I am, amazingly, up to date on Midsomer Murders! Well, until tomorrow. I struggle to get round to watching it because I have to cross stitch while it's on (or watch it in bits) because it's just so slow. I wish they only had an hour and Taggart had their two hours back. But aside from that I am liking the new bloke. Although the last episode was like a Drop the Dead Donkey reunion - it had Alex (with dark hair), George Dent and Dave in it.

Then Lewis, of course, keeps on having people in who've been in other things. I spent the whole of the last episode going mad over the psychiatrist's assistant. It was only after I'd finished watching it that I looked it up on imdb, which thankfully is up to date on the cast per episode. So then I found out she was Jasmine in the new Reggie Perrin.

On the subject of murder mysteries, on the advice of hhertzof I think it was, I tried an episode of Castle. And it turned out to be good! This is unusual because American cop shows spend too much time on soapy stuff and not enough on the crime. But Castle have got the balance just right - which is quite impressive given that they have 10 minutes less than an hour long program on ITV.

And lastly, Red Dwarf is coming back. I'd be excited about it if I knew it was going to be good. But the three episodes they did at Easter a couple of years ago were not that great. I can't decide whether I want more Red Dwarf, or I'd rather it died if it wasn't going to be good. Although it is going to be on Dave, so it will be shorter by definition. Mind you, I'd love to go to a recording, even if it wasn't very good.

I enjoyed both Red Dwarf and Doctor Who this weekend. The former more, of course, since it is Red Dwarf and the first new Red Dwarf for ten years.

However, I have a big, major, non-spoilery problem with each of them. In Doctor Who's case it's the swirly vortex thingy they have in the background of the beginning and ending credits that I couldn't watch because it made me dizzy. In Red Dwarf's case it was Dave's tendency to launch straight into adverts without the usual putting up the logo to warn you. Once I thought something had gone horribly wrong with the signal and once I thought the episode had gone a bit bizarre. It's bad enough watching Red Dwarf with adverts as it is, but that was a bit much.

But, in more spoilery thoughts: Read more...

First picture for special

Wow, they look so old. Well, Danny John-Jules has got wrinkly and Chris Barrie has not a lot of grey hair. I know it's been ten years since the last one, but I was at uni then and it really can't be that long ago, can it?

My cautious optimism of the initial announcement has been replaced by excitement upon seeing this photo because now it seems real.

I clearly have no clue what's going on in the world because my dad just pointed out there's a new channel called Dave. It shows comedy, which I'm interested to see includes The Apprentice. According to the TV guide it's on channel 19, which means it's on channel 12.

There's rather a lot of Top Gear and Whose Line is it Anyway? on it, so I might not get quite as much work done any more...

But they're also showing Red Dwarf. I don't know if they're going through VI, but tonight was Psirens. It's been a long time since I saw any Red Dwarf. I really need to get it on DVD because all my videos are at home. So it was interesting to see. Since this episode was first shown in 1993 I've grown up and watched other sci-fi stuff. The story was something that wouldn't be out of place in something like Star Trek or Farscape. It's just the way it's handled that is.

I've definitely got the script in my memory, even though I thought I might have forgotten some of it by now, because I was anticipating most of the jokes - more as the episode went in and I got back into it. Some of them still made me laugh out loud though.

The adverts in the middle threw me, though. Red Dwarf with adverts in just isn't right. However, I really enjoyed it - I'd forgotten how good it is. Mind you, I'm saying that because it's VI they showed, if it had been VII I might not have been quite so enthusiastic...

So many things to talk about, so little time...

Weight
I don't understand this dieting thing and I suspect I never will. To people trying to lose weight, then good on you and good luck. I certainly couldn't do it, I don't have the willpower. I looked through the Weight Watchers book of food the other day. They didn't have most of the stuff I ate in it and it was so hard to find anything but doing some converting I reckon I eat 17 points a day. You're supposed to eat 22. I should be a stick by now.

The West Wing
Watching the episode on Sunday and the one on Tuesday I ask myself where's all this Josh/Donna coming from? Okay so simultaneously watching season 2 I can understand but why am I reading it? It's a lot like Sam/Jack with the forbidden romance thing. And there are only so many ship cliches I can cope with. I think I've exhausted Jonathan/Martha for a bit, I might have to go back to Clark/Lex (or maybe try Chloe/Lana now that I've seen it). I had an idea for a Smallville fic as well which is a very bad idea given that I don't have the time, haven't seen all the episodes and haven't seen any of the Superman films all the way through. I think I've only seen the odd episode of Lois and Clark all the way through as well.

Stargate
Avenger 2.0 - I liked it. It wasn't perfect but it was good.
Space Race - I thought I dislike it when I heard what it was about (okay, saw the title) and I was right. It would have been nice to have been surprised though.
Birthright - Why am I not surprised that Chris Judge wrote himself a snog?

Red Dwarf
I love Red Dwarf. Series 1 to 6 anyway. I couldn't help thinking about how bad VII and VIII were on the way home. Please let the film be good. When it eventually (ever) gets made.

I keep forgetting how fast the internet is when you're not downloading anything. It'll seem so much faster when I go home this weekend. Not when I'm downloading though .

What I want to know is: who were the blokes with the suitcase of money in Auf Weidersehen, Pet in Comic Relief on Friday? I can't help feeling I should know, but I think they probably used to be big. Plus I never know what any musician (if that's the right word) looks like anyway. I now have a hole in my inflatable chair that I can't fix. I think I'll have to buy a new one next week. Just as well I picked up a new Argos catalogue last time I was in Oxford.

Slept till noon yesterday, which was good. Went to bed at 1am though cos my feet were cold. And I was bored. Still haven't watched the Angel episode I finished downloading on Friday. Might do that after Cold Feet if its finished virus checking. But probably not as I have loads of mp3s filling up my hard drive. I'm trying to get enough to fill a CD, so far I have just under 400megs worth, which lasts about 6 hours. I've got a few more ideas of songs to download yet though. Should keep me going at work and at home when the radio's really annoying me (so always then).

Very nearly have the final version of Dropping Eaves done (go me!) and managed to write another 1000 words of Isildur/Haldir. The latest bit is angsty though, which is my forte. Love writing angst, its so fun to do nasty things to the characters.

Spent most of today helping out at the world pooh sticks championships. I got to sort the sticks out again as I did it last year. But the marshalling of people went much better this year with more people. And I got time to have a go myself. I did spend the day facing the sun though, so it seemed really dark when I got in. Plus my face feels hot and looks a bit red, so think I have got myself sunburned already! And technically its still winter - although explain that to the daffodils.

Went out for milk and a pizza yesterday and came back with three books as well. Damn those charity shops! Although I don't have to worry about not having anything to read now, specially as I don't think I'll be going home before Easter to get my books and doubtless borrow one of mum's. Very annoying - they're resurfacing the hall at the lesiure centre so no Tae Kwon Do on a Monday for a bit. Now that Farscape's finished. I won't know what to do with myself - although I should really finish the LOTR DVD. And then start working through another one.

I actually remembered to watch Red Dwarf on Thursday. I thought it wouldn't be that exciting as I've seen it so many times before and it was only series 1. But it was great - I haven't seen any Red Dwarf for so long I'd forgotten how go it was (prior to series 7 of course). Must watch some more soon, I think. Blogger template still a pain in the arse, surprise, surprise.

I've found out what a meme is, according to the LiveJournal Meme Repository it is:
"an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture".

After I did one topic yesterday it must be time for more than one today.

Red Dwarf:
I watched Future Echoes on Friday, as it was on a DVD that came with a DVD magazine. Its only when you don't watch something for so long that coming back to it, it surprises you how good it is. I've only just found out that Samantha Robson was in Psirens. I've seen the episode since she started in The Bill as well, so there's no excuses there. I will have to watch it again, now that I know.

Stargate:
I'm going to miss Jonas if he's not in season 7 much. Yes, there are elements of him that are contrived - he learns quickly and does Daniel's job. But the rest of him is interesting, I think. Trying to earn Jack's friendship, learning about Earth from Teal'c. Speaking of which I love Teal'c this season (6). The whole team dynamic has changed, which is interesting to see, but I think Teal'c is loving not being the only alien. And having lived on Eaerth for five years he's a lot less alien than he was previously. He does jokes, sarcasm and interacts with humans without them realising he isn't.

Alias:
Having just seen Passage part 1 I really feel for Jack. Having been betrayed by Irina he finds it hard to trust anyone or get close to them since. Maybe he and Sydney not speaking for many years was a part of that. As a result he really hates Irina, doesn't trust her and doesn't know what her motives are. And maybe a little scared that she'll betray Sydney the way she betrayed him. But even with all that he still loves her. I think pretending to be a family must have been really hard to do. We have no way of knowing though what Irina thinks. We can be fairly certain she doesn't love Jack, but she either loves Sydney or is pretending to. She must have been a very good actress to fool Jack for over seven years. Who knows what's really going through her head?