BROWN & BLAIR: THE NEW LABOUR REVOLUTION + DEMENTIA & US + SAVILE: PORTRAIT OF A PREDATOR

A version of this article was originally published in The Courier on 2nd October 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

This fascinating series traces the epochal rise and fall of New Labour, a nominally successful project in which the Labour Party made itself electable by abandoning its socialist principles.

The timing isn’t accidental: Labour, post-Corbyn, are currently struggling to repeat that trick. The key difference between then and now, as the programme makes clear, is that Tony Blair once presented himself as a plausible and vaguely charismatic leader. 

Episode one illustrates how Labour managed to overhaul its image. Blair comes across as an ambitious, ingratiating salesman. Brown, a serious political thinker, emerges as the better man. 

They both provide telling contributions, as do Mandelson and Campbell. Once Johnson’s reign is over, I hope the team behind this project – who tackled Thatcher’s legacy a few years ago – are able to make a similar series about him.

Scotland’s Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle – Tuesday, BBC Scotland, 8pm

Ben Fogle, with his face like a bemused Easter Island statue, is an affable and mostly harmless buffoon. He presumably means well, as you’ll see in this slightly peculiar Hebridean travelogue/spiritual quest. 

His journey begins in the Inner Hebrides, where he explores its enduring connection with the peaceful tenets of Christianity. These islands have, for aeons, been a magnet for pilgrims, hippies, artists, musicians and poets: people who just want to get away from the noise of life on the mainland. 

One of our host’s interviewees is a transgender woman who hasn’t faced any prejudice at all within her remote island community. If Fogle’s goal was to present the Hebrides as some sort of utopia, then he’s succeeded.

Dementia & Us – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

The symptoms of dementia cannot be strictly diagnosed. It affects people in a complex variety of ways. Filmed over two years, this revealing two-part series follows four people with dementia as they and their loved ones adjust to life with this cruel, debilitating disease. 

The tone at first is somewhat optimistic: people always find a way to thrive with love and laughter. How else are we supposed to get through this unjust ordeal? If you’re diagnosed with dementia, that doesn’t mean your life is over. Far from it. But there is no happy ending. 

Dementia & Us is an honest, sensitive, sad, unflinching and important piece of television. It strikes a nerve. It matters.

Murder Island – Tuesday, Channel 4, 9:30pm

Crime writer Ian Rankin is the brains behind this new genre-bending reality series, in which eight members of the public investigate a specially-written murder mystery. Preview copies weren’t available at the time of writing, but the premise is intriguing. 

Our amateur sleuths pitch up on a craggy island in the hope of solving that week’s case and winning a £50,000 reward. They’ll receive expert guidance from (presumably fictional) police officers while encountering various suspects – all of whom appear to be harbouring dark secrets. Episode one apparently involves a fatal land dispute. 

It sounds, in essence, like a more extravagant version of that old Cluedo TV adaptation from the 1980s, so it could be lots of fun.

Our Lives: Boots & Beards – Wednesday, BBC One, 7:30pm

A Scots-Asian hillwalking group, Boots & Beards is a healthy, heartening community endeavour. This delightful documentary meets its Glasgow-based founders, cousins Naveed and Kashif, who devised the concept five years ago as a way of bringing friends and family members together. It blossomed from there. 

We follow the group – which includes men, women and children - as they return to Scotland’s great outdoors after a year in lockdown. They’re also preparing for their one hundredth walk. 

As with all Our Lives documentaries, this is a sweet celebration of good, inspiring, ‘ordinary’ people. Treat yourselves to a pick-me-up marathon on iPlayer. When viewed from a certain angle, the world’s not so bad after all.

Iceland with Alexander Armstrong – Wednesday, Channel 5, 9pm

According to ‘Xander’ himself, the only thing he knew about Iceland before making this series is that it’s where Bjork comes from. Oh, and there are puffins. So you do get the impression that he’s actually learning something about that beautiful, rugged isle. 

To his credit, he seems genuinely smitten with the geography, people and culture of Iceland. In episode one he circles an active volcano via helicopter, meets a nice woman who believes in elves, hangs out with Iceland’s ‘scary’ 2019 Eurovision entrants, visits a male genitalia museum and marvels at an actual massive organ (oh, please yourselves etc.).

Iceland comes across as an impeccably groovy and eccentric place. They’re way ahead over there. 

Savile: Portrait of a Predator – Thursday, STV, 9pm

How did Jimmy Savile, one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders, manage to commit his crimes without punishment? This damning report reveals all. Well, sort of. 

Savile was a calculating opportunist who inveigled his way into environments – hospitals, nightclubs, television studios – where he could prey upon vulnerable young people. 

He formed a shield of protection around himself via supposedly altruistic charity work and friendships with powerful establishment figures such as Margaret Thatcher and Prince Charles (neither of whom, the lawyered-up programme hastily points out, were aware of his heinous ulterior motives). 

Those with suspicions either turned a blind eye or felt powerless to challenge him. A sickening saga, it features testimonies from victims, witnesses and a former Yewtree detective. One hopes that programmes such as this will encourage people to listen to victims of abuse.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Spice Girls: How Girl Power Changed Britain – Tuesday 28th September, Channel 4

The final episode of this surprisingly thoughtful and touching series followed the individual Spice Girls in the wake of their split. They weren’t prepared for life in the spotlight on their own; they’d always had each other for protection. 

The grubby tabloid media had a field day with them. The sheer amount of sexism and misogyny they were subjected to was appalling. Mel B also experienced blatant racism. 

This wasn’t ‘just’ the story of a successful pop group, it was a frank critique of the double standards that women are forced to endure in a male-dominated world. And via testimonies from their fans, it proved that the Spice Girls actually meant something. The power of pop is a beautiful thing.

The Cleaner – Friday 1st October, BBC One

Episode four of this enjoyable farce took place in a stately home, where crime scene cleaner Wicky (writer/star Greg Davies) encountered a rude, patronising aristocrat played by the great Stephanie Cole. 

She told the police that a burglar had fallen down the stairs – hence the bloody mess – but it eventually transpired that she’d beaten him to death with a golf club. Her failed attempt to buy Wicky’s silence confirmed that, for all his verbal blundering, he’s a fundamentally decent man who’s good at his job. 

This instalment, which hung together neatly, also featured a fantastic cameo from Donald Sumpter – who’s been an old man since birth – as a mad, bellicose bigot. Good, clean, grisly fun. 

SIXTEEN: CLASS OF 2021 + BORN TO BE WILD + UNBELIEVABLE MOMENTS CAUGHT ON CAMERA

This article was originally published in The Courier on 21st August 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Sixteen: Class of 2021 ‒ Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm

During phase one of the pandemic, Channel 4 asked a group of Midlands school friends on the verge of turning sixteen to document their lives. This warm new series is the result. 

It begins in September 2020, as they return to school after six months of lockdown. A smart bunch of ordinary, likeable working‐class kids at a crossroads in their lives, they talk openly about their hopes for the future. The programme doesn’t patronise or judge them. Instead it celebrates their individuality and togetherness. 

Naturally, there are a few moments of minor drama (at one point a jacket potato is thrown in anger), but on the whole it’s a positive endeavour in the vein of Channel 4’s exceptional Educating… strand.

Born to Be Wild ‒ Monday, BBC Scotland, 8pm

Meet Miss Honey. A beautiful little badger cub, she’s the star of this week’s visit to the Scottish SPCA National Wildlife Rescue Centre. 

Honey was found abandoned on a promenade in Edinburgh, and requires round‐the‐clock care. One of the staff members has to become Honey’s surrogate mum, hence why they have to find her a young badger buddy; if she becomes too attached to her human carers, she may never acclimatise to life in the wild. 

The supporting cast includes an injured fox cub, a richness (that’s apparently the collective noun) of house martins and a sandpiper in need of intricate eye surgery. As for the staff, they have quite possibly the world’s most spiritually nourishing job.

Tsunami ‒ Monday to Wednesday, Channel 5, 9pm

Stripped over three consecutive nights, this dramatic series provides a detailed examination of one of the world’s worst natural disasters. 

On Boxing Day 2004, an undersea earthquake off the coast of northern Indonesia caused a series of devastating tsunamis. It is estimated that around 230,000 people were killed. To make sense of what happened and why, Dr Xand van Tulleken and archaeologist Raksha Dave speak to some of the people who witnessed this appalling tragedy first hand, as well as various experts who have studied it. 

Each episode is devoted to a specific time frame, which allows for a forensic examination of events as they unfolded. It begins 12 hours before the disaster and ends with the immediate aftermath.

Our Lives: The City of Horses ‒ Tuesday, BBC One, 7pm

On three neighbouring housing estates in Swansea, the residents have for decades reared horses on every available large patch of grass. They’re just an everyday part of life in these communities. But the council are cracking down on this tradition, which means that the current generation of equine lovers may be the last. Nevertheless, hope springs eternal. 

This charming documentary illustrates that the horses are beloved and well looked after by their owners, although you may find yourself agreeing with the sympathetic vet who states that their overall quality of life will be improved by the new legislation. What can’t be denied is that the horses provide their human pals with an added sense of therapeutic purpose.

H20: The Molecule That Made Us ‒ Wednesday, BBC Four, 9pm

Kelly Ann McEvers is an esteemed journalist. But she’s also an American podcaster, which means it’s impossible to take this new series about the importance of water seriously.

McEvers suffers from that inadvertently comical American podcast delivery style: casually earnest and awestruck, she starts sentences with “So” and phrases every statement as if it were a question. A pox upon the upward inflection. She also describes this project as “a podcast‐style documentary”. That’ll be a documentary with visuals then. You may require a moment to wrap your head around this novel concept. 

It’s unfortunate, as the subject matter is interesting. I blame comedian Adam Buxton for his spot‐on parody of that style of delivery. It cannot be unheard.

Unbelievable Moments Caught on Camera ‒ Wednesday, STV, 9pm

This enjoyably daft programme ‐ which may as well be titled ‘Woah! Check This Out!’ ‐ excavates the stories behind viral videos of dramatic events. 

Highlights include the split‐second rescue of an unconscious skydiver plummeting towards the ground; two kayakers falling into the mouth of a whale (they’re remarkably sanguine about the whole affair); a lorry driver rescuing a woman from a burning car; and a pair of lucky fools who were almost crushed by an iceberg. 

But, hey, it’s not all utterly nightmarish; we also witness a classical musician playing violin while undergoing life‐saving surgery. Your narrator is Alexander ‘crash bang wallop, what a video’ Armstrong, who’s on hand to reassure viewers that no one died.

In Tandem: The Neil Fachie Story ‒ Friday, BBC Scotland, 9pm

A record‐breaking Paralympic and Commonwealth gold medallist, cyclist Neil Fachie is one of the UK’s most decorated athletes. He also has retinitis pigmentosa, a rare congenital condition which severely restricts his vision. Fachie has accepted the possibility that he might eventually go completely blind. 

In this revealing documentary, the Aberdeen‐born champ ‐ who is an unassuming model of humble determination ‐ discusses his various professional setbacks and triumphs, as well as the overall experience of competing on the world stage on behalf of yourself and your country. 

The programme also features insight from fellow cycling ace Chris Hoy, and touches upon Fachie’s relationship with his wife, the visually‐impaired racing cyclist and double world champion Lora Fachie.

LAST WEEK’S TV

David Wilson’s Crime Files ‒ Sunday 15th August, BBC Scotland

The criminologist began his latest series with a look at two of Scotland’s most notorious fraudsters. 

I’d vaguely heard about the Gorbals woman who claimed to be an heir of the Duchess of Argyle, but I was staggered by the story of Gregor MacGregor, a 19^th century general who callously conned Scottish migrants into believing he could grant them a new life in a Central American paradise. Once relieved of their life savings, they were shipped off to an uninhabited island. 

Two thirds of MacGregor’s victims died while marooned there. He was never punished for his crime. Reporter Fiona Walker argued that this was because most of the survivors were too ashamed to admit they’d been conned. A sobering tale.

The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family ‒ Friday 20th August, BBC Two

TV just can’t get enough of that wacky Boleyn clan. This series comes hot on the heels of a drama that recently aired on Channel 5. 2021: the year we finally reached Boleyn saturation point. 

This isn’t a bad series, at least not on a technical level. It’s a well‐made, straight‐ahead history lesson. Handsomely‐mounted, you could say. But this saga is so familiar, one wonders what the point is. Perhaps fans of Tudor history are like Beatles obsessives: they know they probably won’t learn anything new from the latest book, article or documentary, but they devour them anyway just on the off chance. 

The latest episode focused on the ill‐fated Anne. It fulfilled its brief.

TV Review: NEW WORLDS and ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG'S REAL RIPPING YARNS

This article was originally published in The Courier on 5th April 2014.

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/lifestyle

New Worlds: Tuesday, Channel 4

Alexander Armstrong's Real Ripping Yarns: Thursday, BBC Four

Paul Whitelaw

Six years ago, Channel 4 aired a semi-fictionalised drama about the English Civil War called The Devil's Whore. Despite boasting a cast including Michael Fassbender, John Simm, Dominic West, Peter Capaldi and Andrea Riseborough, it was a distinctly average affair.

Perhaps it's the circle of one I move in, but I don't recall much clamour for a sequel. And yet here it is, in the guise of New Worlds, galloping over the horizon on a wave of public apathy. Television is often accused of being a doggedly predictable medium, but it doesn't half surprise and confound sometimes.

Set 20 years after the unmemorable events of The Devil's Whore, it flits between an unstable 17^th century England and settler-dominated Massachusetts. Writer Peter Flannery, best known for Our Friends in the North, seems to be groping towards a valid point about the hypocrisy of Britons railing against royal oppression at home while subjugating an entire race of people abroad. He's aided in this regard by shots of Native Americans being slaughtered in meaningful slow-motion. Subtle, it is not.

Back in rural Oxfordshire, former Cromwell acolyte Angela Fanshawe – now played by Eve Best, rather than Andrea Riseborough – presides over an idyllic retreat of twee, gown-clad maidens. This safe refuge for ethereal Timotei models was inevitably invaded by the bloodied chaos of the outside world. As in The Devil's Whore, Flannery revels in presenting a lurid, violent world rife with heavy symbolism.

Although speckled with ostensibly dramatic incident – Angela's daughter being kidnapped at gunpoint; James Cosmo falling to his death against an unconvincing CG backdrop – it suffers from the same problem as its forebear: it's hard to invest in these thinly drawn characters, as they feel more like pieces being moved around on a flame-engulfed chessboard. It's handsomely shot, but pretty pictures count for nothing when used to mask such turgid storytelling. New Worlds isn't so much a drama as a lavish historical pop-up book; a bewigged chore in search of meaning.

Accompanied by a welcome repeat run of Michael Palin and Terry Jones' post-Python classic, Alexander Armstrong's Real Ripping Yarns delved into the square-jawed world of Boy's Own adventures. Much like the series itself, it was mired in a sort of appalled affection for this archaic terrain of absurd Victorian values.

Armstrong, our genial guide, could barely disguise his admiration for an era when boys were trusted with dangerous poisons and explosives, although his excruciating dip into an ice-cold bath – once thought of as a catch-all cure for male ailments – left one in no doubt about the madness of the era's teachings.

Palin and a curiously marginalised Jones were on hand to discuss their love/hate relationship with the literature of their youth. Palin is often lazily categorised as a frightfully nice and placid chap, but it was clear that a spur of righteous anger underpinned his satirical recollections of a childhood spent in the public school system. It's hard to be truly fond of an epoch steeped in racism and bullying conformity.

Nevertheless, I had to marvel at the deranged metal contraptions used to stave off adolescent sexual urges; “self-pollution” was the wonderfully chaste description. And the letters pages of the day were a font of inadvertent comedy. Full of blunt editorial answers shorn from the context of the letters themselves, they were a master-class in straight-faced surrealism. No wonder Palin and Jones were taking notes.