Andy Hamilton's Hat of Doom (23/05/10, WYP)

Like Arthur Smith back in February, my experience of Andy Hamilton on TV has been on shows like Have I Got News For You and QI, and of course I know his writing on Outnumbered, but when he asked the audience at the West Yorkshire Playhouse how they knew him, the overwhelming middle-aged audience were most familiar with his Radio 4 shows. Yet again, it seemed we were the only ones of a handful at a theatre-bound event who were under 30 - what exactly do young people do for entertainment?!

Andy Hamilton proved to be a hilarious night out, consisting of stand up of a semi-improv sort, with the second half of the show given over to audience questions, much as Arthur Smith had done. Watched series 1 of Outnumbered since seeing Hamilton, I noticed some of his jokes were recycled in/from the TV series, though that did nothing to dampen my appreciation of a man who, by his own admission, resembles 'Pavarotti if he was squashed by a tree'. The topical humour he shows on HIGNFY was mixed with more regular stand up fair, with some audience participation thrown in too. A wonderful evening. 

Ashes to Ashes: Series 3 (2010)

The final series of the Ashes to Ashes/Life on Mars family came to an end recently, and it was a fantastic final episode that explained the previous 5 series in a way that was convincing and was very entertaining. 

I liked Life on Mars, but John Simm's Sam Tyler, who's name has hovered over the 3rd series of Ashes to Ashes in the form of so many red herrings and clues, wasn't my favourite character. I much prefer Keeley Hawes' Alex Drake, and the dynamic that having a female lead to bounce off Phillip Glenister's Gene Hunt gave to A2A. Initially a little irritating, Drake's experience of Tyler's memories of being 'back in time' in the seventies meant that she felt cockily above it all, that she knew Gene, Ray and Chris were just 'constructs' of her imagination, but as doubts began to creep in the character became more sympathetic. 

I was a little disappointed with Gene's character this series, as he was too often made out to be a bad guy, or reduced to spouting comedy lines, with no real warmth as he'd displayed in previous series. There was too much of the 'is he or isn't he a villain', because it was inconceivable that such an iconic 'hero' could be so utterly evil as to have killed Sam Tyler. But then in the shocking final episode, we found out that everyone in this world was already dead, and that Gene had been keeping them there in some kind of limbo, after all, he too was a 'ghost'. And the new character, Jim (played by an actor I really don't like, Daniel Mays), this series turned out to be the devil, tempting Alex, Ray, Chris and Shaz into betraying Gene and going to 'hell' (I assume, though it wasn't exactly explicit). The redemption at the end of the episode, when the aforementioned 4 enter the pub that doubles for 'heaven' was touching, although Gene is left in his own limbo to greet another lost soul, bemoaning the lack of his iPhone...

Ashes to Ashes was often laugh-out-loud hilarious, and I really liked Chris especially, who got less dozy this year, standing up to Gene a couple of times. Ray was also given more depth, although he was still a neanderthal underneath, he was a loveable one. The stand alone police case aspects of each episode varied in quality, and often it was only the ongoing visions and bizarre goings-on that Alex experienced as she tried to work out what was happening that made some episodes gripping. I'm glad the makers of the show have seen fit to end the show properly, and that the ending they proved was brave and memorable.

Outnumbered: Series 1 (2007) & Series 3 (2010)

Outnumbered has me laughing out loud every week and series 3 was no exception. The deceptively simple sitcom set up of a family with 3 precocious children belies how special and downright hilarious this show really is. The three children, Karen (Ramona Marquez), Ben (Daniel Roche) and Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey) are the stars - the two youngest, Karen and Ben, are unscripted, which makes every nugget of comedy gold they utter all the more surprising and hilarious. 

My favourite of the children has to be Karen, she's just the funniest and most endearing, whereas Ben can be a little irritating. Jake is the only child who has had a running storyline this series, in his infatuation with his 18 yr old neighbour. 13 year old Jake captures perfectly the hormonal agony of puberty, and his attempts to be seen as mature and worldly invariably don't work, but they're terribly sweet. In the final episode his feelings for his crush are exposed in an excrutiatingly embarrassing Freudian slip and the horror of his revelation is clearly etched in young Drew-Honey's face. I really felt for Jake at that point, and the actor showed that he has a lot of promise. 

The parents, Sue and Pete, played by Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis, are ineffectual, endearing and exasperated, often all at the same time. The actors do well to compete with the child stars, and are both believable in their improvised reactions to the random utterances that come from their co-stars. It was interesting to see a rather serious storyline played out this series as Sue finds out that Pete kissed another woman while drunk. The way Sue handles this news, while they both try to keep the children from listening to their grown up talk, is often subtle, and other times just damn funny. I hope that future series continue this through-story style as opposed to the more stand-alone approach of the last series (I've got series 1 on DVD as I missed that first time round, so not long til I can see more Outnumbered!).

EDIT: I've now seen series 1 on DVD - we devoured it in a few days after seeing the co-writer, Andy Hamilton, on stage. The first series turned out to be almost as funny as the third, although it took a few episodes to gel together, perhaps when the actors were all more comfortable with each other. The children seem a bit less sure of themselves in the first couple of episodes. Sue and Pete's characters are both firmly set from the get go, however, and the fact that Samantha Bond's Aunty Angela character, just a 1 episode guest star in series 2 and 3, was great spread across 5 episodes here. Her fractious relationship with Sue providing some of the best moments, particularly in the last episode when everything comes to a head. And my word how young did Jake look then, only 3 years earlier?? The interviews on the DVD were very interesting too, giving an insight into how the show is filmed and scripted. Of course now I want to revisit series 2...

Shameless: Series 7 (2010)

I've watched Shameless since it first aired on Channel 4 and it's got to be one of the best things the channel puts out, certainly the best (only) drama series on there that isn't imported from the US. As the series has gone on and each run gets extended numbers of episodes, and as actors have left the central Gallagher clan (Fiona, Lip, Carl, and, this series, Debbie, have all moved on) the focus of the series has been less on the Gallagher family and more on the extended family that takes in the Maguires as well - the last episode of series 7 illustrates the point in true Shameless fashion as all the main characters stand up together to point a gun at the episodes' villain in a united act of community.

My favourite character has become Mickey, gay mobster with a heart and part of the violent Maguire clan, he's moved on from the stereotype he used to be and has become almost the heart of the show. The main heart of the show is Frank Gallagher, portrayed over all 7 series by David Threlfall, an actor who could quite easily move on to bigger jobs - I'm glad he's stayed with Shameless, where he's also directed several episodes - but instead is part of a series that can do tragedy as easily as comedy, with a fair dollop of social comment slipped in alongside. 

The start of series 7 saw the departure of Stan and Yvonne, and Paddy Maguire even departed towards the end, and they were replaced by Libby and her mother, a great pair whose relationship with Frank created some marvellous moments of comedy. Talking of comedy, Lillian is second only to Frank as one of TV's greatest creations, every time she speaks an utter gem is formed. 

I like that Shameless has a large cast of characters to draw on, and so if one storyline or character proves a bit lacking there's another one along in a moment. I've never been a fan of Joe, Karen's love interest outside her marriage to Jamie, but then he's not supposed to be likable I guess - last series he abused Mandy and this series he's tormented emotionally unstable Karen. I've also not been satisfied with Ian's relationship with Maxine, since for the last 6 series, Ian has been the show's central gay character... This storyline was just odd. At least Mickey has now become the main gay, along with Maxine's brother. The whole show has camp themes and has a great gay sensibility. 

One of the big draws for a gay audience (i.e. me) in Shameless this series has been the tendency for the script-writers to get Elliott Tittensor's Carl naked as often as they can. It's grauitous, but I don't care one bit! Shameless is always a pleasure and really easy to watch, I do hope it continues. I'm also intrigued about the US HBO remake starring William H. Macy and Allison Janney, being produced by John Wells of ER and The West Wing, it's got to be great, hasn't it??

Iron Man (2008) & Iron Man 2 (2010)

Before we made a trip to the cinema to see Iron Man 2 last weekend we revisited the original on DVD, the first time I'd rewatched it since my birthday in 2008, and it's just as good as I remember. And then the sequel turned out to be as good if not better than the first, so I was very pleased. 

I'm a big fan of Robert Downey Jr and his unique style, and I think he works really well as Tony Stark/Iron Man, bringing to the movies a sense of humour and lightness that is lacking from comic book tales like the new Batmans. I don't mind 'dark' in my superhero movies, but it's nice to have a bit of variety. I'm surprised to find that my favourite non-Iron Man character in the two movies is played by Gwyneth Paltrow, namely Stark's assistant and then CEO of his company, Pepper Potts. Paltrow doesn't normally do much for me (probably since I saw her in Shakespeare in Love, which I found completely awful) but here she's a revelation in what could easily have been a role for a D-lister, not a Hollywood A-lister with an Oscar. 

Perhaps it's the playing against type that helps Paltrow excel as Pepper, mostly I think it's the terrific banter and chemistry she has with Downey Jr that makes her stand out. In Iron Man 2 I also found myself liking Scarlett Johansson too, another actress who if I know she's in something usually means I'll give it a wide berth (I've been stung by the pretentious Lost in Translation and the boring Ghost World). Here, in a relatively minor role, Johansson is by turns sexy, mysterious, and eventually, completely kick-ass awesome! 

There were some excellent fight scenes in both movies, particularly the end battle at the Stark Expo (wonderfully parodying Walt Disney's Epcot, especially in the footage of Stark's father - Cooper from Mad Men! - that directly reference's Disney's presentational style on his TV shows) when the metal-on-metal action is kinetic and you feel every jolt and collision. When Stark's friend, Lt Col James Rhodes, suits up in an old Iron Man erm, suit, in the sequel it improves the character, as does the fact that he's now portrayed by Don Cheadle. In the first movie Rhodes didn't really make much of an impression. 

Going back to the beginning of the first movie, it was an interesting move to begin with an extended piece set in Afghanistan, and echoes the beginning of X-Men when Magneto's youth during Nazi Germany sketches a harrowing background for the character. These meetings of real life and comic book worlds could be awful, but they really help ground the more fantastical elements of the stories. Thankfully there are also laugh out loud moments as well though, so it's not all unremittingly grim. 

With Samuel L. Jackson's extended cameo in Iron Man 2, I'm looking forward to both the next Iron Man movie, and the Avengers movie that will unite Tony Stark, Black Widow (Johansson), Hulk, Thor and others. I do love comic book movies.

Skeleton Crew (Stephen King, 1985)

When I went to Austria last year I took along Night Shift, Stephen King's first volume of short stories, and found it was good to dip into, so in Cyprus this year I took Skeleton Crew, the next collection of short pieces. The main story, more of a novella I suppose, is The Mist, on which Frank Darabont's film is based. I say 'based', I mean the story that Darabont filmed almost verbatim (aside from the movie's superior, gut-punch ending) from the short story - I loved the movie, and because it is almost exactly the same as the story it took the shine of it somewhat, but it's still an excellent premise: locals are trapped inside a supermarket as a mist descends on the town, hiding in which are a variety of ferocious creatures.

The other 21 stories were completely new to me, and I enjoyed them all, although the couple of attempts at poetry were instantly forgettable. Stand out stories that I thought showed off King's expert thriller and creative gene included: Mrs Todd's Shortcut (the title character finds ways of shaving minutes off her journeys be finding possbile extra-dimensional shortcuts); The Raft (4 friends are attacked, incredibly gruesomely, on a raft in the middle of a lake and cannot fall asleep); Word Processor of the Gods (that has a delete button that works on real life); Survivor Type (an icky diary entry tale of a man stuck on a desert island, forced to eat himself to stay alive); and Gramma (about a huge grandmother who wants to kill her grandson). I look forward to the next holiday and the next collection!

The Count of Monte Cristo (WYP, 21/04/10)

Following Alphabeat on Monday and Oklahoma! on Tuesday, was The Count of Monte Cristo on the Wednesday night - all this and the first week at a new job. Exhausting. At least I had a holiday in Cyprus the Sunday after, hence my delayed review of Cristo. 

I've never read Cristo, and I didn't know anything about it, but this was our last free/cheap performance under the government's free theatre tickets for under 26's scheme, since I turned 26 while in Cyprus. It was a great performance, and yet again for these 6 free/cheap plays I've seen, I would have gladly paid full price based on the quality of the piece and the enjoyment I derived from it. The curtain was raised on an actor holding a copy of the source text, and explaining that it was a very long book, and wondering how to adapt it, before an actor posing as an audience member in the front row jumped up on stage to help him out. A cast of just 6 then proceeded to act out numerous roles across a 3 hour running time, in a plot that was easy to understand, didn't feel rushed or like I needed to know the story beforehand, and was by turns funny, shocking and emotional. 

I'd find it hard to boil down the plot here in a few sentences, suffice to say it was part swash-buckler, part prison drama, part revenge fantasy and all brilliant. The acting was top notch, which was useful since each actor played several different parts, including across ages, nationalities and genders. The set was as basic as the cast, but all props were put to use imaginatively and there was no point where I was bored. Bits were hilarious, and I liked the way the actors inhabited the roles, but then also interacted with the audience - at one point one of the characters came out and stood in the middle of the stalls as a character on stage shot at a playing card in the first guy's hand. The energy of the piece really blew me away. 

Although I go to the theatre anyway, after seeing great productions at the West Yorkshire Playhouse that I may not have seen otherwise, I'll be more likely to take punts in future. The plays we saw for free/cheap were: Bedroom Farce, When We Are Married, His Dark Materials Part One, The Canterbury Tales, Dial M For Murder, and The Count of Monte Cristo.