Dan's Media Digest

LIFE ON DEMAND

I succumbed. The trailers for Life On Mars series 2 pricked my interest enough to continue with series 1 (regulars will remember I gave episode 1 a shot a few weeks ago). I finished episode 4 last night, with the rest of series 1 all cued up and ready to go. It balances characterisation, police drama and its sci-fi gimmick far better than I expected it would.

My plan is to finish watching series 1 and 2 within... well, two weeks at best... without having tonight's grand finale spoiled for me. So please don't blurt out how it all ends...I've also been enjoying Virgin's On Demand service. I'm amazed most people seem unaware of this feature!

It's basically a selection of TV shows for you to watch whenever you want. Yeah, okay, it's Sky+ without the personal choice, but they have a decent library of stuff to choose from. Sky+ means setting recordings yourself and you're limited by your box's storage capacity... unlike On Demand.

In recent weeks I've refreshed myself with Peep Show 3, in prepation for series 4 on Friday, and I'm two episodes into Supernatural -- a decent show I never gave a chance because of those shitty "Scary Just Got Sexy" adverts. Who thought targeting a female demographic, just because the lead actors are handsome, was a good idea?

I also had a Lee Evans marathon with those near-silent comedies he did in the 90s. They were a bit hit-and-miss, to be honest. but still the best use of Lee Evans outside of his stand-up. The service station, train journey and hitch-hiker episodes were very good.

I also tracked down an episode of The IT Crowd I missed (the one with Noel Fielding as that weird goth). So yeah, all good stuff.

Recommended.