Five Shows I'm Looking Forward To

You may have noticed that there haven’t been as many blogs as there should be. I’ve been hoping to get a new blog published once a week but alas there just hasn’t been much on to take my fancy. (That and I’m lazy.) But with the Commonwealth Games over, we look to finally be getting some good programmes coming up in our schedules. I shall preview the best of the best (in my not-so-humble opinion) here for your convenience. In no particular order...

 

Doctor Who

We have a new doctor! He’s older, possibly more mature, but looks to be retaining the awesomeness that David Tennant and Matt Smith brought previously to the roles.

I wasn’t sure about Peter Capaldi at first (not because he was too old, but because I thought he might be too boring in the role, compared with the aforementioned previous doctors) but from various pictures of him, he seems to exude the eccentricity that the Doctor is so well known for. As long as he makes his own mark on the role while still keeping his character somewhat interesting, there shouldn’t be a problem.

Clara returns, hopefully as more of a character and less of the plot device she’s been during the Impossible Girl arc. I want to see her develop, mostly because Jenna Louise Coleman is perfect playing the Doctor’s assistant - she brings the right amount of charisma to her role to keep her character memorable. We’ve also been promised no flirting which is a bit of a relief. I’m not sure I could handle a relationship between Clara and the current Doctor. It just wouldn’t feel right.

As for the monsters, the Daleks return (of course), we have the Sheriff of Nottingham to contend with, played by Ben Miller which should be fun, and The Master is rumoured to be the major series villain. No Weeping Angels though, sadly.

I haven’t seen the trailer yet which I’m sure will be awesome and I won’t be seeing any of the leaked stuff online (because seriously, what’s the point?). But I’m getting excited now. I’ll probably preview this because I’ll be away when the show airs for real (that’s what you get for debuting a new series on a bank holiday weekend) but I will definitely blog about this.

Downton Abbey

 

Anyone who has read any of my previous blogs should not be surprised this made it on the list. Downton is back for another series, in September if previous records have anything to show. And hopefully it will be better than the last series which fell a little short of the standard previous series have upheld.

 

I will try to approach this with my critical blogger hat on and not my gushing superfan hat but I make no promises because I’m the teensiest bit biased towards this show (understatement). But seriously who doesn’t love it when the Dowager Countess releases one of her zingers or Lady Mary does her cold stare thing while Mrs. Patmore worries about the dinner below stairs?

If the writers can just keep away from the sensationalism and shocks this series, and try to remember that it’s not just Americans who watch the show, I’ll be happy.

The Village

 

 

The Village, a gritty little drama that makes Eastenders look like The Teletubbies returns on Sunday. I’ve seen complaints online that this drama is too dark but I still enjoyed the first series.

However, The Village could do with a lighter touch this year, introduce some laughter, a sense of humour, the little things that make life worth living. I’m not saying it has to become a comedy because that would ruin the general tone of the series but if it wants to reflect life, it has to reflect the good things as well. All the best dramas (*coughcoughDowntoncough*) manage to balance the light and dark.

If people other than Bert could start aging as well then that would be nice. But then I could say the same thing of Downton, couldn’t I?

Grantchester

James Norton (previously a psychopath in Happy Valley) plays sleuthing vicar Sidney Chambers in a role that couldn’t be more different. Some of you may point out the similarity between this series and the moderately successful Father Brown series on BBC2 but I think Grantchester should be given a chance before any comparisons are made.

From reading previous interviews, it seems Grantchester will not be your cosy murder mystery drama like Father Brown anyway. We’ve been promised some pretty dark turns at time, making the new drama all the more intriguing. Interesting factoid, the original stories were written by the son of former Archbishop Robert Runcie. Meaning there should be a degree of realism vicar-wise.

Look for this to debut in the Autumn!

The Casual Vacancy

 

The television adaptation of J.K Rowling’s first adult novel hits the screens later this year with an all star cast including Michael Gambon and Julia McKenzie. Set in the seemingly perfect town of Pagford, it soon becomes evident that the town is at war, with a focus on class and age disputes.

 

I’ll be honest, the blurb doesn’t really get me going but I trust J.K Rowling (and hopefully whoever adapted this) enough to give it a try. This may be one of those ideas that is better than it sounds. And if it isn’t any good, I’ll still have the fun of criticising it. So it’s a win-win all round (ok, for me anyway).

 

Apparently they’re still filming this but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was part of the Christmas schedule.

 

 

 

So those are my top five shows. I realise that I’ve left some good dramas out. And before anyone complains that I haven’t included Sherlock, I’ve still yet to catch up on previous series. But aside from that, what are you looking forward to? Please comment below if you have any thoughts.