British Television Line-up

It has been brought to our attention that we have not blogged in over a year. This is partly a technical problem, our camera needs its battery connections fixed and Mike hasn't figured out how to download photos taken on his mobile, and partly that the shine of newness has worn off our lives here. It's less interesting to blog about routines.

But in the interest of keeping this blog alive, I thought I'd write up some of the good British (and other) television we've been watching here, in case people across the pond have some way of watching it (ahem!).

Doctor Who. Matt Smith, the 11th and youngest ever Doctor, has finally hit his stride this season, as have the writers (who had to recover from the retirement of Russell T. Davies, one of my favourite television writer-creators). The highlight of this second Smith season has been the episode written by Neil Gaiman, but then I'm generally a Gaiman fan. Across the pond viewers should be up-to-date with Doctor Who, as it is being broadcast simultaneously on BBC America.

The Misfits. Actually introduced to us by my sister who was living in Slovakia at the time, a very funny show about ASBO superheros. You might need to be living in Britain to really enjoy the humour, but I am assured that it has broadcast in Canada within living memory.

Spiral (Engrenages). A French crime show that's been shown with subtitles on BBC. What Law and Order could be if it took more than an episode to explore a case, was set in Paris and wasn't aiming at proving the law is always good and right.

Campus. Falls into the category of immature male humour, but if you're living through the higher learning cut-backs we're living through over here, it's good to have something to laugh about. Brits showing they can make fun in a compassionate way. Proves Canadians are the real evil empire.

The In-Betweeners. An explicitly teenage boy show. Very believable and oddly enough occasionally R-rated: apparently teenagers aren't allowed to listen to and watch the sorts of things teenagers actually say and do.

Vera. A typically well-done detective show set in rural Northumberland and featuring a middle-aged woman detective. Before moving over here I always thought the British crime imports were done by BBC, but they're actually almost all ITV, one of the private networks. Go figure.

The Crimson Petal and the White. A disturbing period piece set in Victorian London with a disturbing cameo by Gillian Anderson. I confess I couldn't watch the last episode because I was convinced it was going to go really badly for everyone.