The first recording today is a repeat of The Best of Riverdance. I do still love it, though.
Media Centre Description: Gabriel Byrne introduces this documentary which looks back at the phenomenal success enjoyed by Riverdance, the hit show that began as a seven-minute interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest.
Recorded from Sky Three on Friday 21st March 2008 16:58
The recording ends with the start of Brainiac: Science Abuse.
The next recording is the final episode of Moving Wallpaper.
The team are working on the final episode, trying to decide where the characters should end up, but they’re not helped by not knowing if there’s going to be a second series.
Jonathan is told by Nancy that the show is over budget. “What makes you think there will be a series two, Jonathan?” “You’re saying there won’t be?” “I’m not saying anything. You called me. Although quite frankly having seen how much over budget you are, I doubt that ITV could afford it. You will get the network decision by six.” So now he’s worrying about budgets. “Look, what’s all this overtime for the last episode, see?” “Because the creative wanted it shot at night.” “Oh, bloody writers. The sooner we find a computer program that can write this stuff, the better. You know, stuff storylines in at one and get scripts out at the other.” He’s exactly the kind of person who would try to use ChatGPT to write scripts.
Jonathan now thinks he can fix the budget by firing one of the starts. First on the chopping block is Hugo Speer. As he’s coming in, Carl is told by Jonathan he has to rewrite the final script to kill off Hugo’s character, and he’s so angry he kicks the waste bin right into Hugo’s hands. Nice catch.
Hugo is not happy with the idea of killing off his character. “If you kill off my character, I’m going to drag you across this desk, rip both your fucking arms off, and beat you to death with the soggy ends.” “Good plan. Yeah, because then I wouldn’t be able to fend you off, would I?” “But seriously.” “Oh I’m being deadly serious. I’ve worked hard to get here, dragged myself up from nowhere, and you think I’m going to let some poncy southern bastard take it all off me? I’ll do time first.”
Kelly is checking in with Carl, who’s upset at all the changes. She says nice things about a script of his that she read, he plucks up courage and tries to go in for a kiss, but she gets a call, looks down to check her phone, then stands up and bashes him in the nose with her head.
Having failed with Hugo, Jonathan now tries Jason. But Jason tells Jonathan how committed he is to the show. “Well, it’s only, I really want to throw myself into this role and to prove to you, well, we’ve actually put an offer in on a house close to the studio.” “Is that wise? With house prices and…” “No, I’m going to go for it. I mean, it is going to be a little bit of a push. We’ve changed the kids’ school, everything. Jonathan, I have to say to you, I’m 100% behind Echo Beach series two, if it happens. And you telling me that I’ve got this storyline coming up is the best thing you could have said to me.”
So when he leaves the office he hugs Jonathan. “Thank you so much for the rise. I really, really appreciate it. My pleasure. It’s going to be great for the family.”
Jonathan has given up being subtle when he gets to Martine. “Let me spell it out for you. Y.O.U. – no, silly, it’s going to take too long. You’re fired.” And she bursts into tears, then retreats to Jonathan’s toilet.
Nancy comes in just as Jonathan is shouting through the door to Martine. He manages to bluff through it. Tells Nancy he’s made cuts. Then Nancy tells him that the channel controller is a big fan of Martine. “To be honest, without her, I wouldn’t give you a hope in hell of being recommissioned.”
Carl is writing a Charlie and Narinder scene, and bases it almost verbatim on a conversation he’s just had with Kelly.
Jonathan now has to reassure Martine. “I can only assume you thought I said fired. When, in actual fact, I said tired. Yeah, I said you looked tired, you know, and I was going to suggest a few days away, paid for by the production, obviously.”
The show ends on a cliffhanger, as Jonathan gets the call about whether a second series is happening.
Media Centre Description: The team wait to see if Echo Beach has been re-commissioned. Jonathan realises he’s over budget and must sack one of the leads in order to make a second series feasible, and is forced to talk through the possibility with Jason Donovan, Martine McCutcheon and Hugo Speer.
Recorded from ITV1 on Friday 21st March 2008 20:58
The next recording starts with the end of Gardeners’ World.
There’s a trail for Dan Cruickshank’s Adventures in Architecture.
Then there’s a repeat of Torchwood – Adrift.
Media Centre Description: Science-fiction crime drama series set in Cardiff. When a local teenager disappears Gwen is drawn into an investigation that reveals a darker side of Torchwood. Hundreds of people have disappeared without trace, but why is Jack obstructing attempts to find them? The answer seems to lie in the rift, and as Gwen follows the trail she makes a shocking discovery.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Friday 21st March 2008 20:58
BBC Genome: BBC TWO Friday 21st March 2008 21:00
After this there’s a trail for Later Live with Jools Holland featuring Nick Cave.
There’s also a trail for I’d Do Anything and a promo for Radio 1Xtra.
Then the recording stops with the start of Torchwood: Declassified we saw yesterday.
The next recording starts with a Gavin and Stacey trail and a trail for Young Mums’ Mansion.
Then, we have another new episode of Torchwood – Fragments.
It has an explosive opening as the team (sans Gwen, who’s overslept) are tracking alien creatures to an old building, but what they find are a series of bombs.
Which go off.
The team are trapped under rubble, and we get to see how each of them joined Torchwood, starting with Jack in the 19th Century, waking up from a particularly violent bar fight.
He’s been tracked by two Torchwood agents, who have been tasked by Queen Victoria to protect Britain from menaces like The Doctor, and since Jack has been talking to everyone he meets about The Doctor and how he’s looking for him, he attracted attention.
They offer him the chance to work for Torchwood. He brings in an alien. They shoot it. He doesn’t want to continue the work, they threaten him.
That night he meets a young girl who “reads his cards” and tells him “He’s coming. The one you’re looking for. But the century will turn twice before you find each other again.” “Oooh! Are you for real? You mean I have to wait 100 years to find him? What’ll I do in the meantime?” I presume this is the same girl who read his cards in a previous episode.
So Jack reluctantly works for Torchwood. Cut to 1999, and I wonder if this footage is the genuine BBC New Year’s Eve footage? The on-screen captioning doesn’t look like my recording of the BBC coverage, so I wonder if this is just from another year.
Jack comes back to the Torchwood hub to discover almost everyone there dead, except the man who killed everyone else there. “This place, it’s yours. Torchwood Three, my gift to you, Jack, for a century of service as field operative. Give this place a purpose. Before it’s too late.” Then he kills himself.
Next up it’s Toshiko, who steals a blueprint from the lab where she’s working, and builds a gizmo.
She brings it to some bad people who have been holding her mother. They want her to keep working for them, but she refuses, so they use the “sonic modulator” against her and her mother so they almost black out. Then soldiers break in and arrest everyone.
She’s locked in a cell by UNIT and told she has no rights. After an unspecified time, Jack visits and offers her a job at Torchwood, after which her record will be clean. He shows her the modulator. “You made this, right?” “I just followed the plans.” “Yeah, kinda. But first you had to grasp the concept of what a sonic modulator does. Most people would struggle with that. And another thing… the plans don’t work.” “What?” “The technical plans you followed, they were wrong. They had mistakes in them. That’s why the plans were shelved. But you, Toshiko Sato, you automatically fixed things as you went. ..What I’m trying to say is… ..oh baby, you’re good. I mean, you’re good now. Imagine what you’d be like with a little training.”
Next it’s Ianto’s turn. He comes across Jack fighting a weevil, and helps him out. But he also knows what a weevil is (since he used to work at Torchwood in Canary Wharf).
He stalks Jack, asking for a job. Jack doesn’t want him (presumably the Canary Wharf link). Until Ianto asks Jack if he’ll help him catch a pterodactyl.
Jack gets to go flying a bit. This segment isn’t quite as serious as all the others.
Finally it’s Owen’s turn, and four years ago, we find him engaged to be married. But his fiancée is suffering symptoms of very early onset Alzheimer’s.
But an MRI scan shows a sudden appearance of a tumour, so she goes into surgery. Owen is pacing outside. There’s a strange noise from inside, then Jack appears behind him. “I’m sorry.” “Who the hell are you?” “You should prepare for the worst.” They go in and all the surgeons are dead. “She’s dead. That thing in her head is an alien life form. It incubates in the brain, disrupting the shape and functions. When it’s attacked or threatened, it emits a toxic gas that’s fatal to humans. It clears pretty quickly.”
Jack has to take her brain, and leaves Owen unconscious. When he wakes up, nobody remembers what happened, his fiancée died of the tumour, and the surgeon died in a car accident. But Jack makes contact again, and offers him a job. “Owen, why did you become a doctor?” “I thought if I could save one life, mine would be worthwhile. But you save one… and there’s another. And another. All clawing at you, demanding to be saved. And even if you do succeed, you can never save enough.” “Maybe here you can.”
Amazingly, the whole team make it out alive (well, Owen is already dead but he’s not more dead, so that counts). Then Jack gets a hologram call from Captain John from the first episode of this series, saying he was the one who put the bombs there, and shows him a picture of Jack’s lost brother Gray. “OK, here’s what’s going to happen. Everything you love, everything you treasure will die. I’m going to tear your world apart, Captain Jack Harkness, piece by piece. Starting now.” Can you tell the next episode is the series finale?
Media Centre Description: Science-fiction crime drama series set in Cardiff.
Recorded from BBC THREE on Friday 21st March 2008 22:28
BBC Genome: BBC THREE Friday 21st March 2008 22:30
After this there’s 60 seconds of news.
There’s also a trail for Gavin and Stacey. Then the recording stops with the start of Upstaged.
The next recording starts with the end of Shampoo. It was made in 1975, and proves that it’s impossible to make the 70s look more ridiculous than they actually were.
There’s a trail for the BBC Two showing of the Torchwood we’ve just seen.
Then, an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation – Unification. Part 1. It opens with this caption, so I’m sad already.
Captain Picard is briefed by Admiral Brackett. “Three weeks ago, one of our most celebrated ambassadors– an advisor to Federation leaders for generations– disappeared. He left no word of his destination. Two days ago, intelligence reports placed him on Romulus, and I assure you, it was an unauthorized visit.” She shows him a long range scanner picture, does a “computer, enhance” and it’s a picture of Spock.
Spock visits Vulcan, to speak to Sarek. Sarek is suffering from a Vulcan form of dementia – so that’s two characters in programmes today. He doesn’t know where Spock is, but give Picard a name of a Romulan called Pardek. This is a very emotional scene, ironically.
Picard gets a cloaked Klingon ship from Gowron so they can get to Romulus undetected. He and Data are on the mission.
There’s a B-plot where Riker and the Enterprise are investigating some Vulcan equipment that was found in a crashed Ferengi vessel. They travel to the junkyard where the parts were salvaged, and discover that the ship they were from, the T’Pau, is missing, and a strange military ship has been stealing parts and weapons from the junkyard. The ship fires on the Enterprise, and it returns fire, which causes the weapons on board the ship to explode.
Picard and Data get to Romulus disguised as Romulans, and start their search for Senator Pardek.
But Pardek finds them.
And with him is Spock.
Media Centre Description: Sci-fi drama series set aboard the USS Enterprise. Captain Picard is surprised to learn that the legendary Mr Spock has gone on an unauthorised mission to Romulus. As he tries to link Vulcan metal fragments recovered from a downed Ferengi ship with Spock’s clandestine visit, Jean-Luc decides to follow the Vulcan statesman.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Saturday 22nd March 2008 01:43
BBC Genome: BBC TWO Saturday 22nd March 2008 01:45
The recording stops with the start of the next episode.
The final recording continues Star Trek: The Next Generation – Unification. Part 2.
Spock tells Picard that Pardek invited him to Romulus to speak with a new, young proconsul about possible reunification between Vulcan and Romulus. Picard says it sounds like “Cowboy Diplomacy”. Spock replies “I was involved with “cowboy diplomacy” as you describe it, long before you were born.” “Nevertheless, sir, I’m not prepared to leave until your affairs are completed.” “In your own way, you are as stubborn as another Captain of the Enterprise I once knew.” “Then I’m in good company, sir.”
Riker is looking for whoever purchased the missing Vulcan ship, which leads him to a sleazy bar, and a piano player with four hands. They play some blues together. She tells him he’s looking for a fat Ferengi.
Spock meets with the Proconsul, who seems in favour of opening reunification talks with Vulcan.
But we know he’s lying when Spock leaves and Sela comes in from the other room looking smug.
Worf has a sing-song of Klingon Opera at the bar.
Riker gets some information from the fat Ferengi.
Sela doesn’t wait long to tip her hand, taking Spock, Picard and Data prisoner. She intends to use the pretext of peace talks to invade and conquer Vulcan. Reunification, but now what Spock was after.
She tries to get Spock to announce that a peace envoy from Romulus is crossing the Neutral Zone, but he won’t do it, so she says she’ll use a holographic Spock. Deepfake politics.
She leaves them to set up her broadcast. Spock and Data work on some kind of diversion. When she returns, she’s surprised to find them gone, and Riker there with two security guards.
But they are holograms programmed by Spock and Data. Spock and Picard emerge from a holographic wall, and disable her guards.
“I’m afraid I don’t know too much about Romulan disrupter settings.”
The Enterprise is called away to help with an evacuation (which we know is a fake message from the Romulans) but then Spock broadcasts to the Federation, warning them of the invasion fleet.
There’s a reflection of the face of one of the production crew in a glass decoration – something that the continuity announcer specifically called out in her introduction.
The Romulans destroy the three Vulcan ships that were carrying their invasion force.
Spock tells Picard that he’s staying on Romulus to continue his work on getting the people to welcome the idea of reunification. They talk about Picard’s mind meld with Sarek (in a previous episode). “Ironically… you may know Sarek better than his own son does. My father and I never chose to meld.” “I offer you the chance to touch what he shared with me.” And yes, this did make me cry.
Media Centre Description: Sci-fi drama series set aboard the USS Enterprise. Captain Picard has discovered that Mr Spock has travelled to Romulus in an attempt to reunite the Romulans and the Vulcans. Following him, Picard and Data suspect that the venerable Vulcan has walked into a trap.
Recorded from BBC TWO on Saturday 22nd March 2008 02:35
BBC Genome: BBC TWO Saturday 22nd March 2008 02:35
There’s a trail for Dan Cruickshank’s Adventures in Architecture.
Then the recording stops with the start of Arrested Development.
Here’s the Riverdance ad breaks.
Here’s the Moving Wallpaper ad breaks.
Adverts:
- Pringles Rice Infusions
- SurgiCare
- Optical Express
- Teletext Holidays
- Co-operative Insurance
- Safestyle UK – Cannon and Ball
- trail: Easter on Sky
- trail: Sky Movies HD
- Get On
- Sky Broadband
- Safestyle UK – Cannon and Ball
- Simply Be
- Ultralase
- conkersclaims.co.uk
- Subway
- trail: Easter on Sky One
- trail: Sky
- Oral B Vitality
- Daz
- Tesco
- Fairy Dishwasher – Ainsley Harriot
- Pampers Active Fit
- Snickers – Mr T
- Dominos Pizza
- Flash
- trail: Mr Bean’s Holiday
- trail: Easter on Sky One
- Comet
- Toyota Yaris
- Tesco
- Olay Total Effects Touch of Sunshine
- Max Factor Masterpiece
- Burger King
- 27 Dresses in cinemas
- Lurpak
- Always
- Hardy’s Crest
- Orange
- trail: Easter on Sky
- trail: Easter on Sky Movies
- Ariel
- Pringles Rice Infusions
- Furniture Village
- Tesco
- Good Luck Chuck on DVD
- Pampers Active Fit
- Ocean Spray
- Dominos Pizza
- B&Q
- Snickers – Mr T
- Panasonic Viera
- trail: Mr Bean’s Holiday
- trail: Easter on Sky One
- Seven Seas JointCare Max
- Sacla Pesto Sauce
- Dominos Pizza
- Pedigree Adoption Drive
- Always Envive
- Nokia N95
- Flake
- Sainsbury’s – Jamie Oliver
- trail: Sky Sports
- trail: Coming Up on Sky
- Sky
- Clarks
- B&Q
- Sandals
- Miracle-Gro Organic Choice
- Max Factor Masterpiece
- National Lottery
- Beowulf on DVD
- Orange
- DFS
- trail: Mr Bean’s Holiday
- Lindt
- B&Q
- Chessington World of Adventures
- trail: Gossip Girl
- Renault Megane
- KFC
- DFS
- Marks & Spencer
- Apple MacBook Air
- Old El Paso Fajitas
- Chessington World of Adventures
- trail: Pushing Daisies
- trail: He Kills Coppers
- Boots
- Clover
- Moben
- Dolphin
- iPhone
- Dreams
- George at Asda
- Kingsmill Gold
- Muller One
- Russian Standard