ROSIE JONES: AM I A R*TARD? | EXTRAORDINARY PORTRAITS | EARTH

This article was originally published in The Courier on 15th July 2023.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Rosie Jones: Am I a R*tard? – Thursday, Channel 4, 10pm

This vital documentary has attracted some controversy due to its blunt title, but as comedian Rosie Jones articulates at the start, “I understand that it will be upsetting to many, but I believe that we need to confront this word and other ableist terms head-on for people to realise how damaging it is.” 

Jones, who has cerebral palsy, hopes that her commendably frank and angry essay will make utter scumbags think twice about ever using ableist language again. 

Like so many people with disabilities, she’s targeted with horrific online abuse on a daily basis. Human beings can be so unfathomably cruel.

Jones exposes how useless Twitter is when it comes to dealing with violations of their supposed rules of conduct, while attempting to understand the damaged psychology of internet trolls.

Extraordinary Portraits – Monday, BBC One, 8:30pm

To mark the 75^th anniversary of our beloved NHS, art-lover Bill Bailey hosts this series in which NHS workers are paired with some of the UK’s most celebrated portrait artists. 

As Bailey explains in his introduction, it’s a project designed to “represent the best of modern Britain.” And God only knows, we could do with a good faith depiction of that right now. It encourages creativity and decency, the absolute antithesis of the dismal daily reports we receive about the worst of humanity. 

Anyway. In episode one, sculptor Nick Elphick meets trauma surgeon Martin. An inspirational person, Martin’s many selfless achievements can’t easily be encapsulated in a single work of art. Elphick, however, possesses the talent to do just that.

Earth – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

Behold the unassuming might of Chris Packham, who orchestrates this ambitious new series about the four and half billion year story of Earth. You will be awed. 

It begins with Packham exploring the evolutionary rise of the dinosaurs, which gradually occurred in the wake of one of our planet’s most utterly devastating mass extinctions. 

Life finds a way? Well yes, broadly speaking it does, but Packham’s essay is a cautionary tale about how rapid climate change can cause entire ecosystems to collapse. Nothing lasts forever. 

It’s an absolutely fascinating series, a hugely impressive achievement. I find it difficult to defend the BBC at times, a maddening corporation that’s its own worst enemy, but you really will miss it when it’s gone.

Is Cricket Racist? – Tuesday, Channel 4, 11:05pm

Three years ago, the Asian-British cricketer Azeem Rafiq went public about the racism he was subjected to while playing for Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Broadcaster Adil Ray has been following the scandal since it broke. 

In this programme, he meets with players such as former Pakistan cricket captain Imran Khan, who expounds upon the racism he experienced while playing in England. 

Ray also interviews current England player Moeen Ali, who received a tweet from Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan suggesting that Ali should hunt down terrorists. Yes, really. Ali has a message for Vaughan. 

Preview copies weren’t available, but this sounds like an utterly damning report about elitism, bullying and flat-out racist abuse.

Who Do You Think You Are? – Thursday, BBC One, 9pm

Our latest gene hunter is the comedian Chris Ramsey, who begins the episode by digging into the history of his great grandfather. 

Dryden Gordon Young fought in WWI. He served on the frontline at Gallipoli, and was later captured as a prisoner of war. Despite these harrowing travails, Dryden survived and continued the family line. 

Ramsey goes on to discover that his family tree is full of brave and determined people who struggled with adversity. 

I will never not be staggered by the hitherto incurious nature of celebs who sign up for this show. You haven’t asked mum what grandad was like? His experiences during the war? People are strange, the only sensible thing Jim Morrison ever said.

The Supervet – Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm

The latest series of Professor Noel Fitzpatrick’s uplifting pet-fest opens with a Very Special Episode devoted to puppies. 

As you’re presumably aware, Fitzpatrick runs a veterinary surgery in rural Surrey. He has the reassuring bedside manner of James Herriot and Hawkeye from M*A*S*H. Their paws are safe in the expert hands of pioneering Professor F. 

Yes, fans of the show will be familiar with some of the cases revisited here, as it’s basically a compilation of highlights from previous episodes, but resistance is futile. 

Our adorable patients include a Collie with complex genetic bone issues, and a Weimaraner who’s been hit by a van. Don’t worry, the Supervet ensures that everything turns out happily in the end. 

Our Lives – Friday, BBC One, 7:30pm

Mei’s life hasn’t been easy. She’s 20. Most of her teenage years were spent in care. She’s struggled with anxiety, an eating disorder and self-harm. 

In this typically sensitive and uplifting Our Lives documentary, we follow Mei as she befriends an assistance dog in training by the name of Koda. Before meeting this gorgeous golden retriever, Mei was too scared to leave her home. Now they’re venturing outside. A mutually supportive life together. 

Mei is a lovely person. Dog pal Koda is a splendid girl. You will, I’m sure, be just as moved as I was by this touching meditation on the incalculably therapeutic value of spending time with a pet you love, and who loves you in return.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Sitting on a Fortune – Sunday 9th July, STV

All people of sound mind have a soft spot for Gary Lineker. A great footballer, an affable safe-pair-of-hands broadcaster, and a thoroughly decent person. But even saints have feet of clay. 

Lineker hosts this quiz show with his usual professional ease, but it’s just a generic shiny-floored general knowledge quiz which – like most modern TV quizzes – is padded out to fill a 60-minute timeslot. 

The honourable exception of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? aside, no quiz can sustain tension and entertainment value over the space of an hour. 

Brucie knew the score: quick bit of banter with the contestants then get on with the game – all in the space of a tight half hour.

A Year on Planet Earth – Sunday 9th July, STV

National Treasure ™ Stephen Fry hosts this panoramic exploration of how seasonal change impacts all life on Earth. Naturally it began in winter. 

Fry travelled to the Arctic Circle to observe, from a very safe distance, a polar bear and her cub dealing with incredibly harsh conditions. Meanwhile, in the southern hemisphere, a vast raft of King Penguins basked in the sun. 

It was, as you’d expect, beautifully shot and occasionally quite arresting: a benignly ersatz version of Attenborough and his natural successor, the aforementioned Chris Packham. 

And that, folks, after ten years in the saddle, is my final word on TV for this particular publication. I hope you enjoyed the show, and remember - please don’t have nightmares.

UNFORGOTTEN | MURDER IN THE PACIFIC | STEPHEN FRY: WILLEM & FRIEDA – DEFYING THE NAZIS

This article was originally published in The Courier on 25th February 2023.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Unforgotten – Monday, STV, 9pm

There is something oddly comforting about how every series of Unforgotten begins on exactly the same grisly note, with the chance discovery of some human remains. 

We wouldn’t have it any other way, as creator Chris Lang knows only too well. A good, sly, intelligent writer, he cleaves to a proven formula while never repeating himself. 

But will the latest series survive the loss of Nicola Walker, whose character was killed off last time around? Her warm, understated chemistry with co-star Sanjeev Bhaskar was key to Unforgotten’s appeal. 

Well, she’s been replaced by that fine actor Sinead Keenan, and episode one suggests that fans have nothing to worry about. The central dynamic is different, but without being jarringly dissimilar.

A Special School – Monday, BBC Two, 7pm

Our latest visit to Britain’s biggest special education school, Ysgol Y Deri, begins on an atypically downbeat note. 

Thousands of pounds worth of water sport equipment has been stolen. But the staff don’t dwell upon that setback. They can’t, there’s no point. Their pupils are of far more importance. 

Also, Valentine’s Day is on the horizon. When the kids make their smitten feelings known, it’s touching yet never sentimental. 

Produced in partnership with the Open University, this exceptional series is an honest snapshot of the everyday challenges faced by young people with diverse needs, and the dedicated professionals who support them. 

We must never, ever take institutions such as Ysgol Y Deri for granted, they provide a vital service.

Sex Actually with Alice Levine – Monday, Channel 4, 10pm

As she begins series two of her commendably frank and non-judgemental odyssey, Levine visits the world’s first cyber-brothel as part of an investigation into the rise of sophisticated sex robots.

I probably don’t have to stress this point, but just in case: Sex Actually with Alice Levine contains scenes that viewers of a more prudish or sensitive bent may find offensive. Their discretion is advised, but please bear in mind that we’re not dealing here with some snickering gawp-fest a la Channel 4 stablemate Naked Attraction. 

Executive produced by Louis Theroux, it’s a thoughtful show hosted by a witty, warm and inquisitive person with a genuine interest in the multifaceted subject at hand.

Saving Lives in Leeds – Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Brought to you by the team behind that deservedly lauded BBC series Hospital, this is a similarly sympathetic frontline study of our beleaguered NHS doctors and nurses. 

Leeds General Infirmary nestles at the heart of one of the UK’s largest NHS Hospital Trusts. In episode one, we meet a pioneering expert in hand transplantation surgery. His patient lost all his limbs after being electrocuted at work. 

Meanwhile, in the neurosurgery department, doctors struggle with a moral dilemma. They only have one confirmed post-operative bed at their disposal, but they’re dealing with two patients in urgent need of treatment. 

The same problem arises at Leeds Children’s Hospital, where two children with cerebral palsy require beds on the same day.  

Django – Wednesday, Sky Atlantic, 9pm

Loosely based on Sergio Corbucci’s cult Spaghetti Western, this new series follows a tortured drifter who winds up in a makeshift city populated by social outcasts. 

Django takes itself very seriously indeed. It neither immerses itself in subversive mayhem a la Tarantino (whose Django Unchained was also vaguely inspired by the source material), nor takes full heed from the artistry of Corbucci himself. 

It’s a reverent tribute to the Spaghetti Western genre, and that’s the problem; it doesn’t quite understand why people dug those films, with their unique combination of weird black comedy and stylised revenge fantasy violence, in the first place. 

Also, Django looks more like a bedraggled hipster ale brewer than a tough, grungy Western antihero.

Murder in the Pacific – Thursday, BBC Two, 9pm

In July of 1985, Greenpeace’s flagship vessel the Rainbow Warrior was bombed and sank by the French intelligence service off the coast of New Zealand. 

They’d been ordered to prevent Greenpeace from protesting against France’s nuclear testing on South Pacific islands. A photographer by the name of Fernando Pereira was killed during the attack. 

This three-part docudrama examines in authoritative detail an utterly appalling scandal. 

All of those aboard Rainbow Warrior, a prominent symbol of peace, were attempting to draw the world’s attention towards environmental matters of the utmost urgency, they did not deserve to be targeted with violence. 

The first episode focuses on the background and build-up. You will despair.

Stephen Fry: Willem & Frieda – Defying the Nazis – Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm

During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, two heroic Dutch resistance members helped to rescue thousands of Jewish people. Their names were Willem Arondeus and Frieda Belinfante. 

Willem was a struggling artist. Frieda was an accomplished cellist. They both lived openly gay lives. 

In this fascinating documentary, Fry pays tribute to their extraordinary bravery while confronting an uncomfortable truth: Willem and Frieda are barely remembered today, because for decades their homosexuality precluded them from being officially recognised as national heroes. 

That’s no longer the case, and Fry ends the programme on a hopeful note, but his timely message is clear. If we don’t stand up against bigotry in all its toxic guises, abject horror will ensue.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Secrets of the Jurassic Dinosaurs – Sunday 19th February, BBC Two

I’m not a qualified palaeontologist, believe you me, but I have watched quite a few dino-docs over the years. And this one, a two-parter presented by Liz Bonnin, failed to live up to its title. 

At the risk of sounding jaded about such an interesting subject, we’ve heard these secrets before. 

Bonnin joined an international team of palaeontologists as they carefully excavated a dinosaur graveyard in Wyoming. They’re doing good work, more power to their dusty elbows, but they must be irked by TV crews turning up every week to make the same programme about their necessarily slow and painstaking endeavours. Leave ‘em alone. 

Also, the computer graphics looked like they were programmed on a Commodore 64.

Beyond Paradise – Friday 24th February, BBC One

Hapless Kris Marshall stars in this spin-off from the unstoppable Death in Paradise, which relocates from the sun-blessed Caribbean to a sleepy Devon town. But it’s very much business as usual. 

This franchise has never taken itself seriously, it’s a knowingly Scooby Doo-esque spoof of murder mystery tropes. Everyone involved is in on the joke, so in that sense it’s virtually critic-proof. What can I say that the production team and fanbase aren’t already aware of themselves? 

It’s polished nonsense, a clown nose glazed in fake blood, a cosy knockabout whodunit with zero pretensions. On and on it trundles, like Compo in his recalcitrant tin bath. It’s there if you want it, ignorable if you don’t.

TRACES + WINTER WALKS + THE STORY OF SM:TV LIVE

This article was originally published in The Courier on 2nd January 2021.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Winter Walks – Monday to Friday, BBC Four, 7pm

This is quite a nice way of easing yourself into whatever 2021 will be: five 30-minute episodes in the company of various well-known folk, as they traipse around the rural hills and dales of Britain. It’s comfortingly sedate and almost quite poetic. There is no music, no crew as such, just solo celebs armed with a 360-degree camera. Stunning sunrise scenery merges with the sound of rivers, birdsong, sheep and trudging feet. Occasionally, the presenters bump into locals. They have a little chat, then move on. It’s lovely. Your unobtrusive wintry guides are Richard Coles, Selina Scott, Lemn Sissay, Sayeeda Warsi and Poet Laureate Simon Armitage. It should make you feel a bit better about the world. 

Bradley and Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad – Monday, STV, 8pm

The affable father/son duo return for more globe-spanning adventures. This time they’re travelling across Europe (the series was filmed pre-COVID, obviously). Their latest journey begins in The Netherlands, where they try a bit of canal jumping, visit a velodrome and attempt to scale the world’s tallest freestanding wall. Preview copies weren’t available, but I think I can state with some confidence that the latest series will be exactly the same as every previous series. Which isn’t a complaint, it’s a satisfyingly formulaic show. The tightknit relationship between Walsh and his son can be quite touching at times. They’re nice people doing fun things. No one gets hurt. What’s not to like?

Traces – Monday and Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm

Finally, a thriller set in Dundee! Albeit mostly filmed in Manchester. Traces isn’t new, it debuted on UKTV in 2019, but a bigger audience is guaranteed on BBC One. Based on an idea by top crime author Val McDermid (who has a fleeting cameo in episode one), it’s an enjoyable potboiler steeped in queasy intrigue. Molly Windsor plays a forensic science student who is convinced that a supposedly fictional case study is based on the murder of her mother. Every bit as grim and grisly as you’d expect from a McDermid-inspired drama, it pivots around solid performances from Windsor, Laura Fraser and Martin Compston. And remember: “There are only so many places you can bury a body in Dundee.”

Staged – Monday and Tuesday, BBC One, 9:45pm

It’s back, that slight, harmless comedy in which Michael Sheen and David Tennant play versions of themselves in lockdown. Their Skype conversations are spiked with childish passive-aggression; the petty vanity of actors. They also appear to be going slightly mad, Sheen in particular. I haven’t seen this second series, it wasn’t available at the time of writing, but series one was a mildly amusing diversion; two fine actors just mucking about in their enforced spare time. But it pales in comparison to Coogan and Brydon (or should that be Brydon and Coogan?) in The Trip, to which it owes an obvious debt. Still, each episode is only 15 minutes long, so it’s not as if they outstay their welcome.

The Man Who Fell from the Sky – Monday, Channel 4, 10pm

In 2015, a stowaway fell to his death from the wheel well of a British Airways Boeing 747. He and a friend, both from Mozambique, were attempting to smuggle themselves into the UK. Documentary filmmaker Rich Bentley has spent the last five years trying to locate the man who survived that terrifying journey. His research unearthed a disturbing yet little-reported fact: asylum seekers dying in that particular way isn’t uncommon. This is a sensitive programme about immigration; a meditation on the human beings behind the dry statistics and racist rhetoric stirred up by the right. Bentley reveals their names, he speaks to their families. He doesn’t provide any neat answers, as that would be offensive. It’s a complex tragedy.

Cheetah Family & Me – Tuesday and Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Whispering Gordon Buchanan always turns up at this time of year to share his love of nature. The affable Scot’s latest adventure involves two Cheetah families struggling to survive in the wilds of South Africa. We follow him on horseback and on foot, a camera rostrum over his shoulder, as he attempts to find out what life is really like for these beautiful, endangered creatures. The little cheetah cubs are beyond adorable, but a mild word of caution for younger viewers in your household: nature can be cruel. When Attenborough eventually retires from the planet, I think Buchanan would be a suitable replacement. A compassionate man who cares about the world around us, his exemplary documentaries are intimate and immersive.

Lucy Worsley’s Royal Palace Secrets – Wednesday, BBC Four, 9pm

The doyen of BBC Four, historian Lucy Worsley churns these programmes out at a remarkable rate. She appears to spend half her life dressed as Catherine of Aragon while delivering pieces to camera. This one was filmed a few months ago, but as Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces she wasn’t going to let the pandemic get in the way of her exclusive right to snoop around Hampton Court, Kensington Palace and The Tower of London. Worsley is an engaging guide, I like her; but while she’s always flirted with twee self-parody, she’s more ‘Lucy Worsley’ here than ever before. She might want to dial down the whimsy in future. It can be suffocating. Some unbidden constructive criticism there.

LAST WEEK’S TV

The Story of SM:TV Live – Boxing Day, STV

Scheduled, rather sweetly, in its old Saturday morning slot, this tribute to the Ant, Dec and Cat kid’s show was surprisingly touching. I was 23 when it started in 1998, so I never paid much attention. But it looks like I missed out on a commendably subversive and sometimes very funny show that understood the cardinal rule of children’s television: don’t talk down to them; they’re smart, they get it. Broadcast live, SM:TV was benign anarchy, a fizzy rollerball of pop and sketches helmed by three bright young things with chemistry to burn. Watching Ant, Dec and Cat, all now middle-aged, reflecting on the best time of their lives made me feel nostalgic for something I never experienced.

Stephen Fry’s 21^st Century Firsts – Wednesday 30th December, STV

Hey! Who remembers Myspace?! In this utterly pointless list show, the cosy centrist tech-lover looked back upon various things that have occurred in the last 20 years. The legalisation of same-sex marriage and the Black Lives Matter movement jostled for airtime amidst the invention of YouTube, social media, reality television, iPhones and selfies. The Coronavirus pandemic made a brief cameo towards the end. Fry admitted that it was a whistle-stop tour, but that was no excuse for a programme in which Harry Potter trampled all over the election of Barack Obama and the vital voice of Greta Thunberg. All of this stuff, this broiling cultural stew, deserves hours of analysis. Fry was just picking up some sweet festive dollar.

TV Column: DRACULA + DOCTOR WHO

This article was originally published in The Courier on 28th December 2019.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/category/lifestyle/entertainment/tv-film/

NEXT WEEK’S TV

DRACULA

New Year’s Day to Friday, BBC One, 9pm

If, like me, you eventually grew tired of Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis’ unbearably self-indulgent Sherlock, you might be pleasantly surprised by their muscular take on Dracula. A 19^th century period piece, it borrows heavily from Bram Stoker’s novel while going its own freewheeling way (e.g. traumatised solicitor Jonathan Harker recounts his terrible tale to a drolly straight-talking, Godless nun). Despite containing flashes of slyly affectionate meta-commentary on established vampire lore, this Dracula isn’t a send-up. It’s witty, yes, but it’s also grimly atmospheric and unabashedly horrific. It may be one of the goriest dramas ever made by the BBC. Main selling point: a commanding performance from saturnine Danish actor Claes Bang as an utterly ruthless, cocksure Count.

DAME EDNA RULES THE WAVES

Hogmanay, BBC One, 9:05pm

The great Dame emerges from semi-retirement to host this one-off special from her enormous luxury yacht (it’s three times the size of Wales). Her celebrity shipmates include Sharon Osbourne, Judge Rinder, Emily Atack and Anita Rani, all of them eager to be insulted in inimitable passive-aggressive Edna fashion. Now aged 85, Edna’s material isn’t quite what it was. Her opening monologue falls flat, sadly, although it does contain this touching tribute to her late sidekick Madge Allsop: “She went peacefully… she died in my sleep.” All is not lost, however: once the guests come out, traces of her sharp improvisatory wit can still be detected. She can’t help being naturally funny, that gift never disappears completely.

DOCTOR WHO

New Year’s Day, BBC One, 6:55pm

The Doctor returns with a skittish two-part Bond pastiche called Spyfall (like Skyfall; such wit), featuring guest-stars Stephen Fry as a Q-style MI6 official and Lenny Henry (more of whom below) as a villainous billionaire businessman. I’m no fan of tin-eared showrunner Chris Chibnall; he is, at best, a competent hack. Spyfall is Chibnall at his best. It’s a fairly enjoyable run-around in which a mysterious race of aliens launch an attack on international intelligence agents. Chibnall pulls off a couple of decent set-pieces, Ryan and Yaz actually get to do something for once, and Jodie Whittaker makes her mark whenever the script allows her to. Things can only get better?

IMAGINE… LENNY HENRY: YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK

Thursday, BBC One, 12am

This thoughtful profile of Sir Lenworth has, for some mystifying reason, been buried at midnight. So what if you can watch it whenever on iPlayer? He deserves better. It’s a poignant companion piece to his recently published autobiography, in which he focuses, not on his years of fame and fortune, but on his early struggle to make a name for himself on the ‘70s working men’s club and television circuit: a seemingly insurmountable task for a black teenager in a predominantly white - and covertly racist - environment. He reflects upon the importance of delivering race-based jokes before the audience got there first. It was a defence mechanism, he had no choice. Today he’s a figurehead for the diversity movement.

LAST WEEK’S TV

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

22^nd December to Christmas Eve, BBC One

The zillionth adaptation of Dickens’ festive classic starred Guy Pearce as Scrooge and Stephen Graham as Marley. It was written by Steven ‘Peaky Blinders’ Knight, hence the knowingly mannered, sooty charcoal aesthetic and salty language. Knight was obviously more interested in exploring Scrooge’s eloquent nihilism than his eventual redemption, but it was the resolutely dark Christmas Carol we deserved this year. An enjoyably nasty addition to the canon.

MARTIN’S CLOSE

Christmas Eve, BBC Four

Mark Gatiss – that man again – wrote and directed this boring adaptation of an M.R. James ghost story about a 17^th century nobleman accused of murdering a young woman with learning difficulties. I admire Gatiss’ commitment to reviving the BBC’s Christmas tradition of supernatural yarns, but his efforts tend to be little more than fanboy homages. They lack the haunting impact of the adaptations he adores. RIP Jonathan Miller.

GAVIN & STACEY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Christmas Day, BBC One

There are few things worse than a reunion with people you didn’t much care for in the first place. This unnecessary comeback confirmed the wisdom of that stone-clad sitcom edict: don’t bother. Have Corden and Jones learned nothing from Only Fools and Horses and David Brent: Life On The Road? It’s a nice enough show, fairly well-observed, but leave it where it belongs: somewhat fondly remembered in the third tier.

TV Review: ONE CHILD + THE NOT SO SECRET LIFE OF THE MANIC DEPRESSIVE: 10 YEARS ON

This article was originally published in The Dundee Courier on 20th February 2016.

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

One Child: Wednesday, BBC Two

The Not So Secret Life of the Manic Depressive: 10 Years On: Monday, BBC One

You've got to hand it to BBC Two. To celebrate Chinese New Year last week it launched a new drama criticising China's controversial one-child policy and its attendant issues of social inequality and state corruption. As far as party-pooping goes, that's pretty explosive.

A solemnly compassionate piece, One Child follows Mei, an adopted Chinese-British student meeting her blood relatives for the first time under strained circumstances.

Raised in relative affluence by a loving British couple, Mei's life was complicated suddenly when a Chinese journalist got in touch with an urgent message: a brother she never knew existed is languishing on death row after being framed for murder. For reasons unclear, her desperate birth mother needs Mei to visit China in a bid to rescue him.

But what can she do? When she met her mother in a cramped apartment, the poor woman was so ashamed she couldn't meet Mei's gaze. It was an awkward, overwhelming encounter. Mei became even more upset when she discovered that her mother assumed that, as a rich westerner, she'd have powerful government connections. Is that all she was wanted for? Only after meeting her incarcerated brother – a fresh-faced beacon of indisputable innocence – did she feel compelled to stay and fight.

His government-funded lawyer was useless, as were the British consulate. Their only hope arrived in the form of a campaigning social justice group, whose very existence is anathema to Chinese state control. Mei is entering a minefield.

If One Child occasionally delivers its message with a sweeping heavy hand, its inherent compassion is undeniable. The plight of Mei's brother still functions quite effectively as a blunt metaphor for the way the poorest members of society, whether in China or elsewhere, are treated as expendable by their ruthless ruling classes.

Its portrayal of an anguished mother forced to abandon her child was elevated by a quietly affecting scene in which she and Mei overcame their language barrier to pore through a box of modest family mementoes.

Katie Leung delivers a dignified performance as the dazed and confused Mei, while Elizabeth Perkins and TV stalwart Donald Sumpter are wholly believable as concerned parents trying their best to support their child.

Though it sometimes falters under the weight of its well-meaning intentions, One Child is at least more ambitious and politically sensitive than most mainstream dramas. That must count for something.

It's fair to say that when Stephen Fry's series about bipolar disorder was broadcast in 2006, it played an important role in developing awareness of the condition. Certain stigmas still exist with regards to mental illness – such attitudes can't be eradicated overnight – but Fry's insightful study did encourage a sympathetic discourse that continues to this day.

In The Not So Secret Life of the Manic Depressive: 10 Years On, he caught up with some of the participants from the previous programme. For the likes of Cordelia, her situation had worsened; she now has breast cancer. There were no condescendingly sentimental nods to her “brave” battle, just a lingering sense of sorrowful injustice.

Cautious glimmers of hope were provided by two young people who'd used their experiences to raise awareness and help others. The overriding message – that bipolar is incurable, but there are ways of coping with it – was helpful in its honesty.

Although he discussed his second suicide attempt from a few years ago, and was filmed in frank conversation with his psychiatrist, Fry wisely took a back seat to allow these people to tell their stories. Once again, a valuable piece of public service television.

TV PREVIEW: Eye Spy; Don't Call Me Crazy

This article was originally published in The Scotsman on 22nd June 2013.

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/tv-and-radio/tv-review-eye-spy-don-t-call-me-crazy-1-2974001

EYE SPY

Thursday, Channel 4, 10pm

DON'T CALL ME CRAZY

Monday, BBC3, 9pm

Paul Whitelaw

In Channel 4's new hidden camera show EYE SPY, Stephen Fry sets a number of staged scenarios upon unsuspecting members of the great British public ™.

His stated aim is to restore our faith in human nature, as selfless, stout-hearted citizens do the right thing in times of need. In episode one alone, we witness diners standing up to an outrageously racist waiter, watch passer's-by help a teenager in a wheelchair up a flight of stairs, and marvel at humankind's innate ability to avoid cycling off with bicycles which don't belong to them.

Like an elaborate Beadle prank with a civic duty twist, its an entirely pointless experiment in which the notion that some people are prone to helpful intervention, while others aren't, is held up as astonishing insight. Insufferably condescending and pleased with itself – Fry, who narrates like a cosily omniscient God, presumptuously refers to the viewer as “you” and “we” throughout – it's a heavily padded, repetitious jumble of shallow positivity and censorious tutting.

For a programme purporting to celebrate human nature, it takes a notably dim view of its audience's intelligence: it even goes out of its way to point out that the actor playing the racist waiter isn't actually prejudiced in real life. Were they worried that pitchfork-wielding viewers might accost him in the street?

Aside from its tacit suggestion that the people of Manchester are less bothered by racism than their London counterparts – if that wasn't the intention, that's how it comes across – Eye Spy's nadir is an experiment involving young children resisting the urge to eat a marshmallow. This is used, with stunning lack of tact, as an analogue for the London riots of 2011. “See? Britain isn't all about smash, grab, gimme gimme!” chortles Fry, as if he's somehow solved the complex issue of disaffected class revolt with a wave of his pampered hand.

Incidentally, the supposedly life-affirming Eye Spy is produced by Objective, who, despite having many fine programmes to their name, also delivered the notorious Kookyville, a truly hateful comedy pilot in which ordinary members of the public were held up to ridicule and the audience roundly insulted. We shattered few who witnessed it will never forget, Objective. Never.

Far more sensitive and sympathetic is DON'T CALL ME CRAZY, a three-part observational documentary focusing on patients and staff at Manchester's McGuinness Unit. One of Britain's largest teenage mental health units, it's home to troubled kids with a variety of debilitating issues, ranging from eating disorders to self-harm.

Poignant but never cloying, it's a candid study of fragile young lives: as one staff-member puts it, adolescence is a form of madness at the best of times. The recurring visual motif of depressed patients slumped in corridors may linger for some time.