Theatre Review: 55 Days @ Hampstead Theatre, London Friday 19 October 2012

So, we're quite keen on political plays over here at Rullsenberg Rules: a play about the English Civil War, the King and Cromwell was definitely something to be intrigued by! I was thus hardly likely to pass the chance to see Mark Gatiss on stage, especially given that Douglas Henshall was also in the cast of 55 Days.

So with a weekend in London already planned, Helen Lisette and I headed to Hampstead Theatre up near Swiss Cottage/Finchley Road on Friday night fresh from arriving in the capital.  The rain lashed down, and then the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate, and so for 10 minutes or so poor Mark Gatiss in his frilly shirt and 17th century trews was stood under an umbrella gamely chuckling at the fun and games.

It was a fairly starry evening all ways round actually, with Ed Bennett sat in front of us (Leartes to Tennant's Hamlet, and an incredibly fine Hamlet himself - as I noted when I saw Bennett's London performance). Clare Holman also in attendance, inevitably as she is wife to Howard Davies, director of the play.

The play itself
The isolation of King Charles is highlighted by his being the only figure on period costume - everyone else has vaguely modern suits (it's a very male play, though there are a couple of good female performances).  This actually works rather well - even if it did mean there was no 'wart-counting' for Cromwell [shallowly, no complaints from me for that, though I did miss the prospect of high boots and period trews for all concerned].

The script makes canny use of the tone of 17th century discourse (the religious attitudes, the political factions), without getting too bogged down in period diction: again, King Charles is isolated for having more florid speech in keeping with what we know (or rather imply) was typical speech patterns for the period.  It is, by virtue of its nature and topics, a rather densely expositional play, but it isn't unduly overbearing.  It IS an intelligent play, with a lot going on, and worthy of attention for that.  It is also, despite the weight, not without laughter - indeed, the hysteria at the end of the play finely shows how those signing the death warrant for the King probably could hardly believe what they managed to do.  It's an uncomfortable moment - hilarious and horrific for its consequences.

Cromwell takes several scenes to appear - tantalising for me of course, but it really heightens the tension for getting the main characters all present.  And once he does, Cromwell becomes a real pivotal force - both utterly and subtly in control and yet driven into his courses of action by events he cannot quite control. The scene where Cromwell and Charles meet and talk is pretty electric for all that it is entirely fictitious.

Charles is in turns baffled by the threat to his authority, automatically expecting and mostly getting deference from his jailers and challengers. His accent and his stammer are exacerbated as his control over his destiny diminishes: when he realises that the quality of his argument - a divinely annointed King, far more than a man - will not save his neck from the axe, it is quite horrifying how he suddenly tries to get out of the situation.  The bravado of earlier ripostes disappearing, replaced by uncertainty in speech and demeanor.

I mentioned before about the limited female roles: but they are good ones.  Abigail Cruttenden as Lady Fairfax is brilliant - her faith and conflict with her husband is archly portrayed to rich effect.  She is more than equal to her husband who finds events, and Cromwell, going far beyond his own expectations of developments.  Likewise, Laura Rogers as Mary Cooke - wife of the recruited lawyer prosecuting the King, is similarly measured up to her husband and what he needs to do.  And if I need a more female-orientated Civil War narrative, I'll re-watch the excellent Channel 4 drama: The Devil's Whore.

Early days, early responses
I made the mistake of reading a review/comment on the play on Friday before heading to London.  It was pretty damning and I did fear for how the evening would go.  Both myself and HLW were exhausted (work is always pretty knackering this time of year) but as the negative reviewer commented on how high their own expectations had been, it did unnerve me. I shouldn't have worried though.  It was fine.  Press Night is Wednesday 24 October 2012 - but I'm not deterred.  I know I have a vested interest to enjoy the play, but Helen who has far less personal interest felt utterly enthralled and we ran on adrenaline til 1am.

Review - negative
Review - positive

Personal note
Awh, bless you Mr Henshall, you can make the worst of times light up with your friendly smile and affection.  At the end of a long working week, you were a real tonic.  I hope you enjoyed your much desired cigarette after the play.  Thanks to Mr Gatiss who also was kind enough to sign my programme.

Betrayal - second and third visits: Saturday 9 and Wednesday 27 July 2011 matinees (Comedy Theatre, London)

Being honest, that first visit to see the current production of Betrayal - starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Ben Miles and Douglas Henshall - was lost in a haze of giddy delight. (Give a girl a break: I was in row B and was lucky enough to see the cast afterwards at the stage door. It was - to put it mildly - 'a bit of a day' all ways round).

Anyway: such a good set of performances deserve a more considered viewing, and so it was that I managed to take the lovely Chrissie to see the production on Saturday 9 July - and then take my very indulgent partner on Wednesday 27 July.

On my visit with Chrissie back in row B (ironically the same seats as my first visit, though they were booked separately!) there did seem to be some backstage glitches - scenery movement seemed to be a lot rougher and noisier during scenes than first time - and a glass got broken on exiting through a doorway, but the performances were as on-song as ever. On my visit with Neil, things seemed to run smoother for the mechanics of the production, though I have to say I never envy Dougie having to deliver that final hurtle-paced speech of smitten adoration: it's enough to test any actor to their limit.

After three visits, I felt I wanted to do a more in-depth review of the acting and therefore (inevitably) there will be some *SPOILERS* about the plot for those who have not previously seen Pinter's play.


Wearing (again) a blue shirt - rather than the dark burgundy roll-neck jumper seen in some of Johan Persson's production photographs - the narrative starts in 1977 in a bar where Jerry (Henshall) brings drinks over to a clearly nervy cropped-haired Emma (Scott Thomas). She fiddles with her handbag, struggles with cigarettes, and seems on the verge of leaving several times. She and Jerry hesitatingly edge around their greetings - "how are you?", revisiting the polite enquiry repeatedly. They catch up on their lives: Emma is regularly "having lunch with Casey" (a writer published by Robert, and represented by Jerry as his agent), whilst Jerry breathily discusses seeing Charlotte, Emma and Robert's daughter, now aged 13. Jerry is consistently convinced he threw up Charlotte in Emma and Robert's kitchen: "No, it was your kitchen" Emma insists both in this opening scene (in a line that is echoed later in the play, in the earlier set scene of 1973). It highlights the acute ambiguity not only of what constitutes betrayal, but also the ambiguity of memory: how fragile it can be in its accuracy, in its meaning.

Over the course of their conversation, the audience is let in on Emma and Jerry's affair which betrayed the trust of both Robert and Jerry's own wife, Judith. Emma is close to tears (of fury?) as she talks about discovering her husband Robert had been unfaithful to her for years. Emma clearly wants (needs) to talk to someone who would understand the nature of betrayal - even though she comes across as ambiguous in her desire to rekindle things with Jerry. Although Jerry's words suggest he has long moved on from their lengthy affair, it is he who initiates all the unbidden gestures of touch: a stroke of the hair, a reach to Emma's neck. Jerry's utterly romantic naivety is beautifully captured by Henshall who remains convinced no-one ever knew about the affair he and Emma had for seven years. "We were brilliant", he declares in memory of their long-running and secret affair. He is horrified to discover that Emma has now told Robert of the affair, in the aftermath of Robert's own marital betrayal coming out.

But it is worse than even he fears. In one of the just three forward-in-time scenes in the play we see Jerry having invited Robert over - his 'best friend' still after all. Jerry is even more stunned to discover that Robert knew of the affair much earlier than Emma had said. Basically, Emma lied to Jerry and Jerry gasps that he didn't know: in reply Robert curtly acknowledges, "No, you didn't know very much about anything, really, did you?"

The play proceeds to wind back, from the end of the affair between Jerry and Emma to Jerry's first drunkenly flushed passionate declaration to Emma, scarcely behind Robert's back at one of their parties. In between, we see Robert's discovery of Emma's infidelity (during a holiday in Venice) and we see Robert's lunch with Jerry after the holiday - the audience know that Robert knows about the affair, and we know that Emma has lied to Jerry about being able to get to the islet of Torcello (Robert goes alone, after discovering the affair, and reads Yeats; Emma had said they couldn't go due to a speedboat strike).

Squash, that oh so physical game, takes on layered meaning throughout the play -- seemingly you can't play squash if you're having an affair. Judith - Jerry's unseen wife - seems likely to have both known about Jerry's affair and to have been having her own with a fellow doctor. All in all, there is a bleak inevitability to the consequences of infidelity, of betrayal in all forms.

It thus makes that glorious final speech all the more heart-breaking because we know where all of that passion that fires up Jerry to declare his love for Emma will end up. Although Emma initially, and jokingly, rebuffs Jerry, the end (the beginning) sees Jerry reach for her hand --- and when I have seen the production, Scott Thomas will gently close her hand around his at the split second before the lights go down. It is a beautifully poignant moment. And a lovely production.

SQUEE! SQUEE! SQUEE! (Part 2) Saturday 4 June 2011: Betrayal @ Comedy Theatre, London

From the ridiculous to the sublime.... from Much Ado with its alternating frothy comedy and dark heart, to an altogether darker tale but one with painfully acute humour riven through its narrative. Betrayal at the Comedy theatre - until 20 August 2011.

Harold Pinter's 'Betrayal' is a searing portrayal of an affair. I came to the play not having read it or seen it previously but somewhat aware of the basis for the play (the love triangle of Joan Bakewell, Harold Pinter, and Pinter's then wife Vivien Merchant). Effectively a three-hander (with a minor comedic side-part), the narrative moves largely backwards - a device that still lends great poignancy to the encounters where variously the audience and the participants know more than each other.

The decision to not familiarise myself with the play in advance is something I try to do where I can: it isn't always easy, but if possible I like to try and come to the play as would a first-timer. It makes for an honest encounter I find - and seemed especially appropriate for this play where the learning is so much part of the narrative.

The production is deftly staged and the performances are wonderful. Kristin Scott Thomas (as Emma) is as luscious on the eye and the theatre audience attention as one may imagine she would be - the woman oozes great acting from every pore and frankly looks more gorgeous than it should be possible. Elegance and poise scarcely begin to describe the small nuances of performance she captures. She hangs on the brink of tears without letting them fall and the audience feels her emotions deeply (though the trust we may have in them is never less than problematic). Ben Miles, stuck with the largely nasty role of Robert (Emma's husband), nevertheless plays the role deftly. Prone to violence, dismissive (including of his wife) and venting his compromised testosterone into squash playing, Robert is not likable in the slightest - for all that he may appear to be a wounded party. But Miles is excellent, clearly relishing the part (even letting himself sport a suitable if relatively unflattering bouffant-esque haircut) and showing how his character's knowledge and awareness has developed through the course of the - forward-in-time - narrative.

Inevitably though, for me the highlight was seeing Douglas Henshall on stage again: material worthy of his talents can show how he shines, and on stage is often best. He inhabits the role of Jerry (Emma's lover) beautifully and just hearing him - oh that voice - was simply breathtaking. Seated close enough to see each flicker of eye movement, every twitch of the mouth, was especially wonderful in a Pinter play where those (infamous) pauses are not pauses at all really, but rather moments where the acting is all in the face, the hands, unspoken gestures and expressed thoughts churning inside the characters minds and projected to the audience. A true joy.

Having done one Stage Door run, I couldn't pass up the chance to do a second and knew that at least this time around it was likely to be a little less chaotic. There was an interesting split gender-wise with a horde of blokes there (a combination of Primeval geek boys and Kristin fans, plus some clearly professional autograph gatherers) and when a handful of women arrived - myself included - a slight physical relocation took place without thinking, placing boys pretty much one side of the door and the women on the other.

Ben Miles came out first - utterly charming man, far more handsome than the role allows him to be on stage.


Kristin Scott Thomas came out last (and my camera battery and my ineptitude blew my efforts to get a photograph - natch!) and was duly swooned at by everyone there - amongst them a collection of guys were especially thrilled to get her signature for their squadron, and some French women delighted exchanged a brief conversation with her in French.

And.... oh, should I mention that Dougie was there too...?


Hard to know what was nicer, getting a picture or him saying hi.....

When I went back to see Helen (duly waiting professionally at the corner well away from the Stage Door), I did a little dance of squee. Quite right too...

Additional remarks:
Please PLEASE people: I know iPhones are great and all that but PLEASE DO NOT TAKE PHOTOS IN THE AUDITORIUM! Especially NOT during the performance from the FRONT ROW OF THE STALLS! The ignorant dude in front of H and I seemed to not even be interested in keeping to the rules. H duly told him off at the end for trying to get a curtain call pic, but when a bloke sat near to me tried to tell him off once the cast had exited the stage for what the man had done DURING the performance, said iPhone user actually swung for him. I really hope the guy gets barred from future events.... play by the rules mate!

UPDATE:"So what of the production? It is well put together by Rickson, with some strong performances. Kristen Scott Thomas (who looks incredible at the age of 51) has excellent stage presence, and somehow manages to look younger as the play goes on (backwards in time!). Ben Miles also produces some great stuff, particularly during the restaurant scene, which was a highlight for me as the energy picked up and properly gripped the audience for a few minutes. The best performance of the night comes from Douglas Henshall however, and what differentiates him from the rest is the attention-to-detail in his performance. Pinter’s characters are not loud and epic in the way that Rooster is in Jerusalem. They rely on finely tuned and extremely intricate acting; subtle changes of expression, powerful interactions between the characters, and clever use of the eyes. In this respect Henshall’s performance is really very impressive, and perhaps the only performance that delivers what is needed for Pinter’s challenging penning. " - Everything Theatre Blog

We'll ignore that Quentin Lett's is a miserable misogynist and instead focus on the reviews from The Guardian and Teh Independent who loved the show...

Forthcoming treats: Betrayal (the play)

Yum....

Remember that list of plays and events?

Betrayal at the Comedy Theatre ----

*whistles*

Plus:

RSC Written on the Heart
RSC Midsummer Night's Dream

(going into 2012)
RSC Measure for Measure

There is clearly a conspiracy of theatre ticket bankruptcy...

South Riding - coming soon

Ah, bliss. With The Killing, Being Human and now South Riding soon to come, things are proving good (if crowded) on the TV watching scene.

Belated Burns

Oh sweet Robert Burns, with ribald poetry and moving poetry and heartfelt poetry. For nature, for love, for nation, for lust.

*sigh*

And I can't help but enjoy a particular reader... (try the general 'Readers' page if that doesn't work)

Things I am looking forward to in 2011 (1): South Riding

How could I not be looking forward to South Riding? As I noted back when the first coverage came out it was onto a winner for me.

An adaptation of a heart-tearing book (I've blubbed every time I've read the darn thing) AND thanks to it starring not just David Morrissey AND [be still my beating heart] Douglas Henshall but also the divine Anna Maxwell-Martin I am sure to be able to persuade lovely Neil to watch it as well. Heck, Neil watched Single Father with me so I am sure he can cope with this.

I'm even tempted to buy a new copy of the book just for the sight of the new book cover.

Robert Burns - readings worth listening to

Oh sweet weekend, thank you for bringing me readings of Robert Burns writings.

And look who is on the list of lovely readers: lovely Dougie Henshall reading Burns.

Swoon.

Thanks as ever to the Douglas Henshall fan website for passing on the tip.

South Riding coming to the BBC --- with Douglas Henshall AND David Morrissey

Ah, there is bliss in a good novel adaptation.

South Riding is to be adapted by the BBC and the cast looks AWESOME.

Anna Maxwell Martin as Sarah Burton!

David Morrissey as Robert Carne!

AND Douglas Henshall as Joe Astell, the "Riding's only socialist councillor and rival to Carne for Sarah's affections" (as the BBC Press release describes him).

I have fondly read South Riding, and will look forward to doing so again.

Oh, and the person adapting this classic text?

Why 'tis Andrew Davies of course!

TV Review: The Silence BBC1 Monday 12th July-Thursday 15 July 2010

I'd wanted to review the recent BBC drama 'The Silence' quickly. However, thanks to a temperamental work-based computer defying my efforts to write a review at 8.30am on Friday, I'm now having to complete this review on Sunday.

Nevermind. My thoughts are still fresh.

It's a shame that, at the moment at least, there are no plans to release the 4 part story on DVD. I'd certainly watch it again - and not just for lovely Douglas Henshall's delicious Scottish accent and visual appeal.

Interestingly, I'd say the key highlight was the performance and depiction of the central character: not Henshall's furiously angry and harrassed policeman Jim, but rather Genevieve Barr as his niece Amelia.

Amelia is caught between the hearing world (she has recently had a cochlear implant) and her more familiar world of silence, and credit must go to everyone concerned for making her such a rounded character. The use of sound, and silence, and all the guff of noise in-between, was beautifully conveyed. More importantly, not all the behaviour Amelia expresses was (just) about her being deaf. When she yells at her mother (Gina McKee) that "You're the problem!" it's done because Amelia is a teenager, with all the furious righteous indignation that virtually all teenagers express. Amelia smokes, drinks and flirts, likes clubbing (getting high off the speaker vibrations). She's certainly up there fighting out top spot as this year's best Amelia.

Though the series maintained a fairly consistent audience (4.7 million to start, 4.3 million on the finale) reviews have been erratic, and I can understand why. The Radio Times - in a fierce burst of independence from praising BBC programming - absolutely hated it, finding it slow and dull. However, Cloud and I remained gripped across the week - indeed positively giddy about the episodes as the story unfolded (a nice bonus for me which meant I didn't have to feel bad about indulgently watching Henshall). Even so, I can see how the positively insane level of coincidences upon which the frontline narrative depended would have turned off many potential viewers. As Euan Ferguson in today's Observer points out, the frontline 'plot' - Amelia sees the murder of a cop and can identify those responsible - isn't especially great. The bad guys come with signs on their faces saying 'bad guys' (the clue is in the facial hair) whilst the good guy (her uncle Jim) is suitably angst-ridden and anxious. But the delight was in the detail.

"Jim juggled brilliantly, got more right than wrong, yet everyone at one stage hated him. Par for the course in the average week for every fortysomething Scot. Henshall was just the very dabs here, always perfect and often magnificent: he looked so tired, and nearly-bearded, by the end of this successive four-night run, it was as if he'd stayed up all nights in between, waiting for us to return.

Which we did. Not for the plot, not even for Henshall, but for Amelia. Genevieve Barr's quite absurdly enthralling portrayal made this entire week's viewing. Forget the "real" plot: the story here, all four nights, was of the drama playing inside deaf Amelia's head: whether she "accepted" deafness, used her lip-reading skills and got the hell on with it, or persevered with the cochlear implant, and the bizarre terrors of learning – while not a baby, in the innocent and correct days when we can – of learning suddenly to hear, and make sense of it. She had done so much growing up and then, hearing, had to do it all again. The intrusiveness, the pomposity, the meanness, the tensions, the game-playing, of words, and shouts, and implications. Her character, Amelia, often preferred the thump of the bass in nightclubs, the tinglings and tremors, to the actual music, and chose to go back to deaf. When people argued around her, stupid go-nowhere arguments, she tugged out the implant's ugly grey antenna. "It felt like having a dirty room inside my head." She needed to escape. I know exactly how she feels.

Genevieve the actress – honestly, she was fabulous, wise, difficult, mesmerising, in 10 years' time I'll be able to have her as a pin-up beside Joey Lucas from The West Wing, if I was going to have a wall of pics of clever deaf actresses, which would be only a little worrying – has said: "When I was 16, the boy I was going out with said to me, 'Stop staring at boys' lips, it makes you look like you want to kiss them.'"

If there was anything else that was open to criticism, it was also the ending - which was, shall we generously say - oblique. Check out the debate on CiF at the Guardian which followed up a deaf writer's comments on the first episode with a series of comments about how the narrative progressed. Personally, there was something to be said for a 'less-than-neatly-tied-up' ending with the bad guys being dragged off for punishment, but this was perhaps more disturbingly inconclusive. I'd possibly forgive them for it if I knew there was a follow-up...

Anyway, for those wanting to know more about Genevieve Barr, there is a nice piece Barr wrote for the BBC about making the transition from teacher to actress.

Other reviews:
Telegraph
The Arts Desk
The Herald

The Silence is Coming - no, not that one...

No, no. We know that Silence Will Fall but I rather mean instead 'The Silence' is coming.

Hurrah!

TV review: Collision reviews - first without spoilers, then scroll for spoilers

Spoiler-free comments
Collision had very distinguished cast, led by lovely Douglas Henshall (John Tolin), and with fine work as well from the likes of Paul McGann (Richard Reeves) and Lucy Griffiths (Jane Tarrant). With multiple storylines centred on a crash, tracking back and forth from before the crash to the event itself and then its aftermath and the investigation, it was of course a very British take on the Oscar-scooping film, Crash. I rather liked that film, but acknowledge its weaknesses and that it was very unpopular for winning the Best Picture Oscar over Brokeback Mountain.

Perhaps my liking of 'Crash' and my love of Dougie's performances meant I was more inclined to go with the narrative structure of this 5-part ITV drama (aired in other countries in two parts). With Horowitz in the driving seat - I've recently been watching some of his earlier work on Poirot - there were plenty of twists and turns, but I'm not sure how convincing it was in the end. Still, Cloud watched it with me quite eagerly, was keen enough to do a double-back on the ITV catch-up on Thursday when we missed the start due to having been out at a cello concert, and watched the finale in my absence. So that has to be worth something.

Personally, episodes 3 and 4 were the high points, but with one of the central storylines wrapped up by the end of ep4, there was a certain degree of anti-climax to ep5.

Anyone watching the show since it first aired a few weeks ago outside the UK (and that includes US viewers who get it on PBS Masterpiece Contemporary) will doubtless note that one core element of the plot from the ending would have made MUCH more sense had the drama been screened in Spring 2009 as originally scheduled*. That alone had me groaning slightly at the ending. But the explanation for the crash...? Sigh.

*I do try to not rant on about distribution issues, but there is something wrong about a UK developed drama starring UK actors not airing in the UK first (though I'd personally be happier with worldwide airing on simultaneous dates as much as is feasible).

My overall reaction: good. Not excellent, as 'Place of Execution' had been (or even 'Whitechapel') but a solid narrative that kept me watching to follow each storyline to its conclusion, even if some were more satisfactorily concluded than others.

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BEWARE OF SPOILERS ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE!!!!!

Things I liked:
Dougie and his performance - nicely nuanced, though the relationships with both Ann (Kate 'WHAAAAT?!' Ashfield) and his daughter Jodie (Jo Woodcock - excellent performance from her) were a bit sketchy. Not having Jodie reappear in ep5 after the intense conversation with her father seemed odd. Felt the punch to the drunk driver when he forgave Tolin was very 'true' as a reaction as was Tolin's eventual remorse and moving on.

Lucy Griffiths getting on the train - hurrah. McGann may have been playing a fantasist shit but he gave her the inspiration to try to reach her dreams. As Jane tearfully tried to convince the hapless Dave, they wanted different things: in many respects it wasn't even really about handsome Richard whisking her off her feet with his riches and fancy opportunities. She was already not happy before the crash, bulldozed by circumstances into marriage, so it was nice to think she had a chance of breaking free.

Zoe Telford as Sandra Rampton the snooty wife taking no shit from the dodgy garage-based people-smugglers - contrasted with poor Naomi's attempts to get them to talk to her about her husband. Am convinced that Mrs Rampton knew full well the crash driver brother-in-law Danny would not be going further than the scrap yard.

The refugee Tsegga (Cornelius Macarthy) - scathingly noting his English language skills to those transporting him to England.

Ambivalent:
The Christine/Brian Edwards storyline with the obnoxious mother-in-law (respectively Jan Francis, Phil Davis, and Sylvia Sims) - I was fine with this until ep5 when there was a virtually word for word replay of dialogue from the previous episode (unless I was mistaking a flashback for a new scene). And that annoyed me so much.

Things I disliked:
Tolin ditching the 'journalist' to his fate - it felt somewhat out of kilter that despite 'Taylor' using Karen (and therefore leading to her death), Tolin would willfully leave him be killed.

The wasp ending - oh pur-lease! I get this was about randomness, the small things in life that have big rippling effects, but really. And tho I'll watch it again I'm pretty sure the presence of wasps wasn't there in 'casual' scenes until ep5 which feels like a tag-on for the narrative explanation. UPDATE: apparently there were wasps. I am Ms unobservant.

The heavy-handed 'misdirection' on the Sidney Morris/Norris story - it was actually a nice twist they had (would have been even better if they'd screened in Spring as planned before Star Trek came out) but my God, could they have laden on the paedophile misdirection story any thicker?

Dropping the black characters' crash story first - not racist, just disappointing to see it dismissed first of all the storylines. Just about compensated by the intelligent refugee engineer Tsegga, though it would have been better to see his wife Naomi get some justice from the people smugglers come-uppance.


Would I have watched this without the ever-compelling Douglas Henshall in a key role? Possibly, but also possibly not. There was enough to keep us watching anyway, but I'm not sure if we would have been quite so interested in watching from the start without his performance to pull us in. And if we hadn't watched the first ep, I doubt we would have involved ourselves in the rest. Worthwhile, but perhaps adding up to less than the sum of its parts.

Reviews to come

Sorry. Been ill. Still not fabulous.

Bah humbug.

So, reviews to come on Collision and Doctor Who. Even if I'm feeling rubbish, having such a treat within one week ain't so bad.

Let's hope I recover to full throttle soon. And after all, there's the Hamlet screening in December.... At least I won't be sitting in New Zealand grumbling I've missed seeing it. And the DVD will hopefully be waiting for me on my return.

Just the Specials I'll miss on their initial screening, and at least the DVD boxset looks due to come out early January. Hurrah!.

Collision! Who?!

Nice! Not only do I get 5 days worth of Douglas Henshall in Collision on ITV from Monday 9 November, but I also get a Sunday Doctor Who special (hmmm... not a Saturday? Ousted by the 'might' of reality star-making shows... *sigh*)

Hat tips to the Douglas Henshall fansite and MediumRob's daily news digest respectively!

Bullies - viewable via Portable Film Festival

There is a really wonderful short film called Bullies which is now available to view at the Douglas Henshall fan site, courtesy of Portable Film Festival.

Starring Dougie and Tena Stivicic, it's a rather moving narrative of a relationship and its place in the world and experience.

UK viewers: new 4oD service

Happy clapping.

Psychos. 4oD. Very heaven.

The Lost Weekend June 2009

"How did it end up like this?"

Sorry, for some reason I seem to be channeling a bit of The Killers (personally I blame kicking off the weekend with the full length Doctor Who Confidential for Blink, which David Tennant put together and which has a running use of The Killer's 'Read My Mind').

Anyway, on which note, it's probably a good idea to put the list down of what we watched this weekend. As usual it was interspersed with stupid amounts of carbs (pizza, rice, cobs, crisps), chocolate puddings (these for me and these for HL) and McGuigan wine.

• Doctor Who Confidential for Blink (full length with all the old DW clips - bless you Sass!)
  
• End of 'A Good Year'
  
• Scene from Learners
  
• Selected bits of episodes 1 and 2 of Blackpool
  
• Extracts from Essential Poems
  
• Opening section of Anna Karenina
  
• Selected scenes from Harry Potter 4 (like you have to ask which)
  
• Sections of Angels and Insects (shut up Christine)
  
• Final section of Lawless Heart
  
• Cake sequence from The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle
  
• 3:10 to Yuma
  
• If Only
  
• Cutter's Odyssey - extra from s3 Primeval DVD set
  
• Most of LA Confidential
  
• Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead
  
• Selected scenes from This Year's Love
  
• Selected scenes from Orphans
  
• Einstein and Eddington
  
• Ep 2 of Takin' Over the Asylum
  
• Final episode of Blackpool
  
• Selected scenes from Gladiator
  
• First 40 mins of Frances Tuesday
  
• Finale of S2 Primeval
  
• David Tennant's episode of Who Do You Think You Are?
  
• All three episodes of Casanova
  

Whilst this may seem like an excessive amount of square-eyed behavior for a weekend, you have to remember that we really only effectively get this one chance in a year to be this silly - and be in possession of a DVD player (see here for last year's listing). Sure we get the occasional run-away for a theatre visit or suchlike, but that's really about the opportunity for private conversation and some social activity. The ability to watch, drool and comment without consequence really only comes in this once a year blast so it's a proper treat for us both. Fabulous fun! Thanks H!

Dougie Henshall on Robert Burns

If you heard a squeal, it was me, responding to the delectable sight and sound of Dougie Henshall talking about and reading Robert Burns. (Full list of celebrity selections here)



* thud *

Thanks to the BBC for the Poetry season and also to Dianne for the link.

UPDATE: apologies for (a) the rather rubbish cutting off that the BBC embedding does to this video [you can tell it isn't showing the full screen by the bottom right corner] and (b) for the lack of access to this clip outside the UK. Seriously BBC, is it THAT crucial to restrict these items? I kinda get restricting trailers for shows you will sell abroad/broadcast elsewhere later, but this is accompanying material at best... *sigh* and it is SOOOO good...

"Did you... like my flowers?" - a missing TV moment

I have been duly chastised by Chrissie this morning for having failed to include perhaps THE most favourite and treasured of my TV moments. Its one I am sure I have mentioned before (I may have to check how often or if its just been referenced in email exchanges), since it involves Dougie Henshall. I hadn't forgotten it - it was just it seemed so obvious and very me that I wasn't sure airing it again was reasonable.

Anyway, it comes from episode 3 of Psychos, when Dr. Danny Nash sweeps 'Katekins' off her feet in the staff room as he's manically dancing and asks her 'did you like my flowers?' (she'd mistakenly thought they were from her incredibly staid boyfriend). It was probably THE moment which totally turned my head and stomach for the conviction of Henshall's acting, and remembering it makes me weep all the more for the absence of a DVD release of the series.