The Daily Telegraph - 23.08.2019

Last night on television Gabriel Tateate

Fosse/Verdon

BBC TWO, 9.00PM



Picking up three

months after Bob

Fosse’s (Sam Rockwell)

committal to a psychiatric

clinic in the wake of his

Oscar-win for Cabaret,

this superb episode is

set in 1973 over a pivotal

weekend spent at a rain-

lashed beach-house in the

Hamptons. Present are

his best friend Paddy

Chayefsky (Norbert

Leo Butz), bereaved

playwright Neil Simon

(Nate Corddry), Fosse’s

girlfriend Ann Reinking

(Margaret Qualley) and

his daughter Nicole

(Blake Baumgartner).

Then, into the mix come

Gwen Verdon (Michelle

Williams) and her

boyfriend Ron (Jake Lacy),

and what follows is a series

of power-plays that never

quite go as you’d expect.

The result is a fabulous

psychological dance, with

partners stepping in and

out as flashpoints arise

over Fosse’s health, his

fidelity, his desire to leave

musicals behind, and

Verdon’s determination to

get him on board for her

latest project, Chicago.

It’s all beautifully teased

out by writer Charlotte

Stoudt and stylishly

directed by Thomas Kail,

and is worth watching just

for Williams’s entrancing

performance of Where Am

I Going? from Fosse and

Verdon’s Sweet Charity.

Gerard O’Donovan

Arts

BBC Proms: Rattle

Conducts Belshazzar’s

Feast

BBC FOUR, 7.30PM

 This is one of the Proms

season’s most keenly

anticipated concerts,

with Sir Simon Rattle

conducting the London

Symphony Orchestra,

baritone Gerald Findlay and

a spectacular 300-strong

choir in a performance of

William Walton’s celebrated

1931 cantata Belshazzar’s

Feast. GO

Music Icons

SKY ARTS, 8.00PM & 8.30PM

 The pop biography series

returns, beginning with this

pair of fascinating episodes,

which explore the career

of one of Motown’s biggest

success stories, Diana

Ross and the Supremes,

and those evergreen

masters of the soft-rock

hit, Chicago. GO

Comedy

Mortimer & Whitehouse:

Gone Fishing

BBC TWO, 8.00PM

 The comedians head

for Cornwall and Devon in

search of perch. But when

seating and accommodation

become a source of discord,

they take to the seas instead

for a surprise catch and

a not so “heart-healthy”

celebration. GO

Edinburgh Nights

with Nish Kumar

BBC TWO, 11.05PM

 Comedians Nish Kumar

and Ed Byrne explore a

theme that’s dominating

this year’s comedy, cabaret,

What to watch

Radio choice Clair Woodward

Eight legs good: Heidi floating in her tank in The Octopus in My House

Deep and intellectual –

octopuses make great pets

T

he octopus is nature’s
ultimate gift to the
documentary maker.
There are many more
terrifying and many
cuter, but there is surely
no more bizarre and intrinsically
fascinating creature on Earth than the
one with a beak and a venomous bite,
nine brains and three hearts, blue
blood and, it has been claimed, a
garden in the shade. Its evolution has
been distinct from other creatures in a
manner that is utterly unique, the sort
of fact that would be very arresting
were it not so instantly obvious.
The Octopus in My House (BBC
Two) introduced us to David Scheel,
a Professor of Marine Biology in
Anchorage, Alaska with the eccentric
vibe and gentle intonation of an ageing
hippy, who had decided to install a
saltwater tank in the living room of the
house he shared with his 16-year-old
daughter Laurel, where a day octopus
called Heidi would reside for the
coming months. Laurel would have
preferred a dog; “a lot of her pets are
kind of indifferent to her”, chortled
Scheel, whose oddly engaging
father-daughter relationship felt
worthy of a documentary in its own
right. But Heidi earned her keep
quickly, instantly charming Laurel
with her wandering tentacles and

engaging in Scheel’s experiments

designed to test intelligence through

play, puzzle-solving and dexterity. All

the while, Heidi demonstrated the sort

of shifts of form, colour and even

texture that make her kind so oddly

compelling and eerily beautiful.

The Scheels’ domestic findings felt

unlikely to stand up at a symposium:

Scheel’s claims that Heidi seemed to

like watching TV with them, or that

her spectacular colour changes while

she slept suggested she was dreaming,

felt rather like wishful thinking in the

absence of proof. In the meantime,

director Anna Fitch was canny enough

to include properly evidence-based

science from many miles away in

Sydney Harbour (where these

normally solitary beasts had formed a

sort of community) and Indonesia

(where veined octopuses were using

coconut shells to hone their hunting

skills).

And yet I couldn’t deny the

indications of a distinct personality at

work, as Heidi appeared to alternate

between demanding the attention of

her landlords and teasing them with

something akin to a sense of humour.

Perhaps with another eight brains, I

could have reconciled it all, but it just

about hung together to make a visually

sumptuous, strangely touching and

consistently intriguing film.

F

ew series have experienced such

soaring highs and crashing lows

as Shameless. The decline of Paul

Abbott’s scabrously funny celebration

of life on the margins of Manchester

was so precipitous that it strangled at

birth the subgenre it created. Happily,

Brassic (Sky One) was nimbly scripted,

vigorously performed and far more of

a piece with early Shameless episodes,

sharing its cynicism, optimism and

us-vs-them defiance of that show

when it was as interested in the

activities of hearts and brains as it was

in groins and fists.

Created by Danny Brocklehurst

(who worked on those early episodes)

and Joe Gilgun (best known as Woody

in This is England), it followed the

adventures of amiably dodgy working-

class Lancastrian Vinnie O’Shea

(Gilgun) and his misfit pals. Caught in

the middle were his best friend Dylan

(Damien Molony) and the latter’s

partner Erin (Michelle Keegan).

The plots for the opening double-

bill were entertainingly daft, with

Vinnie and his gang’s capers

resembling an X-rated Last of the

Summer Wine: stealing a Shetland

pony for a xenophobic farmer, fitting a

swing in a sex dungeon, cracking a

safe in a strip club having entered it

via the sewers.

Yet Brassic never felt throwaway.

Amid the mayhem were thoughtful

considerations of bipolar disorder – a

condition shared by Vinnie and Gilgun

• and “left behind” communities, in
  particular the push-pull faced by
  Dylan between dreaming big and
  wanting out, like Erin, or staying local
  and loyal to his troubled friend. There
  was palpable affection for its
  characters born of lived experience,
  and a consistent effort to portray their
  lives honestly, however ludicrous the
  scrapes they were involved in. “We’re
  not victims,” stated Vinnie’s splenetic,
  Trainspotting-like voice-over, “we just
  have a different way of living.”
  Keeping the whole vehicle on track
  was Gilgun, a fine actor who, whether
  waddling away from an angry farmer
  or pining for his absent mother,
  personified the wild humour, unglued
  energy and profound pathos of the
  character and the show itself.

What’s Eating Rotherham

RADIO 4, 11.00AM

 When Britain’s tireless

food crusader Jamie Oliver

visited Rotherham 13 years

ago, he tried to turn around

the town’s unhealthy food

culture and consequent

obesity problem – can you

remember the disgruntled

parents feeding their

children fish-and-chips

through the school gates? In

this programme, Rotherham

resident Joanne Keeling,

who weighs 27 stone, looks

at why the town still has a

problem with obesity, and

explains her own struggle

to live in a bigger body

and to lose weight, with a

focus on the mental aspects

of weight issues.

Friday Night is Music

Night

RADIO 2, 8.00PM

 Trevor Nelson celebrates

60 years of the Motown

sound at Hackney Empire

with the BBC Concert

Orchestra, and guest singers

including Tommy Blaize

from Strictly Come Dancing

and M People’s Heather

Small singing a selection of

Motown tunes. During the

interval, Beverley Knight

uncovers the strange tale of

the Electronium, a Seventies

invention made for Motown

supremo Berry Gordy by

Raymond Scott; this was

a futuristic composing

machine designed to keep

the Motown “hit factory”

at the very top of its game.

theatre and circus shows:

mums and dads. Plus,

Nigeria’s biggest stars

come together for a show

promising to both shock

and amuse. GO

Ouch Storytelling Live

2019

BBC TWO, 11.35PM

 Amateur and professional

storytellers share a stage at

the Edinburgh Fringe. The

only rule governing their

performances is that the

teller must be disabled and

the story must be both

disability-focused and

true. “Maybe you lost a leg

and found a husband?”

suggested the BBC advert

soliciting entries. GO

Drama

13 Reasons Why

NETFLIX, FROM TODAY

 Once one of Netflix’s

most controversial murder-

mystery dramas, thanks to

its head-on handling of

subjects such as teenage

suicide, rape and bullying,

this third season looks

to be a little bit more

conventional. It explores

the murder of series creep

Bryce Walker. GO

Factual

The World’s Most

Expensive Cruise Ship

CHANNEL 5, 9.00PM

 This new series goes

behind the scenes aboard

the ship claimed to be the

world’s most luxurious

cruise liner, where life can

get seriously opulent for

those who are willing to

splash out up to £8,000

a night for a suite on this

six-star ultra-luxurious

floating hotel. GO

The Octopus in My House ★★★★

Brassic ★★★★

BBC Proms: Sir Simon Rattle

13 Reasons: Dylan Minnette

Tough love: Margaret Qualley and Sam Rockwell

Radio 1

FM 97.6-99.8MHz

6.00am Weekend Breakfast with Matt

and Mollie 10.00 Radio 1 Anthems

with Maya Jama 11.00 Maya Jama

12.45pm Newsbeat 1.00 Dev and

Alice 4.00 The Official Chart Show

with Scott Mills 5.45 Newsbeat 6.00

Radio 1’s Party Anthems with Scott

Mills 7.00 Radio 1’s Dance Party with

Annie Mac 9.00 Pete Tong 11.00

Danny Howard 1.00am Radio 1’s

Essential Mix 3.00 Reading Festival

2019 – Dillon Francis 4.00 Reading

Festival 2019 – Camelphat 5.00 -

6.00am Reading Festival 2019 – The

1975

Radio 2

FM 88-90.2MHz

6.30am The Amol Rajan Breakfast

Show 9.30 Ken Bruce 12.00 Jeremy

Vine 2.00pm OJ Borg in the Afternoon

5.00 Vanessa Feltz 7.00 Tony

Blackburn’s Golden Hour. Hits by

Martha and the Vandellas, Alicia Keys

and the Four Tops 8.00  Friday

Night Is Music Night. A celebration of

the Motown sound at Hackney Empire.

See Radio choice 10.00 Sounds of the

80s with Gary Davies 12.00 The Pick

of Radio 2 with Anneka Rice 2.00am

Barry Manilow – They Write the Songs

3.00 The King of Motown – Berry

Gordy 4.00 - 6.00am Huey Morgan

Radio 3

FM 90.2-92.4MHz

6.30am Breakfast 9.00 Essential

Classics 11.00 Edinburgh

International Festival 2019 1.00pm

News 1.02 Composer of the Week:

Bologne 2.00 Afternoon Concert 4.30

The Listening Service 5.00 In Tune

7.00 In Tune Mixtape 7.30 BBC

Proms 2019 10.15 Free Thinking

Landmark: Audre Lorde 11.00 Music

Planet 12.30am Music Planet World

Mix 1.00 - 7.00am Through the Night

Radio 4

FM 92.4-94.6MHz; LW 198KHz

6.00am Today 9.00 The Reunion 9.45

Book of the Week: Coventry 9.45 LW:

Daily Service 10.00 Woman’s Hour

10.00 LW: Woman’s Hour 10.30am

LW: Test Match Special 11.00 

What’s Eating Rotherham. See Radio

choice 11.30 Beta Female 12.00

News 12.01pm LW: Shipping Forecast

12.04 Heartburn 12.04 LW: Test

Match Special 12.18 You and Yours

12.57 Weather 1.00 The World at One

1.45 World War 2: The Economic

Battle 2.00 The Archers 2.15 Drama:

Twelve Weeks 3.00 Gardeners’

Question Time 3.45 Short Works 4.00

Last Word 4.30 Feedback 4.55 The

Listening Project 5.00 PM. With

Caroline Wyatt 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 The Now

Show 7.00 The Archers. It’s a big

night for Peggy 7.15 Front Row. Arts

programme 7.45 The Country Girls. By

Edna O’Brien 8.00 Any Questions?

8.50 A Point of View 9.00 A History of

Delusions 10.00 The World Tonight

10.45 Book at Bedtime: Heartburn

11.00 Great Lives 11.25 Beyond

Today 11.55 The Listening Project

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 - 6.00am Four Thought

Radio 5 Live

MW 693 & 909KHz

6.00am 5 Live Breakfast 9.00 Your

Call 10.00 Chiles on Friday 1.00pm

Elis James and John Robins 3.00

Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review 5.00

5 Live Drive 7.00 5 Live Sport: The

Friday Football Social 8.00 5 Live

Sport: Premier League Football 2019-

20 10.30 Stephen Nolan 1.00am Up

All Night 5.00 5 Live Boxing 5.30 -

6.00am Robbie Savage’s Premier

League Breakfast

Classic FM

FM 99.9-101.9MHz

6.00am 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 Bob Jones 4.00 -

7.00am Jane Jones

World Service

DIGITAL ONLY

6.00am Newsday 8.30 Business Daily

8.50 Witness History 9.00 The Real

Story 10.00 World Update 11.00 The

Newsroom 11.30 World Football

12.00 News 12.06pm The 5th Floor

1.00 The Newsroom 1.30 Heart and

Soul 2.00 Newshour 3.00 News 3.06

Tech Tent 3.30 World Business Report

4.00 BBC OS 6.00 News 6.06 The 5th

Floor 7.06 The Newsroom 7.30 Sport

Today 8.00 News 8.06 HARDtalk 8.30

CrowdScience 9.00 Newshour 10.00

News 10.06 Trending 10.30 World

Business Report 11.00 News 11.06

The Newsroom 11.20 Sports News

11.30 World Football 12.00 News

12.06am The Real Story 1.00 News

1.06 Business Matters 2.00 News

2.06 The Newsroom 2.30 The Cultural

Frontline 3.00 News 3.06 The Fifth

Floor 4.00 News 4.06 The Real Story

5.00 News 5.06 The Newsroom 5.30

Trending 5.50 - 6.00am 50 More

Things That Made the Modern

Economy

Radio 4 Extra

DIGITAL ONLY

6.00am To the Moon and Back 6.30

The Last of the Hardy Players 7.00

Secrets and Lattes 7.30 Cooking in a

Bedsitter 8.00 The Burkiss Way 8.30

Steptoe and Son 9.00 Who Goes There?

9.30 Mr Finchley Goes to Paris 10.00

All Things Betray Thee 11.00 Podcast

Radio Hour 12.00 The Burkiss Way

12.30pm Steptoe and Son 1.00 To the

Moon and Back 1.30 The Last of the

Hardy Players 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 Who Goes There? 4.30 Mr

Finchley Goes to Paris 5.00 Secrets and

Lattes 5.30 Cooking in a Bedsitter 6.00

Robert Aickman Stories 6.15 Just

Before Midnight 6.30 Off the Page

7.00 The Burkiss Way 7.30 Steptoe and

Son 8.00 To the Moon and Back 8.30

The Last of the Hardy Players 9.00

Podcast Radio Hour 10.00 Comedy

Club 12.00 Robert Aickman Stories

12.15am Just Before Midnight 12.30

Off the Page 1.00 To the Moon and

Back 1.30 The Last of the Hardy Players

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 Who

Goes There? 4.30 Mr Finchley Goes to

Paris 5.00 Secrets and Lattes 5.30 -

6.00am Cooking in a Bedsitter

Television & radio

36 ***^ Friday 23 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph

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