THE WEDDING | LOUIS THEROUX INTERVIEWS... | SAS ROGUE HEROES

This article was originally published in The Courier on 5th November 2022.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

The Wedding – Monday and Thursday, BBC Scotland, 10:30pm

This is one of the best things I’ve seen on TV of late. Originally released as six short bittersweet monologues on iPlayer, it’s presented this week as a compilation spread over two episodes. 

The drama unfolds at a Black Scottish wedding. The disparate characters include a gay (second) best man who’s had enough of living in the margins, an unhappy teenage girl struggling with the pressures of social media, a gambling addicted uncle at the end of his tether, and a Nigerian bartender who powerfully reflects upon the violent patriarchal society she’s escaped from. 

A collaboration between several acclaimed Black artists, The Wedding is an utterly compelling and beautifully performed piece. It’s intelligent, insightful, nuanced and moving. It lingers.

Trapped, Disabled & Abused: Dispatches – Monday, Channel 4, 8:30pm

Disabled people in the UK today experience far more domestic violence than non-disabled people. In this Dispatches documentary, reporter Sophie Morgan speaks to disabled victims while exposing the shocking lack of support they receive. 

The programme visits Britain’s only refuge run by – and for – survivors of such abuse. Dispatches have also interviewed over 2000 frontline professionals, including healthcare workers and police officers. Their findings reveal that more than half of those professionals wouldn't know which specialist service to refer a disabled person to. 

I honestly believe that the vast majority of human beings are decent and kind, but how are they expected to assist particularly vulnerable people when there’s no organised system of care?

Between the Covers – Tuesday, BBC Two, 7pm

The latest series of Sara Cox’s cosy little book club welcomes actor Amanda Abbington, former marine turned broadcaster JJ Chalmers, TV’s very own Graham Norton, and Alex Jones from The One Show. 

There is much to discuss as always. Among the new recommendations are The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers; actor Phil Davis describes the basic gist of the novel in a pre-filmed insert. 

Meanwhile, Abbington and Cox cheerfully confess to a bizarre trait - they read the last page of a novel before buying it. If that last page sounds intriguing, they’ll make a purchase. Yep, I know. That’s like watching Jaws for the first time on rewind. Oh well, whatever works for you.

Louis Theroux Interviews… – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

This week’s guest is Yungblud, a pop-punk star with an intensely devoted fan-base. 

Yungblud has been commendably open about his mental health issues, and yet he’s been repeatedly forced to answer that age-old credibility question: are you 4 Real? Isn’t he just a careerist stage school kid? 

Louis, of course, has no truck with this crass, binary argument. He’s more interested in exploring the emotional complexities of Yungblud’s position as an inarticulate spokesperson who’s presumably sincere, but who desperately craves love and validation from the people he supposedly speaks for. 

Something occurred to me while watching this: as an interviewer, Louis is up there with the late, great Mavis Nicholson in terms of gently probing acuity and empathy.

Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland and Beyond – Tuesday, Channel 4, 9:15pm

Showbiz pals Miram Margolyes and Alan Cumming are back for another merry travelogue. This time they’re accompanied by Alan’s dog, Lala. Every second series needs a twist. 

And there’s more: as the title suggests, they’re not just confining themselves to the multitudinous joys and beauty of Scotland during this trip. Local boy made good Cumming has a home in sunny California ™. Margolyes, an actor who’s enjoyed an absolutely fascinating career, used to live there too. 

But their journey begins in the Cairngorms. Then it’s off to Dundee, where they meet with mutual pal Brian Cox. As an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, Cumming conducts a LGBTQ+ wedding. Margolyes strips off. It really is all happening.

Return to Uist – Wednesday, BBC Scotland, 8:30pm

The stars of this charming new series are Alex, his fiancée Susannah and their son Cedar. They’ve decided to make a life-changing move from inner-city London to the remote Outer Hebrides, where they set about building a house and farmstead. An ambitious plan. 

Susannah, a bohemian artist, was raised in Uist, but left as soon as she could. Upon reflection, however, she thinks it might be the perfect environment for her family. 

Alex is a successful gardener and blogger. He’s also the only Black person on the island, so feels a long way from home. 

Return to Uist proves that, with the right cast of characters, TV’s standard ‘in at the deep end’ format will always reap rewards.

Unreported World – Friday, Channel 4, 7:30pm

This week’s destination is rural Guatemala, where young girls are routinely abused and nothing is ever done to protect them. 

I sometimes hesitate to recommend this outstanding foreign affairs strand, which has been running on Channel 4 for 22 years, but only for this reason and this reason alone: I don’t wish to upset anyone with harrowing details. 

But if, after all this time, you trust me and – far more importantly – the estimable journalists from the Unreported World team, you’ll understand that this is a vitally important institution. There is no graphic imagery, but the stories are heart-breaking. 

It goes out in a pre-watershed slot on Fridays, when we’re presumably all kicking off our shoes and trying to escape. That’s not accidental.

LAST WEEK’S TV

SAS Rogue Heroes – Sunday 30th October, BBC One

The latest series from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is loosely based on the formation of the SAS during WWII. 

I say ‘loosely’, as although it’s rooted in actual fact, we’re all aware that Knight is a post-modernist who revels in heightened versions of reality. And there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you remain true to the historical integrity of your story.

People more learned than I have assured me that he’s more or less fulfilled that brief. 

So what we have here is a fairly entertaining WWII drama shot through the irreverent yet fundamentally sincere prism of someone who grew up watching war films on TV. And you’ve gotta love that AC/DC soundtrack.

Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez – Sunday 30th October, BBC Two

Dr Janina Ramirez is one of TV’s most engaging historians. Her scholarly essays are always worth perusing. 

In this one, Ramirez dug deep into the murky legend of Howard Carter, the British archaeologist and Egyptologist who unearthed Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. 

Carter didn’t achieve that remarkable feat on his own, of course, but he basked in all the glory and printed the myth. The local Valley of the Kings experts? Why, they were mere guides towards his deservedly ordained crown of ultimate trailblazing glory. Right. Whatever you say, Howie. 

Ramirez didn’t come to bury Carter, she gave credit where it was due. He was a privileged western product of his post-Edwardian times, with all that uncomfortably entails.

 

TV Column: DRACULA + DOCTOR WHO

This article was originally published in The Courier on 28th December 2019.

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

NEXT WEEK’S TV

DRACULA

New Year’s Day to Friday, BBC One, 9pm

If, like me, you eventually grew tired of Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis’ unbearably self-indulgent Sherlock, you might be pleasantly surprised by their muscular take on Dracula. A 19^th century period piece, it borrows heavily from Bram Stoker’s novel while going its own freewheeling way (e.g. traumatised solicitor Jonathan Harker recounts his terrible tale to a drolly straight-talking, Godless nun). Despite containing flashes of slyly affectionate meta-commentary on established vampire lore, this Dracula isn’t a send-up. It’s witty, yes, but it’s also grimly atmospheric and unabashedly horrific. It may be one of the goriest dramas ever made by the BBC. Main selling point: a commanding performance from saturnine Danish actor Claes Bang as an utterly ruthless, cocksure Count.

DAME EDNA RULES THE WAVES

Hogmanay, BBC One, 9:05pm

The great Dame emerges from semi-retirement to host this one-off special from her enormous luxury yacht (it’s three times the size of Wales). Her celebrity shipmates include Sharon Osbourne, Judge Rinder, Emily Atack and Anita Rani, all of them eager to be insulted in inimitable passive-aggressive Edna fashion. Now aged 85, Edna’s material isn’t quite what it was. Her opening monologue falls flat, sadly, although it does contain this touching tribute to her late sidekick Madge Allsop: “She went peacefully… she died in my sleep.” All is not lost, however: once the guests come out, traces of her sharp improvisatory wit can still be detected. She can’t help being naturally funny, that gift never disappears completely.

DOCTOR WHO

New Year’s Day, BBC One, 6:55pm

The Doctor returns with a skittish two-part Bond pastiche called Spyfall (like Skyfall; such wit), featuring guest-stars Stephen Fry as a Q-style MI6 official and Lenny Henry (more of whom below) as a villainous billionaire businessman. I’m no fan of tin-eared showrunner Chris Chibnall; he is, at best, a competent hack. Spyfall is Chibnall at his best. It’s a fairly enjoyable run-around in which a mysterious race of aliens launch an attack on international intelligence agents. Chibnall pulls off a couple of decent set-pieces, Ryan and Yaz actually get to do something for once, and Jodie Whittaker makes her mark whenever the script allows her to. Things can only get better?

IMAGINE… LENNY HENRY: YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK

Thursday, BBC One, 12am

This thoughtful profile of Sir Lenworth has, for some mystifying reason, been buried at midnight. So what if you can watch it whenever on iPlayer? He deserves better. It’s a poignant companion piece to his recently published autobiography, in which he focuses, not on his years of fame and fortune, but on his early struggle to make a name for himself on the ‘70s working men’s club and television circuit: a seemingly insurmountable task for a black teenager in a predominantly white - and covertly racist - environment. He reflects upon the importance of delivering race-based jokes before the audience got there first. It was a defence mechanism, he had no choice. Today he’s a figurehead for the diversity movement.

LAST WEEK’S TV

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

22^nd December to Christmas Eve, BBC One

The zillionth adaptation of Dickens’ festive classic starred Guy Pearce as Scrooge and Stephen Graham as Marley. It was written by Steven ‘Peaky Blinders’ Knight, hence the knowingly mannered, sooty charcoal aesthetic and salty language. Knight was obviously more interested in exploring Scrooge’s eloquent nihilism than his eventual redemption, but it was the resolutely dark Christmas Carol we deserved this year. An enjoyably nasty addition to the canon.

MARTIN’S CLOSE

Christmas Eve, BBC Four

Mark Gatiss – that man again – wrote and directed this boring adaptation of an M.R. James ghost story about a 17^th century nobleman accused of murdering a young woman with learning difficulties. I admire Gatiss’ commitment to reviving the BBC’s Christmas tradition of supernatural yarns, but his efforts tend to be little more than fanboy homages. They lack the haunting impact of the adaptations he adores. RIP Jonathan Miller.

GAVIN & STACEY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Christmas Day, BBC One

There are few things worse than a reunion with people you didn’t much care for in the first place. This unnecessary comeback confirmed the wisdom of that stone-clad sitcom edict: don’t bother. Have Corden and Jones learned nothing from Only Fools and Horses and David Brent: Life On The Road? It’s a nice enough show, fairly well-observed, but leave it where it belongs: somewhat fondly remembered in the third tier.

TV Review: PEAKY BLINDERS and 24 HOURS IN POLICE CUSTODY

This article was originally published in The Courier on Saturday 4th October 2014.

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

Peaky Blinders: Thursday, BBC Two

24 Hours in Police Custody: Monday, Channel 4

Paul Whitelaw

Deliberately over-stylised and luridly violent, the first series of Peaky Blinders was an entertaining riot of period gangster mayhem. Granted, the dialogue was often rather clunky, but I found I was willing to overlook its flaws and go along for the ride. It was fun and propulsive, with just enough depth to justify its self-conscious swagger.

Can it keep that momentum going over a second series? On the evidence of last week's return, I'm not entirely certain. It may sound odd to describe a drama full of choreographed violence and cold-blooded murder as curiously muted, especially one which began with a pub being blown to pieces, but episode one felt rather hollow and lethargic. Critics immune to the charms of Peaky Blinders have always accused it of being mere style over substance, but in this case the accusations felt valid.

As we returned to 1920s Birmingham, which in the hands of writer Steven Knight is depicted as a hellish furnace at the lawless ends of the Earth, implacable gangster Thomas Shelby was firmly ensconced in his role as the city's leading crime kingpin. His plans for an expansion to London dominated proceedings, to the extent that it appeared to be the only major plot development. Knight spent too long putting his pieces in place at the expense of moving the action forward.

The lengthy, slow-motion scene in which Thomas assassinated someone on behalf of his Irish associates was pure padding, seemingly included because the director couldn't resist matching his eye-catching visuals to the music of Johnny Cash. While the show's anachronistic blues/country score is a vital part of its grungy western aesthetic, scenes such as this make it feel like an elongated music video. The clanking, igneous, soot-drenched production design is stunning, but it should never dominate as much as it did here.

Apparently sculpted entirely from glass, Cillian Murphy continues to thrive on pure charisma as Thomas, but I did find myself impatiently waiting for the much-publicised arrival of the great Tom Hardy. Alas, he was nowhere to be found in episode one, which simply added to the sense of anticlimax.

This stodgy curtain-opener was hopefully just a fleeting wobble, before it returns to form next week. Peaky Blinders is one of our most distinctive TV dramas, so it would be a shame if it ran out of gas so soon.

Produced by the team behind the justly lauded 24 Hours in A&E, 24 Hours in Police Custody is a similarly engrossing observational documentary following the Bedfordshire police force as they attempt to charge their suspects within hours of arrest.

Without an ounce of dubious contrivance, it succeeds in providing the police with the sort of positive publicity they're currently in dire need of. The officers involved came across as decent human beings doggedly in pursuit of justice. Episode one's unlikely star was DC Martin Hart, whose affable approach to interrogation was honed during his time spent working as a holiday rep. Here was an ordinary copper, simply doing his job to the best of his abilities.

His prolonged efforts to charge a man suspected of conspiracy to murder resulted in a simple yet effective hour of television, steeped in tension and humour. There was more drama in the minutiae of this process than you'd find in most scripted police procedurals. Thoughtful, enlightening stuff.