Eternal Law + Inside Men

Two recent one-off drama mini-series.


Eternal Law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal Law


Inside Men
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside Men

Ringer - Disc 1

Ringer - Disc 1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringer

Body Of Proof - Disc 2

Body Of Proof - Disc 2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body of Proof

Caroline Quentin's Cornwall....and India

Cornwall with Caroline Quentin + A Passage Through India
With Life of Riley ending early last year, Caroline Quentin (Men Behaving Badly, Life Begins, Kiss Me Kate, Blue Murder, Jonathan Creek, Life Of Riley) got a nice summer job presenting an 8-part series about Cornwall. (For those outside the UK, Doc Martin and the Dawn French/Catherine Tate comedy Wild West is/was filmed in the Port Isaac, Cornwall area.) Cornwall, of course, is a beautiful place and the Cornish people do their best to maintain their cultural identity, which makes programs like this all the more interesting.
http://www.twofour.co.uk/work/cornwall-2/
Last year Caroline got to go to India and present a 3-part program about her travels from Varanasi all the way down to Kanyakumari on the southern tip of India.
http://primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk/caroline-quentin-a-passage-through-india/

Birds Of A Feather flock back together

13+ years after it came to an end, the main cast of the long running classic 90's sitcom Birds of a Feather are reuniting in a couple of weeks for the stage show Birds of a Feather which will be touring the UK into the summer at least. It's been reported that a DVD of the show will be released at some point. 
http://www.birdsontour.com/home.html

The Glums

The Glums originated around 1953 or 1954 as a sketch serial on the popular comedy radio show Take It From Here and it enjoyed popularity through the rest of the 50's. Jimmy Edwards was the voice of Mr. Glum, Dick Bentley as his dimwitted son Ron and June Whitfield as Ron's girlfriend Eth. In 1962, as an episode of Edwards' "Faces" TV show, The Glums were revived only with Ronnie Barker as Ron. In 1978, as a segment of Bruce Forsyth's Big Night TV program, The Glums were once again brought back to life with Jimmy Edwards still as Mr. Glum but now with Ian Lavender (Dad's Army) as Ron and Patricia Brake (Porridge/Going Straight, 2point4 Children) as Eth. The Glums sketch was probably the highlight of the show. Information is a bit sketchy (pun intended) but 6 of the sketches appear here. I'm not sure if that's all of them or not. The popularity of it led to an 8-episode TV series in 1979, each episode reviving 2 of the original radio scripts from the 1950's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take It From Here

Call The Midwife

Call The Midwife, a new period medical drama program that takes place in 1950's East London and features an impressive cast. Jenny Agutter, Pam Ferris, Miranda Hart, Judy Parfitt, Jessica Raine, etc. and narrated by Vanessa Redgrave. Based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth, this will be returning in 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call The Midwife

coming up

In Australia, Packed To The Rafters has resumed its 4th season after being on hiatus since October.
Tonight, the 2nd series of the "new" Upstairs Downstairs begins with the first of 6 new episodes.
Also tonight, the new drama Call The Midwife comes to an end. A 2nd series of 8 episodes is expected to air around the summer of 2013.
Monday night a new comedy sketch show called Watson & Oliver begins and Caroline Quentin's 8-part documentary about Cornwall ends.
The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff aired as a Christmas special a couple months ago and returns Tuesday night to start a 3-episode series.
Wednesday night Series 7 of Waterloo Road returns after being on hiatus since November.
Thursday night Kidnap & Ransom returns for a second series and 3 new episodes, the sitcom White Van Man returns for a second series, a new comedy called Pramface begins, and the new 4-part drama Inside Men comes to an end.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pramface
With its reported death proving to be premature, Benidorm returns Friday night for its 5th series.
And I think that's about it for this week.

Hustle - Series 8

Hustle - Series 8 ended tonight and that is also the end of this con artists drama. It will not be returning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hustle

Law & Order UK - Series 6

Law & Order UK Series 6 concluded tonight. It aired last year on BBC America.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law & Order UK

Miss Jones And Son

Miss Jones & Son was a late 70s sitcom starring Paula Wilcox (The Dustbinmen, The Lovers, Man About The House, Fiddlers Three, Blue Heaven, The Smoking Room, Mount Pleasant) and also featured Christopher Beeny (Upstairs Downstairs, The Rag Trade, In Loving Memory, Last of the Summer Wine), Charlotte Mitchell (Adventures of Black Beauty, And Mother Makes Five), Norman Bird (Worzel Gummidge, To Serve Them All My Days) and was written by Richard Waring (My Wife Next Door, And Mother Makes Three/Five, The Many Wives of Patrick, Rings On Their Fingers).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss Jones and Son

Borgen

Borgen - Series 1. Those of you that enjoy Engrenages (Spiral) and Wallander might enjoy Borgen, a Danish political drama. In Danish with hard-coded English subtitles. This was actually aired here in the U.S. last year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borgen

Running Wilde + The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret

Running Wilde stars Will Arnett and Keri Russell along with British actor Peter Serafinowicz and David Cross.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running Wilde


The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret stars David Cross with British actors Sharon Horgan and Blake Harrison and Will Arnett. It's considered to be both a US and UK sitcom and it came to an end in the US this past weekend. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret

Shameless - Disc 11

Shameless....currently in its 9th series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shameless

David Kelly

I see that David Kelly has died. (Not the American producer/writer that lived in my neighborhood when he was a little kid.) David will be remembered for his roles in the sitcoms Oh Father!, Robin's Nest, Cowboys and Slinger's Day and his great parts in films like Waking Ned (Devine) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He also had many guest appearances on some very popular shows.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17020494

 Adam Adamant Lives! 1967

 The Italian Job 1969

 Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width 1970

 Oh Father! 1973

 Doctor On The Go 1975

 Fawlty Towers 1975

 Robin's Nest 1977

 The Onedin Line 1978

 Citizen Smith 1978

 Cowboys 1980

 The Gentle Touch 1982

 Whoops Apocalypse 1982

 The Irish RM 1985

 Slinger's Day 1986

 In Sickness & In Health 1990

 2point4 Children 1991

 Heartbeat 1997

 Waking Ned 1998 (aka Waking Ned Devine)

Ballykissangel 1998

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2005

Mad Dogs

Mad Dogs, the "black comedy / psychological thriller", returned for a second series (episodes 5 - 8).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad Dogs

Big Breadwinner Hog

Big Breadwinner Hog was a 1969 crime-thriller serial starring Peter Egan, who later became well known for his role in the excellent comedy Ever Decreasing Circles and also the comedy he did with Hannah Gordon, Joint Account. Peter was a very affable guy in those two shows, but Big Breadwinner Hog was noted for its violence. Also in Hog was Priscilla Morgan, just mentioned below for her role in My Old Man, and Timothy West, who has always been so adept at both drama and comedy, as has his wife, Prunella Scales. The familiar face below shows up in the 6th episode.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big Breadwinner Hog

Telford's Change

Telford's Change was a winter 1979 drama serial developed by and starring Peter Barkworth and co-starring Hannah Gordon and Keith Barron.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080288/

Is It Legal?

Is It Legal?, the late 90s sitcom written by Simon Nye (Men Behaving Badly, How Do You Want Me?, Wild West, Hardware, The Savages, The Last Salute, etc.) is now 100% top notch quality, upgraded from the former low res VHS caps.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is It Legal?

My Old Man

My Old Man was a 70s sitcom starring Clive Dunn (of Dad's Army fame), Priscilla Morgan (who I believe is married to Clive Dunn) and Edward Hardwicke. Also on the disc is the pilot made for the BBC starring Ronnie Barker, Ann Beach and Graham Armitage. When Yorkshire made the decision to develop the show Barker was already involved with Open All Hours, Porridge and the Two Ronnies. Clive Dunn celebrated his 92nd birthday last month.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My Old Man

Romany Jones

Romany Jones, an early 70s sitcom, Series 2 is now available and that finishes off the episodes starring James Beck (of Dad's Army fame) and Jo Rowbottom (due to the sudden death of Beck). The show returned for two more series starring Jonathan Cecil and Maureen Sweeney (unavailable at this time) followed by the spin-off Yus My Dear with co-stars Arthur Mullard and Queenie Watts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romany Jones

on deck

Being Human returns for its 4th series tonight. 8 new episodes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being Human


Roger and Val Have Just Got In, the "a bit different" comedy starring Dawn French and Alfred Molina, returns for a second series Wednesday evening.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger and Val

Mrs. Brown's Boys

Mrs. Brown's Boys finished up its second series tonight. Someone asked me if this was a cartoon (because of the title card). No, it's a sitcom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs. Brown's Boys

Coronation Street 2012 - Disc 1

Coronation Street 2012 - Disc 1

Emmerdale 2012 - Disc 1

Emmerdale 2012 - Disc 1

Holby City - Series 14 Disc 2

Holby City - Series 14 Disc 2

Casualty - Series 26 Disc 2

Casualty - Series 26 Disc 2

The Sentimental Agent

The Sentimental Agent was a 1963 action drama just full of international intrigue. It was a spin-off of Man Of The World and starred John Turner, Carlos Thompson, Clemence Bettany and Burt Kwouk (Bowdoin College, Maine, Class of '53).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sentimental_Agent
You never know who might pop up in some of these shows. Here's a few below. Recognize them?

From top to bottom: Warren Mitchell, Anton Rodgers with Burt Kwouk, Diana Rigg withWilliam Mervyn (the bishop in All Gas And Gaiters), that's Donald Sutherland on the right in the white suit, Frank Thornton, Patrick Troughton.
The second from bottom photo shows Frank Thornton on the left and Burt Kwouk on the right. Here they are together nearly 50 years later in a scene from Last of the Summer Wine.

Speaking of Last of the Summer Wine.....happy birthday to Peter Sallis. 91 years old today.