CONSENT | PUTIN vs THE WEST | THE REAL NOLLY

This article was originally published in The Courier on 4th February 2023.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Consent – Tuesday, Channel 4, 10pm

This standalone drama takes place at an elite private school. 

It’s a breeding ground for future leaders, where obnoxious male students do whatever they want without fear of being held accountable. Female students are constantly subjected to sexual harassment ‐ or “banter”, as their toxic abusers call it. 

Archie seems different, however. He’s more sensitive. Archie has fallen for Natalie, and the feeling is mutual. Archie was born rich, whereas Natalie has won a scholarship. At a drunken party, Archie is peer‐pressured into sleeping with Natalie. She doesn’t consent. 

What follows is an acutely angering study of victim‐blaming and institutional corruption. An important piece, Consent is based on hundreds of testimonies from both the state and private school sectors.

Food Fest Scotland – Monday, BBC Scotland, 8:30pm

Those old Radio 1 compadres Edith Bowman and Colin Murray are the hosts of this genial time‐passer, in which they visit some of Scotland’s most popular food festivals. 

We find ourselves vicariously enjoying the Peebles Show in episode one. Bowman’s encounter with a world‐renowned chocolatier is among the gentle highlights. 

Meanwhile, off the coast of North Berwick, chef Julie Lin goes fishing for mackerel. She explains why this relatively inexpensive Scottish superfood should be a nutritious cornerstone of all non‐vegetarian diets. 

Lin also provides some sound snacking advice for people, such as your humble correspondent, who work every day from home. There’s more to life than crisps, apparently.

Putin vs the West – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

In episode two of this typically authoritative essay from documentarian Norma Percy, Russian President Vladimir Putin asserts his presence in the Middle East. 

The Arab Spring uprisings encourage leaders in the West to enlist Putin as a much‐needed peacemaker. David Cameron feels he’s struck up some sort of mutual agreement with Putin, they seem to be getting somewhere. Putin then declares his support for Assad. 

If you’re unfamiliar with Percy’s style, it basically boils down to this: she weaves morally complex narratives populated by powerful politicians whose accounts she doesn’t necessarily endorse. But we seldom see them talk so ‘openly’ on camera. 

The Shamima Begum Story – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

At the age of 15, Shamima Begum ran away from London to join the terror group IS. Four years later, while pregnant with her third child, she desperately wanted to come home.

Begum had shown very little remorse for her time spent with the group, so the British authorities regarded her as an ongoing threat to national security. They revoked her citizenship. Begum’s lawyers argued that she was a victim of human trafficking, and should therefore be protected by the country of her birth. 

In this documentary, which wasn’t available for preview, she recounts her story in the company of an investigative journalist who’s been trying to get to the bottom of it all for nearly a decade.

Bradley & Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad – Tuesday, STV, 9pm

As their Costa Rican hi‐jinks continue, ‘Bradders’ and ‘Barn’ attempt to climb some 132ft trees in a cloud forest. Avid dog lovers, they also visit a sanctuary that’s home to 2000 free‐roaming canines. 

A journey into the countryside puts them in contact with a former Olympian, who facilitates a father‐and‐son kayak slalom, but that’s a small hill of beans compared to their encounter with a gentleman who shot to fame when he befriended a crocodile. 

Breaking Dad is a charming little show with zero pretensions. Bradley Walsh, a nice man, has some daft contrived adventures with Barney Walsh, a nice lad. Programmes of greater depth are available, but that’s not what this is for.  

Ghislaine: Partner in Crime – Thursday, ITVX

ITV are marketing this four‐part series as the definitive account of the relationship between convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. 

I’ve only seen episode one, but it immediately struck me as a dubious exercise in which testimonies from Maxwell and Epstein’s victims are spliced with adamant counterarguments from two of Maxwell’s siblings. 

Why are ITV giving these people a platform? They’re unreliable sources who refuse point blank to accept that their sister could’ve committed those heinous crimes. Their contributions don’t provide journalistic ‘balance’, they actively undermine the voices of the abused women who have chosen to come forward. 

Watch the far superior House of Maxwell instead, it’s still available on iPlayer.  

Travel Man: 48 Hours in Split – Friday, Channel 4, 8:30pm

Much like Bradley & Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad, this chummy travelogue doesn’t pretend to be anything other than an inoffensive scenic detour. 

Joe Lycett’s latest travelling companion is the comedian, actor and writer Aisling Bea. They’re in the Croatian city of Split, which must surely be the coolest name for a city in the entire history of human existence. Face facts, Las Vegas. 

Lycett and Bea don’t like fish, but they gamely rustle up a piscine dish under the tutelage of a local chef who’s determined to teach them the culinary ways of “a Croatian grandma”. Our hosts also investigate a maze of alleys and squares, and a museum full of stuffed frogs. They’re way ahead in Split.

LAST WEEK’S TV

The Real Nolly – Thursday 2nd February, ITVX

A companion piece to Russell T. Davies’ excellent drama about Crossroads star Noele Gordon, this documentary didn’t really add anything, but it was nice seeing footage of the actual Nolly in action. 

As Davies discovered during his research, Nolly was a showbiz all‐rounder of the old school who cared deeply about her work. Crossroads may have been a silly little soap opera, but it was a silly little soap opera that brought pleasure to millions. And she was adored by her colleagues, some of whom turned up to pay tribute. 

I find it rather pleasing that, such is Davies’ benign power within the industry, he’s got us all talking about this versatile trouper forty years after her heyday. 

Building Britain’s Superhomes – Wednesday 1st February, Channel 4

Guy Phoenix is renowned for creating colossal palaces for the mega‐rich. He’s not a qualified architect or interior designer, but by God he gets results. As he never tires of reminding us. 

This relentless migraine of a series follows Phoenix as he oversees ambitious builds while effing and jeffing like a try‐hard teenage rebel. I’m all for swearing, just as long as it’s delivered with some wit and proficiency. Phoenix is a dullard.

This is yet another tone deaf commission from our bubble‐dwelling TV overlords, who don’t understand that the last thing any of us want to see right now (or ever) is an aggressive celebration of extreme wealth. These programmes rub our noses in it, they’re an insult.

NOLLY | EMILY ATACK: ASKING FOR IT? | HOTEL PORTOFINO

This article was originally published in The Courier on 28th January. 

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Nolly – Thursday, ITVX

A huge star in her day, Noele ‘Nolly’ Gordon ruled Crossroads for almost twenty years. She was affectionately known as Queen of the Midlands. 

But in 1981, Nolly was sacked without any warning or rational explanation. She was bereft, Crossroads was her life. A public outcry ensued. Why had she been treated this way? This stellar drama from Russell T. Davies teases that peculiar mystery until the very end. 

Told with his characteristic wit, warmth and verve, Nolly is a heartfelt paean to the people who make soaps and the viewers who love them. 

Helena Bonham Carter and co deliver pitch-perfect performances in simpatico with Davies’ sparkling material. Clearly a labour of love, the whole thing is delightful.

Putin vs the West – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

This absorbing three-part series from that estimable documentarian Norma Percy tells the story of Vladmir Putin’s tumultuous march towards war. It begins in 2014 when Putin first attacked Ukraine and seized the Crimean peninsula. 

As always, Percy examines a complex political situation with acuity. 

She never fails to populate her projects with big name contributors, all of them keen to provide their own insider versions of events. On this occasion we hear from the likes of David Cameron, Francois Hollande, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and, in later episodes, Boris Johnson. 

These world leaders were divided with regards to how to best deal with Putin, who in turn succeeded in exploiting that tension for his own political gain.

Emily Atack: Asking for It? – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Every day without fail, the actor, presenter and comedian Emily Atack is, like so many women, sexually harassed online. She’s bombarded by men sending her unsolicited explicit images and messages. 

In this thoughtful documentary, Atack asks why so little is being done to protect women and girls from such abuse. Why do some men behave in this way? Because they think they’ll get away with it. Most of them do. Their disgusting behaviour leaves women feeling fearful and ashamed. 

Atack’s interviewees include psychologists, activists, her own parents, and a group of schoolgirls who confirm that the authorities - and by extension society at large - aren’t doing enough to either understand or confront this issue.

The Magical World of Moss – Wednesday, BBC Four, 9pm

I felt a bittersweet pang of nostalgia when I spotted this programme in the listings. It’s not a repeat, but it harks back to the days when BBC Four showcased esoteric documentaries as a matter of course. 

Three years ago, the BBC announced that Four would gradually cease to originate new programmes, becoming instead a repository for archive content. I can only assume that The Magical World of Moss was one of the last new shows to slip through the net. 

As you’ve doubtless already gathered, it’s a study of mosses and their many remarkable properties. Various moss-obsessed scientists pop up to explain why this fuzzy green plant is so important to our ecosystem. A charming programme.

Eat the Town – Thursday, BBC Scotland, 8:30pm

Darren ‘Dazza’ Dowling and Natalie Erskine are the affably irreverent hosts of this culinary travelogue, in which they discover what various Scottish towns have to offer food and activity-wise. First stop, Forfar. 

They enjoy a healthy café breakfast, a sizeable bridie lunch, and some dinner at a pan-Asian restaurant. They also visit a sheep and alpaca farm, before embarking upon a cocktail-making challenge at a local distillery. 

Dowling and Erskine are clearly having fun with this gentle deconstruction of standard TV conventions. Nothing too radical, you understand, but they sometimes acknowledge the crew and the script they’re all working from, a bit like a pair of young, sober Keith Floyds. If you can imagine such a thing.

Bill Gates: Amol Rajan Interviews – Friday, BBC Two, 7:30pm

Famously, the billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has pledged to donate much of his fortune to urgent global causes. Poverty, disease, gender inequality and climate change being chief among them. BBC journalist Amol Rajan meets up with him in Kenya. 

Mild highlights include Gates airing his concerns about social media’s deleterious impact on nuanced discourse, and the ways in which it incubates dangerous conspiracy theories. He’s a diplomatic pro, but he obviously has no time for Trump and Musk. 

Rajan also asks Gates about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. “In retrospect I would’ve been much smarter to never even talk to him at all,” he says, clearly discomfited by the subject. “I only met him a few times…”

Hotel Portofino – Friday, STV, 9pm

ITV are clearly hoping to replicate the success of Downton Abbey with this glossy new period  drama.

Set in 1926, it revolves around the owners and guests of a luxury hotel on the Italian Riviera. This fine establishment is run by a thoroughly modern and awfully decent Englishwoman. While taking care of business, she frets over her son, a physically and psychologically scarred World War One veteran. She’s also shackled to a philandering husband. 

Hotel Portofino is an entirely middling affair, it doesn’t make much of an impression. Pretty hats, pleasant scenery, no substance. It’s one of those shows you just gaze at idly from afar while thinking about how nice it would be to go on holiday.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Shaped the World – Saturday 21st January, BBC Two

Partly curated by Chuck D, this tremendous series places the origins and impact of Hip Hop in detailed sociohistorical context. 

He's joined by an insightful array of talking heads, all of whom emphasise that Hip Hop has always been an explicitly political movement. It emerged as a reaction against systemic social injustice, the vital sound of young working-class African-Americans speaking truth to power.

Chapter one examined its roots in the poverty-stricken neighbourhoods of 1970s New York, whose residents had been callously abandoned by the white ruling classes. 

This new art form was an expression of anger and defiant celebration; in Chuck D’s words, “A pot of cultural get-down.” 

All four episodes are available on iPlayer.

Deep Fake Neighbour Wars – Thursday 26th January, ITVX

Whenever I tell people what I do for a living, they sometimes say, “You must have to watch some rubbish!” Well, not really. I tend to avoid obviously awful things, both for my sake and yours. It’s a waste of time. 

But this, dear reader, is without doubt one of the worst television programmes I have ever seen, and I feel compelled to stress that. Consider it a public service.

It’s an utterly depressing, mirthless sketch show in which impressionists embody celebs via deep fake technology. It makes the failed Spitting Image revival look like an incendiary satirical triumph. There are no actual jokes, the unsettling gimmick is everything. 

Imagine if Idris Elba lived next door to Greta Thunberg! Right, and then what happens? Nothing. Stella Street must be spinning in its grave.

What to Watch in 2023: NOLLY | SUCCESSION | DOCTOR WHO and more...

This article was originally published in The Courier on 7th January 2023. 

Nolly – ITVX, February

Written by the redoubtable Russell T. Davies, this factual drama covers a particularly tumultuous period in the life of soap doyen Noele Gordon (Helena Bonham Carter). 

Nolly, as she was affectionately known to her friends, became a TV superstar thanks to her show-stealing turn as Meg Richardson in Crossroads. In 1981, while still riding high after 17 years at the top, Gordon was unceremoniously sacked without any warning or explanation. She was utterly devastated. 

Gordon was a fabulous showbiz trouper of the old school, they really don’t make ‘em like that anymore. Her story encapsulates the fickle, cutthroat vagaries of fame. 

The cast also includes Mark Gatiss as Gordon’s dear showbiz chum, Larry Grayson. What’s not to love?

Without Sin – ITVX, available now

ITV’s rebranded streaming service, ITVX, hasn’t scrimped on Major New Drama output since it launched last month. 

The obvious highlights so far are David Tennant in Litvinenko, plus Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce in A Spy Among Friends, both of which can be watched for free in their entirety. The same goes for Without Sin, which ‘dropped’ just after Christmas. 

A stark psychological thriller, it stars Vicky McClure as the grieving mother of a murdered teenager. In an attempt to rebuild her shattered life, she decides to visit her daughter’s killer in prison. 

The killer is played by Johnny Harris, an actor with whom McClure shared several harrowing scenes in the TV spin-off from This Is England.

Welcome to Chippendales – Disney+, January

A canny entrepreneur, Somen "Steve" Banerjee dreamed up that male striptease phenomenon the Chippendales in 1979. He was later found guilty of being an accessory to murder. 

This drama, which received mostly positive reviews when it premiered in America recently, delves into his murky saga. If you’re not familiar with the details, then I suggest you go in blind. Do not Google Banerjee, as Welcome to Chippendales thrives upon its multitudinous truth-is-stranger-than-fiction twists. 

I can’t vouch for the whole series as I’ve only seen two episodes, but if you’re anything like me – a sucker for weird stories about extreme showbiz hubris, crime and corruption - then I daresay you’ll be intrigued from the get-go. 

Masters of the Air – Apple TV+, early 2023

The final part of a trilogy that began with Band of Brothers followed by The Pacific, this Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg-produced miniseries focuses on the Eighth Air Force of the United States Army during World War II. 

The hallmarks of its esteemed predecessors were historical accuracy, sympathetic portrayals of the key characters, and an unflinching approach to the horrors of war. There’s no reason to suspect that Masters of the Air won’t continue in that tradition. 

As always, it boasts a large ensemble cast. Watch out for Austin Butler, who recently shone with his performance as Elvis in Baz Luhrmann’s magisterial biopic, and our next TARDIS coordinator, Ncuti Gatwa (more of whom below).

The Idol – Sky Atlantic, early 2023

A drama devised by the musician and actor Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, this sounds – in theory at least – like a frank deconstruction of the modern pop biz. 

Lily-Rose Depp stars as an aspiring pop idol. The sudden pressures placed upon her trigger a nervous breakdown. Enter a self-help guru/cult leader played by Tesfaye, who promises to put her career back on track. What could possibly go wrong? 

That synopsis suggests a scathing showbiz satire on the way vulnerable young people are exploited by opportunistic charlatans, so let’s hope it makes its point with acute anger and sensitivity. 

The Idol, sadly, marks the final screen appearance of Anne Heche, who left us long before her time was due.

Succession – Sky Atlantic, Spring

Glory be, it’s back. One of the most outstanding TV dramas of recent years, HBO’s Succession joins the likes of Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and Mad Men in that rarefied category of ‘American Dramas That Really Are As Good As Everyone Says They Are’. 

If you haven’t seen this scabrous show before, the basic gist is this: Brian Cox plays the monstrous multimillionaire patriarch of a deeply dysfunctional family. They’re all awful yet utterly compelling and pathetically comical. 

Created by Jesse Armstrong of Peep Show and The Thick of It renown, it’s an aghast meditation on the terrifyingly all-powerful likes of Murdoch, Trump and Musk. 

Newcomers are advised to gorge on every episode before season four begins.

Doctor Who – BBC One, Autumn

We’ll have to wait a while until we get to see new Doctor Ncuti Gatwa in action, but the anticipation is palpable. 

The next series heralds the return of writer/producer Russell T. Davies – that man again - who revived Doctor Who so successfully back in 2005. 

It’s been a lean few years for the show, its popularity declined under the hapless stewardship of previous head writer Chris Chibnall, but if anyone can reverse this beleaguered institution’s fortunes, it’s RTD. 

The comeback kicks off with three specials starring the beloved pairing of former Doctor David Tennant and his companion Catherine Tate. 

Gatwa – a striking actor who oozes charisma – will take over at Christmas, although a recent teaser trailer suggests we’ll see him before then. Optimism reigns supreme.