The Herald - The Herald Magazine
TV previews & reviews
SHOULD you be in the market for a new amour I would strongly advise going anywhere near Coronation Street. The fictional northern town of Weatherfield is the world capital of absolute bounders, the latest of whom is Geoff Metcalfe (played by
Ian Bartholemew), husband of Yasmeen (Shelley King).
Geoff, like many a Corrie villain, seemed quite a nice chap, if a bit of a plonker, when he first arrived. He had some very big scary clown shoes to fill if he wanted to one day bag a spot in the Street’s rogues gallery. Consider some of those who have gone before. There was Pat Phelan, the Scouse builder and partner of Eileen. Guilty of rape, murder, and blackmail, it would have taken a heart of stone not to cheer when Eileen shoved him off a pier. “Come on Eileen,” we begged, “do it”, only to follow this later with “Come off it, writers,” when he survived.
Other wrong uns include Richard Hillman (arson, attempted murder, murder); Don Brennan (kidnap, attempted murder); Rita’s beau Alan Bradley (fraud, attempted murder); and who could forget Scotland’s contribution to the collection, Tony Gordon, who tried to kill Carla Connor twice and Roy Cropper just the once.
The refreshing thing about Corrie is that it operates an equal opportunity approach to villains. The unwary are also likely to fall victim to a woman such as Kirsty Soames (domestic abuse of Tyrone), and the deadliest female of them all, Tracy Barlow. What hasn’t Tracy done over the years?
Compared to some of these, Geoff is a lightweight, but he is a nasty piece of work nonetheless. He started off by adoring Yasmeen, only to gradually take over her life and destroy her confidence. This was controlling behaviour in action, and what a distressing sight it has been. We’ve watched poor Yas clean her fingers to the bone scrubbing the house, observed as Geoff convinced her she had a drinking problem, and seen him on one occasion lock her in a magician’s cabinet (sounds funny but not).
The writers have clearly done their homework, and the plot line has not gone unnoticed. During the breaks you can often see Scottish Government adverts highlighting controlling behaviour and advising where to go for help.
The story has taken a while to build, in keeping with the nature of the crime. Yasmeen’s granddaughter Alya (Sair
Khan) was the first to see what
Geoff was up to and has been a stone in his shoe ever since. Neighbours have seen or heard Yasmeen in distress. But Geoff has continued to get away with it, often to an extent that has been exasperating. As with Eileen at the pier head, one longs for Yasmeen to see exactly what he is doing and get the heck out. That she cannot is, again, par for the course in such situations. But next week it looks like a breakthrough is in the offing, and not even Geoff will be able to talk his way out of the situation.
When Guo Pei was growing up in a China under the cosh of Mao’s Cultural Revolution she went for a walk one day in Beijing with her grandmother. The young Guo admired the vibrant colours of the imperial palace, in particular the bright yellows, such a contrast with the drab grey and blue suits most of the population wore. She asked her grandmother if she could have a yellow dress. “Only an emperor can wear yellow,” she was told. “Yellow is forbidden for common people.”
As the documentary Yellow is Forbidden shows, Pei was to fulfil her heart’s desire and then some. Rebecca Dobbs’ film picks up the story of China’s best known fashion designer as she heads to Paris, home of haute couture, to put on a show and, she hopes, be invited to join an exclusive association of dressmakers.
Pei made a global splash in 2015 when Rihanna, singer/ actress/dedicated follower of fashion, wore one of her dresses to the Met Ball. Like most of her best known pieces, it was a sumptuous, elaborate affair, years in the making, and so heavy that a team of men had to carry the train. Of all the things you can do in a Guo Pei dress, running for a bus ain’t one of them.
Making it big in Paris, Pei says, is for a designer what winning an Oscar is for a film director. Petite, ferociously energetic and determined, she is a compelling character. Her world today consists of making clothes for the super-rich, with the most expensive gowns, worked on by some of the 300 embroiderers she employs, selling for several million pounds. Her story is that of China’s past, present and future and is elegantly told here. If you would like to know more about Pei, she was also the subject of an episode of Outlook, the always wonderful World Service radio programme.
Coronation Street, STV, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 7.30pm; Yellow is Forbidden, BBC 4, Monday, 10pm; Outlook (BBC Sounds).