Saturday: The Man who knew too much

Part of ABC2’s ongoing season of Hitchcock films The Man who knew too much screened Saturday evening. I like James Stewart in most things and he always plays the everyman to perfection. This was no exception, apart from the fact that the plot seemed a little messy. Doris Day was interesting casting as Stewart’s wife and a brought a little trivia, when you realise this is where her famous song appears “Que sera sera”. The opening scenes in Morocco seemed quite authentic, perhaps unusually for 1955? And the penultimate sequence in the Albert Hall was carefully constructed. It seems though that our expectations of suspense have changed and developed in the last 50 years. At no time was I ever really concerned that Stewart wouldn’t save the day. Although, this might be a one off, as many other Hitchcock thrillers are genuinely creepy and scary.

Sunday: The Doctor

I’m writing this on Monday while I am recovering from the devastating sadness of last night’s finale. Poor, poor Donna returned to the bosom of her family destined to never recall her absolute greatness and all round amazingness in saving the universe. In my humble opinion she’s much better than pouty Rose and militaristic Martha who in the end were totally ineffectual in the fight to save the universe from the Reality Bomb constructed by the evil Davros/ Dalek alliance. What was the point of them being there apart from set decoration and red herrings. Osterhagen key…hmmph. There’s got to be a way to bring Donna back. There’s just got to be!!!!! The only question I was left with was why the Doctor didn’t offer Donna’s lovely star-gazing grandpa a spot as a companion? The poignancy of the final scene with the Doctor once again alone was beautiful.

Tuesday: Hamish Macbeth

I loved Hamish Macbeth the first time I saw it. I loved it again in repeat a few years later, and then I loved it when I bought the DVDs of all three series. An enchanting mix of comedy, drama with a little bit of magic thrown in for good measure. Robert Carlyle is fantastic in the title role. Really, what it comes down to is who doesn’t adore a Scottish accent?

Wednesday: Spicks and Specks

There was something just plain weird about Rhonda Burchmore’s hair. It was scaring me. Apart from that it was the usual thang, but with a guitar treat from John Butler to finish.

The Hollowmen

This week we give you…ta da…the environment! Don’t you desperately want to try one of those segways? It was funny when Niles had one on Frasier. It was funny again when Gob used one on Arrested Development and it was funny here when David and Warren used them to cycle round the parliamentary precinct. Especially because they wore bike helmets as they did so.

Thursday and Friday the choice of viewing was very poor. When I realised that Father Ted had been replaced by women’s basketball, I did however succumb to Better Homes and Gardens where Fast Ed cooked a cake in the barbeque. Why anyone would want to actually do this is beyond me. And the complexity of the modern barbeque is worthy of an entire research project in itself. Surely, as long as you can burn a few sausages your barbeque is adequate?