Review: Arthur and George, ep 1

The first episode of ITV’s new 3-part drama, Arthur and George, aired this evening. It stars Martin Clunes as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who forms a friendship with George Edelji (played by Arsher Ali). George has recently been released from prison having been convicted of mutilating horses (and threatening to do the same to children), and the story follows his journey to clear his name.

Today’s episode featured a round-up of the original story of George’s case, and Arthur beginning his investigations into the case. Although it was a little slow to start, it had plenty of mystery. It’s nice to see Martin Clunes not playing Doc Martin for a change; some people on Twitter complained about his Scottish accent but as a born and bred southerner it sounded Scottish enough to me…

Frustratingly, the sound levels were quite poor – and the music over the top of speech was quite loud! Always makes a drama less enjoyable when you have to strain to hear what’s going on…

I’ll include the trailer below – I found it a little bit creepier than the trailer lets on, but if you like that sort of weird Edwardian/Victorian esque mystery (lots of mist, shadowy figures, symbolic dead animals, creepy dolls) then you’ll probably enjoy this. I also enjoyed the romantic subplot between Arthur and his “friend” Miss Leckie, which provides some needed light relief. I think I’ll probably tune in for next week’s episode, but mainly because I can’t cope with an unsolved mystery. All in all, I felt it was pretty average – it wasn’t the worst drama I’ve seen but it certainly isn’t the best. What did you think?

TV To Look Forward To – March 2015

There are a few programs coming up in March that I definitely won’t be missing, and I think they’ll be worth tuning in for:

1. Ordinary Lies

I cannot find any definite scheduling times/dates for this drama, but I’ve heard it  should be appearing on screens at some point in March 2015…will update if I find out!

It stars Jason Manford, Michelle Keegan and Sally Lindsay among others, and explores how just a little white lie can spiral out of control and have huge consequences. I’m really interested to see how this one pans out, and looking forward to seeing Jason Manford in an acting role.

2. DCI Banks

Wednesday 4th March, 9pm, ITV1

Returning for its fourth season, with Stephen Tompkinson playing the title role. The DCI Banks books are some of my favourites, and I love a good detective show, so can’t wait for this!

3. Comic Relief 2015

Friday 13th March, 7pm, BBC1

The best way to brighten up a scary Friday 13th is to get funny for money! Always a good watch, and for an amazing cause – make sure to tune in (and donate if you can!).

4. Crufts 2015 

Starts Thursday 5th March, 6.30pm, More4

I am a huge dog lover, and I have a lot of love for Crufts. I’ve got a whole other blog post planned on this so I’m not going to go into much detail here, but if you have love for cute, fluffy, four-legged animals then this will be your kind of thing.

So there’s four programs I’ll be trying not to miss this month – I’m sure there are many more starting that I don’t know about/have forgotten, so let me know if you know of any good ‘uns.

The People of The Jeremy Kyle Show

If you have ever watched The Jeremy Kyle Show (and I assume that if you live in the UK then you have) you will understand the shows premise. People go on it in an attempt to find some sort of reasonable conclusion to arguments they have been having with friends, partners or their families – sometimes all three. They can have DNA and lie detector tests, and Jeremy Kyle attempts to mediate the feuding groups into some sort of peace. He does this aided by a very beefy security guard, who is present in case the participants forget they are on national TV and try and knockout their own mother or something, which happens all too frequently. He is also assisted by everybody’s favourite, Graham. Graham is Head of Aftercare on the show and is apparently able to help people with everything from drug addiction to organising child maintenance payments.

Often the title of the show revolves around a question that the participants wish to know the answer to. For example: Is my boyfriend also my brother? Will my fiance run off with my gay best friend? Is it true that my husband is sleeping with my sister? My brother stole my girlfriend but is he the father of my child? etc…

You get the general idea. However, when I watch The Jeremy Kyle Show, I have only usually have one question: HOW DID YOU GET ANYONE TO HAVE SEX WITH YOU?

To back up my point, I would like to supply you with some screenshots of people who have actually featured on the show:

I rest my case.

Maybe they just have really great personalities. Although judging from the show, this is difficult to believe. I reckon they must just have sex with other people who have also been on The Jeremy Kyle Show. I never ever see people that look this when I’m out and about, so god only knows where they all are. I hope they’re all very happy with each other, and all I would like to say to them is: ‘how about a visit to the dentist once in a while?’.

Dancing on Very Thin Ice

I have been watching this series of Dancing on Ice, mainly because there is nothing else on when I come in from work on a Sunday. But I’ve never really loved it, and I’m not sure why because judging by my taste in TV I should be completely obsessed. So, I’m breaking it down to try and understand why it doesn’t grab me as much as the other big reality shows (Strictly Come Dancing/X Factor)…

The things that are right with DOI:

• Phillip Schofield (my love for the Schofe knows no bounds).
• Getting to watch professional ice skaters do their job really well (in the professional routines, anyway)
• Getting to watch celebrities – I use the term loosely – fall over
• They wear pretty sparkly costumes

I was really scraping the barrel with that last one.

The things that are wrong with DOI:

• We no longer get to look at Holly Willoughby. Christine Bleakley is nice and everything, but she’s no Holly.
• It’s on a Sunday night, which is just wrong. As everyone knows, SATURDAY night is the home of reality TV. Sunday is for results night only, and by putting it all on a Sunday they have effectively ruined the structure of my weekend.
• The show doesn’t lead up to anything. When X Factor and Strictly start, everyone knows that its the run up to Christmas, and every week its gets a little bit more sparkly and exciting. DOI feels a little anti-climatic in comparison.
• They voted off Pamela Anderson in the first week. This would never have happened on Strictly. Its so disappointing.
• Speaking of them voting people off, the way they structured the first two weeks is ridiculous – they had just six celebrities performing each week and voted one out each week, which wasn’t fair at all.
• Jason Gardiner. He is mean, and not mean in a good way a la Craig Revel Horwood. Just mean. Maybe he just needs to get laid.
• Half of the judging panel know nothing about ice skating.
• Nobody really cares who wins.

In conclusion, DOI just isn’t as good as the other reality show offerings that ITV brings us throughout the year. Although I’ll probably carry on watching it as I’m always brain dead after work on a Sunday, and crave mindless entertainment. If my opinion of it improves then I will take it all back and explain myself, I promise…

10 Reasons why Daytime TV is a good thing

Daytime TV is one of my favourite guilty pleasures, but I no longer want to feel guilty for enjoying it when I can. Here’s ten reasons why we should all celebrate daytime TV:

1. When you’re allowed a day off school because you’re sick, it feels like a treat to be sat there watching Homes Under the Hammer knowing that all your friends are in their Maths lesson.

2. Old people use it for company/something to do when they can’t go out. Getting rid of daytime TV would be like age discrimination.

3. This Morning is sort of like the Mail Online in a TV show, so you can get all your gossip/health tips/cooking info/news updates without having to read anything. Which is probably pretty useful for a proportion of the population.

4. Jeremy Kyle will ALWAYS make you feel better about your own life. If you’re feeling miserable because you’ve been dumped/lost your job/having a bad day, switch on Jezza and immediately feel better because you know who your own father is/the father of your baby isn’t questioning the paternity because the baby is ginger/your mum isn’t a 62 year old pensioner who won’t stop sleeping around (all of these have actually featured on the show).

5. Students need something to distract them from work. As do people who work from home. Similarly, unemployed people need something to distract them from trying to get a job.

6. The adverts in the breaks between daytime TV shows are usually hilariously bad and tend to focus on a target market of incontinent elderly women.

7. Loose Women. I admit it divides people, and a lot of people hate it but I am not one of those people. I love it. Mostly because it means its lunch time, and I like to structure my day when I’m at home doing nothing.

8. Really (the channel) offers such gems as Bridezillas, Don’t Tell the Bride, and Cheaters. Which is brilliant for everybody who has an hour to spare because everybody loves these programs. I have heard so many men complain about watching DTTB, but I put it on when my whole family was around and everybody watched it (included Dad, uncles, brothers, grandad) and they were SO involved by the time the actual wedding came around. So don’t tell me you don’t love it, boys.

9. Getting to look at Holly Willoughby/Phillip Schofield. Because everybody must fancy one of them at least a little bit. How could you not?!

10. There is something for everyone on daytime TV. If you’re willing to surrender some of your intellectual integrity then you will undoubtedly find something to watch and enjoy. It would just be nice if we could all start admitting that we enjoy it so that people like me don’t feel quite so bad…

(I would like to add here that I don’t watch daytime TV EVERY day, and when I do it isn’t all day, because if you did that I think you would probably go a little bit insane)