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Ski Sunday (1978)
Used To Be Great
Ski Sunday used to be a great programme, in that it predominantly showed sport. Unfortunately, like too many beeb programmes, it has now been taken over by the presenters who seem to think THEY are more important than the sport they are meant to be covering. So in the old days, you could watch coverage of the skiing with the excellent David Vine giving the commentary. Now, you get the self-obsessed Graham Bell staring at the camera whilst a race goes on in the background. Or, before the Men's downhill race in Wergen, Switzerland what did Ski Sunday do? They firstly spent 10 minutes on a pointless discussion between the presenter and Graham bell in a chalet. Then when the racing actually started, instead of letting us watch it like they used to do, we had a 2 minute 'intro' to each featured skiier, followed by a ludicrous 'assessment of 'how they did' at the end of each run by the annoying Graham Bell. This meant there was only time to actually watch 7 skiers do their runs!
Such a shame that yet another bbc 'sports' programme has been ruined by the overinflated ego of the presenter.
Wheeler Dealers: Lamborghini Urraco P250S (2013)
Further Proof That Edd China Is A Genius
After taking a chance on a knackered old Lambo from a shady looking lock-up in Krakow, Edd China manages to work his magic yet again. The car goes from being unable to start - with brakes locked on - to being fully restored and returned to its former glory. Wheeler Dealers lost a lot of its pull when Edd left.
Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell (1999)
The Most Entertaining 2 Hours You Could Hope For
Jeffrey Bernard lived a remarkable boozy life full of highs, lows and downright bad behaviour, and it would have been all too easy to create a production lifting his own written accounts verbatim. However, Bernard's own columns were often bitter, maudlin affairs that would not have resulted in a compelling production.
Keith Waterhouse on the other hand, did an amazing job of separating the wheat from the chaff from the Spectator 'Low Life' columns, and in doing so provided the script for the most entertaining 2 hours you could hope to observe. Peter O'Toole was perfect for the part and managed to blend humour, wit, anger, melancholy and pathos almost effortlessly.
The Comic Strip Presents...: War (1983)
Odd One Out
A typically surreal episode of the series, featuring many of the regular Comic Strip performers blending in with the absurdist nature of the episode. Not quite all, however, Dawn French is conspicuous by appearing out of her depth in almost every scene. She goes from either hammy over-acting, to delivering her lines in a stilted, wooden fashion, out of sync with the rest of the cast.
Perhaps it is fitting that while the other members of Comic Strip continued their anarchic comedic careers, Dawn French's career zenith came entertaining the cozy Songs of Praise audience on a Sunday evening, playing a character whose usp was that she wasn't a man.
Gli esecutori (1976)
Close
This film is not dissimilar to many cop-buddy films, except that the two central characters trying to track down the contraband are working for the mob. And, to-be-fair, it is far better than a hell of lot of cop-buddy films I have seen. It is let down in places though, not least the awful flashback scenes which are far too sappy.
Inside the Mind of Leonardo (2013)
Erm, Scottish?
Don't get me wrong, I like Peter Capaldi - he is brilliant as Malcolm Tucker. But what was the thinking here???
-Right, we've unearthed a load of Leonardo Da Vinci's notes and need someone to play him.
-Ok cool, how about an Italian actor.
-Wellllll, yeah, that's one possibility.
-Or at least someone who can pass off a decent Italian accent.
-We could, we could.
-Erm, did you have someone in mind?
-How about Peter Capaldi!
-Peter Capaldi, the well-known Scottish actor.
-Yep!
-Does he do a good Italian accent?
-Not that I know of...
-So you're suggesting... A Scottish Leonardo.
-You got it!
Yep, a Scottish Leonardo. Leonardo Da Vinci's words, read, in a Scottish accent. Sorry, but didn't work for me at all.
Inspector Morse: The Way Through the Woods (1995)
The Best Whodunit?
The exception to the rule that "the book is always better than the screen version". This episode of Morse is far superior to the novel and one of the finest, if not the very best, whodunit.
As is usual for the Morse series, the supporting cast are top notch. Malcolm Storry is excellent as the antagonistic DCI Johnson, a Jekyll and Hyde character who appears to have Lewis' best interest at heart. The shady Daley family are all played superbly, as are the Michaels who hold the key to the case. Throughout the investigation, the jousting between Kevin Whately's Lewis and John Thaw's Morse adds to a mystery full of misdirection and red herrings, with an end solution which is both logical and convincing.
This has to go straight to the top of any whodunit fan's wishlist.