Soap Discussion - August 2012

Last blog for the month of August.

Coronation Street: It's been an interesting enough, but more so with the Tyrone/Kirsty storyline and Tommy and Tina's growing involvement in it as well. Much as the writers have drawn some sympathy for Kirsty, it does seem like we're getting to a point now where she has to pay for her mistreatment of Tyrone. Aside from that - the whole surrogacy plot with Katy/Izzy/Gary seems a little too rushed, Kevin/Paul's bickering wasn't that amusing and does anyone really care about Tracy going berserk about Steve and Michelle getting back together? Didn't think so.

EastEnders: Now this really has been an interesting month. I'm not the biggest of Sharon fans and while maybe she should've been brought back the week before everything well to hell and Shirley found out about Ben killing Heather, her subsequent episodes have actually been pretty good and the whole aftermath of Heather's killer reveal has provided some excellent drama for the show. Far better than Janine's growing paranoia towards Michael or the show's insistence of dragging out the mystery of Kat's secret lover. Plus Derek actually managed to be a bit sinister and force Anthony to leave the Square. One wooden Moon boy down, another to go. Oh and the stuff with Ian and Lucy has also been interesting to watch.

Emmerdale: A better month than some it's had this year but it's still the weakest of the soaps right now. I don't care about Alex/Moira's secret trysts and I'll care even less the more salacious the writers try to make it and at this point, I'd almost pay myself to ship Marlon/Laurel/Paddy/Rhona off to New Zealand so I didn't have to listen to them prattling on and on. There isn't a single character in this story who comes across as well and similarly Chas replacing Cameron with Dan also didn't paint her in a good light, even if that tedious affair plot is seemingly done with.

Hollyoaks: Is Mercedes really such a great woman that men would kill for her? If you're creepy Dr Browning, the answer is yes apparently. I'm not shocked that he killed Lynsey but his motives for doing it do seem a little lame. And then on top of that, Riley seems to be into Mercedes again but then again, that fella was never the sharpest tool, was it? It's not been a great month for this show, apart from the Walker reveal (which I liked) - Doug pretending to be straight, more tedium with the sixth formers, Amy's way too low key exit, Dodger/Texas. None of those stories has anything really going for them.

Sherlock - Series 3 Teasing

With several months until even the third series of Sherlock begins filming (due to be starting in January, according to Sue Vertue), some teasing has been made in relation of what to expect for the forthcoming series. Does the words 'bow, rat and wedding' mean anything to  people? If so, there could be a few healthy guesses for what's to come during Series 3. Maybe a giant rat from Sumatra or a marriage for Watson or even a story narrated in the third person but either way, it's still going to be a long wait until Series 3, isn't it?

More Details: http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/sherlock/22452/sherlock-series-3-what-does-the-three-word-tease-mean

Doctor Who - Series 7 Radio Times Guide

With the show due to return later this week, Radio Times have provided a guide to the first five episodes of Doctor Who's seventh series and here are the bullet points of what to expect ....

7x01: Asylum Of The Daleks

Written by Steven Moffat
Directed by Nick Hurran

Does it surprise you to know that the Daleks have a concept of beauty?

- Once again, every Dalek imaginable is in this episode.
- There's a surprise after the opening credits (which will be different for every episode this series).
- A woman called Darla Von Karlson wants the Doctor to rescue her daughter.
- The Daleks enlist the Doctor, Amy and Rory to go to a planetoid called the Dalek Asylum, filled with battle scarred/psychotic Daleks that the regular ones fear.
- The Dalek Asylum is more than a myth or a story, it's our characters destinies.

7x02: Dinosaurs On A Spaceship

Written by Chris Chibnall
Directed by Saul Metzstein

Enjoy your bounty.

- We've got a spaceship heading towards Earth with dinosaurs on board, so to save both the planet and the cargo, the Doctor, Amy and Rory need help.
- This includes Rory's father, Brian (Mark Williams), Nefertiti (Rhiann Steele) and John Riddell (Rupert Graves), a game hunter.
- Apparently we'll see the Doctor on top of a triceratops at one point in the story.

7x03: A Town Called Mercy

Written by Toby Whithouse
Directed by Saul Metzstein

Could everyone who's not an American drop their weapon!

 -  One small town in the Old West is under siege between a Cyborg and an alien fugitive and the Doctor seems unconcerned.
- At one point in the episode, the Doctor takes a gun. It seems things have been taking their toll on him. Makes sense given a conversation we see with him and Amy in the trailer.
- It's a story about a man against impossible odds trying to overcome his demons.

7x04: The Power Of Three

Written by Chris Chibnall
Directed by Douglas Mackinnon

The day the Earth got cubed. The year of the slow invasion. The time the Doctor came to stay.

- Features the return of UNIT, Henry the 8th and also a rather slow alien invasion as the world is overrun with small black cubes.
- Focuses on Amy and Rory's life in the span of a year and features the return of Rory's father as well.
- At one point, the Doctor is actually living with Amy and Rory too.
- Think an invasion movie and The Man Who Came To Dinner for this episode.

7x05: The Angels Take Manhattan

Written by Steven Moffat
Directed by Nick Hurran


Never let him see the damage. And never, ever let him see you age. He doesn't like endings.

- It's Amy and Rory's last story and it's set in both present day and 1930s New York, with an appearance from River.
- The Weeping Angels are lying in wait and their collision with the Ponds will change things forever for the couple. Both the Doctor and River are unable to stop it.
- The Doctor doesn't even notice that Amy now needs reading glasses in the episode.
- Once again, it's been promised that it's gonna be a heartbreaker of an episode.

Overall, it sounds like an intriguing bunch of episodes we're due to get but before then, you can also watch the five series, Pond Life, currently airing every day this week until Friday, which explores the domestic lives of Amy and Rory. The first two episodes are up on the BBC site to watch now.

Pond Life: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00wqr12/features/pond-life

Doctor Who returns to BBC1 and BBCAmerica on September 1st at 7.20pm and 9pm respectively.

My Review of True Blood's 5x12: "Save Yourself"

Written by Alan Ball
Directed by Michael Lehmann

Salome (to Bill): “Lilith chose wisely.”

Um, the only thing Lilith managed to successfully accomplish throughout this season was turning every single vampire dumb enough in believing her against each other. Aside from that, Lilith most definitely did not do anything wisely in the slightest. Oh and she managed to cause further frustration as well sadly.

I was really hoping that this episode would finally put an end to all this Lilith nonsense but unfortunately Bill had to go and consume her blood in front of Sookie and Eric and now it looks like he’s become some vampire version of the antichrist as a direct result. To think that in seasons past Sookie might have gotten through to him. Sadly, here she failed big time.

Not that I’m actually blaming Sookie (because none of this was her fault at all) but even I’m surprised with how readily Bill turned against her and Eric and chose to drink Lilith’s blood. I have to admit it but cliff hanger ending aside, where exactly can the show go with Bill now? Can he be redeemed at all or is he really a lost cause now?

The only thing I did like about Bill in this episode was that he finally took Salome out of the equation. Salome’s arrogance has been backfiring on her for a while now and there was something rather gratifying in her being deceived into drinking silvered blood before being staked. It’s probably the only good thing Bill did in this episode because everything else has certainly made him the worst vampire ever now.

With Bill continuing his descent into religious fanaticism, thank goodness that the rest of our main vampires really stepped up to the plate here. Eric finally managed to get his own vengeance and stake Russell but more than that, he also concocted plans with Nora, Tara, Sookie and Jason in order to rescue Jessica and Pam as well as Bill.

Eric’s development of this season has been one of the show’s strongest points and I did like that he tried to reach out to Bill and also managed to get Sookie’s help without using intimidation or blackmail. It’s just a shame that along with Sookie, Eric couldn’t help Bill in the end but at least he had the sense to get out of the Authority when Bill became ‘Bilith’.

As for Tara – I guess she really does like Pam after all. I can argue the logistics but we have actually seen their development and the flirting between this particular progeny and her maker was surprisingly endearing to watch. Tara also seemed to soften a little towards Sookie as well when it came to warning her about vampire goo being slippery as well.

Keeping with the other vampire stuff – the Nora I liked from the opening episode of this season was also nicely present. Okay, so she was a little overly bitchy at times but she helped Eric when it came to taking out soldiers and their sniping was actually rather enjoyable to watch as well for the most part. Hopefully, we’ll get better development of Nora next year now that she made it out of the season alive.

Jessica on the other hand didn’t seem to catch any break. Her maker’s a mad fanatic and Jason outright rejected her for being a vampire in this one too. Much as I liked Jason’s vampire slaying skills in this episode, he really does need to knock it on the head with the bigotry and actually tell Sookie (or Lafayette) that he’s seeing both of his dead parents and fast before he does something stupid.

Elsewhere, you gotta love Sam Merlotte. The guy came up with the best way of staking the annoying Rosalyn and Luna did the world a favour by actually outing the Authority’s real agenda. Unfortunately, she also managed to out shift as well when turning back into herself from being Steve Newlin on TV but at least they managed to rescue Emma, so there’s victory to be had there.

As for Alcide – I didn’t like him having to use V into order to take JD but hopefully with him as pack master, we no longer have to tolerate idiotic wolves like JD. I just hope that the show resists the urge to do another V addict story as we’ve already been exhausted of them with Jason, Andy, Debbie and the Hotshot losers.

Last but not least – Andy Bellefleur became a father to four baby fairies and Maurella decided to leg it after giving birth in a fashion less gross than Melisandre on Game Of Thrones but equally as weird. I’m not big on baby plots but this one could be interesting to see next season, especially given that it’s a safe bet the fairies will be a bigger storyline next year.

Also in “Save Yourself”

Steve’s fate seems to be unknown. It’s possible that Luna killed him before shifting into him but we would’ve seen it if it had happened, wouldn’t we?

Russell (to Sookie/fairies): “Seriously, is that the best you can do? I can’t even feel it.”

Although Nora seemed to be oblivious about fairies until meeting Sookie, a deleted scene from this episode did reveal that she knows of Warlow (who we didn’t see here).

Eric (re Godric): “It must kill you that he loved me more.”
Nora: “It kills me you think he did.”

Pam (to Jessica): “One of the worst things about being immortal is having to watch the same stupid scenario happen over and over. It’s usually the humans though. Guess this proves we’re just as fucking retarded as they are.”

I have to admit, I did love seeing Lafayette, Arlene and Jane Bodehouse sitting back as Andy and Holly helped with Maurella giving birth. It was a lovely, bemusing little scene.

Jason (re vampires): “There’s a war coming. It’s us versus them and that’s the sad reality.”

Arlene: “Who knew watching an alien giving birth could be so comforting?”
Lafayette: “Are you kidding me? It’s always the weird stuff that’s the best.”

I noticed a bit of a spark between Martha and Jackson in this episode. I wouldn’t be surprised if they also become a couple next season.

Guard (re Sookie/Tara/Jason): “What’s your cargo?”
Eric: “The vampire’s a mainstreaming spy. Humans are lunch.”
Guard: “Blonde smells pretty amazing.”
Eric: “Yeah, she is amazing and mine.”

Sookie (re Pam/Tara): “Oh, okay.”
Jessica: “I knew it.”

Standout music: “Save Yourself” by Stabbing Westward at the end of the episode.

Bill (to Sookie/Eric): “I have spent my entire life as a vampire apologising, believing I was inherently wrong, somehow living in fear. Fear that God had forsaken me. That I was damned but Lilith grants us freedom from fear.”

Chronology: From where “Sunset” left off.

Overall, this was a solid finale but the cliff hanger for me, kind of ended things on a sour note to be honest. As a final episode for Alan Ball as well, I felt it could’ve been a little bit bigger as well than what we got but at least it’s set up some rather interesting plot lines for next season.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Dexter - Season 7 Promotional Pictures

And here are some promo pictures of Dexter and Deb for the seventh season of Dexter ...

The new season is literally only five weeks away now and the latest trailer for it really has gone above and beyond in terms of spoilers. It seems that Dexter might not be going to jail for killing Travis (was there a doubt he would?) but his relationship with Deb definitely isn't in a good place.

A two minute trailer released recently showed us clips of former Dollhouse actor Enver Gjokaj appearing as well as Dexter and Deb literally coming to blow (Deb's got an impressive right hook), Louis getting his just desserts, courtesy of Dexter, more dead bodies and rumblings about the Bay Harbour Butcher, someone in a creepy bull mask and even Dexter contemplating the worst thing possible as well. There's also rumours that former Supernatural actor, Jim Beaver may also be appearing later in the season as well.

I know Season 6 was easily the show's weakest year and while I am hoping to hell that the 'romantic' interest Deb developed out of nowhere for Dexter will die a quick death this season (though I've heard runours it won't), this does look genuinely exciting. Season 7 definitely will be must see TV at this point.

Season 7 - 2 Minute Trailer: http://www.spoilertv.com/2012/08/dexter-season-7-2-minute-trailer.html

Dexter Season 7 will air on Showtime, Sundays 9pm from September 30th.

American Horror Story - Season 2: Asylum Preview

It won't be long until the second season of Ryan Murphy's popular series is back and it's certainly change all around. For the last few months, casting has been leaked for prominent roles and with the show now taking place in a 1960s asylum, it seems that Jessica Lange's character, Sister Jude may be a nicer one than Constance was but she'll also be a character with her own demons as well. This season is also boasting the likes of Joseph Fiennes, James Cromwell, Zachary Quinto, Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson, Chloe Sevigny, Mark Consuelos and Clea Duvall to name a few.

Several teasers have been released for the upcoming season of American Horror Story involving roses, hydrobaths and ascending and each of them have teased a lot without revealing too much. However we do seem to know that Adam Levine and Jenna Dewan are playing a modern couple called The Lovers and that Evan Peters character in this season will be more heroic in comparison to his unhinged first season counterpart. After a rather chaotic first year, I can't wait to see if Asylum really will deliver. The trailers so far have managed to.

Season 2 Trailers: http://bestmoviesevernews.com/american-horror-story-asylum-teaser-ascends-expectations/

Season 2 airs on FX from October. A UK airdate has yet to be announced.

Downton Abbey - Series 3 Spoiler

Remember a time on Downton Abbey when we saw a trace of Thomas being gay? Well, it looks like we're going to see more in the upcoming series of the popular ITV period drama.

Rob James Collier who plays the scheming footman (also scheming to get Bates's job this coming series) did ask producer Julian Fellowes about Thomas's homosexuality and it seems that Thomas might be falling for the new boy, Jimmy, played by  Ed Speleers as the two of them forge a connection later in the series.

According to Speleers, the storyline does also focus on Jimmy's manipulative side too as he realises that keeping in with Thomas will benefit him in the end. Still - it's a storyline for Thomas and not his only one as his relationship with O'Brien takes a further hurtle when her nephew, Alfred arrives to work at Downton and Thomas loses out on a job because of him. Also expect some antics with Jimmy, Thomas, Daisy, Ivy and Alfred as a quintangle of sorts develops in the new series.

Thomas Spoilers: http://primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk/downton-abbey-series-3-rob-james-collier-and-ed-speleers-discuss-thomas-new-love-interest-jimmy-the-footman/
Series 3 Trailers: http://www.digitalspy.ie/tv/s183/downton-abbey/news/a400656/shirley-maclaine-maggie-smith-in-new-downton-abbey-trailers-watch.html

Downton Abbey returns next month on ITV1.

Doctor Who - Series 7 Christmas Filming/Companion Rumoured Details

Well, it's still filming on the Christmas special for Doctor Who right about now (in Bristol) and blimey, this episode looks like it's going to have the most gorgeous costumes seen on the show.

There's rumours in the papers that Jenna-Louise Coleman's character will be called Clara Oswin, a computer whizz sent back into 1890s London as a result of the Weeping Angels while she's holidaying in New York. It's also rumoured that one of her opening lines is 'rescue me boy and show me the stars', though whether any of that is actually true remains to be seen. However filming pictures for this episode (rumoured to be titled The Snowman) have shown Clara in both Victorian and contemporary clothing, so perhaps there is truth behind it.

And it looks that Matt Smith's 11th Doctor is also getting into the dressing up mode as well. Seriously, I don't gush this much about costumes but this episode is seriously becoming the one from Series 7 I'm looking forward to the most. Richard E. Grant's character is rumoured to be an alien in this episode as well. Still nothing on Tom Ward's character, other than the rumours that Clara is living with him.

Meanwhile in some lighter rumours, apparently Clara will be giving the Doctor the nicknames of 'chins' and 'chinboy' (according to The Star). If that's not a hint that their relationship will remain strictly platonic, I'm not sure what is but either way, much as I will miss Amy and Rory, I am seriously looking forward to Clara's arrival on the show even more now. Meanwhile, expect some prequels to both Asylum Of The Daleks and The Angels Take Manhattan in the upcoming weeks.

Filming Pictures: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2191383/Matt-Smith-dons-hat-films-Doctor-Who-Christmas-special-set-1890s.html

Doctor Who Series 7 will air on BBC1 from September 1st at 7.20pm and BBCAmerica at 9pm on the same day.

My Review of True Blood's 5x11: "Sunset"

Written by Angela Robinson
Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter

Russell (to Steve, re Jason): “Oh look, we got ourselves a hunk sandwich.”

Now while I’m sure there probably is some steamy fanfiction out there with Russell/Jason/Steve, it’s coming to my attention that Jason seems to be becoming something of a dude in distress this season with the amount of times he’s either been glamoured or attacked by vampires.

This time around Jason got to be used as bait for Russell and Steve in order for Sookie and the fairies to try and take them out. As plans went, this was one that was doomed from the start. If Sookie and company had grabbed some guns with wooden bullets and attacked from all sides, then Russell and Steve would’ve been no more.

Instead the Elder fairy got ahead of herself, underestimated Russell and wound up being drained dry from him too. It’s a shame really, because apart from Claude and Maurella, she was the only other fairy this season to stand out this season with her quirky banter and she was killed too quickly for my liking.

It also means now that that Russell can actually see and undoubtedly enter fairy world, so I really do hope for Sookie and Claude’s sakes that they come up with a Plan B before Russell and Steve dwindle their numbers in quick succession and fast too.

However, I was trying to make a point about Jason and the point is that he does have a tendency to wind up in a fair whack of trouble with vampires more so nowadays. If it’s not with his determination to take out Warlow, it’s Jessica being forced to actually make him into a vampire at Bill’s behest as well.

I knew that Jessica would ultimately find some way of saving Jason, though she did have me fooled for a little moment but I can kind of see why things with them really aren’t going to work in the long haul. It’s not just Hoyt that was an obstacle for them – it’s everything really at the moment.

Also keeping with Jessica – Bill slapping her was actually a lot more shocking that it should’ve been. Yes, it’s been painfully clear now for the last few episodes that he’s not faking the Lilith obsession but if even Jessica cannot get through to him, then I am really worried that he’s gone for good.

It’s not even an Angelus type of gone either – this fanaticism has really gotten irritating to watch. It’s bad enough that Salome has always been on the Lilith train but it seems that everyone who’s been drinking her blood is going to turn on each other. Bill even killed Kibwe when he said that Lilith chose him. With any luck, Salome will end up receiving the true death.

On the plus side, at least both Eric and Nora have snapped out of it. The Nora I loved from “Turn!Turn!Turn!” made a return in this episode and it’s nice that the two of them are being proactive in trying to stop any further chaos that Lilith might get everyone else to incite. It’s just a shame that Eric had to kill Cavanagh in order to maintain the pretence as well though.

As for Pam and Tara – I did love that they managed for a little bit to keep Jessica safe and I certainly enjoyed the scene with Tara and Jessica as well discussing crushes and friendships. I really do want some proper scenes with Tara and Jessica next season. Those two would be excellent friends and they need it as well, don’t they?

Pam also impressed me in this episode too with taking the rap for killing Elijah in order to protect Tara but I also know that a larger part of her motives were to see Eric again. I just hope for Pam’s sake, she’ll make it out of the Authority alive because the way Bill and Salome are going, I predict more bloodshed in next week’s finale.

Also in “Sunset”

This episode had the titles of “Finally” and “Song Of A Dead Faerie”. I wonder why both of them were ditched?

Lilith (to Bill): “Only one can lead us, I choose you. Drink the blood, drink it all.”

Quirky Elder fairy seems to be a fan of Kesha and Boyz2Men. Her scenes with Sookie were delightfully random. We didn’t get an answer on Warlow’s identity though.

Salome: “We started this together, you and I and everything we dreamed of is coming to pass. The world will run with blood and we’ll be there to drink it down.”
Nora: “And in the darkness we shall rejoice.”

Jessica (re Jason): “What if I made him a vampire?”
Bill: “You wanna be a maker?”

Maurella confirmed in this episode that she was carrying Andy’s baby around the same time he made a commitment to Holly. Maurella also seemed a little scary as well.

Cavanagh (to Bill): “We own the day. Vampires don’t stand a fucking chance.”

Jessica (to Jason): “I know this isn’t real but if I was gonna have to spend eternity with somebody, I wasn’t faking that part.”

Alcide managed to get through to his disgraced father, Jackson and both of them took out some baby vampires. Rosalyn was also revealed as Elijah’s maker too. She’s made 204 vampires.

Alcide: “What happened to pack first?”
Jackson: “Pack left me out here to rot. Pack can go fuck themselves.”

Lafayette (to Terry/Arlene): “I’m a bitch, not a snitch, love it.”

Sam and Luna spent too much time in the Authority, they should’ve gotten Emma much earlier but I did enjoy that brief exchange with Sam and Pam though.

Rosalyn: “What possessed you to kill my progeny?”
Pam: “He was getting on my nerves.”

Bill (to Jessica): “Who are you to defy me? I am the chosen one. Lilith chose me.”

Standout music: Stevie Wonder’s “Sunset”, funnily enough.

Russell (to Sookie/fairies): “Why thank you so much. I’d love to come to dinner.”

Chronology: From where “Gone, Gone, Gone” left off.

A fun episode, definitely better paced. “Sunset” might not have the same oomph that past penultimate episodes have done but it did set things up nicely for the finale and that alone will at least finally put an end to this Lilith nonsense. Something I think we can all praise, right?

Rating: 8 out of 10

I Believe In Fairytales

Well, as long as they're interesting ones at the very least but enough of that and here's a look at some of the stuff I've been watching recently.

2 Broke Girls: I'm still enjoying this show as much as I can but I have to admit the racial stereotyping is really beginning to bother me in a big way. It's almost enough that Oleg, Han and Earl have all seemed to stop developing as character but the arrival of Jennifer Coolidge's Sophie, the Polish cleaner in the last few episodes and even the episode where Max and Caroline had to hand over Kosher cupcakes to a Jewish family - well, writers, you need to stop it. Be creative and lay off the lazy stereotyping already.

Once Upon A Time: I know I left this one a bit too late (blame my lack of Channel 5) and catching up will be interesting but having watched the first two episodes - I love this show. Unlike Grimm, this really embraces the fairytale aspects beautifully and the whole series of alliances and rivalries in both fairytale land and Storybrooke are fun to watch. No wonder this has been a success for ABC and with characters like Emma, Sheriff Graham, Regina/Evil Queen and Mr Gold/Rumpelstilskin as well as Henry, I think I'm already addicted to this wonderful gem of a series.

Sinbad: This show is fine at best but it still needs some more work. The writers really need to stop using both Taryn and Akbari in every episode, especially when their scenes aren't actually adding anything to the plot and too many monsters/baddies of the week will make the show too formulaic as well too. On the plus side, at least characters like Nalla, Rina and Gunnar have had moments to shine and the Cook still manages to give me the creeps while still being an intriguing so and so. Sinbad himself does need a bit more development but with the recent threat of his grandmother in danger, I'm sure we'll get that now.

The Newsroom: Simply put - I tried, I didn't like it. The cast is great but I've never been an Aaron Sorkin fan and his writing can often be long winded and OTT and in this show, it seems both of those excesses are tested to the max here. The cast are great but I can't stick with this programme and no, Jane Fonda isn't going to make me sit through any more episodes. Just not my thing, I'm afraid.

White Collar: Fun bunch of episodes recently and it's nice that Neal's love life isn't too dominant at times but more importantly, it was also nice that Diane got some centre stage time too on the show, even if the end results did cost her her love life too. Overall, I have been enjoying the show's fourth year. It's been fun and diverting and with this series, Matt Bomer does seem to be in his element as the loveable Caffrey.

- American Horror Story's second season has the title of Asylum and Jessica Lange's character will be called Sister Jude.
- Whoopi Goldberg will be reprising her role on Glee in an upcoming episode and there will be some core relationships that will come to an end this year.
- Dallas's second season will air on TNT from January 2013. The show's first year will premiere on UK/Irish television from September.
- David Alpay will play a charismatic character named Shane in the upcoming season of The Vampire Diaries.
- Julian Morris has been cast as Prince Philip and Colin O'Donoghue has been cast as Captain Hook for the second season of Once Upon A Time.
- Ciaran Hinds has joined the third season of Game Of Thrones as Mance Rayder as had Iwan Rheon and Burn Gorman.
- Tina Majorino will be guest starring in Grey's Anatomy while Eric Dane will be leaving the series in the first two episodes of it's ninth year.
- Revenge will return with a new Satoshi, this time played by  Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. JR Bourne will also play a Hamptons resident named Kenny and Michael Nardelli will play a preppy character named Trey.
- ABC will be remaking Sky1 series, Spy.
- Sean Hayes will be appearing in the second season of NBC drama, Smash, playing a TV and movie star named Terrence Falls.

FX Picks Up The Americans

And I personally cannot wait to see this show when it airs in 2013.

The Americans is an upcoming series, starring Matthew Rhys (Brothers & Sisters, The Mystery Of Edwin Drood) and Keri Russell (Felicity, Mission Impossible 3) as a pair of KGB spies in the Cold War era, posing as a married American couple, Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, keeping secrets from their children and friends while managing a network of spies and informants in Washington, DC.

The series, due to begin filming in October, will have a first season of 13 episodes is created and executive-produced by Joe Weisberg a former CIA employee and a writer for Falling Skies and will also feature Noah Emmerich as an FBI agent, who's a neighbour of the secretive Jennings family. This definitely sounds like a worthwhile series to start watching next year.

Press Release: http://www.tvguide.com/News/FX-Orders-Americans-1051831.aspx

The Americans will air on FX in 2013.

New TV Gigs

Well, both Karen Gillan and John Barrowman have snagged some interesting TV gigs and when I say interesting, I mean more so than the US Office and The Carrie Diaries (sorry Catherine and Freema).

Karen Gillan will be appearing in the third story of A Touch Of Cloth, the spoof cop show, due to air on SkyAtlantic, created by Charlie Brooker and starring Suranne Jones and John Hannah. The first one is due to be aired during the August Bank Holiday Weekend with the second also filmed. Gillan's story will be filmed soon but won't air until 2013. Details in relation to her character have not been released but nice going, Karen. I wonder if we'll get another companion on the second series of Black Mirror then. Go on, Charlie - you know you want to.

Meanwhile John Barrowman might not have his ABC pilot made into a series but he will be guest appearing in the upcoming CW series, Arrow. Barrowman's character will be playing a rich man, with connections to the Queen family as well as being a prominent person in Starling city. Now this does sound like a rather interesting role. Good luck to Barrowman in this one.

A Touch Of Cloth News: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-08-15/karen-gillan-to-appear-in-charlie-brooker-cop-spoof-a-touch-of-cloth
Arrow News: http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/08/15/arrow-john-barrowman/

Drama Lives On ITV Trailer

And I guess they don't just mean the manufactured ones courtesy of TOWIE and The X Factor (which starts Saturday at 8pm) but the scripted ones, of which there are a few airing on the station in the next few months.

The biggest of them all, drama wise, will be the third series of Downton Abbey with new cast member Shirley MacLaine and after a rather hit and miss second year, it'll be interesting to see how the show bounces back, though rating wise, I assume it will be fine. Then there's some biopics with the likes of Mr Selfridge (starring Jeremy Piven and Katherine Kelly) and Mrs Biggs (Daniel Mays and Sheridan Smith), which will surely be big hits as well for the channel along with Rupert Penry-Jones in The Last Weekend.

Then there's the arrival of supernatural themed, Switch on ITV2 before the main channel again features the likes of The Scapegoat (Matthew Rhys/Andrew Scott),  Homefront, Leaving, The Bletchley Circle, the second series of Monroe with James Nesbitt and A Mother's Son. I have to admit, while I might not be the biggest of ITV watchers, it is a rather decent line up of dramas for the upcoming winter months.

Drama Lives On ITV Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myM7jn9yyVE

Doctor Who - Series 7 Airdate/Spoilers

Last night was the BFI premiere of the seventh series of Doctor Who and let's just say, we got some spoilers galore for good measure ....

Opening episode Asylum Of The Daleks has definitely gotten a positive reception at the premiere and some tiny spoilers have leaked too. First off all, there's a character from Demons Run that factors into the episode and secondly, there's a new title sequence as well. There's also a big revelation in the opening episode, which has not been revealed but it's supposed to be a good one.

The BBC have released several new images from the first three episodes and more importantly, they've finally announced an airdate for Series 7. The show will be back on BBC1 from the 1st of September. The best news however was the reveal that Matt Smith will be doing an eighth series of the show, which will air from 2013-2014, which must mean it's taking in the 50th anniversary as well.

Another reveal at the premiere was the title of the final two episodes to feature Amy and Rory. The episodes in question are now titled, The Power Of Three and The Angels Take Manhattan and a rest of series trailer is supposed to have aired at the premiere as well.

Elsewhere, this year's Christmas special has the title of The Snowman (wonder who'll be doing Walking In The Air?) and will be loosely based on the story with Richard E. Grant's character confirmed as the villain for the story. There's also been scenes filming in a graveyard with the Doctor, Madame Vastra and Jenny as well as scenes with Clara in both Victorian and contemporary clothing as well. Either way, the new series is certainly looking exciting.

Series 7 Images: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/galleries/p00xch0g
Premiere Report: http://primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk/doctor-who-juicy-gossip-from-the-asylum-of-the-daleks-screening/

Series 7 of Doctor Who will air on BBC1 from September 1st.

Being Human - Series 5 Casting News

And we have a major casting for the fifth series of Being Human announced ...

Phil Davis (Quadrophenia, Silk) will be appearing in the series as a character called Captain Hatch. The character in question will be a wheelchair bound man, embodying the worst of humanity and also he'll be a rather disgusting creature too. According to the press, his identity could be something that will rattle your soul with fear. I'm intrigued.

So far, we haven't had too much information about the upcoming series, but Davis's character sounds bloody intriguing (a new Type, perhaps?) and given that he's a consistently reliable actor, I'm sure he's going to be wonderful in the role. Keeping with spoilers, it seems that a Tweet from a production member has Alex's surname as Millar rather Mayhew.

Press Release: http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/08/13/phil-davis-joins-being-human-cast/

Being Human's fifth series will air on BBC3 in early 2013.

My Review of True Blood's 5x10: "Gone, Gone, Gone"

Written by Alexander Woo
Directed by Scott Winant

Russell (to everyone): “You can have your Lilith. I will not be constrained by your God or anyone else’s. I will have the sun.”

And a massive case of “thank fuck” for that, too. Not that I actually Russell to succeed in draining Sookie/fairies dry and walking in the sun on a more permanent basis but at the same time, Salome might finally get a clue that she’s bitten off more than she can chew when it comes to volatile vampires.

Was Salome really stupid in thinking that she could control Russell with all this Lilith rubbish for much longer? Russell was clearly amusing Salome and biding his time and now that his attention has turned back to using Sookie to walk in the daylight, he’s decided to drop the pretence and run with his true intentions.

The timing seemed perfect enough as well. The Authority storyline hasn’t been as compelling as it should’ve been and with everyone’s dedicated to Lilith at best pretty questionable – it does seem that only Bill and Salome are the only real devotees of the original vampire.

Eric might have drank some of Lilith’s blood against his will and had to endure seeing the naked vampire lady kill Godric once again but I still do not believe that he’s a believer of Lilith – merely biding his time until he can find a way to break Bill from Lilith’s influence and as for Nora, is it possible that she’s snapped out of it too?

If Nora has, then maybe there’s hope for her yet and maybe she’ll either get a heroic true death or even survive until next season. Sadly for us, Molly didn’t make it out of this episode alive but at least she got to preach the utter ridiculousness of the Lilith worship before Salome ended her life. Molly’s death unsurprisingly has also provided another reason for me to dislike Salome, not that I need anymore reasons at this point.

As for Jessica – her face was a prize in this one too. It’s obvious that she could see just how ridiculous the whole Lilith thing is but at the same time, she chose to keep her mouth shut and not rock the boat with Bill. I’m hoping that Jessica becomes part of the reason for Bill to snap out of this Lilith curse he’s under and with two episodes left to go, it’d want to happen fairly sharpish though.

Keeping with Jessica – I did not envy her this week. If Bill’s madness wasn’t enough to contend with, she also had to deal with Hoyt leaving for a new job in Alaska and glamouring him to forget about her and Jason under Hoyt’s instructions. I get why Hoyt wanted Jessica to do that and I get why Jessica did but it did make for a rather sad scene to watch and as departures go, I guess Hoyt’s made a lot of sense in the long run.

That being said though, I did feel bad for Jason too. Yes, he might have slept with Jessica but Jason was clearly gutted in Hoyt leaving town and the scene he shared with Sookie about it was also sad to watch. On the plus side, at least his cop skills came in handy when he got Sookie to find that scroll under Adele’s bed. It’s a nice way of showing just how much for the better Jason has become as a character since the first season.

As for the reveal about John Williams Stackhouse making a deal with Warlow to take his first female relative with fae blood – we already knew it was Sookie but still, a good cliff hanger that made good enough use out of Claude, Claudette and a pregnant Maurella (is she carrying Andy’s baby?). I take it that we’re due to meet this Warlow in the next episode or two, right? Assuming that Russell doesn’t get to Sookie first that is.

Last but not least – I loved Tara in this episode. She didn’t want to make baby vampires and she wanted to help Pam reclaim Fangtasia, so to do that, she enlisted Ginger and bloody staked Elijah. Yes, it was a reckless thing for her to do but at the same time, Pam could barely hide her delight in Elijah’s staking and that emo vampire lookalike was too annoying anyways. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Also in “Gone, Gone, Gone”

As well as Hoyt leaving, this episode did kill off three vampires – Molly (via iStakes), Elijah (courtesy of Tara/Ginger) and a newly made Mike Spencer (Sookie and her chopsticks).

Mike: “I’m here about the body.”
Sookie: “What body?”
Mike: “Yours.”

Mike being made into a vampire came down to a new law being made about there having to be at least 30 new vampires made in Area 5. Russell was also combating David Finch on air as well.

Molly (to Salome): “Fuck all of you. You are destroying the world based on a book that is thousands of years old. You call that ‘evolution’? That’s the opposite of evolved!”

Sookie (re Mike): “He wanted to suck on my toes.”
Andy: “He kept autopsy photos on his computer same place he kept his porn.”
I notice that a few characters from the first season have been killed off this year – Bud, now Mike and Hoyt was nearly killed in the last episode. Plus, we did get close to losing Tara as well.

Steve: “Please take me with you.”
Russell: “I thought you’d never ask.”

Pam (to Tara, re Fangtasia): “You and me, we live in the wind, just like I did with Eric. We don’t need this place. It’s four walls and plaster, that’s all.”

Steve yelling at Emma when she shifted into human form was a little upsetting. Clearly, Russell is the nicer parent in this ‘family’. I also loved Sam and Luna turning into mice to sneak into the Authority.

Andy: “I don’t say this to many men but I love you.”
Lafayette: “Aw, look, well don’t get used to it because once this vampire situation is over, folk gonna be back or we gonna be dead, one way or the other.”

Hoyt: “Is there anything else?”
Jason: “You drive safe.”

Standout music: Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” playing in the aftermath of Russell and Steve slaughtering a restaurant of people.

Pam: “You have got to be kidding me.”
Tara: “We’re not running. No-one fucks with us in our house.”

Salome: “I saved you Russell. I can put you back in the ground.”

Chronology: From where “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” left off.

Definitely one of the better episodes we’ve had this season. Maybe the absences (no Alcide, pack stuff, Arlene/Terry) helped in a big way, maybe it was the stuff with both the Authority collapsing with Russell vs. Salome (why does she think fae blood is an abomination?) but either way, “Gone, Gone, Gone” marked an improvement that I hope the next two episodes build on nicely.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Dexter/Homeland - New Season Posters

With another few weeks until their return, Showtime has released some poster promoting the upcoming seasons of both Dexter and Homeland.

Dexter's upcoming seventh season seems to have a theme of 'he saw, she saw', due to that bloody cliffhanger at the end of the last season. Oh and for those of you hoping that Deb's feelings for Dexter might disappear, following that revelation, well you're going to have to watch the new season to find out.

Homeland meanwhile seems to be implying a further collision course with both Carrie and Brody as the two seem unable to avoid each other. We know Carrie's memories are due to return in the new season and Brody will be climbing up the political ladder as well.

Dexter - Season 7 Trailer: http://www.spoilertv.com/2012/07/dexter-season-7-new-promo-beginning.html
Homeland - Season 2 Trailer: http://www.spoilertv.com/2012/08/homeland-season-2-brody-2012-promo.html

Dexter and Homeland both premiere on Showtime from September 30th.

Doctor Who Gets A 50th Anniversary Docudrama

Is anyone surprised by this in the slightest? Nope, didn't think so but following the likes of The Road To Coronation Street on BBC4 in 2010, it's nice that our favourite traveller in time and space is getting one too.

The 90 minute drama, entitled, An Adventure In Space And Time will be penned by Mark Gatiss (not a shocking but he will be in his element scribing this, I bet) and will air on BBC2 in 2013 in the build up to the show's 50th anniversary. Casting has yet to be done but production for the 90 one-off drama (which is also being produced by Steven Moffat) will begin next year. I don't know about you, but I am delighted with this news. Another reason to get excited for the 50th anniversary, isn't it?

Meanwhile production has finally begun on the Christmas 2012 special and while the episode will be most noteworthy for finally debuting Jenna-Louise Coleman into the Doctor Who fold, it will also feature guest stars such as Withnail & I's Richard E. Grant (rumoured to be playing a villain in this one), Silent Witness actor, Tom Ward as well as Life On Mars actress Liz White (playing a maid in this episode). Also rumoured to be featuring in this episode are Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax with some reports also suggesting that our new girl Clara may be from the Victorian period after all (which is where this special is based in). I'll bring more news as I find it.

Press Release: http://www.digitalspy.ie/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a398330/doctor-who-mark-gatiss-to-write-series-biopic-for-2013.html
Filming Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cardifftimelord/with/7742211626/#photo_7742211626

Doctor Who will air later in the month on BBC1.

Switch - More Details On ITV2 Series

The series may be another two months from airing on ITV2 but more details on the upcoming magical themed series, Switch have emerged ...

- Stella (Lacey Turner): She's our career girl with a horrible boss in the shape of Janet, who seems to make her life a misery at work. She even tells Stella to find a different profession upon firing her.
- Jude (Nina Touissant-White): Works in a fashion store, loves the boys and one of her conquests seems to be a guitarist named Gerry.
- Grace (Phoebe Fox): New to London, has a traditional attitude to witchcraft and tends to pull the girls back when they're on the brink of disaster.
- Hannah (Hannah Tointon): Traveller of the pack, was in India beforehand. Also seems to be something of a commitment phobe too.

- Tom Robertson will be appearing in the series, presumably as a love interest for one of the girls.
- Stella loses her job and the girls band together to cast a spell to get Stella back her job but they need something of Janet's to do so.
- ITV have warned viewers to keep their mobiles handy as there's a storytelling app when it comes to learning more about the girls. It seems that mobiles can help with spell casting on this show.
- While their spells don't always go to plan, their friendship does seem to go from strength to strength.

Reading the stuff from the ITV2 press releases, they do seem a little too keen on playing down the magical side of things and instead emphasizing the friendships and romances (which is good to a degree, though no mention of Stella's nightmare ex-girlfriend?). Even though this show seems largely geared towards a female audience, I do hope it will be able to cross over towards a male viewership as we saw Being Human doing quite easily. I'll definitely be watching this one and if I like it enough/have the time, I might actually review it too.

Anyone else looking forward to this or will this show be another reason for ITV not to try anything supernatural/fantasy tinged? We all know how Demons and Trinity fared after all.

Press Releases: http://www.itvmedia.co.uk/Switch-ITV2 and http://www.itvmedia.co.uk/inside-itv/itv-news/switch-coming-soon

Switch will premiere on ITV2 later in the Autumn. Times and dates are yet to be confirmed.

My Review of True Blood's 5x09: "Everybody Wants To Rule The World"

Written by Raelle Tucker
Directed by Daniel Attias

Eric (to Nora): “It must be peaceful to be so sure of something, no room for doubt.”

Unless the thing you’re sure of is Lilith and the resulting chaos that stems from it is the start of a war between vampires and humans that might cause mass casualties on both sides really. Eric at least had the sense to realise just how bad things have become at Camp Authority. Unfortunately, the one vampire who should be on his side turned out to be the same one to screw him over.

Right now, even I can’t muster up any excuses for Bill. I wanted to believe that he was playing some kind of long game with Salome and the rest of the Lilith worshipping idiots but the fact that he’s screwing Salome, seeing Lilith during sex and even betrayed Eric at the end of this episode just showed how dangerous Bill has become now.

Eric and Molly’s attempts to try and use Nora in order to escape from the Authority wasn’t the best idea either of them has had but they were desperate and sadly, it backfired on them. I’m not worried about Eric but I do hope that Molly isn’t killed off given that she’s the only person from the Authority who isn’t a raging psychotic at the moment.

As for Salome – will she just die already? As a villain, she’s becoming less and less magnetic to watch and Valentina Cervi’s acting hasn’t been particularly inspiring, especially considering the high standard of baddies that the show has produced in previous seasons and while we’re at it, Nora can meet the true death as well.

I started the season rooting for Nora as a character because earlier on, it seemed like she had her own personality as well as an unwavering loyalty to her “brother”. Over the course of the season, she’s become little more than Salome’s lapdog and has chosen the stupidity of Lilith over both Eric and common sense. For those reasons alone, she can definitely receive the true death as far as I’m concerned. As for Bill, jury’s still out on him.

Keeping with vampires with whom I’d like to see the true death befall onto them – the new Sheriff for Area 5 who caused chaos in Fangtasia and humiliated Pam, yeah he can die too. Not that Pam doesn’t deserve some type of a smackdown but it shouldn’t be at the fangs of an idiotic little usurper like that guy for starters.

I did like that Tara tried to comfort Pam in spite of the fact that the latter has continued to blow hot and cold with her throughout the season. I’ve said in a previous review but it does merit repeating – isn’t it time that Tara, Pam and Jessica got involved in the Authority plot right about now? Let’s face it – Eric and Molly need all the allies they can get at the moment.

Last but not least when it comes to the vampire plots of the episode – I did enjoy seeing Steve and Russell continuing with their flirting but seeing them claim poor Emma as a pet wasn’t cool. I did wish that Martha had put up a bit more of a fight (though why was she at that meeting in the first place?) in trying to get her grandchild back, though something tells me that Luna is going to be giving one of the Newlin/Edgington couple the true death if they don’t return Emma to her.

Speaking of Luna – when did she suddenly become more of a dynamic character? The argument with Sam when it came to helping him tracking the Obamas was one thing but seeing her beating the crap out of Sweetie was another. I have to say I was bloody proud of Luna in this episode. She’s definitely improving a lot as a character, isn’t it?

As for the Obama plot – is it really over? I was disappointed that Bud would try and kill Sookie but Sweetie earned no sympathy from me. Her hatred for supernaturals was just pathetic and the character herself just felt like a rather unfunny joke. At least both Sookie and Hoyt managed to avoid being eaten by pigs. The fact that this show would even try that isn’t surprising but it was certainly amusing.

As for the rest of the subplots – at least the Ifrit rubbish is finally done and dusted. I will not miss Patrick one bit as a character, even if his death was caused by Terry and Arlene and hopefully Alcide meeting up with his father will be of some importance in the last few episode as well.

Also in “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”

I was kind of relieved that Sweetie just turned out to be a new character rather than Maxine. In the books, she had a better motive for hating on supernaturals, which should’ve been used here.

Eric (to Molly): “I’m a thousand years older than you. Put the baby fangs away before you piss me off.”

The biggest Tru Blood factory was the first one to be blown up. Presumably not much time will be wasted on destroying the other four.

Lafayette (to Sookie): “I ain’t Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost, although I am way prettier.”

Sam: “You’re really fucking annoying, you know that?”
Luna: “And you’re old fashioned and surprisingly sexist.”
Sam: “Trying to protect someone I love, that’s sexist?”
Luna: “I love you too.”

Jason and Andy figured out the dragon was Bud through his boots. I really wish we had seen Bud more during the last year or so, which would’ve made his turn more logical.

Pam: “Just because we drank a bitch together does not make us Oprah and Gayle. Get the fuck back to work.”
Tara: “Suck me, vampire Barbie.”

Andy (to Jason): “Don’t be too hard on yourself. We all fall short somewhere. You use your dick for a compass. Me, I’m just a bad cop.”

Andy proved in this episode that he isn’t actually a bad cop and his whole stance about wanting to protect everyone was lovely.

Salome (to Bill): “So few have had the chance to shape history, not once, twice. It’s not an accident I have been chosen and so have you.”

I’m wondering if there’s something fae like in Salome’s blood when Bill imagined when she was Sookie during their sex scene together. I’m also wondering whether or not Claude has any brothers too, given that he has a lot of sisters.

Luna (to Sweetie): “That’s for shooting me, that’s for my boyfriend and this is for my daughter, you human trash.”

Standout music: That rather tepid version of “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Care Bears On Fire. Why couldn’t Tears For Fears have been used?

Bill (to Eric): “I am doing this for you. You have been chosen by Lilith. This is what God wants.”

Chronology: From where “Somebody That I Used To Know” left off.

“Everybody Wants To Rule The World” was a solid, enjoyable enough episode but like the previous one, the end moment should’ve packed more of a punch than it actually did. Oh and the sooner that Salome meets the true death, the bleeding better.

Rating: 8 out of 10