Confused by Line Of Duty? No comment
‘JESUS, Mary and Joseph and the wee donkey...” Yes, the hilariously profane words of Ted Hastings in the AC-12 interview room on Line Of Duty (BBC One, Sunday) as he tried to work out what was happening in a Jed Mercurio script. Like all of us, he didn’t have much of a clue. But what it lacked in meaning, it made up for in tension.
All we know now for certain is that his new boss Patricia Carmichael (Anna Maxwell Martin) likes Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) even less than before and would like to frame him for every crime in England since the Krays.
No one is coughing for anything in this show for fear of reprisal. Especially not Kelly Macdonald’s DI Jo Davidson. She was deploying “no comment” and infuriating Hastings who must never have had a cameo in 24 Hours In Police Custody, where “no comments” are thrown about like dodgy twenties at an OCG knees-up.
But she did admit to being manipulated by her uncle,tommy Hunter – who also turned out to be her father. Not nice.then we had the apparent end of another villain from the past, James Nesbitt’s retired detective Neville Thurwell who was apparently found dead in Spain. No acting was required for Nesbitt. His agent will be delighted.
We still don’t know who the corrupt copper known as H is, and potential Hs are falling like ninepins. But is Thurwell really dead? Let’s see.
All in all, it was a patchy episode.we’d all expected more of the high drama after the gun-toting, stand-off of the previous week. Instead, when we, the stricken viewer, arrived on the scene, DI Kate Fleming and new pal Jo had scarpered in a car.the new besties were colluding over what to say, and Jo took the rap for shooting baby-faced Ryan,who deserved little better.we all scratched our heads.
One timid car chase later, and we were back in the AC-12 Perspex box, longing for anyone to put their hands up. Jay-walking would have done.
Is this a good series? It’s on a par with others but not a classic. It feels like we’re travelling in the direction of H, but don’t know how to get there. Mercurio says he knows, which is reassuring. I doubt very much that it will have a final ending tonight. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and the wee donkey – whatever would Jed do with his time if it was the end?
You might think having watched the first few minutes of Starstruck (BBC Two, Monday) that it wasn’t worth persisting with.two young girls in a modern discotheque were getting drunk, and lots of shouting was going on around a young man. But it got better. He was suddenly giving
(BBC1, daily)
investment advice – “First, buy aluminium, then gold, then Bitcoin”. None of us knew what he was talking about but it was a nod to a savvy audience, while mocking the poor chap along the way.and it was funny.
Hang on...what’s that? Jokes? (You can still find them on Yesterday in One Foot Inthe Grave).this was a promising new comedy from writer and comedian Rose Matafeo and it’s definitely the best new sitcom this year, with a touch of
Bridget Jones and Fleabag thrown in. It’s not derivative though. Rose’s Jesse is someone you immediately like and care about – unlike most new comedy characters who just try your patience.
Funniest scene? Jesse works in a cinema and a colleague dropped a pillow-size bag of popcorn.you try catching bits of it on the way down. What a relief to find something funny on the television. May it run and run.
And with the return of My Time With Alan Partridge (BBC One, Friday), it was a good week for laughs.there was even a joke against the BBC. How shocking.
It’s “suspend disbelief” when it comes to Intergalactic (Sky One, Friday).
How do you make sci-fi believable? Not like this. It has good CGI, passable action sequences, and a sound cast, but it’s difficult to care about this ropey lot.
One reason is that they are interstellar convicts in a prison transfer drama minus the Transit vans. Conveniently, the spaceship is a nice, circular one like children draw, which is carrying a bunch of female ne’er-do-wells, including a cop who’s been fitted up.they’ve taken off from “Commonworld” in 2143 which we seem to have partly destroyed – we’re always to blame – and our escaped prisoners want to go to “Arcadia” where crims run riot.
Finally, and impressively, Dot Cottan from Line Of Duty (Craig Parkinson) plays the evil leader of Commonworld. Give the man an underground lair, and I might watch another episode.