This article was originally published in The Courier on 13th July 2019.
NEXT WEEK’S TV
STARGAZING: MOON LANDING
SPECIAL
Monday,
BBC Two, 9pm
The
50th anniversary celebrations of the Apollo 11 moon landing – face facts,
conspiracy theorists, it happened – continue with this 90-minute excavation
hosted by those friendly faces of popular TV science, Professor Brian Cox and
Dara O’Briain. They travel to Cape Canaveral to mark that, to say the least,
historic achievement while shedding light on the future of human space travel.
However, it’s largely devoted to examining the fascinating step-by-step details
of launching Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins into space. It’s packed with
tremendous nuggets of trivia: did you know that astronauts, for luck, urinate
on the back wheel of the bus that ferries them to the Launchpad? Crude, maybe,
but humbling in a way. One giant wee etc.
NADIYA’S TIME TO EAT
Monday,
BBC Two, 8pm
In
which top TV cook Nadiya Hussain breathlessly proclaims “These days, we all
seem to be rushed off our feet!” While I will never be in any danger of being
mistaken for a stunningly perceptive social historian, nor indeed a normal
person with an actual life, I daresay comfortably middle-class people
aren’t more harried now than they’ve ever been. Keeping up with all these
aspirational lifestyle guides can’t be easy, though. That is their exhausting
curse. Anyway, this harmless new series finds the likeable Bake Off winner showing us how to rustle up “cheeky” stress-free
meals for the working mum on the move. She begins with some of her favourite
time-saving recipes, including pancakes, noodles and omelettes.
GAMEFACE
Wednesday,
Channel 4, 10pm
The
excellent Roisin Conaty will be familiar to viewers who made it through Ricky Gervais’ deeply boring, inane and inept After
Life. Thankfully, this self-penned starring vehicle shows off her talents to better
advantage. It’s a sitcom in which she plays a jobbing actor going through
therapy. Don’t let that synopsis put you off, it’s not self-indulgent at all.
Conaty is funny, smart and likeable. In the first episode of this second
series, she goes for a driving test and purposefully fails so she can see her slightly
weird yet handsome instructor again. If you like good things, you'll probably like this unpretentiously insightful series.
A NIGHT IN WITH BROS
Friday,
BBC Four, 10pm
When
Matt and Luke Goss, formerly best known for their 18 months of pop idol fame in
the late ‘80s, agreed to participate in a ‘comeback’ documentary last year,
they couldn’t have anticipated the overwhelming response. That’s because Matt
and Luke are a pair of endearing bozos whose Spinal Tap-esque pronouncements
are hilarious in ways they will never truly understand. Good luck to them, I
say, they mean no harm. They’ve had the last laugh? During this no doubt immaculately
curated evening they’ll be capitalising on their unlikely second wind with a
roster of newly filmed backstage clips and archive snippets from the artists
who inspired them, plus, inevitably, a repeat of that extraordinary documentary. You’d have to possess a heart of sludge to begrudge them
this ‘ironic’ resurgence.
LAST WEEK’S TV
IMAGINE… EDNA O’BRIEN:
FEARFUL AND FEARLESS
Sunday
7th, BBC One
One
of the greatest and most influential writers of her generation, O’Brien caused
cassock-clutching scandal in her native Ireland when, in the ‘60s, she dared to
publish books declaring that women had sexual thoughts and impulses. Now aged 89,
this brave, bold, brilliant woman led a mercifully unobtrusive Alan Yentob
through a fascinating saga during which she survived shameful prejudice. A hero
for the ages.
CLASSIC ALBUMS… THE
CRICKETS: THE ‘CHIRPING’ CRICKETS
Friday
12th, BBC Two
Here’s
a concept for Richard Curtis to chew on: imagine a world in which Buddy Holly’s
first album didn’t exist. There would be no Beatles, no Rolling Stones, no,
heaven forbid, Ed Sheeran. This pleasant documentary traced the origins and
growth of a band who basically defined the classic guitar/bass/drums template.
Contributors included original Cricket Jerry Allison and awestruck acolyte
Cliff Richard.
