MARY BEARD'S FORBIDDEN ART + THE TEACHER + TRIGGER POINT

This article was originally published in The Courier on 29th January 2022.

NEXT WEEK’S TV 

Mary Beard’s Forbidden Art – Thursday, BBC Two, 9pm

The eminent art historian is on typically frank, thoughtful and engaging form in this new essay about the complicated nature of offence. 

She examines various works of art which have, for various reasons, been deemed unacceptable throughout history. Beard isn’t interested in judging whether the controversial works in question are intrinsically good or bad, she’s more concerned with finding out just why they’re considered taboo. 

Isn’t it the artist’s right to challenge and provoke? And who gets to decide whether they’ve crossed a line? There are no easy answers, but Beard does a good job of contextualising her nuanced multitude of ethical debates. 

NB: episode one contains scenes of wanton bodily excretions. You have been warned.

The Responder – Monday to Wednesday, BBC One, 9pm

The best British drama of our fledgling year so far, The Responder makes most contemporary cop shows look facile by comparison. It’s ‘gritty’, yes, but not in a self-important way. 

Writer Tony Schumacher has devised a compelling thriller which also happens to be a sensitive study of depression, anxiety, addiction and abuse. It’s an unvarnished depiction of a society that allows vulnerable people to sink into the shadows, with no hope or support in sight. 

And when it makes you laugh – which it sometimes does – it’s never at the expense of a fundamentally serious and sympathetic message. 

Schumacher ratchets up the tension in the final stages. A happy ending is far from guaranteed. Life is rarely so neat.

The Teacher – Monday to Thursday, Channel 5, 9pm

Stripped throughout the week, this stark four-part drama stars Sheridan Smith as a secondary school teacher whose chaotic personal life is in danger of unravelling completely. 

Jenna is good at her job. She’s liked and respected by most of her pupils and colleagues. But she drinks too much and suffers from blackouts. 

One drunken evening in a club, while celebrating a promotion, Jenna bumps into one of her favourite pupils. The next morning, she has no memory of what happened. But soon the police are knocking at her door. 

The Teacher broaches uncomfortable territory. Jenna is sympathetic, and yet she may be guilty of a terrible crime. An intriguing piece, and Smith, as always, is entirely convincing.

Janet Jackson – Monday and Tuesday, Sky Showcase, 9pm

This four-part profile of the influential pop superstar is her attempt to set the record straight. Jackson doesn’t do many interviews; what do we really know about her? Not that it’s any of our business, but she endorsed this project so here we go. 

I only had access to episode one, but I’m pleased to report that she comes across as a nice, well-adjusted person. Which is remarkable under the circumstances. 

Jackson reflects upon her often tumultuous life and career in the company of various family members. And yes, she will comment on the controversy surrounding one of her brothers. Apologies in advance if this turns out to be a puff piece, but it does look quite interesting.

Race and Medical Experiments: What’s the Truth? – Monday, Channel 4, 10pm

Journalist Seyi Rhodes presents this incisive and angering report about the history of unethical medical tests on people of colour. 

As we’ve seen during the COVID pandemic, some black and brown people have resisted vaccination. Their mistrust of medical science is understandably rooted in notorious historical cases such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Trial, in which doctors injected syphilitic African-American males with disguised placebos. They were used to study the effects of syphilis; there was never any intention of helping them. 

But, as Rhodes explains, that atrocity has since been exploited by prominent anti-vaxx grifters who thrive on the lucrative conspiracy theory circuit. Prepare to be appalled by yet another example of institutional racism and culture war madness.

Wonders of the Border – Tuesday, STV, 7:30pm

The Offa’s Dyke Path is a national trail that winds its way along the Welsh/English border for 177 miles. In this cloudless series, Good Morning Britain’s Sean Fletcher explores its verdant contours from the Severn Estuary to the Irish Sea. 

The latest leg of his scenic yomp involves an encounter with a farmer who feeds beer to his cows (don’t worry, it’s all above board apparently), and a visit to Powis Castle, which is full of treasures stolen by Britain during its conquest of India. According to the curator, they’re on display as a way of teaching visitors about the more insalubrious aspects of British history. 

On a lighter note, Fletcher also enjoys a trip in a bespoke biplane. All bases covered.

Would I Lie to You? – Friday, BBC One, 8:30pm

Describing this warhorse as the only TV comedy panel show worth bothering with may sound like the very faintest of praise, but it’s a consistently cheerful distraction. 

Smiles, chuckles and, on a good night, bona fide big laughs are guaranteed. All aboard the fluctuating mirth express! 

Your guest panellists this week are poet Pam Ayers (who quietly steals the show), comedian Sarah Kendall, broadcaster Richard Osman, and Ghosts star Kiell Smith-Bynoe. 

Questions include: Did Osman once break into his own house while dressed as Darth Vader? Did Smith-Bynoe pretend to be a member of 50 Cent’s support act to get into a nightclub? And did Mitchell once play a prank on his wife using a small plastic wind-up penguin?

LAST WEEK’S TV

Trigger Point – Sunday 23rd January, STV

This new thriller about a bomb disposal squad is curiously lacking in tension. Episode one tried every wire-cutting trick in the book – including a scene in which our hero rescued an innocent man with a bomb strapped to him – and that’s its fatal flaw. Trigger Point is hollow and contrived. 

Despite the best efforts of Vicky McLure and Adrian Lester, good actors both, we were given no reason to care about these characters. They came across as ciphers being dutifully moved around towards the next supposedly nail-biting set-piece. 

When Lester’s character was killed towards the end of the episode, it felt like nothing more than a cheap ‘gotcha’ stunt. Don’t believe the ITV hype, this isn’t their Line of Duty.

The Decade the Rich Won – Tuesday 25th January, BBC Two

Driven by a sense of urgency and despair, this sobering series traces the disastrous after-effects of the 2008 financial crash. 

As everybody knows, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. A dismal injustice triggered by panic-stricken governments pouring huge amounts of money into the system, it ensured that elites mired in private equity tap-danced all the way to the bank. 

The poverty rate in Britain today is higher than it’s ever been this century. We’re all in this together! That was Cameron’s catchphrase at the time. 

Episode one featured contributions from Nick Clegg, Alistair Darling and George Osborne, all of whom tried to deflect blame from themselves. And so it goes on. 

THE RESPONDER + THE NILSEN FILES + I, SNIPER: THE WASHINGTON KILLERS

This article was originally published in The Courier on 22nd January 2022.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

The Responder – Monday and Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm

Martin Freeman delivers a career-best performance in this queasy drama about an urgent response police officer struggling with mental health issues. 

Desperately overworked, he’s had enough. His beat on the mean streets of Liverpool feels futile. “I want to be normal,” he sighs to his therapist. But he’s somehow in the pocket of a local drug dealer (Ian Hart), and hopelessly trapped in a nocturnal odyssey of violence and death. 

Despite that sombre premise, The Responder is liberally peppered with amusing gallows humour: an existential howl of nervous laughter.

Written by former policeman Tony Schumacher, it’s unsentimental yet compassionate in the Jimmy McGovern vein. It feels painfully authentic, so much so that it won’t go down well in police recruitment circles.

Bradley & Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad – Monday, STV, 8pm

I like Bradley Walsh, but he is now officially the most ubiquitous man on television. It’s ridiculous, he’ll probably be presenting Newsnight next. 

But I can’t deny the simple pleasures of this series, in which Walsh and his affable son roam the globe in their massive RV. This week they’re in Hungary. Naturally, Walsh does the “no thanks, I’ve had breakfast” dad joke; it would be disappointing if he didn’t. 

Highlights include a visit to a museum dedicated to one of Hungary’s most famous sons, Harry Houdini. Walsh actually re-enacts the great escapologist’s straitjacket stunt, which involves him hanging upside down from a slowly burning rope, 150 feet above the ground. I kid you not.

The Nilsen Files – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

In 1983, after dismembered human remains were discovered in his flat, the serial killer Dennis Nilsen confessed to claiming the lives of up to 16 young men. This sensitively handled series gives voice to his victims and their families. 

A stark document of early 1980s Britain, it reveals how those men weren’t just victims of Nilsen, but also of mass unemployment, rising homelessness, police indifference and systemic homophobia. They fell through the cracks of a society which, according to Thatcher, didn’t exist. 

Bolstered by impressive research, the programme features contributions from police officers, journalists and a homelessness outreach worker (pictured) who knew one of the victims. Her kindness stands in sharp contrast to the shocking attitudes we encounter elsewhere.

I, Sniper: The Washington Killers – Monday, Channel 4, 10pm

Twenty years ago, a random spate of sniper attacks occurred in the Washington D.C area. Ten people were killed and three were critically injured. The perpetrators were Lee Malvo, who was seventeen at the time, and US Army veteran John Muhammad. 

This grimly absorbing series attempts to explain what motived them to commit such a heinous crime. Not that their motivations will ever make any kind of rational sense, but episode one presents Muhammad as a charismatic yet deeply disturbed individual who seemingly radicalised his vulnerable surrogate son. 

Audio recordings of Malvo being interviewed in prison offer some disquieting insight into his psyche. Other interviewees include two of Malvo’s relatives and some of the victims’ devastated family members.

Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51 – Wednesday, BBC One, 9pm

Jay Blades, the genial presenter of TV favourite The Repair Shop, left school without any qualifications. He’s been told by experts that he has the reading age of an 11-year-old. 

In this programme, he endeavours to improve his literacy skills with assistance from a charity who offer one-to-one coaching. 

Preview copies weren’t available in time, but this sounds like a worthwhile piece of television. It is reported that over eight million adults in the UK, including half of all prisoners, struggle with their reading. 

Blades meets up with people who share his difficulties, while revealing how he runs a successful upholstery business and presents television programmes without any recourse to the written word.

Katie Price’s Mucky Mansion – Wednesday, Channel 4, 9pm

Time now to follow Katie Price as she renovates her dilapidated 19-room mansion in the Sussex countryside. Price has abandoned it, hence why it’s fallen into such a severe state of uninhabitable disrepair. The interior resembles the aftermath of a furious showdown between the Hulk and at least five werewolves. 

“I’d probably be better off knocking it down and starting again,” she sighs. Or making a television series about doing it up. There are always options. 

Renovating the mansion is, according to Price, a psychological process. Its sorry state is a symbolic manifestation of her turbulent private life. That’s the framing device anyway. I wish her nothing but the best, but this is hardly riveting television.

The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk – Wednesday, BBC Two, 10pm

Surreal comedy is a difficult art to pull off. For every successful example such as Monty Python or Vic & Bob, there are a million pretenders who mistakenly think that throwing a load of ‘random’ ideas at the wall will suffice. 

Enter comedian Spencer Jones and his zany alter ego, Herbert Clunkerdunk. Spending time in his mind is like being trapped at an office joker’s power-point presentation. A relentless torrent of self-conscious whimsy and weirdness, it’s utterly exhausting. 

I admire the intent, at least he’s attempting to do something a bit different and unpredictable. He tries very, very hard to please. And that’s the problem, his eccentricity never feels organic. There’s nowt much worse than forced nonsense.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Sue Perkins’ Big American Road Trip – Sunday 16th, Channel 4

You’d be forgiven for sighing at the prospect of yet another famous person enjoying a scenic journey in a campervan, but this new series is actually quite interesting. 

It spotlights a growing subculture of Americans who have swapped their houses for motorhomes. They’ve opted for a life of glorious freedom (while posting about it on social media). 

Perkins’ journey began in California, where she met a young van-lifer who earns a living from vlogging, and a genial hippie Santa who heads an enormous grassroots movement of people who’ve found salvation in this alternative lifestyle. It was quietly inspiring. 

Also, Perkins is a funny and personable traveller who’s interested in finding out about people. A good-natured vehicle.

Dragons’ Den – Thursday 20th January, BBC One

In the latest instalment of this never-ending entrepreneurial fever dream, we met a couple dressed as boy scouts (always enter the Den with a strong visual gimmick). They pitched an idea for the UK’s first summer camp for adults. Alas, the Dragons weren’t impressed by their shaky business plan, so that wacky game of dress-up was pointless. 

Other pitches included a vegan handbag range. The novel twist? Each bag contains some erotic fiction written by the entrepreneurs themselves. They failed to secure an investment.

Believe it or not, Dragons’ Den has actually become a little bit ‘nicer’ of late, possibly because viewers have tired of watching members of the public being belittled by millionaires. I live in hope.

 

 

MARTIN CLUNES: ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC + ANDY WARHOL'S AMERICA + THE GREEN PLANET

This article was originally published in The Courier on 15th January 2022.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Martin Clunes: Islands of the Pacific – Thursday, STV, 9pm

TV’s Martin Clunes is one of the reigning travelogue supremos. And for good reason: he’s very good at his job. Naturally witty, charming, respectful and empathetic, he’s like a sort of idealised foreign ambassador. I’d vote for him. 

This week he natters with some tribesmen who live in the shadow of an active volcano and breaks bread with a tribe who believe that Prince Philip is their God. Some of the elders briefly met him once and they exchanged banal pleasantries. So that’s a relief. 

Clunes also travels to Tonga, an ostensibly conservative Christian nation with a surprisingly tolerant and admirable attitude towards gender fluidity. It’s not an entirely progressive utopia of course, but hats off to Tonga anyway.

Geordie Hospital – Monday, Channel 4, 8pm

Newcastle is home to one of the UK’s biggest NHS hospital trusts. Its personable and dedicated staff are the stars of this new series, which rarely dwells upon the pressures and frustrations of their job. The mood is upbeat, it’s a big ol’ cuddle of a programme. 

Any celebration of Britain’s most essential institution is tacitly political, of course it is, but Geordie Hospital elects to focus exclusively on positive stories. That’s a statement in itself.

Tears and anxieties rear up at times, but even a potentially upsetting segment involving a little boy with a heart defect turns out fine. I for one welcome this warm gust of positivity.

Kelvin’s Big Farming Adventure – Monday, BBC One, 8:30pm

The former Emmerdale actor and Strictly Come Dancing winner Kelvin Fletcher recently bought a farm in the Peak District. A lifelong urbanite, he has no farming experience whatsoever. But if we know one thing about Fletcher, it’s that he enjoys a challenge. 

His agent must’ve been delighted when they heard the news, as a television series following this life-changing development was absolutely guaranteed. And if that sounds cynical, well that’s showbiz. 

We’re all familiar with this formula by now: a celebrity and their family get to grips with renovating barns and stockpiling eggs. Mild setbacks ensue. There is nothing remotely objectionable about this series. It merely exists. I recommend it to fans of tractors, fencing and sheep.

The Secret Life of Our Pets – Tuesday, STV, 8pm

This diverting litle series spotlights the cute side of cognitive animal behaviour research. This week’s theme is emotional intelligence and the powerful bond of trust that exists between domesticated animals and their humans. 

The slightly alarming highlight involves a visit to Switzerland, where we encounter a BASE jumper who enjoys nothing more than parachuting from the edge of massive cliffs with his border collie harnessed to him. 

And while you could question the ethics of placing an animal in that position, the dog doesn’t appear to be remotely distressed. He trusts his thrill-seeking comrade. 

We also learn that goldfish can ‘recognise’ human faces, rats really enjoy playing Hide and Seek, and parrots have an innate sense of rhythm.

Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile – Tuesday, STV, 9pm

The convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is currently facing a custodial sentence of up to 65 years. A key confidante and enabler of the paedophile sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison under mysterious circumstances in 2019, Maxwell’s entitled circle of friends included the thoroughly disgraced Prince Andrew. 

This report, which for obvious reasons was still being edited as I write these words, features contributions from some of Epstein and Maxwell’s victims. It also promises to examine damning evidence from Maxwell’s trial, as well as Prince Andrew’s alleged involvement in this hideous scandal. It seems increasingly likely that he will face a civil court case. 

Your host is Good Morning Britain’s Political Editor Ranvir Singh.

Toast of Tinseltown – Tuesday, BBC Two, 10pm

Are things looking up for the belligerent, oafish and perpetually thwarted ham actor Steven Toast? During the latest stage of his Hollywood odyssey he’s invited to audition for the role of a butler in an unnecessarily ambitious and expensive movie. He only has one line, but if he impresses the tyrannical director then he could secure a first-class ticket on the gravy train.

Meanwhile, he hurls himself into a strange relationship with a clinical sexologist, and records a voiceover on the hottest day there has ever been in L.A. 

It’s not the funniest Toast episode, but spending time in the deeply silly world of series creators Matt Berry and Arthur Mathews is always a peculiar source of comfort.

Andy Warhol’s America – Thursday, BBC Two, 9pm

The final chapter of this absorbing gaze into Warhol’s reflection of American culture begins in the 1970s and ends with his death in 1987. His preoccupation with death and disaster is a recurring theme throughout. 

After surviving an assassination attempt in 1968, he essentially had a second chance at life; a fact that haunted him thereafter. He became even more avaricious, while simultaneously providing support for marginalised groups such as African Americans, Native Americans, homeless people and the LGBTQ community. 

But, the programme asks, was that support tainted by self-interest and exploitation? He was, to say the least, a complicated cat. 

As with previous instalments of this excellent series, Warhol’s Zelig-like story encompasses several fascinating historical detours.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

The Green Planet – Sunday 9th January, BBC One

In the latest series from David Attenborough, his estimable team use an advanced time lapse camera system to unearth the secret life of plants. It observes the world from their perspective while examining their relationship with animals and humans, and the vital role they play in our ecosystem. Naturally, it’s fascinating. 

That remarkable footage of plants in action occasionally resembled lost outtakes from Frank Oz’s Little Shop of Horrors; an alien landscape thriving on Earth. 

It’s a stellar example of Attenborough’s unerring ability to sculpt absorbing narratives from unlikely sources. Who knew there was so much drama in the global plant community? 

And it was lovely seeing the great man delivering some unflaggingly enthused pieces to camera.

Life on the Bay – Sunday 9th January, BBC Scotland

Pettycur Bay Holiday Park on Fife’s coast is one of Scotland’s biggest caravan enclaves. This breezy new series – a summery balm for these dark winter days - observes the daily demands of running what is effectively an idyllic miniature town built and run by three generations of a hands-on local family. 

In episode one we met a genial maintenance man who’s worked there for so long, he remembers when his boss was a little boy: “He was just a wee bloody pest! But a good pest…” 

Guests included a new arrival who joked about the possibility of getting cabin fever and going berserk like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. As far as I’m aware, that hasn’t happened.

RULES OF THE GAME + THE TOURIST + FOUR LIVES

This article was originally published in The Courier on 8th January 2022. 

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Rules of the Game  – Tuesday and Wednesday, BBC One, 9pm

Maxine Peake stars in this timely new thriller about a workplace environment dominated by awful, sleazy alpha males. 

She plays Sam, the manager of a successful family-run business. Sam initially comes across as cynical and assured, but it gradually transpires that she’s just as vulnerable as every other female employee. 

An intimidating culture of secrecy has formed around this toxic fiefdom, but that begins to unravel when an awkwardly sincere yet highly capable HR director starts asking too many difficult questions. 

Writer Ruth Fowler lasers in on the ways in which powerful men can exploit their position to abuse women, especially when they think they’ll never be held to account. The results are necessarily uncomfortable. 

Art on the BBC – Monday, BBC Four, 9pm

The latest episode of this delve into the BBC archives focuses on the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh. 

The de facto definition of the supremely gifted yet tortured artist, Van Gogh is an enduring source of fascination, hence why he’s inspired numerous BBC documentaries and dramas over the years. Art historian Kate Bryan highlights some of the more notable examples. 

It’s an effective way of separating fact from fiction – has any artist been mythologised and misrepresented more than poor old Vincent? - while also serving as a celebration of British television and the way in which it’s helped to democratise so-called high culture. 

Your archival guides include Sister Wendy Beckett, David Hockney and Simon Schama. 

Couples Therapy – Monday, BBC Two, 10pm

At first glance, this new series from US network Showtime feels like a mockumentary. But no, apparently it’s real. 

It follows clinical psychologist/psychoanalyst Dr Orna Guralnik as she deals with various New York-based couples in need of relationship counselling. 

They’re disconcertingly earnest in that uniquely American way; everyone looks and sounds like an actor. We’ve finally reached a stage in human evolution where some people are so hopelessly attuned to the rhythms and cadences of scripted dialogue, they can no longer communicate in a convincingly spontaneous manner. 

But once you get used to that disconcerting novelty, all you’re left with is a bunch of navel-gazers yammering on about their personal problems. It’s simultaneously boring and bizarre.

Party Island: Summer in Zante – Monday, Channel 4, 10pm

There was once a time, not so long ago, when the entire point of shows such as this was to sneer at the booze-addled youth of Britain as they make fools of themselves abroad. 

But this one takes a more sympathetic view; I’d even go so far as saying that it recognises the gnawing pathos of carefree kids labouring under the illusion that they’ll be friends forever. 

Set on the Greek island of Zante, it follows a gang of inoffensively bantering lads and some similarly bantz-tastic influencer girls hawking deluxe burgers on Instagram. 

They’re just a bunch of nice-enough kids having fun before the crushing weight of adulthood destroys their hopes and dreams forever. Good luck to ‘em.

The Adventure Show – Thursday, BBC Scotland, 8pm

This week, intrepid journalist and broadcaster Amy Irons scales a sheer sea cliff on the slippery southern edge of the Orkney mainland. As waves crash dramatically below her, she remains resolute in her daunting endeavour. 

Irons also makes the encouraging point that, even if adrenalized adventuring isn’t for you (or me), there are a multitude of delights to savour in Orkney. It’s a rugged wonderland full of lighthouses, caves, puffins, seals, affordable hostels, picturesque bicycle routes and glorious sunsets. 

We also meet a marine scientist devoted to the welfare of stranded dolphins. Now in its seventeenth series, The Adventure Show is a stalwart source of rural Scottish comfort. Maybe it really is a wonderful world after all. Happy 2022, everyone.

Iain Robertson Rambles – Thursday, BBC Scotland, 8:30pm

In which the affable River City actor continues his epic yomp along the Southern Upland Way.

 A reminder that you’re never more than three feet away from a celebrity filming a scenic walk, this immersive series cleaves to a winningly familiar formula: armed with a 360-degree camera, our tireless rambler provides an informal and ruminative assessment of their surroundings while exploring a little bit of local history. 

Robertson is a natural guide, his passion for the healing powers of rambling is palpable. “Just keep trudging on,” he advises metaphorically, “one foot in front of the other, and the next thing you know that thing that was miles and miles away on the horizon, all of a sudden it’s within your grasp.”

Well, let's hope so. 

Andy Warhol’s America – Thursday, BBC Two, 9pm

The inherent violence and chaos of American culture explodes to the forefront in chapter two of this vivid essay. 

Warhol presented himself in public as a blank canvas, but it’s clear from his work that he was engaged with the turbulent world around him: proof that irony and compassion aren’t mutually exclusive. 

Nevertheless, he wasn’t exactly a people person. This episode confirms what I’ve always felt: being part of Warhol’s Factory clique must’ve been pretty damn miserable. Living your life behind an affected facade of glib amphetamine cool isn’t healthy. No wonder there were so many casualties. 

Like all Warhol documentaries, this one is populated by silly people saying silly things. We’d feel short-changed if it didn’t.

LAST WEEK’S TV

The Tourist – New Year’s Day and Sunday 2nd January, BBC One

Blatantly inspired by Hitchcock, Fargo and Steven Spielberg’s Duel, this entertaining pulp comedy thriller stars Jamie Dornan as an Irish tourist driving solo through the Australian Outback. 

When a menacing tanker truck forces him to crash, he wakes up in hospital with no memory of who he is. All he knows is that someone is trying to kill him. But why? 

Written by the sometimes needlessly prolific Harry and Jack Williams of The Missing and Baptiste renown, The Tourist milks its simple premise with a palpable buzz of enjoyably freewheeling self-indulgence.

Four Lives – Monday 3rd January to Wednesday 5th January, BBC One 

In 2014 and 2015, serial killer Stephen Port murdered four young gay men whom he met via dating and hook-up apps. This respectful and deeply angering dramatisation focused on the victims and their loved ones. 

Written and produced by seasoned true-crime artisans Jeff Pope and Neil McKay, Four Lives was essentially a sensitive study of grief; a theme embodied by the excellent Sheridan Smith as the mother of Anthony Walgate, one of Port’s victims. 

But it was also an absolutely damning indictment of the incompetent police investigation, which was depressingly ill-informed by crass and institutionaly prejudiced attitudes about gay people. This entire endeavour was driven by compassion and despair.

Port was played by Stephen Merchant in his first dramatic role. It was a surprisingly effective performance; an understated and unsettling distillation of the banality of evil.

A truly important piece of television. I urge you to watch it.