The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
INSIDE CINEMA: MEET THE FAMILY
THE SPLIT
Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm
Remember this? A pot-boiling legal drama about a high-flying family firm of divorce lawyers?
No need to feel confused, frightened or ashamed if you don’t, as its generic flavour leaves no aftertaste and it squanders a strong cast including Stephen Mangan, Deborah Findlay and the always great Nicola Walker.
As series two grinds into gear, Hannah (Walker) tries to help her new client, a troubled TV talent show judge (Donna Air from Byker Grove). Meanwhile, her own family’s private lives are, as usual, in utter disarray.
The Split isn’t bad as such, it’s just nothing; a professional piece of inconsequential product.
Call me a cockeyed idealist if you will, but I expect more from a drama than that.
KEVIN MCCLOUD’S ROUGH GUIDE TO THE FUTURE
Wednesday, Channel 4, 9pm
I can think of no one more qualified than Grand Designs host Kevin Mccloud to lead us by trembling hand from the impending economic and environmental collapse of life as we know it. Mccloud, that perma-wry blueplan cynic, claims to believe that we can dig ourselves out of this mess.
In this presumably well-meaning new series, he sends three sceptical celebs – comedians Jon Richardson and Phil Wang, plus broadcaster Alice Levine – on a transcontinental voyage of “Well fancy that!” discovery. Mccloud’s message is this: don’t fear the robot, technology can save us.
He’s probably – hopefully – right, but nothing will ever be solved by glib programmes such as this. It’s a travelogue with illusions of conscience.
“There are a million ways to tackle family on film,” declares Kathy Burke, narrator of this engaging essay from film critic Catherine Bray.
It’s a universal theme, hence why so many filmmakers seize upon it: “Make a film about families and you’re never gonna be short of inspiration.” Familythemed films are often autobiographical in nature, but they can tap into emotions we’ve all experienced at some point in our lives.
To illustrate her wide-ranging yet clear-eyed and occasionally quite irreverent thesis, Bray picks out several notable case studies; some of them famous, others less well-known.
Indeed, like most essays of this kind, it will encourage you to search out intriguing-looking films you’ve never seen before.