Well that's nearly the end of 2017 and what did we think? I think it's gone quick and especially this holiday, it's just zoomed by. So how was the Christmas TV for you? There was certainly a good mix to watch and some classic movies too. I am not a big Harry Potter fan so I despaired a little to see ITV repeating all the films for the millionth time but hey ho there are those who still after all these years still can't get enough of it.
Christmas Day was loaded with great drama and I was a bit spoilt for choice. Doctor Who was great and a clever mix of drama, humour and a tinge of sadness as it was regeneration for the 12th Doctor played by Peter Capaldi. It was also the last episode for writer Steven Moffat too and what an episode to go out on. The present Doctor meets the first Doctor was a good little twist and it was good to see some old faces too. Clara made an appearance and Bill Potts returned for the final farewell. Loved seeing the new Doctor and I'm so excited for Jodie Whittaker, I think it will be so interesting to see her in the role. I just hope they don't leave it too long until the new series, I heard talk of it not being until Autumn 2018, too long BBC! Call the Midwife told a lovely Christmas tale and always warms ya heart. Victoria was as brilliant as ever, nearly spilt my brew when poor Albert slipped under the ice, but so glad he got back to the warmth and to see to the Christmas Tree, we owe the tradition of having Christmas trees to him after all. It ended all lovely dovey and I was so pleased. We need a bit of love at this time of year. I loved the three part series of Little Women. I am ashamed to say I've never read the book and also didn't know too much about this classic tale. Never too late though and I'm so glad I watched it. Some great actors in this and how lovely to see Maya Hawkes in her acting debut as Jo March. She is the daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke and she certainly has inherited her parents acting skills, I think we'll be seeing her again. It was a lovely coming of age tale involving love, marriage, births and unfortunately death too. I sobbed but felt so pleased at the end. I cannot actually believe I haven't seen or read this story before. Naughty Sue from the Brew. The other mini series which was worth a watch was The Miniaturist. Set in 17th century Amsterdam it tells the tale of a woman who is sent to marry a wealthy man but her life is turned upside down. Made more mysterious by a dolls house given to her as her as a gift by her new husband but all is not as it seems as The Miniaturist starts to send her replica mini figures of everyone around her and causes quite a commotion. I was hooked by this and it was not only dramatic but a bit spooky too. I so wanted her to save her hubby and although they were never going to live happily ever after I still wanted him to be saved by his impending doom. Wow sometimes it's so hard to think these things went on in those days, seems barbaric, so glad we have progressed with some issues over time. A good drama though, very impressed. One drama we did all have palpitations about was The Snow Bears. This was a documentary about a mother polar bear and her two young cubs making a 400 mile journey over to their summer retreat where there would be safety and food available until making the journey back again for the winter. Yikes it was so tense, so much danger and I don't know how many times this woman tried to make it quite clear she was not needing a man about. Blimey there's one thing about male polar bears, they are very persistent but the mating thing wasn't the only thing on the mind of these blokes, we were also worried that they may eat the babies. Oh gosh not good. If you do decide to watch it you really do need to be warned and not be of a nervous disposition. I don't think I took an awful lot of breath until they made it to their destination and the programme was on about an hour. It is fabulously narrated by the lovely Kate Winslet and the photography was amazing. I did learn such a lot about polar bears, their sheer determination, cheekiness, discipline and just how versatile they are. I don't think I could quite bring myself to watch them make the same journey back again but I wish them all luck. Well there's a few things that kept me busy over the hols. I sit here on New Years Eve and can't say the tv viewing for this evening is very exciting so thank goodness for Netflix I say. I'm not big on New Year really I think it's a lot of fuss for yet another year when resolutions and diets are forgotten after two weeks into the year. Like most evenings I'll probably fall asleep and miss it completely but I do wish everyone the best for 2018. I am excited about writing for another year and I do have some plans too for the forthcoming year so I do feel ambitious and hopeful, I'm not a complete grump. I've loved writing this blog and I do hope you join me again as I want to improve on my writing and hopefully make it even more exciting. Have a very good evening whatever you do and I'll catch you tomorrow as usual for Music Monday. Take care and stay safe - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
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Who would have thought it? A double winner on The Apprentice last week. I was struggling to make my mind up from the comfort of my sofa so I totally sympathise with Lord Sugar but never did I think he would go with both candidates.
It's never been done before, it broke Apprentice rules and made history within the programme. I felt the whole nation gasp, well some sighed and felt angry but most of us were just flabbergasted. Part of me did feel a bit cheated as I watch the whole series hoping to see one winner and the lucky person who gets to go into business with Lord Sugar himself, I like the anticipation of who he is going to go with and I think we were kind of denied that. But I don't know whether we were also gasping at the amount of investment as well, I mean I'm not too worried as it's not half a million pounds coming out of my bank and I'm sure he's got the money to cover the cost but wow to just be able make that decision and say 'oh what the hell I'll do both' must be nice. I found it quite amusing how one of the business ideas involved sweets, he has got the perfect name for an investor in sweets. Good luck to both the candidates and all the others who have, maybe not got the ultimate business partner but have kept us quite entertained for the past few weeks. Yes even Elizabeth who I really didn't know whether to love or hate. She was such a character but I do have to say, Florists are the coolest people around. It was also the finale of the newbie series Love Lies and Records which I have loved from start to finish. Oh crikey I was on the edge of my seat with the 'will they won't they get together?' That has got to go to a second series now because we were still left on a cliff edge. It's a great watch if you haven't seen it and I'm sure it will be available on the BBC iplayer so go and catch up, you'll love it. How can you go wrong with a Kay Mellor classic? It taps into real life and the drama that can surround our hectic lives. Dilemmas we have and decisions to be made are all here relationships, friendships, work and homelife and more complicated life choices regarding gender and sexuality. It's a 10 out of 10 from me. Please bring it back again. So into the Christmas viewing we go and I kind of get a bit overwhelmed by the TV guide this week, it always seems hectic as I want to watch everything at the same time but hey, that's why we record stuff or just leave it for catch up isn't it? That's when technology is great. I'm looking forward to all the Christmas specials and so I'll be back next Sunday to review the whole festive period. Thank you for reading today, join me tomorrow, yes I will be here on Christmas Day for the last Music Monday of 2017, for now though Take care. What a great series of Strictly it has been this year. I take back all I have said about it in the past, I'll admit I've not been a big fan but I really got hooked this year. The contestants have been great and what a final, they all deserved a place and to lift that trophy.
I have to be honest though I have rooted for the Joe and Katya from the beginning and so I was so chuffed to see them win last night. There is just something about Joe, apart from his infectious smile, he just gave it his all, he came from being an inexperienced dancer to becoming a fully fledged professional. I'm not sure what experience he had before he started, I suppose a lot of the celebrities have had some dance training with their acting but it must vary from person to person, some having more experience than other. The level of choreography was outstanding and each contestant was pushed to their limits, yes even the Rev Richard Coles who I adored. I was gutted to see him go as I would have loved to see him dance to a Communards track. I voted for Joe numerous times and was choked to know I had reached my limit of votes online so I had to rely on my fellow TeamJoe's to help him win. I did shout out a big 'YES' when his name was announced so I've had a very satisfying experience of Strictly. Another show which came to an end last week was I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. I was happy with Toff as the winner in this as well. I have never watched Made in Chelsea so I didn't know anything about her before and I really like her. She was a real tough cookie and never gave up on any of those trials so I have massive respect for her and them all, I couldn't eat kangaroo testicles. I did think Jennie McAlpine would be in the top three and even one of the front runners to win but no it seems not. Good series though, enjoyed it. Did you watch Bancroft? A four part consecutive series which ran all this week. Crikey it was brilliant and Sarah Parish just owned that role, she was so bad. I was glued to it and you had to be really as there were quite a few twists and turns. I kept flipping to and fro from what I thought was happening but never guessed that ending. Some are complaining that the ending wasn't very good and yes it did leave it a bit up in the air but is that because it's open to a second series? I think we may need to just be patient and wait and see. After all she surely can't be left to get away with it and poor Katherine Stevens is left in a coma so we need to have her waking up and telling everyone what happened. I would look forward to a second series as long as they don't leave it too long because I forget what happens otherwise. I will review the finale of The A word next week on Autism Support Saturday as it dominates that subject area and I have so much to say about it. It was a superb series so deserves a whole post dedicated to it. Onto another week and it will soon be Christmas telly week, I've got my TV guide ready and there is some good tv on it's way so I should be busy trying to watch it all. There was a saying that suggested you would have square eyes if you watched too much tv, well I've checked and mine still seem round though I do wear glasses but I don't think that's the tv's fault. Thanks for reading today, please come back tomorrow for Music Monday but for now...... Take care. Brummmmmmmmmm Brum yes it's back, that's my impression of The Grand Tour back on Amazon. I love it and love the guys, there are a few changes which are for the better I think and it's still as funny as ever. Interesting isn't it though, at one time could never imagine them not on Top Gear but it's worked out ok.
I can't actually believe how many lives Richard Hammond has, when will he stop crashing cars? This first episode does include footage of his last escapade and it's a wonder he hasn't lost limbs or his life. So lucky that man and good to see he is ok even if the lads didn't give him any sympathy. Ahhhhhh. So there is a track, there are celebrities who make it into the studio alive, no reasonably priced car but a car anyway and a stopwatch but hey I'll let you watch it. personally I can't wait for more. Something else I couldn't wait to watch was the second series of The Crown which I managed to binge watch this weekend. The first series was brilliant and a great dramatisation of life according to our Queen, Elizabeth II. My goodness they have been through it a bit and the series follows a lot of historic events which obviously affected them massively. Claire Foy is so good as the Queen and Matt Smith as The Duke of Edinburgh too. My favourite is Vanessa Kirby who plays Princess Margaret, well she's such a rebel but she is very stunning. It is packed with great actors and I was glued to it completely. I'm not particularly a massive royalist at all but I do love history so I like how it is transcending though the years and giving us an insight into the drama and controversy regarding many situations such as the Suez Crisis and the Profumo Affair. I did get a bit naffed off at them when it was highlighted that they needed to bring themselves to be a bit more current and it was suggested that they should invite some of the public into Buckingham Palace on a meet and greet. Well you like to hope they didn't feel like it was as much trouble as they made out, my goodness the trauma of meeting commoners, must have been so stressful for them. That's what I don't like, there's a lot of snobbery and I tend to side with the younger Royals like William and Harry as they remain quite grounded. I suppose it's a generation thing or that those boys have so much of their mother in them. Anyway give it a watch and tell me what you think. I loved it and can't wait for the next series. It is available on Netflix so if you haven't subscribed take a look at a free trial, they do tend to run them regularly. We have the final of 'I'm a Celebrity Get me Out of Here' tonight and we reach the finale of the 'A Word' on Tuesday which I don't want to see the end of but I suppose all good things come to an end. Have a great week tv and please join me tomorrow for Music Monday......stay warm, safe and....... Take care. Well if you've been watching I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here this week you'll know what strawberry gate was all about. Talk about stirring things up and frankly sometimes this show does need a bit of a shake up but my goodness I can't believe that actually happened.
If you didn't see it Amir Khan and Iain Lee were set a Dingo Dollar Challenge which was very funny and they managed to win the dingo dollars. They popped up to Keiths Kiosk and selected strawberries and cream to take back to the camp if the question which Keith asked was answered correctly. They all got the answer correct and back to the camp the two boys went.........until Amir Kahn suggested that they ate all the strawberries and cream between them and when they arrived back at camp they would just say that the question was answered incorrectly!. Oh I couldn't believe my eyes, I really thought they wouldn't do it, how could you leave everyone so hungry and be so selfish and greedy. They did though, they ate the whole lot. Did you shout nooooooooooooooo like me? I couldn't have done that as I wouldn't have been able to live with myself. They didn't either as after a while of being back at camp and discussing it between the two of them they couldn't keep it from the rest of the camp any longer. Iain confessed and get this......Amir laid the blame on Iain and said it was his idea, my goodness that man is so naughty. I would take a punch at him but my boxing skills are not very good.....no they really are not. There was mixed reaction, Dennis Wise was fuming saying that he didn't find it at all funny. The boys did agree to forfeit any more rewards and refused to eat dinner that night, they were well and truly confined to the naughty step and so they should be. It made great telly though and will be one of the highlights of this series I think. Apart from the jungle Love Lies and Records continues to be a great series which I'm really enjoying. Oh that Judy is so bad and she is still on the war path. Rebecca Front who plays Judy is such a fabulous actress though and I do love her but oh blimey she's ruffled enough feathers in that registry office now, surely she will get her just desserts. I'll be honest I want Kate and Rick to get together, he's so lovely and I think she would be better with him. I'm just loving it, classic Kay Mellor and another success I feel. It is on Thursday nights on BBC1 9pm but if you need to catch up it's on the iplayer. The A Word continues to be one of the best things on tv at the moment, I will leave my review till the end of the series but it's just a great mix of humour and drama. They have just got it so right and I couldn't rave about it enough. I'm a mum of someone with Autism and I honestly cannot find one thing wrong with it. Well done BBC. Right I'm off to get ready for the Strictly results, it's getting tougher now. I'm still cheering for Team Joe. been with him since the very start and he's my prediction to win or at least to reach the final. I've loved musical week though, it's just so fabulous darling!! A 10 from me. Who will go? Arrrrgh can't even choose now. It's going to get harder as the weeks go on. Not long till the countdown to the Christmas tv, how exciting.........if they don't put the Sound of Music on I'm going to throw my turkey at the telly. It's just not Christmas without it. Although I do have the dvd so I can watch it anytime I like. Take care of yourselves and wrap up warm.......come back tomorrow for Music Monday if you fancy it. Bye for now. |
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