MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA SEASON FOUR

Masterchef Australia is back on UK screens and I couldn't be happier. Although I am not  big reality TV fan I do enjoy cookery programs, and the Masterchef franchise is my personal favorite. Of the four that I watch I would rank them in this order: Masterchef Australia, then USA, followed by New Zealand then the UK. I always think that the UK version is a bit flat and lacking in dynamism. The US version is loosely based on the Australian model and is good entertainment because it is full of over-competitive, back stabbing contestants who would nobble their rivals food, if they could get away with it! For those of you not familiar with the Aussie program I will give a quick outline of the content.

Masterchef NZ is very close to the Aussie model which is a cross between a cooking contest and a reality show. The contestants live together in the Masterchef house. This allows bonds to be built which is important because the show has lots of team challenges. How people work as a team is very important for efficiently running a busy kitchen. In complete contrast to the American contestants the Australians are super friendly and helpful towards each other. There is normally a happy atmosphere between contestants and a very relaxed relationship between the judges and the contestants.

Speaking of the judges, the usual subjects are all back! The three cheery, chubby Aussies Gary Mehigan, George Carulambos and Matt Preston all return for another season: and thank goodness that they do because I couldn't imagine the show without the three of them. Also featuring on a regular basis will be Matt Moran. They are all great presenters and see their role(s) as more than being judges: in MC Australia there is just as much emphasis put on mentoring and advising the contestants. The aim is to create a cookery fairy tale where a good amateur cook is developed by learning on the way through advice from the judges, masterclasses and from their fellow competitors and turned into a chef that could walk straight in to any top restaurant for a job.

The challenges are varied: the mystery box, the team challenges, the pressure test and of course, the dreaded elimination rounds. There are also opportunities for chefs that win challenges to go head to head with a top chef and if they win they are awarded an immunity pin to be used whenever they may be in danger. The pin can be used only once.

Season four is just beginning in the UK. At the beginning of the first week we see the top 50 being selected. From there the number of contestants is whittled down to 24. Then the series starts in earnest. It is already possible to work out some of the top twenty four from the snippets of commentary of the contestants between rounds. There isn't too much coverage given to those that won't make the final cut.

The show should run for about three months during which time there will be not only excellent cooking on show but great entertainment if the last three seasons are anything to go on. I streamed the whole series but I'm going to watch it again, and give readers an account of this years competition.

As George would say " Boom boom shake the room - we have three months to go!"

PERCEPTION

ABC NETWORK

STARRING Eric McCormack - Daniel Pierce ( Will and Grace)
         Rachael Leigh Cook - Kate Moretti (Robot Chicken, Psych)
         Arjay Smith - Max Lewicki
         Kelly Rowan - Natalie Vincent (The O.C., Boomtown)


It isn't very often that something original comes along these days, it's all been done before, but Perception is quite original. I'm not saying that it is good, but it does have an original idea.The main character of the show is a college lecturer in neuroscience  who also acts as a police expert. There is a little twist, however: he has psychiatric issues himself which include full blown hallucinations, an aversion to crowds and difficulties with social interaction. He employs a student called Lewicki to keep him to a routine. Despite these setbacks he has a brilliant brain and deductive powers to rival those of Sherlock Holmes.

The show manages to be in places both gritty and witty, presenting the viewer with main characters that are likeable.In each episode Pierce has to balance his advisory work with his academic work and his episodes of psychosis. He refuses to take medication.The problem with the show is there is no depth of plot. Pierce lectures on mental functioning so every week he is called in by Moretti to advise on a case that revolves around a person with mental problems. Pierce outlines the condition and each week a different mental illness is covered (The concept of what exactly mental illness is , of course is open to discussion. I use it here only to indicate that in the story this is how people are categorized).

Pierce is often in conversation with his dead girlfriend as well as other spooks. Each week a different ghost, sometimes historical ghosts will help him to solve the case. Excuse the pun but this is really a crazy premiss: that a police department would use as a consultant a man that is schizophrenic, not on meds and who talks to non existent people. Obviously somebody sat in an ideas conference one day and said: "Hey I have a great idea for a police consultant with a twist - lets make the lead character a schizophrenic who just happens to be an expert in mental illnesses!" To bypass this awkward plot hole Pierce becomes a police consultant because Moretti was a student of his.

Rather annoyingly his apparitions solve the case(s) by coming up with big hints and clues for Pierce: so really he is projecting his own thoughts through his hallucinations. His dead girlfriend seems to serve the purpose of helping him deal with situations and rationalize his behavior. As is the case with TV detectives he always comes up with the answer out of the blue towards the end of each episode.

I can't help feeling that Perception is nothing but a novel idea. The plots aren't good enough to stand up as an average detective series but there are not enough laughs in it to call it a comedy. My feeling is that the comic element should be beefed up because the show is weak as a detective series. Some of the writing though indicates that it could easily be turned into a comedy spoof. It is on the ABC network which probably means it may not reach the end of season one, let alone get a season two if it doesn't get ratings quickly.

In closing, this is not a program that will make many of us rush home to see it, or have us set the Tivo to record it. It is, to use an old adage Chewing gum for the eyes. I perceive a short run for this show.

ALPHAS SEASON TWO

SY-FY 12 PART SERIES

STARRING: David Strathairn - Dr. Lee Rosen (The Bourne Legacy, The Whistleblower)
          Ryan Cartwright - Gary Bell (Bones, Madmen
          Warren Christie - Cameron Hicks (True Justice, Happy Town)
          Malik Yoba - Bill Harken (Defying Gravity)
          Laura Mennell - Nina Theroux (Sanctuary)
          Anita Ghanizada - Rachel (General Hospital: Night Shift)
          Mahershala Ali - Nathan Clay (Crossing Jordan, The 4400)



A look at season two so far.

At the end of season one the Alphas team was in turmoil: pushed to their limit by the

government and suffering internal problems. Dr Rosen decided to announce the existence of

Alphas to the world and the government were not ready for that. So the start of season two

sees Rosen committed and the team split up. The first objective is for the team to reform.

The series begins with Rosen in a session with a psychiatrist. He knows why he has been

locked away and when his daughter (also an Alpha) visits him he tells her that he will be

out as soon as there is an incident. This proves to be correct, as Cameron and Bill find out

when they take an Alpha to the infamous building seven, where the government lock up the

troublesome Alphas. While they are there they see Gary: he has been imprisoned and had a

chip implanted in his head, as do all the incarcerated Alphas (I bet the govt. would love to

chip our brains!). However the girl that Cameron and Bill bring in can control electric and

shorts out the system and all the Alphas wake up.


A hostage situation develops and Rosen is called in by Clay to negotiate. Before he does he

visits Rachel, who we see in a previous scene has shut herself in her room. In addition to

this problem and Garys situation it appears that Nina has gone rogue, using her ability for

personal gain and not working with the team. Once they are all reunited they go to building

seven. Life is not exactly smelling of Roses for Rosen (sorry!) as there appears to be a lot

of resentment in the team because of his TV announcement, which he made without warning

anybody. Naturally, being the gullible fool that he is Rosen walks straight in to the middle

of the Alphas and thinks that he can win them over with a few softly spoken words. Series

One should have taught him that never works, but he seems to have an unshakeable belief that

he can get everyone to live together in perfect harmony (cue McCartney and Wonder).


The Alphas being held at building seven all escape, thereby giving the team plenty of work

to do in the coming weeks trying to recapture them. There are other problems on the horizon,

too, the biggest of which is the growing power of Stanton Parish, a man believed to be over

two hundred years old. Of course the series needs a Stanton Parish because the team need

someone as powerful as them to oppose, otherwise there would be no problems for them to

solve. Just like Batman has the Joker, and Fringe had the alternative universe and now the

watchers, Rosen and the Alphas need a foe like Parrish.


The second season looks like it will be as good as the first, and the star, for me, is Gary,

played by Ryan Cartwright. Gary is always unintentionally funny, particularly his inability

to display tact, which inevitably leads to  comic situations. The rest of the cast are ok, but

Cartwright stands out as the best performer.

Naturally there are comparisons made between Alphas and Heroes, but whereas Heroes petered

out, the writers seemingly unable to find a direction for the storyline Alphas is written

far better with a strong storyline that appears to have a direction. Part of the problem

with Heroes was that there was neither a task force to stop the rogue Heroes or an organized

criminal gang. The writers tried in the last series to create a funfair full of baddies but

still couldn't find an endgame with which to bring a resolution to the story. Alphas is

better written, with the characters better thought out and the action is dynamic.  However,

there does seem to be a plethora of Alphas, so many that they are in danger of losing their status as special

or different. I mean, what percentage of the population is supposed to have these powers?





The series is about to kick off again in the UK on Sy-Fy. I have watched five episodes and

can tell fans of the show that they are not going to be disappointed. The growing menace of

Parrish, the escaped Alphas and the behavior of Nina give Rosens team plenty of headaches

in the coming weeks. Enjoy!

BLACKOUT

BBC1 3 PART DRAMA

FEATURING Christopher Eccleston (Daniel De Moyes) Previous Roles Dr Who,Heroes,
Dirvla Kirwan (Alex Demoyes) Ballykssangel, Injustic
Ewen Bremner (Jerry Durrans) Trainspotting,
David Hayman(Henry Pulis)
Andrew Scott (Detective Dalien Bevan) Sherlock
       

Christopher Eccleston plays the role of a corrupt coucillor with an alcohol problem who sells information about council tenders to a businessman to ensure he gets the contract. However something goes wrong and an argument ensues. In the next scene De Moyes wakes from a drunken blackout to find that he is covered in blood. When he gets to a council meeting he discovers that the man he met in a dark alley the night before is now in hospital unconscious. He now begins to get flashbacks and realises that he attacked the businessman (Henry Pulis).

De Moyes relationship with his wife is also on unsteady ground and most scenes featuring the two are tense . The whole series is dark and edgy, and as the story develops De Moyes finds himself more out of control. Finding himself in need of advice he goes to see his sister Lucy played by Lyndsey Marshal (Being Human, Titanic TV mini-series) who is a lawyer. Her current case involves armed drug gangs, and as she is standing talking with her brother an assassination is attempted on her but brother Daniel jumps in front of her and takes the bullet. As he recovers in Hospital his sister brings Jerry Durrans to see him. Durrans is a fellow councillor who sees an opportunity to get De Moyes elected as Mayor. Now the plot thickens.

The lead character finds out that Pulis died in hospital so now he has a murder to cover up. This does not prevent him from standing as Mayor and winning the election. At this point he is still under the delusion that one man can make a difference, so when the cleaning contract is next discussed he suggests creating a workers collective that would run the company. This is seen by the other council members as a pipe dream and Durrans has to take De Moyes aside to point out that he works for a company who will get the councils business and De Moyes will help because they know he murdered Pulis. This means that our hero has to do a complete turn-around on his position in the next meeting, announcing that Durrans will head a committee looking in to the company's offer.

De Moyes's social juggling now gets out of hand: he battles against his urge to drink, his girlfriend Sylvie, who he had sex with in an alley prior to meeting and killing Pulis saw him do it. So did a drunk. He now has two people to keep quiet. To add another twist, a police detective is putting the pieces together and he just so happens to be Sylvies ex-husband. Someone tries to kill him to protect the Mayor, at which point both he and De Moyes realise just how deep the corruption goes.
The finale sees De Moyes stand in front of the press to confess, in order to bring all the guilty parties to justice.

This was a well put together drama with an excellent cast, and for the most part the writing is believable. It did leave me wondering: " is this what goes on in our local councils?" It is not difficult to accept that it may, given that we have learned in recent years of MP's committing fraud with their expenses claims and bankers, who are at the very core of our economic system have been involved in fixing the LIBOR rate and losing our pension money by hedge betting on the stock exchange, ripping us off with PPI insurance and lending money to people that they knew couldn't afford to pay it back, therefore causing a recession.

Is there a moral to this tale though? Is the writer saying that power does corrupt, and will corrupt anyone that takes a position of responsibility, or is this a simple tale of an individual making some bad choices? Is the system to blame or is it those that people it? Life, it seems these days is based on shady underhand deals, privilege and contacts: the substance of the individual doesn't matter, all that matters is the perpetuation of the system. Perhaps the point is that we are all doing things that we don't want to do and don't know what to do instead, and faced with choices that we may think we are free to make we pick a card unaware that the deck has been stacked in the dealers favor.

Whatever the intended message this three part series was engrossing and for once I was actually looking forward to a program coming on, I can't remember when that last happened. It's a pity that it only had three parts, although on the plus side this does mean that there was no unnecessary padding out to make a full series. A good watch that deserves a repeat showing (it's not often that I say that, either!).

LINE OF DUTY

BBC2 5 PART DRAMA

FEATURING Martin Compston (D.S. Arnott) 
      Lennie James (DCI Tony Gates) Hung, Columbiana, Jericho and The Prisoner remake
       Neil Morrissey (DC Nigel Morton) Men Behaving Badly, Waterloo Road
      Craig Parkinson (Cottan) Misfits, Whitechapel
      Adrian Dunbar (Superintendant Ted Hastings) Ashes to Ashes
          Vicky McClure (D.C. Kate Fleming) This Is England

It's about time there was some new drama on TV, we don't seem to get much for our license fee these days. I was drawn to this because it stars Lenny James, an excellent actor and I have to say he does not disappoint in Line of Duty. In fact the main cast are all excellent and the writing is for the most part of high standard and the plot is credible.

The basic story centres on an internal investigation in to the arrest record of one Tony Gates, Officer of the year winner, who has been "Laddering". This is a method of adding charges to a suspects arrest charges thus making it look like crimes are eliminated from the list of unsolved cases and in return the police speak well of the accused in court. The department of Internal investigation headed by Superintendant Hastings (Dunbar) believe that Gates won his award by acting dishonestly.

The story begins with D.S.Arnot, who is in the armed response team. There is a mix up during a raid and an innocent man is shot. Arnot resigns from his unit because he does not want to adhere to the official account of events that his entire team have been told to adhere to for the official hearing into the incident. Hastings offers Arnot (Martin Compston) a spot in his team that is being set up to investigate Gates. He is joined by D.C. Kate Fleming (McClure) who has talked her way into Gates's team to gather evidence from the inside. Gates's team has three other members, D.C. Morton (Morrissey), D.C. Cottan (Craig Parkinson) and D.C. Kapoor (Faraz Ayub).

We next meet Gates in a cafe with his "bit on the side". He witnesses and intervenes in a robbery and in return the cafe give him his breakfast for free. This presents an opening for the anti corruption team to start an investigation.Then it gets interesting. As Gates picks up his award he gets a phone call from his girlfriend Jackie (Gina McKee) who has been involved in a hit and run whilst under the influence of alcohol. He helps feign a burglary and the theft of her car to cover it up. Unfortunately it turns out that she has knocked down and killed her accountant (deliberately) .Before he knows this Gates handles the case himself to bury it. Of course it comes back to haunt him.

The team are working on a gang/ drugs related investigation. Jackie turns up at the police station to give an interview about her "burglary". Gates lets her know he has found out what she did. He decides to end the relationship. The evidence against him is mounting and as it does Gates's personal life is going into freefall. Arnott visits the Cafe Gates and Jackie were at and finds out Gates was not alone, which gives him someone else to investigate. He learns about the hit and run.

 In the drugs case there is a take over going on which is the reason for the deaths that they are looking into. It transpires that Jackie launders money for the drug dealer. At the end of episode two Gates goes to Jackies house to arrest her, but ends up doing other things with her instead, then sees her murdered. He is knocked out and his fingerprints are put on the knife.

By the time Arnot gets there the body is gone and Gates is searching the premises, covering any tracks of having been there and claiming that he came to arrest her. It becomes impossible for him to deny that he was involved romantically with Jacky so he has to keep making up new stories as new evidence is presented to him. In a stroke of brilliance Gates turns the drugs investigation in to a terrorist plot. This creates a big distraction but unfortunately for Gates the Drug Baron that had Jackie murdered is keeping the body and knife with Gates's fingerprints on it to force him to work for the gang. He is expected to bring Arnot to a location where they will deal with him. He does this but has a change of heart. He then arranges for the gang leader, referred to as Tommy to be brought in. Gates goes rogue and gets Tommy in his car to tape a full confession. Once he has it he pulls over. When Arnot and Fleming get there he pleads with Arnot to ensure his family are taken care of then walks in front of a lorry. Arnot reports that Gates died in the line of duty.

The story ends with Cottan preparing to take Gates place and we see him talking to Tommy, an old friend, it appears. Corruption wins.

This is the second drama that I have seen on the BBC in the same month that deals with corruption, the other being Blackout. Our society, it appears, is corrupt throughout.

There are a few stereotypes evident in the writing. Arnot most definitely has small man syndrome being defensive, unable to control his temper and at times is hostile towards authority. There is also a boy, Ryan, from a council estate who is drawn in to crime because his single parent mother is a slag and neglects him. A good example of this is when he is arrested his mother won't go to the police station because he "has social workers for that sort of thing". When he is brought home all she says to the police is "You better have fed him". Being a working class person who knows some single mums that work hard for their children I have to say I hate this representation of single parents.

I did, however, like the way in which the hysteria that surrounds terrorism was shown. The threat of terrorism is being used to increase surveillance of the public, limit the internet and to make public searches acceptable even without evidence of a crime being committed. The drama also shows how crime does pay and that our institutions are infiltrated by criminals who pervert the course of justice. Cottan's promotion is the end result of years of planning, sending out the message that the fight against crime is now futile. I mean to say who are the good guys and who are the baddies?

There is also an interesting contradiction in Arnot's behavior: he will not lie in the shooting case yet he lies for Gates, perhaps because he identifies with him being singled out, or maybe because he states earlier on that resources ought to be used to get criminals off the street, not to investigate the police.

In conclusion, Line of duty was well acted by a great cast, particularly James and Dunbar, the storyline was for the most part credible ( the bolt-cropper incident with Arnot aside - he really would have lost some fingers) and the direction was spot on. If anyone at the BBC is reading this: more like this please.







       

ALIENS AND MEGA DISASTERS S04E09

THE HISTORY CHANNEL

SEASON 4 EPISODE 9

This episode of the popular Ancient Aliens examines whether aliens have intervened in

mankind's development and if they are responsible for some "natural" disasters.

The program looks at disasters such as the Japanese Tsunami, the biblical flood and even

meteor strikes as possibly being under alien control. According to the Kyoto News Agency

there was increased UFO activity just after the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit

Japan. David Childress, a show regular posed the question: are aliens interested in how we

handle life changing events or, rather, do they cause them?

The discourse turns to using the weather as a weapon. The Haiti earthquake was given as a

possible example. It was the worst earthquake to hit the country in 200 years. Strange balls

of light were reported here as well prior to the quake. Were these balls of light, asks the

narrator alien craft, there to cause something to happen, or gasses escaping from the

ground?

Next, cloud seeding is touched upon and shown to be weather control that has been verified,

with evidence of its use in Vietnam provided. (I once remember reading that the Russian

authorities sanctioned its use to ensure that there was no rain during a scheduled open air

concert by Paul Mc Cartney!) A USAF report, entitled "Owning the Weather" looks at ways to

control the weather and even amplify it and turn it into a weapon.

Finally the program examines the worldwide legends of a global flood and asks if it was the

work of aliens who had tired of humans and damned them to a watery grave. The theory is that

in the past earth was visited by extra-terrestrials who genetically modified one of our

ape-like ancestors and created us as a slave race to work for them. Essentially the program

is an exploration of the work of Zecharia Sitchen, one of the few people that could

interpret Sumerian cuneiform and wrote of our beginnings according to the translations he had

made from clay tablets. The story goes that humans became more self aware and didn't much

like being slaves. It is said that our creators were struck by the beauty of earth women,

who they took as partners and created a half breed known as the Nephilim. The Nephilim were

giants and said to be depraved so the Annunaki decided that they had to go.

Although there is footage of disaster damage  shown  there is little evidence available of UFO's at the

scene. The lights could equally be something natural but as yet not understood. The evidence

appears stronger concerning a great flood. There is growing evidence presented by such

people as Cremo and Thompson that such an event took place. When looking at the facts as

interpreted by Sitchen, however, it has to be remembered that by his own admission the

account that he gives is based on the literal interpretation of myths: he does not see them

as fables passed down verbally through generations but as historical facts. This means that

to accept what he says requires a leap of faith, as with religions he has no solid proof.

As an aside, I would just like to mention that in his last taped lecture Zecharia Sitchen

discussed Niburu, (or Planet X if you prefer), and stated quite emphatically that the time

scale involved makes it impossible for Niburu to be returning into our space in 2012 and was

at pains to point out that there is absolutely no connection between Niburu and the Mayan

Calender. See it for yourself (I hour and 32minutes in).

  SITCHEN

I was disappointed, however with the way that using the weather as a weapon was handled. How

can any discussion about weather manipulation fail to mention HAARP? Or, for that matter

Chemtrails? Both of these are shrouded in mystery and are linked with weather manipulation.

Surely the program should have been ready to ask: are these also tools of an extra -

terrestrial race? Perhaps western governments would like us to believe they are the work of

aliens, because they are not exactly forthcoming with any information telling us what is

going on.

Despite my reservations about the above omission I still enjoyed the show, and consider it

to be one of the History Channels best offerings. It has great entertainment value and some

controversy and always has good footage of the worlds ancient sites. Good stuff!

BEDLAM SEASON TWO

SKY ATLANTIC

SIX PART DRAMA SERIES

FEATURING Jack Roth as Max
      Hugo Speer as Warren Bettany
      Lacey Turner as Ellie
      Gemma Chan as Kiera
      Nikesh Patel as Dan


Season two begins with Bedlam reopening as a block of apartments. It is owned and run by Warren

Bettany and managed by Dan. Max and Mollie are tenants. Keira becomes Warrens girlfriend. Ellie,

played by Lacey Turner of East Enders fame also moves in to Bedlam. She is questioning her own sanity

as she is seeing apparitions and has moved in to Bedlam because she thinks that her visions are

connected with the place. Her belief in ghosts leads to the breakdown of her relationship with her

boyfriend.

Each week a different ghost (or revenant, as Max refers to them) causes havoc for a tenant of the ex

Asylum. Ellie gets flash forwards that show her what is about to happen and she and Jack do their

best to prevent it. They are not always very successful at this which means there is death and

despair in abundance. Meanwhile Warren is also having visions and thinks that someone is trying to

make him lose his mind. To comfort himself he has a relationship with the much younger Keira, a

friend of his daughters, until his paranoia pushes her away. Dan, whose main aim seems to be to sleep

with every woman in the building turns out to be Warrens illegitimate son.

Max, played by Jack Roth, son of Tim, is so pallid looking that you could mistake him for a ghost. He

secretly runs a website about the activities occurring at Bedlam and Dan and Warren are determined to

shut it down due to bad publicity preventing the sale of the remaining flats. As for Ellie, at times

I thought I was watching East Enders as Lacey displays the same whining, moody characteristics that

she did in her previous incarnation. At times her voice felt like a drill in my head and her face,

as they say, was like a wet weekend. I found her character very annoying: she rejects Max's help

every episode, usually with some rudeness and offhandedness and then has to ask for his help later

on. Like a lovesick puppy Max goes running to her every time.

As the series progresses it becomes apparent that there is a powerful "revenant" that is behind it

all and Ellie is determined to find out what it is all about. She keeps seeing the spirit of a young

girl called eve who is afraid of the Bedlam bogey man. It turns out that the little girl was taken by

a former worker at the Asylum called Joseph. In a further twist it turns out that eve is actually

Ellie. What? She was seeing visions of herself as a child and Joseph turns out to be her father. He

kept her caged like an animal and conducted electro-therapy beyond safe levels on patients as well as

other sadistic and murderous acts.

In another twist in the finale it turns out that Warren was the one that saved Eve from her father,

who appears in the final episode and is confronted again by Warren who again saves Ellie/eve. In what

is a hurried and messy ending Joseph kills Max, Dan inherits Bedlam and Ellie decides it is time to

deal with Joseph. The final episode ends with her asking Max if he is coming with her which suggests

there could be a series three. That is, if they can stretch the story for another six episodes

without being too repetitive.

In the final analysis it has to be said that Bedlam is not exactly ground breaking drama, merely a

run of the mill tale of haunting. If another series is forthcoming it will have to offer more scares,

a new angle and a better resolution to the story. If there is no new series it won't be too much of a

loss.

CHASING UFOS

When I saw this program in the listings I thought it would be another compilation of dodgy phone cam images and grainy film with the usual "experts" and ex USAF employees brought in to give their account of events. This show is a little different, however.

I may not have paid any attention had I not read a very amusing comment in an RSS feed from Paranormal magazine. The headline read "Professional UFO Hunters Won't be watching Chasing UFO's".
A Mr. Robert Hastings is quoted as saying the show is like "Blair Witch Project meets Inspector Clouseau".

In fact the show has generally been slated by all the reviewers who have watched it. To quote the same article as above:

"Most reviews trashed the show, including its format, character antics, handling of evidence, lack of actual investigation tactics and overall lack of anything related to actual UFO investigations."

Within a minute of watching it I thought that it was trying to mimic the format and feel of "Fact or Faked: Paranormal files". It doesn't succeed in producing the atmosphere or providing the camaraderie of FOF.

The team is made up of three people, James Fox, Ben McGee and Erin Ryder who essentially run around in the dark scaring themselves and each other. I watched episode two which was set in Fresno where, it is rumored, the USAF are experimenting with Alien technology. They talk to some eye witnesses and look at some phone-cam footage (apparently not so original then) and then go to sites of interest and "investigate". The viewer is expected to believe that the action is spontaneous but it is so obvious, as when Erin Ryder climbs a fence at the airport that there is already a camera crew over the fence filming her climbing it!

Similarly, when one of the team and guest Ufologist Jeffrey Gonzalez find a concrete ramp with a steel door at the top they get spooked completely by a low pitched groaning noise. Our friends on the Fact or Faked team would have been trying to get behind the door, the Chasing UFOs team ran away!
I have the feeling that the noise they heard may have had some post production help: It sounded like they had Nessie trapped behind that door!

Its also a scream watching them run about. They have helmet mounted lights and cameras trained on their own faces which, when they run makes them look like little noddy dolls. It is impossible to take anything seriously and I cant really add to the earlier quoted reviews.

I am not surprised that the serious Ufologists are annoyed by this program. To me it is further evidence to add to what I have previously blogged concerning the sliding standards of the National Geographic channel. It is content nowadays to air scare stories and pseudo science. Hopefully discerning viewers will put an end to programs like these by watching something else. One can only hope.

ANCIENT X-FILES

SEASON 2 EPISODE 10: THE MARY MAGDALENE MYSTERY

Ancient X Files is similar in content to Ancient Aliens although it covers wider ground that merely aliens, examining ancient mysteries which may uncover hidden or suppressed history. The Mary Magdalene story is one such case.

Mary Magdalene has been the subject of new speculation since Dan Brown released "The DaVince code". The program examines evidence from across the globe, from France, Israel and the USA. The basic questions raised are: Mary Magdalene, Saint or Whore? And has the Vatican been guilty of a cover up?

The program begins in St. Maximin in the south of France. Every year there is a ceremony in honor of St. Mary who was said to have fled to France to avoid the persecution of Christians. She is venerated by the Cathars, a fringe Christian group whose teachings are not accepted by the Vatican. They believed that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Christ and that the couple had a child.They also believed that there were two creators, one good and one evil In the past they were the victims of a crusade authorized by Pope Innocent the third. Their Churches were destroyed and followers killed.

The documentary follows the investigation of writer Margaret Starbird, who has traced the history of the Coptic sect and is an expert in medieval church art.She meets a priest from the order who is not very forthcoming with details but does allow her to attend a service. As the service gets underway the priest reads from texts that are not approved by the Vatican. The priest's coat has the all seeing eye on the back of it which I found interesting but no mention was made of it.As the ceremony reached its climax the priest asked the author and camera crew to leave.

The next stop on the journey was the middle east. In 1945 a pot was found in the desert that contained fifty gnostic gospels which indicated that there was an intimate link between Jesus and Mary. The origins of the church were examined and a visit was made to Megido in Israel where there is an ancient floor mosaic. An inscription on the mosaic tells that it was paid for by a Roman Centurion. From here the link between Christianity and the worship of a Roman god Mythra were examined and it was suggested that the Roman Legionnaires found it easy to convert to Christianity because of the similarity between the story of Mythra and Jesus Christ. In fact, it is suggested that there are similarities between many pagan beliefs and Christianity, which helped the spread of early Christianity.

Starbird then looks at how the decision was made as to what went in to the bible and what was left out. The 27 New Testament books were chosen by Archbishop Athenatius. No gospels written after the resurrection were included it is claimed. It is back to France next, to the church of St. Victors in Marseilles. It was built in the 12th century atop of an older church. Starbird goes down in to the crypt of the church to look at a wall relief of a heavily pregnant Mary Magdalene kneeling before the crucified Christ. She next visits the USA where a collector has scraps of a rug said to be circa 2nd century which shows, allegedly, both Buddhist and Christian symbols and is said to have originated in Egypt. It shows four figures with Halos and it is said to show Jesus, Mary and their child. The documentary finishes back in France at St. Balbe where it is claimed Mary lived until death.

There is no historic evidence to back the claim that Mary went to France but this does not mean the documentary isn't interesting or thought provoking. Religion is a matter of belief rather than proof so I doubt it matters to the church members.

To accept that Jesus and Mary existed does mean that you have to believe that Christ rose from the dead and was the son of god. Alternately it could mean that Christ the man, the preacher did exist. His message was at odds with the established church which he saw as greedy and out of touch with the congregation and that led to his death. It is possible to accept that Jesus existed and was married to Mary and that this became known much later than the New Testament was assembled as Starbird suggests.

This is the first of this series I have watched and it has made me want to watch more. An interesting show that is well put together.

EUREKA: THE FINAL SERIES

SY-FY

It is curtains for Eureka. The fifth series, currently showing in the UK is the final series.

The series started with a different feel to the others: a little darker. Eureka is very much a show that uses comedy, but the start of season five saw the main characters of Eureka abducted and hooked up to a VR machine, trapped in a world that they thought was real. An evil Senator was behind a plot to reap the benefits of their findings in the make believe world they were trapped in. Meanwhile, the characters left behind thought that the others were on a failed mission to Mars and were missing. Just as I was getting in to this storyline it was suddenly resolved: Sheriff Carter to the rescue as usual (another key plot detail in the show is that despite the town being populated by the brainiest scientists in the country the dumb old sheriff always comes up with the answers) and we are back to the normal format. Well, almost.

After the escape from VR world, Holly, girlfriend of Fargo gets stuck there. So for the next few weeks a sub plot runs in which Holly is about to be erased until a eureka moment is arrived at to save the flame haired damsel. That's as it should be in eureka but that aside the program seems to be turning into a love story, or worse, a rom-com. There has always been the will they/ wont they plot involving sheriff Carter and Allison. This was then added to with an on/off relationship between Jo and Zane and the love interest of Henry and Grace. Now we have Fargo and Holly, an unlikely couple if ever there was one. This one was put together for the nerds in the audience, you know, the type that get turned on by films like weird science, where the nerd gets the babe he never would in reality.

The romance is beginning to get in the way of the storyline. It seems that the director can't go five minutes without slipping in a smoochy moment or one of those "we have to talk" moments. You know the ones: there is something that has to be said but before it is said the phone interrupts. Next attempt will be foiled by someone coming in to the room, and so on until you feel like screaming at the screen " for ***** sake , spit it out!" and pointing out to anyone watching with you that it is just one sentence, they could have said it ten times over by now.

As you can probably tell, this is beginning to get on my nerves. I watch to see crazy capers backed up with great CGI and a laugh or two all wrapped up in just under an hour. I don't know where the program is going with all this kissy kissy stuff. When series five aired I thought as I watched the first few weeks that it would build up in to an exiting climax (It's too much to hope that it will end with a major accident that will blow them to smithereens). Now I am worried that it will end with them all taking a hallucinogenic drug, denouncing warfare and turning the town in to a nude peace haven.

This series has been very disappointing. I don't know how it will end but I know it is likely to be soaked in smooch and sentimentality. A lot of programs get pulled without reaching the end of the run: this should have been one of them.

GORDON RAMSAY MUST BE RAKING IT IN

Cooking programs have always been popular with the viewing public, as are reality shows. Some time ago someone came up with the idea of combining the two and shows like Hells Kitchen were born. In the battle of the cooks, none have been as victorious as Gordon Ramsay: the chef with the Midas touch.

The Masterchef US team

At the moment Gordon has programs airing on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US season 10 of Hells Kitchen is underway and is followed immediately on the schedule by Masterchef USA. For two nights in a row he dominates peak viewing time. In the UK Gordon's latest offering Gordon Ramsay Behind Bars is airing on channel four. The Ramsay bank balance must be doing pretty well at the moment.

The Ram with a Lamb

Hells kitchen features a team of men and a team of women that each run a kitchen at the Hells Kitchen Restaurant. In the show there will be in-fighting in the teams, individuals at odds with the Ram ,and participants, sometimes whole teams are thrown out of the kitchen by Chef Ramsay once he has finished insulting and humiliating them. Someone is eliminated each week until the top chef is crowned. Masterchef is part of a franchise that has been sold around the world. Gordon behaves better when dealing with amateur cooks but is only one of three judges on the show. The other two are Graham Eliot and Joe Bastianich (who can be as fierce as Gordon Ramsay). The show has the same format as season one of Masterchef Australia. It is a knockout show with an elimination every week.

The new show, Behind Bars is a diversion from the other two shows. The great Ram, it appears, is concerned about all the people in prison just, in his words "sitting around on their asses" giving nothing back. So his idea to change this "awful" situation is to teach them to cook, start a business and sell the product in the outside world. He assembles a brigade of twelve inmates for his kitchen. The guards that are spoken to by the TV crew are skeptical regarding the Rams chances of success: some of the guards write the prisoners off as incapable of change whereas others feel it is up to them to try and make a difference.

Unique problems are thrown up for the Ram to deal with: each corridor is locked so it takes an age to get from A to B. Knives and other potentially dangerous equipment are kept under lock and key which again slows things down and members of his kitchen can be taken away without notice leaving him short staffed. Naturally there are problems with the inmates, one of whom has to leave the team because of his aggressive attitude. He wasn't a team player.

One poor guy called Jerome (episode 2) kept getting put on report because of his attitude: he kept answering back and not "showing respect" to officers. It seemed to me that the prison was more bothered about getting a bit of backchat than they were with potential violent flare ups. They made a big deal  about Jerome's "disrespect" and it did seem that there were officers who had a grudge against the lad. He was removed from the kitchen despite showing promise and working hard.

There was also a big fuss made over a missing potato peeler. The kitchen was locked down and everybody got searched but it didn't turn up. THEN someone checks the inventory and discovers there is nothing missing: they had miscounted the number of peelers to start with. This incident had the feel of being contrived for the cameras to provide a little drama for the audience. The inmates reaction to this search was hilarious: they were quite indignant and one of them even said " We're supposed to be trainee chefs and we were treated like criminals". That gave me a laugh!

This is quite a good show, although I do want to raise a few points. Gordon: if someone breaks the law they go to prison. By doing so they are repaying society by losing their freedom and individual rights. They don't have to pay back more by making profit for a private enterprise. Secondly, why give jobs to criminals when there are plenty of law abiding citizens unemployed? Answer: because you wouldn't get a new angle for a TV show from that.

The Ram says he wants to do something for these people because he has a junkie brother who has been in and out of jail all of his life. Very commendable I'm sure, but perhaps he also has an eye on the Queens honors list.

Arise, sir Gordon - if you can stand up with that wallet!

ANCIENT ALIENS

THE HISTORY CHANNEL

Ancient aliens is now in to its fourth season. This is a testament to the strength of belief people have in the existence of aliens and the possibility that they have been instrumental in the past in the development of humankind. Basically Ancient Aliens is an examination of the views held by Zecharia Sitchen, Velikovsky, Michael Cremo and Richard Thompson and the like. Sitchen Believed that Earth was visited in the past by Aliens known as the Annunaki, Velikovsky theorized that there was an ancient cataclysm which wiped out advanced civilizations and Cremo and Thompson have gathered together masses of evidence that indicates that modern humans are a lot older than established academia suggests.

Each episode is based on an individual aspect and each season has a theme. Season one was introductory in nature with programs entitled “The Evidence”, “The Mission” and “The Return”. Season two  began to look at the evidence for visitations with shows entitled “Mysterious Places”, “Underwater Worlds”, and “Underground Aliens”. Season three turns as bit more grisly with titles such as “Aliens and Monsters”, “Aliens and Mysterious Rituals”, “Aliens, Plagues and Epidemics” and “Aliens and Deadly Weapons”. Finally season four goes conspiracy with “The Mayan Conspiracy”, “The Doomsday Prophesy”, “Aliens and Mega-disasters” and “The Da Vince Conspiracy”.

David Childress

Each episode has experts with knowledge of the particular subject and  also has regulars such as David Childress, author of Technology of the gods, Philip Coppens, author of The Ancient Alien Question, Jason Martel (the pin-up boy) author of Knowledge Apocalypse,  and my particular favourite Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, publisher of Legendary Times. From the first to the third series Giorgio’s hair appeared to be getting higher and higher! It seems to have settled down again in season four. Perhaps he is an abductee and the hairstyle was due to fright! (If you’re reading this Giorgio, which I doubt, I’m only teasing). He is a great presenter. He speaks with clarity and enthusiasm because he is in to his subject.

Giorgio with fairly calm hair

What I like about the program is that it looks at a lot of  myths, folklore and ancient sites, which I am very interested in and the concept of alien intervention in human history and development, which I think is a very plausible alternative to science and its inability to find a missing link, and of course religion, none of which in my opinion stand up to close scrutiny. That is not to say that the great religious works of the world have nothing to offer me, it just means that I interpret what I have read in a much different way than the followers of those religions. The bible flood story is an example of ancient historical fact, a fact that science has been in denial about since the Victorian era due to the eagerness of leading scientists of the time trying to distance science from religion.

What I don’t like about the program is the narrators annoying habit of saying “....according to ancient astronaut theorists” every five minutes. There is also no balance: there is no one to say “It’s not aliens it is.....”. There are no competing theories explored. I fear, therefore, that the show preaches only to the converted: this is most definitely a program for believers which I feel may not create many more converts. I hope, however that it does make some, because whether or not there have been aliens in our past, there is certainly a case to re-evaluate our knowledge of ancient times and give serious consideration to the possibility that humankind has been as or more civilized than we are now. There are sites such as Gobekli Tepe that are earlier than the accepted date for the establishment of civilization and there are many examples of artifacts that challenge the accepted dating system.

I find Ancient Aliens to be interesting, thought provoking and entertaining. It always has good footage and material  and is well produced. I don’t necessarily accept a lot of what is said, nonetheless I find enough of interest to keep me watching and it helps me work out my own theories to challenge what is blindly accepted by the establishment. If you are open minded and like to explore alternative theories you will probably like Ancient Aliens.

CONTINUUM

 SHOWCASE

Continuum is a new sci-fi series from the company that has brought us, amongst other things Dexter, and like Dexter it is original and highly watchable. The story revolves around a police officer from the future (known as a protector) and a gang of eco- terrorists who were about to be executed. However a terrorist attack of some sort hurls them all back from the year 2077 to 2012. Once there the terrorists see a golden opportunity to change the future and the protector does her best to prevent them.

The cast features Rachel Nicholls as Kiera Cameron, who played agent Rebecca locke in The Inside and Rachel Gibson in Alias) Victor Webster (Caleb Brewer in Melrose Place) as Carlos Fonnegra, Eric Knudsen ( Dale Turner in Jericho) plays Alec Sadler and Stephen Lobo as Matthew Kellog ( Randall Brady in Smallville). With an excellent supporting cast this series is well played out.

The basic story is centred on Cameron’s attempts to thwart the intentions of the gang, who see a chance to save the future. In the future people live in mega cities and everything is controlled by technology. The protector’s suit is completely technological and enhances all her senses as well as providing extras such as facial recognition software linked to a population database. The population do not see countryside and their roles are determined by the state. The state is run by large corporations. This gave rise to a group of eco-terrorists called Liberate who fight for “freedom”. Cameron has to learn to adapt to life without her technology. 

As luck would have it she makes an ally of Alec Sandler who just happens to be a tech wizard that has developed a surveillance system that is hacked in to the Homeland Security system (or some such). He picks up Cameron’s signal and acts as her high tech eyes and ears.

She also enlists the help of one of the terrorists, Kellog, who goes solo and decides to make himself rich and enjoy what 2012 has to offer (fresh produce, for example). The only slight flaw to the plot is the ease in which she assimilates herself in to the contemporary police. She bluffs that she was from a different state’s task force and there is a lag between being confronted and Alec Sadler creating the appropriate data records for her. Still, it is a small thing and I am maybe being overcritical. According to details on IMDB there are ten scheduled episodes, all with the word time in the title, a similar touch to The Mentalist, which always has the word red (for red john) in the title. 

I have found that I have been drawn in to the unfolding story and sympathise with the characters. There is plenty of action which is interspersed with “flash forwards” to Cameron’s future (or present from her perspective) that show her work and family life and there are elements of humour. I don’t want to get in to the storyline too much because I am not sure when Continuum is due to air in the UK. I don’t want to spoil things for Sci-Fi fans there. This most certainly deserves a thumbs up and is recommended viewing. Watch out for it.

CAN WE TRUST THE POLICE?

BBC3

The title of this documentary may seem controversial and the fact that independent film maker and rapper Adam Deacon directed and fronted it gave the impression that it would be a hard hitting exposé of what goes on in the modern police force. Let us remember, however, that it is on the BBC, who are not exactly unbiased and ground breaking any more: not since they started receiving money from the EU. So as I sat down to watch the video I was wondering which will it be – safe or controversial?

It begins with Deacon attending firearms training. He relates to the camera that recent polls in the Hackney area show that one in three think that the police are corrupt and one in five think the police cannot be trusted. Deacon interviewed some of the armed police. One marksman told him that although he hopes to go through his career without having to draw his weapon he did not feel safe without a gun. Mr. Deacon then asked the trainer if marksmen were told to shoot for the arms or other non vital areas first but the trainer confirmed that they are taught to aim at the largest body mass (the torso). Another said that the officer at an incident that involves weapons may have only a split second within which to decide whether to fire on an assailant.

Next we are told of a case of mistaken identity. A man called “David” was accused of kidnap and rushed and pinned down with no warning. The video footage taken by the police was shown, and it was quite scary. They gave no warning as they approached their suspect who was looking in the boot of his car. He was forced to the ground and had a police officer standing on his head. It took twelve hours for them to realise that they had the wrong man. The officers involved were not identified and to this day David has not had an apology.

Deacon then travels to Derbyshire to bring us a tale of police neglect. He speaks to a mother of a 21 year old girl that was shot by her ex-boyfriend. For months the girl and her family told the police of attacks he had carried out, that he had a criminal record for assaulting his ex-wife and that he had a gun and had threatened to kill the girl. This he did and her poor mother found out when she went to look for her daughter who had been expected home earlier and was stopped at a police road block which turned out to be the crime scene of her daughters murder. Police blamed “systemic failures and overwork” for the tragedy.

About half way through the documentary Mr Deacon poses the usual question – is it a few rotten apples, etc. He visits his barber shop where customers are saying that youngsters don’t help themselves, that they are aggressive and disrespectful to the police.

He visits Scotland to look at rural police and discovers that people are much friendlier towards their local PC’s and see them as a valuable part of the community. The best part of this section, however was watching Adam Deacon walking across a very muddy farm yard in his ever so expensive bright white trainers. I got quite a chuckle out of that, so did the farm workers! He asked the rural officer what he thought when he heard stories of police brutality. He replied that it was disappointing when someone let the side down.

From Scotland it was back to the capital and a Tottenham vs. Chelsea football match. The policing of the match was shown as being hands off. The police maintain a presence at a low profile but watch for trouble starting. However a father and son who are Chelsea fans tell of an event away from the ground. When trouble flared at a pub the police blocked the area off. The duo and the son of a friend were not allowed to leave until the situation was dealt with. The two boys were 13 at the time and one of them was accused by an officer of “giving him the eyeball” then hit him with his baton and pinned him to the ground. The father tried to intervene and was treated in a similar manner. This also was filmed but despite this no officers could be identified and no charges were brought against any of them.

The documentary finishes with a visit to Northampton to see cadets training. The cadets give a lot of feedback to superiors and the hope is that this will improve policing. One cadet tells how he passed on that an officer training him was homophobic. The officer was dismissed.

My first thought at the conclusion was: is this the BBC being pro-establishment, pushing authoritarian values? By commissioning a film made by a Black film maker that is popular with youth they look like they are providing an alternative view but what we get is the same old thing: the police are ok really, they are only human, etc. It is refreshing in a way to see that they are human, because perhaps the unsuitable officers can be identified and removed from the force. It also shows that our police force as a whole is not brainwashed in to being exactly the same. They need the personal touch to prevent them from becoming unthinking automatons of the state. Obviously the rural PC and the urban armed officers do not face the same problems, so why should they behave in the same way?

There is one thing that I would like to comment on. Several incidents were related that revealed that the police could not be identified.This shouldn't be allowed. A rogue officer has to be identified and disciplined for the good of the rest of the force. There is never a case in a free society for police identity to be withheld. Having said that I conclude that Adam Deacon did a good job of being balanced and provided the viewer with an interesting insight in to the workings of the modern police

MOBSTER CONFESSIONS

 

 DISCOVERY CHANNEL

 

This documentary is based on an account by Billy Cutolo Jr. who is an ex-mobster. He was based in New York where there are five big crime families one of which is the Columbo gang that Cutolo and his father before him were members of. The story begins with some in fighting amongst the gang. The gang leader was in jail and a power struggle erupted between two members. When the war was over Billys father was on the losing side, but as things settled down it appeared that all was forgiven and things went back to business as usual. However it wasn’t long before Billy Senior was “erased”. When Billy Jr. found out he wanted to take lives in revenge.

Shortly afterwards the FBI approached Billy Jr and asked if he would like to help get the men that had his father killed. After some soul searching he decides to help the FBI which he does by providing his dads journals and wearing a wire when he went to meetings with gang members. He recorded over 100 conversations. He managed to get his fathers killer on tape threatening his family. His testimony led to convictions. Sadly for Billy Jr. though this was not happy ever after time because he and his entire family had to go in to the witness protection program which meant taking on new lives and identities. When he told the rest of his family what he had done he did not get the reaction that he expected. He was seen as a “grass” by his family who couldn’t believe what he had done. Sadly, Billy Jr. informs us that he is not in contact with any of his family now.

The documentary is of the style that uses re-enactments and dramatizations of the story, which were done ok and also featured an interview with Billy Jr. It is fascinating to look into another world: a world that is alien to most of us whose only knowledge of organized crime comes from the news media and movies. It is fascinating yet horrifying that we have within our midst people who would think nothing of killing another for the personal gain it will bring. They move within their own circles but the documentary makes mention of an incident that cost two bystanders their lives, so it can reach the public. What a horrible thought: sitting in a cafe drinking a Latte and being killed!  It brings a new meaning to a shot of Coffee!

Billy Jr. paid a high price to get justice, losing his family and his identity but declares that he is glad that he broke the cycle of violence. Mobster Confessions looks like it will be an interesting show for those of you that like crime programs. It has nothing new to offer in the way of a format but that isn’t really important. The story was well told and reasonably well dramatized. My verdict: good for fans of crime and gangster shows as long as it continues to find new people to showcase.