This column was originally published in The Courier on 23rd March 2019.
NEXT WEEK’S TV
THE YORKSHIRE RIPPER
FILES: A VERY BRITISH CRIME STORY
Tuesday
to Thursday, BBC Four, 9pm
When
serial killer Peter Sutcliffe was finally caught in 1981, he had murdered 13
women and attacked at least eight more. His arrest was the result of Britain’s
biggest ever manhunt. During that six-year investigation Sutcliffe was
interviewed by the police on nine occasions, but was allowed to walk away each
time. In this grimly absorbing three-part documentary, filmmaker Liza Williams
meets survivors of Sutcliffe’s attacks, as well as relatives of other victims.
She also interviews police officers, pathologists and journalists who covered
this horrific case in an attempt to answer a disturbing question: did bigoted societal
attitudes towards women, particularly within the male-dominated police force,
allow Sutcliffe to continue killing long after he could have been caught?
MARS UNCOVERED:
ANCIENT GOD OF WAR
Monday,
BBC Four, 9pm
Historian
Bettany Hughes examines the relationship between warfare and worship in this
thought-provoking documentary. The notion of Holy War has endured throughout
the centuries, basically all because of the titular warmongering deity. Hughes
follows Mars in his many incarnations across a bloody battlefield of crusades,
massacres and world wars. “Is Mars immortal because war is always going to be
an essential part of our lives?” she asks. She also explains that, for the
Romans, “he was a vital force in their drive to win and exploit an Empire.”
However, they stole him from the Greeks, whose own God of war, Aries, was
“distrusted and reviled.” That saga would be Python-esque if it didn’t have
such catastrophic far-reaching consequences.
THE ROAD TO BREXIT
Tuesday,
BBC Two, 10pm
Matt
Berry reunites with his Toast of London
co-writer Arthur Mathews for this almost mystifyingly unfunny spoof
documentary. Mathews also co-created Father
Ted, so he should know his way around a good whimsical joke. It appears his
powers have deserted him. Berry plays political scholar Michael Squeamish – the
same rich and fruity character he always plays, but with a different name. He
takes us on a journey through the history of Britain’s relationship with Europe
via the familiar comic device of placing archive footage out of context while
adding fake captions and dubbed audio. That approach can sometimes work wonders
– e.g. the work of comedian Rhys Thomas – but Berry and Mathews’ efforts are
fatally hackneyed and thin.
THE BEATLES: MADE ON
MERSEYSIDE
Friday,
BBC Four, 9pm
Do
we really need another documentary about the most scrupulously analysed pop
group of all time? Certainly not on the evidence of this harmless yet
inessential trawl through their well-worn origin story. It does contain a
smattering of unfamiliar nuggets – if the Beatles hadn’t taken off, Paul
would’ve become a window dresser – but for the most part it plays out like an
instructional video for people who’ve inexplicably never heard any of this
stuff before. Nevertheless, it occasionally benefits from the inclusion of an
array of greying talking heads who actually knew the group before they were
famous (the luckless Pete Best among them). It also features contributions from
esteemed music journalist Jon Savage and an inevitable Paul Gambaccini.
LAST WEEK’S TV
MOTHERFATHERSON
Wednesday
20th, BBC Two
Hollywood
legend Richard Gere earned every penny of his paycheque in the latest episode
of this enjoyably overwrought melodrama. He spent half of it wandering around
sunny Mexico City while the main storyline unfolded elsewhere. Sweet gig. The
most interesting aspect of MotherFatherSon
by far is the relationship between Kathryn and her severely brain-damaged son.
Helen McCrory and Billy Howle pour themselves into their respective roles. It’s
such a muddled, overreaching drama, Howards’
Way chairing a Leveson Inquiry comprised of The Godfather, All the President’s
Men and The Wolf of Wall Street,
but I can’t quite tear myself away.
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