The Road to Nowhere

The brief spat between the LSE and the BBC over ethics should not detract from John Sweeney's secret-camera footage of North Korea on 'Panorama' (BBC1). Sweeney was accompanied limpet-style by his official North Korean guides - North Korea is a nightmare of a failed political entity, where famine is endemic and forced labour camps punish dissidents and non-dissident alike. It is also a country where electricity is a luxury, a fucked up, Star Trek anti-utopia of a polity, where the Kims rule like Gods and their people are fed an Orwellian diet of News Speak. It is, in short, Hell on Earth. While those with even a passing familiarity with the nature of the regime will have learnt nothing new, the footage will have been a welcome addition to the knowledge of those not au fait with what goes on in this closed state. Sweeney was brought to Hospital where there were no patients and some of us were hoping for a 'Scientology' type explosion from him, but the circumstances were just too pathetic for that. His trip to a Library allowed him to ask the immortal question as to whether they had '1984' in stock, and of course, they didn't. It would also be funny if it just weren't so tragic. 'Panorama' is hitting the mark again; it could do with being 45 minutes or an hour long but still can be a must-see.

Royally Unwell

Television loves many things, among which are looks, smarts and eccentricities. Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, has all three in spades and her brief series, 'Fit to Rule: How Royal Illness Changed History' was both entertaining and informative, and looked at how malady and monarchy have coincided over the years. While examining more celebrated instances such as the madness of King George, Worsley was particularly good at focusing those figures forgotten or over-looked. Poor Queen Anne (1665 to 1714). Such was the expectation of bearing an heir and a spare, Anne endured 17 pregnancies, with only one son being born, William, and he lived to be only eleven years of age. While 'thetvreviewguy' would be a Republican at heart but at the same time, found the programme fascinating, principally for the reminder of just how far we have come on in medicine and life expectancy over the last four centuries. Lucy Worsley is a charming host, bringing the viewer on a quasi-guided tour of royal illness and this was good, solid television, probably more BBC 4 oriented, but well-suited to a BBC2 slot also. While some more shallow viewers (like 'thetvreviewguy'?) may have been partially drawn into watching for Ms Worsley's 'Posh Totty' status, she is an accomplished Historian and confident Presenter, a welcome addition to the telly game...a Princess among Women.

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

Can we survive a mega-tsunami? Such was the question asked on BBC2 in an eponymous programme. The territory is not new: a gigantic rock slide in the Canaries - think half of an island collapsing post earth-quake, leading to a calamitous series of tidal waves travelling up to Britain and Ireland and across the Atlantic. The diagnosis wasn't good; while not the 'Global Killer' scenario beloved by Disaster Movies, it would lead to tens of thousands of deaths and huge displacement of social and economic activity, i.e. everyday life. Most of the Caribbean would be devastated by 10-30 metre waves, there would be, in Disaster Movie Lingo, no hiding place. Sharp use of graphics and actual tsunami footage mad for a powerful, if grim, look at the Sum of All Fears (done it again there 'tvreviewguy'). The thought of having no-where to run is indeed a chilling one. The various featured Boffins posited that much of the US Eastern Seaboard would be swept away with very little warning time for evacuation (maybe as little as 2-4 hours). In some ways, you can't plan for such an event and just have to accept it as a risk and try not to think about it. We are due such an event in the next few hundred to thousands of years, or tomorrow - who knows, humans may be living on Mars or still stuck on our vulnerable planet. Either way, it won't be fun to be around for.

Breaking Good

'Breaking Bad' shouldn't have been that successful. Who really wants to watch a programme about a middle aged Chemistry Teacher and a former stoner student of his 'cooking' crystal meth? Yet it  works. The series has us constantly coming back to moral dilemmas, brilliant writing and the bad luck of the key characters which seems to be forever 'breaking bad'. Bryan Cranston plays Walter White as a tortured soul, trying to fund his cancer treatment and keep his family on the road by going into the drugs trade. You already have a classic writing archetype right there; 'fish out of water'. Aaron Paul is superb as his dipshit but usually likeable accomplice, Jesse Pinkman. Anna Gunn, as White's wife Skyler, is a strong female character, doing her best in recessionary America, coping with her Husband's cancer and here son's cerebal palsy. New Mexico is an uncredited star in the series; the scenery is stunning, and the frontier wilderness symbolises the unchartered territory White now has to walk down. There is humour, violence, tenderness, great characterisation and some excellent dialogue. If the extended TV Series Arc is the new 'Movie', 'Breaking Bad' can righteously be said to take its place in this canon. But the real find for 'thetvreviewguy' so far is Bob Odenkirk as the seedy, corrupt lawyer Saul Goodman (again, great use of surnames by the writers); worth watching 'Breaking Bad' just for him alone.

Something to Choo-Choo On

Yet ANOTHER railway programme, and yet ANOTHER fly-on-the-wall documentary but 'The Railway: Keeping Britain on Track' chugs along nicely. The first episode featured the unpleasantness that is Kings Cross, a dirty, crowded, decrepit yoke of a station which we see undergoing a much needed modernisation (one of the participants gets confused by the pristine new concourse, confusing it with the gleaming, uber-cool St Pancras. Kevin Whately's narration provides the reassuring quality control that a lot of the rail network is missing. There were examples of great customer service but also documenting of passenger frustration and outrageous peak inter-city fares ('thetvreviewguy''s eyes popped out on hearing that a peak return to Newcastle was well over 200 Pounds). Who'd work in a Railway? Well, many of the participants, whether it was their first rung on the ladder or accident, resembled your average Office - except managing and running very big toys. Train Drivers are pretty unpopular but 'thetvreviewguy' would rather have a rested and contented driver than a pissed off one. We saw the darker side of the job; suicides. Many commuters get angry at the inconvenience caused by a suicide but 'Keeping Britain on Track' featured a heart-breaking story of a Father having to identify his Son (which was just told, as a story) which would change the viewpoint of most people hearing it. A series that's unlikely to go off the rails.

Dancing Classes Unite

Stephen Poliakoff (BBC2) is one of the greatest living television playwrights, as excellent in his own way as Dennis Potter was in his. His latest, 'Dancing on the Edge', concerns the ties between an English Black Jazz Band and Aristocratic and sometimes Royal London in the 1930s. But this being Poliakoff, there's more than just the juxtaposition of the two worlds, faded glories, and the 'FitzGeraldean' transitory nature of youth and beauty. There's more depth to his characters in one episode than you'd get in an entire series of 'Downton Abbey' - these are no mere cut-outs, but seem very real. His understanding of how history rhymes with the present day has always been one of the author's strong points and 'Dancing on the Edge', through superb use of music, and sheer craftsmanship of writing, acting and directing, shows 'thetvreviewguy' that Poliakoff is back to his very best. This is the closest you'll get to the vibrancy, the emotion and the journey of live theatre on-screen and so much credit has to go to the strong cast; plaudits go to Chiwetel Ejiofor as Band Leader Louis, Joanna Vanderham as the intoxicating Aristo Pamela, John Goodman as the outwardly charming but sinister millionaire Mr Masterson, wannabe svengali music journalist Stanley Mitchell played by Matthew Goode and to the two enchanting female singers in the band, Wunmi Mosaku and Angel Coulby. Well worth marking your dance card for.

A Ripping Yarn

'Ripper Street' (BBC1) is a damn fine piece of telly. Take the anarchist campaign of the 1880s in London's East End, the background of the Jack the Ripper slayings, an intelligent script, some fine acting, eye-catching cinematography and the fact that the external scenes were shot half a mile down the road from where 'thetvreviewguy' resides (in South-West Dublin rather than East London) and there's the sum of Sunday night quality TV. Matthew Macfadyen is as good as ever playing the troubled, principled DI Edmund Reid, Adam Rothenberg convinces as the mysterious Pinkerton employee Homer Jackson and Michael McElhatton is outstanding as the uber-political and duplicitous Commissioner Munro. As for last Sunday's plot, who could possibly believe that Russian agents were running amok on the streets of London killing their enemies? (er...on second thoughts...!) Anarchism, both peaceful and violent, isn’t an easy topic for mainstream, prime-time television but 'Ripper Street' covered this and the growth of trade unions and employer backlash with a surprisingly progressive outlook. Watch out for the developing love interest between the (shock-horror) married Reid and the feisty Deborah Goren, played with élan by the excellent and, in the eyes of 'thetvreviewguy', delectable Lucy Cohu. If you like your Detective Victoriana, this will be right up your 'Ripper Street'.