This article was originally published in The Courier on 7th December 2019.
NEXT WEEK’S TV
THE CASE OF SALLY
CHALLEN
Monday,
BBC Two, 9pm
In
2011, Sally Challen was convicted of murdering her husband, Richard. Earlier
this year, following a landmark legal campaign, her conviction was quashed.
This engrossing and fiercely important documentary allows Sally, plus her
supportive friends and family, to tell their story. To the outside world, she
appeared to be a happy wife and mother. So why did she bludgeon her husband of
31 years to death? Behind closed doors, Richard was a cruel, vicious bully who subjected
his vulnerable wife to decades of extreme psychological abuse. This wasn’t widely
known at the time of her conviction, as she was still suffering from the
undiagnosed disorientating effects of his coercive control. That horrific form of control is now legally recognised as domestic violence.
LUCY WORSLEY’S
CHRISTMAS CAROL ODYSSEY
Monday,
BBC Four, 9pm
Here’s
something to take your anguished mind off the General Election results: a
typically engaging essay from that always welcome font of knowledge, Lucy
Worsley, in which she traces the eventful history of our most cherished Christmas
carols. Wassailing fertility rituals rooted in Paganism, jolly carols regarded
with contempt by those party-loving Puritans, and the fascinating story of Silent Night, which began life as an
egalitarian folk song, are all grist to Worsley’s mill. Only the most curmudgeonly
bah humbug bore would deny the magic of these cockle-warming songs. They’re embedded
within our collective consciousness for good reason: they exist purely to make us
feel happy, if only for a few precious weeks each year. Five! Gold! Rings!
GEORGE CLARKE’S
AMAZING SPACES
Tuesday,
Channel 4, 9pm
In
this wintry edition of his ongoing nose around magical residences you’ll never
live in, the desperately enthusiastic Clarke - a blandly pleasant Sunderland
man who increasingly resembles Alan Titchmarsh forced to present at gunpoint - parks
his Parka-clad frame in Finland. His mission: to see the Northern Lights. He and
his genial ‘scripted legend banter’ companion eventually see them, of
course, but not before they visit various aesthetically-pleasing,
renewably-energised, precision-made cabins, house-pods and sweltering
wood-panelled saunas (followed by dips into icy lakes): all testaments to the
genius of ethical Scandinavian design, architecture and their culture in
general. Those cats are way ahead over there. Let’s all move to Finland, folks.
VIC & BOB’S BIG
NIGHT OUT
Wednesday,
BBC Four, 10pm
No
matter what happens this week in the (sigh) real world, we’ll always have Vic
and Bob mucking about as a source of defiantly silly comfort. They’re an eternal
force for good, something to be proud of. Episode three, their latest gift to
the nation, involves Vic revealing the secrets of beatboxing, Bob introducing a
handsome new train driver wig, another powerful anti-capitalist free-running
protest, and more trad gags than you can honk a horn at. Eavesdropping on these
daft old friends is such a lovely luxury. Whenever they giggle at each other, the
effect is contagious. This isn’t an exercise in nostalgia, it’s two
undiminished comic greats buoyed by layers of warmth developed over decades.
LAST WEEK’S TV
THE HIT LIST
Saturday 30th November, BBC One
This
shiny floor pop quiz couldn’t be simpler: members of the GBP answer questions
in the hope of winning £10,000. That’s it. That’s all it needs to be. Viewers
can play along at home and, in time honoured style, shout at the contestants.
Last week’s show featured two utter fools who claimed the Beatles are overrated,
which is – FACT - the single most boring contrary opinion anyone can ever have about
popular music.
MICHAEL McINTYRE’S BIG
SHOW
Saturday 30th November, BBC One
Michael
McIntyre was placed on Earth for one reason only: to host harmlessly brash
Saturday night light entertainment extravaganzas on BBC One. In case you’ve
ever wondered, it’s what he’s for. His Big
Show is worth it if only for the pleasing image it conjures of a furious
Noel Edmonds watching at home and claiming it wouldn’t exist without him.
SEAMUS HEANEY AND THE
MUSIC OF WHAT HAPPENS
Saturday 30th November, BBC Two
The
BBC has recently received an avalanche of criticism for its appallingly blatant pro-Tory
news coverage, but the fact that it broadcast this lyrical Arena profile of the great Irish poet on the same night as its
usual populist flotsam briefly reinstated my fundamental – if sorely tested –
support for that maddening institution. It symbolised everything the BBC should
be: a premium broadcaster catering to all tastes.
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