Bodyguard – ****

David Budd doesn’t suit ‘Dave.’ Dave sounds like your middle aged mate down the pub, asking whose round it is. David sounds more fitting to the role of a specialist protection officer in the Metropolitan Police.

And so we are introduced to our first (and main) character of Jed ‘Line of Duty’ Mercurio’s new political thriller, Bodyguard. An hour of television filled with tension, emotion, and best of all, character.

If you had watched the first 20 minutes alone, which saw Budd foil a suicide bomber on a moving train which carried his children, you’d think Bodyguard would be all action and thrill.

But the train is almost irrelevant to the heart of this drama: the conflict between the morals and beliefs of Budd,  a former veteran of Afghanistan, who carries all the mental scarring of his time in the field, and the politician he is protecting, the home secretary Julia Montague – played impeccably by the snidey Keeley Hawes, a proper Neocon war monger who believes the west can do no wrong.

Mercurio expertly plays the line between Budd’s personal beliefs, and his professional actions, and fully establishes and explores his character in the time after the train incident. We see Budd as a family man, protective of his children, and trying to repair his relationship with his separated wife. I really felt for him when she said she had moved on to another man, which after one episode, is impressive. We also see him struggling with his memories of war, and the anger at those who put him in that position, constantly rewinding a tape of Montague expressing no regret for the conflict which scarred him so badly, and attending a ‘Veterans for Peace’ meeting. And finally as the uber professional, ultra protective bodyguard of his politician, checking every corner of the Home Secretary’s house. How these different sides to his character mesh and affect his judgement is what creates the intrigue and makes me want to watch more, with Mercurio suggesting at the end that Montague may be in danger.

The personal relationship between Budd and Montague was really well explored. Montague can snap between endearing and a cow, as she inquires kindly about Budd’s family, and then abruptly tells him she’s ‘not asking him to vote for her.’ The message is clear: do your job and don’t ask questions. Both Madden and Hawes put in great performances, and was it just me who detected some sexual undertones between them.

Of the few side characters (the action is very much on the main two), Chanelle, Montague’s PA who is fired after spilling coffee over her boss before a Marr interview (silly Chanelle) intrigues me. An unexplained rendezvous with a random man, and a willingness to sell dirt on her former boss to the papers, suggests there is more to come with this one. Love the actress as well.

A tense political thriller with good solid character building from the pen of the creator of Line of Duty. Bodyguard got off to a great start, and it’s great that we don’t have to wait long for the second episode. Just don’t call him Dave again. Thanks Jed.

Cunk On Britain – ****

In these dark, confusing days of Brexit and Trump, who as a nation do we have left to turn to? Who will fill the void of leadership and lead us to our country’s golden era (sic)?

Philomena Cunk, of course – who else? A name that shouldn’t be said unless fully sober, she’s back for a 5 part series exploring the history of Britain, and working out what’s what. And who’s who. How she’s been missed.

With two specials already to her name (the Shakespeare one is absolute genius), we’re pretty familiar with how it works. Played to perfection by Diane Morgan, the highlight of the episode is, of course, the multitude of interviews with baffled experts (although some of them seem to have caught on to the act).

Two of these interviews gave me the biggest laughs. Firstly, asking whether King Arthur came a lot. Don’t you just love innuendo. And the second, comparing the Domesday book to “The Runaway” by Martina Cole. The latter obviously being more historically significant. Love it.

The writers perfectly pull apart the fallacies of British history. Saint George is built up until the bombshell hits that he never set foot in Britain. Sadly. And did you know Harold won the Battle of Hastings by catching an arrow in his eye. Which is actually a more skillful ending.

The wordplay keeps the episode ticking along nicely. Names are swapped around. Walliam Willis led the Scots. The Baywatch tapestry tells us what happened in 1066.

The only criticism I would have is that after a while some sections of just Morgan talking to camera can go on a bit. And the jokes can get quite repetitive in their style. 

It’s not a show of humongous laughs, or any deep, special meaning (or partnership.) But for a bit of light jibing at British history and a couple of puns, it’s perfectly acceptable.

Isn’t that, after all, what us Brits do best.

Hold The Sunset – *

When Hold The Sunset was announced, John Cleese commented that they were some of the best scripts he’d read in years. After watching episode 1, I have to wonder which scripts he’d been reading. Fawlty Towers this is not. Hold The Sunset is bad. Like, really bad.

BBC1, Sunday, 7:30pm. An impressive cast: Cleese, Alison Steadman (both comedy royalty), Jason Watkins and Anne Reid. It was all shaping up to be a new gem in the BBC’s output. But for all the cast’s efforts, they couldn’t prop up a script which was light (very light) on laughs and felt incredibly dated. Of course, that could have been the vibe they were going for, but in the modern comedy landscape, it just doesn’t cut it.

The plot, simple: Phil (Cleese) and Edith (Steadman) have agreed to move away and get married, until Roger (Watkins), Edith’s son, turns up and announces he’s left his wife and is coming home. Cue endless scenes of Roger acting like a child, whilst the assorted cast groan and roll their eyes.

I’m trying to think of things I liked about it. Even the way it was filmed annoyed me, a weird haze seemed to be draped over the set. I suppose there were some semi-decent one-liners, one about a dog being “regular,” and Roger commenting he’d decided to leave his wife “about 19 years ago.” You get the idea.

But apart from that, the half-hour trundled along without much to smile about. John Cleese was mumbling so much he seemed bored, I didn’t get the dynamic between Phil and Edith, and we were thrown so suddenly into Roger returning home and the whole situation, it was very hard to care, or even understand why we should be interested.

Probably the nadir of the episode was the utterly embarrassing set piece around Roger getting stuck in a window. It was like something out of a bad Carry On Film.

I won’t ever know what happens to Roger, Phil & Edith because I won’t be watching any more of Hold The Sunset. It seems the writer has forgotten what should come first with a comedy: making it funny. A real shame.

Collateral – ****

A pizza delivery man has been shot outside some posh apartments in London. As is pointed out, we don’t know if he was the intended target. Pizza delivery drivers are randomly assigned. Or so we think.

And so we are drawn into Collateral, a new thriller on BBC2 from David Hare. With a great cast boasting Hollywood star Carey Mulligan as lead character DI Kip Glaspie, and roles for John Simm, Billie Piper and the always excellent Nicola Walker, we’re not short on acting quality.

And after one episode, it seems we’re not short of a good drama either. Yes, there are things I like and don’t like, but I came away intrigued by the case, and wanting to watch more.

Firstly, the directing of this is sublime. SJ Clarkson has done a wonderful job in showing off the beautiful interiors of these houses, as well as London in all its highs and lows.

Another aspect I enjoyed is how the lead characters are all drawn into the plot in an organic, non forced way. Gay vicar Jane’s (Walker) girlfriend was at the scene of the crime, high on drugs, the only witness, and here illegally. Subplot 1.  David Mars (Simm) is the local MP and signed off the girlfriend’s papers. A big no-no. His ex-wife Karen (Piper) ordered the original pizza which caused all the fuss. Piper is particularly great here, playing Karen as outlandish and annoying as possible, smoking a cigarette with attitude.  In between this all, Glaspie (Mulligan) is trying to crack the case.

I really warmed to Glaspie. I love Carey Mulligan and she’s great in this. For all the cliches about no-nonsense women, she really is one.  Forceful, assertive, but also a human side that is put to good use. I also didn’t warm to her sidekick, whose unnecessary abrupt tone became more unlikeable and annoying as it went on.

Collateral certainly embraces the political side of the murder. The victim is a Syrian asylum seeker with family living in a garage. “Is this what we’ve come to?” Glaspie comments. For me, however, some of the political themes seemed very shoehorned in and broke up the serious nature of the drama. The fake TV politics show was laughably badly done, the food bank was dishing out extra nasty looking gruel, and the references to the refugees were awkward. It seemed to be trying too hard to be a state of the nation piece.

But these are small faults, and Hare has done a good job of setting up the major strands of the plot, introducing the characters and adding intrigue. What does the original woman from the pizza parlour have to do with it? What was that club at the end? And the murderess, who we saw is a Royal Artillery marksman, how does she enter the fray?

All this to look forward to in the next 3 episodes. A promising start. 

I wonder if that pizza’s still warm.

 

Inside No 9 – Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room

I hadn’t heard of the comedy duo ‘Cheese and Crackers’ before 10pm, Tuesday 9th January 2018. But after half an hour of Inside No 9, I’m mourning the death of one half, Len, like he’s one of my heroes gone after a legendary career, not a dated comedian with one TV series and a failed attempt to get on Blankety Blank.

Such was the power of “Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room,” a tour de force of emotion and nostalgia, as Tommy – now Thomas – the other half of the comedy duo, reminisces about the past with his old chum. This being No 9, we’re led to believe that they are reuniting for one last performance and that Len is physically there – but not until the end do we realise it is the ultimate last performance. A funeral.

The pathos builds throughout the episode as we discover more about the characters and their traits. Len is over-enthusiastic, always up for a laugh, constantly making jokes and mucking around. Great to watch on stage. A pain to work with. Tommy can’t stand the way Len takes credit for his jokes. We can’t help like him for it.

Tommy has moved from the 80s, but underneath his exterior of success and wealth – “over a hundred people working beneath him,” “That must hurt,” – is a deep care for Lennie that he is trying to cover over – but can’t. His annoyance over Len walking off stage in a past gig because of his alcoholism is understandable and makes us question his commitment. And then the bombshell that Lennie is homeless makes us love him again. Proper characters, proper emotions.

The performances from Shearsmith and Pemberton were exceptional as always. I was won over by the way Pemberton portrayed Len’s eagerness and boyish innocence about their chance in the modern world – not realising things have moved on from the 80s. The recreated sketches were awful. The props and gags dated. But poignantly and touching at the same time.

And to cap it all off, a musical number at the end reminiscent of Morecambe and Wise, celebrating all that is great about comedy. The writers can certainly relate to that.

Funny and heart-rending. An Inside No 9 classic. Encore. 

2017: My TV Highlights

As we move into 2018, I thought I’d look back at some of my favourite shows this year (I’ve probably forgotten some).

Entertainment:

Strictly Come Dancing – the best show on the box and one that I look forward to all year. The magic of entering the Strictly universe every Saturday night is infectious. I’m looking forward to the next series already.

The Apprentice – really enjoyed this series, some great personalities such as Elizabeth kept it entertaining.

Drama:

Line of Duty – I’m not normally a drama fan and had never watched this before, but with the move to BBC1, I, along with the rest of the nation it seems, was hooked on who was “Balaclava Man.” Proper edge of your seat stuff, with special mention to Thandie Newton who was amazing as DCI Roz Huntley. I can’t wait for the next series in 2019.

The Handmaid’s Tale – a haunting adaptation of the book, and so relevant in the world today. Really impactful and emotional.

Against The Law – amazing performance from Daniel Mays, the sections of interviews with gay men who were arrested were incredibly powerful.

Broken

Comedy:

Catastrophe – love the dynamic between Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan.

Motherland – a new addition this year and I hope it returns, was excellent.

Hospital People – most people hated this, but I loved it, some side-splitting stuff from Tom Binns.

Murder in Successville – when I say the lighting is my favourite thing about this show, I must make clear I find it funny as well.

League of Gentlemen – a triumphant return for this surreal comedy, was so good to go back to the world of Royston Vasey.

Tracey Breaks the News – I love anything that Tracey does, but she’s really found her stride with this satire.

Have I Got News For You – my go to panel show, not as good as it used to be and has quite a few bad editions, but when it’s on form, it’s the funniest thing on TV.

Bucket – a charming 4 part comedy tucked away on BBC4 starring Frog Stone and Miriam Margolyes. The campaign for Series 2 continues.

 

So there we have it, 2017. Let’s hope for more great TV in 2018!

Two Doors Down Christmas Special

Two Doors Down has been running for two series now, but this Christmas special, ahead of the third series starting February 2018, was the first episode of the Glaswegian comedy I’ve ever watched. And what a treat it was.

The plot – French (who else?) air traffic controllers have gone on strike, meaning Cathy and Colin can’t fly to Grenoble – or “Chernobyl,” as Cathy keeps repeating – for their Christmas, whilst Sophie can’t get back from Disneyland to be with Christine and baby Maddison for theirs. Alongside Ian and new boyfriend Gordon who have changed plans, they all end up at Eric and Beth’s for their Christmas dinner.

It’s a joy to see the comedy originate so naturally and organically from the interactions of the characters in such a claustrophobic setting: Cathy’s drunken state, kissing Gordon on the lips in front of her husband and generally pissed off at everything; Beth’s generosity, dividing up a Turkey that “serves four;” Gordon’s over exuberance and social awkwardness, “I’m not saying that you stink,” whilst giving a present of perfume; and Colin’s inquisitiveness, asking whether they met “online or in a park.” These wonderfully awkward moments are hilarious and excruciating to watch at the same time, and they’re packed into the episode. The fact that they don’t feel forced, but reflect the embarrassing moments we’ve all experienced, make them even better.

But the biggest laughs for me come from the joy that is Christine, who promises to “not disturb,” whilst picking up on every little detail with a wry aside, constantly repeating, “You’re not doing a proper Turkey?” and “is she doing a pig in a blanket?” to her hosts. Her over emotional, alcohol-infused state produces some great lines, mourning the fact Sophie won’t be there as she’d got her “two pairs of tights and a big dairy milk.” I love the way she holds court from her sofa, passing comment on everything and not afraid to offend. Two standout moments for me: the scene where she correctly predicts what everyone is getting as they open their presents, and the other when she inadvertently outs Gordon to his dad on the phone.  

The underlying competitive nature between the neighbours and their lack of any social normality made this Christmas special extremely funny and entertaining. I’ll certainly be back for Series 3.