Unpublished posts: Sticking stuff in my eyes

Here is an unpublished and unfinished blog post from space year 2014. It is a little bit like a time capsule. How could 2014 Rob know that eventually even he would be ready for the Moffat era to end, though I would have kept Capaldi forever. 

Also, Gotham did eventually manage to become a complete car crash.

Stay safe. 

2020 Rob. 

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Some of the things I've enjoyed watching in 2014...

Doctor Who

I think, for once, everybody expected the new Doctor to be fantastic but Peter Capaldi still managed to exceed most expectations. What an extraordinary, prickly, comical, considered and occasionally Machiavellian-seeming Doctor he has been. 

The consistency of this run has been excellent, with only one bum note out of the last sixteen episodes. Securing the talents of Ben Wheatley to direct two episodes shows just how much the production team want to keep the programme fresh. If the Steven Moffat era of Doctor Who ever comes to an end, and I rather hope it doesn't, it will surely be looked back on as the most ambitious and innovative period of the show since the 1960s.

That's my opinion, others are available.

Days of Future Past and Guardians of the Galaxy - I loved Captain America: The Winter Soldier but it somehow managed to be my third favourite comic book film this year, purely through having the bad luck to be released in the same year as X-Men: Days of Future Past and the amazeballs Guardians of the Galaxy. What a year for comic films when you can almost overlook The Winter Soldier. 

X-Men: Days of Future Past had a slight advantage as I am already a pronounced fan of X-Men films and comics and was really bloody excited about it. Aside from translating a truly classic comic story to the big screen (Proteus next please!), this film was going to bring together the casts of two separate and somewhat contradictory big screen X-Men films and confront the continuity problems (well, some of them anyway). The end result could have been a total mess but instead produced probably the best X-Men film yet made and certainly one of the films of the year. X-Men: Days of Future Past is a work of genius. 

I'm excited all over again at the thought of the extended version expected next year. I can't get enough of this film.  

Guardians of the Galaxy had me excited too but for different reasons. I had no knowledge of the comics at all so was purely excited at the prospect of a new and seeminlgy very different Marvel Studios film.

Penny Dreadful

I wanted to hate this. It was for completely selfish reasons, mind. I have been trying to nail the concept for a supernatural Victorian returning drama for a few years. I might as well give it up now. Penny Dreadful won me over quickly with its lush visuals, fantastic performances and genuinely frightening moments. Eva Green shines among a stupendous cast as the sad and terrifying Vanessa Ives. Series two is one of my most anticipated events of 2015. 

Black Mirror: White Christmas

The emergence of Charlie Brooker as a world class screenwriter should have surprised no one. With Dead Set he took his wise and demented eye and created a darkly amusing drama that reflected the same concerns and drive that infused his writing and broadcasting. With Black Mirror he has further explored these themes and honed his skills. White Christmas, his feature length Black Mirror portmanteau special, was Brooker epitomised. Intelligent, vulgar, horrifying and compassionate. 

Bolstered by the talents of the incomparable John Hamm, Rafe Spall and Oona Chaplin among others. 

Mad Men

One of the greatest questions facing humanity in 2015 must be this one: What are we going to do in a world without Mad Men? It's with the familiar sense of hot anticipation and rising calamity that I look forward to the last ever episodes of this extraordinary series in a few months. 

Gotham

Gotham is really, really good. It feels weird writing that as it should be a total car crash. But it isn't. 

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

Continues to improve. In a world glutted with mediocre comic book tv series SHIELD continues to carve its own path. Uniquely tied into an ongoing series of films it this year gave us something we have never seen before. We were able to see a TV series cross over with a mutimillion dollar movie, The (outstanding) Winter Soldier, and use it to prompt a massive change in direction for the show. SHIELD does not get enough recognition for its innovation and plumb uniqueness. 

Ghostbusters

Parks and Rec

Also of note...

Flash, Arrow (by association), American Horror Story, The Lego Movie, Frozen, Star Wars, Star Wars, STAR WARS!!!!!

Some of the things I've enjoyed reading in 2014...


Bendis' X-Men

Snyder's Batman

Tomasi's Batman and Robin

Hickman

Doctor Sleep

The Dark Tower

Game of Thrones (No spoilers)

I've just finished watching the last episode of Game of Thrones and I thought I'd share a few thoughts about the first series now that it's finished. I know a lot of people won't have had the chance to see it yet so I'm not going to spoil anything.

I should probably say first off that I've never read the books, so I came to it only as a mildy curious viewer. I may check out the first volume (on which this series is based, I believe) now. I'd be interested to hear what fans of the books thought of the adaptation.

There were a few complaints early on in the series that there was a lot of exposition. There was. There are a hell of a lot of characters in this story, and a rich and detailed world in which they live. What wasn't mentioned so much was how masterfully this exposition was slipped into the scripts.

OK, it's true. There are a lot of characters, and all of them come with their own back-stories and relationships with each other. There are several families with alliances and feuds dating back generations. Game of Thrones chucks you straight into this and doesn't hang around to wait for you to catch up, but then neither do Eastenders or Coronation Street and I don't hear anyone crying about that.

The characters and back-stories in Game of Thrones are no more complex than those found in Albert Square or Weatherfield. There are a lot more swords though.

This is a rich show with a fantastic cast and brilliant scripts. I loved every second of it and don't quite know what I'm going to do for a year while I wait for series two.

It seems rude to pick out a few members of the cast when the performances are so good across the board. I'm going to do it anyway though. Sorry.

Sean Bean is on great form as Ned Stark, head of the Stark family, loving parent and an honourable man. He gives Ned great integrity, and a lovely, quiet outrage at the political schemings of others.

Emilia Clarke, as Daenerys Targaryen, has one of the most engaging arcs of the series. Her situation changes considerably over time and Ms Clarke, in her first major screen role, plays the part beautifully. I think we'll be watching her on our screens for many years to come.

Iain Glen plays Ser Jorah Mormont, an exiled knight who is far from home, and gives him the stillness and poise of a man who could drop you where you stood before you knew what was happening.

I'll not be the first to say that Peter Dinklage is an absolute revelation as Tyrion Lannister, a boozing, womanising dwarf who relies on his wits to survive. Well, that and his family's money and reputation. A pleasure to watch and one of the show's greatest selling points.

Game of Thrones is also littered with distinguished supporting actors, the likes of Peter Vaughan, Julian Glover, Charles Dance, Jerome Flynn, Clive Mantle, Owen Teale, Roger Allam - well, you get the idea.

It's also got one of the best opening titles sequences I've seen for years.

I didn't mean to gush quite so much but if you are, somehow, still reading then I urge you to check out Game of Thrones should you get the chance. It's dynamite.

Outcasts

Well. What a load of rubbish has been written about Outcasts, mostly by people who should know better.

The reality is that Outcasts is a thoughtful, entertaining and rewarding series which has been, perhaps, let down by a less than dynamic first episode.

Issues of pace have been covered in depth elsewhere but it is not an arresting first episode, and certainly not an episode that will hook a non-genre audience. If they wanted another Life on Mars then the opener needed to be much, much stronger.

As Den of Geek suggested we badly need to see more pilots being made. They test the programme concept and, I think, they make the production team focus a bit more on tightening up. They know what's at stake, I guess, as if the pilot doesn't get a good reception then it's game over (man!). I think Outcasts relied on people sticking with it beyond the first episode (whereas regrettably I doubt some people made it through the first episode). I don't think, as a writer, producer, leading television company, anyone-else-in-the-decision-making-chain, you can ever assume that the audience isn't going to turn over if you don't keep them interested, that's a basic rule (particularly well drummed/seared into writers).

I also think that the heavy ad campaign, primetime BBC1 slot and decision to show two episodes a week have worked against the programme, particularly as the Beeb then decided to move Outcasts to 10.45pm on Sunday nights after two weeks/four episodes. That's not really a vote of confidence in your product is it? If it was running on BBC3 they'd be crowing about how good the ratings are (the same bitterly ironic situation Survivors was in when it was cancelled)*.

The fact is that this is a well written, beautifully shot programme with excellent performances. Locations are stunning and are used to spectacular effect. Aside from some clunky exposition in episode one the dialogue has been good and the characters and relationships interesting. There are many threads being woven here, given time this could become a very rich, muti-layered show.

Of the cast Hermione Norris, Liam Cunningham (always a pleasure to watch), Ashley Walters and Daniel Mays are excellent, while the rest are very good. Only Eric Mabius and Jeanne Kietzmann have seemed a little passive to me, but hopefully will be given room to impress before the first series ends.

Anyway, the point of this waffling is to tell you that I'm really enjoying Outcasts, and I very much hope that the BBC accepts that there is an audience and allows it to continue.

And if you're not watching it because you've heard or read that it's crap, then give it a try yourself and make up your own mind.

**UPDATE** (1/3/11)

Dom likes Outcasts too, why not wander over and have a read?

*For illustration: in its second week Outcasts averaged 2.703 million viewers and a 10.8% audience share; Survivors, cancelled after its second series, had enjoyed an average of 3.81m viewers that year; while the third series of the stonkingly successful (and precious to this blog (and bloody hell how good is this series???)) Being Human opened (on BBC3) with 1.368 million viewers, a 5% audience share. The benefits of multichannel programming....

Sherlock Holmes

I have always loved Sherlock Holmes.

I couldn't tell you when I first encountered Holmes. I think I had a Read-it-yourself book of The Hound of the Baskervilles as a boy. I also remember an animated version of the same tale. I don't think it was until the centenary of the publication of A Study in Scarlet that I actually read any Conan Doyle though. There was a lush Radio Times cover and an Omnibus or Late Show special, and I started reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes while lounging about the house in my dressing gown. Needless to say I was hooked straight off and still re-read the stories repeatedly today.

Film-wise I remember enjoying Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce seasons over and over again on the BBC (6pm on BBC2 if memory serves). It never seemed strange to me that Holmes and Watson should be battling the Nazis. I have since discovered their radio shows online, which are quite fun, especially for the sponsors adverts (you can also find The Shadow and many more old radio shows on the same site).

Basil Rathbone was generally regarded as the greatest Holmes of all for many years. There were others; Peter Cushing, a huge Sherlock Holmes enthusiast, played the detective in the 1959 Hammer version of The Hound of the Baskervilles and again for the BBC in the late sixties. Christopher Plummer did a great job in Murder by Decree, among other actors, but Rathbone was generally accepted to be the best.

Until 1984.

Jeremy Brett played Sherlock Holmes on ITV from 1984 until 1994, when Brett's poor health prevented him continuing in the role.

I'll show my hand right now and confess that he eclipses all other Sherlocks for me. His sudden theatrics, his nanosecond half smiles, that fantastic voice; Jeremy Brett is Sherlock Holmes stepping straight off of the end of Conan Doyle's pen. He inhabits the role perfectly and it is a brave actor that steps through the door to 221b Baker street in his wake.

Which brings us to Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes from last year with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson.

There was a lot of stuffy scepticism about this "modern" Holmes before it came out but I must admit that I liked the trailer at first sight and was cautiously optimistic. I really enjoyed the film.

It's true that the emphasis is rather more on the action than the detection but I think it captures the spirit of the stories well, and especially the character of Watson and the relationship between the two friends. I could have done without Irene Adler, who seemed present only to tick a box and deprive Watson of some screen time, but otherwise I enjoyed the film immensely.

I look forward to the sequel with much anticipation. However shall I pass the time?




Only by enjoying Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat's take on Sherlock Holmes in a twenty-first century setting. I'm very bloody excited about Sherlock, which starts on Sunday night (BBC1/BBCHD 9pm). It's hard to imagine two writers better equipped to bring Holmes back to the small screen for the first time in years. Moffat has already demonstrated that he can bring nineteenth century classics into the modern day with Jekyll (still my very favourite example of his work (any chance of that second series Steven? Pretty please.)).

Benedict Cumberbatch certainly looks the part and while I'm less certain of Martin Freeman as Watson I'm happy to trust Moffat and Gatiss. Even though this programme seems to have been in production for ever I know almost nothing about the plots (not even if they intend to adapt any of Conan Doyle's stories) or guest stars. Very exciting.

The early reactions are positively glowing, and the trailer certainly looks good. The game is on!

UPDATE: Steven Moffat on Sherlock Holmes in the Radio Times:

When I was a little Beano-reading Doctor Who fan – about nine or ten – I was desperate to know more about Sherlock Holmes. It was a name I’d heard. I knew he was some kind of policeman, I knew he had a funny hat, and I knew he was in a film called The Hound of the Baskervilles, which once came on the telly and got me sent to bed because it was too frightening. I remember lying upstairs that night, too excited to sleep – because I could hear the baying of a terrible hound, and the rapid-fire voice of a policeman who fought monsters. I needed to find out more, because I knew already this was my kind of hero: if Doctor Who had been a detective, clearly he’d have been Sherlock Holmes.

BBC's Sherlock site

The Sherlock Holmes Museum

The Singular Society of the Baker Street Dozen

The Equinoctial Gales

On the box

Hello! Hello! Hello! Where was I? Oh yes, I've been watching stuff again...

The Day of the Triffids

I'm a big fan of John Wyndham, and of the 1981 adaptation of Day of the Triffids (currently £3.99 on play - If you don't have it already it'll be the best four quid you ever spend!). I've mentioned this before, as well as pointing out that it might be more interesting to film The Kraken Wakes rather than adapting Triffids again. Despite all this I was still excited to see how the new version would go.

I have to say that I thought the first half was a little slow, and I think the programme was somewhat self-consciously trying to avoid looking like a retread either of the '81 version, or more recent post-apocalyptic fare such as Survivors or 28 Days Later. Even so there was some good stuff in there, it just took too long for the story to get going. Part two on the other hand was pacey, atmospheric and exciting. There were some lovely sequences, for example Bill hunting the male Triffid, Jo's escape from London and the finale. Of the cast I thought Brian Cox (of course), and Eddie Izzard were excellent, the two children also were very good.

I still feel it was a somewhat redundant remake (but then Turn of the Screw was on the day after it so I guess it's the season (this is about the eleventh time this has been adapted for the screen!)) but given the decent ratings perhaps we can expect another Wyndham adaptation next year. I vote The Kraken Wakes or The Chrysalids!

True Blood

This is another show, like Medium, which I was aware of but had made some weird subconscious assumptions about and decided probably wasn't for me. However even I, belligerent as I am, can only ignore so many people telling me I should watch something.

Based on the series of books by Charlaine Harris, True Blood is brought to you by Alan Ball, the creator of Six Feet Under (another series I've never watched despite many recommendations).

True Blood is excellent fun. It's an HBO show so you can expect some cussing, some fooling about and some general naughtiness. It's also packed, and I do mean packed, with interesting and rounded characters. Actually the town of Bon Temps sometimes puts me in mind of Twin Peaks, or Cicely, Alaska due to the local colour. Putting the main characters to one side there's the inept local police, the Cajun roadworker, the agrophobic vampire, the shell-shocked Iraq veteran... The list goes on.

These people would be interesting even if they weren't littered with vampires, psychics, murderers and... well, no spoilers here. Suffice to say I recommend it. We've just finished watching series one on 4HD, and are now hoping they're going to run on into series two.

Collision

It's a bit late in the day to talk about this now (yes I did start this post a while ago) but what a great bit of telly this was. I'm coming around to this consecutive night thing, especially after Torchie this year, and this certainly kept us interested all week. Lots of lovely performances, especially from Douglas Henshaw and Lucy Griffiths, and a lovely look at how peoples lives can turn upside down for the most trivial of reasons.

The final moments, where time was reversed and we saw what might have been but for an errant wasp, were absolutely inspired and will ensure that Collision lives long in my memory. Excellent television, well done ITV.

Misfits

No, not the seminal horror rockers (although I do recomend their Famous Monsters album), I mean the E4 TV series. A very British, very modern, very clever take on how super powers might actually work in the real world. I'm far from the first to say this but Heroes could have learned a lot from this E4 show. A second series has been commissioned (hoorah!) so that gives you time to catch up on series one if you missed it.

So that's what I've been watching recently. Now we're into early 2010 there's a shedload of good telly coming our way, so here's a taster of some of the stuff I'm really looking forward to...


Being Human series 2 begins on January 10th



The final series of Lost begins on February 2nd



24 Day 8 premieres on January 17th



Survivors series 2 starts on Tuesday 12th January



Chuck is back on US tv on January 10th for it's third series



Law & Order: UK returns to ITV on January 11th

And of course, sometime in the spring...

Catch up TV

I've been watching stuff and I thought I'd share...

Medium - You know, it's funny. I was always aware of Medium. I knew it existed. I knew it starred the lovely Patricia Arquette. Somehow I never bothered watching it though. I think I may have made some assumptions about the nature of the format and/or the quality of the show, based on what I don't know. Anyway the twittering of Mr and Mrs James Moran inspired me to take a look at the first episode. The first episode inspired me to watch the second episode. The second episode - well you get the idea. Medium is excellent and I'm happy to tell you why... The relationship between the main characters is totally believable, they are very real, rounded, flawed characters. Patricia Arquette and Jake Weber portray a couple who don't always see eye to eye but love each other deeply, and usually find a compromise together. There is a variety in the stories that I didn't expect. Most of all though I enjoy the interaction between the characters, and those unexpected shocks they slip in sometimes. It's a great series and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Burn Notice - I had heard murmers about this series but hadn't seen any until I stumbled upon a Burn Notice marathon on the USA channel while Emma and I were in New York in the summer (meant to post about that but never got around to it - Best. Holiday. Ever. New York is now my second favourite city). It's a brilliant show. Anything featuring Bruce Campbell is always going to be worth a look, but the premise, the tone and the performance of star Jeffrey Donovan make this excellent viewing. Think Hustle with a dash of Bond and a broad streak of humour. I haven't actually seen that much of Burn Notice yet, but now Lost is out of the way (probably) I plan on catching up.

Spooks - They're back. I love a bit of Spooks and I think the partnership between Ros and Lucas is about the best team the show has had. Hoping this series can match up to last years engrossing story arc.

FM - Caught up on this thanks to Virgin Media's ITV player. Just brilliant. Great cast, great scripts, great show. The only downside was the pop star cameos - appearances are OK but actually having them play a song while the characters watch is BORING! Hoping a second series will be forthcoming.

Lost - After eighteen months and 103 episodes I am finally up to date with what I have come to think of as probably the best and most consistent series of all time. Now I'm resisting the urge to try and watch it all over again before the sixth and final series starts next year. So far so good...

Something I've NOT been watching though is Survivors - Where is series 2..? I could have sworn it started the same time as Spooks last year. OK, I know I was vocal about my issues with the first series but I still liked it (it's post apocalyptic - I can't really help myself!). Besides the last couple of episodes were much stronger - the final episode in particular was riveting, and surprising! Add to this the fact that the second series was filmed in my fourth favourite city - Birmingham - and colour me excited. Bring on the further adventures of Tom Price! Still don't understand *that* credit though...

Come back soon for more stuff what I've been watching!

Legen - wait for it - dary!

Starting today at 7.30pm E4 will be showing How I Met Your Mother. I'm a huge fan of this show and if you give it a look you'll see why. Reading about it will probably just make you think it's another Friends-type comedy, which I guess it is... but it's also so much more.

The series is about this chap in the year 2030 telling his children how he met their mother. Each episode is a flashback to his youth and a particular incident in his ongoing (up to four seasons now) saga of romance and friendship. Here are three of the reasons why I love How I Met Your Mother...

• It never tells stories in chronological order. There is always at least some jumping back and forth in time. A bit like Coupling used to do.
• The scripts are funny and clever, and touching without making you puke.
• Legendary womaniser Barney Stinson may well be one of the funniest characters on television. Not for nothing does NPH keep getting nominated for Emmys. Check out Barney's Blog.

Anyway, give it a look if you can. I discovered it while channel hopping when it was running on Trouble (a channel that doesn't seem to exist any more). I don't think I ever would have watched it otherwise. True story.

E4 will be showing How I Met Your Mother every weekday at 7.30pm (a little early if you ask me) so it may be one for your PVR to collect.

Now SUIT UP!

Wikipedia
The Official CBS site (Beware SPOILERS!)
E4

Torchwood and stuff

Well they caught me out there. I always watch Torchie and I've enjoyed every episode on some level but I would never have called myself a Torchwood fan as such. It's a good, fun show. It's a bit daft. It's a romp. That's about the level of thought involved on my part.

So where the fuck did Children of Earth come from?! There was I all ready for five nights of gallivanting and rude jokes. What do I get instead? Probably the most impressive and affecting drama event British television has seen for decades. Make no mistake this was landmark event sf happening on six million screens every night for a week. I don't know if I'm happier about the TW production team beating the shit out of Britain with such a hard hitting and devastating story or with the British public for sticking with it all week (it's ratings were not only excellent but consistent!).

Of course then the Torchwood 'fans' had to go and leave a nasty taste in every one's mouth by having a pop at TV's James Moran, hardest working screenwriting blogger in the world. Apparently they have an issue with something that happened in the story. Twats. I didn't like it when Apollo Creed died in Rocky IV but I didn't get in Stallone's face about it. Grow up. James Moran appears to have been a victim of his own availability, and the result is that we regular readers of his blog are the one's who will now miss out while the Woodies all piss off to argue amongst themselves or burn RTD in effigy. Arseholes.

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If you haven't seen any of Getting On (Wednesdays, BBC4) it's well worth checking it out on the I-player. It's a very, very funny sitcom written by and starring Jo Brand, Joanna Scanlon and Vicki Pepperdine and directed by Peter Capaldi. The BBC describe it as a "darkly comic drama series about life on an NHS geriatric ward", which is accurate.

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Last recommendation for today is Chuck (Mondays, Virgin 1). This is a great series about a young chap who works in the equivalent to a Curry's store and finds himself drawn into the world of international spies. It's great fun watching Chuck balance the demands of the NSA and CIA against those of his employers and his big sister. It also benefits from co-starring Adam Baldwin of Firefly fame who is hilarious as a hard-as-nails NSA hitman posing as a shop assistant. Check it out.

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Wow. Two posts in one day, you lucky dabs. I was also going to tell you about space flu and the rewrite from Hell but I think I'll hold back for the weekend...

Specialist Subject: The Bleeding Obvious

Spotted two items of interest to writers on television recently...

Fawlty Towers Reopened

Last weekend there was a terrific new documentary about Fawlty Towers on (what used to be called) UK Gold. Knowing cable I'm sure there will be opportunities to catch this again if you missed it. It's well worth keeping an eye out as there were a lot of insights into the genesis of the programme, and how John Cleese and Connie Booth wrote it.

Says (not) UK Gold...

To help celebrate its 30th anniversary, G.O.L.D. is throwing open the doors of TV's most famous hotel once more after a lengthy absence.

New and exclusive, Fawlty Towers: Re-opened gathers cast and crew together to retrace the history of the sitcom from a rarely seen insider point of view. The one-off special leaves no English Riviera stone unturned in its search for trivia and nuggets of information from the Fawlty Towers guestbook, together with in-depth interviews with John Cleese, Andrew Sachs and Prunella Scales, as well as Connie Booth talking about her memories from the show for the first time in 30 years. Just don't mention the war.

Meanwhile, on ITV3...

There's a series called Beyond a Joke looking at how the British sitcom has reflected society over the years, with insights from the writers and actors (plus some irrelevant pundits). You can catch up on this with ITV's catch up telly widget here.

The Skinny

In The Loop

Caught this at the Electric on Friday and was very pleased with it. I heartily recommend the film, and no prior knowledge of The Thick of It is required.

Newswipe

I think this is half way through it's run now but as I always seem to promote Charlie Brooker's television exploits why break the habit now? Here he uses his razor sharp wit to cut right through the media flim-flam and get at the guts of how the News works. If you haven't been watching you can catch up here, for now at least...

Primeval

They're back, and they're making some brave changes to the set up. I'm a big fan of the show and series three continues to deliver. If you like Saturday night family drama then check it out.


Law & Order: UK

This has been fantastic, and has lost none of the pace or tone of the original in the transatlantic shift. I think we're in a mid-series break at the moment but you can see previous episodes here. Episode seven from the sixth of April has been the best of the bunch so far. I understand they made thirteen episodes for series one so hopefully it will be back soon. It can be strong stuff though, so be warned.

Waiting for Godot

My favourite Beckett, well it's everyone's favourite I suppose. Caught this in Malvern in March and was a bit blown away. The production hits London April 30th, you could do far worse than get yourself a ticket.

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I finally got around to buying Adrian Mead's Making It As A Screenwriter last month. Embarrassingly I hadn't bought it because I no longer have a paypal account (don't like or trust paypal after nearly getting badly burned a few years ago). I decided to open a new account just to get the book only to discover you didn't actually need one. D'oh!

Anyway if you haven't got it (and I'm pretty sure you have) then you really ought to snap it up. It's a bargain at £7.79 and the dosh goes to Childline.

I used to buy a lot of books about screenwriting but stopped because they all had more or less the same amount of useful advice in them. Also most were written by people whose names you never see on a screen, large or small, which says something, eh?

Mead's book is different. It's relevant, filled with example documents and clear, simple advice, it's witty and motivational. If you're serious about screenwriting this is the tool you need most urgently, click here to buy it.

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I've been having a go on Trigger Street at last. Response to my script has been encouraging, and there has been some very useful notes. Towards the end of the month I'll compile a list of points raised and get ready for a rewrite next month.

I didn't realise quite how the credit system works, which is my own fault, but it turns out it's quite a lot of work to get credits so that your script get's reviews. It is if you're going to put your full energy into reviewing someone's submission anyway (which is only fair if you're going to expect the same in return). I now know that it takes me a good hour or more to read a script (more if I'm not enjoying it), and probably the same again to write up some notes. That's two hours per script, and for me it's coming out of writing time (unless I pick up a netbook or something, then I can do it on the train). That's quite a drain on your time, though worth it for the feedback.

I don't think I'll be putting all my energies into TS. It's fairly rare for me to work on a feature anyway and they have no forum for television scripts. It has been very useful with this specific script, if you're after unbiased feedback I recommend it. Doing a lot of recommending today!

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Heartfelt congratulations to Jason, Dave, Oli and William for securing positions on the Red Planet workshop with Tony Jordan. Congrats also to Mark Wilkinson, the winner of Red Planet 2009.

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You may have noticed I'm updating this site less often. This is only because I'm being much stricter with myself as regards usage of time. All my energy is being put into writing at the moment.

When I sit in my nice shiny chair in my (Lamont Cranston-style) Sanctum I sit here to write, not to blog. Blogging isn't working, so it has to come second. In fact it's further down than that because it comes after planning too. Ahh, poor blogging.

Also a lot of this blog used to be television reviews, and me spouting off about telly in general. In fact that was initially how I intended to use it, I started blogging about my writing only when I saw others were doing it (No sheep jokes puh-leeease!). Since I read Making it as a Screenwriter I'm somehow less keen to do this. I should be building bridges here. It's not like I'd go into work at the day job and email the MD to tell him his latest idea is shit, is it? I don't want to piss him off.

I'll still update as and when I can, and trust me - if I have news I'll be here like a flash. In the mean time though, I'll see you when I see you.

Getting Saturday nights

I didn't like the look of Demons, the recent ITV series. I don't know if it was Mackenzie Crook's bird mask, the synopsis that made the show sound like it had been made ten years ago (probably after someone watched a bit too much Buffy) and slipped through a time hole, the idea of getting a Brit to play an American (I mean in this day and age!), or the fact that Phil Glenister appeared to be wearing his Gene Hunt costume.

Whatever it was I thought, "This looks dire, I'll give it a miss and if the reviews are good I'll catch up." It's a lazy technique but it's served me well before, and I don't have time to catch up on the shows that ARE worth watching never mind soiling my eyes with stuff I know I'm going to hate. I might as well watch The One Show, or paint drying, if there is a difference.

The reviews weren't good. They were scathing.

OK. So I made a good call. Go me! No down side. Except...

They were really scathing. So scathing that I hear they've postponed the third series of Primeval so people can forget about Demons first. You know, because the idiots that watch ITV programmes might not be able to tell the difference between two different TV shows. Or something.

This is proper, card carrying, hitting your own head with a mallet, nuts. Primeval is great. It's imaginative, original, exciting, varied, fresh, but most importantly of all it's the only Doctor Who stand in so far that actually gets Saturday Night/Family drama.

When I was a kid Saturday night TV was all about Doctor Who, Robin of Sherwood, The Tripods, The A team, Knight Rider, Manimal, Automan, etc., etc. Where is the variety now? It's no good just cloning shows about legendary characters or ripping off successful series from the nineties! We need some actual ideas.

Let's think about this for a second. Since Doctor Who did what they said couldn't be done and proved that British society hadn't slipped so far into some Anthony Burgess vision of the future that the whole family couldn't watch television together on a Saturday night without Graham Norton, Cilla Black, Noel Edmonds or Dale Winton staring dead-eyed back out at them there have been several further attempts at Saturday Night Family Drama.

Robin Hood. OK on the one hand this was the first effort, thrown into production as soon as Saturday night was resuscitated. On the other hand it was made by the BBC who might be expected to get it? In fairness I didn't mind Robin Hood. Most people though seemed to be a bit hung up on the non-period costumes and language but I liked it's Xena-ish tone and thought it was good enough fun. It's no substitute for Who though. The third series has been so long coming now that I wonder if anyone will even notice when they follow up killing Marion off by having Robin leave the show.

Primeval. We'll come back to this.


Merlin. Putting aside my previously mentioned issues with the retelling of the Merlin story (or rebooting of Arthurian legend), Merlin worries me for a number of reasons. It's another BBC effort. It's another period set show. It's another myth/legend poured onto our screens for family viewing. It's Robin Hood 2 isn't it? It's 'Here's what we learned from making Robin Hood by the BBC: We took out the anachronistic costumes'. Bit lazy isn't it? Isn't there any more imagination than this planning our TV schedules? What next? Beowulf? William Tell? Jack the Giant Killer? People in forests with swords volume 3?

Demons. I can't really comment on this as I didn't watch it. The fact that it appears to have failed says enough though. Clearly it didn't get Saturday nights.

What has Primeval got that these other shows haven't? I'll tell you. It mixes the every day with the fantastic. It has a different setting every week. It has a strong sense of humour. It doesn't take itself too seriously. Remind you of anything else?

But what this post is really about though is this; There are massive opportunities for people who do get it to create fresh, exciting family drama for Saturday nights. Just thinking of BBC1 and ITV there are 104 potential slots per year. At present only a fraction are occupied. The powers that be may not know this yet but if they get enough fresh, exciting ideas for family drama from talented new writers maybe they'll look at one and say, 'Hey, the eight million or so people who watch Doctor Who every Saturday night would watch this!"

Whatever you do don't tell any other writers though or they'll all be at it. Must dash, I've a family drama script to finish. You'd love it, it's period set...

Being Human again

Remember when I (amongst many others) was going on and on about the Being Human pilot and how bloody great it was?

Well it's back and it's on BBC3 on Sunday nights, the second episode was on last night and if you haven't been watching it you should be. Don't worry though, I'm not going to get all in your face about it just as long as you go now and catch up via the old eyeballer here. Do so now and we'll say no more about it.

I'll probably be banging on about it more some other time when I haven't had to walk through snow for forty minutes to get home from the local train station. In the mean time if you don't want to take my word why not see what Frank makes of it over at Cathode Ray Tube?