TV highlights

Some satisfying moments from this week's tv viewing: the return of REV - we loved the first series of this new BBC comedy with Tom Hollander as the inner-city priest, now we have the second series just starting and it promises to be just as good - particularly with Ralph Fiennes guesting in the first episode as the Bishop of London. Hilarious sauna scene! The series to be seen in then - and next week should be amusing when our put-upon vicar mistakenly takes ecstasy during church service!

And speaking of interesting guest stars: Jane Asher, elegant as ever [left, right] turns up in the otherwise routine school drama WATERLOO ROAD [while Liam Neeson was fun in the new Ricky Gervais series].

Below: Dan Stevens as Matthew Crawley has something to announce in DOWNTON ABBEY, which finished last week, as he has been getting a tingling in his legs and is no longer crippled or indeed impotent ! Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Countess Violet (Maggie Smith) will be pleased, just as the great 'flu epidemic of 1919 strikes ... two things about DOWNTON: the amount of commercial breaks was annoying, so I ended up recording it and then starting watching half an hour later, thus zapping out the adverts - the final episode was 90 minutes of which 67 was the actual programme! Roll on the dvd. Also the timeframe: the first series begins in 1912 with the sinking of the Titanic and ends with the outbreak of World War I in 1914, then series 2 takes us through to the end of the war and to 1919 - nobody looks any older but Matthew and Lady Mary have been mooning over each other for 7 years! Let's see what the two-hour Christmas special brings ...

Over at STICTLY COME DANCING (the UK's DANCING WITH THE STARS, but so much better) the best male celebrity dancer is Harry Judd from pop group McFly, who is sensational paired with Aliona Vilani - Watch out Jason and Kristina, Harry and Aliona's Argentine Tango is the one to beat. Their samba is sensational too! Holly and Artem's take on SWAN LAKE was also a favourite, let's hope he is back soon after his back injury, and one never tires of watching the professional dancers like Flavia and Vincent; looking forward to their Tango show in January! Flavia is a stunning woman - like Sophia she hails from Naples....



Then of course there is the latest from Sir David Attenborough, still going strong in his 80s: FROZEN PLANET is as superlative and jaw-dropping as one would expect. This is what one pays one's license fee for ... more amazing footage of animals in the Artic and Antartic wastes - that footage of the polar bears, and killer whales working in teams, and all those penguins .... nature in the raw indeed - fantastic stuff !



I don't bother much with cop shows, but its interesting catching up with LAW AND ORDER SPECIAL VICTIM UNIT from America, both the latest series and repeats of earlier - this is not mainstream viewing here so Meloni and Mariska [sometimes she looks so like her mother Jayne Mansfield] are not well known here; we have our own version, LAW AND ORDER: UK - the U.S. SVU also has some fascinating guest stars: Franco Nero recently as the diplomat accused of rape, a hilariously over the top Ann-Margret etc.



Bottom: a reminder of Tom Hollander in that hilarious scene from BEDROOMS AND HALLWAYS (1998) where he is blindfolded and tied to the bed as the owners of the house return ....

Downton Abbey returns, plus Jane and Alice ...

No sun-dappled gardens or gentle rustling of taffeta greets viewers as they return to DOWNTON ABBEY for Series 2. We are blasted straight into the trenches, where a mud-covered Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) is heroically fighting the Great War. The first series began with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 when the Downton estate loses its male heir, and ended with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It is now 1916 as we revisit Julian Fellowes’s “posh soap opera” featuring the Lords and Ladies of the Estate and their downstairs staff, who get equal screen time.

Previous classic costume dramas like UPSTAIRS AND DOWNSTAIRS were a bit staid, but the fascinating thing about DOWNTON is that is done in the modern zappy American style. Each character – and there’s about 20 of them - have their own story arcs and there are some marvellous bits of humour here and there, as in the first episode here, the uppity new maid wanted the cook Mrs Patmore to save her some of the crepes suzettes from “upstairs” but she annoys the cook who takes pleasure is tossing the pancakes to the dog – it’s a little moment but a satisfying one.

While Armageddon rages abroad, life at Downton remains stultifyingly the same for the Earl (Hugh Bonneville) and Lady Mary (Michelle Dockerty). By moving the action from the relative frippery of country-house living to war, Fellowes has wisely raised the stakes and given the actors more to chew on. Lady Edith is still a bitch but apparently will change, ditto Lady Sybil. Then there is Mr Bates the valet and his evil wife, ladies maid O’Brien is still as poisonous as ever, as the house is presided over by the butler and wise housekeeper (Phyllis Logan). The Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith in a late great role) still has some biting retorts as she and Mrs Crawley (Penelope Wilton) try to gain the upper hand. But it is our star-crossed lovers – Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) the new heir and Lady Mary who fascinate.

Lots to look forward to here then as the Estate becomes a convalescent home, and will Matthew and that devious footman Thomas survive in the trenches? Overall, the sumptuous drama remains as inviting as before. Classic costume drama at it’s best then. Best though to record it and watch afterwards, zapping out the commercial breaks as there are too many of them, and how soon will the DVD be out?

During my recent hospital engagement I decided to read some old books which have become favourite films, so it was a pleasure to actually read the original BLACK NARCISSUS by Rumer Godden, first published in 1939 and never out of print, ditto her THE GREENGAGE SUMMER which became that intriguing 1961 film with Kenneth More, Danielle Darrieux and Susannah York, and also the 1950s novel by A.J. Cronin THE SPANISH GARDENER which became that popular Dirk Bogarde movie in 1956, but how they changed it! I was astonished to see that Jose is 19 and the father too is taken with his attractive physique, Jose though gets killed while trying to escape due to the father’s intervention. Bogarde was in his mid-30s then so Jose is a lot older (and provided with a girlfriend to keep his relationship with the boy innocent). The Rank Organisation were of course not going to kill off their 'Idol of the Odeons', so Jose not only survives in the film but sends the reconciled father and son happily on their way to their next posting - a total reversal of the ending in the book which is much bleaker with father and son now posted to Sweden and Nicholas resolved to get away from the unloved father and return to his mother as soon as he can! (Reviews of these at Bogarde, York, Deborah Kerr, Black Narcissus labels).

I now see that Jane Asher (who played the younger sister in THE GREENGAGE SUMMER (LOSS OF INNOCENCE) is playing Lady Bracknell in a new production of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST and I imagine she will be terrific in the role. Asher is actually the same age (64) as Dame Edith Evans when she played the role. Several actresses have portrayed a younger sexier Lady Bracknell - Jane should be perfect! What a contrast to her dolly bird in Skolimowski's 1970 DEEP END, reviewed here (Jane Asher label), and just out on dvd.



Below: performers now have the internet in their dressing rooms!

Alice Krige has also turned into a fascinating presence - now in the BBC series SPOOKS as Peter Firth's lost love, and as Ralph Fiennes' ex-wife in PAGE EIGHT the recent film by David Hare (reviewed recently here). I did not see her Borg Queen in a STAR TREK film, but she has been quietly impressive so many different genres - that icy patrician Roman in the 2001 ATTILA (as played by Gerard Butler), SOLOMON KANE, and others since her debut in CHARIOTS OF FIRE.

Back to DEEP END, 1970

I wrote here a while back on Skolimowski's DEEP END and the impossibility of seeing his other films. We now have a new BFI release of DEEP END, on their Flipside label (featuring British rarities of the 60s and 70s) and are now spoiled for choice: its a 3-disk issue with the ordindary film, the Blu-Ray and an extra disk of extras including a new interview with Jane Asher and John Moulder-Brown - both of whom obviously have mouldering (!) portraits in their attics.

I have admired Jane for decades ever since THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH and others, whereas the more mysterious Moulder-Brown (his IMDB page does not have very much on him) seems to have been low key since those films like Visconti's LUDWIG or Schell's FIRST LOVE. Here they are looking terrific, as is the film in a sparking new print. Jane's apricot hair and that yellow mac are such an ideal colour combination with that dolly bird dress and boots are perfect for the period in that run-down baths ... Nice to see two artists being proud of their work which they did back then, and it getting a new lease of life now.

Jerzy Skolimowski's fascinating movies

Above: Gina Lollobrigida and (presumably) John Moulder-Brown in KING QUEEN KNAVE (from a novel by Nabokov), 1972.
Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski, now in his '70s and still-making movies also writes, paints, presides over Film Festivals and is certainly highly-regarded and attracts quality casts - but somehow his films are practically impossible to see! There was, finally, a recent dvd issue of his 1970 oddity DEEP END, but KING QUEEN KNAVE in '72 seems impossible to see now and I think it barely surfaced in London, despite its stars David Niven, Gina Lollobrigida (looking sensational) and John Moulder-Brown again, who was the lead in DEEP END, set in that East London swimming pool where tease Jane Asher works, he is the new attendant who becomes fascinated by her, and Diana Dors in her blowsy era is also on hand looking for satisfaction!



Jerzy began in the Polish cinema of the early '60s, scripting Polanski's highly-regarded debut KNIFE IN THE WATER - one of his early films as director is the 1967 THE DEPARTURE with Jean-Pierre Leaud which was popular at the time. THE ADVENTURES OF GERARD though in 1970 was tossed away as a dubbed supporting-feature, which I did see at the time, with Peter McEnery as the hussar of Conan Doyle's stories, with Claudia Cardinale, Eli Wallach and Jack Hawkins. THE SHOUT in 1976 was regarded as an oddity and little-seen too, despite the presence of Alan Bates, Susannah York and John Hurt - as I said, top quality casts! MOONLIGHTING with Jeremy Irons about Polish workers stranded in then early-80s London was premiered on the BBC here, and the 1984 SUCCESS IS THE BEST REVENGE with Michael York and Anouk Aimee (reunited from JUSTINE!) was only ever shown once here on the BBC2 channel!



Skolimowski now though has a new film, which has been getting some attention, so hopefully we may get to see it in London before too long - ESSENTIAL KILLING, about a Taliban member who lives in Afghanistan is taken captive by the Americans after killing three American soldiers. He is transferred to Europe for interrogation but manages to escape from his captors and becomes an escaped convict on a continent he does not know. Topical stuff! with Vincent Gallo and Emanuelle Seigner.

John Moulder-Brown is one of those fascinating actors one knows nothing about - even his IMDB page is blank - but he keeps working, now in his 50s. When he was young and pretty, apart from the two Skolimowski titles above, Visconti cast him as Prince Otto in the monumental LUDWIG, 1972, and Maximilian Schell cast him as the lead in his 1970 version of Turgenev's FIRST LOVE which was a nice period piece I caught at a film festival screening, with Dominique Sanda and writer John Osbourne!

DEEP END is now being re-released in selected cinemas (here in the UK) from May 6 and a new dual-format dvd is out in July from the BFI. Interesting comments on it in this weekend's papers by Jane Asher and John Moulder-Brown (now 57). It will be good to see a good print of it again - Now for those other titles like KING QUEEN KNAVE and GERARD!