Saturday 23 November 2013

TV

Happy Birthday Doctor Who...


Blue Peter
Doctor Who Special
Doctor Who Party

A pair of live episodes to mark Doctor Who's 50th, featuring a look at some of The Day of the Doctor's special effects, interviews with Matt and Jenna, a new "design something that will be in the series" competition, and makes for exciting things like a cushion and a Dalek cake. Bless Blue Peter.

[Watch the Special and the Party (again) on iPlayer.]



The Culture Show
Me, You and Doctor Who

A lovely, insightful exploration of the series' history and its impact on culture.

[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]



Doctor Who
33x15 The Day of the Doctor [50th anniversary special]

What's the 50th episode of #bbbDW50? It's the 50th anniversary episode, of course! What else would've been more appropriate?

And it was brilliant. Wasn't it? I thought so. I don't mind saying I've not always been the biggest fan of what Moffat's done as showrunner, especially over the last two series, but he absolutely nailed this. It was chock full of exciting new stuff and nods to the past, with everything from tiny subtle references for the true hardcore fan right up to big obvious "here are all the Doctors!" celebrations of the show's 50 year legacy. It was fabulous.

I look forward to watching it again in 3D. I reckon some of it will look grand. I fear the Christmas special can only be a letdown from here though, so we'll see...

But on a positive note: it's a feature-length episode that was released in cinemas alongside TV -- definitely counts for 100 Films, right? Well, does for me. I'll post a lengthier review there at some point.

[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]



Friends
5x06 The One with the Yeti [4th or so watch]
Yes, this is the only non-Who thing today.



The Graham Norton Show
14x06 (22/11/13 edition)

Featuring Matt Smith and David Tennant, dropping in halfway through like the BBC had mandated their inclusion on the regularly-scheduled episode. Which they may well have.

Actually, it left a bit of a bitter taste for me -- lots of old-fashioned stuff about the show just being for geeks, who've never touched a girl; suggesting Matt is only in the special due to contractual obligation so why on Earth has David deigned to come back; David and Matt not quite knowing what to say when Jimmy Carr asked a daft question about how can they both be in the special; and so on and so forth. It felt rather like a nasty throwback, instead of being aware that, actually, Doctor Who is now one of the BBC's top brands, a massive earner, probably more significant to culture than anyone else on the episode this evening; while they treated it a little like it deserved a nice pat on the head, a ruffle of its hair, and a half-meant "well done".

Bah.

[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

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