New British TV Show Reviews
April 17, 2008
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The Afternoon Play (4/08)
The
BBC presents a series of one-off TV movies. In "Johnny Shakespeare" an
illiterate young man discovers acting with the help of a teacher (Greta
Scacchi); "Death Becomes Him" about a terminally ill man's family whose
plans come unraveled when an experimental treatment miraculously brings
him back to life; "Come Fly With Me" is set in a wedding registry
where Kate oversees successful relationships except for hers; "Pieces
of a Silver Lining" about a humble priest who is tempted by a lost
treasure left by an ex-con; and "The Real Deal" about a female divorce
lawyer who falls for the soon-to-be-ex husband of her current client.
After You've Gone (4/08)
Nicholas
Lyndhurst sitcom about an absentee dad who suddenly is responsible for
his kids when his ex-wife goes to Africa on a relief mission. But his
authority is undermined by his mother-in-law played by Celia Imrie, and
it's the battle between the two of them that drives the comedy, such as
it is.
Born Equal (4/08)
Colin Firth stars as a banker who one day sees a homeless man and tries
to do the right thing, only to have it ultimately blow up in his face
in this grim BBC TV movie. Robert Carlyle also stars as a homeless advocate recently released from prison.
The Chase (4/08)
Women's drama about the prodigal daughter returning to her family's rural
veterinary practice (the house is called The Chase) and reinserting
herself into the soap opera life she originally ran away from to London.
Codex (4/08)
Tony
Robinson (Time Team) hosts this Channel 4 quiz show shot in the British Museum
(after hours, judging from the lighting) that sends contestants
scurrying around the exhibits looking for clues and answering
questions.
The Comedy Map of Britain (4/08)
Flying
over a huge computer-generated map, we make stops in various towns and
cities and see clips from famous productions and celebrities that
originated there. Essentially a clip show, though interviews with
people like Bill Bailey who discusses his show-biz origins and
influences, is entertaining.
The Complete Guide To Parenting (4/08)
Peter
Davison is a middle class father and university child psychologist who
clearly has much to learn about raising his own son. Davison gets to
do that slow burn he is so good at (I think he's turning into Victor
Meldrew), dealing with a world that won't go quite his way.
Coup! (4/08)
Dramatization
by John Fortune about a British-financed (allegedly by Mark
Thatcher--Margaret's son) African coup that was thwarted before it
could begin. Based on a true story, and done in a slightly
tongue-in-cheek style, the clueless Brits (driven by greed, natch) get
swept up in events (and with dodgy mercenaries) quicker than they can
imagine.
Dracula (4/08)
Marc
Warren (Hustle) wouldn't be my first choice to play the legendary
vampire, but he pulls it off in this BBC adaptation that also features
Sophia Myles (ironically appearing in the vampire drama "Moonlight" in
America now).
The Family Man (4/08)
Trevor
Eve stars as a fertility doctor who starts to play god when he develops
a new technique that crosses ethical boundaries. How far would you go
to have a child? is the question that is dramatized here in this BBC mini-series.
Feel The Force (4/08)
Michelle
Gomez co-stars in this BBC comedy series about the two worst
policewomen in Scotland. Even in a sub-standard show like this (it has
the same feel Canadian sitcoms do: trying very hard to copy their
mainstream cousins but falling far short), Gomez is a comic personality
to reckon with, as she has proven in The Book Group and Green
Wing.
Funland (4/08)
You
might have seen a series called Blackpool ("Viva Blackpool" in the
USA) about various goings-on in the resort town. Funland is as if
David Lynch did a remake (without the singing). Dark, weird and creepy
doesn't begin to describe the characters and situations that revolve
around a nightclub run by a powerful old woman with secrets. A young
bride is drawn into stripping to pay a debt, a young man searches for a
mystery surrounding his late mother, an innkeeper spies on his guests,
and a seedy nightclub manager must deal with his pregnant wife,
music-obsessed son and marriage-obsessed daughter. And who is in the
gorilla suit seen plummeting off the Blackpool tower during the opening
credits of each episode? Prepare yourself for some disturbing
revelations throughout the eleven parts in this really strange but unique
BBC-3 drama.
Hannibal (4/08)
Alexander
Siddig ("Star Trek: Deep Space Nine") has the title role in this
documentary chronicling the life of the legendary general from Carthage
who nearly brought Rome to its knees. Amazing recreations feature a
cast of thousand (digital) extras, elephants, and location filming.
Harry Hill's Shark Infested Custard (4/08)
Junior
edition of Hill's wacky hijinks, involving kids and their grans. The
only thing that justifies this series in my mind is the idea that
hooking people while they're young on Harry's peculiar, yet amusing, brand
of humor, guarantees a lifelong career (one hopes).
The History of Light Entertainment (4/08)
Stephen
Fry narrates this comprehensive documentary series looking at Light
Entertainment, everything from comedians, to impressionists, and disc
jockeys, with interviews, photos, and film going back to vaudeville
days to the modern era.
Home Again (4/08)
When
I was interviewed on Radio Four last year, the presenter argued that
lately American sitcoms were perceived to be superior to British ones.
Perhaps it's because he was thinking of comedies such as this one,
about a young married couple who are forced through circumstances to
stay with the wife's parents. If this were the extent of British
comedy in the 21st Century, I would have to agree. Fortunately, they
aren't. (I also suspect they never see America's more dire comedies
such as "Two and Half Men" and "The King of Queens." Superior, indeed!)
Housewife, 49 (4/08)
Victoria
Wood wrote and stars in this ITV drama about an ordinary woman who
keeps a diary during WWII as part of a government initiative to
document home life. At first she is a minor player in the local
Women's Auxiliary, but eventually finds the inner strength to take
control and help raise money for the war effort as well as stand-up for herself at
home.
Jane Hall (4/08)
Writer Sally
Wainwright (At Home With the Braithwaites) again teams up with
actress Sarah Smart in this ITV comedy/drama series about a middle-England girl who becomes a London
bus driver. She has a posh boyfriend and odd flatmates, and manages to
get into situations (her bus is hijacked by female escaped convicts in
one episode) that only seem to happen on television. Jane is extremely
messed up and can't choose which man she wants, or who she even wants to be.
Jekyll (4/08)
Steven
Moffat (Coupling) wrote this mini-series update of the Jekyll &
Hyde legend featuring a stand-out performance by James Nesbitt (Cold
Feet) as the two-faced psychopath. At first the women in the story
appear to be afterthoughts but as the mystery of Jekyll's origins is
slowly uncovered, some startling revelations are uncovered. Moffat has
already won two Hugo Awards for his writing on Doctor Who.
Kombat Opera (4/08)
Stewart
Lee (Jerry Springer: The Opera) presents quick, digestible half hour
operas, including "The Applicants," a parody of "The Apprentice" with
John Thomson.
The Line of Beauty (4/08)
Andrew
Davies adapts Alan Hollinghurst's novel set in the 1980s about a young
gay man who rises from nothing to working in the highest offices in the
land thanks to the sponsorship of a Conservative family that takes him
in. In the background is a look at the go-go "greed is good" Margaret
Thatcher era, and how it ate up and spit people like him out once it
was done with them.
The Lost World of Friese-Greene (4/08)
Dan
Cruickshank presents a travelogue featuring color movies shot in the
1920s (!) and contrasting it with how the same locations appear today.
He even manages to locate people who appeared (or knew them) in the
original footage. Claude Friese-Greene was a film experimenter who
developed his own color process and then decided the best way to show
it off was to shoot a driving tour of Britain called "The Open Road."
Cruickshank follows in his footsteps in this amazing mix of archival
footage and a look at how Britain has changed over the years.
Madam Cyn's Home Movie (4/08)
Channel
4 broadcasts the visual memoirs of Cynthia Payne, a former madam who
lived in a respectable neighborhood, yet was doing unrespectable things
inside with male clients and bored housewives who worked for her.
Man To Man With Dean Learner (4/08)
Richard Ayoade (The
IT Crowd) revives this character last seen in Garth Marenghi's
Darkplace as a late night chat show host (think a sleazy Hugh Hefner)
in this spoof who humiliates and abuses his guests (each week played by
Matthew Holness), revealing a true sadistic streak in Learner.
New Street Law (4/08)
John
Hannah plays an idealistic defense attorney running a barely viable
practice who usually is up against his old boss (Paul Freeman, "Raiders
of the Lost Ark") in this BBC drama. The personal lives of the lawyers
are fodder for the show, as well as two or three cases a week which are
neatly wrapped by the end of each episode. The visual style is like
watching a FOX sportscast: lots of whooshes and fast camera pans
between each scene.
Ocean Odyssey (4/08)
BBC
documentary series that chronicles the entire life cycle of a
(fictitious) 80-year-old whale. Using computer graphics, this "Forrest
Gump" of whales encounters major oceanic events throughout its life,
with background information cleverly worked into all the re-creations.
Prehistoric Park (4/08)
What
if Jurassic Park were real? And filled with creatures scooped up from
other times by unspecified time technology? That's the premise in this
"documentary" series that chronicles the capturing of extremely exotic
(and now extinct) creatures that are the best the computer graphics
(and big props) can buy. No doubt, dinosaur-mad kids are asking even
now if they can somehow visit the park.
The Romantics (4/08)
Peter Ackroyd introduces the audience to the Romantic era and the
people who embodied it by using fancy BBC graphics and big-name actors
like David Tennant reading the poetry of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Rough Diamond (4/08)
Irish-based
family drama about a family of horse trainers including Aidan, a
horse-whisper who meets the son he never knew he had (who also has the
touch) and their rivalry with the rich stable up the road. Something
for everyone if you like this stuff: hunky guys, romance, and horses,
horses horses!
Saxondale (4/08)
Steve
Coogan as former roadie car enthusiast who knows his best days are
behind him as he settles down with a family and works as an
exterminator. Like most of Coogan's BBC productions, done in a severe
deadpan style, with no laughtrack.
School's Out (4/08)
Quiz show featuring C-list celebrities answering questions about
geography, history, and math that would be familiar to most school
children. Tested on their French, they must hold a conversation
with an actual French speaker who then rates their proficiency.
Shiny Shiny Bright New Hole In My Heart (4/08)
TV
movie about a woman with a shopping compulsion who is never more than a
few credit cards away from buying more than she possibly needs and
simply storing it away unused. Though an obvious "message" movie it
operates at a more realistic level than most similarly-themed
melodramatic Lifetime movies.
Sorted (4/08)
BBC
drama series about a close-knit group of postmen and the intersecting
dramas of their lives. There's infidelity, male bonding, and love, in
this well-written and acted series.
The Street (4/08)
A
series of one-off dramas all based on the same street which focuses on
a different house each week where we see actors like Jim Broadbent,
Jane Horrocks and Timothy Spall starring one week, and then making
cameo appearances in other episodes to lend verisimilitude to the whole
endeavor. Jimmy McGovern (The Lakes) wrote most of the episodes.
Sugar Rush (4/08)
Channel
4 series about a young lesbian coming out and her infatuation with
Sugar, a "bad girl" in her school. Sugar isn't interested, but Kim,
our heroine, continues to maneuver to be near her as much as possible,
while Kim's own potty parents try to experiment sexually themselves.
Shot in a visual style that includes a lot of fast zooms and hand-held
camerawork.
Supernova (4/08)
Rob
Brydon stars in this Australian-produced sitcom with some of the best
production values (and special effects) ever seen on a comedy. He
plays a fish-out-of-water Welsh astronomer who ends up at an observatory
in the middle of the Outback and gets into all sorts of wacky
adventures with his oddball co-workers.
That Mitchell and Webb Look (4/08)
The stars of Peep Show, David Mitchell and Robert Webb, get their own
BBC sketch comedy series, featuring running gags as well as one-off pieces,
and some meta-comedy as they play themselves actually discussing the
sketch they've just performed. I've loved these guys since their
appearance in Daydream Believers. That's Numberwang!
This Life +10 (4/08)
Reunion
movie of the cult BBC-2 series about young lawyers living together and
the tensions between them, particularly as the years have gone by with
them achieving differing levels of success. Jack Davenport
(Coupling) is the linchpin, now living in a grand mansion with a
trophy wife, but can he sustain it? Needless to say, there are several
reversals before it's all finished.
Time Trumpet (4/08)
Armando
Iannucci's newest satire, a "historical" look back to the present day
from the future including talking heads of actual comedians of today,
but aged.
Torchwood (4/08)
Captain
Jack (John Barrowman) spins off from Doctor Who and lands in Cardiff
(where both series are shot) with a group of specialists who
investigate otherworldly events that fall through a "rift" in their
underground HQ. The first season was a real mixed bag, with Jack
apparently having left his sense of humor in the TARDIS, and a few
episodes that wouldn't have passed muster even in latter seasons of
"The X-Files." In between the two seasons, Jack got back aboard the
TARDIS (during the John Simms-as-the-Master trilogy) and regained his
love of life and ability to smile and the second season was much
better, with a nice selection of episodes that were, in turn, scary,
funny, and sad. It finally found its legs, and is a big hit on BBC
America as well.
The Trial of Tony Blair (4/08)
Robert
Lindsay plays the former PM in this "what if" set in 2010 and imagines
what will happen when the world catches up with Blair in this TV Movie.
TV Heaven Telly Hell (4/08)
Sean Lock hosts this Channel 4 show with celebrity guests demonstrates
their television likes...and dislikes. Essentially it's a clip
show, but an amusing recreation of the most notorious scenes at the end
are always amusing.
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Written and maintained by Ryan K. Johnson (rkj@eskimo.com).
April 17, 2008