FUTURAMA, the quick-witted animation from the mastermind behind The Simpsons, makes a much anticipated television return on Sunday 30th August at 6pm only on Sky1.

Set in the 31st century, Matt Groening’s FUTURAMA is sci-fi comedy at its very best. Billy West voices Fry, the 20th century pizza delivery boy who awoke in the year 3000. Katey Sagal voices Leela, the sexy cyclops who captains the Planet Express ship and is the object of Fry’s affections; and John DiMaggio voices Bender, the crude, rude alcohol-fueled robot. As the Planet Express crew explore New New York City and the universe beyond, the latest FUTURAMA episodes promise to be as spectacularly silly as ever.

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I’m a big fan of Martina Coles’ work and despite the fact that I have a pathological loathing of anything to do with the ‘80s and nostalgia from the period, the excellent performances by the cast of The Take kept me glued.

Most notably, Tom Hardy as the villain and antihero of the piece – Freddie – was mesmerising. Whoever was in charge of casting did an excellent job; Hardy’s not the most glamorous looking actor in the world but he was made to play Freddie. The temptation might have been to cast an actor who was rather more photogenic so as to increase the sexual attraction of the character, but in fact, Hardy is spot on.

He was utterly believable as the newly released ex-con who had no intention of going straight, and his on-screen menace was palpable. It made me want to shrink back from the screen while alternately hoping that if I ever met his character, he’d like me… Read more & comment »

I think one of the truly remarkable things about Ross Kemp is that in the course of filming his mucho-macho documentaries, he’s actually doing a lot of good.

One example came last night when, while discussing the much loathed pirates he was aboard HMS Northumberland to hunt out, he talked to one of the crewmen about the pirates reasons for being pirates; namely, the fact that the economic infrastructure of Somalia is practically non-existent and these men have to feed their families somehow.

To do so, many had turned to piracy as a form of international barter trade and in response to Ross’s pointing this out, the crewman said words to the effect of, “Yes, I understand they have families to feed, and so do I, but I don’t go round pointing guns at people” He paused and then, amid an array of formidable weapons conceded, “Actually, I do…”

The point? Everyone does what they have to do to survive – it just depends which side of the law you’re on and whether you’re holding a gun to stop illegal activity or to carry it out.

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