THE WINDERMERE CHILDREN + FARAGE: THE MAN WHO MADE BREXIT

This article was originally published in The Courier on 25th January 2020.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

THE WINDERMERE CHILDREN

Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

A series of programmes commemorating 75 years since the end of the Holocaust begins with this haunting factual drama. When peace was declared in 1945, the British government agreed to give refuge to 1000 child survivors of the Nazi concentration camps. 300 of them were brought to a wartime housing estate near Lake Windermere. Utterly traumatised, they struggled to acclimatise to the very ideas of liberty and kindness. The counsellors responsible for rehabilitating them soon became aware of how incredibly difficult that task would be. You can never fully recover from such a harrowing ordeal, but hopefully you can live again. A powerful piece, The Windermere Children features a cast of fine young actors plus seasoned pros such as Romola Garai and Iain Glen.

BELSEN: OUR STORY

Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

British citizens who survived Belsen return to the site in this starkly descriptive documentary. Although Belsen wasn’t equipped with gas chambers, it was Hell on Earth. Inmates fending for their lives were surrounded by rotting corpses. The stench of sickness and death was everywhere. It’s also a horrifying symbol of how The Final Solution unravelled towards the end of the war. A landmark report by journalist Richard Dimbleby, who was there when the British army liberated Belsen, informed the world at large about the full extent of Nazi atrocities. The army were so horrified by what they found, they burned the camp to the ground. Documents such as this ensure that it will always exist. It will never – must never – be forgotten.

AUSCHWITZ UNTOLD: IN COLOUR

Wednesday, Channel 4, 10:30pm

Against a backdrop of subtly colourised archive footage, this immersive film focuses on some of the last remaining Auschwitz survivors. The colourisation aspect isn’t a cheap gimmick. It is, like Peter Jackson’s WWI documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old, a sensitive and effective way of bringing ghosts back to life. The survivors provide devastating accounts of life in the Nazi’s most notorious extermination camp; It was a nightmare reality, a perpetual onslaught of fear and degradation. One woman sums up the appalling uncertainty they endured when she recalls being led to their weekly shower: they never knew if cold water or gas was going to emerge from the showerheads. If it was water, they knew they’d live for at least another week.

FARAGE: THE MAN WHO MADE BREXIT

Wednesday, Channel 4, 9pm

When Nigel Farage agreed to let documentary filmmaker Christian Trumble follow him throughout last year’s disastrous Brexit Party campaign, he presumably considered it a canny PR move. Instead he comes across as a sad, thin-skinned, petulant, gravy-stained opportunist. It’s hilarious, a staggering own goal. Trumble confirms that this amphibious bigot is a career politician who claims he’s anything but; a self-proclaimed man of the people who has repeatedly failed to be elected by them; a privileged member of the elite who presents himself as anti-establishment (the film’s central theme is his desperate need to be accepted by Johnson’s government). Farage has served his ruinous purpose, now he’s surplus to requirements. America, you can have him.

LAST WEEK’S TV

DOCTOR WHO

Sunday 19th January, BBC One

This episode was always going to be an improvement on the howling debacle that preceded it. It couldn’t possibly be any worse. Even so, the Doctor’s encounter with pioneering yet somewhat unsung electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla was a solid episode in its own right. A pleasingly straightforward pseudo historical, it was informative, educational and entertaining. Yes, even that raddled old fascist Lord Reith would’ve grudgingly approved.

TRAVELS IN EUROLAND WITH ED BALLS

Thursday 23rd January, BBC Two

How did this happen? Ed Balls, a risible politician who no one liked, is now an affable media personality. The Portillo Effect. These careerists never truly fail or disappear, they just adapt and reinvent themselves. This series does at least attempt to address the scarifying rise of populist far-right parties in Europe, but it’s really just a jolly travelogue with ideas above its station.

TV Column: LOSING IT: OUR MENTAL HEALTH EMERGENCY + DOCTOR WHO

This article was originally published in The Courier on 18th January 2020.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

DIAMOND DEALERS AND COCKNEY GEEZERS

Monday, Channel 4, 10pm

This knockabout documentary follows three East End likely lads who run an independent jewellers called – I kid you not – Trotters. Judd, Alex and Kallum, who’ve been best friends since school, sell top flight bling to a bustling parade of mostly working-class customers, and can proudly boast of having more Instagram followers than any other UK jeweller. But that’s not enough: they’re off to NYC to procure items that will truly put them on the map. The banterrific lads are quite likeable – yes, even the one who looks like Jim Davidson - and the programme doesn’t peer down its nose at them or their clientele. Nice. Although billed as a one-off, it feels like a pilot for a series.

CRAZY DELICIOUS

Tuesday, Channel 4, 8pm

When is a televised culinary contest not a televised culinary contest? Never, they’re basically all the same. This new one has a bash at being a bit different by basing itself in a studio-based grotto – a whimsical Garden of Eden – packed with foraged food and drink (e.g. a tree that dispenses prosecco). But apart from that, it’s a generic confection in which three skilled amateur cooks must impress an expert panel of ‘Gods’ – Heston Blumenthal among them. This week they’re tasked with creating an inventive strawberry-based dish and a game-changing take on the hot dog. If you enjoy watching people cook, bake, whisk and knead, then this entirely inoffensive show will doubtless provide a modicum of nourishment. 

LOSING IT: OUR MENTAL HEALTH EMERGENCY

Tuesday, Channel 4, 10pm

Powerful and timely, this programme visits the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to examine Britain’s growing need to care for people struggling with severe clinical depression and anxiety. We meet an eleven-year-old girl with suicidal ideation and a mentally ill woman who recently attempted to kill herself and her family. Meanwhile, exhausted loved ones and concerned staff open up about the complexities of looking after patients who wish to take their own lives. It’s heart-breaking, but it needs to be in order to highlight the absolutely vital importance of knowing that you’re not alone, of knowing that you can talk about your feelings without fear of judgement. Trained professionals are permanently on hand to help.

INSIDE THE CROWN: SECRETS OF THE ROYALS

Thursday, STV, 9pm

Not all their secrets, surely? An expose on that scale would bring the monarchy to its knees. Instead, this new series – which arrives with impeccable timing – assembles a gang of expertly toadying lickspittles to rake over the officially acceptable dramas behind the merry house of Windsor. It begins with a sweeping essay on the history of 20^th century Royals who struggled to balance their sovereign duties with matters of the heart. The familiar sagas of Liz and Phil, and Diana Queen of Hearts, duly ensue. Gossipy Royal history is colourful and interesting, of course it is, but we’ve heard it all before. Future generations will look back upon this epoch and wonder what the hell was wrong with us all.

LAST WEEK’S TV

DOCTOR WHO

Sunday 12th January, BBC One

The terminally bland Chris Chibnall’s second series as showrunner began quite well with his Spyfall romp, but episode three – written by Ed Hime - was an embarrassing mess. It wasted Laura Fraser in a thankless supporting role, the actors playing the elderly couple were appalling (“Mah Benni!” has haunted my brain ever since), the alien wigs and humanoid cat make-up looked weirdly cheap, the direction was substandard, the overstuffed script was incompetent. There was no tension, no momentum, no one or nothing to care about. Stuff happened, then it ended. The clumsily tacked-on environmental message – while entirely sound in and of itself – came across as a laughable attempt to add weight to the preceding 48 minutes of utterly incoherent storytelling. As usual, Jodie Whittaker did her best under the circumstances. I love Doctor Who, we’re joined at the hip, but this was a nadir.

LOUIS THEROUX: SELLING SEX

Sunday 12th January, BBC Two

Theroux’s morally conflicted face went into mild overdrive during this report on British women who legally sell sex for a living. He juggled nuggets of inadvertent self-parody – “With a moment to myself, I reflected on the strangeness of what was taking place” – with his usual eloquent compassion. The admirably candid participants were vulnerable victims of abuse who’d chosen this path for reasons far beyond financial pragmatism. Theroux didn’t judge or crassly psychoanalyse them, that’s not his style. Instead he presented yet another sensitive, stigma-challenging character study.

TV Column: COLD FEET + GOOD OMENS + THE MASKED SINGER

This article was originally published in The Courier on 11th January 2020.

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

NEXT WEEK’S TV

COLD FEET

Monday, STV, 9pm

As the latest series of this likeable comedy-drama begins, Adam, the cheeky chappie’s cheeky chappie, is suspended from work for inappropriate behaviour. He’s utterly baffled until his partner, Karen, wisely points out that offence can be caused even when your jokey intentions were innocent. Context and potential impact are paramount. Series creator Mike Bullen handles the episode’s Me Too theme with typical sensitivity. Meanwhile, Jenny struggles to readjust to life following her cancer treatment. She and husband Pete also have to deal with their difficult teenage daughter, plus the awkward problem of dividing their loyalties between Adam and Kate and Kate’s disgruntled ex, David. “I’m sick of this,” sighs Jenny, “it’s like a messy divorce and we’re the kids.”

CATCHING A KILLER: A DIARY FROM THE GRAVE

Monday, Channel 4, 9pm

Caveat: previews weren’t available at the time of writing, so I haven’t actually seen this true-crime documentary. Please don’t send angry emails to me, The Courier or my cat if it turns out to be awful. It does, however, sound interesting. An elderly man dies at home. Nothing odd about that. But eighteen months later, his neighbour also dies in similar circumstances. That’s when the police start looking into what might be a sinister case. A young would-be vicar knew them both. It sounds like the sort of programme designed to make you sigh in despair before going to bed feeling worse than you did when you woke up. Again, please don’t harass my cat.

GOOD OMENS

Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Eight months after debuting on Amazon Prime, this irreverent all-star fantasia – based on a cult novel by Neil Gaiman and the late Terry Pratchett - finally lands on terrestrial firma. Perfectly content with their lives on Earth, a demon and an angel (David Tennant and Michael Sheen) form an alliance to stop the coming of the Antichrist and eventual Armageddon. Although it’s well-acted, well-directed and generally quite funny in a sub Python/Douglas Adams way, episode one is slightly too hectic for its own good. It feels like Gaiman couldn’t bear to leave out any detail from his and Pratchett’s novel; the arch narration from Frances McDormand – she plays God – is particularly convoluted. One helluva cast, though.

STEWART COPELAND’S ADVENTURES IN MUSIC

Friday, BBC Four, 9:30pm

Ace drummer Steward Copeland is best known for being a member of The Police, but they’re just one of the 25 bands he’s been in since he first picked up sticks as a teenager. Now aged 67, his life has been utterly devoted to the music of the spheres (and songs written by Sting). In this probing new series - textbook Friday night pop fare on BBC Four, but with an anthropological, neuroscientific twist – the garrulously charismatic tub-thumper embarks upon a noble mission to define why music, that most transcendental of arts, moves, shakes and obsesses us so. It begins with an enjoyable, wide-ranging essay on music’s ability to bring human beings together. I’m with Stew: it’s been fundamental to our evolution as a species.

LAST WEEK’S TV

THE GREATEST DANCER

Saturday 4th January, BBC One

This Cowell-created mash-up of Strictly, X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent serves as a sobering reminder that ol' Mardi Gras head is a yawning multimillionaire who fattens his bank balance by scribbling formulaic formats on the back of Ivy napkins. Why doesn't he retire? He's done enough damage, earned enough money and no one cares anymore.

FIRST & LAST

Saturday 4th January, BBC One

In which Jason Manford - an affable, competent comedian – secured his ideal role: hosting a game show where contestants are rewarded for being neither particularly good nor bad, just somewhere in the middle. Manford makes it just about work by mocking the format and joshing with the contestants a la Generation Game Brucie and Danny Baker’s Pets Win Prizes. It doesn’t approach those heights, of course. It's just a laughing policeman in search of a missing vehicle.  

THE MASKED SINGER

Saturday 4th January, STV

This is more like it. Sort of. Almost. A deliberately absurd music game show devised in South Korea, TMS has spread its costumed wings around the globe. Now it’s our turn to guess who the famous folk are beneath those ostentatious outfits. It’s the right kind of trash, a bonkers parody of the Cowell formula, but it’s stretched out to painfully interest-sapping lengths. With a little bit of finessing, they've got themselves a decent family-friendly show.