Free for All Friday: 10 TV Shows I'm Watching

First of all there is no order to how I've listed these. Thinking about it, maybe I should have done.

But then I would have to have favourites and that's just mean.
Obviously, by being the busy little BeeBee that I am I have an awful lot of these shows on my planner to catch up on. But still I'm there for each one in the moment.

1. The Leftovers


Showing on Sky Atlantic HD Tuesdays at 9.00pm

In a world that could be now an event called the Sudden Departure occurs. Ripping away 2% of the population of a small town.

The series picks up a year later. The town feels threatened by a silent cult called the Guilty Remnant. Justin Theroux and Liv Tyler star. It is not a favourite yet, but it does make you think. It's also good to see Christopher Ecclestone in something again.

2. The Last Ship.


Showing on Sky 1, Fridays at 8pm.

After being on a secret mission in the Arctic the crew of a naval destroyer is forced to confront the reality of a new existence when a pandemic kills off most of the earth's population. Eric Dane (McSteamy of Grey's Anatomy) and Adam Baldwin (Firefly) star. This is not the most thought provoking TV, however it is good old explosive and actioney-type fun. Very much a popcorn programme. Lots of moody looks, catalogue poses and boy do I look good in a uniform self-assured strutting. The big name Exec Producer is Michael Bay, this should explain a lot.

3. Extreme Weight Loss (previously Extreme Makeover: Weightloss Edition). 

ABC (I'm found this one on YouTube)

This is a guilty favourite. As you can tell I don't really watch a lot of reality TV. But those I do all seem to be based around some sort of transformation. Either weight loss or mental. I like to see normal people get over their own problems and grow into themselves. This is where, in this case, Chris and Heidi Powell come in. Not only are they mega-fit trainers, they also manage to empower their clients to rise above their weight and work through the issues that got them there in the first place. Yes, these contestants (for want of a better word) only have 365 days to get to their target, and just 270 days if they have lost 40-50% of their start weight to qualify for skin removal surgery.

4. The Strain

Showing on Watch, Wednesdays at 10pm.

This American horror-drama is created by, as well as being based on the book by, Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. On a international flight heading into JFK Airport an attendant discovers a disturbance in the cargo hold. Suddenly the plane lands with all the lights off and sealed doors. When a team from the CBC board the vessel they discover 206 corpses and just four survivors.

Looking like they had been lucky they are moved to a safe area for some tests. As epidemiologist Dr. Ephraim Goodweather investigates. Things take a big turn for the worst when the bodies begin to reanimate once they've arrived at the morgue.

5. Rizzoli and Isles 

Showing on Alibi, Thursdays at 9pm.

Another series based on a series of novels. The Rizzoli and Isles books were written by Tess Gerritsen and I'm almost ashamed to say I have never read any of them. I've enjoyed this series too much to dip in yet just in case it ruins it for me. Detective Rizzoli (played by Angie Harmon) and Chief Medical Examiner Isles (Sasha Alexander) tackle crime in Boston. The light-hearted humour is played well against the drama, and boy there are some amazing shoes in this series too.

6. Perception 

Showing on Alibi, Thursdays at 10pm.

You may notice I have a thing about mysteries. This one is a light drama again. Eric McCormack (Will of Will & Grace fame) is a schizophrenic neuropsychiatrist who teaches at at university. He also has a sideline of crime-solving lucid hallucinations. A not-at-all serious but not funny take on a cop show. 

7. Doctor Who


Saturdays on BBC1 times vary

I couldn't not mention this one. And now we have had a new Doctor it is all go, all over again. I'll put my hands up and say it took at least a full series to get used to the young face and old soul of Matt Smith, but I have fallen head over heals for the Peter Capaldi version. As a watcher from way back when, he reminds me of some of the older doctors. Namely John Pertwee, but with the haste of Tom Baker. Even Clara is coming into her own this year, after no longer being a mystery for the Doctor to solve.

8. Witches of the East End 

Lifetime on Saturdays at 11pm

This witchy fantasy follows the adventures of a mother and her two adult daughters, who lead seemingly quiet, uneventful modern day lives in Long Island's secluded seaside town of North Hampton until one daughter becomes engaged to a wealthy newcomer, when a series of events forces her mother to admit to her daughters they are both powerful and immortal witches.

9. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 

Channel 5 on Tuesdays at 9pm

This is now the only remaining strand of the CSI franchise. It had a couple of rocky season and now appears to have refound its feet with Ted Danson and Elisabeth Shue. Who knew that after years of comedic roles he would find a home in a drama?


10. Defiance

SyFy on Thursdays at 9pm

It's now 2046 and over the last 30 years numerous alien races have arrived on Earth. The planet now has new rule, and the landscape has totally changed, altered alost beyond recognition. Defiance, is now where St Louis, and a new town has sprung up housing many new races. But this is not a new utopia, instead it is more like a frontier town Western.

What I've Been Watching: Call the Midwife

This series is a gem in the BBC's crown, recent years Sunday night dramas have been lacking something.

As a child I was brought up with drama series including All Creatures, Great and Small and Heartbeat. In the absence of my closest family I find this offering both comforting and, at times, heartbreaking.

It's not as soft around the edges as some period pieces. Saying that I haven't seen either Downton Abbey or Mr Selfridge, there is only so much TV a girl can watch before her eyes begin to melt. I like the fact they don't shy away from difficult storylines and have included key moments in medical history into their world. Series 3 has noted the introduction of breathing through the pain during labour - which is still used today - and the use of antibiotics to treat patients. Seen as a cure all, it was where the over-prescription of the medication first started and resistance began to build.

Set post-war in East End London, the young midwifes and nuns are at the beck and call of the run down residents in slum like conditions. Times are changing and so is the series.

What used to be a nice comforting watch is now broaching tougher and more emotional story lines, following nurse Jenny Lee played by Jessica Raine, now a sister.

We've seen Chummy (Miranda Hart) develop from being an awkward midwife to being a confident mother and wife, and then returning to Nonnatus House as a part-time midwife.

I can't wait to see what is in store for Trixie and Cynthia this year.

What I've Been Watching

We were channel hopping the other day and came across this little beauty of a show, Extreme Cheapskates.

Fly-on-the-wall cringe inducing escapism.

TLC have some amazingly odd, yet magnetically charged programming.

Extreme Cheapskates is centred at watching how a group of uber-frugal men and women save every last cent from their dollar.






From splitting a 2-ply toilet roll so you get 2 rolls for the price of one, gold-finger material if you ask me - although if he could get my eldest boy to reduce his consumption of the stuff that'd be great, to dumpster diving for food that restaurants and shops have thrown out.


It's part inspirational, as you can see people trying to get more for less and doing their bit for the environment, and part job-dropping oh my work what the actual heck are you thinking of.

But in a world where people are looking to save money in any way possible could you see yourself turning, even just a little bit, in their direction? Or are you more of a couponer.