The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
KIDS ARE CLASS ACT
TOP Sixteen: Class of TV PREVIEWS
PICK 2021 – Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm
During phase one of the pandemic, Channel 4 asked a group of Midlands school friends on the verge of turning 16 to document their lives. This warm new
series is the result. It begins in September 2020, as they return to school after six months of lockdown. A smart bunch of ordinary, likeable working-class kids at a crossroads in their lives, they talk openly about their hopes for the future. The programme doesn’t patronise or judge them. Instead it celebrates their togetherness. Naturally, there are a few moments of minor drama
(at one point a jacket potato is thrown in anger), but on the whole it’s a positive endeavour in the vein of Channel 4’s exemplary Educating… strand.
Born to Be Wild – Monday, BBC Scotland, 8pm
Meet Miss Honey. A beautiful little badger cub, she’s the star of this week’s visit to the Scottish SPCA National
Wildlife Rescue Centre. Honey was found abandoned on a promenade in Edinburgh and requires round-theclock care. One of the staff members has to become Honey’s surrogate mum, hence why they have to find
her a young badger buddy; if she becomes too attached to her human carers, she may never acclimatise to life in
the wild. The supporting cast includes an injured fox cub, a richness (that’s apparently
the collective noun) of house martins and a sandpiper in
need of intricate eye surgery. As for the staff, they have quite possibly the world’s most spiritually nourishing
job.
Tsunami –
Monday to Wednesday, Channel 5, 9pm
Stripped over three consecutive nights, this dramatic series provides a detailed examination of one of the world’s worst
natural disasters. On Boxing Day 2004, an undersea earthquake off the coast of northern Indonesia caused a series of devastating tsunamis. It is estimated around 230,000 people were killed. To make sense of what happened and why, Dr Xand van Tulleken and archaeologist Raksha Dave
speak to some of the people who witnessed this tragedy
first hand, as well as various experts who have studied it. Each episode is devoted to a specific time frame, which allows for a forensic examination of events as they unfolded. It begins 12
hours before the disaster.
Our Lives: The City of Horses –
Tuesday, BBC One, 7pm
On three neighbouring housing estates in Swansea, the residents have for decades reared horses on every available large patch of grass. They’re just an everyday part
of life in these communities. But the council is cracking down on this tradition, which means that the current generation of equine lovers may be the last. Nevertheless, hope springs eternal. This
charming documentary illustrates that the horses are beloved and well looked after, although you may find yourself agreeing with the sympathetic vet who states that their overall quality of life will be improved by the new legislation. What can’t be denied is that the horses provide their human pals with an extra sense of
therapeutic purpose.
H20: The Molecule That Made Us – Wednesday, BBC Four, 9pm
Kelly Ann McEvers is an esteemed journalist. But she’s also an American podcaster, which means it’s impossible to take this new series about the importance of water seriously. McEvers suffers from that inadvertently comical American podcast delivery style: casually earnest and awestruck, she starts sentences with “So” and phrases every statement as if it were a question. She also describes this project as “a podcast-style documentary”. That’ll be a documentary with visuals then. You may require a moment to wrap your head around this novel concept. I blame comedian Adam Buxton for his spot-on parody of that style of delivery. It cannot be unheard.
Unbelievable Moments Caught on Camera – Tuesday, STV, 9pm
This enjoyably daft programme – which may as well be titled “Woah! Check This Out!” – excavates the stories behind viral videos of dramatic events. Highlights include the split-second rescue of an unconscious skydiver plummeting towards the ground; two kayakers falling into the mouth of a whale (they’re remarkably sanguine about the whole affair); a lorry driver rescuing a woman from a burning car; and a
pair of lucky fools who were almost crushed by an iceberg. But, hey, it’s not all utterly nightmarish; we also witness
a classical musician playing violin while undergoing life-saving surgery. Your
narrator is Alexander “crash bang wallop, what a video”
Armstrong.
In Tandem: The Neil Fachie Story – Friday, BBC Scotland, 9pm
Arecord-breakingParalympic and Commonwealth gold
medallist, cyclist Neil Fachie is one of the UK’s most
decorated athletes. He also has retinitis pigmentosa, a rare congenital condition which severely restricts his vision. Fachie has accepted
the possibility that he might eventually go completely blind. In this revealing
documentary, the Aberdeenborn champ – who is an unassuming model of humble determination – discusses
his various professional setbacks and triumphs. The programme also features insight from fellow cycling ace Chris Hoy, and touches upon Fachie’s relationship with his wife, the visuallyimpaired racing cyclist and double world champion Lora
Fachie.