Commuting into central London this week I couldn't help but notice that women of a certain age were wearing more make up than usual. Well I say 'wearing' they actually appeared to be bivouacking under under the stuff.
Why might this be? Perhaps they all got lots of make up for Christmas. Or maybe they went mad in the sales and over bought, although why that would result in over use I don't know.
It can mean only one thing - there's a collective new year resolution for women in London to try to be more attractive. Men don't be fooled! While a bit of extra make up might work on some ladies what happens if you inadvertently get hitched with one of these women? At current rates their make up will run out by Autumn and goodness only knows what's lying underneath.
Be wary.
The Undefinable Magic of Dr Who
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Saba Douglas-Hamilton... I'm not obsessed
But I find myself looking at her official website for some reason or another. I also notice that she has a fan club in facebook and it's very cold in London this morning.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
The Problem with Torchwood
I've finally nearly finished watching the first series of Torchwood. Getting an HD TV and Sky package was wot made me do it - or else I would have been happy to avoid it.
The series undoubtedly improved over the course of the series but it really is a poor set up and when you have a poor set up a show will struggle. Not in terms of viewing figures though!
I particularly enjoyed some of the more off beat stories such as the one in which Gwen could hear a ghost of a man killed in a hit and run accident and the one where some people turned up in a plane from the 1950s. There was some very good inventive stuff in those episodes and the fact they didn't have too much alien rubbish in them helped.
But watching the remainder of the series made me realise where the real problem with Torchwood lies. It's almost an opposite of Dr Who in this regard: When Dr Who deals with the consequences of the drama it becomes more realistic.
For example, when Rose first returns to the Powell Estate and she's a missing person it has consequences for the central characters that drives the drama. When Torchwood does this it exposes how bloody stupid the set up is. For example the strange life that Gwen and her boyfriend have. It just doesn't make sense and the characters know it. The audience knows it. Don't get me started on the alien fight club.
When Torchwood returns in a couple of weeks I'm expecting it's problems to become ever more obvious. But at least I can see this rubbish in glorious HD.
The series undoubtedly improved over the course of the series but it really is a poor set up and when you have a poor set up a show will struggle. Not in terms of viewing figures though!
I particularly enjoyed some of the more off beat stories such as the one in which Gwen could hear a ghost of a man killed in a hit and run accident and the one where some people turned up in a plane from the 1950s. There was some very good inventive stuff in those episodes and the fact they didn't have too much alien rubbish in them helped.
But watching the remainder of the series made me realise where the real problem with Torchwood lies. It's almost an opposite of Dr Who in this regard: When Dr Who deals with the consequences of the drama it becomes more realistic.
For example, when Rose first returns to the Powell Estate and she's a missing person it has consequences for the central characters that drives the drama. When Torchwood does this it exposes how bloody stupid the set up is. For example the strange life that Gwen and her boyfriend have. It just doesn't make sense and the characters know it. The audience knows it. Don't get me started on the alien fight club.
When Torchwood returns in a couple of weeks I'm expecting it's problems to become ever more obvious. But at least I can see this rubbish in glorious HD.
Romana #3 Playing Now on Big Cat Week
You wait for months and then at last one of your favourite TV shows is back. The best shows have us gripped with drama, action and are often thought provoking as well as working on a base level.
Big Cat Week has all of this. I've watched the show for over 10 years now and the constant delays from the Beeb on broadcasting the latest series have been very frustrating, made worse by the fact that the show has been all over the schedule this week. Previously this was BBC1 7pm material; now it's relegated to one of the strangest TV weeks of the year at about 5ish depending on the weather.
When it comes to drama it doesn't get much better than this though. Big Cat Week keeps on breaking the cardinal rule of observing and showing nature impartially and instead it is shot presented and edited like a soap. You get to know the cats, see them as characters and root for them during their life and death struggles in the Masai Mara. It's such a well made programme it looks effortless. And yet it must take many months to make the 5 half hour shows.
And what drama - 1 cheetah cub and three lion cubs down already in very violent deaths, the show has highlighted how fragile these great predators are as their lives are played out for our entertainment. Living the drama vicariously through the three presenters as they reconcile their professionalism and their consciences is what makes the show unique in the world of nature programming.
And when it comes to working on a base level of course there's Saba Douglas-Hamilton to watch. She's like a naturalist version of Romana - so posh, intelligent and yet feral. All women should be like her and yet...
What a fantastic programme.
Big Cat Week has all of this. I've watched the show for over 10 years now and the constant delays from the Beeb on broadcasting the latest series have been very frustrating, made worse by the fact that the show has been all over the schedule this week. Previously this was BBC1 7pm material; now it's relegated to one of the strangest TV weeks of the year at about 5ish depending on the weather.
When it comes to drama it doesn't get much better than this though. Big Cat Week keeps on breaking the cardinal rule of observing and showing nature impartially and instead it is shot presented and edited like a soap. You get to know the cats, see them as characters and root for them during their life and death struggles in the Masai Mara. It's such a well made programme it looks effortless. And yet it must take many months to make the 5 half hour shows.
And what drama - 1 cheetah cub and three lion cubs down already in very violent deaths, the show has highlighted how fragile these great predators are as their lives are played out for our entertainment. Living the drama vicariously through the three presenters as they reconcile their professionalism and their consciences is what makes the show unique in the world of nature programming.
And when it comes to working on a base level of course there's Saba Douglas-Hamilton to watch. She's like a naturalist version of Romana - so posh, intelligent and yet feral. All women should be like her and yet...
What a fantastic programme.
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