBC ONE)

2011-10-11T10:41:00.017+02:00

Hidden started last thursday. This four-part conspiracy thriller brings back Philip Glenister to BBC One after Ashes to Ashes and Life on Mars, where he played of course Gene Hunt.

"Original British Drama", the BBC tagline, is hackneyed these days. Even the laughable Torchwood: Miracle Day was introduced as such in a promo. Directed by Niall MacCormick, Hidden is written by Northern Irish novelist and screenwriter Ronan Bennett (Public Enemies, Face) and was created by Bennett with veteran American screenwriter Walter Bernstein (The Magnificent Seven, The Money Trap, Fail Safe). Strictly on paper it appears like another thriller about a jurist, journo or politician with a shadowy past who unveils a conspiracy. But the premiere has enough qualities to make viewers spend a good hour of television and wish for more.

Harry Venn (Glenister), a small-time solicitor, is approached by the mysterious Gina Hawkes (Thekla Reuten). She claims to be a lawyer and wants his help finding an alibi witness for one of her clients. As London - actually Belfast! - is torn by riots and a crisis in Westminster, the job forces Harry to delve into his murky past. The writers succeed in creating an atmosphere of film noir and Philip Glenister finds the right tone as a chandleresque anti-hero. A flawed but likeable character, sleepwalking into his chaotic personal life and career, womanizing and coke-snorting until he meets the quintessential femme fatale.

Less convincing in this first episode is the political subplot, mainly seen through news bulletins (Adam Boulton, Nina Hossain and Kirsty Wark appear as themselves). Too many elements are squeezed into 58 minutes of a four-episode drama which looks like it would have needed two more hours. And the Beeb is making the conspiracy thriller genre commonplace, chasing the glorious memory of State of Play. Amusingly Glenister played a cop facing John Simm in the six-part 2003 serial written by Paul Abbott.

Anna Chancellor, Richard Dormer, Peter Guinness, Matthew Marsh and Thomas Craig are among the cast. Hidden is produced by Origin Pictures (The Crimson Petal and the White) for BBC Northern Ireland. Christopher Hall produces, David M. Thompson and Ed Rubin exec produce, and Stephen Wright is executive producer for the BBC. Jan Jonaeus (Identity) is the director of photography and Rob Lane is the composer.

For now Harry Venn and his troubled world are more interesting than the baguette and the predictable explosion. But Hidden seems rather compelling and in the next episode the great David Suchet arrives as Sir Nigel Fountain (!) There's undoubtedly far more than a Gene Genie in Philip Glenister, and Thekla Reuten is excellent.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/03_march/28/undisclosed.shtml
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8809166/Philip-Glenister-on-Hidden-interview.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2043635/Harry-Venn-Introducing-hero-Hidden--BBCs-complex-gripping-new-thriller.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8809166/Philip-Glenister-on-Hidden-interview.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/oct/01/philp-glenister-thekla-reuten-hidden
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/oct/06/hidden-episode-by-episode?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
http://www.originpictures.co.uk/

STRIKE AND STRIKE AGAIN

2011-10-07T08:39:00.028+02:00

HBO's sister pay-cable channel Cinemax has picked up a 10-episode new season of the action series Strike Back to air next year.

Based originally on the best-selling book by former SAS man Chris Ryan, Strike Back first starred Richard Armitage (Spooks) as ex-British Special Forces soldier John Porter. In May 2010, Brit satcaster Sky aired the 6 X 60-minute drama, produced by Left Bank Pictures for Sky1 HD and Sky1, and distributed by BBC Worldwide. In January 2011, German channel RTL II aired it in a 3 X 90-minute version, and Canal Plus will air this version in France.

Following the success of this initial series, a second season was commissioned by Sky jointly with the Americans of HBO/Cinemax. Retooled for Cinemax's original programming, this new 10-part series (known as Strike Back: Project Dawn in the United Kingdom) has American scriptwriter Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files) among its writers. It stars Sullivan Stappleton as Damien Scott, a former U.S. Special Forces operative who joins Section 20 - a secret branch of MI6. He works with Section 20 agent Michael Stonebridge, played by Philip Winchester (Camelot, Crusoe).

Cinemax announced yesterday that it has renewed Strike Back for another 10-part series. Past the fact that the first series seems disregarded in America as shown only in an alternate universe (Project Dawn is introduced as "Season One"), the result of this U.S. co-production is actually very good. The revamped Strike Back is a cross between a Tom Clancy under acid and a comic book, an ultra cool action/adventure old school show. Cinemax, Sky and Left Bank have clearly succeeded where Starz and the BBC have failed with Torchwood: Miracle Day, done on the same programming model.

The excellent title song of the current series, Short Change Hero, is performed by The Heavy. And the absolutely superb title sequence is designed by the very talented folks of Momoco (Luther, Zen, Silk, Injustice, etc.)

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/10/06/strike-back-renewed-by-cinemax-for-a-second-season/106353/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Tvbythenumbers+%28TVbytheNumbers%29
http://sky1.sky.com/strike-back
http://www.cinemax.com/strike-back/

COUNTDOWN TO OBLIVION 2011-2012 (MISTER UNLUCKY EDITION)

2011-10-04T20:21:00.023+02:00

It's October and the US Network 2011 Fall season has its first casualty. As we did last year, we'll note the cancellations as they arrive.

Most of the new shows announced last May seemed excellent candidates for our "countdown".

- The Playboy Club (NBC) - Gets the honour of being the first cancelled show of the season after only three episodes. Produced by Brian Grazer's Imagine Television and 20th Century Fox Television, it was set in 1963 in Chicago around the first Playboy Club.

Preceded by an aura of fantasies attributed to the Playboy name, the cast's nudity contract clause, and a climate of so-called controversy, this drama focused on Nick Dalton (Eddie Cibrian), a high-profile attorney with ties to the mob and a Playboy Club Keyholder.

The Peacock network wanted its Mad Men and a net can't match cable drama production. Also, as we wrote in May, you had to buy the idea of Eddie Cibrian as Mr Lucky's brother.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/10/nbc-gives-full-season-orders-to-up-all-night-whitney/
http://www.deadline.com/2011/10/second-time-no-charm-for-playboy-club-charlies-angels-prime-suspect-what-went-wrong/
http://danowen.blogspot.com/2011/10/nbc-pull-playboy-club.html

DEATH AT BARGAIN PRICES

2011-09-26T16:01:00.015+02:00

Doctor Who - Closing Time (Series Six, Episode Twelve). In which the Doctor meets an old friend, takes a job, and faces old foes.

« Take my shoes off and throw them in the lake.
And I'll be 2 steps on the water. » (Kate Bush, Hounds Of Love)

Doctor Who is more popular than ever with Matt Smith and under Steven Moffat's tenure. Its ratings stay healthy in an environment where TV consumption has evolved beyond overnights. Its brand is commercially at the top worldwide and the programme managed to conquer the US market. Moffat's narrative approach is supported by a majority of Whovians, seduced by his multi-series high concept soap story arc conundrum. And the work of his fellow writers is unreservedly hailed as genius. Never mind if some old fans, unmesmerized by the big timey-wimey scheme, may choose to leave.

As the sixth series's second half is about to conclude, Closing Time writer Gareth Roberts brings back Craig Owens from The Lodger - the episode he wrote for the previous series. Comedian and TV personality James Corden is a better actor than funnyman, even if his contribution to the 2011 edition of Red Nose Day was undoubtedly the best thing of the charity evening. He succeeds in portraying Craig as an engaging chap in full paternity angst mode when the Doctor returns in his life. His friend Sophie (Daisy Haggard) has left the young man with their baby, Alfie, for the weekend.

Kudos to Gareth Roberts for launching an instant internet sensation when we learn from the Doctor, who pretends he can speak baby, that young Alfie prefers to be called "Stormaggedon, Dark Lord of All". Good dialogues between Matt Smith and James Corden serve quite well a genuine chemistry between the two. But despite nice comedic moments the story is just a pretext for their reunion: the Doctor takes a job in a department store to investigate on strange power fluctuations and the disappearance of a clerk.

« You're here for a reason, aren't you? You've noticed something and you're investigating. And because it's you it's going to be dangerous and alien. » A "silver rat" and an out of order lift lead the pair to troubles in the form of a Cybermen crashed spaceship beneath the shop. Maybe it's time to give the Cybermen "a rest" since they are reduced to nothing but a walking trivia under Steven Moffat's reign. And who really thought Craig could become Cybersmithy in the clumsy conversion sequence? He can still buy a Cyberman to Stormageddon for Christmas, our children will preserve us from the next invasion.

A department store, really... What's next? A movie/TV studio like in the days of Monty Berman? And of course the penultimate episode of the current series ends with the Manchurian Candidate and the return of the queen of panto villains, Madame Kovarian (Frances Barber). Too bad they couldn't get Joan Collins for the role of this eye-patched Ellie Shaw. Closing Time, what an aptly chosen title for this episode directed by Steve Hughes.

Next Time: The Astronaut's Husband.

http://danowen.blogspot.com/2011/09/doctor-who-612-closing-time.html

DANSE ENCORE AVEC LES STARS

2011-09-22T09:33:00.018+02:00

Series two of TF1's Danse avec les Stars, the French Strictly come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, starts on Saturday, 8 October.

Called Strictly come Dancing in the UK and Dancing with the Stars in the US, the BBC Worldwide format features celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances in front of three judges. Danse avec les Stars arrived in France on TF1 in February 2011, six years after the private channel tried a similar concept called Celebrity Dancing.

The contestants of DALS's second series are singer, actor and media personality Francis Lalanne, former figure skater and olympic champion Philippe Candeloro, singer Nâdiya, singer Shy'm, former Miss France Valérie Bègue, model Baptiste Giabiconi, actress Véronique Jannot, French variétés singer legend Sheila, and former tennis pro Cédric Pioline.

They will team up with dance pros Fauve Hautot, Katrina Patchett, Grégoire Lyonnet, Julien Brugel, Silvia Notargiacomo, Candice Pascal, Maxime Dereymez, Christophe Licata and Grégory Guichard (who's new in the programme).

Danse avec les Stars is still hosted by Sandrine Quétier and Vincent Cerutti. Chris Marques, Alessandra Martines, and Jean-Marc Généreux remain the Gaullic counterparts of judges Craig Revel Horwood, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Alesha Dixon

http://www.tf1.fr/danse-avec-les-stars/ (In French)
http://www.tf1.fr/danse-avec-les-stars/candidats/ (In French)
http://twitter.com/#!/DanseStars_TF1 (In French)

WARS AND REMEMBRANCE

2011-09-19T13:10:00.055+02:00

It was supposed to be a "battle": the return of ITV1's lavish period drama Downton Abbey against the tenth and final series of BBC One's spy drama Spooks. But who seriously thought MI-5 could resist to Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham?

The second series of Downton started with 9 million viewers yesterday night (34,6%), vs 4.62 million (17%) for Spooks (1).

« It's my lucky charm. I've had it always. So you must promise to bring it back, without a scratch. »

1916, the world is in war. The Crawley family and their servants at Downton Abbey, their Edwardian country house, must "keep up standards". Because, to quote Mr Carson (Jim Carter), it's « the only way to show the Germans that they will not beat us in the end ». Some men are away in the trenches, like heir apparent Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens). Robert (Hugh Bonneville) would like to fight but the Earl of Grantham is given other responsibilities. John Bates (Brendan Coyle) sees his efforts to build a future with Anna (Joanne Froggatt) threatened by the arrival of his wife Vera (Maria Doyle Kennedy).

Written by its creator Julian Fellowes and produced by Carnival Films, ITV1's rating hit Downton Abbey is back in all its magnificence. Love, war, honour, intrigue, drama and even humour are there within a classy supersoap in costume. Some chats in the trenches may recall Blackadder Goes Forth but this premiere, directed by Ashley Pearce, remains at the top of its game. E.g. the superb scene when Mary (Michelle Dockery) sees Matthew and his new love, Lavinia Swire (Zoe Boyle), while the orchestra is playing. And God bless Maggie Smith as Violet.

« Buzzards are circling. »

In Spooks, it's another war which comes to haunt back Sir Harry (Peter Firth). One of his contacts of the past is executed after he tried to warn the boss of MI-5's Section D that a British "asset" - code name: Tourmeline - is in danger. Elena Gavrik (Alice Krige) is the wife of Ilya Gavrik (Jonathan Hyde), a senior Russian cabinet minister, and someone is "running" her using Harry Pearce's codes. Ilya is a former adversary of Harry and he's the target of an assassination plot intended to damage the beginning of a new Anglo-Russian "special relationship".

The hit spy drama from Kudos Film and Television exploded its expiry date some time ago and the ninth series was simply laughable. The premiere of this six-episode final run could well be the first step to an exit with all the dignity Spooks should deserve given its past sophisticated quality. A dignified exit Ruth Evershed (Nicola Walker) and Harry deserve too, as the possibility they retire in the countryside is thin. The rest of the team deserve nothing, they look like they were refused at a CTU job interview (hello, booby-trapped laptop!) One could even easily pull a Nina Myers.

The Ferrero advert reception seems escaped from a Mission:Impossible movie and Harry has unsurprisingly an heir working for the FSB. But overall this old-school spy thriller is almost reassuring with its Russians, the CIA, etc. In the end of Harry's game, they all become white and grey.

(1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/sep/19/downton-abbey-spooks-viewers

http://www.itv.com/presscentre/presspacks/downtonabbeyseriestwo/default.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/08_august/11/spooks.shtml
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/sep/18/spooks-series-10-episode-one

THE THREE STOOGES IN ISTANBUL

2011-09-16T08:43:00.032+02:00

Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahn Polizeï, action concept's flagship series, started its fall season yesterday night on German channel RTL with its traditional 90-minute premiere.

72 Stunden Angst opens the 30th season of Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahn Polizeï, launched in 1996. Semir Gerkhan (Erdogan Atalay) and Ben Jäger (Tom Beck) are in a professional purgatory as bicycle cops before quickly jumping back into their demolition business. They chase the Hummer baddies aboard nothing less than KITT from the original Knight Rider, for the greatest enjoyment of Semir and some perplexity of his partner. Gerkhan is not Michael Knight and there's soon nothing left of the legendary car. So the duo goes on their ride in a bus full of pensioners and devastate the show's usual quota of vehicles before ruining the mood of their Chefin, Polizeioberrätin Kim Krüger (Katja Woywood).

Semir has a bigger problem than the wrath of his boss when the case of the day leads Ben and him to a woman of his past. She has a 9-year old daughter and he's her true father. Alarm für Cobra 11 never pretended to be a fly-on-the-wall documentary about German motorway cop patrols and suspension of disbelief is not even relevant here. Drug mastermind Seytan, uber-villain of yesterday's 90-minütiger Pilotfilm (as the specials are called), is a cross between Keyser Söze and Roger Rabbit's Judge Doom. Conspiracy theorist Oliver "Sturmi" Sturm, played by comedian Oliver Pocher, returns for the third time and manages to be cringy not only for his cop buddies but for the poor viewers too.

At its very best, Cobra 11 was smartly mixing blockbuster high-octane action with good cop stories. Written by Ralf Ruland and directed by Heinz Dietz, 72 Stunden Angst remains watchable if you just wish to forget your daily troubles for 90 minutes but the formula has definitely become tiresome. In spite of the destruction of the police station, the moving death of a beloved character, and a trip to Istanbul.

Too bad you can't retire early anymore these days.

http://www.quotenmeter.de/cms/?p1=n&p2=52015&p3= (In German)

A WHOLE NEW WORLD

2011-09-15T09:43:00.017+02:00

[9.45 - French Time] Broadcast reports that Impossible Pictures has secured an order from Canadian channel Space for a spin-off of Primeval.

Primeval: New World, a 13 x 60-minute series, will be produced by the UK prodco along with Canadian indie Omni Film Productions Limited (Defying Gravity). It will be centered on a North American team of animal experts and scientists as they investigate the arrival of prehistoric but also futuristic creatures.

Each episode will cost around £1.6m and production will start in Vancouver in the winter (for a transmission in autumn 2012), with sfx handled by Impossible Pictures in London. According to Broadcast, which reported the deal between Impossible Pictures and Omni Films in August 2010, the extension of Primeval will feature a "younger, sexier cast", and " gorier special effects".

Axed by ITV after its third series, the original Primeval was resurrected by a 2009 deal for thirteen new episodes, split into series four and series five. Impossible Pictures, Prosieben, Ingenious Broadcasting, UKTV's channel Watch, and BBC America co-produced those two "series" for ITV and BBC Worldwide.

The fourth series (seven episodes) aired on ITV1 in 2011 with series five continuing on Watch, as UKTV got a first-run of the last six episodes in the 13-episode batch. Series five has yet to air on ITV1.

As long as they don't change the title of this spin-off for Primeval: Miracle Day.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/commissioning/primeval-goes-dark-for-spin-off/5032116.article?referrer=RSS
http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/international/canada/primeval-set-for-csi-style-franchise-deal/5017423.article?referrer=RSS

LIFE, DEATH, INFINITY

2011-09-13T08:50:00.031+02:00

There are dramas you must really deserve. Doc Martin came back yesterday night on ITV1 after a two-year hiatus, with the beginning of its highly awaited Series Five.

« They'd manage without you. They'd manage if you died. »

Martin Clunes is back as Dr Martin Ellingham, the grumpy GP of the picturesque village of Portwenn, after a two-year break to allow him to pursue other factual and drama projects (including Reggie Perrin for BBC One). Series Four of the ITV1 hit dramedy left the doc as he was about to take on a consultant's position in London but Louisa (Caroline Catz) gave birth to their son.

In the start of the fifth series, social disaster Martin adapts to fatherhood by dealing with it through its medical aspects. PC Joe Penhale (John Marquez) has a problem he's hesitating to reveal to the new GP, Dr Di Dibbs (Joanna Scanlan). But she and her husband Gavin (Robert Daws), the practice manager, have problems of their own and some may affect the Portwenn community. The still unnamed baby, Dr Di's incompetence and a personal tragedy force Martin Ellingham to stay in the village a little longer.

« She wants to be here. You want to be there.
- That's none of your business. »

A superb return written and directed by Ben Bolt, with all the necessary subtle balance between comedy and emotion, and also this stunning ability to relaunch Doc Martin after the interruption. Episode One of the 8 X 60-minute new series averaged an impressive and deserved 8.43m (32.4%) for ITV1 in the 9pm hour. Meanwhile, the French adaptation of the show's format ends filming its second series this week for TF1.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a340120/doc-martin-returns-to-itv1-with-nearly-85m.htm l
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2035156/Doc-Martin-s-known-sunny-disposition-years-baby-later-TV-s-grumpiest-GP-adopt-better-bedside-manner.html
http://www.ouest-france.fr/ofdernmin_-Doc-Martin-le-retour-a-Quimperle-en-Finistere-sud_40771-1966280-pere-bre_filDMA.Htm (In French)

LITTLE BOY LOST

2011-09-09T08:52:00.065+02:00

Doctor Who - Night Terrors (Series Six, Episode Nine). « Please save me from the monsters. » Amy and Rory (Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill) follow the Doctor (Matt Smith) when he receives a distress call from a scared little boy named George (Jamie Oram).

Written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Richard Clark, Night Terrors was moved from the first half of the sixth series to the current second half. Hence the strange lack of preoccupation of Amy and her husband for their missing child Melody/River Song. To swap episodes within a heavy story arc structure can have unexpected side effects. « Today we're answering a cry for help from the scariest place in the universe. » Leadworth under budget cuts? No... "a child's bedroom", says the Doctor.

Little George's bedroom is in a council estate flat where he lives with his parents, Claire and Alex (Emma Cunniffe and Daniel Mays). This council block has barely more inhabitants than Aylesbury Estate in The Fixer and some have escaped from the Overlook Hotel. It has bin issues of an unusual kind. There's also a nasty elevator and a landlord (the always reliable Andy Tiernan) with a big mean dog. Anyway the real problems of George are the mess in his cupboard and some folks in doll suits .

Let's Kill Hitler was the best opener since The Eleventh Hour. Unfortunately Night Terrors doesn't match The Beast Below, with which it shares a couple of elements. Gatiss's episode is an innocuous filler where nothing has a real effect or consequence. No one dies, nobody stays a Peg doll, the surrogate parents can love the alien, and the old lady (Leila Hoffman) awakes in the bins. Genius is so overrated since Torchwood: Miracle Day, two or three classic Twilight Zone episodes as a crash course will suffice for a reminder of what genius is.

« Well I suppose it can't all be planets and history and stuff, Rory. » The production accountant will not beg to differ. Daniel Mays's performance is superb, the supporting cast is excellent and Jamie Oram is very good as George.

http://danowen.blogspot.com/2011/09/doctor-who-69-night-terrors.html
http://www.denofgeek.com/television/1035088/doctor_who_night_terrors_spoilerfree_review.html
http://feelinglistless.blogspot.com/2011/09/distorted-modigliani-faces-of-dolls.html

THE SUSPICIONS OF MR RIPPER

2011-09-08T10:25:00.011+02:00

Broadcast reports that BBC One has commissioned Ripper Street, an 8 x 60-minute detective drama set in London during the Jack the Ripper era.

Created by Richard Warlow (Mistresses, Waking the Dead), Ripper Street follows Inspector Reid, a character based on a real detective, and the officers of Whitechapel in London’s East End in 1889. Reid is assisted by fictional forensics expert Homer Jackson.

Ripper Street is co-produced by Tiger Aspect and Lookout Point. Filming will begin next spring.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/commissioning/bbc-orders-ripper-era-drama-from-tiger/5031724.article
http://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/richard-warlow/

PUNKY (RTÉ)

2011-09-06T14:27:00.037+02:00

Launched on Irish pubcaster RTÉ last May, Punky is a pre-school animated series about the adventures of a little girl with Down Syndrome. Punky, the title character, lives in the moment and works to solve problems encountered by her friends and family.

Created by Lindsay Jane Sedgwick (1), Punky is the first ever animated TV series in which the main character has Down syndrome. Punky is a six-year-old girl who loves her family, music, dancing and hugs. She enjoys playing with her big brother, Con, and jumping around with her dog Rufus. She also likes helping around the house with her mum and trying to make Cranky, her grandmother, just a little less... cranky.

Punky is voiced by Aimee Richardson (29), who has Down syndrome herself and is a spokesperson and advocate for disability rights (2). Other voice talents are Maureen Ward (Mum), Brad Burke (Con), Paul Tylak (Cranky), Roisin Curran (Mairhead). The 20 x 7-minute series is produced by Gerard O'Rourke for Dublin based Monster Animation & Design in association with RTÉjr. It is written by Andrew Brenner (Humf) and Jason Tammemägi (Fluffy Gardens) is the creative director.

Down Syndrome Ireland provided support and reviewed material during production. Target Entertainment will distribute Punky globally and will donate half their sales commissions to Down Syndrome Education International. Target CEO Alison Rayson's own son has Down Syndrome.

This charming animated series will be launched on the international market at MIP Junior next month.

(1) http://www.blakefriedmann.co.uk/filmClients/_247/
(2) http://www.downsyndrome.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=391

About Punky:

http://www.downsyndrome.ie/index.php/news/whats-new/384-launch-of-new-animated-series-punky
http://www.rte.ie/ten/2011/0428/punky.html
http://www.c21media.net/news/detail.asp?area=79&article=62494
http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/international/europe/target-to-rep-down-syndrome-animated-series/5031617.article

See also:

http://downsdad.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/aimee-richardson-punky-down-syndrome-media-star/
http://www.steppingstonesds.co.uk/

MEET RIVER

2011-08-31T13:30:00.038+02:00

Doctor Who - Let's Kill Hitler (Series Six, Episode Eight). Still looking for their daughter Melody, Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) land up with the Doctor (Matt Smith) in Adolf Hitler's Berlin office in 1938. Thanks to Mels (Nina Toussaint-White), a childhood friend of the couple, who hijacked the TARDIS. But the future River Song (Alex Kingston) could be closer than they can imagine.

« More guilt! Come on. There must be someone left in the universe I haven't screwed up yet.»

Doctor Who is more popular than ever under showrunner Steven Moffat's tenure. The programme has healthy ratings, conquered America and is commercially at the top worldwide (1). Moffat even gave the BBC another global hit: Sherlock, "re-imagined" with Mark Gatiss. So no matter some old and loyal fans may choose to leave in the process. His narrative approach is supported by a majority of Whovians, seduced by the Grand Moff's high concept soap story arc conundrum.

One year ago, Who's supremo announced at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh TV Festival that the current 13-episode series would run for seven episodes "building to an Earth-shattering climax" at Episode 7, an "enormous game-changing cliffhanger that will change everything". And then would come back in the autumn after a hiatus for another six. « The wrong expression would be to say we are splitting it in two. We are making it two separate series, » as he explained, referring to the second block as « what would be in fact Series Seven. » (2)

Too bad but Earth survived A Good Man goes to War, Steven Moffat's space operetta mid-series finale and its Empire Strikes Back cliffhanger. Series Six (not Seven finally) of Doctor Who returned on BBC One and BBC America last saturday from its two-month hiatus with Let's Kill Hitler, written by the man himself and directed by Richard Senior. Given that when it comes to dramas genius is an overrated notion since Torchwood: Miracle Day, and that the expectations of a minority of us have been seriously lowered with this sixth series, this premiere is surprisingly enjoyable.

« Thank you. Whoever you are. I think you have just saved my life.
- Believe me. It was an accident. »

« You've got a time machine, I've got a gun. What the hell? Let's kill Hitler. » Of course the Doctor didn't stop Hitler (Albert Welling). Moffat warned from the very title, the famous sci-fi cliché is intended only as a fuse for the firework material which relaunches his machinery. Too much material, worthy of a 90-minute special but reduced to 48 minutes, the way the tiny bureaucrat folks are compressed in the Meet Dave walking death sentence. « We're in a hurry. We're not trying to win an award. » No Writer's Tale necessary for Steven Moffat, the anecdotes are IN the episode.

The Moff has a knack for fast-paced adult comedy and a taste for superbly crafted lines (« I'm trapped inside a giant robot replica of my wife. I'm really trying not to see this as a metaphor. ») Let's Kill Hitler offers both generously, provided that you forget its flaws. « Then why don't I know you? I danced with everyone at their wedding. The women were all brilliant. The men were a bit shy. » One of these flaws is Mels, the never seen before "childhood" pal, in spite of a fine but de facto frustrating performance by Nina Toussaint-White. "Mels" is another narrative trick in Moffat's big timey-wimey scheme. Like the continuing devaluation of regeneration, a trend initiated by Russell T. Davies (who has devalued more than that since).

« Well. I was on my way to this gay gypsy bar mitzvah for the disabled, when I suddenly thought, "Gosh. The Third Reich's a bit rubbish. I think I'll kill the Fuehrer." Who's with me? »

On a scale where the quality level has been raised sky high by Neil Gaiman's The Doctor's Wife, Let's Kill Hitler is an absurd but absolutely fun escapism and the best opener since The Eleventh Hour. « I love it! I'm all sort of... mature. Hello Benjamin. » Steven Moffat pleasantly revisits The Curse of The Fatal Death with Alex "Mrs Robinson" Kingston as Jonathan Pryce. Matt Smith (nice coat, by the way) and the cast serve the script brilliantly, and it's nice to see Caitlin Blackwood again as young Amelia - but also as the no-nonsense Amelia voice interface (« You will not die now. You will die in thirty-two minutes. ») The production values look more than decent, the direction is excellent, and Cardiff's Temple of Peace is smartly used.

« Rory, take Hitler and put him in that cupboard over there. Now. Do it. » Why would we deny ourselves such a treat? Torchwood: Miracle Day surely delivers a worse "tingling sensation" than the Antibodies of the Teselecta. « Right. Putting Hitler in the cupboard. Cupboard. Hitler. Hitler. Cupboard. »

« Glücklich zu sehen, je suis enchanté. Happy to see you. Bleibe, reste, stay. »

(1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/12/doctor-who-bbc-worldwide
(2) http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2010/aug/29/doctor-who-cliffhanger-video?intcmp=239

http://cathoderaytube.blogspot.com/2011/08/doctor-who-series-6-lets-kill-hitler.html
http://danowen.blogspot.com/2011/08/doctor-who-68-lets-kill-hitler.html

REZA BADIYI (1930-2011)

2011-08-23T07:01:00.032+02:00

Legendary television director Reza S. Badiyi died saturday, aged 81. He directed more than 400 hours of series and TV movies, holding the Directors Guild of America record for helming more television episodes than anybody in the history of this medium.

Badiyi was also a reputed main title sequence designer, whose work in this field includes Get Smart, That Girl, the memorable main title sequence for the original Hawaii Five-O, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Iranian-born Reza Badiyi started his long and prolific career in his native country as a documentarist and won an award for Flood in Khuzestan, a documentary which attracted a lot of attention and led to his arrival in the US as a student during the 1950s. After studying filmmaking at Syracuse University, Badiyi moved to Kansas City to work for The Calvin Company - a major educational and industrial film production company (1). There he met director Robert Altman and became his protégé and friend.

An experienced director and producer in the 1960s, Badiyi also developed a reputation as a designer of TV series main titles: « You have to capture the audience and keep them from going to another channel, » he explained. « It's like doing a wonderful commercial without showing what the product is. » (2) His work for the title visualization of Hawaii Five-O epitomizes this spirit and his approach was ideal for writer/producer Bruce Geller, who hired him on Mission: Impossible to direct season three's The Interrogator (1969). Reza Badiyi directed 17 episodes of the show, including its most ambitious episode in terms of production: Mission's only three-parter, The Falcon (Season four, 1970).

As a director he worked on series like The Mod Squad, Mannix, The Magician (starring Bill Bixby), The Six Million Dollar Man, The Rockford Files, Hawaii Five-O, Cagney & Lacey, Falcon Crest, and many more. His last credit was The Way Back Home (2006), one of the four feature films he directed.

(1) http://www.archive.org/post/55471/calvin-and-the-calvin-workshop
(2) Patrick J. White, The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier (Avon Books, 1991)

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-reza-badiyi-20110822,0,7589597.story
http://www.deadline.com/2011/08/r-i-p-reza-badiyi/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/08/reza-seyed-badiyi-a-native.html
http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/reza-badiyi
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/features/article_1473601.php/The_Godfather_of_American_TV_Reza_Badiyi_interview

LINDBURGS FALL (ARD)

2011-08-21T15:51:00.016+02:00

Peter Lindburg, a German TV star who plays a cop in a long-running "Krimiserie", learns his show is axed while watching television. He returns to his hometown to work on his own script and finds out it's not so easy to be a detective when he witnesses a real murder.

The local police doesn't take him seriously, so he decides to investigate with the actor who played his assistant.

Munich-born actor Fritz Wepper is known all over the world for his character of Harry Klein, who first appeared in the crime drama hit Der Kommissar from 1969 to 1974. Then Klein became the assistant of Oberinspektor Stephan Derrick (Horst Tappert) in 281 episodes of Derrick, between 1974 and 1998. But his resume includes Cabaret (1972), Luc Besson's Le Dernier combat (1983) and several other dramas, like Zweï Brüder (1994-2001), Mord im bester Gesellschaft (since 2007), and Um Himmels Willen (since 2002).

And now Fritz Wepper is Peter Lindburg in Lindsburgs Fall, an excellent TV movie aired by the ARD network on friday, the week of his 70th birthday. Lindburg plays Kommissar Kämpfer in the popular crime series Blaulicht. Kämpfer's catch-phrase: "Conny, hier stimmt was nicht!" ("Conny, there's something wrong!"). Bernd Michael Lade - who played a Hauptkommissar in one of the series of the venerable Tatort - is Mike Häusl, the actor who plays Kämpfer's assistant Conny.

Lindburg learns incidentally that his series is axed, and the best offer of his agent is a pilot for a show with dogs called Colliewood! Depressed, he decides to work on his own crime script (Ein Mann, Ein Mord) in his hometown. But one night he witnesses a real murder and local police finds the idea of TV's super sleuth as a witness of a true homicide hard to swallow. Especially when it bothers the Staatsanwalt - the State public prosecutor - Dr. Eugen von Wangenheim (Francis Fulton-Smith). And Peter must ask his former assistant Mike/Conny to help him on his first non-fiction case.

Written by Marie Reiners and Sylke Lorenz and directed by Franziska Meyer Price, Lindburgs Fall is a well-crafted and pleasant crime comedy with a nice touch of satire: Peter learns Blaulicht is axed while watching a Boulevard-Magazin (an entertainment news programme). When he arrives in his agent's office, the man (hilarious Hannes Hellman) tries to convince by phone an actress named "Veronica" to accept the role of a talking sausage in the last "Tim Schreiner" movie. And there are of course some funny and elegant nods to Derrick.

Lindburgs Fall is produced by ndF: Berlin for ARD Degeto. We would like to see more of Peter Lindburg.

http://www.quotenmeter.de/cms/?p1=n&p2=51469&p3= (In German)
http://www.faz.net/artikel/C30280/heute-im-fernsehen-lindburgs-fall-einmal-derrick-sein-30486072.html (In German)
http://www.monstersandcritics.de/artikel/201129/article_192266.php/Lindburgs-Fall-Fritz-Wepper-70-Geburtstag-17-8-Fr-19-08-ARD-20-15-Uhr (In German)

CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER (CHANNEL 5)

2011-08-19T09:31:00.036+02:00

Fancy some train wreck fest on your flat screen but bored by this catastrophe called Torchwood: Miracle Day? Don't worry, Celebrity Big Brother is back thanks to Channel 5. Frantic press speculation is now over after yesterday's launch night, which unveiled its line-up of well, err... "celebrities".

The reality programme was axed by Channel 4 in 2010. Channel 5, bought by press baron Richard Desmond one year ago, reached an agreement with producer Endemol to revive the show. Big Brother 2001 edition and Ultimate Big Brother winner Brian Dowling replaces Davina McCall as the host. And Marcus Bentley remains the BB narrator.

Amongst the gazillion usual rumours, the mother of all was certainly the possible presence of Charlie Sheen in the new Big Brother compound (based in Elstree Studios). But unfortunately this year's "winners" will not endure the antics of Charlie Harper:

- Former Atomic Kitten band member and reality TV personality Kerry Katona.

- American starlet Tara Reid.

- Paddy Doherty, from Channel 4's hit reality series My Big Fat Gipsy Wedding.

- "Vajazzle" queen Amy Childs (The Only Way is Essex). Don't ask.

- Australian punk paparazzo (!) Darryn Lyons.

- Sally Bercow, controversial wife of John Bercow (the Speaker of another house, the House of Commons). It's amazing how Brit telly can mix Reality TV and politics, in 2010 former Conservative Party politician Ann Widdecombe was a contestant in Strictly Come Dancing. With her participation, Mrs Bercow will raise £100,000 for charity Ambitious About Autism.

- Actor Lucien Laviscount (Corrie, Waterloo Road).

- American actress Pamela Bach, ex-wife of David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff.

- British model Bobby Sabel.

- Twin Irish X Factor duo Jedward.

Celebrity Big Brother premiered with 5.16m (22.3%) between 9pm and 10.30pm and peaked with 5.6m (26.1%) at 10pm.

http://www.channel5.com/shows/celebrity-big-brother
http://danowen.blogspot.com/2011/08/celebrity-big-brother-2011-launch-night.html
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s150/celebrity-big-brother/news/a335981/celebrity-big-brother-is-ratings-smash-for-channel-5.html
http://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/page/who_we_are/news/article/index.cfm?articleId=67
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14587526

ZERO EFFECT

2011-08-16T09:31:00.026+02:00

Torchwood: Miracle Day - Episode Five (The Categories of Life). The world population is now divided into three "categories of life". Gwen (Eve Myles) is in Wales with her husband Rhys (Kai Owen) to rescue her father from one of the overflow camps set up globally by Pharma giant Phicorp for the first two categories.

Meanwhile Rex (Mekhi Phifer), Vera (Arlene Tur) and Esther (Alexa Havins) go undercover in the San Diego camp. And Jack (John Barrowman) aims to convince Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman) to switch side.

« It's... It's a cookbook! » (The Twilight Zone, To Serve Man)

« Look, Torchwood's gone, okay? It's just a name these days. » It means something when even the characters of Miracle Day look like they know things don't fit. « Do you think I'm useless? » asks Little Miss "Yeah, but I'm CIA" Sunshine to the officially former Captain Jack (« He likes to call himself Captain Jack, but I'm not buying that. ») Dr. Vera would be entitled to ask the same question after weeks attending Washington D.C. medical panels and no one bothered to email her that it was finished. But Vera's embarassment is all for a bit of exposition, like those irritating news bulletins. Is it Baa Baa Black Sheep or what?

Talking of embarassment, how can fugitive Gwen Cooper fly with a passport and an alias already used for the Phicorp raid? How can one of the gang even take a plane without being noticed by the CIA or by their presumed nemesis Phicorp, a global contractor with infinite resources. Are Keystone agents Esther and Rex contagious? Gwen is unrecognizable, below her own standards. « Andy, don't be so thick, » she says to her former colleague Sergeant Andy (Tom Price). But who acts a Parker and Penelope fantasy with her hubby at the airport and makes fool of herself in front of a military until she admits a break-in will do better? Hey, it's about her dad! Who ignores that at the end of the episode?

Apparently Torchwood: Miracle Day is a "political thriller" (1) says respected American writer and producer Jane Espenson, who penned The Categories of Life. The "thrill" is widely discussed but in this "new age of care and compassion" we do have politics from both sides of the pond: « No NHS. Who's paying for all this? Phicorp. You've got healthcare being run by private business. And believe me, just the start of your problems. » Stateside, it's poor Dr. Vera - the gang's former D.C. political correspondent - who deals with caricature, once formally accepted amongst the "Freedom Fighters" (« That makes you sound like terrorists. »)

And the Ellis Monroe of the week is Colin Maloney (Marc Vann, who deserves better), the misogynist, racist, Hilary Duffist, Phil Collinsist and insensible camp administrator. Maloney has his own cart with a General Lee horn! But even a low-level nazi-type bureaucrat (he does an explicit "Jawohl" in case you hadn't noticed) must have his self-esteem and Vera should have thought twice before calling him a "stupid little man" during a hard day at work. Full-time member of Clue Club and she already gets what is obviously intended as her Ianto Jones moment, as looms the awful truth: the forces behind Phicorp are familiar with Godwin's Law.

And Jack? He plays hide and seek with Oswald and tries to convince him to "become a hero". Why not? The man is a pedophile and murderer who lost his ticket to Hell and was offered a spokesperson job from a big corporation, nice hotel rooms, a limo, cohorts of fans and his own groupie Jilly Drescher Flekman (Lauren Ambrose). Esther and Rex are indeed contagious after all. And we're looking forward to Bill Pullman's next project to erase the trauma of the rally speech.

The Categories of Life is directed by Guy Ferland. Now two aspirins, please.

Next Time: Big Brother?

(1) http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s8/torchwood/interviews/a332311/torchwood-miracle-day-jane-espenson-interview-writing-welsh-voices-was-a-joy.html

http://danowen.blogspot.com/2011/08/torchwood-miracle-day-categories-of.html
http://www.flickfilosopher.com/blog/2011/08/torchwood_miracle_day_episode_4.html
http://tachyon-tv.co.uk/2011/08/mexican-cooking/
http://feelinglistless.blogspot.com/2011/08/knife-edge-of-taste-eric-saward-was.html

ROGER CAREL IS 84

2011-08-14T11:45:00.010+02:00

France's National Treasure actor, comedian and dubbing artist Roger Carel is 84 today.

Revered by generations, the talented and versatile Mr Carel is the French-speaking voice of Peter Sellers, Asterix, Kermit the Frog, Benny Hill, C-3PO, Winnie The Pooh, David Suchet in Poirot, and so many (many) more.

You can find some very recent news of Roger Carel here:

http://danslombredesstudios.blogspot.com/2011/08/joyeux-anniversaire-roger-carel.html (In French)

OUTCASTS

2011-08-08T15:52:00.010+02:00

Torchwood: Miracle Day - Episode Four (Escape to L.A.) While the world is coping with the miracle, CIA renegades Esther (Alexa Havins) and Rex (Mekhi Phifer) are in L.A. with Torchwood's Gwen (Eve Myles) and Jack (John Barrowman) to learn more about the involvement of pharmaceutical firm Phicorp. Oswald (Bill Pullman) and Jilly (Lauren Ambrose) face a rival: right-wing politician Ellis Hartley Monroe (Mare Winningham).

« And you all get the power.
You all get the best.
When everyone gets everything.
And every song everybody sings. » (Opus, Life is Life)

Miracle Day is almost halfway through its 10-episode run and not only the fourth iteration of Torchwood definitely doesn't live up to its 2009 miniseries predecessor Children of Earth. But moreover this co-production between US cable channel Starz and BBC Worldwide Productions may well be remembered by many as a major disappointment. The search for the truth leads the gang and director Billy Gierhart to Los Angeles. Because we well know "the truth is out there", and so does co-writer X-Files veteran John Shiban (with Jim Gray).

« Look at that horizon! We've reached the edge of America, » marvels Gwen Cooper when they arrive at Venice Beach, because it's the coolest place to prepare a raid on a corporate HQ in L.A. It's lucky the pharma company is not based in Boston. There's cholera in Boston, helpfully explains Esther sister's Sarah (Candace Brown). And every now and then someone pulls a Basil Exposition, like Dr. Vera (Arlene Tur) when she develops to Rex what is Ellis Hartley Monroe's Dead is Dead [Nanananana]. Ellis Monroe is "the darling of the Tea Party", a right-wing politico whose movement asks for segregation of those "who should have perished" and by persisting "are draining ressources of healthy living citizens".

With an actress like Mare Winningham you could expect the character to be the match of Lynne Warner, the Secretary of Defense played by Sharon Gless in The State Within. A worthy rival to Danes, a source of trouble for Fred, Shaggy, Daphne and Velma, not the caricature she is. Monroe is just the last step to Danes's access to messiah status and in the end the triangle (John de Lancie? Beldar Conehead?) tells it all: « But we already have Oswald Danes. We don't need another. » Before disposing of her in a clumsy nod to Goldfinger. This foray of Torchwood into American politics really makes things worse, whatever the subtext of Miracle Day is.

How reassuring, by the way, that in such troubled times the new prophet is a pedophile and murderer who missed the bus to Hell. Bill Pullman has a great scene when Oswald opens the bottles and enjoys his hotel room. That's before he does his Second Venue speech and the surreal Lion King thing with the baby in the "plague ship" hospital. « Dead is not dead. No, not anymore. Life is life. » [Nanananana]. « This is disgusting, » comments Dr. Vera. « I know! » squeaks Ozzie's fangirl Bobbi Flekman Jr. (YOU said it, ladies). No wonder why Ellis Hartley Sarah Palin Monroe desperately needs a coffee after that.

« I don't want to live forever. Especially like this. »

The Mystery Machine "Travelling circus folks" are no better treated as they go IMF (Improbable Missions Force) to steal a data server and switch it with another. Fortunately Rex has seen Sneakers. Jack quotes George Eliot and shows less life than 007 in A View to a Kill, until he remembers good old Captain Jack during the assault. And what did Esther expect when she phoned child protection? Gwen shares her time between her family matters and impersonating Hustle's Stacie. Rhys (Kai Owen) provides some sort of comic relief - at least he spared us the Risky Business scene, and remote Vera is the voice on healthcare.

You almost wish the polite assassin and old school artisan, played exquisitely by C. Thomas Howell, could do his job properly: « They are everywhere. They are always. They are no one. » Unless his job is to hold our attention long enough for Rex to shoot him in the throat (no more sound of C.) Do the Torchwood US newbies come from the Keystone Cops branch of the CIA? « And soon, the families will rise. ». Esther and Rex wish it's not theirs.

« Don't worry. No one dies. »

http://danowen.blogspot.com/2011/07/torchwood-miracle-day-escape-to-la.html
http://scifi4me.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/mr-harvey-torchwood-has-escaped-logic/
http://www.flickfilosopher.com/blog/2011/08/torchwood_miracle_day_episode_3.html
http://feelinglistless.blogspot.com/2011/08/mainly-because-it-was-douglas-adamss.html

GEORGE UNGENTLY

2011-08-03T17:34:00.035+02:00

ITV has announced today the casting of English actor Shaun Evans as the young Endeavour Morse in a prequel to Inspector Morse.

Endeavour, a one-off drama, stars Shaun Evans (Teachers, Martina Cole's The Take) as the character created by novelist Colin Dexter and played with absolute talent by the late John Thaw in the long-running Inspector Morse series (thirty-three episodes from 1987 to 2000). Kevin Whately, who co-starred as Morse's sidekick Robbie Lewis, has his own spin-off since 2006 with the highly successful Lewis (known as Inspector Lewis in the US).

Written by Russell Lewis (Cadfael, Kavanagh QC, Lewis), the story follows Detective Constable Endeavour Morse in 1965. The single film, made by Mammoth Screen for ITV1, will mark the 25th anniversary of the very first episode of Morse. It will be shot in Oxford this autumn and will air early next year. Michele Buck and Damien Timmer are executive producers for Mammoth Screen, Rebecca Eaton is exec producer for Masterpiece and Dan McCulloch is the producer. Endeavour is directed by Colm McCarthy (Injustice).

Shaun Evans will have to fight the shadow of the great John Thaw and judging from the photo he looks more like the Doctor than like a younger version of the beloved DCI Morse. But ITV has the golden touch for dramas, with eight of the ten most watched new dramas of 2011 and four of those new dramas recommissioned by ITV1 last month: Vera, Scott & Bailey, Monroe and Case Sensitive. Also in the pipeline are a second series of Kidnap and Ransom and another case of Victorian detective Inspector Jack Whicher (The Suspicions of Mr Whicher).

What's next? Young Kavanagh QC? Young Regan? (with Dennis Waterman as the "Guv") Or even Young Jane Tennison?

Endeavour will be distributed internationally by ITV Studios Global Entertainment.

http://www.itv.com/presscentre/pressreleases/programmepressreleases/endeavour/default.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/may/06/inspector-morse-prequel-for-itv
http://www.itv.com/presscentre/pressreleases/programmepressreleases/itvrecommissionesfournewdramasforitv1/default.html

CORPORATION CORRIDORS

2011-08-02T09:42:00.016+02:00

Torchwood: Miracle Day continues on BBC One with its third episode aired last thursday. One week behind US cable premium channel Starz, which co-produces this fourth iteration of Torchwood with BBC Worldwide Productions. Dead Of Night is written by American writer and producer Jane Espenson (Buffy, Battlestar Galactica, Warehouse 13).

« And the next, and the next, and the next... »

Rex Matheson (Mekhi Phifer) asks his boss Brian Friedkin (Wayne Knight) why he was set up and by whom. The investigation leads the CIA agent, his analyst colleague Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins), Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) and Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) to a warehouse where they find a massive stockpile of pain killers from pharmaceutical company Phicorp. Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman) does the media circuit and accepts the offer of Jilly Kitzinger (Lauren Ambrose). The PR guru also invites Dr.Vera Juarez (Arlene Tur) at Phicorp. And a cult called The Soulless has emerged following the miracle.

« Corporation corridors, help me find an open door.
Believe in me, I'll play your game.
Please don't ignore me or my name. » (Murray Head)

Jane Espenson's Dead Of Night is an aknowledgement that anything right after Rendition would pass for the quintessence of sobriety (« That woman in the airport. ») Original Torchwood characters and American newbies begin to act as a team and Rex puts his Axel Foley mode on pause to behave like the disavowed CIA agent he's meant to be (« Don't go deaf. ») Gwen is the leader of the gang, as there's no trace of the dashing Captain Jack from past Torchwood series - or even Doctor Who - in the fourth series of Russell T. Davies's creation. Jack even abandons field work to satisfy a "mortal need". And "Miss Translation" Esther shows signs of fragility, which is always better than inconsequence in term of narration.

Miracle Day borrows from the Great Book of US television conspiracies. After the CIA in the previous episode, it's now the big corporations and Torchwood's Virtucon is called Phicorp. The forces behind the pharma firm have been "there for decades", they're "everywhere", they know "everything" and they were ready for the miracle (the truth is out there, etc...) They own Warehouse 14, bigger on the inside, and now they own Oswald Danes too. Because we all know a pedophile and murderer is the ideal choice for a spokesperson in those Twitter days. His perception by the public is quite confused, like the treatment of the character by the writers. How are we supposed to react when the man is beaten up by uniformed cops?

« But you see. Beauty of this miracle is... If I shoot you just right maybe you might live an agony for, who knows how long? Maybe a thousand years. »

Well, it's all part of the big baddie and RTD's joint 10-episode masterplan. Only The Lady in Red, aka Jilly Drescher, seems to know the nature of the game but it is unclear if she's a "woman of wealth and taste" or just a lackey. If Dead Of Night doesn't bring the wonders expected by many, at least it's a proper patch to the Shark's Week blooper compilation preceding it. If only Miracle Day didn't abuse of news bulletins or medical panel scenes as ellipsis and if only the talents of Wayne Knight and Bill Pullman were better used. Speaking of talent, the preacher on TV is played by wonderful American veteran actor George Murdock.

Torchwood's first two series were about bizarre alien things happening, the way the flamboyant Jack Harkness and his team dealt with them, and how it affected the characters and their relationships. Children of Earth, was the brilliant encounter of Quatermass with Spooks. For the moment Torchwood: Miracle Day looks less like its sci-fi predecessors and more like the tale of a very long agony. But thank Heaven this one will not last a thousand years. Three down, seven to go...

Dead Of Night is directed by Billy Gierhart.

http://danowen.blogspot.com/2011/07/torchwood-miracle-day-dead-of-night.html
http://feelinglistless.blogspot.com/2011/07/malcolm-hulke-or-don-houghton-had-to.html
http://blogcritics.org/video/article/tv-review-torchwood-miracle-day-dead/
http://www.nerdist.com/2011/07/torchwood-miracle-day-dead-of-night-review-spoilers/

MEADOWS IN LEIPZIG

2011-07-29T11:27:00.028+02:00

[Update January 9, 2012] The Bill may have been cancelled by ITV in 2010 after 27 years but Jack Meadows, played by Simon Rouse, is visiting Leipzig for a special of German crime drama SOKO Leipzig.

Filming of a 90-minute special of SOKO Leipzig called Die schwarze Witwe (The Black Widow) has started this week. Aired since 2001 on pubcaster ZDF, the "Krimi-Serie" SOKO Leipzig is one of the numerous spin-off series of the long-running SOKO 5113 (launched in 1978). Newly retired Jack Meadows (from The Bill) spends some time in Leipzig and pays a visit to his friend, SOKO boss Hajo Trautzschke (Andreas Schmidt-Schaller). When a face from an unsolved London case resurfaces in the German town.

In 2008-2009, ITV and ZDF joined forces for a crossover between SOKO Leipzig and The Bill called Entführung in London. Its director, Robert Del Maestro (who worked on both shows in several occasions), directs this new special due to be aired on ZDF in January 2012. From 1994 to 2006, German private channel RTL aired a local adaptation of The Bill called Die Wache. SOKO Leipzig is produced by UFA Fernsehproduktion.

http://www.quotenmeter.de/cms/?p1=n&p2=51093&p3= (In German)
http://www.digitalfernsehen.de/SOKO-Leipzig-ermittelt-wieder-mit-britischen-Kollegen.62063.0.html (In German)
http://www.robertdelmaestro.com/main.html

See also:

http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2011/12/soko-leipzig-die-schwarze-witwe-zdf.html (Review)

SHARKS ON A PLANE

2011-07-23T21:59:00.018+02:00

Torchwood: Miracle Day continues on BBC One with its second episode, Rendition, aired two days ago. One week behind US cable premium channel Starz, co-producer of this fourth incarnation of Torchwood with BBC Worldwide Productions.

« Next Day... No one dies. »

In a world where people stopped dying, CIA agent Rex Matheson (Mekhi Phifer) seeks answers in Wales. Later he returns to America assisted by a colleague named Lyn (Dichen Lachman) aboard a special plane, with Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) and Captain Jack (John Barrowman) in his custody. But he soon needs emergency phone help of Dr. Vera Juarez (Arlene Tur). At the CIA headquarters, Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins) discovers that she and Rex have been framed. Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman) becomes an overnight star thanks to a TV act of contrition and raises the interest of PR guru Jilly Kitzinger (Lauren Ambrose).

« There is only one river. There is only one sea.
And it flows through you, and it flows through me. » (Peter, Paul & Mary, River of Jordan)

In a world [voice of the late Don LaFontaine] where the failed execution of a pedophile and murderer has become a viral video joke, the only execution which could possibly succeed is the one of the originally British drama Torchwood. Gwen's husband Rhys (Kai Owen) is left in Wales with their baby as spotlights are still on the ultimate pain in the arse [sorry] Rex and Miss Congeniality 2011 Esther. Both are caught in what looks like a X-Files type-conspiracy where their boss Brian Friedkin - the legendary Wayne Knight - has a role. He apparently takes orders from a triangle (the Mysterons? SPECTRE? News International?) which wants to "remove" Jack.

Written by Doris Egan (House M.D.) and directed by Billy Gierhart, Rendition collapses on Oswald's unconvincing television remorses, meant to reverse public opinion. Then arrives Fran Drescher's PR little sister from Hell, Vera pulls a Robert Stack when Jack is poisoned by Lyn - whose family name must be Deceitful, and MacGyver Gwen rips the plane. « Welcome to Torchwood », she concludes after agent Deceitful does an embarassing head twist. This last point shall be discussed, not that the episode was deprived of good moments: Rhys "defending" Jack, Rex and the "gay" steward, or « There is no Golden Hour anymore ».

Next episode is penned by respected writer/producer Jane Espenson. At this stage she could be as well named Jane Esperanza because what the fourth series of Torchwood needs most now is indeed a Miracle Day.

http://danowen.blogspot.com/2011/07/torchwood-miracle-day-rendition.html
http://www.flickfilosopher.com/blog/2011/07/torchwood_miracle_day_episode_1.html
http://feelinglistless.blogspot.com/2011/07/even-works-of-pip-jane-and-peter-r.html
http://www.denofgeek.com/television/980462/torchwood_miracle_day_episode_2_spoilerfree_review.html

THE TOURIST

2011-07-16T10:25:00.009+02:00

Torchwood: Miracle Day had its BBC One premiere on thursday night. One week behind US cable premium channel Starz, now co-producer of Torchwood with BBC Worldwide Productions. Miracle Day arrives two years after Torchwood: Children of Earth, the five one-hour episode masterpiece miniseries.

Sinister Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman) is about to receive a deserved death sentence curtesy of the State of Kentucky when things go not as planned. Meanwhile, a name known only in some very restricted circles gets the attention of CIA agent Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins): Torchwood. She informs her colleague Rex Matheson (Mekhi Phifer) but he has a spectacular car accident. In Wales, former Torchwood member Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) lives with her husband Rhys (Kai Owen) and their baby - only Police Sergeant Andy Davidson (Tom Price) can contact her. Rex survives because Death took a sabbatical and everybody else in the world doesn't die anymore. Esther feels this global "miracle" could be linked to Torchwood and searches the archives where she meets Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman).

« No one dies these days.
- You wanna bet? »

Torchwood: Miracle Day is the fourth incarnation of the Doctor Who spin-off launched in 2006 and initially developed and produced by BBC Wales. The American co-production and the filming stateside (majoritarily) raised some apprehension but fans expected exec producers Russell T. Davies (creator of Torchwood), Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter to be a guarantee of the programme's integrity. Davies himself writes this first episode, aptly titled The New World, directed by Bharat Nalluri - also executive producer. At his best Nalluri is more than a director, he's a genius stylist. He directed the premiere episodes of Spooks, Hustle (of which he got the idea), and Life on Mars. He's the man behind the stylistic identity of those three hits which established the reputation of Kudos, their prodco. Unfortunately his name is also associated to that mess called Outcasts.

The New World has the double duty to reinstall Torchwood after a two-year absence and transplant it in an American setting without betraying its DNA. However Torchwood: Miracle Day is mainly designed for Starz's viewers and is submerged with US television fiction tropes right from the totally uninspired and short title sequence, out of a net med drama. Without "Tarantino Gwen", Rhys and unsung Torchwood hero Andy, Captain Jack would almost be a special guest star in his own show (with a predictable twist) arriving only after 20 minutes. And would-be team members Esther and Rex are not a solace, as the former is the generic American TV government agent and the latter is one of the most irritating characters in the History of television. Among newbies only Dr. Vera Juarez (Arlene Tur) is of some real interest for now.

Nevertheless an overall watchable 50-minute US sci-fi fare (think The X-Files or Warehouse 13) with uneven humour, action sequences tailor-made for the North American market, and the brilliant presence of Bill Pullman. The next episode of this Malthus meets 24 dystopia will tell what is left of the identity of an originally British drama, definitely fading away behind the economic necessities.

STATE OF THE UNION

2011-07-14T11:08:00.026+02:00

The fourth series of Torchwood premieres tonight on BBC One. Entitled Torchwood: Miracle Day, the new series of what was originally developed and produced by BBC Wales, is co-produced by BBC Worldwide Productions and US cable premium channel Starz. Starz actually airs Miracle Day in America since last week.

Torchwood was launched in 2006 as a spin-off of Doctor Who and its fourth incarnation arrives two years after Torchwood: Children of Earth, the five one-hour episode ambitious miniseries. While the tough budget climate inevitably impacts BBC dramas in general, Doctor Who seems ratings-wise satisfying enough and is commercially at the top (1) under showrunner Steven Moffat's tenure. Although a handful of old fans may discuss the quality of the first batch of episodes from its sixth series, and others worry about the 2012 "scheduling saga" controversy and two exec producers leaving for other jobs.

But Torchwood fans have their share of worries too, proportionally to the amount of American money in Miracle Day and the fact that it was shot mainly stateside. The precedents of US financial involvement in British dramas like Hustle or the 2009 remake of The Prisoner don't help at all. Fans expect the presence of exec producers Russell T. Davies (creator of Torchwood), Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter on board to be the guarantee of the programme's integrity. No wonder why loyal Doctor Who enthusiasts have fears about the possibility of a US backing in the future.

Russell T. Davies recently denied this could happen (2). In 2010, Jane Tranter (former BBC drama boss and now BBCW exec vp of programming and production) reassured fans that a US version of the adventures of their favourite Time Lord was not on the agenda (3). But the Doctor Who Series Six two-parter opener (filmed in the United States) was a "BBC America and BBC Wales co-production", and money is too tight these days to quickly rule out the idea that the new Torchwood business model could fit Who's production necessities.

For now tonight's THE night. But is Captain Jack back or has John Barrowan helped a US premium channel to make a dream come true by having some Torchwood actors guest-starring in a new American sci-fi show?

(1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/12/doctor-who-bbc-worldwide
(2) http://www.kasterborous.com/2011/07/rtd-no-american-doctor-who/
(3) http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/live-feed/torchwood-snuffed-fox-53492

See also:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118039616?categoryid=4076&cs=1&cmpid
http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2011/06/2012.html

STEVEN MOFFAT INTERVIEW (BEANS ON TOAST)

2011-07-11T20:48:00.006+02:00

[20.54 - French Time] Our friends of Beans On Toast, the first French-speaking information source about the Whoniverse, have just put online an interview with Steven Moffat.

The Doctor Who supremo and Sherlock co-conspirator (with Mark Gatiss) was the Guest of Honour of Comic Con' Paris 2011.

http://www.doctor-who.fr/d_itw_moffat2011.php (In French)

THE DOCTOR IS OUT

2011-06-20T10:01:00.025+02:00

Doctor Who - A Good Man goes to War (Series Six, Episode Seven). Amy (Karen Gillan) has been kidnapped by Madame Kovarian (Frances Barber). The Doctor (Matt Smith) races across galaxies with Rory (Arthur Darvill), calling in long-held debts and solemnly given promises in order to raise a posse.

In August 2010, Doctor Who supremo Steven Moffat announced at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh TV Festival that the current 13-episode series would run for seven episodes "building to an Earth-shattering climax" at Episode 7, an "enormous game-changing cliffhanger that will change everything". And then would return in the autumn after a hiatus for another six. « The wrong expression would be to say we are splitting it in two. We are making it two separate series, » as he explained, referring to the second block as « what would be in fact Series Seven » (1).

« Budget cuts are tough: I don't like them, but they force you to be creative. » (Steven Moffat)

Amy wasn't the real Amy but a blob version of herself. The real Mrs Pond is held prisoner by the ultimate soap opera villain Madame Kovarian and her henchman, Colonel Manton (Danny Sapani). They have an army and sinister extras, the Headless Monks, so rescuing Amy and baby Melody will not be an easy task. Rory dresses as a centurion to gatecrash a Cybermen space station, while the Doctor destroys a whole cyber legion to show how much is p***ed off and checks a rolodex (we imagine huge) to ask old acquaintances for a favour payback.

Enter "sword-wielding Silurian Victorian detective" Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh as another Silurian character) and her human companion Jenny (Catrin Stewart), Commander Strax (Dan Starkey) - the Sontaran Doc Martin, and black market blue trader Dorium "I'm old, I'm fat, I'm blue" Maldovar (excellent Simon Fisher Becker). River Song (Alex Kingston), back to Stalag 13, cannot attend the party due to a technicality but a Silurian squad, some Judoon forces, space Spitfires, Captain and Junior Avery (Hugh Bonneville and Oscar Lloyd) can. Those who couldn't join certainly missed the prop store call, and the Daleks have a LOA signed by the boss. Meanwhile, Human soldier Lorna Bucket (Christina Chong) tries to befriend Amy.

As far as we know Earth survived A Good Man goes to War, written by Steven Moffat himself and directed by Peter Hoar. But the faith of some of us in Doctor Who, briefly restored by The Doctor's Wife, Neil Gaiman's masterpiece, may have been shattered by the Grand Moff's timey-wimey scheme around THAT pregnancy. The rest is irrelevant: the smogarsbord character extravaganza, the notion of a Silurian detective in the 1888 London (for the spin-off series, a CBBC budget would do), or the not-so-big-baddie with a patch and her poor aide out of a 70s mercenary movie. His speech has some of the most terrible lines ever written in the series. But thankfully he's interrupted by the Doctor, truly visible only after almost 20 minutes of his "Darkest Hour" .

Stefania "Hatch" DiMera - aka Take The Baby And Run - makes Melody melt (total waste of Frances Barber's talent), Dorium loses his head and our Time Lord counts the casualties of the Star Wars Poetry moment: Potato Doc Martin (but Dan Starkey will certainly play another Sontaran someday) and Lorna, who yet looked for a nanosecond as a possible companion for the Doctor. Then this space operetta edition of Days of our Lives ends with the "enormous game-changing cliffhanger" for the Doctor, Amy and Rory. « I'm your daughter. » [Insert The Imperial March here]

Doctor Who is more popular than ever but some viewers will indeed need some time to recover from this until september, when Series Six (not Seven finally) will go on for more clues, tricks and blob decoys. In the meantime the adventure continues behind the scene with the "scheduling saga". The Doctor will be back.

(1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2010/aug/29/doctor-who-cliffhanger-video?intcmp=239

http://cathoderaytube.blogspot.com/2011/06/doctor-who-series-6-good-man-goes-to.html

SCARY MOVIE 5

2011-06-15T15:09:00.036+02:00

Luther, the BBC One crime drama starring Idris Elba (The Wire), is back since yesterday night for a second "series" made of two distinctive two-part stories. In spite of last year's lacklustre ratings.

Idris Elba is DCI John Luther, the genius murder detective with heavy psychological issues created by writer Neil Cross (Spooks). Luther and Mark North (Paul McGann) cannot recover from the death of Zoe, John's ex-wife and Mark's girlfriend - played by Indira Varma in Series One. The detective rescues his former partner DS Justin Ripley (Warren Brown) from uniform to work with him and DS Erin Gray (Nikki Amuka-Bird) in the new Serious and Serial Unit headed by DCI Martin Schenk (Dermot Crowley).

They're dealing with their first case when a masked serial killer randomly targets young women in the streets of London and murders them in front of CCTV cameras. At the same time John Luther tries to save the daughter of Caroline Jones (Kierston Wareing) from pornography. Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson) is back, kindly (re)introducing the main character to the viewer before the superb title sequence from Momoco - with Massive Attack's Paradise Circus.

Rightfully busy, the talented Idris Elba found some time to film two new two-hour specials of this pantocrime - instead of a full 6 X 60-minute series - under the BBC "Original British Drama" banner. Well, it's British and it's a drama.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/05_may/19/luther.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vk2mq
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8576009/Luther-BBC-One-review.html

2012

2011-06-15T06:27:00.025+02:00

[6.27 - French Time] Yesterday night, as BBC One viewers were awaiting the return of He Who Breaks Things (aka Luther), the "Original British Drama" was already actually happening on Twitter: Doctor Who won't return for a full series in 2012.

« But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood. » (Nina Simone version)

Last week Doctor Who was renewed for a seventh series, with 14 episodes commissioned, but the Corporation didn't know how many of those episodes would be aired next year (1). Then yesterday Wayne Clarke, BBC Merseyside's Religious Editor, tweeted that BBC One boss Danny Cohen said at the Church and Media Conference that there wouldn't be "a full series of Doctor Who in 2012, but a special run for the anniversary in 2013" (2).

The news triggered a sort of shock wave on the Twittersphere and later in the evening BBC journalist Lizo Mzimba tweeted that the Beeb confirmed it. He precised there would be "no FULL 13 episode series of Doctor Who in 2012" but "some episodes will still go out in 2012. Remainder in 2013" . Lizo Mzimba also tweeted that the BBC also said that a remark of Danny Cohen "that short series was because Steven Moffat needed time to write Sherlock was meant to be light hearted." (3) This point was indeed worthy of a precision.

Of course the terms of this puzzling (to say the least) scheduling decision need to be fully developed and precised.

(1) http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a323673/doctor-who-renewed-for-seventh-series-with-matt-smith.html
(2) http://twitter.com/#!/WayneAClarke/status/80638004351336448 + http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a324905/doctor-who-wont-return-for-full-series-in-2012.html
(3) http://twitter.com/#!/lizo_mzimba/status/80731700723859456 + http://twitter.com/#!/lizo_mzimba/status/80745409680650240 + http://twitter.com/#!/lizo_mzimba/status/80732315118088192

THE PHILANTHROPIST

2011-06-12T20:18:00.015+02:00

Injustice - Episodes Four and Five (ITV1). In which DI Wenborn (Charlie Creed-Miles) gets his hour of glory before falling down and Will Travers (James Purefoy) discovers he'll not receive a superinjuction because the case of his old university friend Martin Newall (Nathaniel Parker) is not State of Play.

« You can't handle the truth! » (Colonel Jessep, A Few Good Men)

ITV1 aired on Friday the last episode of Injustice, Anthony Horowitz's five-part event drama following the critical and rating success of his previous "stripped" serial Collision two years ago. Monday's premiere did the job, fulfilling its bait function for the rest, but the second episode already lost steam and the following surprisingly burnt one of the key plots. The penultimate chapter made Injustice work better as a classic crime drama than an ambitious jigsaw thriller, carried by the formidable presence of Charlie Creed-Miles as investigative officer DI Mark Wenborn. Especially in a BAFTA worthy scene where Wenborn lost his marbles while interrogating the young offender (and aspiring writer).

Maybe our expectations were exaggeratedly high because of the sublime Collision and the week was definitely uneven but at least watchable, until the finale. James Purefoy was excellent in full David Morrissey mode as the eminent citizen with a skeleton behind the suits in his cupboard. Charlie Creed-Miles delivered a stellar performance as DI Bastard, saving us from the total boredom inspired by poor Dervla Kirwan's character (to the point we prayed she signed a deal with Cybermen). Even Obi Abili as DS Taylor, Wenborn's sidekick, began to attract some attention. Then the last episode fell down the stairs as quickly as the hateful wife beater.

« You always believe the best in people. You are too easily taken in. Not, I would have to say, the best quality in a criminal barrister. » Being spared rather conveniently another chat with Wenborn, Will raised an eyebrow alongside viewers on a terrible line mentioning a Swiss watch brand and saved his old university pal from troubles. Before having his Dave Kujan moment (1) when he figured out Martin was not entangled in a conspiracy but just another mistake (his mute imaginary friend approved). Travers should have a therapy and retire, or find a job in an NGO.

The next time William Travers has a relapse of his very personal conception of idealism, don't make another five-part "stripped" drama out of it. But thanks for Charlie Creed-Miles.

(1) Chazz Palminteri in The Usual Suspects (1995).

Episodes Two and Three: http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2011/06/injustice-episodes-two-three-itv1.html
Episode One: http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2011/06/injustice-itv1.html

http://www.itv.com/injustice/

http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2011/06/itv-injustice.html
http://lifeofwylie.com/2011/06/06/injustice-this-is-not-just-a-tv-thriller/

INJUSTICE - EPISODES TWO & THREE (ITV1)

2011-06-09T09:16:00.025+02:00

It certainly takes ITV a lot of confidence, the name of acclaimed screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and the magic memory of his Collision, to air since monday the five parts of Injustice on a whole week. Particularly with Episode Three preceded by the irritating You've Been Framed! and facing The Apprentice.

Will Travers (James Purefoy), a once successful defence barrister, recovers from a nervous breakdown far from London. Yet he takes the case of Martin Newall (Nathaniel Parker), an old university friend accused of murdering his secretary. No matter his wife Jane (Dervla Kirwan), now an English teacher in an institution for young offenders, had to give up a commissioning editor job to follow him. Meanwhile, the police finds the body of an itinerant worker shot in the head. Misanthropist DI Mark Wenborn (Charlie Creed-Miles) is assigned the case with his new colleague DS Nick Taylor (Obi Abili). He finds out the man was an animal activist and a client of Travers, whom he's not precisely a fan.

With a troubled marriage and a career under scrutiny of his hierarchy, Wenborn can and must focus on the investigation and on the lawyer. But Will's attention is all on his new case: his friend Martin, an oil trader, was having an affair with his secretary in an hotel room where she was found dead and his computer went missing. And some persons are worrying about its content and what Newall's barrister could possibly discover. Another source of problems for Will is his old adversary Jeremy Forbes-Watson (Nick Dunning), who wants to settle the score with him.

Already three episodes aired, thanks to "stripped" programming, and Injustice is definitely deprived of the originality and sensitivity of Collision, with which it shares some structural elements. The premiere cleverly gave enough to lure to the next one but Episode Two, centered on the murder of Martin's secretary, already lost steam. Episode Three surprisingly cremated one of the key plots of the serial, revealing what lead Will Travers to his personal issues. Even if Will's idealism is hard to swallow at least he's more interesting than his wife. Maybe if we could discover she has a pact with Cybermen. Other options than the book subplot will be happily considered.

As anticipated the premiere of Injustice hurt the excellent Case Histories on Monday with an average of 5.32m viewers (vs 4.46m for BBC One's new drama). But Horowitz's new serial lost 1.04m on Tuesday. However we're still curious to see what Anthony Horowitz has in store, and Charlie Creed-Miles as "DI Bastard" is fantastic. Wonder what the character could do in the Apprentice boardroom if Lord Sugar took a day off.

Episode One: http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2011/06/injustice-itv1.html

http://www.itv.com/injustice/
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a323582/injustice-beats-case-histories-in-monday-ratings.html
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a323787/angry-boys-debuts-with-nearly-600k.html

ADVISORY

2011-06-08T06:44:00.005+02:00

Computer hardware glitch (a fan is not my fan) and other life's little "pleasures".

Thank you for your patience, your fidelity, your interest and your trust.

INJUSTICE (ITV1)

2011-06-07T13:56:00.031+02:00

Injustice - Episode One. William Travers, a successful criminal barrister, tries to recover from personal issues far from London after something went very wrong in his job. Reluctantly, he is drawn into a case that involves an old friend.

Injustice, the new five-part serial from acclaimed screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz (Crime Traveller, Midsomer Murders, Foyle's War, the Alex Rider books) started yesterday night on ITV1. It is aired on five consecutive nights like what ITV did two years ago for Horowitz's previous stripped drama, the superb Collision - with a deserved critical and rating success.

James Purefoy (Rome) stars as Will Travers, a triumphant defence lawyer with an eye for the detail which makes the difference. Until his life goes off tracks, making him leaving London with his family. But a friend accused of murdering his secretary needs his talents and Will feels he has a debt towards the man, no matter his wife Jane (Dervla Kirwan) left a good job to follow him. Meanwhile, the police finds an itinerant worker shot in the head and the investigative DI, Mark Wenborn (Charlie Creed-Miles), is not precisely a fan of Travers.

If it ain't broke... Injustice borrows the ingredients of Collision on a more intimate basis (i.e. a smaller cast), mixing present with flashbacks in a complex narrative structure. Anthony Horowitz builds patiently his new jigsaw thriller with fragments of lives and the picture will not resemble to the photo on the box. Episode 1 fulfils its function by giving enough to raise up interest for more (an exploding car, someone with a gun) but Injustice appears for now deprived of the originality and sensitivity of its 2009 predecessor.

Purefoy is perfect in full David Morrissey mode as an established figure with a troubled side. Dervla Kirwan looks like she's still in The Silence, the wonderful 2010 four-part BBC stripped drama, but nothing or nobody is what it or (s)he seems with Horowitz so who knows. And the absolute scene stealer of this premiere is the very impressive Charlie Creed-Miles as the cynical copper.

Injustice is directed by Colm McCarthy and produced by Injustice Films Limited. Anthony Horowitz exec produces. Jill Green and Eve Guttierez are the producers. The music is by Magnus Fiennes, Ruairi O'Brien is director of photography and the title sequence has the distinctive and classy style of Momoco (Silk, Zen, Luther).

http://www.cultbox.co.uk/reviews/episodes/1105-injustice-episode-1-review
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/jun/06/injustice-embarrassing-fat-bodies-review
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/last-nights-tv--injustice-itv1-americas-secret-killers-dispatches-channel-4-2293830.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8560173/Injustice-ITV1-review.html

RÜCKKEHR DER URZEITMONSTER

2011-06-06T21:20:00.010+02:00

[21.20 - French Time] Primeval - Series Five, Episode One. Philip Burton (Alexander Siddig) has doubts about Matt (Ciarán McMenamin) and introduces Connor (Andrew-Lee Potts) to Project New Dawn and to his new assistant, April (Janice Byrne). Philip is not alone to be intrigued by Matt, as Abby (Hannah Spearitt) has doubts too. But a there's no time for questions as creatures from the underground decide to visit the city the same day Lester (Ben Miller) must tour the ARC with a lady from the Cabinet office for a possible Knighthood.

When ITV axed Primeval after its third series, a 2009 deal resurrected the sci-fi/adventure drama from Impossible Pictures for 13 new episodes filmed in Dublin and split into Series four and Five. German private channel ProSieben, historic co-producer, stayed aboard and UKTV's digital channel Watch entered as a first-time investor with a first run of the fifth series. And BBC America, which airs Primeval in the US, arrived as a co-producer of the show distributed by BBC Worldwide since its start.

In the United Kingdom, ITV1 aired the fourth series (actually a 7-episode block) from January to February 2011. And Series Five is aired by Watch since a couple of weeks and ahead of ITV. In Germany the two new "series" are aired in one block by ProSieben since April 11 and the channel aired the fifth series's premiere tonight.

A spectacular return written by Chris Lang and directed by Mark Everest. Philip plots to use anomalies for his mysterious project, New Dawn, managed in the Prospero Facility. Is Connor signing a pact with the devil as the industrialist may be behind a global disaster in the future? And who is really April Leonard, Connor's new lab aide? Time will tell but for now the young man has other preoccupations, huge worries of the mean kind. Fortunately Matt will share them with him.

The really impressive giant bugs look like they didn't eat only that guy right out an ad for Primeval's ITV1 sponsor, but also a wide part of the budget as the locations seem to shout cost control. Perfect series start with a truly riveting and scary episode whose welcome comic relief is provided by Ben Miller, as the script plays delightfully with James Lester's "knighthood".

CASE HISTORIES (BBC ONE)

2011-06-06T09:34:00.027+02:00

Struggling private detective Jackson Brodie meets sisters Julia and Amelia Land, who beg him to investigate the mysterious disappearance of their three-year-old sister, Olivia, more than 30 years ago. Later, lawyer Theo Wyre wants him to take the case of his murdered daughter, Laura, killed in her father's office.

Set in Edinburgh, Case Histories is adapted from the first three Jackson Brodie novels by Kate Atkinson. It stars much on demand English actor Jason Isaacs as private eye Brodie, a former soldier and policeman haunted by a personal tragedy. He left the Lothian and Borders police on bad terms and his only contact in the force is DI Louise Munroe (Amanda Abingdon). Jackson adores his eight-year old daughter Marlee (Millie Innes), who often de facto follows her dad on field, but his ex-wife Josie (Kirsty Mitchell) has accepted a job in New Zealand.

« I think fate brought you to us, Mr. Brodie. Don't you think?
- Er... not really, no. I don't believe in fate. »

Jackson Brodie learns French (Est-ce que Angelica est dans sa maison?) while investigating infidelity, when he's not searching for free one of the cats of an old lady named Binky Rain (Sylvia Syms) - much to the annoyance of his secretary Deborah (Zawe Ashton). He's a faux tough guy whose natural sense of empathy and a personal trauma lead him to use his intelligence and his investigative talents on cases hiding deep human dramas.

Each of the three novels adapted for this new 6x60-minute drama series, devised by Ashley Pharoah (Ashes To Ashes, Life on Mars, Wild at Heart), is transposed in two parts. Of course Kate Atkinson's readers will rightfully feel the need to compare the books and their adaptations, but Case Histories is an enjoyable surprise as a P.I. genre drama with an empathetic twist and a pleasant eccentric humour. Jackson Brodie is not the classic private investigator, he's an emotional companion to the shattered souls. And Edinburgh never looked so magnificent.

Case Histories Parts 1 & 2 is directed by Marc Jobst, adapted by Ashley Pharoah, and guest star Fenella Woolgar (Jekyll) and Phil Davis (Whitechapel) - particularly brilliant as Theo Wyre. Ian Moss is director of photography and the so nicely Doc Martin theme intro is by John Keane. The excellent title sequence is from Huge Designs. Alison Owen, Jenny Frain and Nicole Finnan are executive producers and Helen Gregory is the producer.

Part 2 is scheduled versus Episode 1 of the highly anticipated ITV1 event drama Injustice, which is highly regrettable to say the least. Case Histories is produced by Ruby Film and Television and Monastic Productions for BBC Scotland. Original British Drama indeed...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011whc9
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/05_may/25/isaacs.shtml
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1393518/Case-Histories-Jason-Isaacs-adamant-play-detective.html
http://www.kateatkinson.co.uk/

FEAR THEM

2011-06-04T11:37:00.010+02:00

Doctor Who - The Rebel Flesh & The Almost People (Series Six, Episode Five & Episode Six). The Doctor (Matt Smith), Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) arrive on an island where the personnel of a futuristic factory, established in a monastery, use a self-replicating fluid called the Flesh to create exact "Gangers" of themselves who deal with a highly corrosive acid.

Directed by Julian Simpson, this two-parter is written by Matthew Graham (Ashes to Ashes). It was a matter of common sense to have moderate expectations about any episode following The Doctor's Wife, Neil Gaiman's instant classic, and Graham's previous stint on Doctor Who - Series Two's Fear Her - wasn't precisely an invitation to enthusiasm.

The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People is a variation on the traditional base under siege plot, with its post-industrial premise and its Hammerian medieval setting. There are shades of 42 or The Waters of Mars in this workplace nightmare whose make-up effectiveness is almost ruined by unnecessary SFX (Sarah Smart as Stretch Armstrong, Spidey and Hangover Lazarus).

« This is insane. We're fighting ourselves. »

They are called "Gangers" but basically the besieging creatures are clones. And clones have become the narrative device equivalent in genre television of "the dog ate my homework" excuse. Clones are a trick, that blob on the floor of the TARDIS (ex machina), they are "un-cool". Otherwise the cast is solid, particularly Raquel Cassidy as Miranda Cleaves. But too bad Marshall Lancaster is so underused as Buzzer.

Anyway we know it's all about Steven Moffat's big scheme and THAT pregnancy. Ask the raniesque Stefano DiMera played by Frances Barber. So are the days of their lives, and in the end you can't reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.

http://cathoderaytube.blogspot.com/2011/05/doctor-who-series-6-rebel-flesh-review.html
http://cathoderaytube.blogspot.com/2011/05/doctor-who-series-6-almost-people.html

ASHES TO ASHES (SCRIBBS TO...)

2011-05-30T09:27:00.012+02:00

The personal and professional lives of Detective Constable Rachel Bailey and Detective Constable Janet Scott, members of Manchester Metropolitan Police’s Major Incident Team. They investigate the apparent suicide of a young Turkish woman.

Co-created and written by Sally Wainwright (Unforgiven), Scott & Bailey is based on an idea by actresses Suranne Jones and Sally Lindsay. And this new ITV1 crime drama from Red Production Company is co-created by Diane Taylor, a retired DI from the Greater Manchester Police Force’s Major Incident Team.

The cast is an absolute dream: Jones herself, who entered TV History three weeks ago as "Sexy" in Doctor Who, plays impulsive DC Bailey. Lesley Sharp (The Shadow Line) is the more thoughtful DC Scott. There's also Amelia Bullmore, Nicholas Gleaves (Survivors) and the ubiquitous Rupert Graves (Sherlock) as Bailey's duplicitous lawyer boyfriend Nick Savage.

The premiere episode is a total waste of that amount of talents, with enough cliché material for a Comic Relief parody and an amazing lack of on-screen energy. Scott & Bailey feels like you're already watching its own US remake - except there was Cagney & Lacey before. According to the excellent TV Scoops Twitter feed, Scott & Bailey started with a huge 8.2 million viewers, the most watched first episode of any new drama in 5 years. Maybe BGT viewers couldn't find their buzzers.

P.S. Nick, you can't dump "Sexy". Period.

http://www.itv.com/presscentre/presspacks/scottandbaileypresspack/default.html
http://www.cultbox.co.uk/reviews/episodes/1019-scott-a-bailey-episode-1-review
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/may/29/scott-bailey-tv-review
http://twitter.com/#!/tvscoops