Author Archives | Plattie
Plattie is Pop Vultures’ London-based BBC correspondent. She has a deep and abiding respect for the Beeb, based on a childhood in which her mum wouldn’t let her watch any of the other channels because they ‘weren’t educational’. Now, Plattie has seen Strictly Come Dancing, so she questions the idea that everything the BBC produces can be described as ‘educational’, but she does know that most of it is good, a lot of it is great, and some of it is so terrible that it has a genius all its own.
Comfort Television
There are a few shows that the BBC makes which I have always found curiously compelling, even though, on the surface, they have very little to recommend them. These are the shows that I will watch when there’s nothing else on, or when I have to do the ironing, or when I can’t quite be [...]
Continue reading...The BBC Looks For Its One and Only
Thursday, January 24, 2008
When Marcia asked me to watch and review the BBC’s latest Saturday evening entertainment offering, The One and Only, I was fairly sure I was in for another relentlessly dull, cringingly awkward cheese-fest in the Strictly Come Dancing tradition. But, I was only half right. Cheesy? Yes. Cringingly awkward? Oh my yes. But relentlessly dull? [...]
Continue reading...Dancing Queens: Ballet Shoes on the BBC
Thursday, January 3, 2008
You can normally rely on the BBC to put on something special over Christmas. This year their offerings included a Dr. Who special featuring Kylie Minogue, a Top Gear special interview with Evel Knievel, and a brand new episode of the really quite lovely Robbie The Reindeer. And all of this on top of The [...]
Continue reading...Quizzing It Up With the BBC
Thursday, December 20, 2007
It is my contention that nobody does the satirical panel quiz show quite like the BBC. And to support my argument, I would like to draw your attention to Have I Got News For You and QI. Have I Got News For You has been running for so long that I remember a time when I [...]
Continue reading...The Queen Is Workin’ For a Livin’
Thursday, December 6, 2007
I’m not one of those Brits who hates the Queen and thinks she’s a waste of good tax revenue. I reckon as heads of state go, we could do a lot worse than a kindly but intelligent old lady who is universally loved and recognised the world over. Nevertheless, I do find that when the [...]
Continue reading...Strictly Come Dancing, Or Why One Should Not Take the BBC Too Seriously
Thursday, November 29, 2007
My last few posts about the BBC have probably given the impression that our beloved broadcasting corporation is a worthy institution that only produces high quality, intellectually stimulating, socially relevant programming. I want to apologise right now if you are labouring under such an illusion, because let me assure you, for every beautifully-rendered costume drama, [...]
Continue reading...Long Way Down: Ewan McGregor and Monkeys, Monkeys, Monkeys
Thursday, November 22, 2007
While those in America are sitting down to a lovely Thanksgiving meal, here in the UK we call this day “Thursday” and must continue to work. However, in brighter news, Plattie has agreed to come on board on a semi-weekly basis as PV’s BBC correspondent. After all, we may not get pumpkin pie, but we [...]
Continue reading...Not-So-Naughty Fanny
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Plattie joins us again to explain how the BBC ruined sex. (Okay, that might be a bit of an overstatement.) It’s a BBC adaptation of a famous erotic novel about prostitution (the lots-of-sex-is-good kind, not the tragedy-of-the-sex-worker kind), it has a star-studded cast (Alison Steadman, Hugo Speer, Samantha Bond) and it’s broadcast after 9pm [...]
Continue reading...Top Gear: Fantasy on Four Wheels
Thursday, November 1, 2007
As part of Pop Vultures’ quest to be the preeminent transatlantic television and film blog with an avian-themed name, I am pleased to offer a guest post by London-based Plattie, of plattie.com. I hate cars. OK, no, that’s not it. I don’t hate cars. I like that cars take me places I don’t want to [...]
Continue reading...- sir jorge: yes. the final six feet under episode is the sadde...
- Gary: Hi All, Although I really liked Tom Baker as...
- Anna: I completely disliked the movie. There were barely...
- Jason: I'd have to add Rome and Band of Brothers... ...
- Ronnie: I have to agree on the gentleman. I get scared by...
- TV, TV: Where Did Our Love Go?
- Tidbits for Monday
- Road Tripping With The BBC
- Tidbits for Monday
- 5 Great Film Actors That We Met On TV
- No Sign of Intelligent Life on Mars
Latest Videos
Exhibit A for why I love this show.
The BBC has released the first trailer for Merlin, the 13-episode retelling of the famous fantasy saga. The series will also air on NBC this winter.
Kristen Chenoweth uses the power of song to explain exactly why crystal meth is a bad thing. Some NSFW language.
PV's TV 
Monday’s top picks:
There’s something for everyone on Monday night. How I Met Your Mother still makes me laugh every week, which is something I never thought I’d say for a CBS comedy. CBS, 8:30
Chuck also still makes me laugh. So does Heroes, which follows it, though I’m pretty sure Chuck is the only one that’s intentionally funny. NBC, 8:00 and 9:00
For cheesy goodness, Gossip Girl’s second season has more than lived up to the promise of the first one. Chuck may be the greatest soap villain since Amanda Woodward first flexed her claws. CW, 8:00
Thursday, January 31, 2008
9 Comments