Hello my love telly watchers, how are you?
True to their mission, Channel 4 provides, what I believe to be some of the best, most diverse and informative television of our time and then they also manage to shove a bit of what I like to call 'background viewing' into their busy schedule as well. You know the kind of stuff that's on but you're not really paying attention and when someone asks if you watched it last night you have this massive dilemma as to whether to tell them and admit you have a sad existence, or continue to suffer in silence as you secretly, desperately want someone to talk about it with. Yeah? No? Just me?
Last Monday, Channel 4 broadcast it's new sort of fly on the wall documentary about the dedicated traffic wardens working to help keep the roads and double yellow lines of Bristol City under control. We learnt that Bristol has some of the worse congestion rates outside of London and the new mayor was on a mission to somehow stop people from using their cars in the city centre. Yeah good luck with that mate. My highlight of this programme was the delightful Pat who was just bloody awesome! She was in a legal battle with the council who fined her for parking on the side of the road in a bay only meant for short periods of time when you are loading heavy items into your vehicle so that she could pick her dinner up from the local chippy. Pat's argument was that because she is a pensioner she feels she was entitled to park in the bay and was using it correctly as she has difficulty carrying things to her car.
Now I'm not saying I necessarily agree or disagree with Pat's actions or reasoning but her personality was more than enough to have me as putty in her hands. She literally marched down to the traffic warden's office and asked them what the hell they thought they were doing. She asked them how they were going to reimburse her money to which the man was like 'well if we do we will put it on your card' to which Pat retorted 'not so much of the if!' such a sassy lady. Pat also asked if she could have a cuppa whilst she waited but unfortunately was told they had no provisions in the office - obvious lie. This was not a good move on the part of the council who missed out on a lovely cake that Pat had made for them - gutted!
Basically, I don't really have much of a point to this post. I suppose it would be wise of me to say never assume that a show on the most basic of subjects won't be entertaining. It doesn't all have to be about spies and shooting badies and major over the top gore and action scenes all the time. Sometimes it can just be about something as simple as an elderly lady fighting against the council for a cause she believes it. Disappointingly Pat didn't get her money back. I'm think of starting a protest group - 'Power For Pat' or even better 'Parking For Pat'.
Thursday 28 November 2013
Monday 18 November 2013
Casualty Vs. Holby City
As everyone has probably guessed right now much of my time is spent watching hours of television, mainly because of my lacking social life at the moment. This means my mind has many hours to create new ideas for blog posts - hence this title. If you haven't already guessed, today will focus on the two BBC hospital serial drama legends Holby City and Casualty.
Casualty was first broadcast on the 6th of September 1986. When I read this I was like.... woah. That's a lot of storylines with someone falling off a roof in the rain with a wonky ladder or having preposterous accidents at really low speeds in public car parks. Before writing this post I actually sourced the first episode on YouTube which is here if you want to take a look (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kNIQ9iRscU). Casualty is actually set in an emergency department of Holby City Hospital, a fictional NHS run hospital in the heart of bustling Holby City - I see what they did there so 10/10 for creativity.
The show has really come a long way over the past 27 years and is now in its 28th series. The first thing I noticed about the first ever episode and the current series is how similar the opening titles and themes of the programme actually are. In the first episode there is this whole lightning, electricity bolt thing going on which is actually quite alarming and could possibly seen as quite edgy and racy for the times - although I'm not really sure because I didn't exist in 1986, maybe I'll ask my mum. In the current series we see the same thing happening, the viewer gets the feeling that they are being wheeled down the winding corridors of the hospital at great speeds whilst medical staff look on all concerned and fearing for your health and life. So it's all quite dramatic. We can also partake in a bit of armchair medical diagnosis courtesy of the new titles which have fancy medical jargon such as articular ventilation and hypertensive popping up all over the place - the only thing I don't like about this format is there isn't any time to read what is on screen. If they are going provide information allow us the time to read and understand it clearly, in my case the title scene would be 20 minutes long. The newest version is all very clean cut with a sparkling department that has access to all the latest equipment and in contrast the first series looks like a bit of a dump, but I guess that's not much of a surprise considering it was new an all.
The first ever episode kicks off in true Casualty style with some sort of dodgy dealings happening down by a dockyard near the sea which will no doubt cause injuries that will land people in the casualty department. The actual premise of the the show doesn't tend to change much - somebody does something foolish or looks unwell which lands them in the hospital, where they are then treated by the staff who all have their own personal issues that either compromise their professionalism or strike a chord with them causing a whole personal exploration of their feelings to be played out on scene. We also learn that not everything is as it seems and usually patients are all involved one way or another with each other which makes for sometimes juicy viewing. I actually enjoy Casualty and its varying, intertwined storylines because it adds grit that is of course predictable to a degree but can also make you go 'oh I wasn't expecting that to happen'.
I like to think that Holby City is Casualty's dull and slightly tedious cousin who always wants to come and stay. Compared to Casualty's, slightly ridiculous at times but otherwise fairly interesting storylines that are filled with reasonable amounts of action, angst and emotion unfortunately, Holby City fails to bring the goods big time. The show started in January 1999 and is currently in its 16th series. Unsurprisingly, the show has been criticism for lack of realism due to many of the nurses being portrayed as 'sex objects' which was especially true of nurse Faye Byrne (née Morton, previously Michaels, Hewson, Wilson) - she was a bit of a slag. But my problem with the show isn't the obvious lack of realism, it's the excruciating attention to NHS and wider government policy that seems to dominate the whole show, if anything I find it all too real. People don't want to worry about staff redundancies on telly as well in real life, these shows are supposed to be a form of escapism not a reminder of all the bad shit that is going on in your own life. A character I can't stand is the Director of Surgery Henrik Hanssen. He is absolute essence of emotional detachment which he uses to help him remain professional and aloof from his feelings which would be all well and good but I feel as if the writers have taken it a little too far, and have put the character in grave danger of just being a bastard that calls himself a doctor. He doesn't seem to really care about the patients and his bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired - now I sound like I'm filling out a complaint form, which I actually would happily do if he was my doctor. In fact Holby City and Casualty can't really seem to go one episode without having a major cock up that results in an official complaint being made against a member of staff.
Once, when Linden Cullen, nurse Faye and Joseph Byrne were still characters in the drama, the storylines was actually quite angsty and you wanted to know what was going on but now I feel as if I don't really care too much missing a week or two which isn't a good sign at all. The writers need to juice it up some. Add a decent affair story that is going somewhere, with multiple aspects like another family with a child who is seriously ill or illegitimate or something. I want spice and I'm getting rice.
Overall, each programme has good and bad points. I am going to continue to watch each sporadically but I can't see myself being too upset if I miss some shows. Shame really. Maybe the problem is the shows are so wrapped up in being realistic they've forgotten the difference between a drama and a documentary. I do recommend that anyone who is unfamiliar with the show watch it if only for your health.
Casualty was first broadcast on the 6th of September 1986. When I read this I was like.... woah. That's a lot of storylines with someone falling off a roof in the rain with a wonky ladder or having preposterous accidents at really low speeds in public car parks. Before writing this post I actually sourced the first episode on YouTube which is here if you want to take a look (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kNIQ9iRscU). Casualty is actually set in an emergency department of Holby City Hospital, a fictional NHS run hospital in the heart of bustling Holby City - I see what they did there so 10/10 for creativity.
The show has really come a long way over the past 27 years and is now in its 28th series. The first thing I noticed about the first ever episode and the current series is how similar the opening titles and themes of the programme actually are. In the first episode there is this whole lightning, electricity bolt thing going on which is actually quite alarming and could possibly seen as quite edgy and racy for the times - although I'm not really sure because I didn't exist in 1986, maybe I'll ask my mum. In the current series we see the same thing happening, the viewer gets the feeling that they are being wheeled down the winding corridors of the hospital at great speeds whilst medical staff look on all concerned and fearing for your health and life. So it's all quite dramatic. We can also partake in a bit of armchair medical diagnosis courtesy of the new titles which have fancy medical jargon such as articular ventilation and hypertensive popping up all over the place - the only thing I don't like about this format is there isn't any time to read what is on screen. If they are going provide information allow us the time to read and understand it clearly, in my case the title scene would be 20 minutes long. The newest version is all very clean cut with a sparkling department that has access to all the latest equipment and in contrast the first series looks like a bit of a dump, but I guess that's not much of a surprise considering it was new an all.
The first ever episode kicks off in true Casualty style with some sort of dodgy dealings happening down by a dockyard near the sea which will no doubt cause injuries that will land people in the casualty department. The actual premise of the the show doesn't tend to change much - somebody does something foolish or looks unwell which lands them in the hospital, where they are then treated by the staff who all have their own personal issues that either compromise their professionalism or strike a chord with them causing a whole personal exploration of their feelings to be played out on scene. We also learn that not everything is as it seems and usually patients are all involved one way or another with each other which makes for sometimes juicy viewing. I actually enjoy Casualty and its varying, intertwined storylines because it adds grit that is of course predictable to a degree but can also make you go 'oh I wasn't expecting that to happen'.
I like to think that Holby City is Casualty's dull and slightly tedious cousin who always wants to come and stay. Compared to Casualty's, slightly ridiculous at times but otherwise fairly interesting storylines that are filled with reasonable amounts of action, angst and emotion unfortunately, Holby City fails to bring the goods big time. The show started in January 1999 and is currently in its 16th series. Unsurprisingly, the show has been criticism for lack of realism due to many of the nurses being portrayed as 'sex objects' which was especially true of nurse Faye Byrne (née Morton, previously Michaels, Hewson, Wilson) - she was a bit of a slag. But my problem with the show isn't the obvious lack of realism, it's the excruciating attention to NHS and wider government policy that seems to dominate the whole show, if anything I find it all too real. People don't want to worry about staff redundancies on telly as well in real life, these shows are supposed to be a form of escapism not a reminder of all the bad shit that is going on in your own life. A character I can't stand is the Director of Surgery Henrik Hanssen. He is absolute essence of emotional detachment which he uses to help him remain professional and aloof from his feelings which would be all well and good but I feel as if the writers have taken it a little too far, and have put the character in grave danger of just being a bastard that calls himself a doctor. He doesn't seem to really care about the patients and his bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired - now I sound like I'm filling out a complaint form, which I actually would happily do if he was my doctor. In fact Holby City and Casualty can't really seem to go one episode without having a major cock up that results in an official complaint being made against a member of staff.
Once, when Linden Cullen, nurse Faye and Joseph Byrne were still characters in the drama, the storylines was actually quite angsty and you wanted to know what was going on but now I feel as if I don't really care too much missing a week or two which isn't a good sign at all. The writers need to juice it up some. Add a decent affair story that is going somewhere, with multiple aspects like another family with a child who is seriously ill or illegitimate or something. I want spice and I'm getting rice.
Overall, each programme has good and bad points. I am going to continue to watch each sporadically but I can't see myself being too upset if I miss some shows. Shame really. Maybe the problem is the shows are so wrapped up in being realistic they've forgotten the difference between a drama and a documentary. I do recommend that anyone who is unfamiliar with the show watch it if only for your health.
Monday 11 November 2013
Richard Hammond Builds A Universe
Last night, after obviously watching the X Factor results with the fabulous Celine Dion showcasing her new song 'Loved Me Back To Life' and Robbie Williams just casually standing in the middle of the stage on a like five metre high pirate ship, I reluctantly tuned into Richard Hammond's send part of his two part series about science and what makes up the world and universe. All very profound for a Sunday evening. Anyways, I say I was reluctant to watch it because I'm not a great science lover and it all kind of goes over my head making the whole programme usually unbearably boring but this show was surprisingly okay.
I missed the beginning due to the X Factor results and so came in about fifteen minutes in where Richard was climbing up a huge tower in the middle of the desert. At first I thought what the hell? Then I was like oh okay he's got to be up high to build the universe and stuff, but then I realised that I had been fooled as it turned out to be CGI effects in an attempt by the producers to make the show more edgy. They failed. I was thoroughly miffed to put it nicely that he hadn't risked his life climbing thousands of metres into the air in the desert. I was further disappointed at the show's trickery when I had the realisation that he wasn't actually going to build a universe, merely tell us by asking a variety of scientists in America how the universe was formed and what it needs to survive. At this point my hopes was dashed and I was on the verge of turning the telly off, something I rarely do! So Richard needed to pull out the big guns and he did. Well I say he did, more like the experts that were with him did. He kind of just stood there asking the kind of questions I would ask like 'is it hot if I touch this burning rock?'. The burning rock bit was actually quite interesting and related to how the sun is just far enough away so it doesn't burn us like the rock but close enough so that we don't freeze. As the experts shone this massive mirror, projecting the sun at the rock, bits began to pop off like popcorn which Richard informed us was something to do with how asteroids occur.
After this excitement I needed to cool down but no! We were then treated to a look at some of the equipment NASA (what does NASA stand for? If you know comment and tell me) uses when it goes on space missions and what it plans to use when we hopefully send a man or woman to Mars in what they hope will be about ten years time. If they are hoping to live up to that goal then they really need to work on the safety aspect of the mission like, oh I don't know, the fact that the air has no oxygen or atmosphere. So the old up for anything good sport that is Richard Hammond, got into a space suit and pranced around looking like he'd put on about twenty stone. You could kind of see that the NASA experts were like 'he's a bit of a prat' but they were gracious enough to play along with him.
One bit of the programme that made me cringe was when some Italian scientists searching for the most inhabitable part of the world, went cave climbing or more like crawling and dropping from dangerous heights, all in the name of science. From what I could tell, their dangerous expedition wasn't just for thrills, they actually wanted to see if life could occur anywhere and what the sole factor was for sustaining it. Fair enough but still it was all pretty risky. So they crawled to the deepest and most deadly part of the caves where we were told a poor diver man was going to look for life in toxic water. What the fudge?! No mate. I was shouting at the telly, 'it ain't worth it!' but he didn't listen - typical bloke : P. So he went down into the water of death and thirty painstakingly long and tense seconds later found some live plant living purely on water as there was no light, oxygen or nothing down in the cave. He came up for air, but as the lady scientist was speaking to the camera about the discovery, the diver was still in the bloody toxic water! She wasn't even concerned, might as well have kicked him back under now he got her the sample.
So in the end it all worked out and was actually one of the most engaging science based telly programmes I have seen in a while. Although I found it odd the Richard Hammond, the bloke famous for driving cars and being a fool with obnoxious pal Jeremy Clarkson, he didn't do too bad a job as a presenter. Overall I give the show a 7/10 because although I thought it was okay I wouldn't watch the next one in the series. If you watched it or anything or have any suggestions for other TV shows you think I should watch and post about let me know it the comment section or send me a message!
I missed the beginning due to the X Factor results and so came in about fifteen minutes in where Richard was climbing up a huge tower in the middle of the desert. At first I thought what the hell? Then I was like oh okay he's got to be up high to build the universe and stuff, but then I realised that I had been fooled as it turned out to be CGI effects in an attempt by the producers to make the show more edgy. They failed. I was thoroughly miffed to put it nicely that he hadn't risked his life climbing thousands of metres into the air in the desert. I was further disappointed at the show's trickery when I had the realisation that he wasn't actually going to build a universe, merely tell us by asking a variety of scientists in America how the universe was formed and what it needs to survive. At this point my hopes was dashed and I was on the verge of turning the telly off, something I rarely do! So Richard needed to pull out the big guns and he did. Well I say he did, more like the experts that were with him did. He kind of just stood there asking the kind of questions I would ask like 'is it hot if I touch this burning rock?'. The burning rock bit was actually quite interesting and related to how the sun is just far enough away so it doesn't burn us like the rock but close enough so that we don't freeze. As the experts shone this massive mirror, projecting the sun at the rock, bits began to pop off like popcorn which Richard informed us was something to do with how asteroids occur.
After this excitement I needed to cool down but no! We were then treated to a look at some of the equipment NASA (what does NASA stand for? If you know comment and tell me) uses when it goes on space missions and what it plans to use when we hopefully send a man or woman to Mars in what they hope will be about ten years time. If they are hoping to live up to that goal then they really need to work on the safety aspect of the mission like, oh I don't know, the fact that the air has no oxygen or atmosphere. So the old up for anything good sport that is Richard Hammond, got into a space suit and pranced around looking like he'd put on about twenty stone. You could kind of see that the NASA experts were like 'he's a bit of a prat' but they were gracious enough to play along with him.
One bit of the programme that made me cringe was when some Italian scientists searching for the most inhabitable part of the world, went cave climbing or more like crawling and dropping from dangerous heights, all in the name of science. From what I could tell, their dangerous expedition wasn't just for thrills, they actually wanted to see if life could occur anywhere and what the sole factor was for sustaining it. Fair enough but still it was all pretty risky. So they crawled to the deepest and most deadly part of the caves where we were told a poor diver man was going to look for life in toxic water. What the fudge?! No mate. I was shouting at the telly, 'it ain't worth it!' but he didn't listen - typical bloke : P. So he went down into the water of death and thirty painstakingly long and tense seconds later found some live plant living purely on water as there was no light, oxygen or nothing down in the cave. He came up for air, but as the lady scientist was speaking to the camera about the discovery, the diver was still in the bloody toxic water! She wasn't even concerned, might as well have kicked him back under now he got her the sample.
So in the end it all worked out and was actually one of the most engaging science based telly programmes I have seen in a while. Although I found it odd the Richard Hammond, the bloke famous for driving cars and being a fool with obnoxious pal Jeremy Clarkson, he didn't do too bad a job as a presenter. Overall I give the show a 7/10 because although I thought it was okay I wouldn't watch the next one in the series. If you watched it or anything or have any suggestions for other TV shows you think I should watch and post about let me know it the comment section or send me a message!
Sunday 10 November 2013
Homeland
*Warning! The following post contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.*
Homeland is one of my favorite programmes at the moment on telly. If you have been living in a hole since it was first aired in October 2011, the series follows the return of US Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody played by English actor Damian Lewis who was held as a prisoner of war for eight years by al-Qaeda terrorists. We see in the first episode him being found in a rescue operation by the US Army looking like crap after his long stint in captivity, sporting a terrible bushy beard. Brody is taken home to his long suffering wife and family who barely recognise him and paraded around like every bit of the hero he is. However, it becomes clear over time that this traumatised man is not the same and he starts to do things that are all a bit shifty, earning him the attention of CIA Agent Carrie Mathison played by the brilliantly talented Claire Danes. She figures that the hero is hiding something and she is right. It soon becomes clear that Brody has been turned in captivity *cue dramatic music* but in the early episodes of season one we are not sure why or by who.
So fast forward a little bit and not only is Brody hiding something big, Carrie is determined at any cost to figure out what it is. She's the best the CIA has apparently and yet she's always getting reprimanded and disregarding orders - not quite the best just really lucky she hasn't been killed yet. The stress of the chase for Brody gets to Carrie and we learn she has Bi-polar Disorder, something she has kept from her colleagues and boss in all the years she has worked for the CIA. Her fixation with Brody and obvious hatred for a suspected terrorist who by this point has done all kinds of crazy stuff for the people who kept him hostage, classic Stockholm Syndrome, then half way through series two turns to lust. She falls in love with him. This bit for me, although brilliantly acted and full of grit was just what? She suspected him of trying to kill people and then hops in to bed with him? See this is the problem I have at the moment with the programme the long game it turning out to be a little too long. They've spent the first four episodes of season three getting Carrie committed to a psychiatric hospital, saying she's a threat to national security but now it turns out this was all an act. A brilliant one at that but all a little too good. It had me really going and I know that that is what is supposed to happen, we are supposed to be lead down one dark alley only to make a u-turn into another so that we as the viewer are thoroughly confused in order for the programme to remain exciting. There is however, a difference between exciting and just so far fetched that people will lose interest. I haven't. I don't think I ever will but I worry that it's becoming a little to gritty for the viewing public who are just trying to enjoy their time relaxing with the TV not wanting their heads mashed with what may or may not be real.
That being said, I love the programme and the obvious budding affection between Carrie and fellow surveillance officer Quinn who has been given the job of protecting her against this risky mission, is one story line that I can't wait for. I enjoy the reality of the programme and all of the different angles the the CIA have to pursue. They don't just follow one man and it's over, he did it. He's usually working for another, much more important player who has a grudge against another business man that has an offshore account which is funding some sort of criminal activity that no financial analyst can figure out yet. So many avenues need exploring and I hope they are explored in many more wonderfully juicy CIA action, hard hitting, always keeping us guessing seasons to come.
Overall 9/10.
Homeland is one of my favorite programmes at the moment on telly. If you have been living in a hole since it was first aired in October 2011, the series follows the return of US Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody played by English actor Damian Lewis who was held as a prisoner of war for eight years by al-Qaeda terrorists. We see in the first episode him being found in a rescue operation by the US Army looking like crap after his long stint in captivity, sporting a terrible bushy beard. Brody is taken home to his long suffering wife and family who barely recognise him and paraded around like every bit of the hero he is. However, it becomes clear over time that this traumatised man is not the same and he starts to do things that are all a bit shifty, earning him the attention of CIA Agent Carrie Mathison played by the brilliantly talented Claire Danes. She figures that the hero is hiding something and she is right. It soon becomes clear that Brody has been turned in captivity *cue dramatic music* but in the early episodes of season one we are not sure why or by who.
So fast forward a little bit and not only is Brody hiding something big, Carrie is determined at any cost to figure out what it is. She's the best the CIA has apparently and yet she's always getting reprimanded and disregarding orders - not quite the best just really lucky she hasn't been killed yet. The stress of the chase for Brody gets to Carrie and we learn she has Bi-polar Disorder, something she has kept from her colleagues and boss in all the years she has worked for the CIA. Her fixation with Brody and obvious hatred for a suspected terrorist who by this point has done all kinds of crazy stuff for the people who kept him hostage, classic Stockholm Syndrome, then half way through series two turns to lust. She falls in love with him. This bit for me, although brilliantly acted and full of grit was just what? She suspected him of trying to kill people and then hops in to bed with him? See this is the problem I have at the moment with the programme the long game it turning out to be a little too long. They've spent the first four episodes of season three getting Carrie committed to a psychiatric hospital, saying she's a threat to national security but now it turns out this was all an act. A brilliant one at that but all a little too good. It had me really going and I know that that is what is supposed to happen, we are supposed to be lead down one dark alley only to make a u-turn into another so that we as the viewer are thoroughly confused in order for the programme to remain exciting. There is however, a difference between exciting and just so far fetched that people will lose interest. I haven't. I don't think I ever will but I worry that it's becoming a little to gritty for the viewing public who are just trying to enjoy their time relaxing with the TV not wanting their heads mashed with what may or may not be real.
That being said, I love the programme and the obvious budding affection between Carrie and fellow surveillance officer Quinn who has been given the job of protecting her against this risky mission, is one story line that I can't wait for. I enjoy the reality of the programme and all of the different angles the the CIA have to pursue. They don't just follow one man and it's over, he did it. He's usually working for another, much more important player who has a grudge against another business man that has an offshore account which is funding some sort of criminal activity that no financial analyst can figure out yet. So many avenues need exploring and I hope they are explored in many more wonderfully juicy CIA action, hard hitting, always keeping us guessing seasons to come.
Overall 9/10.
An introduction
Hello and welcome to my blog Telly In My Belly which is basically an excuse for me to watch all the TV shows I want and call it research.
I have been blogging for a while but I've done it on livejournal where the only thing people read is fanfiction about Supernatural and other cult-like TV shows in which the male cast members are beautiful and in an alternate universe, gay and in love with each other. Until the other week I was happy about my relatively non-existent blog but after a very long chat with my friend about the benefits of Blogger, I have decided to come out of the darkness and expose myself for the absolute telly addict that I am. I'm out and I am proud people!
Now, a few things. I am not brilliant at English. I can spell and use grammar when needed but I don't pretend to be all witty about it and I don't sit here with the thesaurus desperately flicking through to find another word for because or good because I've used them too many times in one post. I try my best to make my reviews of TV shows interesting and entertaining and I welcome debates and comments, but like I said I do this for a hobby not a career. I write all posts in the heat of the moment, I don't painstakingly plan them although I do proof read.
I'm basically a student with a lot of time on my hands and not a lot of motivation to do school work.
Enjoy the blog
Tash
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