Mia

I'm sure there's a thread about this somewhere with some good suggestions... Anyway, I recommend This Perfect Day by Ira Levin. The Messenger by Lois Lowry is a kid's book, but it's also very good.

Michelle, I hope you're sitting down, because... I actually enjoyed the last episode!! It was the Gwen's wedding one, and I found it very entertaining! Daft, mind you, but entertaining.

I didn't see the news either, but would have like to. There was an interview with him in the Daily Mirror yesterday though. I agree wholeheartedly with what Kell said.

For Kell and anyone else who loves Robin of Sherwood: The latest issue of SFX magazine has a big feature on RoS, with lots of lovely piccies, including a full-page one of Michael Praed! (I haven't had chance to read it yet, but I've already drooled over the pic!) And, for OnyxAngel and DWMG - there is also a feature on the next series of Dr Who, also with lots of lovely piccies!! Plus: a big feature on The Colour of Magic! I thoroughly recommend going and buying this mag!

Makes perfect sense! I think I prefer him as the happy, devil-may-care, Jack the lad (is that a pun?) type he was in Doctor Who, rather than the darker Jack. I think you're right about him being more reserved emotionally as he's the boss. I'm just glad he's not my boss!

I'm asking myself the same question! I just live in hope that it's going to improve, I think. Although actually, I really enjoyed the first episode, so you're wrong! :lol: There have been some episodes I've liked, and some which have been okay. I don't hate Torchwood, I just think that overall, it hasn't lived up to my expectations/the hype. I have had problems with the characters - I just can't seem to emotionally connect to most of them, which I don't know is me or a fault of the writing. I'd go for the way they're written, as I don't have a problem connecting with characters in Dr Who or other shows I've watched (Buffy, Angel etc.). The only one I slightly care about is Gwen (and maybe Tosh). Jack seems to be a different character to the one he was in Dr Who. As for Ianto and Owen, I don't much care about them. Even Martha is not as likeable in this as she was in Dr Who. Oh well. I will keep watching - and keep moaning, most probably! Sorry!

Last night's (BBC2) episode was so dull I nearly nodded off. OK, so being dead/undead/whatever sucks, but I got that in the first 10 minutes. Did they have to labour the point for the next 40 as well? I'm sorry, I'm not usually so callous (honestly!), but I just can't bring myself to care too much about Owen's character. I thought the best bit (which I saw coming), was his frustration when he went to perform mouth-to-mouth on Richard Briers and couldn't save him because he didn't have any breath. That part was moving. So was the bit about the girl's husband being killed just after the wedding. The rest (about Owen) was just boring. And I thought Jack was particularly callous when Owen, in the depths of despair, ran into the water to try and kill himself and Jack merely timed how long he was down there! (And what is it with this guy and stopwatches?!) Torchwood had better improve, because I really want to like it but I'm just finding it so dull.

I'm not entirely certain, but might have found one in Stephen King's "Firestarter". At one point, the firestarter of the title, Charlie McGee, calls herself Bobbi, as Roberta is her middle name. But I'm fairly sure somewhere else in the book it states that her middle name is something different (possibly Norma, I can't remember). Apart from that, I often notice spelling mistakes, incorrect punctuation, missing or repeated words etc.

It was probably so Jack could burst in dramatically and heroically and shout at them to stop.

Same here! I had a gorgeous A4 picture of him (probably from Just 17 or some such mag) with a grey horse. As my passions at the time were horses and Michael Praed, I loved that picture! I am very tempted to buy the DVD boxsets and see if RoS is as good as I remember. Which one's Harry Lloyd? Is that Will Scarlett? In RoS, Ray Winstone played Will Scarlett (as rather a psychopath, if I remember correctly).

Oi! Don't diss Richard Armitage - he's the main reason I watch it! Exactly, Kell - you can't beat Robin of Sherwood with Michael Praed (it was never quite as good when Jason Connery took over). As for the BBC's Robin Hood - once I'd accepted that it was historically inaccurate in most ways and generally rubbish, I quite enjoyed it as un-demanding entertainment. I did cry when Marion got herself killed at the end of the last series. But the main reason I keep watching is to drool over Richard Armitage as Guy of Gisburne. Now, he is an improvement from the one in Robin of Sherwood!

Hmm. It was OK, I suppose. As someone pointed out, why were they about to do an autopsy when he got shot in front everyone? The cause of death was hardly a mystery, was it?

Tonight's was a bit annoying, for three reasons. It was two women tonight, trying to lose/put on weight before their weddings. 1) The fat woman annoyed me by not doing what she was supposed to and eating the other person's diet - she refused to eat most of the meals, whilst the thin woman was "playing the game" and eating what she was supposed to. It wasn't fair, and I certainly got the impression that the fat woman had rather a superiority complex. 2) The fat woman (again!) annoyed me by saying that she "didn't want to get married in a size 20, or even a 22 dress", when she was probably at least a size 30 (she weighed 21 stone). 3) After 12 weeks of the "healthy diets", the thin woman had put on weight. The doctor described her as looking "more rounded", filled out and healthy. How much had she put on? A whole 2lbs!!! I'm sorry, but 2lbs does not even show on a person, much less make them look healthier. I'm beginning to wonder about this doctor's credentials, quite frankly. Ooh, I'm a bit wound up about this programme tonight.

I'm still standing quietly in the corner and hoping no-one notices me. Brilliant, Gyre! Why didn't I think of that one?

I was surprised by the ending of Reset, but I felt absolutely nothing, which just goes to show that I've never really bonded emotionally with any of the Torchwood characters. (Compare this to when Buffy had to kill Angel, when I sobbed my heart out!) I just kind of thought, "Oh well, whatever". It was nice to see Martha again, I always liked her character.

Yeah, she's funny and down to earth, I like her. Did you see last night's? I couldn't believe how little that guy ate! How was he still walking around?! Breakfast: a coffee and a cig. Lunch: a scrambled egg sarnie (well, what was left after feeding most of it to the seagulls). Dinner: 4 glasses of orange juice!! And then he said he couldn't put on weight! I wonder why?! Just eat something, please! I would say he seemed to have an eating disorder (especially when he only managed to put on 4lbs after being on the healthy diet for 9 weeks). Shocking.

Does anyone else watch this on Channel 4? I must say, I find it quite fascinating. I never knew there were so many people out there, both fat and thin, that have such serious problems with food. For those that haven't seen it, they take a seriously underweight person and a seriously overweight person each week and make them swap their normal diets for a few days. The doctor then puts them both on a healthy diet for 9 weeks. There is another section where a journalist tests different diets/ways of losing weight, which is also quite interesting. She had very good results with hypnosis last night. Unfortunately, there is also a section with the ghastly Gillian McKeith, who goes around berating people in the street for having large bums. She tests different ways to shrink your bum. Last night's was quite funny - a kind of surf board simulator that worked your muscles as you struggled to stay balanced on it. It got really good results - most of the women lost nearly 2 inches off their bums! The downside was it cost nearly

Have you tried fromage frais? Yoghurt doesn't seem to agree with me, but fromage frais does. You can get it plain or in fruit flavours.

I just voted for Neverwhere too! I vaguely remember seeing the BBC(?) adaptation of it a while back, and would like to read the book. (I've just realised that my ancient PC will not be able to cope with downloading any kind of book!)

Fair enough!

I thought last night's episode, "Adam", was quite good. It started off a bit dull but got better. It was a neat reversal to have Owen infatuated with Tosh, instead of the other way round as normal! I also liked the bit near the beginning, where Gwen didn't recognise Rhys, and the insight into Jack's childhood. I still have a problem with the character of Ianto, though. I thought his role in Torchwood was supposed to be security and that he was basically a ruthless killer when necessary, yet when he sussed out Adam he didn't do anything, and merely waited for Adam to attack him. It seems that his role is merely to be Jack's toyboy, waiting around to have his hair ruffled and being otherwise useless.

I definitely recommend This Perfect Day by Ira Levin. I really enjoyed it. I believe it's out of print, as I got my copy off eBay, but it's well worth tracking down.

From the first episode of Ashes to Ashes I remember Walkmans being the latest "must have", and I remembered the jacket sleeves pushed up with the shirt sleeves over the top!

I also think it isn't as good because we're used to what's happening. For example, when the test card girl first talked to Sam, it was shocking and fascinating. Now, because we've seen it before, we're expecting that kind of thing. Even Nothing so far is new. (Don't know if that really counts as a spoiler - I'm just being cautious for anyone who's taped it.)

I wasn't too impressed with it. My main problem was that I didn't like Keely Hawes at all. I just didn't feel the same emotional attachment to her or her predicament as I did with Sam Tyler. Plus, she was very annoying continuously spouting her psycho-babble. Even Gene Hunt seemed watered down (when they weren't portraying him as some kind of god figure, complete with awe-inspiring music whenever he appeared!) The pierrot figure was suitably scary though. It's made me want to go out and buy Life on Mars, despite the depressing ending.