Last week's TV - the inthenews.co.uk view
Joe McElderry was crowned the winner of X Factor
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Monday, 14, Dec 2009 05:37
By Matt Robinson.
The X Factor came to end in style on Sunday night with 18-year-old Joe McElderry crowned the winner with 61 per cent of the vote.
The series, which has pulled in huge audiences, peaking at 19.1 million for the final, has provided hours of fantastic entertainment every Saturday and Sunday for the past three months. However, whilst it may be the biggest show on TV, it is not the only show on the box.
Last week, Channel 4 bought us, Russell Brand: Skinned, an insight into the man at the centre of last year's Andrew Sachs scandal. Now it seems, the comedy rogue has settled down in a relationship with pop star Katy Perry, abandoning his reckless past.
Frank Skinner did a fine job in interviewing Brand, although he did not need to work to hard to get him to open up. Brand freely spoke about drugs, the women, Sachsgate (for which he is both sorry and not sorry for), and his ambitions.
It was very entertaining, but that was to be expected. Brand has this way of effortlessly presenting himself as funny, eloquent, articulate and quick. It is hard to not to marvel at the man, as he fires off story after story, using words many may never have heard of before. It is a skill which even silences his toughest critics. Even if you are not a fan, it is impossible not to appreciate Brand's brilliance.
As well as a tougher-than-expected interview with Skinner, this excellent documentary was filled with footage of Brand both on and off the stage. This provided a fantastic insight into the world of the self-obsessed comedian, including the fact he travels with an entourage of stylists, much to the surprise of the more traditionalist Skinner.
Skinned was a very honest documentary, which showed two sides to Brand, his performance character, and the real Brand, one who is remorseful, reflective and incredibly ambitious.
If I could name one subject that I would never expect to form the premise of a romantic comedy, it would be maths. But in ITV's new two-part drama Mister Eleven, starring Michelle 'Bionic Woman' Ryan, maths is the main catalyst between a newly married couple, the day after their wedding.
Ryan stars as maths teacher Saz who lives her life through numbers and statistics, so much so that she has talked herself into marrying her 11th sexual partner, because statistically speaking that is what all women do. That way you are bound to marry Mr Right, apparently.
Sadly though for Saz, when a former flame, Mr Nine, turns up at the wedding reception and reveals that he didn't actually sleep with her, on account of her being "so drunk that she thought she had", new husband Dan goes from being Mr Right to Mr Wrong. He is not her number 11.
The truth comes out, and Dan and Saz enter into a comedy argument, which seems to have more to do with mushrooms and fried bread than the actual issue, but that is not important. Dan throws himself back into work, while Saz returns home to her mum to listen to soppy music. To complicate matters Mr Nine is sending her text messages. She meets up with him, publicly kisses him in a hospital car park and is sprung by husband Dan - oh yeah, probably should have mentioned this, he works at the hospital. The inevitable look of disgust follows, he walks off, she runs after him and we cut to the end credits, with the situation well and truly established for this week's closing instalment.
Mister Eleven is no Notting Hill, but it is a harmless hour of fun with an unusual twist. The only problem is that Saz is not a likeable enough heroine. She is too self-absorbed and spoilt, while her 'problem' seems more of excuse than a justifiable cause for concern, which could easily be solved.
On a final note Big Top, the new Amanda Holden sitcom that I reviewed last time, showed no sign of improvement last week. The jokes were just as lame and uninspiring as they were the week before, the acting too was still rather shaky despite a strong cast. It is not awful, although it is not a show you will see advertising the BBC iPlayer. It is definitely missable.
Roll on the Christmas holiday television.