Torch bearing

Who (no pun) knows quite what’s going on with Torchwood? The BBC have released their press info for the week, but as yet, they’re not confirming a day. Read more

“Think QI… It’s not 8 Out of 10 Cats”

I’ve been watching the first episode of Rob Brydon’s new BBC3 endeavour Annually Retentive, which is now available on broadband. And, well, it’s pretty good. Read more

Groan ups

So I’ve got sat here two preview DVDs with all eight episodes of Grown Ups on it. It’s the new BBC3 sitcom “from the creator of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps“, no less, which transmits on 9 May. On the basis of the ep I’ve watched, Susan Nickson isn’t going to become famed for her versatility any time soon. Read more

When is the end of your schtick, Vic?

There has been heated debate on internet forums this week regarding the BBC3 programme When Comedy Changed Forever. This one-off, 60 minuter put forward the thesis that modern television comedy owes an enormous debt to Vic Reeves Big Night Out. Taking this assumption as its intellectual starting point, the rest of the programme was then bolted round the idea, and presented to us via some ugly graphics that were meant to denote the different ages of TV comedy as distinct geographical locations. The upshot was – a clip of Ben Elton being obsequious to Geoffery Archer on an episode of Wogan aside – there wasn’t really much of interest in the programme and its whole point came across a little spurious. Read more

Refreshing TV

Nobody else would have seen it, because nobody ever had, but BBC3 News ended on Friday with a demented final instalment. Read more

The Story of Bohemian Rhapsody

When I was 11 I thought Queen were the business. I also rated US comic books, and I don’t think the two were unrelated. Read more

Little Britain

Like The League of Gentlemen before it, Little Britain has managed to become the nation’s latest must-see comedy show. Following a rapturous reception for the first run last year, the programme has enjoyed two three-CD releases, a script book and a superb DVD set. Read more

Spy

The TV phenomenon of the last five years has undoubtedly been reality television. As a genre it has been almost universally derided for clogging up our television screens with hundreds of hours of cheap television in which – apparently – “nothing ever happens”. Read more

Bodies

“I’ve been here long enough to know that it’s best not to say anything,” remarks one character during the course of Jed Mercurio’s new medical series Bodies. Read more

Little Britain

At last! BBC3 finally presents its miniscule audience with a programme that’s worth watching. Read more

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