In Canada: Mondays, 9pm, CBC

UPDATED 9/1/9: With new pic and vids
UPDATE 2: Apparently, the BBC is going to acquire this, although no airdate is fixed

There's kind of a golden rule in time travel stories: never interfere with your own past. Don't go meet your parents because your dad or mum will fall in love with you and you'll never be born; don't try to save a relative's life because the wee timerous beasties will start eating you while you're trapped in a church. That kind of thing.

The other golden rule is that you're travelling in time to make a difference to the world. Let's stop war being averted, aliens invading and taking over, or the future president of the United States from being killed by assassins.

Being Erica laughs – it is a dramedy after all – at that kind of jessie talk. It's a time travel show in which the heroine does nothing but interfere with her own past, all because her life's a bit of a mess and she'd quite like a decent job or boyfriend for a change.

Erica Strange is 32, lives in Toronto and her life has gone to pot. She has a Masters but works in a call centre – or should that be worked? She's cute but always gets dumped or treated badly by rubbish men. Everyone she knows seems to be married and successful. If only she didn't keep making such bad decisions.

After she wakes up in hospital after an allergic reaction to a nut-infused coffee, a mysterious, saturnine man called Dr Tom (Baker?) turns up at her door offering her therapy that's guaranteed to fix her life. What he doesn't tell her is that it involves travelling into her past to points in her life when she made bad decisions to see if she'd make a better job of things with the gifts of hindsight and maturity.

First 'leap': Prom Night.

Continue reading "Review: Being Erica 1x1"

As usual, a little something for the weekend – a Sitting Tennant, the first of 2009. As you can see, DT is busily seeing who won 2008's competition.

The scores are reset, everything's back to zero. Captions and pictures, please. On your marks, get set, go!

Got a picture of David Tennant sitting, lying down or in some indeterminate state in between? Then leave a link to it below and if it's judged suitable, it will appear in the “Sitting Tennant” gallery. You can also enter the witting and amusing captions league table by commenting on existing photos in the gallery.

All five seasons of The Wire, "rapped" up... in 5 minutes. (Featuring "Mad Skillz")

[via]

Doctor Who

• Eighth Doctor to meet granddaughter Susan in Big Finish play

British TV

• ITV Player coming to Virgin Media

US TV

• What Mark Verheiden's doing to change Heroes, and one of the cast wants out
• Casting on True Blood, Eleventh Hour, Numb3rs and NCIS [spoilers]
• Some of the differences between new Prisoner and old

Subscribe to the daily news by RSS or email

Read other posts about: Heroes, Numb3rs, The Prisoner

I mentioned Elvenquest earlier in the week. Now the plot is clearer:

We'd love you to join us for Elvenquest, a brand new sitcom exploring the funny side of the eternal struggle against the forces of evil. Elvenquest is a cross between Lord Of The Rings and Galaxy Quest, with a bit of 'Crystal Maze' thrown in for good measure.

There you go then. All explained. Anyone going to go (dates, etc on the previous entry)?

Pay attention, UK readers: this may be about a Canadian show, but it's going to be on FX (aka "The channel that gets all the good stuff but no one can get and no one watches") in the UK soon, so it affects you now.

The Border is Canada's good TV programme. An atypically conservative take on world affairs, it's a look at terrorism, crime, international relations, spies and other nefarious activities, all set to the backdrop of Canada's Immigration and Customs Security (ICS) agency. It does what 24 and Spooks does - except better and with a smaller cast.

So popular did it prove when it aired during the American writers' strike last January that it was re-commissioned for a second season while it was still airing, and a third one is on its way soon.

But since most of y'all won't be watching it for a while, I'll continue talking about it after the jump - and specifically, the second season finale.

Continue reading "Season finale: The Border (season two)"

Read other posts about: The Border

In the US: Tuesdays, 9/8c, ABC
In the UK: E4, some time this year probably

It has to be said that Scrubs hasn't been what it was for some time. Originally, a comedy show about doctors that also looked at the more human side of having to cope with people who are ill and dying, over its last few seasons, it's become something of a cartoon, in which reality has been shoved aside in favour of silliness and cartoon-like behaviour.

The strangeness of Scrubs is that it was an ABC Studios production for NBC, a network that didn't really seem to know what to do with the programme anyway, seeming at times almost to have forgotten the show existed.

But after NBC dropped it with a literal, medieval fanfare finale last season, ABC picked it up and has decided to run with it. Will the change in management help bring Scrubs back to its former glory for its probably final season, or like a giant oil tanker, will it prove impossible to turn back on course at this late stage?

Continue reading "Review: Scrubs 8x1-8x2"

Read other posts about: Scrubs

Has it really been nearly a year since The Condemned? Time, once again, has flown. Oh dear.

Yet already, we have a sequel to that story which first gave us the pairing of the Sixth Doctor with Charley. Also written by Eddie Robson, The Condemned was a modern day tale set in Manchester that tried to be gritty and urban and was really very good.

Which is what makes The Raincloud Man something of a disappointment. While The Condemned was quite tense and managed to throw aside some of the usual conventions of Doctor Who stories, this is a semi-comedic affair that although by no means bad, really isn't as big or as clever - or even as funny - as it thinks it is.

Continue reading "Review: Doctor Who - 116 - The Raincloud Man"

Read other posts about: Big Finish

Film

• Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke to play the baddies in Iron Man 2?
• But what will the story theme be?
• Darko acquires rights to Fade
• New Regency acquiring rights to Beat the Reaper for diCaprio
• Teresa Palmer to play female lead in The Sorcerer's Apprentice
• Lena Headey to direct Kill Drug
• DJ Caruso to direct Jack the Giant Killer

British TV

• 3.4m watch Oz and James
• Series four of Robin Hood to be complete revamp, better than series three [spoilers]?

US TV

• The first 90s of BSG's fifth season
• Weeds creator developing Ronna and Beverly for Showtime
• TNT picks up Time Heals and The Line for 10 episodes each
• Season 9 of Smallville could still happen
• Balthazar Getty leaving Brothers and Sisters early

Subscribe to the daily news by RSS or email

Read other posts about: Battlestar Galactica, Smallville

In the UK: Sunday 4th/Monday 5th January, 9pm, ITV1

While shows like Demons demonstrate that ITV1 still has somewhere to go to redeem itself with drama after a decade of predominantly awful output, something that we can probably all agree on is that ITV1 is the home of decent crime TV in Britain.

While the Beeb has restricted itself to anaemic period stuff, comfy escapism like Jonathan Creek, Inspector Lynley cobblers or excruciating rubbish like The Invisibles, ITV1 has been producing classics of modern, gritty crime fiction for decades, including the Prime Suspects, Cracker, Wire in the Blood and even The Bill. Okay Wallander was good, but for the most part, BBC1 has sucked, while ITV1 has done well.

Blimey though, has it really been nearly two decades since the first Prime Suspect. Doesn't time fly? I'm sure they'd be cranking out more episodes if only Helen Mirren hadn't decided to get old, curse her.

That might well be the thought Prime Suspect creator Lynda La Plante had when she was writing the novel Above Suspicion - while simultaneously being unable to get much stuff on TV other than one of those few ITV1 crime misfires, Trial and Retribution, and the slightly bland The Commander. "If only we could do Prime Suspect: The Early Years, hopefully with some hot young actress. Let me write that as a novel and see if they adapt it."

Hey presto, here it is. A two-part mini-series starring the exceedingly hot (and talented) Kelly Reilly as a young rookie DC hunting a serial killer. This one's going to run and run.

Continue reading "Review: Above Suspicion"

In the UK: Saturdays, 7.20pm, ITV1

Unto each generation, a rip-off is born. This is especially true of ITV1, which never knowingly fails to panic when it sees someone else's format and decides to make it its own. And thus Strictly Come Dancing begat Dancing on Ice, Doctor Who begat Primeval and so on and so on. Here, though, ITV have decided they want to rip off both an American format and a book.

So with just the deletion of a letter y, Buffy the Vampire Slayer becomes The Buff Vampire Slayer: the last of a long line of monster-killers, equipped with super strength and reflexes, becomes mentored by a foreign national called Rupert with a fake accent, and has to take time out from school work and a platonic best friend (who'd really like it to be something more) to embrace an unwanted destiny, while a weary mother looks on unknowingly.

The only difference: it's a bloke, not a girl, Rupert is American (sort of) and the Slayer is the last of the Van Helsings who fought Dracula and other beasties of the night.

Sigh. Except it's ITV1 and it comes from the makers of Hex, so do I really need to mention the fact it's not very good?

Continue reading "Review: Demons 1x1"

Well, it may be a while since they've been on, but that doesn't stop me making a few notes and comments on some of the Christmas fare. Not all of it, since I still haven't watched Crooked House or The 39 Steps, but Gavin & Stacey and Doctor Who's The Next Doctor at least.

Gavin & Stacey
Disappointing this. Kind of like Gavin & Stacey by numbers, with more or less the same as what we've seen before just slightly expanded upon – a kind of G&S's greatest hits – rather than anything too original. So we get the holiday incident, the big fight, references to Ness's exciting past, etc, but nothing too startling. Don't get me wrong, there were some great moments, but they were surprisingly few and far between.

Still, at least the potential for a new series is obviously there, they did try to give both Gavin and Stacey something to do this time, and there were no sudden flip-flops of character designed purely to achieve a happy ending or a wrap-up of loose plot threads. And it is a Christmas Special, so you have to give it some leeway.

All the same, I found the BBC3 "Making of…" show, Gavin & Stacey: The 12 Days of Christmas, to be a whole lot funnier than the episode itself.

Of course, it might just be because we didn't watch it on the day then met up with my wife's aunt, who said "Oh, haven't you seen it yet? Well, I won't spoil it for you then," before proceeding to tell us about six of the funniest bits in it. Curses.

The Next Doctor
50% of this was good, 50% of this was bad, and there was a pretty clear demarcation line: anything with David Morrissey in it - good, even moving at times; anything with the Cybermen, little children or Dervla Kirwan in it - bad and very silly, particularly the giant Cyberman.

Again, a Christmas special so some slack should be given and it was a whole lot better than last year's Titanic snooze-fest with Kylie. But not great.

Well, for our new feature, thanks to the lovely and inspired Jane Henry and Andrea, we appear to have settled on an actor (Richard Armitage), a format (pictures, usually taken by fans, that mainly focus on his head, with bonus points if he's wearing a hat) and a corresponding name (Dick Heads).

Other than that, let's see how it goes – normally these things grow organically as people get inspired. If you all one to write captions, love poetry or even haiku about the pictures or want to turn it into a competition à la Sitting Tennant, that'll be your choice.

To get the ball rolling, here's Richard Armitage in close up from the 2007 BAFTAs.

So, I'm putting out the call – pictures, please. Either leave a URL below or email me them. We're going to start off slowly, just so we don't use them up too quickly, so I'm only going to be needing one or two a week. Over to you!

Being Human – the vampire/werewolf/ghost flatshare drama that was piloted on BBC3 last year – is coming back as a six-part series soon. Hooray! It was absolutely brilliant. I'll be off to the BFI's preview screening of the first episode (together with a Q&A with the writer and star(s)) next Friday, so I'll let you know what that was like afterwards – I hear it might just be the pilot episode with a new cast and made 'less dark', which would be a shame.

In the meantime, and to thrill you all, here are some videos: the first is a trailer for the series proper; the second is the entire pilot episode that someone has uploaded to YouTube; and the rest are prequels to the series, showing what each of the characters was like before they met each other – they're shot in a Blair Witch/Ghostwatch vein and at least one might be too gruesome to be transmitted on TV (even BBC3), although you never know, so watch them while you can. The Annie one is very good, BTW.

It's worth noting that the cast has changed, which is a bit disappointing, since Guy Flanagan was brilliant as Mitchell the vampire; Mitchell's now played by Aidan Turner (The Clinic), while Annie, the comedy Northern ghost formerly played by Andrea Riseborough, is now played by Lenora Crichlow (Sugar Rush). The exception is Russell Tovey, who plays George the werewolf: he'll be back for the series proper. There's also a production blog containing interviews with the cast that you can check out.

Trailer

Continue reading "Being Human: prequels, pilot, trailers and interviews"

Read other posts about: Being Human

Doctor Who

• More companion rumour-mongering
• What Doctor Who toys to expect this year. Spoilers?

Film

• Tr2n now just Tron, to star Garrett Hedlund…
• …while Olivia Wilde spills a few other secrets
• Japanese Watchmen trailer with extra footage
• McG to direct 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
• Chris Morris suicide bomber movie gets the greenlight
• Shazam! not happening

Music

• Kraftwerk co-founder quits

Theatre

• Jimmy Osmond to star in Chicago UK tour

US TV

• Laurence Fishburne to visit CSI: Miami?
• More Dr Horrible promised
• Kelsey Grammer to star in ABC sitcom pilot
• Scrubs' Neil Flynn to star in The Middle
• NBC ready to make John Wells' Police
• AMC starts streaming original Prisoner
• Sarah Connor to return to serialised story-telling
• A&E going ahead with Paranormal Cops
• NBC gives go-ahead to "music in head" drama Soundtrack
• Christine Lahti and Johnny Sneed join Operating Instructions
• Robert Buckley to join Privileged

Subscribe to the daily news by RSS or email

Read other posts about: CSi, ITC shows, Scrubs, The Prisoner

Film

• Jimmy Hayward to direct Jonah Hex

Music

• Spandau Ballet to make a comeback?

French TV

• Primetime ads banned on state TV

British TV

• Above Suspicion gets 6.7m viewers

US TV

• John Wells to work up US version of Shameless for HBO
• USA Network picks up Royal Pains starring Mark Feuerstein
• (Almost) all the latest BSG webisodes
• In Treatment series two details
• Watch the premiere episode of Kyle XY season three
• Trailer for The Beast, starring Patrick Swayze

Subscribe to the daily news by RSS or email

Read other posts about: Kyle XY

Interesting cast this one, but does anyone know what it's about? Sounds like it could be role-playing/gaming related.

Elvenquest
Join us for Elvenquest, a brand new sitcom from the producer of Goodness Gracious Me and Kumars at No42. With Kevin Eldon, Darren Boyd, Dave Lamb and Stephen Mangan. Recording at the BBC Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House on Wednesday 21 and 27 January and Friday 13 February. Doors open at 7.15pm.

You can apply for tickets at the BBC's site.