LUTHER series 3 confirmed for 2012/13

There's always been doubt Luther will return each year, because The Wire's Idris Elba is becoming such hot property in Hollywood. However, fans of the BBC's stylish crime drama needn't worry for now, because Ben Stephenson—the BBC's Head of Drama, speaking at the Broadcasting Press Guild lunch—has confirmed that a third series of four hour-long episodes is due later this year. (Other reports suggest early-2013.)

It's lucky Elba seems to be so taken by this award-winning series, which he also produces, so hopefully he'll continue to fit four hours of Luther into his annual schedule. He's also keen for the show to become a movie, as we know, and I wouldn't bet against that happening. The British crime thriller is an easy and relatively cheap genre to adapt for the big screen. If the show's 6 million viewers translate into box-office ticket sales (as The Inbetweeners Movie proved it can do), then the BBC will be very happy...

What do you make of this news? Happy Luther's coming back? Still think the show's ghoulish nonsense? Is that a bad thing? And would a movie version work, in your opinion?

ETERNAL LAW, 1.2 – episode two

A catastrophic follow-up to what was already a poor start, Eternal Law confirmed my worst fears. This is another of the UK's genre disasters, perhaps the cosmic balance to Doctor Who and Misfits, but it's so frustrating because the writers have proven they're capable of great work with Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes. But this show is just awful on every level; an embarrassing production full of clunky direction, horrible editing, hackneyed performances, and dull storytelling.

There isn't anything to focus condemnation on, because everything's infected by a certain ineptitude. The opening titles, now with a redundant and ridiculous voice-over from Orla Brady, make the show feel like a children's drama. In fact, if it wasn't for the dry backdrop of courts and lawyers, Eternal Law might have worked better as one. There are many terrible directorial flourishes, too—the worst being the moment when the camera reversed down a corridor, as actors stepped out on cue to have fake-looking arguments. Or moment that are just so laughable you wonder how they made it to the screen—like head angel Zak (Samuel West) puffing on a fat cigar in his wings, creating fireworks by way of celebration. Or how about when "fallen angel" Pembroke (Tobias Menzies) pushed a homeless man into a river after he'd asked for money a second time? Oooh, evil.

Throw in an awful plinky-plonk soundtrack, general apathy towards the week's case (two parents after custody of the world's worst child actor), and a reveal of Mrs Sheringham's (Brady) back-story that was predictable (she gave up being an angel to be with a human man she loved), and this episode was a resounding flop. It's not even logical that Mrs Sheringham would be so upset by her lover Billy's death, because she's living proof that there is an afterlife! Surely that should bring her peace of mind. And I didn't like the suggestion from Zak that a world without angels would result in death, war, famine and pestilence. We've had plenty of that with these do-gooding angels hanging around...

Overall, I have little to say that's positive after just two episodes. Eternal Law feels cheap, the drama's unearned, the characters are lifeless, the stories are boring, and the setups for an ongoing mytharc (the Zak/Hannah relationship, God sending the angels a doomsday clock from the Cuban Missile Crisis) aren't very interesting—and you have no faith they'll develop into anything worthwhile. I wish I could be more upbeat, because I was hoping for a charming and intelligent legal drama with an added supernatural twist... but something's gone very wrong. Maybe it all works better on the page... but the execution on-screen wobbles from inept to mediocre, at best.

written by Ashley Pharaoh / directed by Adrian Shergold / 12 January 2012 / ITV1

Review: THREE INCHES (Syfy)

Developed in tandem with superhero drama Alphas, the similarly-themed Three Inches pilot wasn't taken to series by Syfy, who instead repackaged it as a TV Movie. Having watched the feature-length opener that aired before Christmas in the US, I can't say I'm disappointed we won't be seeing more, as this felt like a waste of a likable cast. It also continues to irritate me that so many US genre shows don't take risks, to give their audience something unexpected and unpredictable. That's what this genre is designed to do! Anyone could have thought up this Three Inches pilot, and it ultimately dies slowly because the characters are boring and the storyline equally so. There's almost nothing here to compel you to watch again, or beg for more episodes to be made, because it's nothing more than a collection of trite ideas—with the makers seemingly uninterested in giving us something fresh, innovative, or even tonally consistent.

Walter Spackman (Noah Reid) is the hero of the show: a 26-year-old still living at home with his mollycoddling mother (Andrea Martin), who makes him breakfast in bed every morning. On the day he plucks up the courage to admit his feelings for childhood inamorata Lily (Alona Tal), Walter's blown out by the girl of his dreams, then blown up by a bolt of lightning. A heavenly discharge that endows him with the seemingly trivial superpower of telekinesis over a three inch distant, which brings him to the attention of "contractor" Troy Hamilton (Buffy's James Marsters), who wants to add Walter to his team of superheroes. The gang include: quiet and sexy Watts (Stephanie Jacobsen), who can manipulate people's emotions; shy Annika (Naoko Mori), who can mimic any sound; outgoing Carlos (Antony Del Rio), who can emit stenches through his skin; scruffy Todd (Craig Eldridge), who can see two-minutes into the future at the risk of a migraine; gaunt Ethan (Julian Richings), who can communicate and control insects; and the team's handsome field leader Brandon (Kyle Schmid), who has no powers to speak of but is a great tactician.

It doesn't help that "superhero fatigue" is in the air, but Three Inches just didn't have enough of a must-see hook. The central joke that the gang's powers are silly doesn't even work, because most of the powers actually aren't that useless/crazy, and it's swiftly proven that Walter's own three inch limitation isn't so restrictive. You can do plenty of interesting things by giving objects a nudge from a short distance.

It's also not very funny, but to make matters worse it puts its funniest character—Walter's best buddy Macklin (Brandon Jay McLaren)—into the background, wasting him as a powerless sous chef! The characters closer to Walter's new life away from mom are unfortunately a rather dull bunch, who don't get a lot to do. Torchwood's Naoko Mori barely spoke a word, and Sarah Connor Chronicles' actress Stephanie Jacobsen is again playing an emotionally shutdown character. It's hard to enjoy this group's dynamic, because there isn't really one. They're just there; misfits thrown together. Admittedly pilots start from a base-level and we'd have hopefully seen progress over its non-existent season, but a good pilot does a better job of letting you want to come back to see that evolution continue. I had little to no interest in any of these people by the end.

But perhaps the biggest problem with Three Inches is the tone, which doesn't feel right. The show starts off being bright and silly as we follow Walter's during a typical sunny morning, only to turn quite dark after he's introduced to Troy and the others. This darkness persists, and nothing permeates it regarding Walter's interactions with his new friends. It just all starts to drag in the darkness, laughs evaporating, and you soon give up seeing this as a comedy (which it what it sounds like on paper), and instead realise it's wasting its own idea. This should have been approached with a lot more skill, panache, vigour, cleverness and wit. If you're going to do something with superheroes, especially in this day and age, you really need to bring a fresh new voice to the genre—as Misfits did a few years ago—otherwise what's the point of reworking the same old tropes? It's ultimately just another drearily executed superhero show with some genre-friendly faces, doing nothing of actual interest.

Three Inches won't be troubling you this year because Alphas was picked up by Syfy instead—and although that show shares some of the same problems, you can see it has a stronger sense of purpose, got a handle on its super-team a lot quicker, and knew how to pitch itself to audiences. Three Inches is comparatively a muddle.

written by Harley Peyton / directed by Jace Alexander / 29 December 2011 / Syfy

Coming Soon: BEING HUMAN, series 4

BBC Three's acclaimed supernatural drama Being Human is back for a fourth series later this month, and the rollout of promotional material has begun. First you can visit the BBC Media Centre for a special introduction by creator Toby Whithouse, quelling fears that major cast changes don't mean the show's days are numbered.

More enticingly, above is a photo of the new-look cast: newcomer Damien Molony as resident suave vampire Hal (left); Michael Socha promoted from guest-star to regular as werewolf Tom McNair (right); both joined by original cast member Lenora Crichlow as ghost Annie (centre).

Russell Tovey is still involved as werewolf George, but is given a surprisingly less prominent position in the photo, sitting in the middle-distance with a face like thunder brandishing a wooden stake and crucifix. A sign that Tovey may actually leave the show earlier than we expected, and that his character's going to be very anti-vampire this year? The complete absence of Sinead Kennan, who's also decided to leave, perhaps signifies an even earlier departure for her character Nina.

There are also some little nuggets in the background: Lee Ingleby sat behind Tovey (reprising his role as an "Old One" vampire from the series 3 finale) Oops, it's actually Andrew Gower playing a vampire called Cutler; Mark Williams appears to the far-left reading a book, playing a character called Regus; and there's someone dressed as a policeman behind him. A replacement for dead vampire cop Herrick? Or just a red herring? And why is everyone sitting in a café? Will that be an important setting for the characters this year?

It's also been revealed that James Lance (I'm Alan Partridge) and Mark Gatiss (Doctor Who, Sherlock) have roles on the show this year, and Craig Robinson (Submarine) will return as "teenage" vampire Adam from series 3 (and webseries Becoming Human).

Unusually, the eight-part series' episode titles have also been revealed ahead of time: "Eve Of The War", "Being Human 1955", "The Graveyard Shift", "A Spectre Calls", "Hold The Front Door", "Puppy Love", "Making History" and "The War Child".

Review: THE ONE JASPER CARROTT (BBC1)

The second in the BBC's run of The One's, following Lenny Henry's last Friday, saw renowned Birmingham stand-up Jasper Carrott return to our screens for the first time in 13 years. (Ignoring crap BBC sitcom All About Me and unfathomable ITV gameshow Goldenballs.) The format was the same—stand-up comedy interspersed with sketches, with an emphasis on the longevity/age of the performer—and I found this a great deal more entertaining than Lenny Henry's self-tribute. This is simply because I prefer Carrott's comedy to Henry's, and I'll lay my cards on the table by admitting I was a huge fan of the Brummie comic during his "resurgence" in the early-'90s. Carrott's career suddenly peaked during this time, with a popular weekly comedy show (Canned Carrott), which also gave birth to sitcom The Detectives, and pioneering TV format Carrott's Commercial Breakdown, where pre-internet audiences could laugh and gasp at foreign adverts...

So yes, I have a teenage affection for Jasper Carrott and his brand of comedy—which usually takes the form of little digs at the state of the world, leading into bizarre funny stories (that you always knew weren't true, but were just happy to enter a comic storyteller's world). For those reasons alone, I enjoyed seeing Carrott back on-stage again, doing material that actually wasn't half-bad. It began worryingly, with obvious jokes about his advancing years (he's 66), but a middle portion where he tackled current affairs (most notably the banking crisis) was surprisingly fresh and expertly done. (I loved his acronym for Europe's problem nations: Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain.) Sure, his style is now quite old-fashioned (when was the last time you saw a comedian sit to tell jokes?) and a few of his punchlines were groaners or signposted, but there was never any doubt he still has a comic touch. It made me mildly upset he vanished from stand-up around the turn-of-the-century—no doubt to spend the millions he earned as a 15% shareholder in Celador, the UK company who created worldwide hit gameshow Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

The sketches were the weakest element of this special, but I did enjoy the novelty of Carrott appearing alongside his real-life daughter, The Office's Lucy Davis, in a topsy-turvy sketch where she was playing "young mother" to his "old teenager". Plus it was fun to see Carrott reunited with Robert Powell (the spit of Steven Moffat, no?) for another Detectives sketch set in a hospital—although it reminded me why that mid-'90s sitcom isn't so fondly remembered. It was a funny five-minute part of a comedy show, but stretched to half-hour episodes it got quite draining—and Carrott's acting was never much beyond an ability to remember and recite lines. To end the show, there was a rather embarrassing song called "The Old Farts" from Carrott's house band, which included ELO drummer Bev Bevan and Rick Wakeman.

Taken as a whole, The One Jasper certainly wasn't great, but the strength of Carrott's stand-up material was better than I expected without longtime writers Mike Whitehill and Steve Knight (although I missed hearing another of his rambling "true stories", like the one about the vicious cat he had to pickup using a vacuum cleaner, or the infamous garden mole). If the show's intention is to remind you of a British comedy great (who's still alive to appreciate the plaudits), and stir some memories of how much you used to love their work, The One Jasper Carrott achieved that very nicely. I'm almost tempted to seek out DVDs of his gigs from the '80s and '90s...

9 January 2012, BBC One

SHERLOCK, 2.2 - "The Hounds Of Baskerville"

"I don't have friends. I've just got one." – Sherlock to Watson

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular fictional characters on the planet, but I think it's safe to say the general public aren't as au fait with the plots to "A Study In Scarlet" or "A Scandal In Bohemia", which have been the basis of just two Sherlock episodes in this modern update. Sherlock as a character is better known than his adventures. However, "The Hound Of The Baskervilles" is arguably the one case most people know something about, or would single out as the iconic case for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sleuth. It was actually the author's most popular tale, written years after he'd killed Holmes in 1893's "The Final Problem" (an inspiration for next week's finale), although chronologically it took place earlier. Regardless, this story's become a classic of its genre and, for most people, the one they have genuine familiarity with.

Co-creator Mark Gatiss adapts and updates the 1901 story, renaming it "The Hounds Of Baskerville", as the second episode of Sherlock, and it proves to be another rousing success in almost every respect. In the Venn diagram of Gatiss' interests, this story would sit somewhere in the middle, most notably because of its supernatural element and Hammer Horror affiliation (Christopher Lee played Sir Henry in the 1959 horror from that British studio, opposite Peter Cushing's Holmes). So it's no great surprise that Gatiss manages to craft an effective and enjoyable adventure here, cleverly updating the story to involve a secret chemical/biological army test centre in Dartmoor that may have created a genetic chimera known as "The Hound" (which has become a local legend, akin to the real-life Beast Of Bodmin).

It's less dense and complicated than last week's premiere, but that's to its credit. While Steven Moffat favours plot-flips and surprises round every corner, Gatiss is better at sustaining a chilling mood and telling a spooky story. The adventure begins with posh Henry Knight (Russell Tovey) asking for Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Watson's (Martin Freeman) help solving the mystery of his father's disappearance 20 years ago—the alleged result of an attack by a beast, or "Hound", with glowing red eyes, which has now returned and is haunting him on the moors. Initially incredulous of the tale, to put it mildly, Sherlock is nevertheless drawn to Devon to investigate this tall tale, and comes to realise there may be something to Henry's wild story—particularly after witnessing the fabled creature himself at the misty Jewer's Hollow, forcing the world's most rational mind to doubt the one thing that's never let him down: his own eyes.

"The Hounds Of Baskerville" was huge fun, and I particularly enjoyed seeing Sherlock and Watson taken out of their London stomping grounds to wander the bleak Devon countryside. It immediately gave the show a very different feel (Agatha Christie-meets-Brotherhood Of The Wolf) and you could tell Gatiss was having great fun making the duo rub shoulders with eccentric country folk: the barman who mistakes them as a gay couple, the enthusiast who owns a plaster footprint of the Hound, or the various members of the Baskerville research centre who are prime suspects for releasing an abomination into the wilderness beyond their barbed wire fences and minefield. It was also the ideal story to take Sherlock out of his comfort zone in other ways—by tackling a seemingly preposterous story, clashing against the otherworldly. It's often claimed, accurately, that Doctor Who is a Sherlock Holmes update in many ways, so it's interesting to note that the two characters have very different belief systems. The Doctor would have no problem accepting something crazy was happening here, even if there was a semi-rational explanation for things. In fact, "Tooth & Claw" is in some ways Who's version of the Baskerville story.

However, there were problems with this episode. While it was a wise decision to ensure this update didn't follow the original story too closely, regarding the fact Watson is essentially alone on the case for a long time, there were still moments when the story had to keep its double-act apart... and it wasn't always successful. But perhaps more problematic was how Henry Knight was used throughout the story, as he slipped into the background too much and was left to have a mental breakdown in a subplot that felt too tangential to the Sherlock/Watson investigation. Tovey was probably cast because he's brilliant at evoking audience sympathy, but Henry was just too much of a weeping wreck to be all that interesting. I'd have preferred him to play a more substantial role in things, but I understand why that would also presented problems in other ways.

I also found that the resolution to the mystery was perhaps too silly for this show. When it all boiled down to hazy childhood memories, a man in a red-eyed gas mask, a scary wolf T-shirt, a recognisable acronym, and the hallucinogenic gas from Batman Begins... well, it made enough sense to be largely satisfying, but it was also dafter than you expect from Sherlock. I think it's obvious why this story is a relatively rare instance of Sherlock tackling an X File. It can work, just about, but there's more pleasure to be gained from a compelling mystery that takes everyday things and gives them impossible twists that only Sherlock can unknot.

But despite its flaws, Mark Gatiss did probably the best job with pacing on the show since it began. These 90-minute episodes generally sag in the middle, but "The Hounds Of Baskerville" sustained itself like a genuine movie for once. It was still possible to lose 20-minutes from the story, if you gave it a good shake, but it didn't really hit the same "wall" after an hour—where you check your watch and wonder how they're going to keep the story going another 30-minutes. Maybe this is partly because Gatiss's adaptation was more of a direct update to the singular Conan Doyle story, instead of a mere starting point that's joined by elements from other plots, which has been true of the previous adventures.

Overall, "The Hounds Of Baskerville" wasn't as gripping as last week's premiere, but it held my attention better because it didn't feel so desperate to bamboozle the audience. In fact, there were quite a few moments when I was able to play "armchair detective" and managed to spot a few clues that proved relevant to Sherlock's deductions or methodology: like Dr Frankland using the Americanism of "cell number" instead of "mobile number", or the strangeness of him giving Watson sugar with his tea. Maybe this is because we, as an audience, are beginning to pay greater attention to the show's finer details, knowing how this show operates. I'm even starting to make mental notes about the seemingly trivial cases Sherlock dismisses early in episodes (like Bluebell the missing rabbit here) because they're more important than you realise...

Whatever gripes there were, this was highly enjoyable and stylish filmmaking with impressive performances and a real sense of mood, effective chills, and a few jumps along the way. The CGI "Hound" may not have been as convincing as we'd been led to believe it would be, and there were times when this adaptation didn't work perfectly, but overall I had a great time watching "The Hounds Of Baskerville" and it was nowhere close to being a disappointment for me.

Asides

• For British audiences, the cast here was full of recognisable TV faces: Clive Mantle (Robin Of Sherwood, Casualty), Amelia Bullmore (Alan Partridge, Big Train), Sasha Behar ("Mad Maya" in Coronation Street), and Russell Tovey from Being Human, of course. Tovey was on the receiving end of a wolf-like creature here, which may have been an added meta-joke!
• Don't play Cluedo with Sherlock! "The victim did it."
• Mycroft's stolen ID card is essentially this show's version of The Doctor's "psychic paper"? Incidentally, why did the army soldier let Sherlock through after swiping that card, considering it clearly displayed a photo of Mycroft. Simple visual identification should surely have stopped Sherlock getting a foot beyond the check-in gate!
• Great to see the embarrassing deerstalker has become a running joke on Sherlock!
• I wonder if Sherlock's offer to tell Watson next week's lottery numbers was a nod to Derren Brown, the illusionist who did a famous lottery prediction trick on TV fairly recently. Brown's definitely a Holmesian character himself.
• Dr Frankland's mention of the WHO convention obviously wasn't a Doctor Who reference, as it refers to the World Health Organisation, but perhaps it still works as one? Dr Frankland may have been a veiled reference to Dr Frankenstein, too?
• The "Mind Palace" moment with Sherlock, as he mentally moves through his memories using hand gestures like Tom Cruise in Minority Report, felt too hokey to me. The idea appears to have been lifted from Thomas Harris' book Hannibal, which even made an appearance on a bookshelf in one scene. I suppose it gave director Paul McGuigan some more visual flourishes to indulge, in a more overtly humorous way.

written by Mark Gatiss / directed by Paul McGuigan / 8 January 2012 / BBC One

TV Picks: 9-15 January 2012 (Above Suspicion, Call The Midwife, Exit List, Good Wife, Shameless, Unforgettable, etc.)

The Mystery Of Edwin Drood -- BBC2, Tue & Wed, 9PM

MONDAY 9th

The Career Crashers (BBC3, 7pm) Follow up series to Up For Hire, seeing how the four recruits are doing as theme park employees.
The Great Train Robbery's Missing Mastermind? (Channel 4, 8pm) Documentary on the famous train robbery in 1963 that aims to answer the question of who told the robbers about the millions being transported by rail.
The One Jasper Carrott (BBC1, 8.30pm) Comedy special celebrating the work of comedian Jasper Carrott, with new sketches and stand-up material. Featuring Robert Powell & Lucy Davies.
The Hunt For Higgs: A Horizon Special (BBC2, 9pm) Documentary on CERN, the enormous underground research centre hoping to discover the Higgs-Boson particle: science's Holy Grail.
PICK OF THE DAY Above Suspicion: Silent Scream (ITV1, 9pm) Crime drama from Lynda La Plante. (1/3)
Coppers (Channel 4, 9pm) Documentary following the police force. (1/8)
How Sex Works (BBC3, 9pm) Documentary on the physiological, neurological and psychological changes that occur when people have sex.
Illuminations: The Private Lives Of Medieval Kings (BBC4, 9pm) Documentary on illuminated manuscripts created for kings. (1/3)
America's Next Top Model: All-Stars (Sky Living, 9pm) 14 former contestants return to do battle. Featuring Nicki Minaj. (1/13)
Shameless (Channel 4, 10pm) Series 9 of the comedy-drama. (1/11)
When Paddy Met Sally (Channel 5, 10pm) Reality show where Celebrity Big Brother winner Paddy Doherty swaps lives with fellow contestant Sally Bercow. (1/2)
Bizarre Crime (BBC3, 10.30pm) Documentary about strange true life crimes.

TUESDAY 10th

The Great Sport Relief Bake Off (BBC2, 8pm) Charity run of the cookery series. Starring Sarah Hadland, Joe Swift, James Wong & Angela Griffin. Continues tomorrow, concludes Thursday. (1/3)
The Exit List (ITV1, 8pm) Brand new gameshow where contestants try to escape from a 24 room maze to win £200,000. Hosted by Matt Allwright. (1/7)
DIY SOS: The Big Build (BBC1, 9pm) Return of the building show.
PICK OF THE DAY The Mystery Of Edwin Drood (BBC2, 9pm) Adaptation of Charles Dickens' last unfinished novel. Concludes tomorrow. (1/2)
Inside Nature's Giants (Channel 4, 9pm) Return of the animal dissection documentary, this time featuring Cape Town baboons.
Websex: What's The Harm? (BBC3, 9pm) Documentary about 16-24 year old and their approach to sex online.
Unforgettable (Sky Living, 9pm) Season 1 of the US drama about a female detective with total recall. (1/20)
Burglar In The House (BBC1, 10.35pm) Documentary on burglary in the UK.

WEDNESDAY 11th

The Unforgettable: Leslie Crowther (ITV1, 7.30pm) Profile of the late presenter.
Benidorm (Channel 5, 8pm) Documentary on the Spanish resort.
Confessions Of A Sex Addict (BBC3, 9pm) Documentary on Jeff Leach, a lothario who claimed to have bedded 300 women by the age of 27.
PICK OF THE DAY The Good Wife (More4, 9pm) Season 3 of the US legal drama. Starring Julianna Margulies, Chris North, Alan Cumming, Josh Charles, Christine Baranski & Archie Panjabi. (1/22)
How To Be A Good Mother with Sharon Horgan (Channel 4, 10pm) Documentary on motherhood, presented by the comedy writer-actress.
Kym Marsh: Teen Mums & Me (Channel 5, 10pm) Documentary on teenage mothers in the UK, presented by the ex-popstar/actress.
Film 2012 (BBC1, 11.35pm) Return of the film review show. Co-hosted by Claudia Winkleman & Danny Leigh.

THURSDAY 12th

PICK OF THE DAY Unfinished Masterpieces with Alastair Sooke (BBC2, 9pm) Documentary on famous artworks that were left unfinished when their creators died.
Cherry Healy: Like A Virgin (BBC3, 9pm) Documentary on virginity.
My Daughter The Teenage Nudist (Channel 4, 10pm) Documentary on youngsters who are enjoying the nudist lifestyle.

FRIDAY 13th

Maggie: The First Lady (ITV3, 9pm) Documentary on the former Prime Minister.
PICK OF THE DAY Earth: Milton Jones Live Universe Tour (Dave, 9pm) Live stand-up recorded at the Arts Theatre in London.

SATURDAY 14th

PICK OF THE DAY Ken Russell: A Bit Of A Devil (BBC2, 9pm) Profile of the late director, whose work included The Devils, Tommy & The Music Lovers. Presented by Alan Yentob.

SUNDAY 15th

Hugh's Three Hungry Boys (Channel 4, 7pm) Brand new series where Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall challenges three friends to travel from Devon to Cornwall in 5 weeks, with no money, food or transport. (1/4)
PICK OF THE DAY Call The Midwife (BBC1, 8pm) Brand new drama about a London midwife. Starring Jessica Raine, Jenny Agutter, Pam Ferris & Judy Parfitt. (1/6)

CHUCK, 5.9 – "Chuck Versus the Kept Man"

The great thing about final seasons is that things rapidly progress and are noticeably reaching crescendos, hopefully with the emotional weight that years of storytelling brings with it. In fact, as a TV show, Chuck's probably been helped by the fact it's threatened with cancellation so often, because the writers have been forced to tinker with the show in creative ways. Would Chuck and Sarah be an item now if the mainstream US audience had really taken to them? Anyway, because this is almost definitely the last season, the writers don't have to rush the ending with a flurry of game-changing ideas to encourage another season, they can implement them in a satisfying way throughout the year. In "Chuck Versus The Kept Man", Casey (Adam Baldwin) admitted his feelings for Gertrud (Carrie-Anne Moss), Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) had a pregnancy scare (surely a precursor to a happier result in the finale), and Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester (Vik Sahay) finally discovered their Buy More colleagues are secret spies.

The latter is a particular big moment for Chuck, really, as those characters are the only remaining ones who don't realise Chuck has a secret life, with the exception of Big Mike. The way they uncovered the truth even made some sense to me, given that Jeff's no longer mentally incapable and is intelligent enough to have noticed the strange comings and goings. (Although I have no idea how he could have known about the Intersect, according to his board of clues and connections.) But allowing for the usual silliness, this subplot was great fun, as Morgan (Joshua Gomez) realised his employees are getting close to blowing their cover and put them off the scent by getting Devon (Ryan McPartlin) to pose as "the spy" in their midst. (It seems to be a running theme that Devon gets to play a James Bond role this year!) Unfortunately, Morgan's plan didn't quite work, meaning Jeff and Lester have clapped eyes on Castle for themselves, so some explaining needs to be done. Maybe Chuck will manage to convince them they were hallucinating due to paint fumes, now they've been K.O'd by a tranq dart after peering through a fake wall, but I hope not. It could be huge fun to see how these characters will need to be coddled into not sabotaging Carmichael Industries, or wanting to go on missions like eager pups.

The main storyline this week wasn't very interesting, being just another variation on the evil arms dealer who needs to be stopped idea the show's done numerous times before. It was just a template to hang a lot of good character stuff from; particularly the idea that spies can be caring people, which becomes Chuck's new mantra for their business, and fed directly into Casey's story because he's the hard-faced ex-CIA agent who doesn't usually have time for affairs of the heart. But here he came to see that Gretchen's his dream woman (sexy, capable, like-minded), and even mellowed enough to wear a soft cashmere sweater and watch Downton Abbey with his daughter Alex (Mekenna Melvin)... instead of go on a dangerous two-month trip to Dresden.

And while Chuck's already a more emotionally open person, we learned he's not quite as synced to Sarah as he believes himself to be, because he never picked up on the obvious signals that Sarah believes she might be pregnant. Interesting to see this this pregnancy idea raised at last (I've been expecting it for awhile), and even though the test was negative I'm willing to bet the next one won't be. It's just a tricky thing because the writers can't tackle Sarah's pregnancy as realistically, time-wise, as they did for Ellie a few seasons ago. My guess is the show will announce her pregnancy in the next few weeks, and we'll have some kind of jump forward in time during the series finale... to Chuck, Sarah and their baby living together in a beautiful home.

Second of Strahotness: cool at the pool

It was also fun to see some nods to the show's tongue-in-cheek treatment of women on the show, with Casey being the one asked to wear a sexy bathing suit by Gertrude (although we never saw it), and the hilarious sight of Lester undercover as a woman with black wig and high heels. Sarah even vocalised her disdain about always being the one asked to wear saucy costumes on missions, which was a neat touch. But still, it's a shame the episode didn't go further with what it was raising here, because "... Versus The Kept Man" was still an episode where Yvonne Strahovski appeared in a slow-motion pool side sequence, and the boys got away with wearing gowns. Not that I'm complaining, but I do worry the show's less keen to give its female fans some eye-candy moments.

Overall, this was yet another very enjoyable episode that overcame a dull plot with great character development and many amusing sequences focusing on the cast. Carrie-Anne Moss continues to be the show's best recurring guest-star since Scott Bakula, and as the show races towards its climax I feel confident that Chuck will end having produced a season I'd compare favourably to seasons 2 and 3.

Asides

• That was British stand-up comedian Jim Tavare playing the bald English villain in the teaser, which was rather strange to see from my perspective. If you're not aware of his work, watch this.
• Loved the Downton Abbey shout-outs here. That UK drama really appears to have entered the American consciousness at this point.

written by Craig DiGregorio & Phil Klemmer / directed by Fred Toye / 6 January 2012 / NBC

Review: NEW GIRL, 1.1 – "Pilot"

This Fox sitcom drew a bigger audience than the third season premiere of Glee when it debuted in the US, and now it finally reaches UK shores. I disliked it, as you'd probably expect. New Girl is everything I don't like about US comedy in one vivid, nauseating package. The only way it could have been worse would have been to add an unseen American audience to laugh, wolf whistle, and whoop over everything.

Zooey Deschanel (admitting her film career's terminal now she's 31 and still offered parts for 21-year-old ingénues) takes the lead as Jessica "Jess" Day--another character written to be a "quirky twentysomething", it would seem, so all Deschanel's done is switch mediums and chase job security. Or perhaps it's deeper than that and Jess is secretly a woman in her early-30s with learning difficulties? She reminded me of Charlize Theron's Jill from Arrested Development, who came across as disarmingly kooky but was later revealed to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Maybe I've stumbled upon New Girl's big season finale twist? Jill's a school teacher, too. I can only assume she's in charge of the potato printing lessons at a kindergarten.

Jill dumps her cheating boyfriend in the opening of the pilot when she arrives home to serenade him naked and finds he's in bed with someone else. Heartbroken, Jess moves into an apartment with three men: affable bartender Nick (Jake Johnson), self-styled ladies man Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and macho athlete "Coach" (Damon Wayans Jr)—a character replaced by Lamorne Morris as Winston hereafter. Who names a character "Coach", anyway?

New Girl relies totally on the audience finding Zooey Deschanel adorable (or "adorkable" as the US marketing claims), which goes for almost every character she's ever played. And I just don't find her "adorkable", even if millions do. The older she gets, the creepier her huskily-voiced doe-eyed performances feels to me. I'm sure she's a lovely person in real life, and makes plenty of hipsters swoon with her large eyes and elfin features, but her performances feel indistinguishable to me and I'm not under her spell. She's not so awful that I want to scratch my eyes out whenever I see her, and she has moments of winsomeness here, but this show is written in a way that's unappealing to me.

written by Liz Meriwether / directed by Jake Kasdan / 6 January 2011 / Channel 4

Review: THE ONE LENNY HENRY (BBC1)

I'm guessing this Friday night slot would have gone to Stephen K. Amos, had his own show not flopped so catastrophically last year. As people have commented below, this is actually a three-part comedy strand with Griff Rhys Jones and Jasper Carrott also being given the spotlight. So instead the BBC have revived their only other black comedian of note: the enduring Lenny Henry, who appears to have stopped ageing since 1995. The One Lenny Henry was a shamelessly old-fashioned mix of sketches and stand-up (practically beamed in from the late-'80s), but seeing as it was intended as a celebration of Henry's 37-year-old career it wasn't such a flaw.

Things began promisingly, with an amusing spoof of The Killing (hearing "Phantom Flan Flinger" spoken in a Danish accent made me giggle anyway), and a wise move to have Henry acknowledge that many people find him irritating. The quality of comedy in this half-hour wasn't great, and it definitely wasn't inspired, but it was functional and sometimes drew laughs from a recess of my brain where a Frank Spencer or Tommy Cooper impression is still a happy event. I have no idea what anyone under the age of 20 would make to the many callbacks to Henry's early career, such as resurrecting '80s character Delbert Wilkins (once a London pirate DJ, now a YouTube "star") or incorrigible ladies man Donovan.

But while there were sketches/jokes that would flop in the eyes of some people, others probably hit their targets: like a sketch with Ronni Ancona poking fun at Twilight (with Birmingham-born Henry as a "Brumpire" and his topless nemesis from "Werewolverhampton"), or the surprisingly funny appearance of Peter Serafinowicz as a white wannabe black man. A joke that may now feel tired, 15 years since Ali G perfected it, but you could tell the unlikely double-act of Henry and Serafinowicz were having good fun together. The show could have used more live studio sketches like that one, really.

British-Iranian comedian Omid Djalili also appeared, in a slapstick sketch where two cooks had an "inappropriate fight" in a kitchen, and I could imagine many children being amused by the live-action cartoon violence of sitting on a red-hot stove or people having food stuffed up their nose.

Henry's own stand-up was  the most underwhelming aspect of the show, as it was so middle-of-the-road you could see the white lines. One bit, about being jailed for the petty crime of pirating a DVD, has been done so many times before on-stage, by various comedians, that I'm surprised whoever came up with the routine hasn't started legal proceedings against a half-dozen performers. Still, Henry's been working a crowd for nearly 40 years, and he has enough stage presence and confidence to bulldoze his way through weak or naff material. I don't find him a particularly funny person, but I can appreciate he has a stage craft.

Overall, taken as a bite-sized family-focused half-hour, partly there to celebrate the career of a popular entertainer, who's still a rare black face in his particular field, I can't get angry about The One Lenny Henry's existence. It wasn't there to push boundaries or do anything unique and cutting-edge, it was 30-minutes of easygoing jokes and a few sketches to make you smile. I actually found it warmly nostalgic in a sense, especially because of the way it ended with a reworking of a popular pop song (Cee Lo Green's "Forget You"), which was the formula for every show like this back in the day...

6 January 2011 / BBC1