A few hours before I watched Half Ton Mum on More 4 last night, I’d been reading a fascinating article on the British Library website about the history of ‘freak’ shows, and therefore, unavoidably, when I’d watched this documentary, I couldn’t help but make comparisons.

Here’s an extract from the article I’d been reading…

“Exhibitions of live human curiosities had appeared in travelling fairs, circuses and taverns in England since the 1600s. These included so-called giants, dwarves, fat people, the very thin, conjoined twins and even people from exotic climes.

“Freak shows were a particularly popular form of entertainment during the Victorian period, when people from all classes flocked to gawp at these unusual examples of human life.”

The only difference between us and our Victorian ancestors then is that we don’t have to go out to see ‘freaks’, they’re conveniently beamed directly into our living rooms. Read more & comment »

I missed this Cutting Edge film when it was on Channel 4 on Thursday, so I caught up with it on More 4 last night, and it made for harrowing and frustrating viewing.

Throughout the film, we heard the story from both the viewpoint of Carl Probyn, Jaycee Lee’s then step-father, and the police who dealt with the case. What transpired was a tale of missed opportunities, shoddy police work and, most movingly, the destructive impact Jaycee Lee’s disappearance had on Carl and his ex-wife Terry.

We all know the story so I don’t need to recap that, but that said, part of last night’s film re-enacted Carl’s role in witnessing and reporting 11 year old Jaycee Lee’s abduction. He immediately mobilised himself and his neighbours to try to get a “lock down” on the area, but the police didn’t do likewise, and Phillip and Nancy Garrido fled over 100 miles to Antioch in California, despite the fact that Carl had given an extremely accurate description of the car and Nancy Garrido. Read more & comment »

Every now and again, TV brings us documentaries of such a high quality and of such importance – by chronicling events in history that were of a magnitude that they changed the face of politics and indeed, humanity – that one feels it really should be played simultaneously on all channels so as to attract the biggest audience possible to hear its message.

And last night’s More 4 documentary in the True Stories strand, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, made by Gini Reticker, was one such programme.

It followed the story of the Christian Women’s Peace Initiative in Liberia, headed up by the formidable and empowering Leymah Gbowee and later joined by the equally redoubtable Asatu Bah-Kenneth, who was the assistant director of the Liberian National Police and a Muslim. Read more & comment »

There has been a serious case of chinese whispers recently where US drama Brothers and Sisters is concerned, not helped by yesterday’s ‘revelations’ on E!.

E! reports suggested that love rat Balthazar Getty was being forced off the show before the end of the third series as cast and crew grew fed up with his unprofessional behaviour behind the scenes of the show.

However, the LA Times claims that this is only a half story and whilst Gett’s character Tommy Walker will be leaving the series early, he will return for the fourth series after a period of soul searching brings him back from rock bottom.

Read more & comment »

True Stories: Pig Business is a shocking feature-length documentary which explores in gruesome detail how intensive pig farming for the meat industry is affecting both our own health and the environment.

It’s on More 4 tonight at 10:00pm and you really do need a strong stomach to watch it. The film shows how the pork rearing industry is making a mockery of animal rights and driving traditional, small-scale and humane farmers to the wall. Read more & comment »

I caught this show last night on More 4 – you can watch it again here if you didn’t see it – and it should’ve really interested me; I love shows about UFOs. It’s a subject that fascinates me but the show’s host and chief investigator, Nick Cook, turned it into a giant yawn-fest with protracted detail and a very tedious examination of timelines…

That said, he did investigate some possible explanations for the truth behind UFO sightings that I’d not heard about before and just the fact that we got to watch a show about UFOs made it my sorta Friday watching! So, do you ‘believe’? Read more & comment »

The second episode of the much awaited – certainly by me – new season of ER began with Dr Morris introducing the new batch of interns to the ER. We also met ball-breaker Catherine Banfield – pictured above – the new chief of the ER which would’ve been Greg’s job had he not shuffled off the mortal coil last week.

Banfield is played by Oscar-nominated Angela Bassett but I have to say, I didn’t feel the love for her character at all. Dr Banfield was all suppressed emotions and fierce will of iron stuff which felt a bit trite and predictable, however, maybe I’ll warm to her before the series ends… Read more & comment »

Well, ER has often had me in tears in the past with its evocative and convincing drama and upset and the season 15 premiere last night was no different. Not only is this the final season of this fantastic show, it was also the last time we’ll see Greg Pratt, and that’s what made me cry.

The writers and cast of ER are masters at doing the dying in the trauma room routine and the death of Greg was a true marvel of tearjerking. For one thing, it was totally unexpected because – unlike my normal behaviour with US shows – I deliberately avoided looking at any spoilers, so when Greg was injured in the ambulance crash then seemed to have relatively minor injuries, for him to so rapidly decline and become brain stem dead was truly shocking. Read more & comment »

I was eagerly awaiting this new drama from Matthew Perry, and the reviews of Studio 60 across the water have been very favourable.

Unfortunately, due to a hectic work schedule and lots of really amazing TV shows on the box at the minute, I have managed to miss the launch of this new series. Read more & comment »