So what are we giving The Thumbs Up to on the telly at the moment?

Silk

Well-constructed, gripping courtroom drama with the excellent Maxine Peake. Think we’re going to see a lot more of the brooding Nick Slade, who plays her kleptomaniac  ‘pupil’. Like her, he is from a Northern unmoneyed background and his slightly bumbling courtroom pleas contrast with his adversary’s who is the other pupil. She is the brittle-blonde, squishy-faced, hard, daughter-of-a-judge Niamh whose career progression seems guaranteed after her bedroom antics with a senior barrister! And the pregnancy/termination story is keeping us guessing too…..

Law & Order

As above but from more varying perspectives.

One Born Every Minute

Great PR for midwives and such an uplifting programme. How can you not smile (or cry) when the baby’s born! Must be doing wonders for the trainee midwife recruitment drive.

Glee

Our house is full of self-confessed ‘gleeks’. Glee really does make for good telly for all of us in our house. It makes us laugh without fail and one or more of us is always singing along. Sue Sylvester is brilliant.

Friday Night Dinner

As it says on the tin – 2 grown-up sons go for dinner with their mum & dad every Friday night.  Simon ‘Will, the boy with the glasses, from The Inbetweeners’ Bird is in it and Tamsin Greig from Episodes. The hard-of-hearing Dad is very funny and the awkward scenes with the slightly creepy next-do or neighbour provide classic sit com moments.

Episodes

We loved Episodes and can’t wait for a new series. It made us cringe lots but in a different way to The Office.  The show is about a British husband-and-wife comedy writing team who travel to Hollywood to remake their successful British TV series. ‘Joey from Friends’ and the whole US television industry is parodied but as the series is created by an American, David Crane of Friends fame, then I suppose that’s ok..

Embarrassing Bodies

With its constant stream of people who are so ’embarrassed’ by their condition, that they can’t wait to show the zillion people watching, it is perpetually fascinating. Why would anyone let a hernia grow to the size of a football? How does a woman sleep with her bloke every night, have sex, have babies and all the rest yet never let him see her breasts because they are too small/big/droopy/different  sizes/pink with purple spots….? Why would you not go to your GP if you have a weird & wonderful skin condition? Why wait 20 years and then proclaim how embarrassing it is on National Television? There appears to be some strange psychology at work.

Coronation Street

As ever Corrie is excellent but the recent ‘marry to avoid deportation’ story is plain ridiculous. Something makes us laugh though every episode.

We don’t watch stuff we don’t like but we do NOT give The Thumbs Up to……

Eastenders

The Cockney soap gets a massive great Thumbs Down for being perpetually miserable, dreary, grey and depressing!

Katie Price

Anything about her life/marriage/divorce/cosmetic surgery. Get a life woman! We really don’t care!

Mrs. C