Showing posts with label The Wire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Wire. Show all posts
Monday, 10 November 2008
Bring on the English Revolution!
The Devil's Whore is coming to Channel 4. It is difficult to contain my excitement. In a preview in The Sunday Times a whole list of treats are placed before us. First and foremost, this new television drama is written by Peter Flannery the writer of Our Friends in the North. All right, a very close second is that The Devil's Whore is about the Cromwell and English Revolution. Here's a list of other things to get excited about:- the cast includes Dominic West (The Wire) as Cromwell
- there hasn't been a prime time civil war drama since 1983
- it was filmed in South Africa
- it has a big budget - £7m for a four-parter
- Flannery read the King James version of the Bible (1604) to research dialogue and the use of "muscular metaphor and simile" (it might not rock your boat but it's rocking mine)
Flannery unashamedly engages his audiences with big ideas, his characters are complex and he wants to take you on an unforgettable journey. What more could we want?
"I'm not selling this as a way of passing your GCSE in 17th-century history... I'm trying to write a thrilling story about those times and what the issues were..."Bring on the English Revolution! See you at the Channel 4 barricades on November 19th. [I'm guessing 9pm but the online listings aren't giving up crucial information like that just yet].
[England's civil war in The Devil’s Whore, The Sunday Times]
Monday, 31 March 2008
I'm Being Pursued by a Theme - Not Part 2
"Part 2 will follow shortly"...
...Ah the promises you make to yourself and your readership (non-existent as we speak). Let this be a warning against the dangers of promising blog serialisation.
I can't blame back-to-back, nightly viewing of Series One of "The Wire". That obsession could only explain a lack of blog productivity in February. And, no I haven't watched it twice, I have lent my copy to London-based Wire Virgins. (When is it correct to use italics? by the way, as I am odeeing on them tonight). I am awaiting a free peak of Series Two and Three from some from Nottingham Wire Heads who cruelly promised they were going to let me take Series Two away with me on Sunday but have since changed their minds because they want to watch the whole series with the subtitles on. If that isn't an example of Subtitle Completism, I don't know what is...
No March, has got washed up with nasty weather; counting the days until Spring truly arrives (I think it has now); bitty work projects; trips to Nottingham and a very special 80th birthday party. Who needs to blog?
Clearly, I think I do.
I shall be returning to "The Wire" but I will leave you with the article by Charlie Brooker that sparked an interest (in a friend), who in turn showed me a clip of the series on YouTube, who then went and accidentally bought me a copy using my Amazon account (don't ask) - whilst managing to also purchase a second copy for himself. Talk about crosswires!
But here is the fiendish link anyway: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguide/features/story/0,,2246952,00.html
I have never owned a boxed set before. I am the last person on this planet to discover their simple, collectible, repeat-watchable beauty. And lo and behold, since I have now lost my boxed set virginity, it seems that everyone in the world is devouring "The Wire" on DVD. I feel part of a new movement... it's like "The Sopranos" all over again and yet it is not because that was such a live watching experience - now I can pause, rewind... you know, control stuff.
I have some CCTV thoughts to share but they will have to come when they are ready. Series Two and Three are being hand delivered in 11 days, 18 hours, 4 minutes and 59 seconds time.
...Ah the promises you make to yourself and your readership (non-existent as we speak). Let this be a warning against the dangers of promising blog serialisation.
I can't blame back-to-back, nightly viewing of Series One of "The Wire". That obsession could only explain a lack of blog productivity in February. And, no I haven't watched it twice, I have lent my copy to London-based Wire Virgins. (When is it correct to use italics? by the way, as I am odeeing on them tonight). I am awaiting a free peak of Series Two and Three from some from Nottingham Wire Heads who cruelly promised they were going to let me take Series Two away with me on Sunday but have since changed their minds because they want to watch the whole series with the subtitles on. If that isn't an example of Subtitle Completism, I don't know what is...
No March, has got washed up with nasty weather; counting the days until Spring truly arrives (I think it has now); bitty work projects; trips to Nottingham and a very special 80th birthday party. Who needs to blog?
Clearly, I think I do.
I shall be returning to "The Wire" but I will leave you with the article by Charlie Brooker that sparked an interest (in a friend), who in turn showed me a clip of the series on YouTube, who then went and accidentally bought me a copy using my Amazon account (don't ask) - whilst managing to also purchase a second copy for himself. Talk about crosswires!
But here is the fiendish link anyway: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguide/features/story/0,,2246952,00.html
I have never owned a boxed set before. I am the last person on this planet to discover their simple, collectible, repeat-watchable beauty. And lo and behold, since I have now lost my boxed set virginity, it seems that everyone in the world is devouring "The Wire" on DVD. I feel part of a new movement... it's like "The Sopranos" all over again and yet it is not because that was such a live watching experience - now I can pause, rewind... you know, control stuff.
I have some CCTV thoughts to share but they will have to come when they are ready. Series Two and Three are being hand delivered in 11 days, 18 hours, 4 minutes and 59 seconds time.
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