Film

• Two minutes of Iron Man on YouTube
• Gisele Bundchen to be female lead of new Austin Powers movie?

Music

• ITN to do music news on YouTube

British TV

• Primeval's third series to have new cast members, including Jason Flemyng, and 10 episodes [spoilers]
• Charlie Brooker to write zombie show for E4
• BBC News 24 and BBC World to be renamed
• iPlayer supremo Ashley Highfield to head up joint BBC/ITV/C4 VoD development
• ITV skipping second episode of Pushing Daisies despite strong start

US TV

• Albert Brooks to appear in Weeds
• Gary Dourdan to leave CSI
• Rob Thomas quits 90210 spin-off

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Read other posts about: Charlie Brooker, CSI, Primeval

I'm quite a fan of David Quantick. He's written for just about every comedy programme going. He's collaborated with Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris. He is, to put it bluntly, a talented man.

How, then, to react to the idea of a David Quantick comedy play, particularly one written for the seventh Doctor?

Is it going to be of the science fiction/Doctor Who milieu or is it going to be some random piece of comedy that takes the piss?Is it going to be of the terminally rubbish (but beloved by Big Finish) comedic season 24, or is it going to be of the darker season 25/26 style? Is Quantick going to know the characters and the back story, particularly of new companion Hex, played by Philip "Brookside/The Games/Naked calendars" Olivier? Is it, in short, going to be rubbish, or is it going to be worth listening to?

On balance, I'd say, if it weren't for the slight hindrances of Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, it would actually be all right.

Continue reading "Review: Doctor Who - The Dark Husband"

Read other posts about: Big Finish, Charlie Brooker, Chris Morris

From today's Guardian, in a piece on The Wire by Charlie Brooker:

A few weeks ago, I went to New York for the premiere and got to interview several members of the cast… Incidentally, both Bubbles and Omar recognised me, having seen the Screen Wipe segment on YouTube. And yes, I'm bragging about that. As Wire devotees will understand, it was possibly the most thrilling moment of my life.

That would be me who uploaded it. Do I get a reward? Anyway, in case you missed it, here's Charlie on why you should watch it. The good news from the piece, UK viewers, is season five is coming to FX in July. Remember to watch it/get Sky by then.

Read other posts about: Charlie Brooker, The Wire

Read other posts about: Charlie Brooker

Today marks the start of a new category on the blog: people elevated to God-like status (do you like the banner? Impressive, huh?). There are actors, writers, performers and other creative types who produce things that fill our lives with joy. Then there are people who hold opinions so right, so accurate, that they are as gods, walking among us. This category will celebrate them.

Today, I'm going to launch the category with two inaugural members: Charlie Brooker and Stewart Lee. Really, I was just going to start with Stewart Lee but then I realised that that would mean Charlie Brooker wouldn't be the first member of the elite, which just wouldn't do. So they're both going in at the same time.

I'm not going to say much about Charlie Brooker, since I've already said rather a lot. Instead, I'm going to focus on Stewart Lee. Now, whatever you think about a certain opera, Fist of Fun and a whole load of other things he's done over the years, he was automatically granted membership of this glorious category purely as a result of comments he made on Charlie Brooker's Screen Wipe this week. I will let his wisdom speak for itself.

Christ, I've just realised Chris Morris needs to be in here, too. Okay. That's three then.

Read other posts about: Charlie Brooker, Chris Morris

Happy New Year everyone. Did you all have nice holidays? Feeling rested and geared up for another 365 days? Thought so.

Christmas is a funny time. It's a time for eating and watching loads of television, apparently. I know this because Radio 1 told me so – while simultaneously berating the quality of Christmas TV - as I was driving over the Severn bridge. The funny thing is, despite being MediumRob, I hardly watched any tele.

In part, that's because of Bastard. 'Bastard' is the new name for my PVR. Why am I anthropomorphising my PVR? Because just like the rest of us, it took a break for Christmas. Everything fine until December 23rd but then it took a little rest until I got back on the 28th. Ah diddums.

I managed to catch up a bit thanks to the beauties of digital TV and its constant repeats, but I still have a bit of a backlog of viewing because of my Christmas presents. As a little glimpse into my life (and what people think I'd like for Christmas), here's a list of all the presents I got that didn't include 'voucher' or 'chocolate' in their name.

• Humble Pie (Gordon Ramsay's autobiography)
• Sunday Lunch and Other Recipes from The F Word
• Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies For Every Writer
• Murder One - Case 1
• The Wire - Season 1
• Capoeira Conditioning

Not quite as much sci-fi as you might have suspected, huh? I do in fact have more than one layer. Two maybe. I wouldn't say more than three, though. Anyway, given a choice between watching Stanley Tucci and Daniel Benzali at the height of their acting powers or watching insipid Christmas TV, I plumped for Murder One. And everyone assembled agreed it was the right choice and could they have copies, too? (I said no, because that would be completely illegal).

So I've still to make my way through a few shows, and will be bunging up reviews later in the week than might have been expected. It'll give you all some time to settle in. After the jump are some blipvert-style reviews of a few of the shows I've already managed to watch, since they probably don't merit their own entries.

There was one extra present, though: Doctor Who Top Trumps (“Doctor Who Top Trumps...?!” “Oh you love it really.” Sigh). Anyway, there I was, Christmas Day, playing Doctor Who Top Trumps in the Celtic Manor. I mention this not to show off, but because at roughly the same time, John Barrowman and his family were in Wales' other five-star hotel. I'm hoping that through some form of symmetry, they were playing “Snooty TV Reviewers Top Trumps”:

John: Rob Buckley? Never heard of him. Oh well, cheap sarcasm - nine.
John's Dad: Damn. There you go.
John: Next card... Worth to society - one.
John's Dad: You got the Clive James high card?!

Wouldn't that have been fun?

TTFN

Continue reading "Schedule for the week"

Read other posts about: Big Finish, Charlie Brooker, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood

The BBC4 Christmas newsletter has arrived in my inbox, highlighting all sorts of goodies.

First up, Charlie Brooker is going to get a Christmas and a New Year special for his Screen Wipe review show. The first is this Thursday, so keep your eyes peeled.

Following the success of last year's Ghost Stories season, there's another mini-season of ghost stories, starting on Thursday. Most of it is repeats from last year's season, but Greg Wise will be appearing in a new adaptation of MR James' Number 13 on Friday.

After gobbling up everyone's memories from their web site, My Science Fiction Life has chosen the weirdest and the whackiest to represent all science-fiction fans everywhere. That'll be airing on the 29th. Looking forward to it?

Finally (well, there's other stuff, too, including seasons on Fanny Craddock and John “England is best and all other races are inferior” Buchan), there's a special edition of The Thick of It. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't feature Chris Langham...

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I've not heard anything from Adam Buxton in reply to my email yet. Ah well, he's probably busy or trapped under something heavy or something. C'est la vie.

To divert attention away from myself even more, I'd just like to point out that someone else has just reviewed series two of Screen Wipe for Off The Telly and he was more scathing about the first series than I was.

Go. Fly my pretties.

Meanwhile, also on Off The Telly, I was quite nice about Property Ladder...

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I knew it. I knew this was going to happen. I knew it wasn't just paranoia.

I've been spotted. By Adam Buxton, no less.

Not an Adam Buxton. The Adam Buxton.

Adam's taken exception to my review of the first pilot episode of Charlie Brooker's Screen Wipe, which aired on BBC4 earlier this year, saying “most of Rob’s points are I believe, utter bollocks”, although most of his problems seem to be with my take on Robert Popper's segment on Star Quality.

I hate Internet fights. Even the slightest hint of conflict gives me sleepless nights. Don't believe me? I was over on the Struggling Author's blog at 1am this morning, leaving comments about in-flight security, and I had to be up at six to go jogging with my brother-in-law. Today, coffee is my friend.

I haven't been so mortified since Danny Wallace found out I didn't like the sound of his new game show. Maybe I'll hide behind Scott, since he seems to be able to take on irate television people with the courage of 40 men.

Anyway, to ensure pan-web peace, I've sent Adam an email to let him know that actually, I like the new series of Screen Wipe very much, to congratulate him on his new series and to point out the general 'Brooker love' round here.

But just to answer (for which read 'clarify my initial review and add in a bit more background'. Don't read it as 'let's have a real fight'. Please.) some of Adam's points, which is going to take a little time...

Continue reading "Oh God. I've been spotted"

Read other posts about: Charlie Brooker

I know I drone on about The Wire being probably the best TV show ever made rather a lot, but it's coming back for a fourth season on HBO soon - the 10th September at 10pm to be exact – so I thought I'd commit some more droning into electronic type.

It's brilliant. Watch it.

Not entirely persuasive, huh?

Okay, here's someone else explaining why it's brilliant. A choice quote:

Having devoured all 13 hours even before sitting down with Simon, I can say I have no need of a refund. If anything, I feel like I should be paying more than my HBO subscription rate for this show. It is the best drama in HBO history -- all due respect to “The Sopranos” and “Deadwood.” “The Wire” is deeper, tighter and more ambitious -- and one of the finest works ever produced for American television.

And here's Charlie Brooker on last night's Screen Wipe US special explaining why it's the best TV show of the last 20 years. Y'all respect his opinion, don't you?

Over here in the lovely UK, you'll have to wait for FX to air the fourth season, but it should be arriving by year end. There's one reason for a Sky subscription, anyway, since FX isn't on FreeView.

Unfortunately, it's not repeating any episodes at the moment, which is completely atypical of it. If you want to catch up, Amazon (average customer review: 5 stars) or a similar service is the way to go: you should be able to get a box set of each season for about £25 a whack, or I'm sure a DVD rental service will be able to oblige. It's really, really worth watching. Promise.

There's a trailer for the fourth season on HBO's The Wire site, just in case you don't believe me.

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