There are THREE great documentaries this week
That “Jade Goody” documentary is worth your time. So is “Woodstock” and “The Family”
Hello,
Back after a week off, it’s back. This is the Worth Watching email. Hope you are good.
Here’s a few things that have been on my mind over the past 288 hours:
I am still not over Netflix cancelling The OA. Why? Because it was more than just a good drama: it showed us just what streaming television can offer over conventional television (episode lengths that change to suit the story, for example). It also ended with one of the most ridiculously good, and most ridiculously WTF, cliffhangers of my life. I wrote about this for The Guardian.
Next week is the Edinburgh TV Festival. That’s where a lot of channels will make announcements of what is coming to our screens for the rest of the year. Keep an eye out.
Oh and The Crown is back on the 17th November 2019 with OLIVIA COLMAN.
I cannot write OLIVIA COLMAN without it coming out in capslock apologies.
Here are some shows you should be watching this week:
Jade: The Reality Star Who Changed Britain (All4 and Channel 4, Wednesday 9pm) - This is a sensational documentary. It is one of those docs that covers a subject you think you know a lot about, but actually, you know quite little. This is more than a doc on the life of Jade Goody too; the themes it touches on feed into, rather coincidentally, the discussions we’re having right now about who is exactly responsible for the welfare of reality show contestants after they have become famous and for how long.
The first episode, last week, looks into how Jade’s rise to fame. The second episode covers that Celebrity Big Brother racist incident and a TV show spiralling out of control. It’s somewhat surprising to see Big Brother executives talking so candidly about an event on the very channel where it all happened in the first place. Channel 4 should have showed this documentary on consecutive nights.
Woodstock - Three Days that Defined a Generation (BBC Four this Friday) - This too is a documentary well worth watching, looking back at the 50th anniversary of the festival and why it has stayed with us. What you learn quite quickly was how this was essentially Fyre Festival but in 1969: the organisers had no experience and no knowledge in running a festival, they had to change location with weeks to go, there was poor sanitation, poor security, poor infrastructure. Heck, people abandoned their cars from miles around as they couldn’t get in.
So why did one festival crash and burn and the other become iconic? Well, apart from the fact that Woodstock was just outside New York whilst the other was in the Bahamas, it all comes down to greed. Woodstock went ahead even though the organisers knew that they would not be able to easily recover the money when it all fell apart and attendance went out of control (it has been estimated that more than 400,000 attended). Attendees also expected some sort of anarchy, because it was 1969. With Fyre, people got locked in an airport trying to get home.
The Family (Netflix) - Put on your tinfoil conspiracy hats everyone! This five part series investigates a secret religious organisation that has been close to the heart of Washington politics for more than 70 years, close to both advising democratic and republican parties. But it's an organisation that apparently nobody, not even many working in Washington, know anything about.
At times you are shocked by the apparent of abuse of power; at other times you question whether the documentary is making a big fuss out of nothing. To be honest, that’s half the fun. It’s also a relief that Netflix has a documentary series worth your time once more.
Some other shows worth dipping your toe in if you haven’t already:
Succession (Now TV) - Yep, the drama with that billionaire family who are all horrible to each other. To be honest, it doesn’t kick off until the sixth episode of the first series, and when you are in, you are IN. The second season has just kicked off yesterday. New episodes are out weekly.
Euphoria (Now TV) - Loads of people have compared this to Skins but essentially it is better than Skins. It treats issues surrounding mental health, addiction and low self-worth more thoughtfully than the British version, having watched back some old episodes of Skins a couple of years back.
This Way Up (All episodes on Channel 4’s All 4) - This Aisling Bea comedy is tender, well-written and a real grower with every episode. Do watch.
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What I’ve been up to: My documentary and discussion about whether LGBTQ+ lives are getting harder is available to listen to on BBC Sounds. Also, subscribe to the Must Watch podcast, which discusses shows like the ones above on 5 Live every Monday.
That’s all for this week. If you have gotten sucked into a show and you want other people to know about it, respond with your recommendation to this email address and it might just feature next week.
Have a great one,
Scotty x