PAUL O'GRADY: FOR THE LOVE OF DOGS | COLIN FROM ACCOUNTS | RAIN DOGS

This article was originally published in The Courier on 8th April 2023.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs – Thursday, STV, 8:30pm

When Paul O’Grady passed away recently at the untimely age of 67, the multitude of tributes spoke volumes. 

This was no mere showbiz personality. He was beloved, unique, a naturally funny and thoroughly decent human being whose kindness was informed by his lifelong loathing of social injustice. 

I can’t, off the top of my head, think of another acerbic working-class socialist drag queen who became – and he always understandably blanched at this mantle – a national treasure. 

We’ll miss him. Hence why this final series of For the Love of Dogs, recorded not long before he died, will be a bittersweet viewing experience. A reliably lovely show hosted by a reliably lovely man. RIP.

Designing the Hebrides – Monday, BBC Scotland, 10pm/Wednesday, BBC Two, 8pm

The talented interior designer Banjo Beale (great name, great guy) fronts this charming new series in which he gets his own business off the ground. 

Beale, who was born in Australia, has lived on the Isle of Mull for the last eight years. In episode one, the BBC’s Interior Design Masters winner is tasked with transforming a traditional family-run Tobermory fish shop while making sure to retain its tasteful heritage. 

Along the way he seeks advice from his husband Ro and a supportive team of merrily toiling artisan recruits. “This is my first big commercial job here on Mull,” he declares. “If I don’t get it right there will be no more.” SPOILER: There will be more.

Colin from Accounts – Tuesday, BBC Two, 10pm

Written by and starring husband-and-wife team Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer, this likeable, dry-witted Australian comedy revolves around Gordon and Ashley, a rather dysfunctional and seemingly mismatched couple who ‘meet cute’ when Gordon accidentally hits an adorable little dog with his car. 

As you would expect, Brammall and Dyer share a natural chemistry, they bounce off each other nicely. Fumbling awkwardness can sometimes be an irritating comic conceit, but Colin from Accounts uses it as a starting point for some satisfying silliness and sharp lines. This is not your standard rom-com. 

And just in case you’re wondering, the meaning behind that title is explained towards the end of episode one. 

Rain Dogs – Tuesday, BBC One, 10:40pm

In episode two of this excellent black comedy-drama about a group of misfits barely scraping by, we spend some time with single mum Costello (Daisy May Cooper) as she goes through the motions of her unloved day job in a Soho peep show. 

Costello prefers making a bit of money from posing as a cleaner for a sleazy yet harmless old alcoholic artist played by Adrian Edmondson. We also discover that she’s a talented writer.

Rain Dogs is a refreshingly blunt and bitterly funny attack on the ways in which people living on the breadline are cruelly disregarded by right-wingers and patronised by shallow middle-class liberals. Both groups misunderstand the likes of Costello and her surrogate family. 

Stacey Dooley: Ready for War? – Wednesday, BBC Three, 9pm

Dooley’s latest investigative report follows a group of young Ukrainian civilians as they arrive in the UK for five weeks of intensive army training. They will be taught how to kill and how to survive in the war against Russia. 

“This isn’t training on the off chance that one day they may end up in a warzone,” says Dooley, “this is them seriously preparing themselves to be on that frontline in five weeks’ time.” 

Her interviewees include a welder who is prepared to give his life in order for his child to grow up in a free country, and a florist who has family members already fighting on the frontline. As always, Dooley asks all the right questions and listens. 

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

Lebanon is currently in the grip of a catastrophic banking crisis. The so-called ‘Switzerland of the Middle East’ crashed back in 2019. Over a million Lebanese people have been locked out of their bank accounts; if they’re lucky, they can withdraw a few hundred pounds a month. 

The latest series of Channel 4’s long-running foreign affairs strand kicks off with the story of an utterly desperate couple who are planning to rob a bank. It’s the only way to get hold of their savings. 

Your roving reporter Krishnan Guru-Murthy illustrates just how dire things are. Lebanon’s government is paralysed and its banks resemble fortresses. The people are angry, revolution is in the air 

Late Night Lycett – Friday, Channel 4, 10pm

Two weeks ago, Joe Lycett signed off the first episode of his latest comedy vehicle with these poignant words: “This one’s for Paul O’Grady”. 

It was no mere showbiz platitude; Late Night Lycett is infused with O’Grady’s recently departed spirit. He would’ve loved the daft chaos and pointed subversion of this thoroughly inclusive hoot of alternative light entertainment hosted by a vocally left-wing gay comedian gleefully needling bores and bigots. 

It’s a live show, so God only knows what Friday’s episode will involve, but this much I can guarantee: it won’t be drab. The sly, unflappable Lycett was born to do this, he’s finally found a TV format to suit his talents.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Magpie Murders – Saturday 1st April, BBC One

The great Lesley Manville stars in this meta-textual murder mystery as a literary editor whose comfortable life is capsized when one of her most successful authors delivers an unfinished manuscript. 

Why is the last chapter missing? The ailing and preternaturally cantankerous author has apparently taken his own life. 

Magpie Murders is admirably ambitious for a mainstream show of this nature. A la The Singing Detective, writer Anthony Horowitz weaves the melancholy period exploits of a fictional sleuth into his present-day narrative. 

However, it’s all a bit too arch for its own good. I welcome the cleverness and irony, but I don’t find it particularly engaging as a piece of entertainment. It feels so far like a theoretical exercise.

Highland Cops – Sunday 2nd April, BBC Scotland

This resolutely solemn frontline series follows Police Scotland’s Highlands and Islands Division as they go about their daily crime and emergency-solving business in an otherwise beautiful part of the world. 

It began with an investigation into suspected deer poaching, the seizure of some illegal drugs being sent through the post, a nocturnal detour into the apparently widespread problem of antisocial drivers in their souped-up cars, and the rigorous yet ultimately fruitless search for a missing survival expert. 

That last case lingered as the closing credits rolled, there was no uplifting coda: the poor man still hasn’t been found. 

Highland Cops is a solidly-crafted addition to an unstoppable TV genre. It fulfils its duty.

THE HUNT FOR BIBLE JOHN + LINDISFARNE'S GEORDIE GENIUS: THE ALAN HULL STORY + SCOTLAND'S BEST DOG

This article was originally published in The Courier on 20th November 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

The Hunt for Bible John – Monday, BBC Scotland, 9pm

The notorious serial killer known as Bible John murdered at least three women in late '60s Glasgow. To this day his identity remains a mystery. 

It’s a horrifying case, but this two-part series doesn’t wallow in the grisly details. On the contrary, it’s a sensitive and responsible piece of work; a serious endeavour that places the murders in vivid sociohistorical context. 

It unfolds in a dismal post-war environment blighted by extreme poverty and violence, where working-class kids lived for the freedom of dancing at the weekend. Busy dancehalls such as the Barrowlands were where Bible John found his victims. 

The series also provides fascinating insight into the working methods of '60s crime reporters and the terminology they used. 

The Princes and the Press – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

Princes William and Harry have, to say the least, weathered a difficult relationship with the media. Whatever your opinion of the Royal family, I think most reasonable people agree – on an instinctively empathetic level – that they’ve been treated unfairly at times.

In this two-part series, the BBC’s Media Editor Amol Rajan apparently highlights some of the illegal activities used by certain portions of the press during their ongoing race to present exclusives. I haven’t seen the programme, it wasn’t available at the time of writing, but I’m flagging it up because it sounds quite interesting. Apologies if it isn't.

Along for the Ride with David O’Doherty – Monday, Channel 4, 10pm

The whimsical Irish comedian David O’Doherty is a keen cyclist. This new – if you will – vehicle follows him as he enjoys a series of scenic bicycle rides with various celebrity chums. 

His first guest is comedian Richard Ayoade, a naturally funny man with, as it turns out, surprisingly sturdy thighs. He and O’Doherty cycle through an area of rural Sussex while shooting the gentle breeze. Occasionally they park their bikes to visit tearooms or toast marshmallows around the fire. You get the pretty picture. 

It’s blatantly indebted to the likes of Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, but that’s fine. It’s a genial time-passer.

The Outlaws ‐ Monday, BBC One, 10:35pm

In the penultimate episode of this enjoyable comedy-drama, troubled influencer Lady Gabby (Eleanor Tomlinson) takes lawyer Greg (writer/director Stephen Merchant) to meet her formidable aristocratic father, who’s played by very special guest star Richard E. Grant on reliably frost-veined form. 

Meanwhile, we learn a little bit more about endearingly desperate and officious community service supervisor Diana (Jessica Gunning, an excellent yet underrated comic actor). 

It’s a pleasure spending time with these characters, all of whom are fundamentally lost and looking for acceptance. Merchant clearly likes them, he’s not in the business of belittling his creations. 

You can currently watch all six episodes on iPlayer. And it’ll be back next year for another series. See, sometimes good things can happen.

Dolly: The Sheep That Changed the World – Tuesday, BBC Scotland, 10pm

In 1997, scientists in Scotland created the first ever clone of an adult animal. This major breakthrough made headline news around the world and sparked an often incendiary debate.

Told via contributions from the pioneering lab-dwellers themselves, this documentary traces their process while investigating the aftermath. The genetically-engineered birth of Dolly proved controversial; critics rang alarm bells about its potentially terrifying repercussions. 

Needless to say, the boffins weren’t mad scientists hell-bent on creating a master race. Their work was geared towards helping people with genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis and Parkinson’s. 

My only criticism of this otherwise revealing programme is its chortling treatment of animal rights activists, which comes across as cheap and unnecessary. 

Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs – Wednesday, Channel 4, 8pm

One gets the impression that O’Grady – officially TV’s kindest human – would gladly host this long-running series exclusively for the rest of his professional life. No wonder, it’s a dream gig. 

During this week’s visit to Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, O’Grady meets a Shih Tzu puppy called Daisy who is in urgent need of delicate liver surgery. The other stars of the show are Marley and Maisy, an unusually timid pair of tiny Chihuahuas who are going through the gradual process of being socialised, and the lovably large and boisterous Lizzie; in many ways the ultimate dog. 

As always, there’s no need to worry: nothing bad ever happens in O’Grady’s canine wonderland. Happy tail-wagging endings abound.

Lindisfarne’s Geordie Genius: The Alan Hull Story – Friday, BBC Four, 9pm

We’ve all heard of 1970s folk-rockers Lindisfarne, but what do we know of the man who shaped their earthy, lyrical sound? Alan Hull died in 1995 at the tragically young age of 50. This illuminating documentary gives him his due. 

Hull comes across as quick-witted, charismatic and exceptionally talented; a working-class poet with dedicated socialist principles. Fellow Geordie Sting describes him as “our Bob Dylan”, which is apt enough, but he strikes me as more of a Tyneside Ray Davies. 

The programme doesn’t shy away from the fact that he was a mercurial heavy-drinker, but he was clearly an endearing character. I guarantee that this labour of love will encourage you to dig deeper into his work.

LAST WEEK’S TV

The Lakes with Simon Reeve – Sunday 14th November, BBC Two

Reeve’s latest series takes place in and around The Lake District, England’s largest national park. As a presenter, this seasoned traveller is defined by his concern for people and their surroundings. He’s a wise and considerate soul. 

In episode one he highlighted various environmental and social issues, the underlying theme being the sustainability of life for those people who live and work there all year 'round; his dig at wealthy visitors and second homeowners wasn’t belaboured, it fed naturally into his overall point about preserving traditional ways of life while welcoming progress to a certain practical extent. 

Reeve knows how to get his compassionate political points across within the confines of an ostensibly cosy BBC travelogue. A neat trick.

Scotland’s Best Dog – Thursday 18th November, BBC Scotland

Proud owner of the greatest title in television history, this delightful new series is simplicity incarnate. It’s a low-stakes competition in which dogs are encouraged to complete a series of benign challenges. They aren’t placed under any pressure at all, nor are their adoring human cohabiters. 

The series, which is filmed in a Perthshire park, is basically the anti-Crufts. It has nothing to do with pedigree, grooming or deportment; there’s no show dog elitism here, folks. These are pooches for the many, not for the few. 

It also contains some handy advice on how to maintain their health and happiness. What’s not to like? It’s a splendid piece of relatively cheap and irresistibly cheerful family entertainment.

GRETA THUNBERG: A YEAR TO CHANGE THE WORLD + TOO CLOSE

This article was originally published in The Courier on 10th April 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World – Monday, BBC One, 9pm

The world-renowned environmental activist has galvanised millions in the fight against climate change. Towards the end of 2019, she took a year off school to examine the effects of global warming first-hand. A co-production between the BBC and PBS, this vital series follows Thunberg as she travels around the world – by boat – to meet leading climate experts. 

In Canada, she encounters melting glaciers and evidence of our biodiversity crisis. She also witnesses the devastating after-effects of California’s worst ever wildfire. 

Meanwhile, Thunberg and her supportive father discuss the pressures they’re under, although she’d clearly rather not talk about herself at all: “I don’t want you to listen to me, I want you to listen to the science.”

Too Close – Monday to Wednesday, STV, 9pm

Emily Watson stars in this morbid psychological thriller as Emma, a forensic psychiatrist tasked with assessing a woman branded in the tabloid press as a ‘yummy mummy monster’. Connie (played with considerable intensity by Denise Gough) tried to kill herself, her daughter and a neighbour’s child by driving into a river. She claims to have no memory of the incident.

Connie is arrogant, angry, cynical and manipulative. The scenes between her and Emma inhabit familiar territory: the intelligent patient/prisoner turning the tables on their interrogator. 

I only had access to episode one, but Too Close is quite intriguing and almost admirably bleak. I’m always suspicious of dramas about mental illness, they’re often quite tawdry and insensitive, but we’ll see.

All That Glitters: Britain’s Next Jewellery Star – Tuesday, BBC Two, 8pm

Comedian Katherine Ryan hosts this new “TV competition slash talent search format.” How deliciously ironic. I actually prefer it when derivative TV shows just plough ahead with the job at hand, instead of drawing attention to themselves with a knowing wink. It’s a cheap get-out clause. 

Anyway. This one finds a bunch of up-and-coming jewellers working on bespoke pieces that could last for centuries. You know the drill: they’re set a series of challenges while being judged by soundbite-spouting experts. 

Even if you have no interest whatsoever in jewellery, this is a fairly pleasant way to while away an hour of your life. But it is, like most programmes of its ilk, clearly better suited to a daytime slot.

Stacey Dooley: Back on the Psych Ward – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Last year, Dooley made a programme about life on an NHS mental health ward. This is her follow-up report. 

With characteristic sensitivity, she spends time with staff and patients to find out how they’ve been coping during the pandemic. Since COVID, the demand for beds has shot up. For so many people with pre-existing mental health issues, the isolation has been impossible to deal with. Young people have been affected more than any other age group. 

I don’t want to go into the specific details of what the various patients that Dooley meets are struggling with, as those details may prove triggering to some readers, but suffice to say it’s a programme made with the utmost care and integrity.

Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs – Wednesday, STV, 8pm

During this week’s visit to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, O’Grady meets some pooches in desperate need of TLC. Staffie-cross Roxi has far too much nervous energy to burn, so the staff try to calm her down with a gentle regime of stroking and exercise. 

The other star of the show is Dottie, a bulldog with the saddest face. Dottie has been overbred by her former owners; she’s exhausted and scared of pretty much everything. But then she’s paired with another lonely dog in need. 

I tend to get moist-eyed at the most ridiculous things, but For the Love of Dogs really is such a lovely, uplifting show. It makes the world feel like a slightly kinder place.

The Great British Sewing Bee – Wednesday, BBC One, 9pm

It’s back! From their new home on the banks of the Thames underneath London’s last surviving lighthouse, Esme Young from Central Saint Martin’s School of Fashion, Savile Row tailor Patrick Grant and cuddly host Joe Lycett welcome twelve new sewers competing for this year’s prize. 

A likeable bunch, they include a Bowie fan and former dinner lady, and a Frenchman who plays lead trumpet for London’s Gay Symphony Orchestra. 

It’s jolly old business as usual, during which they must design a loose-fitting buffet dress, a collarless 1960s-style blouse and transform a standard t-shirt into an imaginative item of clothing for any age or gender – one of the bold designs sends Grant into a giggling fit.

Bent Coppers: Crossing the Line of Duty – Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm

With trust in the Metropolitan Police currently at an all-time low, this timely documentary travels back to an era when the public regarded the fuzz as an unassailable paragon of virtue. But as we now know, bent coppers exploited that myth for their own benefit. 

In early 1970s London, a secret network of corrupt CID detectives inhabited a murky world of extortion, fit-ups and racist violence. They preyed on defenceless working-class people and ethnic minorities, as well as tofu-munching political activists such as Caroline Coon. 

Propelled by a funky cop soundtrack and evocative archive footage, the episode also features covert recordings of bent coppers colluding with criminals: “We’ve got more villains in our game than you’ve got in yours.”

LAST WEEK’S TV

Freddie Mercury: A Life in Ten Pictures – Saturday 3rd April, BBC Two

This touching account of Sir Fred’s life featured contributions from some of the non-famous people who knew and loved him. They pored over private and professional photographs of Mercury as a way of providing insight into what he was really like. 

It began with the earliest known image of him, as an infant in Zanzibar, and ended with a photograph taken just a few months before he died. 

Although the story of Mercury’s life is familiar, the programme managed to untangle the private man from the self-made myth. A sensitive soul, he was an introverted extrovert who craved companionship. He was also a gay immigrant who overcame the odds stacked against him. Intimate and honest, the programme did him justice.

Line of Duty – Sunday 4th April, BBC One

Now we’re sucking diesel. This series began with an uninspiring, poorly-paced episode, but it has ramped up considerably since. 

Episode three contained one of those great LoD set-pieces: corrupt copper Ryan, who we first encountered as a terrifying child in series one, attempted to bump off Terry, the framed young suspect with learning difficulties, by staging a car crash in a reservoir. Terry survived, but Ryan drowned the other officer who was in the car. Brutal. 

LoD is essentially a daft yet compelling melodrama made up on the hoof, but I do admire the way it confronts contentious real-life issues such as the murder of Jill Dando and Jimmy Savile’s connections within the highest echelons of power. Why, it’s almost subversive.

 

THE SOUND OF TV WITH NEIL BRAND + SMALL AXE

This article was originally published in The Courier on 28th November 2020.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

The Sound of TV with Neil Brand – Friday, BBC Four, 9pm

The best television theme tunes are indelibly embedded within the national psyche. The ones we grew up in particular with invoke a Proustian rush unlike any other. Neil Brand, that estimable composer and pop culture enthusiast, knows this only too well. His latest series is an embarrassment of riches in which he celebrates the enduring spell of television music. He offers eloquent insight into how and why the best theme tunes work, with highlights including a visit to Portmeirion, where he dissects el maestro Ron Grainer’s dynamic theme from The Prisoner, and a meeting with Dick Mills of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, who analyses the great Delia Derbyshire’s ground-breaking electronic arrangement of Grainer’s Doctor Who theme. It’s all wonderful.

Hospital – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

Filmed just a couple of months ago, the latest episode of this urgent frontline documentary follows staff at Barnet Hospital in London as they treat elderly patients while dealing with a bed shortage exacerbated by the pandemic. The hospital, which is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, is situated in a borough with nearly one hundred care homes. The A&E department has been pushed to its limit. Winter, a time when older people are at their most vulnerable, is looming. Covid-19 is on the rise again. The point of this series couldn’t be clearer. No amount of well-meaning public applause and utensil-banging can compensate for the government’s catastrophic mishandling of the pandemic.

Paul O’Grady’s Great British Escape – Wednesday, STV, 8pm

This week, the nationally treasurable O’Grady reads some Chaucer to his pigs as a prologue to a sojourn in Canterbury. While there, he checks up on the major renovation of Canterbury Cathedral (“Good job I had a stent put in,” he quips while scaling its heights), pops into the cosy country pub where Ian Fleming wrote You Only Live Twice, takes a ride on a vintage steam train, and visits an endangered big cat sanctuary (they’re very keen on Calvin Klein-infused catnip, apparently). This is, quite simply, a nice series. It may not add up to much in the grand scheme of things, but God knows we need some fleeting escape from the grand scheme of things sometimes.

New Elizabethans with Andrew Marr – Thursday, BBC Two, 9pm

Marr’s latest essay is a scattershot dud. His stated aim is to illustrate how British society has changed dramatically during Liz II’s lengthy time on the throne – the second Elizabethan age. To that end he’s chosen a handful of notable public figures who reflect that transformation. A sound idea in theory, but Marr spends far too little time on each of his nominations. The result is a superficial overview, a smash and grab advert for his tie-in book. You simply cannot do justice to the fascinating likes of (deep breath) Graham Chapman, Diana Dors, Ruth Ellis, Tracey Emin, Darcus Howe, Roy Jenkins, Alan McGee, Nancy Mitford, Jan Morris and Mary Whitehouse in the space of an hour. It’s pointless.

Grayson’s Art Club: The Exhibition – Friday, Channel 4, 8pm

Earlier this year, Grayson Perry delivered some emergency lockdown cheer via his Channel 4 series in which he encouraged people to express their hopes and fears through the democratic medium of art. In this one-off special, Perry and his equally splendid wife, the psychotherapist Philippa Perry, host a socially distanced Manchester Art Gallery exhibition of the work they curated during that series. Preview copies weren’t available, the show is still being edited as I type these words, but I can pretty much guarantee that it will fleetingly restore your faith in human nature. The Perrys aren’t pretentious, they’re arty egalitarians. C4 have assured us that, once lockdown is lifted, Grayson’s Art Club will make a triumphant return.

Waterhole: Africa’s Animal Oasis – Friday, BBC Two, 9pm

In this enlightening series, Chris Packham and biologist Ella Al-Shamahi examine the life-threatening impact of climate change on the African ecosystem. They’re on a protected wildlife preserve in Tanzania, where the BBC’s Natural History Unit have built a waterhole discreetly rigged with cameras. Their aim is to study the ways in which these vital sources of water manage to support so many competing species. Episode one is liberally stocked with buffalo, warthogs, elephants, leopards, lions and zebras, who eye each other suspiciously like rival gangs in a pub carpark. But peace is maintained by their overriding need to sup from the waterhole whenever the chance arises. Some of the footage, most of it filmed at night, is extraordinary.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Fela Kuti: Father of Afrobeat – Saturday 21st November, BBC Two

The Nigerian musician Fela Kuti was a revolutionary artist, a radical political activist, a countercultural hero. He was also an enigma. By the end of this frustrating documentary, I felt no closer to understanding him than I did at the start. It succeeded in illustrating Kuti’s fearlessness when it came to standing up against a dictatorial regime in the 1970s and 1980s – he risked his life in the name of personal freedom – but it skirted coyly around the subject of his communal compound, which was full of young women at his beck and call. Some of them, it hinted, may have been underage. No one had a bad word to say about him, but an uncomfortable subtext simmered throughout.

Small Axe – Sunday 22nd November, BBC One

The second film in Steve McQueen’s anthology of dramas about London’s West Indian community was an immersive ode to youth in all of its intensity, romance, confusion and defiance. It took place at a house party in 1980, a time when young black people weren’t welcome in predominantly white nightclubs. McQueen’s camera lingered fondly (not creepily) over kids on the verge of adulthood as they sang, danced, smoked, drank and fell for each other. But this was no rose-tinted celebration. A woman was raped. Racism circled the building. The party represented an oasis of escape set against an encroaching backdrop of violence. McQueen, with characteristic eye for vivid detail, captured all the joy and pain. A magnificent piece of work.

 

WHAT WE WERE WATCHING: SONG AND DANCE SPECTACULARS + HIS DARK MATERIALS + INDUSTRY

A version of this article was originally published in The Courier on Saturday 14th November 2020. 

NEXT WEEK’S TV

What We Were Watching: Song and Dance Spectaculars – Friday, BBC Four, 7pm

This, much to my surprise, is a mini-masterclass in how to present a compendium of archive light entertainment. In the late ‘60s and ‘70s, dance troupes such as Pan’s People and The Young Generation were toothsome fixtures on British television. They were naff, brilliant, weird, charming; vaguely hippie-ish, but thoroughly scrubbed clean of all muddy traces of the counterculture.

Their elaborate and sometimes overly-literal interpretations of contemporary pop hits were something to behold. Host Grace Dent is clearly a fan. I was expecting an irony-drenched sneer-fest. Instead, it's a fond, irreverent celebration. Dent's links are brief, she allows room for the clips to breathe. Highlights include a Lulu performance of the Theme from Shaft featuring a cameo from Les Dawson, Aretha enduring awkward comedy banter with Cliff, and The Young Generation launching the Keep Britain Tidy campaign. It’s all wonderful.

My Family, the Holocaust and Me with Robert Rinder – Monday, BBC One, 10:45pm

In the second and final episode of this haunting series, Rinder and his mother visit Treblinka for the first time. It is estimated that between 700,000 and 900,000 Jews were murdered at Treblinka. Several of the Rinder’s ancestors were among them.  “Our family had names,” says Rinder. “They were alive, they lived and they died here.” We also meet Noemie, whose French mother was arrested as a child by the Nazis. Now 85, she has never spoken of her experience. When Neomie travels to France, she uncovers an extraordinary story of survival. Meanwhile, Bernie’s difficult journey continues with a visit to Dachau, where his uncle died. By recounting these stories we restore the humanity of those who were lost. We remember, always.

12 Puppies and Us – Wednesday, BBC Two, 8pm

Those first few months between humans and their pets are crucial. In this upbeat series, various families and pups adjust to their new lives together. The star turn this week is Fabio, a Chinese Crested Powderpuff who has essentially been purchased as a replacement for a scraggy little muppet called Hugo (RIP). Alisa doted on Hugo, who happily put up with wearing a variety of kitschy outfits. Fabio doesn’t appear to be humiliated by this leisurewear either. Alisa’s partner, Colin, wryly accepts his lowly place in the pecking order. The programme isn’t cruel or judgemental, it accepts Alisa for the mildly eccentric person she is. Her little family – there are no children – is happy.

Paul O’Grady’s Great British Escape – Wednesday, STV, 8pm

Paul O’Grady is television’s nicest man. Face facts, Palin, you monster. This series is really just an excuse to spend some time in his friendly, quick-witted company, as he wanders around his adopted county of Kent. It’s a picturesque balm. In episode two he embraces the beautiful desolation of Romney Marsh, where he gingerly encounters some leeches, goes fishing for shrimp, and visits an alpaca farm. Like Connolly and Palin (sorry about what I said earlier, Mike), O’Grady bonds naturally with everyone he meets. He’s either a very good actor, or he’s someone without a trace of showbiz ego. Also, hats off to whoever compiles the soundtracks for his programmes: Iggy, Elvis and Otis are among the picks this week.

A Special School – Friday, BBC Two, 7pm

“Communication is every child’s right. No matter what level they’re at, they have every right to communicate something.” So says one of the many inspiring teachers in this beautifully-made BBC Wales series about Ysgol y Deri, Britain’s preeminent school for children with special needs. 15-year-old Luke was born with a hole in his brain, but his cognitive abilities are acute. Via voice-generating software, he articulates his fears and frustrations: “I hate it when people patronise me, especially when people talk to me like a baby. It makes me feel hurt and uncomfortable.” His family, friends and teachers never patronise him. They accept him for who he is. “It makes me feel humble,” he says.

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

In the final episode of this emergency televised podcast, the likeable broadcaster Sara Cox hosts another celebrity book group. Her guests this week are Desiree Burch, Ben Miller, Graham Norton and – here she is again – Grace Dent. Norton gets in a plug for his third (third?!) novel, while praising one of his favourite books, The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. He makes a sound point: if you meet a prospective partner who doesn’t enjoy Bennett’s work, then they’re definitely not for you. So much time and heartache could be avoided via use of that simple test. This cosy little series, this chattering media bubble of absolutely nothing, may serve as a vaporous distraction while Trump barricades himself inside a cupboard with the nuclear codes.

Griff’s Great Australian Adventure – Friday, STV, 8pm

ITV aren’t even trying with their celebrity travelogue titles now, they all merge into a ‘great’ morass of blandness. Penelope Keith’s Berserk Icelandic Rumble; David Jason’s Outstanding Hats of Minsk. They’d stand out in the listings. Griff Rhys Jones, to his credit, is an affable conduit for this sort of thing. The title isn’t his fault. He’s no O’Grady, but he has his own distinctive spin. Griff is never conspicuously impressed by anything. He’s bemused and amused, but not in an insulting way. This week, his continent-spanning train journey stops off in rural Queensland, where he cautiously observes farmers extracting semen from a bull. He also meets some archaeologists dusting for dinosaur tracks in the middle of nowhere.

LAST WEEK’S TV

His Dark Materials – Sunday 8th November, BBC One

Tarot cards on the table: I am immune to the charms of epic fantasy fiction involving wizards and whatnot. I simply cannot fathom the appeal, no matter how hard I try. The first series of this adaptation of Philip Pullman’s trilogy was particularly gruelling. A hectic, rudderless tumult of riddle-me-ree prophecies with no emotional core. Even as a fantasy sceptic, I found it bewildering and tedious. 

So no, of course I didn’t enjoy its return last week. As before, all I could find to admire were its production values and the performances by Dafne Keen and Ruth Wilson. This is poor storytelling on a massive scale. An expensive mess, the very worst kind of mess. I will never speak of it again.

Industry – Wednesday 11th November, BBC Two

It’s possible to sculpt a decent drama around awful people with too much money. We’ve all seen This Life. But this HBO/BBC co-production about young London investment bankers is a ghastly chore. It’s presumably intended as a sharp piece of satire, an arch meditation on the hollowness of capitalist greed. It misses the mark completely. Industry expects us to care about these characters on some level, while wringing its hands over the chrome and glass world they inhabit. 

The characters are bland. Their world is objectively vile and soulless. So what’s the point? There is nothing to engage with. This pilot was directed by Lena Dunham, an obliviously entitled artist who will never understand why people find her work so annoying.

THE RISE OF THE MURDOCH DYNASTY + THE KEMPS: ALL TRUE

This article was originally published in the Courier on 11th July 2020.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

THE RISE OF THE MURDOCH DYNASTY

Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Rupert Murdoch has for decades used his vast media Death Star as a devastating political weapon. He has the power to dictate the results of a UK general election. He made sure that Brexit happened. He made sure that Corbyn never had a chance. His influence is terrifying. This grimly absorbing series depicts him as a ruthless, bitter man driven by an obsession with the future of his empire. It features a motley roster of talking heads including Nigel Farage (who claims that he received Murdoch’s blessing to participate), Alastair Campbell and former News Corporation employee Piers Morgan. Tony Blair, Rebekah Brooks and the Murdochs themselves are conspicuously absent. It begins in 1995, when Blair and Campbell made a pact with the Devil. Both parties got what they wanted.

                                            

AMAZING HOTELS: LIFE BEYOND THE LOBBY

Tuesday, BBC Two, 8pm

                                      

The latest series of this globe-trotting exploration of how the filthy rich live when they’re not at home begins in the self-governing Chinese city of Macau, which is the gambling capital of the world (face facts, Las Vegas). Hosts Monica Galetti from MasterChef and obnoxious word-churner Giles Coren have a playful nose around the MGM Cotai, a luxury hotel designed to look like glittering Chinese jewellery boxes stacked on top of each other. It’s a soulless spectacle, inside and out, but the focus as always is on the everyday activities of the hotel staff. Galetti visits the preposterously well-stocked kitchen and joins employees as they clean apartments belonging to elderly people from the local community. Great PR.

BEARS AROUND THE HOUSE

Wednesday, BBC Two, 8pm

Warning: this valuable series contains sickening tales of animal cruelty. It doesn’t show any bears being harmed, but the details of their circumstances prior to being rescued are upsetting. That, however, is necessary in order to highlight the importance of conservationist Giles Clark’s mission. He’s involved in the construction of a pioneering bear sanctuary in Laos, which is home to numerous orphaned sun and moon cubs. These beautiful, vulnerable creatures are victims of the illegal Asian wildlife trade. Without the intervention of Clark and his colleagues, they were destined for a horrific life in captivity. Now they’re being prepared for a life in the wild. The programme follows Clark as he gradually nurses five-month-old Mary back to health.

PAUL O’GRADY’S FOR THE LOVE OF DOGS: BACK IN BUSINESS

Wednesday, STV, 8pm

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home was forced to close its doors to the public for the first time in 160 years. In this special edition of his irresistible love letter to our canine comrades, O’Grady returns to Battersea just before it goes into lockdown. The staff have a herculean task on their hands: they need to find homes for more than 150 dogs and cats. It’s urgent. Preview copies weren’t available, but inevitably it involves the hugely likeable O’Grady offering to foster one of the dogs. He already has five dogs at home and admits that he doesn’t really want another one, but all bets are off when he meets an adorable little puppy who falls asleep inside his jacket.

LAST WEEK’S TV

THE KEMPS: ALL TRUE

Sunday 5th, BBC Two

This enjoyable spoof documentary starred Gary and Martin Kemp from Spandau Ballet as themselves. Written and directed by Rhys Thomas in the sharply edited, gag-packed style of his Brian Pern comedies (Simon Day had a cameo), it appeared to be partially inspired by that notorious 2018 Bros documentary, which was hilariously and tragically real. The Kemps portrayed themselves as boastful, antagonistic, yet weirdly endearing buffoons. They displayed good, semi-naturalistic comic timing throughout (they are experienced actors after all) and fully embraced the daft spirit of it all. I particularly enjoyed the disastrous table-reading for Martin’s time-traveling crime drama, and their desperate attempt to hijack the Radio 2 playlist. Great fun. 

MRS AMERICA

Wednesday 8th July, BBC Two

Phyllis Schlafly was an ultra-conservative campaigner who devoted her career to making life more unpleasant for people; an American fusion of Margaret Thatcher and Mary Whitehouse. This series dramatizes her campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment, which brought her into conflict with the Women’s Liberation Movement. Written by Mad Men alumnus Dahvi Waller, it’s a sharp, kinetic ‘70s period piece anchored by a typically fine performance from Cate Blanchett. It doesn’t portray Schlafly as a one-dimensional monster, but nor does it make excuses for her. Terrible person, interesting story.