NOW TV on trial

In light of my Virgin Media bill going up this month, I decided to reduce my TV package from XL to L. I wrote about the possibility of me taking this action awhile back, and I've got over enough of my misgivings since then.

My bill for XL TV, 70MB broadband, and free weekend phone calls... inflated to £71.98. By switching to the L TV package, 50MB broadband, and free weekend calls... it was reduced to £57.99—which is a saving of £13.99. Using that money I've clawed back, I subscribed to a £6.99 'Entertainment Pass' with Sky's NOW TV service.

Review: Sky1's LUCKY MAN

★★☆☆☆

Or, to use its proper title: Stan Lee's Lucky Man. I have no idea how involved Marvel's Stan Lee was in the creation of this fantasy cop drama, but wouldn't be surprised if he was simply cornered at London Comic Con by Sky TV execs and forced to pitch them an idea. Slapping Lee's name into the title is supposed to lend this series legitimacy, but all it does it create misguided preconceptions.

Sky buy exclusive European rights to Showtime programming

Sky yesterday announced a long-term licensing agreement with CBS Corporation to become the exclusive home of Showtime programming in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. This new deal will affect all new and future TV series produced for Showtime, including their new TV series Billions and next year's highly anticipated revival of Twin Peaks.

Why is HD still being treated like a premium format?

Warning: geeky rant ahead, featuring techie lingo and acronyms, so proceed at own risk of confusion and boredom.

High definition (HD) broadcasts began in the UK back in 2006, almost 10 years ago. The next-generation Ultra HD/4K television sets are now in shops. Sony and Twentieth Century Fox have committed to supporting 4K Ultra-HD Blu-Ray from next year, despite everyone saying video-on-demand has killed physical media. Netflix and Amazon Prime are already streaming 4K content to subscribers (for free in the latter's case)...

SO WHY DO WE STILL PAY EXTRA FOR HIGH-DEFINITION TELEVISION?

Frame Rated: THE LEFTOVERS, 2.2 - 'A Matter of Geography'

I've reviewed THE LEFTOVERS, season 2, episode 2, "A Matter of Geography". Is Kevin losing his mind? Is Nora actually smiling? What's going on in miracle town? Was that The X-Files' Steven Williams?

"After the premiere unexpectedly whisked us to the completely new location of Jarden, Texas (to introduce a whole new family who live there), “A Matter of Geography” delivered the opening episode most people were expecting: a chance to catchup with small-town cop Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux) and Nora Durst (Carrie Coon) back in Mapleton, New York, at the exact moment the first season ended with them discovering a baby on their doortsep. But that’s not to say this hour lacked similar feelings of intrigue and surprise; it only confirmed The Leftovers is starting to find itself and play to its strengths. Continue reading...

Review: Sky1's YOU, ME AND THE APOCALYPSE

★★☆☆☆

What's the premise? This is a ten-episode comedy-drama taking place during the 34 weeks before a five-mile wide comet crashes into the earth and destroys mankind. HA-HA-HA? The story focuses on a variety of people from around the world (well—the UK, the U.S, and Italy), dealing with a literal countdown to doom...

Frame Rated: 5 New U.K TV Shows to Watch this Autumn

Yesterday over at Frame Rated: I compiled a list of 5 New U.K TV Shows to Watch this Autumn. My picks are BBC2's London Spy. ITV's Jekyll & Hyde. Sky Atlantic's The Last Panthers. E4's Tripped. Sky1's You, Me & The Apocalypse. But in what order of excitement? Please click through to read and find out!

Catching up on... BANSHEE, season three

It's not often that I binge thirty hours of scripted television in less than a few weeks, but I gorged myself on three seasons of Cinemax's Banshee ahead of 2016's fourth and final run. It will feel very strange to watch this show with seven days between episodes, that's for sure. I'd been led to believe from a few friends that it was a case of third time's the charm with this latest season, and I'm in full agreement. It often felt like someone else had taken over running the show, using the potential of the concept and its actors to craft a better version of itself. It's too late to try and make this show more "realistic" (if Breaking Bad is Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull, Banshee is Jean-Claude Van Damme in Kickboxer), so it instead just had a lot of fun with its ludicrousness and sometimes transcended its scabrous nature.

PENNY DREADFUL adds Dr Jekyll to its gang of Victorian misfits

The currently-filming third season of Showtime and Sky Atlantic's Penny Dreadful will involve another character from Victorian literature: Dr Henry Jekyll, the mad scientist with a split personality called Mr Hyde, created by author Robert Louis Stevenson. Shazad Latif (The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Spooks) will play the iconic role, presenting a change to the character's ethnicity.

Frame Rated: TRUE DETECTIVE - Season 2 Finale

Yesterday over at Frame Rated: I stepped in to review the season 2 finale of HBO's TRUE DETECTIVE on Sky Atlantic, "Omega Station".

I lost interest in this season of True Detective around the time Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell) lost his moustache; which was ironically the moment Nick Pizzolatto’s plot broke from a crawl to a light jog. There have been some impressive sequences this year (episode 4’s city shootout was good fun, although I preferred the queasily otherworldly sex party from episode 6), but the meat of the story failed to sink its talons early enough. For much of the year, it was difficult to fully understand exactly what was going on; as important names and faces failed to leave enough of an impression on audiences, beyond the core trio of downtrodden Vinci detective Velcoro, anxious Sheriff Ani Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams), and tortured traffic cop Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch). Continue reading...

Watch True Detective online via NOW TV.

I'm watching: EXTANT • HALT & CATCH FIRE • HANNIBAL • HUMANS • JS&MN • MR ROBOT • THE STRAIN • TRUE DETECTIVE • WAYWARD PINES

Familiar preamble by now: I'm still watching lots of television every week, but have less time and inclination to blog about it all. Therefore, occasionally I like to offer brief thoughts on some of the shows I've made a weekly appointment to watch. Maybe you'll enjoy reading? Onwards!

Extant – Season 2 (CBS/Amazon Prime)
Look, I wasn't a huge fan of season 1, but sometimes you watch silly things in the summer. It's a symptom of heat stress. Extant looks gorgeous in 1080p on Amazon and is frankly of the few reasons I can justify paying for their Prime service. But I'm probably going to give up soon, because this is clearly yet another U.S series that doesn't warrant going beyond a single season. This year has Molly (Halle Berry) becoming more crazy-eyed cop than problem-solving astronaut (who's suddenly a gifted marksman!), and I'm less interested in her reshaping because it's so clichéd. Ditching sensible Goran Visnjic for swaggering Jeffrey Dean Morgan was a good move, though. David Morrissey doing his American Accent© in a clichéd military tough-guy role, and the ridiculousness of scientists designing the government a robot warrior who resembles, um, a beautiful catwalk model... less so.
★☆☆☆☆

PENNY DREADFUL, 2.10 – 'And They Were Enemies'

★★★☆

Penny Dreadful's season 2 finale offered some hasty-but-fun conclusions, but preferred to instead focus on grace notes and setup for next year—rather like how True Blood structured its own closers. I was entertained, mostly because it allowed for some excellent performances to arise from a wallowing sense of self-important misery. It does get rather tiring how all of the show's characters deny themselves chances of happiness, even with each other, because they're convinced their own suffering is in some way infectious and a curse never to be shared.

PENNY DREADFUL, 2.9 – 'And Hell Itself My Only Foe'

★★☆☆

There were things to enjoy about this penultimate episode, and it tee'd up next week's finale very well by the end, but I was very disappointed John Logan's rushed various aspects of the story. The disfigured American looking to bring wolfman Ethan (Josh Hartnett) to justice back in the U.S? He somehow found Ethan and Vanessa (Eva Green) at the Cut-Wife's cottage, and was swiftly knifed to death pre-credits. In London, Dorian (Reeve Carney) somehow realised Lily (Billie Piper) is the Irish prostitute Brona he once had sex with, so I can only assume a temporary amnesia was affecting him.

PENNY DREADFUL, 2.8 – 'Memento Mori'

★★★★

I worship the ground Eva Green walks on, but her presence in Penny Dreadful is often detrimental—in the sense she's so magnetic to watch, and write for, that everyone else tends to fade into the background. "Memento Mori" got around this problem by revealing what's happening to the other characters, now Vanessa (Green) and Ethan (Josh Hartnett) have gone to ground in the Cut-Wife's cottage. And while it would be wrong to remove Green from this show for too long, her absence definitely allowed for the rest of the ensemble to shine.

GAME OF THRONES season 5 – WTF? And WTF happens next?!

The fifth season of Game of Thrones has rolled to a close, courting the usual controversy along the way. A key difference this year was an increase in viewer negativity about a few of the storylines, which was perhaps to be expected when even book readers agree we're beyond the apex of George R.R Martin's saga. But it hasn't been a complete downward slide, and there's added excitement in the fact the book readers have less advance knowledge of the plot, so everyone's on more even ground.

I didn't review the show again, for various reasons, but thought it would be fun to consider where season 5's left us with the key characters, and what might happen next year. Just to be clear, I haven't ready a single sentence of George R.R Martin's Song of Ice & Fire novels.

PENNY DREADFUL, 2.7 – 'Little Scorpion'

★★★☆

Vannessa (Eva Green) took Ethan (Josh Hartnett) to the Cut-Wife's cottage, but following in her mentor's footsteps only extended to teaching her American friend how to dance. Penny Dreadful is an ensemble show with many moving pieces, but it's notable how the best hours tend to focus on the few. Ethan's been a troublesome ingredient of the show, but now that his lycanthropy's a secret shared—with Sembene (Danny Sapani), Sir Malcolm's (Timothy Dalton) servant—the story appears to be moving forward with him better. He's a man of principle, who knows the burden taking lives has on your soul, and by the end of "Little Scorpion" it's Vanessa's who's the one being schooled.

PENNY DREADFUL, 2.6 – 'Glorious Horrors'

★★☆☆

We've moved into the last half of season 2, and a few plots are beginning to move forward, although progress remains leisurely. Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton) is now under the enchantment of girlfriend Evelyn Poole (Helen McCrory), but all it's resulted in is making everyone suspicious over his non-reaction to his wife's suicide, and a decision to shave his beard. No great shakes, although scenes of Evelyn massaging the organic heart of a miniature Malcolm voodoo fetish suggests greater torments to come.

PENNY DREADFUL, 2.5 – 'Above the Vaulted Sky'

★★★☆

It's hard to predict if Penny Dreadful will succeed in making its various storylines, and individual lives of its main characters, converge in a satisfying way. That's obviously a goal, of sorts, but there are times when I wonder if it's going to happen in a clever, natural manner. For instance, the beginning of "Above the Vaulted Sky" again saw Vanessa (Eva Green) petrified with terror over her nocturnal visitations from "the nightcomers"—are they real or imaginary?—but soon after she was all smiles during a dinner date with Dr Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) and his "cousin" Lily (Billie Piper). While it's unrealistic to expect Vanessa to be shaking with fear constantly, there are gear changes Penny Dreadful demands that feel very awkward and abrupt...

PENNY DREADFUL, 2.3 – 'The Nightcomers'

★★★★

The highlight of the first season was a Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) flashback, episode 5's "Closer than Sisters", which provided much needed backstory to the ongoing story around it. The same could be true of this year, as "The Nightcomers" was likewise focused on Vanessa's past, and was quite a wonderful hour of spooky chills and heartbreak. It further enriched Vanessa's enigmatic character, deepened our understanding of her prickly nature and steadfast resolve, but also hinted at Penny Dreadful's long-term plan for her story, and created a fantastic, personal connection to season 2's villain.

MAD MEN, 7.13 – 'The Milk & Honey Route'

★★★★

The penultimate episode of the series was as great as one could hope, and in some ways felt like a suitable finale. Three of the main characters—Don (Jon Hamm), Peter (Vincent Kartheiser), Peggy (January Jones)—got final scenes that worked as farewells, but what struck me most about "The Milk & Honey Route" is how well the writers wrong-footed fans convinced the show's near-obsession with mortality was a portent of Don Draper's demise... when it was actually his ex-wife Betty's life that's drawing to a premature end.