The drama of a playground full of curious young apes
Valentino, Clara and Beni spend most of their time dangling from climbing frames, guzzling milk and giving their teachers the runaround. But this is no ordinary crèche – we’re in Orangutan Jungle School (Channel 4) where graduation means a pass into the uncharted jungles of Borneo.
Covering similar ground to Michaela Strachan’s Orangutan Diary series of the late noughties and pushing the same buttons as last year’s Red Ape: Saving the Orangutan, this three-part docu-series follows the work of a team of devoted staff as they help young orangutans progress through a unique forest school system at the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rescue Center.
Under a canopy of trees lies a sanctuary for 70 pupils, most of them orphans, divided into nursery, primary and secondary school ages. There they learn the skills necessary to survive once they are returned to the wild, having been displaced from their habitat or kept as illegal pets. This first episode introduced us to those on the first rung of the ladder and in scenes that could have come straight out of The Secret Life of 4 and 5 Year Olds, we witnessed the drama of the playground as the forest friends displayed signs of cunning, resourcefulness and intelligence.
In the classroom there were lessons in coconut cracking, nest building and even snake awareness. Of course, being the curious creatures that they are there were some amusing antics, too, and the comical musical score lent an air of slapstick to proceedings. Mischief maker Valentino entertained his minders as he spat his milk out like a fountain, while a watchful eye was kept on how many bananas overeater Beni was secretly snaffling. There was an anxious moment, however, when teenage mother Clara was gently reunited with her baby who had been kidnapped by a dominant male. Would she reject her? Thankfully, it was a happy ending, though one worried that there were more pressing threats waiting for them back in the wild.
Films such as these do well to foster an awareness of the plight of this endangered species and the fragile ecosystem in which these charismatic apes lead their lives. There are now less than 60,000 wild orangutans left in Borneo, and Jungle School could have dwelt longer on issues such as deforestation and palm oil plantations, or the advances in technology that are helping to gain vital new information about the animals’ behaviour. Nevertheless, it was a fascinating insight into their world and heartening to see, despite humanity’s own reckless nature, the extraordinary bonds that they formed with the rescue staff.
Stephen Mangan’s comedy Hang (Channel 4) continued at an unrelenting pace but remains very, very funny. Filmed hand-held with a split-screen and a heavy dose of improvisation from its raft of comedy stars, it has an almost sketch-like feel.
The bones of the show come from Lisa Kudrow’s American hit Web Therapy which starred the Friends actress as an immoral online therapist. This British version, co-written by Mangan, stars the Episodes actor as a broken, desperate psychotherapist, counselling from home via Skype. Flipping from one conversation to the next and dealing with one crisis after another, Richard is perpetually distracted by his teenage children, his flighty wife, feckless friend, insolent siblings and overbearing parents; his emotions rocketing from nought to 60 at the click of a mouse.
In this second episode, we missed the side-splitting presence of Sarah Hadland’s straight-faced, homecounties gal, but Jessica Hynes as Richard’s sarcastic sister Katherine made up for it. When their suicidal, alcoholic mother needed a place to stay, Katherine, “harder to get hold of than Tracey Emin’s dentist”, declared that she was “happy to drive her to Switzerland”. Indeed, the humour comes from the absurd. One patient, Neil (Steve Oram) – a loan shark with Bono shades and the temper of Mel Gibson – confessed that he’d poisoned his stepfather and committed incest, while guest star David Tennant gave a Spider-man impression so disturbing anyone would want to run and hide.
Mangan and his co-writer Robert Delamere have carefully crafted an endless stream of comedy here. In no way do they laugh at mental-health issues, but rather at how those issues are being dealt with by a hapless psychotherapist – while subtly point out that in this chaotic, modern world of unbounded technology, we are perhaps less connected than ever.
Orangutan Jungle School Hang Ups