RECLAIMING AMY + UPRISING + THE SKY AT NIGHT: E.T. AND THE BBC

A version of this article was originally published in The Courier on 17th July 2021. 

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Reclaiming Amy – Friday, BBC Two, 9pm

Amy Winehouse passed away in 2011. She was 27. In this intimate documentary, her family and closest friends address some of the lurid myths which engulfed her. 

It’s essentially a firm yet gentle riposte to the Oscar-winning documentary, Amy, which, according to her parents Mitch and Janis, presented a misleading account of the family narrative. Janis speaks here on camera for the first time.

It’s not a self-serving or angry programme. The participants want to help people understand the complex nature of addiction and mental illness. A portrait emerges of a vulnerable young woman who was supported by her loved ones, but in the end there was nothing they could do to block her path towards self-destruction.

Taken: Hunting the Sex Traffickers – Monday, Channel 4, 9pm

Filmed over three years, this new series boasts unprecedented access to a covert police unit dedicated to the surveillance and capture of human trafficking gangs. We also meet some of the women who have been brutally exploited by these gangs. 

Episode one focuses on the unit’s mission to bring down the head of one particular gang, who have made a vast fortune from trafficking South American women and forcing them to work as prostitutes in the UK.

Uprising – Tuesday to Thursday, BBC One, 9pm

This is an absolutely vital jolt of television. Over three consecutive nights, filmmaker Steve McQueen presents an uncompromising account of racial conflict in early 1980s Britain, while exploring the lasting impact of certain key events. 

A documentary companion piece to his exceptional Small Axe anthology, Uprising is fuelled by anger and compassion. There is no narration; McQueen allows this story to unfold via the words of people who have experienced vicious racism throughout their lives. 

Far-right groups, incessant police harassment, ethnic minorities scapegoated for all the ills of society, McQueen’s point is clear: this isn’t ancient history. Just last week, those disgusting events in football confirmed that racism is still a toxic stain on our society.

Secrets of the Museum – Tuesday, BBC Two, 8pm

Time now once again to revisit the Victoria and Albert Museum in London’s fashionable London, where nimble-fingered artisans toil behind the scenes of an absolute treasure trove.

The undoubted highlight this week is the restoration of a shiny red suit which was once worn by Jim Lea from Slade during their imperial Glam phase. Face facts, Hockney, this is what we want. 

A sacred pop artefact, Lea’s suit requires some careful stitching and tender loving care. The great man himself, who rarely makes public appearances, eventually turns up to wax lyrical in typically humble fashion. Lea’s mother, who is now aged 95, is apparently more impressed with his V&A exhibit than she ever was with his raucous chart success.

Craig and Bruno’s Great British Road Trips – Wednesday, STV, 8pm

There are very few cast-iron guarantees in life, but I’m 100% certain that celebrity travelogues will never die. An immortal TV format. 

This one stars Strictly’s very own Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli doing what’s required of them: savouring some of Britain’s most scenic drives, while occasionally stopping off to look at things and ‘muck about’. This week they’re in the Yorkshire Dales, where they (sort of) play some cricket, hang around with a traditional blacksmith, lead a classic car convoy, and attempt to herd some sheep. 

It’s a cheerful piece of formulaic filler, ever so slightly elevated by the fact that Craig and Bruno genuinely like each other. You can’t fake that camp rapport. They’re pleasant company.

George Clarke’s Remarkable Renovations – Wednesday, Channel 4, 9pm

The charity organisation, Crisis, estimates that around 200,000 people are homeless in the United Kingdom. Something to think about while Richard Clarke returns with yet another phalanx of upwardly mobile visionaries who just can’t wait to renovate abandoned buildings.

The latest series kicks off with Richard and Sarah, who have purchased a Grade II listed bank for £50,000. We’ve all been there. Richard and Sarah – who come across as a pair of oblivious middle-aged hipsters – convert a massive 19^th century safe into a luxurious pantry. They also melt down a chunky door and remould it into a freestanding bath. 

Clarke, as always, oversees proceedings in the manner of a slightly bemused yet earnest child.

Fishing Scotland’s Lochs and Rivers – Friday, Channel 5, 7pm

If the choice phrase “five fish-loving celebrities” doesn’t automatically entice you towards this series, then nothing I can say will change your mind. 

Your celebrity anglers are Ian Botham, Fern Britton, Linford Christie, Les Dennis, and Rosemary Shrager (see my review of Cooking with the Stars for more urgent Shrager news). They’re an avuncular bunch. Blatantly inspired by the easy-going success of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, it’s an undemanding mosaic of tranquil – if you will - piscenery and semi-scripted banter. 

Episode one begins just outside Arbroath, home of the legendary smokie (not the 1970s hit-makers), before heading off to the banks of the River Tay. Some friendly local experts are on hand to help them out.

LAST WEEK’S TV

The Sky at Night: E.T. and the BBC – Sunday 11th July, BBC Four

This delightful delve into the BBC archives unearthed several fascinating reports on the search for life on other planets. 

Patrick Moore was a lifelong sceptic, this wasn’t a subject he ever took seriously. His close encounter with UFO-spotter Arthur Shuttleworth – a wonderfully Python-esque name – was a particularly amusing highlight. 

The programme also featured contributions from estimable broadcasters such as Alan Whicker and James Burke, and some inevitable guest-spots from the uniquely soothing Dr Carl Sagan (very much the Bob Ross of cosmology), science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke and that arch charlatan Erich von Daniken. 

The programme is available on iPlayer. You know what to do. And remember: keep your eyes on the skies.

Cooking with the Stars – Tuesday 13th July, STV

A formulaic competition in which various celebs learn how to become professional-standard chefs, this is nothing you haven’t seen a thousand times before. The budding chefs include Shirley Ballas, Griff Rhys Jones, Denise Van Outen, Johnny Vegas and the drummer from McFly. One of the mentors is the aforementioned Rosemary Shrager. 

Naturally, Vegas provides a few amusing moments, but that’s all there is to recommend. Also, some of these people claim to have never cooked before. I find that baffling. I’m no Galloping Gourmet, but it’s really not hard to rustle up a decent dish with the right ingredients and some clear instructions. Cooking with the Stars is – inevitable food analogy alert – a terminally bland soup.

KILLING ESCOBAR + LINE OF DUTY + THIS TIME WITH ALAN PARTRIDGE

A version of this article was first published in The Courier on 1st May 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Killing Escobar – Tuesday, BBC Scotland, 10pm

In 1989, Glasgow-born mercenary Peter McAleese was hired to assassinate all-powerful drugs kingpin Pablo Escobar. His mission didn’t go according to plan. This 90-minute documentary explains what happened while fleshing out the details of McAleese’s often troubled life. 

A grizzled raconteur, he understands why many may regard him, a hired killer, as morally reprehensible. But, he argues, “This is the profession I chose.” Killing Escobar makes for uncomfortable viewing. On the one hand it’s a gung-ho celebration of repulsive machismo, but on the other it’s a fairly nuanced study of a philosophical and rather lonely man whose early years were steeped in anger and violence. 

The film ultimately invites viewers to make their own judgement. It’s like an unusually wistful episode of The Professionals.

The Violence Paradox – Tuesday, BBC Four, 9pm 

“Has violence really declined?” asks esteemed psychologist Steven Pinker, who hosts this far-reaching study of the worst of human nature. 

That does, of course, sound like the sort of deliberately glib and unanswerable question Chris Morris would pose at the start of Brass Eye every week, but Pinker is serious: he really does think that we could be living in the most peaceful time in history. And he’s got a vast dossier of facts and research to support his controversial hypothesis. 

Whether he’s right or not – and the programme allows room for dissenting voices – it’s an engaging essay. Hey, maybe we’re not doomed after all. The vaguely hippie-ish Pinker, with his lovely fluffy hair and relaxation tape mien, is someone you want to believe in.

The Money Maker – Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm

The star of this new series is big-hearted venture capitalist Eric Collins, who each week throws a lifeline to ailing British businesses. Collins, a suave American gentleman, exudes a sort of benign intensity; Zen and the art of trouble-shooting. 

His first port of call is a building repair and restoration company in Manchester. I zone out whenever business types start talking about equity stakes etc. – my brain isn’t wired to compute such information – but The Money Maker is more acceptable than the relentlessly sneering Dragons’ Den. At least Collins tempers his essentially self-serving impulses with a certain degree of empathy. 

But this is such a standard-issue TV format. We’ve seen it all before.

Johnny Vegas: Carry On Glamping – Wednesday, Channel 4, 10pm

In this amiable new series, the comedian and camper van enthusiast follows his dream of setting up a bespoke glamping site full of renovated buses from the 1950s and 1960s. 

Among his friends and family, Vegas is affectionately known as someone who is always coming up with big ideas before getting bored and abandoning them. But he’s keen to stress how serious he is about this project. It’s not just a lark. 

Accompanied by his best pal and personal assistant Bev, Vegas searches for a site and travels to Malta to examine their first bus (he bought it online at 2am without checking the location). He also visits his mum, who’s glad he’s doing this instead of “filthy stand-up”.

Bloods – Wednesday, Sky One, 10pm

This new sitcom about paramedics, while fairly amusing, veers uneasily between likeable workplace shenanigans and self-conscious gallows humour – patients in episode one include a crack addict and some people involved in a car crash. 

Our odd couple protagonists are Maleek (Samson Kayo) and his new partner Wendy (Jane Horrocks). Maleek is a short-tempered fool with a high opinion of himself. Wendy is a kindly chatterbox who isn’t quite as naïve as she seems. Meanwhile, back at hospital HQ, the always watchable Julian Barratt plays a lonely widower who doesn’t seem to be aware that his boss is in love with him. 

Bloods isn’t bad by any means. It’s fine. But I will never watch it again unless someone I trust tells me that it significantly improves. And no one will ever tell me that.

The Dog House – Thursday, Channel 4, 8pm

As the latest series of this wet-nosed comforter concludes, we meet Stanley the Staffie, Ellie the Chihuahua and Zoe the effervescent Beagle. As usual, the staff at Wood Green Animal Shelters must manage that careful negotiation between matching these abandoned dogs with the right humans. 

The main storyline this week involves Dexter from Malaysia, who was shunned by his mother when he came out as gay. He’s now happily married to Aaron. If Ellie accepts him too, their lives could be complete. 

We all know that these programmes tend to favour neatly satisfying narratives - ah, if only life were really so straightforward – but The Dog Pound is a quietly profound little show. It has a good heart.

Britain’s Favourite ‘80s Songs: 1989 – Friday, Channel 5, 10pm

And so, this cheap and cheerfully pointless list show comes to an end. As we knew it always must. 

I suppose Channel 5 should be applauded for doggedly carrying on with the nostalgic pop culture rundown format, which even Channel 4 abandoned about ten years ago after trampling it into the ground. 

You don’t need to have seen previous episodes in this series to know what it involves: 1980s pop videos interspersed with talking heads trotting out all the usual clichés. That’s talking heads as in whoever they could round up at the time; David Byrne and Tina Weymouth don’t barge in to declare their love for Jive Bunny. 

A perfectly adequate way to while away your Friday evening. 

LAST WEEK’S TV

Line of Duty – Sunday 25th April, BBC One

For all its blatant flaws, Line of Duty is hard to resist. Those blatant flaws are part of its maddening appeal. 

To take it seriously is to miss the point; it’s entirely composed of red herrings, cliff-hangers, exposition and convoluted call-backs, but it’s all put together with a certain amount of flair. Case in point: introducing James Nesbitt as a surprise guest-star in episode five, then killing him off in episode six. He hadn’t even uttered a line of dialogue. That whole bait and switch routine was amusing. 

Nevertheless, it’s definitely time to end it now. It’s been a fun ride, but this series has shown clear signs of fatigue and Greatest Hits repetition. There’s nowhere left to go.

This Time with Alan Partridge – Friday 30th April, BBC One

Since 2010, Steve Coogan and co-writers Neil and Rob Gibbons have produced some of the very best Alan Partridge material. Mid Morning Matters, those two outstanding audiobooks and last year’s podcast From the Oasthouse were all premium Partridge. This Time is broader and doesn’t quite scale those heights, but it’s still a very funny show. 

Coogan as Partridge – one of the greatest comedy creations of all time - is an absolute joy to behold; an impeccable comic actor inhabiting a three-dimensional character he knows inside out. 

Last week’s obvious set-piece highlight was his time spent in a monastery, but I laughed more at the subtle cracking of his knees during a ludicrous display of ‘entering a conference room’ etiquette. I do love Alan so.