I was incredibly eager to see this series, which had been mentioned for a couple of years and it's well worth a watch. Previous features on Stax have never disappointed, despite having to cover a vast history in one-off efforts, literally a label of two halves, - the spinning discs and the post-Otis finger clickin' era.
On-camera interviews with surviving artists and writers was very welcome, which included Stax insider and archivist Deanie Parker who's always a great listen. Great to see the makers managed to capture filmed interviews with those that have since passed, Jim Stewart of course but also the wonderful Bettye Crutcher who is often overlooked in the Stax story.
Although not everything can be captured (even Rob Bowman's welcome nineties book had to limit itself), there were a few things that jarred by their omission. The Jim and Estelle label start-up, with financing and initial Satellite imprint, yes it's been covered elsewhere but if this was the high profile final word, I expected a mention. And to book-end it, the sad ending didn't mention the promising reconvening of the MGs and subsequent murder of Al Jackson Jr before that could occur. That subject is still controversial, with plenty of speculation, but remains untold. An acknowledgement of the events should have been included at the very least.
The four parts could easily have been longer. It reminded me of watching and taping The Beatles Anthology from the initial TV broadcast and then getting the expanded version when released on sell-through, so much more. Perhaps there will be.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Difficult to judge anything to do with such a historically nebulous figure as Jack The Ripper, as theories abound, and "facts" come and go... But outside of "historical documentaries" and the like, it does make for great dramatic material in which to explore theories and hypotheses...

...This, in my opinion, is the best of them - A very engaging, and excellently realised examination of the "facts" of the case, such as was available to the production at the time, and from a particular point of view, or points of view.

Certainly required viewing for current or prospective "Ripperologists".

(But even if you are not either of these, cracking drama for those who like a mystery / intrigue / "conspiracy theory" watch)

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Independent review :read:

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Coming out in an era when satire was king with the likes of Spitting Image and Ben Elton doing his laborious, but pointed stand-up. Hale & Pace like slasher horror films of the 1980s is a great example of something that was a critical failure, but a commercial success. Much maligned throughout it's incredibly long run; sometimes justifiably, often unfairly.

A common criticism was "two straight men"; an unwritten rule of comedy being a straight man and a clown a la: Morecambe & Wise and Laurel & Hardy. However, there are many successful comedy double acts with two jokers like Dick & Dom, Trevor & Simon and Vic & Bob. The criticisms of being vulgar are true and often the laughs would be based on someone saying a rude word or a vulgar punchline about bodily functions.

However amongst the throwaway sketches there are some sketches that are as good as anything on any other sketch show at the time: "Yorkshire Airlines", "Piss Off Mr. Chips", "Billy & Johnny" - two kid's TV presenters who hate each other. Weirdly, many comedians who criticised H&P pretty much did the same albeit in a slightly more clever way: Harry Enfield, Lee & Herring, Baddiel & Newman. The mantra being nob gags are OK if there is a literary reference in there.

Another thing people forget is just how good the performances of Hale & Pace are. Both having a gift at regional accents. Norman Pace is a surprisingly good singer, while Gareth Hale often bring a pathos to some of the sketches.

It may have gone for the cheap laugh or have been unecessarily violent and rude, but it represents a time when there was entertainment for the pre and post-pub audience. I will pick the worst of Hale & Pace over the best of Naked Attraction, which is the late night fare du jour.

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https://youtu.be/HWc3WY3fuZU

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WhyNow review - 3/5 :read:

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*I've reviewed this on Imdb under the title "It's Pants Boyo"*

The Charlotte Church Show was designed to appeal to the post-pub / pre-club crowd of 18-30 year olds. Later on Channel 4 would score a megahit with The Friday Night Project in 2007 and this would get axed a year after. The Charlotte Church Show attracted a lot of negative criticisms much like programmes in the previous slot: The Girlie Show, Something For The Weekend, The 11 O' Clock Show and quite rightly so; it's complete cack.

There are two good points that make this show memorable. The programme showcased a lot of comedians who went onto become household names in the 10s people like: Adam Hills, Michael McIntyre, Lee Mack, Rhod Gilbert and Frankie Boyle. The musical performances which consisted mainly of covers with Charlotte Church providing backing vocals are also excellent and there's no denying Charlotte Church is a great singer. Some of the acts are like a whose who of mid-00s pop acts: Amy Winehouse, The Script, McFly, Sharleen Spiteri, Orson, Beth Rowley and Nelly Furtado. The show is now quite sort off for these two reasons, but it is sadly unavailable on all non-user generated streaming platforms and has no commercial release on DVD or Blu-Ray.

The comedy sketches/skits and some Charlotte Church's banter with guests and the audience is truly cringe; cashing-in on her bad girl image of the early 00s when she was pictured getting drunk and falling out of taxis. Really grown worthy puns about Wales and forced ladette humour which was popular with its predecessors like The Girlie Show. The show ran for a surprising 3 series from 2006-2008 despite negative reviews. There is around 20 hours worth of footage in its entirely, but maybe one hour of it is any good and worth your time. I can't recommend it, but would like to see All4 make it available.

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**This was review was first posted on IMDB by myself**

This was broadcast under the title "Spice Girls: How Girl Power Changed Britain", Girl Powered is the working title. This documentary is a history of The Spice Girls with references to the girl group promoting feminism. Love them or hate them, The Spice Girls were no doubt the biggest bands in the UK and maybe the world for about two years. I appreciate that they have been a massive influence on pop culture and I like some of their songs, but I'm certainly not a superfan.

The documentary features a lot of talking heads from people like Miranda Sawyer who attempts to clumsily make out The Spice Girls are in some way feminist icons. Matthew Wright who wrote several hit pieces on The Spice Girls attempts to clear his name after being made out to be a villain. Some of The Spice Girls PR team from back in the day recount their experiences of the band. It is all good stuff, but like most people I would have liked to hear from the girls themselves. Instead we are just shown archive clips.

The documentary manages to gloss over a few key events and the cynic in me would suggest this feels more like a puff piece than a serious documentary, especially given it is nearly 3 hours long in its entirety. The Spice Girls panned commercial flop "Spice World" movie wasn't mentioned to my knowledge or if it was I blinked and missed it. A pivotal moment in that it suggested The Spice Girls maybe weren't as popular at that time than was made out. Very little was mentioned of Mel B's single - "I Want You Back" with Missy Elliot which was massive. Also to my knowledge no mention of the Mel B documentary "Voodoo Princess" which was made for Channel 4. If I remember correctly there was no mention of the original demo version of Wannabe which was a slow R&B song similar to something like The All Saints "Black Coffee" in terms of tempo. There's no doubt in my mind giving it a fast paced europop style tempo gave it the kick in the face it needed to be a chart success; especially given dance music was dominating the charts in 1996.

The latter half of the documentary manages to segue in some frankly jarring references to feminism and even features footage of recent-ish protests for nearly 15 minutes. I think it's maybe a stretch too far. The Spice Girls were absolutely massive, but as important as Stevie Nicks or Debbie Harry at influencing young women into pursuing musical careers? I honestly don't know. I do know nostalgia for the 90s is bang on trend at the moment. The 00s will be next! This documentary took a few years to put together and 100s of hours of clips were sorted through and carefully selected. It is a real shame that some of the footage isn't better quality. A press conference video on episode 3 looks like an awful 240p YouTube clip and some footage looks has watermarks. On a big budget documentary I expect higher production values. With a press conference surely the original source clips are available. This isn't the only documentary to use low quality clips, but it is a real shame especially now as most people watch films and TV on HD quality equipment.

This is a mixed bag. The opening episode is fantastic and gives a good history of how the band got started with some rare footage. As the documentary goes on it looks like a bit of a filler was used or maybe my interest ran out. I think for anyone interested in 90s pop culture or asks the question "Mummy, who were The Spice Girls?" this is a pretty good watch.

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It's a topic in itself, but a lot of "factual" and "reality", not to mention "comedy" programmes often consist of what would be an excellent 10 minute YouTube video dragged out for an one hour. Maybe attention spans are shorter than they were two decades ago, but The Undateables for me is incredibly slow moving with a recap after every ad break of which there are multiple long ones.

The cynic in me says this is yet another attempt to peer in at the window of humanity and sneer at people who are different. Sadly, all mainstream TV channels are guilty of this. The fact clips of this show have become memes and appeared on "try not to laugh" compilations on YouTube says it all; as does the title.

To sum up, a 10 minute programme dragged out for 45+ minutes is not my idea of a good time. Sally Phillips easy-going voice can't save it for me. Ignoring the offensive factor, it's just tedious.

5 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

What an absolute joy it was to sit through 8 - 9 hours of pure genius at work. After watching Episode 1 I was a little worried about what way the documentary was going. It wasn't unlike the original film as there was a lot of angst and heaviness going on and at the end George left the band. At the start of the Episode there was an awful lot of very fast cutting and at times was a little distracting, added to that there were clips of film overdubbed from an audio only source which looked a little weird so between that and all the aforementioned angst I was left feeling a little deflated. Day 2 and I settled down to watch Episode 2 which was so very different to the first one. I started to feel very positive and engaged with film. The boys were really having a great time and the good humour and banter was amazing to watch. It wasn't until they brought Billy Preston into the fold that the whole thing magically started to take shape. I would go as far as to say that if Billy Preston hadn't been brought onboard the album might never have happened, such was the positive influence he had on the other four guys it gave them room to concentrate on doing what they do best, writing some incredible music. This continued througout the whole of Episode 2 and into Episode 3 which for me only had 1 awkward moment when Paul looked as if he wasn't really into doing the rooftop gig but as we already know, the show went on. Barring my hesitancy about Episode 1, Peter Jackson has done us all a huge favour by letting us in on what it was really like to make the album and it wasn't anything like the funereal film that was released first time around. It was full of joy, happiness and humour and has changed my outlook on what it was really like, it was absolutely wonderful to watch. It's a much more positive and uplifting experience than the original film and I'm only sorry it didn't go on for another 8 hours!. Absolutely brilliant and a very highly recommended must see. Just can't wait now for the release of the Blu-Ray and if it's released soon it will be top of my Christmas list.

12 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Saturday morning Granada kids TV programme which ran for one season (although it seemed much longer!) when Tiswas were on their 1979 summer holidays.

Featuring Duggie Brown (Lynne Perrie's brother) Uber-gag-meister Frank Carson and former Cavern Club DJ, professional scouser Billy Butler.

Set aboard a boat on The Mersey, featuring a dockside audience and guests interviewed out on deck, it became the only televison programme, apart from the cricket, to be regularly called off due to inclement weather.

ANNOUNCER: There will be no Mersey Pirate today because it's raining.
KIDS WATCHING AT HOME:Yesss!! ... Brilliant!!!

It was rubbish to be honest, despite the inclusion of Carson. It felt as if the producers and crew were trying to manufacture a Tiswas-like anarchic madness within the staid confines of a format which wasn't that far off from resembling BBC's Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.

Then again almost anything having to stand in for Chris Tarrant and Sally James would have seemed pale at the time.

The format was repeated by Granada the following summer (sans Duggie B and shipping vessel) with the Billy Boyle fronted 'Fun Factory' (verification needed .. especially on the 'fun'.)
This effort not only introduced us to idiot cockney DJ Gary Crowley, but was the first ever television show to feature the artistic talents of a young Jeremy Beadle.

Enough said I think.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

The first series was an Irish production by the team behind Zig & Zag, Double Z Enterprises for Channel 4 / E4. I think Zig & Zag worked mainly because they timed it right. In the late 80s\early 90s there was a penchant for slightly risqué humour as well as TV that appealed to both children and (stoned) adults see also Maid Marion and Her Merry Men, The Crystal Maze and Rainbow.

The puppets Teddy T (a giant panda with a cigarette in his mouth) and Bronx Bunny (a brown bunny) some how manage to be even more grotesque than Zig & Zag. I'm not doubting the talent of Mick O'Mara and Ciaran Morrison, especially when it comes to voice acting and improv. I just don't like the characters.

This came out in 2003. The "American" series was 2007 and featured bigger guests. Unfortunately like a lot of TV at the time it suffers from featuring celebrities who were of the moment: Steve-O, Judy Reyes, Jessica Alba, Seymore Butts. And occasionally household names: Hugh Hefener, William Shatner, Bryan Cranston. It's basically interviews with the puppets swearing in every sentence with really crass comedy sketches such as, Teddy T (a giant panda) having sex with a woman to spoof porn films! And Sesame Street-style spoofs spelling out words like Skank Ho. I'm not offended or bothered by it, there's just no cleverness to it beyond the basic premise of spoofing Kid's educational TV. There a lot of crude comedies I find hilarious: Bottom, The Young Ones, Nathan Barley, Curb, F Is For Family, even the odd Hale and Pace sketch; unfortunately this isn't one of them.

Series 1 is still available on All4 for the curious. Series 2 is available on Prime USA.

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The Trap is a series of three films by Bafta-winning producer Adam Curtis that explains the origins of our contemporary, narrow idea of freedom.

It shows how a simplistic model of human beings as self-seeking, almost robotic, creatures led to today's idea of freedom. This model was derived from ideas and techniques developed by nuclear strategists during the Cold War to control the behaviour of the Soviet enemy.

Mathematicians such as John Nash developed paranoid game theories whose equations required people to be seen as selfish and isolated creatures, constantly monitoring each other suspiciously always intent on their own advantage.

This model was then developed by genetic biologists, anthropologists, radical psychiatrists and free market economists, and has come to dominate both political thinking since the Seventies and the way people think about themselves as human beings.

However, within this simplistic idea lay the seeds of new forms of control. And what people have forgotten is that there are other ideas of freedom. We are, says Curtis, in a trap of our own making that controls us, deprives us of meaning and causes death and chaos abroad.

5 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Adam Curtis has a whole series of documentaries running on BBC iPlayer at the moment and they are well worth the watch. He somehow manages to piece together allsorts of facts that lead to the reasons why we (the human race) are at the point where we are now by using archive footage and facts to make you think that things aren't always what they seem and why we are where we are at this point in time because of history. It's all a bit of a mind trip and awakening to to the realities of life as we know it. Offering in a very methodical way why the world is the way it is and that things aren't always that simple. Try and grab them while they are available or you will miss some of the most cogent and cohesive arguments for the human condition.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

'Mockumentary' series in which 'Saturday Night Live's' Fred Armisen and Bill Hader parody well known documentaries in a fictional but supposedly long running series celebrating it's "Fifty-First Season."

Helen Mirren introduces each episode to provide a kind of false gravitas.

It does help if you are familiar with the subject that is being parodied. For example, the first episode 'Sandy Passage' completely missed with me as I hadn't seen (nor heard of) 'Grey Gardens' which it was taking as inspiration. Once I corrected that, I realised how well crafted the episode was.

The standout from the first season is the 'A Town, a Gangster, a Festival' episode in which they seemingly get an entire small town in Iceland to play it straight in staging a festival devoted to Al Capone.

You assume that they put out a casting call for some local actors and Al Capone is just the right kind of subject in being slightly bad taste but plausible enough in terms of the mythology built up around him that it comes across as convincing. The whole episode is deliciously well staged.

Like 'Spinal Tap' there are music documentary parodies as well. 'Blue Jean Committee' is based on a very obviously 'Eagles' style California band who’s members are facing up to the expected awkwardness of their upcoming Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction having been estranged for over 20 years.

Does it always hit? No. But it's well written, well directed, well performed and nuanced enough that even when some of the episodes don't quite make it - it's still always a worthwhile watch.

'Spinal Tap' is obviously the granddaddy of the 'mockumentary' format... If you love that film as much as I do, then you'll definitely enjoy 'Documentary Now!'

6 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Brilliant series, but seemed to divide people. I saw it first time around and I think it passed a lot of people by or they didn't get it. Ironically, I think its format and sketches have been like a prototype for many series that started as a web series such as Limmy's Show and Consolevania.

For those that haven't seen it has Adam and Joe playing characters and doing silly hidden camera stunts like eating the 10% free portion of a box of cereals, Vinyl Justice where they looked at people's record collections such as Frank Black and said if they were crap or good while dressed as policemen, Adam's Dad reviewing pop music, silly observations of things to try spoofing the format of Why Don't You?, the most famous bit spoofs films and TV using toys such as: Toy-tanic, Furends (Friends), Stuff This Life etc.

IMHO it wouldn't get commissioned today due to Channel 4 focusing on what is middle-class safe reality TV or pseudo-game shows such as The Circle, Four in a Bed or really patronising shows featuring an excuse to show excessive full frontal nudity. Back in the late 90s they out-shined BBC in terms of comedy content (Brass Eye, Father Ted, buying big American comedies like Frasier and treating them with respect by showing them at a time when people are awake - Seinfeld at 2am come on BBC 2!). It would probably have been a successful Youtube channel instead if it was invented a decade later.

The Adam Buxton podcast is well worth checking out for more of the same with high school chums Joe Cornish and Louis Theroux as recurring interviewees, as is their now defunct BBC 6 Music and comedy show.

7 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Lucy Worsley explores the lives of six real people who lived, worked and volunteered during the Blitz. Using the same style as Lucy's film about the Suffragettes, the film shows their remarkable resilience, as well as the terrible suffering they endured, shining a light on the role of the front-line workers and volunteers at the heart of it all.

The six lives at the heart of the film are 17-year-old Jewish shopgirl Nina Masel, from Essex, who reported for Mass Observation; Frances Faviell, a Chelsea artist and socialite who received just a week’s training to become an auxiliary nurse and would end up treating a dying victim in a bomb crater; Ita Ekpenyon, a Nigerian teacher who moved to the UK to study law but who took on the role of an air-raid precaution warden to rally the people of his central London patch; Barbara Nixon, an out-of-work actress who worked long hours as an ARP warden, expressing her outrage at judgemental attitudes towards East Enders who had lost everything; Frank Hurd, a full-time fireman whose day job was to keep the raging fires of the bombing raids under control; and Robert Barltrop, too young to enlist, who worked as a porter in a Sainsbury's warehouse and volunteered as a firewatcher.

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A car is pulled from Strangford Lough, the owner kidnapped. DCI Tom Brannick recognises the calling card of a legendary assassin known as Goliath. The legend goes he was a serving police officer who vanished without trace 20 years ago and among his original victims was Tom’s wife.

Against opposition from old friend DCS Jackie Twomey, Brannick and his partner, DS Niamh McGovern, break open the Goliath case in the hope that it will help them solve the kidnapping. As they dig deeper, they find gaps in the original Goliath investigation. Someone tried to suppress the truth.

When a vital clue leads them out to an island on Strangford Lough, a discovery is made that changes everything.

7 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Filmed during lockdown, this investigative documentary made by Academy Award-winning film-maker Alex Gibney, with co-directors Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger, includes revealing testimonies from public health officials and senior White House staff, exposing a system-wide collapse.

With the US election just around the corner, the film scrutinises the US response compared with South Korea, and how they handled the virus. On 20 January 2020, both countries discovered their first cases of Covid-19. Since then, however, the novel coronavirus has claimed the lives of over 220,000* Americans, while only claiming 447* lives in South Korea

(*at the time of publication).

7 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Play for Today was a series of single dramas broadcast by the BBC between 1970 and 1984. These were years of crisis, a time when the consensus politics of Britain’s postwar world had begun to unravel. Industrial relations, education and the health service faced fundamental challenges, the country was struggling with the end of empire, and the personal had become increasingly political.

Play for Today reflected and responded to all of this and more in 300 dramas, shown in primetime on BBC One to audiences numbered in millions. Many of the best actors, writers and directors of the time contributed to the series, with some of the best-remembered broadcasts being Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party, Dennis Potter’s Blue Remembered Hills and the strange fantasy, Penda’s Fen, written by Alan Rudkin and directed by Alan Clarke.

The series was contemporary, often controversial and occasionally censored. But it was also immensely varied, showcasing social realism with comedy, costume drama with fantasy, and personal visions with state-of-the-nation overviews. It was mischievous, critical and challenging, and unafraid to tackle taboos.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the first Play for Today in October 1970, this film is a celebration of the series, told by a number of its producers, directors and writers. It explores the origins of the series, its achievements and its controversies. Presenting a rich range of often surprising extracts from the archive, the film features interviews with, among others, producers Kenith Trodd, Margaret Matheson and Richard Eyre, film-makers Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, and writer and director David Hare.

6 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

[Episode 1] - At the beginning of 1945, Berlin remains under the spell of the Nazi promise of salvation, an illusion at odds with the city’s daily reality. Every day there are bombing attacks, fires to be extinguished and corpses to be buried. Life goes on as the front lines of the war close in each day. Death comes for men, women, the old, the young, the National Socialists and the forced labourers.

In April, the Red Army stands ready outside the city. In a time of uncertainty on the front lines, nobody has a clear view of what will happen. Civilians hiding, SS soldiers shooting deserters, and Red Army soldiers hoping to survive the final days of the war. As the war comes closer and closer to the metropolis, it returns everything to its roots, showing no mercy.

[Episode 2] - The Battle for Berlin has begun. Step by step, the soon-to-be victorious powers advance. On 30 April, the Red Flag flies over the Reichstag and Adolf Hitler takes his own life. Another seven days pass before the Wehrmacht disassembles. National Socialism is finally beaten, along with Germany and Berlin. But for many, the fall of Nazism spells liberation rather than defeat.

[Episode 3] - The British, French and Americans are waiting to enter Berlin. In the meantime, the Soviets appoint mayors, organise the food supply and go on the hunt for war criminals. The Jewish community, among whom there are few survivors, regroup.

The fate of the city is determined at the Potsdam Conference. Life returns to the ruins, theatres reopen and orchestras play in the open air. By the end of 1945, the bond that held the Allies together is torn apart - and the Cold War begins.

Journey back in time to Berlin's most fateful year - 1945 - through the eyes and voices of those who experienced it - ordinary German people and the Allies who entered the city.

6 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

John Z DeLorean’s extraordinary and doomed attempt to build the sports car of the future in 1980s Northern Ireland is the stuff of legend. A buccaneering American entrepreneur, DeLorean had film star looks, a famous fashion model as a wife and an enormous ego that drove him to rival the giants of the US car industry.

Millions of pounds of British tax-payers money later, an unprecedented social experiment where Catholics and Protestants worked side by side in relative harmony in West Belfast ends in a trail of corporate waste, greed, fraud and, incredibly, an FBI cocaine-trafficking sting.

Using rare and unseen footage filmed by Oscar winning directors DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, and through colourful news archive documenting his life and career, this is the first in-depth psychological profile of DeLorean, a man who rose from the ghettos of Detroit to build his American dream in war-torn Belfast. A dream that quickly went up in smoke...

7 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Gordon Welchman was one of the original elite codebreakers crucial to the allies defeating the Nazis in World War II. He is the forgotten genius of Bletchley Park.

Filmed extensively at Bletchley Park, the centre for codebreaking operations during World War II, this documentary features the abandoned buildings where thousands of people worked tirelessly trying to crack the codes; Hut 6, where Welchman pioneered his groundbreaking work; and the machines that Welchman helped design.

Post-war, Welchman moved to the United States to be at the nerve centre of the computer revolution. He was employed by the Mitre Corporation, a US defence contractor, and engaged in top secret work. Recently released top secret documents reveal that the case of Gordon Welchman reached the desk of the British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, which then led to questions being asked in the House of Commons after Welchman's death.

Welchman's legacy continues to this day as Professor John Naughton and former CIA analyst Cynthia Storer reveal how Welchman's pioneering work in the field of traffic analysis led directly to the modern secret surveillance state, and particularly the use of metadata - as revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

8 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Gerry Rafferty, who died in January 2011, was one of Scotland's best loved singer/songwriters, famous around the world for hits such as Baker Street and Stuck in the Middle With You.

This ArtWorks Scotland film, narrated by David Tennant, tells the story of Rafferty's life through his often autobiographical songs and includes contributions from Gerry's daughter Martha and brother Jim, friends and colleagues including Billy Connolly, John Byrne and Joe Egan, admirers such as Tom Robinson and La Roux, and words and music from Rafferty himself.

This documentary was first broadcast at 9pm, 29 Aug 2011. Well worth catching if you are in any way a fan of the man and his music.

7 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Having watched the original series from start to finish and thoroughly enjoyed it, I approached this new remake with some trepidation, knowing that remakes aren't always successful but this is one that bucks that trend. I really needn't have worried though because the casting is superb and the filming is amazing. I was already a big fan of Samuel West who plays Siegfried in this series and he doesn't disappoint. Nicholas Ralph as James Herriot is pretty good as well. I was disappointed that it didn't come out on blu-ray but maybe sometime in the future when they test the market with a DVD release. If you haven't seen it yet then keep an eye open for it, it doesn't disappoint

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Hailed as a classic and one of the best sitcoms of all time by both critics and viewers alike. This series made stars of everyone involved. The character David Brent has appeared on many best comedy character lists. Brent is an egotistic narcissist, but unlike Alan Partridge he is maybe a bit more ignorant and sympathetic, Partridge is more of a Machiavellian monster than a loveable idiot; both are victims of their own arrogance though.

The Office was one of the early "Cringe Comedies" along with I'm Alan Partridge, Peep Show and Curb Your Enthusiasm in the USA and followed by series like The Inbetweeners and maybe Nathan Barley and Friday Night Dinner to an extent.

So, the question is: "is this a classic and is David Brent a great character?" The answer is yes to both. This is nowhere near the masterpiece it is made out to be. I measure how good a TV series is by whether I would watch it again in its entirety and I've had no desire to revisit it since I saw it upon its first broadcast. For me there's just something a bit naff and dated about the "mockumentary" format a bit like sitcoms with canned laughter. The cynic in me says the BBC elevated this well above its status to fill a comedy void, bear in mind at the time the BBC had very little in the way of new comedy, with most shows being long running ones like Never Mind the Buzzcocks and the lasts series of I'm Alan Partridge.

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Anne Robinson was a good choice of presenter. She previously presented Points of View in a cynical way. Calling her the "queen of mean" is generous hyperbole. It's clearly an act and she can be seen breaking character by smiling or even laughing in a few instances.

The game is a basic quizshow with a banking mechanic and a voting system. Contestants would often vote off who they saw as the most competition. These two mechanics I've not seen implimented before on a quiz show. I know shows like Catchphrase had a banking mechanic, but it was automatic and didn't rely on the contestants saying bank and they would often forget or say pass by mistake. The cash prizes were often pretty small, I think £10, 000 was the maximum and most players took home around £4,000 or less. The game was a bit cheap as the questions got harder and more obscure as the game went on, not too mention more long-winded to run the clock down.

Overall, this was a cold and cynical gameshow with a metallic set to match; see also Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Shafted and Golden Balls. Anne Robinson was a hit with viewers and the show ran for a massive 12 years and had a US spin-off with Anne also presenting. There was also a spin-off game for PS1, PS2 and Windows which I wouldn't recommend as it's dull and for trivia fans Anne Robinson was sampled in a cheesy hard house record by the usually excellent Pants & Corset (Paul King).

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I was pretty fond of this at the time. I think a large part of the humour depended on your knowledge of UK Soaps, especially ITV ones. Like a lot of Harry Hill's stuff this was (largely) family friendly, slightly surreal and very silly. The TV series had a large team of talented writers including Stand-up comedians John Moloney and Chris Addison and David Quantick (who provided additional material for Brass Eye, On The Hour, Spitting Image). I think largely what killed it off was the tight deadlines (if I remember rightly this was broadcast weekly) and the fact the writers would need to sift through hours of TV to find a 20 second funny clip. For something like Emmerdale you are looking at 2 hours worth footage a week, now imagine that across multiple channels, then there's issues of licensing the clips, getting special guests etc. Frankly it must have been the equivalent of pointing your house to work on. All that said I got some big laughs out of most episodes and thought it was good twist on the overused clips show format.

For anyone curious the compilation TV Burp Gold DVDs are a good place to start and very cheap often costing less than £1 each. But be warned some it is a bit dated given they are referencing TV and pop culture from nearly 10 years ago.

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I remember this series and originally screened on Saturday Nights for LWT in 1979,and now it`s currently screened again on Forces TV with two episodes each on weekdays and then back to back at weekends.There are 139 episodes in total for 6 series from 1977-83,and two different theme tunes I definitely remember that.Rick Rosner who created the series [as well as 240-Robert,etc].All the complete episodes are still available on DVD,and I still love the series so much.

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Recently discovered home movie footage from 1936 offers a unique and powerful insight into what people in Germany were thinking and experiencing. In these pre-war days, Germany was on a high and the Hitler Youth seemed like fun and games, but Nazi control was soon to become an all-pervading force, militarising the nation. The rise of anti-Semitism is explicit and grotesque, shocking even though we now have the knowledge of what happens next.

The film follows an infantry division during the invasion of France, fighting their way to Dunkirk, and reveals a new perspective on what the evacuation meant for the average German soldier. On the Eastern Front, a far darker and more visceral journey across the endless Russian steppe and the almost unimaginable horrors unleashed during Operation Barbarossa is captured by a soldier.

As well as amateur movie footage, the film charts the progress of the war through the diaries of ordinary Germans, some dizzy with excitement at what Hitler had achieved, others horrified by the effect it was having on their friends and families.

Christmas in Germany 1941 is an unsettling time. Food is scarce, the weather is freezing and news from the front line in Russia is causing Germans to realise the war is a very long way from over. The stage is set for the second half of the conflict.

Through the home movies and diaries of ordinary Germans, this film charts Hitler’s dreams crumbling and the moral reckoning the German people must now face. It reveals the stories of people battling to save their families from deportation to the death camps, while others endure the horrors of ever more deadly bombing raids, all set against a backdrop of propaganda and false hope pouring forth from Nazi high command.

In Russia we meet a German doctor who throws himself into the firing line at every opportunity, not to win glory but to save his wife and three young children from deportation to the death camps in the east, while in Dresden a Jewish diary writer struggles to deal with ever-mounting restrictions and deportations.

We also meet some of those forced to live under German rule, including extraordinary footage of a group of Jews living in hiding just a mile from Anne Frank, and a family in Normandy enjoying a bucolic summer before they find themselves on the front line when the Allies take on the German troops on the Atlantic Wall.

The film then moves to the endgame of the war, the choices faced as the net tightened and the crazy efforts to fight to the bitter end even as all hope is gone.

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