Skins To End In 2013

In news that I don't think will actually shock anyone but it seems that Skins days are finally numbered. The show currently into it's sixth season will return for a seventh year in 2013, comprised of three two hour movies split into six episodes and that will be the show's very last. It's going to be interesting to see how many actors from the first two generations will be secured for these specials, considering that most of them have moved on in their careers.

The specials are heavily rumoured to feature at least all of three generations, hopefully tying up any needed loose ends from each era. Much as I love the series, I have to admit this isn't devastating news. I think the format has been taken as far as it could and after seven years, I think it will be time to say a final goodbye to Tony, Michelle, Sid, Cassie, Jal, Chris, Anwar, Maxxie, Effy, Pandora, Cook, Freddie, Emily, Naomi, JJ, Thomas, Franky, Mini, Liv, Grace, Alex, Nick, Matty, Rich and Alo. Well, considering that three of them are dead, I guess just goodbye to the others then but either way, it's the end of an era.

More Details: http://www.digitalspy.ie/tv/s89/skins/news/a369948/skins-to-bow-out-with-final-series-in-2013-former-stars-to-return.html

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My Review of Ringer's 1x16: "You're Way Too Pretty To Go To Jail"

Written by Jay Faerber And Cathryn Humphries
Directed by Joshua Butler

Malcolm: “Honestly I’m a little surprised you’re judging him so harshly, given your own situation.”
Bridget: “I had to pretend to be Siobhan. Now I can’t make things right. It’s exactly how Andrew is feeling. God, I’m such a hypocrite.”

Hmm, I don’t know if I like the idea of Andrew having something of a dark side after all. For Ioan Gruffudd, though, it’s probably a good thing given how passive he’s had to be for the majority of the season as Andrew but I guess I just wanted Andrew to be this nice, decent guy who loved his wife and wasn’t running terrible Ponzi schemes with Olivia.

I get that the scheme was some bizarre way of trying to keep Martin/Charles afloat with their client base and that it easily got out of hand but even I was a little shocked/disappointed when one of the conversations between Andrew and Olivia alluded to the fact that they were going to use extreme tactics when Siobhan had confronted Andrew about it months back.

It’s also been a harsh wake up call for Bridget as well, who went from feeling safe in New York pretending to be her sister to now realising that yet again, she’s in over her head when it comes to things. Trying to placate Andrew and meeting up with Tyler didn’t exactly work in her favour either.

Actually, the placating of Andrew just resulted in her packing a bag and it looking like Andrew threatened her while her attempts of meeting up with Tyler resulted in her being delayed by Henry and discovering the poor guy’s body once again. Oh, well, at least Bridget has Malcolm in her corner.

Well, normally she would’ve but it’s amazing how things kept getting in the way between Bridget and her good friend this week. When they weren’t voicing different opinions on how far Andrew was willing to go to keep his business afloat, Siobhan also managed to drive a wedge between them by pretending to be her sister and acting like an epic bitch to poor Malcolm.

It was rather frustrating that Malcolm didn’t later contact her and figure out that Siobhan was alive and that Bridget has more than just Andrew and Bodaway to worry about but I did like that he was willing to file charges against Bodaway with Victor’s help in order to protect Bridget. Malcolm really is just noble to the very core, isn’t he? I just hope that Andrew’s little visit at the end doesn’t result in bad crap for Malcolm. He’s been through enough already.

Speaking of crap, poor Tyler. I knew once he had outlived his usefulness that he was a dead man and trying to go behind Siobhan’s back to ruin Martin/Charles was a bad idea on his part. Not only did Olivia manage to outsmart him but Tyler wound up dead and she ended up in possession of a certain flash drive that Siobhan was hoping she could get back.

It’s nice to see Olivia step up a little more as a character too. Now it’s possible that she didn’t directly kill Tyler but until further proof, I’m kind of hoping that she did. It would explain the flash drive being in her person and we could easily lose her in later episodes as well. Also I’d rather it was her than Andrew as well.

Last but not least – I wasn’t surprised that Victor actually had a relationship with Shaylene Briggs prior to her death and I wasn’t that surprised that she had been pregnant with his kid as well. It’s not the most original of back stories but it’s a good enough motive for Victor’s determination to put Macawi behind bars and we were overdue something on Victor’s past that tied to the main storylines anyways, so it worked for me.

Also in “You’re Way Too Pretty To Go To Jail”

The title this week was uttered by Olivia when she apprehended Tyler. I guess Tyler is a bit of a pretty boy, isn’t he?

Bridget: “When I came to you before?”
Andrew: “The way things were between us, I was afraid you were gonna turn me in.”

For the first time in a while, Juliet is absent from an episode but the fact that she’s gone with Catherine probably means Andrew’s due to find out he’s been conned by his ex-wife soon.

Bridget: “Has anyone ever told you have amazing eyes?”
Victor: “At least once or twice.”
Bridget: “So, you want me to rock your world?”

Shaylene: “I don’t get it – why me?”
Victor: “I’ve watched you, seen the way you look at people. You’re good at sizing them up, figuring them out.”

Shaylene was Victor’s informant when it came to Bodaway. He recruited her sixteen months ago and she died five months after it.

Andrew (to Olivia): “I don’t care what it takes. Make sure Tyler doesn’t talk.”

Malcolm: “What the hell has gotten into you? Please tell me you’re not using.”
Siobhan: “You would love that, wouldn’t you? You get off on saving me.”

Interesting how peripheral Bridget was in Victor’s flashbacks while in the present day, Henry seemed a little concerned about Bridget’s life in danger. I’m also guessing Torrance is in Bodaway’s pay roll as well.

Olivia: “And Tyler, you’re way too pretty to go to jail.”

Bridget: “Malcolm, I think you might be right. I think Andrew and Olivia are capable of murder.”

Chronology: From where “P.S. You’re An Idiot” left off.

The show is still better to watch but even I have to admit that despite some great moments here and there, “You’re Way Too Pretty To Go To Jail” still isn’t forwarding the storylines fast enough. I guess maybe it’s well past time for Bridget and Siobhan to actually clash at this point.

Rating: 7 out of 10

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Doctor Who - Series 7 More Casting Information

Doing the rounds courtesy of the latest issue of DWM and of course, the usual sources on GallifreyBase.Like the picture of Rory, Eleven and Amy? Most people on Tumblr seem to and this week it's been confirmed through Spotlight that Mark Williams will be playing a character named Brian Williams. So, does this finally mean we're seeing Rory's dad? Here's a hoping.

Elsewhere casting for Toby Whithouse's Western themed episode seems to be coming in thick and fast. Not only do we have Adrian Scarborough (Pritchard from Upstairs Downstairs) as a character called Kahler Jex along with Rob Cavazos but also it seems that Farscape/Stargate SG-1's Ben Browder is also appearing in this story too. The first block of episodes are Chris Chibnall (7x02) and Toby Whithouse (7x03), directed by Saul Metzstein while the second block directed by Nick Hurran is two episodes written by Steven Moffat. Presumably the opener and maybe Amy/Rory's exits. This series is shapely up nicely so far.

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Doctor Who - Series 7 Rumours/Updates

Okay, it's not a huge update but little bits have been surfacing recently.

First off all, the delightful Sophie Aldred is on the cover of DWM, talking about her time on the series, the proposed plans for Ace to have guest appeared on The Sarah Jane Adventures, presumably Tree Fu Tom with David Tennant and also about John Nathan Turner/Russell T. Davies and Amy Pond. Well, to be honest Amy does seem a bit influenced by Ace when you think about it, doesn't she? There's also an interview with both Mark Sheppard and William Morgan Sheppard as well if the cover's anything to go by and Series 7 will be filming in Spain.

Elsewhere some rumours have surfaced that Benedict Cumberbatch is in line to replace John Simm as the Master and while I like Cumberbatch, I kind of feel that's a bit too obvious and maybe a less predictable choice would be better. Meanwhile Karen Gillan has made a few more cryptic hints about Amy's imminent departure (it'll have a big impact)and Toby Whithouse has admitted that he knows some stuff about the new companion. There's also rumours that the new series will start in November, that the new companion will debut in the Christmas special. I'm hoping this month's convention in Cardiff with the main stars and the Moff reveals more on the new TARDIS occupant.

Series 7 will air later in 2012.

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My Review of Being Human's 4x05: "Hold The Front Page"

Written by Tom Grieves
Directed by Philip John

Annie (to Adam): “She doesn’t know what you are, does she?”
Yvonne: “My point is that I do. Age is merely a number and what matters lies in the heart.”

Under normal circumstances, you can definitely argue that age actually does mean a lot and if this were not a supernatural show, then even I would probably have an issue with the pairing of eternal teenager Adam and prim headmistress Yvonne Bradshaw here but weirdly enough, I believe in them as a couple.

I was hoping at some point we were going to get another supernatural type on the show and after the success of zombies, I was hoping the type would be witches because I still want to know if magic has a place on this show or not. Until Hal spelled it out, I did actually consider the fact that Yvonne might have been a witch but the succubus angle was actually a lot better.

I think why it worked so well in this episode is that Yvonne was largely unaware of her abilities in attracting men the way she did and had chalked it up to rotten luck. Apart from Adam, she showed some visible apprehension and discomfort when her effects took place on both Tom and Hal and when Annie even tried to talk to her about her true nature, she did not want to consider it in the slightest.

For those reasons alone, it was a nice subversion to the usual succubus type of storylines we’ve seen in other shows and the only time Yvonne actually did attempt to embrace her powers was thankfully curtailed when Adam himself had managed to pull himself out of a potentially dark situation with a blonde stranger.

I guess it’s easy to see why Yvonne and Adam attracted each other (apart from the former’s abilities). Both of them were lonely and lacking in esteem and in each other found a safe haven of sorts. Yvonne repeatedly kept telling the gang of Adam’s kindness and he kept reminding them of how wonderful she was too by contrast.

That sort of dialogue repeated throughout the episode, along with the backdrop of the press trying to hound them inside Honolulu Heights and Tom and Hal being affected by Yvonne all could’ve worn thin but the balance between comedy and decent subversion made it all the more fun to watch.

I had to admit the scenes where Adam and Tom were constantly trying to best each other for Yvonne were amusing but then Hal had that dream sequence and it got just a little scary by comparison. Despite being under Yvonne’s influence and having that dream, Hal was able to get Annie into breaking Yvonne’s influence from everyone and preventing further disasters down the line.

As for Adam – I am really delighted they brought the character back. He was every bit as funny, immature, crass and sympathetic as he was in his previous episode and perhaps him and Yvonne will get to have the sort of happy ending, romance wise that none of our new regulars have so far. If this was another type of a show, Adam and Yvonne would be weird but on this show, it just works.

Also keeping with things that work rather nicely, can I just say how glad I am that Cutler was kept on this show in favour of Fergus? He’s by far one of the more interesting vampire villains we’ve had on the series and his slaughter of poor Pete and uploading of Tom changing into a werewolf has definitely proved that he’s not a threat to underestimate, though we do need to point him into Hal and Annie’s direction now.

Also, I have to admit that something else worried me in this episode. I wasn’t too surprised that if Cutler hadn’t killed Pete the journalist that Hal might have but I was surprised that Annie almost seemed to be encouraging Hal’s dark side as well as her own admission that she wants to kill again, following her despatching of Kirby last week. I wonder if that means Annie could be more of an inadvertent threat to Eve than Hal is at the moment.

I’ve also noticed that a lot of people were criticising Pete on his attempts of exposing vampires to the general public. Trapping Cutler in a room might not have been his best idea but considering that he lost a parent to vampires, I actually had a great deal of sympathy for Pete and it was a more interesting plotline than his pursuit of Adam and Yvonne as well. However, it was painfully obvious he wasn’t going to make it out of the episode alive as his altercation with Cutler more than proved.

Also in “Hold The Front Page”

A minor disappointment but I kind of wished that Adam had made some reference to Christa and Matt from Becoming Human but I guess maybe the episode didn’t call for it.

Adam: “I am chicka-chicka back and I brought with me, one sexy mother-,”

Selina Griffiths who played Yvonne in this episode is the daughter of Annette Crosbie. You can tell because she certainly has her mother’s voice.

Annie: “Adam, your friend can see me.”
Yvonne: “Should I not?”

Yvonne (to Tom): “Now how should we plead – guilty? I certainly feel guilty.”

So, anyone else surprised that Tom has a thing for barristers more than Hal’s thing for the virginal type? I also loved Hal singing and quoting Keats in this one too.

Adam (re Yvonne): “She thinks we’re nuts.”
Hal: “We’ve shattered her entire belief system. Let her process that in the way she chooses.”

Cutler (to Pete): “So, vampires are fine but werewolves are stretching it a bit.”

Cutler also took a body into the woods and made it look it had been attacked by a werewolf. I also swear he was flirting a tiny bit with Pete.

Hal: “Who sent you? Why are you here?”
Yvonne: “To remind you of who you really are. How extraordinary you can be.”

Hal: “Oh, what’s this? Does the hound want another whipping?”
Tom: “Try it.”

Hal mentioned that he had been trapped in a monastery cellar for nine months with crosses at the door but also that they don’t affect Old Ones. He also had a lover in Madrid in 1784.

Yvonne: “I can’t believe it, Annie. If I accept that, then I have to accept what I am.”

Cutler: “Sounds like you’ve got amazing things to show me.”
Pete: “You show me yours, I’ll show you mine.”

A scene between Hal and Adam in relation to self control has been released for this episode and can be found at the usual places.

Adam: “I hate being a vampire.”
Yvonne: “I hate being a succubus.”
Adam: “We’re both trapped. We should be trapped together.”

Chronology: A weeks since “A Spectre Calls” and also Adam/Yvonne have been together for six months.

This was yet another fun and odd episode to watch. “Hold The Front Page” could’ve just been a really lame episode but by trying to do something a bit different with the succubus storyline and a solid, sympathetic performance from Selina Griffiths, this is one of the best episode we’ve had.

Rating: 9 out of 10

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Elementary Has Cast It's Watson

I was meant to put this up the other day but here goes nothing.

First off all, Elementary has decided that John Watson should be Joan Watson and Lucy Liu is the actress to play that role opposite Johnny Lee Miller's Sherlock Holmes. The Watson in this version will be a former surgeon struck off due to the death of a patient in her care while further reports have alluded that Sherlock's addictions will play a bigger role than the current BBC version. I have to admit, the more I read about this, the less I can see why CBS are doing it. They have more than enough procedurals on their schedules as it is and even with a female Watson, this isn't coming across as a particularly enticing take on the franchise to be honest.

Elsewhere while production for the third series of the BBC version of Sherlock is quite a while off yet, one thing that can be confirmed for Series 3 is that Moriarty (played by Andrew Scott) will not be returning to the series. I love Moriarty but Moffat's making the right decision here and considering that he's recently mentioned wanting to bring out more villains for Sherlock and Watson to go up against, you can't really blame him either.

Elementary Casting: http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/film-cinema/lucy-liu-to-be-first-female-sidekick-to-sherlock-holmes-3034244.html

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Monsters And Ghosts

It's been nearly three weeks since my last TV jumble, so here's a rather big one for you.

Desperate Housewives: It's been a rather interesting set of episodes with the housewives at odds with each other over the handling and disappearance of Alejandro's body, Susan stupidly painting evidence of their crime and Chuck's constant harassment of them all but I think the scenes where Bree saw a familiar face and contemplated the act that an old friend once committed just shows how much this season has returned to form. It's saddening at this point that it's being ignored but perhaps that is the consequence of being on the air too long. It's a shame because the quality of the last few weeks has been sublime.

Glee: This show seems to be forever caught in a loop of being damned whether it does or doesn't. The handling of Valentine's Day/Brittany and Santana finally acting like a couple was a mixed bag but some fans weren't too thrilled with Sebastian's sudden turnaround, Karofsky's suicide attempt or even that pesky little cliff hanger moment with Quinn. It's going to be a rather interesting few weeks until the show returns in April but at least UK viewers can finally catch up with the 2012 episodes aired so far now that Sky1 is finally airing them.

Grimm: I wasn't really going to give this show a go but after catching up with the first three episodes on Watch, I have to admit, it's not that bad. Actually, apart from it being a standard cop show with a fairytale mixture, it's actually a lot of fun. Okay, Nick seems like a standard leading man/ordinary cop dragged into a supernatural world but I do like Monroe the werewolf quite a bit and they're setting up a rather decent mythology. Now I just gotta wait until Once Upon A Time winds up airing on UK screens to see which is the better show.

Homeland: Yes, this was a series I was going to watch and with a superb cast like Claire Danes and Damien Lewis, I can see why this show has become such a critical darling and award bait for Showtime. I still worry how Channel 4 will overall treat this show as most US programming doesn't seem to fare well on terrestrial channels nowadays but the first two episodes have been particular riveting stuff. Carrie Mathison might be one of the most compelling new female characters on TV (apart from Emily Thorne) and her constant attempts to see whether or not formerly imprisoned soldier Nick Bordy has been turned into a sleeper agent is fascinating to watch. If you're not watching this series, give it a whirl.

Skins: I'm beginning to lose patience with this series. The last three episodes might have had eventful stuff - Franky's rape, Mini's pregnancy and Nick resorting to desperate measures to try and get Matty home but the writing has been a bit too haphazard in parts and the sudden undying between Nick and Franky rings false to me. On the plus side, Liv and Alex are a fun double act and it's nice that Rich has finally returned, even if he hasn't done much. This show desperately needs to improve with it's final four episodes.

Upstairs Downstairs: Okay, so some of the cast and the writers might not like the comparison this show gets to Downton Abbey and while you can argue that they're unfair comparisons, I have to admit that if I had to choose between the Granthams and the Hollands, it'd probably be a rather easy choice. The first two episodes of the second series of 165 Eaton were a mixed bag and as much as I do love Alex Kingston, I'm still finding her character, Blanche as polarising as the rest of the cast. On the plus side, at least Beryl is likeable and Harry has improved. I can't say the same for Agnes and Persephone though or Pritchard and just no to any more dead monkeys.

The Vampire Diaries: It was the night of the ghosts and it was also one of the best and low key episodes we've had as well. The fact that the last two episodes were seemingly short on Klaus as well also helped matters but I enjoyed the returns of Anna, Pearl, Mason, Lexie and Sheila as well. Too bad that Elena still seems to be too fixated with trying to rehabilitate the ripper version of Stefan and that Jeremy and Bonnie broke up but either way, this show still knows how to deliver.

- David Morrissey will be playing The Governor in the third season of The Walking Dead.
- Revenge will feature both a time jump to winter, a former flame of Victoria's and an episode set in 2003 while a wedding will open up the second season.
- Both Zachary Quinto and Jessica Lange will remain as regulars for the second season of American Horror Story, however they will be playing different characters.
- Jennifer Love Hewitt's series The Client List will debut on Lifetime in April. Think Secret Diary Of A Call Girl and you're there.
- David Zayas will be playing a troll like monster in an upcoming episode of Grimm.
- Alan Ball will be stepping down from True Blood upon completion of it's fifth season.
- Adam Baldwin will be appearing an upcoming episode of Castle.
- Jessica Brown-Findlay and Katie McGrath's Labyrinth will air on Channel 4 as will World Without End, starring Cynthia Nixon, Miranda Raison and Peter Firth.

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