Women in Black
Simple and fascinating cultural literacy doc. What’s it like for the women in a middle class Yemeni home? Clothes, hair, shopping, going out, getting high: it’s all here. British-Yemeni woman Amani Zain takes a camera crew back her family’s home in Aden and introduces us to the complicated habits and passions of the Muslim Arab [...]
Newsnight: the London Mayoral debate
I’m all in favour of elected Mayors. They really brighten up a city’s politics. Last night’s Newsnight debate between the three top candidates was a democratic treat but also really good, knockabout entertainment. Paddick couldn’t have looked more like a copper if he’d been swinging a truncheon (it’s the ramrod back and shiny shoes) and [...]
Horizon: What on Earth is Wrong with Gravity?
I’ve been trawling the BBC channels at YouTube for stuff to put up at Watchification but it’s a pretty unsatisfying experience. As far as I can tell there are just clips from shows you’ve already seen (or would like to have seen) and trailers. Nothing special, nothing made for the platform (somebody will correct me [...]
Super Rich: The Greed Game
Finally I can stop pretending to know what ’sub prime’ means by using it for things that are a bit pony, and understand it properly instead. Sort of. This is very good at explaining the whole Northern Rock blah as simply as is possible for financial illiterates like me. Thankfully also, Robert Peston follows [...]
Them
A Saturday lunchtime doc about teen tribes, aimed at members of said tribes, from the BBC’s ‘teen brand’ Switch. Not hard-hitting, not an exposé; no ASBOs, nothing feral here. It’s a kind of Observer’s Guide (useful for you trend watchers). The teens featured (a skater and an ‘indie’ in this episode) take a joyful, uncomplicated [...]
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 [...]
Storyville: All White in Barking
I think this is the second programme from BBC2’s ‘White‘ series we’ve featured here. This one, from the venerable Storyville strand, has quite a lot in common with Henry Singer’s Last Orders from last week: lingering, uncomfortable head-shots, difficult questions posed from behind the camera and a refusal to gloss over awkward opinions. It’s a [...]
