STEPHEN + 9/11: INSIDE THE PRESIDENT'S WAR ROOM + BACK TO LIFE

This article was originally published in The Courier on 28th August 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Stephen – Monday, STV, 9pm

On 22^nd April 1993, teenager Stephen Lawrence was murdered during a racially motivated attack. That heinous crime remained officially unsolved until 2012, when two members of a white gang were found guilty. 

Written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce and his son Joe, this absorbing, angry, compassionate three-part drama is a damning indictment of the corrupt, incompetent and institutionally racist Metropolitan Police. It also honours the determination of DCI Clive Driscoll (a solid turn from Steve Coogan), an unassuming man of integrity who realised that a terrible injustice had taken place. 

Driscoll led a unit largely devoted to investigating the police themselves, but his risk paid off. The story begins in 2006, when the Lawrence family were still being denied answers.

Ghosts – Monday, BBC One, 8:30pm

The arrival of corporeal Alison’s long-lost half-sister could potentially place her co-ownership of Button House in jeopardy, so she puts the Captain on the covert case. Meanwhile, Lady Fanny is acting giddily out of character. Could she be in love? 

Ghosts is currently the best British sitcom. Warm, funny and occasionally quite touching, it’s written and performed by a talented troupe of comics with an innate understanding of how to appeal to a family audience. 

They could easily tailor their skills towards a post-watershed slot if they wanted to, but where’s the fun in that? The restrictions they’ve placed upon themselves enhance the comedy. Ghosts is possessed of the utmost wit and charm.

Surviving 9/11 – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

There are two feature-length BBC documentaries this week commemorating the 20^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. 

The first is a meditative study of grief and trauma. It features moving eye-witness accounts from some of the survivors, one of whom, Vanessa Lawrence, now lives and works as a painter in Ayrshire. Lawrence was the artist in residence at the Twin Towers in 2001; her studio was on the 91^st floor of the North tower. 

We also hear from an Englishman, Matt Campbell, whose brother Geoff was killed that day. Campbell has never trusted the official report, although he’s aware that his investment in 9/11 conspiracy theories could be a subconscious method of channelling his pain.

9/11: Inside the President’s War Room – Tuesday, BBC One, 8:30pm

When the second hijacked plane hit the South tower at 9:03am on 9/11, President George W. Bush was sitting in front of a classroom full of young children. We’ve all seen the footage of him gradually trying to process the news. This gripping moment-by-moment account of 9/11 is told from the perspective of Bush and colleagues such as Condoleeza Rice. 

By allowing them to explain their response to 9/11, the film tacitly asks us to make our own judgements. Bush, like Blair, comes across as someone preoccupied with justifying his tarnished legacy. 

“I’m not much of a navel-gazer,” he smirks. “I guess you could say I’m a man of action… let’s just say I’m comfortable with the decisions I made.”

Back to Life – Tuesday, BBC One, 10:35pm

This dry-witted comedy-drama should, by rights, be as popular as Fleabag (it’s produced by the same team). Daisy Haggard, who writes the show alongside Laura Solon, stars as Miri, a woman struggling to readjust to life after spending eighteen years in prison for murdering one of her best friends. 

Miri is a most unlikely murderer, but that’s the point. She’s likeable, sympathetic, someone deserving of a second chance. 

As series two begins, she’s still trapped at home with her dysfunctional parents. But she’s got a new job stacking shelves in a supermarket, and her sweetly tentative romance with Billy (Adeel Akhtar from Four Lions) is still trundling along. Then the mother of her victim arrives in town…

Our Lives: Lambing Life – Wednesday, BBC One, 7:30pm

Chloe is a 24-year-old sheep farmer from the Peak District. This documentary follows her during lambing season, which for obvious reasons is a particularly busy time of the sheep-farming year. 

Chloe is a delightful person. We witness her literally breathing life into recently birthed lambs, as well as various other specialist skills she hopes to pass on to the next generation of her family. She also writes poetry on the side and runs an alternative therapy business. 

Our Lives is a lovely series; it deserves a warm smattering of applause for shedding light upon the everyday activities of people from all walks of life. Positive by design, it’s a reassuring portrait of humankind.

Grantchester – Friday, STV, 9pm

Series six of this ecclesiastical sleuth caper kicks off with a hot priest case set in a holiday camp. For the uninitiated, Grantchester is set in the late 1950s, so we’re talking full-on Hi-de-Hi! vibes here. 

In time-honoured style, the regular cast all go on holiday together. But their fun doesn’t last: death stalks them where e’er they go. 

As always, this episode fulfils its duties without any fuss. Grantchester belongs to British television’s very long line of cosy, undemanding murder mysteries: it doesn’t seek to challenge or provoke, it exists purely as a piece of slick escapism. And sometimes, occasionally, that’s all you require.

LAST WEEK’S TV

When Ruby Wax Met… - Sunday 22nd August , BBC Two

Years before Louis Theroux met Savile et al, Ruby Wax practically invented the celebrity-based documentary interview genre. This fascinating retrospective celebrates her pioneering, irreverent style. 

It also functions as a time capsule, casting us back to an era before reality television and social media, when unscripted access to the filthy rich and famous was a fairly rare event. Wax reflects upon her interviews with commendable honesty. A qualified expert in mental health, she critiques her own performance while granting sharp insight into the psychology of her interviewees. 

Episode one was bookended by difficult encounters with a pair of rampant narcissists: Donald Trump and O.J. Simpson. It reminded me that, behind the brash comedy shtick, Wax was a gifted interviewer.

Scotland the Rave – Tuesday 24th August, BBC Scotland

In the early 2000s, Graeme Armstrong was expelled from school. His life became defined by alcohol, drugs and violence. And then he discovered “Scotland’s rave religion”. 

Now a successful author, Armstrong hosted this enjoyable documentary about a scene that was sneered at by rave purists, but which clearly meant a lot to those who were part of it. He met up with some fellow ex-ravers, who spoke as one about the cathartic camaraderie of dancing all night while – and Armstrong didn’t shy away from this; how could he? – taking drugs. But, without moralising in any way whatsoever, he also warned of the dangers of that lifestyle. 

He struck just the right balance between nostalgic celebration and hard-won, unpretentious wisdom.

SIXTEEN: CLASS OF 2021 + BORN TO BE WILD + UNBELIEVABLE MOMENTS CAUGHT ON CAMERA

This article was originally published in The Courier on 21st August 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Sixteen: Class of 2021 ‒ Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm

During phase one of the pandemic, Channel 4 asked a group of Midlands school friends on the verge of turning sixteen to document their lives. This warm new series is the result. 

It begins in September 2020, as they return to school after six months of lockdown. A smart bunch of ordinary, likeable working‐class kids at a crossroads in their lives, they talk openly about their hopes for the future. The programme doesn’t patronise or judge them. Instead it celebrates their individuality and togetherness. 

Naturally, there are a few moments of minor drama (at one point a jacket potato is thrown in anger), but on the whole it’s a positive endeavour in the vein of Channel 4’s exceptional Educating… strand.

Born to Be Wild ‒ Monday, BBC Scotland, 8pm

Meet Miss Honey. A beautiful little badger cub, she’s the star of this week’s visit to the Scottish SPCA National Wildlife Rescue Centre. 

Honey was found abandoned on a promenade in Edinburgh, and requires round‐the‐clock care. One of the staff members has to become Honey’s surrogate mum, hence why they have to find her a young badger buddy; if she becomes too attached to her human carers, she may never acclimatise to life in the wild. 

The supporting cast includes an injured fox cub, a richness (that’s apparently the collective noun) of house martins and a sandpiper in need of intricate eye surgery. As for the staff, they have quite possibly the world’s most spiritually nourishing job.

Tsunami ‒ Monday to Wednesday, Channel 5, 9pm

Stripped over three consecutive nights, this dramatic series provides a detailed examination of one of the world’s worst natural disasters. 

On Boxing Day 2004, an undersea earthquake off the coast of northern Indonesia caused a series of devastating tsunamis. It is estimated that around 230,000 people were killed. To make sense of what happened and why, Dr Xand van Tulleken and archaeologist Raksha Dave speak to some of the people who witnessed this appalling tragedy first hand, as well as various experts who have studied it. 

Each episode is devoted to a specific time frame, which allows for a forensic examination of events as they unfolded. It begins 12 hours before the disaster and ends with the immediate aftermath.

Our Lives: The City of Horses ‒ Tuesday, BBC One, 7pm

On three neighbouring housing estates in Swansea, the residents have for decades reared horses on every available large patch of grass. They’re just an everyday part of life in these communities. But the council are cracking down on this tradition, which means that the current generation of equine lovers may be the last. Nevertheless, hope springs eternal. 

This charming documentary illustrates that the horses are beloved and well looked after by their owners, although you may find yourself agreeing with the sympathetic vet who states that their overall quality of life will be improved by the new legislation. What can’t be denied is that the horses provide their human pals with an added sense of therapeutic purpose.

H20: The Molecule That Made Us ‒ Wednesday, BBC Four, 9pm

Kelly Ann McEvers is an esteemed journalist. But she’s also an American podcaster, which means it’s impossible to take this new series about the importance of water seriously.

McEvers suffers from that inadvertently comical American podcast delivery style: casually earnest and awestruck, she starts sentences with “So” and phrases every statement as if it were a question. A pox upon the upward inflection. She also describes this project as “a podcast‐style documentary”. That’ll be a documentary with visuals then. You may require a moment to wrap your head around this novel concept. 

It’s unfortunate, as the subject matter is interesting. I blame comedian Adam Buxton for his spot‐on parody of that style of delivery. It cannot be unheard.

Unbelievable Moments Caught on Camera ‒ Wednesday, STV, 9pm

This enjoyably daft programme ‐ which may as well be titled ‘Woah! Check This Out!’ ‐ excavates the stories behind viral videos of dramatic events. 

Highlights include the split‐second rescue of an unconscious skydiver plummeting towards the ground; two kayakers falling into the mouth of a whale (they’re remarkably sanguine about the whole affair); a lorry driver rescuing a woman from a burning car; and a pair of lucky fools who were almost crushed by an iceberg. 

But, hey, it’s not all utterly nightmarish; we also witness a classical musician playing violin while undergoing life‐saving surgery. Your narrator is Alexander ‘crash bang wallop, what a video’ Armstrong, who’s on hand to reassure viewers that no one died.

In Tandem: The Neil Fachie Story ‒ Friday, BBC Scotland, 9pm

A record‐breaking Paralympic and Commonwealth gold medallist, cyclist Neil Fachie is one of the UK’s most decorated athletes. He also has retinitis pigmentosa, a rare congenital condition which severely restricts his vision. Fachie has accepted the possibility that he might eventually go completely blind. 

In this revealing documentary, the Aberdeen‐born champ ‐ who is an unassuming model of humble determination ‐ discusses his various professional setbacks and triumphs, as well as the overall experience of competing on the world stage on behalf of yourself and your country. 

The programme also features insight from fellow cycling ace Chris Hoy, and touches upon Fachie’s relationship with his wife, the visually‐impaired racing cyclist and double world champion Lora Fachie.

LAST WEEK’S TV

David Wilson’s Crime Files ‒ Sunday 15th August, BBC Scotland

The criminologist began his latest series with a look at two of Scotland’s most notorious fraudsters. 

I’d vaguely heard about the Gorbals woman who claimed to be an heir of the Duchess of Argyle, but I was staggered by the story of Gregor MacGregor, a 19^th century general who callously conned Scottish migrants into believing he could grant them a new life in a Central American paradise. Once relieved of their life savings, they were shipped off to an uninhabited island. 

Two thirds of MacGregor’s victims died while marooned there. He was never punished for his crime. Reporter Fiona Walker argued that this was because most of the survivors were too ashamed to admit they’d been conned. A sobering tale.

The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family ‒ Friday 20th August, BBC Two

TV just can’t get enough of that wacky Boleyn clan. This series comes hot on the heels of a drama that recently aired on Channel 5. 2021: the year we finally reached Boleyn saturation point. 

This isn’t a bad series, at least not on a technical level. It’s a well‐made, straight‐ahead history lesson. Handsomely‐mounted, you could say. But this saga is so familiar, one wonders what the point is. Perhaps fans of Tudor history are like Beatles obsessives: they know they probably won’t learn anything new from the latest book, article or documentary, but they devour them anyway just on the off chance. 

The latest episode focused on the ill‐fated Anne. It fulfilled its brief.

CHILDREN OF 9/11: OUR STORY + CHANGING ROOMS + RIGHT HERE: ISABEL'S INDEPENDENCE

This article was originally published in The Courier on 14th August 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Children of 9/11: Our Story – Monday, Channel 4, 9pm

In this tender 90-minute documentary, we meet six young people whose fathers were killed during the 9/11 attacks. It’s a film about them coming to terms with losing someone they never knew, and how that experience has shaped the people they are today. 

These bright millennials have gradually learned more about their fathers over the last 20 years, which has also meant finding out about the tragic circumstances surrounding their deaths. There is no narration; the director allows these stories to unfold in the eloquent words of the subjects themselves. The overall effect is intimate and immersive. 

Despite its underlying themes of loss and grief, Children of 9/11: Our Story is laced with hope.

Long Lost Family – Monday, STV, 9pm

Siblings Steve and Moira found each other as adults. They’re very close. When their birth mother passed away a few years ago, Steve and Moira were shocked to discover that they have an older sister. They’ve been trying to track her down ever since. 

The Long Lost Family team waste no time in solving the mystery of her whereabouts. As always, emotional scenes ensue. 

The other story this week revolves around Lisa, who is desperate to find the family she was separated from at birth. Like so many of those who participate in this sensitive series, Lisa struggles with a difficult question: why was I given up for adoption? It’s not a straightforward case, but she eventually achieves some closure.

Wild China with Ray Mears – Tuesday, STV, 7:30pm

This week, TV’s favourite bushcraft warlock – bedecked as always in regulation khaki fatigues – is on a bear hunt (NB: no bears were harmed during the making of this programme). 

The brown bear is China’s largest carnivore, but they usually avoid humans; who can blame them? Nevertheless, Mears hopes to catch a glimpse of one or two during his visit to a remote monastery located on the vast Tibetan Plateau - one of the emptiest places on Earth. 

Every day, the monks put out leftovers for the bears to feast upon. “I’ve known these bears for quite some time,” smiles one holy man. “I’m not afraid of them.” They still keep their distance, though, as does Mears.

Our Lives: Aberdeen Harbour – Wednesday, BBC One, 7pm

One of Britain’s oldest and busiest ports, Aberdeen Harbour services some of Scotland’s key industries. It’s also in the midst of a £50 million expansion project – the largest of its kind ever in the UK. This non-stop hive of activity is set to become a major cruise ship destination, thus ensuring an even busier and brighter future. 

In this agreeably gentle yet eventful documentary, we follow some of the people who work there, including members of a 20-strong team of pilots who work in tandem with The Vessel Traffic Service Tower to ensure the safe daily passage of vessels sailing in and out of the harbour. They seem to take it all in their professional stride.

Right Here: Isabel’s Independence – Wednesday, BBC Scotland, 8pm

This excellent series of short documentaries exploring the diversity of life in Scotland today concludes with a bittersweet profile of Isabel, a Spanish woman in her fifties who migrated to Edinburgh in the hope of finding new opportunities. 

Isabel was once a successful businesswoman and semi-pro racing driver, but all of that collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis. So here she is in Edinburgh, learning to speak English while working around the clock as a cleaner and a delivery driver. Isabel’s loving husband, who still lives in Spain, supports her quest for independence and renewed self-worth. 

Isabel is great: a colourful, creative, inspiring person. At one point she jokes, “Can you imagine feeling invisible with my personality?”

Changing Rooms – Wednesday, Channel 4, 8pm

Yes, it’s back. Between 1996 and 2004, Changing Rooms bestrode the TV landscape like a camp colossus; a revolutionary pioneer of the home makeover genre. It was eventually usurped by identikit pretenders to the crown, but those of us who were there at the time (man) will never forget the originator. 

Despite the lengthy break and change of broadcaster, the format hasn’t changed at all; you can’t improve upon a design classic. Two pairs of friends decorate each other’s houses. There’s a big reveal at the end. Job done. 

Also, dandy highwayman Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is now comfortably settled within the autumnal Brian Blessed phase of his career: a self-parody of a self-parody. But whither Handy Andy?

A Year in the Beacons – Thursday, STV, 8:30pm

In the final episode of this harmless piece of summer drought filler, we catch up with some of the people who live and work in The Brecon Beacons National Park. 

If you’ve seen the show before, you’ll be familiar with Harry Legge-Bourke, the seventh generation custodian of the vast Glanusk Estate. If you haven’t seen him before, then just imagine Mel Smith playing a ridiculously cheerful posh bloke in a 1980s comedy sketch. Harry’s latest plan to solve his financial problems: renting out his ten bedroom family home. 

We also reconvene with the Brecon Mountain Rescue team, as they deal with a hillwalker who has suffered a heart attack. Some people doing work of actual value there.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Viva La Diva: The Queens of Pop – Saturday 7th August, BBC Two

A diva was once something to be admired: the original definition referred to outstanding female opera singers. Goddesses on Earth. But it’s now regarded as shorthand for powerful female celebrities supposedly prone to egocentric tantrums. 

Or to put it another way: iconoclastic women who have dared to imprint themselves upon a pop culture landscape where male bad behaviour tends to be celebrated. 

In this enjoyable documentary, the suitably arch and camp Ana Matronic from Scissor Sisters successfully reclaimed the term via tributes to five great divas: Cher, Grace Jones, Madonna, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé. Made with evident enthusiasm for its subject matter, the programme benefited from an insightful array of talking heads and some splendid archive footage.

The Secret Life of the Zoo – Tuesday August 10, Channel 4

The latest series of this hardy perennial proved once again that, whatever you think about zoos, there is just no denying that the animals at Chester Zoo are beloved by the humans who work there. These people are emotionally invested in their job, a large part of which involves the conservation of endangered species. 

This episode revolved around their efforts to ensure that the animals remain healthy and happy. 

James Bond, Chester’s only Hyacinth macaw, was with his mate, Miss Moneypenny, for 27 years. Sadly, she passed away just a few weeks before the episode was filmed. So the staff had to make sure that JB wasn’t carrying the virus that killed her. SPOILER: he lived to die another day.

 

THE RIOTS 2011: ONE WEEK IN AUGUST + GHOSTS + DECEIT

This article was originally published in The Courier on 7th August 2021. 

NEXT WEEK’S TV

The Riots 2011: One Week in August – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

Ten years ago, the UK experienced its largest wave of civil unrest since the 1980s. This searching documentary gets to the root of why those riots occurred. 

When Mark Duggan, a young black man from a North London estate, was shot and killed by the police, a broiling pressure cooker finally exploded. Disaffected working-class people gave full vent to their anger. 

The film examines that chaos from the perspectives of rioters, police officers, an Asian man whose son was killed, and Tottenham Community Activist Stafford Scott. His astute closing remarks: “The political classes learned nothing, because they didn’t ask any questions. They just came down with a purely punitive response. There were no changes to social or public policy.”

Ghosts – Monday, BBC One, 8:30pm

As this likeable family sitcom from the Horrible Histories gang returns, the Button House residents are excited by the arrival of a TV crew making a Lucy Worsley-style history programme. 

It’s also time to learn more about Sir Humphrey, the Tudor nobleman who carries his severed head around in classic spectral fashion. And the great Geoffrey McGivern returns as pompous local landowner Barclay, who inevitably elbows his way into the documentary. But he appears to be in ill-health, which triggers a desperate plot to get him off the premises before he dies and joins the ghosts in their contented domestic afterlife. 

It’s not one of the strongest episodes, but spending time in this realm is always a pleasure.

In Search of Sir Walter Scott – Tuesday, BBC Scotland, 10pm

To mark the 250^th anniversary of Sir Walter Scott’s birth, author and journalist Damian Barr presents this engaging essay. A pioneer of historical fiction, Scott changed Scotland’s perception of itself while almost single-handedly creating its tourist industry. 

A hugely popular figure in his day, the great author and poet easily outsold contemporaries such as Jane Austen and Lord Byron. However, Barr believes that Scott may have fallen off the cultural radar, perhaps largely due to a widespread view that his work represents a ‘shortbread tin’ view of Scotland. Is that fair? 

Barr digs into the man’s life in order to gain a greater understanding of his legacy and influence. Various misconceptions are challenged along the way.

Craig & Bruno’s Great British Road Trips – Wednesday, STV, 8pm

In the penultimate episode of this breezy distraction, Messrs Revel Horwood and Tonioli travel to the Lake District. They indulge in some wild swimming, drive around England’s steepest road, barrel into Cockermouth (the banter writes itself) and meet some Cumberland wrestlers (ditto). Craig also braves a high-wire walkway with a 1,000ft drop. Nervous Bruno cheers him on from the side-lines. 

I’m a big fan of Strictly, and I daresay you are too. But you wouldn’t want to spend time with explosive Bruno and caustic Craig if they were actually like that all the time. It would be exhausting. Their ‘real selves’, of course, are charmingly self-aware. This show is a simple pleasure, no guilt required.

Ambulance – Thursday, BBC One, 9pm

“Ambulance service, is the patient breathing?” Winner of the 2018 TV BAFTA for Best Factual Series, Ambulance is right up there in the pantheon of frontline medical documentaries. Like the similarly stellar 24 Hours in A&E, it’s both a tribute to the stalwart professionalism of NHS workers and an affecting meditation on the fragility of life. 

Filmed last year during lockdown, when over 11 million people dialled 999 for an ambulance, the latest series follows paramedics from the North West Ambulance Service as they deal with an unprecedented situation. 

As always, we are embedded within a delicately tailored patchwork of human stories: there is humour, hope, compassion and tragedy. Christopher Eccleston is your suitably sensitive and unobtrusive narrator.

Undercover Big Boss – Thursday, STV, 9pm

You may recall this series when it originally aired on Channel 4 between 2009 and 2014. And now it’s back, on ITV. The format couldn’t be more straightforward: to find out what life is really like for their shop floor employees, multi-millionaire chief executives don disguises and get their pampered hands dirty (theoretically speaking). 

In this episode, Robert Forrester, the CEO of leading car dealership group Bristol Street Motors, pretends to be a history lecturer presenting a documentary about people changing their careers during the pandemic. 

A Walter White lookalike who has never sold a car in his life, Forrester learns some hopefully lasting lessons about the pressures of living hand to mouth with no job security.

Deceit – Friday, Channel 4, 9pm

On the morning of 15^th July 1992, Rachel Nickell was brutally murdered while walking on Wimbledon Common with her two-year-old son. A horrifying case, it attracted widespread media attention. The police were inundated with calls from the public. They needed to find the murderer as quickly as possible. 

This uncomfortable four-part drama examines the controversy surrounding their investigation, which involved an undercover policewoman gaining the trust, or even love, of a chief suspect. A miscarriage of justice ensued. 

Niamh Algar delivers an excellent, finely nuanced performance as the conflicted ‘honey-trapper’, but this story – which is worth telling in theory – is undermined by heavy-handed writing and direction, plus an absurdly mannered performance from Eddie Marsan as a creepy criminal profiler. Deceit leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Blind Ambition – Saturday 31st July, BBC Two

Television director Jamie O’Leary has very bad eyesight. His glasses prescription is -32. The average short-sighted person has a prescription of -2.5. In this affirmative programme, he met various blind artists to find out how they’ve coped with losing their sight. 

The self-deprecating host – who has a background in both comedy and documentaries about disability - was accompanied by blind comedian Jamie MacDonald, a cheerfully cynical deadpan wit who was entirely in tune with O’Leary’s approach. They struck a good balance between taking the subject seriously while finding some of the humour within it. 

Their encounters with a photographer, a rapper and an opera singer – to name but three of their interviewees – were funny and enlightening.

Harry Birrell Presents Films of Scotland – Tuesday 3rd August, BBC Scotland

In the final episode of this charming series, we delved further into the archives of the late Harry Birrell. A talented amateur filmmaker who compiled an evocative document of life in post-war 20^th century Scotland, Birrell was incredibly prolific; I like to think that he knew his hobby – his benign obsession - was of everlasting social value. 

Among the highlights were people water-skiing on Highland lochs and footage of the last days of Glasgow’s tramway system. But the most poignant snapshots were Birrell’s wedding day and the birth of his children (who paid tribute throughout the episode). Here were lives preserved on camera, in living cine colour. 

Both episodes are available for your enrichment on iPlayer.

 

 

I AM VICTORIA + WRITE AROUND THE WORLD WITH RICHARD E. GRANT + RIGHT HERE: THE BLACK VEIL

This article was originally published in The Courier on 31st July 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

I Am Victoria – Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm

Series two of this female-led anthology from writer/director Dominic Savage begins with an emotionally raw drama about the importance of seeking help when you need it most. 

Savage, much like Mike Leigh, favours a creative process whereby he collaborates closely with his actors; these characters and narratives are borne of carefully controlled improvisation. The star and co-creator of episode one is the brilliant Suranne Jones. 

She plays Victoria, a successful businesswoman with a supportive husband (Ashley Walters) and two beautiful children. But underneath that seemingly – and as it transpires, desperately – perfect façade, Victoria is struggling with her mental health. I Am Victoria is intense, riveting, sad yet hopeful. And Jones is quite extraordinary.

How Healthy is Your Gut? – Tuesday, Channel 4, 8pm

Bloating, flatulence, heartburn, diarrhoea: it is reported that over half of the UK’s population suffers from digestive problems. If you can – and I really am so sorry about this – stomach it, this frank documentary actually provides some useful advice about what we should do to boost our gut health and general quality of life. 

Your friendly host is Sabrina Grant, who enlists the help of six volunteers tasked with trying out various popular diets and treatments – including colonic hydrotherapy - to see if they have any significant effect. Perhaps inevitably, gastrointestinal cameras are involved. 

But the programme, to its credit, avoids the cheap and childish ‘tee-hee’ route. Digestive problems can be very embarrassing and, in some cases, seriously debilitating.

Country Life for Half the Price with Kate Humble – Tuesday, Channel 5, 8pm

According to this series, more and more people are fleeing the pressures of urban life for a different set of pressures in the countryside. 

This week, Humble meets a couple who have prepared for their move to South West Wales by rearing ducks and micro-pigs in their back garden in suburban Reading. They want to live somewhere with fewer people and with more space for themselves and their two young boys. 

Humble follows them – from a safe distance – as they begin their rural adventure during a year of lockdown. All those plans for opening a petting zoo and a crafts workshop have to be put on hold. But they do at least learn how to forage for stuff.

Our Family Farm Rescue with Adam Henson – Tuesday, Channel 5, 9pm

What is it with Channel 5 and farms? They’re obsessed. But if it stops them from making more malicious programmes about travellers and ‘benefit scroungers’, then I for one support their slide into bucolic monomania. 

In the latest episode of this vehicle for Countryfile alumnus Adam Henson, he meets more fellow farmers who have had to change the way they operate in order to survive. 

On the edge of Snowdonia National Park (see Epic Wales for its second starring role in this week’s schedules), a couple who run a traditional sheep and cattle farm are in serious financial trouble. So they’ve hatched a plan to branch out into the luxury glamping game. Cue the construction of a large geo-dome.

Write Around the World with Richard E. Grant – Tuesday, BBC Four, 9pm

In which that most actorly of actors dons a metaphorical panama hat while travelling around sunny mainland Europe in the footsteps of several notable authors. He wants to examine the ways in which they were inspired by various ancient cities of note. 

The series was presumably filmed two years ago, hence why Grant wanders around the busy streets of Naples without a care in the world. The man is positively rammed to the gills with joie de vivre. 

He goes off the beaten tourist track and marvels at the local culture in time-honoured travelogue style, but the programme does concede a few serious points about poverty and corruption. Authors under review include Charles Dickens, Elena Farrante and Elizabeth Gilbert.

Right Here: The Black Veil – Tuesday, BBC Scotland, 10:30pm

A new series of documentaries from emerging filmmakers, Right Here celebrates the diversity of life in modern Scotland. 

It begins with a sweet and tender profile of Bradley, a gender non-binary person preparing for their wedding to partner Emma. This will be the first time that some of their friends and family members will have seen Bradley presenting in female clothing. 

Bradley is also a member of The Order of Perpetual Indulgence, an LGBTQ+ protest group dedicated to “banishing stigma and spreading universal joy”. The film’s title refers to the highest ranking within the order, into which Bradley is about to be initiated. 

A thoughtful and articulate person, all Bradley wants is to be accepted for who they are.

Epic Wales: Valleys, Mountains & Coasts – Friday, Channel 4, 8pm

I’ve barely set foot outside my flat during the last eighteen months, and yet thanks to my dogged pursuit of writing about television, I feel like I’ve seen more of scenic Britain via travelogues than I ever did when life was relatively free and easy. That’s not right. 

This one features suitably awestruck narration from Cerys Matthews, who introduces us to “farmers and fishermen, artists and adventurers, nature savers and stargazers” based in Wales’ three National Parks. 

It’s a standard TV format, you know exactly what to expect, but it works. Programmes such as this depict Britain as a beauteous wonderland populated by nice, interesting people keeping simple traditions alive. They’re a much-needed source of fantasy respite.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Take Off with Bradley & Holly – Saturday 24th July, BBC One

This series was filmed just before the global lockdown. That’s why it happily sends contestants off on luxury foreign holidays. The winning destinations last week were Hollywood and Las Vegas, thus necessitating the presence of a studio-bound Elvis impersonator who looked more like Quentin Tarantino mimicking Neil Diamond. 

Hosts Bradley Walsh and Holly Willoughby are safe pairs of hands, each comfortable in their respective roles. He’s the cheeky chappie who ‘mucks about’, she’s the nice, friendly, daffy one. They’re an inoffensive double-act. 

The show itself is a hodgepodge of familiar Saturday night light entertainment formats – quizzes, pranks, feel-good human interest stories – indebted to the pioneering visions of Cilla Black and Noel Edmonds. I’ve seen worse.

Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel – Saturday 24th July, BBC One

The Saturday fun on BBC One continued with the return of this quiz in which the relentlessly buoyant McIntyre presides over a cabal of celebrities with specialist areas of expertise. 

They’re seated on the perimeter of a large roulette wheel. Members of the public are perched in the centre. The contestants field questions while hoping that the spinning wheel of fortune settles on a celeb who knows their onions. And that’s more or less it. 

The format is far too thin to sustain its 60-minute running time; thirty minutes would more than suffice. Put it this way, it’s no Danny Dyer’s The Wall. Coming soon: John Bishop’s The Rhomboid; Claudia Winkleman’s The Tankard; Ashley Banjo’s The Bath. You get the idea.