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BRITISH TVAn idiosyncratic résumé of series, soaps, dramas and comedy programmes Few people I know would care to admit that they watch much television, but we all know differently! My tolerance for television is limited but I still seem to clock up a high weekly intake in the winter months. I prefer to watch films or documentaries, but there are a few weekly series I follow, mostly crime ones. CRIMEThe Vice is a strong psychological police drama with dark music based on a vice unit operating in London's Soho. Constantly failing to remain detached from his work, Inspector Pat Chappel (Ken Stott) probes the fuzzy line between what is moral and what is legal. Chappel's pained introspection and chaotic personal life also has shades of the police psychologist and criminal-profiler, 'Fitz' (Robbie Coltrane) in Cracker.
The Bill is a sort of police soap centred on the uniform and plain-clothes sections of an inner-London police station. Although set in East London, most of it is actually filmed in an area of south-east London where I used to live. However accurate its depiction of 'the old bill' may or may not be, its depiction of its setting is spot on. Following the Don Beech (Billy Murray) corruption scandal and a purge of CID rivaling the Night of the Long Knives, new boss Tom Chandler (Steven Hartley) expounds political correctness, PR policing and management speak whilst the ambitious Detective Sergeant Debbie McAllister (Natalie Roles) wins equal admiration for being both sexy and devious. But since originally writing this review, The Bill has become a vehicle for promoting rather than lampooning political correctness...
Prime Suspect, an occasional detective drama starring Helen Mirren, is not to be missed, whilst another intermittent serial crime drama with a particularly dark twinge is Touching Evil. My all-time favourite detective series, however, has got to be Inspector Morse, the cultured but irascible Oxford detective who loved classical music and real ale, and never got the girl. Morse was played by John Thaw who had earlier co-starred with Dennis Waterman in the tough 70s crime series, The Sweeney. SOAPS
The leading British soap is Coronation Street, a clever combination of drama and comedy which has become an institution of national culture. My favourite character is the ebullient butcher, Fred Elliot (John Savident). Although often referencing aspects of contemporary life (such as teenage pregnancy), the world it depicts owes more to forty or fifty years ago when community life still existed, the streets were relatively safe and people didn't spend all their time watching TV soaps. Like its leading rival, East Enders (set in London's East End), it depicts a world which is believable but not really true. Whilst 'the Street' depicts people you mostly wouldn't mind as neighbours, the cast of East Enders spend their time snarling or shouting at each other. Real East Enders (a dying breed as many of them have now moved out to Essex) are a tough lot but they do have a great sense of humour, something totally absent from this soap. DRAMASAs dramas are by nature one-offs or short serials, there's not a great deal of point in my trying to include them in this guide, but I will none-the-less mention the evocatively nostalgic Our Friends in the North as one of the outstanding dramas of recent years. Another one that appealed to me was the darkly humorous The Lakes. COMEDY
According to a book on Laibach, the Slovenian industrial music group, the English invented humour but don't have anything left to laugh about. Humour is an extremely personal taste so I won't even begin to justify my preferences. My favourite comedy actor of recent years has been Steve Coogan playing the student-bashing Paul Calf (and sister Pauline), but I found him even funnier as the naff media presenter, Alan Patridge. Another of my favourites is the surreal Father Ted series about three Irish priests (and their housekeeper) who have been banished to the remote Craggy Island. Father Ted Crilly was played by the late and much lamented Dermot Morgan, with Ardal O'Hanlon as Father Dougal Maguire, Frank Kelly as the ferocious Father Jack Hackett and Pauline McLynn as Mrs Doyle. THE OFFICE
The biggest comedy success as I revise this article in November 2002 is The Office, written by and starring Ricky Gervais, who plays David Brent, the manager of the Slough branch of a paper merchant. For the benefit of overseas readers, the very mention of the Thames Estuary town of Slough resounds with the soullessness of modern Britain, an aspect underlined by the program's opening sequence as the camera pans from a roundabout to a floor on the faceless exterior of a grim glass-and-concrete office block. The BBC2 program has just finished its second series, and is an acutely well-observed study of life in a modern office presented in fly-on-the-wall documentary style. It will not only make you laugh, but cringe with embarrassment at Brent's ineptitude, insensitivity and self-deception. If you work in an office you'll know what I mean. Other characters include Brent's geekish and gormless assistant, Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) and the lovelorn receptionist, Dawn (Lucy Davis). Destined for a huge cult status, this highly intelligent sitcom is currently exciting the interest of quality newspapers almost as much as Kylie Minogue's derrière. Rik - 22 March 2001. Revised 9 November 2002. LINKSQuite a few of these links are US-based, an indication of the quality of British TV series and their popularity abroad. CRIMETHE VICE THE BILL PRIME SUSPECT TOUCHING EVIL (UNOFFICIAL FAN PAGE) INSPECTOR MORSE SOAPSCORONATION STREET EAST ENDERS DRAMASOUR FRIENDS IN THE NORTH THE LAKES COMEDYFATHER TED
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