Up

We watched Up earlier in the week.

It's a brilliant film but what got me was the opening sequence which had me sobbing. It is so honest and sad and it just got to me.  The rest of the film thankfully is nowhere near as sad. But I imagine its a very different experience watching it as a child than watching it as an adult.

It's a film about loss, its about hope, its about adventures and its about surprises. I think it's probably the best film they've ever made.

I loved Doug. He was the best interpretation of a Golden Retriever I've ever seen.

I also loved the cone of shame!

Pixar really nailed it with this one.

My Doctor?

Not an easy question really is it? Well it used to be. I'd have said David Tennant without a second thought.  But now we've lived with a series of Matt Smith's Doctor with Steven Moffat at the helm I'm a little more conflicted. Towards the end of Russell T Davies' tenure I found myself more than a little frustrated with the way he finished things.  Not to say I could do any better, I couldn't but I felt there was an over reliance on things he's touched on before. I was ready for something new.

Matt Smith was mostly something new. He shared enough traits with David Tennant's Doctor for it not to feel quite so jarring but he was the new Doctor and like the hussy I am I loved him straight away.

Ten was amazing because a lot of the time with the coat and the energy he felt more like a superhero. Eleven, well he's kind of geeky all thinky and much more awkward. This doctor seems that little bit less human and more prone to disengage.

So when eleven turned up in the Sarah Jane Adventures I was joyful, because it was lovely to see him interact with the scooby gang.  I'm not old enough to remember Sarah Jane from the first time around, so I'm really not old enough to remember Jo Grant. I thought their interactions were very sweet, there was a very big sense of Mallory Towers between the two of them, they were altogether dotty but marvellous.

I loved the episode but I have some reservations to do with the idea that RTD was treading on an already well trodden path. I know SJA is a kids show. But in the past RTD has written some incredible things for children's TV. Century Falls anyone? This felt a little derivative for me. I  liked it but it felt like I'd eaten too many sweets after it was over.

A slow burn

I'll admit it I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to some things. As a rule I don't watch reality TV, I don't like back catalogue musicals and I don't do soaps.

Having said that there are a few exceptions to most of these things; I like strictly come dancing, We will rock you and no I don't watch soaps. Or if I'm more honest I don't watch things on ITV.  However, one show has in recent times made me tune into ITV1, Law and Order UK.  Even that's unusual for me, I'm not really a lover of procedurals.

So what on earth has made me leave my snobbish high principaled tv watching and watch not only a procedural but one on ITV1, well that's an interesting story and my boyfriend will probably tell you that it's down mainly to Jamie Bamber...













I'm a big fan of pretty much all of his work, having come across him first in Battlestar Galactica I sought out other shows he's been in like Hornblower and when Law and Order UK came out I was watching pretty much for one reason only.

Having said that over the last two and a half series has managed to make this show graduate from a chance to watch Jamie in a show to being something I watch because the stories are compelling. Dammit ITV doesn't make drama like this anymore does it? I hadn't thought so but it appears it does. So I've been sucked in and now I'm a fan not just of  'teh Bamber' but of the show, of the fantastic performances from Bradley Walsh, Harriet Walters and Team Order Ben Daniels Freema Agyeman and Bill Paterson. They also have a pretty high calibre of guest stars too which has made for pretty compulsive viewing from someone who wasn't expecting to enjoy it and was just hoping to see some pretty.

The writing has been consistent and the characters are all pitched beautifully and have developed or at least gained confidence and have become something quite slick and very enjoyable.  I don't mind eating my words when something comes along to change my mind and to do so in a grown up and convincing way.

It seems I'm now a real fan of the show and I don't care who frakking knows.