Class Act - Melyvyn Bragg on Culture

Melvyn Bragg is one of the foremost Arts & Cultural Broadcaster/Writers over the last 40 years. His 'South Bank Show' was groundbreaking in its subject choices; everything from Mozart to Ken Russell to the Smiths. His latest outing, 'Melvyn Bragg on Class and Culture' (BBC2) is an enormous overview of working, middle and upper class contributions to 20th Century British cultural life. The span of the short series (3 episodes) is ridiculously brief; how can you possibly do justice to such a huge topic? However, Melvyn gives it his best shot and 'thetvreviewguy' was impressed by the programme makers brilliant use of archive footage and assiduous use of apt quotations; Bragg is the perfect presenter for such a series having made the class journey himself; if ever the role of education in life's progress were to be doubted, look at the post-WW2 'Redbrick' university intake. A perfect contrast between society's different stations was the treatment of trauma in World War 1; if you were an Officer, you could be treated for 'shell-shock', if you were one of the 'men', i.e., working class, you could be shot for cowardice. Class is obviously not just an English issue, but they don't half think about it a lot. Bragg's contention appears to be that there's been an irreverisible drift towards middle class aspiration for much of the last 60 years - again, this is a broad statement; are we all middle class now (clearly not) and what does that even mean? While you could look back on the early BBC as an attempt to impose high or middle culture from above, Lord Reith seems like a pretty stand up guy  'thetvreviewguy' and infinitely preferable to Peter Bazalgette. Every documentary on class and culture has to feature George Orwell somewhere and sure enough, Eric Blair pops up on the Road to Wigan Pier. 'Thetvreviewguy' looks forward to the next two episodes; Bragg will take us through the 60s; expect more great footage down the line.

Room with No View

What do you find particularly irksome or annoying and would like to exorcise from TVland or real life? The relaunched 'Room 101' (BBC), now with a panel rather than an individual interviewee, is another neat vehicle for Frank Skinner's wisecracking 'Uncle Frank' character and allows the guests (in this instance, Josh Grobin, Alistair McGowan and frightening 'Dragon' lady Hilary Devey) to discuss their 'pet hates' in an entertaining manner before the worst/best of the bunch gets consigned to Room 101. While the new format is somewhat confusing to 'thetvreviewguy', he enjoyed the lively dispute on the pros and cons of Valentines Day - which Hilary Devey hated, (in fairness to her) and the interchange on the smoking ban, which he supports as he enjoys a passive smoke with the street outcasts. Josh Grobin seems an amusing sort and there was a good sense of interaction between the panellists. Devey was witty on the night, if painfully namedroppy about her wealth, while McGowan did some decent, if seen before, impressions. Skinner is a consummate presenter these days, not too cruel, still pretty quick-witted and never afraid to tell the odd self-deprecating joke; 'thetvreviewguy' thought Skinner's patter on his drink issues particularly funny. 'Room 101' makes for perfectly acceptable TV fare; not overly challenging and pretty amusing all round.

Murder - Past and Present

'Whitechapel' (ITV) blends the supernatural and the creepy with the downright ludicrous. But, it's good TV. This week's episodes had buckets of blood as the current day cops - lead by 'Spooks' star Rupert Penry-Jones (nice touch giving him OCD; wanting to establish order from chaos) and 'League of Gentleman' actor Steve Pemberton (a local historian with a keen interest in the Ripper era and before), tried to tack down a serial killer. Now, 'thetvreviewguy' has been in Whitechapel and it's still a very interesting part of London, steeped in lore (and gore). 'Whitechapel' mixes suspense and 'slasher'-cuts with a dash of comedy thrown in. By picking a real-life event (the Ratcliff Highway murders) from 200 years ago, we get a strong dose of 'faction' with a bit of the 'McGuffin' in evidence too. If you could throw in some hokum about Jack London or Lenin, both of whom are reputed to have been residents in Whitechapel, you have the makings for loads more daft plots. Quick note to the scriptwriters; there was some resemblance, most probably unintended, to a the 'X Files' episode, 'Tooms'...but, having said that, the show helped 'thetvreviewguy' forget about going back to work on Monday, and this, surely is a major scoring points for a Sunday night programme. And the best thing about 'Whitechapel' ?...No vampires! Yes, a gothic, blood-soaked, piece of television and not a fang in site! This is really raising the stakes!

If I can make it there...'2 Broke Girls'

'2 Broke Girls' (RTE2) is not bad at all. A quirky, slightly bawdy slice of Recession Comedy, the series stars Kath Dennings and Beth Behrs as a poor and formerly rich girl respectively forced by circumstances to work a Diner to pay the bills. The first episode had some decent laughs; Behr's character, Caroline, plays the recently impoverished daughter of a millionaire conman (hmm, wonder who that's modelled on?). Every week, we get to see how close the two girls are to earning enough to start up their own business. Dennings and Behr are decent actors and while the script is never groundbreaking or particularly hilarious, it had 'thetvreviewguy' smiling through a good part of it. Mediocre sitcoms tend to be written production-line style and there are elements of 'a kooky character here, a zany one there' with '2 Broke Girls'. But it's worth a second viewing before filing it away with 'King of Queens' under 'New Yawk' disappointments. There is potential in the series and while 'thetvreviewguy's life is as short as the next guy's and hates watching time-wasting TV, this is definitely worthy of another go. Just funny enough to have you tune in, the girls are appealing enough to keep you tuned. 'Political' with a very small 'p', it will be interesting to look back on shows like this a few years from now, when, and more likely, if, we ever get out of what's euphemistically referred to as 'recession'.

Book Him Danno!

Ever dreamt of escaping a damp and dreary January to a distant, tropical island? Ever thought of fleeing the household bills at the start of the year and flying off to the Pacific? But, what's that, you're broke and can barely afford a holiday down the road? Then look no further than (and 'thetvreviewguy' did) 'Hawaii Five-O' (RTE2) for your dose of winter escapism. Forget the non-too original dialogue, the model cop casting, the high-tech gadgetry most police forces can only dream about and think instead of the mild winters and hot summers, the fantastic Morton Stevens opening theme, the oh-so sandy beaches and the reminders of the original, which if you're anything over 35, you'll remember with some affection. While there's little to differentiate this from the run-of-the-mill cop show, at least the pacing is effective and character relationships, while formulaic, keeps the viewer watching. There's a the usual array of car chases (which reminds 'thetvreviewguy' of the line about 'Bergerac' that there's not much point having car chases on an island) and shoot-outs, love interests and 'dirty' cops. This all makes 'Hawaii Five O' sound totally clichéd; it is, but only partially...it doesn't go down the easy 'CSI' route nor does it go for mortuary carve ups all too easily used in current cops shows. Worth the occasional viewing, if only to remind yourself of a time when opening themes were really rocking, you dig?

Paradise Postponed

Okay, angels who come down to Earth is as old as the, er, Bible, but angels that come mix with us mortals as lawyers? Now that's just crazy talk!!  'Eternal Law' has this very premis and, while it's far from heavenly, it's not quite hellish and gives us some cheery fare in the dark January days. But it's still not the most the original of angel-takes; perhaps we're going to soon have our TV sets festooned with the winged ones similar to the vampire takeover of recent years? 'Eternal Law' is like a not very good episode of 'Quantum Leap'...again, not exactly terrible but not classic telly or 9pm programming. It's more of a 5-7pm effort that's pleasant, insubstantial, glossily produced, yet ultimately, neither that spiritually or intellectaually filling. On the plus side, it is brave enough sticking this sort of stuff out on prime-time; give 'thetvreviewguy' something quirky over some Geezer Mockney prog any day. The writing, however, needs to get sharper, the third episode started well but just fizzled out before the end, which topped off the damp squib. The sort of TV show that's perfect if you're a) a Teacher correcting homework b) doing some form of 'blogging' c) half asleep d) hungover. While 'thetvreviewguy' might prefer Engels to Angels, he could do worse than tune in for another episode but then again he won't be knocking on Heaven's door to see it again. Hasn't quite earned its wings yet.

A Fine Endeavour

'Inspector Morse' hit a high quality threshold. It never underestimated audience intelligence, played for what was a gargantuan amount of screen time (two hours) and rarely went for the obvious or seemed plodding or pedestrian. The franchise of the younger Morse, 'Endeavour' (ITV), lives up to the very high standards set by the predecessor and, in common with the original, provides an oasis of class among all the reality show nonsense about these days. Shaun Evans plays the (then) young constable with considerable aplomb; not too much insider knowledge is required to appreciate the character and his motivations. As ever, Oxford looks stunning, and makes for a perfect setting as a place where problems are solved and life's mysteries are explained. There's a classic beginning, middle, end structure to 'Morse' and we get this with 'Endeavour' also; it's a satisfying piece of television that leaves us middle-brows looking forward to future episodes. When there's a successful TV series, a prequel can never be that far behind. 'Endeavour' hits the spot with quality acting and tight script; the 'Morse Franchise' looks like continuing for many years to come. Should the series last, Oxford may not be safe for some time. A strong cast, good plot and great pacing make this production a fine endeavour.  'Morse' has spawned a monster, an erudite and compelling beast.