Taking The Flak on BBC2 last night was possibly the actual dictionary definition of ‘gentle comedy’. In fact, so gentle was it, I barely smiled never mind actually laughed.
The concept was that a BBC correspondent, and decidedly tiny fish in the seemingly shark infested pool of journalism, Harry Chambers, had reported from a far-flung African village called Karibu on the increasing tensions and fighting there. The story was picked up by the global press and bigwigs from the BBC turned up.
Cue Martin Jarvis – who looked remarkably like he was parodying John Simpson – as David who took all the limelight and credit for the emerging story, much to little fish Harry’s dismay. This it would seem is termed “bigfooting” by those in the know. Meanwhile, BBC producer Jane was haggling for rooms at the local hotel where she got to choose if the rooms were on the shooting side or the mortar side. Read more & comment »
Ben Fogle has told the Press Association that he was “unlucky” when he contracted a terrifying flesh-eating disease, but following a relapse, he says he knows he should’ve given himself “more time to recover.”
Ben, star of BBC2’s upcoming series On Thin Ice, rowed across the Atlantic in just 49 days with his friend and Olympic champion James Cracknell and it was after they returned home from this challenge that Ben suffered a relapse.
He said, “I was just very unlucky and even more unlucky for it to come back. I hate to admit it but it’s probably partly my fault that I didn’t recover enough afterwards… Read more & comment »
Putting a price on someone’s life is and always will be a contentious issue, but in last night’s documentary, The Price of Life, filmmaker Adam Wishart guided us through the process of how NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) must do exactly that. And somewhat shockingly, we heard how NICE have a ceiling – or rather, had, before that ceiling increased recently – of £30,000 per person per extra year of life.
In this case, the subject of contention was the cancer drug Revlimid. It’s an expensive drug which, the manufacturer of it claims, can potentially increase the life expectancy of some patients by anything from months to a few years. For the individuals who would benefit from that, it is of course invaluable, however, with unprecedented access to the process of NICE’s decision making on whether to grant funding for this drug or not, we saw how difficult making the decision is.
However, one of the first things that occurred to me on hearing about the financial limits placed on the value of a year of life is that in the wake of the MPs expenses scandal being revealed in full, we know that millions of taxpayers’ pounds have been blithely paid out, seemingly without any checks on the validity of the claims, yet people were dying while awaiting approval by NICE for this drug. For some, approval came too late and one person who Wishart interviewed for the film, Julia, sadly died before she could take advantage of NICE’s ultimate decision to green light the drug. Read more & comment »
At 9pm on BBC2 tonight, Matt Smith and Shaun Parkes star in this thrilling new drama that’s set in the heart of London, so if you want to see how the new Doctor measures up, now’s your chance to judge Matt Smith before he steps into the Tardis!
The story of Moses Jones is told over three one-hour episodes which begin when a wave of violence hits London following the discovery of the bizarrely mutilated body of a man in the Thames. First appearances suggest a witchcraft killing, but the dark reality is more complicated – and even more frightening… Read more & comment »
This fantastic drama documentary was on BBC2 last and can be seen again on BBC iPlayer, and I highly recommend you watch it.
Starring the fabulous Liz Smith as Olive, this dramatisation of real life events made fascinating viewing.
It’s based on a forgery racket which rocked the art world, especially so when it was discovered that an elderly couple and their loner son were behind it. They’d been selling off art forgeries and in the process, had conned millions of pounds out of some of the world’s most renowned art experts. Read more & comment »
The episode begins on the subway where future Hiro Nakamura meets Peter Petrelli, and tells him that he has to save the cheerleader, Claire Bennett. He leaves with the advice “Be the one we need”.
Peter tells an incredulous Mohinder what happened with Hiro, but Mohinder walks away unimpressed.
Claire is in the hospital after the crash where she sees a broken up Brody on a gurney. She opens up to Noah and tells him about Brody’s attempted rape, and admits that she lied to him.
When we return to Heroes, cop Matt Parkman has been captured by Noah Bennett and his sinister friend. Hiro and Ando are in Las Vegas, and Niki Saunders and her son Micah are there also, paying a visit to loan shark Lindermann.
Claire Bennett is in hospital, and as the camera pans back, we discover chest skin has been completely stripped away and she’s on the autopsy table. The coroner removes the stick that’s pierced Claire’s brain and she starts to rejuvinate again. When the coroner’s back is turned, she slips out of the room.
When we return to Heroes, cop Matt Parkman has been captured by Noah Bennett and his sinister friend. Hiro and Ando are in Las Vegas, and Niki Saunders and her son Micah are there also, paying a visit to loan shark Lindermann.
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