CassiusMetal Reviews

Santa Claus the Serial Killer (2022)

Not so much a documentary, more a ego trip.

[1/10 · 14 February 2024]

Caught this on IPlayer in early 2024. Starts out well but goes downhill very quickly.

We start out with facts, indepth looks into stuff and it quickly decends into pure sensationalism.

The whole thing appears to be a ego trip for a D list "journalist" who seems determined to make it about him. A great deal of time is spent with him looking at a wall, sticking pictures up and writing on post it notes. The post it budget muct have been huge!

The visit to the gay sauna was the last straw for me. Why? It could have been done via arranging interviews but no whipping your clothes off will make it more dramatic won't it... pathetic.

Could have been so much more but with a main host who seems incapable of dealing with the real issues, it's a wasted opportunity.

Gladiators (II) (2008–2009)

Gladiators - The Return! BIGGER but NOT BETTER!

[4/10 · 24 July 2008]

So after a absence of 8 Years Gladiators returns to our TV Screens. Produced by Shine Productions and screened on UK digital Channel SkyOne this has been one of the most anticipated TV revivals for years.

Sadly the return has been a Anti-Climax for Die Hard Viewers like myself and any new viewers that the show was wanting to bring in.

I don't know if this makes sense but its too different without being different enough from the original. The main problems are...

The Format - There is Very little "Event" action throughout the show with only 4 Games plus the Eliminator and far too many interviews. Yes its nice to get to know the contenders but the Glads are the stars of the show. Of course being on Sky there are 3 Ad breaks that cut a quarter of the running time off the show.

The Gladiators - There are very few "Personalities" in there so far. Saying that we are 11 weeks in at time of review and no one has shone through with the possible exception of SPARTAN. This is probably down to looks as well as ability. Some have tried like OBLIVION with his nasty guy act but sorry my friend. YOU Ain't NO WOLF MAN!

The Events - 8 Original, 1 new. One of the failings of the original show was a lack of decent new games, bringing a show back for the "21st Century" and simply adding water to a few is not exactly a massive improvement. New games were needed but sadly this did not happen.

The Venue - Although quoted as "The biggest Purpose built Set in UK Teevision history" its just too small. The whole thing looks very cramped and simply thrown together and things were put where they would fit. Again with the small venue the atmosphere just isn't there.

Having been at filming for the shows, i can say it was a lot better in person. I suppose as any live event would be. On screen the whole thing came as very rushed and sloppy. There were only 5 months between the revival being announced and the show being screened. A massive production like this needed more time and effort invested in it.

The viewing figures are dropping by the week with for example the show losing 700,000 viewers between Shows 1 and 3. No matter how Fans dress it up, it simply is not working.

Will we get Season 2 - Nothing is certain, but if we do changes we need changes, BIG CHANGES.

If anyone from Shine/Skyone is reading this, I'm free to act as a adviser!

So to sum up the whole show has been a very big let down. Having debated this on online forums with fellow fans, i was lambasted for "Comparing it to the Original" but its both hard and silly not to. After all, it was a revival. Just a very poor one!

Deal or No Deal? (2005–2023)

Once was good but has it lost its edge?

[3/10 · 1 March 2007]

I wont bore you with details of how this show works. There are plenty of other article's that will give you that information.

I will go onto my personal views on the show.

This show was a great programme when it first started. It was fresh and a novel idea with nothing much like it on TV. I tuned in every day to watch and was stuck to my seat! However, this show has now become tired, boring and predictable. It is more like a problem page show. Everyone has a sob story as to why they "deserve" the money, everyone cries all the time and everyone pretends to like each other. Even though you know they don't! The "Holding hands" and chanting is painful to watch. This is a game of pure luck and although there is nothing wrong with positive thinking, its just stupid. Also why do Players insist on making fools of themselves by trying to guess whats in the box? Like todays player (1st March) was convinced the £100,000 was in her box, she dealt at £20,000 which brings up 2 points a) if you believed it was you wouldn't deal and b) it wasn't, she had 10p! I wonder if they are told to do this.

The banker is the most interesting element of the show and you never see him! Noel Edmonds also has become a bit stale. He is simply running out of things to say and tries to big it up as much as he can but sadly it isn't working anymore.

A problem is, a bit like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, now the top prize has finally gone, its kind of lost its edge. Why it took so long I don't know but now its happened, the show is not as exciting anymore! Although this show has not been around long, I think the time has come for it to be changed. Maybe a new presenter or rule change I don't know but something needs to be done.

Watch Deal Or No Deal...NO DEAL!

Little Britain (2003–2006)

Little Britain Series 1 & 2 - Genius, Series 3 - Poor!

[7/10 · 23 October 2006]

Firstly let me start by saying that my vote of 7 is based on all 3 Series of the show. If I was voting for series 1 and 2 it would be a 10 but for Series 3, it would be 2.

Little Britain as im sure many of you know started out on Radio where it had two very successful series. Then it made the switch to TV. The Little Britain Pilot was shown on the launch night of BBC3 and I was hooked straight away.

Series One launched it to a wider audience on BBC3 and then BBC2. It was great. So funny, original with so many laugh out loud moments you couldn't count them.

Series Two was even better. Everything was neater and Lucas and Walliams had obviously got to grips with the characters they were writing for. The old faves were all there, Vicky Pollard, Emily Howard, Daffyd et all but some new ones were easily a match for these veterans. Bubbles, Florence, Judy and Maggie were all great and simply were the icing on the cake.

No this is where I turn nasty. Series 3 was very disappointing. Not nearly as funny as the first two and to be honest everything was a bit samey ans stail at this point. New characters were poorly constructed. Mrs Emery was simply a 2nd Maggie except it came out of the other end, Desere was a disaster simply because Bubbles was fine on her own and Sid Pegg was simply offensive and totally unfunny. It was left to the veterans to save the day, Daffyd, Vicky and Lou and Andy were the one saving grace for this series. The other thing I really disliked about LB3 was Lucas' and Walliams' apparent need to be in each other sketches all the time. We hardly saw the supporting cast because Matt and David were in everything. Although its their show, one of LB strengths was the supporting cast but sadly in Series 3 apart from the odd sketch (Like FatFighters) we never got to see them.

With a approaching Christmas Special which is supposed to tie up the ends for many Characters, we may soon be saying goodbye to Little Britain this may not be a bad thing however as its best to go out on top and if it continued, I believe it would start to flounder as if Series 3 is anything to go by, the ideas is simply not there.

So to sum up, Series' 1 and 2, simply floorless with some of the best and funniest comedy I have ever seen, Series 3 - Poor and if not for the old characters, simply a disaster! Roll on the Christmas Special!

The Catherine Tate Show (2004–2009)

Not Better than Little Britain? HOW VERY DARE YOU!

[10/10 · 23 October 2006]

To be honest this show seemed to come out of no where. It was given very little press for its first series and unless you know who Catherine was and what she had done in the past, you would never have fallen across it by accident. However even this couldn't stop the first series becoming a great success and achieving cult status.

Series 2 was very much more hyped up, sometimes this can spoil a show but The Catherine Tate Show - Series 2 (Out on DVD 30th October) was nothing less than pure comedy genius. The new characters just topped this show off and made it even better than series one. Catherine's 2nd series was on at the same time as Little Britain Series 3 and to be blunt, Catherine's show was everything Little Britain 3 wasn't, consistently funny, brilliantly observed and stuck to the short sketch format. Although a die hard Little Britain Fan, I have to be realistic and say Catherine's show is now simply better than Lucas and Walliams.

Why the third series of this great show (Which starts on 26th October at 9.30pm) is still on BBC2 is beyond me. This show is great viewing and would not be out of place in any prime time slot on BBC1. LB made the transission why cant this? Favouritism maybe? So to sum up if you haven't seen this show, buy the DVD of Series' 1 and 2 and Cancel any plans you have for the next 6 Thursday nights. This is a amazing show, one viewing and you will be hooked. There is speculation this is the last. I hope not but I have to agree that its right to go out on top, but this show will be a great miss.

The Smoking Room (2004–2005)

Fantastic Comedy but so Underrated!

[10/10 · 10 October 2006]

The Smoking Room is one of the simplest set ups I have ever seen for a show. All episodes have been set in a single room (with the odd exception of a shot outside the room)but to be honest I think this is a great strength.

To set up is simple, as mentioned above a Smoking Room in a workplace that is frequented by a select group of workers who's conversations and interactions go from normal to simply strange.

A run down of the regular cast is ...Theres Len the foul mouthed Security guard, Sally and Annie the best friends (or at least as far Annie is concerned), Barry who just cant handle the crossword, Heidi the woman so boring no one noticed she was on Maternity Leave, Lilian the 40 something divorcée who is rediscovering her youth, Sharon the Boss who is as mad as her employees, Clint the handyman who just isn't very handy, Robin the not very good closet gay man, Gordon who is just odd and my personal favourite Janet who is the bosses long suffering PA.

My favourite thing about this show is its so deadpan. It has not been written for laughs and this makes it all the more funny. The cast is top notch and everyone fits together like a jigsaw.

As mentioned above my favourite Character is Janet, played by the wonderful Selina Griffiths who is just fantastic and steals every scene she is in, having been in a similar job position myself, I cant believe how similar we seem, funny in one respect, quite scary in another.

Anyone who hasn't seen this show, it is repeated all the time on Digital TV or you could go and buy the DVD, series one is out now and Series 2 will be out 16th October.

So to sum up, THE SMOKING ROOM, SMOKING HOT! 10/10

Gladiators (1992–2000)

A Classic Sports come Game come Entertainment Show!

[10/10 · 24 September 2006]

When this series was first advertised back in 1992, I honestly didn't know what to think. It looked like a bunch of oiled up men and women wrestling and pushing their chests out.

However my mind was changed after watching the first episode. It was something I had never seen the likes of before. Action, entertainment, funny, sad and so much more. Gladiators was everything a Saturday Night TV show should be and it remained this Way for 8 seasons! Gladiators came and went, some good some bad some already famous in their own right. All in all over the 8 years the show had a total of 34 Glads (I would list them all and show what a geek I am, but I don't want to bore you all!). Quite a big turnover for any show, but it was good to see new faces, this was dismissed by some fans but I though it was a good thing! At its peak in 1995, this is a show that was pulling in 15 million viewers, those of you who keep a eye on viewing figures will know thats unheard off these days. It was massive not only in the UK, but overseas with several countries making their own versions (Australia, South Africa and Finland to name a few). As well as this the UK series had many spin offs including 2 International Series, 2 Ashes Series, 2 Springbok Series and 4 Train to Win series (Junior Version). This obviously shows how big it was at one time! However the shows downfall in my view, and a few others I have talked to started in 1997 when things started to get a bit sloppy. Poor new events, to many new Glads, same events week in week out, as much as it pains me to say this about a show i adore it was getting stale. However 1998 was the clincher and the nail in the coffin. It was obviously decided a change was needed and some new factors were borough in, 3 new events instead of only 1 like the past few years, new costumes for the Glads, new behind the scenes footage etc but this was hated by the majority of fans and didn't work whatsoever! This was simply the end.

The problem was the changes were left too late to make a impact, after 6 years, the die hard fans had become used to things being a certain way, the changes were seen as a act of desperation and too little too late.

For those of you still interested in the show, it hasn't gone away! The show and us die hard fans are still around! There is a very active online site and forum as well as replays on UK Digital Channel Challenge TV every weeknight and weekends! I have been asked several times should the show come back! My answer has always been and still is NO! Sadly TV has moved on and it wouldn't fit in anymore. Lets leave this show as a classic fond memory. Thats what it deserves!

Green Wing (2004–2007)

Does Comedy Get Any Better than this?

[10/10 · 20 September 2006]

Amazing, Brilliant, Fantastic...Have I gone over the top with my praise? I think not, GREEN WING is simply one of, if not the best comedy series to come out of the UK in the last 10 years! The rest of the world, you don't know what your missing! I would "Set the Scene" for you, but no doubt this has been done already, so ill go onto my personal thoughts! Overshadowed so much by other shows, the first series, although very successful didn't get as much hype as I thought it would although it was utter genius! A sketch show come drama come regular sitcom, I don't remember seeing a more original series. It did take a bit of getting into, the fast pace and constant flashing between scenes did irritate a little at first, but once you get used to them you realise that this makes the show more original and doesn't spoil the action at all.

The writing and directing is second to none but the 99.9% of the praise has to go to the cast. Although a bit of a Mix and Match from other sitcoms and shows, this doesn't affect it at all and you are used to the quite famous cast in their new roles by the end of episode one and you will be left wondering if every role was written for every actor.

Although the entire cast is top notch the best things about this show is the wonderful Michelle Gomez, who's role of Sue White is the best comedy character I have ever seen. Her performances are flawless bordering on psychosis from one minute and Normal (well as normal as Sue Gets) the next. I find myself laughing before she has done anything and if she just stood there the audience would be in hysterics. Mark Heap as Dr Alan Statham is a close second but when paired with Pippa Haywood's Joanna Clore is rite up there with Gomez. Simply brilliant! With the impending release of Season 2 on DVD, I can finally relive all these glorious episodes over and over again. Judging by the viewings my Season 1 collection has got (About 5 I think now); I will certainly be getting my monies worth! If you have never seen this show, SEE IT! I give you my word you will not be disappointed!

Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005 Video)

Hellworld: Hellworld - Sadly Back To Poor Form!

[5/10 · 14 September 2005]

After a couple of years on the shelf we finally get to see the 8th film in this once outstanding horror franchise "Hellraiser - Hellworld". The plot seems to be a bit thrown together and with the exceptions of earlier films (Possibly up to "Hellraiser: Bloodline") it is just a poor and unworthy sequel. Mainly I think due to the lack of screen time the "Cenobites" get. They have been almost cameo characters since "Hellraiser: Inferno" and i do feel this is the later films downfall. I think you need a monster to build a horror franchise around (Like Freedy, Jason, Michael Myers) and when these characters have little screen time it becomes boring and only has slightly tenuous links to the series. The later films could have been stand alone features if you take the very slight "Hellraiser" element out. I was quite hopeful after seeing "Hellraiser: Deader" when the "Cenobites" seemed to take a bigger role but we have gone back to normal. I personally think this film should be the last unless as other members have said Clive Barker comes back on board and returns this series to it's peak or the "Cenobites" become more prominent again. Maybe a good final farewell to this series would be like in "Hellraiser: Hellbound" to take the battle into hell itself and kill "Pinhead" off for good. If this film is anything to go by, that would be for the best.

So to sum up, as with the earlier sequels, not terrible and worth a look for any fan, but sadly could have been so much more.

Hellraiser: Deader (2005 Video)

"Hellraiser: Deader" - Finally here but a bit of a let down?

[8/10 · 18 June 2005]

Well finally "Hellraiser: Deader" has arrived after a few years gathering dust on the shelf.

I agree with other members that it does seem to breathe some life in to this once outstanding franchise, but as with the other sequels it just lacks what the earlier films had in abundance. My personal view is that you can really tell that this wasn't written as a "Hellraiser" film.

For the first half hour or so except with the odd reference to "The Box" this could have been any other horror film and it kind of remains that way throughout.

The one thing really missing for me as with "Hellraiser: Inferno" and "Hellraiser: Hellseaker" is we just don't see enough of the "Cenobites".

I don't just mean "Pinhead" I mean all of them. You see a few glancing shots of them, but I'm sorry its just not enough. Its does seem a waste not giving them screen time. There are 6 "Cenobites" in this movie ("Pinhead", "Chatterer", "Bound", "Stitch", "Little Sister") & ("Spike" in the bonus material!) why are all these needed for 5 minutes of screen time? To be fair they did seem to play a bigger part in this than Parts V or VI, however they have almost become extras or cameos these days.

I have read a few comments from other users saying that these films are not about "Pinhead" but there is a reason he has been in all of the franchise to date.

I agree that one of the strengths of "Hellraiser" is they are stand alone stories, but in any franchise you need a recurring factor and the "Cenobites" and in particular "Pinhead" is it.

The "Cenobites" are "Hellraiser", which is why the later films don't feel like "Hellraiser" movies at all.

"Hellraiser: Deader" is a good and one of the better sequels to date and should give all fans hope for "Hellraiser: Hellworld" but as I remarked with "Hellraiser: Hellseaker" the fleeting glimpses of the "Cenobites" just are not enough.

Get back to the essence of the movies and set the story around them or let them play a major part again. The later films in this series sadly, could have been so much more.

Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002 Video)

At Last!

[5/10 · 23 October 2004]

I have been dying to see this film for ages and managed to get a copy of it from abroad as it has not been released in the UK yet. I don't know why but thats another issue! The film was OK but was too similar to Hellraiser : Inferno for me and the end was too similar to previous films in the series as well. Also the cenobites (pinhead in particular!) are just not on screen enough thats what the majority of fans wanna see and whats the point of introducing new cenobites if you never see them! They make Hellraiser! I think I have complained enough so overall it was worth seeing as I am a huge fan but new plots and more cenobites please!