IT TAKES A FLOOD... + JOANNA LUMLEY & THE HUMAN SWAN + THE OUTLAWS

This article was originally published in The Courier on 30th October.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

It Takes a Flood… - Tuesday, STV, 9pm

It’s no coincidence that, as COP26 unfolds in Glasgow, green themes abound on television this week. And here’s the urgent centrepiece. 

Directed by acclaimed Scottish filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void; The Last King of Scotland), this compassionate documentary examines the devastating physical and psychological damage of the floods that hit Britain during the summer of 2021. 

Told via testimonies from people whose homes and businesses were destroyed in a matter of hours, it provides stark evidence of our omnipresent climate change crisis. And it’s only going to get worse. One in six homes in the UK are now at risk from flooding. 

Macdonald’s film is a vital emergency warning; its message cannot be ignored.

Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution – Monday, BBC One, 9pm 

The final chapter of this probing essay begins in 2005, when New Labour won a third term in office; albeit with their majority slashed by 100 seats. It charts the growing tensions between Blair and Brown, and the eventual ‘coup’ that finally allowed the latter to become PM. 

When Brown was handed the keys to 10 Downing Street, he was generally well-liked and trusted; a welcome alternative to Blair. But the honeymoon period was fleeting. 

Despite his fairly commendable handling of the global financial crisis, Brown’s days were numbered. The Tories and their allies in the media went in for the kill. By 2009, after 12 years in power, New Labour were no more. Out of the frying pan…

Joanna Lumley & The Human Swan – Monday, STV, 9pm

In September of this year, environmental activist Dan Burton tragically lost his life in a mid-air collision. He was circumnavigating Britain alongside fellow campaigner Sacha Dench; their electric paramotor mission was launched to raise awareness of climate change. COP26 in Glasgow was to be their final destination. 

Joanna Lumley followed this story from the ground. Burton and Dench’s families encouraged her to complete the programme. The results are sensitive and inspiring. 

Burton and Dench come across as modest yet remarkable people. As Lumley admits, feeling small and helpless is an understandable reaction to the situation we’re in. The worst case scenario is overwhelming. But we can still make a difference.

The Outlaws – Monday, BBC One, 10:35pm

For some strange reason, BBC Scotland have demoted episode two of Stephen Merchant’s enjoyable comedy drama to a graveyard shift. Its primetime 9pm slot has now been filled by a series called Scotland from the Sky, which may be essential viewing for all I know, but it still feels like a foot-shooting blunder. This is a crowd-pleasing show. 

Anyway. This week we find out more about our sympathetic gang, while the plot kicks into second gear. Merchant, unlike his erstwhile comedy partner, has a fundamental grasp of narrative structure and character development. The Outlaws is funny, compelling and good-natured. I actually care about these people and their predicaments. It deserves to be a hit.

Growing Up Green – Monday, BBC Scotland, 11pm

The Findhorn Foundation is a unique rural community in the North East of Scotland. Built on an eco-friendly ethos of natural sustainability, it’s a green oasis of calm. This documentary communes with three young adults who were raised there. 

People from ‘the outside world’ often assume that they’re members of a weird religious cult, but that’s clearly not the case. The programme carries no sinister subtext: these kids are astute, intelligent and well-adjusted. 

They’re fully aware that wagging a self-righteous finger is counterproductive, they’re not here to preach, but the gentle message they expound is now more important than ever. The cat and I have already booked a one-way ticket.

Orkney: Britain’s Green Islands with Julia Bradbury & Alex Beresford – Tuesday, STV, 8:30pm

And here’s another healthy gust of environmental cheer for us all. It’s a new series in which the eternally peripatetic Julia Bradbury and ITV weatherman Alex Beresford travel around the Orkneys – via electric transport, of course – to marvel at the considerable benefits of wind turbines. 

They meet a local jam-maker whose energy bills have been reduced by two thirds, and a miller whose mill harnesses running water, while visiting a fishing community that’s thrived since going green, and a natural harbour used as a test site for wave energy. 

They also reveal how surplus turbine-generated electricity is being converted into hydrogen, which can be used instead of fossil fuels. They’re way ahead up there.

Sort Your Life Out – Thursday, BBC One, 8pm

“The average family home contains thousands of items we don’t really need, and living in all this clutter is making us miserable.” So says Stacey Solomon at the start of this sunny lifestyle series, in which she helps people to declutter their lives. 

This week she visits a single working mum of three girls. Solomon and her team gently encourage them to let go of certain things, but never in a judgemental way. “I’ve got three childhoods in here,” says Mum with a bittersweet smile. 

It’s an emotional experience for all concerned. I was reminded of the toys and drawings-friendly single-parent household I grew up in. The exceedingly likeable Solomon is in her natural habitat here.

LAST WEEK’S TV

The ‘80s: Music’s Greatest Decade? With Dylan Jones – Saturday 23rd October, BBC Two

Former GQ editor Dylan Jones seems to be under the impression that the 1980s are in danger of being forgotten as a major pop decade. Which is nonsense, its enormous influence is a matter of record (there’s a pun there if you want it). 

But here he is anyway, with a new series in which he celebrates the emergence of synth-pop, hip-hop, acid house and guitar-based indie. 

Episode one was a breathless overview; pretty much your standard 1980s pop doc, replete with the usual nods to sociohistorical context. But it was elevated by contributions from Jazzie B, Cookie Crew, Nile Rodgers and Trevor Horn, all of whom deserve their own documentaries.

The Long Call – Monday 25th October to Thursday 28th, STV

This numbingly generic crime drama had the sticky fingerprints of Broadchurch all over it. Practically a carbon copy, in fact. These flavourless, unambitious, churned-out ITV thrillers are fascinating in a way; they have no depth or individual character whatsoever. A lazy compendium of clichés. 

This one starred yet another jobbing cop with a divine panoramic view from the window of his inexplicably enormous house. Even the inclusion of an evangelical religious cult commandeered by Martin Shaw and Juliet Stevenson couldn’t rescue it. 

 

THE OUTLAWS + BLAIR & BROWN: THE NEW LABOUR REVOLUTION + CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM

This article was originally published in The Courier on 23rd October 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

The Outlaws – Monday, BBC One, 9pm

An agreeable comedy thriller co-devised by writer/director Stephen Merchant, The Outlaws follows a group of strangers doing community service in Bristol. 

Our mismatched antiheroes are: an obnoxious Daily Mail-reading businessman; a militant left-wing black woman; a studious Asian teenager who shoplifts as a cry for help; a damaged reality TV star; a black teen from a high-rise estate who’s in trouble with a local gang (Merchant’s co-writer Elgin James is a former gang member); Merchant himself playing a variation on his usual blundering character; and a roguish ex-con played by Christopher Walken (yes, really). 

It’s knowingly presented as a microcosm of modern Britain, albeit one inhabited by Christopher Walken. The entire premise is fraught with potential embarrassment, but Merchant and James are clearly coming from a good place. The results are rather sweet, sharp and addictive.

Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

The penultimate episode of this riveting series confronts Blair’s defining legacy: the war in Iraq. It gradually becomes a psychological study of this haunted man, as he struggles to present his case for the defence. 

Blair trots out his familiar spiel, presumably honed over several sleepless nights. “I think about the decision and its consequences virtually every day,” he says. But still he can’t fully admit that he made a catastrophic mistake. 

Clare Short, who resigned in opposition to the war, reveals that there was no serious plan in place to take care of the Iraqi people once Saddam was dethroned. “Which is disgraceful,” she sighs. Brown, meanwhile, more or less admits that the government’s actions “were not proportionate.”  

Curb Your Enthusiasm – Monday, Sky Showcase, 10:40pm

It’s (somewhat) remarkable to consider that this impeccable sitcom has been running, off and on, for over 20 years. It’s always a pleasure when another season rolls around, as Larry David and co rarely disappoint. 

The latest run begins with an episode titled The Five Foot Fence. I wish I could tell you what this entails, but unfortunately preview copies weren’t available. However, I'm fairly certain it will involve comical misunderstandings, ludicrous petty grievances and various characters losing patience with our hero. Guest stars this year include Jon Hamm, Woody Harrelson and Tracey Ullman. 

Curb Your Enthusiasm is an A-grade farce orchestrated by a true comic maestro; how blessed are we to live in its epoch.

Who Do You Think You Are? – Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm

TV’s ever-popular celebrity gene-fest continues with a particularly poignant episode in which TV presenter and former England footballer Alex Scott finds out more about her Jewish and Jamaican ancestry. 

She’s proud to discover that her great grandfather fought against Mosley’s fascists during the Battle of Cable Street. The other side of her family were part of the Windrush generation, but up until now she’s never known anything about their lives in Jamaica. 

The story she uncovers during her visit there is terribly sad on a number of levels. It involves slavery, poverty and mental illness. This is Who Do You Think You Are? at its best: a sensitive and perceptive piece of far-reaching history.

Impeachment: American Crime Story – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9:15pm

In episode two of this darkly comic drama about the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, the protagonists finally meet. It charts the early stages of their clandestine affair, during which the unworldly Lewinsky fell for a powerful and utterly disingenuous man who made her feel special. We’re essentially watching a predator grooming his victim. 

Meanwhile, the press start to dig into allegations of sexual harassment. Clive Owen is very good as sleazebag Clinton, he captures his husky snake oil charm to a tee. 

But the star turn once again is Sarah Paulson as the Machiavellian Linda Tripp, who looks and operates in ways not dissimilar to Pauline from The League of Gentlemen. She’s sad yet formidable. It’s an outstanding performance.

My Kind of Town – Wednesday, BBC Scotland, 8pm

Cumnock in Ayrshire is famed for coalmining and being the home of Labour Party founder Keir Hardie. But there’s more to it than that. 

As Glasgow prepares to host COP26, the latest UN conference on climate change, Cumnock is in the process of becoming Scotland’s first green town; hopefully a blueprint for communities in the rest of the country. 

In episode one of this new series, genial host Ian Hamilton and his guide dog Major find out how Cumnock has changed in the 40 years since Thatcher closed the pits. Thankfully, it seems to be thriving. 

Now the UK’s largest manufacturer of fire engines, the factory in question is pioneering the use of zero emission electric vehicles. 

Peckham’s Finest – Wednesday, ITV2, 10pm

This buoyant reality show focuses on various young black people living in the London district of Peckham. They’re a likeable bunch; spending time with them just shooting the breeze and going about their daily business is a thoroughly pleasant experience. 

This week, pole dancer Kelechi teaches a class for two plus-sized women who want to feel better about themselves. It’s a success. Meanwhile, DJ and local radio presenter Gilly hopes to give something back to his community by creating a new creative hub for local kids; a place that will inspire them. 

Peckham’s Finest is a refreshingly positive endeavour. There is no manufactured drama or conflict, it seeks only to spread good cheer. Imagine that!

LAST WEEK’S TV

The Trick – Monday 18th October, BBC One

In 2009, shortly before the UN summit on climate change, hackers stole thousands of emails from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. The perpetrators were climate change deniers who falsely claimed that the emails contained proof that global warming is a lie. 

This standalone drama revisited ‘Climategate’ from the perspectives of those directly caught up in it, chief among them Professor Philip Jones (the brilliant Jason Watkins), a respected scientist who suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of the attack. 

A hugely important subject, but unfortunately it was handled in a frustratingly unfocused and stiffly expositional way. Jones was the emotional core, but too often it strayed away from him. A well-intentioned disappointment.

The Love Trap – Wednesday 20th October, Channel 4

One handsome eligible bachelor. A mansion full of beautiful women. Yes, this new series is just never-ending American reality series The Bachelor in thinly disguised UK trousers. But it’s worse. Much worse. 

Half of the women, we're told, are there for a legitimate chance of romance, but the other 50% are only interested in the prize money. It’s up to our personality-deficient hunk to decide who’s on the level and who should literally be dropped through a trapdoor. I wish I was making this up. Begone, gold-digging woman! Truly a misogynist’s dream. 

What an idiotic, offensive and profoundly depressing misfire. It’s 2021. We’re supposed to be better than this.

ASHLEY BANJO: BRITAIN IN BLACK & WHITE + IMPEACHMENT: AMERICAN CRIME STORY + FOUR HOURS AT THE CAPITOL

 A version of this article was originally published in The Courier on 16th October 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Ashley Banjo: Britain in Black & White ‐ Tuesday, STV, 9pm

Last year, on Britain’s Got Talent, Ashley Banjo and Diversity performed a powerful interpretive dance piece in response to the murder of George Floyd. 

Banjo knew it would spark a debate, that was the point, but he wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming torrent of criticism he received. In this probing programme, Banjo examines how racism manifests itself in Britain today.

One of his interviewees is the always astute historian David Olusoga, who makes the key observation that, although institutional racism is no longer overt in our society, it still exists in more insidious forms. 

Banjo also meets notoriously bigoted comedian Jim Davidson, who storms off when his logical fallacies are challenged ‐ thus proving Banjo’s point that all forms of prejudice are irrational.

Michael X: Hustler, Revolutionary, Outlaw ‐ Monday, Sky Showcase, 10pm

Michael X was a radical civil rights activist who, in the 1960s and early 1970s, positioned himself as the face of Black Power in Britain. 

Born Michael de Freitas in Trinidad and Tobago, he was eventually found guilty of murder and sentenced to death in his homeland. This documentary attempts to make sense of his complex, murky legacy. 

De Freitas once worked as an enforcer for a notorious slum landlord, until a chance encounter with Malcolm X changed the course of his life. He was a charismatic, articulate and often controversial (self‐appointed) spokesman for Britain’s black community. He was also violent, messianic and ruthless. 

The film features contributions from some of those who knew him, as well as the brother of one of his victims.

Impeachment: American Crime Story ‐ Tuesday, BBC Two, 9:15pm

From the team that brought you vivid dramas about the trial of O.J. Simpson and the assassination of Gianni Versace, comes this fairly promising miniseries about the infamous Clinton‐Lewinsky scandal. 

The tone is slightly camp and knowing, but it’s sympathetic towards Lewinsky. She’s depicted as a harmless ingénue who was betrayed and unfairly vilified. The scene‐stealing villain of the piece is Linda Tripp, the disgruntled civil servant who manipulated Lewinsky into doing her bidding. Clinton is played by, of all people, Clive Owen, although he only turns up at the end of episode one. 

Despite the bleakly amusing tone, this is a fundamentally serious drama about sexism and abuse of power.

Shetland ‐ Wednesday, BBC One, 9pm

Series six of this atmospheric, windswept detective yarn begins with DI Jimmy Perez (the always watchable Douglas Henshall) mourning the recent death of his mother. Shetland is rarely cheerful, but that’s why people tune in: it is, at its core, a rather sad and occasionally quite soulful piece of Celtic noir. Plus the stories are generally solid. 

This week, Perez investigates the murder of a controversial local businessman. As if the poor guy doesn’t have enough on his plate (his widowed dad is struggling with dementia). 

Yes, the sheer amount of crime that occurs in this fictionalised Shetland is fundamentally absurd, but if that can’t be overlooked then other shows of a similar ilk are available.

Four Hours at the Capitol ‐ Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm

On 6th January 2021, a violent mob of alt-right yahoos ‐ who couldn’t accept that their spiritual king Donald Trump had been dethroned ‐ invaded the Capitol in Washington. Trump, stung and embittered by his humiliating defeat, encouraged his supporters to “fight like hell”. He instigated a riot. 

This blow‐by‐blow documentary, most of it filmed by the protestors themselves, hurls us directly into the chaos. It’s a tense, disturbing study of mob mentality; of how people with axes to grind can be fired up by inflammatory rhetoric and safety in numbers. 

It also reminds us that four protesters and a police officer died during the riot. Four officers subsequently took their own lives. Trump escaped scot‐free.

Extraordinary Extensions ‐ Wednesday, Channel 4, 9pm

The musician and rapper Tinie Tempah is a property developer/designer on the side. That’s why he’s hosting this barely disguised version of Grand Designs, in which he follows various people as they add ambitious extensions to their homes. 

In episode one he meets a pleasant pair of ageing hippies ‐ the husband makes lysergic graphic novelist Alan Moore look like William Rees‐Mogg ‐ who are renovating their 17^th century yeoman’s cottage. He also witnesses a suburban Edwardian home being given a stylish experimental makeover. 

The only real difference between this and Grand Designs is that Tempah is sympathetic towards the participants. He’s a natural presenter too; a relaxed and likeable presence.

Charlene White: Empire’s Child ‐ Thursday, STV, 9pm

Black History Month continues with this poignant programme in which genial journalist and Loose Women host Charlene White examines how the painful legacy of Britain’s empire has shaped the lives of black people in Britain; her own family included. 

It’s basically an episode of BBC One’s Who Do You Think You Are?, but the stolen format works well in this particular context. The more White digs into her tangled family tree, the more saddened she becomes. This, inevitably, is a story of slavery and exploitation. 

“Is it a nice history?” she asks. “No. But I still feel it was something I needed to know.” And she’s also, quite rightly, proud of what her ancestors achieved.

LAST WEEK’S TV

The Larkins ‐ Sunday October 10, STV

A big hit for ITV in the early 1990s, The Darling Buds of May was always due a comeback. Bradley Walsh and Joanna Scanlan are perfectly cast as Pop and Ma Larkin, a bumptious married couple presiding over their large happy family in an early 1960s English village. 

The central premise of these stories has always been appealing: the Larkins are benign bohemian rebels who thumb their noses at snobbery and hypocrisy. From a certain angle they could be mistaken for working‐class socialist heroes. 

But the problem, as before, is that the show is whimsical to a fault. Its relentless bonhomie comes across as smug and ingratiating, rather than charming. Still, a harmless bit of fluff.

Angela Black ‐ Sunday October 10, STV

Joanne Froggatt stars in this stark drama as a victim of domestic violence. Every day, Angela has to pretend that everything is fine. She and her physically abusive and coercively controlling husband are the only people who know the truth. 

Or so it initially seemed: in episode one, Angela was approached by a seemingly sympathetic private investigator who’d been hired by her husband to manufacture evidence that would make her look like an unfit mother. He eventually revealed that his employer was planning to murder her. 

Written by Harry and Jack Williams (The Missing; Baptiste), Angela Black is quite delicately handled for the most part, and its message is important. Victims of abuse can’t just leave, they’re trapped.

 

LADY BOSS: THE JACKIE COLLINS STORY + BLANKETY BLANK + RIDLEY ROAD

This article was originally published in The Courier on 9th October 2021. 

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story – Friday, BBC Two, 9pm

A phenomenally successful author of 'racy' romantic fiction, the late Jackie Collins is generally regarded as a kitsch emblem of trashy '80s excess. This documentary attempts to bestow some dignity upon her. It partially succeeds. 

A documentarian’s dream, Collins accumulated a vast personal archive of diaries, letters, home movies and an unfinished memoir. She comes across as a sharp, sensitive woman who knew on some semi-ironic level that her work was absurd, but she also adhered to a sincerely confused and outdated concept of feminism: her powerful female characters were always rich and beautiful. 

The film – which boasts candid contributions from friends and family-members, her sister Joan included - takes Collins seriously while acknowledging her contradictions. It is, I think, a fair and sympathetic assessment of an interesting pop culture figure.

Inside the Zoo – Monday, BBC Scotland, 8pm

Edinburgh Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore are both home to a variety of endangered creatures. This comforting series puts them in the spotlight while spending time with their dedicated ‘keepers’. 

I fully sympathise with the view that animals shouldn’t be in zoos at all, but it’s not a binary issue. We’ve made such a mess of this world; zoos and wildlife reserves are a necessary compromise. These good, kind people are doing what they can for our beaked and furry friends. 

In episode one we witness the gentle nurturing of a tiger, an employee getting to grips with the specific needs of owls, and the carefully monitored nesting process of Edinburgh’s famous penguins. 

Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

Part two of this revealing series begins with Labour’s landslide election victory in 1997. Things could only get better. 

Tony “I’m a pretty straight sort of guy” Blair rode a wave of optimism throughout that honeymoon period, which encompassed his astute public handling of Princess Diana’s tragic death and hitherto unthinkable steps towards peace in Northern Ireland (if only Mo Mowlam was still around to give her side of Blair’s self-serving story). 

But of course it couldn’t last. Blair and Brown’s arrogant spin doctors went to war, causing self-defeating rifts within the government. Watching these people – all the major players provide new interviews - jostling to justify their actions while settling petty scores is grimly compelling.

Nature and Us: A History Through Art – Monday, BBC Four, 9pm

Our relationship with the natural world is in crisis. We’re probably doomed. But how did we reach this point? And what can we learn from aeons past? Art is the answer, according to this straightforwardly educational new series. 

It’s hosted by softly-spoken art historian James Fox, who, you’ll be relieved to hear, is fully aware that paintings can’t reverse climate change. “But art is a record,” he enthuses, “it is invaluable, unique evidence of human attitudes around the world and across time.” He’s right. 

Chapter one of his textbook BBC Four essay involves encounters with garrulous academics and experts, plus a Norwegian reindeer herder whose life is still influenced by ancient beliefs in nature’s spiritual energy. 

Guilt – Tuesday, BBC Scotland, 10pm and Thursday, BBC Two, 9pm

Mark Bonnar is one of Britain’s most undervalued character actors. He elevates everything he appears in. So I’m delighted that Guilt, the starring vehicle he’s always deserved, is back for a second series. 

Written by Neil Forsyth of Bob Servant renown, Guilt is a black comedy thriller in which Bonnar plays a borderline (?) sociopathic Edinburgh businessman. Series two begins with him struggling to rebuild his life following the tumultuous events of series one. He spies a property opportunity and runs with it. 

Guilt is funny, smart, cynical, satirical, stylish and violent: Forsyth is basically a Caledonian Coen brother. But it’s not all surface flash, there’s some emotional depth too. A rather fine and distinctive endeavour.

Hunting the Essex Lorry Killers – Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Two years ago, 39 Vietnamese refugees were found dead in the back of a lorry in Essex. They’d suffocated. An appalling tragedy, it sparked one of Britain’s biggest ever murder investigations. 

The perpetrators were members of an organised crime network. Those men were eventually brought to justice, but as this documentary illustrates, the horror of human-trafficking continues to destroy lives. 

It’s a deeply upsetting programme, but the tone is respectful and sensitive. This is a story that has to be told. We hear testimonies from shocked and saddened police officers, but the voices that linger are those of the victims and their grieving relatives. Those final text message exchanges are utterly devastating.

The Cleaner – Friday, BBC One, 9:30pm

I’ve enjoyed this anglicised adaptation of the German sitcom Der Tatorieniger, so much so that I feel compelled to investigate the original: just to compare and contrast. God knows I have nothing better to do. 

But I suspect that writer/star Greg Davies has put his own distinct spin on the source material; it’s just such a perfect fit for his annoyed, tactless, floundering, daft yet fundamentally quite endearing persona. 

In the final episode of series one – a second series is practically guaranteed – crime scene cleaner Wicky reconnects with an old flame while dealing with yet another gruesome tableaux. Unforced pathos ensues. Hats off to Davies for smuggling a slightly unusual sitcom into the BBC One schedules.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Blankety Blank – Saturday 2nd October, BBC One

The latest revival of this knowingly threadbare gameshow wisely sticks to the road-tested format. The spirit, the rhythm, they’re more or less the same as they always were. You can’t improve upon perfection. 

Host Bradley Walsh gets what’s required of him: he’s basically a mildly perplexed stooge, both for the guests and the contestants (Johnny Vegas acquits himself quite well in the traditional Kenny Everett/Freddie Starr agent of chaos role). 

No one will ever beat Les Dawson, of course, who quite brilliantly hosted his tenure with all the enthusiasm of a wrongly accused man doing community service in a layby. But it’s still good fun. It’s Blankety Blank.

Ridley Road – Sunday 3rd October, BBC One

Set in early 1960s London and inspired by true events, this arresting new drama confronts the resurgence of British fascism and neo-Nazism that led several Jewish men and women to form the 62 Group, an anti-fascist resistance movement. 

It’s viewed through the eyes of Vivien, a young Jewish woman who becomes an undercover agent for the group. Despite its period setting, Ridley Road is a timely production; in recent years, poisonous far-right ideology has once again invaded the national discourse in Britain. The fight is far from over.

Episode one illustrated the insidious ways in which fascist organisations exploit ill-informed fears and prejudices. Addressing this issue in the context of an accessible, kinetic, intelligent primetime quasi-thriller, well that’s a canny move.

 

 

BROWN & BLAIR: THE NEW LABOUR REVOLUTION + DEMENTIA & US + SAVILE: PORTRAIT OF A PREDATOR

A version of this article was originally published in The Courier on 2nd October 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

This fascinating series traces the epochal rise and fall of New Labour, a nominally successful project in which the Labour Party made itself electable by abandoning its socialist principles.

The timing isn’t accidental: Labour, post-Corbyn, are currently struggling to repeat that trick. The key difference between then and now, as the programme makes clear, is that Tony Blair once presented himself as a plausible and vaguely charismatic leader. 

Episode one illustrates how Labour managed to overhaul its image. Blair comes across as an ambitious, ingratiating salesman. Brown, a serious political thinker, emerges as the better man. 

They both provide telling contributions, as do Mandelson and Campbell. Once Johnson’s reign is over, I hope the team behind this project – who tackled Thatcher’s legacy a few years ago – are able to make a similar series about him.

Scotland’s Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle – Tuesday, BBC Scotland, 8pm

Ben Fogle, with his face like a bemused Easter Island statue, is an affable and mostly harmless buffoon. He presumably means well, as you’ll see in this slightly peculiar Hebridean travelogue/spiritual quest. 

His journey begins in the Inner Hebrides, where he explores its enduring connection with the peaceful tenets of Christianity. These islands have, for aeons, been a magnet for pilgrims, hippies, artists, musicians and poets: people who just want to get away from the noise of life on the mainland. 

One of our host’s interviewees is a transgender woman who hasn’t faced any prejudice at all within her remote island community. If Fogle’s goal was to present the Hebrides as some sort of utopia, then he’s succeeded.

Dementia & Us – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

The symptoms of dementia cannot be strictly diagnosed. It affects people in a complex variety of ways. Filmed over two years, this revealing two-part series follows four people with dementia as they and their loved ones adjust to life with this cruel, debilitating disease. 

The tone at first is somewhat optimistic: people always find a way to thrive with love and laughter. How else are we supposed to get through this unjust ordeal? If you’re diagnosed with dementia, that doesn’t mean your life is over. Far from it. But there is no happy ending. 

Dementia & Us is an honest, sensitive, sad, unflinching and important piece of television. It strikes a nerve. It matters.

Murder Island – Tuesday, Channel 4, 9:30pm

Crime writer Ian Rankin is the brains behind this new genre-bending reality series, in which eight members of the public investigate a specially-written murder mystery. Preview copies weren’t available at the time of writing, but the premise is intriguing. 

Our amateur sleuths pitch up on a craggy island in the hope of solving that week’s case and winning a £50,000 reward. They’ll receive expert guidance from (presumably fictional) police officers while encountering various suspects – all of whom appear to be harbouring dark secrets. Episode one apparently involves a fatal land dispute. 

It sounds, in essence, like a more extravagant version of that old Cluedo TV adaptation from the 1980s, so it could be lots of fun.

Our Lives: Boots & Beards – Wednesday, BBC One, 7:30pm

A Scots-Asian hillwalking group, Boots & Beards is a healthy, heartening community endeavour. This delightful documentary meets its Glasgow-based founders, cousins Naveed and Kashif, who devised the concept five years ago as a way of bringing friends and family members together. It blossomed from there. 

We follow the group – which includes men, women and children - as they return to Scotland’s great outdoors after a year in lockdown. They’re also preparing for their one hundredth walk. 

As with all Our Lives documentaries, this is a sweet celebration of good, inspiring, ‘ordinary’ people. Treat yourselves to a pick-me-up marathon on iPlayer. When viewed from a certain angle, the world’s not so bad after all.

Iceland with Alexander Armstrong – Wednesday, Channel 5, 9pm

According to ‘Xander’ himself, the only thing he knew about Iceland before making this series is that it’s where Bjork comes from. Oh, and there are puffins. So you do get the impression that he’s actually learning something about that beautiful, rugged isle. 

To his credit, he seems genuinely smitten with the geography, people and culture of Iceland. In episode one he circles an active volcano via helicopter, meets a nice woman who believes in elves, hangs out with Iceland’s ‘scary’ 2019 Eurovision entrants, visits a male genitalia museum and marvels at an actual massive organ (oh, please yourselves etc.).

Iceland comes across as an impeccably groovy and eccentric place. They’re way ahead over there. 

Savile: Portrait of a Predator – Thursday, STV, 9pm

How did Jimmy Savile, one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders, manage to commit his crimes without punishment? This damning report reveals all. Well, sort of. 

Savile was a calculating opportunist who inveigled his way into environments – hospitals, nightclubs, television studios – where he could prey upon vulnerable young people. 

He formed a shield of protection around himself via supposedly altruistic charity work and friendships with powerful establishment figures such as Margaret Thatcher and Prince Charles (neither of whom, the lawyered-up programme hastily points out, were aware of his heinous ulterior motives). 

Those with suspicions either turned a blind eye or felt powerless to challenge him. A sickening saga, it features testimonies from victims, witnesses and a former Yewtree detective. One hopes that programmes such as this will encourage people to listen to victims of abuse.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Spice Girls: How Girl Power Changed Britain – Tuesday 28th September, Channel 4

The final episode of this surprisingly thoughtful and touching series followed the individual Spice Girls in the wake of their split. They weren’t prepared for life in the spotlight on their own; they’d always had each other for protection. 

The grubby tabloid media had a field day with them. The sheer amount of sexism and misogyny they were subjected to was appalling. Mel B also experienced blatant racism. 

This wasn’t ‘just’ the story of a successful pop group, it was a frank critique of the double standards that women are forced to endure in a male-dominated world. And via testimonies from their fans, it proved that the Spice Girls actually meant something. The power of pop is a beautiful thing.

The Cleaner – Friday 1st October, BBC One

Episode four of this enjoyable farce took place in a stately home, where crime scene cleaner Wicky (writer/star Greg Davies) encountered a rude, patronising aristocrat played by the great Stephanie Cole. 

She told the police that a burglar had fallen down the stairs – hence the bloody mess – but it eventually transpired that she’d beaten him to death with a golf club. Her failed attempt to buy Wicky’s silence confirmed that, for all his verbal blundering, he’s a fundamentally decent man who’s good at his job. 

This instalment, which hung together neatly, also featured a fantastic cameo from Donald Sumpter – who’s been an old man since birth – as a mad, bellicose bigot. Good, clean, grisly fun.