Foodies are in for a treat tonight from the Beeb. Masterchef continues at 8.00pm on BBC One (and can I just say how pleased I am they have finally dispensed with the annoying one must go through set up and the fake tension that created. This ‘everyone, some people or no-one will go through’ thing is great), and straight aftwerwards, you can go over to BBC Four for documentary The Man Who Ate Everything.
It’s a programme about Alan Davidson, who compiled the Oxford Companion to Food, a work covering pretty much everything a human being can eat (it has 2, 650 references), which took him over 20 years and a lot of research to compile. It should be a fascinating watch for anyone interested in food, in people’s obsessions, or both. The only drawback is that Andrew Graham-Dixon presents, but you can’t always have your cake and eat it.
Masterchef, BBC One, 8.00pm
The Man Who Ate Everything, BBC Four, 9.00pm
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BBC Four,
BBC One,
food,
Masterchef,
The Man Who Ate Everything
The last time I was here to tell you about new shows in That London, one half of a beloved 1970s TV sitcom couple was about to make his final stage appearance; today the other half of that couple goes into previews, although hopefully she’ll have many more roles still to come. It is, of course, Felicity Kendal who’ll be taking the title role in Bernard Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession, a new production coming to London after a run in Bristol. The profession is question is the world’s oldest one, which goes some way to explaining why the play was a tad controversial in its day. Mrs Warren’s very conservative daughter wants to go into law, but finds a stumbling block when she has suspicions about exactly how her mother financed her very respectable upbringing. As a special bonus, the play’s moving into the Comedy Theatre, which means it’s finally ousting the godawful “reimagining” of The Misanthrope – a production where Keira Knightley was one of the best things in it, which surely says it all.
- Mrs Warren’s Profession, Comedy Theatre until June 19th.
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Felicity Kendal,
Theatre
With her performances on Maestro and The Supersizers… Sue Perkins has started to look like she’s about to become a national treasure. TV producers have clearly noticed that everyone loves her, so they’ve been trying to shoehorn her into new formats, but so far it doesn’t seem as if they’ve found one that works.
Channel 4 food quiz The Big Food Fight was rather ropey and though new BBC Two vehicle A Band For Britain is more successful, it doesn’t quite hit the spot.
The problem here isn’t so much with Sue as with the format, which is basically a complete transplant of Five’s The Singing Estate and BBC Two’s The Choir, only with brass bands instead of singing. As a result, it feels somewhat bizarre to see Perkins here rather than Gareth Malone or Ivor Setterfield. The programme is your standard reality heartwarming fare but Sue surely needs a better vehicle for her talents. It’s whether the TV execs can come up with one that remains to be seen.
A Band for Britain, BBC Two, 9.00pm
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A Band for Britain,
BBC Two,
Sue Perkins
The best quiz show on telly has become a lot better in recent weeks, with the addition of connecting walls to the Only Connect website so everyone can play at home.
For the uninitiated, the wall is a round towards the end of the game show where sixteen words have to be arranged into four grids of four. It’s much more fiendish than it sounds, as most of the time, several of the options available could fit several of the potential categories.
The web walls vary in difficulty. If you want to compare your scores with mine, wall 5 is the easiest thing ever, walls 11-15 are pretty straightforward and I am struggling with walls 1, 3, 7 and 10.
Oh, and the TV show tonight sees the return of the neuroscientists and the strategists, but seeing as the brilliant Archers Addicts are surely going to trounce everyone in the grand final, whoever wins tonight is a moot point.
Only Connect, BBC Four, 8.30pm
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BBC Four,
Only Connect,
Victoria Coren
This year’s Let’s Dance hasn’t had anything with quite the same impact as Robert Webb’s Flashdance from the last series, but it’s still been fairly entertaining.
Tonight’s finale includes, amongst others, Cheryl Fergison doing Vanilla Ice, the Grumpy Old Women doing Lady GaGa and Debra Stephenson doing Michael Jackson, but surely the favourite is Rufus Hound doing Cheryl Cole’s ‘Fight For This Love’, for the split trousers alone.
Your hosts are Claudia Winkleman (hooray) and Steve Jones (shrug) and it’s all for a good cause. While you’re waiting for Over the Shark Rainbow to start, there are worse ways you could spend a Saturday evening, and hey, it’s all for a good cause.
Let’s Dance for Sport Relief, BBC One, 7.00pm
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BBC One,
Let's Dance,
Sport Relief
The recent producer changes at EastEnders and Hollyoaks have got people on our forums talking about which characters in the soaps are essential and which are due the chop. Most people are agreed that new Hollyoaks producer Paul Marquess has made the correct decision in axing some of our least wanted characters, such as Spencer, Archie and the Valentines (and there is much speculation about the most grisly way some of these characters can be dispatched), but why stop there?
The Coronation Street thread has been busy with people suggesting names for a mass cull, including (obviously) Michelle, Kirk and Sean, whilst the EastEnders thread finds people clamouring for the exit of the terrible new yoof contingent who seem to have come straight from a “ghetto” version of Coming of Age, and the rather pointless Danny Mitchell.
Whilst it’s fun to talk about those we want to leave, there’s also been debate about who’s essential, with common consensus that EE needs the Brannings, Jacksons, Beales and Masoods, and Hollyoaks needs to keep at least some of the McQueens, Ste, Cindy, Steph and the Osbournes, though opinion was massively divided on Tony.
What do you think? Who should stay and go in these soaps, or in Emmerdale, Neighbours, Home and Away or The Archers? Comments in the usual place, or pop into the forums and vent your spleen…
Hollyoaks, Channel 4, 6.30pm
EastEnders, BBC One, 7.30pm
Coronation Street, ITV1, 8.30pm
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Coronation Street,
EastEnders,
Hollyoaks,
Soap
Previewing from today, the National Theatre’s big comedy for the Spring/Summer season is Dion Boucicault’s 1841 romp London Assurance. Starring theatre stalwart Simon Russell Beale (no relation to Ian,) you’d think the presence of Celebrity Lesbian Fiona Shaw playing a character called Lady Gay Spanker would be the main attraction here. In fact you should go see it because it’s your last chance to see a sitcom icon live on stage: Richard Briers plays Adolphus Spanker, and the 76-year-old has announced it’s to be his final theatrical role. Briers’ cult TV appearances may have been restricted to a Torchwood cameo of late but admit it, if lowculture had been around in The Good Life’s heyday, half the forum users would have had Tom-flirting-with-Margo avatars. And if that doesn’t convince you, let me reiterate: There’s a character called Lady Gay Spanker. It’s this kind of inspired subtlety that lowculture thrives on.
- London Assurance, Olivier Theatre until June 2nd
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Celebrity lesbians,
Fiona Shaw,
Lady Gay Spanker,
National Theatre,
Richard Briers,
Simon Russell Beale,
Theatre
When he appeared as a guest on Never Mind the Buzzcocks last year, a lot of us here at LC Towers were rather taken with Tom Basden. So you’d think the London debut (running for just two weeks) of his award-winning play Party, in which he also stars, would be an easy recommendation. However this must come with a warning as the production also stars Tim Key, whose name is anathema to the lowculture massive. Personally, I prefer to pretend there are two entirely separate Tim Keys: One who wastes valuable Brooker-scowling time on Newswipe and another who is quite likeable and always nearly falls off his chair on We Need Answers. I choose to believe it’s the latter who will be apppearing in this play. In any case it’s Basden’s script so hopefully that means Key won’t feel the need to stop the action and recite some “poetry.” It’s also got Magda from Lead Balloon in it so go on, give it a go. Oh, and it’s about a bunch of friends who start a political party in their shed, if little things like the plot are of importance to you.
- Party, Arts Theatre until March 13th
Tagged as:
Lead Balloon,
Theatre,
Tim Key,
Tom Basden
Just like buses, you wait ages for a London theatre opening with a lowculture connection then two come along at once. (Actually they came along yesterday but Damages deserves a day to itself.) First we’re in the West End where Kim Cattrall stars in Noel Coward’s Private Lives. Cattrall is of course best known for her iconic role in Police Academy but apparently she was also in some TV show about a load of women or something, so you might have caught her in that. I heard that it was based on the well-loved “Hard Stools” TV ads so it might be worth checking it out? Anyway, joining her onstage is former Spooks star Matthew MacFadyen. Apparently the two became firm friends during rehearsal, which’ll be why Cattrall referred to MacFadyen as “Michael” when she was on Jonathan Ross’ show a couple of weeks back.
Spooks of a different kind with Ghost Stories at the Lyric Hammersmith. Already seen by some LCers during its initial run in Liverpool (they report it’s scary, but in keeping with the hush-hush publicity won’t give any more details) the show is shrouded in secrecy but comes with a health warning for extreme scariness. It’s written and directed by Jeremy Dyson (the “silent” member of The League of Gentlemen) and Andy Nyman (from Lord Charlie Brooker’s Dead Set, although it’s his association with lottery non-predictor Derren Brown that may be more relevant here) who also stars. Just one word of warning to Messrs Dyson and Nyman though: After all the buildup about the amazing scary effects, a sheet with eye-holes cut into it really isn’t going to do the trick.
- Private Lives, Vaudeville Theatre until May 1st
- Ghost Stories, Lyric Hammersmith until April 3rd
Tagged as:
Comedy,
Ghosts,
Jeremy Dyson,
Kim Cattrall,
League of Gentlemen,
Matthew Macfadyen,
Sex and the City,
Spooks,
Theatre
I haven’t been able to get into new Channel 4 import The Good Wife, because whenever I’ve seen it, I’ve spent the time wishing I was watching Damages instead. Thankfully, the long wait for series three is now over, as it arrives on BBC One tonight. The Wednesday scheduling will take some getting used to, mind.
Our third series apparently sees a whole new bunch of supporting characters – I say apparently because given the twists and tricks and timey-wimey messing this show does, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of seeing Walter Kendrick, Clare Maddox or Daniel Purcell again just yet, and I’m pretty hopeful Arthur Frobisher will pop up again.
Ellen isn’t working with Patty and Tom as the series starts, but I’m pretty sure their paths will cross, and it might have something to do with the mysterious Tobin family, whom we’ll be hearing a lot more about over the coming weeks.
The best casting in telly doesn’t disappoint. We had various Academy Award winners, The Wire cast members and Timothy Olyphant last year, and this year we’ve got the likes of Martin Short, Campbell Scott, Madchen Amick and Lily freakin’ Tomlin to enjoy. With it being a new story this series, it hopefully won’t be too alienating for newcomers, who should definitely give this show a whirl, if only so you can share the sadistic pleasure of being tortured by the twists each week that the rest of us experience.
Damages, BBC One, 10.45pm
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BBC One,
Damages
Foodies are in for a treat tonight from the Beeb. Masterchef continues at 8.00pm on BBC One (and can I just say how pleased I am they have finally dispensed with the annoying one must go through set up and the fake tension that created. This ‘everyone, some people or no-one will go through’ thing is great), and straight aftwerwards, you can go over to BBC Four for documentary The Man Who Ate Everything.
