So this week we continue a good run of TV highlights with a couple of amusing Sky1 shows and some new thrillers from the BBC so let’s get started.

A Touch of Cloth (Sky1, Sun and Mon, 9pm)
Kicking off with a Sky double bill of new crime show A Touch of Cloth starring John Hannah and Suranne Jones. Though A Touch of Cloth isn’t a new crime series but in fact a two-part spoof conceived and co-written by sardonic comic and writer Charlie Brooker who combines all the familiar elements of British cop shows into this pastiche. Hannah stars as DCI Jack Cloth a maverick, alcoholic, widowed detective who has to team up with Jones’ incompetent DC Anne Oldman in order to investigate a series of gruesome murders. As Brooker is a former TV critic, he has watched many of the major British crime shows of the past, including Wire in the Blood and Silent Witness both of which are drawn on here, to put together plenty of plot points that will be instantly recognisable to those who watch these sort of programmes on a regular basis. Jones and Hannah both send themselves up tremendously, and fans of The Naked Gun will love the quick-witted humour that Brooker and his fellow writers employ and after all it’ll be good to cheer yourself up over Bank Holiday weekend as it doesn’t look like the weather will be particularly great. Read more & comment »

As fans of Doctor Who will know, Karen Gillan is bowing out of the show in the forthcoming series, though as yet, the fate of her character Amy Pond hasn’t been revealed. That said, it’s widely rumoured that Amy is set to die in series seven, which debuts later this month.

However, Digital Spy exclusively reveal today that Gillan has revealed to them that she’s about to start filming for a role in police procedural parody, A Touch of Cloth, which is written by Dead Set creator, Charlie Brooker.

DS state, “Gillan refused to give away any details about her character, but added that she will begin filming for the programme soon.”

A Touch of Cloth, which stars John Hannah and former Corrie star Suranne Jones, is set to air in two parts on Sky1 from Sunday, August 26th at 9pm… Read more & comment »