http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/tv-and-radio/tv-review-eye-spy-don-t-call-me-crazy-1-2974001
EYE
SPY
Thursday,
Channel 4, 10pm
DON'T
CALL ME CRAZY
Monday,
BBC3, 9pm
Paul
Whitelaw
In Channel 4's new hidden camera show
EYE SPY, Stephen Fry sets a number of staged scenarios upon
unsuspecting members of the great British public ™.
His stated aim is to restore our
faith in human nature, as selfless, stout-hearted citizens do the
right thing in times of need. In episode one alone, we witness diners
standing up to an outrageously racist waiter, watch passer's-by help
a teenager in a wheelchair up a flight of stairs, and marvel at
humankind's innate ability to avoid cycling off with bicycles which
don't belong to them.
Like an elaborate Beadle prank with a
civic duty twist, its an entirely pointless experiment in which the
notion that some people are prone to helpful intervention, while
others aren't, is held up as astonishing insight. Insufferably
condescending and pleased with itself – Fry, who narrates like a
cosily omniscient God, presumptuously refers to the viewer as “you”
and “we” throughout – it's a heavily padded, repetitious jumble
of shallow positivity and censorious tutting.
For a programme purporting to
celebrate human nature, it takes a notably dim view of its audience's
intelligence: it even goes out of its way to point out that the actor
playing the racist waiter isn't actually prejudiced in real life.
Were they worried that pitchfork-wielding viewers might accost him in
the street?
Aside from its tacit suggestion that
the people of Manchester are less bothered by racism than their
London counterparts – if that wasn't the intention, that's how it
comes across – Eye Spy's nadir is an experiment involving
young children resisting the urge to eat a marshmallow. This is used,
with stunning lack of tact, as an analogue for the London riots of
2011. “See? Britain isn't all about smash, grab, gimme gimme!”
chortles Fry, as if he's somehow solved the complex issue of
disaffected class revolt with a wave of his pampered hand.
Incidentally, the supposedly
life-affirming Eye Spy is produced by Objective, who, despite
having many fine programmes to their name, also delivered the
notorious Kookyville, a truly hateful comedy pilot in which
ordinary members of the public were held up to ridicule and the
audience roundly insulted. We shattered few who witnessed it will
never forget, Objective. Never.
Far more sensitive and sympathetic is
DON'T CALL ME CRAZY, a three-part observational documentary
focusing on patients and staff at Manchester's McGuinness Unit. One of Britain's largest
teenage mental health units, it's home to troubled kids with a
variety of debilitating issues, ranging from eating disorders to
self-harm.
Poignant but never cloying, it's a
candid study of fragile young lives: as one staff-member puts it,
adolescence is a form of madness at the best of times. The recurring
visual motif of depressed patients slumped in corridors may linger
for some time.
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