Ian Hislop is the voice of a nation
How fabulous to have an episode of Have I Got News For You, filmed as election news was still coming in (Friday, BBC1). With all the demob feeling of “EastEnders go to Marbella”, this had a real frisson of the improvised. There was a certain catharsis to be had hearing Ian Hislop officially voicing what everyone had been talking about all day: “Everyone said it was unpredictable. Because they’d got it wrong.” And the live quality really added something: “Can I just tell you something? It is the end of Farage.” “Can we stop for a minute? Nick Clegg has resigned.” Line of the night went to Romesh Ranganathan, on the failure of Mori and the like: “Farage has been banging on about not trusting the Poles for ages …” And is there any reason why Jo Brand shouldn’t be the permanent host?
The Australians know more about historical drama than we do
It’s not easy to make an unmissable drama out of gonorrhea, dysentery and severe head wounds. But Anzac Girls (Friday, Channel 4) has done it. This really is a superb piece of television. Netflix might be blinding us with House of Cards and Bloodline (both, admittedly, unmatched in their excellence) but Australia deserves serious kudos for investing in this. The second episode built on the tone and intimacy of the first, following the fortunes of Olive (sick but defiant on the island of Lemnos), Elsie (relocated to look after her shot-in-the-head husband in Alexandria) and Alice (growing closer to the friendly-but-not-that-attractive doctor in Cairo while the man she loves serves in Gallipoli). The acting is superb, the attention to detail so evocative and the script feels incredibly real. The only downside? It makes me so, so angry that the only thing British TV has attemped that’s even close to this is Melty-Faced Patrick and the make-shift casualty ward on Downton Abbey. Dad’s Army next to this elegant piece of historical drama. Shame on us. Up the Aussies.
We the British are too sentimental at historical drama
As with Anzac Girls, Home Fires (Sunday, ITV1) continued in the same vein. So we had consistency and some quality performances. Overall, however, this is a schmaltzy piece, beautifully filmed and cleverly done in places but lacking any nuance nor crediting the audience with much intelligence. “We run the risk of turning the cricketers against us!” (Let us not forget it’s scheduled at the same time and place as the afore-mentioned Downton Abbey …) With the creepy, hardcore “domestic violence” storyline, for example. Wouldn’t it be more effective if we could guess for ourselves or have some doubt, rather than having the situation signposted from the first moment? Still, I retain a soft spot for Home Fires, maybe out of British patriotism. Samantha Bond is most appealing as the WI’s martini-drinking Tory-with-a-heart. Maybe this is a grower, Call the Midwife-style.
Graham Norton rocks (even with that beard)
I am still working on accepting Graham Norton’s Father Christmas beard as showcased on the Baftas (Sunday, BBC1). “I can promise you an exciting evening. If by exciting you mean ‘really very long,’”, said Papa Noel – both Bafta winner of the night and host – in a slightly worrying development for the BBC (telling the truth about how bad things are). Because this is always the Baftas’ problem: it’s about great television but it is never great television itself, partly because the audience at all awards ceremonies always look so bored. The awards themselves were a mixed bag. Although I loved seeing that most wonderfully, uncomfortably English of actors Jason Watkins (The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries), looking extremely uncomfortable and English and not wanting to touch the Bafta in case he appeared too forward. It’s your Bafta, mate! But elsewhere: really, how do you compare Ant ’n’ Dec with Strictly? Or Prey and Cilla? And bits of it did go on and on. Graham’s honest patter is the only thing that made this really interesting. Those assembled were mildly scandalised, worried the cameras would catch them laughing at something “inappropriate.” “Poldark … it’s about a Cornish miner … the only successful thing to happen to the BBC involving minors in a long while …”
