Summer Heights High
We don’t get much Australian TV on the beeb do we? I was pleased to bump into this ABC comedy ‘Summer Heights High‘ on iPlayer. It’s a slightly dark, slightly edgy, very funny mockumentary. Here’s episode two.
Episode one is still up, so you can start there, but you’ll have to be very quick.
Delta Forever
I must confess that I plucked this at random out of the ‘sitcoms‘ section on iPlayer, not having seen or heard anything about it, so I wasn’t expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised by it though. It sort of crept up on me and by the end I was really impressed with the cast and [...]
Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts
A group of British teens coming face to face with the brutal reality of life in the slums of Dharavi in Mumbai. I can’t tell if I’m informed, educated, heartbroken, inspired by the story or like, irritated by the largely idiotic (though sometimes surprisingly insightful) teenagers. It is OK to be all of those things?
I’m [...]
Panorama: predictions from 1960
Wasn’t the world a scary place in 1960? This programme does what we’d all like to do: have a good dig through the BBC’s prodigious archive material. It centers around Panorama clips from 1960, with Richard Dimbleby and Robin Day presenting predictions about what the 60s were going to hold for the world.
There’s a rather [...]
Briefings - Stephen Fry
Jem recently put us on to Briefings. In this most recent lecture, Stephen Fry shares his thoughts on the future of public service broadcasting. He’s as intelligent and perceptive as you’ve expect. Here’s a short quote (from around 19m50s).
…It has the iPlayer on its site too, streaming content to UK users only. But hell, there’s [...]
The Noisiest Have I Got News For You Ever
I’m very pleased that Have I Got News For You is back. Here’s the latest show (episode three) from the current run (series thirty-five! Can you believe it?).
In these post-Angus Deayton days we get to enjoy different presenters in each show. This week, the marvelously loud Brian Blessed. Joining them are the MP Alan Duncan [...]
Louis Theroux’s African Hunting Holiday
The first thing from Louis Theroux we’ve seen for a while. Whatever your views on hunting, the questions this raises around hunting near-tame animals in enclosed parks are powerful (would fishing in a barrel full of fish be fun?), and there’s probably something of interest for you here.
Worth it for the climactic discussion around 50 [...]
Wonderland - The Curious World of Frinton-on-Sea
This is surreal documentary. As sad as it is strange.
Frinton is clearly an unusual place. It didn’t get a pub until the year 2000, though the documentary focuses on the more recent struggle against the modernisation of the railway crossing. The real treasure here lies in the more eccentric (sometimes lovable, sometimes worrying) characters [...]
Rob Brydon’s Identity Crisis
Rob Brydon chats with lots of people, including Howard ‘Mr Nice’ Mark, Victor Spinetti, Griff Rhys Jones, three of the rappers from Goldie Looking Chain and A. A. Gill.
It could easily have been a lightweight vehicle for the stand-up act in which it culminates, but there are many interesting and insightful moments. The whole thing [...]
Life in Cold Blood: Dragons of the Dry
I’m convinced that David Attenborough could narrate a bowl of noodles and it would seem fascinating. Fortunately (for him and us) the reptiles covered in this week’s Life in Cold Blood would actually have been interesting even before he started talking about them.
In this hour-long wildlife extravaganza, you’ve got geckos from Bangkok, wrestling lizards, Sir [...]
