Monday, February 18, 2008

Three-er factor

FEARSOME! Being Human, BBC Three, 9.00pm
PIONEERSOME! Being Human, BBC Three Live Arena, 9.00pm
FINAL FRONTIERSOME! Being Human, BBC iPlayer, a bit later

It's been nearly a week since BBC Three was thrillingly reborn with a pink new logo, a handful of youth-friendly new idents and a YouTubey new BBC Three website as "the first non-news BBC channel to transform from a linear service to a fully joined-up, multi-platform venture – combining television and the web into a single, integrated offering". Obviously this means our lives are now better, but how are they better? What does new BBC Three mean for YOU, 25- to 34-year-old?*

Future future modern internet! BBC Three embraces the internet - that is to say, the futuriest bits of the internet based on the very futuriest concepts known to man - with Find Three, linking the viewer to such futurey activities as looking at photographs, watching clips of programmes and communicating with other human beings. Modern future modern modern future interactivity! BBC Three gives YOU, the viewer, the chance to appear as a continuity person with Be On TV, the exciting portion of the website where you can watch a video of a girl telling you how to get to the section of the website where you can watch a video of a girl telling you how to get to the section of the website where you can watch a video of a girl telling you how to get to the section of the website where you can watch a video of a girl telling you how to get to that section of the website and frankly it's not unlike the theoretical loop of infinity from Crime Traveller. Future modern future programmes! BBC Three's website has a Live Arena where you can watch programmes as they're broadcast! Simply place your TV next to your computer and move your head between the two during transmission hours for a heady simultaneous screenblast of future living. And then stream it on iPlayer and watch space and time quite literally fall at your feet in awe of your futuriness. Future modern modern future graphics! BBC Three thinks outside the box and adorns its website with crazy images of pears growing on stalks (yes, really!) and twisty cables and microphones and things that are mechanical but also organic and natural, because that's the world we're heading towards, as well as lots of tubes of pink stuff, because pink is also the future. Future future modern!

What it also means is a new! season of new! drama, new! comedy and new! comedy-drama, such as last week's Phoo Action, which wasn't very dramatic or very funny, or tonight's Being Human, which will hopefully be a bit more of both. Two young men - one a 120-year-old vampire, the other a werewolf - move in together, only to find their new home is haunted by the agoraphobic spirit of a previous tenant who died in dodgy circumstances. Writer Toby Whithouse draws on his previous experience blending comedy and drama with a supernatural twist and a creeping sense of menace and horror in episodes of Doctor Who, Torchwood and Where The Heart Is, while lowculture favourite Russell Tovey aka George aka the werewolf draws on his experience of being extremely fit and bares his arse on a number of occasions, including a particularly pause-and-rewatchable rear shot in this promotional clip from BBC Three's trailblazingly modern website. Best of all, they've stuck the important bit right at the start so you get to see it before the iPlayer stream strangles itself and the whole site goes into stasis. Welcome to the future!


_{*Over 34? Are you sure you shouldn't be dead?}

Labels: BBC iPlayer, BBC Three, Being Human, future, idents, internet, modern, Russell Tovey's arse, TV

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Friday, November 02, 2007

Twenty-five to 4

QUARTER CENTURY! The Big Fat Anniversary Quiz, Channel 4, 10.00pm
ADVENTUREY! Robin Hood, BBC1, Saturday, 7.15pm

Another week, another UK terrestrial channel with a divisible-by-five birthday (well, that's two so far this year). Channel 4 is 25 years old, and what better way to mark the occasion than a TWO HOUR (!!!) celebrity comedy panel show quiz thing. Surprisingly, Channel 4 have chosen to forsake the obvious towering icons of their history in favour of a bunch of little-known comedians and mathematicians (it's mainly comedians, to be honest). So, instead of the Max and Patricia Farnham / Sally Smedley / Kevin McCloud / Brian Steadman / Hubba Hubba panel you might have been hoping for, team members include David Mitchell, Richard Ayoade, Alan Carr, Jack Dee, Frank Skinner and VorderMan, with Jimmy Carr overseeing and Wossy and Gervaisy among the special guests popping in to celebrate how much richer they became when they went to the BBC.

Of course, anyone knows that commemorating a channel's birthday is really just an excuse to dig out lots of old clips of idents, logos and trailers from days or yore and, as the channel with the best and most consistent branding of the lot, Channel 4 doesn't disappoint. The tidy Channel 4 at 25 page on their website provides a selection of beautiful idents from over the years, as well as information on their comedy, drama and documentary highlights (free for download on 4oD over the next few weeks), a controversy-charting Channel 4 timeline, exciting 1982 FACTS! and lots of photos of their office building for some reason. Never let it be said that Channel 4 doesn't know how to throw a retrospective, internet-based party.

On the subject of exuberant things that aren't very old, tomorrow Robin Hood cheerfully continues his mission to make Saturday evenings ridiculous. We really wouldn't blame you for giving this second series a wide berth, yet with every anachromism it grows more and more entertaining: so far we've seen the Sheriff of Nottingham's dominatrix sister meet a sticky end in her own snake pit, Ocean's Eleven Robin's gang attempting an assault on the Sheriff's strongroom during a visit from a travelling supercasino, Guy of Gisborne's new armour turning him into Robocop and, last week, Ralf Little guest starring as a twitchy scientist with a plan to use a bioweapon to eradicate all the 'dirt' in medieval England (that's the people of Nottingham to you and me).

Best of all, however, has been the ongoing betrayal of Robin's gang by young, chirpy, fit as fuck Allan A Dale, who reluctantly entered into an 'agreement' with mostly evil, smoulderingly handsome Guy four weeks ago and has been haemorrhaging information about Robin's activities ever since, during secret Spooks-style liasons in doorways and behind taverns. The wonderful shame etched across Allan's face when he meets with Guy and can't quite look him in the eye is the main reason we're watching, really (well, that and Marian's FABULOUS couture wardrobe). Except this week Robin cottons-on to the fact that somebody in his camp is a traitor, potentially killing the best plot in the series stone dead before it's even halfway done. Stupid cocking Robin. Let's hope he keeps it to himself.

Labels: anniversary, BBC1, Channel 4, idents, Robin Hood, The Big Fat Anniversary Quiz, TV

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Friday, February 16, 2007

Ident believe it!

REBRANDED! New BBC2 idents, BBC2, Sunday, 6.00am onwards

A quick reminder ahead of the weekend that the brand new BBC2 idents go live on Sunday morning. As with all TV channel rebrands there will be a period of transition, possible confusion and a general sense of all things being familiar and yet unfamilar at the same time, rather like being in a parallel universe or having sex in your parents' bed. The important thing to remember here is that the BBC are retaining the '2' that we all know and love, now in its 16th successive year, but have lopped off the annoying and unnecessary robotic arms they saddled it with six years ago. 2 is beautiful again!

The new BBC2 logos offer an "unexpected" view of the world, apparently, and cost a paltry and easily justifiable £700,000 to produce. To complete the rebrand, the 'TWO' font has been tweaked and the official BBC2 colour has returned to a slightly darker version of that sort-of-quite-a-nice-shade-of-green used between 1991 and 2001. An obsessive may note that this means the 'channel colours' of BBCs 1, 2 and 3 are now red, green and blue, which are the primary colours of light. This is important. These details matter.

Why not invite a group of friends around for 6am on Sunday morning and enjoy the new BBC2 idents together! Perhaps during the Tweenies and Big Cook Little Cook you could turn the sound down and discuss which idents have influenced you over the years, and how you feel the new BBC2 rebrand will enhance your life. After all, with seven launch idents to choose from, you're sure to find one which EXACTLY matches your personal outlook and general perspective, and from which you can derive pleasure and comfort over and over and over again for the next five or six years at least, hopefully.

Have a good weekend!

Labels: BBC2, BBC2 idents, idents, TV

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