Yes, my lovely readers I am still here. I know the Cathode Ray Tube site has been silent for well over a year but I just thought you might like to know that I haven't been idle. I've just been out and about writing for other sites and publications in the brief pauses I can find during my full-time job.

I'd love to write more and, in fact, I'd like nothing better than to write every day and earn a living from it but my job is all-consuming of my time and energy at the moment. However, more paid work would be lovely and I remain, as always, a writer for hire.

So... by way of promoting my wares here's a brief run down of where you can find my latest keyboard twiddlings.

Doctor Who - Series 9 and Christmas Special: The Husbands of River Song
Click above for ALL of the Series 9 episode and 2015's festive special coverage at the splendid film and television review site Frame Rated posted between September and December 2015. Plus there's a three-part overview of Series 8 too! More Doctor Who soon.

Other television reviews at Frame Rated
Outlander Seasons One and Two, Penny Dreadful Seasons Two and Three and The Man in the High Castle Season One and Sherlock: The Abominable Bride are just some of the other shows I've covered in the last year. Latest The Man in the High Castle and Sherlock reviews are forthcoming. 

Film reviews at Frame Rated
You'll also find my reviews (including Blu-ray releases) of Spectre (2015), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), One Million Years B.C. (1966) and Kes (1969). Plus you can also read a brief tribute article about David Bowie and his work on screens big and small: Cracked Actor

For those avid Blu-ray watchers out there I was also commissioned to write essays for a number of Arrow Film and Video releases this year, including:

The Count Yorga Collection
For the first pressing of the Blu-ray of Count Yorga, Vampire and The Return of Count Yorga, released in August 2016, the enclosed booklet featured my essay about the films: A Tale of Unspeakable Cravings.

Woody Allen: Seven Films 1986 to 1991
Due out in February 2017, this Blu-ray box set containing Hannah and Her Sisters, Radio Days, September, Another Woman, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Alice and Shadows and Fog features a book of new writing about the films. I've completed an essay 'The air is full of electricity' about September (1987), which will also gain a standalone Blu-ray release in March 2017.

Cathode Ray Tube remains blessed with visitors even though nothing new has been posted for some time and I remain ever grateful many of you still enjoy the material archived here. If I can overcome a few personal obstacles I hope I can be back here with new posts in 2017. Until then, I wish all readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

If you're expecting some huge revelations about Verity Lambert's tenure as producer of Doctor Who in Richard Marson's new book Drama and Delight - The Life and Times of Verity Lambert then you'll probably be disappointed.

As the author emphatically declares, Verity Lambert was so much more than the first producer of the legendary science fiction series, a fitting accolade in and of itself. Marson therefore traces her early upbringing, schooling and employment as a secretary at ITV before her move to the BBC and her continuing success as a producer and executive with London Weekend and Thames Television, Euston Films, Thorn-EMI and finally her own production company Cinema Verity.

Just as the book essays her professional triumphs and disasters in the entertainment industry, producing a wonderful boardroom drama about the comings and goings of working at the BBC or ITV with plenty of anecdotes from friends and colleagues, so it also charts the choppy waters of her personal life and both the delight and disappointment she found in her friendships and relationships. You certainly get the sense that Verity enjoyed a challenge, dealing with rival producers or difficult writers or juggling a career with marriage, Great Danes and volatile friendships.

As the television industry changed, from the technical and production developments at BBC and ITV to the launch of Channel Four and to the impact of John Birt's much criticised 'producer choice' at the BBC that ushered in the rise of the independent sector, Marson shows Verity taking on these upheavals with determination. The climate for making good drama radically alters between the 1960s and the 1990s but this woman always seemed to be in the thick of it, maintaining the quality of her productions until her demise.

Deep Breath
BBC One HD
23 August 2014, 7.50pm

Yes, take a deep one.

We've had all the hype, all the leaks (I wonder what Marcelo Carmargo was doing as the episode went out) and we're down to the brass tacks. Does Peter Capaldi live up to his promise? I'll get to that presently.

A new Doctor always precipitates some deft rearranging of the furniture. Back in 1966, replacing your lead actor was a risk in itself; in 1970 they did it again, went into colour and tweaked the format; and so on, and so forth. The series survived through changes of actor, rearranging of music, new titles, modes of production, not being on television at all... and as Capaldi himself self-effacingly admitted recently, he'll be loved by someone at least and he'll always be someone's Doctor. He knows the score.

And Steven Moffat's done this before, handling the change from David Tennant to Matt Smith in The Eleventh Hour, and in the scheme of things (yes, The Twin Dilemma and Time and the Rani I'm looking at you) Smith's debut was generally acknowledged as a particularly good example of how to introduce a new Doctor. And now Moffat has to do it all over again but the situation is trickier. He has to convince young fans an older actor can carry the show again. 

The Day of the Doctor
BBC One HD / Red Button 3D
23 November 2013, 7.50pm

Television anniversary stories in Doctor Who are strange affairs. They have to strike a balance. On one hand they are expected to cram in fan-pleasing moments to acknowledge the rich history of the series, to be fronted by multiple versions of the Doctor and they demand the presence of iconic monsters; and on the other hand they have to have a decent but straightforward plot, a narrative that will appeal to the widest possible demographic and hook the many family generations who enjoy having Doctor Who in their lives. Previous anniversary stories have tackled this balancing act with varying degrees of success.

An Adventure in Space and Time
BBC Two HD
21 November 2013, 9.00pm

Three moments in real and fictional time blend and merge in the opening scene of Mark Gatiss's superb drama An Adventure in Space and Time when a car pulls up in front of a police box on a fog enshrouded Barnes Common. Immediately, associations spring into your mind or, at the very least, into the minds of many long in the tooth Doctor Who fans. Gatiss has already prepared the way with a retro BBC globe, an announcer quoting The Aztecs and telling us that truth and fiction are mutable companions in the retelling of Doctor Who's creation: 'It is important to remember however that you can't rewrite history. Not one line. Except perhaps when you embark on an adventure in space and time.'

S P O I L E R S

There's one very crucial element in Kevin Elyot's adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's Christopher And His Kind that any viewer is going to have to accept if they intend to enjoy this lovely drama. And that's the casting of Matt Smith. Smith filmed this last May, shortly after completing acting duties on his very first series of Doctor Who and, with his debut as the Eleventh Doctor secured, duly basking in the glow of acceptance from critics and fans alike.

Playing Christopher Isherwood, one of the late 20th century's most recognised gay writers, is something of a leap for Smith and admittedly it is initially a struggle to separate the stiff body language and the clipped British tones of Isherwood from the gangly, eccentric Time Lord. It's that unique Smith physicality and that weirdly handsome face that potentially lures you sideways into an alternate world where the good Doctor has adventures in pre-war Berlin and gets it on with some handsome boys. Slash fiction writers will have a field day.

Some might also see this as a cynical attempt by the producers to give Smith's career a serious boost and will question why yet another straight man is playing gay. Christopher And His Kind, like many other gay themed dramas, does raise questions about authenticity in the television and film industry but is not the place to find the answers (and recently the opposite has been true where the media has interrogated gay actors about playing straight) and no one can blame Smith for seeing this role as a career defining opportunity.

Based on David Schulner's pilot The Oaks, originally picked up for a potential series by Fox for the 2008/2009 television season, Marchlands is a five-part adaptation for ITV1 of Schulner's story, that ultimately didn't make it to series, and is the first drama to emerge from the production deal between ITV and 20th Century Fox Television.

As in the original U.S. pilot, Marchlands weaves an intriguing narrative across three different generations living in the same eponymous house. At the centre of the story are the traumatic after-effects of the death by drowning of an 8 year-old girl, Alice Bowen and how her seemingly restless spirit reaches out from the past. She attempts to communicate the circumstances of her death in 1968 to the two families that come to live in Marchlands in both 1987 and the present day while her mother Ruth obsesses about the cause of her death and makes a journey back to Marchlands to find the answers.

Stephen Greenhorn's scripts skillfully mesh together the social and cultural ambiances of all three periods where, in less mature hands, the shifting between the decades and the handling of such a large ensemble cast could have descended into confusion and chaos. The distinct periods in the house and the surrounding village are also made palpable by colour schemes, costumes, prop vehicles and interior designs and an alignment of each period with particular seasons of the year.

BBCHD - 28th and 29th December 2009 - 9.00pm

You can't help loving a good bit of dystopia, can you? You wait for years for a bit of sci-fi 'end of the world' misery to show up on the telly and then the floodgates open. First, the BBC revived Survivors with reasonable success and tapped into the whole bird/swine flu (select the mammal of your choice) paranoia and now they've dusted off one of the great British Cold War science fiction novels, John Wyndham's The Day Of The Triffids and thrown what looks like a huge ton of cash at it.

ITV1 - 28th December 2009 - 9.00pm

As Phillip Steele, the editor of the Christopher Street paper, tries to explain to Quentin in ITV1's superb drama premier, An Englishman In New York, he is an inspiration to a generation of gay men. Like Steele, when I first saw the broadcast of The Naked Civil Servant on Thames on the 17th December 1975, squirming rather embarrassingly in front of my mother and father at the time, I recognised a kindred spirit. That film said 'there are other people like you in the world' and that was good enough for me. The Naked Civil Servant remains a milestone in British television drama and Richard Laxton's sequel, for want of a better word, should quite rightly be praised and remain undiminished next to the original.

Schizoid - 17th November - AMC - 8.00pm
Checkmate - 17th November - AMC - 9.00pm

After the nonsensical romance of Darling, we're back in more confident tone with this fifth episode. A doppelganger of Six stalks the Village...or does it? Six meets his twin at the gates of Two's palatial home and the twin is obsessed with assassinating Two. Except Nick Hurran and Bill Gallagher do make suggestions that in fact Six is actually suffering from a schizophrenic episode and is simply projecting his 'bad' twin into the world. There are a number of shots that cut away from the encounters between the two that show Six is merely talking and fighting with himself.

The episode opens up what we've been told about the Village and starts to plant the idea that the place is either in an alternate reality or the inside of someone's head. It would certainly explain many of the visual and narrative non-sequiturs that litter the six episodes. It also fleshes out the Two and 11-12 characters with Two deciding to take the day off and openly stroll amongst the inhabitants of the Village whilst he offers 11-12 the key to the pill cabinet. 11-12 wakes his mother from her coma and discovers that only those not born in the Village can actually be allowed to go back to the 'other place'. 11-12 therefore has to make his mind up about whether he wishes to spend his life in the Village forever and either keep his mother awake or put her back under. Much fretting about in the desert and throwing away the key to the cabinet later, he puts her to sleep again and more or less seals his fate. This affords Jamie Campbell Bower some opportunities to give 11-12 some depth and motivation and there's a developing relationship with Six that may play out in the final episode.

Anvil - 16th November - AMC - 8.00pm
Darling - 16th November - AMC - 9.00pm

And so we get to the middle episodes of the six part mini-series. Anvil shows a distinct improvement and the central premise is enough to keep reluctant viewers tuning in. Two decides to employ Six as an Undercover working with a man called 909 (rather well played by Vincent Regan) to spy on other undercover cells in the Village. Undercovers attempt to find the 'dreamers', people who still have memories of the outside world, and expose them to undergo treatment at the Clinic. The Village therefore is depicted as a whole community of spies, all spying on each other. Two thinks that Six's experience will draw him into the Village whilst also leading him into a trap.

Arrival - 15th November - AMC - 8.00pm

Harmony - 15th November - AMC - 9.00pm

I've always believed in giving television producers the benefit of the doubt when they giddily announce such and such cult series or so and so fantasy favourite is to get the 21st Century reboot-revisioning / sequel-prequel make-over. The day the return of Doctor Who was announced I was both excited and fearful. And look how that turned out. I laughed into my sleeve when Ron Moore decided to bring Battlestar Galactica back. Again, it turned out well.

The return of The Prisoner has been kicked about by both Sky and ITV for some time. I was simply fearful, this time, for McGoohan's precious baby. And now it's finally here. The new series runs for three nights, airing two episodes per night during this week in November on AMC. It's due on ITV in the New Year.

Something Old / BBC HD - 23rd December 2008 - 11.00pm
The Knocker / BBC HD - 24th December 2008 - 11.00pm



In Something Old we're whisked back to the 1920s and a masked, costume ball at Geap Manor where petty jealousies threaten to wreck the recent engagement between Felix de Momery and his sweetheart Ruth.

Again, director Damon Thomas works miracles with a minimal budget and creates wonders with the production values, aided by some murky photography from Ian Moss. He also has a rather wonderful cast to work with from lovely Samuel Barnett as Felix's gay friend Billy, who has a sweet crush on him, to the fabulous double act of Jean Marsh and Barbara Kirby as Lady Constance and her companion Miss Adams. This is steeped in the great tradition of the female Gothic, with the story focusing on groups of women; the older pairing of Constance and Adams, the rivalry between the younger Ruth and Katherine (a suitably vampish Anna Madeley) and, of course, the spectral bride as the symbol of the family secret. All simmering away in a spooky old house.



This middle tale does slightly drag, labouring a little to get to its point, perhaps paying a little too much attention to the unrequited love of Billy for Felix or the bitch fight between Ruth and Katherine. Ruth is well positioned as the innocent, virginal one amongst the other female sinners, almost a younger version of Miss Adams. The notion of a cursed wedding is what we're more interested in and it does take a while to get to the denouement. However, the ghastly vision of the ghostly bride's face, minus eyes, more than compensates and adds a genuine shiver to the proceedings.

With The Knocker we are, naturally with portmanteau horror, told the story of the teacher Ben and what happens after his visit to the curator. It begins as a somewhat predictable tale, very similar to the Ian Ogilvy starring story in From Beyond The Grave in which he installs an antique door in his new home and finds that it has properties that allow him into the past and into a crumbling mansion inhabited by a warlock. Here, Ben puts the old knocker on his door and is awoken in the night by someone or something knocking on the door and then finds that he can enter Geap Manor that was.



What Gatiss manages to do is take a hoary old story and give it some contemporary dimensions. Ben is struggling in his relationship with his wife, who is pregnant with his child, and this is slowly and terrifyingly built into the story in a Rosemary's Baby style riff where the curator turns out to be necromancer Dr. Unthank attempting to provide the original owner of Geap Manor with an heir. There's a suitably creepy scene where Ben seems to witness the conjuring to life of some fetid creature before he runs witless out of Geap Manor and back into his own semi-detached. The twists is if there is an heir, the manor will not end up demolished. It's a neat bluff to have the curator turn out to be the villain and the final scenes where Ben's pregnant wife is spirited away back to Geap Manor to provide Sir Roger Widdowson with his heir, a painting depicts the devastating changes and Ben finds the reconstituted Geap Manor in place of his housing estate, are truly hair-raising stuff.



All praise to Lee Ingleby for his sensitive playing of Ben and for capturing the mounting sense of anxiety and desperation and again to director Thomas for cranking up the tension on this one. It reminded me of some of the better Hammer House Of Horror episodes from their 1980s TV show. A great ending to a reasonably successful series of three tales, The Knocker also shows that contemporary horror can be done on a small budget with marvellous style.

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Cathode Ray Tube Crooked House The Knocker Something Old Mark Gatiss

BBC HD - 22nd December 2008 - 11.00pm

Good God, Lawrence Gordon Clark lives! And my Christmas gets off to a spine-tingling start. Mark Gatiss, writer, and here playing the curator who links the three stories together, clearly loves both the portmanteau horror films of the Amicus stable - From Beyond The Grave given the greatest of nods here - and the stories of M.R James, some of which were adapted by the BBC (and Gordon Clark) in the early 1970s. He takes the James-ian idea of ghoulish retribution and here stirs into it our contemporary financial ills, creating a Bernard Madoff for the 18th Century in the character of Joseph Bloxham, superbly played by Phillip Jackson. Lots of astute lines about stock market bubbles and subplots about greedy financiers destroying innocent families. It doesn't need wigs and brocade coats to dress up this particular allusion.

Bloxham's ill gotten gains allows him to acquire and renovate Geap Manor but something is amiss with the wainscoting installed by the unreliable builders. Strange noises emanate from it and one evening Bloxham witnesses the walls drown in inky living shadows. And just where the builder got the wood for the wainscoting mirrors James' The Stalls Of Barchester for good measure too. Despite its small budget this is beautifully mounted by director Damon Thomas. He and Gatiss not only pay homage to two genre traditions but also find time to put in a visual in-joke too in the form of the 'Hob Lane' sign sitting in the clutter on the shelf above the curator. If you know your genres I'm sure a quiet little chuckle danced upon your lips tonight. He also expertly builds the tension using sound effects and efficiently weaves together the various strands of the story and where James would leave the ending an ambiguous one, this story goes for a ghastly denouement. If he and Gatiss stick to their course we will no doubt get a similar climax for the framing story that involves Ben, a local history teacher, the curator and the Geap Manor door knocker. It's a portmanteau and it must follow the rules!



The only weakness, apart from the paucity of the budget not stretching to give us enough period detail, was Andy Nyman's playing of Duncalfe, Bloxham's drinking buddy, which did tend to waver on the unconvincing. Jackson clearly steals the honours for his superb turn as Bloxham, a fine essay of a man gnawed at by his conscience and he's supported by a wonderful turn from Julian Rhind-Tutt as the haunted Noakes. Surely it is time for Rhind-Tutt to take on the mantle of Gatiss' Bondian hero Lucifer Box based on this evidence. His delivery of a line as innocuous as 'the hum of bumblebees and the smell of jasmine' will get your heart beating just that little bit faster. Overall, it is the sheer relish, from Gatiss, director Thomas and an enthusiastic cast, of putting together the three stories that results in a little gem of spookiness that is sure to be welcomed to that established canon of a ghost story for Christmas. Roll on, Part 2.

Here's an interview with Gatiss and a clip from The Wainscoting, thanks to BBC Four.


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Cathode Ray Tube Crooked House The Wainscoting Mark Gatiss

BBC2 - 22nd November 2008 - 9.10pm

My word, this had a lot to pack in, didn't it. Not only was Philip Martin's film chock full of period cossies and gorgeous looking landscapes but it was also struggling, over 90 minutes, to fit in a whole wealth of subject matter. It explores the personal and professional lives of Albert Einstein, before becoming science icon of the 20th Century, and Arthur Eddington, a British astronomer now relegated to a mere footnote in the whole development of the general theory of relativity. Add in World War 1 with its anti-German and anti-Jew prejudices and its terrible legacy upon whole generations both in Germany and Britain, the pacifism of both Eddington and Einstein and then Eddington's expedition to prove or disprove Einstein's theory...and you've got a lot to take in. And without Eddington going to Africa in 1919, Einstein's idea that light is bent by curved space would have been left to gather dust for several more years.

Both of them share a number of deeply emotional scenes that whilst seemingly discuss one theme also have the ability to reverberate with our own knowledge of the War and its aftermath.

Peter Moffat's script crams all this in plus Eddington's repressed homosexuality and Einstein's infidelity. It's a flawed but thoroughly enjoyable film with two incredible central performances from David Tennant as Eddington and Andy Serkis as Einstein. Serkis is somewhat over ripe in his delivery of the lines, his Mittel European accent wandering off course on a few occasions but it is still a charming characterisation that manages to capture Einstein's rage against his German benefactors, his self-destructive work ethic as well as a crumpled Chaplinesque attractiveness. Tennant is really wonderful. His Eddington is full of stoic British pride but wrestles internally with his faith (he was a Quaker and therefore a conscientious objector) and his homosexuality. Both of them share a number of deeply emotional scenes that whilst seemingly discuss one theme also have the ability to reverberate with our own knowledge of the War and its aftermath.



When Einstein is recruited by the German military in Berlin he is disgusted to discover that his scientist peers have merely been spending their time developing chlorine gas. As Serkis gazes over the poisoned bodies of the pigeons used in the test, questioning what it is all for, we are reminded not only of the appalling loss of life at Ypres but also, ominously, of the gas chambers to come and ultimately the thousands that would die at Hiroshima. Likewise, there is an extremely moving sequence where Eddington misses saying farewell to his friend William Marston on the troop train and madly cycles along side the train to get a final glimpse of him but doesn't go fast enough to achieve it. This sets off all sorts of resonances with the discussions about time slowing down the faster you go and is picked up later in an emotional scene where Eddington confesses his feelings for William to his sister Winnie, clutching the pocket watch given to him by Marston. Later, the watch also records the cease of hostilities on the front. Similarly, explanations of Einstein's theories of relativity are placed within the human drama. We get that lovely scene with Einstein and his sons sailing the boat whilst neglecting his wife and the rather stock in trade use of the tablecloth, lump of bread and whirling apple to illustrate the idea that space is curved.

Sumpter gives us a man who carefully plays Einstein and then discards him once he proves to be of no use to the German war machine.

But it is the human stories that are told in parallel that are the most interesting. The First World War and all its ugliness is present and correct. Eddington defends a German family as their business is attacked by British thugs and then by taking them in is both spat on and presented with the white feather of cowardice by a baying mob. Tennant is again superb in these scenes, boiling with indignation under the surface and yet outwardly stoic in the face of such prejudice. Einstein is seen as stubborn too and refuses to follow the call to sign up to a letter of his fellow scientists who are supporting the German war machine and is gradually cut off from the university in Berlin. Serkis too shows what immense courage Einstein had in the face of fascism and there is some brilliant interplay between Serkis and an exceptional Donald Sumpter, playing Max Planck. Sumpter gives us a man who carefully plays Einstein and then discards him once he proves to be of no use to the German war machine. Apparently, both Einstein and Eddington faced imprisonment for their anti-war stance but the film doesn't even mention this.



Jim Broadbent is also excellent as Eddington's bullish opponent, Sir Oliver Lodge, at the Cambridge Observatory. There is a scene where Lodge attacks Eddington's sympathy for Einstein's theories after losing a son in the gas attack at Ypres, accusing him of not really understanding what it is to lose a loved one and for a moment you honestly wish that Eddington would respond and acknowledge that he'd already lost his love, William Marston, to the attack. It's an electric scene between the two actors. And of course, the whole notion of Einstein threatening to debunk Newtonian principles (British science) with his theories of relativity (German science) are again a further parallel in an exploration of the ethics of war.

It's compelling, emotional and revealing and looks ravishing, with Hungarian locations standing in for Berlin, as well as some beautiful, lush English landscapes, high production values and attention to detail. It's overtly popularist in the way it handles the science bits but then it's more about the faith of the two scientists and their personal struggles rather than a detailed analysis of their methods. Thankfully, you've also got Tennant and Serkis giving superb performances too. The script does try and pack in too much, with a tendency to having a rather staccato approach to connecting scenes and under-development of some of the peripheral characters (Anton Lesser, a stunningly brilliant character actor, here playing Fritz Haber, barely gets a handful of scenes). There is also slightly too much emphasis on the use of the incidental music too. But, overall it is superb, unmissable television.

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Cathode Ray Tube Einstein And Eddington David Tennant

E4 - 27th October to 31st October 2008 - 10.00pm

'I'm coming to get you' as trilled by the ever effervescent Davina McCall will never have quite the same meaning anymore after this five episode lark from those purveyors of lowest common denominator TV, Channel 4. Thing is, this was soooo good that it should never have been dumped on E4 in the first place. C'mon Channel 4, you should have knocked that documentary about the boy with the biggest arse out of the schedules and given the masses five delicious nights of zombie fun.

...it is highly ironic that this is broadcast in the week when the cult of celebrity takes a bruiser from the appalled masses of Tunbridge Wells and it dominates all the news

The cynical bitch in me thinks this is just the most left field marketing exercise in the world to keep the punters interested in boring old Big Brother. After all, let's face it, it's a failing franchise and only the dead could bring its corpse to life by biting the hand that feeds it. But writer Charlie Brooker is a bit cleverer than that. He's the first in line to heap vitriol on reality TV formats so what better way to get him to vent his spleen, and have it devoured by zombies, than to have him write the blackest, most twisted variant on the format you could possibly want. It says all the things you would want it to say, a la George Romero's biting satire of the consumerist age, Dawn Of The Dead and much more. Not only is it a gripping thriller but its gory entrails manage to cover all levels of post-modern reflection on the state of the nation. Yes, the country may be on its knees but thank God, and Joplin, that Channel 4 are still broadcasting Big Brother. Again, it is highly ironic that this is broadcast in the week when the cult of celebrity takes a bruiser from the appalled masses of Tunbridge Wells and it dominates all the news. The Congo is going up in flames, Britain's up to its neck in debt, the USA is about to vote in the most important election in years but knickers to that...Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand said rude words to 'Fawlty Towers comedy treasure' Andrew Sachs. Bring on the fucking zombies and get it over with. Throw in a wry commentary on two minute celebritydom, team playing, sexual politics as well as positioning Big Brother as the ultimate in survival camps and self-devouring metrosexual media juggernaut and settle down to watch the mayhem begin. If you love horror films with a satirical, social conscience then you will love this.



Episode One introduces us to the main characters - Big Brother runner Kelly, (superbly played by Jaime Winston), downtrodden by super-bully boss Patrick (an essay in total evil from Andy Nyman) who is so up his own arse that he's coming out of his own ears, is having sly affairs with members of the production team but really regretting what she's done and hoping she can keep her relationship intact with boyfriend Riq. Housemates consist of Joplin (Kevin Eldon), an older, quiet intellectual hated by all and sundry and nick-named Gollum, thick bitch Pippa (Kathleen McDermott) who is typical Helen/Jade level intellect, black mama Angel (Chizzy Akudolu), dumb but pretty Northern lad Mark (yummy Warren Brown), slut Veronica (Beth Cordingly), down wiv da kids Space (Adam Deacon) and Grayson (Raj Ghatak) who is every trans-gender stereotype in the book.

Davina falls foul to zombiedom (and she's more lively as a zombie than she is as the BB host - cruel but fair)

It's looking grim as Davina notes that the BB eviction show might get bumped because of the escalating situation across the country. Alas that's not the Tunbridge Wells mob after a rebate on their licence fee but riots and anarchy as a virus spreads across the country that brings the dead back to flesh-eating life. As Patrick wryly observes, 'Why are people rioting? They should stay in and watch telly.' Just as Pippa gets evicted, all hell breaks loose and zombies are on the prowl in the BB studios. Davina falls foul to zombiedom (and she's more lively as a zombie than she is as the BB host - cruel but fair) and traps Patrick and Pippa in the green room. Over the course of several episodes Patrick descends to guzzling down flat champagne and rancid canapes and hilariously taking a dump in a waste paper basket. It's a totally disgusting scene and Pippa might well have only two grey cells but I'm right with her on being appalled by Patrick's behaviour. Believe me, the sound effects are horribly realistic.

Kelly, meanwhile, breaks into the BB house and stoves a zombie's head in with a fire extinguisher in perhaps one of the goriest scenes I think I've ever seen on British telly. It can proudly take its place next to Romero's fare and you won't be disappointed if jerking yourself off to zombie-death porn is your thang. It's gripping, revolting and hilarious with enough self-reverential moments to keep genre fans happy. Where else would you get a name check for The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue and a whole scene set in a supermarket that apes the Dawn Of The Dead concept gene-spliced with a piss-take of all the accepted conventions of BB itself?

By Episodes Two, Three and Four we're also introduced to Kelly's boyfriend Riq (Riz Ahmed), stranded at a deserted railway station and pursued by zombies. These are the fastest undead you'll ever see. Christ, they could win Olympic medals for sprinting. No lurching here, guv'nor. Riq is rescued by Alex (Liz May Brice) who is this story's version of Ellen Ripley. She blasts zombies left, right and centre, castigates male inadequacy in trying to get her car re-started and generally seems to have completed a survivalist course in two hours flat. Meanwhile, Angel has been infected and turns zombie, then infecting the sympathetic tranny Grayson who is waiting for fellow housemates to bring medical supplies. Grayson gets it in the head with a duvet cover and a very big kitchen knife, poor love. Kelly returns, having consolidated her team leader qualities by dispatching two policemen and some pinny wearing supermarket staff on the drugs run, and promptly puts Angel out of her misery. The deep irony here is that the usual loony bin that is the Big Brother house has become the only well fortified last stand against the ravenous undead all piling up at the gates.

Riq and Alex make a boat trip to get to the BB house because Riq has spotted his squeeze Kelly on the telly. The whole of the UK is seemingly now undead and they're still broadcasting BB? Oh, Mr. Brooker, what are you saying there? Unfortunately, Alex is nobbled by a zombie whilst opening a lock gate on the river and, although she bludgeons the thing to bits with an axe it's left to Riq to put her out of her misery. Meanwhile, Patrick decides to run a lamp stand (or is that a 'light machine') through Davina's skull so that he and Pippa can make a break for...well...a bit more freedom in the BB house. 'You killed Davina!' screeches Pippa, at which point I fell off the sofa laughing. Poor Davina, a droid minion of the Daleks in Doctor Who and now a zombie kebab. She's gone up in my estimation.

...a shot across the bows of the 'dead set' - reality programme makers, the bimbo contestants and the audiences that consume their famous for five seconds appearance on the telly

By the conclusion, the hideous Patrick has, of course, displaced the balance of power in the house and has tried to press-gang everyone into following his plan of hurling bits of Angel and Grayson (a truly, truly disgusting scene as he carves them up and treats their intestines like several pounds of sausages) to the zombie hordes in order to distract them from his escape in the van. That lily-livered intellectual Joplin, spouting bits of the Bible and getting all Guardianista on the situation, backs up Patrick's escape but then, in a fit of Judgement Day resignation, opens the floodgates and practically gets everyone killed in a whirlwind of gunfire and zombie flesh eating. It is a very bleak conclusion, with Joplin and the rest of the BB inmates turned into zombies, Patrick torn to shreds (still shouting insults as his head gets ripped off) and poor Kelly trapped in the diary room. The last shots are of her leaving the room and then turning to camera, all white eyes and blood spattered mouth, and being transmitted to an audience of the living dead. Quite a downer but an apt statement on the 'me, me, me' generation not giving a fuck about the quiet little heroes who go about their business as well as a shot across the bows of the 'dead set' - reality programme makers, the bimbo contestants and the audiences that consume their famous for five seconds appearances on the telly. It's edited to within an inch of its life and uses that staccato, missing frames technique that's now as worn out as the desaturated colour palette. Visual cliches aside, it is a very moody, often scary series and one of the most violently, gory pieces of television ever made. Yet, whilst it tries to emulate classic scary TV like Ghostwatch it would have had an even greater impact if C4 had done this to the actual live Big Brother show. What a brain fuck that would have been! Good ratings too. Missed a trick there C4.

Dead Set website with images, video interviews and episode guide.

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BBCHD - 26th October 2008 - 8.00pm

I had high expectations of this. The BBC adaptation of Bleak House, presenting the story in user friendly 30 minute episodes, was an absolute triumph on all levels - writing, directing, acting, lighting, costuming, design etc - and this Andrew Davies version of Little Dorrit has been given the same treatment. And importantly it's in HD. Bleak House was one of first television programmes I ever saw in HD and I've been a advocate since then.

...he was in for murder, though you wouldn't know it from Andy Serkis' very thick, very hammy, comedy French accent

The first installment, an hour long scene setting exercise, certainly promises a series that'll be 'appointment to view' over the next dozen autumn nights. So, to being with we get various plot strands being developed, the threads of which will obviously be drawn together as this progresses; the first episode takes us from the return of the prodigal son Arthur Clennam to his mother's house carrying a dark secret; Amy Dorrit and her family stuck in the debtors prison; to the release of the French prisoner Rigaud (apparently he was in for murder, though you wouldn't know it from Andy Serkis' very thick, very hammy, comedy French accent) and the return from Marseilles of the Meagles family.



These plot points more or less orbit each other and certainly the Clennam and Dorrit family sagas merge in the first episode when Amy Dorrit goes to work for the utterly frightening Mrs. Clennam and Arthur traces her back to the debtors prison and meets her father. The other two plot strands are a bit out on a limb at the moment. The aforementioned Rigaud broods and haw-he-haws his way through what little time is given to him. Looks a nasty bit of work though and I'm loving Andy Serkis' false nose and deep baritone. The Meagles story is much more interesting. On their trip from Marseilles they've encountered the horribly cold Miss Wade, played to icy perfection by the superb Maxine Peake. She's enough to put the wind up you too. She establishes a relationship with Tattycoram, a young servant girl attached to Pet Meagles, the rather spoilt daughter in the family and by the look on Miss Wade's face it's going to be a disastrous alliance. Touches of Sappho too when Miss Wade bumps into Tattycoram later in the episode.

It's very apt that a drama about money, status and patient love is being transmitted on the cusp of a recession...

With me so far? It'll get more complex as it goes on because they haven't introduced half of the characters yet so I suggest you take the phone off the hook, pour a very large glass of wine, plump up the cushions on the sofa and tune your tellyboxes to BBC1 for the duration. Essentially it's a story of rags to riches to rags again, unrequited love and dark secrets. It's very apt that a drama about money, status and patient love is being transmitted on the cusp of a recession and I'm sure this adapatation will touch a few contemporary nerves as we try to fathom why William Dorrit ended up in the Marshalsea prison.



Clearly, the focus here was on the Clennam storyline. And it doesn't disappoint. Like a venomous spider, Mrs. Clennam squats in her dark, delapidated home, disowns her son and sets up the Flintwych twins to manage her business affairs. Judy Parfitt is fantastic as Mrs. Clennam, raging and fuming at all and sundry but allowing a softer touch in her dealings with Amy Dorrit. Why she's being so nice to Amy is obviously something bound up within the terrible family secret that son Arthur unearths and with which he confronts Mrs. Clennam. However, she too knows something about Amy and is playing her cards close to her chest. Twisting and turning camerawork suggests the equally twisted nature of the house and the woman who dominates it. Lots of big close ups of eyes and mouths too, edited into the medium and long shots. Flintwych is played to oily perfection by that bastion of British character actors, Alun Armstrong and he groans and grumbles his way into the Clennam estate. The fabulous twist at the end that reveals he has a twin will leave you as shaken as his wife, Affery.

Give me crumbling houses, swathes of fog, gaslight, street urchins, shop windows full of oranges any day! That's what I want from my Dickens.

I also love the bit where Amy walks to and from the prison across London. Some great contrast of her with the cityscapes and those half-profile shots of her with the streets behind her, looking back over her shoulder, were rather striking too. The production design is minimal for the interiors, a kind of gloomy, stripped down drabness for the interior of the Clennam house and a bareness for the Dorrits' room in the Marshalsea debtors' prison. One reviewer has already complained online that the sets aren't realistic enough and are prone to wobble. Eh? Was I watching a different serial? I didn't see any wobble, all I saw was fantastic detail in high definition. Granted, they are not going to aim for realism. These adaptations are usually decked out in a hyper-Dickens where the set-dressers and designers can really let rip so don't expect total, historical accuracy. Give me crumbling houses, swathes of fog, gaslight, street urchins, shop windows full of oranges any day! That's what I want from my Dickens. And that's what you get.

As well as the stand-out central turn from Parfitt, you've got a cast to die for. The aforementioned Maxine Peake, a wonderful, emotional little turn from Freema Agyeman as Tattycoram (I was willing her to be good just to stick one to those who've been knocking her abilities as an actress and she was, as I expected, excellent), sick of the casual racism of her benefactors the Meagles by the look of things, and a full blooded, effulgent Tom Courtenay as Mr. Dorrit. Add in Sue Johnstone, Janine Duvitski, Bill Paterson and a gorgeous, understated lead in Matthew McFadyean as Arthur. And many more yet to come as the story enfolds. Miss it at your peril.

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The final update on Season 2 of Mad Men. The finale aired last Sunday (I haven't even seen it myself, yet) so here are the links to the last two episodes for you to stream and watch. Thanks to AMC for the episode blurbs and photos and to Surf The Channel for the links.

At some point I will be reviewing the Season 2 Blu-Ray release so watch out for that.

Episode 12: The Mountain King
Don meets with an old friend. An account hangs in the balance when Pete's personal life presents problems. Joan brings her boyfriend to the office.



Surf The Channel - Episode 12

Episode 13: Meditations In An Emergency
Sterling Cooper is in play and the office scrambles without Don. Betty learns some disconcerting news.



Surf The Channel - Episode 13


DISCLAIMER: Cathode Ray Tube does not host the episodes itself. Links are via third party hosting sites like Megavideo or Surf The Channel. Often those episodes get pulled off the hosting site and the link stops working. That's out of this site's control and apologies if you came here and found dead links. We know how frustrating that is. Don't shoot the messenger. We're looking for new ones all the time so we'll post them when we can.

TOP TIP: When you follow the links and click 'Play' you will be directed either to a poker or a dating site which will open in another window. Don't panic. This is just the advertising that accompanies the uploaded episodes. Close the poker or dating site window down and go back to the Surf The Channel window and click on play again. The episode will buffer and then start playing.


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Apologies for the lack of updates on links to streaming episodes. I've had some difficulty in finding them. But, hey presto, I've got links for the last three episodes transmitted courtesy of Surf The Channel.

These are all links back to Megavideo. Click on the Surf The Channel PLAY icon and you'll go to where the episodes are streamed on Megavideo. You will see the usual Party Poker image - click on the PLAY icon. If Party Poker or another site opens a new window then just close that window down and go back to the Megavideo window again. Click on the PLAY icon again. You should see it then say 'buffering' - wait and then click again. Good luck.

Episode 6: Maidenform
Don and Duck take a stab at making peace. Peggy tries to insinuate herself into the execs' after-hours meetings. Duck deals with a family visit at the office.



Maidenform - Surf The Channel link

Episode 7: The Gold Violin
Don buys a brand new car which befits his image as an executive who has "arrived." Don's secretary makes a grave error, which could spell trouble for Joan. Cooper has a new piece of art in his office that attracts the interest of the employees at Sterling Cooper.



The Gold Violin - Surf The Channel link

Episode 8: A Night To Remember
Father Gill convinces Peggy to contribute on a pro-bono church project. To win the business of an imported beer brand, Duck and Don try to create market appeal to a new demographic. Harry is overwhelmed with the workload in his department and recruits assistance from an unlikely source.



A Night To Remember - Surf The Channel Link

DISCLAIMER: Cathode Ray Tube does not host the episodes itself. Links are via third party hosting sites like Megavideo or Surf The Channel. Often those episodes get pulled off the hosting site and the link stops working. That's out of this site's control and apologies if you came here and found dead links. We know how frustrating that is. Don't shoot the messenger. We're looking for new ones all the time so we'll post them when we can.

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Cathode Ray Tube Mad Men Season 2 AMC

EPISODE 5: THE NEW GIRL

Don once again finds himself having to deal with issues between TV comedian Jimmy and his wife, Bobbie. Joan finally finds Don the perfect secretary.



Watch the episode here:

The New Girl on SupernovaTube

DISCLAIMER: Cathode Ray Tube does not host the episodes itself. Links are via third party hosting sites like Megavideo. Often those episodes get pulled off the hosting site and the link doesn't work. That's out of this site's control and apologies if you came here and found dead links. We're looking for new ones all the time so we'll post them when we can.

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Cathode Ray Tube Mad Men Season 2 Episode 5 AMC