Its the most wonderful time of the year.

Welcome to what is now our well trodden xmas review of the year.  Today we'll be looking at television and our annual Miranda awards for TV trash.  But first we have to big something up.

The Durrells ITV

This could have sucked hard, but for some reason this Sunday evening drama of Gerald Durrell's like in Corfu, was the best thing actually.  Mainly because of Keeley Hawes as his mum, but also a sex mad Laurence Durrell, and his useless friends, including captain Creech a pissed up version of the Simpsons Sea Captain.  Also quite accurate to the original Birds Beasts and Relatives, although with sadly less beasts in it.

Dara O Brien goes 8 Bit.

I only really saw this on Xmas eve but its everything a show about video games should be, funny, heartwarming and above all about beating your mates senseless in video challenges.  Josie Long played Sega's Frogger and there were challenges for Pac Man and Pong and they even had an outing from the old Namco Arcade Font. Got a lot of old GamesMaster in this, which is no bad thing.


The Undiscovered Peter Cook.

Didn't realise how strange this was until I saw his wife's obituary in Private Eye.  She kept his house like a time capsule and allowed no one to enter at all after his death.  Victor Lewis Smith presents this look back through the incredible archive of unseen Pete and Dud sketches and material.  I've still got a way to go through this but trust me its gold.

Harry Hill's Teatime.

A joy and the only good reason to watch Sky One in absolutely ages. Like a cooking based TV Burp, its a wonderful mix of the insane, the crazy and Joey Essex being bemused by things which is why its on the list.  Release the Sausage its teatime.

The X Files Season 10.

So a bit hit and miss and its only a short run but the episode with the lizard man is the only reason to watch.  i know I'm biased but I can't put the X files into the Miranda awards as even at its worst its still watchable.

Britain's Treasure Islands.

Three part series about whats left of the empire.  Various bits and pieces of the Caribbean and the South Atlantic along with Pitcairn Island in the Pacific and a few Strategic bits and pieces of the Med.  Including Gibraltar and Cyprus these are the only bits of the British Overseas Territories that I've visited.  Reading through the link above, the guy who did it seems a really interesting chap and an expert on Carnivorous Plants to boot.  I'll put up some shots of  photos from my trips to the British Overseas Territories below.  I will add it was a fucker to leave Gibraltar due to Spanish Practices.

Cyprus. A church at Oroklimi.

Old digital shot of Gibraltar. Appalling quality sadly.

Miranda Awards for Televisual Garbage.

Avoiding the usual reality show suspects which would take the crown every year
 its mainly two things that make this a shock fest and sadly its the BBC who takes the crown for this.

Remakes of old sitcoms.

We did a whole take down of the Keeping up Appearances which was truly a vile, vile piece of television,  and this comes from some one who didn't care for the original.  Porridge wasn't bad per se but Are You Being Served was fuck awful.  Sherrie Lewis as Mrs Slocombe just no, please back away. 

Eastenders.

Is still awful only this time its on a different level than last year.  They have a new Michelle Fowler who looks like Sharon Marsh from South Park, and Phil Mitchell has become Uncle Phil from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air thanks to liver poisoning due to alcoholism.  I wish I had the fortitude to drink so this whole thing becomes comprehensible. 

Walliams and Friend.

A really bad idea featuring the camp one from Little Britain which has none of the class of the latter.
Its not funny and the episode I saw wasted Harry Enfield in a series of unfunny sketches.

Have I got News For You.

Sad this is on here but its largely unfunny now.  A news quiz satire that gets deader by the year.  Maybe its the Post Truth era but all these left wing comics are appalling grouches and grumps when the right are in ascendant. Salt merchants and whingers the lot of 'em.  You have cheap shots at Brexit and Donald Trump and none really on deathly dull old socialists such as The Corbs and Diane James Brown Abbott, the result is its unbalanced, unfunny junk.  They had a parody of this on  Harry Enfield (see above) where it completely smashed it.  In short not even a dolphin in a bath tub could save this now.