On telly this week

[Mabs]

BBC's Hidden Kingdoms was bloody brilliant! I watched it with the kids - they were getting late for bed but I let them watch it and both of them were glued to the screen. The standout moment was seeing the African Elephant Shrew trying to dodge the earth shattering shower of elephant poo! 

And the Grasshopper Mouse fighting a deadly scorpion. Wow.

I love these kind of shows! Beats shite like Big Brother and I'm a Celebrity everytime!

[The Legendary Shark]

QI.
.
I am completely in love with Lisa Tarbuck - and I have no idea why.

[Mardroid]

And the Grasshopper Mouse fighting a deadly scorpion. Wow.

Actually it was a giant centipede but yes, that sequence was spectacular. Actually more exciting than the usual big cat kills etc. (Don't get me wrong, I love big cats.)

[spoiler]And then, what did the mouse do after after dispatching the giant bug? It howled like a wolf in triumph. Literally. At least it seemed to be howling in triumph. It might have just been saying "Grubs over here!"[/spoiler]

I was a little put off by the 'making of' section at the end on realise how  much was staged and that special effects were involved. However I think that was just to set the scene and make filming easier. I think the creatures behaviour and the fights were for real.

[Mabs]

And the Grasshopper Mouse fighting a deadly scorpion. Wow.

Actually it was a giant centipede but yes, that sequence was spectacular. Actually more exciting than the usual big cat kills etc. (Don't get me wrong, I love big cats.)

[spoiler]And then, what did the mouse do after after dispatching the giant bug? It howled like a wolf in triumph. Literally. At least it seemed to be howling in triumph. It might have just been saying "Grubs over here!"[/spoiler]

I was a little put off by the 'making of' section at the end on realise how  much was staged and that special effects were involved. However I think that was just to set the scene and make filming easier. I think the creatures behaviour and the fights were for real.

The mum mouse fights the scorpion first time round to feed her young and then her eldest son fights the centipide! 

And you're right, the making of section is a real eye opener.

[Mardroid]

Ah, sorry. I missed the start. I hadn't planned to watch it you see, just happened across it flicking channels. It was a nice interesting surprise.

[Mabs]

That's alright Mardroid, both fights were amazing. The thing that was awesome to note was the fact the mouse was immune to the scorpion's poison, something which would most definitely harm a human and here's this little mouse with no fear of it whatsoever.

I'll definitely be watching the next episode. It's also a great show for the kids to watch too. My son was really upset when the African Elephant Shrew baby lost its mother, it reminded me of Bambi for some reason! 

[Dandontdare]

anybody know anything about HELIX? The 2 hour pilot's on C5 tonight, but sound like another generic US show about unfeasibly young and buff scientists being chased by shadowy government organisations.

EDIT - just found a guardian article which calls it "as daft as a virus-infected brush"!

[Professor Bear]

It's also identical to a couple of existing tv series.  The one it most resembles I sadly cannot remember the name of, but the pilot episode had a team of young buff scientists and token eldsters investigating a viral infection that looked like oil but was really a prehistoric collective intelligence - a premise which was then ripped off by some ITV miniseries where anyone infected with a virus (from history or outer space I cannot recall) became part of a hive mind.

Helix is pretty dire, but it is cheap, unoriginal and po-faced, so I imagine it will find an audience, if only on the SyFy Channel.

[TordelBack]

I am completely in love with Lisa Tarbuck - and I have no idea why.

Yeah, I have that problem too.  I think it's her laugh. 

[M.I.K.]

Is it just me, or is House of Fools not very good?

[CrazyFoxMachine]

It's mixed, for sure - but I quite like it. Its surreal puppet asides alone are telly gold - but yes I can see why people don't ... the constant audience laughter and contrived sitcom set-ups make it seem quite awkward and stilted. Plus I'm not a huge fan of Matt Berry's "Matt Berry" character that he always always seems to play.

Given their own series again I wish they'd done something closer to Catterick which is the best thing ever made by humans. Even better than the Easter Island Heads or the Magna Carta.

[Jim_Campbell]

Anybody still bothering with the Jonathan Rhys Meyers Dracula? I'd been finding it a bit of a slog and going to catch up after letting a few episodes pile up over Christmas and New Year, I found I could neither recall what was happening nor summon any enthusiasm for watching any more, so deleted the episodes unwatched.

Cheers

Jim

[Link Prime]

Anybody still bothering with the Jonathan Rhys Meyers Dracula? I'd been finding it a bit of a slog and going to catch up after letting a few episodes pile up over Christmas and New Year, I found I could neither recall what was happening nor summon any enthusiasm for watching any more, so deleted the episodes unwatched.

Cheers

Jim

I literally couldn't make it through the advert.

[Jim_Campbell]

I literally couldn't make it through the advert.

To be honest, it's largely my wife's fondness for Rhys Meyers with his shirt off (of which there is usually a healthy dose in each episode) that's got us this far. Even she has now said she's not fussed about watching the rest of the series...!

Cheers

Jim

[Link Prime]

Strong resolve!

My missus used to be a fan of the shirtless one too, but told me she gave up on him once he started permanently looking like he was off his tits on somethin.