SKY1 have a new crime series, Lie To Me, starring Tim Roth who runs a jargon sounding investigation firm that specialises in reading facial tics and body language. It is cashing in on the pseudo science of Psych and the pretend-but-maybe abilities of The Mentalist, with the good-looking guy, that is picking up good ratings. Roth is no heart-throb but he might catch a slice of the House series. Doesn’t seem to be a great deal of development in such a series but no doubt good scripts will get it into a second series, if the ratings hold up. Who knows.
Dirty Deed
War can make enemies of friends and many of Britain’s decisions during WW2 are now coming up for scrutiny. Events like the relentless bombing of German cities or refusing Singapore the planes it needed to fight the early Japanese incursions. C4 looked at Churchill’s decision to bomb the French fleet after the collapse of France. Churchill’s Darkness Decision might have been an over-the-top title, but it re-looked at Chruchill’s change of heart, despite French promises to scuttle their ships to prevent them falling into German hands. In 1940 he ordered a British task force to shell the French battleships in Oran causing the death of 1,297 sailors in a short but savage barrage. French historians called it French Pearl Harbour. Some say it was a desperate ploy to bring America into that war.
More History
BBC4 continued its war history with a Storyville documentary, The Jew Who Dealt With The Nazis. About a Schindler character who saved 1700 Hungarian Jews by having face-to-face dealings with Adolf Eichmann. Was he revered or rewarded? No, he was not. He was gunned down in Israel in 1957 by people who blamed him for Nazi collaboration. So, the sad story of Dr. Israel Kasztner, a decent Jewish boy, who saved his people and was still misunderstood and died for it, after a vindictive libel case. It was a salutary tale or a terrible time, when life had no value.
Hail Poetry
It might be the bad weather, the miserable summer, the election canvassers, or whatever, but the BBC Poetry Season is providing more entertainment than I thought possible. Take the Simon Schama programme about John Donne on BBC2. You know, the guy who asked for whom the bell tolled and no man is an island. Well, the Christian Brothers never told me he was a Catholic who turned Protestant and wrote the most erotic and immediate love poetry before becoming a vicar and preaching against sins of the flesh. Cork actress, Fiona Shaw, got all excited by the impact of his use of language and it was fun to realise that his dull To His Mistress wasn’t the full title and the education authorities left out the complete line On Getting Into Bed.
It was the same for John Milton’s boring Paradise Lost written by a blind poet who spent time in the Tower of London and later was a promo writer and supporter for Oliver Cromwell. Maybe that’s why they were on the Leaving Cert after all. An almost complete education.
More Lies
It now turns out that Sky has revealed that they diddled Irish viewers who phoned in to vote on some of their shows because the vote didn’t count. Sky blamed that old favourite – human error – and that the mis-charged texts or calls did not effect the outcome of the competitions. But we will never know. So, be careful, folks.
Snogging
Since the success of ITVs Benidorm, now with a special before its new series, BBC3 want to get in on the act with series three of Snog Marry Avoid by going overseas to tackle the subjects of Brits abroad. Hardly a new idea. Ex-Atomic Kitten star, Jenny Frost, will front this new series.
Back Bytes
Alan Davies: is to play a wannabe celebrity chef in a BBC2 comedy, as yet untitled, but the got the part because of his resemblance to chef Marco Pierre White. Davies will play a chef called Roland White. Pam Ferris will play his agent.
Frost: money might be tight at ITV Studios yet they have agreed to film three different endings to A Touch Of Frost, to keep the finale a secret. Sir David Jason has played the part for 17 years and is now co-executive producer of this final two-parter.
Sarah Connor: US network Fox has axed the Sarah Connor Chronicles despite average ratings, so enjoy the digital reruns while you can.
Simon Shaps: is the then ITV boss who didn’t want to make Britain’s Got Talent as he felt it was a show about mad people for mad people.
