RUSSELL TOVEY - No.1295

The BBC has confirmed an airdate for the new series of ‘Being Human’

Being Human BBC UK will begin on Sunday, February 5 at 9pm on BBC Three.

The first episode titled 'Eve of the War' will centre on Annie (Lenora Crichlow) and George (Russell Tovey) and Tom (Michael Socha) as they fight to protect a baby from the attentions of the vampire overlords, the Old Ones. The first instalment was written by series creator Toby Whithouse. It will also introduce new vampire Hal, played by newcomer Damien Molony. Molony and Socha have joined Being Human as series regulars, following the departure of original cast members Aidan Turner and Sinead Keenan. Sherlock star and co-creator Mark Gatiss, Whitechapel's Alex Jennings and Teachers actor James Lance will also appear in the new run. In addition, Harry Potter's Mark Williams will play a character named Regus, while Submarine star Craig Roberts will reprise his role as teen vampire Adam.

NAIL IN THE BH COFFIN

“I think you’ve got a fight on your hands”

…is how season three of Being Human ended and I also feel it’s going to be the way loyal viewers will see the new fourth season. The makers will have a fight on their hands to maintain credibility as well as trying to build a following with a show that once had the strongest male bonding of any show on TV – that being the friendship of George and Mitchell (Tovey and Turner).

How does season four start?

Nina is pregnant, her ‘fuzzy love child’ growing at an alarming rate but she dies off-camera presumably pounced on by murderous vampires working for the Old Ones. George is undoubtedly changed forever after the devastation of killing Mitchell his best friend and then losing his pregnant girlfriend Nina; he is alone in his parenting role - as the man of the house and father of a child - a werechild? Annie has lost her one true love Mitchell after discovering the very worst in him via the Box Tunnel Murders. And all around them, the old ones and supernaturals are attacking to kill off George’s baby “The War Child”, which by mythology has never happened before and is not supposed to have been possible.

The show sits is in a precarious place. But one wonders with all that is coming, will the audience actually take to a new bunch of characters set to invade the spaces of the former cast members…and Annie remains the only long-term cast member after George (Russell Tovey) departs. Tovey saying he’d come back if asked to do guest spots…

Last Night's Viewing: Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents, BBC3

BY TOM SUTCLIFFE 

THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2012

I wish there was a dislike button for television, though my thumb would probably have ended up raw after Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents, one of BBC3's more obnoxious offerings. It's a kind of natural history series itself, in which holidaying teenagers play the beasts while their parents take the part of the film-makers, concealed in a hide somewhere so as to capture their subjects' natural behaviour in the wild. Last night, Sophie's Jehovah's Witness parents got a crash course in her distance from the tenets of the faith and Ronnie's mum and dad discovered that he appears to be a serial self-exposer. The phrase that keeps coming into your head is "Have they no shame?", less because of what the children do than because of their parents' creepy stalking. It ended with confected scenes of hugs and learning and it made me want to spew like an 18-year-old at the end of a seven-hour bar crawl.

NB. Russell Tovey narrates Sun Sex & Suspicious Parents.

SUN, SEX AND SUSPICIOUS PARENTS SEASON TWO

Series 2 will air on BBC Three from 25th January 2012 having been filmed throughout the summer season of 2011. The series will consist of seven episodes.

Episode 1 – Kos

The first episode of the series will follow two teens from different backgrounds. 18-year-old Sophie from Sussex is leaving behind her strict Jehovah's Witness parents for her first holiday without them, while in Kent 19-year-old exhibitionist and mummy's boy Ronnie is also looking forward to the freedom of his first lads' holiday. First Broadcast: 25th January 2012, 9pm, BBC Three.

Episode 2 – Malia

It is booze, boys and bad behaviour in the party town of Malia. 18-year-old geezer Andy from Kent leaves behind his doting mum for the holiday of a lifetime with his best mates, while 19-year-old Lancashire wild child Adina escapes the clutches of her over-protective mum for her first girls' holiday. Andy competes with his friends to see who can seduce the most women, while Adina has one thing on her mind - boys. With mum out of the picture she is on a man hunt. First Broadcast: 1st February 2012, 9pm, BBC Three

Episode 3 – Kavos

The third episode of the series will see the teens holidaying, under the watch of their parents, in Kavos. This episode will be first broadcast on 8th February 2012 at 9pm on BBC Three.

Episode 4 – Ayia Napa

The forth episode of the series will see the teens on holiday in Ayia Napa on the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It will first be broadcast on the 15th February 2012 at 9pm on BBC Three.

Episode 5 – Location To Be Confirmed

The fifth episode of the series, location to be confirmed, will first be broadcast on the 22nd February 2012 at 9pm on BBC Three.

Episode 6 – Location To Be Confirmed

The sixth episode of the series, location to be confirmed, will first be broadcast on the 29th February 2012 at 9pm on BBC Three.

Episode 7 – 'After The Holiday'

The final episode of the series is predicted to be broadcast on the 7th March 2012 on BBC Three. It will catch up with prominent participants from the series.

'PRETTY COOL' 

GRABBER REVIEW

Virtually every film festival in the world has a handful of charming little Irish movies hiding in the fringes. And if they don't, they should. Sincere drama about little but real characters; light comedy that almost always brings some heart and sweetness to the fore; tough stories about violent histories; and dark thrillers based on myths and legends that barely register with an American audience. So clearly I'm a fan of films made in Ireland.

And now they've made a new monster movie!

The low-key and slow-starting Grabbers comes from director Jon Wright and screenwriter Kevin Lehane, and together they've hatched an amusing little idea: you know that crazy old stereotype that says the Irish love to drink alcohol? Here's a horror/comedy concoction that takes the cliché somewhere truly silly. Turns out that this lovely little Irish village is about to be invaded by an army of rapidly-expanding monsters that look like Lovecraftian octopi, and what is the key weakness of these rampaging aliens? Not water, not cold, not even handy human bacteria. In the world of Grabbers, the only substance that can save the day is … alcohol. The beasties just hate all kinds of alcohol, which allows our colourful team of day-savers to get EVERYONE IN TOWN drunk. So it's an Irish monster movie about a monster that can't eat drunk people. Come on, that's pretty cute.

Grabbers, unfortunately, is not without a few rough spots. In an effort to focus more on the ensemble farce section, Wright and Lehane seem to forget about their monsters once in a while. Act III does offer a big batch of well-orchestrated mayhem, and the creature effects are really quite good for a low-budget affair, but there are a few extra conversations where some monster attacks should be taking place.

Fortunately the talkier bits are populated by Irish performers both seasoned and green, and this is where Grabbers earns extra points. As an homage to the goofy old monster movies from the 1950s, Wright and Lehane break out several of the iconic characters we know and love, with Russell Tovey (as a goofy scientist) and David Pearse (as a frustrated bartender) seem to stand out most often. As the two cops (aka Garda) in charge of keeping the populace clueless, safe, and drunk, Richard Coyle and Ruth Bradley strike a sly chemistry together and help imbue this silliness with a small but welcome sense of actual horror-style danger. Or at least some fun and flashy thrills. (Bonus: Bronagh Gallagher shows up! One of the Commitments is in this flick!)

Lovely to look at, amiable and light, and packed with just enough horror juice to keep the monster fans happy, Grabbers might not usher in a new revolution of Shamrock Horror, but if the Emerald Isle can keep turning out genre flicks as frothy fun as this one, well, that'd be pretty cool.

How much does it cost to have an opinion on Madonna?

MatthewCainC4: Excited about inaugural night of our BAD FILM CLUB - showcasing films so bad they're brilliant. Starting with BODY OF EVIDENCE - a classic!

boydhilton: @stsastrawidjaja  @dannyleewynter  @camdengiles @matthewcainc4  @russelltovey  Body Of Evidence: even worse than I remembered. #badmovienight

camdengiles: I can't look at Madge in the same way  @boydhilton  @stsastrawidjaja @dannyleewynter  @matthewcainc4 @russelltovey @tommacwriter #candlewax

Tom_In_Oz_: @camdengiles  @boydhilton  @stsastrawidjaja @dannyleewynter @matthewcainc4 @russelltovey @tommacwriter let's face it mutton dressed as salami

stsastrawidjaja: @Tom_In_Oz_ who the fuck asked you?

CHEERIO

KleenexPandaTS: Would love a tweet from @russelltovey right now. He always cheers me up on a day like this ):

russelltovey: @KleenexPandaTS :-) x