Last night on television Michael Hogann
Natural World: The
Octopus in My House
BBC TWO, 9.00PM
Natural World
consistently finds
fresh, interesting angles
on its subject matter,
and tonight’s eccentric,
insightful examination
of cephalopods takes
this to the extreme. Our
guides are Professor David
Scheel and his 16-year-old
daughter Laurel, whom we
see install a large tank of
salt water in their living
room and put an octopus
called Heidi inside. Laurel,
would have preferred a
dog, but doesn’t take long
to get attached to their
new house-guest. From
there, they conduct a
series of experiments
aimed at gauging how
much common ground
homo sapiens might have
with a creature bearing
nine brains, three hearts,
blue blood and all the
hallmarks of its own
(quite) unique branch
of evolution.
It helps that octopuses
are so intrinsically bizarre
and fascinating to look
at, constantly shifting in
shape and colour. But the
Scheels’ findings, too, are
compelling: they tease out
examples of intelligence
through play, sociability
and dexterity. Detours to
Madagascar and Australiaprovide valuable context,
while the Scheers prove
to be amiable, informed
hosts who form a bondwith Heidi that’s truly
unexpected and moving.
A great idea, smartly
executed. Gabriel TateComedyThis Way Up
CHANNEL 4, 10.00PM Aisling Bea’s excellent
comedy drama continues.
Misunderstandings see Aine
(Bea) and Richard (Tobias
Menzies) drawn together,
before she’s rejected by her
sister (Sharon Horgan) and
fleeced by a psychic. GTBrassic
SKY ONE, 10.00PM & 11.00PM Reminiscent of Shameless
in its early pomp, this
uproarious comedy-drama
from This is England’s Joe
Gilgun follows Gilgun’s
Vinnie and his raggle-taggle
group of chums as they pullscams and dodge the police
in a Lancashire town. GTDocumentaryThe Secret Teacher
CHANNEL 4, 9.00PM Sentimental but effective,this edition follows social-
media magnate Steven
Bartlett (who was expelled
from school at age 15) as
he goes undercover in a
struggling Liverpool school,
encountering two students
in need of inspiration
and motivation. GTWalking the Nile
DISCOVERY, 10.00PM Levison Wood, the
explorer and (apparently)
inveterate glutton for
punishment, walks the
length of Africa’s longest
river, handling appalling
weather, brutal terrain
and human conflict while
he takes in some rather
unusual locals and truly
breathtaking scenery. GTWhat to watch
Radio choice Clair Woodward
Indulging his artistic side: Vic Reeves celebrated the centenary in Bauhaus Rules
Vic Reeves’s tin-foil party was
a playful paean to Bauhaus
T
he midlife crises of
comedy duo Vic Reeves
and Bob Mortimer are
playing out in contrasting
styles across the BBC. No
ponytails or Porsches are
involved, thankfully. While Mortimer
goofs around on riverbanks for BBC
Two’s gentle gem Gone Fishing, Reeves
was busy indulging his artistic side on
Bauhaus Rules (BBC Four).
Coming after a compelling profile
of textiles trailblazer Anni Albers and
weighty documentary Bauhaus 100,
this impish film was the highlight of a
themed evening to mark the influential
German art school’s centenary.
Reeves, whose real name is Jim
Moir, has a sideline as a painter and
made an enthusiastic, eccentric host.
He aimed to bring radical Bauhaus
principles to a new generation by
seeing if six graduates of Central St
Martins art college could embrace its
teachings within a week.
They had to create a new artwork
each day, sticking rigidly to Bauhaus
rules. Setting their tasks were a
veritable VIP guest list of Bauhaus-
influenced bigwigs, including artist
David Batchelor, fashionista Holly
Fulton and typography titan Neville
Brody.
They began by donning lab coats to
practice rooftop breathing exercises,
before being fed the eye-wateringly
potent garlic mush that was a staple of
the Bauhaus canteen. Then came the
creative challenges: sculpting
materials scavenged from skips, using
Kandinsky’s principles of colour and
shape, and designing household
objects for Habitat. Well, if you can
class a high chair for dogs, a portable
bird bath and a cafetière that can’t
make coffee as household objects.
Finally, they threw a Bauhaus-style
party, with costumes and decor crafted
from metallic objects. Cue tin foil
capes, cutlery crowns and a
suggestively placed shower head.
Throughout the experiment, Reeves
alternated between enlightening
narration and irreverent asides.
This was a knowingly pretentious
take on a traditional TV talent contest.
Bauhaus Got Talent, perhaps, or
Strictly Weimaring.
Any goths tuning in expecting a
rockumentary about black-clad
Eighties band Bauhaus might have
been disappointed at first but would
have soon been drawn in. The
students were palpably inspired by
their transformative week going back
to art basics. This was a playful paean
to creative freedom and collaborative
spirit. The sort of self-indulgent yet
irresistible endeavour that you would
only find on dear old BBC Four.D
eep Water (ITV) is proving
to be a shallow puddle. This
middlebrow thriller about the
tangled lives of three women in
Windermere, adapted from Paula
Daly’s novels, saw dark secrets
surfacing at the school gates. And not
just about whose parents had helped
with maths homework or panic-bought
dress-up day costumes on Amazon.
This was a town where dinner
parties ended in illicit bathroom sex
(makes a change from After Eight
mints) and skint physiotherapists
solved their financial woes by
sleeping with a patient for a whopping
£5K fee. There’s a missing schoolgirl
too – isn’t there in most TV dramas
nowadays? – but she’s so spoilt and
sulky, it’s hard to care.
The second episode didn’t improve
matters much. Absent-minded Lisa
(Anna Friel) tried to make amends for
her role in the girl’s disappearance,
while cracks appeared in the smugly
perfect facade of worried Kate
(Rosalind Eleazar). Masseuse Roz
(Sinead Keenan) took the plunge and
had sex for cash – before, even more
preposterously, being offered £10K for
a repeat performance.
Meanwhile, dogged DC Aspinall
(Faye Marsay, too good an actress not
to play a more pivotal role) and Kate’s
git of a husband Guy (Alastair
Mackenzie, who I still can’t help
associating with his starring role in
sleepy Sunday night McSoap Monarch
of the Glen 20 years ago) both appeared
to be hiding something dodgy.
The Lake District scenery was
handsome and the three leads
wholehearted but there was little else
to commend this pulpy, implausible
melodrama. Every male character was
awful. Stilted dialogue sounded like it
had been written by an alien trying to
pass itself off as human. Even the
surnames of the protagonists – Kallisto,
Toovey and Riverty – were strangely
unrealistic, as if generated by some
sort of randomising algorithm.
Aiming to be a British Big Little Lies,
it’s more like an inferior mountainous
remake of Noughties drama Mistresses.
Can I invest another four hours in this
hokum? Only if you pay me £5K for the
next episode, then keep doubling it.Her Story Made History
RADIO 4, 9.00AM Lyse Doucet talks
to Filipino-American
journalist Maria Ressa,
who interviewed Rodrigo
Duterte, president of the
Philippines, in the Eighties,
when he was starting his
political career as the mayor
of Davao City, and she wasat the beginning of her
media career. Over 30
years later, the pair are
still crossing swords. Ressa
is on a crusade to combat
the “fake news” that she
believes Duterte and others
spread online – and she’s
facing charges of fraud, tax
evasion and cyber libel, in
what her supporters believe
are revenge prosecutions.Edinburgh International
Festival 2019
RADIO 3, 11.00AM Kate Molleson presents
a harpsichord extravaganza,
as the Dunedin Consort is
joined live by music director
John Butt on harpsichord
for a selection of Bach’s
iconic work for keyboards,
from the Queen’s Hall.Joining them are three other
leading players – Richard
Egarr, Diego Ares and Olga
Pashchenko – performing
Bach’s concertos for three
and four harpsichords,
alongside his Brandenburg
Concerto No 5 and his
Italian Concerto, which
had one critic swooning:
“It is to be regarded as a
perfect model”.FactualKirstie and Phil’s Love
It or List It
CHANNEL 4, 8.00PM Four years after starting
their new venture, Kirstie
Allsopp and Phil Spencer
catch up with a few couples
that they attempted to help
with their housing disputes.
Tonight we meet Dawn and
Paul, a pair who had fallen
out over Paul’s astronomy
obsession – have they
turned their isolated house
into a family home? GTEat, Shop, Save
ITV, 8.30PM Ranvir Singh and co are
in Northamptonshire this
week, where they help a
struggling family to make
cash out of clutter and cook
healthy meals cheaply. GTSportTest Cricket: England
v Australia
SKY SPORTS MAIN EVENT/CRICKET, 10.00AM
& CHANNEL 5, 7.00PM (HIGHLIGHTS) Joe Root’s men lost thefirst Test at Edgbaston, but
nearly levelled the series in
a thrilling second at Lord’s.
The third begins today at
Headingley; England will
travel north with fresh
momentum.Golf: Tour Championship
SKY SPORTS GOLF, FROM 10.00AM With the top 30 players
on the US Tour taking to the
greens in Atlanta, Georgia,
this looks set to be a fine
tournament. Tiger Woods
won last year, but may not
make it to this year’s event;
still, former champions
Xander Schauffele and Rory
McIlroy will be in action.Bauhaus Rules ★★★★
Deep Water ★★Walking the Nile: Levison WoodGolf: Rory McIlroyAn octopus’s garden: Heidi in her tank, with a Lego houseRadio 1
FM 97.6-99.8MHz
6.30am The Radio 1 Breakfast Show
with Greg James 10.00 Radio 1
Anthems with Clara Amfo 11.00 Clara
Amfo 12.45pm Newsbeat 1.00 Scott
Mills 4.00 Nick Grimshaw 5.45
Newsbeat 6.00 Nick Grimshaw 7.00
Radio 1’s Future Sounds with Annie
Mac 9.00 Rickie, Melvin and Charlie
11.00 Radio 1’s Indie Show with Jack
Saunders 1.00am Radio 1’s
Soundsystem with Toddla T 3.00
Radio 1’s Chill Mix 3.30 Radio 1
Anthems 4.00 - 6.00am Early
Breakfast with Adele RobertsRadio 2
FM 88-90.2MHz6.30am The Amol Rajan Breakfast
Show 9.30 Ken Bruce 12.00 Jeremy
Vine 2.00pm Steve Wright in the
Afternoon 5.00 Vanessa Feltz 7.00 Jo
Whiley. Film-maker Sam Taylor-
Johnson speaks to Jo about her new
film A Million Little Pieces 9.00 The
Country Show with Ben Earle. Ben sits
in for Bob Harris 10.00 Trevor Nelson’s
Rhythm Nation 12.00 OJ Borg
3.00am Tracks of My Years 4.00 The
Craig Charles House Party Mixtape
4.30 Huey Morgan’s The Tim es of Our
Lives 5.00 - 6.30am Nicki ChapmanRadio 3
FM 90.2-92.4MHz
6.30am Breakfast 9.00 Essential
Classics 11.00 Edinburgh
International Festival 2019. See Radio
choice 1.00pm News 1.02 Composer
of the Week: Bologne 2.00 Afternoon
Concert 5.00 In Tune 7.00 In Tune
Mixtape. Including music by WilliamGrant Still, Haydn and Judith Weir
7.30 BBC Proms 2019 10.00 Free
Thinking 10.45 The Essay: Forests
11.00 Late Junction 12.30am -
6.30am Through the NightRadio 4
FM 92.4-94.6MHz; LW 198KHz
6.00am Today 9.00 Her Story
Made History. See Radio choice 9.30
One to One 9.45 Book of the Week:
Coventry 9.45 LW: Daily Service 10.00
Woman’s Hour 10.00 LW: Woman’s
Hour 10.25am LW: Test Match Special
11.00 Crossing Continents 11.30 The
Art of Now: Art Surgery 12.00 News
12.01pm LW: Shipping Forecast
12.04 Heartburn 12.04 LW: Test
Match Special 12.18 You and Yours
1.00 The World at One 1.45 World
War 2: The Economic Battle 2.00 The
Archers 2.15 Drama: Human
Re sources 3.00 Open Country 3.27
Radio 4 Appeal 3.30 Open Book 4.00
The Film Programme. Cinema
magazine 4.30 BBC Inside Science
5.00 PM 5.54 LW: Shipping Forecast
5.57 Weather 5.57 LW: Test Match
Special. England v Australia 6.00 Six
O’Clock News 6.30 Fresh from the
Fringe 2019 7.00 The Archers 7.15
Front Row 7.45 The Country Girls. By
Edna O’Brien 8.00 Making History
8.30 In Business 9.00 BBC Inside
Science 9.30 Her Story Made History
10.00 The World Tonight 10.45 Book
at Bedtime: Heartburn 11.00 Fresh
from the Fringe 2019 11.30 Beyond
Today 12.00 News and Weather
12.30am Book of the Week: Coventry
12.48 Shipping Forecast 1.00 As
World Service 5.20 Shipping Forecast
5.30 News Briefing 5.43 Prayer for
the Day 5.45 Farming Today 5.58 -
6.00am Tweet of the DayRadio 5 Live
MW 693 & 909KHz
6.00am 5 Live Breakfast 9.00 Your
Call 10.00 The Emma Barnett Show
with Chris Warburton 1.00pm Nihal
Arthanayake 4.00 5 Live Drive 7.00
The Ashes 8.00 5 Live Sport: Euro
Football 9.00 5 Live Sport: Rugby
League 9.30 Fantasy 6-0-6 10.00
Sarah Brett 1.00am Up All Night 5.00
Morning Reports 5.15 - 6.00am Wake
Up to MoneyClassic FM
FM 99.9-101.9MHz6.00am More Music Breakfast 9.00
John Suchet 1.00pm Anne-Marie
Minhall 5.00 Classic FM Drive 7.00
Smooth Classics at Seven 8.00 The
Full Works Concert 10.00 Smooth
Classics 1.00am - 6.00am Jane JonesWorld Service
DIGITAL ONLY
6.00am Newsday 8.30 Business Daily
8.50 Witness History 9.00 News 9.06
The Forum 9.50 Sporting Witness
10.00 World Update 11.00 The
Newsroom 11.30 The Food Chain
12.00 News 12.06pm Outlook 1.00
The Newsroom 1.30 Assignment 2.00
Newshour 3.00 News 3.06 The
Inquiry 3.30 World Business Report
4.00 BBC OS 6.00 News 6.06 Outlook
7.06 The Newsroom 7.30 Sport Today
8.00 News 8.06 The Inquiry 8.30
Science in Action 9.00 Newshour
10.00 News 10.06 Assignment 10.30
World Business Report 11.00 News
11.06 The Newsroom 11.20 Sports
News 11.30 The Food Chain 12.06am
The Forum 12.50 Sporting Witness
1.00 News 1.06 Business Matters2.00 News 2.06 The Newsroom 2.30
Assignment 3.00 News 3.06
HARDtalk 3.30 World Football 4.00
News 4.06 Newsday 5.00 News 5.06
The Newsroom 5.30 - 6.00am Science
in ActionRadio 4 Extra
DIGITAL ONLY
6.00am To the Moon and Back 6.30
The Slow Coach 7.00 Double Science
7.30 Mitch Benn’s Crimes Against
Music 8.00 Brothers in Law 8.30 The
Goon Show 9.00 The Motion Show
9.30 Richard Barton: General
Practitioner! 10.00 All Things Betray
Thee 11.00 A Pocketful of Rye 11.15
The Visitor’s Book 12.00 Brothers in
Law 12.30pm The Goon Show 1.00 To
the Moon and Back 1.30 The Slow
Coach 2.00 Reef 2.15 A Brief History
of Mathematics 2.30 Bindi Business
2.45 Not My Fathe ’s Son – A Family r
Memoir 3.00 All Things Betray Thee
4.00 The Motion Show 4.30 Richard
Barton: General Practitioner! 5.00
Double Science 5.30 Mitch Benn’s
Crimes Against Music 6.00 Robert
Aickman Stories 6.15 The Waxwork
6.30 Great Lives 7.00 Brothers in Law
7.30 The Goon Show 8.00 To the
Moon and Back 8.30 The Slow Coach
9.00 A Pocketful of Rye 9.15 The
Visitor’s Book 10.00 Comedy Club
12.00 Robert Aickman Stories
12.15am The Waxwork 12.30 Great
Lives 1.00 To the Moon and Back 1.30
The Slow Coach 2.00 Reef 2.15 A Brief
History of Mathematics 2.30 Bindi
Business 2.45 Not My Father’s Son – A
Family Memoir 3.00 All Things Betray
Thee 4.00 The Motion Show 4.30
Richard Barton: General Practitioner!
5.00 Double Science 5.30 - 6.00am
Mitch Benn’s Crimes Against MusicTelevision & radio
34 ***^ Thursday 22 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph
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