The British Invasion
The British have invaded again. This time, the invasion occurred in my living room. I’ve become such a sucker for BBC America. I realized one day that it was getting to the point where I was watching more on BBC America than most of the other networks. Sometimes I think they must use some type of subliminal messaging and I have become one of their minions.
I guess it really started with Graham Norton. I saw a You Tube video that was a snippet of a talk show segment with Robert Downey Jr. when he was doing press for Sherlock Holmes. The video was pretty funny so I decided to seek out the actual show. It’s your basic talk show, but with much more humor. Normally he has on three guests and they all sit there and chat with each other. It’s like a little soiree in front of a live audience. It’s still a regular timer on my DVR.
The new Dr.
One one episode of Graham Norton, he was talking to David Tennant who was ending his reign as the Doctor on Dr. Who. I had never watched Dr. Who but I saw all this hub bub bub about the “new doctor”. I didn’t understand what that was all about but I noticed that it was always on when I went to bed on Saturday nights. I used that as my “crash” show. The one that was on as I fell asleep. I ended up watching a full episode one night and that’s all it took. It too, is a regular timer on my DVR.
That was about the same time I started seeing ads for a new show (well, to us Americans anyway) called The Choir with Gareth Malone. After the first episode I, along with my roomie and the kid, were hypnotized by The Choir’s siren song. That show had us hook, line and sinker. This led to seeing ads for another shows called Come Dine With Me and I’ve since become a real sucker for Top Gear. I don’t catch Top Gear very often but I love it when they air the marathons. There was a marathon on one day and I had to tear myself away from it.
I'll have my law with a side of order please.
The final straw came in the form of Law & Order UK. It’s not a love for Law & Order that drew me in. Now, keep in mind that I’ve never watched any of the American versions. No regular Law & Order, no SVU, no Criminal Intent. The draw here wasn’t the subject matter so much as one of the actors. I saw that Jamie Bamber (Apollo from Battlestar Galactica) was one of the leads and that was all I needed to hear. I love me some Apollo and I heard they had a UK version of the show but it hadn’t made its way across the pond. Then I saw that BBC America would be airing it from the beginning. So naturally, that is yet another regular timer on my DVR. I was talking to my British sister from another mister one day and she asked what I was doing. I snickered and told her that I was watching their version of Law & Order. She then laughed and said that her fiance was in the other room watching our Law & Order SVU. So here I am, an American, watching the Brit version without ever having seen the American version, talking to a Brit, who was just watching the American version without ever having seen the Brit version. Naturally we had a good laugh over that one.
There have been other shows in the mix that keep me coming back to BBC America. Being Human was also a big draw. SyFy now has their version of the show, and it’s actually pretty good. I’ve already sang my praises for it, but if you missed it you can read it here. The original version should be going into their third season this year. I will definitely return to watch it, as I continue to keep up with the SyFy version. I’m very curious to see how the two series will differ.
The final perk that comes with BBC America are the repeats of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Hey, what can I say? I’m a geek and I know it. The great thing about it is I’m passing on that trait to my pseudo kid. My roomies daughter can recite the opening credit monologue by heart, word for word. The day I heard that my heart swelled with pseudo maternal pride and my inner geek cheered.
Completely gratuitous BSG eye candy
It’s a good thing we just had our DVR receiver replaced with a newer model that has a larger hard drive. Writing this, I’ve come to the conclusion that I watch way too much damned TV. But I have to keep y’all up to date so I’m just doing my job. I’m now waiting to see when we’ll get the new show Outcasts so I can write recaps on that one too. That show sounds like it’s right up my alley and, oh hey….Jamie Bamber is in an episode. Sold!!
Tags: BBC America, Being Human, Come Dine With Me, David Tennant, Dr. Who, Gareth Malone, Graham Norton, Jamie Bamber, Law & Order UK, Outcasts, Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes, SyFy, The Choir, Top Gear
