The Joy of Sets: BBC-ya!
Hotel Babylon, Footballers Wives and Torchwood courtesy BBC America
So, obviously, I watched a ton of TV as a kid here in Philadelphia. But the one thing that had me running for the clicker faster than viewers did from last week's Oscars were those hoity-toity funny-talkin' people on Channel 12 (aka public television). High-button collars. Translucent skin. Questionable dentistry. I just didn't get how anyone would watch a show that didn't have cool, tan cops like the
CHiPs guys or glamorous, toothy detectives like
Charlie's Angels. I mean really,
Doctor Who back then was a fright, with his big scarf and unsettling robotic dog. No thanks! I'd take the original
Battlestar's dagget over that mess any day.
Now that I'm slightly more evolved in my viewing habits, the idea of international programming is far less off-putting to my ugly American sense and sensibilities. Hell, I'll go so far as to say that the BBC in particular has been schooling some of the major U.S. networks on how to really do culty cool
and sexy TV lately. And bless the stars, we've got some DVD sets to prove it!
Torchwood - Since I have yet to jump onto the
Doctor Who woo-hoo wagon, the fact that I am totally addicted to its spin-off should be baffling. But if you've seen
the Complete First Season, you get it. Think
The X-Files meets
Buffy for a spot of tea. Set mostly in the pimped-out underground lair of a group tasked with tracking all sorts of supernatural oddities, the show is tongue-in-cheeky fun while still being purty darn scary. And leading man
John Barrowman's Captain Jack Harkness is a smokin' pile of ambiguous carnality who has hooked up with everything the time-jumping fates can throw his way. How can you not dig that kind of action, right?
Hotel Babylon - Let's just say there's no such thing as a "turn-down service" at this randy five-star joint,
mmmkayy? Out this week,
Season 1 is more proof that the BBC isn't afraid to gets its romp on, but the drama (based on some tell-all by the same name) is more than a
Fantasy Island with bellhops and hook-ups. It as sophisticated as it is sassy, the cast - anchored by
Max Beesley and
Tamzin Outhwaite - is a portrait of smart hiring practices, and the rotating guest registry rocks. Seriously, anywhere you can find Joan Collins and Anthony Stewart Head wandering the halls is a Zagat's dream come true in my book.
Footballers Wives - The one that sold me on the BBC in the first place! I frikkin'
love this show. Oh my god, it's a scream. A soap first and foremost, the ongoing tale of soccer stars and the women who overshadow them was like a
phenomenon in the U.K. for most of its run, and that is almost all due to the uber-awesome
Zoe Lucker. Her Tanya Turner was to sports groupies what Amanda Woodward was to mini-skirted ad execs and ballsier than Heather Locklear's California queen ever was. The woman put tanner on her dead baby then switched it with the healthy spawn of her Bollywood rival (the equally delicious Laila Rouass)! Not right in all the right ways,
the first three seasons are available, so go get them and see why ABC totally blew it by shooting down their own version of
Wives with Lucy Lawless.
Absolutely Fabulous - Sweetie, darling, this one goes beyond international borders and resides firmly in the land of Unbeatable Brilliance. Patsy and Edina will forever be the poster wrecks for partying, poor parenting and pill-popping, and if you haven't invested in any of the season sets, start a fund and save up. This May, we're getting a
gorgeous Absolutely Everything set featuring nine discs and all the happy I can handle!
So what are your favorite imports, hmmm? And what shows would you like to see come to America? Talk, people!
Next week: The man, the myth, the Captain Stubing himself talks about The Love Boat's long-overdue arrival on DVD. Do. Not. Miss. It!
Until then, don't hog the remote! - Damian Holbrook
