This article was originally published in The Courier on 15th June 2019.
NEXT WEEK’S TV
CATCH-22
Thursday,
Channel 4, 9pm
Joseph
Heller’s classic satire of military bureaucracy, injustice and the madness of
war was adapted for the screen with mixed results in 1970. This six-episode
miniseries is clearly intended as a more faithful and possibly definitive
adaptation. Set during World War Two, it follows a sharp young US Army Air
Force bombardier as he struggles to rebel against a system that’s stacked
against him. When he tries to get out of flying his remaining missions – suicide
missions, essentially - he discovers a horrifying logical loophole: Catch-22.
Boasting a large ensemble cast including Hugh Laurie and George Clooney (who
also co-produces and directs), it succeeds in capturing the acerbic, absurdist,
darkly comic tone of Heller’s antiauthoritarian masterpiece. Impressive.
THE FAMILY BRAIN GAMES
Monday
to Thursday, BBC Two, 8pm
Dara
O’Briain plays host to “eight of Britain’s cleverest families” as they cross
their wits in “the ultimate test of cross-generational brain power.” In a
laboratory overseen by academic experts, they take part in various
problem-solving games designed to test different facets of their intelligence.
The basic idea is that, by performing as a team, these competitive high
achievers will provide an interesting study of family dynamics. And to an
extent, they do. What’s more, you can play along at home. While I
wholeheartedly welcome unabashed celebrations of intelligence, there’s no
getting around the fact that The Family
Brain Games is the most middle class TV gameshow since the Robert
Robertson-fronted iteration of Ask the
Family.
THE RESTAURANT THAT
MAKES MISTAKES
Wednesday,
Channel 4, 9pm
This
commendable series revolves around an experimental restaurant staffed by
volunteers living with some form of early onset dementia. Like the recent BBC
series Our Dementia Choir with Vicky
McClure, it aims to raise awareness of this condition while illustrating
that it doesn’t preclude people from achieving new goals. In episode two, they
welcome an influx of food critics who politely yet firmly refuse to give the
restaurant special treatment. That would be patronising and counterproductive.
For the participants, the project seems to renew their self-confidence. Waiter
Peter, a former business owner, sums up the frank yet poignant tone: “Dementia
takes away many things… our memories and ability to do things. But what it
doesn’t take away is feeling.”
STILL GAME
Friday,
BBC One, 9pm
If
you missed the final series when it premiered earlier this year on the BBC
Scotland channel, now’s your chance to say farewell to Jack and Victor. Even
the most devout Still Game fan would
admit that it’s long since passed its prime, but this valedictory run marks a
slight return to form. It’s certainly nowhere near as bad as the other
post-return outings: it actually contains some decent jokes and glimmers of the
warmth which made us love it in the first place. Make no mistake, Still Game in its heyday was a modern
sitcom classic. Admittedly, this opening episode is average at best, but at
least it isn’t embarrassing. The series improves as it goes on. RIP.
LAST WEEK’S TV
KILLING EVE
Saturday
8th, BBC One
Series
two of this multi-award-winning black comedy thriller picked up directly from
the violent climax of series one. Sympathetic MI5 agent Eve (Sandra Oh) was
suffering from PTSD after stabbing – fatally, she assumed – psychopathic
assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer). The oddly likeable villain was alive and
fairly well, of course: she’s an unstoppable force of dark nature. Phoebe
Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) has stepped
down as head writer to focus on other projects, but new boss Emerald Fennell (hitherto
best known for playing Nurse Patsy in Call
the Midwife) slipped into her shoes with ease. Killing Eve is still a fast, funny parody of spy thriller tropes
which also functions as an actual captivating spy thriller. It has its cake and
eats it on the fly. Also, Comer is utterly outstanding
YEAR OF THE RABBIT
Monday
10th, Channel 4
The
ubiquitous Matt Berry stars in this dreary sitcom about a tough, maverick
Victorian cop patrolling the mean streets of London’s East End. It’s a
charmless affair in which unfunny swearing and strained silliness offer no
substitute for wit. The one-note Berry, who can’t even affect a passable
cockney accent, is acted off the screen by a supporting cast which includes
Paul Kaye and Alun Armstrong.
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