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woman who knew on some semi-ironic level that her work was absurd, but she also adhered to a sincerely confused and outdated concept of feminism: her powerful female characters were always rich and beautiful.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.