Worth Watching: "The Crown," "Louis Theroux Interviews" and "The English"
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Hello
Welcome to Worth Watching. Hope you’re doing well.
I wouldn’t recommend bingeing a lot of television at the moment, simply because the schedules are about to be interrupted by the World Cup starting on the 20th November. With Christmas not long after the end of the tournament, expect a lot of new dramas and documentaries to be held back until after the New Year.
TALKING POINT OF THE WEEK
The Crown (Netflix - all episodes) - There’s no escaping the fact that this has been a controversial series of the hugely popular Royal Family drama, with the most fierce criticism being that in the plot it isn’t entirely clear what is fact and what is fiction. Then there’s the fact that a lot we’ll simply never know whether it is true or not, simply because many of these conversations took place behind closed doors.
Yet … I still binged all ten episodes in literally two days. I bet you will as well. The appeal of this show for me is that it manages to explore modern British history (and our changing media landscape) in the same depth that it manages to explore the relationships between members of the Royal Family. The most compelling episode of the series is in fact an episode looking at the media. In particular, the BBC and how former journalist Martin Bashir deceived Diana in order to secure that infamous Panorama interview.
For anyone who is interested in the veracity of certain plot points, this article in The Times has been very useful. Also listen out to The News Agents, where Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall break down some of the big plot points of the series.
DOCUMENTARY OF THE WEEK
Louis Theroux Interviews… (BBC iPlayer - three episodes so far) - At the start of the pandemic Louis Theroux was not able to make any television documentaries, so he decided to make a BBC Sounds podcast series where he would interview people he found interesting. These interviews ended up becoming so popular that they’ve turned the podcast format into a television series. That’s right! It’s a full W1A circle!
There are three 50 minute episodes out so far (Stormzy, Yungblud and Dame Judi Dench.) Whilst all three episodes are worth your time, Dench is by far the most entertaining interviewee, telling Theroux to “shut up” when he at one point refers to her as a “national treasure.” She also nearly murdered Theroux on camera when he implies that she is old enough to have lived through both World Wars.
A DECENT (COMPLEX) DRAMA
The English (BBC Two - all six episodes) - A new drama written and created filmmaker Hugo Blick, who is known for upmarket, distinctive, compelling work such as Black Earth Rising (starring Michaela Coel and John Goodman) and The Honourable Woman (starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Andrew Buchan.)
Set in the 1840s, the six part Western looks at the relationship between a Pawnee ex-cavalry scout called Eli Whipp (played by Chaske Spencer) and Lady Cornelia Locke (Emily Blunt), an aristocratic Englishwoman. And despite this drama having a clearly lower budget than many other prestige dramas at the moment, the cinematography will simply take your breath away. Even the way the camera captures the dust coming off someone’s boots look somehow mesmerising.
Like Hugo Blick’s other work, the plot can be complex and even, at times, hard to follow. Yet, stick with it. All of the plot strands come together and the feeling when they do so can feel very rewarding. I can only describe watching this drama as like solving a Rubik's cube (for the record, I have never been able to solve a Rubik's cube.)
TWO OTHER SHOWS WORTH YOUR TIME:
Kids’ TV: The Surprising Story (BBC iPlayer) - Presented by former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq, this one-off sixty minuter looks at how children’s television was often more forward thinking than a lot of TV aimed at adults.
Una Marson: Our Lost Caribbean Voice (BBC iPlayer) - A fantastic documentary looking at the broadcaster, poet and playwright Una Marson. She was the first Black broadcaster and producer working at the BBC, who worked alongside George Orwell and T.S. Elliot.
AND SOME RATINGS NEWS:
As Netflix are now transparently showing their ratings of popular programmes, it is now popular to compare Netflix alongside BBC and ITV programmes on a daily basis. The first episode of the fifth season of The Crown was watched by 1.11 million people in the UK on Wednesday. Meanwhile, 7.59 million people watched Matt Hancock entering the jungle on I’m A Celeb on ITV later that evening.
These figures are really interesting. For one thing, the number of people watching The Crown appears surpr!singly low. Yet, these figures *won’t* include anyone watching on a tablet, laptop or mobile device.
And whilst the number of people watching The Crown might appear surprisingly low, it tends to be that people watch shows on Netflix days or weeks after its release. I’m A Celeb has more of a sense of urgency.
And then there’s the fact that many of us could have The Crown followed by I’m A Celebrity, as The Crown was released earlier that day.
WHERE TO FIND ME THIS WEEK:
I wrote for British Vogue about Kit Connor: “Kit Connor did not and does not owe us anything. And what feels contradictory about the whole situation was that not pressuring someone to tell you about their sexuality was a key message of Heartstopper.” I also spoke about this on BBC Radio 5 Live and Pinned.
I wrote for The Guardian about how much Bake Off has gone off the boil this series: “Even if the bakers’ creations are disappointing, Bake Off has never been a place to tear people down. It’s Bake Off! A programme that has been all about celebrating the good rather than dwelling on the bad. If you want harsh critiques, there are plenty of other shows that already cater for you.”
On Must Watch this week we reviewed Amazon Prime Video’s Mammals and BBC Two’s The English. You can subscribe to the podcast on BBC Sounds.
Thanks so much for reading.
We’ll be back next week with another edition.
Scotty / @scottygb on Twitter /@scottygb on Instagram (if Twitter goes under)