Jasmine Sahu is well suited with this new American drama exclusive to Dave.
Lois Cameron explains why this series is much more than your average cosy period drama.
The last episode of this series sees Sherlock and Moriarty attempt to solve the final problem with devastating consequences.
With major cast changes afoot, Jacob Martin ponders whether Being Human can live up to its own scarily high standard.
Having watched last night’s Red or Black? for a bum-numbing 2¼ hours, it got me thinking: What would it mean to me to win a million pounds? Would it mean everything? You know, I jolly well think it would. And while I haven’t got a million pounds (yet…), had I been playing my ‘Win £1 for every time somebody says ‘it would mean everything’’ game, I would have been well on my way towards it. Because, of course, this was Simon Cowell’s new game show, fronted by Ant and Dec, and mercilessly stripped over every night this week (well, except Tuesday). And there was just one question: (insert 20 minute pause for extreme dramatic effect) Red. Or. (Wait for it…) Black?
If ever a game show wanted to be The X Factor. Then, this. Was it. (OK, I’ll stop that now.) Indeed, it followed exactly the same formula. It started with a long-winded introduction, featuring cuts so fast that they put Edward Scissorhands to shame, as well as an OTT voiceover man. (Though I have to say that he was the worst voiceover man of all time – I struggled to hear him over the winning combination of the Inception soundtrack and JLS.)
This was followed by the announcement that 100,000 people had applied (before the producers whittled them down to just those with adequate sob stories), with 1000 attending auditions at Wembley. This led to yet more whittling down, with Louis Walsh taking the contestants to Battersea Power Station in the judge’s houses stage. (I suppose it’s a step up from Dublin…) There were then even more tearful declarations that it would mean everything, before we finally reached the LIVE studio final. Heck, there was even a results show.
All in all, it was pretty exhausting.
The fact that last night’s two episodes were the two slices of bread in an X Factor sandwich didn’t help matters, as it just made it clearer that it was a pale imitation. OK, some of the pre-recorded stuff was quite fun, but everything came to a grinding halt when we finally did get to the live bit as, after having seen motorcyclists hurtle through the air, and David Hasselhoff being catapulted (and, hopefully, left) hundreds of feet above ground, the excitement generated by Leona Lewis picking out a briefcase was rather small.
Furthermore, despite the best efforts of the production team, it was very difficult to care about the contestants, as the emphasis on their sob stories became unbearable: “We’re living on a sofa bed”, “My Dad died”, “I haven’t been able to buy any shoes since I had my daughter”… they were all there, and it just became tiresome, making The X Factor seem restrained in comparison. Also, because everything had been so ridiculously overdone, it just left the final round, and the eventual victory of bricklayer Nathan Hageman, feeling flat.
Of course, the one thing Red or Black? did have going for it was everyone’s favourite SMTV stalwarts, Ant and Dec, whose ever breezy presenting helped prevent premature brain rot. Though was I alone in being concerned about Dec’s forehead? It seemed particularly enormous last night. It’s like his facial features are gradually sliding down his head; his eyebrows are clinging on for dear life. Next thing you know, he’ll be like his boss and talking out of his…
Red or Black? therefore promised much, but delivered little. It was passably watchable, but only just. Even the great big roulette ball, heaving itself around that wheel with such disinterest it was like it had better things to do, seemed like it had seen enough by the end. And, guess what, so had I.
Red or Black? continues tonight at 6.45pm on ITV1.
You must log in to submit a comment.
