Video: SHERLOCK - The Network Joint Session Masterclass

MediaGuardian have put the entire Sherlock panel online from the Edinburgh International Television Festival, where creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss discuss the creation of the popular BBC series with TV critic Boyd Hilton. They're also joined by producer Sue Vertue and actor Andrew Scott (who plays Moriarty). I have nothing much to add, beyond the fact this is an enjoyable hour's watch for fans, and I'm so pleased The Guardian have put high-quality footage of this panel online.

NBC order sci-fi script from the showrunners of HOMELAND and SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES

Howard Gordon (24, Homeland) and Josh Friedman (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) are working together on a potential NBC series set in a near-future where human-looking robots exist. The pilot will revolve around a homicide detective investigating the first instance of a robot killing a human being, to the backdrop of a growing robotic rebellion.

Augmented Reality: film yourself with an ALIEN chestburster!

Here's a very cool demonstration of an augmented reality app, which is sure to delight fans of the Alien franchise. Simply install the free app (iOS, Google Play), print the target image (or buy an official T-shirt), and you can film a friend with a nasty chestbuster xenomorph protruding from their body. Or wherever you like! I recommend a sleeping pet. Brought to you by the talented folk at Fingerfunk.

[via io9]

THE DESCENT's Neil Marshall to direct Starz's BLACK SAILS pilot

British director Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent) has been hired by Starz to direct the pilot of their upcoming Treasure Island prequel Black Sails; which will tell the story of Captain Flint and Long John Silver two decades before Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale.

Autumn 2012: What I'll Be Watching

It's that time of year again; the tantalising brink of the autumn/fall season, where the TV networks premiere their brand new shows, together with returning favourites. As always, it promises to be a very busy time of year, and I probably won't be covering as much as usual. Instead, I'll sample the majority of pilots, write about the ones I have a strong reaction to, and then watch a few more episodes to determine if they're worth persevering with. Only the most interesting shows will become regularly reviewed here, as I just don't have the time to plough through everything.

Video: FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS - Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That)

It's been three years since HBO's Flight of the Conchords finished after two seasons (scarily), so this is a nice treat for fans of the New Zealand duo. It's a 14-minute charity special, where Jermaine and Brett are given the opportunity to write a charity song for kids. It includes a brand new sketch with their clueless manager Murray (Rhys Darby), an amusing market research session with real school kids, and a performance of the resulting song itself. Great fun. I've actually warmed to FotC more since the show went off-air, and hope rumours of a feature-film come true. But, for now, let's enjoy this new material.

You can also donate to the Cure Kids charity here, and download FotC's song from NZ iTunes. It will hopefully be made available worldwide soon.

Sky1's A TOUCH OF CLOTH review

Part One

Part Two

Satirist Charlie Brooker understands how to approach a spoof; the genre many say was perfected in the '80s by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker (ZAZ) with their classic Airplane!, building on Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. Since then, the form's sadly devolved into dumb mimicry, spearheaded by detestable claptrap like Scary Movie and Epic Movie, but Brooker laudably approached A Touch of Cloth with the classics in mind...

TRUE BLOOD, 5.12 - 'Save Yourself'

"You're a dick" -- Holly to Andy

Another mess, as expected. I had mild hope that True Blood would give us a satisfying finale, but it didn't even have the grace to resolve the Lilith storyline. In addition, the feeling everything's half-improvised and they have no idea what they're doing was back in force. I'd love to know if the writers sit down and map out the entire season, or if they just wing it with a Charlaine Harris book as a vague outline. It's terribly done, but I guess the ratings stay solid because it keeps delivering violence, black humour, sex and nudity. Oh for a world where character, story and dialogue were the fixed priorities for audiences.

Review: BAD SUGAR (Channel 4)

Peep Show creators Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain return with a one-off special for Channel 4's "Funny Fortnight" season, and if there's any justice a full series will follow. Bad Sugar concerned the Cauldwell family, whose ageing patriarch Ralphfred (David Bradley) made their fortune in mining. These days the Cauldwell dynasty is mostly comprised of schemers, bitter idiots, and gold-digging bitches. In this episode we meet Lucy (Sharon Horgan), who's just joined the family after getting hitched to repressed homosexual Rolph (Peter Serafinowicz), expecting a big inheritance, until it becomes clear that cantankerous Ralphred is still alive and kicking. Shortly after, Lucy makes an immediate enemy of bitchy sister-in-law Daphne (Julia Davis), while trying to recommence her efforts to get hold of the Cauldwell fortune. Throw in naïve younger sister Joan (Olivia Colman), Daphne's bitter paraplegic husband Greg (Reece Shearsmith), and dimwit gardener Simon (Kayvan Novak), and the scene was set for a juicy Dynasty-esque melodrama played for laughs.

BREAKING BAD, 5.7 - 'Say My Name'

The bliss of Breaking Bad is when the hard work pays off, and "Say My Name" saw a number of subplots come to a head; particularly regarding Mike's (Jonathan Banks) involvement with the business, Walt's (Bryan Cranston) desire to take his empire up a level, Jesse's (Aaron Paul) hope to break free of this mess, and Hank's (Dean Norris) luck trying to tie-up the stalling Fring investigation. It was, as you'd expect from this show when it's in sight of a half-season finale, absolutely magnificent.

TV Picks: 27 August– 2 September 2012 (Citizen Khan, Doctor Who, Good Cop, Hunderby, The Paralympic Games, Strike Back, Trollied, etc.)

Once again it's time for my weekly TV picks of the best new shows British TV has to offer, as the new TV season begins in earnest...

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, 1.1 & 1.2 - 'Welcome to the Hellmouth' & 'The Harvest'

Buffy: To make you a vampire they have to suck your blood. And then you have to suck their blood. It's like a whole big sucking thing.

Never underestimate the power of a good title. 1992's Buffy the Vampire Slayer may have earned twice its $7 million budget on opening weekend, but it was hardly a success for screenwriter Joss Whedon, who felt the movie strayed far from his original vision. But the odd-sounding title lodged in audience minds, and five years later Whedon found himself making an unlikely sequel in the form of a teen-friendly TV series for The WB—albeit one specifically following the canonicity of Whedon's movie script, not what made it to multiplexes. One of the most appealing aspects of this 1997 pilot is how it forgoes preamble or an origin story, particularly as such a thing is de rigeur in its genre. Whedon either hoped you'd seen the movie or, more likely, trusted his audience weren't idiots and could catch the drift...

Review: JUST AROUND THE CORNER

A sitcom pilot from Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin can't fail to raise expectations, as the writers were responsible for Drop the Dead Donkey and Outnumbered. Just Around the Corner is an idea that's apparently been swimming around their minds for awhile now, so I'm not sure if its inclusion in Channel 4's "Funny Fortnight" season is them scratching an itch or a serious attempt to launch a new show. The thing about this pilot is that, rather like The Function Room, it felt like a one-joke idea that will get repetitive fairly quickly, but as a one-off it was an enjoyable and imaginative experience.

Creators tease SHERLOCK series 3, which begins filming in January 2013

Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss attended the MediaGuardian's Edinburgh International Television Festival panel to discuss Sherlock. They were joined by actor Andrew Scott (Moriarty) and producer Sue Vertue, to answer various questions. The big news was the announcement that series 3 will film between January and April 2013, suggesting a late-summer/early-autumn premiere next year.

Review: COPPER, 1.1 – 'Surviving Death' (BBC America)

These days, every channel wants its own original drama, even if that flies in the face of their perceived intentions in the marketplace. I mean, why is MTV doing anything other than play music videos non-stop? Perhaps inspired by the success of cable minnow Starz with Spartacus and Boss, British TV importer BBC America has created its own drama series—one that, wisely, mixes the BBC's reputation for esteemed period drama, with the American crime procedural obsession. The result is the ten-part Copper; a cop show set in 1864 New York City, which was vividly portrayed in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York. Unfortunately, BBC America doesn't have a movie-sized budget, or even a HBO-sized one, so Copper had to do one thing to make this work: give us memorable characters and a gripping story, in order to pull us through inevitable deficiencies with the production's scale and intricacies. It failed.

MSN TV Review: THE INBETWEENERS [USA]

Today at MSN TV, I've reviewed the American remake of British comedy phenomenon THE INBETWEENERS, which started its first season on MTV last Monday. Will it recapture the magic of the original and echo its success Stateside? Well, probably not.

"Britain can take solace in the fact the best teenage drama and comedy of recent times has come from our shores: Skins and The Inbetweeners. MTV have now remade both for America, but the problem remains that these shows were very British reactions to a genre dominated by US pop-culture (all prom nights, liquor stores, and toga parties). In the case of The Inbetweeners, the subject matter and setup may be universal, but it was particularly refreshing from a UK perspective because the milieu and language was tailored to a home audience gorged on too much American Pie. The problem with MTV's Inbetweeners isn't that it's bad, just that it offers nothing unique for the culture that spawned what the UK show subverted." Continue reading...

Review: TOAST OF LONDON

It may sound strange to call any sitcom "encouraging" if I only laughed once, but Toast of London felt like it needs time to grow now the seed's planted; and for viewers to get a better handle on the daft characters and situation. It's the story of acclaimed luvvie actor Steven Toast (Matt Berry), who's destabilised his own career by appearing in a controversial West End play (the title of which is even censored by comical aural distractions if anyone dares utter it). As a result, Toast is now down on his luck and forced by agent Jane Plough ("it's spelt 'plough' but pronounced 'pluff', as in 'Brian Clough'") to take menial jobs like voiceover work; where he's forced by hipsters to say the word "yes" an obscene numbers of times in different intonations. Or audition for the role of a gay policeman in Summer Time Murders at a prison where the show's producer' is being detained for racism. (No doubt inspired by the real-life race row on Midsomer Murders.)

TRUE BLOOD, 5.11 – 'Sunset'

Whenever it has an inflexible finish line in sight and must resolve things quickly, True Blood is often at its unhinged best. It's certainly more focused. Otherwise it's too happy to fool around for weeks on end, trying to stretch its story out across twelve hours. If HBO only ordered a half-dozen episodes every season, just imagine how much better and tighter this show would be. "Sunset" was a fairly pleasant viewing experience, even if it still contained some subplots I'm not very interested in—like Alcide (Joseph Manganiello) going home to roost with his white trash dad (Robert Patrick). In particular, I liked the development that blood-soaked Lilith is appearing to various member of the vampire Authority, promising them leadership if they drink the remainder of her sacred blood.

BREAKING BAD, 5.6 – 'Buyout'

"This business is all I have left now... and you want to take it away from me." -- Walter

The fallout to Todd (Jesse Plemons) unflappably killing a child witness was largely what I expected: Jesse (Aaron Paul) is outraged and demanding they sack callous Todd; Walt (Bryan Cranston) is numbed but pragmatic about events and determined to keep the business going for selfish reasons; and Mike (Jonathan Banks) is angry and looking for a way out of this whole sorry mess. What was unexpected is how an innocent boy's death triggered the potential dissolution of the meth business, just as it's started to find surer footing now they have a thousand gallons of stolen methylamine (which equates to a staggering $300m potential street value once cooked).

MSN TV Review: CUTTING EDGE – IAN BRADY: ENDGAMES OF A PSYCHOPATH (Channel 4)

Today over at MSN TV, I've reviewed Channel 4's Cutting Edge documentary IAN BRADY: ENDGAMES OF A PSYCHOPATH, which appears to have started some debate from readers.

Ian Brady, psychopathic killer of five children in the 1960s: Pauline Reade, Keith Bennett, John Kilbride, Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans. You know the mug shot; sleepy-eyed, downturned mouth, a tussle of teddy boy hair, wearing a tie-less white shirt and jacket. Along with his lover and abettor Myra Hindley, he instantly became one of Britain's most infamous criminals, and still haunts the victim's families after five decades of incarceration and increasing fragility at the age of 74 (13 years into a prolonged hunger strike, fed by nasogastric tube)..." Continue reading...

Review: THE FUNCTION ROOM – 'Meet the Police'

Another sitcom initially announced as part of 2011's Comedy Showcase, before being unceremoniously dropped from the schedule, The Function Room now arrives as part of Channel 4's "Funny Fortnight" season. Like Verry Terry, one assumes this is a back-door pilot for a series if the response is favourable, and it certainly made enough of a positive impression on me.

BOTTOM's Mayall & Edmondson reuniting for HOLLIGAN'S ISLAND

Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson have been British comedy legends for 30 years, particularly with their work on The Young Ones and Bottom, but in 2003 they parted ways after the fifth Bottom stage show, "Weapons Grade Y-Fronts". However, it looks like the anarchic double-act will reunite after almost a decade working on solo projects. Fans will be delighted to hear this will involve the return of Richie and Eddie, in a TV series based on their Bottom show "Hooligan's Island"—where their alter egos found themselves marooned on a desert island.

TV Picks: 20-26 August 2012 (Parade's End, Toast of London, A Touch of Cloth, Vic & Bob's Lucky Sexy Winners, Whatever Happened to Harry Hill?, etc.)

It's my weekly look at the UK's best new TV shows, for the week beginning 20th August 2012. A week that includes plentiful comedy as part of Channel 4's "Funny Fortnight" season...

Why don't they bring back THE AVENGERS?

It's the British spy-fi series that premiered in 1961, starring Patrick Macnee as urbane agent John Steed (in iconic bowler hat and umbrella), partnered by various assertive women—most famously Honor Blackman's shrewd Dr Cathy Gale, Diana Rigg's catsuit-wearing Emma Peel (so-named because she was added to give the show "man appeal"), and Linda Thorson's inscrutable Tara King. I'm talking about British cult classic The Avengers, of course, which at its mid-'60s peak was shown in over 90 countries (including ABC in the US). Even after its cancellation in 1969, the show stayed popular enough through repeats, a stage show, and radio plays, for a 1976 revival as The New Avengers, with Macnee now joined by Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt.

Teasers: DOWNTON ABBEY, series 3

ITV1 used the Saturday night returns of gameshow Red & Black? and The X Factor to debut trailers for upcoming dramas. The most memorable of which were two teases of Emmy-winner Downton Abbey's third series. Both offered fans peeks of the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith): one where she makes an acerbic remark about Lady Grantham's visiting mother Martha Levinson (Shirley Maclaine), and the other where Martha gets the better of her caustic English relative.

Review: VERRY TERRY, Channel 4

Kayvan Novak transfers his popular Fonejacker/Facejacker character Terry Tibbs to a spoof chat show, where the brash East End car salesman interviewed Hollywood legend Mickey Rourke and ex-Blue Peter presenter turned domestic goddess Anthea Turner (her appearance filmed weeks before her recent marital problems, sadly). We've grown so accustomed to spoof chat shows that they rarely surprise or delight in the same way Knowing Me, Knowing You or The Mrs Merton Show did in the '90s, but Verry Terry was markedly better than The Angelos Epithemiou Show. This was only a back-door pilot, heralding Channel 4's "Funny Fortnight" season, but it felt deserving of a full series commitment.

Trailer: HOMELAND, season 2

Showtime have released Homeland's official second season trailer (embedded above), which is 95-seconds of bliss. I love trailers that don't assault you with imagery; spoiling things for the eagle-eyed with a pause button. This is a much classier preview of season 2, set to the enchanting "Every Breath You Take" (The Police classic, here covered by Scala and the Kolacny Brothers).

It doesn't give much away, but it teases some notable changes—not least war hero Nick Brody (Damian Lewis) stepping foot on the political ladder, and Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) working in the Middle East. After watching this play out, you're reminded of why you enjoyed the show on an emotional level, and yet remain mostly in the dark about where the story is headed. Homeland will certainly have its work cut-out trying to keep things moving forward plausibly (as it still feels like it would have worked better as a miniseries), but I hope I'm proven wrong when it returns on 30 September. Highly anticipated.

MSN TV Review: RUSSELL BRAND - FROM ADDICTION TO RECOVERY

Over at MSN TV today, I've reviewed BBC Three's hour-long documentary RUSSELL BRAND - FROM ADDICTION TO RECOVERY, where the comedian investigates the country's drug addiction problem and the prospects of rehabilitation.

"My opinion of Russell Brand has always been hard to pin down because his output runs incredibly hot and cold. For every scene-stealing turn in the likes of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, there's a heinous remake of Arthur lurking round the corner. In addition, he's undoubtedly a rampant egomaniac. However, it's impossible to deny Russell Brand as the perfect choice to present a film about drugs on the BBC's youth-skewing channel. Thanks to his background as a charismatic comic and ex-junkie, From Addiction to Recovery was both insightful and entertaining." Continue reading...

HBO/BBC2 pickup Christopher Guest and Chris O'Dowd comedy

The IT Crowd's Chris O'Dowd is having incredible success in the US right now, thanks to a well-received role in Bridesmaids. Next up for the Irish actor is headlining a brand new comedy from renowned mockumentary-maker Christopher Guest (Spinal Tap, Best In Show). Family Tree will follow Tom Chadwick (O'Dowd) as he researches his unusual family history with the aid of a mysterious box he inherits from a great aunt he never knew. The series has been created by Guest and regular collaborator Jim Piddock, and will air on HBO in the US and BBC2 in the UK. Unusually, Family Tree has been commissioned on the strength of the concept and talent assembled, as a pilot hasn't even been shot. The comedy is expected to share a similar tone to Guest's movies.

Trailer: DEXTER, season 7

Showtime have released a two-minute trailer for the seventh season of Dexter, which I've embedded above. It certainly looks promising, if only because the writers appear to have realised they can't toy with the audience any longer. For the first time in a very long time, we have a Dexter trailer demonstrating unequivocal progress of the show's underlying tension: Deb knows, or will soon realise, that her brother's the notorious Bay Harbour Butcher. I hope. There's still an outside chance this trailer is misleading us, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Two more seasons are guaranteed right now, although there's recently been worrying rumours Showtime may push for a ninth season. That would be a colossal mistake. This show had a shelf life of five years, and they've pushed their luck to reach seven. I just hope season 7 and 8 will bring definite closure to the show (through salvation, death, or incarceration of Dexter Morgan), because witnessing The End is one of the key reasons I'm still watching. How about you?

Review: BAD EDUCATION, BBC Three

His stand-up comedy is flavourless and mechanical, but I enjoyed Jack Whitehall's acting debut in Channel 4's Fresh Meat recently, so didn't approach BBC3's Bad Education with the trepidation I'd have had beforehand. Whitehall has written this sitcom for himself, playing posh and immature teacher Alfie, but he forgot to make anything halfway original. And why cast yourself as a posh teacher, when you're currently known for playing a posh student in another sitcom? What next, a posh caretaker?

MSN TV Review: ACCUSED, series 2

Over at MSN TV, I've reviewed the series 2 premiere of Jimmy McGovern's drama anthology ACCUSED, this one starring Sean Bean as a transvestite college professor who starts an affair with Stephen Graham's affable TV repairman.

"From acclaimed writer Jimmy McGovern, Accused retains its established format: a story told in flashback from the perspective of someone standing accused of a crime. In this premiere, transvestite teacher Simon Gaskell (Sean Bean) stood in the dock, part of a story involving an unexpected love affair with satellite repairman Tony Baines (Stephen Graham)..." Continue reading...

TRUE BLOOD, 5.10 – 'Gone, Gone, Gone'

Following the slight uptick in quality last week, it's back down with a soft bump for "Gone, Gone, Gone". True Blood recognises it can't drag everything out over a whole season these days, which is good, but it also means that we have this awkward latter period where the show tries to cope with narrative losses by getting more characters involved in remaining plots. To that end, Sam (Sam Trammell) and Luna (Janina Gavankar) again played shape-shifting detectives in order to find Luna's missing daughter Emma, who's become the coddled pet of Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian) at Authority HQ; Tara (Rutina Wesley) mutinied against Fangtasia's new owner, decapitating him to regain control over their lives and business; Jason (Ryan Kwanten) and Sookie (Anna Paquin) discovered a scroll of Fairy code under their gran's bed, later decrypted to reveal a Stackhouse ancestor promised a vampire ownership of Sookie (as his first Fae-born descendant); Bill's (Stephen Moyer) blind faith in Lilith grew stronger, as Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) and Nora (Lucy Griffiths) shared a blood-vision of the vampire goddess slaughtering their own maker Godric (Allan Hyde); and, finally, Hoyt (Jim Parrack) left Bon Temps for Alaska, but not before making his first love Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) "glamour" him into forgetting about her and his best-friend Jason.

A summer redesign

Dan's Media Digest underwent a revamp last Sunday evening, as you've hopefully noticed. (Unless you don't visit my blog directly and instead leech its RSS feed.) The changes don't feel too substantial in some ways, but it's still a brand new template combining aspects of the old with something new. The impetus behind this summer change was threefold:

BREAKING BAD, 5.5 – 'Dead Freight'

It begins with a lone kid on a dirt bike, riding across the peaceful desert, stopping to collect a tarantula in a jar; blissfully unaware he's yet to meet the environment's real danger that needs containing. "Dead Freight" had a beautiful bookend that packed a raw punch, no doubt about it, but the majority of the hour was another fizzy Breaking Bad escapade—which are something of a throwback to the earlier seasons, only the stakes are now far higher and success more critical.

Olympics: the Legacy of London 2012

The Olympic Games are over for another four years, with the torch literally passed to Rio de Janeiro for 2016. It's been a wonderful fortnight for a great many reasons, managing the difficult feat of making the British lose their cynicism and sarcasm. Ever since London won the Games seven years ago, the press and comedians have been filling our heads with derogatory remarks about what a London Games will look like (how could they be as lavish or well-organised as Beijing?), and the focus was on the astronomical expense and predictions of travel chaos across the capital. Even days before the spectacle of the Opening Ceremony, people were bracing themselves for a Teletubbies-esque fuckup from artistic director Danny Boyle, inclement weather, and the big story was security firm G4S failing to meet their commitments and forcing the government to send the military to Olympic venues last-minute.

TV Picks: 13-19 August 2012 (Accused, Bad Education, Celebrity Big Brother, Jonathan Ross Show, Person of Interest, Red or Black?, Verry Terry, Wilfred, X Factor, etc.)

Here are my picks of the best new television shows premiering in the UK, for the week commencing 13 August:

FX order THE AMERICANS

It's official. US cable channel FX have ordered 13 episodes of Joe Weisberg's 1980s Cold War drama The Americans, starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as parents of an American family living in Washington D.C who are secretly KGB spies.

LUTHER spin-off for Alice Morgan?

Variety are reporting that Neil Cross, creator of the BBC's Golden Globe-winning cop drama Luther, would love to write a US-set spin-off for the show's popular serial killer love-interest Alice (Ruth Wilson).

Speaking to Variety, Cross confirmed that "the BBC is very interested in the project. The only real question would be how many and how often we would do it—whether it would be a one-off miniseries or a returning miniseries, a co-production or not. The truth is I absolutely adore Alice. I don't like to imagine my life without Alice in some way or other. Even if I didn't sell this thing, I would still end up writing the miniseries. It's something peculiar, but she's far more clever than me, far more witty than me, far more everything than me. I've got storylines going around in my head like trains. We're kind of thinking very loosely of a mix between The Talented Mr. Ripley and The Last Seduction. I'd love to move between the London of Luther and America."

Review: BEAVER FALLS, series 2

Beaver Falls baffled me last year and continues to do so. It's a fun but derivative idea (three British blokes fly to a Californian summer camp with the intention of boozing, partying and shagging girls, only to discover they're at the bottom of the social ladder alongside some misfit kids they're tasked with entertaining), and it managed to justify a half-dozen episodes last year... but only by the skin of its teeth. The strange thing is, the story concluded perfectly well last summer; with the hapless trio finding love, triumphing over bullying jocks, and helping give nerds some self-respect. It even achieved an unexpected moment of poignancy; with the shock reveal that ladies' man Flynn (Sam Robertson) secretly has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and could die soon.