Mrs Birks Blogs

It took me a long time to warm to Game of Thrones. And I mean a long time...like the first 3 seasons.  I just couldn't see what the fuss was about - too much sex and nudity, naive women with their futures decided by men and an incestuous relationship between brother and sister - I really thought it wasn't for me, in fact I only persevered because my mum had leant me the box set and I knew she'd ask what I thought.  So I sceptically persevered and eventually I was hooked - I can't tell you specifically which moment changed my thinking about the show - there are so many glorious moments in GOT, mostly involving gruesome deaths - but along the way I got caught up in the storylines and now I am completely obsessed. What I like about GOT is that it is like watching lots of little episodes of a great fantasy/action film. I'm thinking Lord of the Rings without the Hobbits.   I know this comparison will make LOTR fans and GOT fans sigh in equal measure but just t...

Shhh! Don't tell anyone I'm here! I should be marking! What could distract me from my professional commitment and enthusiasm, I guess you're wondering.  Well, I just had to take a moment to lament the loss of Merlin from our TV screens.  Yes, I know the award winning, prime time BBC TV show left our screens at Christmas but, quite frankly, I still haven't got over the loss and am extremely grateful that I received the series 1 box set for my birthday back in March (I hope the others will follow shortly!) Now to some, Merlin was the annoying medieval programme that followed the glitter and glamour of Strictly Come Dancing on a Saturday night (that Merlin-yoke as described by Marian Keyes on Twitter).  It's true, you could not get a bigger contrast than these two programmes - one is about fake tan, sequins and posh frocks, whilst the other is all running around in the forest with mud caked clothes.  But I loved them both and I can see why the BBC scheduled these two...

So, I haven't updated my blog for a while and that's mainly because I've been watching TV.  I am working on a post about Skyfall (coming soon!) but mostly it's all about spending time with the box.  After all, if it's good enough for Homer Simpson, it's good enough for me.  I will confess right now that I do have a bit of a thing for trash tv.  I'm still a devoted Eastenders fan (always will be) and I also indulged in a bit of Celebrity Big Brother (sorry!).  However, at the moment, I think the best thing on TV is the so called Scandi-Drama that has been brought to us from Denmark. Now, I'm not an expert on Danish TV drama, I've only watched Borgen and The Killing 1 but I love both and I'm going to explain why... We first started watching Borgen when it appeared on BBC4.  It had great reviews in the TV guide and Saturday night is generally a bit of a wasteland when it comes to TV drama (especially now Merlin is finished) so we thou...

Now, before you read this post, I have to confess it wasn't written specifically for my blog.  It's something I wrote for  Media Magazine  in June 2011 but was never published.  It's a little bit dated - I believe series 8 has already been shown - but it might still prove useful for media students studying TV drama.  For everyone else, it might just be a good way to appreciate this fab show.  Incidentially, I still haven't watched series 7 or 8 - anyone want to lend me the box set??? Back in September, a student, after hearing my confession that I was a House fan, lent me the first six seasons on box set.   Now (the following June) I have almost finished watching the lot.   That’s 34 discs and 133 episodes.   Approximately 5320 minutes of my time or about 3.5 days.   It may not sound much to you ( I remember the days of watching box sets in bed when I was younger) but it’s hard to fit in such committed viewing along with a f...