The Sunday Times - UK (2022-02-13

13 February 2022 43

THE BEST TV FROM BRITBOX AND BEYOND... WEDNESDAY 16 FEBRUARY

Elementary

(Amazon Prime Video)

When it launched in

September 2012, this

American police procedural

was dismissed by British

critics as a blatant knock-off

of the much-loved Sherlock.

Ten years and seven seasons

later, it is easy to step back

and see what a brilliantly

nuanced reimagining of the

Conan-Doyle characters it

was. Beyond Johnny Lee

Miller’s beguilingly eccentric

portrayal of Holmes as high-

functioning, buttoned-down

former addict, and Lucy Liu’s

ruthlessly intelligent Watson,

here was a show that treated

Doyle’s subsidiary characters

and minor plot details with

respect, yet incorporated

them into the conventions of

network crime TV. If you are

still in doubt, sevens seasons

of evidence await you.

Andrew Male

Hotel Transylvania (Sky

Cinema Animation, 5pm)

Imagining Dracula and other

vintage horror characters as

friendly nincompoops, the

series of animated movies

that began with this 2012 film

may not be up there with the

Pixar and Disney greats, but

it provides energetic fun and

plenty of jokes. The first film’s

director, Genndy Tartakovksy,

is a skilled cartoonist whose

distinctive, curvy-lined style

has retro elegance. Having

created an appealing look

for the series, he stayed in

post for the next two movies,

which Sky Cinema Animation

is showing on Thursday and

Friday this week. (2012)

Judy (BBC1, 10.35pm)

A dramatisation of Judy

Garland’s visit to London for

a series of concerts in 1969,

Rupert Goold’s warm-hearted

film observes the contrast

between its heroine’s facade

and her private sadness.

In both spheres — on stage

and off — Renée Zellweger is

superb in the title role. (2019)

Edward Porter

Life’s a gas for Mist (BBC3, 9pm) On song: Zellweger (BBC1, 10.35pm)

FILM CHOICE

ON DEMAND

Great Expectations

(StagePlayerplus.com)

Described by this newspaper

as “inventive, physical pure

theatre”, Jo Clifford and

Graham McLaren’s landmark

adaptation of the most

popular Charles Dickens novel

has been one of theatre’s hot

tickets for the past decade.

Getting On (Britbox)

If NHS sitcoms used to focus

on the patients, cutbacks

and bureaucracy have

moved the long-suffering

staff centre-stage, and this

note-perfect comedy, written

by and starring Jo Brand,

Vicki Pepperdine and Joanna

Scanlan, is the result. Shot

with an endearing naturalism,

this is exceptional comedy

that doubles as a rich satire.

Andrew Male

Only When I Laugh (Britbox)

Set in the ward of an NHS

hospital, Eric Chappell’s dour

sitcom is essentially a portrait

of the British class system.

James Bolam plays a working-

class layabout, Christopher

Strauli is a needy middle-class

innocent and Peter Bowles an

upper-class hypochondriac.

With obvious debts to

Hancock’s Half Hour, it is a

dialogue-driven show that

has aged surprisingly well.

Cow (Mubi)

Emphasising the “moo” in

“Mubi”, the site brings us the

streaming debut of Andrea

Arnold’s documentary about

the life of a dairy cow. Simply

spending time close to the

animal, the film pays her the

tribute of noting her ordeals

and contemplating her nature.

Although essentially a sad

story, it has moments of

humour, and there is art in

its attentiveness. EP

Now, to mark the author’s

210th birthday, you can enjoy

the London Vaudeville

Theatre production from the

comfort of your own home.

Watch via the StagePlayer app

and then check out other

delights, including the RSC’s

production of Macbeth, with

Christopher Eccleston, the

2009 production of Leonard

Bernstein’s Wonderful Town

or John Lennon’s 75th-

birthday concert.

A beautiful dark twisted fantasy? Kim Kardashian and Kanye in happier times (Netflix)

Jeen-yuhs — A Kanye

Trilogy (Netflix)

More than 20 years ago, the

stand-up comedian Coodie

Simmons decided to quit

comedy and relocate to New

York to near-constantly film

Kanye West, who he had first

interviewed in 1998. For two

decades, Coodie has watched

Kanye through a viewfinder,

his shoulder bearing his

ascent. Long before Kanye

became the Connor Roy of

rap, his presidential dream

kick-starting this trilogy, the

record producer was hustling

hard to be taken seriously as

a performer; his immense

talent was fit for others to

use, but not him. The first

film covers these early days

and the footage is impossibly

candid, with pre-fame Kanye

by turns joyous, vulnerable,

wounded and even goofy.

See feature on page 6.

Toby Earle

Try Harder! (BBC4, 10pm)

According to its highly

stressed students, most of

them Asian-American, Lowell

High, the No 1 ranked public

school in San Francisco, is

“tiger mom central”. Debbie

Lum’s documentary recalls

all the terrible worry of

being a child on the brink of

adulthood, of cramming for

exams and competing with

peers for precious places at

the highly competitive best

universities. Of course, they

are all darlings, spirited,

clever and funny, but despite

excellent results, as their

acceptance (or otherwise)

letters come in, their teacher’s

thesis that Asian-American

students suffer the effects

of a cruel stereotype appears

to bear fruit.

Helen Stewart

Gassed Up (BBC3, 9pm)

With tractor racing, Zen

Motoring and this treat for

petrolheads, the reborn

BBC3 channel seems strangely

keen on burning fuel. Becky

Evans and Ryan Taylor host

a “real-life video game” that

pits the rapper Mist against a

number of other celebrities,

starting with comedian Joel

Dommett in a buggy race.

Zen Motoring

(BBC3, 9.45pm)

As a Fiat Panda pootles around

north London’s streets, we

hear ambient music and the

musings of its driver (rapper/

comedian Ogmios), ranging

from philosophy to driving

practicalities and the dangers

of e-scooters. Not obviously

a “yoof ” show (he’s 41), but

original and very watchable.

Mega Mansion Hunters

(C4, 10pm)

With Tyron’s quarterly awards

ceremony for his hungry young

estate agents approaching,

high-earning Quas, who has a

£7 million penthouse to flog, is

favourite to take the top gong,

but still lives with his mum.

New recruit Erin is struggling

to get her first “listing”.

John Dugdale

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Even better

than Benedict