MARK DAVISON

The Hour – Episode 1: A Review

25th July 2011 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

It's very difficult to form an opinion of a TV show based on the first episode, even more so when you go into it with some very strong preconceptions. Which inevitably turn out to be pretty much wrong.

We were all agreed that The Hour was going to be the British Mad Men weren't we? It may have pointed out that it was set in the fifties rather than the sixties...

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Doctor Who Series 6, Episode 1 – The Impossible Astronaut: A Review

28th April 2011 | 4 comments | 1 person likes this

Over the last few years the Easter weekend has started to become less and less about chocolate (and even less about religion) and more about Doctor Who. From the anticipation about the start of a new series, to the watching (and occasional rewatching) of the opening episode, and then the pondering over the plot details and comparisons to previous episodes in order to work out if it's as good as...

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Mad Men Season Four, Episode 13 – Tomorrowland: A Review

3rd December 2010 | 8 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

So farewell Mad Men, you'll no doubt look much different when we meet again - with Sky having outbid the BBC for you, we'll have to get used to putting up with unwanted ad breaks when you come back next year. But at least we got a cheerful send-off.

At least I think it was a cheerful send-off - it all felt a bit muted and uncertain really (Mad Men's hardly...

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Mad Men Season 4, Episode 12 – Blowing Smoke: A Review

2nd December 2010 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

The penultimate episode of the season and all hell is breaking out at SCDP, much like it did about this point in previous seasons. With news about Lucky Strike leaving getting out, the future for the agency is looking increasingly bleak. Although I think we can assume that the agency will survive in some form or another - after all what's the point of a workplace-based show if the characters...

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Mad Men Season 4, Episode 11 – Chinese Wall: A Review

22nd November 2010 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

It looks like all the plot machinations in last week's episode are already paying off (a surprisingly quick turnaround by Mad Men's standards), and as an added bonus Peggy was back as well this week (apparently the previous episode is the only one not to feature her in it). Well, not much happened with Lane as he was still over in London - but he was included in events thanks...

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Mad Men Season 4, Episode 10 – Hands and Knees: A Review

16th November 2010 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

After last week's morbid hi-jinx, it was time for a much more plot driven episode of Mad Men, especially as we're rapidly approaching the end of the season and the finale's events need to be set in motion. The odd thing about Mad Men is that the more eventful an episode is, the less interesting it is to write about and analyse - it may bore some viewers rigid but...

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The Walking Dead Season One, Episode One – Days Gone Bye: A Review

9th November 2010 | 5 comments | 1 person likes this

Now that this series of Mad Men is winding down to a close, and that the next one of Doctor Who is still pretty far off, I thought I’d turn my attention to what has been, in some circles at least, one of the most eagerly anticipated TV shows of the year – Shawshank Redemption/Green Mile director Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s ongoing zombie comic, The Walking Dead. Like...

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Mad Men Series 4, Episode 8 – The Summer Man: A Review

1st November 2010 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

Don Draper may be an advertising genius, but he's a terrible writer if his journal is anything to go by. I don't think anybody will be rushing to publish his memoirs as a novelty book just in time for the Christmas market (incidentally, I wonder if he was inspired to keep a journal by discovering Roger’s efforts in last week’s episode?). There may have been a few character details sprinkled...

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Mad Men Season 4, Episode 6 – Waldorf Stories: A Review

15th October 2010 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

Move over Joan, there’s a new Queen Bee at SCDP and she goes by the name Miss Blankenship, icon of disaffected and incompetent secretarial staff everywhere. I’m not sure which of her moments I liked the best – her greeting new applicant Danny (AKA Jonathan out of Buffy The Vampire Slayer) with ‘I don’t work for you’ was hilarious, as was her discussion with Don over his lost award statue...

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