1. The Real Housewives of Orange County
Now anyone with a full-time job or a smattering of self-respect won't really know anything about this. Whilst I have a full-time job, I also have TiVo which allows me to watch a full five hours of this abomination of a program a week. FIVE WHOLE HOURS. I know. RHOC is one of those Bravo-funded "sopumentaries" about the trials (literally - in the judicial sense) and tribulations ("oh my GAHHHD my boobs are too big/too small/too fake/not fake enough") of five women, whom I think have all been divorced at least twice, living it up in the illustrious suburbs of the OC. They have to keep swapping various cast members out at the end of each season due to various lawsuits they keep filing against each other, and the main hobby of the entire cast seems to be getting absolutely shitfaced on cocktails and taking (usually verbal but occasionally physical) swings at each other. I hate myself but I can't help but watch it - it's like when you're absolutely starving and the only thing in the house are three frozen yorkshire puddings and a piece of four week old cheese; as a meal it's so wrong but my God it tastes good going down. It's ridiculous but hey, it makes me feel a little better about my life choices: even though I'm not a multi-millionaire living in the sunshine, I don't resemble a leather handbag by choice.
2. The Last Weekend
This was a complete surprise as a mini-series, and every review of it I've seen has said much the same. Not because the novel it was based on was crap (quite the opposite), or that the actors were pants (again, couldn't be farther from the truth); but because it was on ITV. My other half and I routinely refer to anything on ITV after the watershed as a "another poor quality ITV drama" and it would seem the majority of television reviewers hold the same opinion. I think the real strengths for this three-parter were the solid screenplay based on the truly terrific book by Blake Morrison, and the two male leads, Rupert "posh bit of fancy pants" Penry-Jones, and the truly creepy Shaun Evans as Ian. There is a real sense of burgeoning dread that infiltrates what seems to be a light and fluffy weekend away, and the conclusion of the second part shunts the story into an entirely new and quite unexpected territory. As it seems with all mini-serieses, the ending suffered a little from the anti-climactic "meh", but overall it's definitely worth checking out on DVD or maybe on the "poor quality ITV drama"-Player online.
3. The Thick Of It
Yeah, yeah, I know, everyone loves this, but it really is worth all the hype. This fourth series is playing with the format, controversially putting the Coalition government of Tory old guard Peter Mannion and the gobby, power-hungry upstarts from the LibDems at the forefront. Sticking Malcolm Tucker in the background (at least in what we've seen so far) was a pretty brave move from Armando Iannucci, but it's paid off. Roger Allam's Peter Mannion is every bit as scene-stealingly brilliant as Capaldi's Tucker, and his complete befuddlement at the onward march of the digital age has brought about some of the funniest lines of the season. Episode two which showed Nicola Murray now as head of the opposition was incredibly uncomfortable to watch, both in terms of her complete ignorance to what's going on around her, and seeing Malcolm kowtowing (at least superficially) to Nicola's whims. However the episode set up a forthcoming coup very neatly - so we'll have to wait and see if we get a revitalised Tucker on the warpath against the Nutters this week.
4. Doctor Who
I love Doctor Who. This is because I am a nerd. I am not ashamed of it, and nor do I apologise for it. But I've had a difficult time with the old Doc the last couple of series, mainly due to the bordering-on-ridiculous detail of the story arcs. Steven Moffat has made no bones about saying the goal of the writing in this series was to present more stand-alone stories, and so far they're doing rather well - with the exception of that stupid second episode starring a terminator-style robot that bore more than a passing resemblance to Greg Davies with tinfoil taped to his face. The new companion, Jenna-Louise Coleman has showed her face already in the guise of a human trapped in a Dalek, and the general consensus in Casa del Me was that she was incredibly irritating. However I said the same thing about Catherine Tate who went on to star in one of my favourite episodes ever, "Turn Left", so we'll see. Word on the street is the good old ginger nuts Pond kicks the bucket this week, so brace yourself for a tear-jerker. I will be personally preparing with a curry and at leads four cans of Strongbow.
You should probably also all still be watching Neighbours, but you knew that already.
