Phil Newton casts an eye on the TV scene letting you what you've missed and gives also give you the heads up on what to look out for.
 

No. 9 - 14th October 2008.

IWelcome back to the FrightFest blogs after our brief post-festival hiatus.

As many of you will know, during my time out I spent a couple of weeks with Ian over in Toronto covering TIFF for Eat My Brains website. While I was there I caught the first episode of True Blood (HBO in the US, as yet unconfirmed for the UK), a new vampire series from Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) so I thought I'd begin this month's column with a first look at what you can expect to see. Set in the deep south of Louisiana, True Blood depicts a society where vampires now live amongst us, relying on synthetic blood for their fix. There's much prejudice towards these outsiders and the regulars at Merlotte's Bar and Grill are on their guard when Bill (Stephen Moyer) becomes their first vampire customer. Waitress Sookie (Anna Paquin - X Men) however has no such reservations and is drawn towards the handsome stranger. Sookie has a secret of her own you see - she can hear other people's thoughts - yet Bill is the one person who seems exempt from her talent. After saving Bill from a couple intent on draining his blood to sell for profit, the two begin a steamy relationship much to the concern of Sookie’s friends.

HBO - home of The Sopranos - is certainly aiming this at an adult audience with its copious amount of bad language and graphic sex; in this first episode alone we're introduced to 'fang bangers', people who like to get bitten by vampires during sex. It's hard to make a decision on a new show after one solitary episode but I wasn't exactly overwhelmed by this debut episode. Anna Paquin is a good actress and it's nice to have her on board as Sookie, but I'm yet to be convinced by the supporting characters which include Sookie's brother Jason and her work colleagues at Merlotte's. It's obviously been a hit in the US though as a second series has already been given the green light, so that's an encouraging sign. I'm sure it will get picked up for the UK in due course and when it does I'll certainly be tuning in to give it a couple more episodes and see how it develops.

Another show which I've been privileged to have an early taste of is Dead Set (E4, from 27th October), which those of you who attended this year's FrightFest will remember from the exclusive clip that was introduced by writer Charlie Brooker and Andy Nyman (Severance). This original new zombie horror series sees widespread panic across Great Britain as the dead return to life and start attacking the living. All good zombie films need a siege, whether it be the Monroeville Mall (Dawn Of The Dead) or The Winchester pub (Shaun Of The Dead); in Dead Set it's the Big Brother house, where of course the remaining housemates remain oblivious to events happening in the outside world. As the Friday night eviction nears, producer Patrick (Nyman) is worrying that the show will get pulled due to the breaking news, production runner Kelly (Jaime Winstone - Donkey Punch) is fretting about cheating on her boyfriend Riq (Riz Ahmed), Davina McCall is getting ready backstage and a number of ex-housemates are sharing a drink in the Green Room. Then, as Davina interviews the unlucky evictee one of the infected gets into the compound and all hell breaks loose...

Dead Set ticks all the right boxes for me; I love Charlie Brooker's work (even cruelly underrated Nathan Barley - way ahead of its time), I love zombie films, and I used to love watching Big Brother. That said, don't let the Big Brother gimmick put you off - if you absolutely loathe the programme then I'm sure you'll experience some smug satisfaction at the fate that befalls those involved! It works perfectly; the Big Brother stuff is totally authentic, and hugely entertaining as we glimpse behind the scenes at the production team, but it's not just satire - the horror, when it arrives, pulls no punches and is of a kind rarely seen on British television. In the opening double episode you can look forward to seeing this year's most popular violent motif - a stoving to a head with a fire extinguisher – in all its graphic glory. The cast seem natural in their roles too, with Jaime Winstone bringing a complexity to the flawed, under pressure Kelly who's forced to take control of the situation. Nyman, sporting the best on screen 'tache for many a year, gets all the best lines - "I never said it was going to be a genteel parlour game you titted f*cking idiot!" - and Davina, playing herself, shows total commitment to her part and I think will surprise many viewers. In summary then - it's dark, acerbic, risk-taking and utterly unmissable TV.

* Spoilers ahead *

One programme that isn't taking any risks with its fourth season is Prison Break (Sky 1) which returned to our screens last month. After a turgid third season which had most of the characters locked up in Sona prison, the show was in dire need of a shot of adrenalin. To this end the producers have conveniently orchestrated a riot at Sona during the season break, with the prison burning down and most of the inmates escaping. Thus we find Sucre and Bellick joining up with brothers Michael (Wentworth Miller) and Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) in LA where Michael is looking to avenge Sarah's death, whilst T Bag has his own greedy agenda armed with Whistler's secret birdwatching book. Before the first episode is over Whistler is dead, Mahone's son has been murdered, Sarah is found to be very much alive and a new mission has been set; to stay out of jail they must work together under the command of Homeland Security agent Don Self (Michael Rapaport – True Romance) to locate the six pieces of Scylla and bring down the Company.

After two great seasons - one inside the prison, one on the run - there was really nowhere else for Prison Break to go, it all just feels a little contrived and desperate. The programme is also suffering from poor character development - Lincoln and Sarah, and to a lesser extent Michael, are terribly one-dimensional characters who I feel little for, whilst the likeable Sucre has been relegated to a bit player. Newcomer Self is a welcome addition to the team, but it's Mahone (William Fichtner), the desperate ex-FBI agent and recovering addict, who is by far the most interesting and complex character and is currently the one holding the show together. Without him I'd have probably given up on this season long ago. As it is, seven episodes in and I'm just about hanging in there, but it's a show that's clearly on its last legs and is only going to tarnish its reputation further the longer it continues to drag out its convoluted plot.

* End Spoilers *

Conversely, one show going from strength to strength is Entourage (ITV2) which is now onto its fifth series. I came to the party late, having dipped in and out of the show until I got hooked at the tail end of season three. This latest season begins with Vince (Adrian Grenier) licking his wounds after the commercial and critical failure of his Pablo Escobar passion project, Medellin. No one is willing to take a risk on the Hollywood star and a series of studio meetings accompanied by his agent Ari (Jeremy Piven - still the star of the show) proves fruitless. Vince must now decide whether to take the lead in the family-friendly Benji the dog film, or fight for a supporting role in Smoke Jumpers, a hot new script from E's new clients, LB and Nick (Giovanni Ribisi and Lukas Haas). Consistently amusing, perfectly cast - you gotta love Kevin Dillon as Drama - and peppered with cameos (this week - Eric Roberts takes magic mushrooms with the boys in the Joshua Tree National Park), Entourage pops the pomposity of Hollywood's balloon and is a real joy to watch.

Finally, in a month dominated by abysmal new comedy shows (The Wrong Door, Coming Of Age, Beautiful People) I’ve found one gleaming jewel amongst the steaming crap that I can recommend to you. No Heroics (ITV2) is set in a modern day London where superheroes are real everyday people with otherwise (relatively) normal lives. It centres around a group of four underachievers - The Hotness (Nicholas Burns - Nathan Barley), Electroclash (Claire Keelan - also Nathan Barley), Timebomb (James Lance) and She-Force (Rebekah Staton) as they banter in their local bar, The Fortress - based loosely, according to writer Drew Pearce, on FrightFest's favourite watering hole, The Phoenix. It's very low key, with little action taking place outside of The Fortress but this allows the characters to flourish and for us to familiarise ourselves with their individual quirks and tics. Whilst subsequent episodes have not quite lived up to the majesty of the pilot, No Heroics is nevertheless still well written and generates enough laughs over its thirty minutes to warrant your time and attention.

Until next time,

Keep watching.

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