Middle-aged morality tale packed a punch
WHAT DO YOU DO in this world when some young upstart winds you up? Give them a clip around the ear? Well, you’d like to, but if you’re sensible you’d walk away and take a deep breath. If only Jason Watkins’s apparently mild-mannered Simon Henderson had done that in Coma (Channel 5, Monday – Thursday). Instead, rather out of character, we assume, Simon thumped the young wastrel who repeatedly called him a “paedo”. The punch killed the lad, but Henderson brought him back to life – though still in a coma.
In the mould of films like Falling
Down, in which middle-aged men have meltdowns to pass the time, Coma made me feel as though I was Simon Henderson.
In this respect, the drama was doing a service to the middle-aged men of Britain. Equally, how many of us thought:
(1) He’s a squirt of a lad, why are you even bothering with him?
(2) Henderson doesn’t look like he could throw a decent punch. Little did we know.
Jason Watkins, known for many superb performances, immediately convinced as the desperate, batty Mr Henderson.
There was also a fine performance by Jonas Armstrong as a local gangster who also happened to work in “security”. He was the victim’s father – what a piece of bad luck that was for Simon!
Henderson was also at odds with his grumpy next-door neighbour (David Bradley) who was also intent on getting his own back – on his own next-door neighbour, Simon!
Can someone please explain to me what is happening in Beyond Paradise (BBC One, Friday)?
Starring Kris Marshall (Humphrey) and fiancée Sally Bretton (Martha), this one-time cosy murder mystery format was meant to eschew nasty killings for lesser offences like stealing a poor old chap’s bicycle pump. And millions tuned in.
Bring on season two and suddenly someone’s wielding a long-bladed knife on a pretty steam train chugging through Devon’s green and pleasant land.
To me, a 12-inch blade doesn’t shout cosy. It screams, “Run like hell”.
Rather cleverly, the first episode of the new season was set among the Shipton Abbott Players, the smallest group of amateur thesps assembled.
Like Agatha Christie’s Orient Express, the murderer was among them, which handily narrowed it down for sleuth Humphrey who collates his evidence from scraps of paper he has accumulated like an itinerant litter picker. But that’s not to say the drama had lost its charm.
There was an amusing subplot involving Martha’s mum Anne (Barbara Flynn) who was dating a younger man, aged 63! Shocking stuff for Shipton Abbott.
Anne found her catch on Silver Heart, the dating site in which people list “catfishing” as a hobby. Meanwhile, after a rocky time in their relationship, Humphrey and Martha are again getting on splendidly, thank you for asking.
We can only hope things don’t turn nasty in subsequent episodes, leaving poor Humphrey with too much stress.
Next week: a serial killer goes looking for a date on Silver Heart? Well, maybe.
The turbocharged chatter machine, Anton du Beke and Giovanni Pernice, arrived in Seville to create havoc, and generally charm the locals on Anton & Giovanni’s Adventures In Spain (BBC1, Monday).
The Strictly duo introduced a new facet to the travelogue, a song and dance routine. Lookout for the Christmas album. The way things are going for this couple they may have to give up dancing because they’re too busy.
And was it just me or were Anton and Gio all the closer for having done this second trip together? They couldn’t stop saying how happy they were – even the prospect of a parking ticket made them smile. Or was it a touch of the sun?
Of course, that’s the whole idea behind the duo. Like Morecambe & Wise, whose specials are getting a welcome rerun on BBC4, they bring a little sunshine.
Meanwhile, nothing can stop this much-loved pair who looked completely at home stretching out on a Sunseeker yacht off the coast of Marbella.
The giddy heights of their minieuropean tour will seem very different in a few months when they’re backstage at Strictly rubbing shoulders with a troupe of “celebrities” they barely recognise.
Finally, there was a touching farewell to the late Dave Myers in the last episode of The Hairy Bikers Go West (BBC2, Tuesday). In a brave move, Dave had received chemo throughout filming, sending a positive message to all.
He will be remembered though for his impromptu quips, including this one over lunch, “I feel like I’m Cleopatra bathing in ass’s milk…”