Stuff I Watched: 24th Dec – 27th Dec 2009

Welcome to a vaguely festive edition of Stuff I Watched.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: iTunes (Downloaded 24th Dec Watched 24th Dec)

As some of you will already know, Sky Plus cocked up the recording of the final episode of Curb for everybody.  This is the second time that I’ve had to download it this season.  More4 then repeated the episode in the late night Sunday slot, which is usually for older episodes.  Somebody needs to get their act together.

Anyway, this episode’s big selling point was the footage from the ‘Seinfeld reunion show’.  As a non-Seinfeld fan, that all kind of passed me by a little bit, bit luckily there was plenty of hilarity besides.   Highlights included the picking apart of the phrase ’having said that’ and my new instant catchphrase, ‘Do you respect wood?’

This was possibly the last ever installment of Curb, and, given their amazing chemistry, let’s hope that Larry and Jerry work together again soon.

Frost/Nixon: Sky Anytime (W 24th Dec)

This is something of a rarity for me: an English language film.  It felt strangely like an high-quality TV drama as opposed to a feature film, but it was fascinating, compelling and had a good sense of humour.  Frank Langella’s portrayal of Nixon came across as human rather than as a panto villain, and Michael Sheen excelled, as always, as Frost.

Given his current reputation (as a result of the Nixon interviews), it’s fascinating to see how much of a joke Frost was to other journalists and how close he came to being overrun by Nixon.

Doctor Who: BBC HD (R 25th Dec W 25th Dec)

This penultimate episode for Russell T Davies summed up my feelings for his entire run:  I enjoy the uniquely British take on sci-fi, but I’m never entirely convinced.  Most of the hour plodded along and was a little bit annoying, but they managed to turn it round with an exciting cliffhanger.

The reason that I’m really writing this is to make a plea to new showrunner, Steven Moffat:  please tone down the incidental music, it makes me want to smash stuff.

Victoria Wood’s Midlife Christmas: BBC HD (R 24th Dec W 27th Dec)

Victoria Wood was apparently unhappy that this show had been shifted from the prime Christmas day slot.  After watching it, it’s hardly surprising that it was moved; it was one of the most disappointing programmes of the year.  Of course there was the occasional funny moment, and Julie Walters was as hilarious as ever, but it was all a little bit weak.  There were only about 3 or 4 recurring sketches throughout the whole show and they didn’t contain enough ideas to sustain an hour’s comedy.

The worst crime of all was the complete absence of her regular cast.  Where on earth were they?

Top Gear: BBC HD (R 27th Dec W 27th Dec)

When this current series of Top Gear started I said that it was the programme that elicited the most conflicting emotions in me.  This episode, the ‘Bolivia special’, summed this sentiment up perfectly.  It’s a bizarre concoction that combines self-indulgent tedium and fakery with breathtaking scenery and adventure.  The horrors of the death road was the scariest thing I’ve seen on TV, even withstanding the obviously staged section in which Clarkson nearly fell off a cliff.

It has many faults, but no other programme comes close to replicating the bits that it does well.  Overall, the programme seems to be running out of steam, they should probably just stick to doing occasional specials.