ITV mornings - the lowlights

Following on from the Kim Woodburn incident where ITV morning programmes have had embarrassing situations.


The Time, The Place

Considered to be lightweight discussion programme one edition was taken off air due to violence erupting in the studio. The reason? Black audience members took exception to a Black Male model wearing a skirt!


GMTV

Host Eamon Holmes had an interview to remember for all the wrong reasons. The interviewee was US Illusionist David Blaine who throughout the interview just groaned his way through the interview.


This Morning

Another example of a Holmes interview going wrong was when he and his wife Ruth Langsford interviewed the singer David Cassiday. The pair badgered a visibly Cassiday about his finical status. Holmes after the interview badmouthed Cassiday, a year later the singer died.

Kim vs the Women

Loose Women ITV's female focused chat show can hardly be called a model of restraint but Yesterday's edition has seen it come in for some major trouble. One of the guest was Kim Woodburn who shot to fame on the TV show How Clean Is Your House? in the 2000s. Last Year Woodburn appeared on Celebrity Big Brother with one of the regular hosts of Loose Women Collen Nolan and the pair did not have a harmonious relationship. And yesterday the bickering continued as Woodburn's appearance descended into a constant argument between her and Nolan which ended with Woodburn walking off set in tears. And now broadcasting regulator OFCOM has said it has received 3 thousand complaints over the interview. Many people will waiting on the result of the investigation with some worry.

Jack hits the telly

Lee Child has revealed plans to bring his famous creation Jack Reacher to TV screens. The main character of 23 novels that sees the ex military policeman takes on evildoer in his own manner. There was outcry when Tom Cruise was cast as the character because of one factor, he is much shorter than Child  describes Reacher. No further information on the proposed series as yet.

TV ratings 27-8-2018

Bodyguard's second episode was watched 6 and a half million viewers. This sets up an interesting clash on Sunday when ITV launches it's much hyped costume drama Vanity Fair. Like Bodyguard the next episode of Vanity Fair will go out the next day facing much easier opposition in the form of a missing persons documentary.

TV ratings 26-8-2018

The much hyped Bodyguard was seen by 6.74 million viewers on BBC1 last night. The second episode airs tonight with the remaining episodes airing on Sunday. They will be facing another hugely hype drama in the form of ITV's adaptation Thackeray's Vanity Fair. We are for a bit of a ratings battle.

Before Bodyguard there was Bodyguards

Tonight on BBC1 sees the start of new drama Bodyguard. Written by Line of Duty writer Jed Mercurio and starring Richard (Robb Stark in Game of Thrones) and Keeley (a veteran of Line of Duty) Hawes. Madden plays the role of a war veteran turn protection officer who finds himself protecting a Home Secretary (played by Hawes) whose polices he despise. Those with a long memoary of British TV will remember an ITV drama by the name of Bodyguards. Created by Jeffery Caine credits also included such films as GoldenEye and The Constant Gardner and starring Sean (son of Jon the Third Doctor) Pretwee and Louise Lombard. The show ran for one series in 1997 after a pilot in 1996. It focused on a special unit handling senstive assignments. One episode was about the unit protecting a double agent who has returned from Russia to attend the funeral of a relative, the subject of the protection detail was played by Michael Williams whose wife Judi Dench had started to play James Bond's superior M.  Another piece of trivia about Bodyguard was that name of Lombard's character was Liz Shaw which was the name of the Third Doctor's first assistant as played by Caroline John.

Big Brother is taking a break

Ben Frow controller of Channel 5 has announced that Big Brother will be taking a break next year. The show has seen viewer figures decline in the last few years though the current Celebrity version has had steady ratings. Whether Big Brother makes an actual return remains to be seen.

We have to wait for Mr Bond

Following from the news of Danny Boyle exiting as director of the 25th Bond film news has came it has now been moved back 2020. With a 5 year gap between it and SPECTRE this represents the longest gap since the 6 year one between Licence to Kill and GoldenEye due to various legal issues. GoldenEye would turn out to be a magnificent of the Bond films. We will to see what happens with the next one.

We are not expecting you Mr Boyle

One of the reasons for the recent departanture of Oscar winner Danny Boyle from the director's chair of the next James Bond film has emerged. One of the sticky points appears to be the casting of the film's bad guy, Boyle wanted to cast unknown Polish actor Tomsaz Kot but producers Barara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson plus star Daniel Craig were dead set against this idea. Given that the villians of the last 2 films were played by Oscar  winners (Javier Bardem and Christioph Waltz) you can understand why the 3 were so reluctant to go on a less proven actor. No news as yet on who will be replacing both Boyle and scribe John Hodge who went with him at the same time.

Ladies are taking over

A few days ago this year's Hugo awards took place. Recognising the best in Science Fiction in both printed and visual media from the past year. And there was an noticeable trend among this year's winners. For genre that some consider to be Male dominated most of the prizes went to Women. One of the most striking wins was the Wonder Woman beating the Best Picture Oscar winner The Shape of Water to Best Long Form Dramatic Presentation award, both have both have Female protagonists but the former was actually directed by a (Patty Jenkins) Woman. We shall have to wait and see if SF somewhat mysngotic image is now gone.

Goodbye St Jaime

Jaime Oliver who in the last few years had become known for his crusades for healthy eating has come under fire for his latest product lauch. Jerk Rice has been slammed for cultural apparition by one MP Dawn Butler over it's perceived links to the Caribbean. Meanwhile Levi Roots perhaps the most famous and successful person to get a deal on BBC2's Dragons Den with his Reggae sauce said Oliver had made a mistake in launching the product. After the closure of an number of branches in his restaurant chain this is the latest smudge on Oliver's reputation.

From DJ to the Doctor

Among the directors announced for the forthcoming season of Doctor Who the main name that springs is Mark Tonderai. In a previous life Tonderai was a Radio DJ even enjoying a brief tenure at BBC Radio 1 where he even appeared in a TV promo for the station along with 2 big name DJs John Peel and Simon Mayo. In recent years he has turned his hand to Film and TV directing. He directed Jennifer Lawrence in the film The House at the End of the Street and has directed episodes of Gotham and Black Lighting. Tonderai episodes will be coming up in a few months time.

The passing of radio time

Pick of the Pops on BBC Radio 2 this past Saturday featured the Top 20 of this week in years 1978 and 1991. In 1991 Pick of the Pops went out on BBC Radio 1 and featured the years 1959. 1969 and 1975. One of the songs from 1991 that was played was the Hi-Nrg dance number Move Any Mountain by The Shamen, did anyone 27 years ago expect that record to be played on BBC Radio 2 ever? I be coming back to this subject later on in the week.

No sign of Stormy

Last night saw the start of the latest series of Channel 5's Celebrity Big Brother. Supposed to be joining the likes of Cheers star Kristie Alley, Emmerdale actress Roxanne Pallett and infamous trader Nick Leeson was Stormy Daniels who has shot to worldwide attention through her claims of having an extra-martial affair with Donald Trump before he came to be US President. However she did not turn up and early this day she was supposed to appear ITV's This Morning to explain her absence however again she did turn up. It was left to presenter Jane Moore to explain after having an off screen conversation with Daniels. The reason relates to a child custody battle she is currently engaged in. How CBB does without Daniels remains to be seen.

One bodyguard too many?

In a couple of week BBC1 will start showing Bodyguard the latest much hyped drama by writer Jed Mercuio. It stars Richard Madden as a soldier turned Special Branch bodyguard who finds himself protecting a Home Secretary (played by Keeley Hawes) whose polices he despises. Just as the first episode ends Channel 5 will be showing The Bodyguard the 1992 film starring Kevin Costner as an ex US Secret Service agent protecting a Pop star played by that real life one Whitney Houston. Houston's cover of the Dolly Parton song I Will Always Love You topped the charts around the world.

Book Review: Spymaster by Brad Thor

After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 many people felt that the clock and dagger genre however It turned out that other real life conflicts such as the War on Terror would replace the Cold War as the source for Stories. However with such real life events as the Salisbury Poisoning bringing relations between Russia and the West back to Cold War levels so have thriller writers have gone back to that source of conflict. One such writer is Brad Thor, all but 1 of Thor's novels have as their lead character Scot Harvath ex US Navy Seal turned Secret Service agent turned Black ops man. Spymaster sees Harvath and his team on the trail of a terrorist organisation committing attacks in NATO countries. Harvath sees it nothing more than a Russian plot to destabilise NATO and of course he is right. Thor keeps a brisk pace as along with Harvath's investigation we get scenes of the terrorist attacks, diplomatic wrangling and the Russian mastermind keeping check on his operations. There an number of gunfights that keep the plot ticking along. Anyone who found Jack Bauer's interrogation techniques somewhat troubling then they are nothing compared to Harvath's. Anyone in the mood for a good old fashoned spy thriller can do no wrong with Spymaster.

A star for Carrie?

A campaign has started for the late Carrie Fisher to be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One of the most famous and iconic landmarks of Los Angles has the biggest names in Showbiz immortalised with a star bearing their name on the streets of the city. 2 of the stars involved with the campaign are Fisher's Star Wars co-star Mark Hamill and William Shatner. Other big names who do not have stars include Robert de Niro, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Prince. It will take at least 5 years for a decision to be made.

No blood for the Mouse

An new report suggests that as a result of the Disney takeover of 20th Century Fox any adult targeted films from the latter studio will not enter production. This is because Disney is keen to maintain it's family friendly reputation, another example of this was the firing of James Gunn as Director of the third Guardians of the Galaxy film. What this means for such adult fare as the Die Hard, Alien and Predator series of films is hard to say. This represents a bit of a change for Disney has through many subsidiaries like Touchstone, Miramax and Dimeson released such films as Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, Con Air and From Dusk Till Dawn. Many cinephilies are following this with interest.

Where no Chris wants to go

Problems have struck the fourth of the rebooted Star Trek film seres. Not only Chris Pine who plays the iconic role of James T Kirk is in a pay dispute with producers but Chris Hemsworth who played his farther in the first film and has been lined up to reprise the role for the new entry is locked in one as well. Pine and Hemsworth have both found success in comic book films. Hemsworth became a house hold name as Thor in six MCU films with a seventh on the way while Pine played Steve Trevor the love interest to the titular character of Wonder Woman a role that he will reprise in next year's follow up. Hemsworth's presence in the next is a response to the disappointing preformace of 2016's Star Trek Beyond which some blamed on an advertising campaign which gave away a plot twist. Whether Messrs Pine and Hemsworth get their demands met remains to be seen.

The return of Nuclear Man

This week saw the debut of one of the most ridiculed villains in Super Hero movies. Nuclear Man was the creation of Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor in the much derided Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. The film that saw the Man of Steel bring an end to the arms race only for his old enemy to create an new foe. The film was crictised for it's cheap special and inchompisarble plot. The latter being the result of major edits to the film. One of these was concerning Luthor's first attempt at creation only for it to produce a rather dumb brute who was played by Clive Mantle best known for his role as Little John in Robin of Sherwood and in appearing in other TV shows like Casualty, Game of Thrones and Sherlock. Cinema goers got the second successful attempt as played by in his only acting Mark Pillow an ex Chippandale dancer and Hackman providing the voice of Nuclear Man. Superman defeats Nuclear Man by dumping him in an nuclear reactor. And for the last 31 years the character has been an embarrassment in the Superman canon. That was until current comic writer Brian Michael Bendis accepted a challenge to put the character in the pages of his current run and Bendis accepted. Nuclear Man is found to be in the Phantom Zone the prison where Krypton put it's criminal element.  Current Superman foe Rogol Zaar find Nuclear Man and the pair then have a fight to the death with Zaar emerging the winner. This time Nuclear Man has more bierf but more respectable appearance

No more Ant this year

New has emerged that Anthony 'Ant' McPartlin will not be assuming his usual co-presenting duties on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! this year leaving his entertainment partner Declan 'Dec' Donnally on solo presenting duties. This follows on the news that the pair's entertainment show Saturday Night Takeaway will not have a series this year. This news comes on the heels of the much publicised problems of McPartlin. No news as of yet about McPartlin working on the next series of Britain's Got Talent.

And the award for the most popular...

The Academy of Motion Pictures have announced that the Oscars will have an new category. There soon be an award for Achievement in Popular Film. This could be considered a response to ever dwindling public interest in the awards since in recent years they have come to be dominated by somewhat niche films like Moonlight and The Shape of Water. When this new award will be introduce has yet to be confirmed.

When favourites blow it

Kevin Mayer the current World Decathlon champion made a bit of a blunder at the European Athletics Championships currently being held in Berlin. In the Long Jump failed to record a successful attempt in 3 tries in the event. The result being Mayer was left with no points and his chances winning the title gone.

Character comebacks

Following on the news that Patrick Stewart is returning to his signature role of Jean Luc Picard here are some more examples of other actors doing the same


Perry Mason

Raymond Burr paid the razor sharp Defence Attorney who would always provide a surprise to the trial that would earn his client a reprieve for 9 seasons between 1957 and 1966. 19 years later Burr world start playing the character in a series of TV movies until his death in 1993

Columbo

Peter Falk had a 11 year gap between 1978 and 1989 before returning to the crumpled 'tec forever pitting wits with arrogant murderers. The last episode was 2003's Columbo Likes the Nightlife which saw the character go into the Rave scene on a case.

Kojak

Between 1973 and 1978 Telly Salavas the loipop sucking cop with the immortal catch phase 'Who Loves you Baby?'. Salavas returned to the role for an number of specials between 1985 and 1990.  In 2005 there was a short liver revival starring Ving Rhames in the title role.

To boldly return

It has been announced that Patrick Stewart will be returning to the role of Starfleet Captain Jean Luc Picard in an new series for the streaming service CBS All Access. The last time Stewart played the role that made him a household name was in the film Star Trek: Nemesis. The film had disappointing box office returns in part to it being released in a crowded market place with Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber and Die Another Day holding regin. Star Trek: Nemesis is notable for 2 things, giving Tom Hardy his first big and due to it's failure we had the 2009 reboot which saw Kirk, Spock et al played by new actors. We await more news of Picard's return.

Jacob and the van driver

The Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has become a bit of a cult figure thanks to his pro Brexit views. During the campaign of the 2016 refendrum JRM would dismiss any projected of any exit from the EU as simple scaremongering. However during a recent radio phone in JRM met his match in the form of a van driver the van driver talked about the difficulties of going from an EU country to an non EU one citing France into Switzerland for an example. The usually assured JRM just blustered his way through the call.

You see see the exchange on Youtube

Not going for international sales then?

About to start it's tenth season in the US is NCIS: Los Angles. Starring Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J the spin off of NCIS about a special unit based in Los Angles that investigates crimes that are (in some case tenuously) linked to the US Navy.  The episodes see the team go against bad guys of various nationalities such as Russian, North Korean, Pakistani, Sundanese and Venezuelan to name just a few. Based on that international sales are not likely to be high.

Timeless shall have an end

SF show Timeless which over the 2 years it has been on TV has built a loyal audience has been given a 2 part finale to tie up loose ends.This is the second time the show has come back from TV heaven after it was cancelled after it's first season. The show about a group of time traveller and their efforts to stop a conspiracy called Rittenhouse changing historic (the birth of the blues, American Civil War battles etc) events to further their agenda. The decision comes after fans hired a plane to fly a banner asking for the show's revival and it worked.