Nashville - More4 Brings Some Country Music Drama To UK Viewers

As someone who generally doesn't like country music (making me the odd one out in my family), I have to admit that the constant ads airing for the latest US hit - Nashville are surprisingly making me want to watch this programme.

The show (which US viewers get on ABC) focuses on two rival country singers. Rayna Jaymes (Connie Britton, American Horror Story), a country music superstar about to be upstaged by the up and coming, Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere, Heroes). Both ladies take an instant dislike to each other as they're both determined to continue the successes of their careers, especially when they both try to get the same guitarist - Deacon Claybourne (Charles Eston). Matters are also not helped by Rayna's husband running for Mayor of Nashville and Juliette's addict for a mother.

Both Britton and Panettiere have admitted during the launch of the show that their respective characters are influenced by real life country singers such as Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood and rating wise, the show has managed to average around 8 million viewers as well as general critical acclaim. It certainly seems to be a little different compared to some of ABC's other hits right now, so I definitely think I'll be giving this one a whirl. Even some of the songs seem rather catchy.

Season 1 Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD6u9DFd5Ak

Nashville will air Thursdays at 10pm from February 7th on More4.

Read More

Doctor Who - Series 7 Returns In March

After some less than encouraging rumours yesterday concerning the 50th anniversary, which I'll get into in a moment, it seems that some good news is afoot in relation to the second half of Doctor Who's seventh series.

The eight remaining episodes of Series 7, which will feature two written by Steven Moffat (episodes 7 and 14), two by Neil Cross (episodes 8 and 10), two by Mark Gatiss (episodes 9 and 12) and one each by Stephen Thompson (episode 11) and Neil Gaiman (episode 13) will air on BBC1 from March 30th, though the timeslot has yet to be confirmed. This will also coincide with the fact that shortly in April, production on the 50th anniversary story will also take place.

Speaking of the 50th, a recent toy fare, displaying the recent figures made for Clara, the Cybermen and other Series 7 characters has also managed to leak that as well as getting 11 Doctor Who Revisited episodes (each one being 25 minutes long), there seems to be some rumour/confirmation that the actual 50th anniversary story itself might only be 60 minutes long. Considering that the BBC themselves not confirmed this (and also that we're nearly three months off it actually being filmed), perhaps we should wait/hope that the story itself will be a lot longer than an hour but either way, at least we're getting some news now.

Series 7 Part 2 News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/Date-Confirmed-for-the-Doctors-Return
Series 7 Part 2 Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q7xbDpym0Q&feature=player_embedded

Series 7 of Doctor Who resumes airing on BBC1 from March 30th.

Read More

Hollyoaks Bullying Storyline With Esther

I usually do one soap related blog a month but the current storyline on Hollyoaks with Esther Bloom being relentlessly bullied by her peers (one of whom she has the misfortune to actually live with) has certainly got me wanting to do one extra blog this month.

As viewers saw on Monday's episode on Channel 4 (or Friday, three days beforehand on E4), the bullying finally took it's toll on Esther and she made a suicide attempt, which at first didn't appear to be successful until the final five minutes of the episode where she had to be hospitalised after her overdose on booze and tablets. Now that we've seen the very worst thing to happen to Esther, does that mean things will finally get better?

I can congratulate this show on not really holding back when it comes to Esther's bullying, which for the last few months, courtesy of Sinead and Ruby has resulted in endless online abuse, nasty comments, isolation, some elements of physical assault and even getting the majority of the student body to even go as far as fire bottles of urine at Esther. On a frustrating note though the people who should have been supporting Esther such as her family, friends and teachers have either outright ignored her plight or been conveniently absent in order to further prolong Esther's general misery, resulting in her near suicide attempt, that is now rumoured to have lasting consequences on the character's general health.

Terrific performances from Jazmine Franks as Esther aside, I do think it's time we saw the proper consequences for Sinead and Ruby as well. Hollyoaks sometimes has a tendency to short change fallout for those deserving of it (Mercedes and Dr Browning being recent examples of this) but considering that this bullying storyline is being supported by a charity and that even a suicide attempt hasn't made either Sinead or Ruby (the main instigators of this storyline, along with Maddie, prior to her well deserved demise in November) take stock of their horrible actions, I think it would end up doing the storyline a massive disservice if somehow we don't see the bullies in question punished as well as proper fallout for the support systems that have generally failed Esther over the last few months.

Read More

My Review of Revenge's 2x12: "Collusion"

Written by Sunil Nayar And Sallie Patrick
Directed by Matt Shakman

Aiden: “What do I have to do?”
Helen: “Kill Victoria Grayson. You have twenty four hours.”

If Victoria can survive a plane crash, then does anyone think for a moment that Aiden will succeed in actually getting rid of the devilish matriarch? Nah – but at the same time, Aiden really didn’t seem to have any problem with actually wanting to kill Victoria either and that’s taking out the fact that the Initiative were using Colleen as an incentive to get him to play ball.

I knew that Emily would be the one to actually stop Aiden in his tracks from doing away with Victoria but I was kind of surprised that he would turn on her so quickly. I get that the Initiative upped their threat but even still, it was a little shocking I have to admit. On the plus side, at least Emily and Aiden are conflicted over his family rather than Emily’s continued charade with Daniel.

Speaking of Daniel, I did find it rather amusing that he somehow seemed unfazed by Emily’s admission of being in cahoots with Victoria. More surprising was the fact that he didn’t fly off the handle as well but given that Emily has betrayed him less than Victoria, perhaps it’s not that much of a shock after all.

Emily went out of her way this week to ensure that Daniel got a stake in Stonehaven while Victoria tried and failed to make sure that Jason Prosser got the company instead. Looks like Victoria really has met her match this time and she wasn’t exactly shy in venting her annoyance at Emily either when she lost.

The subplot with Victoria and Jason seemingly having a romantic past though felt trite. Yes, it was consistent to his lusting of her in the previous episode but it seems that Victoria really does have a secret admirer in every port the more we get to know her. However it seems that once again her actions have worked against as Jason seemed annoyed that Daniel managed to outsmart him with the whole Stonehaven deal.

Keeping with the outsmarting – I liked that Nolan was able to deduce that Padma was up to something just because she referred to Carrion as a program and the fact that she fell for such an easy ruse proves that she’s an incompetent baddie or that she’s still a good guy who’s being forced by the Initiative to spy on Nolan. Either way, it might not be wise to write her or her motives off so quickly though.

Plot wise, this was certainly more interesting than Kenny and Nate’s continued vendetta with the Porters or the fact that there’s something about the Stowaway that happened to pique Conrad’s interest all of a sudden. At this point, I just want the Ryan brothers gone but it seems that with Conrad’s involvement, they might be around just that tiny bit longer.

Also in “Collusion”

What an interesting dream sequence of Emily in bed with both Daniel and Aiden at the same time – nicely shot too.

Emily (to herself): “Every human is born of collusion. We come into this world the result of a covenant, sometimes made out of love, sometimes made of circumstance but almost always made of secrets.”

I’m hoping the collusion isn’t hinting at another pregnancy plot to be honest. We’ve already just had Amanda being pregnant.

Victoria (to Conrad): “Don’t you know that politicians tend to keep their concubines in the closet?”
Ashley: “Spoken like a woman no-one’s sleeping with.”

Jack: “I knew this was a mistake.”
Conrad: “The only mistake being made here is yours.”

I quite enjoyed seeing Ashley being openly hostile towards Victoria. The whole political storyline with Conrad seems to be doing her character favours for the moment.

Charlotte (to Amanda): “I guess being a Grayson means learning to live with disappointment.”

Jason: “But you’re no-one’s possession, are you?”
Victoria: “No, least of all Conrad’s.”

It seems that the Initiative have some sinister plans afoot with turning off the lights while Charlotte decided to have her surname changed to Clarke.

Nolan (to Daniel): “Please stay on the line. Your call is very important to us.”

Nolan (re Aiden): “We know he’s trying to save his sister but who’s the target?”
Emily: “Victoria.”

Standout music: I’m pretty sure I heard some of that song “Twice” in this episode but I could be wrong.

Daniel (re alliance with Victoria): “I was curious to see how far you were willing to go.”
Emily: “Well, now you know.”

Chronology: Not long since the events of “Sabotage”.

Another solid episode but again, “Collusion” should’ve been a much bigger episode than it actually was. Some of the ideas this season aren’t terrible but even I’m noticing that something isn’t working either. That being said, at least the next episode will answer a vital question.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Read More

Tough Cookie

There's a lot of shows to cover and I will do so over the next week or two but for now, here are some of the ones I've seen recently ...

American Horror Story: Asylum: I'm still watching this show at UK pace, which means only being an episode behind on proceedings but this show certainly manages to achieve a lot in three episodes than others do in half a season. For instance, we've lost three prominent villainous characters, gained more insight into the present day activities of the disturbed Bloody Face Jr while having the entire hierarchy at Briarcliff take an interesting turn for the worst as well. And that's enough even going into the sheer inspired lunacy of The Name Game song as well. In a show as wonderfully strange as this one, that was the strangest thing yet. As for Kit, Lana and Jude - well, the last two episodes are going to be interesting for our three heroes.

Mrs Brown's Boys: My guilty pleasure series. It might not be the most sophisticated of comedies but it's an undeniably funny one, compared to some of the other offerings on telly at the moment. So far, the first half of the third series has been great fun with episode based on psychics, hypnotists and poor Granddad constantly living in fear of Agnes's wrath. I do find myself wondering how well Brendan O'Carroll continues to play this role and given that's he's been playing it for a long time in various mediums, I should be used to it by now.

My Mad Fat Diary: I have to admit, I did watch this show with a little trepidation. On the surface, it did seem like an attempt for E4 to have another Skins style success but if you didn't like that show, there's a chance you might still like this one. First of all, the action is set in 1996, based on the real life diary of Rae Earl (here ably played by Sharon Rooney), a girl whose recently come out of a mental institution and it's actually quite good. Rae is a likeable enough character and the new band people she seems to befriend almost instantly seem like an interesting bunch, though like Skins, it does have a tendency of writing the adult characters (Rae's promiscuous mother and her shrink) as caricatures but other than that, this along with Utopia (to be discussed in a later blog) are a welcome relief to the plethora of period stuff that BBC1 and ITV are throwing at us at the moment.

Once Upon A Time: I sometimes wonder if I should be reviewing this show episodically because the last two episodes have continued to support my theory that it's not suffering difficult second season syndrome. It's nice that in the space of showing up in Storybrooke that in the last two episodes, Hook and Cora have kidnapped Archie (while making everyone think Regina killed him) and managed to screw Gold over by messing with Belle big time. Plus, the actual antics in fairyland have been fun to watch as this show continues to convince us that Mulan is meant for female partners and that Regina's burning hatred for Snow really was unquenchable as well. I still wouldn't mind learning a bit more about how Emma can't have her heart removed but I suspect we're getting to that fairly soon.

The New Normal: So, Ryan Murphy is determined to take over every corner of television, right? I have to admit that while I'm still likely to prefer Glee and American Horror Story (and early seasons of Nip/Tuck), this is another hugely enjoyable show of his to watch. The premise is simple - gay couple Bryan and David want a kid, something which aspiring lawyer Goldie (who has her own daughter, the delightful Shania) is happy to help out with, and that's in spite of a feckless husband and a bigoted grandmother, superbly played by Ellen Barkin - a character so cartoonish she'd make early Sue Sylvester seem reserved by comparison. It might not be a show to everyone's taste but it's certain an interesting one and this is coming from a person who's grown tired of most baby plots on television shows.

- Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson will be returning for the third season of American Horror Story, which will be set in the present day. Clues for the theme behind the new season have featured in the most recent episodes.
- Fans of Kurt and Blaine should be delighted to know that the upcoming wedding episode of Glee will feature them on better terms with each other.
- Gina Torres has mentioned that the upcoming Hannibal series is chilling.
- Ron Moore is developing a new drama for SyFy called Helix, focusing on a team of scientists trying to save humanity from a disease outbreak at an Arctic research facility.
- Australia will air the final four episode of the recently cancelled 666 Park Avenue.
- SyFy have cancelled Alphas after two seasons.
- Downton Abbey's fourth season will see a lot of changes as Mary adjusts to life as a widow.
- RAW actress Amy Manson could be Wonder Woman, though the show will be called Amazon and will be tonally similar to Smallville.

Read More

True Blood - Season 6 News

It's a few months away but some more news has emerged as True Blood begins filming it's sixth season.

The first two episodes of the new season have the titles of Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood and Here Comes The Sun and between Joe Manganiello having to get a new haircut for Alcide and Janina Gavankar coming to film more scenes as Luna, it seems that we'll be getting a slew of new characters. One of them being a governor of Louisiana named Creighton Burrell with actor Arliss Howard being made a regular for the new season. Robert Patrick's Jackson Herveaux will also be a regular in the new season as well as Rutgar Hauer (Macklyn) and Rob Kazinsky (Ben) too. Another character being added to the roster is Nicole Janssen, an altruistic twenty something girl.

Meanwhile the consequences of Bill's conversion to being Lilith's ultimate disciple will be a big thing in the new season. New showrunner Mark Hudis has promised that Bill this year will have more bite to him and that both Sookie and Jason will be occupied this season as they search for Warlow - the vampire promised to the former. Hudis also mentioned that he plans to keep the action more centred in Bon Temps this season as well, which undoubtedly should please many viewers.

Spoilers: http://www.wetpaint.com/true-blood/articles/true-blood-season-6-new-showrunner-hints-at-the-future-for-bill-sookie-and-jason

True Blood's sixth season will air on HBO from June 2013, while UK viewers can watch the fifth season again on SkyAtlantic, Mondays at 11pm from January 21st.

Read More

Dexter - Season 8 To Air In June

It's been a little over a month since the seventh season of Dexter finished up on Showtime and it seems that the wait for the show's eighth year might not actually be that long. In fact, instead of the show's usual late September/early October return, it seems that Season 8 will actually debut at the end of June, which should mean that True Blood will not be the only visceral show on television for US viewers during the summer period.

The eighth season will continue with having twelve episodes as previous years have done and the aftermath of Dexter and Deb's murder of LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) will certainly be at the forefront for the upcoming season. The new season will also feature two new recurring characters - Dr Evelyn Vogel, a whipsmart neuro psychiatrist and Jacob Elroy, a former cop turned private investigator, both of whom I assume will cause problems for both Dexter and Deb. There's also the faintest possibility that the show's eighth season might not be it's last but somehow, I think it just might be.

Season 8 News: http://www.spoilertv.com/search/label/Dexter

Season 8 of Dexter will premiere on Showtime, Sundays at 9pm on from June 30th while UK viewers can watch the show's seventh season on FOX from February 24th at 10pm.

Read More