The Celebrity Apprentice USA

Okay people let's get seriously honest here - American reality TV is so much more dramatic and exciting than anything the British manage to conjure up and this is perfectly demonstrated by the Celebrity Apprentice USA, which I watched at 1:00am this morning.

Firstly the production value is just crazy. Instead of Lord Alan Sugar's shitty grey boardroom which isn't even actually a boardroom, it's a studio, Donald Trump has a lavish, wooden-effect crazy Apprentice dungeon where he grills the candidates. He sits in a red leather throne whilst Sugar has to make do with a budget chair from Staples that even poor people can buy - the horror!!

Now I realise that the series I am currently watching is the celebrity version and so all the money raised from the tasks is given to a charity of each celebrity's choice, but there seems to be no regard for even basic business acumen. Not once in the whole task did anyone mention budget, margins, or a unique selling point. Even in the British, albeit kind of shit version of Celebrity Apprentice which is usually added to the schedule during charity telethons, the celebrities still have to use their brains to make sure it's vaguely business-like, whereas the whole focus the the US version seemed to be 'how many famous people can I get to come to the pizzeria by ringing them and shouting down the phone?' The candidates were basically given all the tools they needed by Donald Trump to run the shop, which included some people to actually show them how too cook pizzas which I'm pretty sure they could have worked out by themselves.

During the task there was the usual bickering which is universal in The Apprentice no matter what country it's from. However, the bickering wasn't just 'you're going to lose us this task' it actually got physical between singer David Cassidy and reality star Richard Hatch who I have never heard of. I have to actually give credit to the production team for casting some seriously big celebrities. They've got Meat Loaf, Gary Busey (who I think might just go fucking nuts at some point), Star Jones, La Toya Jackson and Dionne Warwick to name a few battling it out to raise as much money as they can for charity, and they are as passionate as ever. Now I think it might just be my internalised 'stiff upper lip' attitude that I have developed as a British person, but I find all the emotion and hugging cringey as hell. This was the first episode of the 11th season and so at the beginning, Donald asked each what their charity was and this was good because it gave the viewer some context, but then it sort of developed into a group counselling session as we had people admitting they had serious illnesses and open heart surgery, and all the way through I was hiding behind a pillow to protect my cold British heart.

One of the things that I thought was also quite odd in comparison to the UK version, was that the advisers in this show were Donald's own children Ivanka and Donald Jr. They arrived at the group's pizzeria in really flash, shiny black cars (I don't know what model because I am ignorant to these things) and were like 'what's up?'. Yeah really professional. Then Ivanka spoke up in the boardroom regarding the whole issue with David Cassidy and Richard Hatch and said she was shocked that they had a fight and lost because they looked so harmonious when she came along for all of five minutes. That made me laugh. Despite the fact that when I watched it I had to squash down any part of my brain that was trying to be the least bit reasonable or remind me that this was supposed to be a business show, I found it really enjoyable to watch. I was laughing my head off when poor La Toya Jackson was trying to remember what the girls' silly name 'A.S.A.P' stood for - which by the way was 'Actors Singers Authors and Professionals'. Not that the boys actually did much better as Gary wanted to call their group 'Sperm Farmers' but in the end settled for 'Backbone' thank God!

 Basically the whole show is just one big pat on the back to the celebrities' egos. They spend the majority of their time telling us what amazing philanthropists they are by donating serious sums of money to charity. However, it is entertaining and I will continue to watch for as long as I can before my face is permanently scarred by all that cringing.

How To Get Away With Murder

As a fanatic of the crime drama genre, I was overwhelmingly excited to get my teeth into the highly praised legal drama, How To Get Away With Murder currently running on the American TV network ABC. It depicts the life of successful defense lawyer (attorney) Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) who teaches Law at the prestigious fictional Middleton University, Philadelphia.

Before watching the first episode, I was actually quite interested to see how Viola Davis portrayed the character of Annalise and I had high hopes. Unfortunately, I feel a little let down by her character's development. In the first episode, we learn that she has an unhappy marriage to the complete creep Psychology teacher Sam (Tom Verica), which is causing her to be unfaithful to him with the local detective Nate; which is such a predictable storyline - I'm literally gasping for originality here. She's basically an unappreciated wife who hides her insecurities about her marriage by being an absolute ball buster to everyone around her. I also have taken issue with her wardrobe which feels like it's been developed to reflect the stereotypical image of a powerful business woman, but instead just makes me cringe as some of it is... mutton dressed as lamb. If I am honest, I dislike Annalise. I find her whole attitude to the law kind of off-putting as she can have a like serial killer just sitting next to her who has confessed to these terrible crimes but instead of just making a deal with the prosecution for a shorter sentence, she sends her lackies out to illegally find some evidence that will just get the case thrown out. She's basically a corrupt criminal masquerading as a lawyer. However, what I really have a problem with is the fact she always seems to bloody win! She's got people being murdered and fingerprints on a murder weapon, even a bloody confession and she still wins the damn case every.single.time! I feel conflicted as it hurts the rational side of my mind whilst also making me feel relieved she's won. This show is fucking with me.

So anyways in the first episode Annalise decides that she needs five skivies to do her bidding for her and help her win her cases which she literally never loses. She cleverly labels it 'life experience' but in fact it's cruel, unpaid labour as she appears to be from the very first second of the first episode, a heartless bitch. Her students are the classic driven and ambitious type, there's pretty and preppy private school girl Michaela Pratt (Aja Naomi King) who has a secretly gay fiancee who had a one time fling in boarding school with equally gay Connor Walsh (Jack Falahee), a narcissistic and unforgiving individual with eyes that smolder like hot-fucking-coals and a body that you just want to grab at constantly through the telly. He's my favourite, in case you couldn't already tell. Connor provides comedic relief in pretty depressing situations but is in danger of becoming just a complete sex addict with no depth. There's also naive Wes Gibbons (Alfred Enoch) who would like the whole legal system to be fair, and who also only got accepted to Middleton from the waiting list at the last minute - he's a bit like a small fish in a sea of sharks. Wes also stupidly for some reason has a relationship with suspected murderer Rebecca Sutter (Katie Findlay), who is a drug dealer and wannabe emo with terrible make-up and almost offensively ripped jeans. These are the characters I mainly focus on as they are the most interesting, but there is also the reclusive Laurel Castillo (Karla Souza) who is the kind of girl you think is judging everybody so that she'll have something to hold against them later. She has an affair with Annalise's employee Frank Delfino (Charlie Webber) who somehow thinks he's god's gift to the ladies but is actually just a creep in a waistcoat. And there's Asher Millstone, who so far just pisses me off as he is a self-obsessed rich boy who's father is a judge, oh and there's Bonnie Winterbottom (Liza Weil), an associate lawyer of Annalise, whose silly name isn't the only thing that is irritating about her character. In fact she seems to spend half of her time just lurking around in the hallways of Annalise's home pretending not to be pleased when she hears Annalise and her husband Sam (Tom Verica) fighting. In short she's an utter weirdo with a constant drawn out look on her face which I assume is supposed to reflect innocence and concern, whereas it actually just makes her look gormless.

The whole show takes place in two time frames as in the beginning of the first episode we see all five law students trying to dispose of a body in the woods whilst there's a huge bonfire going on to celebrate some sort of sport event at the university. Then we switch back to about eight weeks before the murder, which is the beginning of term where Annalise decides the five student's who will be her slaves students for the year. This whole switching time frames is a good idea in theory but in practice it becomes a bit difficult to follow and we often spend a lot of time covering old ground in the flash forwards. The show has been described by many as full of suspense however, I don't agree with this as in the firsr episode we find out that it's Annalise's husband who has been murdered and we also discover she's been having an affair with a local detective - usually we have to wait a few episodes to find out this amount of detail. I'm just saying it all feels a little rushed. Back in the present day, the whole university is consumed with the case of Lila Stangard, a girl who is missing and who we later find out in episode two has been murdered. Shockingly, there aren't actually that many suspects apart from her old boyfriend, her best friend Rebecca and Sam! I pretty much figured out that Sam had something to do with Lila's death in the fist few minutes of the second episode so I was not feeling a lot of that suspense I was promised.  Anyways, what I'm getting at is that I just felt like the show was moving too quickly with revealing all these details in like the first two episodes which makes it feel desperate to be something it's not.

Having said all this, I would actually recommend How To Get Away With Murder because it's got a seriously good title, hot sex, reasonably witty writing and in some parts - suspense. Just be prepared for a headache when those flash forwards come on.

Waterloo Road

I would say that I'm sorry I haven't updated in forever but it's just getting old, so I won't.

BBC One school-based drama 'Waterloo Road' has returned to our screens people and along with the new series come some new cast members, including the Fitzgerald family which consists of headteacher Vaughn who has serious commitment issues, his partner Allie (the quintessential art teacher), Vaughn's two sons Leo and Justin from his previous marriage with ex-wife Olga who is now in a mental hospital because thanks to Vaughn infidelity with Allie. Justin is a bad boy who just needs a leather jacket - please, and his brother Leo who is a massive sop and hasn't really brought anything to the show in the past few weeks but I'm hoping that will change. Then there is Allie's children, Floyd who has a crazy ginger afro which is just... just hideous. And there's pretty, cute Tiffany who is having a secret romance with her step-brother Justin - juicy.

Now I have been faithful to Waterloo Road since series one which in my opinion was the best series because that's when the whole school drama thing was fresh, well except from Grange Hill. Since then the school drama genre has been thoroughly milked and now the whole show is failing in my opinion, which is almost definitely why it's in the last series. The first thing that is just wrong is the actual location of the school. In the original series the school was in the middle of Rochdale, an underprivileged area of Manchester, but ever since the whole school was demolished by a crazy man with a digger, the school relocated to Scotland taking with it the students from Rochdale whose parent's were supposedly okay with them just leaving home with a bunch of unstable, overworked teachers. So now they've got this sort of weird mix of people from the old school and just random students they've accumulated along the way, oh and it's a boarding school. It's all so confusing.

The philosophy of Waterloo Road is that everyone can achieve no matter their background which is wonderful, I'm all for equal opportunities, but it's also taken a little too far. Take for example the new 'community cafe'  run by less than enthusiastic students, it is basically a few chairs in the middle of the corridor serving what I imagine is poor quality tea and biscuits. My question is who's got time to run this thing?! We are expected to believe that a busy school, populated by underachieving students who have a new drama every fucking hour, can sustain this type of commitment - don't make chuckle. It's really only used as a plot filler so that if two people are having an affair want an excuse for some 'alone time', they can go to the cafe and serve the elderly whilst making stupid faces at each other over the table - it's all just ridiculous and funny.Oh and don't even get me started on the 'helpline' which is basically a phone on the receptionist's desk where the community can ring in with problems which the staff somehow have time to resolve. What I'm getting at is this whole community culture they've created is the furthest from a real school environment as you could possibly get. When I was a student everybody couldn't give two shits about whether the school was going to be shut down or if one of the teachers was having a nervous breakdown - we were just there because we had to be and in sixth form I spent the majority of my time clock counting until I could go home. Now I know it's a school drama so they can't just have nothing happen but it just irks me how seriously they take their education - I'm a bad influence, I know


I also have problem with a lot of the characters. Firstly there's Rhiannon Salt, to be honest I can't really remember where she came from and I don't really care, all I know is she's whinny and annoying and her red hair offends me (which is weird because I used to have red hair). She's sort of just always there saying annoying things and bugging people. In this series we've seen her struggle with thinking she's pregnant by the equally annoying Darren Hughes. It has basically given her and excuse to shout 'Darren!' a lot and cry unconvincingly in every single scene. Like apparently all of the students at this school, Rhiannon is always fighting injustices and it's just getting old - if I have to hear her shout 'Sir, you can't do that!' one more time I'm just gonna lose it. Find some depth as a character or get out! There's also Harley um.... shit... what's his name? Oh well, who cares? He's boring and brings nothing to the show at all. His most exciting episode was the first one he appeared in when his Nana had died and he tried to hide it so he and his brother Phoenix wouldn't have to go back and live with their abusive dad. This was potentially a good plot but only lasted 60 minutes he was found out by the headteacher and given a place to stay at the boarding house, so all was happy, the end. Everything seems to just work out in the matter of a day at Waterloo Road. A child could have some horrific home life in the morning and then be tucked up safe and warm at a teacher's house in the afternoon after being found out when they bunked History class. I miss the days of Tom Clarkson, Grantly, Izzy, Chlo, Dante, Bolton Smiley - they were the classics, they had depth and storylines which you would actually bother to care about. Oh and how could I forget Hector, the grimy looking PE teacher who wears these hideously filthy polo shirts and looks like he's been on the lash every night of the week. It disgusts me to be honest.

In summary, the whole show now lacks that grit and sense of reality it once had. In the first series it was a struggling comprehensive with terrible exam results, uninterested students and teachers who just didn't give a fuck and that's what I liked! I'm really not surprised it's finishing and I just hope they leave on a high.

Dance Moms

You all know how it is - you come home from a hard day at work, pour yourself a glass of supermarket own brand sugar free lemonade and watch American reality TV, and there is no better programme to drown your sorrows in than Lifetime's Dance Moms (Monday nights at 9:00pm)

Each week the elite junior dance competition team of the Abby Lee Dance Company from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, travel across the US to compete in an array of competitions and the girls are accompanied every step of the way by their moms, who describe themselves as 'dance moms' because of what I assume is their dedication to assuring their daughters succeed in the dance world. 

One the face of it, Dance Moms is essentially a 'bitch-fest' between the moms of the child dancers and raspy voiced dance teacher tyrant Abby Lee Miller, who opened her own dance company at the tender age of 14. However, if you look below the surface there is actually a depth to the programme that is sadly ignored. There's this underlying tension each week between Abby and the moms who are constantly having arguments. The three main triggers for these arguments are: 'You shouted at my kid', 'Maddie has more privates than everyone else and that's not fair because the other haven't had as much of an opportunity to learn the dance' and 'why hasn't my child got a solo?' If you watch the show you'll understand what I'm talking about but essentially the girls aren't just competing against other dance companies, they are competing against each other and sometimes that gets really hard to watch.

Every episode of Dance Moms starts off with the unveiling of 'The Pyramid' which is the way Abby communicates her thoughts on individual's dancing from the previous week and the standard group number. One of the things you will learn very quickly about Abby Lee Miller is she is very rarely satisfied. She constantly threatens the girls with the possibility that they will be cut from the team if they don't dance better which literally makes shit all sense because they always win. Like I mean always. I would completely understand wanting to change the team around if they kept losing, but they don't, and so these poor girls are always left in a state of limbo which sometimes borders on cruel. Of course Abby justifies her actions which mainly include cutting numbers and shouting at children, by saying that these are just things these girls will learn to expect in the real world of dance and that all she's doing is preparing them, which makes sense to a certain degree. However, when you have a 12 year old looking so thoroughly unhappy every time they come to dance class because they are terrified of setting a foot wrong in case Miss Abby shouts at them and cuts them from the group number that week, someone needs to call time.

Now I know there are a lot of people reading this right now thinking 'but that's what you expect from reality TV, it's put on for the cameras, she isn't like that in real life' and I agree with those who think that to a point because of course there are elements of this programme that are edited to make it more exciting otherwise it would be everyone getting along and that would be dull as hell and the reality TV junkie ( me) thrives on conflict, but unlike other reality TV programmes Dance Moms is possibly the most 'real' I have ever seen. When the moms are interviewed in the costume closet (yeah I don't know why) about what is going on in the programme, they give some really truthful and correct insights into the dynamics of the group and what possibly causes things to be a certain way not just 'she's a bitch'. For example, ever since season one there has been a rivalry between Maddie and Chloe who are both exceptional dancers. However, Maddie has always slightly overtaken Chloe and is quite clearly Abby's prized dancer and quite rightly in some respects because she is breathtaking when she performs. Yet there have been many times when Chloe's mum Christi, has accused Abby of favoritism and giving Maddie and unfair advantage over Chloe which I would argue is true in some cases such as when she has given Maddie better choreography, nicer costumes, a dance she already knows or more time on her routine than Chloe. It's instances like these that make me shout at the TV because I just want to shake Abby and say 'these mums are paying for this!' which is ultimately what it comes down to, Abby is paid by the moms to teach their daughters.

Now to the dancing itself which varies from week to week really. Sometimes I love it other times I really just gawp at the screen thinking 'what the fuck?' See the thing is Abby has this sort of lust for obscure themes which she then tries to portray in her dances with varying levels of success. I still am slightly unsure of how a vertical leg stretch conveys the agony of poverty or how a Plié alerts young people to the dangers of illegal highs - I'll admit one thing, Abby is nothing if not ambitious in her choreography. Alongside the usually outstanding dancing, there is always Abby's arguably twisted mind games that she plays with these girls on a daily basis. She's constantly dropping and picking up favorites which leaves everyone in a state of permanent uncertainty. Abby herself has a very...lets say eccentric style, preferring to whack on a florescent plastic bargain store headband instead of the conventional gold or silver. There's also the issue of her hair and make up - it's varies really people but sometimes the blue, un-blended eye shadow, red lipstick and eyeliner that looks incomplete really just has me cringing. You're on a TV show Abby, sort it out love!

I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression of me as this sad loner who's whole world revolves around telly, I mean what would give you that impression? Dance Moms is merely a guilty pleasure of mine, one I indulge in regularly and I urge anyone with a weakness for entertaining American reality TV shows to join me in enjoying this gem which literally has everything you could want from this genre.

In The Flesh

Okay, I know this blog hasn't been updated in forever but I'm going to make a real effort from now on - so enjoy! 

Today I'm going review the supernatural drama, In The Flesh. It was originally aired on BBC Three in March 2013 and the first series was comprised of three hour long episodes. Series two finished earlier this year and I really wanted there to be more. Now usually in my reviews I give you the basic plot and a brief description of the characters, but with In The Flesh there are so many elements that I really just need to break it down a bit in order to get my own head around its brilliance and also to give you a greater insight into what the hell is going on in the village of Roarton, Lancashire. 

The premise of the show is that the whole world is reeling from 'The Rising' where all of the people who died in 2009 rose from the dead in 2011 and went rabid, killing and eating poor innocent soul's brains, yet somehow thanks to the miracles of modern medicine and science, they have been treated and are being reintegrated into their families and wider society. Now this show would usually be a massive turn off for me as I normally dislike the whole supernatural, zombie/vampire genre which is why I never made it through the whole of Twilight (please don't hit me), but let me just say unlike those usually superficial 'I'm gonna eat ya and bite ya and take you to my castle' types of supernatural shows, In The Flesh has a depth and a sense of realism that is really refreshing in this genre. 

One of the main themes of the show is the discrimination and prejudice that the Partially Deceased Syndrome Sufferers (the Zombies) endure at the hands of the locals and also wider society. Quite rightly, the village of Roarton is scarred by the whole event and it has damaged the community almost beyond repair which is displayed quite clearly in the constant patrols and paranoia of the Human Volunteer Force, a type of army set up in The Rising to destroy those who had rose from the dead and were at the time in their 'untreated state'. I think what I loved so much about this drama was that it was so realistic and so hard-hitting in a sort of weird kind of way because you weren't really sure if you were suppose to feel sympathy for the PDS sufferers but you did! Also, by using terms such as 'Partially Deceased Syndrome Sufferers' and 'untreated state' it made them seem so much more human, which they were but there was always this underlying fear that they could snap at any time if they stopped taking their medication and that was so thrilling to watch. 

Talking about the humanity of the show brings me onto my next point, the protagonist Kieren Walker (portrayed by Luke Newberry) was one of those who rose from the dead and is just a young boy trying to navigate his way through this whole new confusing life he never really wanted. His friendship with fellow PDS sufferer Amy Dyer (Emily Bevan) provides an aspect of fun in what is a pretty dark show and watching their friendship reminds the viewer that even in times of great disparity there is always someone there who you can rely on to keep you going. His complex relationship with PDS sufferer and rebel Simon Monroe (Emmett J Scanlan) shows how vulnerable and confused Kieren really is as he latches onto the hope and passion that Simon has that the world will be better for PDS sufferers when they rise up again. 

I really admire the way the writers didn't just make the fact that they are zombies the only problem they've got going on in their lives which is often the way in many supernatural dramas, and even in those where there is other story lines weaved in, it is often unrealistic and two dimensional. In The Flesh incorporates themes such as sexual identity, depression, love, grief, loss and discrimination which really gives it so much more credibility and makes it so deserving of the BAFTA it received for a mini-series in May 2014.

I would recommend this show to anyone, even if you are like me and think 'ugh no I hate anything supernatural', I guarantee In The Flesh will pleasantly surprise you. 

The Voice UK

Hello my fabulous telly watchers. Now I know I may get a lot of hate for this post but I just cannot contain my dislike for the cringe-fest that is spinning chair, TV singing show The Voice UK.


This year the judging panel has gained two more incessantly giddy music moguls in the shape of Leeds native and front man of Kaiser Chiefs, Ricky Wilson and Australian hyperactive hamster, Kylie Minogue. They are joined by Voice veterans Tom Jones who looks like he's just been plucked from a nursing home and grammar abuser and Zorro impressionist, Will.i.am. I don't like the format of the show anyway and I think the novelty of the spinning chairs wore off about five minutes into the first episode of series one, but what I cannot stand is the way the judge's egos and constant need for attention overshadows the obvious talent of the contestants. I don't care if Ricky Wilson is asking Kylie Minogue if she's going to turn around or press her button or whatever and I especially don't want their whole meaningless exchange to be shown in subtitles on the screen which is totally distracting me from the singing! Grrr. My annoyance with the judges doesn't stop there. Has someone been slipping amphetamines in their pre-show tea? because they are fucking off their nuts. They bounce around in the chairs like hyperactive rabbits, especially Will.i.am and Kylie Minogue and constantly make torturous expressions over whether or not they should press the button which are again completely distracting and unnecessary.

In an attempt to make sure they don't become too much like the X-Factor, contestants are then faced with a choice of judges if more then one decide to turn around. This means we are forced to spend five minutes listening to them gush out reasons as to why they would be the best to 'mentor' them through the experience. It gives Ricky Wilson an opportunity to mention that he is from Leeds from the twenty millionth time and Will.i.am the chance to talk in some rap language about knowing how hard it is to break into the business etc. etc. Oh, and just when you think it can't get any worse, all of the judges sing some terrible arrangement of a song all together at the beginning of the show. It's literally shit but everyone seems to lap it up - I just don't get the attraction of this show.

Now, I don't know if it's true but there has been a lot of speculation as to whether the show is fixed and to be honest I suspect it is to a certain extent but I have no real evidence of this. Last year's winner Andrea Begley has a album out, did ya know? Nope, I didn't either until about five minutes ago when I Googled it which tells to you something about the impact of the show because after the judges have come down from their highs and the lights are dimmed, the poor talent is forgotten and that's just kind of sad - so much for being a mentor.

3/10

Secrets Of Living Dolls

It's official people, I can no longer be shocked speechless. I seriously thought I had watched every show about secret hobbies and fetishes, from dressing as an adult baby to pretending to be disabled but this one was just beyond anything I could have ever anticipated. When Cliff Richard wrote that wonderfully cheery, if not slightly disturbing tune about his walking, talking, living doll I don't think it ever crossed his mind that people would turn it into something literal - never underestimate human capabilities Cliff.

So what is Secrets Of Living Dolls all about I hear you ask? Well it basically is an in depth look at the secretive world of female masking, a practice where men transform into women with the  help of female rubber suits that look scarily real and masks which are less convincing but I suppose are that way because it's all part of the fake, dolly pretense. We meet several different 'maskers' including 70 year old Robert who lives in Orange County and who's masking costs him a fortune. His alter-ego is called Sherry, a blonde stunner who Robert has made his own by adding personal aspects to her 'skin' including his own hair to serve as pubic hair around her rubber vagina - realistic. He takes us through a traditional process of  'dollification' which includes talcing up the suit so he doesn't stick. I suppose one of the first things that struck me about all of this is that when they are fully dolled up, nothing really much changes in their life, they just sort of hang about and lounge in the sun which is dangerous because Sherry might melt and futile because the suit is made of rubber... I was actually expecting more abnormal stuff to happen after they put on the suit. Oh, but he does get a little pervy over taking pictures of him in the suit which is slightly off putting.

The creator of Fem Skin, the company that produces the suits, was originally a cabinet maker but apparently that didn't really have the demand so he switched to making the suits and masks. How? How did this happen? The programme fails to address this question really which is annoying. I wonder if he was also a masker? The company is family-run with mum Barbie the driving force and her sons chipping in to help design and produce the products. I have to admit, there's some craftsmanship that goes into these suits so it's unsurprising that they cost hundreds of dollars. Now before everyone puts on their 'this stuff only happens in America' face, it actually turns out that other countries including German mainly with the UK following along behind like some left out puppy, are becoming big consumers of these products.

Another masker we meet is Joel who to some people's surprise, and admittedly my own, has a girlfriend - I say this because I think we as a society and a nation stereotypically believe that anyone who engages in practices that are seen as abnormal must be a total freak all of the time but with Joel this just isn't the case. He also helpfully sheds some light on the reasons behind his hobby such as escapism and a sense of enjoyment. Ok, right yes I'm not saying that this is the mainstream and that we all must embrace female masking with open arms, I'm just saying it's a thing and these people who practice it just want to do so with out prejudice - do I think they will achieve this? Probably not in all ways because it is so taboo but maybe overtime female masking will have the same kind of movement towards acceptance as being a transvestite has in recent years.....?

Now, I have some problems with the actual suits. Firstly, they don't all fit great and I'm just saying that if I paid hundreds of pounds for something that was ill-fitting I would be pissed off. For instance, some of the masks are very lose which its not good and the wigs don't really do anybody justice because they all look so cheep, like something you wear for Halloween. Secondly, some of the people went for drives in the programme with these masks on which looked incredibly funny but was also like super dangerous! Bearing mind these masks only have like small eye holes surely it's not safe to be driving with them on....? Thirdly, if you are going to spend all that money on these state of the art suits then you surely can splash out a little on clothes because seriously all, and I mean, all of the clothes these men were wearing were not good. One was actually wearing a bin liner for a skirt - no joke people. I suppose you have to remember that you can pretend to be a woman all you want but if you have even a shadow of doubt about fashion then look at some magazines, don't bloody go out with terrible clothes on because it's not helping the cause. Finally, I would not be able to breathe, I would faint in those masks because the smell of rubber would make me sick.

I admire the frankly brave individuals who took part in this documentary and I wish them every success. Do I feel like I could accept the world of female masking? Probably in time, but you can't force acceptance on people and it's different in real life than on the telly. All I know is that it was a very entertaining and informative hour of telly.

8/10