Sunday: Doctor Who

I loved this episode so much, I think particularly because it focussed on Donna. Such clever writing and ideas here clearly leading towards the series finale I imagine. It was great to see Donna’s transformation, even without the Doctor by her side, with the help of Rose. Donna’s face when she realised she was going to die was amazingly poignant and her heroism and bravery was inspiring. I’m raving I know, but I just enjoyed it so much.

Tuesday: Grand Designs

Sadly for me this was the last episode in this fascinating series about people building often grand and unusual houses. The host Kevin McCloud is frequently brutal in his honesty, fearlessly commenting on the problems with design, project management or the all round “build”. Most interesting are the couples who choose to be very hands on, although those who employ others to get their hands dirty are often fascinating as well. Perhaps the most memorable episode for me was when Damien Hirst built a Shaker style summer house at the bottom of his garden, while his wife renovated a houseboat on the Thames. The other one that springs to mind was when a couple bought an empty, roofless concrete water tower in the middle of nowhere and built a house around it. However, last night’s elderly couple building a fully automated modern bungalow to last them into their very old age were worth seeing also. As always the project went over time and over budget, but in the end Kevin gave it the seal of approval.

Wednesday: The Hollowmen

You know… I just didn’t enjoy The Hollowmen as much this week. I’m sure the intricacies of the pharmaceutical benefits scheme and the connection between powerful drug manufacturers and governments are ripe for satire, but this didn’t seem to pay off here. I think the mark of a good half hour comedy is that when it finishes, you look at the clock and think how quickly the half hour went by. That certainly didn’t happen with this episode sadly. Interesting to chat with my aunt today who works in the Queensland public service. She said she and all her colleagues are avid watchers of the show and just can’t believe how accurate it is in the depiction of the creaking processes of government and policy.

And that was the week of television. I did catch a few Antiques Roadshows after work, as well as the news, Spicks and Specks, Top Gear and some more Paralympics early in the week. But really, there was nothing else that was particularly compelling. DVD wise I watched a quite poor and boring episode of My Family with a Halloween theme, as well as an early episode of All Creatures Great and Small. The latter reinforced that despite the passage of time since its production, the quality of the writing, especially in the relationships between the three vets has not diminished. Robert Hardy as the eccentric Siegried and Peter Davison as his brother Tristan are so delightful to watch.

This afternoon I plan to complete my Back to the Future trilogy watching with the third movie. It’s back to the wild, wild west!