Overwhelmingly I enjoyed the inaugural outing but before I wax lyrical about it I have some criticisms. Firstly it was a little too long, or the story was a little too short. It felt like a 45 minute script had been stretched to fill an hour slot. Secondly, not so sure about the new theme music; don’t hate it though so perhaps it’ll grow on me.

Matt did a good job giving physicality to the regeneration and his uncertainty about his new skin was well played.

When I first saw the length of Karen’s skirt I got really irritated, there’s no way that’s close to regulation length I mumbled at the screen. I realise whenever I’m watching a programme that has an audience split between children and parents/miscellaneous older people then there is bound to be some “Dad-nip” included but this was too blatant. But then we get the revolution that she’s a kiss-a-gram and therefore the uniform isn’t supposed to be to spec; my objections vanish. Her character showed from the outset that she was an independent and decisive personality which should mesh well with the Dr.

It’s a small point but I do hope the reference to her wedding and the obvious ease with which she could spend almost an eternity travelling the universe and still return before 24 hours have passed and hence be in time for the nuptials isn’t used to bookend the series. It seems like it would be too easy a way to give her character an out that is both poignant and happy; please, please don’t do that.

Anyhow, overall I liked what I saw and a few niggles aside I’m looking forward to next week’s episode.

The BBC Culture Show this evening discussed 3D movies. Personally I’m of the opinion that 3D is a gimmick which doesn’t add anything to a well crafted movie; it might provide an additional marketing hook for a weak child-friendly movie but that hardly justifies its usage. Sky are claiming to be launching a 3D service in 2010. Now I could be claiming to launch a ship in 2010, but there’s a world of difference between launching 150,000 tonne ocean going liner and tossing a folded paper boat into a bath. I suspect Sky’s 2010 3D offerings will be much more akin to the flimsy paper boat.

3D might gain some limited traction in the cinema, but even there I don’t see the public clamouring for more 3D movies. Studios won’t make 3D movies unless either they achieve cost parity in production (which won’t happen for a very long time) or they can charge a premium price for tickets (which I doubt the paying public would stomach).

3D in the home however missed the boat for at least 5 years in my opinion. Early adopters who would doubtless be the primary consumers initially have already committed to high definition and therefore replaced their primary viewing set at the very least. So I really can’t see many people buying a new “3D ready” television; they’ll feel like they’ve been somewhat burned having already invested in a 1080p set.

Personally I’m leaving 3D on the shelf for the time being, and I recommend you do to.

BBC Four has been running an excellent season entitled “Electric Revolution”. Various programmes in the season have been piling up on the Tivo so I decided to watch the one I’d been most looking forward to this evening. Micro Men tells the story of the fledgling years of the British home computer industry, specifically following Sinclair’s development of the ZX Spectrum and Acorn’s Proton (which eventually became the BBC Micro Model A). As someone lucky enough to have had a foot in both camps back in the day, I was interested to see how the story was told for tv.

It has to be said I don’t think Clive now Sir Sinclair came out of it particularly well, it certainly portrayed a temper I’d not seen written about before. I have no idea if that was a dramatic device or an accurate portrayal. However, Alexander Armstrong with receding ginger hairline was an absolute spit for Sinclair.

Anyhow it was a very endearing piece of retro television, which I thoroughly enjoyed watching. Well done BBC4! Oh, and I have to admit I totally missed the cameo by a member of the original development team in the final scene; I’m going to go and re-watch it now.

For years news organisations have taken the view that placing a reporter outside of the building where an incident occurred adds some sort of gravitas, they think it fools the viewer into believing they have the whole story when the words spoken by the reporter make it clear they don’t.

In a similar vein, Newsnight (a news and current affairs show aired on the BBC in the UK) tried to concoct a non-story by interviewing three individuals who had previously had H1N1. None was medically qualified so were only able to offer personal anecdotes, rather than anything actually useful. Unless this was a particularly awkward story “planted” on behalf of the government to reassure people that “swine flu” isn’t necessary deadly, I really fail to see the point of broadcasting it.

Although I suppose if “swine flu” pandemic reporting drowns out “econo-pocalypse” reporting that it's probably no bad thing!

I really can’t believe the franchise owners allowed Law & Order: UK to ever see the light of day. It really is utterly mediocre, which is particularly galling given the other excellent members of this particular brand stable. The basic assumption, which I think is deeply flawed, is that producing a paint-by-numbers drama and adding the “bong-bong” sound effect and appropriate titling will be enough to make the show.

I can only hope it is given the early bath it so clearly deserves and if ITV has any difficulty in knowing where to make some of its announced job cuts, I’d say here is a prime location. If Law & Order is new to you, please don’t be put off by this pale UK imitation, but instead seek out the American original. It’s a well produced, well written drama in a style that the US excels at making; available via Satellite, Cable, DVD, flying to America and watching there, or probably even via the interwebs if you’re nefariously inclined!