Minute Observations

BBC Radio 4 is a testament to civilisation and you can be no more civilised than by tuning into 'Just a Minute', the panel game show running for aeons. Now why are you writing about a radio programme 'thetvreviewguy' I hear you asking? Well the format has been replicated on BBC2 and, despite fears that yet another radio migration would backfire, 'Just a Minute' is proving to be a great success. Hosted by the ever living Nicholas Parsons, the show is the eptimome of wit and wordplay. How difficult can it really be to speak for a minute without hesitation, deviation and repetition? Extremely difficult if the experience of the guests (usually comics) is anything to go by. The fun is in avoiding the interruptions and sabotage from the other contestants. It would be wrong to say 'Just a Minute' has a cult following; it has a select listnership and these same listeners should give the TV version a go. Tick, tock, tick, tock...a minute can be a very long time indeed and this format has proved timeless. There's so much dross out there and it's nice to find a Sea of Tranquility of sophistication in a barren Moon of grey lifeless crud. Definitely worth a least a minute of your time if not more, 'Just a Minute' will keep 'thetvreviewguy' clock watching for the forseeable future.

Notes from the Underground

Fly-on-the wall (FOTW) documentaries are such a staple of TV now that a new doc has to really be outstanding to grab a viewers attention. Not necessarily in-your-face, or wacky and not even that clever-clever, simple stories told without artifice and without gimmicks can often make the best pieces of informative TV. 'The Tube' (BBC2) is no exception to this maxim. The London Underground is such an obvious terrain for the documentary maker and this doesn't fail to deliver. We meet the staff, management and drivers and, after seeing the amount of variables and problems they deal with on a daily basis, are simply amazed that they manage to keep the thing running at all. From the tragic and gruesome task of scoping up suicides from the tracks - dealt with great compassion by both programme makers and the staff concerned - to the humour and frustrations of the ticket counter sellers, 'The Tube' made 'thetvreviewguy' think twice about what it takes to carry one BILLION people underground every year. The FOTW doc has been satarised to the nth degree but can still occasionally enlighten and educate. 'The Tube' was an example of BBC production values at their best; a throwback to to the days when television wasn't about laughing at people but had more parts of their output seeking to explain the hidden and make things interesting. It was the unpretentiousness of it all that made the programme a great and moving documentary; 'thetvreviewguy' suggests you catch this train now leaving.

Millican Tendency

Sarah Millican must have arrived as the backlash has started already. While definitely not everyone's cup of tea (who is?), 'thetvreviewguy' has always found the Northern lass t'be a foony gal (apologies for the Geordie there). 'The Sarah Millican Television Show' (BBC2) is extremely chortle-worthy. Nothing new in the format here; comedy, chat, comedy, chat. Even the act isn't hugely original; think Mrs Merton as a thirty-something. But it is good and Millican is perfect for this persona; the look-at-me- me, I Can't Believe I'm on Telly school of comedy. Her first show featured Chris Packham, a BBC wildlife presenter, Australian Sexpert Tracey Cox (cue obvious but funny pun about her surname) and, er, Sarah Millican's Dad. The banter was good and Millican, despite having what could be a really annoying habit of laughing heartily at her own jokes, is a natural in the role. Recently monstered in the Guardian as having been sanatised, Millican is only following the long trodden path from accomplished stand up to TV presenter. The audience participation worked and while there's nothing groundbreaking here, it is funny. On at a ridiculously late hour, 'The Sarah Millican Show' is worth staying up for and certainly worth recording. Now, in good time, let the backlash to the backlash commence.

Top of the Hill - TV Burp

'Harry Hill's TV Burp' is something 'thetvreviewguy' finally gets. For years, he used to think it was just a clips show with mildly amusing links. But in this age of austerity, where everyone owes everyone else Gazillions (yes, that is a number), there's an incredible amount to be said for absurd humour and ridiculousity (yes, also a word). Hill, a former Medical Doctor, knows just the right doses of comedy medicine to prescribe. With his over-sized shirt and cheesy grin, he plays the clown role extremely well and his TV Burp makes for some nice going-out telly on a Saturday night. Ok, he is daft and quite possibly very annoying but whatever it is about 'getting' him, maybe 'thetvreviewguy' is mellowing as he approaches his fifth decade. While still raging against the machine, he's realising that machine is very rarely changed by his rage, let alone revolutionised. Of course, while 'thetvreviewguy' has always been suspicious and dismissive of the popularity of popular comedians - Michael McIntyre or Brendan O'Carroll anyone? - he's happy to admit where his tastes are in tune with his fellow TV viewers. Harry Hill is a funny guy and while being foolish may not always appear that sophisticated, playing the clown (in the Shakespearean sense) takes no mean talent. Just silly enough to have even the curmudgeoniest of curmudgeons laugh, 'Harry Hill's TV Burp' is worth your once over, at least.

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!