Blightyvision: “Horrible Histories”
Directed by Steve Connelly, Chloe Thomas, and Dominic Brigstocke Written and created by Terry Deary Starring Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, and Ben Willbond Have I mentioned how much I love British children’s television? I’m sure I must have. The educational stuff reminds me vaguely of things like “3-2-1 Contact” and “Square One” over here, which […]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: based on a book, children's show, distressing talking animals, historical comedy, no R1 for you, silly sketches, sketch comedy, Stephen Fry
Blightyvision: “The Devil’s Whore”
Created by Peter Flannery and Martine Brant Directed by Mark Munden Starring Andrea Riseborough, Dominic West, Tom Goodman-Hill, and John Simm I was of two minds when I had this show presented to me, and they were two very vastly different minds. On the one hand, I read when exactly the story took place and went […]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: Dominic West, english civil war, historical drama, john simm, no R1 for you, very nearly based on a true story
Blightyvision: “James May’s Things You Need to Know”
At this point, it’s pretty safe to say that I’ll watch any show where the title begins with the name of a “Top Gear” presenter. And after this many years it’s become pretty obvious whose name belongs at the beginnings of what sorts of shows. Richard Hammond excels at anything scientific that may or may […]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: james may, no R1 for you, short series, things you need to know
Blightyvision: “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” Series 1
Featuring Penn Jillette and Teller Hosted by Jonathan Ross Back when I reviewed the 90-minute special this trio did, I recall saying I wish it could be a full series, but understood that it was harder to find skilled magicians than singers and thus did not hold out hope. But then Penn announced on Twitter […]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: jonathan ross, magic, no R1 for you, penn and teller, reality show, reality tv
Blightyvision: “QI”
Written and created by John Lloyd Directed by Ian Lorimer Hosted by Stephen Fry I have, in fact, taken my sweet time in getting around to discussion of “QI” because it’s not a terribly easy show to review. It’s one you either like or you don’t based almost entirely upon who’s present from week to […]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: Alan Davies, Bill Bailey, jeremy clarkson, jo brand, no R1 for you, QI, quiz show, rich hall, rob brydon, Stephen Fry, witcom
Blightyvision: “That Mitchell and Webb Look”
Starring David Mitchell, Robert Webb, and James Bachman Written by David Mitchell and Robert Webb Directed by David Kerr and Ben Fuller I’ve come to the conclusion that the 21st century measure of the merit of a sketch comedy team is how readily you can find their individual skits on YouTube. Workday video finds on […]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: david mitchell, no R1 for you, robert webb, sir digby chicken caeser, sketch comedy
Blightyvision: “Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace”
Directed by Richard Ayoade Written by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade Starring Matthew Holness, Richard Ayoade, Matt Berry, and Alice Lowe Back in the 1980s, Channel 4 produced a short-lived paranormal medical drama written by and starring master horror novelist Garth Marenghi. In it, Dr. Rick Dagless M.D. (Marenghi), a tough but caring doctor with […]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: 1980s, bbc nepotism, hospital drama, Matt Berry, Matthew Holness, no R1 for you, paranormal, parody, Richard Ayoade
Blightyvision: “Raven”
Directed by Michael Hart Written by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray Starring Michael Aldridge, Shirley Cheriton, Phil Daniels, and Patsy Rowlands England has some seriously weird kids’ shows. No, I mean seriously. And by “weird,” I mean their opinion of what kids can handle in their television is far different to what we Colonials think […]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: arthurian, no R1 for you, oh my god they look so young, phil daniels, this is for children?, what did I just watch?
Blightyvision: “Brass Eye”
Directed by Michael Cumming Written by Arthur Mathews and Christopher Morris Starring Christopher Morris and Mark Heap When you specialize in niche entertainment — and in the US, UK television tends (rather unfortunately) to be “niche” — you discover that things tend to only fly under the radar within your own fandom for one of […]
In: Columns, Television: British and Canadian · Tagged with: Brass Eye, no R1 for you, satire, Simon Pegg