I have re discovered Watching and must say that this so under rated, and i believe thatits one of the best comedies around. Emma Wray is excellent at playing Brenda, and Paul Bown is brilliant at playing the mis-matched love interest, complimented by a great cast ans wonderful writing, this is a must see for a smile, laugh and to see some great acting. i would love to see a remake/ documentry update, to see what became of Malcolm, Brenda, Pam, David and the others!.

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Brothers Edward and Alphonse try to resurrect their dead mother using alchemy, but use of a taboo magic has a price. Edward's loses a leg, but his brother takes the brunt of the price, losing his entire body, existing as a disembodied soul. To save his brother, Edward attaches the soul to a suit of armour, an act which costs him an arm. A friend fits new “automail” limbs to Edward, who then vows to find the Philosopher's Stone as a means to undo the damage they have done to their bodies. He and Alphonse set out on their quest, which takes them into several conflicts.


Fullmetal Alchemist was first released as an anime in 2003. The first version was a huge hit and gained a large fan following, so you might be forgiven for wondering why anyone would put all that at risk by redoing the entire series less than a decade later. Brotherhood can best be thought of as a fan-service anime. It addresses the criticisms of fans who were not happy that the original series deviated away from the manga on which it was based. To be fair, that had to happen as the first anime was made while the manga was still being produced, forcing the anime producers to come up with their own plots and conclusions. Brotherhood was made when the manga was drawing to a close, and so was able to keep its plot line throughout.

The new version faithfully follows the manga story and retells it in animated form. The artwork is near faithful to the manga too, capturing the both the look and feel of Hiromu Arakawa's illustrations. If anything, it's almost too faithful, playing out some scenes for an unnecessarily long time. While a manga may need to dwell on every nuance of a scene to convey its meaning, doing so in an anime can make it seem self indulgent, and a viewer who has never seen the original may be left wondering what all the fuss was about. Be warned, the early episodes in this series are quite poorly done. It's almost “ anime light” in feel, as if they didn't have much budget for those episodes. In fact the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime went into more plot detail than this version, which is odd as the budget for Brotherhood was a lot higher than the original had to work with. You'll need to stick with it before the story finds its pace, which it does with gusto. Once its up to speed, the series bowls along.

The animation quality is much higher than the first anime with character movements more fluid, which is understandable given the higher budget. The show has a warmer feel, the light seems to have an orange palette to it. Unfortunately, since the 2003 offering, Japan has succumbed to the Murray Gold school of background music. While the original Alchemist had the atmosphere of a quiet brotherly quest, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood throws a music sting into every space it can find. Perhaps soundtrack albums make so much revenue they're aiming for maximum profit.

Overall, Brotherhood is the better anime of the two versions. However, its predecessor is more accessible to someone new to the Fullmetal franchise. That said, I would recommend this version if you can only spare the time to watch one. Just be aware that the opening episodes feel like a chore to watch.

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Adam Curtis has a whole series of documentaries running on BBC iPlayer at the moment and they are well worth the watch. He somehow manages to piece together allsorts of facts that lead to the reasons why we (the human race) are at the point where we are now by using archive footage and facts to make you think that things aren't always what they seem and why we are where we are at this point in time because of history. It's all a bit of a mind trip and awakening to to the realities of life as we know it. Offering in a very methodical way why the world is the way it is and that things aren't always that simple. Try and grab them while they are available or you will miss some of the most cogent and cohesive arguments for the human condition.

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Probably the most genuinely funny surreal show of the late-'60s.

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Absolutely Funny. Pure comic classic. Can't recommend it enough.

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R.I.P.Brian Cant,you are the greatest children`s TV Presenter,Narrator and Actor,and Trumpton is one of my favourite children`s TV show ever.

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I remember this series very well and used to be screened on Sunday afternoons in the London area in the mid-1970`s,before Channel 4 picked the Series in 1995-96,and Roger Moore will be sadly missed,and definately a great actor.

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I have got a complete TV series and can be found on the Network DVD and I like Bruce Forsyth is good in this sitcom.

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Andy Cunningham will be sadly missed,but I do remember the series very well,but I hope they repeat the series as a tribute to him.

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Fantastic series, I loved it. Brilliant acting, great stories, wonderful.

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Stand up comedy routines edited together to produce a show designed for a 30-minute TV slot (incl. adverts). Each show went straight into the routines (there was no presenter).
The series ran from 1971 to 1974, was revived in 1979 to 1980 for two series, and for another two series in 1984 to 1985. A final one series revival was attempted in 1992.

Comedians featured:

Russ Abbot, Lennie Bennett, Stan Boardman, Jim Bowen, Jimmy Bright, Duggie Brown, Mike Burton, Dave Butler, Brian Carroll, Frank Carson, Mike Coyne, Jimmy Cricket, Colin Crompton,
Pauline Daniels, Charlie Daze, Vince Earl, Steve Faye, Eddie Flanagan, Stu Francis, Ken Goodwin, Jackie Hamilton, Jerry Harris, George King, Bobby Knutt, Bernard Manning, Mike McCabe, Paul Melba, Mick Miller, Hal Nolan, Tom O'Connor, Tom Pepper, Bryn Phillips, Mike Reid, George Roper, Harry Scott, Sammy Thomas, Johnny Wager, Roy Walker, Charlie Williams, Lee Wilson, Lenny Windsor

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A superb thriller series written by Cannell and other writers, one of Cannell's high points. But it only lasted two seasons, 23 episodes. Cannell's series often left fervent fans hanging with short runs, The Hat Squad being another. This one had quite a violent intense edge.
Ray worked undercover helping people get out of trouble.

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Each show was split into sections, the first being the main show. The next section was a magazine show parody titled "Lucky Channel" and featured the anime character Akira Kogami and her assistant anchor man Minoru Shiraishi (the real actor portryed in anime form). Each episode ended with a song. Initially, the songs were done as Karaoke by the cast of the main show. The anime background showed a door, with only the voices being heard, suposedly from behind it. From episode 13, the ending song was done by Minoru Shiraishi as a live action filming rather than anime. He would sing all the remaining endings apart from episode16, which was sung by Hiromi Konno.

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True Detective - Season One.

It's hard not to believe that we're currently living in the middle of a 'Golden Age' of television when something as wonderful as 'True Detective' appears on our screens. With Hollywood now more concerned with SFX driven Superhero blockbusters and suchlike it now feels that TV is where the really deep, intelligent and interesting stuff is happening.

With 10-20 hours to tell a story (or more often stories) there is a freedom to be character and script driven and that is certainly the case with TD. The friction between the two main detectives played by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson is completely engrossing perhaps even more so than the actual solving of the crime.

I won't give too much away about what happens in the first season of True Detective but let's just say that if you enjoy dark modern crime fiction like James Ellroy (LA Confidential) then there is every chance you will LOVE this. It's a dark labyrinth of 'Southern Noir' and once you've watched the first episode you will be obsessed until you've watched them all. You may need subtitles unless you happen to live in the South of the USA!

My favourite US TV show since The Sopranos.

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I was incredibly eager to see this series, which had been mentioned for a couple of years and it's well worth a watch. Previous features on Stax have never disappointed, despite having to cover a vast history in one-off efforts, literally a label of two halves, - the spinning discs and the post-Otis finger clickin' era.
On-camera interviews with surviving artists and writers was very welcome, which included Stax insider and archivist Deanie Parker who's always a great listen. Great to see the makers managed to capture filmed interviews with those that have since passed, Jim Stewart of course but also the wonderful Bettye Crutcher who is often overlooked in the Stax story.
Although not everything can be captured (even Rob Bowman's welcome nineties book had to limit itself), there were a few things that jarred by their omission. The Jim and Estelle label start-up, with financing and initial Satellite imprint, yes it's been covered elsewhere but if this was the high profile final word, I expected a mention. And to book-end it, the sad ending didn't mention the promising reconvening of the MGs and subsequent murder of Al Jackson Jr before that could occur. That subject is still controversial, with plenty of speculation, but remains untold. An acknowledgement of the events should have been included at the very least.
The four parts could easily have been longer. It reminded me of watching and taping The Beatles Anthology from the initial TV broadcast and then getting the expanded version when released on sell-through, so much more. Perhaps there will be.

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Difficult to judge anything to do with such a historically nebulous figure as Jack The Ripper, as theories abound, and "facts" come and go... But outside of "historical documentaries" and the like, it does make for great dramatic material in which to explore theories and hypotheses...

...This, in my opinion, is the best of them - A very engaging, and excellently realised examination of the "facts" of the case, such as was available to the production at the time, and from a particular point of view, or points of view.

Certainly required viewing for current or prospective "Ripperologists".

(But even if you are not either of these, cracking drama for those who like a mystery / intrigue / "conspiracy theory" watch)

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Coming out in an era when satire was king with the likes of Spitting Image and Ben Elton doing his laborious, but pointed stand-up. Hale & Pace like slasher horror films of the 1980s is a great example of something that was a critical failure, but a commercial success. Much maligned throughout it's incredibly long run; sometimes justifiably, often unfairly.

A common criticism was "two straight men"; an unwritten rule of comedy being a straight man and a clown a la: Morecambe & Wise and Laurel & Hardy. However, there are many successful comedy double acts with two jokers like Dick & Dom, Trevor & Simon and Vic & Bob. The criticisms of being vulgar are true and often the laughs would be based on someone saying a rude word or a vulgar punchline about bodily functions.

However amongst the throwaway sketches there are some sketches that are as good as anything on any other sketch show at the time: "Yorkshire Airlines", "Piss Off Mr. Chips", "Billy & Johnny" - two kid's TV presenters who hate each other. Weirdly, many comedians who criticised H&P pretty much did the same albeit in a slightly more clever way: Harry Enfield, Lee & Herring, Baddiel & Newman. The mantra being nob gags are OK if there is a literary reference in there.

Another thing people forget is just how good the performances of Hale & Pace are. Both having a gift at regional accents. Norman Pace is a surprisingly good singer, while Gareth Hale often bring a pathos to some of the sketches.

It may have gone for the cheap laugh or have been unecessarily violent and rude, but it represents a time when there was entertainment for the pre and post-pub audience. I will pick the worst of Hale & Pace over the best of Naked Attraction, which is the late night fare du jour.

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*I've reviewed this on Imdb under the title "It's Pants Boyo"*

The Charlotte Church Show was designed to appeal to the post-pub / pre-club crowd of 18-30 year olds. Later on Channel 4 would score a megahit with The Friday Night Project in 2007 and this would get axed a year after. The Charlotte Church Show attracted a lot of negative criticisms much like programmes in the previous slot: The Girlie Show, Something For The Weekend, The 11 O' Clock Show and quite rightly so; it's complete cack.

There are two good points that make this show memorable. The programme showcased a lot of comedians who went onto become household names in the 10s people like: Adam Hills, Michael McIntyre, Lee Mack, Rhod Gilbert and Frankie Boyle. The musical performances which consisted mainly of covers with Charlotte Church providing backing vocals are also excellent and there's no denying Charlotte Church is a great singer. Some of the acts are like a whose who of mid-00s pop acts: Amy Winehouse, The Script, McFly, Sharleen Spiteri, Orson, Beth Rowley and Nelly Furtado. The show is now quite sort off for these two reasons, but it is sadly unavailable on all non-user generated streaming platforms and has no commercial release on DVD or Blu-Ray.

The comedy sketches/skits and some Charlotte Church's banter with guests and the audience is truly cringe; cashing-in on her bad girl image of the early 00s when she was pictured getting drunk and falling out of taxis. Really grown worthy puns about Wales and forced ladette humour which was popular with its predecessors like The Girlie Show. The show ran for a surprising 3 series from 2006-2008 despite negative reviews. There is around 20 hours worth of footage in its entirely, but maybe one hour of it is any good and worth your time. I can't recommend it, but would like to see All4 make it available.

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Intelligent, dialogue-driven show. Lauren Graham is underused and should be a megastar. :happy:

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With his 1975 remake of breads hit of If there should be a warning please switch off your sub woofer (XBass) before playing this track haha

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Mrs Brown is to comedy what John Cena is to wrestling. In other words, loved or hated in equal measures with very few taking a central position.

Personally, I love this show. It doesn't pretend to be anything more than family and friends getting together to put on a show and have a laugh. Some don't like the style of humour; that's fine, just understand it says more about you than it does the show. I never got why people liked The Office, but a lot of other folks did. Horses for courses as they say.

To enjoy this show to the full, you have to stop trying to analyse it and get beyond seeing it as just a "bloke in a dress". There are a lot of little jokes included which are tributes to comedians of the past. Occasionally you spot them, but it doesn't matter if you don't. Now cue the haters.

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Wheeler Dealers' Mike Brewer tries to trade cars around the world with the intention of trading up from a starting budget of $3000, hoping to eventually have earned enough profit to buy a supercar. A quirky little show with enough interest to engage the viewer to the end of the series, even if it sometimes feels a bit staged.

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Never heard of this before, so looked it up on YouTube and ended up sitting through the whole two and a half hour series. I guess it was never repeated and i'm just glad i never saw it as a 6 year old, it would have scarred me for life.

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Heh heh great comments guys ;-) Sorry to hear you missed out on it, biffbangpow :(

Apologies also for you being a Swap Shop fan TopP. It must have been hell being beaten up every day at school! So you didn't have a crush on Edmonds then? Well there was always Maggie Philbin...

Seriously though, these two shows (yes I did flip the channel to Swap Shop occasionally - know your enemy and all that) left indelible pieces of information ingrained in my memory. I can even remember their postal addresses: Tiswas was Birmingham B1 2JP. When someone uploads an entry to Swap Shop, the world will once again get to know their telephone number.

Topic for a Forum discussion maybe - Tiswas vs. Swap Shop? Could even follow with World Of Sport vs. Grandstand too ;-)

What gave Tiswas the edge over Swap Shop for me was the fact that there were top comedy entertainers as guests (as mentioned by biffbangpow) plus the fact that the show was loosely structured - giving them the chance to improvise and really show their talents. Russ Abbott, for example, used to do a turn as Cooperman - a cross between Tommy Cooper and Superman. He was much funnier and looser than his dedicated TV series on the BBC. John Gorman of Scaffold fame did turns as Smellows, the smelly gardener and The Masked Poet, an intense dressed-in-black guy going around reciting dire verse. The Frank Carson appearances were of course (like everything he ever did) stomach-achingly funny. And the late David Rappaport of Time Bandits fame, taking the mick out of the BBC's Blue Peter with his whistle-themed Green Nigel...

The band Darts were regulars too, especially vocalist Den Heggarty, who once showed the nation his amazingly long-eyebrow hair. Ginger-afro'ed brummie comedian Ian "Sludge" Lees also got a bucket of water on many occasions. He used to have a pink suit with a Bassett's licorice allsorts pattern on it (he still does). Lenny Henry also did turns as the aforementioned Trevor McDonut, the very positive rasta Algernon with his condensed milk sandwiches and his catchphrase ("OoooooKaaaayyyy!") and David Bellamy impersonation, usually with his false beard peeling off and him and Chris Tarrant cracking up.

As a kid, for me all this was total anarchy and freedom - the diametrical opposite of Swap Shop with its constrained, controlled, BBC-discipline. It wasn't until Trev and Simon did their hilarious turns on BBC1's Going Live! in the 90s, that the BBC's saturday-morning TV record was redeemed, ironically with a touch of Tiswas-like looseness.

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Comedy set in the last days before nuclear destruction is unleashed upon the Earth.

Johnny Cyclops is trying to get re-elected while the deposed Shah of Iran is trying to flee to England, driven by his blindfolded lackey, Abdab ("I am not worth to look upon your holy countenance master"). Unfortunately he is stopped from entering the country by the newly elected Labour party, whose Prime Minister Kevin Pork confides to his colleagues that he is really Superman.

Cyclops has to placate the many clones of the Russian Permier while his advisor, The Deacon, crucifies students on the White House lawn.

While all this is happening, Lacrobat has stolen a Quark bomb and is taking it to the Middle East. Wear your mushroom with pride.

Much funnier than the movie. Alexei Sayle is superb as the crazy Commisar Solzhenitsyn. Rik Mayall gives a brief but memorable appearance as Biff, the man brought in to write the Johnny Cyclops campaign song. Barry Morse showed he had an amazing comic timing as Johnny Cyclops. His facial reactions are some of the best I've seen in a comedy show.

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Beautifully presented series about Japan. Highly informative and always a joy to watch, this should be required viewing for any would be documentary producer/presenter. In my view, this is easily the best documentary series on television today and shows that documentaries don't have to be hard hitting or filmed in war zones etc to make for compelling viewing. Barakan's gentle voice lends a dignified air to every subject he covers and leaves the viewer wanting to find out more about Japan. This show is the star in NHK World's crown.

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This is the story of nine noble families fighting to rule the mythical land of Westeros.

Although this is not the type of series I would normally rush to watch, in this instance the hype is justified and HBO have a hit (although at the time or writing I have only got through the first two seasons - all within the last fortnight).

Political themes, sexual content and lots of swashbuckling violence - it certain has what most adult audiences look for.

If you are considering starting on this one (and I recommend you do) keep at it for the first few episodes whilst it outlines the story-lines and you will soon be gripped.

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Steed saving his fingers and blowing the pea before the axe fell, biffing someone unconcious and then looking in the mans jacket because he wanted to know who was his tailor. Moments which I shall treasure for ever.

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Wow, this really lost it's way pretty darn fast!

....Right in front of my eyes in fact. For while the first two parter had a very strong idea at it's core, and felt like a split cinematic movie, in terms of the story, and the quality of the writing, this instantly feels less movie-like, and more tv miniseries / episodic.

It feels rushed too, bouncing from scene to scene without much explanation of how it got from one scene to the other. Across the three episodes, you see a valiant attempt to match the orginal story, and take up where it left off, rapidly, and by degrees disintegrate, visibly running out of ideas, and cobbling together stories just to get it along to the finale.

By the end, it gives way entirely to the most hokey, cornball hammery you can think of... It almost literally goes back in time from first episode to last in terms of quality of production, until it's virtually a spoof hippie sixties groovy buck rogers Flash Gordon spoof of love-in optimism, replete with rainbows of balloons, groovy cod-funk music, and unaccounted for space magic nonsense.

Forgets all the good characters they'd previously put work into building, and summarily disposing of others, losing any interest that marked the original out for special consideration.

Promising to begin with, total crap by the end.

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I remember this being a real event back in the day, but have not seen it since.

So I was pleased to find the DVD sets of both this and The Final Battle in the Charity shop the other day...

...And I've got to say it's even better than I remember it!

Imagine Independence Day, but with fully rounded, non cartoonish characters, and depth of story-telling, and rather than a straight up, meat and potatoes alien invasion scenario, like War Of The Worlds, the superficially benign "visitors" have a subtle, fascistic scheme for world domination, with the story focussing on all the interpersonal relationships among the humans experiencing this, and how those character dynamics change when challenged, and what you find you have here is an excellently thought out, brilliantly written analogy for a modern fascist oppression, who's methods are more insidious than a flat out invasion, and who's true motives are far more sinister.

Granted, it's very, very eighties in terms of production quality, and the effects have mostly aged pretty badly, but the story is good enough to get over that, and the telling of that story is brilliantly handled. More subtle and nuanced by orders of magnitude than said: Independence Day, as you have human collaborators, as well as Alien, human sympathisers all considered well in the writing.

It's just a shame they didn't have the guts back then to go huge with this, and make a three hour, big budget movie of it (which is what this feels like... minus the budget, of course!), if they had, this would have been a landlmark in sci-fi cinema to this day, every bit the equal of the modern iteration of Dune.

As it is though, it's still a cracker... and I can't wait to get going on the Final Battle set.

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