Living Witness (Star Trek Voyager)

Red Dwarf Turns 30

Red Dwarf featured pretty strongly in my social group when I was at school. And now... it turns 30!!! Crazy.

So I thought I'd share my favourite scene...

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

1998 was when my Buffy obsession went from "This is good" to "THIS IS EVERYTHING I'VE EVER WANTED!".

The best 1998 episode was of course a Xander centred one. Whilst everyone else was drooling over Angel, my heart belong to Xander.

And in typical Xander fashion (we all remember what havoc he caused in Once More With Feeling!) he misused a spell to try to win the heart of Cordelia but ended up causing every woman in Sunnydale to fall in love with him... except the cold-hearted Cordelia. 

It's got the best mix of madcap comedy and emotional kick that helped make some of Buffy's greatest episodes.

I wouldn't be the man I am today without Buffy. And my love for Xander will never die...

Big Brother: So Very Dull

So why do I keep watching? Yes, Dear Constant Reader, you thought I'd got bored of Big Brother weeks ago and had stopped watching, didn't you? NEVER!

So what's happened? Hmm... Scary Sree has left the building, Angel also made an exit and thankfully great big bully Kris was kicked out this last eviction night. Sadly, despite this deadweight being lost, there is still no one I actually like in the house. Thankfully new housemates arrive at the end of this week (after a week of visits by housemates of the pass! Woo!).

But until then let's see what we have left:

Rodrigo. He looks cute but I've always been sceptical of him because of his VT stating he went to church every day. What sort of person goes to church EVERY DAY?? Someone without a life. Rodrigo is far too tightly wound and highly strung and gets annoyed over the stupidest things. If only he'd smile sometimes and stopped whinging I'd be behind him all the way.

Charlie. He's just a stupid gay. One of those boring queens who read Heat magazine and think having a life means going out to clubs. All the time. His inability to see the evil that was Kris makes him my least favourite queer of the series. Oh wait...

Lisa. Wow. She's miserable! Does she ever stop not liking other people in the house? The fact they all look to her as the wiser older housemates bemuses me completely.

Halfwit. He's moved on from awkward outsider to smug, arrogant inner circle plotter (alongside Marcus) who is guilty of all the things he used to protest against with Kris. Grr...

Marcus. He's taken over from Halfwith as the awkward one. His chasing after Noirin is borderline terrifying and makes Sree look positively reluctant! I cringe everytime he comes on.

Noirin. I just wish she'd grow some balls and be honest with Marcus. God girl, stop leading him on by not telling him enough is enough.

Dogface. Nothing. She may as well be a bag of air for all the personality she has.

Karly. Unintelligent, loud mouthed chav. I 'hink she cannae win.

Siavash. He doesn't believe in evolution. Sorry, but that's all I need to know.

Bring on the new housemates!!!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Torchwood: Children of Earth

This last week on BBC One, we have been subject to a 5 day extravaganza of Torchwood. And it was amazing. If you are reading this and don't want spoilers my advice is for you to stop reading articles entitled "Torchwood: Children of Earth"!!!

Each of the 5 episodes was more thrilling than the last. We begin with Jack, Gwen and Ianto visiting their families and friends as a new crisis in which all the worlds children become conduits for an alien intelligence (the 456). Jack introduces us to his daughter and grandson. Gwen discovers she's pregnant much to Rhys' delight. Ianto visits his sister and her husband and comes out. But the Government don't want Torchwood around as the crisis deepens, and attempts to kill them all. There the adventure begins. During the course of this adventure the British Government agrees to give up 10% of the worlds children, we discover Jack was implicit in an earlier such deal, Jack's family are taken hostage, Torchwood blackmail the Government with video footage of Cabinet meetings, Ianto dies (*SOB*), Gwen and Rhys desperately fight to save a group of kids as the Government begins to bus children to army bases, Jack is rescued from a prison and finds a solution... which leads to him sacrificing his grandson (and horrifying his daughter) for the good of the rest of the world. It ends with Jack heading off into the great beyond leaving a tearful and distraught Gwen and fractured Britain behind.

It was an intense, exciting and ultimately depressing tale leaving nothing sacred and leaving you on the edge of your seat. This was a story about the nasty nature of humanity, the dark choices that face those in positions of power (be they an awful Prime Minister or Captain Jack) and the only character from Torchwood who both survives and maintains her goodness is Gwen.

Will Torchwood continue? Part of me desperately wants it to, because I've always been a fan. But part of me thinks this ending is too final, too awful and too clear. Any attempt to have another season would probably end up cheesy and boring. But I'd love to be proven wrong!!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

RIP Mollie Sugden AKA Mrs Slocombe

Mrs Slocombe has passed away, there has been no news regarding the whereabouts of her pussy. Famous for her time in Are You Being Served? she has been one of those television characters that you just can't help but love!

Not since Her Majesty, the Queen Mother passed away will a lady be so very much missed by us all.

Farewell Mollie, you shan't be forgot!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Reasons To Watch Telly 1: Lincoln Lewis

Lincoln Lewis is an amazing hottie from Home and Away and I think I may be in love. Sorry Jim. The weddings off ;) (Not really, who wants Lincoln Lewis when you've got your own ex-Navy man huh?)




Yoinked from Tottyland

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Scary Sree's Days Are So Numbered

Halfwit might get on everyone's nerves but surely this week Scary Sree must receive the most votes come nominations. He has gone from being a weird, philosophising "Love Guru" to a crazy, bitchy stalker from hell in a matter of a week. His argument with Noirin the other night was a perfect example of how horrendous he is. Noirin and Sree attempt to talk about their problems. Noirin wants an apology from Sree for how he has been treating her. First he starts going on about Marcus, about how badly Marcus speaks to her. She persists and eventually, and we are talking minutes of him ranting, he comes round to make the most false, inappropriate apology in history before going off again about Marcus.

This boy is insane, in the very bad way, and very, very creepy. GET SREE OUT!!

P.S. Don't you just love how insane, in a good way, Angel is?

P.P.S. Rodrigo has gone from HOT fave to really annoying, miserable bastard. He needs to lighten up a little. Jeez.

So current faves: Noirin, Angel and Lisa (even if she is almost as moany as Rodrigo).

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Big Brother: Moany Cairon Has Left The House

The "titantic" struggle between Halfwit and Cairon is over, as Cairon was evicted from the house and showed us that he is a sulky, moany wimp. Bless him.

Inside the house things are also going swimmingly. Sree has gone from annoying "Love Guru" to psychotic stalker as he discovers Noirin does not share his feelings.

Angel has given up her hunger strike, and continues to display disturbing signs that she may, in fact, be borderline insane.

Karly has descended into her native Scottish, and I've resorted to getting Jim to translate words such as "hink" (think). Not that it's anything actually interesting as Karly has decided to go all post post-modernist on us and is an actual dumb blonde.

Rodrigo has absolutely zero personality and sadly very few brain cells. Which is a shame as he is so cute. His argument about not legalising drugs last night with Halfwit showed him up to be totally devoid of any thoughts of his own, simply regurgitating what he has been told.

Dogface likes Kris. Kris likes Dogface. Charlie likes Kris. That is about the whole of the story of the most boring love affair in the house since Darren and Marjorie the chicken in series one (to be fair that one was actually more exciting and touching). BORING. If Dogface or Kris actually had personalities and weren't just bland model types it might be a little more romantic.

Wolverine is turning into the letchy old man of the house, but seems alright otherwise. No one has so far suffered any injuries through adamantium claw incidents which can only be a good thing.

Lisa is a moany old cow isn't she? Jesus. But she's ok when she hasn't got some high horse to get on. Still liking her.

Is Halfwit really a Tory??? Surely the Conservative party should throw him out as this whole "summer of love" stuff seems more in keeping with the Greens.

Siavash is getting less interesting by the second.

So who comes out looking good at the end of this week? Noirin! Her handling of Sree has been delightfully low key, patient and dignified. You go girl!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Big Brother: So Far

So we are over a week into Big Brother 2009 and I have to say... it's not all that bad. Certainly better than quite a few other seasons. We've already had arguments, a walk out, 2 evictions, relationship break ups and slime. It doesn't get better than this.

My thoughts on the housemates now we've had a chance to see them:

Angel - Angel seems to be a shy, emotionally fragile boxer. She is truly the most socially awkward housemate of all time. Her strange massage of Charlie actually made me hide my eyes behind my hands in embarrassment. She broke down in tears when Rodrigo told her to stop being so negative. Yet, I quite like her. She isn't nasty and when Halfwit's bed was stolen she was the one to get it back. Nice.

Cairon - Cairon is the polar opposite of the sort of person I'd want to associate with. Foul mouthed (in a mean way too), stupid and quick to anger he doesn't endear himself to me. Sure I understand why he wouldn't like Sree, but getting angry when Sree implied Cairon disrespects women is a little hypocritical. This is Cairon who stands around the bus stop with Halfwit and Siavash talking about which girl he wants to "fuck". He is not exactly respecting himself or the women involved there is he? Pot calling kettle Cairon. Come in kettle.

Charlie - Charlie is a very handsome guy. There's no getting around that. But whilst I believe he'd be lovely to look at, he's the sort of guy I avoid. He is vain, a little slow and does things without thinking about them. Not only did he raid Siavash's luggage for clothes, we are told by Saffia on last night's BBBM that he then damaged some of it and left a hat on the windowsill where it got crushed by the shutters. He means well and just wants to have fun but I doubt I'd be able to put up with him for too long.

Dogface - I haven't really paid much attention to this one. So I can't be too mean. But she did get a boob job which always makes me think she's a little vain. And vanity is the one thing I hate above all other things. However for making Saffia upset by "getting with" Kris, I'll give her another chance.

Halfwit - I went from hating him when he entered, liking him by mid week for being fairly intelligent and seemingly quite nice, and now I just feel sorry for him. I know he stated he wanted to do this to further his political career but I thought that was just something he said. I didn't think he was stupid enough to actually believe BB would be beneficial for a political career. But when begging to be kept in the house before last nights eviction he said he wanted Great Britain to get to know him better and I just thought... how embarrassingly naive this poor boy is. Give him a hug people!

Karly - After watching her explain the origin of modern English to Rodrigo I think Karly is my number one choice for a visit to a North Korean reeducation camp. She explained that the reason German and English are "so similar" (her words and not mine!) was because the Nazis came over during the war and that's when the languages got mixed up. Yes. She said that (paraphrased from memory). Watching her bounce confusedly between Sree (who called her a slapper) and Cairon (who wants her to be a slapper) was amusing in a really awful way. She isn't the smartest girl in the world.

Kris - This is the hunk of the house? I think not. He is more a male model sort. Alright to look at but he hardly gets the blood flowing now does he? Vanity again. Grr... Unfortunately it is somewhat apparent already with the way he treated Saffia and the way he's clinging to Dogface that he has come on Big Brother for the fame alone. Sure I'm not naive enough to believe that there's anyone in the house not looking for fame but most seem to be there for other reasons too. He is fairly flagrantly just a boring hanger on hoping for a C list career in the tabloids.

Lisa - Oh Lisa. I can imagine living with her for more than a week would drive even the most patient quite insane, I actually LOVE Lisa. She speaks her mind, she is quite sensible, and she seems like a nice person. When Karly and Dogface rudely took a token and got booze without asking the house, Lisa was the only one to make a stand and say "No... that was STUPID". Gotta respect that.

Marcus - The daddy of the house, is actually a rather shrewd individual. He saw through Sree in seconds, which isn't too hard but he did better than most housemates. But I haven't seen enough of him to form any other opinions.

Noirin - The least offensive girl in the house? Possibly. She might have come across VERY BADLY in her VT, but she's been a lot easier to like in the house. Whilst she flirts and has some fun, she doesn't seem to be as stupid or vain as Karly and Dogface. She might make it to the final.



Rodrigo - Well you know I love Rodrigo. But I've concerns he might not make it to the end. He is getting very easily upset by things (the lack of positivity, the cleanliness of the house) and even though he's only two years younger than me, comes across as a little emotionally immature. I hope I'm wrong but I think that he is up there with Angel to be a possible emotional casualty of the BB house.

Siavash - I find him disagreeable but when I think about it it's only the way he speaks and the fact he hangs around with Cairon that really annoys me. So maybe I've been a bit harsh on him. I'll try to keep an open mind.

Sree - Where do you start with this man? He's like a hippy, wrapped inside a moralising douchebag, wrapped inside an emotionally fragile boxer, buried beneath someone playing the game. He comes out with the most overbearing, snobby comments and then wonders why people don't like them. He actually said that he was a "golden person" the other day compared to the other housemates. Jesus. And he spends his time in the house thanking God and praying to God and generally getting on God's nerves about as much as he gets on mine. Sure Cairon went over the top at him, and basically bullied him aggressively, but when you act like Sree does then these things happen. He is my number one pick to go at the next eviction. God willing ;)

If you saw BBBM last night, then you had a chance to witness one of the best pieces of BB telly in ages. Sophia vs. Saffia. Bitch on bitch. It was handbags at dawn and both came off looking like utter cows. Davina lapped it up. Best bit was Saffia explaining that she didn't walk because she was upset about Dogface and Kris but because she didn't want to miss her 1 year olds first steps. Erm... then why go in the house in the first place??? Poor Beinazir gets booted THEN Saffia decides to leave? Grrr...

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Saffia and Sophia: A Match Made In Hell

Check out the latest Big Brother clip. Sophia and Saffia have an argument when Sophia calls Saffia boring. Whilst I'm sure this is quite true it was a little rude of Sophia to say so. But really if I was Sophia I think the indignant look on Saffia's face would have made up for being a little uncouth.

Sophia is an inarticulate, hot headed girl who seems to lack any concept of good manners, whilst Saffia is a false, smug and over confident woman who seems to lack the skills to avoid conflict.

Please don't let Sophia go tomorrow as I really want to see the sparks continue to fly.

P.S. Rodrigo is even cuter when he is angry. This time about how dirty the house is. Watch out Rodrigo sounds like someone is being negative!



Aww... if he looked like that every time the house was messy I'd be throwing things on the floor every chance I got.

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Big Brother 10: Day Something Or Other

Saffia really rubs me up the wrong way. Her face is constantly set to "smug" and she is just one of those "troublemakers" who get all over the top if someone doesn't like you. Sophia had been ignoring her, did Saffia just leave it alone? No she moaned about it as if Sophia had no right not to like her. Saffia might not be the loudest one in the house but she is the one I want out the most.

Speaking of which... Cairon. I know he's only 18. I know he's not the brightest or most eloquent of housemates. But my God isn't he annoying? If he's not swearing, he's mentally undressing every girl in the house (sure I'd do the same with the guys but I'd be a bit more subtle and less demeaning about it) and talking dirty about them to Halfwit and Siavash. Faced with Sree's inept moves on the girls (more of which in a minute) Cairon immediately becomes all "alpha male" about it, which immediately makes me think "He's STUPID". Anyone in this 21st century who is not able to control their inner territorial, animalistic self must be a total twat. I'm not talking total control but God Cairon isn't man enough to get the girls himself but mopes around being jealous and muttering half hearted non-violent threats. We are only human but we have evolved the ability of self awareness!!

Oh Sree... I pointed out before his moves on the girls with his ever so not subtle palm reading trick. I was amazed no one had seen through him on the first day, but instead he managed to survive until just a day or so ago before the housemates began to realise that Sree is playing two games, both extremely badly. These are:

1) get the girls by pretending to be their friend and completely uninterested in having sex with them. This trick is older than time itself. I've known some guys who've pretended to be gay for YEARS in order to take this trick to an entirely new level. But Sree is sooooo bad at it. Yet the girls he's tried it on (hello Saffia, Karly and Dogface) had been falling for it like total numpties. They must make the Suffragettes want to resurrect themselves and reap revenge. Karly finally realised this only after Sree basically told her he likes it when she isn't being a slut. She instantly went to Cairon, who told her he enjoys her dressing scantily (strangely enough) and instantly also realised Sree's not so cunning plans. Foiled at last.
2) get everyone to like him. He is going about this in a similar fashion to his get into bed strategy... he goes around offering not so sage advice and making amusingly bad analogies. He calls Lisa a tree and suggests everyone else is just little plants around her, because she is an elder and thus deserving of respect (Sree obviously doesn't believe in respecting people on merit alone). He does make me laugh. But again... he is starting to rub people up the wrong way.

I might think he's cute but Sree is an overly religious, completely false and amazingly emotionally unstable housemate who needs to be told to act his age.

Rodrigo got all angry at Angel because she was too "negative" and began a rant about everyone being positive. Rodrigo then went and moaned about Angel in the kitchen, thus being all negative himself. Pot calling kettle. Come in kettle.

Rodrigo not only looks absolutely angelic when asleep (I could spend days watching that, which makes me feel very creepy lol) but has a great taste in nominations nominating Cairon and Siavash (the "lads" of the group).

So... Halfwit and Sophia are up for eviction... Halfwit isn't all that bad even if he easily falls under the influence of Cairon and Siavash. Sophia is a bit street and slightly weird but there are plenty of others I'd rather see go (SAFFIA!!). Given the problems some housemates had remembering each others names for nominations perhaps the votes were for Saffia and this is all a blunder. Fingers crossed!!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Big Brother: Siavash And His Nipples Plus Other Stories

So Beinazir became the first housemate.... sorry non-housemate.... to be evicted and was sent home, rather surreally by red bus. Shame really as she hadn't done anything truly obnoxious to deserve an eviction. I was hoping either Marcus (who not only is a Wolverine lookalike but also a Wolverine moanalike) or Siavash (look at me I'm soooo cool, honest, I couldn't be cooler if I tried and I really am trying!) would go.

Talking of Siavash tonight's episode featured footage of him lying in the garden stroking his nipples. Jim was deeply offended.

Sree has, somehow, made is way onto my cute list in 3rd place. Don't know why but sometimes I think he looks really very sweet.

Sophia has been talking all street and getting in peoples faces (thankfully Saffia's smug and slappable face was the main one) which has moved her from a high place on my "Like" list to a high place on my "Out Out Out" list.

Saffia walks around the house looking like she is constantly sucking lemons.

Halfwit thinks he would rather sleep with girls because men can be "territorial". Is he saying he doesn't want to share the duvet?? I don't understand, I've not been out with a territorial male before. And let's face it, I've been around :p In the nicest possible way of course. Mmm... territorial males sound all "Grrr..." I like.

Wolverine and Angel held hands. I give it two days before the housemates start singing "Angel and Wolverine sitting in a tree...".

Most disappointed by Rodrigo's curly hair, Charlie's annoying voice and my growing liking for Lisa. Except when she's doing bad renditions of Zig Zag Ha or YMCA with her rapidly formed backing group.

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Eurovision: The Retrospective

I hope you, Dear Constant Reader, enjoyed the show last night! Before we put Eurovision to bed for another year, and return to business as usual, it's time for us to look back and see exactly what we thought of the whole affair. Let's begin.

Graham Norton As Commentator

Last year I was pretty happy when Terry Wogan implied he was leaving. His commentary had gone from charming sending up of the contest to deeply cynical and unwarranted attacks upon it.

When Graham Norton was announced as his replacement, I was not totally happy. I imagined his commentary would be little different to the cynical Wogan's. I was wrong. His commentary was decent stuff, funny but not too jaded. Certainly a welcome return to treating the contest as something to smile about rather than cry about.

Well done Mr Norton.

Jade Ewan And Our Entry

So I very reluctantly gave my support to Jade to start off with. I've always said Jade could sing, but the song itself gave me moments for concern. Well, I was wrong. It did us proud yesterday. Jade took us into the top 5 for the first time in 7 years. She has proven that we can score big, as long as we choose the right singer.

Sadly many fans on Twitter last night and even the BBC news report afterwards were rather morose and downbeat about this turn of events. This is absolutely unacceptable. We cannot expect to always win! There's over 40 other Eurovision countries! All we should hope is that we do well and come in to the top tier. Which we did. Aiming to win is not a bad thing but being a poor loser is a very bad thing indeed. Especially when Jade did so well, it's quite unfair to her to dismiss what is in fact a victory as "a creditable performance".

The Winner Is... Norway

Norway are famous for their nil points, but last night their entry took the top spot in a massive landslide. The highest points total ever shows that my opinion was completely not in line with Europe as a whole!

What I thought was a bit of an annoying song, sung by someone I can think of better things to do with than watch on telly, turned out to be the winner of the competition. And who am I to argue with the whole of Europe? :D

The Eastern Question

Feeling somewhat like a lone voice in the wilderness I have been decrying the nonsensical attack upon our Eastern neighbours voting patterns for some time. Thankfully this contest proved (even before the new voting system) that any such concerns were unwarranted (see voting analysis ad nauseum for further evidence!).

The semi final knocked out only a few Western countries whilst those east of the Iron Curtain suffered a decimation. Even last night, with the new voting system, the top two entries were Western and 3 of the top five were. That's despite the fact Western countries are totally outnumbered by former Communist block states. So in your face Terry Wogan and the entire British media establishment.

I'm not saying neighbouring countries don't vote for each other. Ireland and the UK are notorious for it. But that's because of cultural reasons, not political ones, and the only way around it is to do what we did this year: send our entry around Europe, get them on television, and ensure they know we are around. It has paid off handsomely. (If only the BBC had read this blog they'd know I'd been suggesting that for donkey's years! Sending Andy Abraham around UK television studios last year to promote his song was, to be blunt, serving only his future career not the interests of our Eurovision entry)

The Slavic Pride Controversy

I'd be interested to know if any other nations commentators made a mention of the heavy handed tactics of the Moscow police in breaking up a legitimate, if technically illegal, gay pride demonstration. For our part, Graham used a particularly topical comical interval act (just for those of us without adverts!) of singing policeman to mention the one dark mark against the Russian hosting of the contest. It was very little, and I would have preferred more, but at least he got it out there.

The British Response

Does anyone actually like Eurovision in this country anymore? Listening to the semi final commentary from Paddy, the emails he received and our response to Jade's awesome achievement suggest not. All have been lacking any decency, respect or even amusement. Dark and cynical is the best way to describe it. Paddy obviously HATES the competition and the people whose communications were read out seemed to hate it too (why they bothered to watch or write in I don't know!!). Does anyone in this country ever smile? Perhaps we deserve to be broken up, cut off from Europe and made an international pariah. We certainly seem to lack any sense of joy, hope or any positive emotions as a people.

Well I resolutely shall not succumb to this idiocy nor negativity. Jade did it! She might not have won but she brought Eurovision glory back into sight. And the quality of the other entries was at an all time high. 2009 was, possibly, the best Eurovision contest of the decade!

See you here, this time next year. But if you can't wait that long... Asiavision starts selecting in July followed by the first ever Asia-Pacific Song Contest in November! COME ON THAILAND!!!!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

The Apprentice Does Kent

Yes! Our most beloved reality tv show has gone to my beloved home county of Kent. Not just any part of Kent but Planet Thanet itself! Margate was the destination of choice in this rebranding exercise.

While one team took the family approach (Ben thought to rebrand Margate with the slogan "the epitomy of English beauty", this was despite actually having visited it!), the other decided to rebrand one of the most deprived areas of the country as a "gay destination". Erm... okay... that's a bit random. I think team member Howard might think aiming for the pink pound is always the solution to any business problem.

Anyway, who most successfully rebranded Margate? The town officials who organised this, when did one hear about anything in Thanet quite this much? They need a raise!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Primeval: Why Hath Thou Forsaken Us?

I have given Primeval a lot of leeway. I've done that because I find the concept so appealing. Prehistoric animals, time travel, action, adventure and a little bit of geekiness all thrown in together to create a show with near endless possibilities. It's Doctor Who Mark 2. Sadly, and with much regret, this show has become what Sliders (another show I truly, passionately adored and dreamed of being so much more than what it became) became.

Firstly, the cast changes. Getting rid of Stephen Hart at the end of series two was alright. I'd never really taken to him as he just seemed to be there to provide the macho man that such shows seem to assume is required. But I hope Nick Cutter leaving was because Douglas Henshall wanted to move on and not because the producers thought he wasn't what was needed in the lead role. Because him leaving was a very bad thing for the show. The Cutter character was great as a leader, heroic when needed but intelligent and reflective too. Plus his oft broken heart gave the character a quality to empathise with. Plus getting rid of hard but soft Jennifer Lewis was just as silly a mistake.

Now we have this Danny Quinn bloke. What are we meant to think of him? He was introduced as a police officer who had

1) failed to notice a rather violent and aggressive future animal living in an abandoned house which was the centre of his obsessive investigation into the death of his brother FOR TEN YEARS. Hardly what we'd call a super sleuth. You'd have thought he might have noticed this creature before.
2) he had relentlessly pursued an innocent boy/man who he thought had killed his brother and when he discovered he hadn't barely even apologised to him!

And we are meant to believe he is some sort of super cop and accept him as the leader of the ARC team and a hero? He seems more like a stupid tosser to me, but maybe that's because I've been following the character development unlike the writers.

Season 1 was written to an acceptable standard. You could watch it, enjoy it and forgive the slight slips into cliche and sometimes plagirism. Season 2 was much improved, sharper writing and even a season long build up of a story that was brought to a close with the end of the season.

Season 3 has been... rubbish. You have an almost limitless set of scenarios and they seem trapped around the same ones. Ooo... let's bring in mythology. Ooo... let's do a scary horror in a house. Ooo... let's have one where Helen is really evil. Ooo... let's have a dinosaur one again! Each of those is the ENTIRE plot of each of the first four episodes. In order.

Last nights was the last straw. It was so bad it didn't even actually have a plot and seemed just an excuse for some Jurassic Park-esque shots of Terror Birds (oh God I'm lying in the back of a trailer and the T-Rex Terror Bird is CATCHING UP). It was truly atrocious, and wasn't helped by the really awful editing. The car chase scene was so badly edited that at times the car was being put into reverse and then the shot would show it going forward. AH! Plus one scene includes a car hitting a mine. It was obviously edited badly because the effects were so badly done. Why did they do them in the first place? Was it necessary to the story to have the car explode? No. But they did it, they did it badly and then edited it so it looked even worse.

It's frustrating to watch and so I'm left with only one choice. I'm never watching this show again. It is a disgrace for such a wonderful concept to have been destroyed by lazy writing, cheap effects and bad acting (Connor, Abby and Lester are the only ones left who can act and really I'm being kind to Andrew-Lee and Hannah there...)

Such a bloody shame.

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

It's Cold Outside

Oh I nearly forgot! Did you hear Red Dwarf is coming back for special at Easter on Dave? How flipping cool is that? Red Dwarf is one of the best comedy shows of our times.



My favourite piece of dialogue:

Rimmer : Step up to Red Alert!
Kryten : Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb

Aww.. bliss.

Now smeg off!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Slowly Goes

Thanks to a direct debit mishap this week up to yesterday has been a little... tough. I have to say food never looked as nice as the TWO jumbo chocolate croissants I had for breakfast yesterday after a week of "one meal a day" days.

Work. Work is stressing me out right now... nothing runs smoothly there and I'm constantly surprised as each new disaster presents itself to me. But Darkblade has been sighted a couple of times which has cheered me somewhat, even if he isn't really a proper crush but instead just the best of a average looking bunch of men there. But I have applied for a permanent position. I'm a glutton for punishment.

I've now officially finished all the books bought for me at Christmas. Which is a lot of books. I think I am now well prepared for a zombie apocalypse though. Thanks zombie book buyers!


On the television front: Your Country Needs You (the new Eurovision act selection programme) has settled into a boring, but more respectful, talent show format. Yawn.

Demons has not improved, and has an ever decreasing amount of naked flesh from Christian Cooke. Let's face it, it really is the only reason most people watch the show.



Total Wipeout, however, is a Saturday night gem. As a Ninja Warrior fan I was a bit worried it would be total crap. But some of the contestants have been so bad that it has been unerringly funny.


But of course top of the television stakes this year so far is, of course, the second series of the new Gladiators. And I say this as someone who considers anything shown on Sky 1 must have any good points halved just for being made by the Evil Empire (News Corporations other name). And I don't even just like it for the half naked muscular men getting rough with the contestants... but...

Spartan from Gladiators is my belated man of 2008 and my early nomination for man of 2009. He is gorgeous! Some have complained about having his legs wrapped around them on hang tough. Trust me, I would not be complaining...

Plus Goliath has added a little extra "shit my pants he's so big and scary" factor to the show this time round.

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Tonight I'm Going To Party Like It's 1999!

Welcome, Dear Constant Reader, to post 1999! I trust it finds you well! Wow, it's a little chilly here in London at the moment, I've been keeping an eye on where I step in order to avoid one of those embarassing ice falls.

As I'm dirt poor at the moment (no change there then I hear you sigh) I'm currently enjoying the company of television... and finding it a very messed up companion.

Take Demons. It was absolute trite. I cannot begin to stress how much I hated the programme. A lot of bad acting. A terrible fake American accent (a pointless one as well!). Awful script and to top it all off the make up and costume department couldn't even equal the same quality as a normal episode of Buffy. Which, basically, this was a straight rip off of with names changed to protect the lazy writers. But I'll be watching the second episode, not because I'm giving it a second chance, but because the sight of Christian Cooke topless compels me to keep viewing. Shallow but true. He is gorgeous.

On the other hand Celebrity Big Brother 2009 is turning out to be amusing viewing. Coolio driving everyone insane, La Toya Jackson being strangely cute in a deranged Jackson sort of way, Ulrika obviously is only in there for the money, and why Verne agreed to go in is anyone's guess. Awesomenews!!

And finally controversy continues to wage in the family seat of Snodland. Shocking.

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Matt Smith Is The Doctor!!

The decision has been made and Matt Smith is the new Doctor Who.

I'm not going to prejudge him, having seen none of his work. Good luck to him, I'm sure he'll do the job admirably. Long Live The Eleventh Doctor!!!