Imagine, if you can, that England won a major football tournament but hardly anyone spoke of it. There was no footage in the archives to replay endlessly, scant newspaper coverage, the lifting of the trophy only truly alive in the memories of those who could say, “I was there.” Impossible? Not if you substitute Scotland for England.
The Lost Final (BBC Scotland, Sunday, 7.15pm) tells the story of the Scotland squad that left the country as teenagers and returned from the final in Finland as winners of the 1982 UEFA European Under-18 Championship.
Presented by Pat Nevin, who scored in the final against Czechoslovakia, the 45-minute documentary follows the former Clyde and Chelsea player as he talks to his teammates of the time and searches for the missing footage ahead of a planned reunion of the squad.
If it is hard to believe so little attention was paid to the victory, consider the year. The Falklands War, the Pope’s visit to Scotland, the World Cup in Spain – 1982 was a busy old time for news.
Fortunately, one young reporter had his eye on the ball and convinced his editor to send him to the finals. Chick Young was the name, the Evening Times was the paper. Both, I’m delighted to report, are still going strong.
Young recalls manager Andy Roxburgh and his coaching team packing the days with football and the evenings with activities including watching TV (Charlie’s Angels) and playing darts and dominoes.
Nevin lands an interview with Roxburgh, now living in Switzerland, and beaming in by videocall from his home in Australia is skipper Paul McStay. Key to the victory, says McStay, was the fact that the young players were in the first teams at their clubs.
And what of Indiana Nevin and his quest for the lost footage? No spoilers: like the man himself you’ll have to wait and see.
Having explored the changing face of dinner, Christmas, weekends, factory work, and much else, Back in Time for Birmingham (BBC2, Monday-Tuesday, 8pm) looks at the experience of South Asians who came to Britain after the Second World War.
First stop: the 1950s and 1960s. First step for the Sharma family, or at least for father and son Vishal and Akash, is to leave their comfy, all mod cons home and move into a recreated lodging house of the time in Sparkbrook. Dad gives a pep talk before they go in. “I’m sure we can figure out how to survive.”
This turns to “oh my God” when they enter the place. There is barely any furniture. A mirror on the wall is so dirty it’s impossible to see any reflection. Wallpaper is peeling off. There’s one mattress in the middle of the floor. “I’m glad I don’t have to sleep with dad,” says Akash, expecting a bed of his own. Think again pal.
When mum Manisha and daughter Alisha arrive it’s the sight of the kitchen that sends their spirits sinking. Manisha looks in vain for the fridge.
As the years go by things improve – the food especially. Families arrive, the community expands. There are Bollywood films in the cinemas.
But this being the 1950s and 1960s, the era of Enoch Powell and his “Rivers of Blood” speech, there are bad times, too.
The family watch aghast on a TV of the time as the then Conservative MP rails against immigration. They are appalled that the audience is applauding him. It won’t be the last time in the series that racism rears its head.
People Just Do Nothing, This Country, Starstruck – many a comedy hit has cut its teeth away from the spotlight before transferring to the main BBC channels.
Hoping to go the same way are Ellie and Natasia (BBC3, Tuesday, 10pm/10.15pm).
It helps that the pair are known already: Ellie White for The Other One, Natasia Demetriou for What We Do in the Shadows and Stath Lets Flats.
But they’ve chosen a sketch show format, which brings its own problems. For a start there are the inevitable comparisons with the likes of Victoria Wood and French and Saunders. Big shoes to fill. Huge.
Not everything works. Quite a few things don’t. But if you can stay the distance (the series will be on iPlayer after the second episode) there is certainly something here.
The pair have a likeable affection for the gleefully daft. Several of the characters are keepers, chief among them the Mums, a pair of bodywarmer-wearing bottle blondes who live for kitchen islands. Bit close to home that one, but funny. Then there are the Brothers Pomodoro, a pair of posh boy chefs, and the Scots presenters of The 21st Century Guide to Sex (yup, they nail the accent).
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