The BBC: My Anti-Drug

Well, okay, the title of my post's not funny unless you've seen all the "__________: My Anti-Drug" icons on Livejournal (fill in the blank with favorite fictional character, or an emotion such as "apathy").

Thanks to the power of the internet, I've been able to watch some great BBC shows lately. As I a) pimp said shows to everyone within shouting distance, b) buy the DVDs eventually, and c) am horribly impatient, I feel no guilt over not waiting for them to air on an American channel.

• Season 4 of Doctor Who? Fantastic! Donna Noble is officially my favorite companion ever. It was really nice to see a female sidekick who was smart, brassy, and emphatically not pining over the male lead. Oh, and she's good at math, and funny, and types 100 words a minute. You go, Super Temp! Other than one throwaway episode (Midnight was double plus ungood), this was a nicely put-together season. The season finale was, literally, EPIC. Oh, and alternately hilariously funny and awfully sad.

• Season 2 of Torchwood turned out to be somewhat different in tone from season 1, but I'm not complaining. Sure, okay, there were spots where the story got bogged down in sappy lovefests (when you watch, keep an eye out for Group Therapy: Torchwood Style, Complete With Windows-Media Guided Meditation. It's loltastic). On the other hand, this season had everything I was expecting from the "adult version" of Doctor Who. Character development and backstory that's not boring? Check. Alien insemination? Check. People and Things blowing up/getting shot/trying to take over the world? Check. Fun bits of alien technology? Oh yes. Multiple instances of hot guys kissing? Hells yeah. TWIST ENDING? Also a huge check. I think the last episode marked the first time in a long while that I was actually totally wrong about a major plot point. So, good job guys!

I was a little put off by Entertainment Weekly's review, though:

As with P.G. Wodehouse novels and Robbie Williams songs, you have to be either British or adolescent to commit to this stuff; for the rest of us, it's a head-scratching lark.

Um, I like P.G. Wodehouse?

And, finally, we get to:

• Life on Mars. I honestly only looked up the show because the lead is played by John Simm, who was the Master in last season's Doctor Who. Oh, and because he's a-dork-able. [Even though I may lose my soon-to-be Rhetoric major cred for using that particular portmanteau]. I am only two episodes into the first season, mainly due to the fact that each episode is nearly a full hour long and chock full of drama (and awesome). I'm enjoying the show very much so far: the plot is interesting, and it's brought along by some very good actors. Granted, there are a few characters I'd like to smack upside the head, but that's clearly intentional. Even the requisite cliched we're-two-men-who-aren't-getting-along-until-we-punch-each-other-in-the-faces-a-lot scene was handled well.
  

More on Life on Mars later, when I've watched the rest of it. I also owe everyone photos of my birthday party and Sarah's, which I'll post once all the pictures are resized.