Doctor Who

• Catherine Tate was funnier than Ant and Dec after all
• Sonic screwdriver creator would like some cash please

Film

• The first seven minutes of Speed Racer

Commercials

• Thunderbirds's Brains sells water

British TV

• Virgin in talks with BSkyB again
• ITV pays record fine for phone-in 'problems'

US TV

• The Gong Show returns
• Allison Mack leaving Smallville?
• Portia de Rossi in pilot
• Women's Murder Club cancelled, Eli Stone to return
• Lost adds hours to future seasons

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Read other posts about: ITC shows, Lost, Smallville

Fun to see Specsavers using Thunderbirds in their ads. Just not sure why... Demographics of glasses wearers? Something else?

Read other posts about: ITC shows

At first sight, this looks like a meme. And it is. Sort of. But it's also about something that's been concerning me of late: the youth of today. Ah, I must be getting old if I'm getting concerned about the youth of today – and using the phrase "the youth of today". It's a short step to the Daily Telegraph from here.

What's your favourite TV decade? In other words, which decade produced the television you love the most? Maybe it was the 60s with its escapism and gritty social realism, all rolled into one. Maybe it was the bleak 70s, or the action-packed 80s? It might even be the 90s, when US television really got into quality products for the first time.

But the second part of the question is slightly different: how did you get to see that TV?

I'm gambling that, to a certain extent, most people's favourite TV decade – if they have a favourite decade – will be the time in which they were growing up. If they were young in the 80s, they probably fondly remember 80s TV. And so on.

But there will be a few who will cite an earlier time, and probably a few who will say that the current programmes on TV are the best we've ever had. I'm very fond of 1960s and 1970s, even though I was either too young to have seen very much of it or I hadn't even been born yet – and there's a whole load of 1950s TV that's very good, too.

I grew up in the 80s when there were just four TV channels available to most people. Back then, network programmers had no problem with sticking old programmes and movies on at primetime. Channel 4 stuck The Addams Family, Car 54 Where Are You?, The Munsters, and The Abbott and Costello Show on at 5pm on weekdays, and The Avengers on at night. BBC2 was quite happy to repeat The Invaders, the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies, the Falcon and the Saint movies, and more at 6pm of an evening. ITV littered its daytime schedules with The Sandbaggers and Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) and stuck The Baron, The Champions and Thunderbirds on at the weekends. And BBC1 would trawl out Bonanza on a Sunday afternoon. That's how I got introduced to the TV classics of the past – as well as a few old bits of rubbish.

Nowadays, you can get all of this on DVD, of course, and with multi-channel TV, there are networks more or less dedicated to old faves: ITV4 is a haven for all those ITC shows (R&H (Deceased), Space: 1999, The Champions and The Prisoner are all on right now); there's the Bonanza Channel (or used to be at least) for anyone wanting to catch Lorne Greene before he boarded the original Battlestar Galactica; and BBC4 will occasionally dredge something up from the archives for a brief season (Steptoe and Son, recently, or Doctor Who, starting on the 5th April).

But not the terrestrial channels. More to the point, you have to go looking for this stuff: it's not right there in front of you when you turn on the TV. Which is all well and good, but how – and this is my big point – are the youth of today going to ever see any of their TV heritage and become interested in it? How will they ever experience the thrills of The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone or The Night Gallery? How will they know the joy of Mrs Peel and Steed's interplay, Carter and Regan's bad driving, or the simple happiness of life in Camberwick Green and Trumpton?

Obviously, learning French, reading classics of literature, and getting a fair understanding of physics, chemistry and biology so they can laugh at homeopaths, particularly French homeopaths, are far more important than tele. But whole lot of effort, expertise, creativity and passion went into creating these old shows, some of which are infinitely superior to their modern successors. Who wouldn't want the original Invaders over its remake, for example? Or, indeed, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) - shame on you Vic and Bob. Some of the shows are historical documents in their own rights and are referenced in books and films of the time; some even changed society altogether. And I think it would be a shame to forget that heritage, just as it would be a shame to forget the literature of the 1960s, say.

Is it going to take parents forcing DVDs on their kids or locking every channel except the nostalgia channels to teach them TV history – not that that's a particularly good way to enthuse kids about anything? Now that MOMI's gone we no longer have the equivalent of New York's Paley Center so that's not an option. Worse still, are the youth of today just never going to be able to relate to old TV, any more than most people can relate to classics of Victorian literature? Should we just let ephemeral old TV disappear into the ether and live in the now?

What do you think?

Read other posts about: Battlestar Galactica, ITC shows, The Prisoner, The Sandbaggers

In the UK: Mondays, 9pm, ITV1
In the US: Not yet acquired

Once upon a time, ITV ruled the roost of action TV. With the classic shows of ITC such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, Danger Man and The Avengers, ITV pretty much dominated the 50s and 60s. Then there was The Sweeney, The Professionals, Out et al during the 70s and Robin of Sherwood in the 80s, as well as all those glorious US action imports that almost always ended up on ITV first.

In the 90s, post-franchise change, it all went pear-shaped. Now ITV1 is a bit of a gamble when it comes to action shows. You might get lucky and find a show like Sharpe's Progress/Plimsolls/Whatever that starts off well and continues to be good. Or you might find a show that starts off well then becomes a bit of a turkey (eg Ultimate Force). Most of the time, though, you'll come across something dismal like The Outsiders that's so bad it has a biohazard warning next to it in the Radio Times.

But ITV1's turned over a new leaf. It wants to be known for quality programmes. Can it do quality action TV? The Fixer, which started last night, is actually a very good attempt at a quality action show.

Continue reading "Review: The Fixer 1x1"

Read other posts about: Callan, ITC shows, The Unit

It's been a long time since there were only four TV channels to watch - in both the US and the UK. Cable, satellite, digital, the Internet, mobile phones and other platforms have all begun to offer us new TV channels.

The new channels are different, though. While BBC1, BBC2, NBC, CBS et al were all pretty much generalist channels, offering something for everyone (in theory), the new channel have all tended towards specialisation: MTV, The History Channel, Showtime, etc, have all had to brand themselves and pick a particular niche in an effort to get a loyal audience. Sometimes that's a subject, such as history, music or drama; sometimes, it's a demographic, such as young people, women, men, posh people, chavs, etc.

The reason they need a loyal audience is that they need people to watch more than just one programme. It's all very well having a great show like Dexter or The Wire, but if ultimately that's all your viewers are watching, you're going to go out of business. You need them to start watching your other shows as well, because they think they might be similarly interesting.

So it's all about branding. Look at Dave. That used to be UKTV G2. Yes, a channel dedicated to all the stuff UKTV Gold didn't want any more. Fancy watching it? Didn't think so.

Yet, simply by renaming itself Dave (and, admittedly, moving to Freeview from just Sky), it's now the 10th most watched channel in the UK. Same programmes as before. It's just called Dave, the home of witty banter. Fancy some witty banter that'll make you laugh? Thought so.

What's your favourite TV channel?
So today's question, assuming you're all still out there, is what's your favourite TV channel and why? Is it because of the programming? Is it because it feels like your sort of channel (do you consider yourself a Living woman, for example, addicted to makeover shows, crime and psychics?) It can be on any platform in the world, so this is open to non-UK residents.

For me, it's a tie between Dave and ITV4, closely followed by BBC4. Look at Dave's schedule of an evening: Dragons' Den, Top Gear, Whose Line Is It Anyway? and more. It's what we turn to first when we need something to amuse and entertain us.

ITV4 is something of an odd channel but I always scan its schedules just in case. As well as repeats of all the ITC shows like Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), The Champions, The Saint and UFO, there's re-runs of The Professionals, good films, as well as the occasional odd nugget like Ultimate Force that's worth tuning in for.

As for BBC4, although it's 90% rubbish, it does have the occasional gem and some intelligent programming. It's not one I tune into unless I'm looking for something specific though.

See what I mean about needing to have a brand? I don't really identify with any channel, so it's all about the programming for me.

But anyway, what about you?

Read other posts about: ITC shows

In the UK: Wednesday 2nd January, BBC4

BBC4 likes themes. It likes seasons. It like evenings. It likes repeats a lot. Sometimes, they're good, such as the now-traditional yearly Ghost Stories seasons.

Sometimes, though, you have to ask yourself, “What's the point?” Sure, somebody, somewhere liked Dance Britannia and is grateful that finally someone has seen the sense to put on a sort of social history thing about dancing. But even fans of Gerry Anderson – you know, the guy behind all those 60s puppets series like Joe 90 – must be wondering who exactly was supposed to have gained anything from BBC4's 'Thunderbirds night'.

Continue reading "Review: Thunderbirds night"

Read other posts about: ITC shows

There's something about the Big Finish Sapphire and Steel plays. They make you acutely aware of time.

Tick tock. Tick tock. Your life is ebbing away. Tick tock. That's two hours you could have been using for something else. Instead, you're now two hours closer to being dead.

Certainly, for the first half of The Mystery of the Missing Hour, that's how I was feeling (hence the somewhat tardy nature of this review - I wasn't exactly desperate to get through this one). I even reached the point where I was considering pretending to have listened to the whole thing and reviewing it all the same.

It really was that bad. I'd even consider using a word beginning with s.

But I'm glad I'm conscientious enough to have stuck through it. Because disk two is a cracker.

Big Finish (and the writer Joseph Lidster) have essentially taken a huge gamble: that because you've ponied up the cash for the play, you're going to listen to something that is deliberately complete crap and stick through to the end.

Continue reading "Review: Sapphire and Steel - The Mystery of the Missing Hour"

Read other posts about: Big Finish, ITC shows, Sapphire and Steel

Doctor Who

• John Barrowman's on tour and helping with an anti-bullying campaign
• David Tennant talks to The Stage about the stage

Film

• Guillermo del Toro to write, direct and produce remake of The Champions!
• Roman Polanski to direct Robert Harris's The Ghost
• Mike Newell to direct Prince of Persia?
• Josh Lucas to star in Tell-Tale?
• Bruce Greenwood is Captain Christopher Pike in Star Trek XI

Web TV

• 4oD to carry 20th Century Fox movies

US TV

• 24 postponed until strike resolved
• More shows shutting down, including Pushing Daisies
• Tim Kring admits season two mistakes with Heroes [spoilers]
• Gina Torres cast in Dirty Sexy Money (subject to strikes)
• Madchen Amick to star in Lifetime pilot

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Read other posts about: 24, Heroes, ITC shows, Star Trek

Doctor Who

• The Sun continues its yearly tradition and spills the beans on who the next series baddie is and interviews the chief villain [spoilers]
• Billie's coming back???

Film

• Steven Moffat's writing Tin Tin for Dreamworks
• Stopping Power's off again
• Remake of Cronenberg's The Brood on the cards
• Christian Bale to try to kill Pablo Escobar
• Wesley Snipes replaced on Spike Lee flick
• Sequel to The Queen planned, looking at Tony Blair's relationships with George Bush and Bill Clinton
• James Purefoy to play Solomon Kane
• Join the rest of us, Jackie: Jackie Chan doesn't like the Rush Hour films
• Transformers re-writers brought in for Watchmen
• Writers found for Friday the 13th remake
• Rose McGowan as Barbarella?
• Featurettes and pictures from The Dark is Rising
• Ridley Scott talks long and hard about Blade Runner. And global warming

Books

• Roger Langley throws out a Patrick McGoohan biography

Commercials/Music

• As much as we can take: 3 to have 10-second ads featuring the Sugababes

British TV

• Sky to launch kiddies factual channel on pay-per-view Freeview
• Andrew Davies to adapt Sarah Waters' Affinity for ITV1
• Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson planning fake celebrity travelogues

US TV

• Fox to make male version of Angela's Eyes. Think of the children!
• Eddie Cibrian to guest on Samantha Who? and Dirty Sexy Money
• Recurring actors for The Cashmere Mafia and Chuck

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Read other posts about: ITC shows, The Prisoner

It's back, but it's mutated. “Things I learned from watching television last week”/“Things I learned from television last week”/“Things I learnt from last week's television” (style guide? What style guide?) has returned - but in a different guise (as promised). After a brief experiment last week, it has now emerged from the pupa of my brain into something hopefully more butterfly-like than the original caterpillars.

Here goes: this week's question(s) - which I throw open to the floor to answer, whether you've seen the show or not - and realisation(s) - for which I also invite comment - come from having watched the rather good finale of Burn Notice on Friday.

Continue reading "Questions and realisations from television last week: Burn Notice"

Read other posts about: Battlestar Galactica, Burn Notice, ITC shows, Jason Bourne, Star Trek