Last Word on Festive TV.

A lot of money is spent on Christmas/New Years Television. Having caught up with everything I recorded over Christmas, here are some thoughts .

Great Expectation - The BBC's big festive drama. Really enjoyed it. However, in my mind Miss Havisham has never looked like Gillian Anderson - which was a really good reason to cast her. It made sense that this younger, beautiful woman should seek to wreak revenge on men, having been left at the alter and condemned to a life as a ghost at her own decaying wedding feast. Pip, however, was far too beautiful, what is it with leading men these days, this guy looks like Kiera Knightly and was prettier than Estella who should have been an amazing beauty but wasn't. Choices were made for this new adaptation and unfortunately Joe Gargery didn't get the really happy ending he does in the book - just a man-hug from pretty-boy Pip. Ray Winstone shone as Magwitch and David Suchet just commands the screen whenever he's on.

Treasure Island - Sky TV's big festive drama. Two hours of adventure squeezed into four. Whose idea was it to make a pirate story look like an episode of NYPD Blue? Great cast, though Eddie Izzard did occasionally start to do that slurry thing he does as he goes off on an improvisation. I like Philip  Glenister, I really do but he should NEVER attempt accents. His Captain Smollett had bits of Cockney, Lancashire and Welsh.

The Royal Bodyguard - The BBC's big Christmas comedy. The trailers for this got it absolutely right. It's horrible. Not since Micawber has David Jason looked so out of place. I hear the reason he said yes was because he had always wanted to play Inspector Clouseau. The Pink Panther films, even at their broadest, never got as broad as this, or as downright stupid. The sainted Jason has two great comic performances in his locker - Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses and Granville in Open All Hours - so there's still a lot of goodwill in the comedy bank. The kindest thing the BBC could do with this is play the rest of the series out on BBC 4 before seven pm. When the station is not on air.

Three Men In A Boat - Dara O'Briain, Rory McGrath and Griff Rhys Jones were back for another aquatic two-parter. There's something very watchable about the three of them as they go off on these comic documentary adventure. Though comic is probably the wrong word, good-natured or amusing would be better. There's a competitiveness between the three which explains why, what started with three men rowing the Thames, following in the oar strokes of Jerome K Jerome, has worked so well over so many different journeys. Three Men go to New England was their seventh outing, this time they journeyed along the New England coast, eventually joining the birthday party flotilla celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. Great fun.

 
Dr Who - BBC's big festive sci-fi drama.  Starring Matt Smith as the doctor - I wasn't sure I was going to like him but after five minutes of his first outing as the Time Lord I understood why he's been cast. He makes a terrific alien. The Christmas day show featured Claire Skinner - the Mum in Outnumbered, a comedy still churning out laughs.But seeing her as Mum on Christmas Eve and then as a wartime housewife on Christmas day did leave me wondering about the small pool of talent producers pick from these days. This Dr Who Christmas episode had all kinds of echoes of Narnia. If like me you'd just watched the film of The Chronicles of Narnia you could be forgiven for feeling like you'd eaten two Christmas puddings.

Downton Abbey - If you regularly read this blog you know I don't watch it - but those close to me do and the sound of purring would seem to suggest it was good Christmas fair.

The Borrowers - A former Dr Who, and an actor of great range, Christopher Eccleston could not be more unlike Pod from the Borrowers books and yet here he was wonderful as one of the teeney tiny people who live under the floorboards. Aisling Loftus gave us a more grown up Arrietty than we've seen, or read, before. Stephen Fry made a splendid cartoonishly mad scientist baddie and Victoria Wood was the worried Gran who kept thinking she saw small people scurrying about her lounge. Perfect family entertainment.

Absolutely Fabulous - The return of the BBC's comedy warhorse. Felt more like the return of a carthorse. Sure the studio audience 'laughed' uproariously at everything - there was a shot of a door that got a belly laugh the like of which any comic would die for. The Killing's Sarah Lund turned up for a cameo that struggled to work. I know this show has a very loyal following - hell, there was a time in the 90's when I would not have missed an episode - but now? The scene/montage where Eddie and Patsy go on a retail frenzy just pissed me off. Against the austere background of 2011 it just didn't make sense and was frankly offensive. But then, compared to The Royal Bodygurad this was comedy gold.

Of course the absolute hghlight was Sherlock, about which I've already written. 

Now, what has 2012 got in store for us?

The Man Who Wrote Arthur

Over the holidays I was in the kitchen making a lasagna - my lasagna is legend, I have the recipe for those who wish to impress. I turned on the TV, flicked around and discovered that "Arthur" was about to start.

Arthur is just about the best film comedy ever written. I mean ever. In the history of film comedies almost nothing comes close.

Here's the way most film comedies work - all the gags are in a seven minute trailer, there's no need to go see the film.

Here's the way Arthur works - the entire film is packed with some of the greatest lines you'll ever hear. All the way through, from beginning to end there are great gags. Not vomit gags - though the guy is a drunk, not idiot jokes, not gross-out puerile infantile attempts at jokes. Real copper-bottom proper gags that make you laugh out loud - and move the story forward - and stay true to character.


If you are thinking about writing any kind of screen comedy it's worth viewing this gem from 1981. Gosh, Grandpa did they even have jokes back then? Yes, they did, son and many of them can be found recycled in films today.

For years I carried around lines like

"Will the more attractive of you please step forward."

"Susan you're an asshole".
"I'll alert the media."
Princess Gloria from a place so small that "Rhode Island could beat the crap out of it.They recently had the entire country carpeted."
"You're a hooker?!! I just thought I was doing great with you."

Not laughing? Here's the thing - context. With the exception of that last line almost none of the others make any comedic sense without what goes around them - and yet they are big laughs in the movie.

Situation plus character plus line equals laugh. There, the perfect formula for comedy gold. Easy, now we can all go away and write our Oscar winning comedy.

The tragedy is that Steve Gordon has only one other screenwriting credit to his name, the Henry Winkler wrestling comedy The One and Only - and if you think (as I did before I saw it) that the Fonz in a wrestling picture is not going to get your wings flapping you are, like I was, wrong. Like Arthur it is packed with zingers.

The reason Steve Gordon has only one other credit is because after Arthur he died. A sudden massive heart attack. With him went 'the project he'd always wanted to do' . I've never been able to find an unproduced screenplay by him but whatever it was you can be sure it would have been funny.
So, the next time Arthur - the 1981 film not the Russell Brand remake - is on the TV, head for the kitchen, make a lasagna and laugh and laugh and laugh.

The Perfect Return of Sherlock

A Happy New Year.

'Sherlock' returned to BBC 1 last night, picking up where it had left off - in a swimming pool. Faced by his nemesis, Moriarty, Holmes - and Watson - were in a tough spot, dappled with a dazzling display of red spots from sniper rifles how could Holmes get out of this predicament alive? And then suddenly a blast of the Bee Gees 'Stayin' Alive' filled the air - Moriarty's ring tone. By the end of his conversation, he'd decided to spare Sherlock and Watson, for now.

And so we were plunged into a montage of people bringing cases too boring, too simple, too ordinary to the great man's attention, only to be swatted away like troublesome summer flies. The economy of the device is hardly new, but the laughs Steven Moffat's script generates breathes instant life into the episode. We're up and running - and at such a pace.

The Moffat/Gatiss re-imagining of Sherlock as a contemporary consulting detective and know-all is just a delight. Barely a scene goes by without a guffaw, or two, whilst all the time twisting and turning, giving flight to their take on stories that date back to the 1880's.

'A Scandal in Belgravia' reminds us of Watson's blog and long-suffering Mrs Hudson's trials every time she opens a cupboard in the detective's flat - or in this case the fridge. The smell wasn't coming from rancid cheese but a bag of thumbs Holmes had nestled in the vegetable tray.

I'm not going to go through the plot but point out the economy and invention that lies at the heart of this show. So much is achieved it leaves most other drama's floundering.  There, I've used the word drama, and why wouldn't I? Well, if Holmes didn't exist and you were pitching this show would you call it a drama - or a comedy drama? If ever there was a show that teaches us that labels are useless this is it.

Sherlock delivers moments of high tension, of intrigue; it plays with our emotions and the emotions of the characters but its quip quotient is up there with the best of our comedies. No other 'serious' Holmes adaptation (there have been lots of comic takes) has attempted to marry drama and comedy in quite this way. And the quips and comic situations never feel forced, never feel out of place or disrespectful to the master detective.

Added to which 'A Scandal in Belgravia' introduced something new to the mix - sex in the form of Irene Adler. Here she is a high class dominatrix offering recreational scolding to men - and women - in high places. But it turned out that her greatest turn on was intellect. 'Brainy is the new sexy'. Despite entering Sherlock's life stark naked, Miss Adler, found it tough to seduce him. But by the end seduced he was, not physically but mentally. And he proved he would go to any lengths to help her.

Much as I enjoyed Guy Richie's latest Sherlock Holmes film, there were holes in the plot you could drive a coach and four through. Not so 'Sherlock', not one loose end remained at the end of this tale. If you missed it go scurrying for the BBC iPlayer and catch up before the next episode - the most famous story of them all.

By the way, the plan is for this blog to now appear twice a week. It's not a resolution but I'll try and stick to it.

Surprises of 2011

I've been tardy with my blog of late but I plead mitigating circumstances. I've been working on two scripts and painting 'original fakes' for friends and relatives for Christmas.

I've decided that this blog will follow a more organised pattern in 2012 (this sounds horribly like a resolution but it isn't), it will appear twice a week from the first week of January.

As it's awards time I thought I'd mark those things I've found most enjoyable on the big and small screen these past twelve months. So, here are the completely random nominations for those things that made me laugh, cry, gasp and kept me coming back for more.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a surprise. I'd heard good things but you can read a hundred critics - even those you trusty - and still come out with a different opinion. This reboot of the POTA franchise was thoughtful and felt more like a drama. Thoroughly enjoyed it, much more than the 2001 Tim Burton remake. I look forward to the next slice and hope and pray they stay on this track and not just go for a popcorn actioner next time out of the traps.

Bridesmaids was the female Hangover according to many. I hate it when they do that, a lazy way to describe a film, comparing it to another, especially if it's a hit. I found it funny, well played and way too long. In Kristen Wiig (who was also the best thing in the Simon Pegg misfire Paul) the movie had a believable female lead who wasn't twelve and someone who displayed considerable comic understanding. She also wrote it so four cheers for Kirsten. But looking back the thing I'm remembering most about the film is the actress, Melissa McCarthy. She bears an astonishing resemblance to Ricky Gervais, she could be his sister. As I was watching the movie all I could think about during her scenes was what kind of project could put the two of them together - brother and sister, yes...what about a bodyswap where he becomes a woman - or she becomes a man?

Maybe he should write something for the two of them rather than another series of Life's Too Short. Both Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have been very defencive in the face of criticism about LTS.  I heard one interview where Stephen Merchant suggested the bad press was more about wanting to 'get' Ricky because he'd got too big for his boots. I felt uncomfortable with many of the gags in LTS, many involved laughing at the diminutive Warwick Davies - but the uncomfortable feeling extended beyond this. I think it had more to do with it being a mockumentary where everyone is playing a version of themselves rather than characters. Warwick Davies seemed to be playing a version of Ricky Gervais that we've seen before- all the familiar Gervais ticks are their in the performance. It's been recommissioned so Gervais, Merchant and Davies can stick two fingers up at those of us who think it's not the best thing they've done.

I loved Justified. An American series that seemed to owe more to those old Westerns I grew up with than latter day cop shows. Here was a man in a Stetson, walking around, quipping and shooting bad guys; there were echos here of the Clint Eastwood movie Coogan's Bluff.
But it was so much more. The bad guys were three dimensional, they weren't all bad all the time. In fact some of them were good. The surprises came thick and fast, like the snappy eloquent dialogue.
This year I watched two series on Box Set, not just me - the whole family. Night after night we had to get our fix of Raylan Givens. Absolutely loved it.

I felt the same way about a very different show: Game of Thrones. The trailers had done little to whet my appetite, did I really want to watch what looked like a dungeons and dragons show? But within minutes of the first episode I knew I was going to enjoy it. One of the best of 2011.

Boardwalk Empire came back for a second slice of Depression-era drama. Terence Winter has created something that is up there with The Sopranos and, even though the second series has just ended, I'm already looking forward to the next.

One of the best things to happen to British television this year is the entry into home-grown comedy of Sky. They launched a number of well received comedies and comedy dramas; Trollied, Spy and The Cafe all hit the ground running, felt confident - and here's the thing - had laugh out loud moments, warm identifiable characters and look certain to find an audience as they've all be recommissioned. It feels like Sky is now the place to go with a comedy. I look forward to seeing how they fare with an audience sit-com.

On the BBC, Silk had lots going for it. Great writing, characters we cared about. Though it was set in the heart of the British establishment it felt as though it had benefited from learning the best tricks of American series with plots playing out over a number of episodes and minor characters that cropped up again when most British series discard them after one episode. 

I thought the animated feature Rango was excellent - you don't see that many existential animated comedies. Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy was a masterclass in slow burn cinema. Source Code showed that Duncan Jones is no one hit wonder, he's a director to be watched. George Clooney continues to make interesting films big and small - though why someone with all that talent has to be that good looking as well...c'mon God, share it around.

True Blood was a delight for Friday nights, Danish drama The Killing was magnificent, as was the sequel and if you missed  Romanzo Criminale track it down. This gangster story, set in 1970's Rome, was gripping from start to finish.

As the David Fincher version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo hits the multiplexes those of us who've seen the Swedish adaptation made in 2009 will tread warily towards it. In the Swedish version Noomi Rapace (who you can see in the new - excellent - Sherlock Holmes Movie) is brilliant as Lisabeth Salander. If you buy the box set the three Swedish films are split into six, extended, parts. The films stays faithful to the books without going off down many of the alleyways that author Stieg Larson spent time exploring, especially in his introduction of new characters (something you can do in a novel that you absolutely cannot do in a movie adaptation). That the American remake comes so closely on the heels of the well received Swedish original is surprising but the material - dark, disturbing, violent - deserves a wider audience.

There's so much I could mention here but these are the shows and films that come instantly to mind.

From January I'll be here with a blog twice a week until then, a happy new year to all readers, please come back and join me next year.

My Fifteen Minutes with Ken Russell

Five years ago I interviewed Ken Russell.

I was under no illusions, it had been a while since the 'wild man' of British cinema had made a film but that didn't stop him be outrageous in what he did and said. I was prepared, I'd done my homework, I'd discovered a way in.

Did I mention it was a live interview on daytime radio. Hmmm. We all knew we were playing with fire - but that warm glow draws us in. Ken and I were in the same studio, as is the case with many a radio  interview he was in a satellite studio somewhere.
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I began by taking him back to his early life in Southampton where his father had a boot shop. Next door to his shop there was another, selling surgical goods. I'd discovered that this was owned by Benny Hill's dad.  So we got off to a good start talking surgical limbs and Benny Hill.

He warmed up nicely and there were no signs of the wild man. He was chatty enough, I kept kept the banter going as we began to talk about his films; the early black and white explorations of great composers made for the BBC, the bigger later films that courted attention, high praise and criticism. I've always loved The Boyfriend, a quirky take on a show business story and we talked about that.

I recall he started to tell a story about being touched up by a scout master at a screening of Pinocchio but I think I managed to steer him away from that one. 

Then I made my big mistake. I didn't see it coming, how could I. The question was innocuous enough:

"What advice do you offer young film makers?" I asked in my Bambi innocence.

Back came the reply.

"I tell 'em to fuck off!".


Whoa!

That brought things to an abrupt end. I made some fumbling apology and that was the end of our encounter. My producer was straight on the phone to his people, there was a blazing row...What had started so well ended poorly. Much like his career.

When I heard of his death yesterday I thought back to that day. I think I'd lulled dear old Ken into a place of safety, he was enjoying himself too much. He was relaxed, happy to come up with some outrageous puns. His guard was down and he'd probably completely forgotten he was live on air in the middle of the day. I wonder if he would have offered the same answer if we'd been in the same studio. Maybe - after all he was the wild man of British cinema.

Slow, Slow - Slow, Slow, Slow. The Cafe Opens It's Doors.

Sky 1's much heralded new comedy The Cafe began its run last night with two episodes back to back. It's not  a bad way to launch a new comedy, if you like the first chances are you'll stick around for the second; a good way to get to know new comic characters, a good way to keep the audience.
The Cafe is written by Ralf Little (The Royle Family) and Michele Terry (Reunited, Extras). It's directed by Craig Cash who worked with Little on The Royle Family, that sublime slice of uneventfulness. If you come to this expecting laugh out loud moments and a comic plot involving the local Somerset yokels (the show is set on the prom at Weston Super Mare) the show's slow burn won't be for you.

Nothing wrong with slow burn, wasn't I just extolling the virtues of the device a few days ago when talking about giving drama series space to breathe. But when it comes to comedy it's a fine line to walk. The writers - both play characters in the show - have elected to go for those things that real people say. We all steal from real life but dialogue needs to carry more than the odd ball mutterings of real folk to propel a story forwards - unless of course there is no story.

The Cafe revels in being anti-plot. We're offered the tiniest of crumbs by way of story: a florist who can't say what he really feels about the cafe owner so 'says it with flowers', a young woman who gazes out of the Cafe's window looking for inspiration for her first children's book, the care worker who has almost bought a car - he's got the car magazine and the air-freshener -  the human statue looking for love, a city slicker back on home turf because his mum's in an adjacent care home. Best of all, for me, were the old married couple played by Brian Murphy and Marcia Warren - theirs were the only exchanges that really sparkled - and it relies on exchanges. Not much happened over two episodes, though the Final Demand letters being hidden in a drawer by Cafe owner Carol (Ellie Haddington) point to storm clouds down the line. The characters are all fine, what's missing is any kind of story engine to get them going.

In previewing this show I talked to a member of the Production staff on my Radio show on Sunday - Weston Super Mare is on our patch, it's a place I know well, people I know well. Describing The Cafe's humour he used the words, warm and gentle. He is not wrong. It has a warmth about it, a familiarity of family and peers and it most certainly is gentle. Maybe too gentle, is it brave or foolish to begin a new comedy show with eighteen seconds of silence? Do audiences say " Did you see the Cafe last night, the way they opened with eighteen seconds of silence - brilliant!". Writers, the director, actors may consider it a brave thing to do but if you've just got the kids off to bed, you've sat down for the first time today and there's still the nagging worry about where the next shilling is coming from do you want a long realistic silence to open this much trailed new comedy show - or do you want a laugh?

I enjoyed the setting and I can see the possibilities for these characters. If you're willing to stay with the slow burn you may be rewarded - I'll be back for another slice but it'd better warm up a bit because The Cafe is a comedy and you and I have every right to expect some laughs not just wry smiles.

Will it find an audience? I don't know; perhaps television audiences these days are happy with warm and gentle, then again perhaps, in these austere times, what we want is something to take us out of ourselves, something a little bigger, brasher - full on funny.

I don't know why Adam Sandler makes me feel the way I do about him, apparently I'm not alone. The only AS film I've ever been able to watch all the way through was Spanglish but that had nothing to do with watching him.

Here is a wonderful video - what YouTube was meant for. George C Scott 'watches' the trailer for another lame Sandler movie.