Sunday afternoon, and anything that might have been decent was a repeat. So, back to Amazon Prime for Good Omens.
It's a rather excellent sci-fi comedy about the end of the world. Somebody has triggered Armageddon, and it's up to an angel (Michael Sheen) and a demon (David Tennant) to stop it. Frances McDormand is God, who narrates but otherwise minds her own business, Miranda Richardson plays the hapless medium who represents the first recorded case of angelic possession. Bill Paterson is the head of the local neighbourhood watch. Based on a book co-written by Terry Pratchett, it's quite clever - and I do love that the Antichrist is a small boy. Ooh, and finally at the end of the series, Satan finally makes quite an entrance - and you'll be hard pressed to recognise Benedict Cumberbatch, under all that makeup. Finally, right at the end, Tori Amos performs a lovely version of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.
Ah, finally in Episode 5, the medium is possessed! Was wondering when that was going to happen. Happens during rather an OTT scéance.. but thereafter works quite well. Our angel accidentally loses his body, you see, and needs another. The four Horsemen of the Apocalypse finally meet up - "four teas, one black, please. And a cheese sandwich." And the existence of the M25 is finally explained as a demonic creation, built in the shape of a sigil that represents devil worship. Being the end of the series, of course everything gets resolved - but I can predict you won't guess how. Anyway, the series is an absolute delight, and I'm dying to hear that they've made another series.
..And would you believe it, after watching the rest of the series, there still wasn't anything on tv! So I had a peek around the latest email that Amazon Prime sent me, yesterday, and ended up watching The Grand Tour Presents: Seamen. Of course, this is the team that used to present Top Gear - before Jeremy Clarkson was fired for punching a chef who wouldn't open up the kitchen, late at night, to give him a steak. Apparently. Anyway, the other presenters walked out in sympathy, and they all started The Grand Tour series on Amazon Prime. I don't watch Top Gear any more - without Clarkson, it's not the same. This is a fantastic team though, and the first time I've watched the series.
Anyway, The Grand Tour Presents series only has two episodes so far, and both are 90-minute specials. "Seamen" is the first, and chronicles their trip down the Cambodian section of the Mekong to the sea. Each buys a different boat for the voyage - and my main takeaway was, never go on a similar trip! They face shallow waters because of climate change - here, the propeller-powered boats get caught in mud and tangled in fishing nets, and Clarkson's jet-powered boat has to tow them. Exactly the opposite happens when they find their way clogged with weeds - his boat gets stuck, and the others have to slice a way through for him with their propellers.
They face eating insects, and trying to sleep amid constant noise from engines and barking dogs - but the worst is the final stretch, where they find the sea about 30 miles off their intended finish point! So they decide to risk the open water - and watching the small boats bob around in the water like corks, and slam into waves, does not make for pleasant viewing! They're nearly swamped, and there is real worry when they lose radio contact with each other. But never fear, they live to make another episode - A Massive Hunt, set in Madagascar, it seems! And I guess that's on the menu for Saturday..
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