This article was originally published in The Courier on 11th March 2023.
NEXT WEEK’S TV
Paula ‐ Monday and Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm
The popular broadcaster Paula Yates passed away in 2000 at the tragically young age of 41. This sensitive profile pivots around a previously unreleased interview recorded during one of the lowest points in her life.
It allows Yates to partially narrate her own story, which is of course entirely at odds with the prurient tabloid-spun narrative. We’re reminded that Yates was very funny, smart and likeable, an engaging personality.
She was also an attractive woman who had relationships with famous male pop stars, hence why she was cruelly hounded and mischaracterised by our ghoulish sexist media as some sort of glorified groupie. They hastened her demise.
Curated with self-evident care and research, this tribute respects her memory.
Between the Covers ‐ Monday, BBC Three, 7pm
The latest series of Sara Cox’s cheery little book club welcomes to the fold DJ Spoony, broadcaster Angela Scanlon, the musician and radio presenter Cerys Matthews, and TV barrister Rob Rinder.
As always, Cox’s guests wax lyrical about some of their favourite tomes while reviewing designated assignments. This week, they pore over In The Blink Of An Eye by Jo Callaghan and Burial Rites by Hannah Kent.
Between the Covers is a pleasingly straightforward show in which some people chat informally about things they’ve read. There’s – and I’m aware of the pun – literally nothing more to it than that.
Christine McGuinness: Unmasking My Autism ‐ Wednesday, BBC One, 9pm
Christine McGuinness was diagnosed with Autism in 2021. That’s when her life began to make sense. In this ruminative documentary, she meets up with several women whose behaviour patterns have either been ignored or misunderstood.
It raises important questions about gender bias and attitudes towards people on the Autism spectrum.
Cynics will continue to carp about McGuinness positioning herself as a public figure. Her claim to fame is being married to the comedian Paddy McGuinness. I don’t care about that. Her opportunistic Peter Kay sidekick husband is lucky to have a showbiz career in the first place, so at least she’s exploited that association to make some television programmes of actual social value. Good luck to her.
Bend It Like Bollywood ‐ Wednesday, BBC Three, 9pm
The star of this uplifting documentary is Vinay, a gender non-conforming artisan who runs popular ‘Bollyqueer’ dance classes. Life hasn’t always been easy for the openly gay Vinay, as you can imagine.
He (a pronoun Vinay is happy with) fled Leicester for London as a teenager, hoping to be embraced by the warm bright lights of cosmopolitan society. A profoundly formative experience. And now he’s back in Leicester, teaching people of all ages how to express themselves freely through the medium of dance.
But Vinay also has to bridge a difficult gap of understanding between himself and his father. Spoiler alert: you’ll emerge from this programme with a smile and some hope.
Bali 2002 ‐ Thursday, ITVX
Eleven years ago, two of Bali’s most popular nightclubs were besieged by terrorists. This granular four-part drama pays tribute to the people caught up in those attacks.
Balinese locals and international tourists, while desperately scrambling to escape from the chaos, did everything in their power to rescue the injured and comfort those whose lives hung in the balance.
We also follow the Indonesian and Australian authorities as they investigate the case. Who was responsible for this atrocity? And why?
Developed in close consultation with various survivors, Bali 2002 doesn’t cheaply romanticise instinctive acts of bravery and kindness. Most human beings are fundamentally decent, in times of dire need they’ll do whatever they can to help each other.
Nazanin ‐ Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a British-Iranian charity worker. In 2016, while about to return home to London after visiting her parents, Nazanin was arrested at Tehran airport. She was charged with spying, separated from her two-year-old daughter and sentenced to five years in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.
Several years in the making, this moving documentary gains access to Nazanin while following husband Richard’s tireless campaign for her release.
Nazanin is a political prisoner whose fate is bound up within complex historical events that have nothing to do with her. “I’ve never done any propaganda against the Iranian regime,” she says while languishing in solitary confinement, “I am not a political person. I need to go home.”
Comic Relief 2023 ‐ Friday, BBC One, 7pm
This year’s charitable harlequinade is hosted by David Tennant, Zoe Ball, Joel Dommett, AJ Odudu and Paddy McGuinness.
Dunno about you, but I’m old enough to remember when Comic Relief was hosted by actual comedians. Wasn’t that originally the point? Yes, I know, obviously the most important point is raising lots of money for worthy causes, but Comic Relief once did that, many moons ago, while rolling out a marathon of comedy.
David Tennant is a very nice man, but he’s no Rowan Atkinson. I’m sure he’d be the first to admit that.
Anyway. There will be sketches, musical numbers and all manner of whatnot. Moments of amusement may arise. Donate some money if you can.
LAST WEEK’S TV
Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over ‐ Saturday 4th March, BBC Two
The great Dionne Warwick was the perfect conduit for the exquisite songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. She’s a soulful singer who intuitively understood how to interpret their sophisticated compositions.
This terrific feature‐length documentary allowed Warwick, an abundantly decent person, to tell her extraordinary story in the company of admirers such as Alicia Keys, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and, in one of his final interviews, Bacharach himself.
The chapter on her pioneering AIDS activism was particularly fascinating, and I was tickled by the retelling of her 1990s encounter with Snoop Dogg, who was genuinely contrite when she challenged him about the misogyny in his lyrics. When Miss Warwick talks, you listen.
We Need to Talk About Cosby ‐ Sunday 5th March, BBC Two
The serial rapist Bill Cosby was once fondly regarded as America’s Dad. Throughout his hugely successful career, he projected an affable, wholesome family man image. His reputation as a pioneering comedian and African American crossover artist is now irretrievably tarnished.
In this outstanding series, writer/director W. Kamau Bell unpicks Cosby’s complex legacy. He speaks to several associates, social commentators and, most significantly, survivors.
Bell ‐ who describes himself as ‘a child of Cosby’ ‐ began by explaining why his former hero was so beloved and revered. Only by placing his cultural impact in context can we understand how he exploited that trustworthy public persona to abuse women over several decades.
This is an important piece of work.
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