LITVINENKO | THERE SHE GOES | THE CHANGE

This article was originally published in The Courier on 17th June 2023.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Litvinenko – Monday, STV, 9pm

In 2006, former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko was fatally poisoned while living in British exile. He’d spent the last few years of his life trying to expose links between Putin’s government and the Russian mafia. 

This four-part drama starring David Tennant is a riveting evocation of the whole murky, tragic affair. 

We follow two British police officers as they spend time with Litvinenko during his final days in hospital. His truth is revealed. 

Tennant is such a great actor, he never draws attention to himself with tics or affectations. You always believe fully in whatever role he’s playing. 

A follow-up ITVX documentary, Litvinenko: The Mayfair Poisonings ‘drops’ on Thursday. 

The Wonders of the World I Can’t See – Monday, Channel 4, 10pm

The comedian Chris McCausland is blind. In this novel new travelogue, he visits some of the world’s most notable historic landmarks. 

An affable dry-witted gent, he’s joined each week by a celebrity travelling companion. They’re tasked with bringing these various places to life descriptively, while doing what they can to convince McCausland that it was worth him bothering to go there in the first place. 

The series begins with a trip to Athens in the company of Harry Hill. Our guides enjoy some sea fishing, pottery making, olive oil tasting, Greek drama lessons and even a few Olympic sports, before arriving at their ultimate destination: the Acropolis. 

Will McCausland enjoy the experience as much as Hill hopes? 

Dr Death – Tuesday, Channel 4, 10pm

Christopher Duntsch is a former American neurosurgeon who killed two of his patients and maimed over 30 others. In 2017 he was sentenced to life imprisonment. 

This solemn eight-part drama boasts a suitably unsettling performance from Joshua Jackson as Duntsch. 

In the opening episode, two concerned doctors (Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater, no less) start to investigate a series of severely botched operations carried out by Duntsch. 

Make no mistake, this case is utterly horrific, but Dr Death dramatizes it with due respect for Duntsch’s many victims. It’s the story of how a deeply disturbed narcissist wilfully destroyed lives, and how he was eventually brought to justice.

There She Goes – Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Jessica Hynes and the hardest working man in show business David Tennant star in this standalone addendum to a poignant series based on the personal experiences of writers Shaun Pyle and Sarah Crawford. 

Their daughter was born with an extremely rare chromosomal disorder. Rosie is now 13. Her already difficult and challenging mood swings are becoming more acute.

As you would expect, There She Goes is an authentic day-to-day depiction of living with a beloved family member who has a severe learning disability. It’s touching, but never sentimental. 

It’s sometimes quite funny too. Humour can arise from unlikely situations, that’s one of the ways we all muddle through life. You carry on.

The Change – Wednesday, Channel 4, 10pm

Comedian Bridget Christie writes and stars in this striking new comedy-drama about Linda, a 50-year-old woman who is going through the menopause. 

As she explains to her GP, she’s worried about having “early onset dementia, osteoporosis, ringing in my ears when I’m stressed, anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease and a strange mental disorder involving loss of nouns.” 

Hoping to rediscover the person she used to be, Linda leaves her utterly foolish husband (Omid Djalili) behind and embarks upon a soul-searching motorcycle odyssey. 

The Change is funny, frank and distinctive, it lingers. Christie and Djalili, both great, are supported by an exceptional cast including Monica Dolan, Susan Lynch, Liza Tarbuck and Paul Whitehouse.

Ruby Speaking – Thursday, ITVX

Set in a busy Bristol call centre, this fairly amusing sitcom stars co-creator Jayde Adams as a jaded factotum. 

Ruby is teetering on the brink of being sacked, she’s not bringing in the numbers. Anyone who’s ever worked in a call centre (I have) will empathise with her plight. 

Ruby quite likes some of her colleagues, but she’s just so bored with her strictly prepared workaday script. What’s the point? A metaphor for life, if you will. 

Former Coronation Street star Katherine Kelly steals the show as a thoroughly awful ‘inspirational’ boss who clearly couldn’t care less about her staff. Ruby Speaking is quite a sharp little character study. Hilarious? No. But its heart is in the right place. 

Icons of Football – Friday, BBC Scotland, 10:30pm

Former Dundee United striker and football manager Paul ‘Luggy’ Sturrock relates his estimable story in the latest episode of this series about Scottish football legends.

Sturrock, who has Parkinson’s disease, spent his entire career at Dundee United under the tutelage of his much-loved mentor Jim McLean. In the words of sports reporter Hazel Irvine, who contributes to the programme alongside fellow famous fans such as Lorraine Kelly, Sturrock was: “In my memory, one of the most joyous footballers I’ve ever watched.” 

I know nothing about football, it’s just not on my radar, but this KT Tunstall-narrated profile lifted my spirits. Sturrock is quite clearly an exceptional athlete and a thoroughly decent man.

BEST INTERESTS | AFRICA RISING WITH AFUA HIRSCH | COUNT ABDULLA

This article was originally published in The Courier on 10th June 2023. 

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Best Interests – Monday and Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm

This gut-punching four-part drama stars Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen as a happily married couple with two daughters, one of whom has a life-threatening illness. 

Writer Jack Thorne has form for handling difficult material with the utmost care. His estimable credits include the 2021 COVID drama Help and Shane Meadows’ semi-autobiographical The Virtues. 

If you’re familiar with his work, then you won’t be surprised to hear that Best Interests is incredibly moving but never mawkish. It’s honest and authentic, a sensitive meditation on the complex moral quandary surrounding terminally ill patients and their quality of life. 

Thorne sympathises with every single one of his characters. You will too. There are no easy answers.

Sarah Beeny Vs Cancer – Monday, Channel 4, 9pm

Last year, the television personality and property developer Sarah Beeny was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her mother died of the same disease when Beeny was just 10-years-old. 

In this poignant standalone documentary, our host investigates the past, present and hopeful future of breast cancer treatment in the UK. 

While recording an intimate video diary, Beeny – who has four children - reflects upon everything her mother went through in the 1980s. It’s a frank, tender and relatable essay. We’ve all lost loved ones to cancer. 

Beeny meets with various medical experts who provide some insight into how care for cancer patients has changed and improved over the last 40 years.

Africa Rising with Afua Hirsch – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Journalist and broadcaster Afua Hirsch hosts this fascinating exploration of Africa, a continent which is home to the world’s most culturally diverse population. 

Her eventful journey begins in Morocco, Africa’s leading tourist destination. She meets several young creative people, one of whom is a world-renowned photographer: the Andy Warhol of Africa. His playful post-modern work subverts lazy cultural stereotypes. 

Hirsch also encounters a rapper influenced by traditional Moroccan music, an innovative rug-stitching entrepreneur, and some artists whose work challenges outdated assumptions about sex and gender. 

Hats off to Hirsch and everyone involved with this upbeat and progressive series, it restores a bit of faith in human nature.

Staged – Wednesday, BBC One, 10:40pm

Originally devised during lockdown, Staged is a comedy starring Michael Sheen (that man again) and David Tennant as mildly bickering versions of themselves conversing via Zoom. 

It’s inherently self-indulgent and potentially infuriating, but it more or less works because Sheen and Tennant are likeable and self-aware. Their semi-improvised conversations mock the petty insecurities of successful actors who have nothing much to worry about in the grand scheme of things. 

The latest series begins with a bored Tennant contacting Sheen from a Tokyo airport. 

Hilarity never ensues in Staged, it just ambles along, but spending downtime with Sheen and Tennant is always fairly pleasant. A ringing endorsement, I know.

Count Abdulla – Thursday, ITVX

This likeable new sitcom revolves around an unlikely group of British Muslim vampires. 

Our sweet-natured protagonist is Abdulla (Arian Nik), a nerdy junior doctor and classic horror film fan. He’s not particularly religious, but pays respectful lip service to appease his devout and loving mother (Nina Wadia). 

And then one Halloween party night, while immaculately attired as Christopher Lee’s iteration of Dracula, Abdulla is bitten by an outrageously camp vampire played by Jaime Winstone – imagine, if you will, Fenella Fielding in an even more deranged version of Carry On Screaming!. 

It’s all rather intriguing; a sharp comedy-horror underpinned with a wry message about the subtle nuances of racial identity and faith.

Queen of Oz – Friday, BBC One, 9:30pm

Catherine Tate is a self-evidently talented and versatile actor who’s wallowed in lacklustre material for most of her comedy career. This tiresome sitcom is no exception. 

She plays a disgraced member of the Royal Family who is exiled to Australia. There’s plenty of scope here for some biting satirical commentary on the dysfunction inherent within our monarchy, but Queen of Oz squanders that in favour of Tate playing yet another thoroughly obnoxious person. 

There’s obviously nothing wrong with that in theory, British comedy is festooned with beloved anti-heroes, but Tate’s self-generated characters are actively annoying. 

Oh well, she’ll be back on TV later this year as Donna Noble, one of the greatest ever Doctor Who companions.

They All Came Out to Montreux – Friday, BBC Four, 10:15pm

This absolutely wonderful documentary recounts the rather touching and inspiring story of Claude Nobs, a charismatic music enthusiast who launched the world-renowned Montreux Jazz Festival. 

Nobs had no real knowledge of the music industry back in 1967, he just wanted to invite some of his favourite artists to perform on the banks of Lake Geneva. His maverick pipe dream is currently celebrating its 56^th anniversary. 

Spread over three parts, all of which are shown tonight, the film traces the evolution of a jazz festival which gradually encompassed some astonishing performances from major rock, soul and blues artists. 

God bless Friday music nights on BBC Four, long may they groove into infinity.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Spy in the Ocean – Sunday 4th June, BBC One

Narrated by David Tennant (that man again; there’s a theme developing here), the BBC’s latest oceanic deep-dive introduced us to various creatures gently affixed with non-invasive cameras. Some sperm whales and coconut octopi were the stars of this particular episode.

Whenever one delves into the depths of the ocean, the results are always rather surreal and sweetly comical. Psychedelic whimsy writ large. 

While coasting above the waves, we also met some shore-based monkeys – a great bunch of lads – who’ve worked out how to feast upon oysters. Spy in the Ocean is the very definition of exotic Sunday night comfort viewing.

Gods of Tennis – Sunday 4th June, BBC Two

A companion piece to Gods of Snooker, which was also executively produced by Louis Theroux, this assiduously researched volley of social history focuses on 1970s and early 1980s tennis titans. It’s utterly riveting. 

Television was responsible for creating tennis’ mass appeal. That daily Wimbledon coverage coincided with the emergence of charismatic players such as Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King, who took centre stage in the opening episode. 

Ashe, who passed away in 1993, was African-American. King, whose fresh contributions to the programme provided a vital through-line, is gay. Their stories are thematically entwined. 

Ashe and King, while not always in agreement, both fought for equality.

EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPES WITH SANDI TOKSVIG | SIGNIFICANT OTHER | DAVINA McCALL'S PILL REVOLUTION

This article was originally published in The Courier on 3rd June 2023.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Extraordinary Escapes with Sandi Toksvig – Wednesday, Channel 4, 9pm

The latest series of Toksvig’s staycation travelogue, in which she enjoys tranquil rural breaks with various comedy chums, kicks off (gently) with the brilliant Suzy Eddie Izzard. 

Their getaway destination is the Republic of Ireland - Counties Clare, Kerry and Cork to be exact. 

Toksvig tries to encourage Izzard, a famously driven person, to relax via apple crumbles, fried eggs, healing herbs, a treehouse and fly fishing. 

Izzard talks movingly about losing her mother at an early age, as well as her recent decision to come out as trans. “I don’t mind [being called] Eddie Izzard, I don’t mind he, him, she, her. I’m keeping it very loose, baby, so that the entire world can just have a warm bath.”

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

In episode three of this exceptional five-part oral history of The Troubles, we enter the horrifyingly bleak era of dirty protests and fatal hunger strikes. 

A key contributor is the wife of a former IRA member, a man you’ll be familiar with from the first two episodes. 

She talks openly about how difficult it was being married to someone who, despite promising to leave the IRA behind, spent time in prison due to his staunch beliefs. While clearly not used to expressing outward displays of emotion, his regret is palpable. 

We also meet the widow of a rural Northern Ireland policeman. 

I can’t recommend this series enough (hence why I keep recommending it). It’s terribly sad, powerful and revealing.

Vicky McClure: My Grandad’s War – Monday, STV, 9pm

97-year-old Ralph McClure, a working-class man from Nottingham, played a significant role on D-Day. In this poignant programme, Ralph and his adoring granddaughter, Vicky McClure, return to the beaches of Normandy. 

Ralph was eighteen when he joined the Royal Navy. His powers of recall are undimmed by age. A delightful man, he provides a fascinating eyewitness account of an absolutely pivotal moment in 20^th century history. 

Celebrity-fronted docs are often rather superficial affairs, but this is nothing of the sort. Ralph and Vicky are united in their mission to pay heartfelt tribute to every brave soul who fought, and who continue to fight, against fascism.

Britain’s Forgotten Pensioners: Dispatches – Wednesday, Channel 4, 10pm

I urge you to watch this devastating documentary about older British people desperately struggling to make ends meet during the current cost of living crisis. As the old saying goes, if you’re not angry, then you’re not paying attention. 

They can barely afford to eat. They’re literally sitting in darkness. These pensioners have worked hard all their lives, and for what? This is how the government and energy companies repay them. 13 years of enforced austerity and mounting bills. 

“I’m sad all the time,” says John, who’s completely on his own. “I’m just here, and that’s it. Existing.” 

No one should have to live like this. No one’s mental health should be impaired by the constantly overwhelming pressure to just survive.

Significant Other – Thursday, ITVX

This black comedy-drama stars Katherine Parkinson and Youssef Kerkour as lonely neighbours, Anna and Sam. 

It begins with Anna knocking on Sam’s door after she’s suffered a heart attack. Sam has just attempted to take his own life. When the medics arrive, they’re both rushed to hospital. A bond gradually forms. 

Significant Other doesn’t, of course, make light of loneliness and depression. Any subject, no matter how dark, can be mined for humour, just as long as it’s coming from a good, honest, intelligent place. 

If episode one is anything to go by, that’s what’s happening here. It appears to be a humane and oddly life-affirming exploration of terrain that so many of us struggle to traverse.

Five Star Kitchen: Britain’s Next Great Chef – Thursday, Channel 4, 8pm

Another week, another ho-hum culinary competition. Your all-powerful overlord on this occasion is five-star hotel chef Michel Roux Jr. 

“There is so much on the line here for me, my reputation as a chef,” he declares. Mate, unless this show is somehow hijacked by actual ghosts and aliens, no one will ever remember it. Your career will continue to thrive. 

Anyway. The series follows 13 budding chefs as they compete for a potentially life-changing grand prize – running the Palm Court restaurant in London’s exclusive Langham hotel. 

As you would expect, the contestants are faced with a series of challenges to prove they have what it takes to succeed in this high-pressure world.

Davina McCall’s Pill Revolution – Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm

Now here’s a genuinely responsible and informative piece of public service broadcasting. 

A recent Channel 4 survey asked over 4,000 women and people assigned female at birth about their experiences with contraception. 77 % of them experienced debilitating side effects. 33 % stopped using contraception because of those side effects. 

Following on from her excellent documentary about the menopause, Davina McCall challenges some of the myths and misconceptions surrounding contraception. 

She’s shocked to discover that so many women just aren’t being made aware of the range of contraception treatments available to them. 

This programme, which covers a myriad of solutions for anyone who’s struggling, will hopefully make a difference. Television really can be a force for good sometimes.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Close to Vermeer – Tuesday 30th May, BBC Four

Johannes Vermeer is one of art’s great enigmas. His small body of work includes classic paintings such as The Milkmaid and The Girl with the Pearl Earring. They’re familiar to millions, but little is known about the man himself. 

In this elegant documentary/mystery yarn, renowned art expert Gregor J.M. Weber followed his dream of curating the largest Vermeer exhibition the world has ever seen. 

While on the verge of retirement, Weber – a quietly engaging guide – was determined to refute controversial claims that one of Vermeer’s masterworks, Girl with a Flute, wasn’t actually painted by him at all. 

I won’t spoil the ending in case you haven’t seen it, but no wonder Weber was moved to tears.

Who Do You Think You Are? – Thursday 1st June, BBC One

Series nineteen of this unstoppable genealogical warhorse began with Andrew Lloyd Webber discovering that his four times great uncle Peregrine fought at the battle of Waterloo, and that a sixteenth century ancestor, Katherine Duchess of Suffolk, married a 49-year-old man when she was only 14. 

Never has the euphemistic phrase “different times” been more shockingly apt, so much so that the programme swiftly glossed over this uncomfortable finding. 

Lloyd Webber’s ancestors weren’t all frightfully posh. His paternal great, great grandfather was a compassionate working-class missionary. And he did, of course, discover that musicianship runs in the family. 

I’m no fan of Lloyd Webber’s work or politics, but he came across throughout as a genial old satchel.