New British TV Show Reviews

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (11/04)
The newest season of the 1980s revival has the boys from Newscastle end up in Cuba working for the British government remodeling the ambassador's residence. Of course nothing is easy, particularly as Neville (Kevin Whately) is recruited as a spy by British intelligence (his friends think he's having an affair), Barry (Timothy Spall) is thrown in prison for a traffic accident, and Oz (Jimmy Nail) romances a Cuban ballerina -- much to the consternation of both her brother and the government.

Bosom Pals (11/04)
Stylized animated series about bawdy women who hang around in a bar trash talking men, other women, or themselves.  Dawn French does one of the voices, and the whole thing is very earthy.

Britain's Real Monarch (11/04)
Tony Robinson, thanks to Time Team, has become the go-to guy for British historical documentaries, particularly ones that attempt to uncover some heretofore unearthed truth.  In a fascinating two-piece work starting with an episode of Fact or Fiction, he begins by looking at the life of Richard III to determine whether Shakespeare got it right, or whether it was all a big smear campaign by the Tudors after the fact.  In doing so, Robinson comes across nearly conclusive proof that Richard's brother King Edward was in fact illegitimate (their father was in France at the time of conception and Edward, unlike Richard, looked nothing like him).  Thus, Richard's moves to get rid of his nephews after Edward's death (not wanting an illegitimate line assuming the throne when he himself had an authentic claim) seem better motivated.  When the Tudors took over post-Richard III, it was all based on false legitimacy, according to Robinson.  So who is the real king?  In a follow-up program, Britain's Real Monarch,  Robinson does all the genealogical research following Richard's various heirs and descendants throughout history and eventually locates a very middle class republican now living in Australia!  They even visit his home (he says he doesn't need the throne now, thank you very much).  Meanwhile, what of the Windors, the current inhabitants of Buckingham Palace?  Some parallel Earth security footage from a supermarket at the end shows a familiar looking woman with a German accent doing some light shopping for the weekend...

Carrie's War (11/04)
BBC TV movie based on the Nina Bawden novel about some London children who become war evacuees, sent to a small Welsh village at the start of WWII.  They end up in the strict household of a no-nonsense shopkeeper and his sister, and must abide by his arbitrary and severe rules (like not walking on the center of the stairs carpeting).  But they also meet his other sister, a kindly woman (played by Pauline Quirk) who lives out in the country and doesn't mind children who laugh and play.  It's a coming-of-age movie set at a time when the public was asked to make certain sacrifices for the good of the country in wartime (remember that?), and it's a good character piece.

Demolition Day (11/04)
First we had Scrapheap Challenge (aka "Junkyard Wars") where teams competed to build stuff, now they have to create various items and then attempt to make them survive their opponent's demolition efforts using heavy machinery.  The best part of these shows is the near the end as hydraulic hammers and caterpillar tractors wreak havoc on carefully constructed buildings.

Derren Brown (11/04)
Derren is sort of the Amazing Kreskin of the 21st Century, doing hypnosis, mind-games, and various bits of deception on various members of the public (and we at home).  He obviously has studied human behavior quite a bit, and knows someone pliable to suggestion when he sees them.  The result is an entertaining Channel 4 series full of "how did he do that" moments, and tricks that rely on observation and people's habits.

Director's Commentary (11/04)
It's amazing that in 10 years DVDs have gone from being some futuristic technology my friend Jim used to talk about (before he got rich writing about them), to being so ubiquitous that nearly everyone has heard a director's audio commentary on the DVD soundtrack.  So much so that it's now ripe for parodying and Rob Brydon (Marion and Geoff) is the man to do it.  Actually getting the rights to old series such as Bonanza and Duchess of Duke Street, Brydon plays an old duffer British director who supposedly worked on the shows and now years later has been commissioned to comment upon the action.  At first, you don't realize it's a wind-up but as he goes on about Hoss, Little Joe, and Ben Cartwright, slowly it begins to dawn that he's speaking utter (but hilarious) rubbish.  And the fact it is so close to actual commentaries now being foisted on the unsuspecting public by well-meaning but boring speakers, just makes it all that much funnier.

Garth Marenghi's Dark Place (11/04)
Nobody loves crappy TV (and parodies of crappy TV) more than me, and this Channel Four satire is positively inspired. The conceit is in the 1980s Stephen King wannabe Garth Marenghi wrote, directed, produced and starred in "Dark Place," a thriller series set in a hospital that was so "controversial" that it never aired.  But now Marenghi is back and able to introduce his magnum opus to the world (complete with the original Channel 4 logo -- no touch is missed here).  Eighties TV cliches have never been sent up so perfectly, as well as ultra-low budget incompetence (it's like if Ed Wood had done television) and the bad acting (and sexism) has to be seen to be believed.  Of course, this aired in the UK before the real Stephen King's remake of "Kingdom Hospital" but the parallels are eerie.

Grass (11/04)
Simon Day (The Fast Show) stars in this BBC comedy about a smart aleck Londoner who sees a gangland murder and is put in the witness protection program by the police and relocated to deep in rural England.  But all is not smooth sailing as his constant patter drives his police guards crazy, as well as his inability to keep his cover story straight when talking with the locals.  Meanwhile, a mismatched pair of hitmen are only a few steps behind and determined to shut him up before the trial.  Day is famous for playing annoying characters and it's certainly a challenge to make one front and center in a series and make him sympathetic.

Jam (11/04)
Frequent Lee & Herring collaborators Peter Baynham and Kevin Eldon (World of Pub) co-wrote and star respectively in this clever BBC anarchic sketch comedy series.

The Long Firm (11/04)
You wouldn't think a series about a gay gangster in the 1960s would work but Mark Strong makes the most as a tough mobster who has big ambitions.  He manages to recruit a closeted Lord (Derek Jacobi) as the front man for his criminal enterprises and never fails to take advantage of anyone in his scramble for the top.

The Sack Race (11/04)
Reality game show with hidden cameras has two actors start new jobs at the same time at different companies and vie to see who can get fired first.  They can be obnoxious (but not swear), but it's mostly a matter of watching their clueless bosses see how much abuse they will take from these utter incompetents.

Shameless (11/04)
Channel 4 drama series by Paul Abbott (Clocking Off) about a family of misfits living on a council estate (public housing).  Their dad is completely unreliable, so it's up to the kids to fend for themselves, whether its relationships, impending marriages, or sexual orientation.  There's a real "power to the common people" ethic (a recurring theme in Abbot's work) but the characters are authentic and despite the grim circumstances, completely compelling.