MY OLD SCHOOL | INSIDE NO. 9 | TWO DOORS DOWN

This article was originally published in The Courier on 17th December 2022.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

My Old School ‐ Friday, BBC Scotland, 9pm

In 1994, a Canadian by the name of Brandon Lee enrolled as a fifth-year student at Bearsden Academy. A year later, he was exposed as former student Brian MacKinnon, a Scotsman in his early thirties. 

This idiosyncratic documentary unpicks a saga that’s bizarre, funny, sad and unsettling in roughly equal measure. 

It’s directed by MacKinnon’s former classmate Jono McLeod, who secured an interview with the notorious imposter. However, MacKinnon declined to appear on camera, so his voice is uncannily lip-synced by actor Alan Cumming. That adds another peculiar layer to proceedings. 

A complex character, to say the least, MacKinnon comes across as a deluded narcissist who appears to be blind to the ethical transgressions of his subterfuge. You can never go back.

Lionesses: Champions of Europe ‐ Thursday, BBC One, 12:10am

You don’t have to be a football fan to agree that one of the very few uplifting moments of 2022 was when England triumphed at the European Women's Football Championship tournament. This documentary relives that victory through the eyes of key players such as team captain Leah Williamson and incumbent I’m a Celebrity… winner Jill Scott. 

This was a major breakthrough moment for women’s football, and female athletes in general. That squad actually inspired people, they briefly took our minds off the awful state of affairs in our benighted country, and you can absolutely guarantee that young athletes from all around Britain will follow in their pioneering stead. 

Clichés be damned, they’re heroes.

Inside No. 9 ‐ Thursday, BBC Two, 9pm

Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith return for another festive edition of their estimable anthology series. 

It’s Christmas Eve, and a pompous doctor played by Pemberton is settling down for a night of contemplation and solitude in a village church. His reverie is abruptly interrupted by a couple played by Shearsmith and former Coronation Street actor Shobna Gulati, who have also booked an overnight stay courtesy of the eccentric church warden (Simon Callow giving it, quite wonderfully, some full-on Simon Callow). 

It may be no match for their unforgettable ‘70s TV pastiche The Devil of Christmas, which is one of my favourite No. 9’s, but it’s still a fun little ghost story involving ancient holy relics and charcoal rubbings.

The Cleaner ‐ Friday, BBC One, 9pm

Tonight’s festive triple-bill of sitcoms on BBC One begins with Greg Davies back in disgruntled action as crime scene cleaner Wicky. 

It’s Christmas Day, and he’s looking forward to winning a raffle. The prize? A horse. Inevitably, Wicky’s equine hopes and dreams are thwarted by the sudden demands of his tiresome vocation. He’s called to yet another blood-spattered crime scene, this time in an ice cream parlour. 

The Cleaner is based on a German series, but it’s so perfectly suited to Davies’ daft, lugubrious comic persona and his trademark penchant for absurdly escalating farce, you’d be forgiven for assuming that he devised the whole thing for himself.

Motherland ‐ Friday, BBC One, 9:30pm

It’s hardly surprising that Motherland, a big critical darling for BBC Two in the last few years, has finally crossed over to BBC One. That, I suspect, is where it’ll stay from now on. 

The premise, in case you’re unaware: a group of middle-class London mums deal with every maddening thing their lifestyle entails. Yes, I know, that sounds unbearably smug and bland, but Motherland practically goes out of its way to avoid trite sentiment. This is a dry-witted endeavour, borne of honest semiautobiographical experience. Your estimable writers include Sharon Horgan and Holly Walsh. 

Simmering Christmas chaos ensues this week, in a full house hosted by the understandably tired and cynical protagonist, Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin).

Two Doors Down ‐ Friday, BBC One, 10pm

A radical break from the usual format, this delightful Christmas special is set, not within the suburban neighbours’ homes, but in a cosy Glasgow coffee shop. 

Beth, Eric and Christine are doing their Christmas shopping, so decide to take a load off their feet. Most of the regular cast turn up too. 

Two Doors Down doesn’t usually lean into pathos, it’s not that sort of show, but it’s beautifully handled here. We all know that Christine (the great Elaine C. Smith) is lonely, that’s been a more or less unspoken theme throughout the series. Well, you may find that you have something in your eye as the closing credits roll. 

As always, the writing and performances ring abundantly true.

A Ghost Story for Christmas: Count Magnus ‐ Friday, BBC Two, 10pm

Mark Gatiss is steeped in horror fiction. He’s a devotee, an aficionado. So why are his Christmas adaptations of M.R. James’ ghost stories always so underwhelming? 

The sad truth is that Gatiss, for all his evident enthusiasm, doesn’t know how to direct a properly spooky yarn. Unlike the classic BBC adaptations he grew up on, they’re fatally lacking in pace and atmosphere. They don’t unnerve at all. 

I take no pleasure in saying this, as I like Gatiss, but his best work can be found elsewhere. 

This one stars that fine actor Jason Watkins as an overly inquisitive British aristocrat and self-styled scholar who becomes obsessed with the long dead founder of a Swedish dynasty. It amounts to very little.

LAST WEEK’S TV

The Savoy at Christmas ‐ Monday 12th December, STV

Cost of living crisis? What cost of living crisis?! Last week, our friends at ITV took the temperature of the nation and decided that what we really need is this: a jocular account of filthy rich people enjoying Christmas at one of planet Earth’s most luxurious hotels. 

“We’re installing the world’s first immersive champagne forest!” gushed ‘experiential architect’, Meredith. “Crazy!” Those decorations, which no one will really take any notice of, cost a quarter of a million pounds. 

The staff of the Savoy seem perfectly pleasant, they’re just trying to make a living like the rest of us. There you go, I somehow managed to end this review on a positive note. It is Christmas after all.

A Countryside Winter ‐ Friday 16th December, BBC One

A little fireside bundle of inoffensive nothingness, this series could easily be mistaken for a parody of cosy BBC programming: everything is fine, please don’t be alarmed. 

In episode one, Chris Packham expressed his fascination with frost. Packham is a fine and knowledgeable broadcaster, a safe pair of mittens, so of course I went along with his bijou essay. When Packham speaks, I listen. That man could start a benign woodland cult if the thought ever crossed his mind. 

Meanwhile, that nice Mary Berry rustled up a tasty-looking potato and lentil jumble. 

I daresay some other things happened during this half hour programme, but after about fifteen minutes I sank into a sort of fugue state.

 

AGATHA CHRISTIE: LUCY WORSLEY ON THE MYSTERY QUEEN | LOUIS THEROUX INTERVIEWS... | TOKYO VICE

This article was originally published in The Courier on 19th November 2022. 

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen – Friday, BBC Two, 9pm

Historian Lucy Worsley has enjoyed a lifelong fascination with Agatha Christie. In this typically persuasive new series, she seeks to explain how Christie, a rather enigmatic figure, became the most successful novelist of all time. 

In order to achieve that goal, she examines how the many societal changes Christie witnessed during her lifetime directly affected her work. This line of investigation naturally feeds into Worsley’s other stated aim: “to show you that she was a pioneering, radical writer and woman.” 

Like all historians worth their salt, Worsley is commendably obsessed with busting myths and received wisdom. Her detailed portrait of Christie is revealing; you actually get a sense of what she might’ve been like as a person. Mission accomplished.

Between the Covers – Tuesday, BBC Two, 7pm

Sara Cox’s book club guests this week are actor Paterson Joseph, BBC newsreader Sophie Raworth, and the comedians Jenny Éclair and Al Murray. 

One of the classic novels under review is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by the late, great Douglas Adams. Paterson Joseph’s passion for that magnificent work of art is just so delightful to behold. A man after my own heart. 

Also, to the surprise of absolutely no one, World War II buff Al Murray’s favourite novel is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Quite right too, it’s a masterpiece. 

Also, please steel yourselves for a wild revelation: Sophie Raworth was once so bored with a book, she chucked it off the side of a boat.

Louis Theroux Interviews… – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

The comedian, broadcaster and author Katherine Ryan is the latest subject of this series of one-on-one interviews. 

Alas, preview copies of the episode weren’t available in time for my deadline, but if you’ve enjoyed this series so far, you’ll know why I’m flagging it up. 

Ryan is a smart, funny person. The same goes for Theroux. So it should be interesting. 

I get the impression that Theroux, who’s spent the last 20 years mired in deeply distressing subject matter, is trying to remind viewers that he was once renowned as an exemplary interviewer of celebrities. 

He has, perhaps, gone as far as could with ‘serious frown’ Theroux mode. There’s more room for light and shade in this format.

Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland and Beyond – Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm

In the penultimate episode of their latest travelogue, celebrity pals Miriam Margolyes and Alan Cumming find themselves at chummy loggerheads on the subject of recreational drug use. This mild conflict takes place in a Santa Barbara ‘drugs den’. 

Their next destination is Palm Springs, which is home to many ageing members of the LGBTQ+ community. Miriam and Alan enjoy a bit of drag bingo and join a gay knitting group.

Their final port of call is Los Angeles, where Miriam takes Alan to meet a young relative she’s never in her life encountered before. 

Suffused with irreverence and total sincerity, these impish adventures are expertly designed to warm your cockles. Cut to: Margolyes raising a knowing Carry On eyebrow.

Tokyo Vice – Tuesday, BBC One, 9:10pm and 10:50pm

This jittery neo-noir thriller is based on the bestselling memoir by American journalist and crime writer Jake Adelstein, who has spent most of his career in Japan. 

The story begins in 1999, when the fresh-faced Adelstein was hired as a crime reporter by one of Japan’s largest newspapers. He was the first non-Japanese person to be employed by them. His first assignment involves a fatal stabbing. This leads him towards a brave – some might say foolhardy - investigation of the notorious Yakuza syndicate. 

As the danger escalates, Adelstein discovers that his main ally is a senior detective from the organised crime division. He’s played by the always compelling Ken Watanabe. The series begins with a double-bill.

You Won’t Believe This – Tuesday, Channel 4, 10pm

A Would I Lie to You? rip-off starring everyday people, this new series involves groups of strangers spinning tall tales, only one of which happens to be true. 

They’re grilled by “an elite squad of police interrogators” while hidden observers search for clues behind a two-way mirror. If they correctly identify the truth-teller, they win £5,000. If they choose the wrong person, that disingenuous suspect pockets the money instead. 

The first group of suspects claim to have opted out of civilisation in a variety of unusual ways. Did one of them really live as an alpine goat? 

The second group have allegedly experienced the worst date ever. Sample claim: “We were caught up in an art heist.”

Unreported World – Friday, Channel 4, 7:30pm

Welcome to Gaza’s clandestine arts scene, where young Palestinians try to express themselves in the face of an Israeli blockade and fierce Hamas censorship. 

In this investigative report, journalist Jonathan Miller emphasises that simple social and creative endeavours, things we take for granted in the western world, are a source of tremendous risk in Palestine. 

His interviewees include a young female singer and actor who has been forced underground. Why? Because women over the age of 14 aren’t permitted to perform in public. 

Miller also meets a Palestinian man who is determined to renovate an old derelict cinema, so that his fellow Gazans can learn from, and enjoy, suppressed works of art. 

LAST WEEK’S TV

The People’s Piazza: A History of Covent Garden – Sunday 13th November, BBC Two

If you’ve ever visited London as a tourist, you’ve probably spent some time in Covent Garden. In this standalone documentary, that perceptive historian David Olusoga traced its centuries-spanning saga. 

Olusoga focused on this small piazza to achieve his usual goal: while examining individual case studies, all of them based within a particular locale, he presented a penetrating essay driven by a deep, empathetic understanding of what can be learned from historical injustices. 

It was also quite funny and colourful at times. He’s very good at this.

The Scotts – Wednesday 16th November, BBC One

Written by and starring Iain Connell and Robert Florence of Burnistoun renown, this likeable sitcom returned for a second series last week. If you haven’t seen it before, then imagine Modern Family set in a Glasgow suburb. A fairly apt description, if I do say so myself. 

The plot of episode one centred upon the imminent arrival of a baby to the extended family fold. A standard sitcom trope, but as always Connell and Florence fleshed it out with some healthy cynicism and understated warmth. They actually like the characters they’ve created, and it’s clearly based on shared experience. 

Best line, delivered by the family matriarch: “I lived through Bible John, Thatcher and a pandemic, I don’t dae jokes.”

THE WEDDING | LOUIS THEROUX INTERVIEWS... | SAS ROGUE HEROES

This article was originally published in The Courier on 5th November 2022.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

The Wedding – Monday and Thursday, BBC Scotland, 10:30pm

This is one of the best things I’ve seen on TV of late. Originally released as six short bittersweet monologues on iPlayer, it’s presented this week as a compilation spread over two episodes. 

The drama unfolds at a Black Scottish wedding. The disparate characters include a gay (second) best man who’s had enough of living in the margins, an unhappy teenage girl struggling with the pressures of social media, a gambling addicted uncle at the end of his tether, and a Nigerian bartender who powerfully reflects upon the violent patriarchal society she’s escaped from. 

A collaboration between several acclaimed Black artists, The Wedding is an utterly compelling and beautifully performed piece. It’s intelligent, insightful, nuanced and moving. It lingers.

Trapped, Disabled & Abused: Dispatches – Monday, Channel 4, 8:30pm

Disabled people in the UK today experience far more domestic violence than non-disabled people. In this Dispatches documentary, reporter Sophie Morgan speaks to disabled victims while exposing the shocking lack of support they receive. 

The programme visits Britain’s only refuge run by – and for – survivors of such abuse. Dispatches have also interviewed over 2000 frontline professionals, including healthcare workers and police officers. Their findings reveal that more than half of those professionals wouldn't know which specialist service to refer a disabled person to. 

I honestly believe that the vast majority of human beings are decent and kind, but how are they expected to assist particularly vulnerable people when there’s no organised system of care?

Between the Covers – Tuesday, BBC Two, 7pm

The latest series of Sara Cox’s cosy little book club welcomes actor Amanda Abbington, former marine turned broadcaster JJ Chalmers, TV’s very own Graham Norton, and Alex Jones from The One Show. 

There is much to discuss as always. Among the new recommendations are The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers; actor Phil Davis describes the basic gist of the novel in a pre-filmed insert. 

Meanwhile, Abbington and Cox cheerfully confess to a bizarre trait - they read the last page of a novel before buying it. If that last page sounds intriguing, they’ll make a purchase. Yep, I know. That’s like watching Jaws for the first time on rewind. Oh well, whatever works for you.

Louis Theroux Interviews… – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

This week’s guest is Yungblud, a pop-punk star with an intensely devoted fan-base. 

Yungblud has been commendably open about his mental health issues, and yet he’s been repeatedly forced to answer that age-old credibility question: are you 4 Real? Isn’t he just a careerist stage school kid? 

Louis, of course, has no truck with this crass, binary argument. He’s more interested in exploring the emotional complexities of Yungblud’s position as an inarticulate spokesperson who’s presumably sincere, but who desperately craves love and validation from the people he supposedly speaks for. 

Something occurred to me while watching this: as an interviewer, Louis is up there with the late, great Mavis Nicholson in terms of gently probing acuity and empathy.

Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland and Beyond – Tuesday, Channel 4, 9:15pm

Showbiz pals Miram Margolyes and Alan Cumming are back for another merry travelogue. This time they’re accompanied by Alan’s dog, Lala. Every second series needs a twist. 

And there’s more: as the title suggests, they’re not just confining themselves to the multitudinous joys and beauty of Scotland during this trip. Local boy made good Cumming has a home in sunny California ™. Margolyes, an actor who’s enjoyed an absolutely fascinating career, used to live there too. 

But their journey begins in the Cairngorms. Then it’s off to Dundee, where they meet with mutual pal Brian Cox. As an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, Cumming conducts a LGBTQ+ wedding. Margolyes strips off. It really is all happening.

Return to Uist – Wednesday, BBC Scotland, 8:30pm

The stars of this charming new series are Alex, his fiancée Susannah and their son Cedar. They’ve decided to make a life-changing move from inner-city London to the remote Outer Hebrides, where they set about building a house and farmstead. An ambitious plan. 

Susannah, a bohemian artist, was raised in Uist, but left as soon as she could. Upon reflection, however, she thinks it might be the perfect environment for her family. 

Alex is a successful gardener and blogger. He’s also the only Black person on the island, so feels a long way from home. 

Return to Uist proves that, with the right cast of characters, TV’s standard ‘in at the deep end’ format will always reap rewards.

Unreported World – Friday, Channel 4, 7:30pm

This week’s destination is rural Guatemala, where young girls are routinely abused and nothing is ever done to protect them. 

I sometimes hesitate to recommend this outstanding foreign affairs strand, which has been running on Channel 4 for 22 years, but only for this reason and this reason alone: I don’t wish to upset anyone with harrowing details. 

But if, after all this time, you trust me and – far more importantly – the estimable journalists from the Unreported World team, you’ll understand that this is a vitally important institution. There is no graphic imagery, but the stories are heart-breaking. 

It goes out in a pre-watershed slot on Fridays, when we’re presumably all kicking off our shoes and trying to escape. That’s not accidental.

LAST WEEK’S TV

SAS Rogue Heroes – Sunday 30th October, BBC One

The latest series from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is loosely based on the formation of the SAS during WWII. 

I say ‘loosely’, as although it’s rooted in actual fact, we’re all aware that Knight is a post-modernist who revels in heightened versions of reality. And there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you remain true to the historical integrity of your story.

People more learned than I have assured me that he’s more or less fulfilled that brief. 

So what we have here is a fairly entertaining WWII drama shot through the irreverent yet fundamentally sincere prism of someone who grew up watching war films on TV. And you’ve gotta love that AC/DC soundtrack.

Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez – Sunday 30th October, BBC Two

Dr Janina Ramirez is one of TV’s most engaging historians. Her scholarly essays are always worth perusing. 

In this one, Ramirez dug deep into the murky legend of Howard Carter, the British archaeologist and Egyptologist who unearthed Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. 

Carter didn’t achieve that remarkable feat on his own, of course, but he basked in all the glory and printed the myth. The local Valley of the Kings experts? Why, they were mere guides towards his deservedly ordained crown of ultimate trailblazing glory. Right. Whatever you say, Howie. 

Ramirez didn’t come to bury Carter, she gave credit where it was due. He was a privileged western product of his post-Edwardian times, with all that uncomfortably entails.

 

MIRIAM & ALAN: LOST IN SCOTLAND + WORZEL GUMMIDGE + DOCTOR WHO

This article was originally published in The Courier on 13th November 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Miriam & Alan: Lost in Scotland – Tuesday, Channel 4, 9:15pm

This new series involves Miriam Margolyes - whose father was Glaswegian - and Alan Cumming driving around Scotland in a campervan. Sounds like fun? Well yes, for the most part it is, but episode one features a saddening sequence in which Cumming revisits his childhood home in rural Tayside. 

His father was an abusive tyrant; watching his otherwise sunny demeanour fade as the awful memories come flooding back feels like a private moment we perhaps shouldn’t be intruding upon. But I understand why Cumming felt the need to share it. Their encounter with old pal Bill Paterson in the beautiful village of Fordyce is also rather bittersweet. 

There are some amusing moments too, though, I assure you.

Dispatches: Did Brexit Work for Business? – Monday, Channel 4, 8:30pm

The latest epistle from Channel 4’s long-running current affairs strand examines Brexit’s impact so far on the fortunes of British businesses. Reporter Harry Wallop strikes an irritatingly arch tone, as if it’s all a big joke, but if you can ignore that – good luck - the programme makes a sobering stats-heavy point. 

It’s based on an exclusive survey and some independent analysis (which factored in the effects of the pandemic). 635 small and medium-sized businesses were polled. Nearly half of them declared that they’re now doing significantly less overseas trade than before. Some of them have stopped trading with the EU entirely. 

They’re wandering through a bureaucratic minefield, an import/export shambles. Who would’ve thought?

The Outlaws – Monday, BBC One, 11:20pm

Worlds continue to collide in the fourth episode of Stephen Merchant’s good-natured comedy drama. This week, the community service gang’s accidentally appropriated drug loot needs to be discreetly laundered, and hapless lawyer Greg (Merchant) is the very man for the job. 

This leads to an amusing scene in which he has to pretend he’s familiar with the Twilight saga (it all makes sense in context). 

The Outlaws is occasionally quite contrived, but it’s also sweet, funny and sincere. The characters are engaging, the storyline is solid, and I admire the assured way in which it balances comedy and drama without any whiplash shifts in tone. Ricky Gervais could learn a lot from his erstwhile comedy partner. But he won't.

DIY SOS: The Big Build Children in Need Special – Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm

A Hull-based charity funded by Children in Need, the St Michael’s Youth Project provides social opportunities for thousands of local kids. An admirable endeavour. Its latest expansion plan involves a countryside campsite and adventure playground; so who better than the DIY SOS team to bring that dream to fruition? 

Regular host Nick Knowles was too busy with other work commitments to take part in this very special episode, but emergency guest presenter Rhod Gilbert is an amiable temp. 

A particularly compassionate and politically-pointed episode, it conveys an important message about poverty. No one should be starving in Britain today; a shameful state of affairs. It is, would you believe, a quietly forthright plea for change.

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

An informal weekly book club, Between the Covers is a pleasant distraction. Hosted by the ever-so-likeable Sara Cox – an entirely natural broadcaster who, one suspects, is just as they appear to be on screen – it polls the opinions of various fiction-steeped celebs. 

This week’s line-up: comic actor John Thomson, cheerfully sentient toffee apple and Saturday Kitchen booze expert Olly Smith, plus two excellent comedians, Fern Brady and Lou Sanders. 

Books under review include new releases The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald and The Coward by Jared McGinnis. Brady also recommends one of her favourites, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson, while Smith waxes lyrical about the novelisation of Ghostbusters.

Children in Need 2021 – Friday, BBC One, 7pm

Highlights of this year’s telethon include: a special teddy bear-based instalment of The Repair Shop; BBC News and sport journalists playing a round or two of I Can See Your Voice; Team GB and Paralympics GB competing in a school sports day; and CBBC presenters Sam and Mark taking on Danny Dyer's wonderfully ludicrous gameshow, The Wall. 

Dyer will hopefully pause proceedings to blearily demand some viewer donations: “Give the kiddies some readies, you muppets!” 

Your hosts for the evening are Ade Adepitan, Mel Giedroyc, Graham Norton, Chris Ramsey and Alex Scott. A charitable celeb-based edition of University Challenge unfolds on BBC Two at 10pm, and the benign ghost of Terry Wogan haunts proceedings throughout.

Griff’s Great New Zealand Adventure – Friday, STV, 8pm

The very definition of avuncular, Griff Rhys Jones is one of the imperial doyens of celebrity travelogues. Yes, it’s an overstocked market, but Griff is particularly good at This Sort of Thing. He’s funny, charming and inquisitive. 

In episode one of his latest odyssey, he surfs down some sand dunes, checks into New Zealand’s oldest hotel, bakes a haphazard kiwi pavlova, and marvels at some striking contemporary art dotted throughout a verdant private farm populated by giraffes. 

He also learns about some traditional Maori customs and, err, sings God Save the Queen with a sensational indigenous choir. That’s a slightly awkward moment, but clearly well-intentioned. It’s a culturally sensitive and respectful programme; a nice vicarious vacation.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Worzel Gummidge – Saturday 6th November, BBC One

What a magical piece of television this is. Writer/director/star Mackenzie Crook’s fresh adaptation of the Worzel Gummidge saga has, since 2019, become a yearly treat: a bucolic, summery balm during our deep winter depression. 

The latest episode featured Crook’s old Detectorists cohort Toby Jones in multiple roles, if only to prove that you literally can’t have enough of Toby Jones. That other indispensable character actor, Paul Kaye, also burned brightly (sorry) as an affable if somewhat petulant Guy Fawkes effigy. 

This is bona fide family entertainment: it’s warm, witty, slightly unsettling in its whimsically folk horrific way, and entirely bereft of cynicism. Crook's Gummidge is an ugly/beautiful triumph. Look out for two more episodes over Christmas. 

Doctor Who – Sunday 7th November, BBC One

Episode two of Chris Chibnall’s (more or less) final lap was a pleasingly straightforward affair. Time has gone haywire, hence why the Sontarans are involved in the Crimean War, but Chibnall didn’t get too bogged down in whatever his overarching plan is. 

He delivered a traditional adventure yarn in which Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor was actually allowed to show some gumption and moral fibre for once; Chibnall, inexplicably, usually writes the 13^th Doctor as a bemused passenger in her own show. 

I have little faith in his ability to tie this serial together in a satisfying way, but that hopefully doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Russell T. Davies will be back soon enough. So far, so fun.