Yes, minister series 1 (Paul Eddington)

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It’s a very long time since we watched the series ‘Yes, Minister’. I recall seeing them - or some of them - on TV when they were first broadcast in the early 1980s. And I’m pretty sure we watched the series on DVD about fifteen years ago; but I have no record of it. And only a general recollection of the content.

So we started watching in early August. Each episode is only about half an hour, so we watched two at a time. The first episode shows the results of the general election when Jim Hacker (Paul Eddington) is elected, and a new party takes office. 

We never learn which party they are supposed to represent, and while that bothered me in the past, I think now that this was wise. The point is made, often, that even if political parties have different aims or goals, the way they function (and the role of the civil service) is much the same. 

What we did on our holiday (David Tennant, Rosamunde Pike)

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It’s over ten years since we watched the 2014 film ‘What we did on our holiday’. I remembered that it starred two of my favourite actors (David Tennant and Billy Connolly). I also recalled that there was a very sad scene in the middle of what was otherwise a light-hearted story. But nothing else about it.

David Tennant stars as Doug, a Scotsman who has separated from his wife Abi (Rosamunde Pike). They have three children: Lottie (Emilia Jones), Mickey (Bobby Smalldridge), and Jess (Harriet Turnbull). We learn towards the end of the film that Mickey is six; Lottie must be about ten, and Jess about four. All three of these children are excellent: they have a great on-screen chemistry, and they’re entirely believable, even in what must have been quite difficult scenes.

As the film starts, Doug and Abi are trying to get the children’s cases packed and into the car, as they’re all travelling to Scotland. There are some very amusing scenes involving Jess’s insistence on packing heavy rocks and a breezeblock. She insists that she can’t sleep without them. And if anyone tries to persuade her otherwise, she holds her breath until she passes out. It’s manipulative, but she’s very cute, and often gets her own way.

The Help (Emma Stone)

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It’s eleven years since we saw the film ‘The Help’, which was based on the excellent novel of the same name by Kathryn Stockett. I recalled most of the plot - it’s a very powerful, thought-provoking one - but had forgotten most of the details. We decided to watch it last night despite it being quite a long film by today’s standards: it’s almost two and a half hours long. 

Although we knew it was set in the 1960s, it still felt shocking to us that racial segregation was still legal - and popular with white people - in Mississippi. It all takes place in a small town, where there are a lot of socialite white women who all have black ‘maids’ - known collectively as ‘the help’. 

We get to know just a few of the households concerned. Aibileen (Viola Davies) works for a woman called Elizabeth (Ahna O’Reilly), looking after her young daughter Mae Mobley, who must be about two and a half or three. Elizabeth had post-natal depression and does almost nothing for her daughter, who adores ‘Aibie’. Apparently Mae Mobley, who is delightful, was played by identical twins. 

The King and I (Deborah Kerr)

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A couple of years ago we were given several DVDs of old, classic films by an elderly friend who was downsizing. Many of them were musicals, and we’ve watched a few. But we’re not huge fans of musicals in general, so one is usually sufficient for several months.

Last night we decided to watch ‘The King and I’, which neither of us had ever seen before, although we had heard of it. The film was made in 1956, and it’s quite an extravaganza of colour, song and dance. Apparently it was based on a Broadway show, which was based on a book, which was roughly based on some true memoirs. 

The entire story takes place in Siam (now known as Thailand) in the 1860s. The first person we meet as a young widowed woman called Anna (Deborah Kerr) who is on a ship, accompanied by her son Louis. They sound artificially upper-class at first, and her huge, hooped skirt looks totally out of place as they talk to the captain, and Louis wonders whether the King of Siam will meet them. 

All creatures great and small series 2 (Christopher Timothy)

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We thoroughly enjoyed watching the first series of the 1970s TV show ‘All creatures great and small’ (based on the books by James Herriot) earlier in the year. So when we finished, it wasn’t a difficult decision to move on to the second series. 

The same actors appear in the main roles. Christopher Timothy is excellent as James Herriot, now more comfortable in his role as partner in the vet surgery, and married to Helen (Carol Drinkwater).  Siegfried Farnon is perfectly portrayed by Robert Hardy: sometimes charming, sometimes irritable, always very gentle with animals. His younger brother Tristan is Peter Davison, rather younger than when he portrayed Doctor Who, and considerably more irresponsible.

In the first episode Siegfried shocks James and Helen by telling them they need to move out of their room within a couple of weeks. But he’s not turning them out on the streets… he has bigger rooms in the attic, which he’s making available to them. They need rather a lot of cleaning and decorating, but Helen proves proficient with wallpapering. 

Ella Enchanted (Anne Hathaway)

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It’s over a decade since we first saw - and liked - the DVD of ‘Ella enchanted’. I remembered that it was based, fairly loosely, on the classic story of Cinderella, but that was about all. We thought it would make a pleasant, undemanding (and not too long) film to watch.

Anne Hathaway stars as Ella, and she is perfect for the role. She’s feisty, athletic, and has excellent comic timing. She can also be very romantic. But the film doesn’t open with a grown-up Ella. It starts with a scene that could almost have been from Sleeping Beauty rather than Cinderella. Baby Ella is adored by her parents, and by the not-very-competent household fairy Mandy (Minnie Driver). 

Then with a magical swirl, Lucinda arrives. Ella’s mother doesn’t quite manage to hide the baby, although she would like to, because Lucinda is reputed to give unhelpful gifts. Not that she’s a bad or evil fairy - but her gifts tend to backfire. And she becomes offended if anyone asks her to take them back. She decides to give Ella the gift of obedience. She assures the household that this will make her a very easy baby…

The time of the Doctor (Matt Smith)

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We very much enjoyed rewatching series seven of Doctor Who recently. It was the last full series with Matt Smith, whom we had started to appreciate very much with his somewhat eccentric - and occasionally clumsy - portrayal of the Doctor. We then watched the 50th anniversary special, ‘The day of the Doctor’ a week or so back, and thought it excellent.  

Next in the series is the 2013 Christmas special, one which we had seen about ten years ago (on someone else’s i-player), but had totally forgotten. I spent some time trying to find it as a standalone DVD but ended up having to buy it on a ‘Christmas specials’ DVD set, which included three others which we had already seen, and had as part of their series (or, in the case of ‘The doctor, the widow and the wardrobe', as a standalone).

This wasn’t sold as part of series 8 for two reasons, or so I'm assuming. The first is that, rather than being Peter Capaldi’s first episode as the twelfth doctor, it’s Matt Smith’s final episode; he regenerates right at the end. The second is that series 8 didn’t start until August 2014, eight months after this one was broadcast.