The Adam & Joe Show

The old showbiz saying goes you don’t mess with a winner. The only real difference between this new series of The Adam & Joe Show and programme’s early days is that the wily pair have got more money to play with – which simply means the good bits are extremely good, and the iffy bits almost unbearably bad, but we’re cleverly still left with fascinating, rewarding television. Read more

The West Wing

If anyone ever attempted a serious TV dramatisation of the day-to-day workings of our own British government, it’s likely a host of of obstacles would instantly confront them. Chiefly, the fact that no-one in this country really knows what the government does – in the sense of the real minutiae of office life, the routines and rituals of departments, and the colour of the office carpet. Read more

Dog Eat Dog

Saturday night might not be the ratings battleground of yore, but the age-old rules still seem to apply. Read more

Teachers

Too much booze is bad for you. Well of course it is – too much of anything is bad for you, that’s what “too much” means. But Simon is worried. “I haven’t had sex… for three days!” he slurps during another evening of bevied-up brainstorming. “My girlfriend’s done it… everywhere!” There’s a pile of marking to be done, he’s living on a sofa with two mates obsessed with a colleague’s arse, and he’ll be late for work in the morning. “I just think it’s bollocks,” he sniffs, and goes to get the beers in. Read more

The RDA

Still there exists this unceasing desire to produce a British television equivalent of The Late Show With David Letterman. BBC Choice’s The Recommended Daily Allowance though, (back for a second series) is rather strange and amateurish, and all the more endearing as a result. Read more

Witness: Surrendered Wives

Viewers watching this episode of the Channel 4 documentary series Witness could have been forgiven for thinking that the whole thing was a glorious April Fool’s Day joke; rotund, American woman writes a self-help book for women who want to save their relationship, the crux of which, dictates that the woman should surrender completely to the whims and wishes of her partner. Read more

Ellen MacArthur: Sailing Through Heaven and Hell

It’s all in the title; here was 50 minutes of extremes in ecstasy and terror, exultation and exhaustion, equatorial heat… and icebergs. But we could also find a contrast in terms of the post-production work, with Ellen MacArthur’s professional performance on camera rather showing up the uneven and often intrusive narration from Charles Dance. Read more