Being Human- Damned Flatmates

Filmed in Bristol, Being Human shows views of Clifton Suspension Bridge and Clifton Village. The characters' shared house is located in Totterdown, Bristol, and the Shakespeare pub shown in the closing minutes of the pilot is located on the same street in Totterdown as the rented house. The hospital that the characters work in is mostly filmed in and around the Bristol General Infirmary.-Wikipedia

Yeah, Bristol looks a lovely place to visit, except for all the damned vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. Being Human is a BBC Three show about a group of flatmates who have more than their share of problems. Besides being a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost, there is this whole The World is About To Change thing going on. But our heroes are still trying to get on in the neighborhood and have all the locals around for tea and a nice chat about the great and powerful Vin Diesel.

The pilot of Being Human was really good, but they lost all of the cast except for the werewolf, George, who spends rather a lot of time naked and screaming-and not in a good way. Cast changes have been made for Mitchell, originally portrayed by Guy Flanagan, is now played by Aidan Turner, and Annie is now portrayed by Lenora Crichlow rather than Andrea Riseborough. Jason Watkins replaced Adrian Lester as a "more down-to-earth" version of Herrick. The character of Lauren also returned in the full series, with Annabel Scholey taking on the role from Dominique McElligott.

The cast changes alter the whole feel of the show, and in fact, I didn't even realize that the cop vampire was supposed to be Herrick. I still like the show, but I'm not sure I like Lauren changing from a woman fully in charge of herself to a loony loose cannon. There is also the odd idea that a vampire working in a hospital can't find a spare pint of blood somewhere to help with his blood lust. I like the idea of the ghost becoming a physical presence, though I am not sure where that story line might end up.

The first episode gave us a quick back story of Mitchell, George, and Annie, and then we are off and running. Time seems to travel pretty quickly in the land of Being Human, as George changed into a werewolf twice in episode two. There are a lot of threats from Herrick and Lauren and the poor ghost Annie has a relapse and doesn't want to go down to the Pub anymore. Meanwhile George is having trouble of his own with his new best mate, Tully, who is not exactly a good guy.

I like Being Human, but I could do with a few less shots of George standing around with his hands over his privates.

Paris in London-Paris Hilton's British Best Friend

"For five seasons I was stuck doing this character," Paris Hilton said about The Simple Life. "It was kind of hard always having to play that character when it's not who I am."

Paris Hilton managed to hit the front pages of many British tabloids by doing what she does best-getting attention for being hot. Paris Hitlon went braless in the cool London air with predictable results. Of course, a semi-naked Paris Hilton is not newsworthy in America; a topless Paris Hilton is hardly news in the U.S. anymore. But in London, Paris Hilton's boobs still get a lot of attention.

Paris Hilton is working on becoming the Queen of Reality Shows. She is in London to promote her British reality show on ITV2, Paris Hilton's British Best Friend. Having watched one or two of the the U.S. version of Paris's Best Friend, it should be fun to watch. Paris Hilton seems to be one of those people who isn't acting, what you see is what you get.

Or maybe not. Paris Hilton seems to work pretty hard to live the easy life of a poor little rich girl. It's kind of hard to believe she's a closet genius when she steps out into the cold wearing nothing but an oversized nylon. It's all about getting attention, and no matter what else you care to say about Paris Hilton, she does know how to get attention.

Matt Smith to be 11th Dr Who

“David Tennant has made the role his own, brilliantly with grace, talent and persistent dedication,” Matt Smith said in a BBC press release. ” I hope to learn from the standards set by him. The challenge for me is to do justice to the show’s illustrious past, my predecessors and most importantly to those who watch it. I really cannot wait.”

Slightly mad comic Russell Brand wanted to be the 11th Doctor, but relatively unknown actor Matt Smith gets the job. I saw Matt Smith in The Ruby and The Smoke and The Shadow in the North and liked him well enough-though I was really watching those shows because they starred Billie Piper. I like the idea of a younger Doctor Who to help fill in the gaps in The Doctor's infinite lifetime.

There are always rumors about the New Doctor Who-often speculation about whether the New Doctor will be black or a woman or someone famous. Rowen Atkins and Hugh Grant both made fine Doctors in Doctor Who and The Curse of Fatal Death. Peter Cushing got mixed reviews as the Doctor. Basically, any Doctor is a good Doctor.

The Doctors over the years-

1. William Hartnell (1963-1966)

2. Patrick Troughton (1966-1969)

3. Jon Pertwee (1970-1974)

4. Tom Baker (1974-1981)

5. Peter Davison - pictured (1982-1984)

6. Colin Baker (1984-1986)

7. Sylvester McCoy (1987-1996)

8. Paul McGann (1996)

9. Christopher Eccleston (2005)

10. David Tennant (2005-2010)

11. Matt Smith (2010 - ?)

In other Doctor Who news Russell T Davies, the TV writer who resurrected Doctor Who, has received his OBE for services to drama from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace. In May Davies announced he was stepping down as the programme's executive producer after a four-year tenure.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Ok, Botswana is pretty far from London-unless you happened to watch The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency on BBC. Sydney Pollock died the other day, a great loss to the entertainment industry. As I was looking over his recent credits, I found that he was a Producer of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Since I am a great fan of the BBC and Sydney Pollock I decided to give it a look. No real surprise that it was great stuff.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is the story of Precious Ramotswe and her quest to open the first Woman's Detective Agency in Botswana. There are not great building like you find in London, though there is a lot of traffic in the city that Precious settles into to open her business.

There are funny bits and serious bits and all kinds of silliness. I laughed, I cried, etc etc etc. This was a fun show. The accents are a bit thick at times, but the usual Detective story ploy of sometimes silly names helped me feel at home in the wild and open African landscape. One character is named Happy, our hero is named Precious and a night club is called the Hansom Man Bar. The actors are good looking and have very white teeth.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency was the first book by Alexander McCall Smith to feature Precious Ramotswe-there are currently nine books in the series. I don't know if the BBC is going bring all nine books to the London airwaves, but I certainly hope that they will.

I know, London has all kinds of things to do and see, why sit around and watch the telly? Because it's some of the best telly in the world, that's why. I love the new Dr Who, I'm a huge fan of the Disc World films, and I watch a ton of BBC stuff on Masterpeice Theater on PBS.

And while I don't watch nearly as much telly as I used-it is something to do after that hard day of using the London Pass to have another great day out.