Blightyvision: “Sherlock Holmes” (1968)
Starring Peter Cushing and Nigel Stock Produced by David Goddard and William Sterling With all the mad hullabaloo going down concerning this ridiculous War of the Sherlocks coming next month, I’ve found myself looking more and more into older versions, through the kindness of Netflix and other various sources. On the same fateful night I discovered Hobo with [...]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: available on dvd, based on a book, BBC, detective series, mystery, peter cushing, Sherlock Holmes, war of the sherlocks, who's not who
Blightyvision: “Torchwood”
Written and created by Russell T. Davies Starring John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Kai Owen, and Gareth David-Lloyd Back in 2006 or so, Torchwood was a show it was very easy to make fun of and be cynical about. The Doctor Who spinoff was advertised from the get-go as being aimed more toward adults, covering edgier [...]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: available on dvd, John Barrowman, rtd, spinoff, torchwood, Whoniverse
Blightyvision: Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather
Death + Tooth Fairy + creepy man with creepy eye = spirit of Christmas, yo.
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: available on dvd, Discworld, holiday fare, ian richardson, Terry Pratchett
Blightyvision: “Lost in Austen”
Written by Guy Andrews Directed by Dan Zeff Starring Jemima Rooper, Elliot Cowan, and Hugh Bonneville Any girl of any sort of classic literary bent in high school had a thing for Jane Austen. No, sorry, let me rephrase that … had a thing for Pride and Prejudice. No, wait, that’s still not entirely right. [...]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: anime references in all the wrong places, available on dvd, based on a novel, fanfic, historical comedy, Jane Austen, lost in austen
Blightyvision: “The Last Detective”
Based on the novels by Leslie Thomas Starring Peter Davison, Sean Hughes, and Emma Amos I was fortunate enough to have the chance to see Peter Davison as King Arthur in the West End production of Spamalot a few years ago. While I’d seen him in both “Doctor Who” and “Campion” prior to it, it [...]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: available on dvd, detective series, mystery, Peter Davison, The Last Detective, who's not who
Blightyvision: “Jonathan Creek” Series 2-4
Created by David Renwick Starring Alan Davies, Caroline Quentin, and Julia Sawalha To be completely honest, and as I mentioned last week, recently I’ve become fearful of the quality of a show the longer it goes on, especially a show whose appeal comes from its cleverness. The up-side of one writer per show is consistency [...]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: Alan Davies, available on dvd, caroline quentin, jonathan creek, julia sawalha, mystery
Blightyvision: “Slings & Arrows” Seasons 2 and 3
Created by Susan Coyne, Bob Martin, and Mark McKinney Starring Paul Gross, Martha Burns, and Stephen Ouimette Hearing during its run that “Slings & Arrows” was followed by a second (and then third) series made me a little nervous initially. The original show was so nicely self-contained and had resolution enough to suit. No cliffhangers, [...]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: available on dvd, mark mckinney, paul gross, shakespeare, slings and arrows, theatre
Blightyvision: “Red Dwarf”
Created by Grant Naylor Starring Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules, and Robert Llewellyn Among sci-fi geeks of both the Americaphile and Anglophile variety, hour-long dramas are pretty much the way of things now. With “Doctor Who” in an hour or near-hour format since 2005, and everything from “Heroes” to “Primeval” having followed suit, the [...]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: available on dvd, Chris Barrie, comedy, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules, Red Dwarf, Robert Llewellyn, sci fi, smeg
Blightyvision: “Blackadder”
Created by Rowan Atkinson, Richard Curtis, and Ben Elton Starring Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson It really seems a little unfair to allow myself to review my gateway drug. In fact, I came to the point where I decided everyone must have seen it, and thus doing any sort of write-up would be superfluous. But [...]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: available on dvd, blackadder, historical comedy, Hugh Laurie, oh my god they look so young, rowan atkinson, Stephen Fry, tony robinson
Blightyvision: “Top Gear” — The Road Trips
Or: how to make three men hate each other even more than they already do. Starring Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, and the Stig Now here’s a lovely way to spend a summer: get together with your friends, get behind the wheels of some classic cars, and drive through beautiful and exotic locations together. [...]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: available on dvd, james may, jeremy clarkson, powerrrrr, richard hammond, The Stig, Top Gear