Now 2016 is over, I just thought I'd round up with a few very brief words on a few bits of telly I've yet to review from throughout the year...
THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF 2016
*Sniff...sniff*...well that is it...BBC Bake Off is no more...and the last series was quite a lovely way, as ever to go out on. Yes we were all giving Paul Hollywood the evil looks through our sets for being the money-grabbing sell-out he is (shock horror) and we were also in turn savouring every look, remark and gesture of the divine Mary Berry, as well as the splendid hilarity of Mel and Sue. And yes, I for one was just trying to soak up all the remnants Bake Off had to offer, as it is of course now a full gone conclusion that it will never be the same (possibly not even worth watching) when it moves to Channel 4.
Naturally there was the final crop of contestants, including the forever chilled Selasi, and of course winner Candice who I quite liked too. But really, 2016 was all about saying a heartfelt, gutting yet fond farewell to Bake Off, and after two slightly flat but warming Christmas Specials, and a final simple, dignified and touching Thank You montage...that is exactly what we as a telly nation did.
THE MUSKETEERS - SERIES 3
Also earlier in the year we said goodbye to another series, and messrs d'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis as the BBC's The Musketeers bowed out after 3 seasons.
Again, as with Bake Off, to me this was about savouring the moment. As I've said before when reviewing this show (see BLOG ARCHIVE) it is not perfect at all in my opinion, but still good, old-fashioned, swash-buckling escapism. Yet I feel there was some attempted intensity in the drama, and a bit more forced pathos as things were winding up that didn't quite ring true which slightly marred the last hurrah, but ultimately I'm glad (most of) the main characters got a relatively happy ending, and just at the last minute the series was finished into what most would consider a proper conclusion, yet I for one thought at least one more season could have been possible, and broadly speaking I'll be sad to see this one go.
ROVERS
Simple, light-hearted, tending slightly toward the crass and vulgar at times, Rovers was one of Sky One's new ventures in the summer, centring around a struggling local league football club, and the characters it attracts as fans.
Broadly speaking I enjoyed it; Diane Morgan and the brilliant Steve Spiers being my favourite casting highlights; I think sadly Sue Johnston fell a tad flat and Craig Cash (whilst directing and executing a good format) did seem to unjustly hog the limelight a bit.
Still, a good simple sitcom that made me chuckle.
Marcella
Also making a debut was the glorious Anna Friel as the titular Marcella.
Overall, I didn't feel this series differentiated itself too much from most other hopeful breakthrough crime/cop shows, however it did have enough of a twist, enough of an injection of grit, high-pace, drama and a powerful turn from the ever-watchable Anna Friel to compel me to watch (and to apparently garner another future series).
Undercover
Whilst Marcella made up ITV's new crime drama offerings, over on the other channel, Undercover made up the BBC's.
Now I am fully aware that Sophie Okonedo is a very accomplished, talented actress; I have seen her in various other things which I enjoyed.
However, hers in Undercover is the most pithy, pathetically arrogant, over-assuming, overly-dramatic, self-centred, self-promoting, self-indulgent, pointless "performance" I have seen on telly in a long time. I can see the idea in giving her such a powerful, heavy role in such a powerful piece, but in my opinion she just does not do it justice at all, in pretty much any of it. And the fact that the people behind Undercover seemed to set the whole show up around Okonedo and her character as the be all and end all had me going from intrigued at an interesting undercover/police corruption concept to seething every time I saw her on screen (particularly her apparent "seizure" moments) and hoping her character would be quickly killed off (which she wasn't).
She ruined the whole programme for me, yet the only saving grace was Adrian Lester, the on screen husband/undercover cop. For all the mire and self-absorbed misery Okonedo inflicted on me as a viewer, Adrian Lester managed to deliver a believable, relatively understated and enjoyable performance to match.
Annoyingly they seemed to be setting this up for another series. Rest assured I will not be watching.
The Durrells
Fun, liberating, hilarious, compelling, very British yet intrinsically Greek, pure escapism, ITV's The Durrells (based on the autobiographical writings of renowned naturalist Gerald Durrell) tells the story of the noble, fun, kind but also ditsy, struggling and eccentric Durrell family who up sticks from Bournemouth and move unsuspectingly to Corfu.
Lunacy and chaos of course ensues, and though the script and plot developments are not the most original or indeed gripping you will ever see, this series is done so well, and the results are so charming that it easily holds you from beginning to end.
The cast and Durrell unit is led by Keeley Hawes, who manages to portray a character of quintessential period English charm, woefully gung-ho attitude and sass, sexy alluring singleton, and utterly charming matriarch all in one. Truly to my mind, this is the best programme I've seen Keeley Hawes in.
Other casting highlights for me include two of the Durrell children - Daisy Waterstone as wayward Margo, whose lack of grip on the realities and social etiquette of life oddly does not get boring, and Milo Parker, the young actor who has already carved out a very distinguished career for himself (see my review of him in Mr. Holmes in the BLOG ARCHIVE for more) and is going from strength to strength, as evidenced by his superb portrayal throughout as a young Gerald Durrell.
But really, this series strives to provide a bit of something for everyone, and rare though it is, I think by and large they have indeed succeeded, and I am greatly looking forward to the second outing when it arrives in 2017.
PERIOD DRAMA DOUBLE
Victoria
And quite simply, Jenna Coleman is Victoria. She is brilliant; regal, powerful, beautiful, sexy, sassy, commanding, exuding chemistry opposite any other character or all on her own. She is quite rightly the star of the show. What's more, she is backed up by some stellar performances, including that of Tom Hughes as the queen's husband Prince Albert, and Rufus Sewell who totally and perfectly owns every second as Victoria's favoured Prime Minister Lord Melbourne.
Truly, the cast is brilliant. Though a few performances fell flat for me, including that of Victoria's mother played by Catherine Flemming who I just found annoying quite quickly, and sadly Peter Firth as the "villainous" Duke of Cumberland who just seemed very wooden to me in his portrayal of a clichéd German rival to the throne.
However all in all, the casting is superb, and the performances match, even down to the serving roles brought to life by the delightful Eve Myles and Adrian Schiller.
Though the pace of the plot got a tad laboured at times, overall I found Victoria to be a barnstorming brilliant piece, packed with intrigue, superb acting and the end result was a series that captivated, and one which I am not at all surprised has been renewed well into 2017.
Poldark - Series 2
Going toe-toe with ITV's Victoria in the ratings battle, was the second outing of everyone's favourite period Cornish miner/brooding soldier/struggling aristocrat/hapless grass-cutter. Yes, Poldark was back. I enjoyed series one (see BLOG ARCHIVE) and broadly speaking I found series two to give us more of the same.
Oh yes there was the odd new character injection, my particular favourite being John Nettles, and the odd tragic, climactic and at times controversial influx into the plot, such as the actually very sad demise of Francis Poldark, and that now debatable 'yes/no rape/passionate' interaction between Ross Poldark and his first love Elizabeth,
However in most senses, there was the same level of period touches, enough of a sense of consistent drama, the same characters we know and love, and love to hate, and a whole lot of mining, pistols at dawn and riding around coastal cliffs on horseback.
As in series one, performance highlights for me included Ruby Bentall as Verity, Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza Poldark, who I felt dealt with her character's climactic and at times volatile series arc very well, and of course the brilliant Caroline Blakiston as the superb Aunt Agatha (if nothing else, the series is worth watching just for her reactions, one-liners or any scene she's in!).
I have no doubt that Poldark's success will continue to rise, and overall I do not begrudge it that. It is very well done, not too fast and not too slow, period drama escapism .
Oh yes there was the odd new character injection, my particular favourite being John Nettles, and the odd tragic, climactic and at times controversial influx into the plot, such as the actually very sad demise of Francis Poldark, and that now debatable 'yes/no rape/passionate' interaction between Ross Poldark and his first love Elizabeth,
However in most senses, there was the same level of period touches, enough of a sense of consistent drama, the same characters we know and love, and love to hate, and a whole lot of mining, pistols at dawn and riding around coastal cliffs on horseback.
As in series one, performance highlights for me included Ruby Bentall as Verity, Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza Poldark, who I felt dealt with her character's climactic and at times volatile series arc very well, and of course the brilliant Caroline Blakiston as the superb Aunt Agatha (if nothing else, the series is worth watching just for her reactions, one-liners or any scene she's in!).
I have no doubt that Poldark's success will continue to rise, and overall I do not begrudge it that. It is very well done, not too fast and not too slow, period drama escapism .
NATIONAL TREASURE
Based on Operation Yewtree, National Treasure was the incredibly hard-hitting, solidly gritty, and wistfully intricate Channel 4 four-part drama, detailing the series of events that leads Robbie Coltrane's fictional television actor and comedian Paul Finchley (though many real-life parallels can easily be surmised, and are often heavily referenced) being arrested and charged for a series of sexual assaults, and the events that follow.
Obviously incredibly relevant, both in relation to the last few years and in terms of issues arising still today, I found National Treasure to be as I say incredibly powerful, very dark (though not really straying out of the stylised subtlety it quickly adopts) and all-in-all very well performed. To me, it is one of those shows you cannot fully sit back and enjoy, because it is so good at realistically portraying the tough, brutal yet again very relevant subject matter at its centre, but I was impressed with how easily the series managed to establish a knack of always looking at most, if not all the individual issues and imagined "scenarios" from every angle. There is pathos on all fronts; the writing and performances are so nuanced, individual and believable that the true motives and actions of each character keep you guessing right until the very end - reaching one simple answer to: guilty or not guilty? I always appreciate it when fictional dramas incorporate 'real-life' figures and institutions, and this series doing just that (from Frank Skinner to Victoria Derbyshire, from the offices of Channel 4 and the BBC to Alan Carr) only helps to make the whole thing very real.
In terms of performance, I didn't really spot a particularly bad one, which is just as well as a concept like this needs strong actors to hammer it home in the right way, and that is just what we got. Whilst I found Robbie Coltrane's portrayal of Paul Finchley to be a tad self-absorbed at times, by and large he inhabited the role to a tee. And he was backed up by staunchly superb performances by some superb acting talents, such as Tim McInnery, the ever-brilliant Julie Walters, and a really surprising yet mind-blowing performance for me from the incredible Andrea Riseborough.
Yes of course, the subject matter is barely palatable, but I feel shows like this are important, and National Treasure deals with the matters at hand in a very believable, powerful, and above all just the right way. It keeps you guessing and keeps you hooked, and I think Channel 4 at the end of the day is to be commended for it.
MAIGRET'S Dead Man
Back in March 2016, ITV teased us with the unveiling of the superb Rowan Atkinson as Jules Maigret, in a new revamp of the French detective classic. On Christmas Day 2016, they gave us the last of "series one" with a second episode: Maigret's Dead Man,
In reviewing episode one (again, see the BLOG ARCHIVE) I said that whilst Rowan Atkinson was surely strong enough to carry what was occasionally a floundering script, concept and executed show, there was surely potential for a few more.
Well with the first of "a few more" the stakes and the quality I found went up a degree or two.
Make no mistake, I still believe that Maigret, the character and the programme, was and still is carried and indeed enhanced no end by the delightful Rowan Atkinson. Yet the more lavish and even enchanting introductory concept and guest cast of episode one is now replaced in the second outing with an equally good cast, but a slightly darker, more brutal script and story, which for what is still essentially a crime drama I feel actually worked better in all areas concerned.
And yet again, Rowan Atkinson was at the centre of it all, and a newer, faster-paced and darker story just gave the great man slightly greater scope with which to play with different emotions, slightly different sides to Maigret, and a few more ways to hold audiences.
Again I repeat what I said in April, this series is still in its infancy and should not rush development too much...but with a steady increase of quality in script and story execution as was shown between episodes one and two, and of course with Rowan Atkinson at the helm, I feel Maigret still has the potential to entertain future watchers yet.
In reviewing episode one (again, see the BLOG ARCHIVE) I said that whilst Rowan Atkinson was surely strong enough to carry what was occasionally a floundering script, concept and executed show, there was surely potential for a few more.
Well with the first of "a few more" the stakes and the quality I found went up a degree or two.
Make no mistake, I still believe that Maigret, the character and the programme, was and still is carried and indeed enhanced no end by the delightful Rowan Atkinson. Yet the more lavish and even enchanting introductory concept and guest cast of episode one is now replaced in the second outing with an equally good cast, but a slightly darker, more brutal script and story, which for what is still essentially a crime drama I feel actually worked better in all areas concerned.
And yet again, Rowan Atkinson was at the centre of it all, and a newer, faster-paced and darker story just gave the great man slightly greater scope with which to play with different emotions, slightly different sides to Maigret, and a few more ways to hold audiences.
Again I repeat what I said in April, this series is still in its infancy and should not rush development too much...but with a steady increase of quality in script and story execution as was shown between episodes one and two, and of course with Rowan Atkinson at the helm, I feel Maigret still has the potential to entertain future watchers yet.
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