You should watch... Twenty Twelve

Sick of the Olympics already? Trust me, watch Twenty Twelve and you'll fall in love with them all over again, even if it is for all the wrong reasons.

For those of you haven't seen it, Twenty Twelve is a satirical comedy looking at the London 2012 Games. It follows the group of people in charge of putting the Games together, who are mostly inept, always messing the simplest of things up in spectacular fashion, and really, really funny.

The cast is led by Hugh Bonneville, who plays Ian Fletcher, head of Olympic deliverance. Despite having a crazy ex-wife who always used to give him grief and has now just chucked him out, he would be able to get most things done, if only it wasn't for his team.

They include Graham Hitchens (played by Karl Theobald), whose attempt to come up with the Olympic Torch relay route looked like a two-year-old child had scribbled on a map of Britain; Kay Hope (Amelia Bullmore), the head of sustainability who spends more time annoyed at people mixing sustainability up with legacy to do any work; and Nick Jellett (Vincent Franklin), who plays a stereotypical dour northerner.

My personal favourite character is Siobhan Sharpe, played by Jessica Hynes. Siobhan is PR for the Olympic deliverance team, knows nothing, and spends a lot of time saying "yah" and "tell me about it". I love her. 

Siobhan's highlights include thinking Muslims are not people who follow Islam, but rather people who follow the religion of Muslimian, and, with her PR team, coming up with the slogan Jubilympics to describe the summer's two biggest celebrations. She is a genius.

The great thing about Twenty Twelve is that it takes real life Olympic news and then gives them a comic twist. So the episode about protests against having equestrian events in Greenwich Park was based on the views of real protestors, only the real protestors didn't leave a giant pile of steaming horse dung outside the offices of the London 2012 organisers. 

Twenty Twelve ran for a very short first series in 2010, and an even shorter second series earlier this year (I recommend you search YouTube for clips), but thankfully it's back ahead of the opening of the Olympic Games. The first episode back, called Catatrophisation, includes a focus on what will be done with the Olympic Stadium after the Games, a real-life problem facing Games' organisers; shows Graham getting into his usual scrapes; and has Siobhan and her team trying to come up with a sexy name for the Travel Advice Pack. Oh, and someone has been caught converting Olympic starting pistols to fire live rounds.

The Olympic Games may be coming round too fast for some people, but Twenty Twelve can't start soon enough for me. 

Twenty Twelve is on BBC2 on Tuesday, July 10 at 10pm.

Film review: The Five-Year Engagement starring Emily Blunt and Jason Segel

Here's what I was expecting when I went to see The Five-Year Engagement - a romantic comedy with a teensy bit of angst, maybe a little bit of swearing, and an easy-to-come-by happy ending.

Here's what I got when I went to see The Five-Year Engagement - a romantic comedy that ripped my heart out before proceeding to piece it back together, a lot of awkwardness, some really rude moments and a happy ending that everyone had to work for.

And guess what? I really enjoyed the surprise.

I'm a big fan of Emily Blunt, but I never realised just how funny she could be as an actress. It would have been so easy for Blunt, as lead character Violet, to have been overshadowed by Jason Segel's Tom, but Blunt held her own, and in fact was part of the funniest scene in the film, which didn't feature Segel at all and involved Blunt arguing with her sister, with both of them doing the voices of characters from Sesame Street the whole time.

Violet and Tom have just got engaged (hilarious proposal) and are planning their wedding when Violet gets a job offer of her dreams. The couple agree Violet will take the job and schlep off to Michigan, where Tom finds himself getting increasingly more miserable without a fulfilling job, and Violet finds herself thriving on success.

Cut to a few years later and Tom has let himself go a bit, and is now living like some kind of caveman (hunting his own meat, massive amounts of facial hair).

The pair get their act together slightly and decide to go ahead and get married. Unbeknownst to Tom, the catalyst is because Violet has been kissed by her boss. Tom almost doesn't find out, but in a heartwrenching scene he runs away after discovering the truth, does something he really regrets, and wakes up naked in a forest the next morning and has to have his toe amputated.

Tom and Violet's drifting apart is filled with comic moments, but it's hard to watch them go through the tough times, and when Tom was wondering through the forest I found my laughter turning into (unshed) tears as the moment turned from comic to tragic.

As a side plot to Tom and Violet are Tom's best friend Alex and Violet's sister Suzie, who stumble their way into a relationship and somehow manage to make it work, despite being completely unsuited to each other and yelling at each other most of the time they're on screen together. The other two romantic relationships on screen - Violet's dad and stepmum, and Tom's parents - are also far from smooth yet both couples make it work, and all three relationships act as a contrast, and something to aspire to in some ways, for Tom and Violet.

The relationships in The Five-Year Engagement aren't pretty ones - there are no slow motion kisses in the rain, no well-timed coincidental meetings. Instead, The Five-Year Engagement is a romantic comedy with a slightly realistic edge. It's still a film so it can't mirror real life completely, but I enjoyed the move-like happy ending even more because of the reality that preceeded it.

Reading challenge book 10: Play to Kill by P.J. Tracy

P.J. Tracy is the pseudonym for a mother-daughter writing duo

Book 10 in my challenge to read one book (I haven't read before) a fortnight in 2012 is Play to Kill by P.J. Tracy.

Sometimes I love to curl up with a good murder mystery, and if you're looking for a focus on the crime solving with a lack of faffing around, then P.J. Tracy is the way to go. 

P.J. Tracy is the pseudonym for mother and daughter P.J. and Traci Lambrecht, who have produced a series of linked books.

The authors have a knack of stripping down all of the extraneous rubbish you find in many murder mysteries and crime tales, and just getting right to the point.

There are two heinous murders to open the book, before we even get to see the crime solving going on. And even then, we find out that the murders we viewed weren't the first.

While the personal lives of the characters involved in solving crimes are important and inform who they are as investigators, they're not the most important thing in Play to Kill. The crime is. And because that's the case, we somehow manage to find out more about our characters than if we'd spent entire chapters reading about their personal lives.

There are instances where we see interactions between the characters outside of the crime solving set - Magozzi and Rolseth's friendship is a great read, and Magozzi and Grace's interactions are always interesting, since he's in love with her and we don't know quite what she feels for him, but neither of them are sitting around crying endless tears over it all.

The other thing I really liked about Play to Kill was that there was none of the red herring type stuff you find in some murder mysteries, where the reader - and the characters - are constantly being led down the wrong path only to discover a red herring. It was good to read something where there wasn't too much of a wild goose chase, and it seemed more realistic.

In Play to Kill the two groups investigating the series of murders at the centre of the book don't interact much. Monkeewrench stay largely in their mansion running clever computer programmes, while Rolseth and Magozzi spend most of their time in the office with their fellow police detectives or in their car travelling between murder scenes and the police station or occasionally visiting the Monkeewrench offices.

My favourite character is Rolseth, who seems like your typical doughnut eating cop, but is actually fiercely intelligent and loyal, and makes a brilliant support character to Magozzi. Even then, you can't really say Magozzi is the main character here. Although he's been in previous books in this series by Tracy, the writing is such that it's really more like an emsemble than anything else.

There's a brilliant twist at the end, which I didn't see coming, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the murders I'd just spent 300 or so pages reading about.

For me, Play to Kill was the perfect murder mystery. It was to the point, devoid of meaningless interactions and all about the crime, yet still with brilliantly formed characters.

Review: Up at The O2

Looking towards Stratford from Up at The O2.

I'm sitting on a cold, hard bench in a dark room. On screen a video is about to start - it's shaky for a few seconds and then a man comes into focus.

He looks like he's just been caught in a gust of wind, and he starts talking dramatically about a journey he has just undertaken, and which I am about to go on.

Okay, I'm not scaling Everest, and neither is Rupert, the guy in the video. Instead, I'm climbing over the roof of The O2, as part of the entertainment venue's latest venture - Up at The O2.

The experience involves walking on a blue tensile fabric walkway - I would describe it as bouncy plastic - over the roof of The O2. In the centre is a viewing platform, where you can take in views across London in all directions.

But first, there's the safety video starring Rupert (I imagine this is now a bit boring for the instructors, who have probably seen it a hundred times), and an introduction by our guide for the climb, a fresh-faced guy called Adam.

After signing a waiver (eek) the group I'm in is led through to a corridor to pick up our kit. There's an attractive black and blue jumpsuit, hiking boots (it's been raining so Adam recommends we wear their boots instead of our own trainers), and a harness, as well as the equipment we'll be using to hook ourselves up to the walkway's rail.

Once we're all kitted up, it's time for another safety check before we climb the stairs up to the start of walkway, where we practice for a few minutes hooking ourselves up with a carabiner type thing to the rail.

And then we're off. Walking up is simple. You hook the metal thing onto a rail and pull it along with you as you climb, holding on to the handrail if you wish. We go up in stages, stopping every few sections so everyone can catch up.

The climb is pretty easy, although the walkway surface itself takes some getting used to, as it's not often you walk on bouncy surfaces.

It looks like we've reached the top a few times, but there's always more walkway ahead, until finally we're at the viewing platform. It's pretty big - there's a group of 15 already there, and there's still loads of room to move around and get the photographs we want.

The views are stunning, especially since we lucked out with the weather. You can see the Olympic Park - the ArcelorMittal Orbit and Aquatics Centre are clearly visible, with the Stadium tucked in between two skyscrapers in the distance.

A panorama of the view from the viewing platform of Up at The O2 (click to view bigger).

Maritime Greenwich is close by, and you can also see the ExCeL popping up, as well as the Shard (although you can see the Shard from a distance without climbing up the roof of a building), and further out in every direction.

Adam tells us that he spoke to someone who could even see the arch of Wembley on a good day, which is some distance.

Once we've all photographed the view to our heart's content, it's back down, this time on the other side.

The vast majority of the descent is pretty easy going, and at a good angle. But the final section is much steeper, and requires a sideways crab-style walk to get down. That's because the walkway goes right down to the ground, unlike at the start of the journey, where we began on a walkway suspended above the ground.

As we get to the bottom and look back up, there's no sign of the platform, indicating just how high up we climbed.

Up at The O2 is a great experience, although hardcore adventurers may be left wanting. For a novice climber though, it's enough excitement, and the main draw is the views, which will leave anyone impressed.

Review: Prometheus Awakes at GDIF

The human net in Prometheus Awakes.

Where do I start with the spectacular that was Prometheus Awakes at the Greenwich+Docklands International Festival?

Here's what I want to say (in a high pitched voice really fast): Oh my goodness, it was amazing, I loved it!

But I realise that I'm writing a review, so I should probably be a little less teenage girl, and expand a little more on my views.

The production was put together by disabled-led theatre company Graeae and Spanish company La Fura dels Baus, famous for their outdoor work and puppetry.

Prometheus Awakes started with projections on the Queen's House.

Prometheus Awakes melded the three myths of Prometheus - he created man, he invented fire, his liver was eaten by an eagle and then it regrew every day as a punishment from Zeus - seamlessly into one.

Prometheus awakes.

The production in the grounds of the Royal Museums Greenwich started with a boom and projections on the Queen's House, with the final ones showing the puppet Promethus and spelling out his name in both letters and in sign language.

In the audience our gaze then moved to the right, as the 25ft tall puppet of Promethus was slowly lifted from a lying position into a crane and then lit up. Six volunteers (and the crane) then steered Prometheus through the crowd.

While we were still busy gasping over this stunning spectacle Prometheus came to a stop, and our attention was once again diverted, this time to a bag being hoisted by a crane right over our heads. First glitter came out of the bag onto the crowd and then a woman appeared - the first human.

A trio of dancers on the balcony of Queen's House took our attention, and the first human soon joined them. As Prometheus made his was towards her - going around the back of the crowd - it was time for the fire. Flames leapt up into air before volunteer performers carrying flares walked purposefully through the crowd.

The human censer.

This was all stunning enough, with more projections of the Queen's House of fire and eagles adding to the thrill thrumming through the crowd. Then it was time for another of Graeae's set pieces - the human censer, which rose high above the crowd with performers on it doing daring dancing moves.

Prometheus Awakes also featured a giant hamster wheel of sorts, which rolled back and forth between the crowd, with the performers inside wowing everyone, and then all bursting into a shrill type of shrieking as the tale of Prometheus reached its dark point - Prometheus, in love with the first human, thought he was being rejected by her (I think) and she left the stage.

Moments later she reappeared, climbing up the body of Prometheus to rest at his shoulder and watch the play's stunning finale - a net of humans raised into the air to swing over the crowd to thumping music.

The cheers and clapping as the performers that made up the net danced only grew louder and louder, and the looks of joy on their faces as they took in the reaction of the crowd only fueled more applause.

Prometheus Awakes was a stunning production. It was truly interactive outdoor theatre, with an audience made up of everyone from young children to teenage friends to couples and families and more.

There was no need for barriers and stewards, as the audience moved seamlessly with the performers, knowing instinctively when to move out of the way and where to look - and we almost became a part of the production ourselves.

Graeae and La Fura dels Baus should be applauded for the work they did, as should all the performers, disabled and non-disabled. When I spoke to the play's co-director Amit Sharma, he said he wanted people to leave Prometheus Awakes thinking it was a great production and not thinking about how good it was in relation to it being disabled-led. He has succeeded. I didn't give a thought to whether the performers in front of me were disabled or non-disabled, for me Prometheus Awakes was just a hugely successful, hugely thrilling piece of outdoor theatre which I'm still thinking about hours later.

Prometheus Awakes will be performed once more at the Stockton International Riverside Festival on Thursday, August 2 at 10pm. Click here for more information.

Review: Jack Savoretti at Bush Hall

"This is the weirdest gig I've ever been to."

We're at Bush Hall in Shepherd's Bush, standing in the midst of a crowd of Jack Savoretti fans while the man himself is on stage. My friend, let's call her V, has just turned to me and said the above. What prompted her?

Well, some random guy in the audience has, in the lull between songs, just yelled for everyone to hear: "I'm having a great time, Jack."

I'm having a surreal time, and so is V (and my other friend F). This isn't like any gig I've been to before either.

For a start there's the strange demographic of the crowd. Aside from the guy who's having a great time, there are a bunch of Jack Wills-wearing Oxbridge types, plenty of older couples, a load of "yummy mummies" and lots and lots of men who keep shouting about having a great time, or just making general yelling man noises showing they're having a great time.

V's theory is that Savoretti is the kind of guy inspires bromance among the fellow members of his sex, that he makes guys feel how Bruce Springsteen makes guys feel - that kind of guys hanging out, being cool together vibe. I can sort of see it (Savoretti wears a Springsteen-esque half unbuttoned shirt and he's got that confidence), but, and I really like Savoretti, I'm still reluctant to buy into that theory. Still, it goes some way to explaining the men clapping really, really loudly, yelling and sticking their arms in the air in that pop rock way while they sing along.

The other thing leading me to have a surreal time is the double bass player in Savoretti's band, Tom Benzon. He's really, really talented, but really, really distracting. There's no delicate way to put this - he makes come hither faces while he plays. And caresses his double bass like it's a woman (or a man). And there may have been hip movement.

Still, apart from the strange make up of the audience, the men shouting how much they love Savoretti (I expect to hear someone yell: "Come on, my son") and the distracting double bass player, it's a great gig (for me, V's not a fan).

Savoretti has a brilliant energy, which is perhaps why the crowd gets so whipped up - there's a moment when everyone goes nuts at the opening chords of Dreamers after Savoretti dedicates it to "all the old friends".

I don't have to wait too long before Savoretti plays Vagabond, which is my favourite song off the new album, Before the Storm. Yes, it wasn't among the two favourites I was debating about when I reviewed Before the Storm, but since then it's shot to the top of my playlist.

Savoretti does play those two previously favourite songs of mine - For the Last Time and The Proposal. He gives For the Last Time a sharp twist, infusing it with much more anger than on the album. 

Take Me Home features vocals from a girl called Rebecca (I think) who won a competition to try and find the best cover version of the song. She's sweet but looks terrified, and only relaxes when Savoretti throws smiles at her.

Savoretti's voice is, if possible, huskier in person than it is recorded, but that's no bad thing in my opinion, and judging by the opinions of the shouting masses around me.

This might be the most surreal gig I've been to, but it's also pretty fun - a great support act (Melodica, Melody and Me - I'm definitely going to find out more about them), a crowd that makes me laugh (if only for weird reasons) and a talented musician on stage.

Hey, Jack, I'm having a great time...