The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
THE LAST PIRATES: BRITAIN’S REBEL DJS
OUR BABY: A MODERN MIRACLE
Jake and Hannah Graf are Britain’s most prominent transgender couple. Last year they decided to have a baby. This intimate programme follows them through the process of finding a surrogate and dealing with a child being born during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dramatic scenes ensue. The Grafs are likeable, candid and perceptive. This touching love story doesn’t gloss over the prejudice they continually deal with, but it also provides some hope. Hannah, a retired British army officer, was recently awarded an MBE for her services towards the LGBT community within the military. Her loving parents couldn’t be more proud. Jake and Hannah are a tremendous couple. Their child is beautiful and beloved. May your Gawd bless us all.
GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MICA
Friday, BBC Four, 9pm
Like so many soul singers before her, Mica Paris was raised on gospel music. In this documentary she touches upon the conflict she felt when switching to secular music, which helps to illustrate her wider point. The sociohistorical significance of gospel music is examined via the fascinating stories behind key songs such as Amazing Grace.
Born in the Deep South cotton fields, these are songs of grief and anger, subversive statements of divine intent. They are hymns devised by brutalised black people who sought strength in musical communion. Gospel begat blues and testifying soul protest. You don’t have to be a believer to appreciate the heart-stirring majesty of this music. It’s an ecstatic expression of pure human emotion.
Rodney P continues his odyssey through some of the biggest black British underground music scenes with this expansive tribute to the 1980s pirate DJS. Broadcast illegally from London estates and tower blocks, the pirate stations were a vital reaction against the conspicuous lack of cutting-edge black music on commercial radio. They were under constant threat of closure by the police; a stark encapsulation of Thatcherite racism and hypocrisy. P sums it up: “The pirate DJS were black music entrepreneurs who embraced the spirit of the age, but were criminalised for doing so.” A great series by skilled artisans who genuinely love and understand the subject they’re exploring.