Television
The Best of the Week
SUNDAY APRIL 9
Porridge (Jones!, Sky 008, 7.30pm). In celebration of the 60th anniversary of Hancock’s Half Hour, there was a brief flurry last year at the BBC to revive some of the classics. Keeping Up Appearances, Are You Being Served?, Steptoe and Son and Till Death Do Us Part all got some sort of remake, although a new Up Pompeii! was axed after Miranda
Hart, possibly wisely, pulled out. Needless to say, some were better than others, and Porridge fared the best, maybe because original writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais were back. It’s not without its problems – it’s trying a bit too hard to remind us that it’s 2016 – but comedian Kevin Bishop hits the right balance of smart-arsery and vulnerability as Nigel Fletcher, the grandson of the original
The Supergamers (The Zone, Sky 009, 7.30pm). Perhaps the surprising aspect of the online gaming revolution is that it is not just a lot of guys, and a few girls, in their bedrooms, it’s now a massive spectator sport. Thousands of people will go to arenas for an e-sport event and members of the gaming teams stand to earn a lot of money if they’re successful. In this doco, YouTube blogger Dan Howell follows three young British gamers at various stages of their careers. Teams at the top live together and train for 12 hours a day with a coach, but as with any sport, there are a vast number of gamers below the 1% at the top of the pyramid.
Soundbreaking (Prime, 8.30pm). The excellent US documentary series gets another go-around: we recommend it, nevertheless. It is the brainchild of George Martin, who as a renowned studio pioneer wanted to tell the story of the history and innovations of recorded music. He appears in the first episode alongside other producers such as Rick Rubin, Dr Dre, Sly Stone, Phil Spector and Tom Petty.
MONDAY APRIL 10
What Really Happens in Bali (TVNZ 2, 9.50pm). Well, it can’t be any worse than what British holidaymakers get up to in Majorca, although the drunk Aussies filmed here
Fletch, who was played with such humour and pathos by Ronnie Barker so long ago.
would give any Brit a run for their money. “A sleazy new low for Aussie TV,” said one Oz reviewer. Naturally, it has been so popular that Thai and Gold Coast iterations have been made.
TUESDAY APRIL 11
Angie Tribeca (TVNZ OnDemand). Steve Carell has found his happy place: he and wife Nancy, inspired by the likes of Police Squad! and
Sledge Hammer!, created this pun-tastic sight-gag series, which is now in its third season. The amazing Rashida Jones ( Parks and Recreation) plays Angie and nearly everyone else has a musicthemed name, including her partner “Jay” Geils (Hayes MacArthur), her boss “Chet” Atkins (Jere Burns) and recurring character Sergeant Eddie Pepper (James Franco).
Mary Berry’s Easter Feast
(Food TV, Sky 018, 9.30pm today and Wednesday). There isn’t a lot of Easter programming around, unless you count The Story of God with Morgan Freeman on National Geographic (Sky 072, Good Friday, 8.30pm), but in this two-parter, Bake Off’s Mary Berry explores Easter food, not only in the UK, but in various Christian communities around the world. For something more apocalyptic, Tony Jordan’s dramatisation of the story of Noah, The Ark, starring David Threlfall and Joanne Whalley, is repeated on Vibe (Sky 006) on Saturday (8.30pm).
WEDNESDAY APRIL 12
Dog Squad (TVNZ 1, 7.30pm). Specialist dogs featured this season include Department of Conservation dogs trained to detect young kiwi and penguins, and the world’s only Argentine-ant-detecting dog.
How Not to DIY (Prime, 8.30pm). A useful reminder for the long weekend, although this ITV two-parter is long on the kind of YouTube footage that ends up on shows such as Fail Army and short on real DIY information. There’s plenty of video of DIY “bodging” interspersed with such sage advice from actual professionals as “ladders are a two-man job” and “if you’re no good at flat-pack, what are you going to be good at?” The real lesson, perhaps, is don’t let your loved one, or your mate, film you on their phone.
Lethal Weapon (TVNZ 2, 9.45pm). There have been a number of remarkable film-toTV-series adaptations recently ( Fargo, Westworld, A Series of Unfortunate Events): Lethal Weapon isn’t one of them. That’s not to say it’s terrible.
It’s absolutely watchable, kinda fun, with slick action and likeable leads. Almost entirely forgettable, in other words, if it weren’t for Clayne Crawford, who was so good in Rectify.
It’s hard to believe he would take on a role vacated by Mel