A summary of some of my favourite TV, films and books…
TV
1. Doctor Who
Russell T Davies, the man who masterminded the return of Doctor Who to Saturday nights, put it well when he said of the show: “It’s the best idea ever invented in the history of everything!”. Not one for emotional outbursts, our Russ. But he had a point.
For a programme designed as entertainment, Who has done its job admirably for the best part of 40 years. It’s funny, smart, well written (apart from the badly written ones), and those are just stories from the first 26 years. Now we’re on Who 2.0, and it’s bigger than ever.
2. The Rockford Files
“This is Jim Rockford…” So started every episode of the finest US detective series ever to stumble, blinking, into the mid-afternoon LA sun as it recovered from another night of dealing with corrupt officials, confused mobsters and cracked criminals…
James Garner, previously best known to TV viewers as laid back gambler Brett Maverick in the 1950s Western ‘Maverick’, plays Jim Rockford with just enough cynicism to still be funny rather than depressing and just enough world-weariness to not make you wonder why the hell he’s still in the PI game after all those knocks. And kicks. And punches. And wrongful arrests. And the odd kidnapping.
The 1990s reunion movies may have not been the best idea, but with constant rereuns on cable and the wonders of DVD, Rockford, Becker and Angel will never leave us. Thank the TV gods for that.
3. Robin of Sherwood
As a lad, Saturday afternoons didn’t so much mean going out to play football as stay in and watch the good stuff on the telly. The A Team, The Dukes of Hazzard, a bit of Doctor Who (I was late to the cult of Who) and Robin of Sherwood.
It had great goodies and pretty nasty baddies, and that’s important in an adventure series. And bows and arrows. Reinacting The A Team was fine, though no sod ever died so it made it a bit dull. I had a toy General Lee but you could only do so much with that. But with Robin it was pretty easy to get a stick, tie a bit of string to it and use other sticks as arrows!
So while now I can appreciate it for the stunning music and visuals, the glorious overacting from Nikolas Grace and the way they managed to escape every week, the main memory seems to be of playing with bows and arrows in the woods with my mates. Sorry it’s not more interesting.
4. Steptoe and Son
5. Freaks and Geeks
6. Only Fools and Horses
7. Press Gang
8. EZ Streets
9. Due South
10. The Greatest American Hero
Film
- The Third Man
- Breaker Morant
- The Sweet Hereafter
- Die Hard
- Groundhog Day
- Back to the Future
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
- Support your Local Sheriff
- I Went Down
- Tremors
Books
- The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
- Crime and Punishment – Dostoevsky
- Adventures in the Screen Trade -William Goldman
- 1984 – George Orwell
- Around the World in 80 Days – Michael Palin
- Anno Dracula – Kim Newman
- High Concept: Don Simpson and the Holywood Culture of Excess
- Thirty Years of the Rockford Files – Ed Robertson
- Preacher: Gone to Texas – Garth Ennis
- In Search of the Third Man – Charles Drazin
Never saw you as a “Crime and Punishment” type, Jon – although it might explain your fascination with the Rockford Files….or did you just stick it on the list to impress the girls?
)
Ah yes, Crime and Punishment is a favourite, though perhaps number two is a bit high. I read it when I was in Australia in 2000 as I knew I was going to St Petersburg the next year (as you do). When I got there I visited the house where, if he had been a real person, Raskolnikov would have lived…but he wasn’t so he didn’t. It’s a bit of a strange idea, but if you’ve read the book it brings it to life a bit. And finding the place is worthy of any detective as it’s not promoted in English anywhere nearby. BTW, the BBC John Simm adaptation from a few years back was a good ‘un.