Dispatches from the Undergrowth

Monday's 'Dispatches' (Channel 4) presented by everyone's favourite One Nation Tory, Peter Oborne, looked at 'How Murdoch Ran Britain' and it didn't make for easy viewing. News International's unethical and allegedly criminal activities have been the subject of a torrent of revelations. Murdoch's grip on the English political establishment seems incredible now, only a few short weeks since the scandal started getting (for Murdoch) out of control. A by now familiar cast of commentators (including Lance Price, Michael Wolff, Alan Rusbridger, Claire Enders - a real heroine - Hugh Grant and - pantomime villain Paul McMullan) covered all the angles. The Dirty Digger's use intimidatory tactics to browbeat and bully politicians had been going on for decades; Tom Watson, Labour MP and phone-hacking campaigner, said that 'dozens' of MPs were intimidated and threatened over the years. The all-too-close relationship between the Met and the 'News of the World' was highlighted; there was a revolving door between News International and Scotland Yard ('thetvreviewguy ' will never tire of Andy Hayman's 'Good God No! Absolutely Not!' moment, which was given another welcome airing). John Major refused to 'cosy up' to Murdoch and he was lambasted with personal abuse throughout his, admittedly, calamitous premiership. Rebecca Brooks, Rupert and James Murdoch were bullies and like all bullies, their power crumbled once stood up to. The Murdoch family may well survive to fight another day; they are, after all, richer than Croesus and still big media players. But, as Oborne pointed out, instead of social, business and political lodestars for the British political class, they've become pariahs. 'Dispatches' was a superb piece of investigative reporting, editing, presentation and production. We all like a morality tale and 'thetvreviewguy' hopes, that in this one, the bad guys get their comeuppance in the end.

News on 'The Hour' from 1956

BBC2’s ‘The Hour’, set in a BBC newsroom in the pivotal year of 1956 (Suez, transition from post-war austerity into the 60s), looks great. The first episode had everything: shadowy ‘spooks’, raffish presenters (Dominic West’s going to storm this one), feisty female producers and journalists, police bribery, a sharp ‘look and feel’ of 1950s London and a large element of not knowing what’s going on (a seeming prerequisite for much of contemporary TV drama). The casting is superb: while the technology seems quaint, BBC managers may not have changed that much in 60 years; personality types endure and there’s some fine acting about in ‘The Hour’s portrayal of the BBC top brass. Ramola Garai and Ben Whishaw are outstanding as Bel and Freddie, a high flying producer and keen sleuth-hound respectively.  BBC television news, up to the mid 1950s, consisted of tales of debtante engagements and obsequious interviews with Prime Ministers. The cultural change that took place in a hugely class conscious society has been well documented, and ‘The Hour’ captures an era where the winds of change are soon to blow.  Who knows, and 'thetvreviewguy' certainly doesn't, where ‘The Hour’ will go? Light and shade are hard tones to carry separately, let alone together in a TV drama. But please let's have a stop to British critics saying that the only good shows are American; there's plenty of writing, acting, directing and production talent outside of the US, operating on a fraction of some of the budgets in the States. For 'thetvreviewguy', this was a most enjoyable 'Hour'.

Hacking Away To The Truth

Money and power have been dangerous bedfellows since time immemorial. Last night’s ‘Panorama’ (BBC1) on the Murdoch hacking scandal left ‘thetvreviewguy’ crying out for more. It was a superior summary of background and events so far and, at half an hour long, the viewer’s appetite could have easily managed another couple of courses. We’ve now had resignations, newspapers closing and, tragically, a death; one of those interviewed on the programme was Sean Hoare; the 'News of the World' whistleblower was found dead yesterday. Rupert Murdoch has been the dominant media mogul for much of the last forty years and his empire is now in freefall. It’s a credit to the BBC that they still have reporters ready to tell a story without fear or favour and ‘Panorama’ has a proud tradition. The hacking story would have remained dead and buried if it hadn’t been for the work of the ‘Guardian’ and ‘Private Eye’; the BBC’s coverage since the story broke has been exemplary. Both Labour and the Tories have bowed at the knee for Rupert and as was said it the ‘Guardian’, this story could go anywhere. ‘Panorama’ fulfilled its public service remit with aplomb and ‘thetvreviewguy’ felt it captured the ‘you couldn’t make it up’ nature of the scandal perfectly. This show will run and run.

Three Blokes in a Car

'Top Gear' (BBC2)  is always on 'Dave' or some other channel somewhere. Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond have serious road miles clocked up at this stage and the show has become an international franchise, toured, been a huge money spinner for the BBC and the presenters, and generally been omnipresent for much of the last decade. It has a simple formula of the three amigos getting lost, exchanging pub-style banter and delivering soliloquies on what it means to be a dude. Cars are incidental, a peg on which to hang the schtick; petrolheads enjoy the show but it's not pitched at them; 'Top Gear' is aimed at your average Joe, who sees his car as an extension of himself (at a deeper psychological level, not a dick thing).Throw in a celebrity guest/fan and you have a programme where the ordinary, the regular, get to feel extraordinary. Of course,  'thetvreviewguy' can understand why 'Top Gear' (TG) is so popular but for him, 'TG' is akin to bumping into that neighbour or acquaintance at an annual barbeque that you don't really dislike but just have no great desire to meet up with again in a hurry (nothing personal of course). There's a huge amount of Clarkson, May and Hammond playing at being kids; it's mildly amusing, occasionally irritating but mostly, a harmless hour of telly padded out with plenty of faux bufoonery and cod dialogue. Yes, Clarkson is a dolt when writing in the 'Sunday Times' where he espouses his tedious reactionary views (real and posed). And yet...'thetvreviewguy' still holds that 'Top Gear' has a certain amount of charm but becoming a regular viewer wouldn't be one of his driving ambitions.

University Challenge Still Hits the Button

Jeremy Paxman is a clever cloggs but doesn't quite know the answer to every or even most questions on 'University Challenge' (BBC2). As a host, he can be hectoring, boorish, patronising and a total pain in the arse. But he brings the best out of the real clever clogsses, who have been 'reading' English, Science and Law since 1962 and have been amazing viewers with their arcane and astonishing knowledge and memory. Quizzes are a dime a dozen but 'thetvreviewguy' has always had time for this particular programme ever since he made a couple of ill-fated appearances on the now discontinued Irish equivalent 'Challenging Times'. It's particularly impressive that students have a broad range of reading and knowledge in this 'google' age of transient news and information overload. For 'thetvreviewguy', original quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne will always be the 'Guvnor', one of the original 'telly dons' (even if Gazza wasn't a lecturer as such, he came across as one, and a brainy one to boot). Of course, 'University Challenge' flatters this viewer's ego whenever he answers a few questions during an episode - but unfortunately, barely any of the science ones; 'UC' shows the audience and critics alike that 'high-brow' and 'tv' don't have to be exclusive of each other. There are, in Donald Rumsfeld's phrase [former Chief of Staff in the Ford Administration, became associated with the strategy of 'shock and awe' and later 'extraordinary rendition'] lots of unknowns out there. A programme like 'University Challenge' reduces the unknowns for 'thetvreviewguy' somewhat; it still leaves him knowing how much he doesn't know. Who'd have thought something that makes us feel smart can make us feel dumb at the same time?