Z Nation Season 3 (2016)

 

Catching up on the Zs - its wild peril in season three of this splatterific series, first shown in 2016  

Curiously the third season begins with an episode set sometime in the second. No Mercy is introduced as a flashback episode though it’s not clear when it is supposed to be set, especially if, like me, it’s two years since you watched season two. It’s a feature length premiere that re-introduces us to the attributes that make Z Nation a top-class adventure series with a creative edge when it comes to the Zs themselves. For example, we have zombies sporting metal helmets so that they can’t simply be despatched in the usual manner with a shot to the head.

They are part of the force used by an enigmatic character known as The Man who is searching for scientists whose name he has on a list. One of those names- Doctor Miles Teller -is holed up at a remote community built around a research lab. It just happens to be close to where our motely band of protagonists currently are. It’s a brisk episode with plenty of action yet not without a heart either. Teller’s wife for example was isolated years after she became infected from one of her experiments attempting to find a cure. Her glowing semi zombie appearance is alarming yet she is not a monster and the episode makes her sympathetic even though she can’t speak. 

Unfortunately, that doesn’t quite work as well with a sub plot about a feral boy, only able to make animal noises, who starts to copy 10K (they name him 5K!) though this puts him a risk.  Unlike Teller’s wife, the boy’s inability to speak and the fact that 10K isn’t the most loquacious character hampers this plot though there’s a terrific chase the two are involved in.  As ever the episode is presented for maximum impact, director Abram Cox enjoying the opportunities all the dust and sunlight offers to contrast the harsh outdoors with claustrophobic indoors. Why the community paint everything red when about to defend the place isn’t clear but it definitely makes for a great visual.

Top of the Pops 15 March 1990

 

Words: Chris Arnsby
Simon Mayo: “Well, welcome to the pops. We've a rock and roll edition for you tonight with three debut performances before seven thirty. And now we start with a band who are appearing at Manchester Apollo tonight and then they're at Wembley next week. They're at number twenty seven doing Deliverance. Would you welcome please to Top of the Pops, The Mission.

 [27] THE MISSION: DELIVERENCE. Wow, somebody really loves The Mission. Listen to them shriek.

Belated noticing of Format Change: Paul Ciani's gone right off having the host introduce the show from the studio Crows Nest. It hasn't been used for that purpose since Anthea Turner was up there for the 15/02/1990 show.

Snow White review

 

Disney’s venerable fairy tale deals in absolutes so may seem ill equipped for the modern age where everything is held to question and things are rarely clear or clean cut. Can a story with such simplistic figures survive? The answer, at least as far as the latest adaptation goes, remains in the air. Online generated controversies over casting and the rumoured political differences between the two leads that made them enemies in real life as well as on screen have already given the film a bad reputation. Judging from the rows of empty seat at the first week performance I attended this may have put some people off.  Yet those arguments, rather like the plot of Snow White, take a simplistic view of matters being either right or wrong and few things actually are. On an artistic level the film is also suffering due to its proximity to Wicked which has superior songs, stellar performances and a more involving plot. Nevertheless Snow White does what it is supposed to do and if the delighted reaction from kids at one particular development at the showing I went to is any indication it seems to hit the right notes for a younger audience.

 

Top of the Pops 8 March 1990

 Words: Chris Arnsby
 Bruno Brookes: “Good evening. How are you? Welcome to your favourite fab pop show. This is Top of the Pops on a Thursday evening. Bros are in the studio a bit later on amongst Marc Almond live. First of all at number Five here is Guru Josh with a great song called Infinity 1990s Time For The Guru.”

 [5] GURU JOSH: INFINITY (1990's: TIME FOR THE GURU). Quantel transitions! Is anything more likely to get these reviews off to a worse start than me trying to describe via the medium of text why something has visual appeal? I might as well try to explain what a horse feels like to a man with no fingers.

Anyway. Something complicated has happened to the Quantel box. Previously the electronic effects have all been hard edged but here they've got a much softer appearance. Has someone invented the Blur filter? The result looks eerily liquid and makes the modified pictures almost flow across the screen.

Mysterious Island (1961)

 

Mysterious Island was one of a slew of pictures produced by Charles Schneer that specialised in action adventure coupled with stop motion monsters courtesy of Ray Harryhausen. Yet it lacks the flair and invention of others and comes across, despite the presence of big monsters, as rather uneventful. It is an attempt at less outlandish rather than mythical creatures; all of the dangers on the island are simply overgrown species we recognise and unfortunately this robs the story of a lot of excitement. Well, would you rather see a cyclops come to life or a giant chicken trying to be menacing?

 

The Electric State review

 

The Electric State is rumoured to be the most expensive streaming movie yet made though I really think it deserves a cinematic release to truly appreciate the retro futuristic designs on display. Its based on an illustrated novel originally called The Passage by Swedish artist Simon Stalnehag. He started out as a concept artist and illustrator for video games and created the drawings that formed the basis for his books in his spare time, inspired by a childhood love of science fiction films.

Spoilers after the break

Mickey 17 review

 

Bong Joon Ho’s successor to his Oscar winning Parasite proves a timely release with its depiction of technology getting ahead of ways to control it and also portraying a somewhat unhinged but powerful politician let loose. It’s a lively if overlong story originally intended for release a year ago and it seems to have already been written off as a box office failure. At times it feels like the script writers have made a simple idea complicated with too much extraneous material. Like last year’s Megalopolis though it is not short of ambition and something to say, it’s just that the delivery is not always as concise as it could be.

 

Top of the Pops 1 March 1990

 Words: Chris Arnsby

Jakki Brambles: “Well hello. Good evening and welcome. It may well be a windswept Great Britain but we have got a sizzling show for you tonight and you can hear it loud and clear, crystal clear, on Radio 1FM in stereo. Starting tonight's show with a man who's had more hits than I've been on diets. We're into the thousands here. Welcome Shakin' Stevens.”

[29] SHAKIN' STEVENS: I MIGHT. The winter of 1990 was blustery with high winds (no more curried eggs for me, no wonder I can't go to parties any more, etc). I remember the Burns' Day Storm of 25th January but I don't recall what Wikipedia calls Storm Vivian, 25th -27th February, which is what Jakki Brambles is referring to here. The wind must have been howling outside as this edition was recorded on Tuesday.

Fairies (1978)

 

BBC play that tells the story of the Cottingley Fairies photos- just five years before the truth emerged.

Can you imagine if someone took a photograph of a strange creature now and posted it on Instagram how much fuss there would be? It would be trending in minutes. In 1917 this was not the case. Photographs were almost exclusively for private use so it’s not unusual that after two girls had taken pictures of what appeared to be real fairies they lay untouched for three years until a chance sighting of the pictures led to what was a lot of excitement around the world. The sensation was heightened when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, by then a world famous author, believed that the pictures were real. It ignited a debate; a tabloid frenzy and differing opinions from the villagers whose quiet life was interrupted when word got out where these fairies apparently were. It’s a true story and BBC4 recently showed Fairies, a Play of the Week drama, first broadcast in 1978. It’s a pity it was made four years before he truth was finally uncovered…

 

Logan's Run (1976)

 

Released in 1976, Logan’s Run is based on the 1967 novel by William F Nolan and George Clayton Johnson who curiously originally conceived the idea as a film script. The film was adapted by David Zelag Goodman and stars Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan and Peter Ustinov. Its narrative dips into ideas of a society devoted to pleasure, the value of youth versus old age, euthanasia and how people are controlled by invented myths. Just don’t expect these topics to be dealt with  in a lot of detail. While the movie strives to show what everyday life is like in this seemingly perfect future it falls short explaining how or why or indeed any background at all. Nevertheless, it is a sumptuous Seventies production with colour, some excellent direction and good performances making an easy watch. Just don’t ask any difficult questions...

 

Top of the Pops 22 February 1990

 Words: Chris Arnsby

Bonus master tape bit: The picture stabilises on a long shot of the new Triangle Stage. Two members of the studio crew are working the crowd. The sound quality is a bit too muffled to accurately transcribe what they are saying, alas for the historical record, but it's basically a warning to the audience to avoid the people shepherding the cameras around: “...They go rushing at great speed. People are going to push you out of the way. Don't hit them. Don't touch them. Don't do anything to them. These guys are here to save your lives alright? Give them a round of applause. Right? They're over there [points]. They're over there [points]. They're over there [points]. They've got a Top of the Pops t-shirt.... quiet... now listen... I want a great big round of applause for the brilliant the wonderful the divine Liza Minnelli!”

Liza Minnelli enters. She waves shyly. And then starts to sing Love Pains. Her performance style is very similar to the one she used for Losing My Mind (10/08/1989) very mannered, very still, and a lot of direct eye contact with the camera; a very Princess Diana-ish Bambi-eyes gaze looking up at the camera through her fringe. The song comes to an end and the lens of the camera wanders away as if it is hunting for something new to look at.

The screen blanks out as the audio continues.
Voice 1: “Lovely.”
Voice 2: “Well done.”
Liza Minnelli: [Joke shouting] “Oh drat! We have to do it again you guys.

[Crowd cheers and applauds].

The picture snaps back on and focuses again on a long shot of the Triangle Stage. The long shot is held for around a minute, time enough to take in a strange object which hangs from the ceiling and gently rotates, to the left of the stage. Take two ends quickly, after about 25 seconds. There seems to be a problem with the crane shot, it's misaligned as it pans in and Liza Minnelli drifts out of the centre of frame. The screen blanks and the crowd groan as the music cuts out.

“Throughout the show we do get technical hitches. It's not always your fault.” Says one of the studio crew. To the crowd presumably. “Don't worry about it. Just bear with us. Bear with us as we try and record this show, yeah?” Take three is fine.

Love Pains will not feature on Top of the Pops.

The screen blanks again. When we return to the studio we are apparently looking at Mark Goodier down the Death Star Trench. This odd look comes courtesy of either Vision Mixer Hilary West or Ian Simpson in Video Effects. They are rehearsing the Quantel transition out of the Top of the Pops titles and because the countdown clock for the title sequence is currently held at 10 seconds, the effect is of two black walls sandwiching the host.

Top of the Pops 15 February 1990

 

Words: Chris Arnsby

 Anthea Turner: “Welcome to Top of the Pops! And for the next half hour on BBC1 and Radio 1 we've got videos including Rod Stewart and Tina Turner! We've got chart news! And in the studio we've got The Wedding Present! The Stranglers! But on stage now it's Britain's highest new entry! At number five! Black Box!”

 [5] BLACK BOX: I DON'T KNOW ANYBODY ELSE. This edition is hosted by the “newly wed,” (© Gary Davies MCM) Anthea Turner. She tied the knot with Peter Powell, yes, That! Peter! Powell!, but by 1990 he'd moved on from being a presenter and DJ to run a management company.

David Ward, has a rival. Who is David Ward? He once was King of the Cypher Graphics system but he's been dethroned by newcomer Rockett Norton. It was actually last week that Rockett made his debut but on that occasion his captions were very much in line with the ones produced by David Ward; apart from adding a wireframe graphic of the Top of the Pops symbol behind the chart number. This week Rockett Norton has been allowed to really take the Cypher system for a spin to see what it can do. And what it can do is very fancy indeed. The caption for Black Box falls from the top of the screen packed in a (purple) 3D box and the chart position and letters tumble out of the box and line themselves up, as the box disappears back up the screen. Très bon. Very très bon indeed.

Big Boys season 3 review

Back for a third and final season Big Boys is probably the first show to make the previous decade nostalgic in the same way popular culture has lionised the Eighties or Nineties for some time. One day all dramas will namedrop cultural icons from 2013 or 2015 just like nowadays they hark back to 1985 or 1996.  Like a lot of successful comedy Big Boys has its roots in real life experiences yet its also the case that a brilliant cast propel Jack Rooke’s wonderfully eccentric, filthy and often poignant script into the stratosphere.  Its deceptively casual anarchy lands on so many levels ranging from hysterical slapstick, bawdy dialogue, realistic drama and bittersweet moments.  Some may find it hits too hard in one or more of these areas- and it is not for the faint hearted- but this is television at its most direct. 

 

Cobra Kai Season 6 Eps 11-15 review

 

The long tale of warring dojos and high kicks comes to an end with this final salvo of five episodes concluding the elongated season six whose initial episodes dropped last summer. It’s been a mixed bag this last season with the early episodes proving that all potential combinations of characters falling out / making up had been done. It all felt a bit forced. The middle set was a lot better culminating in an unexcepted dust up to rival that in the second season’s iconic school fight. Despite the far-fetched manner by which we got there it was definitely a highlight of the entire show’s run.  Its a crowded affair though, just look at how many people are on the publicity poster!

Spoilers on the mat beyond this point...

Top of the Pops 8 February 1990

 Words: Chris Arnsby

Gary Davies: “Hello. Very good evening to you. Welcome to another Thursday night's Top of the Pops we have a very busy programme for you. In fact the gang are going to tell you who's in the studio tonight. We've got...”
Audience member 1: “Beats International!"
Audience member 2: “The Beloved!”
Audience member 3: “Phil Collins!”
Audience member 4: “Del Amitri!”

Gary Davies: “Well, we start off at number ten in the charts with Instant Replay. Over there. It's Yell!”

 

Captain America- Brave New World review

 

The Captain America films have been my favourite of the individual Marvel movies and this fourth offering definitely contains enough to earn its place on that list. It’s a lively affair with some excellent set pieces and a strong cast. Yet it falls a bit short simply because of the way it has been marketed. I hate spoilers and do my best to avoid them but when the studio itself gives away a crucial moment to which the whole film is leading to it rather deflates the overall product.  

 

Spoilers follow in this review

 

The Mind of Mr JG Reeder S2 Eps 4-8(1971)

 

The Willing Victim (17 May 1971)

“Someone’s trying to kill you!” splutters Sir Jason after Reeder has told him about three varied attempts on his life. “That’s the conclusion I’d reached,” replied Reeder drily. The tone is thus set for an episode that, while potentially being the most serious yet, is also playful and unlikely at the same time. After these attempts, including having a piece of masonry pushed off a roof as Reeder is walking underneath in the opening sequence, the criminal mastermind Lew Cassio (an expressive Harry Towb with an untraceable accent) resorts to a more fiendish method to enact revenge on the man who put him and other colleague away. Tasked with undertaking this mission is his assistant Danny played by a younger Geoffrey Hughes of Coronation Street fame with wide eyed buffoonery.

The Mind of Mr JG Reeder S2 Eps 1-4 (1971)

 

The Duke (19 Apr 1971)

Two years after the first season, during which time Hugh Burden had scared viewers as the first villain faced by the third Doctor Who, the chilling Channing, The Mind of Mr J.G. Reeder returned. Its easy to overlook the fact that it was seen as a prestigious show with a 9pm slot on Monday evenings.  The title sequence this time is slightly different and suggests that all that is on Reeder's `criminal mind` are dancing girls  but the banjo led Twenties theme music remains. The opening story concerns a Chicago gangster, Duke Dorsey who has become the unlikely tenant of a country estate. When an attempt is made on his life, Reeder is assigned by Sir Jason to offer him official protection. Once there, the unassuming prosecutor discovers all is not as it seems. The episode is a little slow at first as Ray McAnally as Duke and Toby Robins as his much younger wife and former showgirl Sadie both struggle with Chicago accents and the somewhat stereotypical Chicagoan characters they play. Things liven up when Reeder arrives, his firm but polite Englishness rubbing against their brashness.

My latest novel- Earth Fire

I'm pleased to announce that I've published another novel in the Heart of the World series, the seventh in the series and my eighth in all. If that makes the process sound easy, its actually not but there is a lot of satisfaction in turning ideas into a story. The books are mainly aimed at a younger audience though theoretically can be enjoyed by anyone. At least anyone who doesn't read something and then say "well that could never happen". Because, you know, it just might....

Top of the Pops 2 February 1990

 

Words: Chris Arnsby

Bruno Brookes: “Looking forward to the weekend. Good evening. Welcome to another spondicious Top of the Pops. All your favourite artists from the hit parade. And what a way to start. This is the highest climber up twenty three places, Lonnie Gordon makes a debut with this song. Happening All Over Again.

[9] LONNIE GORDON: HAPPENING ALL OVER AGAIN. New set. The Unfinished Stage has been pensioned off. It was first used just before Christmas, 21/12/1989, and the last appearance was technically last week but in an already partially disassembled state. If you want to be scrupulously accurate (I do, I do) then the Unfinished Stage was last properly used on the 11/01/1990 show (Fish, Big Wedge). That's barely four weeks of use. Paul Ciani must have hated it.

Top of the Pops 26 January 1990

 

Words: Chris Arnsby

Simon Mayo: “We're the Breakfast Crew, staying up late just for you. New temporary time slot just while the Commonwealth Games are on. The only show on BBC1 without Des Lynham.”
Jakki Brambles: “Lots of portions of talent tonight for you. We've got Sinead O'Connor, Phil Collins, and the wonderful Del Amitri.”
Simon Mayo: “We're gonna start with an AARGH!”
Jakki Brambles: “Think that's a yell.”
Simon Mayo: “That is a Yell. Down there.”

 [24] YELL!: INSTANT REPLAY. Where to begin? There's a new old broom back in town. Paul Ciani has returned; the hosts start the show in the Crow's Nest; Quantel graphics are used while Yell! perform (and also, probably, breach article 106 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice by impersonating a Captain. They should be fine as long as they don't go to America).

And what's this? New captions. Welcome to Cypher. The operator gets a credit as well; this week the Cypher Graphics are by David Ward. The captions are multi-coloured (yellow for Simon and purple for Jakki) and they spin and shrink and make letters fly across the screen. It's a whole new world.

It's 8pm. The Commonwealth Games occupy the 7-8pm slot. Top of the Pops has been bumped from Thursday to Friday. Chaos!

Canary Wharf Winter Lights 2025 photo post

Here's some pictures I took at this year's Canary Wharf Winter Lights. There's more on my Instagram page including video clips. Unfortunately its not possible to add film to Blogger any more.

Top of the Pops 18 January 1990

 

Words: Chris Arnsby

Nicky Campbell: “Oh well. Good evening and welcome to Top of the Pops and can I be the first person to wish you a very happy new year. What a show tonight. A gallimaufry of musical wonders to... seduce your senses. Starting off with a potent mixture of Tina Beale* and genuine talent, here they are. It is, Halo James.”

*Tina Beale? (John- Google tells me she's a real estate and planning educator in Jamaica. Probably not who they meant?)

[13] HALO JAMES: could have told you so. Blue and purple. Blue and purple. Everything is blue and purple. Chris Kempton is still assigned to the Lighting and Stanley Appel is still driving the show. Actually, to be fair to Chris Kempton, he has allowed some orange to creep into the lighting. It looks nice, in the same way that all modern television looks nice because its all teal and orange (nurse, he's out of bed again). I can't blame Chris Kempton for 25+ years of films and television. Or can I?

The Line, The Cross and The Curve (1993)

 

If Kate Bush fans can sometimes treat her work with a bit too much reverence, it says something about the artist herself that she is less precious about her back catalogue. Indeed she has latterly tinkered with old albums and has dismissed this 1993 short film even though at the time poured considerable effort into directing as well as writing and starring in it. Its thirty two years old now and often overlooked so in the continued absence of new Kate Bush material I thought I’d have another look at it.

 

Top of the Pops 11 January 1990

 

Words: Chris Arnsby

Simon Mayo: “Welcome to Top of the Pops. Coming up before seven thirty, you're going to see some of the UK's top live bands. Don't go away. Sorry about the glasses by the way but underneath I look though I've done about five rounds with Mike Tyson. I might show you later. We'll start at number fourteen with the FPI Project, Going Back to My Roots.”

 [14] F.P.I. PROJECT featuring SHARON DEE CLARKE: going back to my roots.

Simon Mayo is doing the whole Roy Orbison bit. Black leather jacket and dark glasses indoors. He looks like an idiot. Alas for my powers of attention, I talked over his explanation for the glasses because I was too busy having a conversation about how silly he looked. Conjunctivitises, apparently.

Meanwhile, the F.P.I. PROJECT have gained a singer. Sharon Dee Clarke. This results in the group getting their third caption from two performances; the 21/12/1989 show credited them as F.P.I. PROJECT present RICH IN PARADISE; the 04/01/1990 repeat listed them as just the F.P.I. PROJECT; and now they are F.P.I. PROJECT featuring SHARON DEE CLARKE.

The Rig season two

The first season of The Rig was a curious series that ended up a long way from what you might expect with an ecological thread and ambitious staging far exceeding expectations. When you think of recent series cancelled by streamers, despite creating a big buzz and seeming popular, it seems odd that The Rig has sneaked though to a sophomore year. I liked the first season but I hadn’t realised it must have done well enough to pass the mysterious criteria streamers have for renewal. Yet survive it has and two years on we have season two.

Top of the Pops 4 January 1990

Words: Chris Arnsby 

Bonus master tape bit: The recording starts on a VT countdown clock held at 10 seconds. The Next Generation by Neneh Cherry is playing and mixed with the low mumour of the studio audience. Several of the studio crew can be heard attempting to gee up the crowd. “Ah go on,” says someone who is probably Gary Davies as the clock begins counting down to the titles.

 Gary Davies: “Hello. Good evening. Welcome to Top of the Pops. Firstly, happy new year. Secondly, happy birthday because Top of the Pops is twenny six years old tonight. And thirdly we are totally live tonight. So we have a real fast frenzied show for you. To start us off, here's Hey You from Quireboys”.

 

The Box of Delights (1984)

 

Produced in 1984 and recently re-released in a special edition blu ray, the BBC’s The Box of Delights adaptation is lauded as a classic and it’s easy to see why. With an unprecedented for the time £1m plus budget the six-part serial places John Masefield’s story in as many real surroundings as possible with a minimum of tv studio and a maximum of location while depicting the more fantastical elements largely using animation. It’s an approach that gives the production a timeless look which, had it relied solely on blue screen effects of the day, might appear more ragged to the modern eye. Noticeably where it does do that those are the bits that have dated the most though the composition of many of them still looks good. A serial that is fondly recalled by a generation, how does it hold up forty years on?