TV Times – 18th March 2012

(If you’re outside the UK, here’s a link to be able to watch UK TV programmes: bit.ly/oVMz60)

Upstairs Downstairs

My friend Sarah was an Extra in last Sunday’s episode (11th March), and managed to make it on-screen in several shots. She’s the one on the left, and looks a lot older here than she does in real life!

As for the show: I’d hoped for a better week this week, but it was all a bit flat. No sign of the lesbians again (it’s as if it never happened), and far too much of Spargo. He really is a poor actor. I’ll keep watching as I feel I’ve ‘invested’ my time in it now, but I’m not enjoying it!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO SITE (Upstairs Downstairs, BBC1 Sunday 9.00 pm)

Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice

Well. Another week’s gone by and I’ve still got five left to watch, but hope to catch up this week. It’s gripping stuff. Check it out:

CLICK HERE TO GO TO iPLAYER

There’s another Apprentice to watch this week though, isn’t there? Yes, it’s the return of The Apprentice with Lord Sugar on Wednesday. I had a quick look at the site the other day, and one of the candidates lists her hobbies as ‘Animals’. That’s it … ‘animals’.

I truly wonder what’s in the mind of any adult who lists the word animals in a profile of themselves. What does that mean? Oops, I’m digressing!

Take Me Out

I’ve waxed lyrical about Take Me Out many times on here. I love it for Paddy McGuinness’s humour; its feelgood factor and the seemingly successful couplings, but I was shocked to read yesterday that it’s all a sham, so when the lovely Gracie got a date last night, it wasn’t the happy moment I’d waited 11 weeks for.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

I’m quite a cynical person, but I had no idea this show was fixed, and feel as if I’ve just found out that Father Christmas doesn’t exist, so when it ended up with Gracie being the only one with her light left on (which meant she HAD to be picked), I now wonder whether it was totally engineered?

I’ve followed Gracie’s progress each week on this post and have tweeted about it during the shows. Many people have agreed and re-tweeted me (including the show’s own Twitter account!), and there’s been a growing awareness in the media of the time she’s spent waiting for Mr Right – or even Mr Wrong.

Gracie’s been the perfect contrast to the other 29 ‘identikit’ girls, and any man would be lucky to have her. She’s pretty; witty, and clearly a lovely person. They’d (coincidentally?), given her a makeover this week, and the guy who ‘picked’ her said she had a twinkle in her eye and that he was happy with his date. I just wish he’d actually chosen her …

Benidorm

Are you watching Benidorm? It always had a lot of Carry On style innuendo, but this current Series is just about as blatant as you can get away with (even after the watershed), on what’s – essentially – a family show, and as for the gay/camp humour … well, it’s totally in your face, and I LOVE IT!

It almost ran out of steam at the end of Series 3, but reinvented itself and is now camp as Christmas and totally hilarious!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO SITE  (Benidorm, ITV1 Friday 9.00 pm)

Pramface

Ooh, it’s not laugh-out-loud funny, and I don’t know how Jamie’s mother would have still been standing after all the alcohol she knocked-back at the meal, but it ticks all the boxes and I’m really enjoying it (apart from Mike – although it was better this week as he didn’t have any scenes with Jamie).

Just a teensy niggle … Jamie’s very well-spoken, and I just don’t feel as if he would really be the son of those two parents (who I also feel have been miscast – if I’m being honest). The dad – particularly – doesn’t look remotely like him, and it doesn’t feel believable (unless Jamie turns out not to be his biological son at some point in the future).

It’s a nice, feelgood show though, and I like it a lot.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO SITE  (Pramface BBC3 Thursday 9.00 pm + repeats)

Watson & Oliver

If you’ve missed this show, you might have been missing a treat. I’d assumed they were men, but Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver are two very funny women comedians whose sketch show (like all sketch shows), has some good bits and some less good bits.

They write their own material (with ‘additional contributions’ by several male writers), and – as a woman – a lot of it really appeals to me (is it their’s or the men’s I enjoy though?).

They remind me of Morecambe and Wise in places, and I’m already looking forward to seeing certain characters reappearing. The funniest part about it for me though, is that in one of the sketches, Watson’s character is almost the exact double of me (apart from the blouse: I’d never wear anything as flamboyant!), and it’s very weird looking at ‘myself’ on screen!

(That’s her by the way. I haven’t got a photo of myself since 2009, & my friends/family haven’t send me one in time, but hopefully I’ll get one for next week.)

CLICK HERE TO GO TO SITE  (Watson & Oliver BBC3 Mondays 10.00 pm)

Radio Times

Watson and Oliver’s show is becoming a weekly topic of conversation between Barry Harris and I, and there’s many a mention of it in his and Nick Anderson’s Friday show.

Who’d have thought that the local paper’s crossword could be such a rich comedy vein? If you like radio comedy, you really can’t afford to miss The Big Weekender.

In the meantime … at the risk of repeating myself: if you like comedy, you really do not want to miss this show. It’s real ‘cult classic’ stuff, and if they were on mainstream radio they’d have a huge following. (They do some clever – and very funny – sketches, and could probably write for Watson and Oliver!)

PS Barry’s a very keen Eurovision-watcher, so-much-so that he even watched the whole of the Russian heats, and is predicting this to be a contender: Buranovskie Babushki

(The Big Weekender Swindon 105.5 fm 5.00-7.00 pm Fridays) CLICK HERE TO GO TO SITE

PS Not strictly TV-related, but why, oh why does the Daily Mail’s excellent Saturday TV Guide continue to list the Footie Finder by club and not day? There’s 72 clubs in the league, and only a few of them will be on TV in any given week.

Listing matches by DAY makes it easy to see what’s on when. Who’s actually playing is largely irrelevant to most football fans, as no matter who someone supports, they’ll still want to watch all the football on TV that week. Come on Daily Mail; put it back to how it USED to be please!