The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
BETTY DAVIS: GODMOTHER OF FUNK
WHAT BRITAIN BUYS AND SELLS IN A DAY
Our trading relationships are about to face their biggest challenges in decades, but how much do we really know about the systems which enable Britain to import and export goods on such a massive scale?
In this optimistic new series, Ade Adepitan, Cherry Healey and, yes, Ed Balls investigate the ways in which we trade with the rest of the world.
It begins with a hard-hatted Balls visiting the vast London Gateway port to find out more about where our fruit and veg comes from. Adepitan travels to Peru to reveal how our growing interest in healthy eating has had a positive economic impact on overseas communities, and Healey visits a busy trading centre responsible for securing global produce.
TINY LIVES
Thursday, BBC2, 9pm
The specialist neonatal unit at University Hospital Wishaw is dedicated to caring for seriously ill and premature babies.
It’s the setting for this sensitive three-part series from BBC Scotland, in which amazing NHS professionals and anguished families deal with a variety of complex medical emergencies.
Charlie was born at just 23 weeks, almost the earliest stage at which a baby can be kept alive outside the womb.
“You’ve got to have hope,” says his tired young mother. “If you don’t have hope you don’t really have anything.”
Tiny Lives makes for difficult viewing at times, but no one could fail to be moved by the abiding theme of kindness, love and courage in the face of adversity. It’s humbling. Pioneering funk musician Betty Davis vanished from the spotlight more than 30 years ago. This tasteful documentary tracks down an enigmatic cult legend, a feminist icon, whose recordings influenced countless female R&B and hip-hop artists.
She inspired her late husband Miles to embrace jazz-rock fusion. He inspired her to write and perform. He also physically abused her.
Davis, who remains unseen for much of the film, recounts her story via self-penned poetic journals. Betty Davis is a great, gifted, independent black woman who defied conventions.
She played a sexually-charged role to make a socio-political point, but record company pressures and her innate sensitivity couldn’t support the weight. This film will linger with you.