April, of course, saw the marking of the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster, on both the big and smaller screens ... though watching on the night that your parents board a cruise is perhaps not to be recommended! Whilst, having resisted for long enough, I found the 3D experience left a lot to be desired, including a tablet for sea sickness, Julian Fellowes’ television epic was certainly a treat!
(©ITV 2012)
However, given the predictable audience of Downton fans, surely a trick was missed in not at least referring to the fate of Patrick Crawley, the unaccounted for heir of Downton! Nor, with the albeit slightly lackluster return of Upstairs Downstairs on BBC 1, was there a reference to the original lady of the house, Lady Majorie Bellamy, the centre of what has to be one of the most beautifully poignant endings ever achieved, and an early Eastenders-worthy cliffhanger that apparently set phones ringing across the nation ....
Meanwhile, following the success of Prisoners’ Wives, the BBC’s subsequent offering of character-led drama quite literally went down like a lead balloon. Various comic trailers for The Syndicate, and a popular cast of largely comedy actors .... I was looking forward to a light-hearted, relaxing weekday evening comedy .... but if you had thought Prisoners’ Wives was hard-hitting! I have to be honest, it’s hard to comment much upon the series as a whole, since I didn’t make it past the first episode .... the world is depressing enough!
Likewise, though superbly written and portrayed, the latest series of Silent Witness saw a barrage of criticism for overly graphic images ... of all varieties ....
(©BBC 2012)
All in all, not exactly the season of spring lambs and happy Easter in the world of television drama .... although a re-working of the schedule for Silent Witness did provide us with another watch of last year’s incredible season finale, a festive treat in itself! So not all bad ....
On the comedy front, Not Going Out returned at last, although for a series far too short, whilst the end of March saw this year’s Sport Relief and a wealth of contributors from some of the country’s best love comedians ... from the gang of Miranda, to the footballing kids of Outnumbered ...
(©BBC 2012)
Sadly this spring did not see the return of the BBC’s Doctor Who, meaning that for many Saturday evenings, The Voice really was the only half-decent offering on offer ... one way or another, a couple of behind-the-sofa moments were sorely missed in the drama of the ratings war with Britain’s Got Talent ... but never fear, a shortened series is due to appear on our screens this autumn, before an extended run in 2013 to mark the 50th anniversary of the science fiction classic .... and given his almost unchallengeable crown as the show’s biggest fan (no-one else has actually managed to win themselves the role!), I reckon it’s a pretty fair assumption that we haven’t seen the last of the 10th Doctor ....
Moving into summer, and recent weeks have finally seen the return of Silk .... though last night’s episode alone is surely worth a post of it’s own ....
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