MARTIN COMPSTON'S SCOTTISH FLING | DOC MARTIN | RIDLEY

This article was originally published in The Courier on 3rd September 2022.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Martin Compston’s Scottish Fling – Thursday, BBC Scotland, 10pm and Friday, BBC Two, 9:30pm

The Line of Duty actor positively swells with national pride during this perfectly pleasant scenic travelogue. He reacquaints himself with Scotland in the company of his pal, the TV presenter Phil MacHugh. They’re an affable duo. 

The series begins on the West Coast, where Compston is from. In Dunoon they shoot the cheerfully innuendo-laden breeze (and play crazy golf) with RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner Lawrence Chaney. 

Later on, they climb a hill with Zahrah Mahmood, who’s made a name for herself on Instagram as The Hillwalking Hijabi. Their view from the summit is stunning. “You know how a lot of people say the great outdoors are their church?” she smiles, “I feel like this is my mosque.”

Inside Central Station – Monday, BBC One, 8pm

The latest series of this observational doc about Glasgow’s Central Station heralds some major changes for staff and passengers alike. 

We follow engineers as they deal with one of the biggest renovations the Argyll line has ever seen. This project necessitates the temporary closure of Glasgow Central’s low level station, which serves over five million passengers every year. 

Despite all of this stress and upheaval, everyone appears to take it in their stride. There’s no point complaining about minor inconveniences, especially when they’ll ultimately lead to improvements. Wise words, I know. 

Inside Central Station is a genial show, a modest little masterclass in how to compile a workplace documentary. It’s full of low-key character and charm.

24 Hours in A&E – Monday, Channel 4, 9pm

The 28^th series of 24 Hours in A&E was filmed at St George’s Hospital in London during the lockdown autumn of 2020. It begins with Sara, who’s been rushed to A&E after collapsing at work. The doctors are concerned that she may have a bleed on the brain. 

Meanwhile, teenager Flynn hits a car while riding his bike, and Jane – who visits A&E with a severe headache – reflects upon her childhood spent in Zambia and Lancashire. 

As always, it’s a reliably tender compendium of human interest stories. The formula never changes, because it doesn’t need to. Our innate empathy connects us with these people. It could be you, me, or any of our loved ones in those hospital beds.

First Dates Hotel – Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm

Another year, another spin-off series in which maître d’ Fred Sirieix and his matchmaking squad usher yet another group of hopefuls into their exotic luxury love shack. 

Ex-military paramedic Gareth has pretty much given up on the hope of ever meeting anyone. Gareth, having applied to appear on First Dates, obviously wasn’t expecting the producers to match him up with a theoretically perfect partner. 

The twist in this particular story – First Dates doesn’t half love its twists – is that Gareth and his date, Carys, once chatted with each other on a dating app. But they never took things any further than that. 

We also meet a retired taxidermist embarking upon her first date in 39 years.

Doc Martin – Wednesday, STV, 9pm

Martin Clunes has been playing TV’s most beloved Cornwall-based grumpy medic on and off for eighteen years. And now it’s time for him to say farewell to the character. 

The final series begins with our hero in self-imposed retirement, a decision he’s clearly starting to regret. Your special guest star is Fay Ripley, who plays a woman struggling with a stressful divorce. 

Doc Martin lasted so long for several very good and straightforward reasons: well-written scripts, lovely scenery and likeable characters brought to life by a solid cast, a cast spearheaded by Clunes exuding his uniquely lugubrious charisma. 

A warm, droll comedy drama with popular appeal, it achieved everything it ever set out to do.

Katie Price: Trauma and Me – Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm

Last year, Katie Price experienced PTSD following a car accident. In this documentary, she talks about her ongoing mental health struggles. 

The programme wasn’t available in time for my deadline, but I’m flagging it up because Price is a very candid and thoughtful person. The documentaries she’s fronted in recent years have always been worthwhile. This one features contributions from Price’s parents, who express understandable concern about their daughter’s wellbeing. 

Price, as always, interviews and listens to people who are experiencing similar problems. They discuss the various triggers that can cause them to spiral, while highlighting the ways in which we can help ourselves and each other. 

I predict with some confidence that it will all be handled sensitively.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Ridley – Sunday 28th August, STV

I’m still not entirely convinced that this new crime drama starring Adrian Dunbar isn’t a masterfully deadpan post-modern parody of every cliché in the Sad Cop Bingo playbook. 

He plays former DI Alex Ridley, who recently lost his wife and daughter in an arson attack. Naturally, Ridley lives alone in a big expensive house on the banks of a picturesque lake while listening to mournful jazz records. 

His replacement on the force, a former protégé, entices the great Ridley out of retirement to help her solve some mystifying cases. Perhaps that will give him a new lease of life? 

I mean, really. Come on. Dunbar, a fine actor, deserves better than this. So do we. 

The Capture – Sunday 28th August and Monday 29th August, BBC One

It’s been three years since series one of this superior conspiracy thriller – its return was presumably delayed by the pandemic – hence why series two began with a very lengthy recap. That wasn’t necessary, as it revolves around a new case for counter terrorism agent Rachel Carey (Holliday Grainger). 

Newcomers to the show would have experienced no problems following the action; the opening scene clearly established that the villains of the piece are capable of corrupting CCTV footage using sophisticated deepfake technology. The framed victim in this case is an up-and-coming government minister with ties to China. 

The Capture is a slick, smart confection that actually has something to say about real-world concerns surrounding data protection and surveillance.

ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND + INSIDE NO. 9 + BEAR & NICOLA ADAMS' WILD ADVENTURE

A version of this article was originally published in The Courier on 29th May 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band – Friday, BBC Four, 9pm

Note that subtitle: this documentary tells the often fraught story of The Band through Robertson’s elder statesman, rose-tinted gaze. The only other surviving Band-member, Garth Hudson, oddly doesn’t appear at all. 

Nevertheless, it’s still an engaging, well-made film (Martin Scorsese serves as an executive producer) in which the prodigiously talented Robertson – who comes across as a nice guy – waxes effusively about the funky magic he created alongside his comrades, Bob Dylan prominent among them. 

Packed with colourful detail and warm contributions from famous fans such as Bruce Springsteen, it may not be the definitive account of the four-fifths Canadian Gods of Americana, but it’s still a worthy addition to the canon of Scorsese-affiliated music docs.

Between the Covers – Monday, BBC Two, 7:30pm

The latest – tired pun alert – chapter of this comfy little book club throws the floor open to Hugh Dennis, Giovanna Fletcher, Zoe Lyons and the great Don Warrington. Host Sara Cox canvases their opinions on the late John le Carre’s final novel, The Agent Running in the Field, as well as Another Life, the debut novel from Jodie Chapman. 

We discover that Warrington likes “very heavy books”, Lyons is a fan of dystopian fiction, Dennis just likes being transported beyond the parameters of his life, and the ever-smiling Fletcher abhors violent and disturbing fiction, preferring instead to lose herself in stories about relationships. 

Warrington’s polite refusal to say positive things about every book placed before him is delightful.

Inside No. 9 – Monday, BBC Two, 9:30pm

Pemberton and Shearsmith’s latest confection is set in a static caravan which is being used as an on-location green room for a true-crime TV drama written by the actual Jeff Pope.

Shearsmith plays an earnest bit-part actor who spends a disturbing afternoon with the strange family who live in the caravan. The parents are played by Pemberton and Pauline McLynn. Their sheltered daughter is played by Donna Preston, while Adrian Dunbar occasionally pops in as an amusingly passive-aggressive version of himself.

This isn’t one of the strongest episodes; in fact it’s really quite uncomfortable. Granted, I like the way it attempts to address the issue of our unquenchable thirst for dramas based on real-life horror. The fact that Shearsmith once starred in one, written by Pope no less, adds a layer of self-awareness. 

However, its problematic and borderline offensive handling of mental illness undermines whatever point the creators were trying to make. They’re intelligent men, they should know better.

Bake-Off: The Professionals – Tuesday, Channel 4, 8pm

As this crust-crimping saga continues, the remaining five teams consolidate their quest to be crowned Britain’s best pastry chefs. 

The first challenge this week is the making of a miniature cube-shaped dessert, which must be perfectly sculpted in every way. They’re also tasked with creating a glistening array of mushroom-shaped desserts (but without any actual mushrooms in them, obviously). 

The dramatic climax revolves around the painstaking creation of an imaginative heroes and villains-themed macaroon showpiece. It’s a broad conceptual remit: one of the teams opts for Mother Nature vs pollution, while another goes for James Bond vs a generic arch-villain. 

It is, as always, an extravagant smorgasbord of camp, frothy fun.

The Anti-Vax Conspiracy – Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm

Preview copies of this documentary weren’t available at the time of writing, but it sounds interesting. And thoroughly depressing. 

The global anti-vax movement insists that Covid is a myth conjured up by governments to inject us with dangerous vaccines. The programme aims to expose who’s behind this crazy conspiracy theory, and what their agenda is. 

It inveigles its way into the paranoid mind-set of anti-vaxxers such as Piers Corbyn, who believes the vaccine rollout is equivalent to experiments carried out in Nazi concentration camps. 

At its centre, however, lurks disgraced doctor Andrew Wakefield, whose bogus theories linking vaccines and autism sparked the entire movement. He has since gained fame and fortune in America. What a world.

Building Britain’s Biggest Nuclear Power Station – Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm 

On a stretch of the Somerset coast, a controversial project is unfolding: the construction of the UK’s first nuclear power station in three decades. Hinkley Point C, which is the size of a small town, is expected to cost more than £22 billion. 

Filmed over two years, this stats-heavy series is like one of those documentaries about the day-to-day running of luxury hotels, only with two of the world’s most powerful nuclear reactors in the basement. 

We follow ordinary people as they facilitate a potentially devastating source of energy, which makes for uncomfortable viewing. Yet it’s also grimly amusing at times: episode one begins with the site chaplain saying a prayer while the staff stand around awkwardly.

Bear and Nicola Adams’ Wild Adventure – Friday, STV, 9:30pm

The latest celebrity special from adventurer Bear Grylls - an inherently silly yet harmless man – has a bit more depth than his usual folderol. 

While yomping across the windy wilds of Dartmoor with Olympic boxing gold medalist Nicola Adams, he occasionally stops to interview her. We gain some actual insight into her life and motivations. A truly lovely and inspiring person, she talks movingly about her traumatic childhood and the pressures of coming out as gay. 

Meanwhile, however, it’s gung-ho business as usual. They abseil down steep cliffs, crawl along a taut rope angled at 45 degrees, and boil an egg using hand sanitiser. 

Grylls’ overenthusiastic and weirdly emphasised “smashed it!” presentation style never fails to amuse.

LAST WEEK’S TV

What Are We Feeding Our Kids? – Thursday 27th May, BBC One

In the UK today, 21% of children are living with obesi\ty by the time they leave primary school. That’s the highest rate it’s ever been. But it’s a major global problem, as Dr Chris van Tulleken discovered in this probing documentary. 

The root cause is the prevalence of cheap and convenient ultra-processed food. His visit to the Amazon Basin revealed that a floating supermarket delivering unhealthy pre-packaged food recently caused a shocking spike in child obesity. Our supermarkets are full of this stuff too. 

Is it addictive? And if so, why? To find out, van Tulleken embarked upon a draining Morgan Spurlock-esque self-experiment in which he stuffed himself with ‘hyper-palatable’ fatty foods. A valuable expose.

21 Day Body Turnaround with Michael Mosley – Thursday 27th May, Channel 4

For many of us, staying fit and healthy during the pandemic hasn’t been easy. In this instructive and occasionally quite alarming new series, former doctor Michael Mosley examines the lifestyles, diets and exercise levels of five volunteers. 

His aim, as the programme’s title suggests, is to improve their health in just 21 days. Because at this rate, he warns, they’re taking years off their life expectancy. 

Mosley has earned a reputation as TV’s friendly face of matters medicinal, but he’s in slightly sterner mode here. And with good reason – although we’re living longer, a large percentage of us will struggle with health problems in the last two decades of our lives. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

TV Review: LINE OF DUTY + BRITAIN'S NUCLEAR BOMB: THE INSIDE STORY

This article was originally published in The Dundee Courier on 6 May 2017.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/category/lifestyle/entertainment/tv-film/

LINE OF DUTY: Sunday, BBC One

BRITAIN’S NUCLEAR BOMB: THE INSIDE STORY: Wednesday, BBC Four

Jed Mercurio is a crafty swine. I swear he must write LINE OF DUTY while cackling up his sleeve, like a cruel child who can’t resist incinerating ants with an elaborate rig of magnifying glasses.

The latest series of his incomparably entertaining cop drama climaxed with the blatant suggestion that gruffly lovable police chief Ted Hastings might somehow be involved with the overarching thread of deeply sordid establishment corruption.

Mercurio timed this twist to perfection, as Hastings – played by the excellent Irish actor Adrian Dunbar – has gradually secured his place in the pantheon of much-loved fictional TV sleuths.

A no-nonsense copper in the old-school mould, his paternal decency and dogged determination has transformed him into a kind of wish-fulfilment folk hero. It’s comforting to believe that reliable policemen such as Hastings still exist – if, indeed, they ever did – to protect us from the evil deeds of all-powerful elites.

Hastings curtly undermining a smug suspect by calling them “fella” or gently referring to a young female murder victim as “that wee girl” - he's no more sexist than your affable, well-meaning dad - has become a source of national pride, as well as a fun-for-all-the-family drinking game. What’s not to love about the man?  

Well, this blanket adoration has clearly become too cosy as far as Mercurio is concerned. He’s occasionally dropped hints that Hastings might not be as trustworthy as he seems, but that’s always felt like the kind of red herring misdirection he’s so fond of.

When the dodgy senior police officer – played with a dodgy English accent by Scottish actor Paul Higgins - attempted to frame Hastings in the penultimate episode, we didn’t believe it for a second. He was obviously trying to divert attention from himself. Turns out there may be some truth to his accusation after all.

Despite knowing that two more series have been commissioned, I actually wouldn’t mind if Mercurio left us with the tantalising fear that Hastings was behind everything from the start. That might seem like a cheap trick – it probably is – but it would still work as a sly summation of the show’s cynical, paranoid message. No one can be trusted.

As for the rest of this year’s storyline, it unfolded – somewhat disappointingly – more or less as expected. Roz murdered Tim, but not as part of any grand involvement with Balaclava Man/Men.

The main buzz from Roz’s weary confession came from imagining that her oily lawyer, played by Patrick Baladi, was Neil from The Office failing hilariously after training as a lawyer post-sacking from Wernham-Hogg.

I hope, when they make the final series, the ultimate twist is that Hastings is one of the few trusted ‘70s/’80s establishment figures who wasn’t a wrong ‘un. Now that would be subversive, fella.

Space precludes me from rewarding BRITAIN’S NUCLEAR BOMB: THE INSIDE STORY with the detailed praise it deserves, so I urge you to watch this fascinating documentary on iPlayer.

As the world teeters on the brink once again, it whisked us back to a simpler, gentler time when nuclear Armageddon first became a harrowing reality. Our first atomic bomb was invented, tried and tested by men – now dapper, aged and charming – who still lived in fear of post-war German retaliation.

If they could've foreseen Brexit, we'd all be dead by now.

Despite the literally devastating subject matter, the programme managed to scrape some dark, dry humour from our typically parochial flirtation with the apocalypse. They almost destroyed Dorking during test runs. 

Almost restores your faith in hapless British ingenuity, doesn’t it?