helenandbrian

I do have to admit to having not watched all of this. To my discredit, I didn't think that much of it, but still kept flicking back to it from something else I was also half-watching, BUT my views are still valid despite missing out on all the plot developments, as they are much more fundamental.

Firstly, I didn't really know who Thora Birch was, but guessed very quickly that she is American. I cannot understand why other reviews have complimented her on her perfect accent, bearing in mind how clearly obvious it was that she was putting it on. Gwyneth Paltrow as Queen Elizabeth yes; Renee Zellwigger as Bridget Jones sort of; Thora Birch as an English public school girl no.

Secondly, as a suspense thriller where you are supposed to be shocked at whodunit, how then did I, watching only episodic sections, manage to guess within minutes who was almost certainly the guilty party? The way they laid this person's personality on with a trowel, it was quite clear that there was something fundamentally unhinged going on.

Thirdly, how many WW2 air-raid shelters are still clean and dry and have fully functioning electric lighting? On the other hand, I think it might have been more fun if the girls had been like Keira Knightley when I was at British boarding school myself!

As ever, I am torn about Glee. While it is perhaps a guilty secret of mine, I am something of a Gleek and don't want to miss an episode, but... the Autotune in this second series seems to have got ever more intrusive.

The cast are mostly respected Broadway professional who know how to sing, yet they Autotune their performances to oblivion. It isn't even subtle.

Saying that, Sweet Transvestite last night just went to show how Amber Riley/Mercedes is far and away the best singer on the show (and not coincidentally, the one cast member who suffers the least from the dreaded Autotune).