DVD Box Set

In this review, I'll be talking about my favourite episodes from this season. I think Plankton episodes are often my favourite. In "Fear of a Krabby Patty", Mr. Krabs opens the Krusty Krab 24 hours a day which causes Spongebob to become unhinged and scared of making Krabby Patties.

Though ostensibly a show for children, I think there's plenty of humour for adults to enjoy too. I love the episode called "New Leaf" where Plankton becomes much nicer and throws in the towel, and he actually befriends Mr. Krabs... or does he? Perhaps much of the comedy comes from anticipation - you know Plankton will always lose even when he appears to win, but you're never quite sure how.

But sometimes this show can do sadness, even pathos as well as goofy humour and parody. "Have You Seen This Snail" is the episode where Spongebob unwittingly neglects to feed Gary (his pet snail), so Gary runs away, and winds up staying with a grandmotherly figure who thinks he's her long lost cat. This episode is both funny and also very touching, especially the sad song "Gary Come Home" with a heartbroken Spongebob looking for Gary (though even that isn't immune from 4th wall humour - the song appears to be playing on an old fashioned record, and Spongebob tries sky-writing) and a scene where Gary finds out he must escape from his Grandma captor, or else die like the other snails he finds that have been overfed. I got misty eyed during that song. When Grandma gives Gary a stack of fliers, he sees they are from Spongebob, and realises he does care about him.

On the face of it, the show repeats it's stories which often seem the same when you boil them down - Spongebob and Patrick annoy their eternally grumpy neighbour Squidward, Mr. Krabs wants more money, Plankton wants to steal the Krabby Patty formula, or they show farce/misunderstanding, but it's funny how they're done.

For example in the episode "The Thing" Squidward gets covered in cement, and Spongebob adopts him like a pet. In another episode, Patrick disguises himself as a girl called "Patricia" in order to avoid trouble... only for his new persona to catch the eye of Mr. Krabs.

"Karate Island" is a spoof of the Bruce Lee film Game of Death, in which Sandy the squirrel (Carolyn Lawrence) has to fight different opponents, to get to a top of a tower.

In the "Hocus Pocus" episode Spongebob receives a magic kit and tries to practice magic on Squidward - however, Squidward just wants to be left alone. He gets on a bus to take him far away when Spongebob's back is turned, just at the moment a kid throws a pistachio ice cream onto Squidward's chair.

Spongebob comes back out and thinks he has turned Squidward into an ice cream cone! There's a funny reference to The Wizard of Oz in this episode, where Spongebob and Patrick decide they have to visit "The Wizard" to change Squidward back (after following the Brown Tile road).

I like the Good Neighbours episode where Spongebob and Patrick annoy Squidward when he just wants to relax on a Sunday, so to stop intruders getting in his house, he installs a computer in his home that winds up destroying the town.

Selling Out is also good, where Mr. Krabs sells The Krusty Krab to a conglomerate who plans to turn it into a big corporate chain called Krabby O' Mondays. What I like most about this episode is the satirical way it shows corporate culture and those types of homogenised restaurants - Squidward is forced to keep to the "happy" image sold by the Krabby O' Mondays and go round with a fixed smile on his face, and instead of being freshly cooked by Spongebob, Krabby Patties are disgusting processed monstrosities literally made from grey goo. I think this sort of joke shows the cartoon can do more grown up humour, and it may be missed by a young child.

The "Krusty Towers" episode (where Mr Krabs turns The Krusty Krab into a posh hotel) is hilarious. Patrick comes in and asks for a Krabby Patty but Mr. Krabs says he has to order a room too which leads to Squidward acting as Patrick's porter and getting so annoyed. But the tables are turned when Squidward enters as a guest himself....

"Best Frenemies" is another great episode with Plankton, in this episode Mr. Krabs enlists Plankton's help to find out just what is in a new popular drink, the Kelpshake.
In "Squidbob Tentaclepants", an accident with one of Sandy's inventions leads to Spongebob and Squidward being melded together in the same body, Fly-style.

Sometimes I'm not quite sure why but I enjoy the series a lot, it can be very funny.

"The Beginning" is a BBC box set encapsulating the first three adventures of the First Doctor, played by William Hartnell.

This is where it all began, folks. From such humble beginnings: two school teachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton follow one of their pupils home. Susan seems out of sorts with the world around her: she has an in-depth knowledge of history but her knowledge of science dwarfs even Ians, yet she has hardly any street savvy and acts extremely mysterious, so much so that Ian and Barbara want to learn more about her. When she leads them to a junk yard on Totters Lane and walks into a discarded Police Telephone Box they are both bemused. They are surprised when she never comes out, and shocked when they force their way inside and are faced with the incomprehensible sight of an interior that is not only completely alien but also much larger on the inside. It is then that they are introduced to Susan's grandfather... The Doctor.

This is a masterful introduction, full of mystery and intrigue and when we first see the TARDIS interior (even after 46 years) it's still a shock -and we know what to expect. Quite what this did to audiences back then is beyond me. The Doctor though is the real enigma. We are so used to the Doctor being a friendly and upbeat character that to see William Hartnell as an irascible and thoroughly unfriendly old man is a shock. In the early episodes of the series he is shown to be an unpleasant troublemaker and the story focuses on the plight of the two schoolteachers. This changes, of course, as the series progresses, but for these first three adventures we are witness to the growing tensions and disputes between the TARDIS crew.

The first adventure, "The Unearthly Child" has a rather forgettable storyline as the TARDIS crew are transported to the beginnings of time by mistake -due to Ian's meddling. However the storyline merely serves as a backdrop to the growing tensions between the two groups of characters: the school teachers and the time travellers. It's this tension that drives the story and means you can almost forgive the dodgy sets and special effects. However, one must remember that this was never envisaged being a cultural phenomena and none of the BBC executives had any idea what it would lead to. None of them could ever have dreamed it would become world renowned as one of the most popular science-fiction franchises.

The second adventure sees the TARDIS landing on an alien planet, which has been decimated by nuclear war. The Doctor wants to investigate further by Ian and Barbara want simply to go home. The Doctor deliberately sabotages the TARDIS so they will have no choice but to explore further, putting the whole crew at risk to radiation poisoning. On discovering a vast metallic city Barbara is separated from the others and trapped deep within where she is faced by something menacing and frightening. Something that would lodge deep within our collective subconscious and send child after child to the back of the sofa: The Daleks. I've often wondered about the reasons for their longevity - why they frighten people still. It could be because of their complete lack of emotion and their total single-mindedness. They are a faceless killer, one you can not reason with or emote against. They live to kill and destroy; annihilate and exterminate. And it is because of the Doctors meddling this time that the companions are threatened by this unimaginable evil.

With The Edge Of Destruction, the third episode in this box-set, the story focuses solely on the four characters and is centred wholly in the TARDIS. Something causes the TARDIS console to explode mid-flight, rendering the crew unconscious. When they all come to they're confronted by a TARDIS which behaves strangely: the main doors open of their own accord and tensions start to fray amongst the teachers and the time-travellers as they have to deal with the realisation that something very deadly might be going on. This is a tense and fraught episode, and a stroke of genius focusing on just the underlying conflict between the TARDIS crew. This is the type of story writing I feel is sorely missing from the recent episodes of Dr Who where they focus on either the big events happening at the cost of the interactions between the characters or focusing on minute details of the characters at the cost of the story.

This is where it all began, as I said at the start, and its easy to see why Dr Who has had such an impact on the imaginations of the thousands and thousands of lives its touched. It was a stroke of genius -as much as out of budgetary constraints, etc- for the writers to shroud the Doctor in mystery and led to the creation of one of the most enduring characters in popular culture of the last century.

This ranks as 20th on the BFI's list of 100 Greatest British Television Programmes and, to me, is Dennis Potter's crown achievement.

The story is fabulously labyrinthine blending flasbacks; music-hall routines; hallucinations and fantasy. Michael Gambon gives the performance of his career as crime writer, Philip Marlow who is in hospital recovering from psoriasis. Whilst in the hospital he undergoes therapy to try and determine the psychological causes of the horrible affliction.

This is as deep as television can possibly get as Marlow is forced to come to terms with past torment and repressed memories as they threaten to erupt into his present and possibly destroy any chance of him ever having a future.

Throughout this epic mini-series Marlow's personality is peeled away as we see, through various invasive flashbacks, his childhood is laid bare. Inter-cut throughout this are various music-hall numbers -which were introduced thematically in Pennies From Heaven- but are actually given context throughout one of Marlow's hallucinations (he has an alter-ego, a private eye hired to clear another character's name).

It's so difficult to do The Singing Detective justice in a small review; it has to be seen to be believed. It's not an easy series to get into as it switches between past; present and fantasy (seemingly) at the drop of a hat, but it does reward the persistent. This is British drama at it's best and certainly deserves to be in the BFI's top one hundred!

Although this wasn't the first large scale historical drama the BBC had ever produced, it was by far the most sensational with -in retrospect- a stellar cast and cutting story. At the time it was seen as a huge risk with a cast of unknowns. Brian Blessed was seen as a huge risk as his previous roles had been in pedestrian police shows such as Z Cars, and bit parts. It was thought that he might not be able to carry off such a serious role as the Emperor Augustus.

It was also unheard of to have a historical drama, set in ancient Roman times, laced with contemporary speech and mannerisms and it caused quite a stir at the time (the same furore erupted when the book was released), however now it is seen as the norm.

It's hard to see just how revolutionary I,Claudius was and the question could be posed as to whether it can stand up with todays epics. There is only one answer and it is undoubtedly a yes! The quality of the acting is sublime - Derek Jacobi's Claudius is multi-layered, and so subtle. Forget the stammers and stutters - they're as much a part of Claudius' act as Jacobi's... even when we see him as an old man, Claudius is lightyears ahead of his contemporaries. I've already mention Brian Blessed, but I have to say that his performance as Augustus is superb. Yes, it's a blustering powerhouse (and would be caricatured to great affect by him in Blackadder) but beneath it is a man who knows he's past his prime and is actually frightened by the Sybiline prophecies he was witness to years before.

John Hurt plays a beautifully manic and mad Caligula, both fragile and dangerous by degrees. Sian Phillips is masterful as the cunning Livia, the powerful matriarch of the family - who's goal all along was the perpetuation of the empire, even at the cost of her own husband.

In I, Claudius the story is central - there are no grandstanding action scenes (mostly because of the budget more than anything I suppose) and the emphasis is placed on the characterisations and the dramatic script. It's a masterpiece of storytelling - due to the outstanding source material of Robert Graves' novels, and Jack Pulmans script - and needs to be seen as an great example of British television at its best!

This is, perhaps, one of the most lavish productions I've ever seen on the BBC and certainly the most visually stunning. It's quality all the way through - the cast is stellar with the likes of Christopher Lee, Stephen Fry, Richard Griffiths, Warren Mitchell, John Sessions and other sundry comedians (including Spike Milligan!); the script is sublime, witty and fast moving (without losing sense of the story) and the music is lush and suitably grand.

The thing I like most about Gormenghast is that it's tremendously quirky -all the characters have their own excessive idiosyncrasies and this highlights just how trapped they all are in their own little worlds. Their trapped by the weight of the past and tradition, whilst Steerpike, who hearkens from the kitchens, wishes he could be more like them. (the irony is that, if given a choice, they would probably wish to be free... or would they?)

Nothings ever what it seems to be - all the characters undergo dramatic changes, and those that are able to adapt to those changes are able to survive -and it's not always the obvious ones. The character of Steerpike is multi-faceted and Jonathan Rhys Meyers' performance captures all of these brilliantly. It's difficult to know whether to loathe or pity him. His actions are dastardly, but in relation to the yoke of tyranny that the Royal Family it becomes harder to judge.

This is a really great tv series and I'm really proud that the BBC gave the novels, by Mervyn Peake the treatment they so rightly deserved.

At last -a geek friendly comedy series! (not counting the IT Crowd, of course...) If you love pop culture references (including a delicious reference to my own favourite Hawk The Slayer!) then this is for you. Not only are the writers geeks, but so are the characters and they often reference comics and classic films in their daily lives - re-enacting mock gunfights; playing endlessly on games-consoles and generally bumming around.

What makes this so funny is it's brazen dis-regard for the rules of television; each person has their own reality and just as Family Guy will segue way into fantasies; flashbacks and genuine tomfoolery so did Spaced (almost a decade beforehand).

This is genuinely funny and actually rewards repeat viewings as you pick up on the pop-culture references more. The performances are nothing short of inspired, both Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson are evenly matched and suit the roles perfectly (which as they wrote Spaced, makes sense!) but for me it's the supporting characters that are the real strokes of genius. My particular favourites are Tyres who is a raving bike messenger prone to hair-trigger mood swings (no doubt due to his incessant drug taking) and Bilbo who's the Hawk The Slayer loving comic store owner (played by Bill Bailey no less).

If you like Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz then this is where it all started, so buy it... watch it and be prepared for a thoroughly rewarding experience!

Originally conceived as a televised novel, Pennies From Heaven gave Dennis Potter the chance to flex his creative muscles. Potter had previously written many one-off drama's for the BBC in such programmes as Wednesdays Play and Play For Today, but Pennies From Heaven was the first multi-part production which allowed Potter to embellish and mix complex drama with darkly laced, musical fantasy.

This is a masterpiece, with a career-making performance from Bob Hoskins, which looks at the dark underbelly of post-war (WWII) Britain. Hoskins plays Arthur, a frustrated sheet music sales man; frustrated, though, in more ways than one. All he wants is to be loved by his wife, Joan (played masterfully by Gemma Craven), who is repressed and less than willing to give herself to Arthur's desires. Whilst on a business trip he falls in love with the innocent, but passionate schoolteacher Eileen (Cheryl Campbell) and when she becomes pregnant with his baby his life starts to slowly unravel.

This was groundbreaking and thought provoking when it first came out - the fact that, at any given moment the cast break out into song & dance routines from the 1930's is never explained, and heightens the unreality of the series. It also helps to further distance Arthur from his reality - in some respects I wonder if the whole series is portrayed from Arthur's point of view; even when we look at what is happening to the other characters, it's possible that we're seeing Arthur's own fantasies being enacted. This mixture of music hall and drama would be solidified with The Singing Detective and taken to new heights.

Pennies From Heaven has not aged at all and it is still far better and deeper than many drama's that have been produced since. All the performances are exemplary and Bob Hoskins proved to the world just how talented he really was. A timeless classic!

For me, these are three of the most influential films ever made and I realised, upon watching them, that there was more to cinema than the Hollywood system of big budget, no brainers. There was another universe out there, for me, of the most wonderful cinema; a cinema of expression and subtlety where character and story ruled. If ever there was a case for cinema as an art-form in its own right then the Three Colours Trilogy would definitely count. There is something wonderful and spellbinding about these films - they have a depth of humanity and feeling that I have never come across before. What shook me about these masterpieces is that they are about people - the frailties of the human condition; about actions and consequences; reactions and repercussions.

In Three Colours Blue Juliette Binoche survives a car crash that kills her husband and daughter and has to live with the guilt. She is left with the realisation that she has been the prisoner of her own life and once the barriers have been taken down she is left with nothing but half truths, and actually tries to distance herself from it all rather than accept responsibility for who she is.

Three Colours White, the black sheep of the family, is actually a comedy -an anti-Rom-Com, if you like. In it, the protagonist Karol Karol is humiliated by his wife Dominique before being divorced and discarded. With no money to his name he tries returning to his homeland, Poland, in the most bizarre way possible before plotting his own unique brand of revenge on his ex. Again, this is a subtle film and covers ground that you wouldn't expect in a comedy. It's a lot darker and deeper than any of the Hollywood (or even the British) romantic comedies and the relationship between Karol and his wife is complex and intriguing.

Three Colours Red is my own personal favourite for it confirms my view that even the smallest gesture can create ripples that may affect the entire course of your life and others. This film works on so many different levels, and is so subtly layered that the final dénouement is open to interpretation and exquisite in it's simplicity. "Red" follows Valentine who is on the way home following a fashion shoot when she accidentally runs over a dog. Upon taking the dog to it's owner - a cynical, and embittered Joseph Kern; a retired judge- she becomes embroiled in his life. Initially repulsed by his activities (he eavesdrops on peoples conversations using state of the art surveillance methods and wiretaps) she is drawn into a friendship with him when he turns himself into the authorities. The two of them realise that their lives intertwine far more than they initially thought.

One of the most striking aspects of these films is the cinematography. Each film has a predominance of its title colour and is used to convey specific emotional states and succeeds in emphasising the social, cultural and, in some cases, the psychological conditions of the characters. At the start of each film we travel through tunnels of one sort or another (the most striking is in three colours red where we are taken down the fibre-optic telephone lines, across oceans), which, for me, symbolises the journeys that the characters must take. Tunnels are symbolic of a rite of passage; a state of transition. One that we all must make, and all the characters undergo their own rites of passage.

These are moving films, worthy of full attention and will take the very breath from your body. To me they are beautiful in every way, cinematic benchmarks of the highest order. If you want to see what cinema is truly capable of then watch these films.