Posts tagged ‘tv’

Yesterday I heard the absolutely splendiferous news that there’s a JB Hi-Fi opening in Southland soon! And then, of course, I talked to a bunch of people who already knew and hadn’t gotten around to telling me, but sometimes friends are just useless like that. This is the answer to one of my top ten prayers. Another, of course, is that the super-lame Collins Bookseller stores in Southland disappear and are replaced with a massive Borders store. I just don’t know where they’d put it.

I mean, I know where I’d put it. They’ve got a whole damn corridor of clothes shops on their second floor. That seems a bit extreme. Or maybe somewhere on the other (original) side there’s a place that isn’t being used efficiently. After all, I never go there, so it can’t be that useful.

Observant people will have noticed that the new look is spreading to the blog. Later this week when I have some more spare time I’ll be making all the swirl pictures here blue, in the manner of the pic on the left. This seems a good idea but I don’t know what colour to make the forum. Grey? Hmmm.

The final Doctor Who review for the 2005 season should turn up soon as well, for those who are eagerly anticipating. And, of course, a review of Serenity. Actually, the experience of seeing Serenity is worth a blog entry. If only I’d thought of that earlier, I could have spared you all endless Southland-waffle. But I didn’t! Bwa ha ha.

Speaking of maniacal laughs, it seems to have been confirmed that Anthony Stewart Head will not be playing the Master in Doctor Who‘s second season. Which is a shame, but as the episode will feature Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 it might have been considered a bit overcrowded anyhow.

Sorry about the downtime, folks. Well, sorry to those that noticed it.

I’ve been using the time to sit around on my arse vaguely studying. “Vaguely studying” is when you’ve got all the study material in front of you, and occasionally you draw half a concept map, or attempt to summarise some points.

I’d be nervous about the exam but now I’m more anxious about the link between meat-eating and cancer. And I’m insanely excited about the upcoming Doctor Who season finale. And even more excited about the news emerging today concerning the show’s future. Just a quick summary for those who can’t be bothered clicking the link (and a much more reliable way to avoid spoilers:

• Both a second AND a third season have been commissioned. As well as a Christmas special for this year and for the next. That’s 28 new episodes.
• Piper will be back for ALL the episodes of season two.
• Barrowman will be back for SOME of the episodes of season two, and is willing to get naked again. I wish I could have typed that about Piper.
• Nerd news: the director of The Empty Child and the director of The End of the World and The Unquiet Dead will be returning to direct the first two blocks of filming in season two.
• Nerdier news: the director of The Caves of Androzani and Revelation of the Daleks will be directing four stories in season two.
• The Cybermen will be returning for season two! I’d say they were replacing those bloody Slitheen but in a way, they’re replacing the Daleks, who won’t be appearing in season two. They’re expensive.

Damn that Michael Moore. He’s spoiled my innocence. I used to be able to watch documentaries and think I’d learned something. Now I’m so mistrustful my brain develops layers and layers of “take that with a pinch of salt” that end up feeling like I’ve taken nothing away at all.

Or maybe they just don’t make documentaries that well any more. I’ve just watched the Tony Robinson documentary on The Da Vinci Code which pretty much attempts to discredit every single thing the book says — fair enough I suppose, but it does it without interviews with the Catholic church or any other church. It discusses the idea that Magdalene and Christ were married yet doesn’t talk to any of the prominent Anglicans who have suggested such a thing.

Basically, whenever it talks to anyone on either side of the fence, they’re either engaging in guesswork, or clearly loonies. And there I was, wanting to know THE TRUTH. It’s depressing being an adult. I hope all the cool stuff I used to watch about Egypt was all true. Otherwise I’m very upset.

This has probably been happening to all sorts of TV shows and I haven’t noticed, but I’m observing a peculiar trend in Melbourne’s ‘Green Guide’ when it comes to Doctor Who.

Last week, they got someone to review it who admitted she’s never liked any sort of TV that involves any ‘un-real’ elements. Thus the brilliant ‘The End of the World’ gets a pathetic write up, being criticised presumably for not being about policemen or nurses. And now this week, the reasonably good ‘The Unquiet Dead’, lauded in the UK by one critic for being the best piece of television that year (which was a bit over-the-top, I’ll admit) is called “a bit crap”.

Of all the places to go, the reviewer asks, why a 19th Century morgue? Erm. Why not? I can’t be sure if it’s the morgue bit or the 19th Century she’s not interested in. Did she notice that last week they blew up the Earth? It seems she was hoping for cross-dressing, given Mark Gatiss’ Leage of Gentlemen work.

Most irritatingly, she claims that Doctor Who is one of those things, like Star Wars, that if you didn’t see as a kid you won’t get, and comments that as Eccleston and Piper are both probably leaving, the show is most likely doomed anyway. She couldn’t have fitted in more off-putting TV reviewing language if she’d tried. Neither reviewer even vaguely alluded to whether children — you know, the “target audience” — would enjoy it. And I know I haven’t either, but Grapefruit is a genre site. The Green Guide is a popular TV guide for everyone, but most of the critics seem more interested in proving their wit and turning people against shows which irritate them for spurious reasons.

Ahem. I didn’t expect that to go on so long. Hmmm. Sorry.