The US television remake of the critically acclaimed Danish crime thriller series The Killing began its UK premiere on Channel 4 last Thursday with a double bill.  For those not familiar with the original series, The Killing revolves around the murder of a teenager girl.  Various sub-plots weave a gripping storyline which will have you guessing to the last as to who may have been involved, as much as to blame for such a heinous crime.

The US version is based in Seattle, the victim is Rosie Larsen and the Faroe Island jumper wearing detective in charge of solving the mystery is Sarah Linden.  The names and places have been altered but going by the first two episodes, the storyline is very similar to the original, Forbrydelsen, which was aired in the UK earlier this year.

As a big fan of the Danish version I was not sure whether I would enjoy the US remake of The Killing.  However, if the first two episodes are anything to go on, my concerns were unwarranted.  The dark brooding atmosphere is still present, as is the mood-driven electronic soundtrack; and Seattle looks like the perfect replacement for Copenhagen.

The Killing masterfully entwines three stories around a single murder: the dysfunctional personal life of detective Sarah Linden, the family’s grieving, and the various suspects including a boyfriend, teacher, a candidate for local Mayor, close friends of the family and employees of the family-run business.

If you missed the beginning it would be wise to catch-up before you watch episode three, not only to get the complete picture of events but to add to the gripping suspense.

The first two episodes were shown last Thursday and can be viewed on the Channel 4 website and various ‘Catch-Up TV’ services while the third of 12 episodes will be shown on Channel 4 on Thursday 14th July at 9pm.

Honda has announced they will continue to sponsor Channel 4 documentaries. ‘Documentaries on 4, sponsored by Honda’ will be used as the strapline tin 2011.

Martin Moll, Head of Marketing at Honda (UK) said, ‘”I am very excited that our continued relationship sponsoring Channel 4 documentaries allows us to focus on our customers, highlighting their warm – sometimes quirky – personal experiences of Honda products either for fun or as a necessary part of their daily livelihood.  We hope that this campaign will unveil further examples from our customers, one of which will be nominated to be brought to life on TV for a final set of idents later on in the year”.

The new 2011 sponsorship deal will include films with real-life Honda customers and showcase how they use their vehicles in the most interesting ways. The first of four films introduces a Honda owner called Philippa who uses her Honda ATV to tend to the alpacas on her Oxfordshire farm.

The films were created by Hollie Newton at Wieden + Kennedy and include a unique website link relating to its story allowing viewers to see extra content online.

Honda will also be using social media with Facebook and Twitter campaigns to accompany the TV sponsorship deal linking to an online hub at www.honda.co.uk/stories – www.honda.co.uk/stories – where the videos will be available in full along with articles and other interesting stories.

There’s also a competition in the ‘Take Part’ section of the website, where Honda owners can upload their own stories and photographs, explaining the unusual ways in which they use their own Honda products. This doesn’t have to be a car!

W+K will select their favourite story and make it into the final mini-documentary to be shown later in the year as part of the Channel 4 campaign.

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Mathew Horne to host Sounds From The Cities

New Channel 4 Music Show, Sounds From The Cities is to be hosted by star of Gavin & Stacey, Mathew Horne.

Channel 4, in conjunction with new website Bobcom, have announced a new addition to its musical viewing line-up with the launch of an innovative music series, Sounds From The Cities.

The new music show will be presented by Mathew Horne, with surprise co-hosts.  The series will guide viewers through venues nationwide in the company of both established artists and new musical talent.

Mathew Horne is an actor, presenter, comedian and also an accomplished club DJ. A regular on the circuit with his own club nights, he has presented and DJ’d on BBC Radio’s 6 Music and Absolute Radio. He also presented the Brit Awards alongside James Corden and Kylie Minogue (though that is best completely forgotten!) as well as the NME Shockwaves Awards.

Sounds From The Cities will review the regional music scene, analysing both the heritage and future outlook, and will feature guest performances from some big names throughout the nation. The four-week series will begin on Wednesday 9th February and will be broadcast each week from different locations across the UK.

An innovation in its documentary-come-live performance blend, Sounds From The Cities will break new ground in addressing the changes inherent in a music industry driven by information technologies. Inclusively spanning the nation, the series will feature voices from Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast and Nottingham.

With his headline guests, Mathew Horne will discuss the world of the web and downloads, and the culture-changing dynamics inherent in new music trends across the UK and Ireland. Sounds From The Cities is designed as a musical re-evaluation. But it will also showcase new-meets-veteran jams and unveil the indie-minded up-and-coming talent that other shows overlook.

Writer/producer Michael Feeney Callan, Bobcom’s Chief Executive, stated, “Since the download revolution up-ended the traditional music industry the direction of contemporary music has shifted. No one has really examined the ground-shift and how artists, their output and their objectives have changed. Sounds from the Cities addresses that.”

Callan went on to say, “There’s a torrent of talent uninterested in grooming and gameshows, [...] Among these, we believe, are the new Bob Dylans and culture-changers. These we want to draw attention to.”

On presenting Sounds From The Cities Mathew Horne said, “I’m excited to be working with Bobcom and Channel 4 on this fresh and innovative take on music history.”

In the good old days of Graham Kerr, Keith Floyd and Rick Stein, when a fine wine selection was a pre-requisite to concocting a tasty meal, we had time to try out the recipes that took our fancy with at least a week until the next programme.

These guys were the pioneers for the likes of the Jamie Oliver’s of this world who came along offering some friendly patter while introducing simplicity to the menu.

Simplicity isn’t something that Heston Blumenthal brings to the TV, particularly on Channel 4’s Heston’s Feasts 2. Having only recently caught up with the series I was amazed at the lengths this ‘little chef’ goes to to recreate the tastes of the seventies, his own childhood era.

Obviously blissfully unaware of the celebrity chefs on TV at that time, Heston admits that he did not grow up eating lobster and caviar, in fact as a child he loved the ‘taste’ of powdered snacks like Cup a Soup and Pot Noodles.

And so he sets out to re invent those snacks for a more discerning palate, admitting that he is more excited about the ritual of making the noodles than the actual flavour.

Blumenthal manages to concoct noodles using seaweed and gelatine and makes this into noodles by putting it through a Play Doh toy machine from the 70’s era. The mixture is put into the toy and squeezed out in thin strips that make up the noodles.

Finished off with his own chicken and mushroom mix, the product is served up to his celebrity guests. I have to say I have enjoyed this series mainly for the inventiveness of the celebrity chef, who has not only re invented Pot Noodles but also re-creations of seventies and eighties iconic treats such as the Zoom ice lolly and of course Soda Stream drinks.

After expert analysis, opinion and tips the pair are asked to swap their regime for three weeks when the results will be judged by a beauty expert.

Skin & Bare It – Part 2

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Channel 4

How The Other Half Live is an intriguing series on Channel 4, made by the same team that produced The Secret Millionaire.

The documentary series follows the lives of two families, as a wealthy family agrees to assist a family that is living below the poverty line.

There are almost four million children living below the poverty line in the UK. The effects of growing up in poverty can last a lifetime: average life expectancy in the UK is 79; for someone growing up in poverty it is ten years less.

The first episode of the second series explored the friendship that formed between two eight year old girls when the families were brought together for the programme.

Rebecca Abingdon lives with her dad David, mum Angie and brother George in the chocolate box Cotswold countryside. David is the MD of a marketing business, and a multi-millionaire.

But just a few miles away Iris lives on the borderline of poverty. Her mother Cal spent 11 years travelling in a new age community before falling pregnant and making what should have been a life changing decision to study law.

Despite gaining a first class hons, a masters with distinction and completing her bar exams, Cal is unable to find a pupillage that will enable her to qualify as a barrister.

She is laden with debt and despite holding down a couple of jobs the family are on the breadline and Cal has debts of £20,000.

The Abingdon’s help out with cash spend on kids clothes and the like, but Iris insists that her mother should pay off some of her debt.

Meanwhile David attempts pulling a favour from some of his own contacts in the law business and is disgusted to learn that there is one pupilage offered for every 350 or so law graduates.

In the meantime David is reminded of his own humble upbringing and decides to take his own children to visit the house where he grew up and they cannot believe the size of his family home, which is a normal house.

Whilst there is a bond between the two families, I couldn’t help wondering what would happen in the future as there seemed to be little hope for Cal fulfilling her dream.

One thing that did come through was that rich or poor both families had plenty of love, something that is missing a lot of the time in this day and age.

Brookside

A group of Brookside fans are campaigning to get ‘classic’ episodes of the soap released on DVD. Given the current trend to monetise popular TV shows it is some surprise that Channel 4 and the Brookside producers are not keen to jump on the bandwagon.

Here is an article from the campaigners that gives some background into their ambition:

“Liverpool. For many people it’s the home of The Beatles & Gerry & The Pacemakers, however for those of us born after 1970 it’s the home of Brookside Close.

Brookside was a TV show born in 1982, on the same night as our 4th Television channel, the imaginatively titled Channel 4. However, this wasn’t just any old Soap Opera, it was unique in the way it was filmed and the subjects it covered.

The way it was conceived, written and filmed was different because it was entirely on location. That location was entirely an actual street in Liverpool. This has never been done before or since.

The subjects it covered were unique to the time it evolved in. Watching it, for those of us who grew up in that era, still teaches us things we did not know, but can relate to. The industrial disputes and unemployment which affected the whole country in the 1980’s is writ large for those of us who only observed these things from the sidelines.

As it grew older, Brookside tried to respond to the changing media market. It may have ultimately  failed in that race, but for the 4000 people who want the show preserved on the new media of DVD, and the  more than 100 people who want to see the Close preserved (including many who actually worked on the Show) it is something that will never ever be forgotten.

This may sound ridiculous, but Shakespeare’s house has lasted more than 400 years. These houses (Brookside Close), which I honestly believe are unique, can only last if they are allowed to stand for that long.

Long live Brookside Close.”

The Brookside fan group are currently trying to contact more Ex Cast, having  already got Dean Sullivan (Jimmy Corkhill), George Christopher (‘Little’ Jimmy Corkhill), Bryan Murray (Trevor Jordach) & more signing the Campaign’s online petition.

Here is a link to the petition to preserve Brookside on DVD.

For further information on this campaign visit the Brookside fans website.

Here is the update provided for the series, so you will know what to expect:

It’s all about ‘feeling your emotions’ this week in Glee, as Mr Schu sets the club another challenge;  he wants them to bond more with each other and Glee wouldn’t be Glee if it wasn’t all done through the medium of song. The kids get paired up randomly with the most unlikely partners to sing their hearts out to with some rather shocking results. Someone develops an obsessive crush for Schu himself and a certain set of parents are not happy when they hear some unexpected news, but in the end through all the tears and heartache, the true meaning of friendship prevails as things get tough for two particular young lovers.

Well what about the music? Here is the playlist for episode ten, so you can loosen up your vocal chords in readiness:

Song: Endless Love
Performed By: Rachel and Mr Schu
Original By: Lionel Richie and Diana Ross

Song: I’ll Stand By You
Performed By: Finn
Original By: The Pretenders

Song: Don’t Stand So Close to Me/Young Girl
Performed By: Mr Schu
Original By: Don’t Stand So Close to Me by The Police and Young Girl by Gary Puckett and The Union Gap

Song: Crush
Performed By: Rachel
Original By: Jennifer Paige

Song: (You’re) Having My Baby
Performed By: Finn
Original By: Paul Anka

Song: Lean on Me
Performed By: Artie and Mercedes
Original By: Bill Withers

And here is Endless Love as performed on Glee by Rachel and Mr Schu.

Glee: The Cast

Glee has without doubt become a TV phenomenon since bursting onto our screens and has already notched up a number one album in the UK with Glee: The Music Volume 1.

The US series has provided E4 with a massive hit, reaching 1.3 million viewers, while winning a Golden Globe Award and now a Gold album in the UK.

The soundtrack to the series has created a complete revolution in music sales, with the featured tracks in each episode being made available to purchase online straight after airing.

The singles from Glee: The Music, Volume 1, led by the anthemic Don’t Stop Believin, have exploded into the UK charts selling a combined total over 550,000 in two months!

Glee: The Music, Volume 2 is the latest collection of the cast’s fantastic, fresh and unique versions of classic songs taken from all areas of popular music.  It includes the Glee cast’s versions of hits by The Pretenders, Lily Allen, The Rolling Stones, Cyndi Lauper, Kelly Clarkson and Van Halen.

The full track listing for the album Glee: The Music Volume 2 is as follows:

1       “Proud Mary”.
2       “Endless Love”.
3       “I’ll Stand By You”.
4       “Don’t Stand So Close To Me / Young Girl”
5       “Crush”.
6       “(You’re) Having My Baby”.
7       “Lean On Me”.
8       “Don’t Make Me Over”.
9       “Imagine”.
10    “True Colours”.
11    “Jump”.
12    “Smile” (Lily Allen cover )”.
13    “Smile” (Charlie Chaplin cover )”
14    “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going”.
15    “Don’t Rain On My Parade”.
16    “You Can’t Always get What You Want”.
17    “My Life Would Suck Without You”.

Glee: The Music Volume 2 is released on March 15th and is available as a CD or digital download via Epic Records.

You can watch Glee on E4 Monday and Thursday nights and on Channel 4 every Sunday in the UK.

Tony Banks: The Secret Millionaire

Care homes millionaire and ex-Para, Tony Banks is returning to Liverpool for the filming of the next Secret Millionaire for Channel 4, which will be shown in on UK TV in March.

In the last series, the Secret Millionaire producers were forced to pull him out of the rundown Anfield estate when violence flared and he was targeted by yobs.

The care home entrepreneur was the first Secret Millionaire they’ve been forced to move for safety reasons.Tony had a terrifying ordeal as youths set fire to cars and houses and threw bricks at the building he was staying in.

Tony described the area as being ’like Beirut’. After spending a week undercover, the Falklands veteran donated £126,000 to the area on his visit, to numerous deserving charities and individuals in one of Liverpool’s poorest areas.

“A lot of good people live amongst the chaos,“ said Banks.

He hopes to see the positive effect that the money has had when he returns.