What Did The Greeks Ever Do For Us?

The Greeks, just like the Romans, have given us an awful lot. But so have television programmes about them and 'Who Were The Greeks? (BBC2) presented by Dr Michael Scott discoursed on ground so covered that its threadbare. So how do you make this stuff new? You can't. But you can
let the material speak for itself and Scott did a great job of re-hashing the facts about Athens, classical architecture, drama and philosophy in only an hour. Surely anyone who watches BBC2 knows about Socrates by now? How, (in a pre-Christian) reality as allegory, he was put to death for standing up for his beliefs? Maybe some don't - so we got another telling of the tale. The film-pieces in Athens were of particular interest to 'thetvreviewguy' having been on the Acropolis less than two years ago and having been suitably impressed. Greece might be going through the wringer now, but the history and literature of Classical Athens is still breath-taking. We even got a re-cap on the original Olympic Games which were anything but 'sporting' as we could understand the concept today. Dr Scott did a more than competent, highlighting, again, how Greek sculptures were not the monochrome marble art works we see then as now but were coloured and this made a huge difference to the aesthetics of the pieces. A good History about Greeks, for all, not just geeks.

Out for the Count

'Count Arthur Strong' (BBC2) is one of the funnier comedies this Summer. Co-written by Fr Ted author Graham Linehan, its an adaptation from that bastion of quality, BBC Radio 4 (where it was originally authored by Steve Delaney, who plays the epponymous 'Count'). As laugh out loud family comedies go, this is really up there (yes, this may not be a category festooned with original offerings but give this show a chance and you will have a laugh). The 'Count' is a retired 1970s TV half of a double act who forgets things. Not only does he forget things, he...eh..uhm...where was I? Ah yes...Arthur Strong...the setting has moved from Doncaster to London...and Roy, sorry, RORY Kinnear is the amiable Sancho Panza. This week's episode, where Arthur tries to learn the Internet and ends up as a 'troll' within ten minutes had this reviewer really enjoying the craft on display from the actors and writers. This is gentle, affectionate, yet clever character-based comedy - just been commissioned for a second series - is full of, er, uhm, great, eh, diversions and whimsy - an Ice Cream Van that doesn't sell Ice Cream but is to hook peple into Jack the Ripper Tours, who Arthur thinks did all the killings in Balham. There's an art to adaptations and this one has 'thetvreviewguy' rushing back to listen to as many of the radio shows as he can. This is a silly programme, sometimes extremely silly, and all the better for it. Arthur is a brilliant comedic creation and this show is well worth a look.

Fighting Them on the Beaches

Peter Snow is an interesting presenter - smart, on the viewer's side and a somewhat manic, enthusiastic, bringer of 'the fun' presenter you don't get that often these days. His 'D Day As It Happens' (Channel 4), a two-parter over June 5th and 6th in 'real-time' was a fine example of making History interesting, relevant and contemporary. Assisted by the TV Friendly ex- Colonel Tim Collins and War Camerawoman Lorna Ward, Snow 'followed' the progress of six men and one woman for over this, the Greatest Day. We are so used to the 'Band of Brothers' WWII format of story-telling now that we see battles and crucial events as involving heroic and not so heroic individuals rather than forces of History (which also apply). The format worked because the time-line was re-constructed so accurately; we knew what Soldier X or Y was doing at 10.43 due to painstaking research of the photographic and other archives. D Day was an incredible turning point in World History and it is right that it be remembered so often, and in this instance, so well. Allied mistakes were highlighted as was Hitler's cause of eventual downfall - hubris and a gross overestimation of his military intelligence (falling for the feint 'Operation Fortitude' while 'Overlord' kicked into action). Good History and very watchable Television.

I'm a 21st Century Time Traveller, Get Me Out Of Here!

'Groan!', 'thetvreviewguy' hears you say...'not another TV History Programme about Queen Elizabeth's 1st's Reign!' Dr Ian Mortimer's new series, 'The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England' (BBC2) is a cut above the rest (although, worryingly, produced by arch-Tory David Starkey). A simple conceit (based on a best-selling book) - imagine you're a Time Traveller in this distant epoch - what do you encounter, what are the customs, how are they different from today? It has to be said that Elizabethan England was a pretty vile, sadistic, backward, superstitious and frightening place to live. Forget Shakespeare, here was a land where sadism reigned - from bull baiting through to domestic violence through to capital punishment. Thank Fuck for the Enlightenment, is all this time traveller can think when confronted with a country where you could be put do death in a cruel and unusual manner for not believing in God, being a Witch, being a Catholic, robbing a Chicken or being a vagrant. Prisons were mere holding pens until execution. This was a bad place to be alive and to be poor (or a woman from any social background)  - really grim, not cool at all. Elizabeth and the Court were a bunch of blood-sucking leeches that relied on terror and violence to maintain their status. A horrible Age brought to life by Dr Mortimer.

Agent Scully Could Do Better...

Gillian Anderson will always be Special Agent Dana Scully for 'thetvreviewguy'. Such was the impact of the 'X Files', that it was hard for Anderson, a talented and impressive actress, to break out of the career-defining role. But break-out she did and eagle-eyed spotters will have seen her in classy ventures like 'The Last King of Scotland' and she's currently starring in the new TV production 'Hannibal'. Which brings us to 'The Fall', (BBC2/RTE1) which stars Anderson as a Senior Met Police Officer brought in to Belfast to review a murder case where she rapidly realise she's hunting a serial killer. Despite an excellent cast (Jamie Dornan extremely menacing as the murderer [its ok, we know he is, 'Colombo-like'] and John Lynch as conscientious Officer), we never escape from the predictability of the 'murder most horrid' school of detective TV which is now the mainstream. The subtleties, plotting, characterisation and cerebrum stroking of shows like 'Lewis' or 'Endeavour' are becoming less and less the norm. There's undoubtedly a viewership for this but 'thetvreviewguy' won't be tuning in for a second episode of stalking, slashing, strangulation and dark, dark lighting. Actors, writers and
directors stand by their work, but in this case, through no fault of the actors, sadly, they 'fall'.

The Appliance of Science

What would you like to with your life? Would you like to be an internationally renowned physicist, an accomplished musician, a fine Draughtsman, an inspirational educator, a rebel against authority or a beloved Pater Familias? 'The Fantastic Mr Feynman' (BBC2) looked back on the incredible life of Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman, a man who managed to do all these things, as well as being one of the designers of the Atom Bomb as part of the Manhattan Project, a role of which he would feel great remorse once the Bomb was dropped. Feynman packed so much into one lifetime that it is hard to see how someone could be as much a polymath in today's era of specialisation and information overload - he was, perhaps, the last Renaissance Man. Science was baffling to 'thetvreviewguy' when he was a lad, and Feynman, with his sense of the poetic, the aesthetic and his belief that creativity, not data, is at the heart of all our endeavours, would inspire anyone with his enthusiasm, his style and his love of life. Instrumental in unearthing the root cause of the Challenger disaster, Feynman's distrust of authority came from his father who cautioned him not to respect rank or 'epaulettes' (as he called it) for their own sake. While the mathematical genius manifested in the man is something most of us can only admire from afar and maybe try to understand, it was the humanity in the life of the fantastic Dr Feynman itself that stands as his legacy, as much as his work.

Take a Walk on the Wild Life

Derek Mooney is fast establishing himself as the ‘For Hire’ RTE Presenter and general Voiceover guy. In 'Secrets of the Irish Landscape' (RTE1), he provided the necessary once again and his love of the natural world (see his previous, usually understated, work for RTE) is never far from the surface. This (and its become a staple of Nature Documentaries) beautifully shot documentary looked at the geological and botanical links between Ireland, Spain and Iceland and at how relatively new the undulating, lush green Irish landscape is. We heard about the stalwart research of Robert Praeger a century ago and how he walked the country, recording the plant life on each walk, sometimes covering up to 50 kilometres on a weekend logging his finds. If it weren't for these pioneers, we would be considerably more ignorant about the World around us. While 'thetvreviewguy' found the extraneous shots of Mooney's Four Wheel Drive resembled uncomfortable, half-hearted, product placement, this is a modest negative when compared to the knowledge imparted by the featured scientists and assorted experts.  Geology and botany are really never ending subjects, which means that such documentaries will always be throwing up new material. And, yes, the Icelandic views did look spectacular - another country that 'thetvreviewguy' has to add to his 'to do' list. The programme makers really made Ireland look good and must have an eye on being picked up Stateside or becoming a DVD hit with the tourist market. A fine production.