> Download all 8 episodes of Posh Nosh in one swoop here (553mb *.zip)

Posh Nosh is one of the great parodies of recent times, a masterpiece of comedy, and although dreadfully too short, keeps getting funnier with each viewing.

Useful tip: if you can’t afford £16.80 for a kilo of Chipolatas, you shouldn’t really be starting a family.

Written by Jon Canter and Arabella Weir, directed by Chris Langham, and starring Richard E Grant with Arabella Weir, this faux cooking show from the BBC back in 2002 is nothing short of absurd genuis. The recurring themes around cooking, social status, marriage and sexuality are woven more deeply and eloquently in eight short episodes than most shows attain in their entire run.

A truly exceptional example of parody, Posh Nosh borrows the traditional conventions of the popular cooking show to mock and critique the genre, while also staying true to its own sensible nonsense, a stunning achievement for a show thats episodes last less than ten minutes.

> Quicktime H.264
(12mb)
> iPod Compatible
(7.1mb)
> Watch in Flash
(4.3mb progressive)

The genre defying antics of the Top Gear team return to BBC Two in just a few weeks on June 22nd. And while I’ve gushed over the series extensively, calling it everything from television nirvana to the most unique and engaging hour on television I couldn’t let this promo for the shows 11th season pass without a mention.

Also, the shows executive producer Andy Wilman recently posted on the Top Gear blog about the upcoming season (including the promise of another race), as well as discussing the various international versions of the show in development.

> Quicktime H.264
(27mb)
> iPod Compatible
(19.4mb)
> Watch in Flash
(10.6mb progressive)

At the intersection of comedy and tragedy lives documentary film maker Louis Theroux. His engaging, funny, heartbreaking and intelligent documentaries have only recently been introduced to me, but I haven’t been able to stop watching.

For the uninitiated (like myself until recently) Louis Theroux is a British broadcaster who started his television career on Michael Moore’s TV Nation before moving onto his own shows with Weird Weekends and When Louis Met.., and more recently a new series of one hour documentaries.

His programs generally involve investigating a curious subculture such as the life of swingers, rappers, televangelists, Thai brides, or white separatists. But what makes the programs so involving is Louis himself, who leads you into these sometimes abhorrent environments and allows you to see through his eyes, sharing the shock, laughter or heartbreak with him.

Although his style has been criticised as “faux-naïf” I find his disarming, often comedic, and sometimes baffled demeanor to be his greatest quality, he is almost Jim Halpert-esque at times, especially useful when entering as intense environments as San Quentin prison or the home of a Neo Nazi.

And while other film makers may chose to only observe, Louis often forms what appear to be quite genuine connections to the people he is investigating, whether it be his fondness for a particular prostitute in his program about a Nevada brothel, his impassioned attempt to bring clarity to a member of the Westboro Baptist Church or the truly incredible and bizarre turn of events that occurred during the filming of When Louis met the Hamiltons.

The comedic elements of his films are at times on par with the best of modern sitcoms, from the subtle to slapstick, the humour flows from the most unusual of situations, and is further intensified by Theroux’s own thoroughly likable self.

I haven’t been this taken by a personality or program since I first watched Top Gear or discovered The Office. His work transcends the gap between traditional documentary and scripted sitcom or drama, creating a narrative where at times I have completely forgotten I was watching real people.

Whereas many modern sitcoms are fake documentaries, at times Louis Theroux has managed to create the exact opposite, a real sitcom, or a real drama, an incredible achievement and a genre melding exercise that has left me giddy, enthralled and unable to think of anything else for days.

> Quicktime H.264
(17.7mb)
> iPod Compatible
(8.7mb)
> Watch in Flash
(6.3mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(24mb)
> iPod Compatible
(11.1mb)
> Watch in Flash
(8.3mb progressive)

Mitchell and Webb poke fun at the maddening world of television news “interactivity”, because really..

What possible reason could there be for you not to email us, certainly ignorance shouldn’t be a bar.

News parody has filled many posts on this site, including Jeremy Clarkson’s commentary on the state of news, Melanie Bellamy with the standing news, Dead Ringers high brow jab at Newsnight, and of course all that Chaser stuff.

> Quicktime H.264
(4mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.9mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.9mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(1.1mb)
> iPod Compatible
(296kb)
> Watch in Flash
(590kb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(3.9mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2.1mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.9mb progressive)

The whole BBC is getting into the Christmas mood, and BBC Two have taken the latest incarnation of their idents into a surreal pop-up book world filled with scissor wielding Grinch like creatures and cardboard skies.

Check out the rest of the regular BBC Two idents here, or explore below the fold for a Christmas themed promo, and one of those whats-on-nexts for the whole BBC…

> Quicktime H.264
(5.3mb)
> iPod Compatible
(3mb)
> Watch in Flash
(3.3mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(2.4mb)
> iPod Compatible
(324kb)
> Watch in Flash
(796kb progressive)

- Another big thanks to Andy for all this Christmas cheer from the UK.

> Quicktime H.264
(11.3mb)
> iPod Compatible
(8.9mb)
> Watch in Flash
(5.5mb progressive)

When Top Gear isn’t busy being the most beautifully shot show on television, or keeping us on the edge of our seats, its making us laugh, and this clip from last nights episode falls into that category. In the video, Jeremy takes the worlds smallest production car, the Peel P50 for a test drive through the corridors of the BBC Television Centre in London.

- Thanks for the video Craig.

> Quicktime H.264
(24.9mb)
> iPod Compatible
(12.8mb)
> Watch in Flash
(6.4mb progressive)

At the end of season nine of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson questioned the direction of the show, and with 8.6 million people watching the final episode earlier this year, its understandable that a show about cars, with as much drama and direction as Lost, might start wondering what kind of show its meant to be.

Top Gear’s Executive Producer Andy Wilman takes an honest look at series nine of the show, and reflects about the upcoming season in a blog post here. He considers the chase for higher ratings “a false dawn, a night with a hooker when you’re drunk”, and he’s right, ratings are bollocks.

The video is from the first episode of the new season, and shows a preview of some of the stuff you’ll see over the next ten weeks. Among others Wilman proudly touts;

The Botswana road movie, a one hour special, is as spectacular as anything we’ve ever done, Amphibious: The Sequel is better than I could have ever dreamed of, the 24 Hour Race is a proper soap opera.

There is nothing on television that comes close to Top Gear, it is the most unique and engaging hour on television, it transcends whatever genre its considered to exist in, and presents cinematography that rivals that of any movie, along with storylines vastly more compelling then most traditionally scripted stuff on television, its simply brilliant.

From Clarkson’s and Wilman’s comments you can see a self awareness about the future of the show, a future that is clearly being coursed by some incredibly talented hands.

Update: As noted in the comments (thanks Marc) the song used in the video is “No Cars Go” by Arcade Fire, the song in its entirety is simply amazing. Take a listen:

> Quicktime H.264
(2.3mb)
> iPod Compatible
(700kb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.4mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(1.3mb)
> iPod Compatible
(438kb)
> Watch in Flash
(679kb progressive)

BBC Two are certainly making a big deal about Heroes, and at £500,000 per episode who wouldn’t. The first episode premiered last week to over 4 million viewers, beating BBC One by its biggest share since 1994.

The videos above are a special BBC Two ident and teaser. I still don’t quite understand why Heroes premiered on subscription television in the UK and is only just getting a terrestrial broadcast now, but the oddities of British television are what make this blog so fun.

- Thanks for the videos Graham.

> Quicktime H.264
(3.6mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.5mb progressive)

Top Gear is back! A special race episode from Canada to the North Pole goes to air in the UK on Wednesday night. And while its probably going to take a lot to top the insanity of the American road trip episode I can’t wait to see what they get up to racing each other to the top of the world.

In other Top Gear news, another American version has been scrapped for now.

- Thanks for the video Graham.

> Quicktime H.264
(6.1mb)
> iPod Compatible
(3.8mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.4mb progressive)

While the Big Weekend is certainly big, its the Glastonbury music festival that you hear about around the world. And at £145 a ticket you’d probably expect no less than a line up that includes: The Killers, Bloc Party, Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, Kaiser Chiefs, The Who, Björk, Maximo Park, Editors and heaps more.

As with the Big Weekend, the BBC’s coverage is hard to escape, with the Red button brining you four extra channels, along with sets on BBC Two, BBC Three, and BBC Four. On the wireless Radio 1, 6 Music, Radio 3, Radio 4 and Asian Network are all broadcasting from the event along with on-demand video streams online. Even Radio 4′s half century old Today Programme is broadcasting from there.

The national broadcasters commitment to relaying these festivals to the rest of the country is pretty incredible, it would be like the ABC televising the Big Day Out, which I don’t see happening anytime soon. Its also an excellent example of the power of digital television… and a well funded public broadcaster.

> Quicktime H.264
(3mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.2mb)
> Watch in Flash
(942kb progressive)

Another addition to the new look BBC Two collection, check out the rest of them in the original post here. Anymore out there I’m missing?

> Quicktime H.264
(3.2mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.6mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.5mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(764kb)
> iPod Compatible
(272kb)
> Watch in Flash
(816kb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(2.6mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.4mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.1mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(2.4mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.6mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.1mb progressive)

More of Dead Ringers’ take on the idents of the United Kingdom. The first video is actually Dead Ringers own creation of a BBC One ident, and not just a voice over like usual (I tried to think of some BBC One/Number 2 joke but you get the idea).

Check out last weeks here.

> Quicktime H.264
(6.1mb)
> iPod Compatible
(3.2mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.6mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(3.8mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.8mb)
> Watch in Flash
(1.7mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(6mb)
> iPod Compatible
(3.7mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.7mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(5.8mb)
> iPod Compatible
(2.9mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.6mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(5.9mb)
> iPod Compatible
(3.1mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.6mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(5.8mb)
> iPod Compatible
(5.3mb)
> Watch in Flash
(2.6mb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(3mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.2mb)
> Watch in Flash
(942kb progressive)

Update 08/04/07: Sunroof ident added.

BBC Two, the channel that delights me on a weekly basis with new episodes of Top Gear (promo below) relaunched its on screen look over the weekend, and I feel a little conflicted.

Maybe as an outside observer I can’t gauge how sick people may have been of the old look idents, but I still really liked them. They were easily the best entirely computer generated idents out there, and used a formula with seemingly (or I guess not) endless variations.

My favourite of the newbies is probably the zoetrope (first video), they could have even expanded that into a whole series with different projections being made. For now though, try and let the new teal coloured logo grow on you as you soak up the new look.

> Quicktime H.264
(2.1mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1mb)
> Watch in Flash
(993kb progressive)

> Quicktime H.264
(756kb)
> iPod Compatible
(588kb)
> Watch in Flash
(568kb progressive)

Scripted, unscripted, magazine style show, reality show, drama, comedy… whatever category Top Gear falls into it is one of the most entertaining shows on television, and the latest episode is the clearest sign yet that if a show about three guys talking about cars was capable of getting a theatrical release, this would be it.

Update: Read more about the making of this episode from the executive producer Andy Wilman and get James May’s response to getting run out of town by rednecks.

> Quicktime H.264
(6.4mb)
> iPod Compatible
(4.1mb)
> RealPlayer Media
(1.7mb)

> Quicktime H.264
(6.4mb)
> iPod Compatible
(3.6mb)
> RealPlayer Media
(1.7mb)

I love the character Maggie from Extras, and I love Ricky Gervias. In fact his name has become a sort of metonym personally for success and integrity.

The first one of these promos for season two of Extras is my favourite, with very appropriate use of Rod Stewart’s ‘Maggie May’.

> Quicktime H.264
(3.2mb)
> iPod Compatible
(1.6mb)
> RealPlayer Media
(900kb)

> Quicktime H.264
(1.8mb)
> iPod Compatible
(800kb)
> RealPlayer Media
(500kb)

Its always exciting to see an Australian show on primetime in a different country (how often does it even happen outside of oceania?), and these Kath and Kim promos running on BBC Two at the moment are very cool.

> Quicktime H.264
(11.2mb)
> iPod Compatible
(8.3mb)
> RealPlayer Media
(4.5mb)

I know some people don’t like Jeremy Clarkson (I believe there was some sort of pie throwing incident), but for the few years I’ve been watching Top Gear I’ve grown to really like him. So as odd as it was, it shouldn’t have come as any surprise when he decided to use this weeks “news” section of Top Gear to make his own little commentary on the state of modern news broadcasts.

This is what you do on the news today, haven’t you been watching news bulletins? They’ll walk around with a bit of paper and then they talk to a camera, and for no obvious reason switch to another… I’m going to do the next bit like Channel Five. Have you seen Kirsty Young? She’s always half way up a staircase.

I wonder how long it will be before we see Virginia Hausegger leaning against the news desk holding a bit of paper (or worse one of those tablet PC’s)… I’m sure the ABC wouldn’t do that.

> Quicktime H.264
(14.6mb)
> iPod Compatible
(8.3mb)
> RealPlayer Media
(4.6mb)

> Quicktime H.264
(10.8mb)
> iPod Compatible
(6.9mb)
> RealPlayer Media
(4.3mb)

After the passionate response I got to the new BBC 6 and 10 o’clock news I thought the next logical step would be Newsnight.

I’ve never actually seen the show, but I have seen it parodied on Dead Ringers (second video). Am I right in saying the Australian equivalent would be Lateline?

The combination of round desk and couch looks interesting, and the huge screen at the back seems more versatile then the usual plasma or graphics that accompanies most news presenters.

> RealPlayer Stream (625kb)
> Quicktime Download in H.264 (2.6mb)

The BBC have made some very cool Winter Olypmics idents, here’s just one of them.

(Thanks for the clip Graham)

> RealPlayer Stream (696kb)
> Quicktime Download (2.7mb)

> RealPlayer Stream (852kb)
> Quicktime Download (3.3mb)

Just some more BBC Christmas idents, I really like the whole formula for the BBC Three idents, and this Xmas variant works perfectly. Also there is another version of the BBC Two ident I showed a few posts ago, I think the lighting is very cool, and this time one of the firefly/comet things hit the ‘camera’.

> RealPlayer Stream (1.2mb)
> Quicktime Download (4.8mb)

> RealPlayer Stream (732kb)
> Quicktime Download (2.9mb)

The BBC sure knows how to throw a party, I love these Christmas idents. The BBC One ident may be full of cliches wrapped in Christmas kitsch but its brilliantly executed with great production and I think it works really well.

The BBC Two ident uses a similiar technique to that of the ABC’s ‘Exercise your imagination’ promos. It takes the traditional BBC Two formula to very cool extreme.. happy holidays!

> RealPlayer Stream (825kb)
> Quicktime MPEG4 Download (3.1mb)

The makers of these idents have managed to give this mute “2″ character such a personality of its own, I love it how it makes you aware of its surrondings, like by hitting the camera, or picking up the BBC logo.

> RealPlayer Stream (781kb)
> Quicktime MPEG4 Download (1.4mb)

The BBC2 idents are just amazing, the animation is seamless, and I love how in this one the ’2′ actually interacts with the logo on the screen. Many more BBC2′s to come.