The small screen has a lot to offer this upcoming year, though as always you could be more excited about old favourites returning compared to brand new series. Doctor Who and Torchwood will be back, as will a brand new series of Sherlock, which was one of the undisputed highlights of 2010. Starting on Monday, Shameless hits Channel 4 again, with the first five episodes being shown every night for the first week. For the reality fixates, too, we have the glorious return of the addictive-yet-I-don't-know-why Dancing On Ice, and the tantalising promise of new judges on Britain's Got Talent.
Three shows that have arrived since the start of the year are two welcome old favourites and one new show; the case in point that the old is better than the new sadly proves fruitful in this instance. Zen, a new three-parter on BBC1, is trying hard to be the Italian version of Wallander. Not everyone is a fan of the Swedish detective, though merit comes from the experienced hands of Kenneth Branagh. Here the title character is played by Rufus Sewell, a man whose previous roles have involved being a bit of a scoundrel and getting the girl, so no surprise when he starts an affair with one of his colleagues, played by the beautiful Caterina Murino (whose last notable appearance was in Casino Royale). But there just seems to be something missing from Zen; it looks good, no doubt, but the plot moves a little too slowly and becomes a tad predictable.
Predictable is the state of Hustle, back last night (Friday) for a seventh season. Anyone who enjoys the show knows the gist: con artists who only con those who deserve to be conned. Last night's opening episode was a cracker; fast, quick plot, with some brilliant guest acting from Anna Chancellor as their bitch model agent of a mark, it also kept you guessing a little as to what was going on towards the end.
Another welcome return was from Primeval. The show was in hiatus after its third season, the three main characters stuck in the very distant past, struggling to survive against dinosaurs. The series itself was in trouble from ITV, and was most likely going to end up being cancelled altogether. But America have come to the rescue, and now we have the first of two shiny new seasons. Again, the plot is always a little predictable, but thankfully some of the darkness of the last season (the main character was killed off in Episode Three then) has been lifted, and an intriguing sub-plot concerning the great actor Anton Lesser is keeping us on our toes, when we're not being thrilled by the chase of man-munching monsters.
Thumbs up then, almost all round. 2011 is shaping up quite nicely, thank you very much.
No comments:
Post a Comment