Strictly is nothing if not literal
Strictly (Friday, Saturday, BBC1) is back and then some. Bravissimo! Strictly is a wondrous and praiseworthy entity and this season’s crop bodes well, especially the enthusiasm of Jeremy Vine, the steely-eyed ambition of Peter Andre and the “I don’t want to be here” fragility of The Wanted boy Jay McGuiness (who looks as if he would not be surprised if his dance partner turned around and said to him, “Well done. Now I will kill you”).
There was plenty of gloss and polish on this weekend’s double outing. And the costume department seems to have had its budget increased by a gazillion times this season. The debut outfits featured the sort of spangle and brevity usually saved for the end of the series.
However over 11 years and 13 series, surely we are being driven slowly insane by the increasing reliance on I-Am-Talking-Slowly-Let-Me-Spell-It-Out themes. Weather girl? Give her an umbrella, mac and a map of the British isles! Vaguely political journalist? He must have a swingometer even if a swingometer hasn’t been used in the election coverage for two decades! Irish? He will dance to When Irish Eyes Are Smiling. When runner Iwan Thomas had to spend 50% of his “dance” jogging around an actual running track to Keep On Running, I had to be restrained from violence. Have we reached peak literal? With Ainsley Harriott “cookin’ up” some “spicy moves” to Don’t Touch My Tomatoes next week, I doubt it.
X Factor is warming up – about time too
It was like a budget version of a gladiatorial contest at the Coliseum on The X Factor (Sunday, ITV1). The judges were in a hastily erected gazebo. The gladiators were wearing leather jackets, camel coats and green hair extensions (or possibly that was just over-processed blonde hair). There were many torches and much anxiety-ridden crooning.
As usual, I was more interested in what we don’t see. These contestants have undergone extensive coaching (and styling) to get to this stage. They don’t just rock up and meet that accompanist for the first time. A lot of the judges’ evaluation seemed to reflect behind-the-scenes shenanigans we weren’t privy to.
And then came The Man in the Pencil Skirt for an emotion overdose and Bonkers Angel Wings Man with a noise only dogs could hear. (“Sorry, I didn’t succeed in getting my clothes out.”) Both went through, along with the usual selection of oddballs and the truly talented. I do like all the ones sitting on Death Row watching the live feed, though, faces of Shakespearean tragedy and schadenfreude beneath woolly beanies. Now all the “winners” have to do is eat six chairs in next week’s exciting Six Chair Challenge. Piece of cake (or chair).
Shane Meadows is a genius (but we knew this)
“I’ve lied about something really big …” Vicky McClure (Lol) was astonishing in this week’s This is England ’90 (Sunday, Channel 4). Likewise Joe Gilgun (Woody); “Without forgiveness we wouldn’t even be here having this chat …”
This was the most brilliantly electric dysfunctional dinner ever where everything they have been building up to exploded and left everyone – audience included – destroyed. Writer/director Shane Meadows has really earned our trust with these characters and all that investment paid off tonight in an unforgettable way. The tone and scope of this series is something else. It manages to deliver comedy, pathos, tragedy, farce, slapstick and devastating poignancy, all wrapped up in the most real-feeling depiction of life in 1990. In a class of its own.
