Category: tv

Nesbitt Who anyone?

James NesbittSo, according to reports, BBC bosses are lining up James Nesbitt to be the new Doctor Who, when David Tennant quits at the end of next series.

There has been outrage in certain quarters, suggesting that this is a terrible choice, almost akin to Sylvester McCoy’s stint as the TimeLord (although maybe that’s a little harsh).

For starters, anyone who saw Nesbitt in the BBC’s recent drama Jekyll would surely agree with the decision. The Irish actor blew all those Cold Feet preconceptions out of the water with this portrayal of Dr Jackman and Mr Hyde.

Secondly, I seem to remember people being a little surprised and worried about Christopher Ecclestone, David Tennant and Billie Piper, when they were announced in their respective Dr Who roles and each of them has acquitted themselves brilliantly.

Ecclestone was a revelation, as many people didn’t think he could do the “comedy” side of things. The best compliment I can pay the super David Tennant is that it’s tough to remember Ecclestone even did the first series.

As for Billie Piper, she totally confounded the sceptics, who thought it was a sort of publicity stunt and a way to boost the ratings. She was brilliant!

The three recent series have all been great and I don’t doubt that any future ones will be equally fantastic. I’m already looking forward to seeing Nesbitt “driving” the Tardis…

Where does the time go?

Sometimes I wonder what I did with my life before I had kids. The weekends always seemed to stretch out like a never-ending chasm, to be filled with drinking wine, cooking lovely food and watching TV or going to the movies.

Now, I occasionally get to cook lovely food, drink wine as long as it’s not too much, or else I’ll have a stinking hangover, never go to the cinema, unless it’s with my three-year-old (The Wild, Flushed Away) and watch any TV I can get to. I watch Match Of The Day on Sunday, if I’m lucky courtesy of Sky+

In fact, I watch most of my favourite TV (actually we do), by virtue of Sky+ – I don’t think I watch anything at the time it’s actually broadcast, apart from the occasional news bulletin. Decidedly odd. What happened to watercooler TV? I think I’ve had about one conversation about last night’s TV in the past 6 months, and that was about, dare I say it, Celeb Big Brother.

It’s not as if we don’t do things with Ava – more that everything has to be structured around her and when she eats. If we go shopping in town, we end up being at Oxford Circus at 12.15, so we can go to Mamas & Papas cafe. Ah, those halcyon days of suddenly grabbing something at 2.30pm and necking a bottle of wine.

If it sounds like I’m moaning, far from it. My children are a delight – I suppose I sometimes marvel at what my life used to be like. Fulfilment is guaranteed now!