TV COLUMN: Years and Years + The Virtues + Mum

This article was originally published in The Courier on 11th May 2019.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/category/lifestyle/entertainment/tv-film/paul-whitelaw-reviews/

NEXT WEEK’S TV

YEARS AND YEARS

Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm

TV titan Russell T. Davies is the brains behind this ambitious new drama following an extended Manchester family over the space of 15 years. It begins in the present day before scrolling forward to 2024. Trump has won a second term, the US and China are at loggerheads, Britain has finally left the EU and a growing influx of Ukrainian refugees are in desperate need of housing. Meanwhile, a ‘straight-talking’ politician (Emma Thompson) continues her terrifying rise to the top. RTD’s pessimistic message is encapsulated by Russell Tovey’s character: “The human race is getting more stupid right in front of our eyes.” That stupidity, he warns, is leading us towards catastrophe. Urgent and unsettling, this is not to be missed.

THE VIRTUES

Wednesday, Channel 4, 9pm

Fresh from having his throat slit in Line of Duty, Stephen Graham returns to our screens in the company of writer/director Shane Meadows, who gave him his big break in This is England. It’s a difficult show to preview as its tense, queasy intrigue derives from a gradual drip-feed of information about Graham’s character, Joseph. All I’ll say is this: it begins with Joseph saying goodbye to his son, who’s about to begin life anew in Australia with his mum and stepdad. Joseph then self-destructs before deciding to confront his tragic past. In typical Meadows style it’s a humane, unflinching piece of social-realism, and Graham’s portrayal of a broken man is incredible.

MUM

Wednesday, BBC Two, 10pm

The end, alas, is nigh for this rightfully beloved comedy drama. The third and final series takes the bold step of leaving Cathy’s suburban house for the first time. The new setting is a swanky holiday home rented by her brother and his tragically snobbish partner. Unlike before, this last hurrah takes place over the space of a week. Apart from that, it’s quietly desperate business as usual as lovely, patience of a saint Cathy (Lesley Manville) and the world’s nicest man, Michael (Peter Mullen), tentatively begin their romantic relationship. Unfortunately, Cathy can’t admit this to her son, who regards Michael as an unfit replacement for his late father. As the theme song says, we’ll miss it when it’s gone.

DAVID HAREWOOD: PSYCHOSIS AND ME

Thursday, BBC Two, 9pm

30 years ago, actor David Harewood had a mental breakdown and ended up being sectioned. He now has an extracurricular career as a mental health spokesperson. In this candid documentary, he reflects upon that period of his life in an attempt to work out what happened. By talking openly about his ordeal, during which he experienced grandiose delusions, auditory hallucinations and blackouts, Harewood succeeds in challenging the stigma and lack of understanding which still surrounds this subject. He meets young people dealing with psychosis and talks to an expert who informs him that the condition doesn’t suddenly emerge from nowhere, it springs from a combination of stress, anxiety, trauma and vulnerability. It’s a fascinating and valuable document.

TV Review: TROY: FALL OF A CITY + HOLD THE SUNSET + MUM

This article was originally published in The Courier on 24th February 2018.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/category/lifestyle/entertainment/tv-film/

TROY: FALL OF A CITY: Saturday, BBC One

HOLD THE SUNSET: Sunday, BBC One

MUM: Tuesday, BBC Two

For the love of Zeus, has the BBC lost its mind? It’s ploughed a heaving galleon of cash into the supposed Saturday night blockbuster TROY: FALL OF A CITY, a ham-fisted endurance test steered by one-dimensional characters and an incompetent grasp of narrative.

The Iliad is one of the greatest stories ever told, an epic poem packed with drama, action and romance, but you won’t find any of that in this dreary retelling by David ‘The Night Manager’ Farr. His turgid script sucks every droplet of juice from the saga.

It’s the polar opposite of Britannia, Sky’s current drama about the Roman conquest of Britain, which tackles ancient history with an entertaining swirl of energy and wit. Farr’s po-faced dud moves at a snail’s pace. It’s a bellicose bore, overwrought and undercooked.

The love affair between Paris and Helen has all the erotically-charged zeal of a wet bus. The leads have no chemistry. Paris wanders around like a bewildered Dave Lee Travis, glowering through his beard by torchlight. An emu turned up at one point, before an orgy scene, and looked suitably ashamed. Forgive him, please, as prominent roles for emus are thin on the ground. He has to eat.

I actually became angry while watching this failed attempt to emulate the success of Game Of Thrones. All that money wasted on a badly written drama of interminable proportions. Revolutions have been founded on less.

Still, never mind. Here’s another gentle sitcom set in affluent middle-class suburbia.

HOLD THE SUNSET is chiefly notable for being the first sitcom John Cleese has starred in since Fawlty Towers ended in 1979.

His character, a genial retiree with a twinkly line in dry sarcasm, couldn’t be further removed from Basil, so he needn’t worry about comparisons. It does follow his almost mathematical approach to farce in that it starts slowly and gradually escalates, but the tone is wry rather than manic. It is, most assuredly, not trying to be a grey pound Fawlty Towers.

Python associate Charles McKeown has devised a fairly amusing set of scripts about an older couple – Cleese co-stars with Alison Steadman – dealing with dysfunctional middle-aged children. Jason Watkins adds a tragicomic note of cheerful anxiety as a man going through a mid-life crisis. The stellar cast also includes Rosie Cavaliero and Joanna Scanlan.

You can’t argue with that talent, but you can take issue with the fact that Hold The Sunset is decidedly average. It’s neither bad nor great. It just meanders in the middle-ground, and suffers in comparison to MUM, another sitcom that unfolds in real time within one suburban setting.

Deeper and funnier than Hold The Sunset, Mum proves that it’s possible to create a non-bland comedy in which almost every character is a nice person. Even the titular mum’s snooty sister-in-law elicits sympathy, as she’s clearly so unhappy.

The brilliant Lesley Manville plays the recently widowed Cathy, who patiently endures an inadvertent assault of condescension from her amiably oblivious adult son and his sweet but dim girlfriend. Peter Mullan, his kindly face crinkled with pathos, plays Cathy’s old friend and would-be romantic partner. Manville and Mullan can say so much without words. That’s what Mum is about: a polite failure to communicate deep-seated feelings.

It’s a lovable little gem full of subtle character beats. Spending time with these people is a delight. If you haven’t already done so, I urge you to make its acquaintance.