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Only on the weekends

Christ, have I imagined something to complain about again? I have very vivid memories of finding that whole sequence really annoying for the reasons stated above. You're right about the falling, and subsequent on stage humiliation although I think he sort of made his way up an aisle first rather than falling from the stage onto the front row.. It was just the justification for the fall that got me. Rather than modify the sketch so he pretended to slip on a step or even a discarded sweet wrapper or something they did the tv thing of him calling to a 'driver' to stop rapidly and make him stumble.

Maybe it wasn't laziness, maybe they genuinely thought they were catering to the tv fans by doing it verbatim but it just didn't work for me.

I realise I'm debating the failings of one sketch among many and it probably makes me sound like a petty prick so I'll stop now. I do think it's telling though that the only sketch from that show that has stayed with me is one that irritated me, whereas my memories of the tv show are by and large possitive. Maybe I'm just too much of a philistine to grasp the finer nuances of stage performance.

I was aware that the stage show was in existence before the tv show and that many characters had their genesis there. I just think that they might have done more to capitalise on what I would assume would have been a considerable number of new fans that the show brought in.

That said, and please correct me if I'm wrong on this because I'm only guessing, but surely the example I gave (Lipp on the bus) didn't exist in that form before tv? Who would write that for a stage show? It just doesn't work in that form, but would with onl the smallest of alterations. Hence my, perhaps harsh, lazy tag.

I enjoyed the movie though, for all the reasons I didn't enjoy the stage show. It had it's flaws and wasn't the moderrn classic I think fans were hoping for but at least it tried to do something that the post tv stage run didn't, which was try to do something new and expand on the existing formst. To my mind it was unfairly maligned by a lot of people who were expectng a lot from a bunch of guys who'd never made a movie before.

I got the Live at Drury Lane video. Have to say, much of it left me cold. A then colleague of mine with whom I shared a love of the tv show told me that it was because I only 'got' the tv characters and the other 'more intellectual' stuff was over my head.

I choose to subscribe to the theory that the stuff on tv was chosen for tv because it was funny and the other stuff was very much a vanity project. They knew they had something of a captive audience of people there to see the famous characters. The trouble was, when the characters from tv did come on stage they did very little new with them, choosing instead to rehash existing sketches even when they obviously didn't work in that context.

The example that actually annoyed rather than dissapointed me was the sketch were the bus stops abruptly so the guy can fall into the young lads lap. They did it with him falling on a member of the audience but rather than a simple reworking so he slipped on a step or something they did it word for word from the tv sketch and he actually called out for the bus to stop, which made no sense in that context and smacked of laziness to me.

I'm really glad I waited for the video rather than going to the theatre because I would have been mightily dissapointed.   

Well, I predicted precisely none of that. Bloody marvelous. By far the most laugh out loud episode of the series but also, for me, the most poignant. The very real bond between the old inmates was nicely played but the best 'moment' for me was [spoiler]Tealeafs expression when handed the biscuit. That wry litle smile spoke of real affection, almost despite himself[/spoiler].

As to the significance of [spoiler]the locket[/spoiler]. Where they perhaps opening up pathways for a second season?  Certainly, I didn't feel shortchanged by it as [spoiler]the real meat of the finale was Jolly  and his need for revenge.[/spoiler]

David is the most likeable serial killer I think I've ever seen on screen. I actually exclaimed a large[spoiler] "Shit No" when she shot him[/spoiler].

Last point, when Jelly said[spoiler] "I'm sure some stuff doesn't add up. I'll have to think back." who else immediately started wracking their brains for plot holes? [/spoiler]

This weeks cover was a nice simple idea that even Simon Davis couldn't mess up and the use of lots of whitespace made it all the more striking an image.

Dredd built on the last couple of weeks in typically fine style and ended on what I for one have been waiting for. Nice Dredd. Of course, we have to wait until next week to get a decent dose but still, "I am the Community". Priceless. Also loved the prisoners rant about the price of gloves. Watching a psychotic mind justify the most depraved of acts is always fun. He was cold and they'd ad a good innings. Be honest, what would you do?

The Red Seas : Once again Ian Edgington shows Pat Mills how to write historic fantasy. It's clever, it's funny and it tells an interesting tale using likeable characters.

Sinister Dexter continues to be fantastic. I've been pleased to see the generally positive comments on Sin/Dex here because I've gotten quite annoyed at the criticisms a lot of people have been levelling at it recently. When series shattering events are reset too easily writers are criticised, and rightly so, but when Abnett takes his time putting the pieces back together and actually makes his characters work to get their lives back on track, the series is suddenly dull and repetitive and "nothing happens". I know which I prefer.

Sanctuary is probably one of the better FS in recent times and I have to admit that I didn't see the twist coming. Mind you, I also didn't get the relevance of his chain until Goaty pointed it out, so maybe I wasn't at my most observnt. How long before some of those pop. control strategies start being whispered about in the corridors of power?

So we come to Defoe and once again Pat Mills shows Ian Edgington how not to write historic fantasy. It's not clever, it's not funny and it tells a dull tale using bland and unrelateable characters.
I think I'm gonna go my Slaine route from now on and just not bother talking about this series cos I realise constant citicism gets boring. I'll still be reading though and if it changes my mind I'll certainly say so.

Dredd : Wagner and Flint/Blythe
Cabalistics : Rennie/Reardon
Dante : Morrison/Burns
Sinister Dexter : Abnett/Anyone but Davis
Stickleback : Edgington/D'israeli

With a nice big Thrills Of The Future showcasing Carver Hale 2.

There you are. My dream issue. I struggled mightily with including Robbie Morrison on the list and leaving out Al Ewing but needs must and Dante swung the vote. Note he's in the centre so Burns can grace us with a nice big splash.

I didn't find it cold and I didn't analyse it beyond thinking "That was a good little story".

Of course this means I probably missed a million nuances but what can you do?

It reads quite differently now from how it read in 1988 in the closing years of the Cold War

Now you see, therein lies the rub of the nub I think. Not having lived through that era - well, having lived through it as a small child and therefore oblivious to it - those aspects wouldn't have registered to me.

Something else that was a factor I think was that I have little or no interest in the superhero genre (other than 90's cartoons,especially Marvels efforts). You're not likely to get much from someone deconstructing a genre without being pretty well versed in said genre in the first place.

As I say though, as an impartial outsider, taking it purely on its merits I enjoyed it as a good story well told.

At the risk of lowering the intellectual standard of this discussion I'd just like to say that yes, I did like Watchmen. I didn't find it cold and I didn't analyse it beyond thinking "That was a good little story".

Of course this means I probably missed a million nuances but what can you do?

My RE teacher was a huge sci-fi fan who often peppered his lessons with episodes of Star Trek and his personal favourite Quantum Leap. He of course thought he was using them to demonstrate points but we all just thought it was an easy skive.

Welcome aboard

Jesus, this thread just ate my weekend. 50some pages here plus all the threads linked to on the JBF - which of course is insanely addictive in it's own right- mean that I've barely moved from the spot except to fetch food, go to the lav and sleep. Proof positive that the internet can  rot your brain.

I have two things to say. 
                         1)Byrne needs psychiatric help and so do some of his "fans".
                         2)It's killing me not knowing what went on in those
                           later links.

I love how everyone - and I'm as guilty as anyone - spoilers their predictions in these threads. Like we're giving away some huge secret by sharing our - lets face it, probably wrong - guesswork.

Anyway, I've changed my prediction. It's not [spoiler]Joys hubby.[/spoiler]It's [spoiler]Biggins.[/spoiler]

And besides, it can't be the [spoiler]matron/nurse because she's the one they all killed isn't she?[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Or did they?[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Well, when Jelly acted in shock towards Jolly and the others having killed her, Jolly didn't correct him or deny it. So, yeah, I reckon she's dead.

For a show containing notes saying "I know what you did" to have the same basic twist as I Know What You Did... seems a little beneath writers of this calibre.[/spoiler] Unless that's what they want us to think

Er, did I dream it?  I'm sure it showed 1 person ignoring me. I even mentioned it to my sister when I first saw it. Maybe Tordelback shamed them? I don't know, maybe I'm going mad.

Cheers by the way Tordelback,assuming you didn't just mean I'm too bland to dislike.

And hopefully without sounding like too much of a plum, I didn't try it cos I was scared I wouldn't be able to switch it back off. I' useless with thes machines. I amaze myself every time I manage to post a basic message.