‘Roadkill’ – BBC1

Rodkill is the new drama from playwright and screenwriter David Hare and it sets out its stall immediately as terribly sophisticated Sunday night telly for grown-ups. The Saul Bass inspired Mad Men style title sequence sets the mood and even causal TV viewers know what that signals. Rich, successful, important but dreadfully flawed smart professionals struggle in the survival of the fittest contest that is life. I can only imagine they’ll be a lot of bonking.

The lovely Hugh Laurie is Peter Laurence, a self-styled maverick politician, happy to be seen as a man-of-the-people kinda guy with an ‘umble Croydon background. The boy done good, and now he’s an MP in a Conservative government, who thinks quoting Shakespeare makes for a snappy soundbite. He’s riding high as we first meeting him, having won a libel case against a newspaper. He stood accused of profiting financially from his government position and lying about it but, lucky boy, he’s been found innocent. Not because of a robust defence, but because the journalist with the scoop changed her story on the stand. This seems very important, if somewhat unbelievable.

Hoping to be congratulated and promoted Peter swings by Number 10 to see Dawn Ellison, the Prime Minister (played by Helen McCrory) – part Margaret Thatcher, part Elizabeth II but with nicer hair. She’s thinking of giving him a top job but she’s no fool – she and her loyal assistant are busy searching his MI5 file to check he’s as squeaky clean as he frequently likes to tell people. Peter’s stint on talk radio tell us this is set in a Post Brexit future, which seems rather cowardly to avoid the biggest political issue of our times, but also understandable. Anything set in the present would feel out of date by Tuesday afternoon at the latest.

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‘Noughts + Crosses’ – BBC1

Important dramas are, well, exactly that. They’re important and that’s good. But have you ever said “I watched something last night and you’d really like it – it was very important”. Whatever the subject, a drama has to be thrilling, filled with relatable characters in extraordinary situations.

It’s clear from the start that the much anticipated adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts + Crosses is important. The series is a dystopian Romeo and Juliet, following the lives of two young people Sephy (Masali Baduza) and Callum (Jack Rowan, recently seen in Peaky Blinders), who are divided by their colour but united by love. Sephy is a Cross, a member of the black ruling class and daughter of a prominent politician – played perfectly by a steely Paterson Joseph. Callum is a Nought, a white member of the underclass, suffering daily prejudice in a segregated society. The two have been friends since early childhood but their relationship grows ever more complicated as they come of age.

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‘Chernobyl’ – Sky Atlantic

Last month I saw the strangest advert for this particularly harrowing drama. In all my years of watching TV I’ve never seen a show directly compare itself in popularity to other drama classics. HBO and Sky the UK broadcasters of Chernobyl are delighted that the ratings for this 6 episode mini-series on IMDb are higher than The Sopranos, Breaking Bad and The Wire. Remember, this is a public website, so this isn’t critical reviews; this is what the audience at large are saying. The internet is taking over, and broadcasters are happy to make much of such an amazing response. Right now it’s sitting in the number one spot on the Top 250 TV shows list. But how can a realistic unflinching drama about a devastating episode in world history be so watchable? Guest blogger Jontosaurus investigates…

HBO needed a solid victory, and quickly. Season 8 of Game of Thrones– by far its flagship series for almost a decade- was almost universally panned, with critics, fans and cast members alike all having very little positive to say about the unsatisfactory ending. But luckily, Chernobyl delivers on almost every level; whilst this isn’t a review as such, it is certainly going to be an article full of praise for one of the most gripping dramas in recent memory. And furthermore…it’s the truth. Whilst there are moments of dramatic license and a few factual changes, this is by and large a dramatised account of exactly how things went down at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. 

Chernobyl has it easy in one regard, as there doesn’t need to be an awful lot of fabrication. Facts don’t need to be ignored, and fantastical elements to the story don’t need to be introduced; the explosion of Reactor number four is such a dramatic event in and of itself that it is perfect for creating the bigger picture. On the one hand, this creates a thrilling and harrowing viewing experience, made all the more effective considering that the audience is watching with the benefit of hindsight. We all know what happened at Chernobyl, as the effects are still being felt today. As recently as January, wildlife as far away as Sweden were being discovered in highly irradiated states. It’s been over thirty years since the disaster, but there are enough people alive to remember it. And that’s why the show works so well.

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'Years and Years' – BBC1

People have been getting very excited about Russell T Davies’ new drama series Years and Years. He’s certainly made a name for himself with exciting boundary-pushing television, working hard before and after the success of his resurrection of Doctor Who on TV for a more adult audience. Banana and Cucumber on Channel 4 back in 2015 was an intriguing multi part drama showing a delicate and nuanced interpretation of modern gay life, so I had high hopes for Years and Years with its ambitious scope. But something about this first episode didn’t ring true for me – it all just felt a bit flimsy.
Our guides to the next 15 years of dystopian future are the Lyons family; Daniel (Russell Tovey), Stephen (Rory Kinnear), Rosie (Ruth Madeley), their children, partners and long-lost but oft-referenced sister Edith. There’s no waiting around here and no time to get to know the characters before we’re catapulted five years into the future. Like Black Mirror, the changes to normal daily life are few, nothing being totally ridiculous, but we’re certainly on a dystopian downward slide. It’s quite hard to pin down each character, and I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything of their personality, other than maybe Daniel. This episode is really the Daniel show and few others get much of a look-in. He’s a housing officer at the hard end of political fallout dealing with refuges from a war in Europe. He’s married to a nice-but-dim bloke but takes a fancy to the rather gorgeous Victor and could well be about to embark on an affair. There’s nothing here to stretch Russell Tovey, playing the sort of character he always plays.
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'Trapped: Series 2' – Episodes 7 & 8

This is a full review of episodes 7 and 8 of Trapped so don’t read on unless you’re up to date.
Episode seven opens with the fairytale of Gutti the goat boy, his personal tragedy and how he gets trapped in a lost future. If it’s meant to evoke any sympathy or understanding in steely Halla it falls flat. “Gutti was an idiot” she says. There’s more myths and legends butting up against the everyday in these episodes as the villagers start to feel they’re cursed.
The man competing for unluckiest villager is Vikingur, stood awaiting his fate against a very suitable blood-red backdrop locked in a room in the plant to keep him safe from the angry mob. His white shirt is splattered in blood, the backdrop is a once-white sheet covered in red spray paint. Pawel was hit in the head with a nasty-looking pointed hammer and Vikingur looks extremely guilty. Pawel the Pole was running jobs with various foreign workers at the plant. Was he a mini mob boss? If so, I bet he had plenty of enemies.
Stefan, the clean-cut pal of Vikingur, rescues Ebo from yet another mob and puts him up with Hjortor and his girlfriend Soffia. Stefan can’t help but look guilty to seasoned fans of the genre – he’s so clean-cut he must be hiding something. Ebo speaks to the police to provide some context for Vikingur’s rage at Pawel and the homophobes they worked with. Lovely Asgeir’s English is beautifully spoken in this scene; he’s so kind to this terrified man.
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'Trapped: Series 2' – Episodes 5 & 6

This is a full review of episodes 5 and 6 of Trapped so don’t read on unless you’re up to date.
Welcome to a couple of subdued but pivotal episodes as we reach the halfway mark in Trapped, despite Andri admitting he’s really back at square one in the investigation. Episode five in particular is quite slow and introspective as it centers around Gisli’s funeral. It marks a break in the action and a pause in the investigation. Gisli’s gravediggers remark on his ancestor who had “bad blood which contaminates the soil” and we get our first hint of what exactly is tearing the family apart – Gisli, Halla and Elin are the three siblings whose father went missing when they were children and his body was never found.
The Case
Young Aron’s flash car was bought by his father with cash. And as Asgeir says Finnur had a fleet of cars, with not exactly a massive wage from the plant. So this is where he spent his dirty money, and the rest is stashed in the house for Aron and Thorhildur to find after his death.
Stylish Halla is burnt but unbowed and goes to her brother’s funeral. Sister Elin accuses her of doing it for the media attention and if she hadn’t managed that already just by attending she gives a speech to the congregation and is treated like a hero. This has to be very good for her long-term political career. All the villagers scrub up well for the service in the tiny church, apart from Bardur keeping his trademark wooly hat on until Hinrika jabs him in the ribs.
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'Trapped: Series 2' – Episodes 3 & 4

This is a full review of episodes 3 and 4 of Trapped so don’t read on unless you’re up to date.
Welcome to this week’s episodes of Trapped aka racist Lord of the Rings, well sort of.  The Hammer of Thor group are in the ascendency, racing around in the north embroiled in various criminal enterprises, large and small. The director must have heard my complaints about the first episodes; they’ve saved the greatest landscape shots for this week as we see Skuli evade the search team and murder a dog. Two dog deaths now in just 3 episodes. My top tip: never be a dog in a Scandi noir.
The Case
Incarcerated Torfi reveals a vague threat about “what happens today” which gives a real sense of pressure on the whole episode. Could the Hammer of Thor group have set a bomb at the location the Mayor will use to sign the controversial deal with American Aluminium? Could it be another attack on the plant? Rabble-rouser Ketill is delighted to be in front of the TV news cameras on his release from custody but desperate for his son to be found safe. On reflection Skuli’s white horse was a poor choice in a muddy green landscape. When Skuli is finally found he’s given up hiding as he is as sick as a dog (although not quite as sick as the one he stabbed previously). Could this be exposure as he’s been on the mountainside for days, or something more sinister. I immediately thought poison, but I’ve been conditioned by detective dramas. Aha! I was right, and we’ve seen him drinking from a stream. Is this the ecological disaster the angry farmers were predicting?
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'Trapped: Series 2' – Episodes 1 & 2

This is a full review of episodes 1 and 2 of Trapped so don’t read on unless you’re up to date.
Trapped Series 1 was an extraordinary bit of television, the first ever Icelandic drama broadcast on British TV. The first series was the highest rated series ever on RUV, watched by 86% of TV households in Iceland. In the UK it passed 1.2 million viewers on BBC Four. Safe to say then that series 2 has quite a bit to live up to. I’m hoping it’s worth getting excited about.
Bearded man-mountain Ólafur Darri Ólafsson reprises his role as chief police inspector Andri now back in Reykjavik when he is entrusted with an extremely high-profile case. In classic nasty Scandi style we have an immediately gripping immolation opener which is fascinating even as you recoil in horror. Gisli an impoverished sheep farmer from the Icelandic Highlands sets himself on fire in front of the government building, trying to kill the Minister of Economic Affairs who just happens to be his twin sister. Andri is back on top again – a rise so meteoric I’m surprised he doesn’t have a nosebleed. From zero to hero thanks to his hard work and persistence in Series 1. In the first five minutes he’s already chatting to Iceland’s Prime Minister who cuts right to the heart of all Scandi noir motivations – was this attack personal or political?
Vikingur (early contender for best name of the series) is Gisli’s son, working at the controversial aluminium plant up north. As in the first series we get a break from subtitles thanks to the international element here in this industry; something that right-wing Icelanders like the Hammer of Thor group are protesting against – who profits from the devastation this plant causes to their landscape and their livestock? Vikingur already has a lot on his plate before his father’s horrible suicide – he’s in a relationship with Ebo, a black colleague who seems like he’s in the country illegally.
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'Bodyguard' – BBC1

Jed Mercurio’s new six-part drama has been teased by pretty much all of the journalists and bloggers who were lucky enough to catch previews this week. He’s riding high with the continued success of Line of Duty, the next series of which was delayed Bodyguard – a timely story about trust, fear and terrorism. As promised, the first 20 minutes were edge-of-your-seat action hero stuff, but is there enough here to maintain interest for five more episodes?
Richard Madden is David Budd (looking about 600% more macho than the late lamented Robb Stark he played on Game of Thrones), a traumatised soldier back from Afghanistan. His brave and selfless actions foil a terrorist plot to blow up a train filled with passengers, including his own children. Both terrorists are also unharmed, again thanks to him. Desperate brainwashed Nadia (we find out her name a long way into her and David’s conversation – I thought textbook negotiation tactics are to get people’s names as a priority) is talked down from pressing the button on her suicide belt by stony-faced Dave. He then embraces her to keep the army from shooting her dead. Interestingly, everyone on the train ready to pull the trigger and make a mess is female. He’s in the nurturing role, caring for his children, for poor confused Nadia and trying to keep the peace. Everyone escapes, traumatised but alive. Well of course – not even Mercurio is going to blow up his main character in the first episode. Or at least, not this time.
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Eurovision 2018 – the Grand Final

Well I told you it’d be a vintage year and well worth tuning in for, but I did not expect that. What a night! Let’s try to put some of the craziness in context. I’m not even sure where to begin.
So Eurovision 2018 gave us a huge variety of music with many genres represented. In my lifetime I never thought I’d see anyone stage dive at Eurovision! The way the initial jury voting went the field wide open with any of 6 or 7 songs that could have won. There was pop, metal, dance, ballads, opera and loads of different languages on show, mainly by people who all looked the same. So much for diversity, but baby steps. We also had four female presenters, none of them particularly gifted in comedy or the essential schmoozy green-room chat, but fully female-fronted is a big deal. This was especially obvious as creep after creep giving the jury votes commented on their appearance, hilariously the Portuguese man was the absolute worst. He made my ovaries cringe and shrivel up inside me. Ick.
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