Hey there, hope you had a wonderful Easter and a lovely April in general. This has been my busiest month for a while, as there’s lots to mention in terms of outings, including social events, a musical and a concert, along with TV shows and films I’ve been watching at home.
The concert I went to was a PR invite for me to review, but otherwise nothing is sponsored to appear here, and in any case all opinions are my own as usual. So let’s jump straight into April’s post and video roundup, and I hope you enjoy!
Contents
Theatre
Oliver!
Oliver! is one of those classic musicals that has really stood the test of time, even spawning its own film adaptation, which I love as I’ve said in the past. It’s quite a dark story really, based on the Dickens novel Oliver Twist of course, but it’s told so well, the characters are great and the songs are so wonderful and memorable. I’ve just never had a good opportunity to see the musical live on stage in the past.
So I’m thrilled that I went to see the current iteration of the show with audio description this month at the Gielgud Theatre, because it was everything I’d hoped for. We got to see some of the costumes and props on the touch tour, and the show itself was amazing, with excellent casting, characterisation and choreography, and very helpful audio description.
Simon Lipkin was undoubtedly the star of the show, he was fantastic as Fagin, but I also loved Raphael Korniets as Oliver, Billy Byers as the Artful Dodger, Shanay Holmes as Nancy and Aaron Sidwell as Bill Sikes, as well as the ensemble of children who played Fagin’s gang.
You can find out more by checking out my review post for all the details.
Ring Out! (PR Invite)
The National Open Youth Orchestra is the world’s first disabled-led national youth ensemble, where 70% of the musicians identify as disabled. And they’ve just started a short tour of their latest concert, called Ring Out!. So I was very kindly offered a complimentary ticket to attend their opening show, which was put on by the Guildhall School Of Music & Drama at the Milton Court Concert Hall.
It was a very nice selection of music with a variety of styles over the course of an hour. Plus I got to try out an accessible digital instrument called the Clarion, which was interesting. So it was well worth going.
For more info, you can take a look at my review, in which I’ve listed their upcoming tour dates, and the show on May 10 will be streamed online as well. It was lovely to be able to support them in their current venture.
Socialising
Spice Social
Back in March I joined a group called Spice Social, as I haven’t been involved with social groups for a while and wanted to meet new people, particularly more non-disabled folk, and have some new experiences. So I’ve been to several events with them over the last couple of months, including pub socials, meals and a nice walk, and I’ve been having a great time. Everyone’s been really welcoming and I’ve found it easy to get involved with conversations.
I’ve written a special post about my first events with the group, so do check that out to find out more, and I’ve got more activities booked over the next few months that I’m really looking forward to. So I’ll hopefully continue writing about them in these monthly summaries if things continue to go well.
Vintners Lanes
I also met up with my friend and colleague Emily from Fashioneyesta this month, along with her parents, for a visit to somewhere she had a PR invite to review.
Vintners Lanes is a stylish new ten-pin bowling venue that opened in November last year, and is just a short walk from Greenwich DLR station. It’s on the first floor of a building in Vintners Yard that used to be a Victorian brewery, and is accessed by stairs or a lift – although the buttons on the exterior of the lift don’t stand out at all in the dark lobby area, so it was a bit difficult to find them at first. But once you’re in there, it’s a lovely place, and the staff were very friendly and attentive.
We had a fun game of bowling first of all, in which I came second to Emily’s dad and scored over 100, so I was happy with that. I also had a cocktail from their drinks menu called a Jamaican Rum Runner, which contained white rum, spiced rum, orange juice, lime juice and pineapple juice. So it was rather sweet, but still fruity and refreshing.
We then sat down for some of their food, where I had a very nice Buttermilk Chicken and Hot Honey pizza. I don’t think I’ve ever had honey on pizza before, but it gave the topping a lovely smooth texture, and the pieces of chicken were really good. I also helped my friends finish off the onion rings and chicken wings they’d ordered as sides, and they were nice as well.
So altogether we were only there for about an hour and a half, as we only had one game of bowling, but it still made for a great evening out.
Be sure to check out Emily’s review for her perspective and more images as well – and also her review of Oliver!, seeing as I mentioned that earlier too.
TV
Doctor Who
Doctor Who has returned for its 15th series of the modern era (named Season 2 due to the partnership with Disney+). And it has the same core team as before, including Russell T Davies as showrunner, Murray Gold as the composer, and of course Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor. Millie Gibson is also now back as companion Ruby Sunday from midway through the run, but in the first half of the series we’ve been getting to know new companion Belinda Chandra. She’s played by Varada Sethu, who played a different but related character in the previous series.
As with my other modern era Doctor Who reviews, I’m writing a separate post giving my reactions to each of the episodes, which I’ll publish after the series has concluded. But I am enjoying it so far, and I think it’s a step up from the previous season, which had its weaker episodes but was still very good overall. It’s still not quite up to the level of Russell’s original era as showrunner when the series was revived in 2005 – a big milestone for which this year obviously marks the 20th anniversary. But it’s still got a lot of variety, excitement and surprising twists, and Ncuti is brilliant as the Doctor. It took a little while to adjust to new companion Belinda at first of course, as it does with all fresh arrivals on the show, but she’s grown on me as the episodes have progressed.
Adolescence
I had to check out Adolescence on Netflix this month, as people have been raving to high heaven about this new 4-part series lately, hailing it as a ‘flawless’ drama. It’s had such an impact that it’s been the first streaming show to top the weekly TV ratings in the UK, it’s generated a lot of discussion about the dangerous influences on children in the modern age, and it even got the Prime Minister’s attention.
And I have to agree that such lofty opinions are truly warranted. Credit where it’s absolutely due, this is a gripping, unsettling and entertaining drama that gives you a lot of food for thought, both about the subject matter and the way it’s filmed.
It’s all about a 13-year-old boy called Jamie who is arrested on suspicion of murder, to the shock of him and his parents, as he really doesn’t seem to be the type of kid who could do something like that. The events that subsequently unfold, however, unearth a lot of fascinating and sometimes shocking details, as the different elements of Jamie’s life and layers of his personality are examined.
With episodes focusing on the arrest, his school, the psychology and his family, the series shows the impact of the dangerous influences that ensnare children on social media these days, particularly the intense pressure on young boys to live up to what they believe are certain masculine expectations. It certainly opened my eyes to aspects of social media I’d vaguely been aware of but never had proper knowledge or understanding of, and it is rather scary to learn what children are exposed to.
You also come to appreciate how impossible it is for parents to fully shield their offspring from it all, and how worrying it must be for them, because this drama makes clear that they aren’t to blame in this particular case. There are no simple answers to any of it, and the series doesn’t attempt to provide them – it’s all about showing the effects, in order to make you think and generate discussion.
Owen Cooper, the boy who plays Jamie, is nothing short of phenomenal in this series, giving the character such depth and realism as we see various sides to him. And it’s all the more remarkable considering this is his debut role! To pull off such a performance in a story that goes into really dark and emotionally heavy territory is extremely impressive. That’s especially apparent in episode 3, which was the very first one he filmed, as it’s an intense two-hander where he has a lot of dialogue and runs the full gamut of emotions. He really is an exceptionally talented young lad.
Jamie’s father Eddie (along with the rest of the family) goes on quite an emotional rollercoaster as well. He’s played brilliantly by Stephen Graham, who co-created the series with Jack Thorne (and I know the latter for his excellent adaptation of A Christmas Carol that’s been held at the Old Vic every year since 2017). There are also great performances by Ashley Walters and Faye Marsay as police detectives Luke and Misha, Christine Tremarco and Amélie Pease as Jamie’s mother Manda and sister Lisa, and Erin Doherty as psychologist Briony, among many others. It’s a really strong cast.
In addition, what also sets this series apart is that every episode was filmed as a single shot, including travel between different locations, and different rooms or areas within each location (such as in the police station and the school). There are no sneaky edits stitching multiple shots together here, which can happen in some productions to give a false impression of a single shot. Here each episode is genuinely one long continuous take. This meant that if there was any kind of mistake during filming, the whole episode had to be restarted from scratch. Episode 1 was captured on just the second take, remarkably, whilst takes 13, 12 and 16 were used for episodes 2, 3 & 4 respectively.
Filming in this way, telling each part of the story in real time, gives it such a raw and powerful energy, as you’re put right in the thick of the action. It’s also mind-blowing to try and think how much planning, coordination and rehearsal was required to make it work, as well as how the episodes had to be written to accommodate this style effectively.
The camerawork is also magnificent. Most of the time it glides around really smoothly, but occasionally it has a more shaky, handheld feel when appropriate. And any transitions where the cameraman has to switch between walking and some kind of transport, or has to pass the camera to another operator, are seamless and go unnoticed by the viewer.
That includes a moment where the camera is secretly attached to a drone, as the view suddenly takes you up in the air to an important location, or when we don’t notice the family’s van being switched out for a duplicate that has a camera rig on it. And in one particular scene the camera makes a move at the beginning of a chase sequence that messes with your head, because it appears to travel through a closed window, which is clearly impossible. It makes perfect sense when you learn how they did it – using visual effects to show a window when in reality they’d taken the glass out – but when it first happens it makes you do a double-take, which is ironic for a single-take production.
So I have a lot of respect for everyone’s work on that show, both in front of and behind the camera. The whole series is a genuine tour de force that is sometimes hard to watch, but it really draws you in and is very impactful, with an incredibly moving final scene. And if it helps to encourage conversation and awareness around certain issues, that can only be a good thing. There’s even been talk of a possible second series as well, although Jack Thorne has said it won’t happen, so nobody really knows.
Black Mirror
As a new 7th season of Black Mirror dropped on Netflix in April, I thought I’d rewatch it from the beginning, as I haven’t seen the earlier seasons for quite a while, and never even got around to Season 6 after it launched.
This anthology series by Charlie Brooker, which originally started on Channel 4, consists of 33 episodes of varying durations, each of which tells a standalone story (apart from the finale of the latest series, which serves as a sequel to a much earlier episode). There was also an interactive film called Bandersnatch, but that’s about to be removed on May 12 as part of a general overhaul to the streaming service.
The various scenarios, which are set in the not-too-distant future, look at advances in technology and media that are based in reality but pushed to their extremes. It’s often very dark and unsettling, as well as interesting and entertaining, because even though we know the events are very unlikely to actually happen in most cases, and are sometimes in the realm of sci-fi, they’re not entirely implausible either. Such technology could exist one day or even does already in some cases, and we already know how manipulation and misinformation are rife in certain corners of social media, journalism and politics.
With every story being so unique in content and style, featuring a different cast every time, it’s inevitable that some are better than others, and every viewer will have their own preferences. I also don’t want to give away spoilers, as the episodes often go in surprising directions that are meant to provoke thought or just shock you.
So instead of going in-depth, I’m just going to give very brief opinions on each episode.
July 19 Update: I’ve now made a separate post containing all of my reviews for Series 1-7, so do go and check that out.
Last One Laughing
This new series on Amazon has a very simple premise. A group of 10 comedians have to try and make each other laugh, while keeping a straight face themselves. Anyone who laughs gets a yellow warning card the first time, and then a repeat offence sees them eliminated with a red card. The last person remaining wins. It’s not an original concept, as this UK version is one of many international spin-offs from a Japanese series called Documental. But this UK edition works very well, because they’ve got a decent line-up of comics.
It’s presented by Jimmy Carr, unsurprisingly, with Roisin Conaty keeping him company while they watch their peers play the game. Any eliminated comedians then join them to observe the fun as well.
The line-up ranges from veteran comics to relative newbies, all of whom have their own distinctive personalities and approaches to comedy, which really makes it interesting. My favourites are Bob Mortimer (the oldest amongst them whose surreal humour is always marvellous and he makes lethal use of it here), Sara Pascoe (who I enjoyed seeing live a couple of years ago), Richard Ayoade (whose deadpan persona is hard for the others to break through but is very good at provoking laughter in others), Joe Lycett and Joe Wilkinson.
They’re joined by Rob Beckett, Lou Sanders, Judi Love, Daisy May Cooper and Harriet Kemsley, who I’m not generally a huge fan of, but they’re alright in this show. In a similar kind of way to Taskmaster (which has just returned in May), it’s a game that pushes the comedians out of their comfort zone and challenges them to do something a bit different, so you get a more rounded and interesting view of them than just a scripted routine.
For some of the time, the comedians are allowed to mingle freely in the elaborately furnished space they’ve been provided with. And just from that it’s fascinating to see how they try and break each other in various ways, some much more subtle than others, as they all know the tricks of the comedic trade.
But there are various twists thrown in as well to keep everyone on their toes. In particular, they each have to give a short pre-prepared performance of some kind on the stage when requested by Jimmy, that everyone else has to watch. There are also surprise appearances by other comedians and celebrities, conversation prompts, little challenges, a naughty corner, occasional pranks, and even the chance to earn a period of immunity where the lucky person is allowed to laugh for a little while.
So altogether it’s a pretty good series. Not only is the comedy itself funny, but it’s also hilarious seeing them trying not to laugh at various points, because none of them are unbreakable, not even old pros like Bob. They all like a chuckle – that’s why they do their job after all – so trying not to do it is quite the challenge! And if you want to see more, there are quite a few clips on Amazon’s Youtube channel, including some bonus features.
I know there’s an Irish version on Amazon as well, hosted by Graham Norton, so I’m going to give that a look out of curiosity during May. But as I don’t know most of the comedians on it, and a lot of the reviews aren’t very favourable, I’m not expecting it to be as good, and might not watch it all. If I don’t mention it in my next Favourites post, you’ll know I’m not that bothered about it. And I’m not interested in checking out the other foreign versions.
Films
Paddington In Peru
The 3rd film in the Paddington series, Paddington In Peru, was released on Netflix this month. So naturally I was curious to see it, having enjoyed the first two films, which I own on Blu-ray. I only had moderate expectations though, as a friend had concurred with the general view online that it isn’t as good as the first two films. And they’re right. It’s not a bad film necessarily, but it’s not a stand-out classic like the first couple either.
It basically sees Paddington (Ben Whishaw) jetting off to Peru with the Brown family, after he learns his Aunt Lucy has gone missing. This leads to an adventure in the jungle as they end up searching not just for her, but some golden treasure as well, as there seems to be a connection. Of course they’re not the only ones after the gold, and inevitably Paddington gets separated from his family along the way, but it all ends happily as you’d expect.
A lot of the original cast are back too, which is nice – although Emily Mortimer has replaced Sally Hawkins as Mrs Brown, who perhaps isn’t quite as good – while Antonio Banderas and Olivia Colman are the biggest new arrivals as boat captain Hunter Cabot and the Reverend Mother respectively. Hugh Grant even makes a cameo reappearance in a fun bonus scene during the credits, with an extra little coda at the very end, which was a nice surprise.
Altogether it is fairly entertaining, with a good cast, beautiful visuals, big action scenes, some amusing moments and a heartwarming conclusion. And yet it doesn’t feel as special as the first two films either, as it struggles to replicate the magic and charm that they had. For example, a lot of the humour back then was from Paddington trying to get the hang of living amongst humans in the big city, whereas now that aspect is lost, and the jokes aren’t always as natural or clever, so it didn’t make me laugh as much. The story doesn’t feel as strong this time either, and it’s very predictable in places, with things being spelt out so blatantly at times that it feels a bit patronising, even for kids. Plus I think having a different director – with Dougal Wilson making his debut instead of Paul King – has also given it a different feel somehow.
Ultimately, therefore, I think it is just about worth a watch if you’re a Paddington fan, and children will love it (because they are the main target audience after all), as long as you don’t expect it to live up to the high bar set by the first two films. It is the weakest of the trilogy, and as a result I’m not particularly bothered about buying the Blu-ray, I don’t regard it as an essential purchase. It was just nice to see it once out of curiosity.
I’ll still keep an eye on future developments though, as there’s a West End musical on the way later this year, as well as a fourth film and a spin-off TV series in the works, which will take us up to Paddington’s 70th anniversary in 2028. The TV series will probably be a programme for children that I’ll have no interest in, but it’ll be interesting to learn more about the stage show and the next movie in due course, before deciding whether I want to see them or not.
Lightyear
The Toy Story spin-off film Lightyear had its terrestrial TV premiere over the Easter holiday, so as a fan of the franchise I obviously had to give it a look, having never watched it before. I wasn’t expecting it to be anywhere near as good as Toy Story, and it isn’t, so I won’t be buying it to keep. But it’s a good enough way to kill an hour and a half.
It bills itself as the film that persuaded Andy to get the Buzz Lightyear figure in Toy Story, and as such there are a few lines of dialogue uttered by Buzz that will be familiar to fans of the main franchise. But that’s where the connections end really, as they’re very different movies. Buzz isn’t even voiced by the same actor, as Chris Evans takes on the role instead of Tim Allen, so you can tell he sounds a bit different, although he does a close enough approximation of the voice to get away with it.
The story sees Buzz and his crew marooned on a planet, and he works on developing and testing hyperspeed fuel so they can fly away. But every high speed test he does fails, and also results in time dilations, so when he returns to their colony, years have passed even though he’s been gone for only a few minutes, and eventually he’s dropped from the mission. His robot cat assistant Sox (Peter Sohn) finally figures out the right formula though, so Buzz steals a ship and carries out a successful hyperspeed flight at long last.
When he returns, however, a couple of decades have passed, and the planet has been invaded by Zurg (James Brolin) and his robots. So Buzz and Sox, with the aid of an inexperienced trio of defence fighters they come across, work to fight back against Zurg, although Buzz gets rather a shock when he discovers who it really is.
So it’s quite an action-packed space adventure, which of course is beautifully animated as it’s a Pixar film, and the music by Michael Giacchino feels suitably epic for such a movie. It’s just not as well-structured, engaging or funny as Toy Story, and Buzz isn’t as likeable or interesting as in that classic film. But as I say, it’s worth a watch once at least for Toy Story fans, if only for the sake of completeness.
Conclusion
So that’s it for this very busy month, I hope you found that interesting. Certainly this blog is still proving popular and getting recognition, as this month I was informed that I’m on Feedspot’s list of the Top 90 Visually Impaired Blogs again (at number 22). So thank you to them for including me on their list, and many thanks to you, my followers, for reading as always!
If you want to read another lengthy post, then you can check out my thoughts on the government’s latest attempts to cut disability benefits, which has caused a lot of anger and anxiety in the disabled community to say the least. Hopefully my post helps to counter some of the misinformation that’s out there, as well as allowing me to have a good rant!
I haven’t got quite as much planned for May, as there are things I’m having to focus on at home as well, although I do have some more socialising arranged, with a friend and Spice Social, which is good. So we’ll see if anything else comes up. And until next time, I hope you have a lovely month as well!
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