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The New Statesman: Sex Is Wrong (1987)
Sex Is Wrong
Alan B'Stard is intrigued with Piers Fletcher-Dervish's interest in a moral crusade. Dervish will be joining Sir Stephen Baxter for an anti-pornography crusade.
This would involve watching smutty movies in a room at the House of Commons, even looking at naughty pictures later on.
B'Stard is all for that. And joins in While everyone is appalled at the mucky videos, B'Stard enjoyed it. He even steals a few of the photos.
Later when Lady Virginia Imrie mistakes him for Sir Stephen Baxter. B'Stard figures he can make money by publishing a book that Sex is Wrong. Only to insert dirty photos and obtaining money from Lady Imrie to cover some of the printing costs.
At the Conservative Party conference, the book is a hit after B'Stard goes through the contents of the books in salacious detail.
Once again Marks and Gran go for a farcical approach. A moral crusade ripe with hypocrisy. Sex sells and the Tory conference has more kinks than a benchful of judges.
The Cuckoo Waltz: The Letter (1976)
The Letter
It is the final episode of the second series. It seems Gavin is about to move on from the Hawthorne household.
He has received a letter from Carol his estranged wife. She has moved on with her life and wants a divorce. Carol has found someone else.
It leads to Gavin to decide what he should do next.
Both Gavin and Chris have spend some time discussing things. They go for a saun and a massage. Chris is shocked to find that the masseuse are female.
Later Fliss throws a dinner party for Gavin. Only now their temporary house guest may have become a permanent fixture.
There was some pathos in this episode but the second series proved that the comedy was missing. It was not weak, but absent. Only the charm of the characters helped it through.
Skeleton Crew: Way, Way Out Past the Barrier (2024)
Way, Way Out Past the Barrier
A shorter second episode and it is now the Goonies meets the Pirates of the Caribbean.
The kids have gone to hyperspace, luckily there is a droid onboard. SM-33 mistakes Fern for the ship's new captain.
Only SM-33 cannot get them back to their home planet of At Attin. The droid has no knowledge of it.
At a spaceport, the kids attract the interest of the pirates with an attempt to pay with Old Republic credits, now regarded as rare. Maybe not rare from Win and his pals come from.
The real mystery is what exactly is At Attin. That is where intrigue seems to be. More than some guy who appears at the end with some alleged fancy dan powers.
Skeleton Crew: This Could Be a Real Adventure (2024)
This Could Be a Real Adventure
So far the Disney Star Wars television spin offs are all aimed at different audiences. Andor is dark. Mandalorian is a western. Acolyte was made for idiots.
Skeleton Crew is for those who liked the Ewok movie. It is Star Wars for kids, in fact after the opening minutes.
This is the Goonies in a galaxy far far away. Wim is the young boy who dreams of being a Jedi. His father is always working and Wim does not seem to be that studious at school.
He thinks he has come across a lost Jedi temple, it is basically something metallic in a hole in the ground. On closer inspection it is a spaceship that transports him and his friends.
The opening episode did not grab me. It was not even aimed at me, built for an audience several decades younger than me.
I was left wondering why did Wim think that he found a Jedi temple based on the round metal thing.
Get Some In!: Ejected (1976)
Ejected
Jakey Smith gets a letter from his mum. She tells Jakey that his grandad is going to be evicted by the landlord.
Fearing that his grandad is going to be homeless. Jakey looks to get a leave of absence. Only to for his plea to be rejected. So jake goes AWOL.
The rest of the lads try to cover for him, it all depends on how quickly Jakey returns from London.
Luckily for Jakey. Corporal Marsh is in a good mood as he tries to get into Alice's good books. He has brought a cheap car, a night out to the theatre and even a meal.
As for Jakey, his mum jumped the gun. His grandfather had enough money saved to buy the house from the landlord.
An episode notable for Marsh's uncharacteristic behaviour. It is the only way the episode could work and Jakey not being sent down to a military prison.
Nearest and Dearest: The Danger List (1968)
The Danger List
Eli has to do a stocktake and explains to Stan and Bert that he is an executive. They are labour only for Stan to exclaim that he votes Tory.
As an executive, Eli plans to skive the stocktake by feigning illness. Only for Nellie to overhear his plans that he has cooked up with Stan.
So an angry Nellie gets a doctor to make out that Eli has a terminal illness. Maybe he needs to say his final goodbyes.
Even Lily and Walter make a final visit. At one point the undertaker turns up to take measurements. It all leaves Eli with a worried brow.
The swinging the lead is a common sitcom trope. It is done well here. Nellie makes the most of by roping in others to help her out.
Clive James in Japan: Episode #1.2 (1987)
Episode 2
Clive James leaves Tokyo and goes to the ancient capital of Kyoto on the Bullet Train.
For hours he watches the suburbs of Tokyo go past. The place where the workers of Tokyo in their rabbit hutches. Hence why the executives prefer to spend the evening in the bars of Tokyo rather than go back to their tiny accomodation.
Once he arrives in Kyoto. He tries a mud bath, he goes to watch sumo wrestling. He has a traditional Japanese tea and then sings karaoke badly.
We did not get to see much of Kyoto which was a disappointment. Clive's sojourn to Japan was Tokyo or nothing.
In this second part Clive seemed bored but at least he recognised that he was singing My Way badly.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Help Wanted (1956)
Help Wanted
Even Alfred Hitchcock noted that this story has a delectable sting. A rather nifty twisted one.
Mr Crabtree (John Qualen) was fired from his previous job for being too old. Now his wife is ill and she needs surgery.
So a new job offer is a lifeline for Crabtree. He will be working on his own in an office writing reports. It is all very confidential and his employer remains mysterious.
Crabtree does not think much about the reports but it is a lucrative job and will help with the medical bills.
Then one day the employer shows up at the office. The mysterious Mr X (Lorne Greene) has a deadly proposition for Mr Crabtree, a well paid one.
The story is reminiscent of a Sherlock Holmes one and then it goes its own way.
Until I Kill You: Justice (2024)
Justice
Delia Balmer gives her testimony in court. For the first time in years, she comes face to face with John Patrick Sweeney. He is insistent that he did not viciously attack her that fateful night. Even though there were witnesses.
Despite being found guilty, Sweeney could be paroled in nine years time. This angers Delia setting back her own healing process. Her relationship with David collapses.
Some time later, back in Amsterdam. The Dutch police take an interest in Sweeney for the killing of the American model.
The final episode did well to show Delia Balmer's frustration with the justice system. The incompetence of the police for not always giving her the fuller picture.
Anna Maxwell Martin never shied away from how awkward Delia Balmer could be. Even though she was going through post traumatic stress disorder.
You do wonder if Delia as a nurse should had realised herself that she needed professional help. At times her anger at the world comes across as bitty. You can see why those people who were support workers were glad to see the back of her.
Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978)
Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?
This dark comedy mystery is directed by Ted Kotcheff and is adapted from a novel by Nan and Ivan Lyons.
Rotund gourmand and gastronomy writer Maximillian Vanderveer (Robert Morley) loved food. He craves eating at the top restaurants. He has highlighted some of the best chefs in Europe for a magazine article.
The doctors are about to send his culinary delights crashing down. Vanderveer need to go on a diet or die.
Soon after the great chefs are being murdered in a grizzly manner, in the style they cook their best meals.
Pastry chef Natasha O'Brien (Jacqueline Bisset) realises she could be next. Her name was on Vanderveer's list, the only woman.
While she is preparing for a banquet for the Queen. She gets together with ex husband Robby Ross (George Segal) a fast food entrepreneur to track down the murderer in different parts of Europe.
The movie is a flat affair. The ingredients are an uneasy mix. It takes too long to get going. It is badly paced and never gathers much momentum.
Both Bisset and Morley give spirited performances. The others including Segal flustered to find the right balance.
Bewitched: I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha (1964)
I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha
The first episode of Bewitched see Darrin Stephens (Dick York) having a whirlwind romance with Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery.)
Thyer get married but Samantha has a big secret. Her mother Endora (Agnes Moorehead) is not happy about the marriage. Darrin is a mortal and Samantha is witch who can cast spells.
Darrin is dazed at the news, he tells his friend just who he has married. They just think that is normal for married life, your wife is a witch.
However Darrin comes around to the idea, as long as Samantha does not use her witchcraft.
Easier said than done. They are invited to a dinner party by Sheila an old flame of Darrin. She planned to mock Samantha in front of other guests. Something Samantha does not tolerate for long.
It took a while for the first episode to get going. It burst to life at the dinner party although I did think Darrin was a wimp in not sticking up for Samantha. She should had cast a spell on him to teach Darrin a lesson.
Clive James in Japan: Episode #1.1 (1987)
Episode 1
Clive James on TV became a hit in no large part because of Clive's caustic wit on extreme Japanese game shows such as Endurance.
They were something else, even rather sadistic. Viewers tuned in each week just to see how bad or comical things get.
So it was only a matter of time Clive James would go to Japan and on to the set of Takeshi's Castle. One of the game shows he mocked.
This was more than just Clive poking fun at Japanese television. I knew from interviews he gave that he genuinely liked Japan and even spent years trying to learn the language. He said when you are in Tokyo, you sense that you really are somewhere alien where you cannot easily get by with just knowing English.
You get a sense of that as Clive tries to navigate the Japanese subway or just trying to find his hotel. You do sense with a film crew accompanying, a lot of this was set up.
The first of a two part look of Japan. It badly tailed off. The geiko scenes were as boring as Clive felt while he was watching the so called.entertainment.
Hancock's Half Hour: The Poison Pen Letters (1960)
The Poison Pen Letters
Hancock is perturbed when he gets hate mail in the post. Someone has got it in it for him. They also seem to know a lot about him.
Tiny little details that only a few people would know. Maybe it is Sid writing these poison pen letters. He is always darting about.
If it is not Sid, then it could be the Bolshie housemaid Mrs Cravatte (Patricia Hayes.) Although she only works one hour a day, so Hancock can boast he has a woman looking after his house.
When more letters arrive, Hancock goes to the police. They investigate and conclude, it is being sent from a letterbox outside his house.
I did like who the eventual culprit was and the cod psychology that went with it. Patricia Hayes was good value as well.
Beau Geste: Episode #1.2 (1982)
Episode 2
After a choppy first episode. You get to the kernel of the story. Now you also get to the adult Geste brothers.
It also delves into the mystery of Lady Brandon's family heirloom.
The three Geste brothers have returned from university. There is a party thrown and Lady Brandon takes out the Blue Water sapphire to show. It is dazzling.
Suddenly the light goes out and the gem is stolen. Everyone thinks it is a prank. Lady Brandon decides to give the thief a chance to put the jewel back. See seems reluctant to involve the police.
The conclusion of this episode, with one of the brother's walking off ties the story with the beginning of the first episode.
Z Cars: Priority (1974)
Priority
An episode directed by Julia Smith. She was better known as one of the creators of Eastenders. Which explains why several actors from this era of Z cars turned up during the early days of the soap.
Again the episode has a gritty look at families and kids. Young Keith Wallace looks like a feral kid in a rush. It turns out he is running own on his own to his dad.
He was with his mother and sister but his mum sent him packing home. Frank Wallace is the dad and he has custody of both children. Now he is worried what has happened to his daughter. His estranged wife is unstable.
He rushes to the police station but Keith is not so articulate.
Meanwhile PC Quilley and DC Braithwaite investigate a club that is known for dealing with stolen goods. They believe someone might have possession of some stolen transistor radios.
The episode is called Priority as the police have to decide what takes precedent. Stolen goods or the welfare of a child.
You have to hand it to the production team, everything about the episode looked grimy and grim. It very much reflected the year.
Mistletoe Murders: Poison in a Pear Tree Pt 2 (2024)
Poison in a Pear Tree Pt 2
June Hubble is in a desperate situation. Sheriff Wilner believes that he has a solid case against her. He has no time for Emily Lane's meddling.
Emily decides to follow the money. Marcus Donovan had money to buy the Christmas tree farm. Where did the money come from. Why is the local bank manager so involved.
Suddenly Emily knows she cannot investigate from the sidelines. She has to ruffle some feathers, ask probing questions.
It does mean she raises attention from the wrong quarters and it is not an irate Sheriff Wilner.
In general this is frothy stuff but it gets dark here and then. Especially with Emily in genuine peril. I am intrigued with her back story.
The Law and Mr. Jones: Wilderness (1962)
Wilderness
Abraham Lincoln Jones next client is his father. Thomas Jones (Russ Brown) faces an injunction for his conduct.
A corporation wants to redevelop a lake for leisure activities. Thomas Jones is against it, the area was designated as a wilderness. It is a nature reserve for rare animals and birds.
There are places nearby where people could swim, sunbathe and do waterskiing.
Jones finds out that his father is far from the ideal witness in court. He is argumentative and does not follow the judge's instruction. However he does speak from his heart.
Nowadays a case like this raising environmental issues are two a penny in legal dramas. Back then this would had been regarded as novel.
Although a comedic episode, it showed ecological concerns at a time when it was not the in thing.
Travelling Man: The Collector (1984)
The Collector
Michael Feast, what a smooth operator. He plays Naylor and he is a real nasty guy.
Naylor wants Lomax's money that he stole. He must have hidden it somewhere. So he breaks into Lomax's boat but he's gone to London as his dad is ill.
So Naylor confronts a shocked Andrea, and it's a heated discussion.
It see,s Andrea has moved in with Naylor and knew little about the guy. So Naylor's revelation comes as a shock to her.
Lomax seeks revenge when he finds out that Andrea is in hospital. That does not stop Naylor making a bedsit visit.
A chilling performance from Feast. It is a shame the ending does not match it. It's like the writer cannot make Lomax ruthless enough.
A few threats were never going to stop Naylor, so it all felt clumsy.
Mistletoe Murders: Poison in a Pear Tree Pt 1 (2024)
Poison in a Pear Tree Pt 1
Even Hallmark has decided to have a twist in their uninspired and saccharine Christmas movies.77
They have added murder to the ingredients. Death comes to Fletcher's Grove. A nod to Murder she Wrote.
Emily Lane (Sarah Drew) is new to the town, she runs a shop and her only friend is June Hubble the local vet.
When June is arrested for the murder of her fiance Marcus Donovan, at a Christmas tree farm. Emily is certain that she did not do it.
The local cop, Sheriff Sam Wilner thinks he has a cast iron case.
There is too much narration here which gets in the way. Hallmark has added murder mystery, an amateur sleuth with a past and a will they/won't they romance.
An interesting first episode. Watchable but mundane.
The Upper Hand: Requiem (1990)
Requiem
A festive episode of The Upper Hand. Charlie seems to be distracted and tired.
It is because Charlie has taken an extra job for Christmas at a pizza parlor. Laura chides Caroline for not paying Charlie enough.
Both wonder why he needs the money. Charlie gives a plausible explanation, he is paying off some back rent his father owes to the landlord. Only for Joanna to later mention his father recently died.
Laura follows Charlie as she is convinced that he has another woman.
A mawkish episode as Charlie learns to let go of his father. It was not very festive and it does not help that the audience never met his father in series one.
The Optimist: The Brush Off (1985)
The Brush Off
The Optimist is a painter and decorator painting the outside of a house. A thief drops off a Mondrian painting in his bag.
The Optimist does not realise how valuable it is. A passing art gallery owner thinks the Optimist has talent and invites him over to paint artwork in his studio.
Well he ends up becoming an art sensation. Mainly because he accidently creates abstracts like when his lunch drops on a canvas.
He meets Mimi (Julie Peasgood) who becomes his inspiration and lover. The Optimist who signs his paintings as Nigel continues his ascend but the pressure of fame gets to him.
Mimi leaves him when she catches him spray painting two women. Then he becomes a laughing stock when he unveils a painting of kittens. It was so cute and normal.
The episode highlights the absurdity of the artworld. The Optimist accidentally creates another masterpiece when he goes off to become a road digger.
Only Murders in the Building: Blow-Up (2024)
Blow-Up
Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up is regarded as a classic. Personally I thought it was an awful movie.
The title of this episode implies it is a parody of the movie. The focus on the Brothers sisters brought to my mind the Wachowskis. (Brothers who became sisters.)
Following on from the shooting incident at the photoshoot in the previous episode. The immediate suspects are the strange unorthodox filmmaking sisters.
Their style was encouraged by their college tutor Milton Dudenoff (Griffin Dunne.) The same man who owns the apartments in the Arconia and is thought to be in Portugal.
There is a found footage element to this episode. The sisters and Dudenoff brings other residents of the building together through filmmaking. However I never believed for one moment the sisters as serious suspects.
It was an enjoyable episode but felt like padding again. Martin takes potshots at the vacuous but cynical studio head.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Whodunit (1956)
Whodunit
Alfred Hitchcock presents a whodunit with difference. Alexander Penn Arlington (John Williams) is a deceased mystery writer who meets the recording angel.
Arlington learns that he had been murdered but the angel could not tell him who was the culprit.
Arlington simply wants to know. He persuades the angel to relive his final day so he can figure out the murderer.
Only to find out that Arlington was a horrid man. There was simply a queue of people who would want to kill him.
I liked how Arlington was shown to be urbane and charming up there at the beginning. Back on Earth he was a nasty piece of work. He did well with a young wife but no wonder she looked elsewhere.
The episode leaves the whodunit as a grey area but Hitchcock confirms it later.
The Cleaner: The Committee (2024)
The Committee
Poor Bil (Derek Griffiths) fell of a balcony of a community centre frequented by the elderly. Was it an accident or was it murder?
Wicky arrives late and the centre is at full swing. He got into an argument with an elderly couple over his parking permit.
Margaret the manager tells Wicky to get his clean up work done quietly and without disturbing anyone. Otherwise he will be up before the Committee.
These older participants are mean spirited and as Wicky discovers. They find numerous faults with him.
One of them is adamant that Bill was murdered and it could be anyone.
The murder mystery was good. Wicky getting humiliated at each stage was a farce that never quite took off.
From Here to Eternity: Part I (1979)
Part 1
From Here to Eternity was a classic novel by James Jones. It is set in an army base in Hawaii , on the weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbour.
It was turned into an Oscar winning movie by Fred Zinnemann in 1953.
The mini series was an attempt to be more faithful to Jones novel, allowing it to me more steamy than the 1950s movie restrained by the Hays code.
The first episode has Karen Holmes (Natalie Wood) the estranged and sex starved wife of the base Captain. She starts a steamy affair with the bull necked First Sergeant Milt Warden (William Devane) who has disdain for the useless Captain Holmes (Roy Thinnes.)
Then there is the troubled Private Robert E Lee Prewitt (Steve Railsback) a promising boxer who has arrived in Hawaii. Captain Holmes knows that Prewitt will be an asset to the boxing team but he refuses to fight after nearly killing a boxer in the ring.
The first episode was more soapy than steamy. The love affair between Holmes and Warden happened so fast, you wonder where was the foreplay. Unless it was in the opening minutes.
The script was woeful at times. Reflecting the era of best selling novels being turned into trashy mini series.