Emmerdale 2013 - Discs 4-5-6-7-8

Emmerdale, the ITV evening drama serial of the past 41 years.

Les Revenants - Series 1

Les Revenants (The Returned) - Series 1

French audio with hard-coded English subtitles

French TV remake of the 2004 zombie film They Came Back. Takes place in a small French town which sits precariously in a valley below a large dam. This is not a Hollywood zombie story where they want to kill and eat people. These zombies just return to resume their lives as though nothing ever happened. Reading the reviews it appears this would be enjoyed by those that enjoy the challenge of a complicated story, however, some have complained that it ends with too many loose threads. It will be returning for a 2nd series, but don't expect to see it for a couple of years. One review states it shares an ambiance with Twin Peaks. Be aware that some of the posted comments on IMDB contain spoilers.

"The Returned opens in a small mountain community which is rocked to its core when several local people who are presumed dead suddenly re-appear at their homes. Despite having passed away some years earlier, these ghostly characters appear in human form, they have not aged, and they are completely unaware of their own fatality. Determined to reclaim their lives and start over, they slowly come to realize that they are not the only ones to have been brought back from the dead. Their return augers torment for their community when a series of gruesome murders bear a chilling resemblance to the work of a serial killer from the past. This is a homecoming like no other."

"Slow in a good way, of course, because it's all about suspense. People start coming back from the dead - some are better remembered than others, some are more aware of what's going on, some just want to start again. This makes the narrative layered, the characters' stories only slowly become clear, the whole situation gradually starts to make sense. There's no hurry, plenty of atmosphere, and a lot is left to the imagination (or at least not explained properly, which I suppose amounts to the same). Family drama overlaps with the fantasy element, so one minute it's really sad and moving, the next weird or horrifying, and all wrapped up in a melancholy soundtrack and lovely mountain scenery. Unsettling, sometimes baffling, but strangely addictive viewing."

Les Revenants

Naked Video

Naked Video was a comedy sketch show from BBC Scotland that produced five 6-episode series between 1986 and 1991. Here are the first three. It's looking unlikely that the last 2 series will ever see the light of day again. Cast members included Gregor Fisher whose Naked Video characters Rab C Nesbitt and the Baldy Man were later developed into shows of their own. Rab has had a long television life spanning some 25½ years, first appearing 12 May 1986 and last appearing (to date) 9 November 2011. Also featured are Helen Lederer (AbFab), Andy Gray (City Lights, Rab C Nesbitt), Jonathan Watson (City Lights, Atheltico Partick, Rab C Nesbitt), Elaine C. Smith (City Lights, Rab C Nesbitt, 55 Degrees North), Tony Roper (All Along The Watchtower, Rab C Nesbitt), John Sparkes (Absolutely, Alexei Sayles Show), Louise Beattie (City Lights).  
Naked Video

Luther - Series 3

It had been a couple years since we last saw Luther, the UK psycho crime drama, but it has returned for a third series. 
Luther

Go Girls - Series 5

Go Girls - Series 5 of the New Zealand teen-targeted (I hope) drama-comedy.
Go Girls

EastEnders 2013 - Disc 6

Another month of BBC's popular evening drama serial.

Case Histories & Prisoners Wives - Series 2

Both of these crime drama's returned for second series awhile back. Neither would fit onto a single disk with their Series 1 episodes, got placed on the back burner and I forgot all about them.

Case Histories episodes are feature-length and Prisoners Wives are full-hour eps. 8½ hours of video, so no, the new Poirot and Marple's will not also fit on the disk, or anything else.

Case Histories

Prisoners Wives

Polly Walker, Pippa Haywood and David Bradley all returned to Prisoners Wives from the first series, and are joined by Nicola Walker, Anne Reid, Sally Carman, Karla Crome.

Jack Taylor

Jack Taylor is a series of Irish TV films about a private investigator working the mean streets of Galway where people only come out after dark and are all violent criminals, druggies, lowlifes, murderers who the police are terrified of and where no one has the right to defend themselves and everyone is a victim.......or something like that. I wonder if this gets the Fáilte Ireland seal of approval? Come to Ireland.....but stay away from the feckin ejit cities! 
Jack Taylor

request

Probably a waste of time, but if anyone ever got this disk from me and would like to trade me back a copy, please get in touch. I went to add it to my viewing rotation and can't find it anywhere.

A Place To Call Home

A Place To Call Home is a new Australian period drama. It will be returning next year for a second series.
A Place To Call Home

Mr. Rose - Disc 3

Mr. Rose - Disc 3, featuring the third, and final, series of this crime investigation show which also concluded the 1960's trilogy of The Odd Man / It's Dark Outside / Mr. Rose.
Odd Man + It's Dark Outside + Mr Rose 

Mel Smith 1952-2013

British actor-writer-director Mel Smith has died suddenly at age 60. Some of his best known work was in Not The Nine O'Clock News, Alas Smith & Jones, Colin's Sandwich and most recently appeared in Rock & Chips and Dancing On the Edge. Mel, with his longtime comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones, was the co-founder of Talkback Productions. After operating the company for about 20 years they sold it for a fabulous sum of money.

Mel Smith obit 

Ray Butt 1935 - 2013

It seems like actors get all the credit for shows that achieve "classic" status, but (of course) it takes writers, producers, directors and other key personnel to really make them happen. With that in mind we note that Ray Butt has died at the age of 78. Ray played a huge role in British television comedy as both producer and director of John Sullivan written classics Only Fools And Horses, Citizen Smith and Just Good Friends. Ray also produced Seconds Out, Hilary and some episodes of Happy Ever After and Ray directed episodes of shows such as The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served?, Sob Sisters, Last of the Summer Wine, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and was a production assistant on Porridge. Ray left television work over 20 years ago but his legacy will be appreciated for many years to come. Ray Butt

Family Tree + Psychobitches + Quick Cuts

Some new comedy:

Family Tree began airing last night on BBC Two. It previously aired in the US on HBO. Starring Chris O'Dowd. 
Family Tree

Psychobitches first appeared as an episode in the first series of Playhouse Presents. It recently returned with 5 new episodes starring Rebecca Front, Samantha Spiro, Julia Davis, Sharon Horgan, Katy Brand, Selina Griffiths, Frances Barber, Catherine Tate.........and others.
Psychobitches/

Quick Cuts takes place around a hair salon and stars Doon Mackichan. 
Quick Cuts
In the last episode of Quick Cuts, Janet Henfrey makes a brief appearance as a customer. Don't know who she is? Well, she's appeared in many popular films and TV shows but may be best known as Mrs. Bale in As Time Goes By. 

City Homicide

Pamela in Kentucky was able to track this one down and kindly shared it. City Homicide is an Australian police-crime drama that ran for about 3½ years. As you may have noticed in the photo's, two of these disks are DVD format. The reason is the episodes on those two disks were originally compressed .avi files that someone reverted back to DVD .vobs (not a good idea at all) and in the process also letterboxed the video for some reason. Ripping these again won't work, especially with the need to correct the video picture size, as there is just too much data already lost and the resulting files would have a "herky-jerky" dropped-frames effect. So, as you can see, everything is normal up to the 55th episode on Disk 5. To stay in chronological order it then advances to Disks 6 and 7 to Episode 75, and then reverts back to Disk 5 for the final 8-episode series.
City Homicide

Hotel Babylon

Hotel Babylon is a drama-comedy from a few years back about life at a London 5-star hotel. Full hour episodes with many guest stars.
Hotel Babylon

Dates + Love & Marriage

Dates is a romantic drama series about first dates arranged through a dating service.
Dates

Love & Marriage is a comedy-drama serial with a solid cast. Alison Steadman and Larry Lamb are reunited from Gavin & Stacey. Other cast members include Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston (Surgical Spirit, Victoria Wood, dinnerladies, Chalk, Emmerdale), Stewart Wright (Wild West, Doc Martin, Bonkers), Ashley Jenson (May To December, Eleventh Hour, Extras, Ugly Betty), Niki Wardley (Complete Guide To Parenting, Parents Of The Band, All The Small Things, Catherine Tate Show, In With The Flynns, The Spa), Zoe Telford (The Last Train, Teachers, Absolute Power, The Palace, new Yes Prime Minister) and so on. David Ryall appears in the first episode but is killed off. The main storyline carried through alright, but some of the subplots were a bit simplified and underdeveloped giving me the impression this could be back for more. It presented several plots but none of them seemed to be resolved at the end.
Love and Marriage

Lemon La Vida Loca

Lemon La Vida Loca (plus the bonus of Keith Lemon: The Film) is a mockumentary comedy / spoof reality show created and written by and starring Leigh Francis in his Keith Lemon character.
Lemon la Vida Loca

Coronation Street 2013 - Disc 6

Coronation Street 2013 - Disc 6

Murder In Suburbia

Murder In Suburbia......with Caroline Catz and Lisa Faulkner and many familiar guest stars.
Murder In Suburbia

Waterloo Road - Series 8

Waterloo Road - Series 8

Waterloo Road

Jo

Pay close attention here. You may want to take notes. Jo is a detective-procedural drama. 
It is a French production that was filmed (and takes place) in Paris, but the dialogue is in English.
The actors are French (Jean Reno as "Jo", Leslie Caron), Canadian (Jill Hennessy), Irish (Orla Brady),  Nigerian-British (Wunmi Mosaku), English (Sean Pertwee, Olivia D'Abo, Sienna Guillory, Chris Brazier, Tom Austen), Welsh (Celyn Jones), Icelandic (Heida Reed). It was created by a team of people from Canada and France and co-produced by French and Belgium concerns. It first aired last winter (northern hemisphere) in Italy and very shortly later in Poland, Greece, and nearly every Spanish-speaking country in South America, Central America and the Caribbean. In the Spring it was aired in Spain, Belgium, France and Portugal and recently aired in Ireland and the UK. It is currently airing in South Africa and Austria. 
Did you get all that? I will be giving an unannounced quiz on this later. Here's a practice question:
What 3 English-speaking nations have no involvement with this at all?
A - Australia, New Zealand, Norway (yes - 89% of the Norwegian populace are fluent in English).
B - Australia, United States, Belize.
C - United States, New Zealand, Guyana.  
D - New Zealand, Australia, The Netherlands (90% of the Dutch are fluent in English).
E - All of the above

 Jo  

Wentworth - Disc 1

Wentworth - Disc 1

Wentworth

Packed To The Rafters - Disc 10

Packed to the Rafters, the very popular Australian general-audience drama-comedy of the past 5 years, has come to an end. Earlier this year there were published reports that the show was ending soon, then there were reports that it wasn't. The latest is the show has reached the end "as we know it". Sometime in the future, perhaps in a couple years, it may have a limited return in a different format with a new storyline and setting. Today's final double-episode apparently saw the return of some of the main characters that had previously left the show, giving it a nice send off.
Packed To The Rafters
The third season of another popular Australian drama-comedy, Winners & Losers, begins a week from today.

Rectify

Rectify is a US crime-drama that will be returning (next year?) with another 10 episodes which will probably fit on the disk.
Rectify

Agatha's back in town

To those of you outside the UK, in recent weeks both Poirot and Marple have returned with new feature-length episodes. First up was Poirot with Elephants Can Remember. There are still 4 new Poirot's in the can, but no word on when they will be airing or over how long of a period they will be dragging it out. That was followed by 2 new Marple's: A Caribbean Mystery and Greenshaw's Folly. There is still one more episode in the can, but no word on an air date....could be the week after next or might be Christmastime for all we know. If anyone would like these 3 on a disc...............

Wallander (Sweden) - Disc 9

Swedish dialogue with hard-coded English subtitles.

Wallander (film series)