Review: Netflix's ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT - The Complete Fourth Season

written by Mitch Hurwitz, Jim Vallely, Richard Rosenstock, Caroline Williams, Dean Lorey, Jim Brandon & Brian Singleton / directed by Mitchell Hurwitz & Troy Miller

It's relatively common for British shows to continue past 'cancellation', if only as irregular specials (The Vicar of Dibley, Only Fools & Horses). Many UK shows even have long gaps between runs, too, such as Fawlty Towers--where four years separates its two series. Owing to its more business-like nature, cancelled television shows don't get revived as often in the US with the same cast or crew involved; and if they do it's usually because they were highly successful once (Dallas, 24), and not low-rated commercial flops a niche audience adored. That said, things are changing in the wake of Veronica Mars getting a $5.7m movie through Kickstarter donations, and the rise of on-demand providers looking for exclusive shows with a ready-made online fanbase...

BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT 2013 finale

It was the Britain's Got Talent final last night on ITV, which was somewhat overshadowed by a bizarre act of sabotage from 30-year-old orchestra member Natalie Holt (also of musical group Raven Quartet, who didn't make it through BGT last year). The violinist invaded the performance of Richard and Adam's opera singing, to throw eggs at Simon Cowell while smiling happily, before being escorted off-stage by security. The hilarious/outrageous moment can be seen in the embedded video above. The incident occurs at 1:45.

Letterboxd: STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

I loved JJ Abrams' bold, colourful and kinetic reboot of the STAR TREK franchise—which wasn't as intellectual as some fans would like, but retained the spirit of the 1960s series in terms of emotion, characterisation, and pure fun. I understand the criticism that Abrams spliced STAR TREK with STAR WARS (his true childhood love) and the subsequent movies are thus a weird cross-breed, but his 2009 reboot was so much fun and cast so brilliantly that I found it impossible to take any criticism too seriously.

However, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS is a different matter entirely. There are obvious problems and frustrating moments for fans, although it works perfectly fine as a 'rollercoaster blockbuster' that almost literally doesn't stop moving for more than a few minutes. It's a breathless spectacle with several stand-out sequences and tense action beats, with Abrams exhibiting much greater confidence and clearly enjoying the increased budget ($190m to its predecessor's $150m)--which goes even further now they don't need to develop and design this parallel universe from the ground up.

Television to watch this summer

Summer is finally here, so... what's on television? Wait, you're not seriously thinking of going outside or—gasp!—booking a holiday somewhere hot and sunny are you? No, no, there's still plenty to watch on television with your curtains closed and a chilled beverage to hand. Here are my vague TV-viewing plans over the next three months:

Trailer: LUTHER (series 3)

The BBC have released the first trailer for series 3 of Luther, starring Idris Elba, which I've heard will premiere sometime in July on BBC1. Continuing the format of series 2, it will tell two stories over four episodes, and the big new co-star is Sienna Guillory (Eragon, Inkheart). Ruth Wilson will also reprise her role as serial killer Alice Morgan, and Warren Brown returns as loyal DS Ripley.

Interestingly, BBC America have previously announced that series 3 will be shown across four nights from 3-6 September, so I wonder if the BBC are planning a similar "event" for the home audience. I hope not, because Luther's a pretty dark and gruelling drama. I think you need the traditional week-long gap between episodes to take it all in. A nightly trip into the world of John Luther may send a few people over the edge, don't you think?

MSN TV: MAD DOGS (series 3)

Over at MSN TV today: I have reviewed the MAD DOGS series 3 premiere, starring John Simm, Phillip Glenister, Marc Warren, and Max Beesley.

Mad Dogs has somehow made it to a third series, and a concluding fourth series had already been filmed. In many ways its longevity boggles my mind, because it worked perfectly well as a four-part miniseries back in 2011, and I saw little need for the story to even continue. For the most part, I thought series 2 was a mess that was only marginally rescued by the late addition of genre legend David Warner as ex pat gangster Mackenzie.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

HANNIBAL, 1.11 – 'Rôti'

written by Steve Lightfoot, Bryan Fuller & Scott Nimerfo
directed by Guillermo Navarro

Another fantastic episode that worked as a follow-up to the mid-season two-parter about the Chesapeake Ripper, where Dr Abel Gideon (Eddie Izzard)—now convinced his psychiatrist Dr Chilton (Raúl Esparza) made him believe he was the Ripper—escaped from custody and began targeting the people who treated him in the asylum, giving them Colombian neck-ties (whereby the victim's tongue is fed through a throat cut). Yes, it's another cheerful episode, but if you're a fan of the serial killer genre Hannibal remains one of the best examples—arguably the best from a TV standpoint.

What I'm really enjoying about the show just lately is how effectively it's turned Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) from 'offbeat genius profiler' to someone hanging onto sanity by their fingernails. It was always odd whenever the show gave us scenes of Graham standing in a crime scene, as the environment around him slipped back in time, but now his psychological talent is disintegrating. I loved the sequence where he was having a nightmare; dreaming of a glacier melting, sending a tsunami towards the "totem of limbs" from "Trou Normand", while his bedroom flooded with water and his bedside clock melted in a probable nod to Salvador Dali's painting The Persistence of Memory.

MAD MEN, 6.9 & 6.10 – 'The Better Half' & 'A Tale of Two Cities'

Below is a double-bill review of the last two episodes of MAD MEN, to prevent me falling behind on AMC's broadcast. They're a little briefer than usual, forgive me.

written by Erin Levy & Matthew Weiner | directed by Phil Abraham

"The Better Half" was a great episode about the duality of people, which was very apropos seeing as Megan (Jessica Paré) is struggling to convincingly play twins on her TV show. It was occasionally a little oddball, but in a more measured and entertaining way than the episode that preceded it. I particularly enjoyed seeing Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) accidentally stab boyfriend Abe (Charlie Hofheimer) in the stomach with a makeshift spear, which led to him taking the opportunity to dump her.

As always with Mad Men, there was a great deal to savour and chew on regarding everyone's behaviour and various symbolic events and incidents. It was great to see Betty (January Jones), now physically returned to her blonde bombshell heyday, essentially having a one-night stand with her ex, Don (Jon Hamm), who's top dog when it comes to extra-marital affairs. It made me pine for the earlier seasons when those two were a couple, because I think Jones works much better in Hamm's company. They just work together, in a way Hamm and Pare don't quite manage to.

Twitter'd: ALEX CROSS (2012)

My live-tweets of crappy movies continued on Wednesday evening with crime thriller ALEX CROSS, starring Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox and Ed Burns. (You can read my previous live-tweets here.)

DOCTOR WHO's regeneration game

It's happening again. Every time the BBC announce the current actor playing the lead in Doctor Who has quit, the rumour mill goes into overdrive and the internet is quickly awash with articles speculating about a replacement. After three series and a 50th anniversary special, Matt Smith is stepping down as The Doctor this Christmas. A Christmas Day regeneration is more than likely, echoing how Smith himself inherited the role from David Tennant in 2010's "The End of Time". (I think an Easter regeneration would be more apt, but there you are.)

So who's going to play The Doctor next? It's a fun guessing game, but one that's extremely unlikely to be predicted correctly. I know quite a few people (including myself) correctly named David Tennant as the new Doctor shortly after Christopher Eccleston quit, but that was mainly because he'd starred in Russell T. Davies' Casanova around the same time. But he still wasn't a household name back then, so I don't recall him being linked to it very seriously beforehand.