Anderson Champions

Advantages Simple yet mind-boggling, very little luck involved
Disadvantages Many results end in draws

...champion in the game was Andrew Anderson who had earned his title by beating James Wyllie in 1847...the latter would later become one of the greatest ever Checkers players. The Rules of the Game Draughts is played on a checkered board, 8 boxes by 8 boxes. The draughtsmen (which is what the pieces are called) are situated on the darker squares of the first three rows of either side of the board. That leaves two rows between the draughtsmen of each player. The draughtsmen can move one square each turn and can only move diagonally. In order to capture the other player's draughtsmen, there must be one square free behind the opponent's draughtsmen. If a capture can be made, then it has to be done, no matter the consequences for either player. In fact, this is many times used to capture many pieces in one move... Read review

Advantages Action, stunts, fighting, loads of broken bones, more action and some cute elephants.
Disadvantages Plot is story-lite. You'll either love it or hate it.

...of a bull elephant! Saucy. Anderson Silva, the current UFC cage-fighting middleweight champion (Mar 2008), is an exponent of Muay Thai fighting. He's really *really* hard. Chuck Norris thinks Muay Thai is a type of curried plant*. This movie is also known as Tom yum goong, Protector, Honour of the Dragon, Revenge of the Dragon and Thai Dragon. Interestingly, IMDB also mentions it is known as 'Ong-Bak 2' in its native Thailand. Subtitled. Running time: 108 minutes Rated 18 (in UK) (* - may not be true) Also on Epinions.... Read review

Advantages Exciting literature-boosting idea
Disadvantages Disjointed celebrity-fixated enactment

...the overall audience figures for the series were, and they may for all I know show a mounting interest as it progressed, but somehow I doubt it. 750,000 votes in total were counted, and again it would be interesting to know at what stage the bulk of these were cast. It is noticeable that the three novels featured in the first ‘advocacy’ programme did relatively well (2nd, 3rd and 13th) whilst the three featured in the seventh programme did relatively poorly (10th, 18th and 20th). This suggests to me that either voters were influenced by what they saw first, or that interest declined as the series progressed. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Apart from the celebrity ‘champions’, the series was competently and engagingly anchored by Clive Anderson, supported by a panel (Andrew Davies, Daisy Goodwin, Armando... Read review