Party Animals Review | BBC2 2007

I thought I'd try something a bit different for a change. If nothing, it keeps things from getting all boring...my first ever review of one of my favourite series...

This eight part BBC2 series originally aired overseas in 2007, although I didn't have a chance to watch it  until last year when TVO, here in Ontario, first presented it. While I enjoyed it immensely, I didn’t fully appreciate how truly wonderful it actually was until very recently.  I happened to get another chance to watch it again and, got to watch it all at once giving it my undivided attention.  I was not disappointed.

Diverse, classy and clever, Party Animals is an incredibly gripping drama series which follows several young political researchers and advisers in Westminster as they struggle to balance their burgeoning careers with their ever increasing turbulent personal lives.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that it also just happens to star two of my absolutely favourite actors, Andrew Buchan (Scott Foster) and Matt Smith (Danny Foster), both of whom are starring in one of their first feature roles! They are utterly mesmerizing as is the main female lead, Shelly Conn(Ashika Chandiramani). Through each of them, we are given an intimate view of the political landscape through very different lenses. Danny is the determined researcher for Home Office Junior Minister Jo Porter and is about to make an enormous mistake which could possibly undermine his integrity not to mention his beloved job.

His brother is the complete opposite. Scott is a confident, in fact near arrogant, lobbyist who finds his world literally is turned upside down when he meets the beautiful Ashika Chandiramani. She turns out to be like no female he has ever met. For the first time, he finds himself in uncharted territory becoming increasingly uncomfortable with his own person and embarrassed by the reputation he had acquired. Ashika is the chief adviser to Shadow Minister James Northcote  with who she is having an affair.

When she meets Scott, she has just started to question this relationship with a married man and finds the attention from Scott flattering and somewhat bemusing at the same time. She too finds herself in unknown waters yet is intrigued by the excitement she feels whenever she encounters Scott.

As the series progresses, the lives of these characters intertwine in monumental ways with some truly devastating and heartbreaking results. It is easy to see how their personal lives end up being so bloody messy when combined with their character’s naked ambition, desire for power, mixture of sex and friendship and love never-mind the daily stress of having a career in politics! It’s enough to leave the viewer dizzy and breathless and not a little frustrated.

If you are anything like me you will soon discover that the more Party Animals you watch, the more you'll want to watch. As it is also a challenge to find, anyone having difficulties locating a copy is more than welcome to contact me as I’d be happy to help you out!

Andrew Buchan and Matt Smith as brothers Scott and Danny Foster.

"I'm pretty sure my cat's reading my diary"

"I thought [adultery] meant being stupid. Like being a dolt."

“If we lose, we should throw possums.”

''I was pretty sure Dr. Pepper was a dentist.''

“So, Hairography. It works best when you pretend like you're getting tasered. It's like cool epilepsy. “

“Did you know that dolphins are just gay sharks?”

“People think I went on vacation, but actually I spent all summer lost in the sewers.”

“Mr. Schue taught me the second half of the alphabet. I stopped after M and N. I thought they sounded too similar and got frustrated.”

“Finn can fly?”

“I did a book report on heart attacks if you want to give it to the doctor. I got knocked down an entire letter grade because it was written in crayon.”

“Is God an evil dwarf?”

AND MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE BRITTANY QUOTE SO FAR:

“Just like I know that the cricket that reads to me at night is totally stealing my jewelery.”

If you are also a GLEE or BRITTANY fan, you can check out more Brittany quotes right HERE.

99 Channels and Nothing On

So, I am in the middle of colouring my hair - used to colour it for fun, now I need to hide those pesky grays! As I've got just over half an hour before I need to rinse all of this crap from my head, I thought that I would share some info with you that we've never touched on before this - some of my favourite tv shows!

I, of course, will watch television just like anyone else, although, as I find most of today's tv choices pretty horrific, I  will admit to not watching an awful lot of it. Now, if I am fortunate enough to discover a show that catches my attention and happen to love though, I then become a completely different person - obsessive is a fitting description I should think. Right now, I am most definitely obsessing over Battlestar Galactica, and am literally counting the days until its return. For anyone who cares, the second half of Season Four (Episodes 13 to 22) returns on January 19, 2009. Seeing how the last time a brand new episode appeared on tv was back in June of this year, its about bloody time! Holding my breath in anticipation.

Another show that I never miss is Without a Trace which just started its seventh season. Other than these couple of shows, I don't really have any other never miss shows although I've developed a fondness for a few series this past year and a half, and they are fast approaching this status. I am almost embarrassed to admit that I almost never, ever miss Gossip Girl now - lets call this a guilty little secret shall we? - or The Hills - enough already! Pretty slim pickings to be sure.

Earlier this fall, I discovered Sons of Anarchy, which is almost done for this season, although it's been renewed for a second season so tres cool! Sons of Anarchy is an FX television series starring Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman, and Katey Sagal about the lives of a close-knit motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in the San Joaquin Valley in Northern California.  I have also developed a fondness for a show that just started this fall and so far there have been seven episodes shown, and its called Life on Mars. Unfortunately, from what I understand, I won't be seeing any new episodes until some time in the new year. I hope there is an episode eight as this last episode was very much a cliff hanger. Grrr....