Single Father (BBC)

As you all know, I'm a fan of all kinds of television shows. I watch reality stuff, kids' stuff, dramas... So it was with high hopes that I sat down tonight to watch the new BBC Drama "Single Father" starring Suranne Jones and David Tennant. 

It was, as far as I knew, about a man dealing with the death of his wife and the children he's been left with. I had a feeling, after reading very good reviews on some of the most respectable blogs - blogs I trust, that this would be something I would enjoy. I thought it would be great to watch a pair of such familiar faces in an emotionally charged, quality drama. It seems, some ten minutes before the end of the first episode, that I will be left wanting. 

Despite a promising set up (the actual crash which caused Rita's death was brilliantly sudden, yet foreseeable) there is a huge problem so far with pace. It's either top-speed rollicking drama or something-and-nothing soapy whining. I know it has a sensitive subject matter, but this drama has, so far, not even touched on anything even resembling understanding. There's also a smell of "small world coincidental mysticism" about the whole thing... Everyone is connected to everyone else in too many ways. She's not just the wife's best friend, but his ex wife and an enemy of the sister, who wants to help because the kids are all she has; kids that want everything except the half sister that has now become a seemingly lucky orphan, since David Tennant forgot to adopt her. It's just a mess. A lovely idea, no question about that! And the acting throughout has been top-notch! Tennant particularly shines as the hapless and struggling title character. 

It's not at all what it could be, though. It's a bit like an ITV Drama that breaks itself up into sections with Snow Patrol music videos - over-emotive, over-complicated, over-written - and over. I've just spent the last 15 minutes of the thing I was so looking forward to writing about how bad it is. Clearly it hasn't held my attention either, then. Here are some more things I hated about it: 1. The "psychic" I Love You/I Love You Too when Rita was killed - I half thought she was going to come back as a ghost. 2. everything else, except the acting. 

Bye.

The X Factor - Live Show 1

So live show number one has been shown and almost ALL of my first impressions were turned on their heads and more dramatic, professional performances leapt into sight. 

Firstly, Cher Lloyd blew me away with her stage presence yet needed a little work on her vocals. Belle Amie did well, but they're not connecting as a group just yet. Storm was okay, but Louis has turned almost ALL of his category into parodies of what made them so original in the first place. Diva Fever brought the place down with the most camp performance The X Factor has ever seen! And Wagner was... interesting. But there were two clear favourites this week. The crowd loved Mary Byrne, the 50 year old Tesco woman with a HUGE voice and she was awesome. But the best performance of the night, for me, was someone I wrote off as "the same as any other male solo singer out there" - Aidan Grimshaw (pictured).

He sang the Tears For Fears classic "Mad World" - from a throne of chains, in a stark spotlight... it was a very chilling, very dramatic performance. There was almost something scary about it. I described the performance on Twitter as like "being sung to sleep by a known murderer" and I stand by that! It was the ONLY perfect performance of the evening, if you ask me... 

The whole competition has shuffled for me, now. Those I loved were just okay, those who were terrible before were incredible. I want to watch Aidan's performance again and when I find it on a popular video-sharing site you will be able to find it below. Roll on next week...

The Apprentice - Dan Harris Is A C**t!

And so it begins. Lord Sugar has a new hench-woman and I already want to kill 4 of the candidates! There's a new house, a woman who looks like a friend of mine and so much male-back-slapping/girly-group-hugging that I wanted to high-five someone myself, sat at home! But there was one who just couldn't cut the (pork and) mustard (sausages) tonight...

The first entrepreneurial hopeful to become a hopeless nonentity was Dan "I'll Project Manage And You Do All The Work" Harris - what a prick.

Or, as he will be known from here onward, The C**t. A loud-mouthed, bullish, pinch-faced shout-monger who, despite being an ex-millionaire sales director, was a shit salesman and a terrible leader. The C**t yelled, pushed, arm-folded, huffed, puffed and blew himself out of the house and into that black cab before the end of just the second day.

The only reason I can think of for The C**t's to-attentionism and utter disregard for professional courtesy and understanding - (if he'd spoken to me like that in front of strangers in the street I'd have quietly taken him to one side and explained, politely, that I am not a cat and barking at me won't make my run faster) - the ONLY reason I can think of for his over-the-top, look-how-big-a-man-I-am 'juggernaution' is that he's got a dick like a bookie's biro. 

That said, The Brand was a pain in the arse and I'm a little freaked out by that woman who looks a bit like Miriam Margoyles being sucked nose-first up an invisible vacuum cleaner - so it's clearly going to be another year of I LOVE HIM/I HATE HIM action from the best dichotomous reality show on Earth - (it's both full of childish wankers who can't be trusted to wash a fucking car and the people who actually have jobs in important areas of this country's economy - no wonder we're all going to the dogs) - Roll on next week.

My favourite? Oooooh! Too early to tell... Ask me again next time.