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.

 

IMAGINE... MIRIAM MARGOLYES: UP FOR GRABS + INSIDE NO. 9 + DOCTOR WHO

A version of this article was originally published in The Courier on 23rd April 2022.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Imagine… Miriam Margolyes: Up for Grabs – Monday, BBC One, 11:40pm

The latest episode of this long-running arts strand focuses on an eccentric National Treasure ™. In the tolerable company of Alan Yentob, Miriam Margolyes reflects upon her fascinating life and career. 

The opening scene is quite telling. Margolyes has an effusive review framed in her hallway. She rolls her eyes and shrugs while pointing out that it’s from the Daily Mail. The irony isn’t lost on her. She’s gay, left-wing and progressive. Which makes it all the more remarkable that she’s so warmly embraced by just about everybody. Such is the force of her charmingly smutty, witty personality. 

Eloquent and self-deprecating, Margolyes is a good egg. The programme also reminds us of her impressive acting range.

Long Lost Family Special: Shipped to Australia – Monday, STV, 9pm

This is terribly sad and angering. After World War Two and right up until the early 1970s, thousands of British children were shipped off to Australia with the promise of a better life. Many of them ended up in horrific institutions mired in physical and sexual abuse. Long Lost Family mainstays Nicky Campbell and Davina McCall highlight a scandal that should be common knowledge. 

The episode revolves around a lovely man who lost all contact with his brothers when he was sent to Tasmania. For decades his British relatives assumed that he was living the dream. He’d forgotten all about them. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

When he finally reunites with his family in England, well, you can imagine.

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

Our latest setting is a Welsh village primary school. A newly hired teacher (Reece Shearsmith) has big shoes to fill, as the pupils and staff (Steve Pemberton plays the headmaster) are still in thrall to his much-loved predecessor. But he tries his best to inspire the kids with his heartfelt lessons about environmental issues. 

This being Inside No. 9, things take a cruel and unusual turn. Inappropriate comments and vegetable-based misunderstandings ensue (trust me, that makes sense in context). 

It isn’t one of the strongest episodes, but the denouement, while not entirely surprising, is quite good fun. And I will never tire of Pemberton and Shearsmith’s unabashed fondness for Carry On style humour. They have no shame.

Luxury Food for Less – Thursday, Channel 4, 8pm

Plump up a cushion and get out your notebooks as lifestyle experts – nice work if you can get it – Michelle Ackerley and Sophie Morgan explain to we mere mortals how it’s apparently quite possible to stock your larder with great food while on a budget. Yep, it’s one of those programmes. 

They meet with various supermarket insiders and the culinary boffins responsible for some of Britain’s most popular healthy ready meals. 

I haven’t seen the show, but it sounds well-meaning. I’m recommending it only because I can practically guarantee that it will contain at least one or two nuggets of useful information. Which, if you’re anything like me, you’ll immediately forget while devouring a packet of crisps.

Julia Bradbury: Breast Cancer and Me – Thursday, STV, 9pm

The popular television personality Julia Bradbury was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021. During this candid, tender and sensitive programme, she talks us through her arduous emotional and physical ordeal. We also spend time with her sister and their octogenarian mother. 

Bradbury doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her. She’s fully aware that her story is of no more importance than anyone else’s. She’s also aware that her celebrity status can be exploited as a force for good: one hopes that other breast cancer patients will gain some succour from her honest and open account. 

There is anguish. There is hope. Hats off to all concerned for this valuable and admirably unsentimental essay.

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

Channel 4’s stalwart investigative journalism series visits St Louis this week. It’s a city in the harrowing grip of a drug addiction crisis. Fentanyl is a powerful opioid that, according to research, has claimed more African American lives in recent years than Covid. 

When Krishnan Guru-Murthy meets with local residents, he discovers that many of those addicted to Fentanyl exist, barely, within the ignored margins of society. Some of them are homeless. Some of them are sex workers. He also interviews a local pastor who explains how drug use has become a source of self-medication for these tragically neglected people. 

Same as it ever was, but it’s a vitally important point that’s always worth repeating.

Here We Go – Friday, BBC One, 8:30pm

Here’s a new pre-watershed family sitcom for which I can only provide some faint yet vaguely hopeful praise. It’s amusing, likeable, and I can’t fault its cast of excellent comic actors. 

Jim Howick (Horrible Histories; Ghosts) plays the unemployed patriarch of an extended middle-class family. He’s a textbook harmless ‘dad joke’ buffoon. His wife is played by Katherine Parkinson. Alison Steadman and Tom Basden (who also wrote the series) crop up as his in-laws. 

The whole thing is filmed from the perspective of the teenage son, who’s working on a documentary for his Media Studies course. 

Your obvious reference points are Peep Show and Outnumbered. I’ll reserve judgement on this one, but it does show some promise.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Doctor Who – Sunday 17th April, BBC One

Jodie Whittaker’s penultimate adventure - the 13^th Doctor will regenerate in one final special later this year – reintroduced the Sea Devils, a classic series foe who last appeared on screen in 1984. They barely made an impression.

Set in early 19^th century China, this slapdash yarn also involved a real-life historical figure, the pirate Madame Ching.

A potentially great Doctor Who supporting character, but inevitably that potential was squandered by the entirely incompetent outgoing showrunner Chris Chibnall in an episode flooded with all the frustrating hallmarks of his era: perfunctory plotting, characterisation and dialogue. Does he ever bother with a second draft? 

Despite the shoddy writing and direction, it did at least boast some arresting visuals; the TARDIS resting on the seabed provided a rare moment of magic in an era conspicuously bereft of the stuff. Mild credit where it’s due.

As always, Whittaker transcended Chibnall’s shortcomings with her natural charm and energy. But she deserved so much better. Such a waste.

The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe – Sunday 17th April to Wednesday 20th April, STV

Twenty years ago, John Darwin from Hartlepool faked his own death in order to claim his life insurance. He then proceeded to live next door to his wife, Anne, while keeping a supposedly low profile. In 2007, the Darwins were exposed, charged and imprisoned. 

We’re all familiar with the surface details of this bizarre saga, but writer Chris Lang’s engrossing dramatization dug into the complex emotional core. 

Darwin came across as an irresponsible narcissist, a truly awful, selfish bully who gaslit Anne (the story was primarily told from her guilt-ridden, sympathetic perspective) while sparing no thought for the feelings of his children: they genuinely thought their dad was dead. A harrowing ordeal for Anne and those boys. They were John Darwin’s victims. 

Lang and his cast – outstandingly led by Eddie Marsan and Monica Dolan – got the nuanced tragicomic tone just right.

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.

 

RODNEY P'S JAZZ FUNK + ONCE UPON A TIME IN IRAQ

This article was originally published in the Courier on 18th July 2020.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

RODNEY P’S JAZZ FUNK

Friday, BBC Two, 9pm

This lovingly-curated documentary captures the energy and excitement of Britain’s first home-grown black music culture. Hip hop legend Rodney P reveals how jazz funk began as a thriving underground club scene, before going on to shape the sound of early ‘80s British pop. It was created by the first generation of suburban and inner city black kids born in Britain, and although it was influenced by the heavy fusion innovations of American musicians such as Herbie Hancock, it allowed them to create their own distinct identity. That pioneering scene was also an early example of multiculturalism and gender equality, during an era when overt racism, sexism and homophobia were rife. A valuable, funky social document.

THE REAL EASTENDERS

Tuesday, Channel 4, 10pm

The Isle of Dogs was once the healthy heartland of London’s docklands community. A place where you’d find ‘proper’ working-class cockneys. Today it stands in the oppressive glistening shadow of Canary Wharf. The only boats you’ll find nearby are on the other, more affluent side of the river. Hak Baker, a local resident and musician, presents this insightful, tender ode to his neighbours. It’s not a sentimentalised account, razor-edged shards of sadness often poke through, but it never wrings its hands in a patronising way. The stars of the show are the kids Baker meets. They’re funny, smart, innocent, brilliant. Boris Johnson will never watch or understand this beautiful programme.

EASTENDERS: SECRETS FROM THE SQUARE

Available now on BBC iPlayer

While EastEnders prepares to resume production, super-fan Stacey Dooley visits the set to meet some of Albert Square’s more notable residents. The banter flows thick and fast when she sits down for a socially distanced chinwag with Danny Dyer and Kellie Bright, who play Mick and Linda Carter. Dyer and Bright come across well, they have natural chemistry. Dyer claims that he occasionally adds authentic cockney slang to his dialogue, while admitting that his career was in the doldrums when he got the part. Carter first appeared on the show in 1986, as an extra at Michelle and Lofty’s wedding, and reveals that she channels elements of Carmella Soprano into her performance. A harmless piece of cheap emergency filler.

MIRIAM MARGOLYES: ALMOST AUSTRALIAN

Friday, BBC Two, 9pm

Six years ago, Miriam Margolyes became an Australian citizen. “It was a day of supreme happiness,” she beams at the start of this typically honest and thoughtful travelogue. The self-described “78-year-old Jewish lesbian”, whose partner is Australian, embarks upon a 10 thousand kilometre voyage to find out whether the so-called Australian Dream still exists in 2020. Did it ever exist? Margolyes' findings are pretty bleak. She meets the first Aboriginal woman to be elected to the Victorian parliament, which only happened in 2017, and is shocked to discover that women over 55 now make up the fastest growing homeless population in Australia. She also uncovers the devastating effects of drought on farming communities, and encounters a young Afghan man who has been denied permanent residency.

LAST WEEK’S TV

IMAGINE… THIS HOUSE IS FULL OF MUSIC

Sunday 12th July, BBC One

Filmed during lockdown, this documentary visited the Kanneh-Mason family from Nottingham. Mum and dad looked on proudly as their seven children, all of them virtuoso classical musicians, performed various pieces. It existed for pure pleasure alone, a calming symphony of respite.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN IRAQ

Monday 13th July, BBC One

This riveting series is essayed through the eyes of the civilians, journalists and soldiers who lived through the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the years of chaos which followed. It’s an expertly woven, detailed patchwork of brutally frank talking head interviews; an essential document, scathing and humane. Notwithstanding the extravagantly whiskered Iraqi man who still regards Saddam as a martyr, the most troubling figure in episode one was a tequila-swigging American marine who was trained to view his mission as a glorified Rambo adventure. He looked broken, haunted. Meanwhile, a sharp-witted young man, who initially viewed the invading forces as emissaries of freedom, vividly encapsulated the utter insanity of the situation. When Saddam’s statue was toppled, he, like so many Iraqis, assumed the nightmare was finally over. As one war correspondent put it, with a rueful gallows smile, “What we didn’t realise was that the invasion wasn’t the war. The war was to come.”