Crime Scene Wild is on Animal Planet on Sky 524 and Virgin TV 215, Monday nights at 10pm and lets you take a look inside the world of illegal animal trading
Trade in protected wildlife is big business, second only to drugs in size, being worth more than £5 billion a year. The rarest species are most at risk such as caged bears which are milked for their bile, tigers hunted for their skins and bones for tiger wine (yummy!), elephants poached for ivory, gorillas for meat and sharks simply butchered alive.
Many species are tortured to the brink of extinction, but now the Crime Scene Wild team are there to protect these otherwise helpless creatures from mans greed. Steve Galster patrols the homeland of the poachers and tries to bring them to justice. Steve uses forensics and DNA technology to wage war against the animal traders.
You can see a video preview of the show here
Heroes is the show that everyone is talking about and I’m yet another one of the masses who has developed a somewhat unhealthy obsession with this truly groundbreaking science fiction show.
The first season is in two parts, with Part 1 containing 11 episodes out on DVD already, and Heroes Season 1 Part 2 with 12 episodes coming out on DVD in the UK on 10th December 2007. I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of Part 1 to review I have found myself a lot more popular with friends and relatives than usual!
I have to confess, I got into this series kind of later than most. I didn’t start watching it until recently but quickly found myself hooked after my first episode. I’d even go as far as to say I actually prefer Heroes to LOST… and that’s saying something given the extent of my admiration for that show and its creators.
So, what makes Heroes so great? Well for those who haven’t seen the show yet I don’t want to give too much away but let’s just say that the characters, plotlines and effects go way beyond anything you have ever seen. It has so many high drama scenes it will make your head spin and watching as the ‘Heroes’ learn about their own individual powers and how to control them is exciting to say the least.
I love the fact that the people with the superpowers come from all different walks of life, and all around the world. We have everything from an indestructible cheerleader to a cop who can read peoples thoughts and the show just keeps offering up these new and exciting little twists and angles that keep it feeling fresh.
The main focus of Series 1 is on the way that each of the Heroes deal with their newly found powers and learning to control them and use them for good. Hiro Nakamura is a Japanese man who soon discovers that he has the ability to bend space and time, travelling from one time frame to another and stopping time at his own will. We soon realise that he is an important character in the series as he sets about his quest to ‘Save the cheerleader; Save the world’.
The cheerleader in question just happens to be Claire Bennet, and she herself is hiding a secret power. Claire is indestructible; she can throw herself off a building, scald herself with boiling water and more and heal almost immediately.
Gradually all of the characters find their lives becoming intertwined as their paths cross for interesting and intriguing reasons, and with the help of Isaac Mendez, an artist who can paint the future they soon find themselves with a common quest that will ultimately require all of them to pull together.
There is also a darker force at work that we soon become aware of. His name is Sylar (played by Zachary Quinto) and he is feeding off of the powers of the Heroes and absorbing them for his own use. Sylar’s cunning and calculating methods to track down the powers he requires results in some of the most tense and brilliant scenes I have seen on a TV show for a long time and every aspect of the show feels almost like you are reading a slick, fun no holds barred comic book that you can’t put down.
If you are a fan of Sci Fi, or of TV shows like LOST which keep the viewer constantly on their toes then Heroes is most definitely the show for you. Series 1 is currently showing on the BBC and can also be bought on DVD so you really have no excuse for not watching!
Complete cast list for the TV series Heroes: Adair Tishler, Adrian Pasdar, Ali Larter, Ashlee Gillespie, Ashley Crow, Ben Murray, Bill Fagerbakke, Brian Tarantina, Christopher Eccleston, Clea DuVall, Colby French, Cristine Rose, Dana Davis, Danielle Savre, Darryl Chan, Deirdre Quinn, Dutch Johnson, Elizabeth Lackey, Eric Roberts, Erick Avari, Eriko Tamura, Eugene Byrd, Garrett Masuda, Geno Monteiro, George Takei, Greg Grunberg, Hayden Panettiere, Jack Coleman, Jackson Wurth, James Kyson Lee, Javin Reid, Jayma Mays, Jessalyn Gilsig, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Josh Clark, Justin Evans, Karl T. Wright, Karri Turner, Kevin Chamberlin, Leonard Roberts, Link Baker, Malcolm McDowell, Mark Allan Stewart, Mark Nearing, Masi Oka, Matt Lanter, Matthew John Armstrong, Michael Maury, Milo Ventimiglia, Missi Pyle, Missy Peregrym, Nicole Bilderback, Noah Gray-Cabey, Nora Zehetner, Paula Newsome, Randall Bentley, Rena Sofer, Richard Roundtree, Rick Peters, Ryan Smith, Sakina Jaffrey, Sally Champlin, Santiago Cabrera, Sara Solomon, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Shalim Ortiz, Shishir Kurup, Stacy Haiduk, Stana Katic, Tawny Cypress, Thomas Dekker, Tohoru Masamune, Zachary Quinto.
Batman Returns is my favourite out of all the Batman sequels so far. It was released in 1992 and I love the dark, gothic feel to the film that was superbly created by Tim Burton. Every inch of the movie looks and feels like a classic Tim Burton movie should, and you can really tell that Burton has let his imagination run wild this time which in my opinion it was a very bold, daring way to go for a much awaited sequel to the original Batman movie.
Michelle Pfeiffer was brilliant as Catwoman; she turns from a timid shy young woman who lives alone with only a cat for company into a PVC clad vixen who is definitely not to be messed with! Pfeiffer completely plays up to this role and seems to relish the opportunity to get her teeth into something different from her usual romantic comedies and who can blame her?!
Danny Devito is unforgettable as ‘The Penguin’ a strange half penguin half man type creature that was abandoned by his parents as a child. He steals most of the scenes with ease and adds to that dark and strange eeriness of the entire movie. Of course, nothing will ever compare to Jack Nicholson as ‘The Joker’ as the villain of the original Batman movie, he was amazing.
The only thing that I did feel slightly lets this movie down is Michael Keaton. Whilst he is great as Bruce Wayne, when he dons his leather suit to become Batman he seems to lack that superhero presence that he had in the first movie. Maybe it’s just me but I felt like he didn’t quite put everything he had into the performance this time round. I’m sure that most of you have probably seen this movie dozens of times before but if like me it’s been a while since you last caught it then try and catch it on one of Film4’s repeats and re live the film in all its glory.
Full cast list for Batman Returns: Adam Drescher, Andrew Bryniarski, Anna Katarina, Anthony De Longis, Ashley Tillman, Biff Yeager, Bobby Bell, Branscombe Richmond, Cal Hoffman, Cheryl Moore, Christopher Walken, Cristi Conaway, Danny DeVito, Debbie Lee Carrington, Denise Killpack, Diane Salinger, Doug Jones, Elizabeth Sanders, Erik Onate, Erika Andersch, Felix Silla, Frank DiElsi, Gregory Scott Cummins, Henry Kingi, Jan Hooks, Joan Giammarco, Joan Jurige, Joey DePinto, John Strong, Lisa Guerrero, Margarita Fernández, Michael Gough, Michael Keaton, Michael Murphy, Michelle Pfeiffer, Neal Lerner, Niki Botelho, Pat Hingle, Paul Reubens, Rick Zumwalt, Robert Gossett, Rosie O’Connor, Sean Whalen, Steffanie Siebrand, Steve Witting, Steven Brill, Stuart Lancaster, Susan Rossitto, Travis McKenna, Tyler House, Vincent Schiavelli.
What goes on behind the scenes when films are made? It’s not just the actors in front of the lens, a film can’t come to life without the whole film crew, and on Thursday 4th October 2007 at 11:30 a.m. you get the chance to talk online to one of the crucial people behind the lens, stunt coordinator Steve Truglia, who has worked on the James Bond films Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough.
This is an excellent chance for you to chat online with Steve and learn about what it’s like working as a stunt coordinator on TV and film.
Joining Steve in the online chat is Claire Travers Smith, a TV producer who will share some of her stories about working in the TV industry, on MTV, Trisha Show, This Morning and Big Brother. Claire has a lot to tell about how you can get into the world of television, so it’s well worth giving her a listen.
Paul Archer from the Industry Trust that promotes the value of UK copyright will be there too, talking about the Backstage Stars campaign, which hopes to demonstrate the importance of respecting original works which reward creative talent, rather than buying illegal copies which put livelihoods at risk.
Visit the web chat here to talk to Steve Truglia, Claire Travers Smith and Paul Archer on Thursday 4th October 2007 at 11:30 a.m
