The first recording today starts with the end of Lizzie McGuire.
There’s a trail for Trapped.
Then a repeat showing for The Sarah Jane Adventures – Eye of the Gorgon – Part 1. I seem to have missed part two, sadly.
Media Centre Description: Children’s drama series from the makers of Doctor Who, following the adventures of investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith, a former companion to the Doctor. Sarah Jane and her team encounter the Gorgon – a terrifying creature that turns its victims to stone.
Recorded from BBC ONE on Monday 8th October 2007 16:58
Then the recording ends with the start of Newsround.
The next recording starts with a trail for Flight of the Conchords.
Then, it’s episode 2 of the 1990 BBC House of Cards. Ian Richardson is the scheming, fourth-wall breaking Chief Whip Francis Urquhart, who’s already scheming against the newly selected Prime Minister.
It’s conference season.
Reporter Mattie Storin, who has been getting close to Urquhart in search of stories, gets an anonymous letter, detailing a recent poll that shows the party 30 points behind. She doesn’t know that it was Urquhart who arranged for her to receive it. Her editor doesn’t want to run it, because he thinks she’s being set up.
It’s all sex & drugs. Roger O’Neill has been pressured by Urquhart to ask his assistant – also his sometime girlfriend – to ask her if she’d be willing to sleep with the Foreign Secretary.
Urquhart bugs a dispatch box so he can record them having sex.
He makes the switch when he goes to speak to the Foreign Secretary Patrick Woolton about whether he thinks the Prime Minister should resign, and whether he’s be interested in the leadership himself. Woolton says the party should wait a few months to “get the public used to the idea of a change of leadership. Move too soon and we’ll look like assassins.”
Mattie bumps into the Prime Minister’s brother, who’s a bit of an embarrassment to his brother as he’s a bit of a drunk, and there’s a rumbling of an insider trading scandal involving him.
Kenny Ireland turns up, playing Ben Landless, the American proprietor of Mattie’s newspaper. She complains to him that he spiked her story about the Tories doing badly in the poll, and he tells her it was a good story, but for the wrong paper, as they always support the Tories.
Urquhart corners Landless, and puts to him the idea of dumping Collingridge as leader.
Later, he listens to Woolton having sex. “One for the archives.”
The story about the opinion poll is printed that evening, and the Prime Minister wants to know who leaked the private poll. It seems strange that that would be the only poll around, but that seems to be what’s happening here. He chooses Urquhart to investigate who’s moving against him. Rookie mistake. Then later, the story about the share dealing involving his brother emerges, so Urquhart suggests putting his brother into rehab in the country.
He also encourages the PM to do a TV interview. He says that the shares story will seem like an irrelevance. Unfortunately, the interviewer has a lot of evidence involving the scandal which the PM can’t answer, and it leaves him looking very bad.
One part of this story I never really liked is the sexual undercurrent between Urquhart and Mattie. It always seemed like that regular TV trope (much beloved by Steven Bochco as I recall) of the much older man having a much younger woman falling at his feet. These days I just assume this was exactly how Boris Johnson and Laura Kuenssberg were in private. But at least, for the first time this episode, we get his catchphrase. “You might think that. I couldn’t possibly comment.”
Media Centre Description: Andrew Davies’s adaptation of Michael Dobbs’ best-selling satirical novel about the corrupt and cynical world of British party politics. Urquhart forges ahead with his plan to bring down the new PM. Meanwhile, the party faithful congregate at the Tory conference in Brighton.
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Monday 8th October 2007 20:58
After this, there’s a short promo for a new series, Fanny Hill. I remember BBC Four doing a few of these. I think the one they did about Mad Men totally put me off wanting to watch it, it was so up itself.
This series was written by Andrew Davies, who also adapted House of Cards and Pride and Prejudice so they’re really pushing it as a classic, when it all just comes off as a bit of a sex comedy.
It’s directed by James Hawes, a familiar face from Doctor Who Confidential.
And features Alison Steadman.
Here it is, for posterity.
After this, the recording stops with the start of Russia’s Village of Fools.
Today’s recording starts with the end of an episode of Wife Swap.
Then we have Elektra. I’m sure I must have watched this before, but I have no memory whatsoever of it. Maybe I just think I did because I watched Daredevil.
The film opens with a bit of a surprise, and it’s Hello to Jason Isaacs, although it took me a minute or so to recognise him as he was doing his American accent, which is pretty good.
I perked up at this, before realising the nature of the film I’m watching, and it’s obvious that he’s the target of an assassin here, as he’s got lots of security, none of which appears to help, as the eponymous Elektra arrives, and makes short work of them. She’s played by Jennifer Garner, and her first appearance looks like she’s in a shampoo commercial. I’m sure having your hair blowing around like it’s just been Timotei’d can’t be practical, neither can the skimpy red costume, but that’s how Frank Miller designed her, so what can they do?
And pretty soon it’s Goodbye to Jason Isaacs. (I stole that joke off my daughter.)
There’s a mysterious organisation called The Hand, run by Cary-Hiroyuki Tanaga, who are look for “The Weapon”.
There’s a lot of flashback in this movie. Here’s Terence Stamp as Stick, who was teaching her the ability to stop time and see into the future, until he chucked her out of the school. We also get a glimpse of her father, who appears to be rather strict and controlling.
While she’s staying in a house on a lake, she meets a young girl called Abby, who broke into the house.
She meets Abby’s father, and tells him about his daughter breaking into the house. Then Abby comes back to ask her to join them for Christmas (yes, weirdly, this is a Christmas film). Her father, Mark Miller, is played by Goran Visnjic, and he wasn’t expecting a guest for Christmas, but welcomes her anyway.
She finally gets the assignment she was waiting at the house for, and in a shock twist, she’s supposed to kill both Mark and Abby. I guess the person paying for the hit didn’t ask for it to look like an accident. But Elektra can’t bring herself to do it, and tells her agent she’s not doing the job.
But there are other assassins on the way, so Elektra also has to help the Millers. She kills one on their roof, which then vanishes in a puff of green smoke, which for some reason was the moment when I lost some interest in this film. I haven’t read enough of the comics to know if this is commonplace, but for some reason, here I found it a bit tiresome, because you’ve got no idea how all these different powers work or not, and therefore how much of a threat anyone is. I have the same problem with ghosts.
Kirigi, the son of the leader of the Hand has his own group of assassins, and after the other assassins were killed by Elektra, he asks to be allowed to obtain the treasure.
Elektra takes the Millers to see Stick, who, despite being blind, is also a pool hustler, sinking four balls with one shot.
Outside the club, as they leave, a graffiti bird becomes real, watches where they’re going, then returns to one of the assassins as a tattoo. The assassin’s name is Tattoo.
I’m trying to figure out why Colin Cunningham, who plays Elektra’s agent, looks familiar. I’ve looked at his iMDb listing, and nothing leaps out at me that I might know him from.
The magic assassins don’t waste too much time. This one appears to be invulnerable.
Tattoo sends magical wolves after them.
Another of them drains people’s life. In this case not fully.
Just in the nick of time, a lot of white ninjas appear, led by Stick.
Back at Stick’s training camp, Elektra learns that Abby is The Treasure, a prodigy.
There’s a big fight in an old house with lots of billowing sheets. So many billowing sheets. It’s all exquisitely shot, but it’s doing absolutely nothing for me, and I can’t tell why.
There’s a big maze outside the house, and Tattoo sends in a lot of magic snakes to catch Abby.
Elektra finally kills Kirigi.
She also kills the Kiss of Death woman, but not before she’s already killed Abby. Lucky that Elektra knows how to bring people back from the dead (Stick did that for her).
I feel like I should have enjoyed that a lot more than I did. I think it’s the supernatural elements, where the rules are unclear, and seem to be applied haphazardly. These assassins (including Elektra) seem to be able to hop from place to place instantaneously, so I don’t see what’s stopping any of them killing people immediately. So it’s hard to gauge the stakes in any of the fights. There’s an underlying incoherence here that I think is undercutting my enjoyment. Shame, really.
Media Centre Description: Martial arts action drama. A warrior assassin is charged with killing a man to pay for the sins of his grandfather, but switches sides to protect him from the supernatural team of ninjas who hired her.
Recorded from Channel 4 on Sunday 7th October 2007 21:00
After this, the recording stops just as Alien is starting.
Here’s the ad breaks.
Adverts:
trail: Dispatches: China’s Stolen Children
Morrisons
Actimel
Lash Maxx
National Bingo
trail: Alfie
Fosters
Paradise Lost on DVD
Fifa 08
Ratatouille in cinemas
Christina Aguilera perfume
Katie Melua – Pictures
Mazda 2
Saw IV in cinemas
Gillette Fusion
Spider-Man 3
LG Shine
trail: Lost for Words: The Fight to Help Kids Read
The first recording today is The Mummy. It’s a film I enjoyed a lot at the time, so it’ll be nice to see how much of it holds up.
The opening is an impressive tracking shot over Ancient Egypt, then a shot tracking into a close-up of the eponymous Mummy, before he was the Mummy – Imhotep, High priest of the Pharoah, played by Arnold Vosloo. The matte shots are impressive, but sometimes the compositing is what lets these shots down. But for the time (1999) this film does look good.
Imhotep is having an affair with the wife of the Pharaoh, Anck Su Namun. This can only end in trouble.
Sure enough, Pharoah discovers them. They kill him, but his guards come. Anck Su Namun kills herself, and Imhotep attempts to revive her using ancient magic, but the guards catch up with him, and mummify him alive, filling his casket with flesh eating scarabs.
Flash forward to 1923 and there’s a very big battle going on among the ruins of Hamunaptra. For all the CG they’ve used for a lot of the matte paintings and various supernatural things, it also looks like there’s a lot of scenes with just a huge number of extras. There’s also a disturbing number of horses falling.
Brendan Fraser plays Rick O’Connell who’s a mercenary, fighting for… well I don’t think the movie cares about that, and I certainly can’t remember. He does an awful lot of shooting with two guns at the same time. This film came out in the same year as The Matrix, and two handed gunplay was all the rage. It’s probably John Woo’s fault.
He’s almost captured or killed by the people he’s fighting against, but they suddenly turn around and run, just before the sand starts moving of its own accord and making faces. So Rick also runs off.
As he runs, he’s watched by a group of people who watch over the lost city (and who are narrating this opening). They’re led by Oded Fehr, who always seemed to play roles like this.
Rachel Weisz plays Evie, a librarian, who we meet replacing books in a museum library in Cairo, before she manages to knock over every book stack in the room. Because smart women are always clumsy and awkward (see also Emma Thompson in Junior).
Erick Avari is her boss, another of those faces that seemed to pop up in everything for a time.
John Hannah plays her brother, very much a wastrel. I found him rather annoying through most of this, I have to say.
He shows her something he’s obtained, supposedly on a dig in Thebes. It’s some kind of puzzle box, which Evie is able to open, and there’s a map inside. Evie thinks the map to to Hamunaptra, and might lead to some great treasure.
Actually, he stole it from Rick, who’s now in prison. Omid Djalili plays the warden. Rick is scheduled to be hanged, so Evie makes a deal with the warden for 25% of whatever they find at Hamunaptra (reputed to be where all the pharaohs kept all their wealth).
Corey Johnson (off of Dalek) is another man looking for Hamunaptra. There really are a lot of characters in this movie.
Also treasure hunting is Jonathan Hyde.
Helping them find it is Kevin J O’Connor, who was Rick’s right hand man at the battle, but who abandoned him when it got hairy.
Once they get to Hamunaptra, nasty things start happening, like scarab beetles burrowing under the skin. Somehow CG of this era never really looked as good as the old school special makeup effects.
Rick and Evie find the Mummy, but it’s currently very dead.
Then Evie starts reading from the Book of the Dead, which has a very positive effect on him.
It causes a plague of locusts, too.
These effects were pretty good for 1999.
The Mummy is so powerful he can cause an unexpected eclipse.
Lucky for Arnold Vosloo, he does get to play some of the scenes in the present, as Imhotep regenerates.
They do finally find the treasure chamber.
Imhotep takes Evie, to sacrifice her and bring back Anck Su Namun.
Rick’s fight against all the undead is still a genuinely great bit of acting and effects. I think Brendan Fraser was performing against nothing here.
Rick and Imhotep square up.
Evie reads the inscription from the golden book, which makes Imhotep mortal again, and Rick is able to kill him.
Like all good action movies, the bad guy’s lair explodes at the end.
Media Centre Description: Fantasy adventure about the search for buried treasure protected by an ancient mummy’s curse in the Egyptian desert. An American mercenary who knows the secret location is rescued from a Cairo prison by an English historian and her brother. Racing against unscrupulous rivals, they head into the desert, where they encounter flesh-eating scarab beetles, killer sandstorms and reincarnated demons.
Recorded from ITV2 on Saturday 6th October 2007 21:48
The next recording starts with the end of Brass Eye – Paedogeddon.
Then, an episode of The Secret Cabaret with Simon Drake. I can’t help thinking that Simon Drake was deeply inspired when younger by Duran Duran’s video for The Wild Boys, as his whole grungy aesthetic seems taken from that.
Ricky Jay shows some false dealing of cards. Impeccable, as always.
Matthew Gryczan explains how a particular carnival game is rigged to be impossible to win.
Jeanie Tomaini is a Living Half Lady who used to work in a carnival.
Named Seuqcaj pokes needles into himself.
David Berglas recounts a story of when he was asked to investigate a poltergeist.
Enrica is suspended by her hair and does aerial ballet.
Frank Abagnale tells the story of his thousands of free flights, obtained by getting a pilot’s uniform, faking an ID and conning his way onto planes pretending to be a pilot needing a flight back to home base. His story was the basis of the Spielberg film Catch Me If You Can.
Max Maven explains one of the tricks of fake spiritualists.
Simon Drake performs a Russian Roulette trick – about a decade before Derren Brown made a whole programme based on the same thing.
Media Centre Description: A dazzling kaleidoscope of dark entertainment for those with a sixth sense of humour.
Recorded from More 4 on Sunday 7th October 2007 00:08
After this, there’s the start of Kabaddi.
The final recording again starts with the end of the Brass Eye Paedogeddon special, and continues to a repeat of The Secret Cabaret with Simon Drake. It also ends with the start of Kabaddi.
Media Centre Description: A dazzling kaleidoscope of dark entertainment for those with a sixth sense of humour.
Recorded from More 4 on Sunday 7th October 2007 01:48
The first recording today is another episode of A Bucket O’ French and Saunders. It’s missing the beginning, though.
Dawn and Jennifer are looking to sell their house, so Kirstie Allsopp (Jen) is there to help.
The real Kirstie Allsopp arrives.
Dawn thinks she’s on Big Brother.
Another Kirstie Allsopp.
Media Centre Description: A selection of new and vintage sketches from the popular comedy double act. Kirstie Allsopp is called in to help Dawn and Jennifer find a new pad after 20 years at the BBC. The duo are joined by music legends Sarah Walker and Carl Davis to perform an opera classic with a difference. And Dawn lands herself a place in the Big Brother house. Some strong language.
Recorded from BBC ONE on Friday 5th October 2007 21:00
The next recording starts with the Russell Brand Radio 2 ad. And a trail for Dragon’s Den.
Then, an episode of QI – Eating.
With guests Jimmy Carr
Johnny Vegas
Phill Jupitus
and Alan Davies.
Media Centre Description: Stephen Fry hosts the quiz show in which contestants are rewarded more if their answers are ‘quite interesting’. Alan Davies, Jimmy Carr, Phill Jupitus and Johnny Vegas tackle the subject of eating.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Friday 5th October 2007 21:58
After this there’s a trail for Stephen Fry: HIV And Me and a trail for Top Gear.
There’ s also a trail for Drop Dead Gorgeous. And one for Spooks.
Then the recording stops with the start of Newsnight. It leads with the story of edited footage of the Queen leading to the resignation of head of programmes, Peter Fincham. Interestingly, also involved was Stephen Lambert, who was head of RDF Media, who edited the footage, and he resigned too. He’s now head of Studio Lambert, who make programmes like Gogglebox and The Traitors, so he’s landed on his feet.
The next recording is the final episode of Porterhouse Blue. I’ve written about this on one of my tapes. Griff Rhys Jones’ Carrington is making a film about the college and approaches Skullion to be interviewed about his sacking.
There’s a really egregious presentation cock-up at the end – not only do they pop up a “Next on” caption, but there’s a voiceover, talking over the dialogue that’s happening in the epsiode. Pretty awful, and very possibly a timing error with an automated playout system.
Media Centre Description: Concluding episode in the four-part dramatisation of Tom Sharpe’s satire centred on a naive undergraduate’s experiences at a college hidebound by tradition.
Recorded from More 4 on Friday 5th October 2007 23:28
After this, the recording stops with the start of Without a Trace.
The next recording starts with the end of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.
There’s a trail for Spooks. I bet I didn’t keep those, judging by my inability to archive the other shows recently. There’s also a trail for The Peter Serafinowicz Show.
Then, a movie, Old School, which I have never seen.
Mitch (Luke Wilson) returns home early from a conference to find his wife in the midst of a sex party.
It’s so weird to see Juliette Lewis playing a wife, rather than a daughter. I’ll never understand the passage of time.
His friend Frank (Will Ferrell) is getting married. His other friend Beanie (Vince Vaughn) is telling him there’s still time to back out.
I did find the wedding band, singing Total Eclipse of the Heart with added swearing, was quite funny.
Mitch meets an old friend, Nicole (Ellen Pompeo) at the wedding and manages to drop coffee in her lap.
Mitch moves into a new house, very close to the campus of the university. Beanie throws a huge housewarming party, big enough to have Snoop Dogg as the musical act.
Frank gets very drunk and streaks into town, where his wife is driving with friends.
In a strange bit of casting, Jeremy Piven gets the part of the crusty old Dean, and he tells Mitch that the house has been rezoned, exclusively for Campus use only, so Mitch will have to move out.
Frank’s marriage goes downhill very quickly.
Mitch’s boss is played by Terry O’Quinn, and it’s rather awkward for Mitch when his daughter (Elisha Cuthbert) comes in, because that morning, after the party, he woke up with her in his bed, and then he learns she’s still at High-School.
Mitch arrives home to find that Beanie has organised a lot of people, the idea being they’ll start a fraternity, so they don’t have to give up the house.
Simon Helberg is one of the pledges.
There’s a really stupid pledge activity involving great height, and a breezeblock attached to their penises by a length of rope. I’ve never understood the fraternity system.
Frank finds his wife and her friends getting lessons in giving blow-jobs from a strange man.
Beanie throws a big birthday party for his son. Mitch’s old friend Nicole comes along, but she’s got her new boyfriend Mark in tow. During the party, Mitch catches him chatting up a caterer, but the man tells him he can’t tell Nicole. “It’s guy code, okay? Guys don’t tell on other guys. That’s something chicks do.”
Seann William Scott turns up as a Shetland Pony wrangler. He’s got a tranquiliser gun which Frank manages to shoot himself with, which makes him crash through the party like a zombie and fall into the pool.
The crusty old Dean bribes the head of the student council with entry to Columbia Law School if she’ll reverse her decision to approve the fraternity.
One of the fraternity’s pledges, Blue, who’s about 80 years old, dies during a KY Jelly wrestling match.
Sleazy Mark tells Nicole that he saw Mitch harassing the caterer. Mitch wants to explain things to Nicole, but it’s not helped by the owner of the cafe they’re at telling Nicole that Mitch is the Godfather of the fraternity.
Thanks to bribing the student council, the crusty old Dean has evicted everyone from the frat house.
Their only chance is to pass a review of the fraternity. There’s a debate team, where the Dean brings in a ringer, CNN debater James Carville.
The student council head confronts the Dean, telling him she didn’t get into Columbia Law School. “Look, I did my part. Now you have to do yours. That’s how bribes work.” “I know how bribes work. I bribe people all the time, but I changed my mind. It’s a free country.”
In the athletic test, the Dean selects the biggest person there to perform a vault, but he pulls it off.
But the Dean cheats again, telling they’ve failed. Then the student council head comes to see them with a tape she made of the Dean confessing to bribing her. The Dean steals the tape, there’s a long chase, Frank fights with the Dean, who gets away, but Frank got the tape, and the Dean is fired.
Nicole comes to see Mitch as he’s moving out, telling him that she found out what a sleazeball Mark was.
Frank becomes the campus DJ.
This really wasn’t my kind of thing, if I’m honest. Maybe when I was 18.
Media Centre Description: Riotous campus comedy in which a lawyer, having caught his wife cheating on him, sets up home near the local university, unwittingly giving his thirtysomething friends an opportunity to recapture their college years and turn his pad into a 24-hour party zone.
Recorded from BBC ONE on Friday 5th October 2007 23:35
Media Centre Description: Sci-fi drama series set on the USS Enterprise. Returning from a routine mission on Tanuga Four, Commander Riker finds himself suspected of murdering a respected scientist who had accused him of seducing his wife.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Saturday 6th October 2007 02:23
After this, there’s trails for Top Gear,Spooks and one for Strictly.
Then the recording stops with the start of another episode of TNG.
That episode is Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Offspring which I am surprised to discover I don’t seem to have on my tapes.
Data has got the nesting instinct, so he is building a child.
His child, called Lal, is very much a They/Them at this point. “I have decided to allow my child to choose its own sex and appearance.”
Captain Picard is having trouble explaining to Data all the serious ramifications of what he’s done.
Sounds like Lal doesn’t want to be non-binary. “And I am gender… neuter. Inadequate.” “That is why you must choose a gender, Lal”
Lal decides on being a girl. There’s a bit of dialogue to explain why her skin colour is more realistic than his, because I guess they didn’t want the added expense of all the makeup.
Data thinks that Lal working behind the bar at Ten Forward with Guinan is a good way to learn social interaction. During their conversation, Guinan notices that Lal can use contractions, like “I’ve” instead of “I have”, something Data can’t do. “You have exceeded my abilities.”
Picard tells Data that Starfleet’s head of research, Admiral Haftel, is coming to examine Lal. The Admiral thinks that it would be better if Lal were ‘looked after’ by Starfleet’s cybernetics experts. “Then he is questioning my ability as a parent.” “In a manner of speaking.” Does the Admiral have children?” “Yes, I believe he does, Data. Why?” I am forced to wonder how much experience he had as a parent when his first child was born.”
Lal watches a couple flirting and kissing. Of course, she doesn’t understand what kissing is. Riker, who has been off the ship since the start of the episode has returned, and comes in. “You’re new here, aren’t you?” he asks. “Yes,” she replies, then grabs him and kisses him, just as Data comes in. “Commander? What are your intentions toward my daughter?”
Admiral Haftel seems intent on taking Lal. Picard pushes back. “I’m convinced the damage will be irreparable if they’re separated.” “Captain, are we talking about breaking up a family? Isn’t that rather a sentimental attitude about androids?” “They’re living, sentient beings. Their rights and privileges in our society have been defined. I helped define them.” A nice reference to the earlier episode “The Measure of a Man”.
Haftel doesn’t think Ten Forward is an appropriate place for Lal. “She is capable of running over 60 trillion calculations a second, and you have her working as a cocktail waitress.”
Haftel interviews Lal, telling her of the research centre he wants to take her to. She tells him she doesn’t want to leave the Enterprise yet. When she leaves the interview, she seeks out Deanna Troi. “Troi… An admiral from Starfleet has come to take me away, Troi. I am scared.” “You are scared, aren’t you?” “I feel it. How is this possible?” “I don’t know.” “This is what it means to feel.”
Haftel demands that Data voluntarily gives up Lal to Starfleet. “Admiral, when I created Lal, it was in the hope that someday she would choose to enter the academy and become a member of Starfleet. I wanted to give something back in return for all that Starfleet has given me. I still do. But Lal is my child. You ask that I volunteer to give her up. I cannot. It would violate every lesson I have learned about human parenting. I have brought a new life into this world. And it is my duty, not Starfleet’s to guide her through these difficult steps to maturity, to support her as she learns, to prepare her to be a contributing member of society. No one can relieve me from that obligation, and I cannot ignore it. I am… her father.” And yes, this is making me cry.
Haftel orders Data to hand Lal over. Picard tells Data to ignore the order. Haftel says “Captain, you are jeopardizing your command and your career.” Picard replies “There are times, sir, when men of good conscience cannot blindly follow orders. You acknowledge their sentience but you ignore their personal liberties and freedom. Order a man to hand his child over to the state? Not while I am his Captain.” And this is why Picard is the best Captain.
Lal’s emotional feelings appear to be the symptom of a malfunction. Data (assisted by Haftel) has to try to find the problem.
As Deanna, Wesley and Geordi wait outside the lab for news, Haftel comes out. “She… she won’t survive much longer. There was nothing anyone could have done. We’d repolarize one pathway, and another would collapse. And then another. His hands… were moving faster than I could see, trying to stay ahead of each breakdown. He refused to give up. He was remarkable. It just… wasn’t meant to be.” And for once he appears to be upset by this for reasons other than value to Starfleet.
Data has to say goodbye. “Lal, I am unable to correct the system failure.” “I know.” “We must say good-bye now.” “I feel…” “What do you feel, Lal?” “I love you, Father.” Data pauses. “I wish I could feel it with you.” “I will feel it for both of us. Thank you for my life. Flirting. Laughter. Painting, family. Female. Human…” And then she stops.
Gosh, that episode definitely pushed all of my buttons.
Media Centre Description: Sci-fi drama series about the crew of the USS Enterprise. Data becomes a proud father when he creates an android using his own neural programming. Picard, however, is apprehensive about Starfleet’s reaction to the unauthorised newcomer.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Saturday 6th October 2007 03:08
The first recording today starts with the end of The Restaurant.
There’s a trail for a new series of Spooks which got me quite excited.
And a trail for The Peter Serafinowicz Show.
Then, the first episode of The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle.
Jennifer Saunders plays Vivienne Vyle, host of a Jeremy Kyle style tabloid confrontation show.
They’ve got the unfortunate hair of participants right.
The man gets so angry at being told he’s not the father of his son that he starts attacking Vivienne, and then a security guard falls off stage on top of her.
Her husband is played by Conleth Hill off of Game of Thrones.
Miranda Richardson plays her director, Helena.
Jason Watkins plays Jonathan Fowler, a psychologist at the hospital.
Vivienne’s staircase looks terrifying. She and Jared are arguing about Oprah. She says “Anyway, I haven’t got that kind of ego” as she walks up past the huge picture of her face.
Fern Britton stands in for Vivienne while she’s recovering.
Vivienne is back, but Helena has hired the psychologist from the hospital to help vet the people on the show.
A young runner, Abigail, was fired by Helena after Vivienne’s incident, but she comes in to return a letter from the sperm bank holding her dead husband’s sperm. Vivienne had given it to her to look after before the incident on the show and might have been very sensitive if the newspapers got hold of it. So Vivienne reverses her firing.
The show resumes with its usual restrained and tasteful subject matter.
Vivienne and Jared visit her sperm. It’s a deeply moving moment until she stouches it and her fingers freeze on to it.
Media Centre Description: Dark sitcom about a daytime talk show. Ratings for the Vivienne Vyle Show soar when a guest punches Vivienne, so the producer is inspired to feature increasingly extreme guests and subject matter.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Thursday 4th October 2007 20:58
The next recording follows straight on, with a trail for The Tudors.
Then, the first episode of The Peter Serafinowicz Show.
There’s an ad for Elvene One-hair Shampoo. The shampoo for men with only one hair.
Holmes and Watson getting over friendly.
Entertainment News, and the Oscar statuette has been redesigned, complete with an erect penis, by a controversial artist. I do like his fan-baiting t-shirt.
His Alan Alda impression is really good.
Sarah Alexander (also Mrs Serafinowicz) plays Madonna.
He does Ralph Feinnes as Rigsby from Rising Damp.
The Clone House big brother is a little dull, but cleverly done.
The first of many Brian Butterfield adverts.
Michael Caine gives an acting masterclass.
He plays a clip of a movie he did with Bob Hoskins, played by Paul Putner.
Derek Bum demonstrates the Kitchen Gun.
Uh oh. In a sketch about getting married, he misgenders a transwoman. He’d better be careful he’s not cancelled. Weird that that’s the second trans character in subsequent shows. It’s the present leaking into the past again.
I spoke too soon. In the sketch with Michael-6 the robot talk show host, the secret that a woman has to tell her boyfriend of six months is that she’s got a penis.
“Elephants and Trains magazine”
“but let me just say that these are extremely low quality items that do cost far less than that to produce. I mean, we’re talking pennies, really, aren’t we?” “Yes, we are.” “That’s the Diamonelle Earrings 448202. Absolutely rank.”
His Chris Tarrant impression is uncanny, in “Heads or Tails”. Didn’t that become an actual Ant & Dec show?
Pirate Chat.
Media Centre Description: Fast-paced sketch show in which Peter Serafinowicz and friends send up the best and worst of today’s television. This programme introduces the UK’s most incompetent lawyer, plus Michael Caine teaches a group of students how to act, Chris Tarrant hosts the exciting new game show Heads or Tails, and a robot talk-show host tries to solve human problems.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Thursday 4th October 2007 21:30
Media Centre Description: Comedy sketch show starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. The world’s earliest forensic detectives believe that they may be up against the perfect crime. Sir Digby ends up in prison, and the snooker commentators discuss depression and reveal the special secret snooker words to Lady In Red in a grand musical finale.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Thursday 4th October 2007 22:00
The final recording is episode three of Porterhouse Blue. I’ve written a little bit about this. Features a guest appearance by Griff Rhys Jones as a chat show host.
Zipser, the supposed intellectual, decides the best way to get rid of hundreds of condoms is to fill them with gas (from his fire) and put them up the chimney. Not sure this would really work, given that natural gas is heavier than air.
He does, however, finally get Mrs Biggs in bed.
Sadly, the gas filled condoms in the chimney explode, and the hall is wrecked, and they’re both killed.
Media Centre Description: An award-winning dramatisation of Tom Sharpe’s satire centred on a naive undergraduate’s experiences at a college hidebound by tradition. Zipser emerges from a drunken stupor with four gross of contraceptives. Skullion’s attempts to clear up the problem are revealing.
Recorded from More 4 on Thursday 4th October 2007 23:33
After this, the recording stops with the start of Without a Trace.
Today’s recording is episode 2 of Porterhouse Blue which I do have on my tapes, but I didn’t really say much about it, so I’ll dip into it here.
Head Porter, Mr Skullion, played by David Jason, is sporting a dreadful shiner, after an encounter with a student who was coming in after curfew.
The offending student is Lionel Zipser, played by John Sessions. He’s unusual at Porterhouse for being a swot. Everyone else there is basically just loafing, but they’re all gentlemen so that’s OK.
But Zipser is also developing a sexual obsession with his bedder, Mrs Biggs.
Ian Richardson is Sir Godber Evans, the new Master of Porterhouse, appointed by the government, rather than selected from within college, and he wants to reform the place, and make it accept actual scholars. Naturally, all the old guard hate him, especially Skullion.
And because this is Tom Sharpe, his wife is a bossy woman who wants the new hall that’s to be named after her to be co-educational. Tom Sharpe really did hate his idea of what feminists are.
Skullion runs a service for those students who want a degree but don’t want to study. Skullion’s Scholars.
Sir Godber learns (from the Bursar, Harold Innocent) that the reason Porterhouse has such bad students is that they are specially selected from rich families, who will then give large donations to the college so that their children will get degrees.
Skullion is sent to ask for the help of Sir Cathcart D’Eath, played by Charles Gray. He knew Sir Godber when he was a student. Skullion asks him if he can rally other old graduates to stop the new Master making all his changes.
Zipser sees one of the masters about his obsession with Mrs Biggs, but because the master is deaf, he has to use a megaphone, which means that he can be heard throughout the college quad.
The Master calls a college meeting and tells them of his changes. He wants to abolish High Table, the ludicrously excessive meals they have, and replace it with a self service canteen, accepting candidates based on academic merit, and accepting women.
Zipser becomes somewhat obsessed with getting condoms. I guess this story predated all the safe sex TV sparked by the AIDS epidemic. He ends up getting four gross from the supplier.
Media Centre Description: Dramatisation of Tom Sharpe’s satire centred on a naive undergraduate’s experiences at a college hidebound by tradition. Lionel Zipser is in trouble. He has left Skullion for dead, and his obsession with Mrs Biggs is getting out of control.
Recorded from More 4 on Wednesday 3rd October 2007 23:33
Media Centre Description: The dark and tragic tale of the terminally boring Eric, whose mind-boggling tediousness forces his parents to leave home. Undaunted, Eric joins forces with a hardened criminal and proceeds to write his name in the history books.
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Tuesday 2nd October 2007 21:00
After this, there’s trails for Flight of the Conchords and Radio Week.
Then the recording ends with the first few minutes of Flight of the Conchords.
The other recording today is more classic Channel 4 programming with the first episode of Porterhouse Blue. That came up a couple of times on my tapes, here’s when I wrote about it.
Media Centre Description: Malcolm Bradbury’s Emmy-award-winning dramatisation of Tom Sharpe’s satire centred on a naive undergraduate’s experiences at a college hidebound by tradition. A new Master at the Cambridge college of Porterhouse announces that for the first time in six centuries the college will encourage scholars.
Recorded from More 4 on Tuesday 2nd October 2007 23:03
After this, there’s the start of Vic Reeves Big Night Out.
The first recording today starts with a trail for Ed and Oucho. Plus a trailer for Trapped.
Then we have the next episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures – Revenge of the Slitheen – Part 2.
It seems like the way to fend off a Slitheen is to spray them with some Lynx Africa.
They manage to escape. Sarah is quite rude to Clyde, unhappy at having another young person’s life as her responsibility. The Headmaster and his cronies feed Luke’s equation into their machine, and switch it on. The US is losing power, as demonstrated live by Tiffany Wells.
They work out that vinegar is effective against the Slitheen. As the power drain hits the UK, the sun also starts going out, as our heroes stride down the road. “I told you! We’re going to stop them!” “What? The four of us? With vinegar in plastic squeezies?”
They manage to stop one of them.
But the Slitheen call in reinforcements.
Luke tells the Slitheen that he miscalculated. “When you showed me the diagram, you didn’t tell me that you’d steal power from the sun… It’ll explode.” They switch off the machine, hoping Luke will fix it, but Sarah throws the sonic lipstick to him, and he uses that to over load the machine.
They escape the lab, but the father and son Slitheen are stuck there. They try to play on Sarah’s parental instincts. She almost releases them, but then they start getting zapped. It looks like the son transported away, but the father explodes. There’s be a sequel.
Maria’s mother is good comedy value. “Funny things have been happening since you moved in here. I’m beginning to get suspicious.” “Suspicious of what?” “Well, think about it, right. You move in, opposite Sarah Jane and everyone turns into zombies. Then you’re with Sarah Jane and the pop factory blows up. Then you run off with Sarah Jane and the sun goes out. Just ask yourself what have those things got in common? Or rather, who have they got in common? Eh?” “I don’t know.” “Me. It’s all happening to me! I just can’t move for disasters, it’s like I’m cursed!”
Sarah’s attitude to Clyde seems to have thawed a bit. She even tells him all about the Doctor. And in return, he tells her that Luke should be calling her Mum.
It all ends with a hug.
Media Centre Description: Children’s drama series from the makers of Doctor Who, following the adventures of investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith, a former companion to the Doctor. Sarah Jane, Maria, Luke and Clyde must save the Earth before the Slitheen switch off the Sun.
Recorded from BBC ONE on Monday 1st October 2007 16:58
Then the recording stops with the start of Newsround.
The next recording is actually the next episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures – Eye of the Gorgon – Part 1.
A friend of Clyde’s nan, Mrs Randall, saw the figure of a nun in her room at the Lavender Lawns retirement home. Other residents have had similar experiences. So Sarah’s on the case.
Maria’s mum has turned up at their house with a suitcase. Her boyfriend was annoyed that she was going to salsa classes. Maria seems pleased to see her. Her dad Alan less so.
Phyllida Law plays Bea Nelson-Stanley, another resident, who talks to Luke about having seen the Nun, who she says isn’t a ghost. She gives Luke an Egyptian talisman that glows when she touches it.
Maria’s mum doesn’t waste much time getting on Maria’s wrong side, complaining that she spends too much time with Luke and Sarah.
The manager of Lavender Lawns, who told Sarah that the reports of ghosts were just hysteria, goes to a large gothic building to speak to Sister Helena.
Mr Smith spots that Luke has brought the talisman with him. They get him to scan it, and while he’s doing that, they go to see Mrs Nelson-Stanley.
Mrs Gribbins talls the mysterious nun, Sister Helena, about the talisman she saw Bea give to Luke. Rather than being pleased, Sister Helena sends Mrs Gribbins to see the Abbess, who, judging by her scream when she sees her, is quite a monster.
Sarah meets Bea Nelson-Stanley, and is rather taken aback when she talks about her late husband. “That’s my Edgar. He used to say the Sontarans were the silliest-looking race in the galaxy.” Sarah tells her “Yes, Bea, they are! You’re right! You’re absolutely right.”
Sister Helena visits Bannerman Road, asking about the Talisman. Luke has the worst poker face, and basically admits he has it.
Sarah asks Bea about the talisman. She tells them that her husband Edgar, an archaeologist, unearthed it in Syria, and that the nuns are after it. “They mustn’t find it!” “Who, Bea? Who do you mean?” “The Sisters! The nuns? They protect her.” “Protect who?” “The Gorgon.”
Luke is kidnapped by the nuns.
Sarah, Clyde and Maria go to the Abbey to try to find Luke. Clyde and Maria come across the petrified Mrs Gribbins.
Sister Helena catches them all, and introduces them to the Abbess (luckily, her veil stays down). She wants the talisman because it opens a portal to the Gorgon’s home world. Sarah has to take her back to Bannerman Road to get the talisman. But when there, Sarah threatens to destroy the talisman.
The nuns unleash the Gorgon.
But it’s Maria’s dad who looks at her, and is petrified.
Media Centre Description: Children’s drama series from the makers of Doctor Who, following the adventures of investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith, a former companion to the Doctor. Sarah Jane and her team encounter the Gorgon – a terrifying creature that turns its victims to stone.
Recorded from CBBC Channel on Monday 1st October 2007 17:28
The first recording today starts with the end of Arena: The Time Signal.
There’s a trail for Flight of the Conchords.
Then, another episode of Arena: The Comic Strip Hero. This is an older documentary about Superman, from 1981, and opens with an interview with Superman’s creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Joanne Siegel posed as the model for Lois Lane.
They show off the original pencil sketch for the first issue.
is it odd that I get a little thrill even at just a couple of seconds of someone lettering a comic page?
And colouring, too.
Sol Harrison was president of DC.
Kirk Alyn played Superman on screen in serials. But he was never credited as Superman, only as Clark Kent.
Larry Niven gives us some of his analysis of why Superman’s powers would cause havoc in the real world. I’ve always thought this was just a bit supercilious. “Look how stupid you are for liking something that’s so unrealistic.”
Christopher Reeve describes the attraction of the character, and what he says, I think, tells us a lot about why his portrayal is still the best. “I think the reason the character has lasted so long and has caught the public’s imagination is because you have embodied within one person the combination of a kind of sublime, confident, and yet generous power and sort of an affectionate look at the nine -to-five shlumps that we all really are who get our briefcases caught in the revolving doors and we can’t get a taxi and can’t get a date and we can’t, you know, the world kind of swallows us up. And I think the Siegel and Shuster were very, very bright in their invention of putting both of those into one person.”
Margot Kidder talks about Superman II where Superman gives up his powers so he can be with Lois.
Artist Trina Robbins didn’t like that plot device. “It’s just incredibly sexist. It’s just some really weird, deep meaning that it’s like Samson and Delilah. I mean, it’s really bizarre. I feel as though people haven’t gotten anywhere. At least men haven’t gotten anywhere since 1938, if they’re still doing movies like this.”
Dave Prowse talks about how he wanted to play Superman, but in the end they just wanted him to train Christopher Reeve.
Oh God, here’s Dr Frederic Wertham, the man who caused the whole moral panic about comic books, destroyed EC Comics’ horror line, and caused the industry to bring in the Comics Code Authority. He almost seems to blame Nazi Germany on Superman, by linking it to the Nietzsche idea of the Ubermensch.
The programme talks to a group of young men who made a spoof of Superman. From the clips, it’s not badly done.
Leslie Fielder seems upset that in his analysis, “He kills the dragon, but he can’t get the girl. He kills the dragon, but he can’t get the horde of gold. He never gets richer. He never ends up in bed with a woman. He is not only a schlemiel, he’s a schlemiel virgin. And he remains a virgin all his life.
Will Eisner, legendary writer and artist, teaches a course in the visual arts. Some of his students think the superhero is played out now.
Art Spiegelman does comics that aren’t based on superheroes.
My recording cuts off just before the programme ends.
Here’s a playlist of the episode.
Media Centre Description:
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Sunday 30th September 2007 20:08
The last recording today is Channel 4 at 25. A documentary about the first new TV channel for decades.
Liz Forgan remembers the excitement of watching the first night go out. “To be honest, the opening night of Channel 4 was a bit of a haze. I think it’s a mixture of exhaustion and alcohol, probably. I mean, you can’t imagine the moment when you’re all gathered there and music happens and a screen lights up and all of a sudden a whole new television channel that you’ve made launches on the world.”
Chief Executive Jeremy Isaacs: “I decided to start with a complete night’s programming, not just with one special program, but with a complete evening’s late afternoon and evening’s programming, because I wanted to say the channel wants to be judged by everything it does, not just by plums from a plum cake, not just by goodies. So we started, would you believe, with Countdown.”
Carol Vorderman on watching the first Countdown go out. “Oh, it was just so exciting. And then the Countdown music started and then Richard was on. And what were his words, he said, as the Countdown to a new channel ends so a new Countdown begins. He thought he was Neil Armstrong.”
Phil Redmond. “The opening night of Channel 4? I watched it on tape years later, to be honest with you, because on the opening night, we were still trying to put Brookie to bed. And we then had to have the kind of opening night celebration of the fact that we actually saw our programme on air, you know.”
Ben Elton: “I remember sitting watching the opening night with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie and Robbie Coltrane. We were in Manchester. Robbie was in Five Go Mad in Dorset, so he was very, very excited about it.”
Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin: “What I remember about the early days of Channel 4, which was sort of fantastic, was that because Jeremy Isaacs had that mentality that I think he likened it to meadowland, didn’t he? He said it was like meadowland scheduling. So, you know, you just throw out loads of seed and you don’t know what you’re going to get. You would go from a documentary about Iran to a comedy to a thing basket weaving. You’re just like someone throwing the programmes into a hat, wasn’t it?”
Hanif Kureishi on the difficulty of getting things commissioned before Channel 4. “Before that, it was the nightmare getting our gear on the telly at all. You’d go around to the BBC and say, I’ve got this idea about a guy who runs a corner shop and he’s Pakistani and they go, why do they have to be Pakistani? Why can’t they be English? There were no black or Asian directors, the whole thing was completely honky in those days.”
Tariq Ali: “The Channel 4’s decision to have a different type of multicultural programming worked because what we used to do was to give voices from below, let people speak for themselves.”
Neil Jordan on Channel Four’s film commissions, Film on Four. “I think it was one of the best things that ever happened for British cinema, frankly. It was just an explosion of – let’s use movies, let’s use cinema to explore whatever issues you want to. Some of the films were highly engaged, in a socially political way. Some of them were highly abstract, like Peter Greenaway’s, and some of them were kind of a bit more, visually obsessed, like mine. It was a really interesting period. I don’t think there has been as good a period since.”
Stephen Frears: “So I said, well, nobody in their right mind is going to go out and see a film about a gay Pakistani Laundrette owner. And I was completely wrong. David Rose and his assistant, Karen Bambra commissioned Hanif to write about a minority, I mean, for impeccably liberal reasons. But they made the mistake of asking Hanif Kureishi to write it, who wrote something much more sort of subversive and unexpected.”
It wasn’t all triumphs in the beginning. Of Minipops, the programme that had very young children miming to pop hits in way too much makeup, Liz Forgan says “If you ask me of all the mistakes Channel 4 made and we made lots, the one I’m really ashamed of is that one. It was a program that was supposed to be kind of amusing about little kids dressing up and showing off. And actually it was a piece of child pornography, I think. You would never transmit that program today.”
Jools Holland on The Tube: “Certainly before that youth television had been quite earnest. We weren’t interested in any of that. Paula was just interested in asking people what they had down their pants and I was interested in barging some sort of mullet haired rocker out of the way so I could hear a blues person.”
Julian Clary on Saturday Live: “Saturday Live was the thing to watch and everyone working on the circuit was waiting to be asked and plucked from obscurity.”
Stuart Cosgrove: “I think the press started to suspect that Channel 4 also had its ideological agendas. It seemed to be more interested in the liberal. It seemed to be more interested in tolerance. It seemed to be more interested in sexuality. It seemed to be more interested in how subcultures could reshape social Britain. In lots of ways, I think that they suspected that it was a lefty conspiracy.”
Michael Grade takes over from Jeremy Isaacs. “Because of Jeremy Isaacs’ legacy, which was very strong, we were unafraid of political writing. Well, we were in the business of taking risks and we had great confidence in the talent.”
Alan Bleasdale on GBH and whether his character Michael Murray was based on militant Labour councillor Derek Hatton: “And everyone said, oh, it’s Derek Hatton. Well, God knows, I bet Derek Hatton wished that he was as three-dimensional as Robert Lindsay’s portrayal of the character of Michael Murray.”
Robert Lindsay: “Alan told me many stories of meeting Derek Hatton in Liverpool and Derek, you know, said, you’re writing about me and which only his ego could convince himself of that. And truly, it was never modelled on Derek Hatton. It was a whole scenario of that, what was going on in the Labour Party at that time.”
Jan Tomalin talks about Channel 4’s Banned season. “Channel 4 has many roles. One is to innovate, one is to experiment. I think almost by law, we’re obliged to push the boundaries of creativity and freedom of expression.”
We’re in the 90s now, so here’s Charlie Parsons talking about The Word: “We’d had the summer of love when people had discovered a whole new gamut of drugs, and I think The Word caught this sort of moment of time when people basically wanted a sort of very informal structure to what they saw on TV in a way that reflected their life. They could go out, come back home, crash out in front of the TV, probably smoke a spliff watching The Word.” So he’s basically saying his programme is unwatchable unless you’ve fried your brain?
Terry Christian: “We weren’t making those programs for, you know, some balding, owlish bloke in his mid to late 20s to write about. We were making it for 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds, and they loved it, and they loved it for all the reasons everybody else hated it.”
Rory Bremner on satire: “I think we didn’t feel quite such a need to make the Conservatives look ridiculous. Although we did sketches which did, but I mean by and large they were more than capable of doing that themselves.”
Anna Friel on Brookside’s lesbian kiss: “When Phil Redmond and Mal Young had taken me into the office saying listen we wanted to do this lesbian storyline for a very long time how do you feel about it and I said well as long as you maintain that she’s a lesbian throughout and it’s not one of these let’s just do a big shocking storyline to get the viewing figures being a very cynical 16 year old that I was then I’d be more than happy to take on such a storyline.”
Next the programme looks at Brass Eye. One of the many controversies about this series was when Chris Morris inserted a single flash frame saying “Grade is a cunt” after the programme was delayed and changes requested. This documentary “recreates” the event.
But I recorded the show on its first showing, so here’s the actual original.
Peter Morgan talks about The Deal, his film about the rise of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Michael Jackson became Chief Executive after Michael Grade left. I always get him mixed up with Mick Jackson, director of The Bodyguard. FOr some reason.
Kevin Lygo on the outgoing Michael Grade: “Michael was always fascinated by what trends in what people were doing and he used to send us to terribly boring away days at Henley centres to get a grip on the zeitgeist. He was rather obsessed with what are people talking about out there, what are they doing, what are they spending their money on?”
Peter Kosminksy is not positive about the changes. “At some point in the 90s a clever scheduler realized that they could get a large audience in prime time for something that was loosely defined as factual entertainment and that was the moment though they probably didn’t realize it when the stake was driven through the heart of serious documentary.”
Neither was Beeban Kidron: “It is predetermined what the outcome is and that is not actually documentary. That is whatever fact fiction whatever you call it you know that is a construct using real people.”
The spectre of Big Brother looms large in this section. Endemol head Peter Bazalgette: “Because Channel 4 has such a sharp brand and such a keen sensibility for the teenage and 20-something audience it was a particularly good home for for Big Brother.”
Davina McCall: “The idea of putting you know a bunch of people in the house and just watching their lives and I was thinking well what could be interesting in that and then I sort of heard that they weren’t going to have any contact with the outside world and then I thought wow this is kind of really weird it’s like it’s like setting up a human zoo.”
One of the early winners, Nadia Almada, a transexual. I remember one of the signs in the crowd outside the house reading “Go, Nads!” which I thought was funny.
The channel hadn’t completely abandoned straight documentaries. Dorothy Byrne on one campaigning episode of Dispatches: “That program was itself a very Channel 4 program. The popular genre in TV was getting people out of prison. So it was actually a very daring program because it resulted in a dreadful paedophile going to prison.”
Saira Shah reported on the plight of women in Afghanistan.
Jon Snow talks about his confrontational interview with Alistair Campbell during the Gulf War.
Andy Duncan replaed Michael Jackson as Chief Executive. “I think there’s a huge opportunity to use programs with a much clearer sense of perhaps campaigning. So, for example, in the way that Jamie’s School Dinners had a huge impact on school dinners and health in terms of bringing up our kids, I think it’s rather interesting to say you’re taking factual entertainment format and actually using it to connect into a wider purpose.”
Jamie Oliver: “They were pretty good dribs and drams of publicity about how bad school food was, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then I thought, Christ, well, to be honest, if anyone’s going to do it out of these bloody celebrity chefs or whatever you call us, then it probably is my job to do it, really, because I was sort of the one at the top of my game at that particular time. I still am, actually. Just joking, Louise, I’m only joking. A bit of humour between me and the Channel 4 audience.” He looks at the camera. “You know it’s true.”
Then there’s a celebrity Big Brother racism row. Krishnan Guru-Murthy: “The thing about racism is you can’t prove it. It’s just one of those things. You know it when you see it. For my money, it was pretty obvious what was going on.” Jon Snow defends the programme showing it: “It was right for it to be screened. It is reality. It did come from anger and loss of temper. But it was good that people saw it because they were offended by it. And perhaps they’ll toil a little harder to prevent it happening in their own lives.”
Here’s the first part of someone else’s upload.
Media Centre Description: A celebration of 25 years of Channel 4, told by the people who have helped shaped the channel’s identity. Jon Snow, Michael Grade, Alan Bleasdale, Jamie Oliver and many more take an irreverent and witty look at the highs and lows of the channel’s 25-year output.
Recorded from More 4 on Sunday 30th September 2007 22:00
First today, another episode of A Bucket O’ French and Saunders. I used to have one of those.
Their Bros on Star Test is still quite impressive.
A sketch with the husbands.
Media Centre Description: A selection of new and vintage sketches from the popular comedy double act. The duo pretend to be 1980s popsters Bros and struggle to answer some rather simple questions. After their less-than-flattering impressions of Jackie Stallone and Brigitte Nielsen, Dr Tanya Byron encourages them to be nicer to their guests. New material includes caricatures of modern-day chart stars Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears. Some strong language.
Recorded from BBC ONE on Friday 28th September 2007 20:58
The next recording starts with the end of Michael Wood: The Story of India.
There’s a trail for Louis Theroux: Under the Knife. Plus a trail for the Great North Run.
And a trail for The Peter Serafinowicz Show.
Then, an episode of QI – Electricity.
Guests are Sean Lock
Rich Hall
Jo Brand
And Alan Davies.
Media Centre Description: Stephen Fry hosts the quiz show in which contestants are rewarded more if their answers are ‘quite interesting’. Alan Davies, Jo Brand, Sean Lock and Rich Hall tackle the subject of electricity.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Friday 28th September 2007 21:58
After this, there’s a trail for Stephen Fry: HIV and Me, one for Chris Evans on Radio 2 and one for Michael Palin’s New Europe.
Then the recording stops with the start of Newsnight. The lead story is speculation about whether Gordon Brown was going to call a General Election. (Spoiler: Not this year.)
The final recording today starts with the end of Consenting Adults.
There’s trails for Flight of the Conchords and The Protestant Revolution.
Then, there’s the first few minutes of Comics Britannia – X-Rated: Anarchy in the UK. No idea why I kept this recording.
Media Centre Description: Armando Iannucci presents a series which explores the history of British comics. He looks at the new characters and strips which emerged in the 1970s and 80s to appeal to an older, more adult readership of comics, from Judge Dredd and Tank Girl to Viz and Watchmen. At the forefront of this comics uprising was writer Alan Moore, who reads from his works such as V for Vendetta and talks about his latest graphic novel, the controversial Lost Girls.
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Saturday 29th September 2007 02:08
VHiStory 