Clockwise from right: Downhill Racer; 100% English; The Story of Punk; Ghost Hunting with Girls Aloud; Waste Man; The Family Who Vanished
[)ISAS I H3. DRAMA TSUNAMI: THE AFTERMATH BBC2, Tue 5 Dec, 9pm .00
The events in Asia of Boxing Day 2004 will forever remain as a shocking and powerful example of humanity’s inability to deal with the vast unknown. Writer Abi Morgan has tackled tough issues before with the skin trade of young East European women in Sex Traffic and the brutal death of a mother's son in Murder. And with this two-parter, which has upset some of the deceased’s relatives for its timing and fictionalised nature, she returns to the theme of lost youth with the disappearance of a missing six-year-old girl. Her story makes up the core of this drama, which brings together a host of unrelated characters caught up in an unimaginable catastrophe.
While Sophie Okonedo and Chiwetel Ejiofor are both excellent as the parents distraught over their missing child, the piece plays like almost every human tragedy docudrama we’ve seen in the last 15 to 20 years. There’s the impending sense of doom informed by our knowledge of current affairs; there’s the tiny details of life which make you realise that behind the headlines are real people about to be enveloped by events and those who exploit a disaster for their own purposes (this time, it’s Tim Roth as the foreign correspondent trying to save his job); and the authorities’ total inability to cope with a tragedy on anything other than the smallest scale.
Due to have been broadcast this fortnight was Spike Lee’s sprawling documentary on Hurricane Katrina but has been pushed further into December presumably to avoid a clash. How he tackles widespread natural disaster and human fallibility might hold the key to such future projects. (Brian Donaldson)
REMOTE CONTROL
Brian Donaldson lrnds a host of doeumnntarrm. wrth punks, paranolacs and pottmgmsts running amok.
Yes. out rs rt at? ans rs the guestron that the good peopre of Margate are ask "g with hotr‘. their mouths and then eyes as Antony (,‘zormIey creates hrs ‘.atest controxersy. Bat rather than the constant Geordre rernrnder that rs hzs Ange o‘ the North. thrs y'xork wrft he the rrltrmate iota/error; rnferno. Ir‘ Waste Man ’(I/ra/rrre/ .1. Sat J) Dec, (-r’p/n
.0. .. we see a Wrcker Man ster
86 THE LIST '- Nu. ,r
artrfrce made out of O!“ runk rnstead of strax'x and Edward Woodward. Whrle tne K Foundaton went to great 'engtns to pure a 'nrttro'r gurd for setf-promotrng serf-gratrfrcat'ort. thrs project seeks to draw out a sense of communrty that has neen .ost not Just to Margate. hut to swathes of thrs natron.
One project whrch oefrnztely drdn't succeed was ‘.'./hen Darren Hercher's father purchased the Downhrlt Racer rglorrfred x'ratt/ers essentrarlyu to hoost hrs fa'rground husrness hack .n the late— 9053. In Downhill Racer IBBCQ. Sat 5) Dec. 10.30pm O. r. Hercher goes hack to hrs roots to see how the frrm. now I." nrs ..ncte's hands. ts copng rn a x-rorld x'xhere youngsters prefer therr thrrirs pash:ng a few huttons on therr P82. They are not gettrng on very welt. As artfu and welt-toid as rt rs. thrs story rs rust too persona to have any mpact and x'xcutd need a less teary drrectorra! eye to hr'ng rt rnto focus and perhaps grue us the t) gger soczoiogrcal prcture.
Et'tt)!‘():l(}(t rn a more desperate trageuy are the Chohans rn The Family Who Vanished rC/ranrre/ 4. t"/ed lir‘ Dec, 70pm O... r. Thrs strarght~for‘x'rard out powert'ui. depressrng story telis of the srmmerrng greed and hare-faced matey/olence that resulted :n the gruesome murders of a
husrnessman. hrs wrfe. then‘ tun/o krds and the maternat grandmother. aI‘ hecause a corryrcted herorn dea:er and polrce Informant x'ranted hack rn the game now that no had served hrs trme. The unfoidzng plot hatched to deprrye one man o‘ hrs husrness hefore statrghterrng hrs famrly rs parnfal to watch hut the twrst rn the tale hrrngs a modrcun‘. of cold comfort.
In 100% English IMor'e-i, Wed (>‘ Dec, /()pm .0. r some paranord puffy-chested Angto Saxons rrnctudrng (-‘rarry Bushett and ()arof Thatcher» are rather drsconcerted to drscoyer that tnerr sweet c‘narrot mrg'nt not he sx'rrngrng gurte as low as they'd hoped. Thank god for DNA swabs. Natronal rdentrty was a!v.'ays a complex and
contradrctory Issue for the punk movement darrng rts hrref exploson rn the mrd-7()s. Ho‘s/ever. The Story of Punk r’lfl/«I. Sun 3 Dec. 9pm 00. r prefers to concentrate on the c..Iturai conftrct between the anarchrsts wrt'r‘
gurtars of Brrtanr and New York. Whereas Johnny Rotten and co reveueu rn therr chaotrcaliy ad hoc exstence. the C808 punk pror‘eers such as Patt; Smrth. Teteyrston and the Ramones were as artfuf "r thor approach as they y'rere wrth the final product. My vote wour‘r go to ft/r’arguee Moon ahoye Never rt/r’rnd the Bollocks any day. Ghost Hunting with Girls Aloud (Ht/2. Tue 72 Dec, 9pm .0 appears to haye been a roke set up hy the hands morta. enemy Boy George as they go scourrng anout a spooky housewth the lrg‘nts swrtcned off and the ghostly nrght yrsron camera cranked up to the max. The tart trrsn one has had the chrlls go a: the way down to her feet and opted to srt If‘IS one out as he." pals skufk ahout a "aunt )0 house. for the most part harrdan-t‘and. One thrng's :‘or srrre. the B/arr ‘r."./r!c/r Pro/ec! and Lours Vt/alsh nave an ay'r‘a‘ lot to answer for.