A SPECIAL SCHOOL | THE WOMEN WHO CHANGED MODERN SCOTLAND | THE GOLD

This article was originally published in The Courier on 18th February 2023.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

A Special School – Monday, BBC Two, 7pm

Penarth’s Ysgol y Deri is Britain’s biggest special education school. It remained open during the pandemic to provide support for the children of key workers. 

In series two of this uplifting documentary, staff and pupils are preparing for their annual Christmas pantomime. They’re also about to enjoy the first school trip since 2019. 

This isn’t merely a job for the staff, they’re devoted to the welfare and development of the children placed in their care. The headmaster, an abundantly kind and decent man, is even moved to tears at one point. 

One of his colleagues sums up their commendable mission statement: “School is very structured, a safe place, but we want them to take those skills into the real world.”

Inside Our Autistic Minds – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

In the second and final episode of this sensitive series, Chris Packham meets more people who are, like him, on the autism spectrum. 

His interviewees this week are an aspiring teenage rapper, and a teaching assistant who moonlights as a trance DJ. They both love music, but that passion triggers a certain set of problems. 

Packham assists them in the making of personal short films designed to educate their classmates, colleagues and us. This is how they see and hear the world. It’s a touching, candid exercise. 

Packham also spends some time with an expert in autistic hypersensitivity, and a doctor who helps our host to understand his own need for precise daily order.

The Dangerous Rise of Andrew Tate – Tuesday, BBC Three, 10pm

Andrew Tate is a vile misogynist influencer who commands a legion of radicalised male followers. A fascistic cult. 

Two months ago, in his adopted home of Romania, he was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking. This disturbing documentary follows journalist Matt Shea as he gains highly restricted access to Tate’s Romanian compound. 

Tate has zero self-awareness, so he presumably regarded this venture as yet another piece of cleverly controlled self-promotion. Shea, in his quietly Theroux-esque way, encourages Tate to dig an even deeper hole for himself. 

Most importantly of all, we hear from some of the traumatised women who allege abuse by this toxic grifter. Tate’s empire may be crumbling, but what he represents is still frighteningly prevalent.

The Women Who Changed Modern Scotland – Tuesday, BBC Scotland, 10pm

This fascinating series celebrates many of the great Scottish women who, over the last 50 years, have challenged the patriarchy. 

It’s a valuable social document in which our empathetic host Kirsty Wark traces an ongoing battle for equal rights. 

Her odyssey begins in the 1960s, when female footballers weren’t allowed to compete officially. 

From there we progress towards the pioneering efforts of some heroic feminist politicians, a group of slyly empowering journalists who worked on teen mag Jackie during its 1970s heyday, and the origins of Scottish Women’s Aid, a vitally important charitable organisation devoted to the prevention of domestic abuse. 

Societal attitudes have improved, at least to an extent. Wark and co explain why that shift had to happen.

Untold: Help! My Home is Disgusting – Tuesday, Channel 4, 11:05pm

When Kwajo Tweneboa shared the nightmarish details of his social housing situation online – imagine a miasma of cockroaches, mice, mould and overflowing toilets – he was inundated with responses from people struggling in similarly unacceptable environments. So much so, he is now a high-profile social housing campaigner. 

In this documentary, Tweneboa visits people living in various states of utter despair. Whenever they confront their landlords, they are ignored. Pay your rent, or get out. 

Tweneboa’s report highlights the direct correlation between dismal living conditions and the exacerbation of severe mental health issues. He also exposes the sheer number of complaints aimed against some of the biggest housing associations.

The Supervet: Safari Special – Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm

Professor Neil Fitzpatrick, the Supervet himself, is one of television’s most benign and genuinely helpful resident experts. Should your domestic animal friends ever find themselves in times of trouble, Fitzpatrick is the softly-spoken physician you’d want by their side. 

In this Very Special Episode of his long-running vehicle, he ventures off to South Africa.

Fitzpatrick is renowned for his neurosurgical and orthopaedic innovations, he’s improved the lives of countless small animals, but he’s never dealt with anything on this particular scale before. 

While working and learning alongside a dedicated South African team who deal with big cats etc. on a daily basis, he emphasises the importance of protecting these magnificent creatures.

Life and War: Ukraine A Year On – Thursday, STV, 9pm

ITV's Global Security Editor Rohit Kachroo has witnessed the invasion of Ukraine first–hand. In this report, he interviews civilians, medics and soldiers, all of them fighting desperately for survival. 

When Russia invaded Ukraine, the country mobilised to defend itself. It was not, as Putin presumably expected, immediately overcome. Millions fled the country, but many more stayed to face their invaders. 

Preview copies of this programme weren’t available, so I’m obviously not qualified to comment upon its specific contents. But I don’t need to stress why I’m bringing it to your attention. 

ITV, self-evident faults and all, is rightfully renowned for its occasional sober detours into investigative journalism.

LAST WEEK’S TV

The Gold – Sunday 12th February, BBC One

A six-part dramatisation of the Brink’s-Mat robbery, that notorious 1983 heist in which a criminal gang stole a stack of gold bullion worth £26 billion, The Gold is presented neither as a celebration nor outright condemnation. 

Written by Neil Forsyth of Bob Servant and Guilty renown, it’s a nuanced piece about some desperate men struggling under the yoke of Thatcherism. Forsyth doesn’t ask us to sympathise with them unequivocally, but he places their actions in thoughtful socio-political context. 

It’s a fascinating saga, recounted with Forsyth’s usual wit and flair. Also, hats off to the production team for capturing the uniquely overcast aesthetic of early 1980s television dramas shot on film. 

Better – Monday 13th February, BBC One

Would a corrupt cop and an organised crime boss really conduct their clandestine affairs with such wantonly face-to-face abandon? That’s what I found myself dwelling upon after episode one of this watchable, if not entirely plausible, thriller. 

DCI Slack (Leila Farzad) and Col McHugh (Andrew Buchan) are indebted to each other. They’ve been in cahoots for years, but a series of unfortunate events places their relationship in jeopardy. 

Better demands that we suspend a considerable amount of disbelief, which isn’t a great starting point for any drama. It may, however, develop into a serviceable potboiler. 

Farzad and Buchan are solid, and the script is etched in pleasingly sardonic shades of the recently departed Happy Valley.