UKTV Florida

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Call The Midwife

Call The Midwife - the second series ended last weekend. This time around it had 9 episodes and there's just no way all 9 are going to fit on a single disc. Sorry, but that's the way it goes. The Christmas special is going on Disc 1 with Series 1. If you already have Disc 1 from a year ago, and didn't get the Christmas special earlier, I'll gladly try and fit it on another disc for you. On a happier note, the cast appeared in a Comic Relief special Friday night. It was actually a spoof on the UK observational documentary series One Born Every Minute. Much to the shock of the mother and father-to-be, they find themselves in the labour room attended by the Call The Midwife cast who rode into the room on bicycles, of course, and are soon joined by a very special doctor. It's only 6 minutes long, but a lot of fun. Call The Midwife is set to air in the USA in a couple weeks. I imagine PBS will be editing the episodes. These are full-length. Speaking of Comic Relief, the big news this time around was the return of the Vicar of Dibley for the first time in 6 years. It's just a 9-minute episode, but all the cast is there except Alice. Alice has left the building. Damian Lewis also appears in it. As usual - well done. It was like seeing an old friend after a long spell.
Call The Midwife

Friday, March 15, 2013

Village Hall

Village Hall is a 1974-1975 comedy-drama anthology series of 14 stand-alone hour-long episodes about the various groups and organizations that use the same local village hall for their meetings and functions. Each episode has a different writer and cast. A lot of very familiar actors appears in this. Some in the twilight of their career, others that were at their height, and some that are still active today, nearly 40 years later, such as Jane Carr, Kenneth Cranham, Jan Francis, Richard Griffiths, Bernard Hill, Lesley Manville, Sue Nicholls, Gwen Taylor and Zoë Wanamaker. Some of the other familiar faces that appear include Trevor Adams, Ben Aris, Erik Chitty, Denise Coffey, George Cole, Lewis Collins, Arthur English, Derek Francis, Joe Gladwin, Bernard Hepton, Joan Hickson, Madge Hindle, Dilys Laye, John Le Mesurier, Valerie Lush, Frank Mills, Ron Moody, Priscilla Morgan, Richard Pearson, John Rapley, Michael Ripper, Anton Rodgers, Norman Rossington, Liz Smith, Nicholas Smith, Elizabeth Spriggs, David Swift, Syd Tafler, Patrick Troughton, Richard Vernon, Tom Watson, Colin Welland.

Agent Anna + Hounds + Sunny Skies

Some new comedy from New Zealand. A 3-on-1!

Agent Anna stars Robyn Malcolm who is well-known internationally for her leading role as Cheryl West in the long-running Outrageous Fortune. Robyn is also appearing in the forthcoming Australian comedy from Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope: Upper Middle Bogan. Wayne Hope (The Librarians, Stupid Stupid Man, Very Small Business, Stories From The Golf) will also have a role in it as will Glenn Robbins (Kath & Kim).
Also appearing in Agent Anna is Roy Billing (Bad Cop Bad Cop, Dossa & Joe, Packed To The Rafters), Adam Gardiner (Outrageous Fortune), Theresa Healey (Go Girls, the current crime drama The Blue Rose and the forthcoming crime drama Harry), and veteran film actor Ian Mune (who appeared in 2001's The Fellowship Of The Ring) has the role of Anna's father.
My gut feeling is this show will be returning sometime in the future as the story still has a lot of potential for development.
Agent Anna

Hounds "follows the fortunes of a shiftless lawyer, his half-sister and an alcoholic dog trainer who are trying to live under one roof and make good on the track". Starring Toby Sharpe, Mick Innes (Sunny Skies, Supercity) and Susana Tang.
Hounds

Sunny Skies is about two half-brothers (unknown to each other) that inherit as holiday camping ground. Starring Tammy Davis (Outrageous Fortune), Oliver Driver (recently in The Almighy Johnsons), Morgana O'Reilly (recently appearing in Nothing Trivial), Ian Mune (see Agent Anna above), Mick Innes (Super City), Erroll Shand (Underbelly: The Long Green Cloud and will be in the forthcoming crime drama Harry), and Molly Tyrrell.
No word on if this will be returning in the future.
Sunny Skies

Monday, March 11, 2013

Down To Earth + Trouble In Mind

2 sitcoms from the 90's each featuring an icon of British TV comedy.

Down To Earth with Richard Briers and also Christopher Blake (That's My Boy), Kirsten Cooke ('Allo 'Allo!) and Joanna Van Gyseghem (Duty Free, Rumpole of the Bailey, Pig In The Middle).
Down To Earth

Trouble In Mind with Richard O'Sullivan and Susan Penhaligon (A Fine Romance). O'Sullivan retired from acting after this show.
Trouble In Mind

Mayday + Shetland

2 new murder-mystery thrillers.

Mayday
Mayday

Shetland
Shetland

Being Eileen + Common Ground + Derek

3 new comedy series.

Christmas Eve 2011 there was a holiday TV movie special called Lapland (found on Smorg 34) about 3 generations of a Liverpool family that decide to spend Christmas in Lapland to help cheer them up after the death of the family patriarch. This film has been developed into a series called Being Eileen and features a solid cast in Sue Johnston, William Ash, Elizabeth Berrington, Julie Graham and Dean Andrews.
Being Eileen

Common Ground is a collection of 10 short films (11½ minutes) that feature many very recognizable people (Charles Dance, Amelia Bullmore, Jessica Stevenson, Katy Brand, Johnny Vegas, Pauline McLynn, Josie Lawrence, Annette Crosbie, Linda Robson and Australian actress Celia Pacquola (Laid) are among those I can recall). Some characters appear in more than 1 episode, but they are stand alone stories.
Common Ground

Derek is a new series from Ricky Gervais. First appearing as a pilot about 11 months ago, it was developed into a series and stars Gervais in the title role and also features Karl Pilkington and Kerry Godliman.
Derek

One thing you won't hear anywhere on this disc is a laugh track.

A couple people have asked me about the new Yes, Prime Minister series. I was going to put that onto this disc but it wouldn't fit so I put Common Ground on instead. There are a couple other new comedy series currently airing that will end in the next couple weeks, so hopefully I'll find a home for it soon.

Being Human - Disc 5

Being Human, the British supernatural drama, returned for a 5th series.
Being Human

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Love/Hate

Love/Hate is an Irish criminal drama. From IMDB "LOVE/HATE is a gritty crime drama based on Dublin's criminal underworld. It depicts the drug addiction, squalor and violence of organised crime that has grown in post-Celtic Tiger Ireland. Darren Treacy (Robert Sheehan) returns to Dublin from Spain, spending time there while trying to avoid the Garda in Ireland for gun possession. Darren's brother Robbie is released from Cloverhill prison. While waiting to be collected, Robbie is shot outside a newsagents in a drive by shooting. Catastrophic events ignite tension among the drug gang, and family, friends and the community must live with the consequences."
If you enjoy Australia's Underbelly series, then chances are this one will appeal to you as well. Some of the Irish cast pop up in British shows here and there. Robert Sheehan is pretty well known for being in Misfits and more recently the comedy Me & Mrs Jones. Ruth Bradley has been in Plus One, Primeval, Titanic and a recent episode of Threesome in addition to the Irish drama Legend. Aiden Gillen was in Queer As Folk, Identity, Game Of Thrones, the US show The Wire and in a new drama I'll be posting tomorrow called Mayday. Ruth Negga was in Criminal Justice, Personal Affairs, Five Daughters, Misfits and Secret State. Peter Campion was in 6Degrees. Killian Scott, Susan Loughnane and Charlie Murphy were all in the Irish crime drama Single-handed. And Sean McGinley (The Hanging Gale, Safe And Sound, Pulling Moves, Bleak House, Single-handed, Republic Of Doyle) appears in the four most recent episodes. This will be back with 4th series near the end of the year.
Love/Hate

Mr Selfridge

Mr Selfridge is a costume drama that takes place about 100 years ago and is about the founder of the famous London store that bears his name. This will be returning for another series in 2014 and is slotted to air in the USA on PBS Masterpiece in the near future. The first episode ran just over an hour and the rest are about 46 minutes, so most likely PBS will butcher them to make them conform to their rigid time slots. It's also slated to air in Ireland and the Scandinavian countries. No word on Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Selfridge

EastEnders 2013 - Disc 2

EastEnders 2013 - Disc 2

Coronation Street 2013 - Disc 2

Coronation Street 2013 - Disc 2

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Stella - Disc 2

Stella, the Ruth Jones comedy-drama set in south Wales, returned for a second series. As with the first series, the 44-minute episodes are threaded to form a serial. The story won't make much sense to someone jumping in at random. Several new faces this time around along with new twists and turns. Stella will be returning with a Christmas special before kicking off its third series early next year.
Stella

Friday, March 8, 2013

Marriage Lines

Marriage Lines, the 1960's sitcom starring Richard Briers and Prunella Scales, the surviving 18 episodes (of 46). Included is the 1964 Christmas short special that wasn't included on the recent DVD release and an interview with the stars recorded last July.