Fazzinchi

Name That Frame 

It is amazing that, after more than forty-three years, the assassination on John Fitzgerald Kennedy can still have such a stong emotional response in so many people. Typically, this amount of time forces a certain detachment between the event and people’s recollections of it but the events of 22nd November 1963 are far removed from what anyone would describe as “typical”. I would suggest that it was not until 11th September 2001 that any event had such world-changing (more…)

What Happened Next?

Sat down to watch Reichenbach Falls this evening, a recent BBC4 play about a detective and an author.  Got to about 2 minutes from the end and we saw the above.  The gut-wrenching realisation that the EPG and the broadcast have gone out of synch on the Sky box and you’ve missed the end, is not a nice feeling.  I also seem to have missed the repeats.  If anyone knows what happened just after the “One Year Later” subtitle, do let me know? (more…)

Dirty, Harry 

I was a little disappointed to hear that season two of Life On Mars is to be the last, a mere 16 episodes doesn’t seem like quite enough to satisfy the palette when it comes to this unusual cop drama. If internet rumours are to be believed there may well be the opportunity to enjoy the US re-make (if “enjoy” is the right word) or even look forward the much suspected sequel/spin-off called Ashes To Ashes (to keep the Bowie theme alive) that will be set in the eighties. All this (more…)

White Noise

Charlie Brooker is a man with a mission.  Quite what the mission is, I am not quite sure but I heartily recommend joining him on the journey.  If Points Of View is the genial uncle of “TV shows about TV shows” then, tucked away on late night BBC4 you’ll find Screenwipe being the rebellious nephew with rings in his nose, a black, spiky mohican and kicking the neighbour’s cat.  The widely-read, Guardian columnist can be found venting his spleen about whatever televisual treats (more…)

Retrospective Review #3 of 5

BBC4 have followed up their recent re-makes of the classic sci-fi shows, Quatermass Experiment and A For Andromeda, with a version of Random Quest (based on the John Wyndham story) with isn’t-he-like-his-dad, Samuel West in the lead role. I missed the chance to see both Samuel and Timothy perform together at the local theatre recently in “A Number”, which is a play about human cloning and, judging by his assured performance here, I say that with some regret. Random (more…)

Retrospective Review #1 of 5

I’ve never watched The Thick Of It before and so this seasonal special was my first introduction to the murky world of these spin doctors and politicos. I caught a few minutes of the repeat viewing while channel hopping last night, so thought now was as good a time as any to post a review. The programme had very strong echoes of The Office, with its faux documentary style and handicam work but perhaps better comparissons would be drawn with Yes, Minister, which told a (more…)