GHOSTS | RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE UK | AM I BEING UNREASONABLE?

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

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Ghosts ‐ Friday, BBC One, 8:30pm

All hats off to the original Horrible Histories team for creating such a rare treat: a family‐friendly sitcom that’s neither bland nor compromised or condescending. It’s funny, daft, clever and sweet, an obvious labour of love. 

The latest series begins with Alison and Mike anxiously welcoming their first guests to the manor house B&B they’ve been working on for all this time. Hopefully the well‐meaning spectral inhabitants won’t get in the way. 

As always, the writers seamlessly blend their driving narrative with nicely‐rounded subplots and some great fleeting gags. My favourite line this week: snooty Lady Button reveals that she once met The Elephant Man. What was he like? “Rather boring, couldn’t see the fuss.”

Mastermind ‐ Monday, BBC Two, 7:30pm

In 1972, Mastermind introduced a hitherto unthinkable solemnity to the TV quiz arena. 

The darkened set, the black leather chair, Magnus Magnusson rattling out questions on a wide variety of subjects, none of which would ever be touched upon by populist contemporaries such as Monkhouse and Forsyth: the intense no‐frills quiz to end ‘em all. 

So no wonder it celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year. A world without Mastermind is no world at all. 

In round one, smooth incumbent host Clive Myrie welcomes contestants whose specialist subjects include hardboiled detective novelist Raymond Chandler, influential Spanish artist Francisco de Goya, Team GB’s performance at the 2020 Olympics, and Peaky Blinders (the latter contestant comes dressed for the occasion).

Cunk On Earth ‐ Monday, BBC Two, 10pm

The bewildered cultural commentator Philomena Cunk started out as a recurring character in Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe. Since then, she’s been spun off into various solo vehicles. 

This one, a parody of self‐consciously epic BBC documentaries, invites that age old question: how do you mock something we automatically roll our eyes at anyway? An awestruck presenter standing atop a mountain while synthetic orchestral music swells is one of the most hackneyed pieces of TV grammar. Making fun of it has become a cliché in itself. 

Diane Morgan, who plays Cunk, is brilliant. She’s a naturally funny performer with a deadpan gift for subtle improvisation, but the scripted material she’s working with only raises an occasional smile. 

Sensationalists: The Bad Girls and Boys of British Art ‐ Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

This year marks the 25^th anniversary of Sensation, the controversial contemporary art exhibition which put that entire generation of provocative Young British Artists ‐ Damien Hirst, Tracy Emin et al ‐ on the map. This vivid three‐part series places it all in context. 

Those punk‐inspired provocateurs, who went out of their way to overturn the elitist art establishment, were the disenfranchised children of Thatcher’s Britain. 

Episode one unfolds across a canvas of art schools, squats and job centres. It was a political movement, initially at least. Later episodes will presumably examine the ways in which it eventually bolstered the dubious Cool Britannia myth, but episode one captures the anger and desperation of a creative generation with nothing to lose.

Doc Martin ‐ Wednesday, STV, 9pm

The Doc’s valedictory tour of duty continues with an episode in which Ben Miller returns to the show for the first time since series one way back in 2004. 

He plays Stewart, a local park ranger in a state of some distress. Stewart is beside himself with worry about an upcoming survival course he’s agreed to commandeer. If it doesn’t go well, he might lose his job. In an effort to help him out, surgery receptionist Morwenna encourages two series regulars to take part ‐ with, of course, amusing consequences. 

Meanwhile, Louisa, Doc Martin’s eminently sensible and sympathetic wife, agrees to speak at a local school assembly. Alas, complications ensue when several pupils are stricken with a rash.

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK ‐ Thursday, BBC Three, 9pm

As the latest series of this fabulous celebration of fabulousness kicks off, extra‐special guest judge Joanna Lumley joins the panel alongside Graham Norton and Michelle Visage. 

But the real stars of the show are, as always, our latest cavalcade of contestants, most of whom would appear to be potential winners. After all, no one competing in Drag Race ever turns up looking like they’ve made a fatal error of judgement. 

It’s a landmark series in that one of the contestants, Dakota, is the first trans woman to participate in this particular version of RuPaul’s global phenomenon. She represents her community with humility, pride and a considerable amount of pizazz. 

As usual, everyone involved is utterly lovely. An uplifting endeavour.

John & Joe Bishop: Life After Deaf ‐ Thursday, STV, 9pm

Joe Bishop, the son of comedian and actor John Bishop, has an autoimmune condition causing progressive deafness. 

In this intimate documentary, Joe and John find out more about what it means to be part of the deaf community. John sets himself a challenge: he will perform an entirely signed stand‐up set for a deaf audience. The bill also includes established deaf comedians. 

John, a self‐evidently nice and empathetic man, doesn’t make it all about him. Far from it, he and Joe are united in their desire to educate people while throwing a spotlight on talented performers who might not otherwise receive mainstream exposure. 

Life After Deaf is followed at 10:45pm by a recording of the concert itself.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Frozen Planet II ‐ Sunday 11th September, BBC One

I’m sure I wasn’t alone last Sunday in considering the legacy of David Attenborough. He’s been an integral part of our lives for seven decades. A universally beloved figure. At the risk of sounding morbid, one can’t help thinking that every public appearance he makes these days might turn out to be his last. 

I mention that only because this exceptional Frozen Planet sequel encapsulated the tone of most of Attenborough’s autumnal works. A paean to Earth inspired by a more or less equal amount of sadness and hope. 

Has any major British broadcaster ever informed and educated with such compassionate insight? Answers on a rhetorical postcard.

Am I Being Unreasonable? ‐ Friday 16th September, BBC One

Now this is great. It’s a new comedy thriller written by and starring Daisy May Cooper (This Country) and Selin Hizli, in which the former plays Nic, a lonely woman married to a boring man she doesn’t love. 

Nic was once in love with her husband’s brother, and the feeling was mutual. They carried out a secret affair, which ended in tragedy. Grief‐stricken Nic witnessed his death, but she can’t share her trauma with anyone. 

And then she makes friends with another local mum (Hizli, Cooper’s real life best bud), who appears to be a kindred spirit. That’s when things take a most peculiar turn. 

Grounded in messy reality, this sharp, funny, honest confection is something to savour.

INSIDE NO. 9 + HOUSE OF MAXWELL + CHIVALRY

This article was originally published in The Courier on 16th April 2022.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

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

The latest series of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith’s exceptional anthology begins with something fans have long been waiting for: a reunion with their erstwhile League of Gentlemen cohort Mark Gatiss. 

They play old university friends meeting up for the first time in years. Lawrence (Shearsmith) has arranged an off-season (and highly symbolic) pedalo ride on a remote lake. Much to Lawrence’s chagrin, Darren (Pemberton) has brought his new girlfriend (Diane Morgan) along. She thinks they’re heading for a fun boat party. In fact, they’re going nowhere. You can never go back. Sometimes people just drift apart. 

A compact study of loss and nostalgia, but with jokes, the episode confounds expectations in typical Inside No. 9 style.

Yorkshire Midwives on Call – Monday and Tuesday, BBC Two, 8pm

This gently uplifting factual series follows a team of homebirth midwives based in Bradford. On average they look after 160 women each year. Thoroughly nice people, these midwives are also great at what they do. 

The series grants insight into the practical details of their workaday labours, while examining the bittersweet emotional aspects. Naturally, they always form an attachment with their patients. But once a midwife’s work is done, she has to move on to another family. 

The series also spends time with some of the pregnant mothers who have decided to give birth at home. They all have their reasons. After watching this, some younger viewers may feel inspired to add midwifery to their list of potential job options.

House of Maxwell – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

If their accounts are to be believed, some of Ghislaine Maxwell’s closest friends were shocked by the revelation that she’d trafficked underage girls for the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his wealthy friends. The final episode of this grimly compelling series attempts to explain how Maxwell and Epstein got away with their crimes for so long. 

It features heartrending interviews with two of their many victims, both of whom describe the horrific ordeals they went through. We also hear from some of the lawyers who acted on behalf of the victims. Their anger is palpable: the system, the establishment, betrayed those vulnerable young women. 

Prince Andrew makes his presence felt in the final 20 minutes. He isn’t spared.

Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof – Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm

Wim Hof, aka The Iceman, is a Dutch motivational guru renowned for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures. It’s a skill he attributes to a unique combination of breathing exercises, yoga and meditation. 

Hof is the benignly eccentric star of this otherwise drab and dubious reality series in which eight celebs face a series of extreme sub-zero challenges in the mountains of northern Italy. It’s basically I’m a Celebrity with a spiritual self-help angle, or The Apprentice hijacked by a hippie Alan Sugar. Which sounds amazing, I know. It’s not amazing. It’s a tiresomely formulaic piece of television. 

A snow-capped turkey, it has to be seen at least once. Just so you can prove that it really happened.

Life After Life – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Based on the critically acclaimed novel by Kate Atkinson, this is not your standard period drama. Structurally ambitious if nothing else, it explores various alternative possible lives for its protagonist. 

Ursula is born in 1910 to an upper middle-class English family. That’s the only fixed point in time. The splintered story then unfolds as a series of vignettes in which Ursula’s lives are beset by tragedy. 

I appreciate the stark philosophical ‘What if?’ message - life in all its permutations is cruel and unpredictable – but the overall effect is rather cold, calculated and alienating. It falls short of its profound ambitions. 

I haven’t read the book, but I gather it explores this premise in a far more affecting way.

Chivalry – Thursday, Channel 4, 10pm

Steve Coogan and Sarah Solemani write and star in this new comedy-drama inspired by the #MeToo movement. Highly sensitive territory, but it’s clear from recent interviews that Coogan and Solemani have thought deeply about how to handle this subject within a semi-comedic context. Whether they succeed remains to be seen. 

Set inside the A-List Hollywood film industry, it examines the tense professional relationship between a serious feminist auteur and a bigshot film producer with a reputation for dating much younger woman; an awkward dinosaur trying to navigate his way through a modern world he doesn’t quite understand. 

Episode one shows only vague promise, but I’m inclined to trust these writers. They obviously have something to say.

The Rising – Friday, Sky Showcase, 9pm

A young woman, Neve, has been murdered and dumped in a lake. The next day, she returns as an invisible, inaudible ghost. Neve can’t remember what happened, but she’s determined to track down her killer. And from thence does this new supernatural drama from Sky unfold. 

Episode one is quite arresting. It establishes the central mystery without any undue fuss: a no-filler thriller with hints of emotional depth. The ghostly premise and rural, gloomy lakeside community setting stir memories of the excellent French drama Les Revenants. While it may not live up to that comparison, it strikes me as something that could be worth sticking with. 

Unless you have an aversion to ghost stories, I daresay you’ll be intrigued.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Rock Family Trees: The Birth of Cool Britannia – Saturday April 9, BBC Two

In the early 1970s, music journalist Pete Frame begat his treasurable Rock Family Trees: hand-drawn artworks tracing the complex roots of famous bands and musical movements. 

Frame’s work formed the basis of a fondly-remembered late 1990s TV series. Last Saturday it returned for an enjoyable one-off special exploring the origins of Britpop. 

This was the story of three closely intertwined bands: Suede, Elastica and Blur. It served as a reminder that early Britpop had nothing to do with the jingoistic laddism of Oasis. It was sexy, arch and arty. 

Brett from Suede and Justine from Elastica (who were once romantically involved) reminisced with warm, self-deprecating and occasionally regretful candour. Blur, strangely, were unavailable for comment.

The Brian Cox Interview – Tuesday April 12, BBC Scotland

The title says it all. Dundee’s very own Brian Cox sat down for a half-hour chat with BBC Scotland’s Amy Irons. 

Actors can often be hard work – humourless, pretentious and full of hifalutin self-regard – but Cox came across as a genuinely nice man. He’s been a very successful and esteemed thespian for over 40 years, but his leading role as Logan Roy in Succession has turned him into a kind of cult global treasure. 

He’s understandably delighted by this late career development. He’s also a pragmatic jobbing actor who understands that talent operates in tandem with random acts of good fortune. 

Hats off to Irons, too. A very good interviewer. Her questions were considered and concise.    

SHAUN THE SHEEP: THE FLIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS + GHOSTS + THE AMAZING MR BLUNDEN

This article was originally published in The Courier on 18th December 2021. 

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas – Christmas Eve, BBC One, 6pm

I never cease to be tickled by the deft comic timing and inventiveness of the Aardman Animations team. At their best they’re right up there with the likes of Tex Avery. High praise indeed, but I reckon they deserve it. 

The latest festive sojourn to Mossy Bottom Farm is typically delightful. When Shaun’s cute little cousin Timmy accidentally hitches a ride on the Proclaimer-esque farmer’s truck, an urgent rescue mission kicks into gear. A busy village market is no place for an innocent lamb. 

I do, however, have a mild complaint: the farmer’s hapless dog really doesn’t deserve the hardship he constantly endures. It’s just not fair and it makes me feel sad. I am 47-years-old.

Two Doors Down – Monday, BBC Two, 9:30pm

As we eavesdrop once again upon these suburban Glasgow neighbours, ‘tis just a few days before Christmas. Prosecco and nibbles abound, although Christine (Elaine C. Smith) opts for a liquid diet of Stella, J.D. and Coke. She’s mourning the recent death of a friend, you see. It’s what she would’ve wanted. 

Christine’s ersatz piety – she’s just returned from church – is a source of mirth throughout. The episode also gets tremendous mileage from the phrase “Pat over the back”, which has an inherently funny rhythm to it, and you may find yourself inspired by a kazoo-based game of Name That Tune. 

As always, nothing and everything happens all at once. A constant muffled soundtrack of Christmas music enhances the unease.

Mandy: We Wish You a Mandy Christmas – Monday, BBC Two, 10pm

Diane Morgan is best known as the gormless cultural commentator Philomena Cunk, who first appeared on Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe. This, however, is Morgan in auteur mode: a pleasingly peculiar sitcom in which she plays a lonely oddball from a high-rise estate. 

I enjoyed series one with reservations; Mandy isn’t hilarious, but I admire Morgan’s commitment to this strange little universe she’s created. And it never outstays its welcome, as each episode is only fifteen-minutes long. 

In the grand tradition of yuletide comedy specials, this is a riff on A Christmas Carol. Raddled performance poet John Cooper Clarke cameos as one of Mandy’s spectral visitors. You rarely see curios like this on TV anymore. I’m glad it exists.

Madame Tussauds: The Full Wax – Wednesday, STV, 9pm

This wry documentary peers behind the curtains of London’s legendary wax museum. At first glance it appears to be quite a glib endeavour, but it gradually unveils a surprisingly potent theme about the transience of fame. 

If a celebrity is no longer considered relevant, their effigy will be banished to a backroom or melted down altogether. And visitors obviously don’t want to be confronted with disgraced celebs a la Savile: Tussauds doesn’t even have a chamber of horrors these days. 

Highlights include the rictus-grinning likeness of Prince Harry being carried around like a deactivated Auton, and the various interjections from cocksure creative director Justin, who comes across as a spectacular wally.

Ghosts – Thursday, BBC One, 8:30pm

The original Horrible Histories team: arguably the most talented British comedy ensemble since The League of Gentlemen? Ghosts is remarkable in that it’s a family-friendly sitcom which neither patronises children nor tips too many knowing winks at their parents. It also combines comedy and pathos in a seemingly effortless way. 

In this Christmas special, a homeless man pitches his tent on the grounds of Button House. Inevitably, the only characters who want to send him packing are the WWI Captain and the trouser-shy Tory MP. But even they become swayed by his plight. That’s not a spoiler, Ghosts is rarely downbeat. 

Special guest-star Jennifer Saunders is entirely at home in this dotty environment.

The Amazing Mr Blunden – Christmas Eve, Sky Showcase, 7pm

Written and directed by Mark Gatiss, this adaptation of Antonia Barber’s supernatural time-travel yarn for children is, without any shadow of a doubt, the best solo venture the League of Gentleman alumnus has undertaken since his first self-penned episode of Doctor Who. He’s in his absolute element here. 

The protagonists are a pair of contemporary teenage kids who find themselves whisked back to a Victorian manor house. The mysterious Mr Blunden (Simon Callow), who arrives on their doorstep just before Christmas, is the catalyst. 

Gatiss, who co-stars alongside Tamsin Greig, pitches the mood perfectly: a strange, cobwebbed dream that won’t frighten children unduly, but it might unsettle them in the best possible sense. 

A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Mezzotint – Christmas Eve, BBC Two, 10:30pm

And if Blunden doesn’t deliver enough Gatiss for your Christmas buck, he’s back again with yet another M.R. James adaptation. Weirdly, he’s never managed to pull these off. 

His child-friendly Blunden adaptation is more atmospheric than any of his ghost stories for adults. They always comes across as functional, churned-out Tales of the Unexpected episodes. This one stars Rory Kinnear as a man who becomes obsessed with a painting of a hooded figure. You can predict the ending from the premise alone. 

It’s not bad as such, but it lacks the genuine eeriness and lingering impact of those classic 1970s adaptations of James’ work. It doesn’t jolt, it merely unfolds. You’ll probably retire to bed with a shrug.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Sting: Reel Stories – Saturday 11th December, BBC Two

When viewed from a certain angle, Sting is the perfect pop star. He’s handsome, talented, ridiculous and pretentious. A borderline brilliant construct. Squint in another direction, however, and he’s just an utter buffoon. 

His enduring appeal lies somewhere in the middle, as this interview with the affably sycophantic Dermot O’Leary confirmed. The Reel Stories format is simple yet effective: musicians are forced to watch old clips of themselves. O’Leary prompts them for a response. That's it, but it's enough.

Sting looked genuinely sad and occasionally amused while watching footage of The Police in their imperial phase, but he couldn’t quite manage to poke fun at himself. His underlying pomposity was palpable. If only he could loosen up a bit, we might all like him more. Some advice for Sting, there.

 

 

MANDY + ONCE UPON A TIME IN IRAQ + THE YORKSHIRE JOBCENTRE

This article was originally published in The Courier on 8th August 2020.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

MANDY

Thursday, BBC Two, 9:30pm

Now this, at last, is a proper Diane Morgan vehicle. Hitherto best known as Philomena Cunk from those Charlie Brooker shows and their lacklustre spin-offs, Mandy is written and directed by Morgan. She plays a permanent jobseeker, an insecure working-class oddball with a fishhook grimace, but Mandy is such an exaggerated cartoon of an unemployable person (at one point she attempts to deny her prominent involvement in a series of online gambling adverts), it’s clearly not intended as reactionary social satire. Mandy idly flattening tarantulas on a banana conveyer belt. Mandy getting her skew-whiff bouffant caught in an extractor fan. Mandy and Maxine Peake as estranged Touch the Truck contestants. I laughed. Mandy plays to Morgan’s strengths. She’s a very funny person with an innate gift for silly, deadpan farce.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN IRAQ

Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

And so, this starkly illuminating series reaches its end. But the story remains open-ended. In 2011, the coalition forces finally left Iraq. Victory Day. Within a few months, sectarian tensions resurfaced, tensions stoked by Iraq’s new President. America shook his hand and turned a blind eye. Problem solved, nothing to see here. Enter ISIS. The catastrophic legacy of the Iraq war has, as far as I’m aware, never been essayed on British television in such acutely human detail. It revolves around a diverse array of talking heads, most of them exhausted, traumatised, by the sheer horror of it all. If you haven’t done so already, I urge you to watch the whole thing on iPlayer.

THE YORKSHIRE JOBCENTRE

Monday, Channel 4, 9pm

I have mixed feelings about this series. Filmed in a busy Leeds jobcentre just prior to the Covid crisis, it confronts Britain’s dire unemployment situation (there are 29,000 unemployed in Leeds alone). It follows claimants from various walks of life to illustrate the point that anyone can find themselves in need of benefits, a fact which shouldn’t need restating, but one which blinkered people find difficult to comprehend. It features sympathetic insight from jobcentre employees and vulnerable people living on a pittance. It highlights the chaotic injustice of Universal Credit. But… it also strikes a patronising tone: “Aww, these likeable claimants all get short-term happy endings!” I, Daniel Blake it ain’t. Well-meaning yet uneasily compromised.

GREAT CONTINENTAL RAILWAY JOURNEYS

Wednesday, BBC Two, 8pm

Michael Portillo is living proof that Tory politicians can always reinvent themselves, especially if they affect a sort of ersatz chumminess. If you didn’t know any better, you would assume – if you could even be bothered - that this primary coloured slab of uncooked giblets was a harmless train enthusiast; at worst, a tediously sensible village green Lib-Dem. Nah. He’s a voracious Thatcherite, a nasty piece of work. Do not trust him, don’t ever forget. And here he is again, for his umpteenth series of travelogues funded by the notoriously socialist BBC. This week he’s in Germany, where he waxes solemnly about the rise of fascism. It’s like being lectured on the dangers of smoking by Keith Richards.

LAST WEEK’S TV

PHIL SPENCER’S STATELY HOMES

Wednesday 5 August, Channel 4

Well this was just appalling. Phil Spencer, a blandly humanoid C-3P0 who makes his genuinely unpleasant Location, Location, Location (so bad, they named it thrice) co-star Kirstie Allsopp look like a fluorescent Mrs Claus riding a rocket full of sweets to the moon, presides over an offensive celebration of stupid old toffs and their ridiculous houses. Haven’t we suffered enough of late? Phil Spencer cooing over a gold-upholstered bath which was once soiled by King Ralph of Freedonia is volcanically insulting. I’m all for mindless escapism, I crave silliness and whimsy. Hell’s clanging bells, we don’t have to be angry all the time. Imagine how exhausting that would be. But programmes such as this are indicative of the rot at the heart of British society. Tug your forelock, know your place. We. Are. Doomed.