THE GALLOWS POLE | CHANGING ENDS | OUR LIVES: MY HUSBAND THE MMA FIGHTER

This article was originally published in The Courier on 27th May 2023.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

The Gallows Pole – Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm

The great Shane Meadows usually directs social realist dramas set in the present day or fairly recent past. The Gallows Pole marks his first foray into pre-20^th century history. 

A fictionalised account of a true story, it follows 18^th century working-class Yorkshireman David (Michael Socha) as he ignites a revolution. 

As you can imagine, this is not a typical period drama. Etched in shades of folk horror, it’s populated by characters who convince as actual human beings, they’re not carefully curated museum pieces. 

It bears all the usual hallmarks of Meadows’ work: naturalistic performances and semi-improvised dialogue combined with themes of social injustice, fraternal bonds, redemption, revenge and some understated comedy. 

It’s also a perfect showcase for Socha’s gruff, sad-eyed charisma.

Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

Episode two of this engrossing Troubles documentary unfolds in early 1970s Belfast. It begins with Bloody Friday, an IRA attack during which nine people were killed. That tragedy drew support for the nascent Ulster Defence Association, a loyalist paramilitary group. 

Interviewees include former IRA and UDA members, who candidly reflect upon their younger selves and everything they once stood for. 

“I was in charge of guns when I was seventeen,” says one older man who came of age in a society divided by sectarian hatred and violence. “I have a granddaughter of seventeen, and I could not imagine handing her a gun. I could not imagine handing her anything other than a strawberry f***ing milkshake, to be honest. But anyway…”

A Paedophile in My Family: Surviving Dad – Wednesday, Channel 4, 9pm

Emily was sexually abused by her father for the first eighteen years of her life. In this intimate, powerful and deeply moving documentary, she tries to understand why her abuse remained unnoticed for so long. 

Emily wants to help other survivors. Her incredibly brave yet painful journey involves encounters with a clinical psychologist, the sympathetic police officers who investigated her case, and a restorative justice officer. Emily’s abusive father has recently been released from prison. There’s a part of her that wants to confront him. 

The programme culminates with a difficult, heart-breaking conversation between Emily and her loving mother. It’s marked by guilt, shame, anger and confusion. An important piece of television.

Changing Ends – Thursday, ITVX

There comes a time in every comedian’s life when they must devise a sweet-natured television series about their childhood. Now it’s Alan Carr’s turn. 

His dad was the manager of a fourth division Northampton football team, a vocation entirely at odds with little Alan’s gay and geeky world. He wasn’t ‘normal’ according to the homophobes who impinged upon his otherwise happy life, so he attempted to fit in by faking an interest in so-called manly pursuits. 

Changing Ends is charming. It’s a coming-of-age story set in less inclusive times, but the underlying message is positive. Carr, who occasionally appears as an in-vision narrator, has co-written it with love for his kind and supportive family.

Taskmaster – Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm

This column is a resolutely spoiler-free zone, so I obviously can’t go into any great detail about the latest thrilling Taskmaster grand finale. 

All I’m prepared to say is this: while dressed in the studio like Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the five competitors – Frankie Boyle, Jenny Éclair, Ivo Graham, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Mae Martin – unveil some bespoke Greg Davies merchandise while wrestling in the Taskmaster field with pint glasses, buckets, hoses, balloons, rubber bands and ice. 

Psychedelic feathered hats off to the deserved winner. But who will that be? I am, as you’ve presumably gathered, trying to create some suspense here. Taskmaster is a delightful distraction, it aims only to please.

Untold: The Secret World of Boy Racers – Thursday, Channel 4, 11:05pm

In this documentary, filmmaker Ben Zand embeds himself within the incredibly dangerous and irresponsible world of Britain’s underground car scene, a subculture in which young men race noisily souped-up cars along motorways in the dead of night. 

At the risk of sounding like Alan Partridge, they’re an absolute bunch of immature idiots with no thought for the consequences of their actions. All they care about is the fleeting futile thrill of it all. 

Zand meets someone who was left paralysed while traveling in a car with his adrenaline junkie driver. Two innocent bystanders died in that collision. “People” he laments, “don’t ever consider the severe impact of it going wrong until it’s too late.”

Our Lives: My Husband the MMA Fighter – Friday, BBC One, 7:30pm

Natalie is married to one of Scotland’s foremost cage fighters, Stevie ‘Braveheart’ Ray. 

This typically sensitive Our Lives documentary follows the Kirkcaldy-based couple and their four young children, one of whom is epileptic, as Stevie prepares for a potentially life-changing world title fight in New York. 

It’s been a tough year. As Natalie admits, she’s basically looked after the kids as a single parent while Stevie has been consumed by his training regime. 

Natalie and Stevie are nice, bright people. They reflect upon the necessary sacrifices they’ve made in the hope of Stevie setting the family up for life with a $1 million jackpot. A real-life Rocky love story, you’ll be rooting for ‘em throughout.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Reel Stories: Pet Shop Boys – Saturday 20th May, BBC Two

In the latest episode of this intermittent series, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe settled into some plush cinema seats while watching archive clips of themselves. 

The duo’s memories were jogged by an 1980s BBC Breakfast Time report on Smash Hits – “I haven’t seen this since when it was on!” exclaimed former Smash Hits editor Tennant, who sounds uncannily like Steve Pemberton at times – and their very first TV appearance together. The boys were reliably lovely and amusing. 

They wouldn’t thank me for the compliment, but PSB are bona fide national treasures. 

The programme also afforded our preternaturally affable host Dermot O’Leary an opportunity to utter the phrase “Larkian lyrics” for the first, and presumably last, time in his career.

Strike: Inside the Unions – Thursday 25th May, BBC Two

Our dire cost of living crisis has resulted in the biggest wave of strikes this country has witnessed in decades. 

A probing two-part documentary, Strike: Inside the Unions follows national hero Mick Lynch and other prominent trade unionists as they campaign on behalf of our underpaid frontline workers. 

Lynch is a subversive character. Witty, erudite and entirely committed to his cause, he runs rings around politicians and journalists with blunt statements of inarguable fact. And you’re not supposed to do that. 

Episode one began with this caption: “The Government departments and many of the companies featured in this series declined to take part.” Why, it’s almost as if they have something to hide. Up the workers.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN NORTHERN IRELAND | INSIDE NO. 9 | POKER FACE

This article was originally published in The Courier on 20th May 2023.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

In this outstanding series, the history of The Troubles is relayed via frank testimonies from Catholics and Protestants who were surrounded by violence on a daily basis for almost 30 years. 

It begins with some of the people who lived through those early days of turmoil in the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

They include a man once known as “the best rioter in Derry”, a British soldier who was stationed in Derry, and a woman whose brother was shot and killed by the British Army on Bloody Sunday. These intimate interviews are accompanied by stark archive footage. 

Suffused with anger, grief and remorse, this is an incisive portrait of a political situation rife with painful complexities.

Scotland’s Home of the Year – Monday, BBC Scotland, 8:30pm

This week, genial judges Anna Campbell-Jones, Banjo Beale and Michael Angus visit a Victorian renovation in the village of Oldmeldrum, which is situated just a few miles outside of Aberdeen. They’re knocked out and sideways by this imaginatively stylised cottage. 

The praise continues at a chic modernist build in rural Aberdeenshire, which boasts a spacious yet welcoming interior plus some fabulous open views from its floor-to-ceiling windows, and a cosy self-built property in Orkney that takes full advantage of its stunning surroundings. 

If you follow this charming little show, then you’re aware that our experts are looking for homes packed with character and loving attention to detail. They’ve hit some kind of jackpot here.

Maryland – Monday to Wednesday, STV, 9pm

Suranne Jones and Eve Best star in this drama about estranged sisters struggling to solve the mystery of their late mother’s secret life. She was found dead at a beach on the Isle of Man, a place neither of her daughters have visited before. 

Becca (Jones) is warm and empathetic. Rosaline (Best) is a blunt pragmatist. Their awkward, mismatched yet essentially united dynamic is convincing. Families are complicated. And what does very special guest star Stockard Channing have to do with it all? 

Maryland, which was devised by Jones and writer Anne-Marie O’Connor, delivers several intriguing plot twists, but this is not your typical thriller-adjacent drama. It is, at heart, a ruminative character study. 

Grand Designs: The Streets – Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm

Graven Hill is the UK’s largest and boldest self-build site. Grand Designs nabob Kevin McCloud has been following its development for quite some time. 

His latest catch-up stars Tim, who is about to move from a small flat in Bicester to his very own HQ in Graven Hill. Tim’s plans involve the construction of a basement in which he can tinker with his beloved motorbike collection. 

It doesn’t run smoothly, of course, ambitious projects never do in Grand Designs land. For one thing, a five-tonne car-lift he’s ordered from China doesn’t fit into the basement’s specially prepared hole. 

McCloud oversees Tim’s ordeal with his usual combination of wry distance and curbed enthusiasm. 

Storyville: Inside Kabul – Tuesday, BBC Four, 10pm

Marwa and Raha are friends who grew up in Kabul after the Taliban were defeated 20 years ago. This haunting animated documentary is based on voice notes they exchanged in the weeks and months following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. 

Difficult decisions needed to be made. In the end, Raha decided to stay with her family, while Marwa fled the country with her husband. She had to leave her beloved parents and siblings behind. “I wish one day we could meet again,” she sobs, “but I’m not sure.” 

Marwa and her husband are trapped in limbo while awaiting to hear about their refugee application. Back in Kabul, Raha highlights the brutal reality of living under an oppressive regime.

Inside No. 9 – Thursday, BBC Two, 10pm

The final episode of this penultimate series is a gut-puncher. 

Pemberton and Shearsmith play a gay couple celebrating their 9^th anniversary in a tranquil Scottish holiday home. They’re happy, content, deeply in love, but gradually we're made aware of underlying complications. 

And that, as always, is all I can say with regards to the plot. Pemberton and Shearsmith are fully aware that we enjoy second-guessing them, that’s all part of the twisted Inside No. 9 fun, but they’re almost always several steps ahead of our expectations. 

Beautifully written, directed and performed, ‘The Last Weekend’ solidifies Inside No. 9’s rightful reputation as one of the best and most imaginative TV shows of the last ten years. 

Poker Face – Friday, Sky Showcase, 9pm

Created by Rian Johnson of Knives Out and Glass Onion renown, this witty murder mystery is openly indebted to the inverted ‘howcatchem’ Columbo format (it even copies the famous bold yellow title font). 

After witnessing a murder at the start of each episode, we follow a sleuthing protagonist as they join up all the dots. Our recurring hero in this case isn’t a detective, she’s Charlie, a wise, likeable, beer-supping cocktail waitress with a knack for sniffing out horse ordure. 

Charlie is played by the brilliant Natasha Lyonne from Orange is the New Black. Again, a la Columbo, the show boasts some big name guest stars. No sign of Shatner so far, but it’s only a matter of time. 

LAST WEEK’S TV

Ten Pound Poms – Sunday 14th May, BBC One

BBC One’s latest Sunday night period drama began with a PTSD-stricken soldier collapsing in a pool of booze and vomit. This, clearly, will not be a cosy nostalgic exercise. 

It follows said soldier and his family as they emigrate to Australia, a far-off land of unimaginable opportunity, an escape from the drudgery of post-war Britain. They wind up in what is effectively a shanty town. 

Ten Pound Poms isn’t just an interesting piece of social history, it highlights the eternally relevant plight of poor migrants trying to start new lives in nations riddled with overt and casual prejudice. 

Yes, that message is occasionally painted in rather broad strokes, but you can’t argue with its fundamental truth.

I Kissed a Boy – Sunday 14th May, BBC Three

In this upbeat dating show, ten young single gay men meet for the first time in a plush Italian villa. Those five potential couples have been matched up by the producers, who ask only one thing: they must kiss each other before indulging in any getting-to-know-you small talk. Will romance blossom from there? 

During the opening salvo we were introduced to Joseph from Nigeria, where homosexuality is illegal, and Mormon-raised Josh who’d never kissed a boy before. 

Programmes of this nature can often be cruel and exploitative, but I Kissed a Boy is an utterly benign endeavour. The lads are lovely and the overall message is empowering. 

STEELTOWN MURDERS | THE STONES AND BRIAN JONES | WITHOUT SIN

This article was originally published in The Courier on 13th May 2023.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Steeltown Murders – Monday, BBC One, 9pm

In 1973, three girls from the Port Talbot area were raped and murdered. This horrific case remained unsolved for 30 years, when the killer was finally identified through the use of pioneering DNA evidence. 

An absorbing factual drama, Steeltown Murders stars Philip Glenister as DCI Paul Bethell, the veteran copper who reopened the case. The narrative flits between the early 2000s and 1973, when Bethell was an idealistic young CID officer intent on capturing the girls’ killer. 

The overall tone is suitably solemn and subdued. Although we follow two of the girls on their final night out together, thankfully their ordeal isn’t shown. 

And on a purely aesthetic level, the 1970s period details are never overdone. It feels authentic.

The Stones and Brian Jones – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

At the age of 14, while traveling by train, Nick Broomfield bumped into ill-fated Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones. 

Broomfield, now one of our most celebrated documentarians, has never forgotten that brief encounter with a young man who, despite his wild rebel image, came across as quiet and polite. 

This Arena documentary recounts the sad, messy tale of a talented musician beset by chronic insecurity. Jones was charming, intelligent, selfish, spiteful and fragile. He craved love from his disapproving posh parents and respect from eventual Rolling Stone leaders Jagger and Richards. 

Insight into the psyche of this complicated cat is provided by various friends and lovers, but Bill Wyman is the only Stone who sits down with Broomfield.

Without Sin – Monday to Thursday, STV, 9pm

An addictive psychological thriller, Without Sin reunites This is England actors Johnny Harris and Vicky McClure, who also serve as executive producers. 

McClure plays Stella, whose teenage daughter Maisy was murdered three years ago. When a restorative justice officer informs Stella that Maisy’s killer (Harris) is prepared to atone for his sins, she hesitantly agrees to meet with him in prison. 

For reasons I obviously can’t go into, an already fraught situation becomes even more complicated. 

Not only does Without Sin succeed as a twist-strewn thriller, it also works as a nuanced meditation on guilt, grief and trauma. As you’d expect, Harris and McClure are both excellent. Some of their scenes together are electrifying.

Matt Willis Fighting Addiction – Wednesday, BBC One, 9pm

Matt Willis of Busted fame appeared to be living the dream during his bubblegum punk heyday. However, as he admits during this frank documentary, he was addicted to drugs and alcohol. “It was not rock and roll… it was really sad.” 

These days Willis is in recovery, but like so many addicts he lives in fear of a relapse. It’s a thoughtful essay during which Willis goes in search of the various recovery methods available to anyone who struggles with addiction. 

We also hear from his wife, TV presenter Emma Willis, who describes what it’s like to be in love with someone in the throes of self-destruction. Hats off to all concerned, this is a valuable piece of television.

11 Minutes: America’s Deadliest Mass Shooting – Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm

In 2017, at a country music festival in Las Vegas attended by over 20,000 fans, a gunman began firing at random. 60 people were killed and 867 others were injured. 

Told from the perspective of concertgoers, musicians and police officers, this intense four-part documentary offers a detailed account of the tragedy. It captures the terror, confusion and chaos. We don’t see anyone being killed, thank God, but the camera phone footage is horrifying. 

I’ve only seen episode one, but it feels to me like a ruminative comment on the complex nature of American society. Country music fans are, broadly speaking, right-leaning patriots who believe in the right to bear arms. It’s all such a mess, so terribly sad.

Anton Danyluk on Body Shame – Thursday, BBC Scotland, 10:30pm

Showing as part of Mental Health Awareness Week, this sensitive documentary follows Love Island star and fitness influencer Anton Danyluk as he confronts the pressing issue of male body confidence. 

According to reports from the Mental Health Foundation, more than a quarter of teenage boys and young men in Scotland are anxious about their body image. 

Danyluk relates to them, as he was once an insecure overweight kid. He’s also received online abuse for his current gym-buffed appearance, and worries that he’s inadvertently contributed to unrealistic expectations of what men’s bodies should look like. 

Danyluk comes across as a bright, thoughtful, self-aware fella. He delivers his report with commendable concern and honesty.

Rolf Harris: Hiding in Plain Sight – Thursday, ITVX

With his career and reputation now in tatters, it’s perhaps easy to forget that Rolf Harris was once a fondly regarded entertainer. Cuddly Uncle Rolf radiated bonhomie, he seemed utterly harmless. 

In 2014 he was found guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault. His victims were underage girls.

This carefully crafted two-part documentary illustrates how predatory celebrities can exploit their status to abuse and traumatise vulnerable people. Harris was a cruel, selfish, arrogant and manipulative man who knew how to present himself as the exact opposite. 

The programme contains testimonies from some of his accusers. It also investigates the decades-long grooming of a childhood friend of Harris’ daughter, which began when she was 13.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Mad Women – Tuesday 9th May, Channel 4

This enjoyable documentary showcased some of the great British female advertising executives who revolutionised the way women are represented in ads. 

It was a gradual process, and not without its hiccups, but that pioneering generation of feminists did eventually banish all those condescending sexist depictions of women as blandly idealised housewives. 

The execs all came across as likeable and self-aware. They happily admitted to some of their well-meaning mistakes. That infamous Shake n’ Vac advert, for instance, was a light-hearted bit of nonsense, but it could hardly be regarded as progressive. 

Still, they more than made up for it with their many subsequent campaigns characterised by an empowering combination of sly irony and total sincerity.

Kids – Wednesday 10th May, Channel 4

Filmed in close conjunction with Coventry Children’s Services, Kids gives voice to some of the young people who rely upon our care system. It also spends time with their troubled parents.

Last week we met Xorin, who’d been moved to a residential children’s home in rural Wales for his own safety. In Cov, he’d become involved with a violent drugs gang. The programme followed Xorin as he returned to live with his mum after three years away. 

Meanwhile, Annabelle – an abundantly wise and likeable young woman - struggled to reconnect with her parents. 

Kids is an entirely sympathetic endeavour, it approaches its participants with admirable sensitivity. The world’s worst people will miss the point, but you can’t legislate for that.

CRIME | ANDREW: THE PROBLEM PRINCE | THE KIDNAP OF ANGEL LYNN

This article was originally published in The Courier on 6th May 2023.

NEXT WEEK’S TV 

Crime – Thursday, ITVX

Based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, who co-scripted this six-part adaptation, Crime stars Dougray Scott as Ray Lennox, an Edinburgh cop investigating the abduction of a young girl. Lennox is recovering from a severe nervous breakdown. 

It’s basically a standard police procedural warped through the prism of its author’s unremitting nihilism and recurring obsessions: Rebus without the chucklesome feelgood factor (the presence of Ken Stott as Lennox’s boss is no coincidence). 

Crime was first made available on subscription site BritBox in 2021. I don’t usually cover repeats, but this is its premiere on free streaming site ITVX, and I daresay some of you may have missed it. A second series is currently in production.

Eurovision Welcomes the World – Monday, BBC One, 6:30pm

The Eurovision festivities kick off with Rylan and Sunetra Sarker attending the spectacular opening ceremony in Liverpool. Later that night on BBC One at 9pm, Jason Manford and Chelcee Grimes present Eurovision Calling: Jason and Chelcee’s Ultimate Guide, a programme exploring how Eurovision became the world’s largest live music event. 

You can also enjoy the live semi-finals on Tuesday and Thursday, both of which go out on BBC One at 8pm, and ‘countdown show with a twist’ Eurovision: Everyone’s a Winner (Friday, BBC One, 7:30pm). 

The event should be taking place in Ukraine, who triumphed last year, but that, alas, is obviously impossible. We are, however, promised some impassioned spoken word and musical pieces pledging solidarity with our absent friends.

Andrew: The Problem Prince – Monday, Channel 4, 9pm

In the concluding episode of this documentary about the events surrounding Prince Andrew’s disastrous encounter with BBC journalist Emily Maitlis, we arrive at the actual interview itself.

Andrew felt he was equipped to mount a defence of his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but he ended up making a total fool of himself with a bizarre string of counterclaims. 

Why on earth did he agree to the interview? Maitlis wonders if he was desperately trying to save his children from further humiliation. If so, it backfired. 

Prior to its broadcast, Andrew apparently felt that the interview had gone well. He is not, to put it mildly, a man troubled by much in the way of self-awareness.

The Greatest Auction – Tuesday, Channel 4, 8pm

AJ Odudu hosts this brand new gavel-banging series in which millionaires, private collectors and heavy-duty antique dealers compete for possession of some extraordinary items at a specially created auction house. It’s an emotional experience for the various sellers, but also an opportunity to find out what their precious belongings are actually worth. 

In episode one, some Banksy experts risk their money and reputations on a piece of wall adorned with a work that’s been attributed to the elusive street artist. 

Other items up for grabs include a jar of pickled pig foetuses, an impressive collection of Buzzcocks ephemera, and – best of all – a fez that once belonged to Tommy Cooper.

The Kidnap of Angel Lynn – Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm

Three years ago, Angel Lynn was kidnapped by her abusive boyfriend. She fell out of his speeding van and suffered near fatal injuries. 

Preview copies weren’t available, but this sounds like an utterly devastating documentary. It gives voice to a young woman, a victim of coercive control, who is gradually learning how to live again. 

Angel was a fun-loving teenager when she first met her abuser. He took over her life. She was bombarded with degrading messages and isolated from her friends and family. That horrifying ordeal culminated in a crime that left her unable to walk, speak or feed herself. 

The story is told via Angel’s texts, social media posts and assistance from her loved ones.

Therapy: Tough Talking – Thursday, BBC Three, 9pm

Rapper, actor and writer Kema Kay struggles with his mental health. In this documentary, he invites a film crew into his therapy sessions. Kay is an outwardly successful and talented young fella, but he’s dealing with a lifetime of trauma. 

I haven’t seen the programme, this one wasn’t available either, but I’m recommending it based on my long-standing trust of BBC Three as a reliable source of sensitive documentaries about mental health issues. 

It takes tremendous courage to admit that you need therapy, as there is still – even in this ostensibly enlightened age - too much stigma attached to opening up about our need for help.  

Hidden Treasures of the National Trust – Friday, BBC Two, 9pm

This new series goes behind the scenes at one of Britain’s most important cultural institutions. Every year, millions of people flock to the historic homes and gardens owned by the National Trust, all of which are tended by a dedicated team of experts. 

In episode one, property curator Liz and senior paintings conservator Rebecca look after one of the finest surviving portraits of Elizabeth I, which is about to go on loan for a tour of North America. 

We also visit the home of Victorian horticulturalist James Bateman. His wondrous garden is missing one of its most important parts: an ornate wooden bridge. Meanwhile, a 17^th century portrait hanging in a world-renowned library is in need of a deep clean.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Attica: America’s Bloodiest Prison Uprising – Tuesday 2nd May, BBC Four

In September 1971, the inmates at the Attica Correctional Facility in New York took over their hellhole prison. A tense stand-off ensued. 

By the end, ten hostages and more than 30 prisoners were dead. Most of them were killed by law enforcement officers on the fourth and final day of the insurrection. 

This riveting, angering Storyville documentary delivered an in-depth account of an appalling tragedy and human rights scandal. 

The story unfolded via candid eyewitness accounts from former inmates, negotiators, lawyers, journalists and the children of some of the guards who died. 

The Attica uprising was a disaster waiting to happen. When people are stripped of their humanity and brutalised, eventually they’ll rebel against their oppressors.