After last week’s live-show taster of the New Zealand comedy duo The Flight Of The Conchords, the series proper started last night on BBC Four. You’ll remember that FOTC comprises Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie (though the New Zealand accent had me convinced he was called ‘Brit’…) and this HBO series follows them as they try to break America, and ‘get girls’.
Like all good double acts, Jermaine and Bret have a natural chemistry that clearly has nothing to do with acting, but unlike most, there’s not really a defined difference between them. They’re both deluded, both outwardly convinced that they’re great, and massively popular, and inwardly aware that they’re not.
Over the years, the BBC (like any other big company) have suffered from strikes by staff. I witnessed one first hand in Manchester quite recently. Previously, the biggest was at the tail end of 1978 when our screens were filled with silence and apologies (see accompanying image). Now, another strike is gaining support across the corporation, with staff angry at possible cuts to the BBC’s news operations.
According to The Guardian, head of BBC News Peter Horrocks has said in an email that many editors in the news department “believe there will be strong support for action,” because staff want to protect their jobs, and see cuts to the news budget as not delivering what the public want from the BBC. Horrocks says in the email: “Many of the assistant editors will be militant as they are under threat themselves.”
For a start, there are so few images of Charlie Brooker on the web that I’m resorting to a cartoon he drew of himself for his Screen Burn column in The Guardian. Still, don’t let that detract from the fact that his TV show, Screen Wipe (BBC4, Tuesday, 10pm) is probably the best thing on the box at the moment (and if that moment only includes the half hour from 10pm ’til 10.30pm on a Tuesday night then so be it).
Screen Wipe, for those of you who haven’t seen it (there really is no excuse for it… I’ve been banging on about it for the best part of a year now) is a look at TV wrongs through the unswerving eye of Brooker. He deconstructs the box, peers in, yells at the plasma/cathode tube tells it to grow up before slumping in his armchair and wondering where everything went so horribly wrong. Yep. If I could have his job, I’d kill him for it.
And about time too, you might say, seeing as though we’re nearly in October. But let’s not quibble, it looks like there are some fabulous dramas, comedies and documentaries (including ones on the arts of all things – imagine that!) coming up on what is quickly becoming one of TVScoop’s favourite channels.
The centrepiece of the Autumn schedules is an Andrew Davies-penned adaptation of the John Cleland novel Fanny Hill. Davies is the go-to guy for period dramas, and while you might think it would do the genre good to branch out a little, the fact is he’s *brilliant*. Bleak House was a massive hit with audiences and critics alike, and he wrote the only truly enjoyable adaptation – of Northanger Abbey – during ITV’s recent Jane Austen season. The drama will be supported by two documentaries, The Curse Of Success and The Age Of Excess which will look at the author and his times.
It’s been a rough old week for BBC channels, and it hasn’t mattered much whether you’re a bright spanking new digital channel still wet behind the ears with a limited audience share or a long-established stalwart of the stable who still, for some reason, is treated like a second-class citizen. Less than three weeks ago some within the Beeb’s empire were calling for the minor channels, 3 and 4, to be axed altogether. By mid-week last week came the news that they were saved.
That was a relief! Whatever would have become of those friendly little blobs if dear old young BBC Three had suffered the chop? But “safe” is only ever a relative term in the fast-moving and cutthroat world of television. The channels have been told they have to save 3% per annum from their budgets for the next five years, and then came the rumour that BBC Two and Four were to merge.
The BBC are under siege at the moment after unveiling further incidents of editorial breaches in competitions and voting. An internal BBC review, which included programmes going back to 2005, discovered four incidents though none involved premium rate telephone lines. Two of the incidents included shows from BBC 6 Music, and as a result the station’s head of programmes Ric Blaxhill has resigned from his position.
Initially, I was going to rant and rave about how fabulous Flight of the Conchords are and how you really should watch them on Tuesday, BBC2, 9.30pm. Instead, knowing that comedy is a tricky thing to share, I thought I’d give you this video to watch. If you laugh at this, then you’ll love it. If you don’t, then you must be a little dead inside.
Later today, the BBC are to make a statement about the future of former Blue Peter editor Richard Marson and up to 25 other staff who were (allegedly) involved in viewer deception. The statement is expected to be the BBC’s first official response to the Guardian‘s revelation yesterday that children’s show Blue Peter was involved in a second incident of viewer deception when a poll to name its new cat was disregarded. The swines!
This news follows on from the faking of a Blue Peter competition winner, which led to the BBC being fined £50,000 by Ofcom. Apparently, Marson was sent home on Monday after it emerged that the name that topped a Blue Peter poll was not given to the show’s cat. The name that came top is thought to have been deemed inappropriate for a children’s show and the cat was eventually called Socks. I imagine I’m not alone in wondering what the bloody hell the kids of the UK came up with. (insert Socks, Videotape and Lies pun here)
My editor tells me that it’s Talk Like A Pirate Day (or something) today so to keep in the spirit of things and avoid looking like a surly grump, I’m going to join in. So, with that, please enjoy this news about the new BBC budgeting… in pirate speak.
Aarrr. Th’ lily livered BBC director general, Mark ‘Red Beard’ Thompson, will today present proposals t’ th’ BBC Trust t’ plug a predicted £2bn budget shortfall that be expected t’ lead t’ buckets o’ job losses across th’ corporation. Ooo… aaarrr…
Th’ TV factual an’ news divisions be expected t’ take th’ brunt o’ th’ cuts, while th’ BBC’s core services – includin’ digital channels BBC3 an’ BBC4 – be understood t’ be safe ashore. Mateys be havin’ spake th’ London factual department be one o’ th’ hardest hit, wi’ th’ current six studios – arts, documentaries an’ specialist features, events, features an’ formats, science an’ history an’ Th’ One Show – bein’ merged together under one leader.
I hate comedy when set to music. I’m not talking about Spinal Tap… more… I don’t really like Bill Bailey when he sings his songs. It’s too studenty. Bailey is a hilarious man without the guitar thank you very much. Yep. It’s all a bit too knowing and winking for my liking. Last night, I prepared myself for the worst with One Night Stand – Flight Of The Conchords (BBC Four, Tuesday 18 September, 9.30pm) which had been tipped by our Anna.
The show started, and there sat an awkward couple of blokes called Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement. They hail from New Zealand. Off the top of my bonce, I can’t think of anything deemed funny that was NZ produced. Still, to dismiss it outright would be churlish wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t it?
Good news for those who thought they might have to rely on an expensive subscription service (like Sky) to get their eyes on HD programming. A report from media regulator Ofcom concluded yesterday that “BBC HD” – Auntie’s proposed high definition TV channel – won’t have any significant negative market impact.
It’s not all good news though. BBC Trust have been conducting their own assessment and are questioning the value of BBC HD for licence fee payers, owing to the limited late-night programming that would be the only thing on offer via the digital terrestrial TV service Freeview in advance of the launch of Freesat.
What’s this? Yet another reason why the calls to ditch BBC Four are ridiculous? Oh yes indeedy. The whole point of a niche channel like this is to allow people to make programmes about their own personal interests, on the assumption that it’s highly unlikely that they’ll be alone, and last night there was one such show. As part of the Comics Britannia season, Jonathan Ross went on quite a personal mission to tell the world that Spider-Man had *two* creators. Do most of us care? Perhaps not, but the joy of this programme was enjoying and appreciating the passion and care taken in its production.
Anyone with a casual interest in comics, or indeed pop culture in general, will know that Stan Lee is The Master, a creative genius whose name looms large over the entire field. He is credited with bringing The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, and The Incredible Hulk, and for that he must be saluted. The problem is that he has often taken credit where others have had an equal (at least) influence on a character’s creation.
I love comedy. I love music. And dammit, there are few things I love more than when the two things are combined. Hooray and hallelujia then, that BBC Four are bringing fabulous comedy-folk duo The Flight Of The Conchords to our screens (just one of so many reasons at the moment that BBC FOUR MUST STAY!).
The Conchords comprise New Zealanders Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement, and their rise to (near) stardom has followed the path of so many comics before them. They started out with a Perrier-nominated live show, moved to radio, and have recently had their own TV series shown on HBO in the US. That series will be on BBC Four from next week, but tomorrow night we get a little taster of the weird and wonderful things to come, through this live special. If you can’t even wait those few hours, the BBC site has plenty of clips to whet your appetite. Prepare to be obsessed.
Set The Video: One Night Stand – Flight Of The Conchords, BBC Four, Tuesday 18 September, 9.30pm
An idea floated by the media regulator Ofcom – to help maintain “public service” programming by sharing out the licence fee between BBC and commercial broadcasters – was criticised by both BBC and ITV bosses this week. ITV executive chairman Michael Grade, speaking at a convention organised by the Royal Television Society, said he didn’t want any of the licence fee.
TVScoop has covered many stories centred around how the BBC is struggling with its finances after a smaller-than-expected licence fee settlement, so it will come as no surprise that BBC director general Mark Thompson was also against the idea, saying it would weaken the corporation, which is has no other source of revenue. Channel 4 has yet to comment, but would also be in line to benefit from any change to the distribution of the licence fee, which will be considered by the government in 2012. Click through for your chance to decide what should be done with the licence fee.
The name Steve Ditko is not well-known outside American comic-book fandom. Certainly not as well-known as, say, Stan Lee. And yet it was with Stan Lee that Ditko co-created legendary Marvel super-heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. In those early days, Lee provided the script but it was Ditko’s pencil and inks that brought the characters to life with his unique style. Always a troubled talent, after the first 38 issues of The Amazing Spider-Man he quit Marvel and spent the rest of his career bouncing from one comic publisher to the next, never giving interviews and drawing ever more radical characters.
Now long-time comic-book fan Jonathan Ross is on the trail of Ditko, to uncover his reasons for leaving Marvel and one of the most popular comic characters of all time, and to understand the complex man behind the pen. Writing in yesterday’s Guardian, Ross reveals the depth of his admiration for the artist, his frustration that Ditko never received the recognition he deserved, and his determination to secure an interview with this most reclusive genius.
Jonathan Ross in Search of Steve Ditko: BBC Four, Sunday 16 September, 9pm
C’mere… there’s more. No, Jimmy Cricket isn’t on the box tonight, but rather, I want you to pull up your comfiest seat and settle down in front of the box with me this weekend. Let’s have a look at what this weekend has to offer.
Friday – Marc Bolan: The Final Word, BBC Four, 9pm
When you think of a glorious rise into mega-stardom and a horrendous puffy faced bloated decline, it’s easy to only think of Elvis. Well, Britain’s own teeny rock’n'boogie king Marc Bolan did much the same (but with a greater sense of style). In this film we get to see Bolan’s life where we meet him as a nine-year-old, quiffed up and swinging a guitar. Then, watch the transformation into elvin folk pixie chasing the celebrity dream… and then comes the electric fizz of Ride a White Swan and infatuated teens. The of course it’s the old drugs and booze combo leaving all musing about how his star was too bright to ever shine for very long. T Rex in Concert at Wembley in 1972 follows at 10pm.
Media secretary James Purnell MP has told broadcasters to move on from the controversies that have dogged the TV industry this year. Purnell, who was speaking at the Royal Television Society Cambridge Convention, said that TV produced in this country was something to be proud of, and that it was the content that would “win out”.
Purnell urged broadcasters to draw the “right lessons” from recent controversies, commenting that they need to “respect their audience”, who expect a certain standard from UK broadcasting. “You [broadcasters] need to put your house in order, and if you don’t there will be a clamour for Ofcom and the BBC Trust to take further action… I do think people feel let down. But you only get to feel let down if you hold something in high regard in the first place,” he said.
Seconds away! Round one! BBC News heavyweights Jeremy Paxman (J-Pax) and John Humphrys (The Humph) have been scrapping over funding cuts at the Beeb in the pages of its in-house magazine. Humphrys (in the white trunks) who presents Radio 4′s Today, last week told Ariel he thought budgets at Newsnight and other television programmes should be slashed before that of his programme.
He declared: “The Today programme is vitally important to the BBC and its licence payers. It might even – God forbid! – be more important than television programmes such as Newsnight or even late-night chat shows aimed at the yoof audience. Both Today and Newsnight must have an adequate budget but when the chips are down, Today matters more. In my experience, and I’ve worked in both, there’s a lot more fat in television – if fat is the right word – than there is in radio.”
J-Pax wasn’t having any of that from the silver haired one.
When I wer’ a lad, I loved nothing more than ploughing through my Beano and Dandy comics. I pored over every detail. I studied how the artists drew. I noted the invented use of language and effects. Panels and frames broken up with anarchic scenes of fist-fights, sweets from tuck shops and clouds of dust accompanying every single run. I loved it so much that I dreamed of working for DC Thompson (who gave us the strips) and even applied for a job their when I was 9 with my ‘Mighty T-Bird’ character. So watching Comics Britannia (BBC4, Monday, 9pm) was a dead cert for me.
As much as Comics Britannia was a celebration of all things Biffo The Bear and Minnie the Minx, it was also a doleful realisation that, without these multicoloured romps, the world is indeed a poorer place. Ver kids have swapped the crude and wild Dennis the Menace for sophisticated animations and Grand Theft Auto. It’s a crying shame.
The BBC has admitted that Alan Yentob has performed “noddy shots” on interviews that he did not personally conduct for his arts series Imagine. If you’re unsure what that entails, essentially, it means someone has interviewed a celebrity, and Yentob has been edited in nodding away like he was there. Does this fill you with horror and distrust… or could you not care less?
Yentob is one of the BBC’s most senior figures and regarded by many as the corporation’s ambassador. He’s interviewed artists Gilbert & George, musician and genius Scott Walker and Radiohead, Jarvis Cocker, Simon Amstell and David Bowie. However, it is understood that scenes featuring Mr Yentob reacting to some of the more peripheral figures and experts featured in his programmes were edited in even though he was not actually present. The BBC declined to issue a statement about the matter last night. It comes after the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, last month told staff that those involved in deceptions could face dismissal.
After last week’s live-show taster of the New Zealand comedy duo The Flight Of The Conchords, the series proper started last night on BBC Four. You’ll remember that FOTC comprises Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie (though the New Zealand accent had me convinced he was called ‘Brit’…) and this HBO series follows them as they try to break America, and ‘get girls’.
Over the years, the BBC (like any other big company) have suffered from strikes by staff. I witnessed one first hand in Manchester quite recently. Previously, the biggest was at the tail end of 1978 when our screens were filled with silence and apologies (see accompanying image). Now, another strike is gaining support across the corporation, with staff angry at possible cuts to the BBC’s news operations.
For a start, there are so few images of Charlie Brooker on the web that I’m resorting to a cartoon he drew of himself for his Screen Burn column in The Guardian. Still, don’t let that detract from the fact that his TV show, 
And about time too, you might say, seeing as though we’re nearly in October. But let’s not quibble, it looks like there are some fabulous dramas, comedies and documentaries (including ones on the arts of all things – imagine that!) coming up on what is quickly becoming one of TVScoop’s 
It’s been a rough old week for BBC channels, and it hasn’t mattered much whether you’re a bright spanking new digital channel still wet behind the ears with a limited audience share or a long-established stalwart of the stable who still, for some reason, is treated like a second-class citizen. Less than three weeks ago some within the Beeb’s empire were calling for the minor channels, 3 and 4, to be 
Later today, the BBC are to make a statement about the future of former Blue Peter editor Richard Marson and up to 25 other staff who were (allegedly) involved in viewer deception. The statement is expected to be the BBC’s first official response to the 
My editor tells me that it’s Talk Like A Pirate Day (or something) today so to keep in the spirit of things and avoid looking like a surly grump, I’m going to join in. So, with that, please enjoy this news about the new BBC budgeting… in pirate speak.
I hate comedy when set to music. I’m not talking about Spinal Tap… more… I don’t really like Bill Bailey when he sings his songs. It’s too studenty. Bailey is a hilarious man without the guitar thank you very much. Yep. It’s all a bit too knowing and winking for my liking. Last night, I prepared myself for the worst with 
Good news for those who thought they might have to rely on an expensive subscription service (like Sky) to get their eyes on HD programming. A report from media regulator Ofcom concluded yesterday that “BBC HD” – Auntie’s proposed high definition TV channel – won’t have any significant negative market impact.
What’s this? Yet another reason why the calls to ditch 
I love comedy. I love music. And dammit, there are few things I love more than when the two things are combined. Hooray and hallelujia then, that 
An idea floated by the media regulator Ofcom – to help maintain “public service” programming by sharing out the licence fee between BBC and commercial broadcasters – was criticised by both BBC and ITV bosses this week. ITV executive chairman Michael Grade, speaking at a convention organised by the Royal Television Society, said he didn’t want any of the licence fee.
The name Steve Ditko is not well-known outside American comic-book fandom. Certainly not as well-known as, say, Stan Lee. And yet it was with Stan Lee that Ditko co-created legendary Marvel super-heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. In those early days, Lee provided the script but it was Ditko’s pencil and inks that brought the characters to life with his unique style. Always a troubled talent, after the first 38 issues of The Amazing Spider-Man he quit Marvel and spent the rest of his career bouncing from one comic publisher to the next, never giving interviews and drawing ever more radical characters.
C’mere… there’s more. No, Jimmy Cricket isn’t on the box tonight, but rather, I want you to pull up your comfiest seat and settle down in front of the box with me this weekend. Let’s have a look at what this weekend has to offer.
Media secretary James Purnell MP has told broadcasters to move on from the controversies that have dogged the TV industry this year. Purnell, who was speaking at the Royal Television Society Cambridge Convention, said that TV produced in this country was something to be proud of, and that it was the content that would “win out”.
Seconds away! Round one! BBC News heavyweights Jeremy Paxman (J-Pax) and John Humphrys (The Humph) have been scrapping over funding cuts at the Beeb in the pages of its in-house magazine. Humphrys (in the white trunks) who presents Radio 4′s Today, last week told Ariel he thought budgets at Newsnight and other television programmes should be slashed before that of his programme.
When I wer’ a lad, I loved nothing more than ploughing through my Beano and Dandy comics. I pored over every detail. I studied how the artists drew. I noted the invented use of language and effects. Panels and frames broken up with anarchic scenes of fist-fights, sweets from tuck shops and clouds of dust accompanying every single run. I loved it so much that I dreamed of working for DC Thompson (who gave us the strips) and even applied for a job their when I was 9 with my ‘Mighty T-Bird’ character. So watching Comics Britannia (
The BBC has admitted that Alan Yentob has performed “noddy shots” on interviews that he did not personally conduct for his arts series Imagine. If you’re unsure what that entails, essentially, it means someone has interviewed a celebrity, and Yentob has been edited in nodding away like he was there. Does this fill you with horror and distrust… or could you not care less?
From:Coronation Street fans apply here