Tuesday 5 January 2010

Tennant's Extra



Well, that's Christmas over with for another year. Mine was, seemingly like everyone else's, quite quiet.
What a shite year for festive telly though. I know people say that every year, but this year, Jesus, it was abysmal. Obviously your luck was running on empty if you don't like looking at David Tennant's hatchet fizzogg. He was never off - I saw him on, and immediately switched off: Never Mind the Buzzcocks, The Catherine Tate Show, QI, Alan Carr's crap chat vehicle and a load of other stuff I've forgotten about. I certainly didn't see him on that children's sci-fi drama thingy he does. Because it's for children. And I don't like sci-fi. And I don't like David Tennant.

Other Xmas TV lowlights (bear in mind I spent a lot of Christmas in other people's houses so didn't have a lot of choice in the televisual delights on offer):

  • The Catherine Tate Show nan thing. Get her off.

  • That Victoria Wood thing. Probably would have found it mildly amusing if I'd ever seen that Lark Rise to Cranford. But I haven't.

  • Ant and Dec's Christmas Show. No, you're not Morcambe and Wise. Especially when you're show just features a load of other ITV-promoted divvys.

  • The All Star Impressions Show. Where to start with this? Imagine the worst impressions you've ever seen multiplied by ten and done by 'some of Britain's favourite celebrities.' By 'Britain's favourite celebrities', they mean, for example, twat-in-chief Tony Blackburn doing Prince Charles, Chesney Hawks (that's right, Chesney Hawks, 'Britain's favourite celebrities' remember?) as Prince William and Mackenzie Crook as Albert Steptoe. I couldn't work out whether it was serious or not. And it was a joint venture by the production companies of Steve Coogan and Vic Reeves. There was one glimmer of hope in a sketch, with 'proper' impressionists, revolving around those warring Gallagher brothers appearing on Jeremy Kyle. Otherwise I had to keep checking to make sure it wasn't April 1st instead of December 26th.

  • All Star Mr and Mrs. This had Joan Collins who kept being described as 'a legend.' How is she a legend please? She was best known for appearing in B-Movies and for marrying Anthony Newley. Then she got her minge out in two films and went into Dynasty. That does not a legend make, in my book at least. The other 'stars' involved were a bit-part actor off of Coronation Street and someone I've forgotten.

  • The Royle Family. Had its day. I don't particularly want to see Ricky Tomlinson's skidmarks on Christmas Day, thank you very much.

So, what did I enjoy?

  • Queen at Hammersmith Odeon 1975. I'm not a massive Queen fan, and I certainly don't like anything they recorded after 1980, but this was rather good. Plus it's always fun looking back, isn't it? Especially as when this was recorded they were just breaking through, with Bohemian Rhapsody at no. 1. Watching the video for Bohemian Rhapsody, week in, week out, on Top of the Pops, is one of my earliest memories.

  • The Not the Nine O'Clock News documentary. I used to love the TV show and books when I was a kid. And who knew that Stephenson and Atkinson hated each others guts? Not I. Pity the 'classic' episode shown after was just a load of 'best bits' spliced together.

  • Wallace and Gromit in The Wrong Trousers. Never get tired of watching that.

  • Some Like it Hot.

  • Knowing Me Knowing Yule with Alan Partridge.

So there you go, a 34 year-old concert, a thing about a thirty year-old satirical TV show, a fifteen year-old kids animation, a fifteen year-old spoof chat show and a 50 year-old film. They don't make 'em like they used to, eh?
The rest of the time I spent getting addicted to an Xbox game my sister bought me for Christmas. Who needs Catherine Tate when you can race a Bentley Speed 80 around Le Mans?


By the way, here's the first irritation of 2010: those two smug, 'look at us, aren't we beautiful?' idiots the Redknapps on that Thomas Cook advert. Where's my AK47?

6 comments:

Jon Peake said...

I couldn't believe how poor that Victoria Wood thing was. I'm amazed the Beeb allowed her to get away with it. I think I tittered maybe once in the Julie Walters bits, and ended up fast-forwarding through the Lark Rise bits. Her jokes are really hackneyed and simply not funny.

She's officially over.

The NTNON thing was great. I had no idea what a monster Rowan Atkinson was.

Other than that, Christmas in Cranford was my other highlight and that's about it.

Bored to tears of David bloody Tennant now.

Kolley Kibber said...

If you think Rowan Atkinson's a monster, I hear Gryff is even worse...

And that Celebrity Impressions thing sounds like something you might dream if you'd eaten too much cheese before bed. Did that really happen?? Jesus.

Valentine Suicide said...

Xmas was saved* for me by the class** re-interpretation of Day of The Triffids.

I like GRJ, and half hope he is the serious irascible curmudgeon he appears to be.

I didn't watch anything else, except Elf, Anchorman and The Simpsons.


*I was pretty ill from the beginning to the end.
** Insipid. I couldn't be bothered to watch the second part

Mondo said...

Did you see the Guitar Hero evening following Queen on BBC 4 The Faces were fab, but a dodgy selection of clips from OGWT followed by Tom Petty live(?)..

NTNON was a highlight, but as you say a cop out with clips after. Got me digging my vinyl album and Not book out straight after..

Bright Ambassador said...

FC - Perhaps they give Wood free reign to do whatever she likes these days, now she's a, ugh, 'national treasure.'

ISBW - Yes, it really happened. I would direct you to ITV Player but surely they wouldn't have put it on there...would they..?

VS - I thought about watching TDOTT (I don't mind sci-fi that's rooted in some kind of reality), but I'm far too fond of the 1981 version with John Duttine. Besides, I heard that even with the advances in CGI, the Triffids were still crap.

Mondo - I saw quite a few of those Guitar Hero things. They were enjoyable for the most part, but seemed to feature rather too many flamenco guitarists for my taste. Quite a few of those clips I'd not seen before, like AC/DC on TOTP from '78 that I put on Facebook the other day.
It bugs me that our Not! book went missing, God knows where it went to. It was notable, for me anyway, in that it featured a letter written by one Richard Goodall. Whoever he might be...

Nick Tann said...

The end of the Victoria Wood thing was bizarre. I may never get over it.
Atkinson may or may not be a monster but I never thought of him as the star of the show...