It is interesting to see how well some of my articles do and
how some of them are basically flops. I don’t think it is the writing (each
article has the same level of incoherent thought) but more of the programs that
are featured on here. It is interesting to see what people like and what is
less interesting. Take for example Sherlock.
I have written two articles on the program this year. Checking the analytics on
this blog and my Facebook page, it is clear that a lot of people like to read
about it. In fact, it has given me some of my highest numbers. There is also
the surprisingly popular article for Mulberry.
I did an article that covered the entire series back in 2010. I thought it was
a good article but people seem to keep reading it. In fact, I am still getting
comments about the article even just getting one this week. Most of the
articles do well but some not quite as well. The four articles for To Play the King started
out really slow with readership. It seemed not a whole lot of people were
interested. I think part of the problem may have been that instead of being
able to give a decent amount of background to the series, I was watching it and
writing about it with no former knowledge of the series plus I had a lot of bad
guesses about what was going to happen with the series.
Then there is As Time
Goes By. Very few people read the article last week. Very few people even
read my Facebook post about it. Apart from the fact that it is summer, there
are a couple of things going against these articles. One is that I am picking
these articles up with Series 4 opposed to starting from the start. I need to
do this because I started from the beginning prior to me writing this blog. I
could start over but that ain’t gonna happen! I thought putting the PBS spin on
the article would have helped this dilemma but I guess not. Is it possible that
the problem itself is As Time Goes By?
Maybe it is a well-remembered series but is it one that people want to read
about? It’s hard to say. There is a decent amount of traffic that comes to this
blog everyday but few of them were reading the As Time Goes By article. By no means am I annoyed or upset by it, I
just found it all very interesting. Big blogs or magazines would see what is popular
and what is not then stop doing articles on what is not popular. I have no
intention of doing that. Some of the stuff I pick is not nearly as exciting for
me to watch but the point of the exercise is to watch the stuff I don’t always
see and I need somewhere to write it. So, now on to As Time Goes By.
Apart from all of the wedding and relationship stuff, Lionel’s mini-series is starting to film at Rocky’s place. It is a disaster with people in horrible clichéd British costumes and a very voluptuous woman playing a younger Jean. Keep a look out for Bob Boa who was in the Fawlty Towers episode Waldorf Salad, playing the younger Rocky for the mini-series. With the amount of disdain Lionel has towards the filming of the mini-series (beyond all the re-writes) it seems like he wishes he never got involved with it at all. Of course when he sees the size of the check he got, it did help him out a little.
The overall series is very plush and comfortable. Lionel and Jean live a very comfortable life. The scenes with them living in Jean’s house sitting on the couch or them reading in bed together with large comfy pillows and blankets makes me want to move in there. It is all so comfortable. They move at their own pace. Nothing is rushed. Lionel likes his custard tarts or he enjoys taking a walk down to the pub to have a “swift pint”. It all seems very enjoyable. I really do enjoy that pace for the series. It’s all relaxed. The comedy really does come out of the situations opposed to the characters. Sure, they all have personalities but it’s what situations the characters get into that are really funny. In Episode 7, Jean is looking for a new outfit for the wedding. She is so frantic about finding the right piece that she takes the outfit out of the store to see what the colour of the outfit looks like in sunlight. Of course what she does not realize is that she was shoplifting in the eyes of the security guard. It is all soon handled and we move onto the next part of the episode. The moment is funny and then we move on. It is not milked to excess and that is because Bob Larbey is too talented to allow that to happen.

The cast is all really good in this. I originally wasn’t so
sure about Philip Bretherton’s take on Alistair. It seemed like his portrayal
of Alistair was really bad and fakey. I know Alistair is fakey but it almost
felt like no one was laughing at the character’s jokes. I didn’t remember him
like that in the earlier episodes from Series 1 -3. Then, when Alistair was
being himself and helping out Jean and Lionel, he became much more real and I
enjoy the character much more. Of course you could put Geoffrey Palmer in
anything I would watch it. His pedigree for British television is immense. He
is a national treasure. It’s good to see he has never left our screens. Now,
Judi Dench is interesting. I will be honest; I have warmed to her more now than
I have in years past. I am not a huge fan of hers but that may be because she
is not generally in the type of stuff I would watch but with a couple of
exceptions. I will never watch A Fine
Romance simply because I have no interest in it at all. I decided to give As Time Goes By a go only because
Geoffrey Palmer is in it. Once I realized that Bob Larbey wrote it, that helped
matters too. I really did not like her when she became M in the Bond films. She
grated on me a lot until Daniel Craig became Bond. The characters of Bond and M
changed significantly in Casino Royale
and so did their relationships. I think Judi is the perfect M for Daniel Craig’s
Bond. Of course more on that later as I will be writing a series of articles
for the upcoming release of Skyfall.
I find it interesting that Jean Simmons was originally approached to play Jean in
the series but declined. At that point Judi Dench came in to audition for the
role. I can’t imagine Judi Dench needing to audition for any role especially
auditioning for a BBC sitcom. The thought of that simply amuses me.
Now that I have gone through Series 1 – 4 of As Time Goes By am I going to rush
ahead to watch Series 5? I have really enjoyed the series so far but I am
thinking that as much as I liked it, I think I will wait until I randomly pick
it again. I just hope it’s not another 5 years.A Tough Week:

It was disclosed this week that Mary Tamm has passed away at
the age of 62. Mary had been known to so many of us Doctor Who fans as the original Romana. 62 is such a young age! She
died from cancer and had been ill for some time. This is a shock and a very sad
one at that.

Next week: Do you like plants? Well, I know of certain types of plants that would like you. Next week we see the first of 3 articles on the 1981 BBC series The Day of the Triffids.
Have a great week!
Do you have feedback, article requests or want to talk about a program but do not want to leave a public comment? Feel free to drop me an e-mail at FTA13867@gmail.com
4 comments:
I am bummed out about the loss of Mary Tamm as well. She was the actress who played the first companion I ever saw on Doctor Who. I thought her performances were great and they should of kept her on for more. Obviously she was in my top five companions of all time. With Liz Shaw, Sarah Jane, Ace, and Jo Grant.
Greg on a side note I might be receiving some extra copies of certain shows similar to what happened the time I ordered Only Fools and Horses Complete Series where the package got lost in the mail. I've got a complete list if you want to email me at reddwarf66622@aol.com.
The loss of both Mary Tamm and Geoffrey Hughes has been shocking and just really sad. Cancer is horrible and I have often said that is will eventually take all of us. A bit gloomy I know but it gets so tiresome. Although of little solace for their respective families, us fans have a great body of their work we can enjoy for a very long time.
Greg
RIP Romana I and Onslow. You will both be missed.
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