Last night’s BBC2 documentary, Going Postal, looked at the horrible multiplicity of high school, campus and workplace shootings which have happened with alarming frequency in America since the late 80s when the term Going Postal was adopted in the wake of massacres committed by – primarily – postal workers.
These killers were, so we heard, prompted to do what they did in response to a number of factors; socio-economics, the availability of guns and feeling marginalised by the society within which they lived.
The film was part of BBC2’s ‘The Violence Season’ which, “explores the social, historical and psychological causes of violence” and this documentary was not only interesting – albeit somewhat morbidly – but it was produced in a non-biased, non-judgemental format by British film maker Paul Tickell who avoided many of the ‘norms’ when making films about similar subject matter… Read more & comment »
Fresh from the creator of smash hit series The Shield, comes the critically acclaimed Sons of Anarchy, a fast-paced, dark and sharply written drama already causing waves in the US, and which is about to make its exclusive debut in the UK exclusively on Bravo this summer.
This wasn’t quite the ‘enlightening’ show I’d expected it to; I had thought that Professors Canter and Ekman would give us an in-depth ‘how to spot a liar’ sort of thing, but in fact, although they did discuss how body language often betrayed the lies of those featured telling them, I had, as I say, expected a somewhat more technical explanation.
Nonetheless, it was a very interesting programme and one that shows the gullibility of not only ‘us’, as in the public, but the police too, and even those closest to the supposed victim, who in these cases, turned out to be the perpetrator of a crime.
And of coursed, hindsight is 20/20 and when one looks back at footage of the crocodile tears invoked for the cameras by the likes of Karen Matthews and Tracie Andrews, one can see that there were of course ‘signs’ that even people with a rudimentary awareness of body language and its use in deception could see… Read more & comment »
Welcome to our Primetime Picks for next week’s TV, so without further ado, here’s what we reckon you should tune into next week on your goggle box… Read more & comment »
Hit US TV series 24, have announced that they drastically reduced their carbon footprint for the current seventh season of the show.
The show’s Carbon Footprint was cut by 43% through greener efforts by all on the cast and crew.
According to FOX, “nearly a year after announcing its aim to reduce its carbon footprint and inspire its viewers to do the same, ‘24,’ the Emmy Award-winning series from Imagine and Twentieth Century Fox Television, has far exceeded its carbon-reduction goals and will be the first television production ever to achieve carbon neutrality.”
In yet another incredibly shocking documentary in the Unreported World series, reporter Evan Williams and his colleague Paul Kittel – director and cameraman – travelled to the Brazilian city of Recife, a beach paradise that’s visited by thousands of British tourists every year.
There, they uncovered allegations that the police are involved in ‘death squads’ which murder thousands of ‘undesirables’, including hundreds of street children, every year.
Within minutes of the programme beginning, Evan and Paul were taken to the scene of the murder of an 18-year-old boy at the side of a street. Police officers told Evan that the murder was “an execution” – a close-range shot to the head, typical of many of the city’s thousands of murders each year… Read more & comment »
The doors are locked on Prison Break for the last time as the fourth and final season of the smash hit, action packed drama comes to a close with a thrilling, heart-wrenching double bill finale on Tuesday 19th May at 10pm. Featuring special guest appearances from past favourites last seen in season two, the finale will draw to a close the long fought battle for freedom by fugitive brothers Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows and end with scenes four years in the future revealing the death of a major character. But fans only have one week to wait to see what happened in that time with the exclusive world premiere of a special two hour episode Prison Break: The Final Break the following week, on Wednesday 27th May at 10pm, exclusive to Sky1 and Sky1 HD.
This show is so good because in many ways, it’s so bad. It’s totally over the top US reality TV and more melodramatic than most soap operas. It also has a ‘theme’ of ‘saving souls’ which seems to have evolved as the series’ have gone on.
Apropos of themes, the theme tune to the show was written by and sung by the legend that is Ozzy Osbourne! Here’s a clip that shows the OTT nature of the show and you’ll also get to hear the theme tune…
Time runs out for Jack (Golden Globe® and Emmy® winner Kiefer Sutherland) as Day 7 reaches its thrilling conclusion with an emotionally charged, action packed double episode finale, exclusive to Sky1 and Sky1 HD on Monday 25th May at 9pm.
It’s been another very long day for Jack. After being whisked away from the Senate hearing by the FBI and used to track down the very much alive and well Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), Jack saw off General Juma and Colonal Matobo, ensuring the CIP device was destroyed before more innocent lives were lost.
Maxine Peake (Hancock And Joan, Red Riding) stars as Juliet Miller in this major new five-part thriller which takes an uncompromising and insightful look at our criminal justice system, but this time through the journey of one woman, made by BBC Drama Production for BBC One.
Peake leads an impressive cast that boasts some of Britain’s top acting talent including Matthew Macfadyen (Little Dorrit), Denis Lawson (Bleak House), Steven Mackintosh (England Expects) and Sophie Okonedo (Winnie Mandela, Tsunami: The Aftermath).
This was a very emotive film, as of course all media reports about missing children are and especially this high profile case, but the McCann’s have had to face so much, I wonder how they’re still standing; how they’re still functioning and able to live with what any parent will know must be the horrific thoughts about what could have happened to their daughter.
I can think of few things worse than having your child abducted, except perhaps not knowing what happened to her and if she’s dead or alive.
As we all know, on May 3rd 2007, their daughter Madeleine was abducted from their holiday apartment in the Portugese resort of Praia da Luz and she’s never been seen again. This Cutting Edge documentary examined the circumstances of her disappearance as well as catching up with how Kate and Gerry McCann have been coping with everything that’s happened to them since that fateful and devastating night… Read more & comment »
May 5th, 2009 by Lisa McGarry. Tags: Fringe, Sky-One
I have to say I was more than a little excited this morning when I heard that Fox had renewed J.J. Abrams’ Fringe for a second season.
The show was a bit of a slow starter but as season one draws to a close I have become quite attached to the eccentric Walter Bishop and his ridiculously handsome son.
“”Fringe” proved to be a notable addition to our schedule all season, and it really has fans buzzing as it builds to a fantastic season finale,” said Kevin Reilly, president of entertainment at Fox.
Hope you’re having a great weekend, and while you do, here’s our Primetime Picks of what we recommend you have a look at on your gogglebox next week… Read more & comment »
So, the Quattro was fired up, everybody wore clothes that would make Tranny and Susannah throw up and Alex was/is still stuck in the past, but now she’s in 1982 and of course Gene Hunt is still loud, bullish and fabulously opinionated and has – thank the gods of TV script writing heaven – lost the annoying American accent that he adopted in Demons and is back to his Mancunian self. Praise be.
If I had to choose just one line that I loved from Gene last night, it would be when he exclaimed that signs should be erected in “every train station in the north saying the streets of London are paved with sh**”. Maybe it was left there by the talking Alsatian who ‘talked’ to Alex per chance… Read more & comment »
I hope you’re all having a lovely Easter weekend and once it’s over, here’s what we here at Primetime reckon is worth watching this coming week…
Easter Monday
The Jet Stream and Us, 8:00pm, BBC4
This new documentary traces how human understanding of the jet stream - a ribbon of fast moving air high in the atmosphere - has grown. Now, that may sound boring but it’s actually very interesting!
It’s been responsible for bewildering effect on bomber pilots in World War II, turbo charging modern transatlantic flyers, the infamous 1987 hurricane and the devastating floods of recent years.
Scientists now believe this powerful weather phenomenon is now changing its pattern of behaviour and could have an even bigger impact on our climate and the way we live our lives.
Interviewees include Sir Brian Hoskins, University of Reading and Kirsty McCabe from the BBC Weather Centre… Read more & comment »
Maxine Peake (Hancock And Joan, Red Riding) stars as Juliet Miller in this major new five-part thriller which takes an uncompromising and insightful look at our criminal justice system, but this time through the journey of one woman, made by BBC Drama Production for BBC One.
This new documentary traces how human understanding of the jet stream - a ribbon of fast moving air high in the atmosphere - has grown. Now, that may sound boring but it’s actually very interesting!
