The Exclusives - The Final

First Broadcast: 
Thursday 28 June 2012 at 21:00
ITV2
TwoFour





I had been backing Ellie from the start. Initially because I felt I had to support someone, and the only relatable aspect is that she has a Media degree, and I am studying Media myself.

But she really proved herself as the weeks went on.  What baffled me most was that on the first episode of the show, the judges worried that she was too "serious" - she was the craziest person on that show! Her video project with Peter Andre proved that.  I don't think I would have had the guts to tell Peter Andre that his songs were "sh*t," no matter how true this statement may be. It's Insania.

In comparison to the other rookies, she definitely showed the most potential.  Felix just copied the ideas of others.  He had no voice, he never seemed to do any research, and I found his style of interviewing very awkward, with him just blurting out inappropriate questions.

Stu was great.  He didn't really show it, but I believe that he really did want this opportunity.  He may have been in with more of a chance if he had shown passion for anything else but himself.

What I didn't like about the show is that we didn't get to read the articles the rookies had written. When competing for a job in journalism, writing is a main aspect, and we didn't get a taste of it at all.

I just hope the right person won!

Image from: www.itv.com/exclusives

Gordon Behind Bars - Episode 1

First Broadcast: 
Tuesday 26 June 2012 at 21:00
Channel 4
One Potato Two Potato






Brixton Prison – hardly the most obvious place to start up a baking business.  Particularly when it’s the prisoners doing the baking.  

That’s exactly why I tuned into this brand new series, Gordon Behind Bars.  I’m not a huge Gordon Ramsay fan as I don’t particularly enjoy programmes that are 90% made up of bleeping noises,  but this time round, his mission intrigued me, not only because it was such a monumentous challenge, but also because I had no idea how society would receive it.

"My plan's pretty straight-forward: it's about getting them working, off their arse, and then working."

So far, so good…

"I'm gonna try and set up a business behind bars, getting the prisoners cooking on the inside to sell on the outside."

That’s where I see a downfall.  

I may just be shallow-minded, but are people really going to want to eat food that has been cooked by criminals?  Fair enough, Gordon will be managing the project, but he can’t watch over every single one of them whilst the baking is going on.  Are prisoners likely to have a grasp of health and safety regulations?

“They could spit in it, they could let it on the floor, they could do anything with it,” one member of the public states.

Even if, as society, we are prepared to consume food that has been prepared in prison by prisoners, is that really fair on food businesses that people have put a lot of work and money into?  Is it right of Gordon Ramsay to step in and create extra competition for these businesses?  After all, a lot less people would consider buying prison-made food at all if Gordon Ramsay were not fronting the campaign.

But I see where the benefits of Gordon’s mission lie.

"If there's one thing these guys have got on their side, it's time.”

People don’t care what prisoners get up to in their cells.  As long as they are not living in luxury, we couldn’t care less if they sit in their cell all day and do nothing or not.  In fact, we may see that as a fitting punishment.  

But it’s all about making money, to put something back into society.

"The taxpayer forks out £38 grand to keep each of Britains' 88,000 prisoners banged up, yet only 10% of them do any hard work."

Gordon says: "It just seems a complete waste. The amount of money we spend keeping those guys in there. It's costing us a fortune."

"In cash-strapped Britain, few offenders graft full-time to pay anything back."

This is where my support lies.  

So many of the prisoners featured in the programme have been in and out of prison their whole lives.  If the tax payer is paying so much for that kind of lifestyle, it is most definitely a waste of money.  

If these prisoners can make their time in prison more productive in order to make money for the outside world – fantastic!  If this kind of business were to be set up in every prison, it may also act as a deterrent for offenders and  might encourage people to try and make lives for themselves in the real world instead of spending it in prison, if they would be working whilst in there anyway.

In terms of the programme, what’s more entertaining than Gordon Ramsay forcing a bunch of tough criminals to make fairy cakes?

Favourite quote from the show:

"the ruthless criminals can't resist a little bit of glitter."

That's not a sentence you're likely to hear in any other programme!

I am highly looking forward to the upcoming episodes in the series and I am very intrigued to see how Gordon’s mission pans out.

Image from www.channel4.com/programmes/gordon-behind-bars

Can We Trust the Police?

First Broadcast: 
Monday 25 June 2012 at 21:00
BBC Three
Special Edition Films LTD.




I have always found the documentaries broadcast on BBC Three to be full of truly shocking and thought-provoking content, displayed in a gripping and thrilling way.  This is particularly true for the Crime Season that BBC Three is promoting at the moment.  The series, Our Crime, which was broadcast back in April, demonstrated how less fearful of the police people have become, even going to the extent of filming their own shocking crimes and posting them online. So Can We Trust the Police? was a must-watch for me. 

A lot of the content was certainly thought-provoking and it did shock me, but it didn't grab me in the way that previous BBC Three docs had.  The opening to the programme showed swarms of police partaking in extremely violent events, and scenes of last years' riots in London. These images set the programme up to be full of adrenaline - it wasn't. But it still was a very thought-provoking documentary.

The programme looked at a number of isolated cases, one involving a friend of Adam Deacon, who was fronting the programme.  David was his name, and he had recently been attacked by the police after being wrongly accused of a crime.  Yes, everyone makes mistakes.  But what shocked me was that the police weren't in uniform, they didn't let David know who they were or why they were attacking him.  They even filmed footage of the violence.  

What I don't understand is why they were attacking him at all, and with such brutality?  Whatever happened to handcuffs and the "right to remain silent?"  If this is the new approach the police are taking on, even without thorough research, then yes, why should we trust them?

Adam illustrates how police can make a judgement: "They hear my accent, they see what I'm wearing... some of the time I've got a hoodie on and I think they think, 'criminal.'"

An occurring theme throughout the programme involved Adam standing in a dark room, wearing dark clothing, sharing his views and opinions on the police.  The darkness that surrounded him heightened the terror within his stories of the police and how they treat his friends and people who share his image.  It caused us to focus only on his words - a powerful effect.

"1 in 3 people think the police are corrupt, 1 in every 5 think they are dishonest."

But not all police are violent.  One firearms officer says, "I hope I go through my firearms career without having to draw my weapon."  Another policeman that Adam visited was PC Lang in Fife. Most of the cases he had to deal with involved wildlife. 

The excitement demonstrated at the beginning of the documentary barely made an appearance, and, overall, the programme didn't answer the question posed in the title at all.  Adam's closing words are, "As to whether I trust the police... I'm not sure. Personally, I think we'll always be asking if we can trust the police."

The obvious avoidance of the question highlights how controversial a topic this is - an answer cannot be formulated, no matter how much information is gathered.  This kind of cliffhanger builds suspense, but do we really want suspense within a topic like this - a topic that could affect our own safety?

Either way, it allows us, as viewers, to form our own opinions.

My opinion? No, we can't - not fully.  But I think one day, we could.

Image from www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kbymz

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog! All about TV, I am very happy to say.

I am a Media student at Robert Gordon University, and it's safe to say that I watch a lot of tv. I hope to, one day, become involved in what I see as the excitement of television production.  It is a career I have dreamed of since childhood.

I have always held a great passion for television.  I even go to the extent of writing my opinions on programmes in my "TV Diary."  But a thought came to recently: why am I keeping my views on television hidden away in a diary?  What is the point in a passion if you aren't going to share it with anyone?

So, welcome to My Television Addiction.

The types of programmes I watch vary across the board, from comedies and sitcoms to factual documentaries, and I'm not ashamed to say I even enjoy the odd reality programme. 

Even if no one reads this, I still enjoy writing it.  And anyone who is reading this, I really appreciate it!


Charlie