Top of the Pops 5 July 1990

 

Words: Chris Arnsby

Nicky Campbell: “Hello, good evening. Believe me there is absolutely no respite. World Cup fever. Wimbledon frenzy. And now, strap yourselves in for what could be the most exciting half hour in any of our lifetimes. Top. Of the. Pops. What a show. What a line up. Inspiral Carpets.”

 [30] INSPIRAL CARPETS: She Comes In The Fall. The dream is over. World Cup update. The Years-of-Hurt-omemter (pat. pending) ticks up from 24. England sailed through the quarter-finals to meet West Germany in the semi-final. The result, a 1-1 draw and England were knocked out on penalties. Fortunately, England will never play West Germany again so that can't happen any more.

Ironheart Eps 4- 6 review

 

This series was actually filmed three years ago and is not as special effects heavy as many so I’m wondering why it has taken this long to be shown. Not only that but it is officially the end of Marvel’s phase five, surely the least distinct segment of their saga. While some of the individual productions have been good, overall, there is a feeling that perhaps Marvel is reaching too far, trying to vary what they’re good at which will inevitably yield mixed results. Ironheart does present some striking sequences though and regardless of what narrative the cast are given they carry it off well so it deserves a more prominent place than this.

 

Spoilers after the break

Jurassic World- Rebirth review

 

The fact that you sort of know what’s going to happen in a Jurassic franchise film – disparate characters fleeing from big jaws and not all of them will make it – doesn’t necessarily negate the thrills. This seventh iteration somehow manages to come up with yet more inventive sequences in which people are caught in seemingly inescapable peril at the claws of prehistoric monsters. Some of them make it, others don’t- surely not a spoiler at this late stage. This film is something of a reset, largely ignoring previous characters (there are a few references) but neatly linking back to  the lore presumably setting up another trilogy though after what the survivors have been through here, would any of them really come back for more?

 

Spoilers past this point

Ironheart Eps 1 -3 review

 

The latest Marvel tv spin off focuses on Riri Williams, teenage super scientist from Wakanda whom we last saw joining MIT to further her undoubted technical skills. The six part series follows her progress and located tonally somewhere between Ms Marvel and Agent Carter proves to be an enjoyable show. Nether too self-consciously urban yet retaining a natural feel its episodes are an easy watch with just enough rug pulling to keep the veteran Marvel viewers entertained. 

Spoilers beyond this point

Top of the Pops 28 June 1990

 

Words: Chris Arnsby

“Hello. A very good evening to you. Welcome to Top of the Pops. If you want to hear the show in stereo just switch your radio to Radio 1FM. We have six acts in the show tonight. And we start with a real belter, number five in the charts with, uh, Snap featuring Oops Up the duck here they come.”

 [5] SNAP: Oops Up. I hope Gary Davies got hazard pay for that extra piece of physical props work. He makes a good throw across the studio and Turbo B makes a terrific catch considering the low visibility with all the smoke and flashing lights. It's the kind of tiny moment that would haunt my nightmares. We'd be on take 15 and Oops Up the Duck would be ricocheting off the lighting grid and falling into the gears of the camera crane while a bored audience slow-clap and jeer me. 

The Land That Time Forgot (1974)

 

In the mid Seventies a team headed by Amicus studios, at that time known for horror films, dipped their toes in the waters of fantasy adventure. They adapted a trio of stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs on what were essentially shoestring budgets and aimed at a juvenile audience. The Land That Time Forgot was the first yet is a curious film quite unlike the ones that followed which leaned further into either the fantastical or mythical. Evolution is this movie’s theme and while it doesn’t come up with any answers, it does pose some interesting questions. 

 

Top of the Pops 22 June 1990

 

Jakki Brambles: “Hello. Good evening and welcome along to Top of the Pops on a Friday night thanks to the lovely little World Cup. Rockin' good show for you tonight. We're going to start off with a band who are at number thirty five in the chart. They've just been entertaining fifty thousand East Berliners. Welcome along, Magnum.”

 [35] MAGNUM: Rockin'Chair. England v Egypt (Group F) live from Cagliari, 7.30pm on Thursday. It's time to play schedule billiards. Eastenders moves to 7pm Thursday which canons Top of the Pops to Friday at 7.40pm after Wogan. It's basically a repeat of the schedule reordering which took place on 18/05/1990 when the FA Cup Final replay moved everything around in exactly the same way. Top of the Pops gets dropped neatly in to the Friday night schedule so something called Paradise can start, as always, at 8.10pm.

“John Taylor is the formidable force that stands between prosperity and catastrophe when a lumber company comes to town to clear his mountain.” Sounds exciting.

Detectorists

 

More than a decade after it started  and three years since it ended, Detectorists remains a treat. Back in 2014 the idea that a series could sustain a tale of two mates whose hobby is metal detecting might have seemed unlikely yet over ten years later Detectorists has surely secured its place in the pantheon of memorably tv? In fact, its probably up there in the `must watch more than once` tv. Though set in the present day the series has a timeless appeal which won’t date. Many of its cultural references hark back to earlier decades and its premise encompasses centuries of history. Yet it is built on a small scale with scenes often involving little more than idle chat and banter or geeky talks about buttons and suchlike. It mightn’t work with many series but it definitely does in this one.