Doc Martin (TV Series 2004-)

Doc Martin, now shooting its sixth charming series, is popular in more than 30 countries around the world, including Slovenia and Saudi Arabia. Foreign-language adaptations have aired in Germany, France, Spain, The Netherlands, and Greece -- and Russia may be next.



Martin Clunes and Caroline Catz.

Martin Clunes is Martin Ellingham (his surname’s an anagram for the name of creator Dominic Minghella), a London surgeon who develops a phobia to blood and who relocates to the picturesque Cornish village of Port Wenn, becoming the area’s general practitioner. He is gruff, intolerant, and rude to people, but over time he develops a relationship with and has a child with local headmistress Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz).

The community is full of quirky, amusing characters, including a plumber-turned-restaurateur (Ian McNeice), his son (Joe Absolom), Martin’s aunts (Stephanie Cole, followed by Dame Eileen Atkins), local cops, and a series of three dippy receptionists, among others.



This series is lovely, funny and set in a beautiful Cornish village called Port Isaac which I visited in July and fell in love with it. I highly recommend Doc Martin to everyone! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 





Desperate Housewives (2004-2012)

Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama mystery series.  The main setting of the show is Wisteria Lane, a street in the fictional American town of Fairview in the fictional Eagle State. The show follows the lives of a group of women, seen through the eyes of their dead neighbor. They work through domestic struggles and family life, while facing the secrets, crimes and mysteries hidden behind the doors of their — at the surface — beautiful and seemingly perfect suburban neighborhood.

 

 

The show features an ensemble cast, headed by Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, Marcia Cross as Bree Van de Kamp and Eva Longoria as Gabrielle Solis.   Brenda Strong narrates the show as the deceased Mary Alice Young, appearing sporadically in flashbacks or dreams. 

 

 

 

Desperate Housewives is great!  Life behind closed doors is about to be revealed as suburban life takes a funny and dark turn.  :) xx



Happy Easter 2013!

 

 

Eat chocolate and have fun! :D xx

Top Hat on Stage ('11/'12'/13'/'14)

The film has been adapted into a stage musical that began touring the UK during late 2011. The Show opened at Milton Keynes Theatre on 19 August 2011 before touring to other UK regional theatres including Leeds, Birmingham and Edinburgh. The production is also scheduled to transfer to the West End's Aldwych Theatre on April 19, 2012 with an opening on May 9, 2012 and bookings ended on 26th October 2013. 

On Thursday 1st December 2011 I went to the Leeds Grand Theatre with my Mum to see Irving Berlin's Top Hat which is based on RKO's Motion Picture. It is Fred and Ginger's greatest Hollywood dance musical - live on stage for the very first time in 76 years!

 

Tom Chambers ('Strictly Come Dancing' winner and 'Holby City' heartthrob) plays Jerry Travers, the famous American tap dancer who arrives in London to appear in his first West End Show. Travers meets the irresistible Dale Tremont, the girl of him dreams, played by Summer Strallen (triple Olivier Award nominee and star of 'Love Never Dies', 'The Sound of Music' and Hollyoaks') and follows her across Europe in an attempt to win her heart with his wonderful song and dance routines.

Irving Berlin's celebrated score features such classics as 'Cheek to Cheek', 'Let's Face The Music and Dance', 'Isn't it a Lovely day to be caught in the Rain' and 'Top Hat, White Tie and Tails.'  It was also Black Tie and Tiara Night for one night only on the 1st December so I wore my ballgown and felt very special in it!   Top Hat was brilliant at the Leeds Grand Theatre! Tom Chambers and Summer Strallen are fantastic as Jerry Travers and Dale Tremont! The rest of the cast are great too. They sang some of Irving Berlin’s greatest hits, such as, 'Cheek to Cheek' and 'Top Hat', 'White Tie and Tails', 'The Piccolino', 'No Strings' (I'm Fancy Free) and 'Isn't This A Lovely Day To Be Caught In The Rain?' which are all in the film 'Top Hat.' They also sang 'Let’s Face the Music and Dance' and 'I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket' which are from the film 'Follow The Fleet.'

The costumes, sets and dance routines were all wonderful and I loved every minute of it! I want to see it all over again! I had a lovely time!

 

 

If you are a fan of Fred and Ginger, you should definitely watch the film and then go see the show in the West End, you will love it!! :D xx  

 

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

 

 

A dog belonging to an eccentric heiress (Katharine Hepburn) steals a dinosaur bone from David (Cary Grant), a Zoology professer.  David  follows the heiress home and all hell breaks loose when he loses his pet leopard Baby.

 

 

 

 

Brilliantly directed by Howard Hawks, Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn are a match made in heaven. 

 

 

 

 

Bringing Up Baby is one of cinema's greatest scewball comedies ever made. :) xx









New Year's Day 2013

The celebrations held world-wide on January 1 as part of New Year's Day commonly include the following:
Parades
American football: In the United States, January 1 is the traditional date for many post-season college football bowl games, which are usually accompanied by parades and other activities to celebrate the events
Football: In Europe, Association Football, where a Full Fixture programme is usually played throughout the Premier League and the rest of the League/Non League system in England
Ice hockey, most famously the Winter Classic in North America, a National Hockey League game that is played outdoors
Concerts
Entertainment, usually enjoyed from the comfort of home
Family time
Traditional meals
Church services

 

 

I hope 2013 is a great year for us all!!

Elf (2003)

 

 

 

Christmas family comedy directed by independent filmmaker Jon Favreau. Will Ferrell stars as Buddy, a human being who has spent his whole life believing himself to be an elf. Brought up by Santa (Edward Asner) and his elves at the North Pole, Buddy has spent the last 30 years happily working in Santa's toy workshop. But when his ungainly size starts to become a liability in the elf-sized working environment, Santa suggests that Buddy head to New York City to find his biological father (James Caan). Needless to say, the unlikely spectacle of a 6'5' man dressed from head to foot in bright green stands out a mile on the streets of the Big Apple, and the good-natured Buddy finds himself in all sorts of scrapes as he gets used to his new family and surroundings - and they get used to him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have fun! :) xx

The Nucracker by The Royal Ballet

 

 

Tchaikovsky’s unforgettable score combines with the magical choreography inspired by Lev Ivanov in an atmosphere of fantasy and the supernatural. Hoffman’s Christmas story unfolds with breathtaking splendour and beauty in the most festive and enduring of all ballets. 

 Act I
As conceived by Peter Wright, after the original book by Lev Ivanov. Herr Drosselmeyer (Anthony Dowell), a mysterious magician and creator of mechanical toys and clocks, was once employed at the royal palace, where he invented a trap that killed off half the mouse population. In revenge, the wicked Mouse Queen cast a spell on Drosselmeyer’s nephew, Hans-Peter (Ivan Putrov), which transformed him into an ugly nutcracker doll. The only way to break the spell is for the Nutcracker to slay the Mouse King and for a young girl to love and care for him in spite of his awful appearance.

When Drosselmeyer is invited to entertain the guests at a Christmas party given by his friends, the Stahlbaums, he decides that this could well be the opportunity he has been looking for. The Stahlbaums have a daughter, Clara (Alina Cojocaru), who is a little younger than Hans-Peter. And what better time than Christmas, when the mice are busy stealing the leftovers, for a confrontation between the Mouse King and the Nutcracker? Drosselmeyer decides to put the Nutcracker in the tender care of Clara and makes a special Christmas angel to guide her through her task.

When all the guests have departed and the house is asleep, Clara, in search of the nutcracker doll, creeps downstairs and discovers Drosselmeyer waiting for her. He draws her into his own special world of fantasy, where time is suspended, and exerts all his powers to transform the living room into a great battlefield. Then he summons the Mouse King (Christopher Saunders). In the ensuing fight between the mice and the toy soldiers, the Nutcracker slays the Mouse King, but only through the intervention of Clara, who, out of compassion, saves the Nutcracker’s life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Act II

Restored to his real self, Hans-Peter dances with Clara, and they find themselves in the Land of Snow. Drosselmeyer then sends them on a magic journey to the Sugar Garden in the Kingdom of Sweets, where they meet the Sugar Plum Fairy (Miyako Yoshida) and her Prince (Jonathan Cope). Freed at last from his imprisonment inside the nutcracker, Hans-Peter recounts to the Sugar Plum Fairy his great adventure and how Clara saved his life. They then join in a magnificent entertainment put on by Drosselmeyer to honor them for their bravery.

 

Returning to reality, Clara runs out into the street in search of Drosselmeyer and encounters a strangely familiar young man, while back in his workshop Drosselmeyer prays that his efforts will be rewarded. His nephew returns; the spell has indeed been broken.

 

 

 

 I can't wait to watch my Nutcracker Ballet DVD with a lovely warm drink and treats on Christmas Eve! :) xx