Taut trucker terror touring the outback
PRAY YOU never have an urgent call of nature in the middle of the Australian outback. Thanks to a new BBC drama we now know what you might face – and it tops a famous scene from Trainspotting. The Tourist (BBC1, Sunday) is a gripping new thriller from the masters of the genre Harry and Jack Williams, in which a Brit (Jamie Dornan) finds himself on the receiving end of a crazed trucker in the Australian outback.
Judging from the first two chilling episodes, they’re not difficult to find... unlike a clean “dunny”. Just start driving south from Alice Springs, and stop for fuel somewhere. Dornan was pursued, then rammed in his tiny car by one man’s “massive rig” which landed the tourist in hospital with amnesia. It’s one trip everyone would want to forget.
But his nightmare had only just begun as the trucker, a large American chap with a fine line in killing people by slamming them against a rig with a truck door, was determined to finish the job. And by the end of episode two, I was backing the big guy with the extra-long vehicle. I think he may have the edge.
Dornan’s Elliot (his name was revealed at the end of episode two) also appears to have murdered someone.
But at least the medical facilities were good. I was shocked to see an MRI scanner at an outback hospital in “Terrifying Creek”, or some similar fictional name.
If all truckers behave like this, I imagine it’s used on a daily basis.
Given that The Tourist is somewhere between Mad Max and Outback Truckers it may not provide such a boost for local tourism as my favourite outback film, Crocodile Dundee, did. It may indeed do the opposite. Although if it manages to include either a man with a large knife (“now that’s a knife”), or an acrylic looking croc, viewers will be doubly tempted to make a visit.
Prepare too for a dark sense of humour, evidenced by one chap’s reaction to Dornan’s amnesia condition – “Awesome, mate!” They also managed to show two lovestruck tortoises crossing a road in a unique clinch while interested motorists looked on…
The highlight of the TV week for news junkies – we’re all a little guilty of that – was the arrival of twinkly Eamonn Holmes on GB News (Monday). The great asset possessed by this veteran news journalist/presenter is that he says what he thinks and does so with regularity. You’re welcome to disagree.
However, he’s not simply there to attack “wokeness” although he probably
(BBC1, Monday)
Father Brown
Deam always plays Mallory like he was robbed of a huge lottery win the previous day. His Burt Reyonolds-style tache also seems to drag down his ever-gloomy outlook.
That said, it was a fine episode and a splendid performance as ever from Deam.
It knocked the spots off Death In Paradise (BBC1, Friday) which limped along like a rainy day in Guadeloupe. This drama is only an hour but they still stuffed it with extra padding – a new sergeant, the inspector’s waning love life, along with his dreadful turn as a quiz master. The real mystery is why this drama has ceased to be an appointment to watch.
IN A PACKED week of new television, The Apprentice (BBC1, Thursday) was back after two years with the barmy wannabes squawking their incredible attributes. Britain’s business future is definitely in safe hands.
In the first hilarious week, they were challenged to launch a new cruise line.
Someone really has a finely developed sense of humour in production. The boys were superbly rubbish, failing to include the name of the cruise line with the logo, which itself looked like a human banana doing the downward dog. In the heat of discussion, one keen contestant barked: “We’ve got seeds – let’s get a tree out of it!”
Finally, great to see Rick Stein’s Cornwall (BBC2, Monday) return with the revelation from a veteran lifeguard at
Bude that a chap named Paul Drury would “surf out around the point in a huge trench coat”. What a trooper!