Worth Watching: "Happy Valley" (obviously), "Nolly" and "Pamela, A Love Story"
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Hello,
Welcome to Worth Watching. Hope you’re having a good week.
Yes, this newsletter will be mentioning Happy Valley.
But don’t worry, there won’t be spoilers here.
THE BEST SHOW OF THE YEAR SO FAR
Happy Valley (all episodes on BBC iPlayer) – Going into the final ever episode of Happy Valley, the hype and expectations were so sky-high that it felt frankly impossible for the conclusion of this gripping Sally Wainwright drama to satisfy them. And yet, without revealing exactly what happened, the plot succeeded.
It was electrifying, riveting, brilliant television, with career-best performances by James Norton and Sarah Lancashire. If you haven’t got around to watching the series yet, I kind of envy you. You can now comfortably start watching, knowing that it isn’t going to all unravel at the final hurdle.
It can seem a bit cliché with such platitudes, I know. But trust me on this. Happy Valley will stand the test of time as one of the all-time greats.
A GREAT BIOGRAPHICAL DRAMA
Nolly (all episodes on ITVX) – Helena Bonham Carter stars in a three-part biographical comedy-drama exploring the life of Noele Gordon, or “Nolly,” who starred as Meg in the iconic ITV drama Crossroads. Nolly was in the soap for nearly two decades and despite being a favourite with viewers, she was unceremoniously ditched from the show and neither audiences (nor Nolly herself) were given an explanation as to why.
I really liked this Russell T Davies-penned drama because, at its heart, it is a love letter to television. The very first scene features Nolly arriving at a television studio to pose in front of a new technological breakthrough: a colour camera. The person who greets Nolly and asks her to pose? The Scottish television inventor John Logie Baird.
Like James Graham’s Quiz (2020), there’s also something so enjoyable about watching a scandal on an ITV show unfurl in a show on ITV. The series does sag a bit in the middle (I think this could have been a two-parter rather than three), but heck is it still enjoyable.
AN INSIGHTFUL DOCUMENTARY
Pamela, A Love Story (one episode on Netflix) – A revealing two-hour documentary exploring the life of the actress and model Pamela Anderson, based on diaries that have been given unredacted to the executive producers. There’s a lot here. It unpacks the serious amount of misogyny she has faced throughout the years, including agonising sequences when you hear awful quips from male late-night TV hosts.
A large part of it is a rebuttal to the Pam & Tommy series, which debuted on Disney+ last year. The drama, which starred Lily James and Sebastian Stan, explored how an intimate tape of Anderson and her ex-husband Tommy Lee was stolen from their house and subsequently uploaded in the early years of the internet.
AND TWO OTHER DECENT SHOWS:
Maternal (ITVX) – A fresh medical drama starring Parminder Nagra, Lara Pulver, and Lisa McGrillis. Following three female doctors returning to front-line medical and maternity care, you might expect something similar to the acclaimed Ben Whishaw and Ambika Mod series This Is Going To Hurt, but the tone feels strikingly different.
Physical 100 (Netflix) – If you are on the lookout for something rather mindless, there’s a Squid Game-like reality show on Netflix where 100 very muscular people wrestle each other, or hold onto a frame without falling into a swimming pool for the longest. I’ve forgotten what the point of the show actually is. So will you, rather quickly, but you end up not really caring anyway.
A LITTLE BIT OF NEWS:
Sky says that it is seeking a ‘less is more’ approach to making new shows going forward. Less than a year ago they greenlit more than 200 originals. You wonder whether it's because they want to focus more on shows that have a high impact, or whether it's a reflection of a slowdown in the streaming wars.
Eurovision plans are firmly underway in Liverpool, with less than four months to go. The only thing you should know is that tickets will be on sale from the end of February, so get your skates on.
WHERE TO FIND ME THIS WEEK:
I interviewed James Norton for GQ about that Happy Valley scene, featuring lots of behind-the-scenes info about that incredible final scene. There are a lot of great quotes by Norton: “You’ve got Sally Wainwright at her absolute best. Sarah Lancashire, standing opposite me, giving her absolute best. These absolute heroes, these Queens of our industry, are the best there are. So it was an absolute privilege. I know actors throw those big words around a lot, but it was genuinely one of the most special moments of my career.”
I wrote for the New Statesman about why debates on LGBTQ+ culture on daytime television can be so harmful: “They may be easy fodder for television and radio producers, but they are uncomfortable to many queer people. The work of an LGBTQ+ artist is deemed inappropriate and ghastly for children, while heteronormative equivalents are waved through without controversy.”
I was on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row to talk about Deep Fake Neighbour Wars and the ethical dilemmas that artificial intelligence poses to the future of television.
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Thanks so much for reading,
Scotty / @scottygb