Netflix 'The Crown': What Does Series 3 Hold For The British Monarchy?

Claire Foy starred as Queen Elizabeth II in Series 1 and 2.

The Netflix original series 'The Crown' has been a wildly popular hit with viewers. It's a biographical drama about Queen Elizabeth II after her marriage to Philip, who was created the Duke of Edinburgh. The first series covers the years 1947 to 1955, with events such as the wedding of Elizabeth and Philip, the death of King George VI and Elizabeth's subsequent televised Coronation in 1953.

Christmas Specials And Films On TV

Some of our favourite TV dramas and comedies spoil us with specials around the Christmas period and while this is common on British TV, US TV seems to not really engage in the practice. On Christmas Day, there is nothing really to enjoy on the networks except repeats of films like Home Alone and other films. The biggest TV shows of the year are off the air for the season in the US on the day itself.

Gunpowder Treason and Plot

Kit Harington stars in BBC One's new drama 'Gunpowder' about the failed Gunpowder plot of 1605.

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

 

Those are the words that you might hear around Britain during this day, the 5th of November. Ever since 1605, this day has been synonymous with bonfires and fireworks. In recent years, the popularity of the day has declined somewhat, with less and less people actually celebrating the foiling of the Gunpowder plot where a group of English Catholics plotted to blow up the houses of parliament and kill King James I. 

Guy Fawkes has been the one most associated with the day, with effigy's of him being burned on Bonfires and children taking a wheel barrow around their area with their best attempt at replicating a 'Guy' in it and asking 'Penny for the Guy'. 

 

Bonfire Night in Battersea Park, London.

The BBC have recently adapted the plot for a 3 part television series, with Kit Harington as Robert Catesby and also starring Mark Gatiss and Liv Tyler. The drama depicts how the plot came to be and how Guy Fawkes was held up in derision for centuries to come.

Are you enjoying Bonfire Night tonight? Tell us about yours in the comments below!

Stranger Things On Halloween

The hit Netflix series 'Stranger Things' began in 2016.

Happy Halloween everybody! Might I suggest watching Stranger Things? We just finished a binge of the second season and it is magnificent! This show has a longevity and we are looking forward to the third series! We think today of all days is the best day to have a binge of it too!

Blackadder - A Cunning Comeback?

Rowan Atkinson as Lord Edmund Blackadder in 'Blackadder II'

I have a cunning plan.

Those are the immortal words of Baldrick, Edmund Blackadder's centuries long sidekick and confidant and, in my opinion, just as important as any other historic words that have been uttered.

The Beat Bugs on Netflix

The Beat Bugs is a Netflix show for your young ones.

The Beat Bugs are quite the phenomenon (like the band whose music they sing) with young viewers on Netflix and right now, the show is really taking off with celebrities sharing how much their children love the series.

Doc Martin Returns To ITV

The UK can't get enough of the grumpy Doc, who returns for an 8th season.

Doc Martin has returned to British television screens on ITV for it's 8th (and perhaps penultimate) season. Clunes has teased on ITV's 'Lorraine' morning show that the 9th season might be the last. I think he might be right to do so...

Star Trek Discovery 1x03 - 'Context Is for Kings'

Captain Lorca welcomes Burnham aboard Discovery. (Image: CBS)

Some of the old Star Trek we know and love returned this week in the third episode of Discovery and I for one am loving it. As always, below contains spoilers for those who haven't seen it yet...

Star Trek Discovery 'A Vulcan Hello' & 'Battle at the Binary Stars' Review

The title credits of Star Trek Discovery are a departure from the previous incarnations.

I'd like to preface this review by saying that the first seasons of all Trek series are wobbly at best, downright awful at worst. Discovery looks to be on course for a wobbly first season from the first two episodes that aired on Sunday. If you haven't watched it yet, beware of spoilers below. There's lots of them...

Great British Bake Off - As Good As It Was On The BBC?

Bake Off looks the same on Channel 4

There was public outcry when it was announced Channel 4 had bought the rights to the Great British Bake Off, but after the BBC had infringed on Love productions' copyright by creating a similar show, Hair, with an in house production team, Love decided to go with Channel 4 and series 8 of the show is currently airing on Channel 4 this September.

Beatles Find: Beat Bugs

Jay is the mischievous beetle in the Beat Bugs

The Beat Bugs are the creation of Josh Wakely, who heard 'All You Need Is Love' on the radio one day and thought up the concept of these little garden bugs learning life lessons with the backdrop of Beatles songs. A perfect idea for a children's television show!

Game of Thrones Animated Spinoff?

Credit: Twipzdeeauilia 2014

Recently I was reading about this new Game of Thrones spinoff that is, apparently, included when you pre-order the GoT Season 7 Blu-ray (out December 12).  Now, I don't see anything mentioned about Conquest & Rebellion, the new animated (say what?) miniseries, on the Game of Thrones: The Complete Seventh Season page on Amazon, but I'm assuming Amazon is where you'll be able to acquire the new spinoff, which is meant to tide us all over between now and the last season of GoT.  Animated though?  I wasn't convinced.

The Orville: Funny or Just Seth MacFarlane's Homage to Star Trek?

Seth MacFarlane and Adrianne Palicki as Captain Ed Mercer and Commander Kelly Grayson, an ex-married couple serving on the USS Orville. Image: Fox.

Seth MacFarlane's new show 'The Orville' premiered on the Fox network last night to a mixed response from critics and fans alike.

Game of Thrones Finale: Now What?

Game of Thrones, Season 7 has officially ended.  Please excuse me while I go and cry.  What?  You think I'm joking?  You clearly don't watch the show.  I mean, there has never been a more epic television show, and oh what a finale!  I already can't wait for next year.  Then again, next season will be the last, so what will I do then?  What will any of us do?!  WHAT'S TO BECOME OF US?!

Is Amazon Fire Stick Worth Cutting the Cord For?

By The Photographer (Own work), 2013 [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

Let's face it, cable television is going the way of the dinosaurs, and rotary telephones, and landlines and box TVs.  In the not-so-distant future, services like AT&T U-verse, DirectTV, and Spectrum (formerly Time Warner) will just be distant memories.  (And the sooner, the better, in my opinion.  That new Spectrum "Fiesta" commercial is about to drive me completely insane.)  Already, people have switched to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.  There's also Roku sticks and Amazon Fire Sticks.

UK Television and US Television: What Are The Differences?

When I emigrated to the USA I came from a culture that ate up everything the promised land had to offer, Film and TV wise.

The Game Of Thrones Leaks: Why Are They Spoiling It?

We can only think Lord 'Littlefinger' Baelish is behind this, somehow!

Why are people leaking Game of Thrones Season 7? It is the ultimate in spoiling it for everyone out there and also a massive headache for HBO. Yes! We can't wait either for the next episode but let's all watch it at the same time and the same page? Have some respect for those who don't want their narrative to be spoiled.

The Legendary Dead: John Sullivan (1946 - 2011)

John Sullivan with The Trotters' 3 wheel van.

John Sullivan stared offwas submitting scripts to the BBC which kept getting turned down so he decided to work for them as a scene shifter and in the props department, all the while watching and learning about how Comedy programs were made. He submitted a script which turned into the popular sitcom 'Citizen Smith' which ran from 1977 to 1980. It followed the exploits of young "Wolfie" Smith, a Communist Urban Guerrilla living in Tooting, South London and self proclaimed leader of the "Tooting Popular Front" Attempting to emulate his hero Che Guevara. In reality though, Wolfie was unemployed, a dreamer and a petty criminal, and the "Tooting Popular Front" was merely a small bunch of his mates. The series starred Robert Lindsay in the lead role which launched his glittering career and it also launched Sullivan's career as a full time comedy writer.

In Revue: Alan Partridge

Bouncing Back: Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge in 2002.

The character of Alan Partridge began his career on the BBC Radio 4 satirical program 'On The Hour' in 1991 as the Sports Desk reporter who had no idea about any sport. Then he got a TV series all of his own on BBC2 in 1994 'Knowing Me, Knowing You....With Alan Partridge' where he had graduated to a chat show host and which only ran for one series and included a horse crapping on the set, Alan trying to convince everyone that Roger Moore was going to be on his show, the show being taken to Paris and Alan being extremely racist towards the French, Alan doing illegal advertising on the BBC and, in the last episode, accidentally shooting and killing a guest. He returned for two series of 'I'm Alan Partridge' in 1997 and 2002 which was a look at Alan's life after his disastrous tenure at the BBC.

Doctor Who - The Seventh Doctor - Sylvester McCoy (1987 - 1996)

Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor.

Sylvester McCoy saw out the era of the classic Doctor Who with a Doctor that at first appeared bumbling and childlike but then became devious and enigmatic and appearing to play a bigger game than what was at stake.

Unfortunately, by the time McCoy took the role, Doctor Who was no longer the show it once was. The writing had suffered immeasurably and Michael Grade was eager for the axe to fall on this show. He never liked Doctor Who at all and, in a 2004 interview said: "I thought it was horrible, awful. I thought it was so outdated. It was just a little show for a few pointy head Doctor Who fans. It was also very violent and it had lost its magic."

As such, McCoy never really got to show off his Doctor, much like Colin Baker didn't with his. When the final serial 'Survival' aired, the final scene shows Ace, his companion and the Doctor walking off, to continue their adventures, but off screen.

The end of Doctor Who was sounded when they moved it to a time slot where it was on at the same time as popular long running ITV soap 'Coronation Street', which only made its ratings fall even further. The last scene of the original series. has a melancholic monologue, spoken by McCoy which said:

"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace. We've got work to do."

That wasn't the last time we saw the Seventh Doctor, he appeared briefly in the 1996 TV Movie, where he was shot in the cross fire of a gang war in Los Angeles and when taken to hospital, died from the anesthetic that was applied to him by the Doctors. In the hospital morgue, he regenerates into the Eighth Doctor, played by Paul McGann.

All the Seventh Doctor's adventures are available to buy on DVD by clicking this link!