This article was originally published in The Dundee Courier on 11th April 2015.
Code
Of A Killer: Monday, STV
A
Slow Train Through Africa with Griff Rhys Jones: Friday,
STV
Thunderbirds
Are Go!: Saturday, STV
Paul
Whitelaw
You've
got to hand it to ITV. Reducing a remarkable true story to the level
of a particularly plodding episode of DCI Banks takes a
special kind of incompetence, hence why I'm almost in awe of vexing
two-parter Code Of A Killer.
The
world-changing discovery of DNA fingerprinting and its first use in a
criminal investigation is a fascinating subject ripe for
dramatisation. Yet in the workmanlike hands of writer Michael
Crompton, it hits every standard beat with thudding predictability.
Fine
actors both, even John Simm and David Threlfall can't save it. Simm
plays pioneering geneticist Alec Jeffreys. With his Open University
beard and turtle neck, he's depicted, as scientists always are on
screen, as brilliant yet scatty; a dishevelled genius whose
dedication to his work caused him to neglect his long-suffering wife.
Fortunately, she's also on hand to provide subtext-free support
during times of need. Behind every great man stands a feminine plank
of exposition.
Meanwhile,
Threlfall is saddled with a thankless role and unflattering hair-do
as Detective David Baker, the quietly dedicated copper who enlisted
Jeffreys' help in catching a suspected serial killer. A detective
unencumbered with gimmicky tics or baggage should be refreshing, but
Baker is a downbeat cipher. I accept that in reality policemen such
as Baker are ostensibly unremarkable professionals, but a better
writer could've brought him more effectively to life.
Buoyed
only by an engaged performance from Simm, Code Of A Killer
could be dismissed as merely disappointing were it not for the
troubling issue of its tragic real-life origins. Episode one
confronted us with two harrowing scenes of parents being informed of
their daughters' brutal fates. Reliving their trauma in such a
half-hearted context felt awfully tasteless.
ITV
landed on safer ground with A Slow Train Through Africa with Griff
Rhys Jones, their latest addition to the cosy celebrity
travelogue pandemic. With his familiar chinny grin and chuckling
bonhomie, Griff marshalled this formulaic enterprise with the utmost
professionalism. That technically counts as praise if you're easily
pleased by gently informative, competently shot tapestries of
avuncular 1980s comedians in foreign climes.
The
only bum notes were his awkward handling of the, to say the least,
sensitive legacy of French imperialist rule in Africa – admittedly
this was hardly the forum for incisive political analysis – and his
quasi-ironic complaints about being ripped off by local traders. Why,
in Marrakesh alone he must've withdrawn a whopping £40 from the
production budget. Our hearts bled, Griff.
Don't
let nostalgia cloud your memory: the original Thunderbirds
series was boring. Only a knee-jerk purist would object to ITV's CGI
revival, Thunderbirds Are Go!, on principle. Taken on its own
amiable terms, this handsomely animated update ramps up the best
elements of the original without sacrificing their charm. It's fun
and respectful without being hamstrung by the past, which is all we
should really ask for.
Aside
from Brains, Lady Penelope and Parker – the latter still voiced by
octogenarian David Graham in h'all 'is posh cockernee glory - the
International Rescue team are as blandly interchangeable as ever, but
one doesn't look to Thunderbirds for rich characterisation.
Though slightly too relentless at times, the gung-ho pace and innocent sense of adventure compensates for its
1-D protagonists.
It's
unfortunate, then, that ITV in their wisdom have opted to show the
rest of the series at 8am on Saturday mornings. The fools, they
could've had a weekend teatime hit on their hands.
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