The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
SCOTLAND’S CURSE
TOP Darren McGarvey’s TV PREVIEWS
PICK Addictions
– Tuesday, BBC Scotland, 10pm
Scotland has the highest drug fatality rate in Europe and the highest alcoholrelated death rate in the UK. We’re Britain’s gambling capital and we have a serious obesity problem. Why are so many Scottish people struggling with addiction? In this sensitive new series, author, journalist and musician Darren McGarvey examines the issue while investigating measures that
could and should be in place to help addicts. McGarvey is a recovering alcoholic. Like all good, empathetic people, he recognises that
alcoholism is a complicated illness. In episode one he meets medical experts and other recovering addicts. There are, of course, no straightforward answers, but this is a valuable report.
Britain’s Top Takeaways – Monday to Thursday, BBC Two, 8pm
Warning: don’t watch this
series while feeling peckish, as you may end up blowing a fortune on takeaways. It’s a harmlessly formulaic competition in which top takeaways from around the country go head to head in a pop-up HQ. The judges aren’t celebs for once. They’re ordinary British couples and families tasked with sampling the wares of our contestants. It’s MasterChef meets Gogglebox, basically. An inevitable union we’ve been waiting for. It begins with a battle betwixt five chippies, one of which is based in Coatbridge. They each add their own magic ingredients to the classic fish
supper, a cornerstone of the national diet. Your affable hosts are Sara Cox and comedian Darren Harriott.
Fergal Keane: Living with PTSD – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm
Esteemed BBC News foreign correspondent Fergal Keane has reported on brutal
conflicts for more than 30 years. He’s witnessed so many harrowing atrocities, the worst of humanity. Fourteen years ago he was diagnosed with PTSD. Recently, while filming in Kyiv on the eve of the Ukraine War, he made a decision: it’s time to go home
and put war reports behind him. In this ruminative essay, Keane digs deep into his psyche while examining the effects of this debilitating condition. He’s very honest and self-aware. He states that his career was largely driven by idealism, but also by an addiction to the
adrenaline of war reportage. It made him feel worthwhile. It also consumed him with
survivor’s guilt.
Between the Covers – Wednesday, BBC Two, 7.30pm
A busy week for Sara Cox continues with the return of her engaging book club. It’s impossible to dislike Cox, so this brief burst of ubiquity
is entirely acceptable. Her guests this week are radio presenter Vick Hope, actor David Morrissey, television man Richard Osman and comedian/podcaster Deborah Frances White.
This latest series is brought to you in conjunction with the BBC’s Big Jubilee Read, which celebrates the work of writers from across the Commonwealth. One of the novels under review in episode one is the Booker Prize-winning The English Patient by Sri Lankan author Michael Ondaatje. As always, the panel also wax lyrical about some of their favourite
tomes.