This article was originally published in The Courier on 16th February 2019.
NEXT WEEK’S TV
THE REAL MARIGOLD ON
TOUR
Wednesday,
BBC One, 9pm
The
ageing dream team of twinkly Paul Nicholas, rambunctious Sheila Ferguson,
cheeky Wayne Sleep and that nice Jan Leeming (mercifully, there’s no sign of
tiresome professional eccentric Miriam Margolyes) pitch up in wintry yet
passion-fuelled Argentina this week, where they take late-night Tango lessons,
explore local art and music, visit a university offering a range of stimulating
classes for senior citizens, and – perhaps inevitably - sing Don’t Cry for Me Argentina beneath the
balcony where Eva Peron delivered her famous speech. Five-times-married Jan has
been single for fifteen years, so it’s rather charming when a man she meets at
her life drawing class invites her out on a date. Alas, it ends up being quite awkward.
JAMES MARTIN’S GREAT
BRITISH ADVENTURE
Monday,
STV, 2pm
This
afternoon retreat starring the top TV chef and Richard Herring lookalike trundles
along merrily throughout the week. The latest gentle barrage begins with a Lancashire
trek in the company of Michelin-starred chef and Great British Menu titan, Lisa Allen. She’s the cheerfully subdued
yin to his borderline manic yang. Whenever he enthuses about “great tucker”, he
looks like he’s about to burst through the screen and shove some fennel in your
face. As a Mini lurks conspicuously in the background – these shows always have
to include a classic car of some description – they cook up some savoury fish, bake
Eccles cakes, chow down on freshly farm-milked buffalo cheese and, inevitably,
provide a recipe for the ultimate Lancashire hotpot.
MARTIN CLUNES: ISLANDS
OF AMERICA
Tuesday,
STV, 9pm
If
we must have celebrity-fronted travelogues on TV, then they may as well be
fronted by the affable Clunes. At least this one goes slightly off the beaten
track to explore parts of America that haven’t been overexposed. The latest leg
of his empathetic journey takes him to America’s only Spanish-speaking island,
Puerto Rico, as well as the Sea Islands along the coasts of Georgia and the
Carolinas. There he meets members of the Gullah Geechee people, descendants of
the African slaves who once toiled on local plantations. A prominent
spokeswoman explains how they proudly celebrate their cultural identity – which
includes its own language - while educating others about their history and sadly
dwindling way of life.
MONTY DON’S JAPANESE
GARDENS
Friday,
BBC Two, 9pm
The
nation’s favourite curly-haired horticulturalist is on a mission to unearth the
culture that lies behind some of the world’s most beautiful gardens. His final scenic
pit-stop takes place in a crisply red-leaved autumn, where he finds out how one
of Japan’s greatest public gardens is looked after in preparation for the
harshness of winter. He also continues to trace the colourful history of these
idyllic beauty spots. It’s a consummately comforting hour of artisan relax-o-vision.
It would, of course, be remiss of me to end any Don-based critique without
reminding you that the Montydon is my favourite herbivore dinosaur by far. You
can have that one for free, I’m here all week etc.
LAST WEEK’S TV
DAVID BOWIE: FINDING
FAME
Saturday
9th, BBC Two
The
final part of director Francis Whately’s highly acclaimed trilogy of
feature-length documentaries about the Dame traced the fascinating saga of how struggling
musician David Jones eventually metamorphosed into a pansexual alien rock
superstar. Like Whatley’s previous films, it was an impressively researched,
artfully compiled essay that benefitted from a sharp focus on a specific period
of Bowie’s life and career. Courtesy of incisive contributions from various
collaborators, friends, relatives and lovers, a portrait emerged of a bright, sensitive,
talented and tenacious artist gradually finding his voice and refusing to be
ground down by a string of failed bands and flop records. He somehow knew he
was destined for greatness.
THE MAKING OF ME
Monday
11th, Channel 4
Filmed
over three years, this welcome new series follows nine transgender people as
they go through the process of transitioning. It also featured contributions
from partners and family members. In the happy case of Cairo, a transgender
man, they were fully supportive. However, he expressed his frustration about
being mis-gendered in public. Vicky, a transgender woman, has joint custody of
her children, who took the situation in their stride. The only vaguely wobbly
story in this otherwise positive portrayal involved 56-year-old Jackie, a
transgender woman, and her wife Julie. The latter, while broadly supportive,
admitted that she sometimes missed her husband. Thankfully, they made it work
and renewed their wedding vows.
SHETLAND
Tuesday
12th, BBC One
Series
five of this hit crime drama began with the discovery of dismembered body parts
washed up on the shore. Yes, it was grisly business as usual for clue-sniffing
copper DI Jimmy Perez (Douglas Henshall), as he set about unpicking a tangled
web of organised crime. The victim? A young Nigerian man. I find it all but
impossible to concentrate on whatever appears to be going on in this
pot-boiling murder mulch, as I’m constantly distracted by the quotidian
dialogue and wooden acting from practically every member of the cast, Henshall
included. It’s like watching a bunch of fence posts slowly eroding in the
bitter northeast rain.
FLAT PACK POP:
SWEDEN’S MUSIC MIRACLE
Friday
15th, BBC Four
Did
you know that the slick sound of modern pop was largely crafted by anonymous
Swedish songwriters and producers? Yes, you probably did, as it’s a well-known
fact, so the supposedly lid-lifting premise of this documentary fell flat. It
also neglected to mention that, in the 1960s, Phil Spector and the team behind
the Monkees operated along the same model as these obsessive backroom boffins:
they didn’t invent the concept of formulaic yet irresistible perfect pop. Nevertheless,
music journalist James Ballardie still managed to present a fairly interesting
‘secret history’ of how some modest Scandinavians created a distinctive
melodic/robotic R&B sound in the 1990s that still resonates today.
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