Documentary Series worth watching and a Cooking show

If you enjoy documentaries... and you enjoy history...then this is an 8 part documentary series I would highly recommend. According to the tag line Andrew Marr goes on an epic journey through 70,000 years of human history, telling the story of how great forces of nature and individual genius shaped the world we live in today. It is beautifully done.. as one would expect from a BBC One production and its the kind of series that keeps your interest. I would rush out and buy the DVD and keep it to show to your kids as well, it may just get them interested in history as a result. I have included a clip from an interview with him about this show... but the documentary ...I promise you...offers many visuals and is worth taking a look at...

On the other side of the coin.. Oliver Stone has tried his hand a story telling documentary style. Now don't get me wrong.. I love Oliver Stone's work...but his series "Oliver Stones Untold History of The United States".. will take a lot more concentration and is not as easy to watch as Andrew Marr's work.

But if you enjoy history... again... some very interesting facts and information in this piece of work... and definitely worth your time if you are a history buff

Now onto cooking. I love cooking shows... but I am kind of picky. They not only have to be well presented.. have a likeable personality as the chef..but yes the food needs to be easy to replicate and better taste good too!! You already have my verdict on Nigella's new show but here is a nugget ... long been a fan of his but the title of the show kind of put me off...

15 minute meals ??? Ok so what is he going to do realistically.... pour some ketchup and other canned stuff together and voila .. one has a meal??? Big ya dooda!!!

I was wrong

I have every single one of Jamie Oliver's books... I think he is brilliant... and so I did take a look at this new show but to be honest ... wasn't expecting much... some recipes are simple as I would expect a 15 minute recipe to be. I don't know if you caught his 30 minute meal series which was fantastic as well... but this show.. is worth getting for sure. It is a Channel 4 production and there are a number of sites now that are selling the dvds. 

If you want to hear from Jamie and his team about the show.. take a look at this clip

Have fun cooking... shall be back soon with some more show reviews for you.. if you have any ideas or recommendations.. please do share them with me... you can email me at ayeshahalam@yahoo.com. Please feel free to comment! Happy viewing!

Christmas specials and a new series worth watching!!

For those of you who are Downton Abbey fans... the final announcement has come for the Christmas Special... for those of you who have no idea what I am on about... you don't know what you are missing out on... This is a wonderful British show.. and each season is about 8 episodes... the third season just finished so hurry and catch up. The trailor above is for Season 3.  If you want to know about the Christmas Special you can find the details right here. A fantastic production by ITV. And... if you like the genre... I have another gem for you.

The Paradise..... what a pleasure to watch...this is a BBC1 production and again beautifully produced and directed. The Paradise is a British television costume drama series, which premiered on BBC One on the 25th of September 2012. It is an adaptation of the novel Au Bonheur des Dames by Emile Zole, relocating the story to North East England. The good news  that a second series has been commissioned by the BBC One in late October 2012. Again,

 If you haven't seen this yet... there is time to catch up as the first season just finished... NOT to be missed! Please feel free to comment or you can mail me at ayeshahalam@yahoo.com.

Next I have a great documentary series and another cooking show series that I will be reviewing and sharing with you... so please add this blog to your list so you can be updated when I add a new post... happy viewing! :)

Secret State & Nigellissima

The much hyped Nigellissima finally came and went. The first thing one notices is how many pounds Nigella has lost and she looks fantastic. But then again... she looked fantastic when she was slightly rounder too... she is a beautiful woman. Once I got over how much weight she had lost... a lifelong struggle of mine... I then settled down to the business of learning from one of the best tv chefs I have come across... and tragically I was deeply disappointed. The food and the recipes were mostly ... meh.... that's the only word I can come up with to describe the show. Needless to say I was heartbroken as I was looking forward to showing off some new Nigella recipes and pretend I am a great chef of sorts... but after shows like Nigella Feasts, Nigella Express and all her other cooking shows.. Nigellissima was a bit of a let down. What would have been nicer... perhaps something BBC1 can think about ... is a show where she shared Nigellesque recipes that are low in calories and help us get to losing weight the Express way Nigella style

But a new show that has just started on Channel 4.. a mini series titled Secret State has caught my attention. I just saw it pop up and figured I would give it a go. Gabriel Byrne stars as a deputy prime minister Tom Dawkins, who is thrust to the fore by catastrophic events, and ends up forced to take on the might of the establishment. The first episode has enough intrigue to make me continue to watch the series and to date there have been three episodes aired... so you can still quickly catch up. Should be interesting to see how the series develops but Channel 4 rarely disappoints