Since it's becoming increasingly clear we're in our current predicament for the long haul, this week's
WordJam is following up its
recent article offering film recommendations to readers who want a much-needed distraction from ongoing events with a selection of TV shows that deserve wider critical or popular attention. As with the previous post, each entry dates from the last ten years and should be available through on-demand or streaming services. Once again, though, if this isn't the case there are other means at your disposal:
I mean, seriously - who's really paying attention right now? Anyway, enough of the recycled jokes: on with the show...
Bellamy's People
(UK: BBC Two, 2010)
A spin-off from Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson's brilliant Radio 4 spoof phone-in show
Down the Line,
Bellamy's People is a beautifully observed satire of celebrity travelogues and the inanity lurking behind their populist pretensions. With the advent of Brexit six years after its first broadcast, this faux-documentary's examination of Britishness in the 21st century has since taken on an unexpected but deliciously subversive edge. Television comedy at its finest.
* * *
Half in the Bag
(US: RedLetterMedia/YouTube, 2011-)
If
Siskel and Ebert At the Movies felt like a sitcom about two film critics who live in a cinema,
Half in the Bag takes this strange cross-pollination of genres to its logical conclusion. Written, directed, edited and presented by Mike Stoklasa and Jay Bauman, the premise of each episode involves two VCR repairmen whose beer-soaked discussions about recent releases take centre stage to the increasingly bizarre events happening on the periphery of their lives. Essential viewing for movie hounds.
* * *
1864
(Denmark: DR1, 2014)
Ostensibly a drama about the Second Schleswig War between Denmark and Prussia,
1864 also features a parallel story set in the present day about a troubled teenager unearthing her family's history. The two don't always gel, often to the detriment of the period narrative, but as small screen epics go
1864 feels like genuine event television where the eye, the intellect and the emotions are all catered for. A welcome antidote to the sausage machine that Scandinavian noir has sadly become.
* * *
The Honourable Woman
(UK: BBC Two, 2014)
As dense as a John le Carré novel and boasting the character intricacy of Dostoevsky, writer-director Hugo Blick's labyrinthine thriller about Anglo-Jewish businesswoman Nessa Stein (Maggie Gyllenhaal) negotiating family secrets and mixed allegiances against the backdrop of the Israel-Palestine conflict is one of the most searingly intelligent dramas to have graced our screens in a very long time. It also proves once again you don't need more than ten episodes and multiple seasons to tell complex stories. Eight episodes, bish-bash-bosh: job
done.
* * *
Penny Dreadful
(UK/US: Sky Atlantic, 2014-16)
The concept of bringing together characters from 19th century gothic fiction has been explored in numerous media, but
Penny Dreadful writer John Logan uses this wealth of source material to fashion a series that stays true to the spirit of its literary forebears and substantially expands upon them. The result is ferociously intelligent (how many TV dramas can you name that demand a knowledge of European Romanticism?), achingly erotic and visually sublime. Just ignore the entirely misplaced Dorian Gray subplot, though.
* * *
Ash vs Evil Dead
(US: Starz, 2015-18)
Given the
Evil Dead franchise built its fanbase on home video in the '80s and '90s, it feels apt that the continued adventures of Ash Williams found their home on the small screen. Brilliantly funny, unrelentingly gory and packed with invention,
Ash vs Evil Dead was a perfect antidote to the stodgy self-importance of
The Walking Dead and the forced quirkiness of
American Horror Story, quietly blazing its own path to become one of the most original shows on television. Its subsequent cancellation is still inexplicable.
* * *
The Deutschland Trilogy
(Germany: RTL/Amazon Prime, 2015-)
Anna Winger's gripping Cold War drama about an East German intelligence agent going undercover in the West may have been overshadowed by the success of FX's similarly-themed show
The Americans, but
Deutschland's emotional and political scope far outstrips its US rival. I'll level with you, this is my favourite TV series of the last 15 years. And since I intend to write an article about the entire trilogy after the last season has aired later this year, I'm going to hold off on any further commentary except to reiterate you really must check it out. Superb drama.
* * *
The 1990s Trilogy
(Italy: Sky Italia/Sky Atlantic, 2015-)
Beginning with the Mani Pulite investigations and leading us through the subsequent reconstruction of Italy's political and cultural landscapes, the
1990s trilogy is one of the most ambitious television dramas of the last decade, interweaving a wide array of themes, plot strands, characters and even genres to such a degree of intricacy you'd assume it was based on a series of novels. What emerges is a rich, complex portrait of a nation in transition that makes
The West Wing or
The Wire pale in comparison.
* * *
O.J.: Made in America
(US: ABC/ESPN, 2016)
There's an ongoing debate in critical circles whether director Ezra Edelman's epic documentary is a miniseries or a 7½ hour film. Personally, I'd place it in the latter category, but since I'm getting irritated at people singing the praises of the staggeringly absurd
American Crime Story dramatisation of the O.J. case, I'm cheekily altering my position here.
O.J.: Made in America isn't just the story of a hideous crime and its pantomimetic aftermath, it's an examination of race, class, power and privilege. In short, essential viewing.
* * *
This Time with Alan Partridge
(UK: BBC One, 2019)
Arguably the best Partridge vehicle since
Knowing Me, Knowing You in 1994,
This Time is a brilliant pastiche of the self-important banality of current affairs programming. But at the heart of this circus is Alan himself: petty, conceited and ignorant, but all the while retaining the sense of vulnerability and unswerving optimism in the face of his own ineptitude that's made the character so fascinating for the last 25 years.
This Time's dark subtlety and wry satire may be too much for some viewers, but if you're willing to laugh at yourself as well as others it's a scream.
* * * * *
And that's your lot for today, folks. Look out for another entry in this sporadic series at some point in the next week or so. Until then, stay safe, everyone.
