zahra, you don't have a VCR or Sky+?
I only get to watch TV in quiet early morning moments -- the stuff I've taped from the previous night, that is. My other half (diehard TV addict) hogs the remote controls and the best seat all evening. Viewing starts at 6:30 with Hollyoaks (glossy young things) followed by Emmerdale (often riotously funny), Corrie (funny sometimes), EastEnders (never funny), then into whatever drama happens comes after.
The Thick Of It - sorry, I've missed this so far.
Truth Dare Kiss - full of dislikeable characters saying and doing totally unrealistic things to each other, pretty much par for the course for Brit TV drama these days.
Talk To Me (Max Beasley's radio jock) - amazing that they could stretch a 5-minute idea into such a long boring drama. Thank goodness it's over.
Rome - 2nd series, Brutus and Cassius are marching home with their army expecting to meet and crush Octavian. Meanwhile, Octavian visits an old friend up north.
Good scripts, charismatic performances, sometimes gritty to the point of nausea.
Jekyll & Hyde - a surprisingly fresh take on the old idea. Just a little bit silly in places what with the tech-corp shennanigans, but otherwise tries hard to entertain.
Foyle's War - still shows up occasionally on quiet nights, an always watchable clever quirky whodunnit, sometimes gives the impression of being slow-paced but that's because the old cars never seem to drive above 10mph.
Casualty - long-running BBC medical soap pretending to be drama, totally bereft of interesting ideas and realistic characters. Warning, some supposedly dramatic situations may result in unexpected gut-busting laughter.
Holby City - Casualty's big hospital cousin, just as awful.
Holby Blue - BBC cop show set in the same city as above, containing some of the most seriously flawed writing I've seen this year, and with the usual crop of unrealistic characters. First series just ended, despite poor ratings a second series is being mounted.
Blue Murder - farcical and superficial attempt at cop drama.
The Bill - long-running cop soap, comes up with good storylines now and again tho' they tend to arc over weeks or even months, but it's always there if nothing else is on. Shamelessly recycles dialogue from The Sweeney, e.g. You're nicked, you slag! You're going daaaaarn!
The Commander returns tonight for a 2-partner, I must say the trailer ad makes supercool Amanda Burton look rather frizzy around the edges.
Major moan alert, Doctor Who fans stop reading now:
Doctor Who - just ended last weekend, as with the 2 previous series the kiddie-level writing with its too-easy and often absurd solutions that just don't hold up to close inspection disappointed the hell out of me. I acknowledge some charismatic performances both from the leads and the guests, my problem lies with the writing -- often lazy, clichéd and expositional in equal measures. If the storylines were as clever as the CGI then I wouldn't have any complaints.
Did someone mention Robin Hood? Words fail me (well, nearly). Acting wasn't bad in places but overall, the series just wasn't good enough -- weak storylines, slow pacing, poor action scenes. I believe I threw the cat at the TV to register my disapproval. Most Robin of Sherwood episodes from the early '80s still beat the pants off this version (yes of course I mean Michael Praed episodes, not Jason Connery, are you insane?).
Please direct hate mail to the usual address.
-Derek