Clangers was a very popular children's stop-motion animated series that ran between late 1969 and late 1972. The 26 episodes produced are on disc 1. Last month it was born again some 43 years later. Disc 2 contains the 26 episodes aired to date with another 26 to come according to published reports.
Narrated by Michael Palin, this is being prepared for the North American market with William Shatner doing the narration.....for some strange reason. A good show for pre-schoolers. If you have little ones you can check it out on utoob: a Clangers video
Clangers
Couple of programs from Ireland.
Family was aired by both RTÉ and BBC.
4-part drama starring Sean McGinley (Republic of Doyle, Single-Handed, Love/Hate).
Path To Freedom is a 2000 mockumentary comedy that follows up on two prisoners, one a doctor the other a career criminal, during their first year out of prison. Starring Brendan Coyle (True Dare Kiss, Lark Rise To Candleford, Starlings, Downton Abbey), Michael McElhatton (Game of Thrones, New Worlds, The Fall, Ice Cream Girls, Father & Son, Single-handed), Deirdre O'Kane (Moone Boy, The Fitz), Peter McDonald (No Offence, Moone Boy, Mayday, Titanic, Sea of Souls).
This 80's sitcom starring Maureen Lipman is not new here, but previously it was old VHS recordings and now it is all DVD rips. Also, the earlier version was missing the first half of the final episode - a segment in which Stephen Tompkinson made his television debut playing a policeman. In the nearly 30 years since he has been in a lot of TV programs and most recently known for his role as DCI Banks. Martin Clunes was in this, ironically playing the role of a medical student who professes a dislike for the sight of blood. Gary Waldhorn was in this, playing the same pompous ass character he later played in Brush Strokes and Vicar of Dibley.
The surviving 14 (of 25) episodes of the sitcom No That's Me Over Here starring Ronnie Corbett and Rosemary Leach. Mancunian Ken kindly provided the 13 Series 3 episodes while Mark the Car Man provided the very rare episode from the second series.
Within These Walls is a 1970's female prison drama. Unlike Bad Girls, the popular 1999-2006 ITV drama, this one focuses more on the prison staff than the prisoners.
Love My Way is an Australia drama series from 2004 - 2007.
Excellent TV adaptation of the series of books by Mairi Hedderwick set on an island off the west coast of Scotland.
All At Sea is a children's sitcom about the Enright family of Scarborough, where it is always warm and sunny, apparently, even at Christmas. The parents, Steve Edge (Phoenix Nights, Mike Bassett Manager, I'm With Stupid, The Visit, The Cup, Starlings, The Great Outdoors) and Nicola Stephenson (Brookside, Nice Day at the Office, Out of the Blue, Holby City, Clocking Off, Dead Man Weds, Northern Lights, City Lights, Homefront, Safe House) operate a B&B.
TV adaptation of the book by Jacqueline Wilson with Eva Pope (Coronation Street, Men of the World, Bad Girls, Sorted, Waterloo Road, Strictly Confidential, 32 Brinkburn Street), Matthew Ashforde (Is It Legal?, Grass, Mayday), Susan McArdle (Once Upon a Time in the North, Early Doors, and the just completed new series of The Syndicate), Eleanor Worthington-Cox (The Enfield Haunting, Cucumber), Christopher Villiers (Sweet Sixteen, Mansfield Park, Faith in the Future, Mile High, Emmerdale, Collision), and a lot of young actors most of which are new to TV.
A popular entry in last year's array of Christmas specials (see Smorg 94), Agatha Raisin has been given the green light for producing 8 further episodes based on the M. C. Beaton stories.
Paul, here in Florida, points out that those who are avid readers of the M.C. Beaton books might be disappointed with the TV adaptations:
"I wish I could say it was a wonderful show but they changed the whole story and most of the characters they kept were, for the most part, changed.
Agatha in the books is maybe 55 and in the show she looks 40 and they've given her a house cleaner who assists her. They've also taken away all of her sleeping around with a nobleman. It's the first time that I've had the experience of seeing characters I've studied being destroyed."
The comedy Doll & Em has returned for a second series. Starring lifelong friends Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells, this is not a sitcom by contemporary standards. To appreciate the humor you have to pay attention for longer than five seconds and it will require not only the ability to breathe, but to think as well. If Jack Whitehall is your comedy god, stay away from this.
Doll and Em
second series
The Syndicate has returned for a third new serial. This time starring Elizabeth Berrington, Lenny Henry, Melanie Hill.........
The Syndicate
Woman In Gold has some German dialogue scenes so I put hard coded English subtitles in the file, but had to put them into the entire film.
Greg Davies' Man Down sitcom has returned for a second series. Stephanie Cole replaced the late Rik Mayall in Series 2 (.....obviously not in the same role).
Man Down
UK comedy Vicious, starring Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, Frances de la Tour, Iwan Rheon, Celia Imrie, Marcia Warren, has returned for a second series.
Vicious
From New Zealand:
Happy Hour is a variety/comedy sketch show that takes place on a stage hosted by Temeura Morrison (Tatau, Shortland Street) and Keisha Castle-Hughes (Game of Thrones, The Almighty Johnsons, Star Wars-Revenge of the Sith) with Thane Kirby. Stand-up, music, interview, performance and many inserted filmed comedy-sketch clips are all found in this.
Happy Hour
Westside is a comedy-drama prequel to Outrageous Fortune that takes place in the 1970's.
Westside
Step Dave is a romantic comedy-drama starring Jono Kenyon and Sia Trokenheim with Tania Nolan (Go Girls, This Is Not My Life), Will Wallace (Harry) and Lisa Harrow (Kavanagh QC, Nancy Astor, A Sense of Guilt and was Helen in the original film of All Creatures Great & Small). It's been reported that this has acquired funding for a second series.
Step Dave
All of these feature 45 minute episodes.
