The Herald - The Herald Magazine
Kyle was vile...and Norton’s gentle Irish cop makes his debut
IT PROVED to be the end of bear-baiting television in Britain. Steve Dymond took his own life after appearing on the longrunning Jeremy Kyle Show and failing a lie detector test.
The tragedy awoke the public to the debate that this form of television was prurient, despicable and had no rightful place on the schedules.
Yet, Steve Dymond wasn’t the only person impacted upon by their appearance on confessional television.
Death In Daytime (Sunday, Channel 4, 9pm)
looks at other participants in Kyle’s show, regarded by many as vile TV. This film reveals the guests, their loved ones and the production people involved.
What we all knew was that the presenter would shout in the face of the participants. Try to egg them on. He would trash aspects of their personality, their ordinary lives, even the clothes they chose to wear.
But this form of daytime television worked so often the public didn’t feel sorry for those who took part. Why should we? They were the sublevel architects of their own misfortune.
Yet, what we didn’t know was that some of the participants suffered mental health issues. Some should never have been anywhere near the public confessional that is the television studio.
Some of them didn’t know what they were getting into but many did. Most were offered access to services they believed they desperately needed – but could never afford in exchange for taking part: family counselling, rehab, DNA tests, lie detectors (even though the polygraph tests are limited in determining whether someone is telling the truth).
Sixty-three -year-old Steve Dymond had wanted to prove he wasn’t cheating on his fiancée; he failed a lie detector test and was booed and jeered by the audience.
Yet Kyle knew Dymond had been on anti-depressants, a lawyer for the Dymond family claimed later. Still, the presenter branded him a failure, saying he would “not trust him with a chocolate button.”
A week after the episode was filmed, Steve Dymond was found dead at his home in Portsmouth.
Since Dymond’s death, at least five other Jeremy Kyle guests have come forward to say they attempted suicide after appearing on the programme. It’s also been claimed there was a regular confrontation between the show’s producers and the mental health team over who should be able to take part.
This programme examines television’s duty of care to those in its charge. Questions have to be asked continually as to how exploitative television can become.
Yes, we know television is supposed to entertain. But we’ve had to re-evaluate what that entails. And that has meant the lights on Jeremy Kyle’s show being turned off.
But if you’re expecting funny TV sprite Graham Norton to lead you towards the television light, that’s just not going to happen. His new drama Holding (Monday, STV, 9pm), based upon his best-selling novel, tells the dark story of an unexplained murder in Cork.
It features the life of a shambling local policeman Sgt PJ Collins (Conleith Hill) who
really wants to be a dynamic cop, evidenced by having The Sweeney theme tune as his ring tone.
However, PJ is not the type for cussin’ and fighting at all. He holds car doors open for schoolboys. He comfort eats.
And he avoids conflict in the way Graham Norton steers aways from dullards such as Robert De Niro.
But when a skeleton is unearthed by construction workers, PJ has to tackle a major crime for the first time in his life. And speak to the villagers he’s spent so long trying to avoid, rather than treat them like aliens.
Ah, aliens. Star Trek fans love them. But what do we really know about the iconic series?
Norton’s comfort-eating Cork cop wants to be in The Sweeney but he is not the type for cussin’ and fighting
The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek (IMDB TV, Friday)
boldly goes where no television documentary has gone before to offer fans a deep space insight.
In the autumn of 1964, the pilot for what would become Star Trek was commissioned. But it was far from a series about space adventurers. The producers insisted upon the importance of addressing timely earthly topics, such as race relations.
There was massive debate about the creation of the character Spock, for example.
But what did the cast think of each other? Did they parallel the unity the crew of the Enterprise shared?
The series includes candid interviews with Star Trek legends such as Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, Brent Spiner, Kirstie Alley, Walter Koenig and Kate Mulgrew.
And they don’t hold back on beaming down detail of the pay disputes, the rivalries . . . all the good stuff.
Not as good as Starstruck (BBC3, Monday, 10pm). This neat little romcom series about infatuation and adoration comes to an end, sadly.
Rose Mateo again leads the way brilliantly and deserves a follow up.