The Arts Desk’s Latest TV Reviews
Everything from documentaries on world music and photojournalism to satirical drama is covered in the TV reviews on The Arts Desk this week, as well as the top programmes to look out for this Christmas.
In ‘America in pictures: The Story of Life Magazine’ on BBC Four, Adam Sweeting followed photographer Rankin as he charted the history of Life magazine’s ground-breaking brand of photojournalism. The subject matter made it a fascinating documentary, despite the fact that Rankin was not the most engaging or animated presenter.
Jasper Rees caught up with the man himself to mark a new BFI season dedicated to the work of TV film-maker Peter Kosminsky. He is best known for his campaigning drama-documentaries dealing with tough issues you might otherwise only find on the TV news.
Adam Sweeting gave a run-down of the Christmas shows that will be battling for our attention over the festive season with just a snippet of TV news. The Downton Abbey Christmas special will be going head to head with EastEnders and Doctor Who, while Absolutely Fabulous makes its long-awaited return. Boxing Day sees a new dramatisation of The Borrowers and a brand-new episode of Poirot and on 27 December, look out for the BBC’s new Dickens adaptation, Great Expectations.
Channel 4’s ‘Black Mirror: The National Anthem’ began by doing a very good impression of a serious political thriller, as this earnest-seeming drama quickly revealed itself as a sharp, scathing and hilarious satire on our media-obsessed age. Beautifully acted and directed, this modern-day ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ earned itself a five-star review.
The latest of Alan Yentob’s ‘Imagine’ series on BBC One was caught by Peter Culshaw, subtitled ‘The Lost Music of Rajasthan’. The region’s rich and stimulating traditional music was explored and shows that it is becoming ever more threatened today. This well-made documentary proved to be interesting and serious, even if it wasn’t particularly ground-breaking or challenging.
January 22, 2012
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Posted by Jam Man
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