I DON’T always hold with the old notion of writing about what you know, particularly when it comes to drama. What a dull television world it would be if writers could not think themselves into the minds of New Jersey mobsters (The Sopranos) or members of the British royal family (The Crown, or maybe their comedic counterparts in The Windsors).
That said, There She Goes (BBC2, Thursday, above), which centres around family life with a disabled child, would struggle to be half as brilliant had it not been written by two parents living in just such a situation.
Like Emily and Simon (played by Jessica Hynes and David Tennant), show creators Shaun Pye and Sarah Crawford have a daughter, Joey, with a severe learning disability. They walk the walk and use the Makaton, and that shines through in the writing. There She Goes is that strange being, a comedy-drama, and it can swing between extremes of both, sometimes in the same scene.
Perhaps it was this unflinching determination not to pull punches that led to the first series making its debut in the relative boondocks of BBC4. Word of mouth soon spread, awards followed (including a Bafta for Hynes), and now the new series has pride of primetime place on BBC2.
As before, the show jumps from past to present. The last series featured Rosie as a newborn and a nine-year-old (played by Miley Locke). Series two covers ages three and 11. In the early period – always shot in gloom – the initial shock has worn off and now the family, including son Ben (Edan Hayhurst) are trying to come to terms with the future as it will likely pan out. There are dark days to live through, with Simon so desperate for someone to confide in he heads back to Kilmarnock to see his dad (Gregor Fisher).
Wonderful performances from Hynes and Tennant, superb writing and genuinely funny besides – don’t miss.
Mrs America (BBC2, Wednesday) arrives laden with garlands from critics in the States. On the evidence of the first episode it is sure to receive the same toasty welcome here.
The true story of Republican anti-feminism campaigner Phyllis Sclafly (Cate Blanchett) and her fight against the equal rights amendment, it is a riot of 1970s hairdos and political passions. Half the fun of the first episode is working out who’s who. I particularly enjoyed Tracey Ullman as Betty Friedan, and Rose Byrne as Gloria Steinem, described by Schlafly as the sort of “miserable pathetic woman” feminists aspire to be. Miaow.
Blanchett is the stand out turn, playing Schlafly as a complex mixture of ruthless ambition and well hidden vulnerability. At times she seems almost too big a presence for the small screen, but she’s equally at home in the more intimate scenes.
Created by Dahvi Waller (Mad Men), Mrs America is one to savour, not least because supplies of such high quality drama are starting to run low. Perhaps British programme makers could turn their hand to a cheap and cheerful reimagining of the UK end of early feminism. Can you imagine? Jessica Hynes as Germaine Greer, please.
One of the more winning telly watching partnerships in the current series of Celebrity Gogglebox (Channel 4, Friday) has been Martin Kemp and his son Roman.
A pair of London Likely Lads, they skit each other as much as they do the programmes they are watching.
Kemp senior’s original partnership with his brother and fellow Spandau Ballet member Gary is at the heart of The Kemps: All True (BBC2, Sunday).
It’s a mockumentary, with a crew meant to be following the pair as they celebrate the band’s 40th anniversary. Now, you might think the spoof doc format had been done to death, and by and large it has, but there are some grand giggles to be had from writer-director Rhys Thomas’s hour-long film.
The inspiration is clearly Bros: After the Screaming Stops, which played like a mockumentary but wasn’t, and it works because all concerned know enough about telly and pop stars to lampoon them mercilessly.
The film turns into comedy “Gold” (yes, their songs are name-checked to death; sure to boost sales of their greatest hits) when Martin tries to put together a film about British gangsters as Avengers-style superheroes. There are cameos from Christopher Eccleston and Daniel Mays (“I went to ******* RADA!”), and at another point Today’s Nick Robinson pops up.
Spinal Tap will forever be the gold standard of rock mockumentaries. That much is “True” (okay, I’ll stop now), but The Kemps: All True shows there is life in the old format yet.
The Kemps: All True, BBC2, Sunday, 10pm; Mrs America, BBC2, Wednesday, 9pm, 9.45pm; There She Goes, BBC2, Thursday, 9.30pm; Celebrity Gogglebox (Channel 4, Friday, 9pm)
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