Monday 27 April 2009

TV

Ashes to Ashes
2x02 Episode Two
Another highly entertaining -- and, actually, increasingly thoughtful -- episode of Ashes. They're handling the corruption plot very well so far, and it seems a sensible move not to have dragged out the "is Gene corrupt?" storyline for too long.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Damages
2x10 Uh-Oh, Out Come the Skeletons
The muddled plot muddles on. Will it ever get genuinely good again? Hopefully this season can resolve all the ongoing bollocks and start afresh next year.

The Graham Norton Show
5x07 (23/4/09 edition, uncut repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Poetry

Hoping It Might Be So: Poems 1974-2000 by Kit Wright
Short Afternoons (1989) (pages 56-79)

Articles

Knightley domestic violence advert banned by Lara Martin
(from Digital Spy)
See here for some of my thoughts, where you can also see the clip in question.

Sky1 acquires House from Five by Dan French
(from Digital Spy)
Disappointing news. Sky have an annoying habit of poaching TV shows from others.

Clearcast support domestic violence

Mmm, sensationalist title. But read on:

An anti-domestic violence advert starring Keira Knightley has been banned from television after being deemed too shocking for audiences.

The Women's Aid commercial, which has already been aired on YouTube and in cinemas, shows the actress being accused of having an affair, before she is thrown to the ground and repeatedly kicked by her boyfriend.

However, Clearcast, the body that censors adverts for Ofcom, has ruled that the promo cannot be aired unless the violent scenes are removed.

What idiots.

The one bright side to this is that their stupid decision has received a fair degree of coverage, which will hopefully raise awareness further.

Read the full story at Digital Spy. Check out the campaign on Women's Aid's website.

Also, here's the advert in question. Be warned, it contains appropriately hard-hitting material that the censors don't want you to see:


You can also see the film in HD (or, at least, higher definition) on YouTube and at CutMovie.co.uk.