BBC1 vs. ITV1 in Christmas Smackdown 2011

Will 2011 be the year that ITV unseats the 600 pound giant in the room, BBC One, for Christmas Day ratings dominance? Cue Michael Buffer….Let’s get ready to rumble! The infamous long-awaited Christmas Day schedules for both BBC One and ITV1 have been set, sort of, (as of today, anyway) and war has officially been […]

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Dear Santa: One Dalek please, maybe two

Move over, Tickle-me Elmo, there could, someday, be a new Christmas-time, have-to-have, toy sheriff in town. Leave it to BBC R&D to come up with something that takes television to an active level that we’ve never seen before, further connecting television broadcast programming with the home environment. No other word for it. This is just […]

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Take a trip down Hooky Street – in print!

Only Fools and Horses book was 30 years in the making If you’re a British comedy fan, the recently released Only Fools and Horses: The Story of Britain’s Favourite Comedy book needs to be at the top of your Christmas list. As reviewed here in the Telegraph, author Graham McCann has penned an extraordinarily entertaining […]

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Finally, an 'Absolutely Fabulous' film

Jennifer Saunders, a.k.a. Eddy Monsoon, revealed recently to the Hollywood industry website Deadline, that she will write an AbFab feature film with a targeted 2012 release. Designed to coincide with the series’ 20th anniversary, the BBC Film production will reportedly open with Edina (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley) waking up, hungover (surprise, surprise), aboard an oligarch’s […]

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Downton Abbey 2: 62 days and counting

As telly watchers in the UK wake up to the realization that last night was the final episode of Downton Abbey 2 until Christmas, separation anxiety will soon kick in as they await the season finale. Not much sympathy, I’m afraid, from long-standing U.S. members of the worldwide chapter of the DA2 support group who continue […]

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Ready for a Doctor Who Christmas 2011?

A Doctor Who Christmas present for 2011 Good to know that both the U.S. and the U.K. are on Steven Moffat’s holiday gift-giving list for 2011. As if a second season of Sherlock wasn’t enough, Moffat will, again, be spreading Doctor Who joy throughout the land this holiday season. Word is that production of this […]

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Spooks (MI-5) 10 confirmed, I think

Ok, I’m a bit late to the dance, but doesn’t mean the band’s not coming back for another set. Just doing a bit of digging today on the eve of series 9 of MI5 (Spooks), which begins broadcasting on a number of public television stations across the U.S. this week. I had not “officially” heard […]

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Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Christmas Message – circa 1957

Can’t let Christmas Day go by without setting the Way Back machine to 1957 to take a look at the Queen’s first televised Christmas message 54 years ago to the people of England. Love the opening comments stating that “…television has made it possible for many of you to see me in your homes on […]

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Could Doctor Who really be Santa?

Sounds crazy, but how many people can stand here today and say they’ve seen both in the same room at the same time? My point, exactly. Think about it. Could ‘The Doctor’ actually be the new Santa? As pointed out in the Telegraph, both, in recent years, have arrived on Christmas Day with hope in […]

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