March 20, 2009 by dafyd
…his face is permanently blurred to protect his identity.
Google Maps launched its Streetview service in the UK yesterday, and some intrepid sightseers have already found the Stig at the BBC’s White City offices. Fun.
Also Nottingham High School, on a rare “not rainy” day:
Oh, and Wally on Putney High Street:
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February 23, 2009 by dafyd
Tonight is the final of series 15 of University Challenge, as Corpus Christi, Oxford, take on Manchester. Both teams have done phenomenally well in all of their previous games, so tonight promises to be a tough game.
I’m tipping Manchester to win. I know a lot has been written about about Corpus Christi’s captain, Gail Trimble, and she’s certainly very bright, but I think Manchester has a better team overall. Trimble has dragged her team through the previous four rounds – without her, I doubt they’d have made the second round – whereas all four of Manchester’s team members contribute a great deal (also, the Manchester captain is doing a PhD on “the history of the book” – awesome).
Team Durham, two years ago, did rather well (if I say so myself) because we were able to rely on each other, rather than having one person answering all the questions. Kudos to Trimble, though – she’s a general knowledge machine. I’d love to see her on Mastermind. Heck, she could easily have been the sixth Egghead. I really can’t work out what angle this article in the Sun is going for – are they suggesting that she’s out of touch, elitist, or that it’s good that she doesn’t bother with such trivia? Knowing the Sun, I’d say the latter, but the tone of the article suggests the former. Curiouser and curiouser…
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June 28, 2008 by dafyd
According to this week’s Doctor Who, the Doctor’s phone number is 07700 900 461.
Alas, “The number you have called has not been recognized”. BBC, you disappoint me. Why feature the number so prominently (full screen, at least three times) if it doesn’t do anything? Would it really have been that difficult to put a recording of David Tennant at the end of the phone?
Somehow, I think next week it may prove important…
Update: Seems the number falls within the range of numbers reserved by Ofcom “for drama purposes”. Pity.
Still can’t work out what happened last night. I have a vague feeling that the idea of them being “one second in the future” will be important, as will the Doctor’s spare hand. And I wager John Simm (The Master) may make a return… after all, we’ve seen everyone else.
Category 1 | Tags: bbc,doctorwho,tv | Comments Off
May 14, 2008 by dafyd
Life on Mars is one of my favourite television series Of All Time Ever. This disturbs me a little… but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. It could be awesome, it could be rubbish. I’ll be watching.
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March 13, 2008 by dafyd
Really weird flashback to cITV, after school, 15 years ago…
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If you’re reading this in a feedreader, or in Facebook or the like, you’ll have to click through to the actual post. Make sure you do, though – it’s awesome.
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January 29, 2008 by dafyd
Oh yes:
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If you’re reading this in a feedreader, or in Facebook or the like, you’ll have to click through to the actual post. Make sure you do, though – it’s awesome.
Thursday 7 February 2008, 9.00pm, BBC One. Be there.
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November 8, 2007 by dafyd
Tonight’s episode of 30 Rock, on five at 10.50, is possibly the funniest piece of television I’ve seen in the last year. Watch it. Or feel forever that you’ve missed a little piece of something.
Snapple is awesome. That is all.
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June 16, 2007 by dafyd
For those who watched Doctor Who tonight (and if you didn’t, why not?)…
My name is The Master. I had an accident, and I woke up at the end of the universe. Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever’s happened, it’s like I’ve landed on a different planet. Now, maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home.
I confess, I was rather hoping that John Simm would be the next Doctor. Ah well, as long as they don’t kill him at the end of this season, I’ll be happy. I assume we’re going to discover that he is the Mr Saxon that kept appearing in posters and conversations earlier in the series. I do like a good hidden treasure hunt sort-of-thing – like the “Bad Wolf” plot from the first season.
And I was glad to see Captain Jack back. After all, we can’t have BBC One’s Saturday evening schedule without John Barrowman, can we…?
If you’ve not been watching the new series of Doctor Who, it’s not too late. Two episodes of this season left – and the last four have been absolute corkers. Last week’s was some of the very best television I’ve seen for a while, and the double episode the previous two weeks was even better.
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June 9, 2007 by dafyd
Two things before we start: I love musicals, and I hate TV talent and reality shows. I can’t stand The X Factor, Pop Idol, Big Brother and so on. I would much rather be sitting at the back of the Apollo Victoria. Past experience of TV talent shows suggest they’re no very good at picking successful acts – Hear*Say, anyone?
Anyhoo, clearly I wasn’t too hot on the idea of a TV show casting a lead for The Sound of Music. And yet, watching How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, it was clear that we were looking at girls who could sing, who could act, and who could hold a stage with what John Barrowman excitedly calls “star quality”. Of the twelve Marias who were in the series, I think I’m right in saying that five are now performing in the West End, including, of course, Connie Fisher and her standby, Aoife Mulholland. Did they get their roles because of the TV competition? Connie, obviously, yes. The others? I don’t think so. Clearly the exposure helped, but they are more than talented enough to hold their own at an audition.
It didn’t hurt that Graham Norton was presenting the series, bringing a knowing degree of [something - can't think of the word] and just the right amount of camp. The panel – Barrowman, producer David Ian, and vocal coach Zoe Tyler – was clearly knowledgeable, not just pretty faces. And Andrew Lloyd Webber – well, he was Andrew Lloyd Webber.
So, I enjoyed How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?. The show was a success, winning awards and finding, clearly, the right actor to play Maria. Connie Fisher is going to be around in the West End for a long time (especially if, as is rumoured, Lloyd Webber revives Funny Girl with her in the lead).
But it was great as a one-off. I wasn’t too thrilled to learn that NBC – and then ITV – were going to be doing a similar show to find the two leads for Grease. And I definitely had mixed feelings about the BBC following Maria with a search for a lead for Lloyd Webber’s revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Joseph is very near and dear to me – it was the first musical I ever saw. I’ve seen it – I think – four times, and performed in amateur productions twice. And I know what Joseph should be like. Jason Donovan – yes. Philip Schofield – yes. Luke Goss – no. Stephen Gately – meh. Donnie Osmond – really no, even though he seems to have become the definitive Joseph (in the film).
But, once again, my fears were allayed by the series itself. Ten Josephs started in the series two months ago. Of those ten, I think there were three who I thought could be Joseph. Two have since been voted off the show, but Lee – who is Joseph – remains. The final is tonight. Let’s see what happens.
There was, I know, criticism and concern from within the acting profession – casting leads through a reality show devalues proper stage training and experience. But let’s face it: since the start of Maria, more than 30 shows have opened in the West End. Evita, Wicked, Spamalot, Avenue Q, Whistle Down the Wind, Little Shop of Horrors, The Lord of the Rings… Thirty shows (including the two biggest casts in West End history – The Lord of the Rings and Wicked), that must make about 500 acting roles. Two have been cast by talent show.
Update: Well, my faith in the British public is intact. Lee did win. Everyone is happy. Tickets for September, I think…
Category 1 | Tags: theatre,tv | 2 Comments
March 13, 2007 by dafyd
Running alongside a Grauniad blog article is an advert for a new ITV drama, Mobile.
But Mobile isn’t on tonight. It’s on next week. Oops.
Category 1 | Tags: advert,itv,tv | Comments Off