Worth Watching: “The Salisbury Poisonings”, “Big Brother’s Best Shows Ever,” "Hillary" and more...
After a short break, the Worth Watching email is back...
Hello,
Welcome to the Worth Watching Newsletter, your TV guide highlighting the shows you should be watching. If you’re getting a bit bored of the anxiety-fuelled half lockdown we’re currently experiencing, I hope this helps a little bit.
I May Destroy You (BBC iPlayer) - Michaela Coel’s drama on consent and sexual assault can be difficult to watch at times, but you won’t regret sticking with it. Based on her own experiences, this drama feels like a message to anyone who has experienced sexual trauma, and an acknowledgement and understanding of the difficulties and complexities of recovery. It’s also equally a drama for those who have not experienced such trauma, helping you understand how you can support someone who has.
But don’t assume that sexual assault is all it's about; it's much more than that. The 12-parter is warm and hopeful - a love letter to friendships and the cities that we live in. In fact that latter point resonates just that little bit more as it airs at a time when our cities continue to look and feel different than we would want them to. There’s two episodes available a week, with the first four already out on iPlayer.
Hillary (Sky Documentaries) - For a few years the streaming service Now TV has felt like a random assortment of US dramas and comedies you’ve been meaning to get round to watching, but never quite managed. No longer. Three new channels have just launched on the service in the last few weeks, including one on nature and history, but the most interesting is channel specifically to showcase HBO and British documentaries. I’ve already binged on a six part investigative series looking into the McDonalds Monopoly scam called McMillion$. Now there’s another that is definitely a recommendation for the US political geeks out there: a four-part series that looks at the Hillary Clinton 2016 Presidential campaign, mostly consisting of interviews with Hillary herself.
The most compelling part of the series is the behind-the-scenes footage from the moments before and after her debates with Trump and Election Night itself. You literally feel as if you’re in the room with all of her assistants and advisors.
The Salisbury Poisonings (BBC iPlayer) - This is an engrossing and heartbreaking three part BBC drama looking at how the local authorities and community responded to the 2018 chemical weapons attack in Salisbury. Instead of dwelling on the work of the security services and why Sergei and Yulia had been specifically targeted (a topic that may not yield many answers), the drama focuses on the local authorities and how the community reacted to the unprecedented incident and decontaminated the scene. There’s a feeling of constant dread whilst watching this; even though the incident resulted in the tragic death of Dawn Sturgess and the hospitalisation of several others, without the quick thinking of experts the chemical weapons attack could have resulted in the deaths of scores of people, even hundreds. If you’re interested in this kind of dread-inducing real life thing, also consider watching Chernobyl on Now TV.
Big Brother’s Best Shows Ever(E4) - Over 10 days, E4 is showing us some of the most memorable moments from Big Brother from both the Channel 4 and Channel 5 series. On Sunday we saw the Nasty Nick series, on Monday the one with Chantelle (the celeb series with George Galloway, Dennis Rodman, Jodie Marsh and Maggot - what a booking). On Tuesday it’s the Nikki Grahame series, featuring my first ever crush on television (Glyn!).
This series is not just for Big Brother obsessives. It’s just a complete noughties-fest. You’ll realise how much we have changed in only a few years, from our interior designs to the type of shows we now have on TV. Credit goes to the show for actually showing us near uninterrupted scenes instead of relying on talking heads talking about how great everything once was. It’s also made me realise that a summer of repeats could actually work on television, so long as they are well-crafted and are shows that we haven’t seen on television for quite some time.
And a recommendation from Steve Holden (@SteveH1982) - A House Through Time (BBC iPlayer) - “A House Through Time is basically Who Do You Think You Are for bricks and mortar. It's a look at who's lived in one house in Bristol since it was built centuries ago. Sounds a bit dry but it's utterly fascinating and brilliantly presented by David Olusoga. And after the events of the past few weeks, it's relevant too, providing some context and history about the slave trade in the city.”
If you have a TV recommendation you want other people to know about, just respond with your recommendation to this email address.
Some other little TV tidbits:
EastEnders finishes its first series on Tuesday night, after 6123 episodes. The soap will be off-air whilst new ‘socially distant’ episodes are in production, so expect a sleuth of behind-the-scenes and best ofs in the meantime.
In case you are wondering, we are on day 86 of the lockdown. Lockdown would need to last 94 days to be longer than any series of Big Brother, which was the eighth series won by Brian Belo.
Here’s where to listen / look out for me:
On the latest Must Watch podcast on BBC Radio 5 Live, we spoke Salisbury Poisonings actor Annabel Scholey and writer Declan Lawn. Michael Sheen, who stars in Staged, also swings by for a chat.
On this week’s Podcast Radio Hour with Amanda Litherland I swing by with some recommendations, from Changes with Annie Macto Boom/Bust: The Rise and Fall of HQ Trivia. The episode will be available this Friday.
And I’m also on BBC Radio 5 Live on Wednesday night between 11pm-midnight with TV and film recommendations to tide you over the next few months. I’ll be on with Michelle Ackerley.
That’s all for now. Have a great week.
Scotty / @scottygb