Tag Archives: Stephanie Cole

Still Open All Hours, Series Six. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: David Jason, James Baxter, Stephanie Cole, Maggie Ollerenshaw, Brigit Forsyth, Johnny Vegas, Sally Lindsay, Tim Healy, Kulvinder Ghir, Geoffrey Whitehead, Sue Holderness, Katie Redford, Sophie Willan, Dean Smith, Archie Panjabi, Clive Mantle.

There is a place for consistency in this world, that not everything requires the phantasm of excess to thrill and delight an audience, that it is worth remembering that the so called gentle comedy can be just as subversive as the supposed anarchic; and across time it is to actors such as David Jason that provides the link between the two.

Still Open All Hours, (Christmas 2018). Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Jason, James Baxter, Stephanie Cole, Brigit Forsyth, Maggie Ollerenshaw, Kulvindar Ghir, Sally Lindsay, Johnny Vegas, Tim Healy, Katie Radford, Rita Tushingham, Roger Sloman, Geoffrey Whitehead, Sophie Willan.

At any time of year it is important to remember to shop local, the CEOs of large corporations don’t need that extra few bucks in which to keep to themselves, so called high flyers who profit off the debt in which we have become accustomed too, can by the collective will of the people, find themselves a little poorer, a little less sanctimonious, a might less smug.

Inside No.9: Dead Line. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith, Stephanie Cole.

When the joke is on the viewer, then anarchy is to be praised, the realm of the perpetual joker is considered greener, for if you can fool an audience into believing a certain path is being undertaken and then leaving them exasperated at the television station’s apparent lack of care for what was billed as the big Halloween spectacle, a piece of television that was to be delivered in the toughest arena of all, the live performance.

Still Open All Hours, Series Four. Television Review. (2018).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Jason, James Baxter, Stephanie Cole, Tim Healy, Maggie Ollerenshaw, Johnny Vegas, Brigit Forsyth, Kulvinder Ghir, Sally Lindsay, Nina Wadia, Geoffrey Whitehead.

Natural progression in comedy is essential, especially on television where the day to day unravelling is far more illuminating than quick fire and often mistimed, it is perhaps the modern label though of gentle, or worse, wholesome, comedy that makes people avoid programmes such as Still Open All Hours; and by doing so the television viewer is missing out on the established acting range that is the product of honing dedicated skills in theatre and on television which has not been written by committee.

Still Open All Hours, Series Two. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Jason, James Baxter, Lynda Baron, Stephanie Cole, Maggie Ollerenshaw, Brigit Forsyth, Kulvinder Ghir, Tim Healy, Johnny Vegas, Nina Wadia, Sally Lindsay, Emily Fleeshman, Misha Timmins, Geoffrey Whitehead, Gareth Hale, Duggie Brown, Des Yankson, Jo Martin, Jemma Churchill.

There is always room for the gentle comedy, it is a peculiar but loving trait that suits the British viewer well and seems to never cross borders or international timelines unless packaged just right and then it becomes an export boom, and yet for whatever reason and thankfully it has to be said, the programme never gets replicated. For there really can only be one Granville at the helm of only one Arkwright’s and there is only one place in which Still Open All Hours can be so loved.

Still Open All Hours, Television Review. Series One.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: David Jason, Lynda Baron, James Baxter, Stephanie Cole, Maggie Ollerenshaw, Johnny Vegas, Brigit Forsyth, Tim Healy, Kulvinder Ghir, Sally Lindsay, Nina Wadia, Barry Elliott, Mark Williams, Paula Wilcox, Vicki Pepperdine, Emily Fleeshman.

Over 40 years have passed since the immortal Ronnie Barker stuttered onto the screens of the nation as the tight fisted, corner shop owning Albert Arkwright. It was the days when Ronnie Barker was the B.B.C.’s comedy giant, when he was the lord of all he surveyed, from the Two Ronnies, to the phenomenal Porridge and of course the might of the Roy Clarke written Open All Hours, all he touched turned to gold.

Doctor Who: The Abandoned. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Stephanie Cole, Mandi Symonds, Andy Snowball, Nigel Fairs.

Imagination is the strongest, most potent weapon that humanity possesses. The ability to imagine the best and prepare for the worst, sometimes of our own species making and volition; to see the innate beauty in a single word, to have the ability to conjure up an imaginary best friend that sees you through the loneliness of childhood or to take the inventiveness, the sheer creative splendour, and turn into something that last for hundreds of years. Sometimes though imagination can, as to paraphrase Julius Robert    Oppenheimer, can be the destroyer of worlds.

This May Hurt A Bit, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Frances Ashman, Stephanie Cole, William Hope, Natalie Klamar, Hywel Morgan, Brian Protheroe, Jane Wymark, Tristram Wymark.

The patient has been seen by many consultants over the years, some with the very best of intentions, some whose intentions are perhaps dubious at best and down- right scandalous at worst and yet somehow the patient is still here and still keeping society going. The N.H.S. still carries on delivering from cradle to the grave.

Still Open All Hours, Television Review. B.B.C.

Liverpool Sound and Vision 7/10

Cast: David Jason, Lynda Baron, Stephanie Cole, Maggie Ollerenshaw, James Baxter, Johnny Vegas, Mark Williams, Brigit Forsyth, Kulvinder Ghir, Sally Lindsay, Nina Wadia, Barry Elliott, Kathryn Hunt, Misha Timmins, Cathy Breeze, Sally Womersley, Emily Fleeshman, Nadine Mulkerrin.

There are some things in life that are worth re-visiting, even if it just the once. To see old characters move around in familiar ways but know that somehow they have changed, even slightly, is to understand that time must and always will move forward.

The Lady Vanishes, Television Review. B.B.C. Television.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast:  Tuppence Middleton, Tom Hughes, Selina Cadell, Keeley Hawes, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Stephanie Cole, Gemma Jones, Alex Jennings, Sandy McDade, Pip Torrens, Benedickte Hansen, Jesper Christensen, Charles Aitken, Zsuzsu David.

In the best traditions of Agatha Christie do others dare attempt to follow and for the second time since the definitive version directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1938, The Lady Vanishes, originally written by Ethel Lina White, gets an all star treatment, a huge budget that would make some television and film directors wince at the thought at what they could achieve with a fraction and in the end whilst laudable unfortunately doesn’t stand up to any of the recent highs the B.B.C. has managed this year in its drama department.