Since I started the site back in 2008, the number of Edinburgh entertainment sites has grown, with most of them latching onto the same events and shows and trying to cover them in their own way, to varying degrees of success. Quite whether the paying public is as interested in our reviews as we are is a subject worth debating.

Increasingly I’m looking for original features, interviews and other coverage of plays or films rather than yet another 350 word review, but those are few and far between.

So, I’ll keep writing for the Edinburgh Evening News for the moment, along with film site ReelScotland and my Twitter feed over at @jon_melville, and I’d love to see some of you there.

If you’ve read any of the reviews or previews on this site over the years then thank you, if you’ve enjoyed them then that’s even better. I’ll leave the site online as a kind of archive, and perhaps it will return in some format or other in the future, but for now, itsonitsgone.com is, well, gone.

I’ve just set up a brand new website, ReelScotland, which takes elements of this site and adds a whole lot more, with more interviews, reviews, previews and articles about cinema events around Scotland.

I’ll still be adding theatre and the odd film event to this site, but if you’d like to broaden your Scottish cinema horizons even further, please head over to www.reelscotland.com to find out more – I hope you enjoy it.

Confined to a hospital room, Dan obsessively maps the terrain of his island past. When a fellow patient hits crisis point, Dan is forced to acknowledge that life cannot be contained by lines drawn on paper.

Anne works for the Ordnance Survey. There is only one man in Scotland who can help her complete the map for a forgotten part of Lewis. But can she convince Dan to confront the terrible secrets of his past?

Iain Finlay Macleod is one of Scotland’s most prolific contemporary Scots Gaelic writers. I Was a Beautiful Day was inspired by the rugged landscape and history of Iain’s home-town, the remote village of Ness.

This production sees the original cast members from the Finborough production, Robert Willox and Kirsty Stuart, return with Martin McCormick joining the ensemble. Never before seen in Glasgow, I Was A Beautiful Day is a tale of resilience, memory and cartography, and uncovers a few of the mysterious stories that make up the history of Scotland.

Visit the Tron website for prices and booking details.

★★★★★

Perhaps best described as the “anti-Bond”, David Callan was for six years one of the more unique portrayals of the career spy on British television, an embittered man for whom bloodshed was to be avoided where possible and loyalty to Her Majesty was almost a thorn in his side.

Professional killer Callan (Edward Woodward) stalks the shadows of British espionage in these remaining episodes from series one and two, including the atmospheric pilot, Magnum for Schneider.

Sent on each mission-of-the-week by the mysterious Hunter and both helped and hindered by fellow spy Meares (Peter Bowles and Anthony Valentine), Callan is drawn into the sort of situations where a conscience is left at the door.

Sadly, for Callan’s superiors at least, the assassin does think about what he’s doing, usually in a noir-style voiceover, his disgust at killing leading to most plots spinning off into unseen directions as he carries out his own private investigations.

Callan’s only “friend” is professional thief Lonely (Russell Hunter), so-called because his personal hygiene leaves much to be desired. Whereas Bond has Q and his never ending supply of gadgets, Callan has Lonely and the odd stolen gun and ammunition: glamorous this ain’t.

Clad in dark suit and trenchcoat, spouting a series of sardonic put-downs and a tendency to call people “mate”, Callan is a very British spy, more likely to be found lurking in a back alley on the trail of a Russian spy than in the tropical climes so beloved of other series.

The result is a complex series of misadventures the like of which hasn’t been seen before or since on television, Woodward’s layered performance a world away from his contemporaries such as The Avengers suave John Steed or self -assured John Drake in the globetrotting Danger Man.

Episodes such as You Should Have Got Here Sooner, the finale of series one, highlight the elements that made the programme unique, with violence and double-crossing between colleagues showing both Callan’s ruthlessness and his loyalty to Lonely, even if he himself  threatens him more than once.

With the Cold War never far from the streets of London, even if we rarely see outside the offices and homes of Callan’s victims, the series is always tense, though there are enough touches of humour present to ensure our “hero” remains vaguely believable.

A crucial part of the spy genre, coming to DVD for the first time anywhere in the world, this set represents a momentous moment in the world of TV on DVD releases and deserves evaluation – and enjoyment – from a new generation of fans.

Callan – The Monochrome Years is out now from Network DVD

Update 1 March 2010: This giveaway has now ended

This week sees the release of two classic films from Masters of Cinema that demand the attention of cinephiles everywhere: Fritz Lang’s 1931 thriller M and Douglas Sirk’s 1956 drama There’s Always Tomorrow: and I’ve got copies of each to give away on the blog.

M (which stands for murderer) takes place in a Berlin where the residents fear for the safety of their children following attacks by a serial paedophile, Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre). As Beckert plans his next murder, police inspector Karl Lohmann is on his trail, not to mention the criminal underworld sickened by Beckert’s actions.

Lang’s film takes many different plot threads: Beckert’s evasion of the police; the police hunt; the search by the criminal underworld for a man who has broken their code; and the pain of the parents losing their children one-by-one, and weaves them into a rich tapestry of dark musings and complex morals.

In There’s Always Tomorrow, doting father and husband Clifford Groves (Fred MacMurray) may have done everything for his wife, Marion (Joan Bennett) and two-point-five children, but when he returns home from work each evening it’s to a family who ignore him. A chance encounter with ex-colleague Norma Miller (Barbra Stanwyck) leads to a blossoming friendship that seems much more rewarding than his home life.

Both MacMurray and Stanwyck provide strong central performances, MacMurray excellent as the husband and father with good intentions swayed by the simple need to feel cared for. His scenes with Stanwyck are tender and believable, her character unlike the usual  bunny boiler we expect from films without this one’s pedigree.

Thanks to Masters of Cinema I have two sets of prizes to be one: one copy of M on Blu-ray and one of There’s Always Tomorrow on DVD for two people.

To be in with a chance to win just answer the following question:

Who plays Hans Beckert in M?

• Simply enter your response in the comments section below by midday on Monday 1 March and leave your email address so I can contact you should you win
• Two winners will be randomly selected and each will win a copy of M on Blu-ray and There’s Always Tomorrow on DVD
• Sorry, but you do need to live in the UK to be eligible to win
• Please note that your details won’t be published on the blog and I’ll delete your response/email address after the closing date

Keep an eye on my Twitter feed for future competitions – good luck!

Photo by Alan McCredie

In The Beauty Queen of Leenane, coming to Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre from Fri 19 February – Saturday 13 March, Martin McDonagh delivers a twisted and comic tale of a mother and daughter trapped in a small village in Galway.

Maureen lives a lonely life, with only her mother Mag for company, tending to her every need, putting up with years of insults (and doling out a few of her own).

When a chance comes along to find love and make a new life for herself Maureen sees an opportunity to escape. Mag has other ideas though, and her interference sets in motion a chain of misunderstandings and betrayals, heart- breaking tragedy and dark, dark humour.

Tony Cownie (Copenhagen, Mary Rose, Vanity Fair) directs this wicked take on Irish family life, with a cast which includes Cara Kelly, Nora Connolly, John Kazek and Dylan Kennedy.

Full details are up now on the Lyceum website.

Fans of the 1960s spy genre rejoice: The Avengers Complete Series Three is out now on DVD, a chance to relive the early years of the programme which in many ways defined Sixties television and still stands up today as the epitome of cool.

Over in my review of the series I noted that, while the programme may be best remembered for its later John Steed/Emma Peel episodes which took the world by storm, these Honor Blackman-era adventures show glimpses of what was to come and deserve a place on any discerning genre TV fan’s shelf.

With Patrick Macnee as John Steed and Blackman as Mrs Gale, the world of espionage never looked better.

Thanks to those nice people over at Optimum Home Entertainment I have two copies of the series to give away. Retailing at £42.98 online, as well as 26 episodes, the set comes with commentaries, photo galleries, episode introductions, scripts for every episode and various other goodies. And they look gorgeous.

To be in with a chance to win just answer the following question:

Who played John Steed in The Avengers TV series?

Simply enter your response in the comments section below by midday on Tuesday 23 February and leave your email address so I can email you should you win.

Sorry, but you do need to live in the UK to be eligible to win.

Please note that your details won’t be published on the blog and I’ll delete your response/email address after the closing date.

Keep an eye on my Twitter feed for future competitions – good luck!

5 stars

Finally settling into its groove after a bumpy first two seasons, The Avengers hit its stride with series three, Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman’s rapport, along with some of the most interesting scripts in the programmes long history, making it must-see TV circa 1963.

Best remembered for its glorious colour episodes and mad-scientist-of-the-week stories that would typify the later Emma Peel years, in this third series The Avengers was still being made in monochrome and harked back to the grittier tales told in series two, though elements of its future oddness start to creep into the frame.

From Steed being put on trial for murder to the creation of double agents, nuclear weapon theft to mind games for Mrs Gale, the plots veer from the mundane to the strange on a regular basis, episodes such as The Man With Two Shadows, Mandrake and Don’t Look Behind You typical of the style the production team seemed keen to replicate in later series.

Stars Macnee and Blackman have a certain swagger about them this year, no doubt buoyed by the programme’s success in the real world which would soon see them just as much a part of the Sixties scene as The Beatles and Carnaby Street.

As with last year’s boxset of series one and two, this package is something very special. DVD producer has Optimum going back to the series makers for commentaries on key episodes which help illuminate the on-screen happenings.

As well as producer Brian Clemens we hear from director Don Leaver on he Man With Two Shadows, writer Roger Marshall on Mandrake and director Jonathan Alwyn on The Outside-In Man.

We also get episode introductions, scripts for all episodes, photo galleries, 3 TV Times features,  Psychology magazine and the Meet the Avengers book: not bad for a show knocking on for 50-years-old.

As a time capsule of Sixties TV this is a momentous release in a year already looking to be a memorable one for spy fans.

The Avengers Complete Series Three is out now from Optimum

Win a copy of The Avengers Series Three

Following our preview of this Saturday’s one-off screening of über-cult movie The Room at Edinburgh’s Cameo cinema, you now have a chance to receive two free tickets to witness “the world’s best worst film”.

Released in 2003 by writer/director/producer and actor Tommy Wiseau, The Room cost $6 million to make and centres on Johnny (Wiseau) whose girlfriend is cheating on him with best friend, Mark.

After that the details get a little shaky.  Subplots appear and disappear for no reason (most notably the revelation from one character that she’s suffering from cancer, only for the subject never to be mentioned again); dodgy green screen work depicts a very fake San Francisco; and one actor falls over playing football and vanishes for the rest of the movie.

Edinburgh’s Cameo cinema will host Scotland’s first screening of the movie on Saturday 20 February at 11pm and they’re kindly offering two free tickets via this blog.

To enter you need to be on Twitter and just follow these instructions:

1. Head on over to Twitter and follow me @jon_melville
2. Tweet the following link – http://bit.ly/cameoroom – and include both the words The Room and @jon_melville in your tweet
3. I’ll pick one tweet at random after the closing date of midday on Wednesday 17 February and that person can pick up two tickets on Saturday night from the Cameo cinema

According to the Cameo tickets are going fast for this screening so if you’re not lucky there’ll still be time to buy yours from them direct.

Good luck!

I’ve not run too many giveaways on this blog…and this is no exception as it’s actually being carried out via Twitter. I have a copy of Pontypool, one of my favourite films of 2009, to give away on DVD and Blu-ray.

Set in the small, snowy Canadian town of Pontypool, the movie centres on radio DJ Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie) as he and his colleagues battle zombies from the confines of their underground studio.

In my review I said “Pontypool is something of a grower, an always entertaining little film which stays in the memory long after you’ve seen it and improves with age, which is more than can be said for some of its flashier counterparts.” I also quoted a few other reviews when it seemed Pontypool needed help at the box office.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy of the film, simply go to Twitter and retweet the following message, with your answer at the end instead of <answer here> and then http://bit.ly/ponty, which links back to this page:

RT@jon_melville: What’s the name of the town in Pontypool? <answer here> http://bit.ly/ponty

The rules

• The closing has now passed
• The giveaway is open to UK residents only (I’m only a humble blogger and will be paying the postage and packaging myself)
• I’ll pick two retweets at random after the closing date, with the first person being offered the Blu-ray and the second the DVD. If the first person would rather the DVD then the second will be offered the Blu-ray.
• My decision is final. So there.

Good luck!

You can follow me anytime on Twitter @jon_melville.