Strictly Come Dancing lineup 2015

Good afternoon ladies and gentle readers, for those of you who don't know last night marked the comeback of BBC 1's annual dance show Strictly Come Dancing. Now in its 13th series the show has become something of an autumn schedule tradition and to mark the start of this years series here's my opinion of this years lineup;

Ainsley Harriot, nice to see him back on TV after a bit of a break. Should add a bit of flair and campness to the show and expect him to last to the mid point.

Anita Rani, never heard of her.

Anthony Ogogo, never heard of him.

Carol Kirkwood, nice smiley Carol the weather presenter off of BBC Breakfast. Nice enough but don't expect much skill or flair to last beyond a few weeks.

Daniel O'Donnell, as far as I know he's a cabaret chicken in a basket type singer. Not very familiar with him myself and forget about dancing he could barely string a sentence together on the opening show. Very probably will be first out.

Georgia May Foote, never heard of her.

Helen George, never heard of her.

Iwan Thomas, 400 meter runner from the mid 90's to early 00's. Good bit of charisma to him and think he's good value to get 3/4's of the way through.

Jamelia, a classic example of the inverse ratio between the size of the mouth and size of the brain. Will be tuning over whenever she's on as I can't stand her.

Jay McGuiness, never heard of him.

Jeremy Vine, midday host on radio 2 and a regular on BBC's election and political coverage. Looks like he's enjoying it and I hope he gets the furthest out of the ones I don't think will do well.

Katie Dernham, vaguely aware of her, came across well and hope she enjoys her time on the show.

Kellie Bright, blimey she's been around for ages, mostly known for Eastenders and The Upper Hand the first time I saw her was on kids TV when I was a kid as the protagonist in Teabag. She also appeared as Del Boys mum in the Only Fools and Horses prequel Rock and Chips and in one of the best detective shows in recent time Jericho which only lasted a season because I was the only one who watched it. Hope she does well and hope she gets near the final.

Kirsty Gallacher, Sky Sports News presenter. Hope she gets half way as she's very personable and I have a slight crush on her.

Peter Andre, of mid 90's pop star fame. There's not really much to him, he has no personality whatsoever and the earlier he's out the better.

So there you have it my opinion of this years lineup, not the best judging from the initial show but hopefully they'll grow on me. In the meantime KEEP DANCING...

The Big Finish Catch Up: July 2015

For those of you new to this section of the blog, I started listening to the Big Finish Doctor Who releases when they started back in 1999, getting them as they were released up to mid 2002 and release No 33 Neverland. At that time I left Uni and due to being a bit busy with life and what not I only heard one or two releases over the next few years. I started getting back into them around 2008 and was 6 years behind at that point. Due to wondering off into the Lost Doctor range and a relaxed listening pace I fell further behind. In order to catch up I'm listening to two releases a month (or more when its a 60 min single disc release, plus without seeing the cover or knowing anything about the story) and my mission to catch up continues;

We start off this month in the main range with the 8th Doctor, Charley and C'rizz. I quite enjoy the trope of characters landing in a prison they have no knowledge of and as such this story is quite enjoyable. However so much of this story is sloppy and needs more work. I'm pretty sure the narrative doesn't quite make sense unless time passes slower outside of the cube, there isn't enough story to justify the length, Charley virtually does nothing the entire play, there is a section of dialogue near the end which should have been edited out as it contrasts the end of the scene, I'm pretty sure the stories finale goes against something that happens minutes earlier and all in all the story is brought down by moments where I thought to myself "I think they've made a mistake there." In saying that it is a tight atmospheric little thriller which I do tend to like. I think something major plot wise might have happened near the end and I do like the pointers to C'rizz hidden nature which have cropped up over the last five stories (I think The Doctor may finally have noticed something but I'm not sure). I'd have to rate this story 5/10 but I think it may be a very generous score when compared with others.

We nip six years into the future with this months other story, 'The Burning Prince' starring Peter Davisons 5th Doctor. A quick reminder, I'm short of funds right now and stories I get on discount are being put into the 'listen to' pile earlier. On the other hand this is a story where the production, writing and cast come together to create a sterling story. This story plays out like a disaster story, The Doctor steps out of the TARDIS onto a spaceship in peril and things steadily get worse as the story progresses. I really like the 5th Doctor when he becomes put upon, is poorly treated by the rest of the cast and is given a hard time. This happens here as his arrival is timed to make him look as best very suspicious by the rest of the cast. Speaking of the cast all of them perform very well and it was nice to hear Caroline Langrishe best known for the tail end of Lovejoy all though I was kicking myself for not recognising Clive Mantle especially after he popped up recently in 'The Settling.' Checking the case after I'd finished I recognised John Dorneys named from 'The Elite' which makes two good stories I've heard from him now and I'll look forward to his name cropping up again. To some up a rip roaring adventure, good plot, fantastic performances and possibly in the top couple of stories I've heard this calender year, 9/10. 

A Confession

It can't have failed to escape your attention ladies and gentle readers that last week 'The Great British Bake Off' returned to our screens. Since last week flour has been bought from Tesco by the trolley load, twitter is full of cake and the country is full of a rather doughy smell. I feel compelled to get something off my chest dear readers;

I HATE CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel so relieved to get that off my chest as its been impossible to escape from cake and baking this week. As a main dish if it doesn't come with chips and can't be drowned in tomato sauce I wont touch it. My dessert of choice is ice cream or instant whip. Nothing against cake and all those who hold it dear, I just can't stand the stuff. I hope you enjoy Mary Berry and her hirsute sidekick tonight but I'll be sticking to my ice cream.

Ten things I wan't from Liverpool this season

Good morning ladies and gentle readers, as I type its currently half past midday and fifteen minutes to the start of the 2015/16 Premiership season. A time to put the past behind us and focus on the coming season and in that vein here's ten things I want to see from Liverpool football club this year;

1. A fit striker.

Last season we had Daniel Sturridge falling to bits, Lambert with no pace, Borini's ego preventing an exit and Mario Bolotelli - lord knows what was wrong with him. We resorted to three dinky midfielders upfront and it sometimes worked sometimes didn't. Thankfully this time we have a fit Christian Benteke, Danny Ings and Divock Origi to choose from with the treatment room brigade backing them up.

2. Scary and Angry Mignolet.

Last season due to poor form Simon Mignolet lost his place only to get it back through injury. But during his time out something happened - he lost his temper. When he came back he was commanding his defence blocking shots he'd normally let in and went on to have his best period with us to date. This Mignolet must stay, the old timid librarian can do one we need the Mignolet whose mad, bad and dangerous to know.

3. Plan B.

One thing I criticise about Brendan Rodgers tenure is lack of tactics, we seem to pick one tactic and throw ourselves into it even when it stops working. See Mario playing upfront last season when he blatantly wasn't fit, the three dinky midfielders up front which was inconsistent at best and rigid formations. To put it bluntly we need to be more fluid in our tactics.

4. Skrtel dropped.

Martin Skrtel has been an area of chaos and calamity in our defence for the best part of a decade. Manager after manager have failed to drop him, he causes cock up after cock up and is the last remaining undroppable. As far as I'm concerned he's cost us four champions league spots and a Premiership title. He constantly wonders out of position and exposes those around us, he can't trap a ball, can't read a game and the only positive thing I can say about him is he's a very good tackler. However he's not a premiership level defender, he should have been shipped out years ago so either get rid or bench him.

5. A midfield expressing itself.

Over the last few years our midfield  has spent most of its time covering for an ageing Gerrard, covering for Skrtels mishaps and trying to pick up the slack from the strikers (or in some case playing up front as strikers). Lets do this 'death by football' we hear so much about. Let out midfield dominate a game and let our midfielders be midfielders.

6. Goals.

Give us loads of goals and give us sexy goals, last season with our strikers falling to bits, being out of form and playing dinky midfielders up front it was all a struggle. Lets put last season behind us and get back to heavy scoring games.

7. A dominant ball winning midfielder.

I think something we're missing is a dominant ball willing midfielder, god bless him I like Lucas (the world loves a trier) but he isn't it. I think Emre Can could be it but if Rodgers wants to play him in defence we need someone else for the position.

8. Less crap from Brendan during press conferences.

Seriously this can be said about a lot of football managers but Brendan is not a public speaker. Instead of putting him in front of journalists like a sheep into the lions den. Put whoever is in charge of PR or marketing in there, theres just no need for him to be there - especially when he comes out with so much crap. Either start issuing press releases instead of having press conferences or put someone who can talk in them.

9. A defence that can defend.

I think it speaks for itself, over the last few years (and you can guess who I blame) our defence has been ruddy awful. I cheered when Glen Johnson buggered off but drop Skrtel and sort the rest of our defenders out.

10. A better crowd at Anfield.

By and large last year the atmosphere at Anfield was poor and personally I don't think the crowd got behind the team enough. For most of last season we didn't have our 12th man, having a sing song in the build up to kick off is all well and good but during 90 minutes get behind your team!

Married at First Sight

In case you missed it ladies and gentle readers a staple over the last few Thursday nights has been 'Married at first sight' a show based around an experiment of getting strangers to marry.

Needless to say things did not go according to plan, the selection process was controlled by scientists who from the look of them couldn't spot a couple with chemistry if they were sat at the next table. An example of the scientists fuckery is two people were chosen for their 'traditional views on marriage' and were surprised when both of them pulled out!

On last nights final episode things weren't going to well as Emma was being rather awkward around James. There were a few awkward moments on the honey moon and things looked to be progressively getting strained. Things were however disastrous with Katie and Jason, who didn't get off to a good start when he unpacked his belongings into the spare bedroom. He then asked Ch 4 to stop filming and decided not to turn up to a counselling session. Katie then spotted him on Tinder and proceeded (to the surprise of nobody) to give him the elbow.

The one success of this show turned out surprisingly to be Emma and James (it well and truly shocked me). Emma progressively throughout the show brought down her barriers and got more comfortable around James to the extent she let him give her a foot massage - still wearing socks though. Without doubt we were watching two people become a couple and three months after filming they are still together. This blogger wishes them all the luck in the world however a lesson learnt from this show is scientists should stick to curing disease and making the world a better place, leave relationships to the experts.

The Big Finish Catch Up: June 2015

For those of you new to this section of the blog, I started listening to the Big Finish Doctor Who releases when they started back in 1999, getting them as they were released up to mid 2002 and release No 33 Neverland. At that time I left Uni and due to being a bit busy with life and what not I only heard one or two releases over the next few years. I started getting back into them around 2008 and was 6 years behind at that point. Due to wondering off into the Lost Doctor range and a relaxed listening pace I fell further behind. In order to catch up I'm listening to two releases a month (or more when its a 60 min single disc release, plus without seeing the cover or knowing anything about the story) and my mission to catch up continues;

First up this month was a detour into the lost story range featuring the 5th Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa in Hexagora. The lost story range is a bit hit and miss for me and out of the 5th Doctor stories I've heard this is the weakest. It starts off quite pacey and made me think "blimey they're cramming the introduction of this story together quite quick there must be a lot to get through later on." Sadly it wasn't the case, the story wonders around in circles, telegraphs itself badly and somewhere in the middle there were endless info dump scenes that seemed to go forever. Plus in the "grand finale" scene I wasn't sure exactly what was going on. At moments this story does feel like it wants to try something different then it falls back into quite a traditional story which I found annoying. In short if you want a 5th Doctor Lost story get "The Elite" or "The Children of Seth."

First off you may notice that a few entries back I made a big thing about getting to 2006. I regularly buy stories way ahead on discount and sometime my mate who helps me with this puts some stories into the pile early to throw me off in case I'm cheating. This is an absolute gorgeous story and can't recommend it highly enough. Featuring a 6th Doctor moments after his last TV appearance and a more experienced 6th Doctor it shows how Colin Baker and Big Finish have grown the character over the last fifteen years. What absolute brilliant idea for the anniversary year. Colin Baker gives one of his best performances which as regular listeners will know is really saying something, Bonnie Langford is also very good and deserves praise. This story is at times amusing, emotional and takes you through the ringer being lots of fun and a solid engaging plot. This is a story that I can predict I will be coming back to a lot in the future, apart from the sheer fun theres enough in the plot to make me think I'll notice new things on a re-listen.

Back to 2006 and "Red" featuring Sylvester McCoys 7th Doctor and Bonnie Langfords Mel. This is a  story I heard a few years ago but couldn't remember it and in all honesty its one I'm destined to forget again. I like a good mystery however a lot of the central mystery (I wont spoil) is telegraphed and theres a few odd things in here that are basic audio mistakes that Big Finish should have spotted at the editing stage. In saying that its ok, Sylvester gets to do some bonkers acting ala the earlier release "Unregenerate" and actually holds it all together. The production lacks a certain flair and guile for a mystery although there are quite a lot of good moments including the "slow" sequence. In short a decent little story with quite a few good bits that make me give it 5/10 but I'm left with the opinion this should (and easily could) have been a lot better. 

Fantasy Festival Set List: Paul Weller

Good afternoon ladies and gentle readers, I hope I find you well on this fine summer day. Speaking of summer that also means we're in the midst of festival season which includes Glastonbury. I don't know if I've mentioned on the blog before but I'm a huge Paul Weller (in ALL of his incarnations) fan and was a tad disappointed with the set he played during Glastonbury which can be seen here;

White Sky
The Changing Man
From the Floorboards Up
I'm Where I Should Be
Long Time
Thats Entertainment
Above the Clouds
Saturns Pattern
Going My Way
Friday Street
Porcelain Gods
Broken Stones
You Do Something To Me
Start
Peacock Suit
Whirlpools End
Town Called Malice

Now personally I say if your playing a main stage at Glastonbury it has to be a "best of" set with all the hits. Theres to much of his solo stuff in that set and quite a lot that isn't well known to a casual audience - which is a killer when playing Glastonbury. So I've put together my ideal Paul Weller set list. With caveat that its mostly hits and stuff that goes down well live, I hope you enjoy;

Speak Like A Child
The Changing Man
Out of the Sinking
Thats Entertainment
A Solid Bond in Your Heart
My Ever Changing Moods
Long Hot Summer
Stanley Road
Wild Wood
You Do Something To Me
Your the Best Thing
Broken Stones
Start
This is the Modern World
Going Underground
Walls Come Tumbling Down
Shout to the Top
Town Called Malice