new_life_255

I love Dead Ringers. It is easily the best BBC Radio 4 sketch programme and I think that this is the medium it excels in. The television series though...well, it's alright. There are some bits that are extremely funny (particularly the 'Gladiator' spin-offs) but personally I don't think it should ever have gone to TV. Though the voices are accurate, the appearances are not - and, most importantly, there was no way of being able to show the Dr. Who "tell me, my friend, do you stock spare parts for a tardis" phone-calls (an absolute classic.) I much prefer hearing the voices of the chosen victims and picturing them in my mind than seeing an inaccurately portrayed celebrity on the TV (though Tony Blair is still very good!)

Fourteen years on, and its still hilarious! I love this programme - my Friday evenings aren't quite the same without it. And why? Three things: 1. The sharp comments and satire. 2. Ian Hislop. 3. Paul Merton. Before 'that-unfortunate-incident' there was a fourth reason, that being Angus Deayton. Such a dreadful pity that such a fabulous host had to give up. Ah well, at least most of the guest hosts are good too. My particular favourites were Boris Johnson (who had no control over Paul - but then, who does?) William Hague (surprisingly so) and Ann Robinson (deducting points and giving them, umm can't remember much actually...) Anyway, here's to many more years on the air!

...did I love it, or hate it? 'The Iliad' is definitely one of my favourite books (would be my favourite if that wasn't 'the Odyssey')and, in all honesty, this wasn't the Iliad. Too much was changed to make it true to the story. I would list, but there's too much to put. And the film seemed like a week, not 10 years. AND, to add insult to injury, Orlando Bloom's Paris was very poor, as was Helen. However, many other characters came out brilliantly. Eric Bana was, in my opinion, PERFECT as Hector, and Rose Byrne was brilliant as Briseis. Sean Bean was also extremely good, but it would have been nice if he'd had more scenes. Oh, and the battle scenes were enough to put even LOTR to shame. Those are the good and the bad things, and now for the "ummm..." things. To begin, Brad Pitt - looked the part, acted well, but he didn't really seem like the Achilles I'd built an interpretation of, but that might just be me.

Peter O'Toole - overplayed most facial expressions, but I did think that he did very well when Priam went to beg the return of Hector's body. All in all, despite loving 'the Iliad' and hating change to it, this film was, well, enjoyable.