Dramatic week puts Woking on the map!
WHO EVER said nothing happens in Woking? Well, they haven’t been watching TV recently. First Prince Andrew spoke glowingly to BBC Two’s Newsnight about his visit to the commuter town and its Pizza Express. It prompted an outpouring of love for the embattled pizza chain which must be basking in the joy of having a distinguished Royal associated with it. what crust did he go for, one wonders? Something quite thick I expect. Or a fancy new stuffed one.
But better was yet to come. In the promising new adaptation of War Of The Worlds (BBC One, Sunday), the residents of Surrey must have been besides themselves as Amy (Eleanor Tomlinson) and George (Rafe Spall) walked down a pristine street in the Edwardian period. “Nice to have someone nice to talk to in Woking,” said Amy, nicely.
The conclusion? woking is very nice, although as one character suggested, “a gossipy place, woking. ”they didn’t know the half of it then. amid the extra-terrestrial pandemonium of a Martian invasion I put my trust in Nicholas Le Prevost’s wonderful Chamberlain who barked in the face of catastrophe: “We are the Empire on which the sun never sets!” Quite right. we’ve kept the little green men at bay so far. Carry on.
The Crown (Netflix), or Things Royals Never Said, was rather scooped by Prince Andrew, a real Royal scandal, which trumps any fictional/ factional plot in this lavish period spectacle.any Royals watching will now view the Netflix show as a piece of diverting nostalgia.
That said, it most definitely knows its audience. within 30 seconds of the new season beginning, two loyal corgis hoved into view and took up their position attending their monarch at the Palace.
And they know how to behave, too, not moving an inch while the Queen examined a new stamp with her image on it.and so, ever so subtly, we saw the transformation from the Clare Foy interpretation of the sovereign to Academy Award winner Olivia Colman’s new take on arguably the most difficult role in acting.
The actress is all but faultless as the head of state. She IS the Queen despite suggestions that she had a “Left-wing face”, her accent was credible, even if her movement is less than processional.all in all, her performance was entirely believable, even if occasionally what she says as a character seems incredibly presidential, and inappropriate for a monarch who is not supposed to be involved in politics.
It can jar. when she meets the new prime minister, Harold Wilson, she dares to ask: “What will you do about the balance of payments? Will you devalue?”
The Labour leader is stunned but gives a credible answer. But this is the nub of this show.
What on earth do you believe, and what do you not? It’s simply implausible that she would have said that to the prime minister. Or is it? None of us can suddenly dive into the National Archive and rummage through some Cabinet papers from the late 1960s. we have a life too. So we put our trust in writer and creator Peter Morgan, wisely or not. Earlier, Elizabeth meets Sir Anthony Blunt, the Keeper of her Pictures... and Russian spy. He reveals how he voted in the election: “Conservative”, to which she replies, “I always had you down as a man of the Left.” They then discuss Harold Wilson and rumours that he’s a Russian spy. Says the Queen, “It’s said the KGB got him.” The Christmas message must have been a blast back then. Away from how factual or not we see this drama, it is actually laugh-out loud funny, and delights in its own political incorrectness. Prince Philip, played with aplomb by Tobias Menzies, scatters one-liners about like confetti. Referring to Wilson’s origins, Philip says, “I doubt they speak French in Halifax, or wherever he’s from”. Elsewhere, actress Helena Bonham Carter, seemingly born to play Princess Margaret, asks of her new servant, “Where’s the fat one?”
The best way to treat The Crown is to see it as an elaborate piece of entertainment, oozing its big budget.the cast list of spear carriers and palace flunkies must run to pages.
Finally, the ITV season of goodwill to advertisers got underway with I’m A Celebrity... What’s the John Lewis Ad Like This Year? (ITV, Sunday).
Incidentally, pretty poor. this show ushers in the Christmas shopping season but with only a light dusting of celebrity.the series is all about those who know someone very famous – I’m a Near Celebrity. Kate Garraway knows Piers Morgan, Caitlyn Jenner knows a Kardashian or three, and DJ Roman Kemp, son of Martin, knew George Michael. It’s the year of the name drop, and that’s as close as we’re getting. The most exciting moment was when Kate, on her first trial, invoked the spirit of the Teletubbies’ Noo-noo when she felt overly-assailed by bugs.who would have thought anyone would mention the loveable blue robotic Hoover on post-watershed TV?
What a momentous week. Tinky Winky will be most pleased.