TV
The Culture Show: Girls Will Be Girls, BBC TwoTuesday, 01 July 2014
In 40 years’ time, when some suit at the BBC is searching the archives for some suitable footage to illustrate women in music in the early 21st century, will he pull out an image of Miley Cyrus or Rihanna wrapped in fishnets and bondage tape? I ask... Read more... |
Arena: The 50 Year Argument, BBC FourMonday, 30 June 2014
Well, I’ll be damned if subscriptions don’t shoot up this summer. This lovingly made paean to the New York Review of Books, directed by Martin Scorsese and his long-time documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, was better than any advert, though I’d... Read more... |
Beauty Queen or Bust, Channel 4Friday, 27 June 2014
Wolverhampton today, tomorrow the world. As unlikely as it was, that was the incentive for aspiring prize-winners in this first of three stories from Channel 4 looking at regional beauty pageants which in turn lead to Miss England and beyond.The... Read more... |
DVD: Wallander – Collected FilmsFriday, 27 June 2014
Last Saturday saw the broadcast of the final Wallander on British TV. The new six-episode series has hit DVD within days of the programme being off air. As the distracted, always-troubled detective, Krister Henriksson had asked that for his return... Read more... |
Shopgirls: the True Story of Life Behind the Counter, BBC TwoWednesday, 25 June 2014
We last saw Dr Pamela Cox presenting BBC Two's Servants: the True Story of Life Below Stairs. Having done the academic's-eye-view of Upstairs Downstairs, she has now moved on to the world of Mr Selfridge in this three-part survey of the rise of the... Read more... |
Murdered By My Boyfriend, BBC ThreeMonday, 23 June 2014
The BBC might have convinced itself that the only thing that will change in the way it caters to the youth market next autumn is the method of delivery, but Murdered By My Boyfriend makes the case for retaining BBC Three as a channel that can be... Read more... |
Glyndebourne: the Untold History, BBC FourMonday, 23 June 2014
Celebrating the 80th anniversary of opera at Glyndebourne, this 90-minute documentary was fascinating when it delved into the house's history, but started to lose its bearings when it came back to the present day and dwelt at laborious length over... Read more... |
A Cabbie Abroad, BBC TwoMonday, 23 June 2014
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Given how easily some seem to dodge the latter, Benjamin Franklin’s oft-quoted epigram could do with a little modification. Nothing can be said to be certain, except death... Read more... |
Fostering & Me with Lorraine Pascale, BBC TwoThursday, 19 June 2014
My heart sank when Lorraine Pascale’s documentary on fostering began with her making cakes with Junior, a 10-year-old boy in care. I feared Bake Off meets Who Do You Think You Are?, but those worries quickly faded as Pascale told her extraordinary... Read more... |
American TV not always better, claims BBC boss Danny CohenThursday, 19 June 2014
Here at theartsdesk we still receive the occasional missive from readers on several continents incensed at the BBC's axing of Zen in February 2011, a decision taken by then-controller of BBC One Danny Cohen. Zen didn't get a mention in Cohen's... Read more... |
Tigers about the House, BBC TwoTuesday, 17 June 2014
There is a saying that dogs have owners but cats have staff, and it's an axiom forcibly borne out by this new three-part series. The felines in question are Sumatran tiger cubs rather than primped and pampered household pets, but they're so rare,... Read more... |
World Cup Finals 2014, BBC OneSunday, 15 June 2014
Gary Lineker has been honing his marketing schtick for several decades now, selling us a spud-based product that promises to make us feel great, only to fill us with self-loathing as soon as it’s finished. Yes, the England football team, seemingly... Read more... |
