Category: TV

Dr Who’s already got a second series (free reg. reqd.) and a Christmas special. I’d suggest that Mediaguardian’s spin on Ecclestone and Piper not returning is a fuss about nothing since, as the article says, there’ll have been options for at least one more series written into their contracts at the outset. [UPDATE] Erm. It…

Just caught the BBC Ten O’Clock news report on two Welsh villages going 100% digital from midnight tonight. All is well and good, with barely a single dissenting voice. But I scanned the setups pictured in the report and they all seemed suspiciously simple. We saw TVs with two digital boxes under the screens. So…

I read that ITV are instituting a scheme they call “Rate of Return” on commissioning programming. It boils down to the fact that your budget will increase if you’ve included proven big name stars, and will dissipate if you include unknown actors. What a brilliant idea? How many hours of programming a year can David…

Dr Who appearing “on the internet” may be a key moment in time in the advent of official TV downloading systems. A good piece is on the BBC News website today. Like it or not, it’s something that TV companies have to consider. How long before downloads are officially sanctioned?

The BBC are reporting that Dr Who has been leaked onto the internet. I thought about this for at least a minute. But then, it took me that long to find it. And now I’ve downloaded and watched it. I know I shouldn’t have. I suspect that it still has a few processes for the…

A quick word on The Late Edition (tickets available) which started last week on BBC Four. An admirable effort hosted by that work-shy Marcus Bridgestock (recently seen or heard in The Now Show, The Museum of Everything, Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off, Twisted Tales, Brighton Comedy Festival and Think The Unthinkable – and that is…

The Hustle’s back on BBC1 quite shortly and the Beeb have put up their press pack. Inlcuded in it is a guide to the lingo and then a list of Ten Famous Cons Over The Decades. How can they miss off House of Games?

Very strange seeing Glenn Close as the new police captain in The Shield.

The rumours are true and today, BBC Four announced a live broadcast of Quatermass next month. I’m excited.

Today’s Media Guardian has an opinion piece by Emily Bell about the recent habit of stations canning series mid-run, and highlighting the recent case of the last episode of a Johnny Vegas sitcom failing to be aired having been “pre-empted” by an Ellen MacArthur special. Somehow it seems ironic that on the day this piece…

Quel surpise! Channel 4 commission the 100 Greatest Cartoons, just months after they land The Simpsons, and waddya know. The Simpsons comes out top! Whilst it’s undoubtedly funny, nobody would argue that the level of animation is fairly rudimentary. And indeed, the whole of this list is pretty worthless. South Park at no. 3? Family…

The good news, according to Broadcast this week, is that ITV and C4 are favourites to win the vacant Freeview slot that’s been put up for lease by Crown Castle. This means that we don’t get another shopping channel. The bad news is that ITV wants to put a version of Men & Motors on…

A nice article from The New Yorker about the fact that not even close to one billion people watch the Oscars. I regularly rail against such hyperbole, but this comes just after the Superbowl. And then we’ll get the Olympics and the World Cup. To put the Oscars in perspective, you should know that in…