This article was originally published in The Courier on 30 March 2019.
NEXT WEEK’S TV
FOR FOLK’S SAKE!
MORRIS DANCING AND ME
Monday,
BBC Four, 9pm
This
wryly affectionate documentary peers into a peculiar subculture. Morris dancing
is widely regarded as an embarrassing emblem of tiresomely twee British
eccentricity. But, asks filmmaker Richard Macer, is this parochial world of
bells, beards and beer facing extinction? What can be done to inflate the
membership of ageing Morris groups? Macer follows Britain’s oldest Morris
organisation as they deal with a monumental change to their constitution:
allowing women to join hitherto male-only groups for the first time. Traditionalist
leader Barry is dead against it. “It’s important to maintain the artistic
purity of the style,” he insists while dressed as a May Queen. However, Macer
also meets dancers who welcome their female saviours. It’s like Brexit in
microcosm.
STORYVILLE: THE TRIAL
OF RATKO MLADIC
Monday,
BBC Four, 10pm
In
2017, Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic was found guilty of genocide and crimes
against humanity. He was sentenced to life in prison. This sobering documentary
goes behind the scenes of his five-year inquisition at the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, the most important
war crimes trial since Nuremberg. During the Bosnian War of the ‘90s, Mladic
became synonymous with the siege of Sarajevo in which nearly 14,000 people were
killed and the murder of over 7,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica. The film
boasts extraordinary access to Mladic’s defence team and celebrates the
painstaking efforts of the prosecutors who brought this evil tyrant, known as the
‘Butcher of Bosnia’, to account.
JACK THE RIPPER: THE
CASE REOPENED
Thursday,
BBC One, 9pm
We’ll
probably never know the true identity of Jack the Ripper, but we’ll always have
a stream of documentaries purporting to shed new light on his horrific crimes.
The latest unearthing of the world’s most famous cold case investigation is
hosted by none other than Silent Witness
star Emilia Fox alongside leading criminologist Professor David Wilson. He’s
also a practiced media professional, hence his unfortunate tendency to come
across as a bit too slick and actorly when discussing brutal murders (Fox, despite
being an actual actor, is more subdued). Using modern techniques and technology,
including a bespoke computer system used by the police to detect patterns in
criminal activity, they attempt to whittle down the list of historic suspects.
PILGRIMAGE: THE ROAD
TO ROME
Friday,
BBC Two, 9pm
It’s
one of the core tenets of modern television production: when in doubt, round up
a group of B and C list celebs and send them off on an overseas adventure.
Voila! Another few hours of mild entertainment. This one involves a cabal
including Les Dennis, Lesley Joseph, Strictly
dancer Brendan Cole and Dana (yes, Dana) hiking across the Alps towards the Vatican.
Why? Well, they all have different faiths and beliefs so they’re apparently
looking for answers by following this ancient tradition. Dana is Catholic,
Joseph is Jewish but non-practicing, Cole is an atheist and Dennis doesn’t know
what he believes in. Let theological battle commence. Actually, it’s all rather
pleasant and jolly, the very definition of undemanding fare.
LAST WEEK’S TV
CATCHPOINT
Saturday
23rd, BBC One
Paddy
McGuinness: why? This bog-standard quiz show failed to provide a satisfactory
answer to that mystifying conundrum. McGuinness oversaw proceedings in
typically bland, gormless, unfunny style as contestants answered general
knowledge questions while attempting to catch large pink rubber balls. I
wouldn’t be surprised if that gimmick was devised solely as an excuse for
McGuinness to deliver cheeky pre-watershed double entendres.
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