Boredchurch.

Is it just me or is ITV's Monday night drama 'Broadchurch' beginning to feel just a little bit drawn out?
After a couple of cracking opening episodes, were everyone and everything that appeared on screen - be it cats, beaches, Australians - all felt like potential suspects, this ponderous 'everyonedunnit'  seems to have gone a little off the boil.
It probably is just me, ain't it?
I've come to feel that the mystery underpinning this eight-parter doesn't feel substantial enough to sustain anything beyond a regular one off episode of 'Wallander'.



David Tennant and Olivia Coleman look North for inspiration. 

And like big Kenny Branagh's pseudo Swedish chin rubber, its clear that 'Broadchurch' is another British attempt to capture the languid beauty of 'The Killing' and other cheery Scandinavian dramas. The washed out colours, the static camera work, the bleak landscapes, the near comatose pace, even the theme song at the end sounds like the one from 'The Bridge'.....only not as good!

Which kinda sums up 'Broadchurch' as a whole!

Mores the pity, because all the ingredients are here for a taut three-parter. An all-star cast, tight knit community, uncompromising investigating officer, caravan parks.....ahhh the possibilities.
The poorly framed, sub standard Kubrickesque camera work doesn't help matters either, contributing little, or nothing, to any sense of atmosphere or mood!

And there's a little too much camera glare as well.

Blimey, I'm fussy!

Sorry!

In Cyberspace No One Can Hear You Rehashing Old Ideas




"Come on, cough up! I'm collecting for Caroline Skinner. She's leaving."

I love so many things about Steven Moffat! I love the fact that he spends three weeks of every year locked in  a Garden Centre display shed, conjuring up new terrifying creatures from the dark recesses of his psyche. I love how the distortion of 'time' and 'narrative order' are often used as a handy means of avoiding troublesome plot holes in many of his scripts.
But most of all, I really love his hair. It is one of nature's greatest achievements! Why it hasn't been given its own spin-off series I'll never know!!

But.....and its only a little 'but'..... I've started to detect a faint whiff of 'familiarity' emanating from Moffat's most recent offerings. Take the latest mid-season opener, 'The Bells Of St John'. While the Wi-Fi manipulating foes and Anti-Grav bike rides were all refreshingly original, many of the episodes other ingredients were not!

The head-turny 'Spoonheads' were a bit like the head-turny 'Smilers' from 'The Beast Below'. "I don't know where I am!" echoed the catchphrase based chills of "Are you my mummy?" and "Hey! who turned out the lights?".  The old chestnut of using a Robot double to dupe the enemy was deployed in both 'Let's Waste Hitler' and the big Season Six finale. And, with Clara, we have yet another new companion laden with unnecessary Timey Wimey contrivances.

That said though, I did enjoy the sound of Johnny's Bells.

As a potential new audience grabber, it ticked all the right boxes. Brisk, breezy, witty, contemporary and exciting. It provided an assortment of entertaining set pieces, a suitably hissable baddie in Celia Imrie, and some wonderful interplay between the show's two leads. 


The 'Doctor' pulls his 'I'm going to ride my bike into your office' face.

In fact, it was the Smith/Coleman chemistry that really made the episode for me. Their rapport felt so natural, so effortless. I already prefer Clara to the walking pout that was Amy Pond, and I've a feeling 'The Chin' and 'The Twice Dead Girl' may prove to be a winning combination.
As for Mr Smith.....well, with each new adventure I love him more and more. The man invests so many of his own unique ticks and quirks into the role, and over time, has managed to shape a persona that's as distinctive and memorable as either Troughton's or Baker's.


Wait for it.....'The Doctor Dances'!   Ho! Ho!

His rooftop cafe shenanigans were highly amusing. The little jigs and smiles. His is a Doctor as seemingly naïve as he is ageless and wise. As vulnerable as he is battle hardened. As delightful as he is re-watchable!!

I love him.....as well!!

Coming Soon to CBBC.



Doctor Ewww!

"Really Doctor, you dirty little....."

I'd have been told off for doing that!

Men Who Appeared In Same TV Show Have Photograph Taken Together.

Two actors, who've each starred in the same TV show, have been photographed standing next to each other. The men, whose real identities are being kept secret by the BBC, are seen standing in a room full of other people, and a bottle of water.

The two actors ponder whose coat will impress the fans.

News of the two men standing next to each other spread like wildfire, and legions of 'Men Standing Next To Each Other' fans were quickly speculating on just what to have for tea!
Most plumped for peppered peppers!
The 50th Anniversary special of 'Men Standing Next To Each Other' will be broadcast later this year!
Hopefully featuring some more men!