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Reviews
Rumpole of the Bailey: Rumpole and the Official Secret (1987)
horses for courses
A shame the previous reviewer didn't like this episode, since I was struck by how outstandingly good it was. Everything in the storyline meshed neatly, including the wire-tape which had only caught the decorator's name. A thoroughly enjoyable hour's entertainment. Rumpole at his best with a hostile judge, giving as good as he got.
Skyfall (2012)
A terrible film, I wondered when it would end, and wished it would be soon
Unlike other reviewers, I found nothing to recommend this movie at all. The plot was poor, and dialogue, such as it was, was hopeless, the acting stilted and suspense non-existent. You can usually tell within a minute or two of whether a film will be worth watching, and this one was firmly in the No basket. So what did we get? It started with a whole lot of routine chase stuff, culminating in Bond falling apparently dead into a river, where we're treated to some gee-whizz underwater shots of his "drowning". Next second, he's walking smartly down the corridors of power, fresh as a daisy. How did this happen? Was it "with a bound he was free" the classic text so beloved of scriptwriters who've boxed their star into a corner? It didn't get any better. I kept looking at my watch, hoping it would end soon. The early bond movies had style. This one was a waste of space. I've awarded it a 1/10, but would happily give it no marks at all.
Under the Dome (2013)
An apology for SciFi
The premise was fine, the book was probably fine too...and about a week under the dome was probably about right as well. But 13 episodes was twice too long, and the idea of 5 series of 13 simply too awful to contemplate. The characters are all cardboard cut-outs...."one dimensional" is the most charitable term. I didn't bother with episodes 5 to 12, since each week it was all the same story, with just a small teaser each time to egg the plot along a little at a snail's pace. I watched week 13, hoping for it to be all over, and for it to be given a decent burial. No such luck. They should have had the heroine jump into the lake, dying a martyr's death, and have Junior pulled the handle on the scaffold so that Barbie was gone too, in heroic sacrifice. Closure can't come quickly enough for this apology for SciFi
Out of the Unknown: Get Off My Cloud (1969)
outstandingly good
Like the previous contributor, I was in my teens when this was first aired. And - also like the previous contributor - I remember the taxi scene vividly after the same amount of time. It's rare to find good SciFi, let alone brilliant stuff, but Out Of The Unknown contained some outstandingly good adaptations, and this was one such. The conversation with the taxi driver especially sticks in the mind since the 'mind invader' was 'chosen to be especially level headed' and the chosen character of a 'blunt northerner' worked very well, the kind of man who does not suffer fools gladly. In those days when the BBC in particular regarded itself as the guardian of the English language (how things have changed!) it was rare to hear any accent other than 'Standard Oxford English' on TV. Maybe the producer was thinking of the late great Professor Fred Hoyle as a model? And when the taxi driver is duly told to 'go to hell', the whole taxi promptly sinks into the desert sand! Arranging this with only the limited graphics and technology of the 1960's was something else again!
Zodiac (1974)
Zodiac - a gentle comedy
Despite the other negative reviews concerning this programme, it was one of my favourites that year. I well remember this as being a very gentle comedy/drama, and (again contrary to other comments) considered that the chemistry between the two principal leads worked excellently well. The subtle humour and banter between Rodgers and Hempel made it one of those "will they won't they" scenarios, very much akin to the Steed/Peel coupling in the 1960's Avengers. Certainly for 1974 it was a great tonic and wonderful relief from the grim reality of that year of the Heath Government. A great pity there were no more than the original six episodes. However six was probably the right number and I suspect that more would have meant less, so to speak. Nevertheless I would dearly enjoy seeing them all again, they have truly vanished without trace and there are, for example, no listings at all on ebay from amateur recordists. Indeed, even Wikipedia makes no mention of the series under Anton Rodgers - maybe he was also disappointed and wished to remove any connection with it? Nevertheless, Zodiac has one fan - me!