Christmas TV

I've not written here for longer than I would have liked, and there has been so much TV since! Christmas nowadays obviously means TV specials and if I was more cynical I'd say this spoils the fun of the holiday... But I'm not and I have Sky+ so I can spend Christmas day with my family and then the next few days catching up!

I shan't bore you with a whole post for each show I watched over the holiday season, I'm just going to comment on a few of the mains ones instead.

Michael McIntyre's Christmas thing

I actually really enjoyed this. I feel like Michael McIntyre has been around for years now but it's surprising how much new material he can come up with.. I suppose it is his job. To be fair I'm a bit rubbish about comedy and I would have preferred it was just an hour or however long of just Michael McIntyre, but he did manage to get some really good (I say good because they're pretty famous rather than because I like them that much) guests like Jack Dee, Rhod Gilbert and some other people I can't remember. Miranda was on, usually I loathe this woman, I think she is so annoying and just makes me want to run away and become a man so I don't have to share a gender with her, but she did a little skit thing with Smithy from Gavin and Stacey and it was actually bearable. It's great that Michael McIntyre's still doing TV like this, I thought once he'd been a judge on Britain's Got Talent he wouldn't do much more stand up, but I read an interview he'd done and he said that he intends to continue, which I think is great. I know a lot of people find him really annoying but I think that's one of his charms, especially when he bobs about and his flops around comically. So yeah, loads of laugh out loud moments, lots of great guests if you like lots of different people, good show! Oh apart from Pixie Lott.. Is it just me or did anyone think she kept missing her cues and was out of tune?

Agatha Christie's Poirot

This I enjoyed again, Poirot isn't something I've ever really sat down and watched, rather it's been on while I flitted in and out, so this was new for me. As usual whenever I watch a murder mystery, I spent the first half totally confused (and this was a confusing one with loads of outside references and an extra plot line going on) and the second half trying to guess whodunnit (and I was actually right with this one!) The actual story of the murder was good, if predictable as you kind of know by now how these kind of things are written, and you can spot who's going to get bumped off a mile off. Nevertheless there were some clever bits, and as I said there was an extra plot line going on to do with Germany and Hitler and the War that was thrown in there to confuse you a bit. My favourite part of this show though is by far the little tottery walk that Poirot does, and the way he talks half in Belgian and half in English.

Endeavour

This was the Morse prequel, sort of like Morse's first case. I've never actually watched Morse, only the sequel to it (weirdly), so I can't really compare it, but then I don't think comparing it to the Morse series was really the idea. Again, I think the plot was fairly predictable; there was a bit of romance, some brooding and moping around and a young Morse briefly being kicked off the case for so-called bad behaviour. Of course, in the end (and after a few false starts), it's Morse who cleverly works out who did it (which I guessed correctly again by the way!), and collects the baddie to take them to prison. Like with Poirot, it was quite a complicated story with an extra bit to it, and some bent coppers thrown into the mix as well. I'm sure there were probably links to the Morse series we all know, but as I haven't seen it I wouldn't know! The only thing that bothered me about this was the guy who played Morse kept doing something funny with his hand, like over-gesturing or over pointing at people.... I'm sure I am the only person that ever notices stuff like this.

Outnumbered

Usually I love Outnumbered but this was actually pretty forgettable I think, especially after the end of the last series. So it's Christmas day and the family are going on holiday and 15 year old Jake has a hangover... 15, really?! They start them young these days apparently! I could be wrong actually, maybe he's 16, that would make it slightly better. I think Outnumbered has lost something as the kids have got older; they're actually acting now rather than sort of messing about like they did when they were younger. As I said, this episode was pretty forgettable, so much so that I can't think of anything else to write about it!



 I'm sure I've probably missed out an amazing bit of Christmas TV and I'll have to do another post on this but I'm lacking the brain power to think about it right now and this post is long enough already, so there you, Christmas TV!

Soaps

And now for something not quite so Christmassy and festive... Soaps. Actually, when I say 'soaps', I really just mean one 'soap', Emmerdale (wow, now I've written it too much and the word soap has totally lost all meaning..). I used to watch them all, Corrie, Eastenders, Neighbours etc., but I had to give up my soap addiction when I went to uni in favour of actually having a life. I'm back into Emmerdale again at the fault of my mother, who has recently become addicted to it, despite it previously being my least favourite in this genre, but it seems to be quite good entertainment at the moment, so I'm sticking with it for now!

The current shocker is that village 'ard man Cain Dingle has been done in with a blunt object. Of course, as always in soap-land, there were weeks of tensions leading up to this moment, leaving us with a whodunnit worthy of a murder mystery series, or at least a game of Cluedo. So we have the possible attempted murderers all walking around looking shifty; Charity, Jai, Moira, John, Amy and probably half of the rest of the village as well. I can't decide who I think is the culprit, and I'm hoping they won't drag it out as long as they did 'who shot Phil Mitchell' in Eastenders back in the day.

I've decided who I definitely don't think it is, and that's John. Speaking of John though, is it just me or is it looking like he is more and more stoned each day? I don't think the guy who plays him deserves an Oscar any time soon, unless moody, wooden, out of it and slightly constipated was the look he was going for with this character.

But anyway, bashing the acting skills of people in soaps is always easy, so let's move on from that and back to the 'gripping' story line. It would all be so much easier to follow if it wasn't for the fact that most of the characters are at least a little bit interbred. Seriously, what is going on with the Dingles? Somehow, Chas is Cain's sister despite them seemingly not having the same parents; Cain and Charity are cousins but also have a daughter together; Zak and Lisa have a child that is basically the same age as Cain's grandaughter and now Cain has another daughter than is younger than his grandaughter... And then Marlon is thrown in as a cousin as well, along with people like Sam and god knows who else. I'm sure if I had watched Emmerdale loyally for all of my 20 years it would be a bit clearer to me, but as I've been watching for approximately two weeks, it's gone a bit over my head really.

The other mystery worth talking about in the village is why so many people agree to get into bed with Cain. Maybe it's the 'ard man vibe but out of all the unrealistic things that go down in Emmerdale, I find this one the hardest to believe. Mind you, Moira had to put up with John the constipated broom, so I'm not surprised she fled into the arms of someone with a bit more personality and a bit less 'urgggggh'.