MOVING WALLPAPER 2.6

I caught the last episode of Moving Wallpaper last night, having missed the middle three episodes. It was quite enjoyable, too. Ben Miller's the main reason to watch as egomaniac producer Jonathan Pope (even if he plays it all much, much broader than everyone else), but that's a small complaint. The storyline saw Pope's team complete their zombie pilot "Renaissance" (which proved to be unexpectedly brilliant) and he miraculously avoided ruining the day for all concerned, despite a few close calls -- like grabbing Kelly Brook's breasts at the wrap-party.

However, the axe-grinding network exec who hates Pope dashed their hopes of a full series, meaning Pope and his writing staff decided to break into ITV.com HQ and force a nerd to upload "Renaissance" to the website. Loved the moment where a security guard failed to spot Pope's interlopers, when they posed as cardboard cutouts alongside Ant n' Dec, Fern Britten and Philip Scofield. In the end, "Renaissance" was put online for the world to see -- which, indeed, it has been in "real life", too. You can view the nine-minute pilot online here (with ad-breaks built-in, annoyingly.) It's just a shame ITV didn't have the confidence to follow Moving Wallpaper's finale with a full-length, televised pilot with decent production values.


3 April 2009
ITV1, 9pm