Five Days A Week

January is done and dusted and so is Week Five of the viewing year. Shows aplenty were on course to be watched but a unforseen problem meant that viewing was somewhat limited. Regardless of this though, there was enough on offer to keep me occupied. The week began with a four-episode binge of Five Days (proof that “Great drama from the BBC” is not just a cathphrase) and a couple of installments of Waking The Dead. The week ended with yet another double header of

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Tags: 24, Deal-Or-No-Deal, Five-Days, General, Gerry-Robinson, Superbowl, Waking-The-Dead, West-Wing

Politics On The Hill

E4 is drawing to a close on its showing of ABC’s Commander-In-Chief.� On the surface, there’s not much wrong with this show: there are two major Hollywood stars in the lead roles (Geena Davis, who won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of President Allen, and Donald Sutherland who needs no introduction, so I won’t give him one) and, from a storyline perspective, my guess is that it’s quite easy to find a good plot when your subject has as broad a canvas as “US politics”.

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Tags: Commander-In-Chief, Donald-Sutherland, E4, Geena-Davis, Modern Drama, President-Allen, West-Wing

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

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Tags: BBC4, Chris-Langham, Comedy, Commander-In-Chief, George-Bush, Sir-Humphrey, The-Office, The-Thick-Of-It, West-Wing, Yes-Minister

Where’s Santos?

The West Wing has finished, and so More4 have decided to replace that most marvellous of series with something very similar in looks if not content.� The first three episodes of Commander-in-Chief tell the story of a Republican president who dies in office and leaves the Vice-President (Geena Davis as Mackenzie Allen) to take control seemingly against almost everyone’s wishes.� President Allen is the first female president and she is the first independant president but she only got

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Tags: ABC1, Commander-In-Chief, Donald-Sutherland, Geena-Davis, Modern Drama, More4, West-Wing

Funeral for a Friend

Not only did we have to work our way through the emotional rollercoaster of Rose’s departure from Doctor Who at the weekend, but there was also the more genuine sadness of saying farewell to John Spencer* and his West Wing character, Leo McGarry. All through the episodes following Leo’s death you could almost sense that many of the tears were real, and the opening scene at the funeral was genuinely heartbreaking. Although obviously unplanned, they couldn’t have scripted it better with Leo dying on election night and, in a typically West Wing stylee, throwing the whole process into political dissaray. Remarkably unspoilt, I had no idea of the election result as the UK debut on season seven has been squirrelled away on More4 and there is no sign yet of my DVD boxset. As I was probably the last person on the planet to find, I can safely say…. Santos wins. Josh’s final line after the win seemed to be truly personal… “Thanks Boss!”
(*Further irony that namesake and snooker legend, John Spencer also passed away at the weekend)

Tags: Funeral, John-Spencer, Josh, Leo, Modern Drama, More4, President-Bartlett, West-Wing

Arnie Vinick explains the situation

As the final season of The West Wing hurtles towards its conclusion over on More4, I can’t help but worry that there is going to be nothing waiting in the wings (so to speak) to replace it. Political drama within the UK has been quite limited, to the degree that it is almost a niche subject for television makers over the years (with notable exceptions like “House Of Cards”). Instead the Brits tend to view political intrigue as a subject of much hilarity as seen in “Yes, Minister” and “New Statesman”. Therefore, when I became aware of The West Wing some 5 or 6 years ago, I approached with caution, but any fears were soon put to rest as the sheer brilliance of Aaron Sorkin’s creation became apparent. Episodes continue to inform and entertain all the way through season seven…. the presidential race hots up as a nuclear power plant in California melts down in one of the best examples, Duck and Cover. It says something about the state of the world when the standing President and both candidates to supercede him in a fictional storyline, would all seemingly run the actual President to a close finish. So, The West Wing will take all its Emmys and Golden Globes and be relegated to the sidelines of “They-don’t-make-’em-like-that-anymore” discussions at the pub. Soon to be gone, long to be remembered.

Tags: Aaron-Sorkin, Alan-Alda, Duck-And-Cover, E4, Modern Drama, West-Wing