TV Anorak: An American Intro To British TV-The T's
anorak
1. British: A person obsessively interested in a thing or topic that doesn't seem to warrant such attention.
This series of Challenge posts is an introduction to British TV shows for my fellow Americans. For instructions on how to play different region-coded DVD's, please go either here or here to read my previous blog posts that should clear up any confusion. Next up:
After another long diatribe of a post (see "S"), "T" is more on the shorter side!
Torchwood
Being a Doctor Who fan, Torchwood is one of those shows you just have to watch as well! Captain Jack (aka John Barrowman) was created in the Who-verse, and because of an "incident" in the new Who series 1, can never die, no matter how many times he's killed. He hops back and forth between the two shows upon occasion, and not watching one or the other could be confusing! Torchwood is a spin off of Doctor Who (as well as an anagram), based on the government agency created to study the Doctor and deal with alien threats. Unlike Doctor Who, Torchwood is a bit more grown up and deals with more adult subject matter (whereas The Sarah Jane Adventures, goes the opposite and is for a younger audience, but has cross-over episodes as well). I'm wondering where the U.N.I.T. spin off is! Another big difference between Torchwood and DW is the fact that it is very Spooks-like, no one is safe from dying, so don't get too attached to characters! There are four series of this show (with series four being released on the American channel Starz, in an effort to keep the show active since the Beebs dropped it). As of now, there is no plans for a fifth series (had they kept the same format and theme, I don't think the Starz version would have bombed - yet another case of American producers "dumbing down" a great British show for us stupid Americans and ruining it in the process - we obviously "get" British television, or we wouldn't watch it in the first place!).
The Thin Blue Line
Rowan Atkinson cannot be accused of being type-cast as Bean (at least not to British viewers). His character in Thin Blue Line couldn't be more different than Bean or Blackadder, although just as funny! He plays a police inspector heading up a team of misfit CID officers. He constantly butts heads with the detectives who try to steal his cases, bungles his personal relationship with the desk sergeant, and generally screws up everything, despite his pompous air of superiority! But then again, since that sounds like both Bean and Blackadder, maybe it is a bit typecast.
1. British: A person obsessively interested in a thing or topic that doesn't seem to warrant such attention.
This series of Challenge posts is an introduction to British TV shows for my fellow Americans. For instructions on how to play different region-coded DVD's, please go either here or here to read my previous blog posts that should clear up any confusion. Next up:
After another long diatribe of a post (see "S"), "T" is more on the shorter side!
Torchwood
Being a Doctor Who fan, Torchwood is one of those shows you just have to watch as well! Captain Jack (aka John Barrowman) was created in the Who-verse, and because of an "incident" in the new Who series 1, can never die, no matter how many times he's killed. He hops back and forth between the two shows upon occasion, and not watching one or the other could be confusing! Torchwood is a spin off of Doctor Who (as well as an anagram), based on the government agency created to study the Doctor and deal with alien threats. Unlike Doctor Who, Torchwood is a bit more grown up and deals with more adult subject matter (whereas The Sarah Jane Adventures, goes the opposite and is for a younger audience, but has cross-over episodes as well). I'm wondering where the U.N.I.T. spin off is! Another big difference between Torchwood and DW is the fact that it is very Spooks-like, no one is safe from dying, so don't get too attached to characters! There are four series of this show (with series four being released on the American channel Starz, in an effort to keep the show active since the Beebs dropped it). As of now, there is no plans for a fifth series (had they kept the same format and theme, I don't think the Starz version would have bombed - yet another case of American producers "dumbing down" a great British show for us stupid Americans and ruining it in the process - we obviously "get" British television, or we wouldn't watch it in the first place!).
The Thin Blue Line
Rowan Atkinson cannot be accused of being type-cast as Bean (at least not to British viewers). His character in Thin Blue Line couldn't be more different than Bean or Blackadder, although just as funny! He plays a police inspector heading up a team of misfit CID officers. He constantly butts heads with the detectives who try to steal his cases, bungles his personal relationship with the desk sergeant, and generally screws up everything, despite his pompous air of superiority! But then again, since that sounds like both Bean and Blackadder, maybe it is a bit typecast.
Comments
I couldn't get into Torchwood. :(