documentary
The Trip to Greece, Sky 1 review - jokes, jibes and indigestion in the footsteps of OdysseusWednesday, 04 March 2020
Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan have been taking their bickering TV trips for a decade, beginning in the north of England in 2010 before working their way around Italy, Spain and now Greece (on Sky 1). They say this will be the last time, but believe... Read more... |
Midnight Family review - a thrilling documentary set in Mexico CitySaturday, 22 February 2020
“It’s cool to see a car crash or a gunshot wound, it’s exciting.” Emergency medical technician Juan Ochoa, 17, loves his work, which is just as well because he doesn’t always get paid.Luke Lorentzen’s award-winning documentary (he directed, produced... Read more... |
How To Stay out of Jail, Channel 4 review – a bold rehabilitation programme from Durham policeWednesday, 19 February 2020
With prison overcrowding reaching chronic proportions, police in County Durham have developed the Checkpoint programme to try to keep offenders out of jail with rehabilitation in the community. It’s like Felons Anonymous – candidates have to sign a... Read more... |
Confronting Holocaust Denial with David Baddiel, BBC Two review - grappling with the incomprehensibleTuesday, 18 February 2020
It’s all in the timing. Here was David Baddiel beginning a stand-up turn at a gig in Finchley. A Holocaust survivor gets to heaven, and God asks for a Holocaust joke. God says that his joke isn't funny, and the survivor replies “Well, I guess you... Read more... |
Classic Albums: Tears for Fears, Songs From The Big Chair, BBC Four review - anatomy of an anthemSaturday, 15 February 2020
Roland Orzabal, co-founder and lead guitarist of Tears for Fears, laughs to himself often during this documentary — the latest in the BBC’s often-excellent, always-forensic Classic Albums series. “I agree, I agree, it sounds great,” says Orzabal. He... Read more... |
Secrets of the Museum, BBC Two review - the incredible hidden worlds of the V&AFriday, 07 February 2020
The nation’s public attics – museums – hold a huge jumble of objects collected and used in all sorts of ways to tell us stories of past and present. In this BBC Two film, we went behind the visible face of the Victoria and Albert, with its holdings... Read more... |
Show Me the Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall review - needles, guns and grassSaturday, 01 February 2020
In photographer Jim Marshall’s heyday in the 60s and 70s, before the music business became corporate and restrictive, and before Marshall unravelled – he was partial to cars, cocaine and guns as well as cameras – musicians asked for him, they... Read more... |
Talking About Trees review - friendships formed through filmMonday, 27 January 2020
What’s the appeal of cinema? It can transport us to fantasy lands, or open our eyes to new perspectives. But one aspect that’s less discussed is how it brings people together. Going to the cinema is a social stimulus, a shared experience that sparks... Read more... |
Chris Packham: 7.7 Billion People and Counting, BBC Two review - is it too late to get population growth under control?Wednesday, 22 January 2020
We hear plenty of debate about climate change and its disastrous potential, but the ballooning growth of the world’s population may be the most critical issue facing humankind. Chris Packham thinks so (“it’s undeniably the elephant in the room,” he... Read more... |
This Is Our Family, Sky Atlantic review - can Emma and Tony live happily ever after?Wednesday, 15 January 2020
Sky Atlantic is usually where you go for big-hitting dramas, so this quartet of observational documentaries is an unexpected development. Each film follows a single family over three years, and each family faces particular challenges.In this opener... Read more... |
How to Steal Pigs and Influence People, Channel 4 review - the arcane world of the online vegan influencersWednesday, 15 January 2020
Filmmaker Tom Costello’s opening question in this quixotic but fascinating documentary for Channel 4 deftly skewered the journey he was about to take us on. Was making change or finding fame more important? he asked, and by the end of the story it... Read more... |
Cornwall: This Fishing Life, BBC Two review - a precarious trade on the ocean waveWednesday, 08 January 2020
Series about fishing have become a durable mini-genre, including the likes of Deadliest Catch and Saltwater Heroes. However, this new six-parter on BBC Two brings us much closer to home than Alaska or Tasmania, and probes into the lives of the... Read more... |
