TalkTalk Box Office | My Mills Baby

As you all know, we’re TalkTalk ambassadors and are now roughly halfway through an extended trial of their services. Just in case I’ve managed to tempt any of you into making the big switch, I thought I’d give you a little update with some important news from the brand. They’ve gone and launched an all new and improved TalkTalk player - and pretty special it is too.

It’s easier to use, quicker to load and tailored to you giving it a much fresher user experience. To access the new world of TalkTalk, you need only press the TalkTalk button on your remote and you’re then free to browse the new homepage for On Demand programming. If you can’t access it, you’ll need to go to ‘Settings’ from the YouView menu, select ‘Device Management’, ‘Update On Demand Players’ and press ‘OK’ to download the update. This update is now available to all one million plus TalkTalk TV homes.

It’s actually a much needed update. The old style was a little tricky to navigate. In particular, it was difficult to work out which films were part of the Sky On Demand collection, and which were available to rent. With the new look, the menu is now styled on a word cloud so there’s no more tabs to scroll through - this has simplified the experience so you can easily tell the difference between the bundles and Sky On Demand service. They’ve also handily got a space for ‘Included channels’ so you can find the free to watch movies, series and shows included within your TV boosts.

They’ve also considerably improved their TalkTalk Box Office with new blockbusters like The Wolf of Wall Street and 12 Years a Slave added daily. As always, you can watch trailers for free so you can always find something you know ~~he’ll hate~~ you’ll like when your significant other has finished hogging the telly for the World Cup. Movies are priced from £4.00 for 48hrs with many released on same day as DVD. This makes it far cheaper than a trip to the cinema or HMV. It’s also worth reminding you that you cannot accidentally select a movie and be charged for it as you have the pin protect feature - this is a must when you have button-happy tots milling around.

It’s quicker too and more intuitive. It’ll save your last position if you have to leave a programme suddenly. This is SOOOO useful as I’m forever having to leave the sofa to see to one of the kids. The rewind function was always a little clunky and I hate leaving a programme on pause in case of screen burn. Now I simply turn the television off and know I can resume watching from where I left off.

Other features of the revamped TalkTalk Player include:

· Powerful search: Search movies by title, actor, director or keyword

· Watchlist: Save movies and shows to watch at another time

· More like this: Find similar programmes to your favourite shows

· Play all: Press the green button to play every episode in a series back to back

· Most popular: Your favourite shows and movies in one place

They say:

The new TalkTalk Player is the latest installment in TalkTalk’s continual enhancements to its YouView TV service. In April, TalkTalk joined forces with FilmFlex to significantly expand its movie library and offer hundreds more movies on demand. It also bolstered its Plus TV package by adding in seven Sky Entertainment channels including Sky 1 and Sky Living. Earlier this month, it launched a new African Boost package, offering eight additional channels from across the continent, and just last week pre-school favourites Wallace and Gromit and Timmy Time joined TalkTalk’s popular kids line-up.

YouView from TalkTalk is fast becoming a destination for family entertainment and our all-new TalkTalk Player offers more of the best TV and movies at a cost viewers can control. We’ve made our on-demand movies, kids and Sky entertainment library bigger than ever and the TalkTalk Player is faster, and smarter, making it easier to find shows and films you want to watch.

Thanks TalkTalk - we’re loving it!

We’re having a fabulous time reviewing TalkTalk’s television, phone and broadband services so far. I’d go so far as to say they are many features on our Youview box that I simply could not live without now I’ve experienced them. The record function is an absolute necessity, especially in the case of your weekly favourites (X Factor, Downton Abbey, Homelands etc) where you can ask TalkTalk to record entire series’ in one click. There’s also the ability to scroll back through the previous week’s television and watch selected programmes On Demand. Never again will I ever moan to Craig that “There’s nothing to watch”.

You might recall that a month ago I reviewed TalkTalk’s Kids Boost and was impressed by the wealth of choice available, well this month it’s all about a TalkTalk Box Office review. To do this, we reviewed the family friendly film Epic (from the makers of Ice Age) featuring the voices of Colin Farrell, Beyonce, Amanda Seyfried, and wait for it… Steven Tyler!

The Ordering Process

Ordering the film was simple. You simply press the TalkTalk button on your remote, scroll to Film, then select the film you’d like to order. Whilst you’re selecting your movie, the mainframe of the screen will show you trailers of what is on offer to help you choose. Once selected, you’re taken to a Box Office screen which gives you more information about the title including cast, director, duration, year of release, certification and a short description of the movie. The price is also clearly listed and most offerings are available in HD or standard format. The only thing I’d point out is a minor spelling mistake in the description (there’s probably hundreds in this post alone so I won’t be too judgmental!).

The standard version of Epic was available to download for £3.50, with HD priced at £4.50. Considering it now costs upwards of £10 per person to go to the cinema, this is very reasonable indeed. There’ll be no more smuggling in Diet Coke’s and popcorn from Tescos as you can watch from the comfort of your sofa and pause for loo breaks - perfect!

Once you’ve selected your format, you’re taken to the payment screen. I was pleased to discover this is incredibly secure as you use your 4 digit pin to confirm the purchase. This is excellent if you have tech savvy little ones who are handy with a remote control. I know Dexter (at just 17 months) has already sent indecipherable tweets from my mobile, who knows what damage he could do with a tv remote! The movie downloaded in seconds which was really impressive. Once you made your purchase, you can watch the film as many times as you like for the next 48 hours.

So was Epic Epic? (boom boom)

I can’t believe I just typed that…

Well to be honest animated films aren’t really my sort of thing. In fact, you’re asking someone who (not-too-secretly) harbors visions of assassinating Disney executives worldwide and wears ear plugs when her son watches Peppa Pig. However, I’m sure, before long, Dexter will be taking over the telly and I’ll have no choice but to watch cartoons. Films like Epic are therefore a great toe-in-the-water for cartoon-phobic killjoys like myself.

The film is a classic good vs evil tale. It focuses on the secret life of the forest where mythical creatures called Leafmen (the goodies) are locked in a constant battle with The Boggans (the personification of decay and rot) over control of the forest. The Leafmen (led by Farrell’s character, Ronin) are charged with protecting nature and preserving the light within the forest, whereas The Boggans only seek to destroy everything that lives within it.

Meanwhile likeable teenager Mary Katerine aka M.K (Amanda Seyfried) returns to her childhood home where she is reunited with her eccentric father (looks a little like an emaciated David Tennant). Dad is exactly as you might imagine David Attenborough would be if he took hallucinogenics. Having lost his wife, he’s become obsessed with the forest and kitted it out with CCTV in order to prove the existence of the ‘Little People’. All being clearly not well in the house M.K decides to pack her bags and runaway.

As M.K. leaves the house she’s distracted by her father’s three-legged Pug Ozzy who bolts out the front door and heads off into the nearby forest. Without giving too much away, M.K chases him into the forest where upon she witnesses something truly miraculous that proves the existence of father’s beloved ‘Little People’. She is unwittingly shrunk to their size and is swept into an adventure where only she can save the forest. Joining forces with the Leafmen, and Mub and Grub (a snail and a slug) there follows an epic journey to defeat The Boggans!

The recommended age for the film is a fair 7+. As someone who took 4 pages of notes throughout Pirates of the Caribbean to remind herself what was going on, I’d definitely agree - at times even I was asking Craig! But there’s no denying that the animation was first-rate. In fact, as I watched it with Craig, Dexter and his Uncle Dan, they were raving about it a good 45 minutes after it had finished. Dexter might not have understood what was going on, but he definitely loved the colours and particularly liked Steven Tyler’s character Nim (a glowworm).

Here are some quotes from the lads…

“The sort of movie you’d imagine your child begging you to take them to McDonalds for (to collect the Happy Meal toy characters)” - Uncle Dan

“An impressive child’s fantasy film where good conquers evil. With good fun characters that children of all ages will enjoy (and some discreet adult humour for mum and dad) - it does exactly what it says on the tin” - Craig (my other half)

(No talking, but some impressive smiling and dancing) - Dexter (17 months)

Sounds like it got a big thumbs up from all the men in my life!

Disclaimer: We downloaded the movie for free as per our ongoing review work with TalkTalk. All thoughts and opinions are my own.