TV Preview: RICH HALL'S RED MENACE + THE END OF THE F***ING WORLD

This article was originally published in The Courier on 2nd November 2019.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/category/lifestyle/entertainment/tv-film/

NEXT WEEK’S TV

RICH HALL’S RED MENACE

Tuesday, BBC Four, 9pm

It’s always a treat whenever the lugubrious Hall pops up to present another one of his feature-length history lessons shot through the prism of popular culture. This one, which is part of a series of programmes commemorating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (see below), recounts the bizarre, sinister saga of the Cold War. Steeped in archive footage and assiduous research, it’s a typically droll, myth-busting essay in which Hall explores decades of anti-Communist hysteria and nuclear panic. While cowering from the insanity of Mutually Assured Destruction, the vast majority of ordinary Americans learned about the Red Menace via films, television and comic books. Meanwhile, ordinary Soviets endured a drab life of toil. As Hall observes, they were too exhausted to even think about invading America.

A BRITISH GUIDE TO THE END OF THE WORLD

Monday, BBC Four, 9pm

This chilling Arena documentary examines the extent of Britain’s nuclear ambitions and preparations for attack during the Cold War. It eschews conventional narration in favour of horrifically vivid testimonies from some of the people directly affected by these plans, including soldiers involved in Britain’s first major nuclear weapons test. As one man recalls, “It actually turned out there were birds on fire… hundreds of them burning. A lot of them were still alive, and blind.” Many soldiers got cancer as a direct result of the tests: “They sent us to that island to suffer the effects.” We also hear from civil servants who were responsible for making emergency plans in the seemingly inevitable event of nuclear war. Essential viewing.

THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL WITH JOHN SIMPSON

Thursday, BBC Four, 9pm

In this ruminative programme, senior BBC News journalist John Simpson exhumes his frontline reports on what he describes as “one of the great days of modern human existence”. With typical journalistic rigour, he wants to analyse the accuracy of his reporting of history. After all, things didn’t work out quite as he expected them to. Like all of us who lived through that terrifying epoch, Simpson assumed that the world could end at any moment. So no wonder the demolition of the Iron Curtain was a cause for celebration. Today, however, Russia and the West are still at loggerheads. It’s an insightful unravelling of a complex saga, overseen by a man who’s actually encountered the likes of Gorbachev and Putin.

THE END OF THE F***ING WORLD

Monday to Thursday, Channel 4, 10pm

Despite its title, this rather brilliant series has nothing to do with the above spate of Cold War documentaries. It’s a deadpan, David Lynch and Wes Anderson-influenced black comedy-drama about a pair of severely dysfunctional yet oddly likeable teenagers on a British Badlands-esque odyssey. As series two commences, we’re introduced to a troubled and vengeful young woman with connections to one of their (deserved) victims. Series one, which I loved, felt like a perfectly self-contained piece, a standalone blast of curious subversion, but writer Charlie Covell has hit upon an effective way of continuing the saga. As before, it somehow manages to combine hip post-modernism with a tender yet unsentimental depth of feeling. Quite an achievement.

LAST WEEK’S TV

WESTWOOD: PUNK. ICON. ACTIVIST

Saturday October 26, BBC Two

Artful and unorthodox, this hugely enjoyable profile of fashion legend Vivienne Westwood struck precisely the right note. A lifelong rebel, distrustful of received wisdom, she came across as a reluctant interviewee. Bored of talking about her life and legacy, at one point she sighed, “But you need this, so I’ll tell you.” Her refusal to play nicely was part of the film’s charm. She was grumpy, funny, generous, unpretentious and eccentric all at once. A rounded human being, no less.

TV Review: LINE OF DUTY + BRITAIN'S NUCLEAR BOMB: THE INSIDE STORY

This article was originally published in The Dundee Courier on 6 May 2017.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/category/lifestyle/entertainment/tv-film/

LINE OF DUTY: Sunday, BBC One

BRITAIN’S NUCLEAR BOMB: THE INSIDE STORY: Wednesday, BBC Four

Jed Mercurio is a crafty swine. I swear he must write LINE OF DUTY while cackling up his sleeve, like a cruel child who can’t resist incinerating ants with an elaborate rig of magnifying glasses.

The latest series of his incomparably entertaining cop drama climaxed with the blatant suggestion that gruffly lovable police chief Ted Hastings might somehow be involved with the overarching thread of deeply sordid establishment corruption.

Mercurio timed this twist to perfection, as Hastings – played by the excellent Irish actor Adrian Dunbar – has gradually secured his place in the pantheon of much-loved fictional TV sleuths.

A no-nonsense copper in the old-school mould, his paternal decency and dogged determination has transformed him into a kind of wish-fulfilment folk hero. It’s comforting to believe that reliable policemen such as Hastings still exist – if, indeed, they ever did – to protect us from the evil deeds of all-powerful elites.

Hastings curtly undermining a smug suspect by calling them “fella” or gently referring to a young female murder victim as “that wee girl” - he's no more sexist than your affable, well-meaning dad - has become a source of national pride, as well as a fun-for-all-the-family drinking game. What’s not to love about the man?  

Well, this blanket adoration has clearly become too cosy as far as Mercurio is concerned. He’s occasionally dropped hints that Hastings might not be as trustworthy as he seems, but that’s always felt like the kind of red herring misdirection he’s so fond of.

When the dodgy senior police officer – played with a dodgy English accent by Scottish actor Paul Higgins - attempted to frame Hastings in the penultimate episode, we didn’t believe it for a second. He was obviously trying to divert attention from himself. Turns out there may be some truth to his accusation after all.

Despite knowing that two more series have been commissioned, I actually wouldn’t mind if Mercurio left us with the tantalising fear that Hastings was behind everything from the start. That might seem like a cheap trick – it probably is – but it would still work as a sly summation of the show’s cynical, paranoid message. No one can be trusted.

As for the rest of this year’s storyline, it unfolded – somewhat disappointingly – more or less as expected. Roz murdered Tim, but not as part of any grand involvement with Balaclava Man/Men.

The main buzz from Roz’s weary confession came from imagining that her oily lawyer, played by Patrick Baladi, was Neil from The Office failing hilariously after training as a lawyer post-sacking from Wernham-Hogg.

I hope, when they make the final series, the ultimate twist is that Hastings is one of the few trusted ‘70s/’80s establishment figures who wasn’t a wrong ‘un. Now that would be subversive, fella.

Space precludes me from rewarding BRITAIN’S NUCLEAR BOMB: THE INSIDE STORY with the detailed praise it deserves, so I urge you to watch this fascinating documentary on iPlayer.

As the world teeters on the brink once again, it whisked us back to a simpler, gentler time when nuclear Armageddon first became a harrowing reality. Our first atomic bomb was invented, tried and tested by men – now dapper, aged and charming – who still lived in fear of post-war German retaliation.

If they could've foreseen Brexit, we'd all be dead by now.

Despite the literally devastating subject matter, the programme managed to scrape some dark, dry humour from our typically parochial flirtation with the apocalypse. They almost destroyed Dorking during test runs. 

Almost restores your faith in hapless British ingenuity, doesn’t it? 

TV Review: CAMILA'S KIDS COMPANY: THE INSIDE STORY + WORLD WAR THREE: INSIDE THE WAR ROOM

A version of this article was originally published in The Dundee Courier on 6th February 2016.

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/lifestyle

Camila's Kids Company: The Inside Story: Wednesday, BBC One

World War Three: Inside The War Room: Wednesday, BBC Two

Paul Whitelaw

When, following highly publicised allegations of severe financial mismanagement, controversial charity Kids Company was forced into closure in August 2015, thousands of vulnerable people were left without a safety net.

Formerly one of Britain's most successful charities, for years it succeeded in transforming the lives of disadvantaged children. But now, having become totally reliant on its support, they were suddenly plunged into chaos and uncertainty.

So who was to blame for this catastrophic collapse? In Camila's Kids Company: The Inside Story, flamboyant founder Camila Batmanghelijh refused to accept any personal responsibility. Instead she blamed “a collective madness that the media, the politicians engaged in.” Her only regret was that she hadn't raised enough money.

Despite mounting pressure, she remained blindly defiant throughout this eye-opening documentary, in which director Lynn Alleway gained intimate access to the final days of a crumbling empire. Hired as a trusted confidante – she'd already made a film about Kids Company in 2005 – Alleway's role, at least as far as Batmanghelijh was concerned, was to fairly portray the truth behind the headlines. 

It was a chance for Batmanghelijh to answer her critics. In a way, she succeeded.

I've no doubt that her altruistic intentions were fundamentally sincere. And yet she emerged from Alleway's profile as a stubbornly foolish, romantic idealist whose desire to help children in need far outweighed her interest in the pragmatic details of running a major charity. Kids Company had become her own personal fiefdom.

Whenever she sought to portray herself as a victim – which was often - she unwittingly worked against her cause by cloaking herself in arrogant denial about her many errors of judgement. All she cared about was saving her staff and beneficiaries, and to hang with everything else. She lived inside a bubble of bloody-minded, well-meaning naivety

The media, according to Batmanghelijh, targeted Kids Company because it doesn't believe that disadvantaged children deserve a chance in life. Does she really believe that the media, for all its egregious faults, would go out of its way to destroy a charity for the sheer hell of it? Her delusion is rampant.

Little could she have known that, during the course of filming, Alleway would gradually expose her failings and challenge her behaviour. Though broadly sympathetic, the director couldn't ignore her growing realisation that this clucking mother hen really had sabotaged her company through gross negligence. Kudos to Alleway for refusing to kowtow to her disingenuous bleatings.

Despite vague glimmers of hope, the film wound down with a regretful sigh. Batmanghelijh's reputation was in ruins. Her staff were unemployed, tainted by association. The people she'd sought to help were left frightened and adrift. 

And God only knows how this mess will affect the reputation of the UK's charity sector in general. What a shocking, tragic legacy.

Even the long-overdue resignation of shady BBC exec and Kids Company trustee Alan Yentob – who declined to participate in the programme directly – couldn't blot out the sad, lasting impression of a noble enterprise hobbled by hubris.

“Ian, you are edging us further and further towards Armageddon!” exclaimed the otherwise unflappable Sir Christopher Meyer, former British Ambassador to the US, in World War Three: Inside The War Room.

A sombre simulation of the ultimate nightmare scenario – a “hot war” with Russia – it featured Mayhew and a round-table phalanx of leading British military and diplomatic figures wrestling with whether to retaliate in the hypothetical event of nuclear escalation in Russia.

Though it strove for verisimilitude via fake news reports and dramatisations, the central discussion failed to ignite, even with the fate of the world at its feet. Their ultimate decision not to strike back felt perversely anticlimactic, even if it did suggest that sane minds might prevail when doomsday comes a-calling. Oh, and in case you were wondering, it was all Putin's fault.