"Count Arthur Strong" Series 2 and 3, BBC

If it wasn't that Graham Linehan was involved, I would never have started watching Series 1. It is 'an acquired taste'.
Pros
Rory Kinnear is a wonderfully versatile actor (I saw him last as Frankenstein's creature in "Penny Dreadful"). He has his dad's comic timing (Roy Kinnear). The cafe owner, Bulent, is a trick.
There are some fun malaprops (e.g. Arthur's "racist" book in Episode 1) and linking "Carry On Cruising" with "Captain Phillips" made me smile, but not enough to sustain a half hour comedy. Perhaps Episode 2 will win me over. What is Michael writing?
Episode 2 was much stronger, cleverly structured with a particularly funny flashback involving street urchins from "Oliver", 60's mods and "The Great Escape".
Episode 3 (Arthur dabbles in local politics "We're Listening") tried to stretch 29 minutes with one joke.
The series final, Episode 7, "Fame at last", had a sweet ending but the jokes again were drawn out and predictable.
The studio audience laughing uproariously at anything vaguely funny was grating. There must have been booze laid on before the taping.
Update Series 3
I just gave the first episode of Series 3 a try and was pleasantly surprised - mad make-up, spooky ventriloquist dummies, "grandpa drinking" and Michael dancing to Soft Cell.
Episode 2 - Kevin Klein underpants, "that Brian Cox feeling" and Don Arthur Corleone made me laugh a lot. Beautifully structured episode with a great final gag.
Episode 3 sees Arthur transformed from farting murder-mystery corpse into crack detective, thanks to Martin Clunes and a double decker bus.
Episode 4 was more surreal than usual - an assault course for babies, Barry Norman's pickled onions, a WW1 soup cannon and Archimedes's bathtime urethra moment.
When was the last time someone mentioned "The Onedin Line"? Episode 5 is full of nostalgic references - Clannad, The Beatles on the rooftop, Paul Newman in "The Hustler" - topped off with a guest appearance by "John Shuttleworth" (Graham Fellows).
P.S. Never share a bed with Arthur.
In "Safari Park" (Episode 7, season finale) we have the classic fire in the car/lions outside dilemma. Ann Summers lingerie saves the day.

I love "Bluestone 42" Series 2/3

Isn't it great when the second season maintains the quality of the original series? I reckon the second was even an improvement. Funnier, richer characters (e.g. Bird, Nick, the Lieutenant-Colonel), great new characters (Tower Block) as well as suspenseful situations. What about that cliffhanger final scene?
Series 3 loses cynical Nick, gains keen-as-mustard Ellen, but it is the strongest and most consistent series so far. The puerile but lovable Scottish pair (Mac and Rocket) have developed a great comedy double act. Episode 5's the-net-beats-all-weapons was priceless.

"The Musketeers" Episode 1 BBC review

Fine production values, atmospheric wintry locales, an appealing cast and just the right balance of drama with tongue-in-cheek. I think "Da Vinci's Demons" covers a lot of similar ground - swashbuckling, buxom wenches, well toned abs, spies, carousing in the tavern, evil church figures, pretty European scenery. All actors with English accents.
Yes, it's a 'romp' and will rate well.....but
... if you want to see the best version, seek out Richard Lester's "The Three Musketeers"(1973) and "The Four Musketeers" (released a year later but filmed together).
Great cast of British actors: Frank Finlay, Oliver Reed, Christopher Lee, Spike Milligan, Roy Kinnear. Charlton Heston having fun as Richelieu. Faye Dunaway as a kickass Milady. Raquel Welch in her best role as the klutzy Constance. All the cast have English accents (some Working Class, to denote the French class system), none with the "Allo, Allo" accent. This accent idea was quite groundbreaking for 1970's cinema.
Richard Lester combines action, steam punk (check out Richelieu's gadgets) and cheeky humour.
The definitive retelling of an old favourite.

Best line in the BBC version:
"Want to go to Heaven for 50 sous?"
"Are you a religious nutcase?"
"It was a metaphor."

13 cool things about "The Day of the Doctor" BBC

1. Tom Bloody Baker!
2. The final tableau of all 13 doctors.
3. Bromance banter from Matt Smith ("Chinny") and David Tennant ("Sandshoes").
4. The impreccable John Hurt ("Grandpa") as grumpy old man Doctor.
5. References to "dots" in the old Tardis.
6. Billie Piper as flirty but wise "bad wolf"/"the conscience".
7. Murray Gold's orchestral score.
8. CGI, big budget movie quality.
9. The Tardis suspended from the helicopter, landing in Trafalgar Square.
10. Joanna Page as Queen Elizabeth I.
11. The secret archive under The Tower, with a glimpse of a pair of ruby slippers.
12. Steven Moffat's mindblowing script.
13. Daleks!

"The Wrong Mans" BBC TV series Episode 5 "Wanted Mans"

Tonight spooks, double crosses, not on "the good settee", assault with a stapler, "mucky ladies", Dawn French performing garage surgery amongst Phil's train set, the wonderful Rebecca Front as a bitchy MI5 head and a bit of Jason Bourne action. Two cute bits - Phil's childhood memories and Marat's tearful goodbye with Sam. Baynton and Corden have great onscreen chemistry. As they gradually unravel the puzzle, it should be a cracking final episode next week.

"Peaky Blinders" BBC2 Episode 6 Series final... Series 2?

I hope a second series is not made. But it will be. Campbell (Sam Neill) probably topped himself rather than Grace. Tom may have some adventures in New York (steering clear of Nucky Thompson's territory, of course).
The search must be now on for a replacement arch-nemesis for Tom and the Shelbys. The character of Aunt Pol (Helen McCrory) is too good to waste. Wasn't she brilliant in Episode 6 - the pub scene with Grace? This stylish series will play well overseas. Its ratings in the UK weren't shabby either.
I just wish shows would stop when they're on a high. Remember "Dexter"?
On the other hand BBC cancelled the wonderful "The Hour" (also on a cliffhanger). The show could have have a third series - look at all the juicy 60's news they could have used (e.g. the Profumo affair). Just when retro shows are so popular ("Mad Men","Call the Midwife", "Masters of Sex", "Breathless"). Perhaps there's a glut of these late 50's/early 60's TV shows.

Why the Brits make the best TV panel shows

There is a great heritage of brilliant radio panel shows in the UK. "My Word", "Just A Minute", "The Unbelievable Truth" come to mind. Word play, anecdotes and witty personalities abound.
On television you have "Qi", "Never Mind the Buzzcocks", "Would I Lie To You?", news review panel shows like "Mock the Week", "8 Out of 10 Cats", "10 O'clock Live", endless "Big Fat Quiz" formats and "Have I Got News For You" (now up to Series 46). The Brits pioneered news satire with David Frost's "That Was the Week That Was" in 1962.
This week another panel show (Channel 4) was launched. Specialising in quotations, the sublime David Mitchell hosts "Was It Something I Said?". With team captains Micky Flanagan and Richard Ayoade, this show was a delight. I know the same faces pop up on various shows, Jimmy Carr, Dara O'Briain, Phill Jupitus, David Mitchell, Lee Mack, Jo Brand, but who cares, they are always good value.

There have been some classic US panel shows like "What's My Line?", but the tradition hasn't continued. "Chelsea Lately" and "Real Time With Bill Maher" is about as good as US panel shows get but these are probably classed as talk/tonight shows.

Australian panel shows have emulated UK shows. The ill-fated "Randling" (a tedious word game competition) was drawn out over 26 weeks. ABC might have better luck with Series 2 of "Tractor Monkeys", although Episode 2 was dire. Network 7's "The Unbelievable Truth" should never have made the transition to television. ABC had huge success with "Spicks and Specks" (modelled on "Never Mind the Buzzcocks"). In August 2013, Network Ten started the very witty, but low rating "This Week Live" (shades of Ten's classic "The Panel" and Channel 4's "10 O'Clock Live").

Will I keep watching "The Wrong Mans"? BBC TV

The jury is still out after watching Episode 1 of "The Wrong Mans".
Here are the pros:

• Beautifully photographed, cool editing.
• The crashing BMW was specky.
• The two hapless dorks are likable
• James Corden making sushi.
• The "Fight Club" reference in the operating theatre.
• The last scene had me guessing.

As long as you suspend common sense (Wouldn't you just hand the phone in to the police? Doesn't the NHS use identity bracelets?), this could be an enjoyable thriller/bro comedy.
Hoping for more Hitchcockian references next week.

Episode 2 was better .... combining a coughing code, a grumpy Chinese kidnapper, a catchy council slogan, Dawn French's hot water bottle and a bag of poo.
The labyrinthine plot is turning out to be loads of fun.

Episode 3 .... I'm sold. I laughed a lot in this one plus it was genuinely exciting to watch.  Another meeting with Dawn French, more plot twists, an embarrassing dinner party, two nasty murders,a crap film quote quiz in the back of the car, the blood drenched Mercedes, more plot twists and hectic chases.
And don't forget the 'recovery position' doesn't work with the deceased.

"What Remains" Episode 4, final

It amazes me that BBC can produce such puerile dross as "Big School" as well as a series as brilliant as "What Remains". This four parter was a moody, atmospheric (check out creepy art direction of the stairwell), slowly paced affair with a rip snorting conclusion. Roman Polanski meets the archetypal Brit damaged/obsessed copper.
Harper's plaintive: "I don't want to be alone" will stay with you.

Best shows on television in 2013? "Les Revenants" ("The Returned") & "In The Flesh" BBC

One's French! One's English. Both about the undead.
"Les Revenants" ("The Returned"), originally shown in late 2012 on Canal +. Now we get the English (well subtitled) version in 8 parts on Channel 4. It's so good, I'm gobsmacked - makes "Top of the Lake" look like "Home and Away". Beautifully filmed, intricately structured and creepy as Hell. Less is more. Only seen two eps so far.
I will not give anything away. This is no zombie opus. A teenager is scary and unpredictable, so what would a dead teenager be like? Relationships, rather than horror, is the focus here.
Watching the opening titles should be enough to confirm that this is television drama as good as you get.
UPDATE
Watched the final episode. It posed more questions than it answered. After 8 episodes I felt a bit cheated. Have to wait until next year for Series 2.

On the other hand....
The BBC's excellent zombies (or should I say "PDS persons - Partially Deceased Syndrome") mini-series "In the Flesh" was an economical three parter. Highly recommended. Intelligent, poignant and beautifully produced. It deserves to be repeated. Streets ahead of US cable's "The Walking Dead".

"The Fall" Creepiest show on TV at the moment Episodes 1-5 review

I am knocked out by "The Fall".
Gillian Anderson (confession: I have never been a big fan) is fantastic as the cold and complex detective. I was gobsmacked when she tells the handsome copper, "I'm at the Hilton, the room number is 203". I am sure Agent Scully would not have been so forward with Mulder!
The gliding camera through the serial killer's home, shot from the ceiling, was astounding. Very Brian De Palma or was it like that shot in the brothel in "Taxi Driver"? Anyway, it was cool.
Jamie Dornan is compelling. The creepy part is how he is living a 'normal' family life. The scene with the psychologist taking notes by sketching his patient was disturbing.
Episode 2 was harrowing. Lots of juxtapositions - the baby in Intensive Care/the father mourning for his baby - his daughter in the morgue; the killer washing his daughter's hair after washing the strangled solicitor. Some good plot twists - the smarmy solicitor being a friend of the latest victim, the final scene where the detective is gunned down in front of his son. Believable situations - the parent-teacher interview, the mother in the maternity ward. The scene with the police emergency operator was a gem. This is clever, but creepy television drama.
Just watched last episode, was sort of disappointed. Bit of a cliff hanger. Is there another series in this? Or does the viewer have to fill in the gaps (when the witness regains consciousness and ID's the bastard, will the creep stay in Scotland?).
Brilliant TV though. Gillian Anderson is now officially a hot TV property (a juicy cameo in "Hannibal", now this superbly written part).
More please.

Is British TV Crime Drama Better than U.S. TV Crime Drama?

Probably.
Throw me any good U.S. show and I'll put up a better U.K. offering (or original). The  U.K. shows I am prattling on about are all free-to-air television (as opposed to HBO and other U.S. cable networks).
Those C.S.I. <insert interesting U.S. city here> series are running out of puff.
You get more bang for your buck with British crime shows, particularly featuring psychos. Take a recent episode of BBC's "Silent Witness" (it started a decade before C.S.I Crapola started). You had a serial killer that made Joe Carroll from "The Following" look like Mr Rogers. All in two (1 hour each) episodes.
Take ITV's "Broadchurch" for superb character development. "Wire in the Blood" for tormented, gifted profilers, long before Will Graham in "Hannibal". "Waking the Dead" also blitzes its U.S. counterparts.
Then you have three more ingredients to add more texture - the British class system, historical locations and eccentric (nutbags?) characters. Take "Midsommer Murders" (please, some wags would say).
Take the Brit's heritage of murder whodunits - Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, G.K.Chesterton, Ruth Rendell). The Brits do 'gritty' as well as graphic. Take old episodes of "The Bill" - even minor characters were so well cast, the acting so polished. I remember the high quality of 1960's shows like "Z Cars" and "Softly, Softly".

Don't get me wrong, there are a few standout U.S. stars of the genre: I'm sure you can think of others...like "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" (both cable, though).
"Hannibal" is remarkably brave and multi-layered for free-to-air television. "Dexter" (HBO) was groundbreaking, hope the last season goes out with a bang.
Then to add confusion, we have U.K./U.S. co-productions like the delightful "Ripper Street".

"House of Cards" BBC 1990 vs "House of Cards" 2013 Netflix

Granted - Netflix's "House of Cards" is terrific television with Kevin Spacey commanding each scene. But check out the original "House of Cards"(1990), set in post Thatcher Britain. The BBC version comprised four episodes, each lasting 55 minutes. I think in Australia it was shown over two nights, 2 hours each night.

Ian Richardson (playing the Chief Whip of the Conservative Party) does his marvellous bit addressing the camera, outlining his machinations, just as Kevin Spacey has fun with the audience.

Michael Dobbs (later Baron Dobbs) was the Deputy Chairman of the Tory Party then Chief of Staff in the Thatcher Government. He wrote a trilogy, later adapted for television: "To Play the King" (1993) and "The Final Cut" (1995). Andrew Davies was on board in both "House of Cards" adaptations. Both versions chronicle F.U.'s rise to power, Francis Urquhart becoming Prime Minister in the final instalment of the BBC series as Francis Underwood is President in Season 3 (2015). Francis's wife has a more important role in the Netflix version (brilliantly played by Robin Wright).
Creator and head writer of the US series, Beau Willimon, has enriched and deepened "House of Cards", creating nearly 39 hours (3 seasons, each with 13 episodes) of engrossing television.

"Call the Midwife" BBC TV series Series 2, Episode 8 final, review, no spoilers

Forget "Downton Abbey", this show is must-see TV.
Every character is beautifully developed. We know them all: the wise and nurturing head nun (Sister Julienne/Jenny Agutter), her no-nonsense off-sider (Sister Evangelina/Pam Ferris), the English Rose who is always one man behind (Jenny/Jessica Raine), the tortured, angelic Sister Bernadette (Laura Main), the good time girl with the heart of gold (Trixie/Helen George), the mouse that occasionally roars (Cynthia/Bryony Hannah), the part senile, part poetic philosopher (Sister Monica Joan/Judy Parfitt), the shy, gradually blooming Jane (Dorothy Atkinson). And of course Chummy/Camilla. It is not surprising that the author, Jennifer Worth, the real life Jenny, suggested Miranda Hart for the part. Ms Worth died in 2011.
The show effortlessly goes from harrowing to heartwarming to hilarious. I am not at all religious but this show does a lot for the cause (as did "The Vicar of Dibley").  It's the best TV series about nuns (Catholic or Anglican) since the Australian mini-series "Brides Of Christ" (1991).
I tear up on a regular basis during Vanessa Redgrave's (older Jenny) closing narration for each episode. And the last episode was no exception. What will happen to Nonnatus House? We shall have to wait until series 3. I'll like to see them move Sister Evangelina! Should be interesting.
Big thumbs up for series creator and writer of many episodes, Heidi Thomas. The production design/art direction capturing 1950's East London/docks is exceptional.
Big thumbs up for the postwar introduction of the N.H.S. in Britain!

"Top of the Lake" TV series Episode 3 review

More drawn out drama from Jane Campion.  At least the episode was only 48 minutes.
Poor Robin Griffin (Elizabeth Moss), looking like Scully from "The X-Files" in some shots, has a dying mum and a stagnant relationship with her guy back in Australia. So things look up at the local pub, after a bit of impromptu oral sex in the ladies loos.
Robin must have been thinking about her fling with Johnno Mitchum because she does a crap search of Mitchum Manor (missing the drug factory on the lower level).
Holly Hunter (G. J.) is having fun with her intense prophet/nutbag role. She seems to be channelling Stan's sister Shelley from "South Park".
Old farts trippin' out in the wilderness nearly turned my stomach, concluding with drug lord papa Mitchum's self-flagellation by his mum's grave.
Hope Episode 4 gets somewhere.

"Top of the Lake" TV series Episode 1, Episode 2 review

I have watched the first two hours of "Top of the Lake". I've avoided reviews. I have seen only one Jane Campion film. I thought "The Piano" (1993) was beautifully filmed, impeccably acted, but full of unsympathetic characters and a bit of a moody wank.
"Top of the Lake" so far is .... beautifully filmed, impeccably acted, but full of unsympathetic characters and a bit of a moody wank. No wonder ABC did not want to buy it for Australian free to air.

Granted the first scene with Arthurian tones, Tui silently gliding into the lake, was mesmerising. The Queenstown lakes district of New Zealand's South Island lends itself to this atmospheric stuff. In the NZ's South Island, even a crap photographer like myself, CANNOT take a bad photo. See above, this was out the hire car windscreen. It is so picturesque (or in Kiwi speak "Pucturisque").
Elizabeth Moss ("Mad Men") does a passable Australian accent, but the production is littered with Australian accents and only a few distinctively Kiwi ones. How come? Many of the actors are Australian, David Wenham, Robyn Nevin. The wonderful Peter Mullan (scary Scottish head of the crime family in Channel 4’s "The Fear") plays a scary Scottish head of a dodgy family.

'Paradise', the women’s refuge lead by head nutbag, Holly Hunter, provide much needed comic relief.  One women lived with a chimp, another one ploughs into the local pub, plonks $NZ 100 (about $A 80) on the bar with the line: “I need a f**k, I’ll be in Room 6, 7 minute job and I’m timing it”.

There was also a throwaway line about the local Austrian paedophile, some card chimes in “Does he have a cellar?

Ever been to the South Island? It is frigging cold, even in Summer. Yet the locals gents walk around bare-chested. We have hippy crones streaking in the meadows.

I will stick with this show because I want to find out where Tui is and who got her pregnant.

Another 5 episodes to go, no more naked old birds, please.