Life on Mars: Season 1, Episode 3

“You are surrounded by armed bastards!”

Perhaps this episode sees the series settling more to the point where we can talk about episodes of the week; there’s stuff about Sam losing the will to live in 2006, there’s even another appearance from the test card girl- does she represent the easy temptations of death?- but this time, despite the fact the factory killing takes place in what will one day be Sam’s flat, the focus is on the 1973 plot, not the meta-narrative.

Essentially this is a clever whodunit with a nice twist, set in an old-fashioned factory full of looms against a backdrop of the ongoing death of this kind of industry and the abyss that is about to open up in front of all these men, and their families, when it goes. Even six years before Thatcher the old-fashioned industries are dying and there’s a very hard transition into whatever comes next. There’s a fair bit of subtle social commentary here, too- on militant unions, on the cowed immigrant workforce.

But the episode is shaped, as ever, on the contest between Gene’s gut instincts (“first one to speak did it”) and Sam’s forensics, which this time we see in rather more detail and, in the end, successfully. Sam also seems to become more accepted within the team- not quite being on their level but offering something different and useful- and sharing with them all that most 1970’s of drinks, a Watney’s Party Seven.

Again, this isn’t necessarily Edge of Darkness, and perhaps it’s not quite so conceptually clever as it seemed in 2006, but this is solidly entertaining and quality telly.

Blog Update

As you can see, I’ve just finished the second season of The Crown, and I’m a couple of episode into Life on Mars. So here’s what I’m planning for the next few months as far as telly is concerned. As ever, I’ll be blogging films at weekends and telly in the week, as far as life allows and without being too rigid where that’s too limiting.

Essentially, I’m going to go right through Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, and I’m going to keep going through the third season of The Crown as the fourth season is due soon and I hope to blog it while it’s still hot. I’ll more or less alternate the episodes. However, when I reach the end of a season of something I may choose to briefly blog a short series of six or so episodes of something else before  starting a new season. I have something particularly in mind before I continue with The Crown.

Future vague plans include more Deadwood, more Black Mirror, and... well, any requests?

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 10- Mystery Man

“You are a mystery man to me.”

It’s a bit of a jump forward to 1962, and this episode covers two years of time, but then again this is the last outing with this wonderful cast. I think we would be churlish to begrudge them at least one episode where, although there’s no swinging as yet, it is at least beginning to feel like the Sixties.

This is, as ever, a dense and thought-provoking episode, hinging on the Profumo scandal but not so much about it as riffing on it. Most obviously, there’s the unresolved question of whether the “mystery man” photographed at one of Stephen Ward’s parties is Philip or not, his increased absences at house parties and the like, and the question of whether he is playing away. It’s left ambiguous, even after the wonderfully acted confrontation scene near the end when the Queen shows him the locket he saw in his case all those years ago- and we still are left none the wiser. This kind of ambiguity is probably wise.

We also get a good sense of how social mores are changing- the satire boom is in full swing and Beyond the Fringe (if you haven’t seen it, do so; it’s extraordinary) mocks the establishment in new ways, and Macmillan’s humiliation as he watches it in stage is nicely juxtaposed with the pompously conservative, snobbish and implicitly homophobic prosecution speech at Stephen Ward’d trial, leading to his suicide- exactly the kind of vicious arrogance that needed doing away with. It was this, rather than particularly Macmillan, that needed to be swept away.

Speaking of Macmillan, this series has not been kind to him. I’m no Tory, but I’d say he’s the best peacetime Tory prime minister of the twentieth century- moderate, sensibly centrist in his opinions, a steady hand with colonialism. Yes, his resignation was more due to being fed up with it all than his ill health, but I’ve no doubt six years as PM is exhausting. The Queen’s rant at him for being a quitter here is uncalled for, but I suppose the point is that she doesn’t have the luxury of resignation. It’s an interesting scene to include.

We end with a new royal birth and a kind of deconstructed mise en scene as Cecil Beaton takes another photograph to end a second superb season. I’ll be blogging the next season very soon indeed.

The Ramones- The Ramones (1976)

For such a well-known and well-loved album- I adore it myself; this is a deeply addictive and cheekily simple set of songs- this is a really hard album to judge in any sort of context. It was the Ramones who formulated the whole “here’s one chord, here’s another, here’s a third, now go and form a band” antithesis to pretentious prog wildling that forms the true core of punk, yet the Ramones don’t quite feel fully punk, as it was undefined when they helped to pioneer it. It’s also true that the whole New York, CBGB’s scene was a very different beat to the London, Sex Pistols-led scene that perhaps is though of as more of a template.

But it’s more than that. I think a lot of it is that the Ramones are suffused with, well, not exactly the 50s but (stay with me here) a very specifically 70s type of 50s nostalgia, the same thing as Happy Days, which most pertinently in this case harks back to a time before rock ‘n’ roll became “rock”. That’s entirely present in the sound of this album and, let’s face it, the Ramones didn’t exactly develop as a band, did they, said with all affection?

There’s something beyond even this, though, perhaps it’s the fact that the band was all dead within a few years of the new century. Perhaps it’s the disconnect between the vague whiff of right-wing politics that surrounds the band and the fact that their lyrics (see “Commando”), and even Johnny Ramone’s public statements, look oddly like ironic satire even if they almost certainly aren’t. Perhaps it’s the hints at depth in the lyrics- “53rd and 3rd” subtly discussing Dee Dee’s days as a rent boy, or the splendid breaking of the fourth wall in “Judy Is a Punk”.

All that is probably just me being a pretentious git. But we all know this album, we all know these songs, and they are awesome. That is all.

Life on Mars: Season 1, Episode 2

“I’ve never fitted anyone up who hasn’t deserved it!”

This is a clever second episode, our first “story of the week”, perhaps, and centred around a big difference between Sam and Gene, this time around the fitting up of suspects in the days before the 1984 reforms. But it’s also subtly the episode where Sam and Gene bond after an initial massive clash, something which had to happen, and a couple of other subtle character nuances- establishing Sam’s Blackadder-Baldrick relationship with Chris, and that Ray hates him. And there’s also lots of ‘70s flavour, not least with the white dog shite.

We also have the first outing from the vaguely average title sequence, and more hints that Sam is imagining this from his hospital bed- the blackout sequence at the end is very well done, and the way the creepy Test Card Girl comes from out of the telly is deeply effective.

But the story of the week- nailing a dangerous bank robber properly, with evidence and not fitting up- is also handled very well indeed. It’s a nicely structured plot, with Sam’s principles letting June get shot but Gene, Ray and Chris almost letting Annie and a witness get killed. It’s a much-needed episode giving a bit of depth and reality to the Sam/Gene relationship as well as fleshing our Gene a little to make him less of a grotesque and more of a person. These two- Sam and Gene- are fascinating to look at from the perspective of 2020 with all this culture war nonsense: Sam, sensible chap, would have voted Remain while you just know Gene would be one of them Leavers. It’s seemingly that age old clash between people who are liberal and people who are wrong, absurd oversimplification that is... but Gene, like many of the other side, is someone you just can’t dislike.

A strong episode and perhaps, in story and character terms, better than the first. I’m very much enjoying this.

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 9- Paterfamilias

"The Prince is sure to be put through his paces by their gruelling physical regime..."

As ever, this is a thought-provoking and stimulatng piece of drama, and about more than it may seem at first. The gruelling experiences of the sensitive young Prince Charles at Gordonston are paralleled with flashbacks to the childhood of the young Philip- and we see that both father and son are damaged, both of them in large part because of their own fathers. The cycle continues. And it is hard to escape the conclusion that Charles will be a worse king for his experiences.

Charles is put through five long years of what he describes as "a prison sentence" and "Hell" by Philip, who passionately believes in Gordonstoun and its ethos and will stop at nothing to send his son there. Yet he struggled there himself at first, until the death of his favourite sister- which his absentee monocled failure of a father, Prince Andrew of Greece, cruelly blames on him. Dickie Mountbatten has the right of it in his little monologue to young Charles about parents falling short. The whole theme is masterfully developed, with the use of planes being particularly clever throughout. And Matt Smith is sublime in portraying his disappointment at Charles at the end.

There's more, of course- it's a shock to see the young Philip in Nazi Germany, speaking German and surrounded by the casual presence of Nazi iconography. His sister, Princess Cecile, casually and apptovingly refers to "Herr Hitler". And it's a shock to see Philip insist to Elizabeth that Charles must continue to attend Gordonstoun on pain of divorce- he is deeply attached to Gordonstoun. And the flashbacks tell us why: despite the physical exertions, cold showers and gruelling runs, the this of the school is not cruel and its headmaster, Jewish refugee Dr Hahn, is as progressive as he is harsh.

And yet, in spite of the nuanced portrayal here, one cannot but reflect on the words Elizabeth is made to say here, about the terrible childhood damage caused by bullying, and be horrified at how the man who will soon be our King was brought up. Poor Charles.

Brazil (1985)

"I won't look at your willy."

This film is, of course, a work of genius from the unique mind of Terry Gilliam- Kafkaesque, nightmarish, surreal, perhaps similar in visual style to his recently directed Crimson Assurance bit of Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, but announcing Gilliam as a true auteur. It’s also a true cinematic classic, managing to present a fundamentally bleak view of civilisation with the darkly humorous approach that is of course the only sane one.

Gilliam may be a native of Minnesota, but this film is full of the influences of his twenty years in Britain. It is, obviously, full of that Orwellian fear of tyranny, and the petty details of that tyranny, that is constantly found in British science fiction. It is set in a deliberately timeless and anachronistic time and place, but there are plenty of visual nods to the Nazi’s, and in particular to the phenomenon, in the words of Hannah Arendt, of the banality of evil.

It’s very Pythonesque, of course, but should certainly not be reduced to that. The casting of Michael Palin against type is a masterstroke, as is the starring role for the excellent Jonathan Pryce. A parade of British character actors play a parade of entertainingly disturbing grotesques, as does Robert De Niro, whose insane casting somehow works.

It is, of course, obstructive to see a film about the reality of, well, fascism, in 2020. The Kafkaesque evils inherent in computers are shown here, as well as the effectiveness of information control by those in power. Where the only news is Fox News, truth no longer exists. And, while the UK is not yet at risk of fascism or anything close, the blatant cronyism and disrespect for constitution norms we see here are particularly chilling.

A superb film from a director who, with this film, has well and truly outgrown Monty Python.

The Return of Godzilla (1984)

"Godzilla is a living nuclear weapon!”

This is, I think it's fair to say, the first of a new breed of Godzilla movies. It's been nine years since the last film in the fanchise; the eponymous beast has been subtly updated; and it's heavily implied that all previous Godzilla films since the first have been retconned away.

And, in a sense, this is a version of the first film updated for the Eighties. Certainly the fashions and office decor scream loudly which decade this was made in. But, although very much a Godzilla film in the familiar tradition, it also looks and feels much more like a Hollywood blockbuster. The set pieces of Godzilla destroying various marine vessels and, of course, Tokyo, ae present and correct but, well, somehow more dated than the earlier films which are, perhaps, easier to excuse in this respect because of their age. Certainly, the giant sea lice are... not exactly a special effects triumph, and amused me greatly.

And yet none of this prevents this well-shot and well-structured film from being an impressive achievement. It has a nice balance of set piece, drama and political tension, with the use of the Japanese prime minister as a key character being a nice touch. The threat of nuclear war by understanding, and the nuclear sabre rattling, by the Soviets and Americans respectively, add an exra bit of dramatic film.

And it is in this aspect- nuclear weapons- that provide this film with a political subtext that echoes that of the first film, and amplifies it. For the only nation in human history to have been nuked to be pressured by both superpowers to allow itself to be nuked, even for its own protection, is a powerful scene, and the PM's speech rejecting a nuclear attack is a real philosphical centrepiece.

Overall, this is a successful and enjoyable revival which, while still being somewhat kitsch, manages to morph the somewhat illy franchise of the "Monster Island" era to something more serious, with Godzilla established once again as a serious threat.

Life on Mars: Season 1, Episode 1

"I need my mobile."

"Your mobile what?"

I thought, given the recent news about a new series, that I may as well just marathon Life on Mars- which I saw on the telly when it was broadcast- and Ashes to Ashes, of which I've only seen the first episode.

It's an impressive first episode, every bit as good as I remembered, and nicely establishng the show's central conceit- DCI Sam Tyler finds himself hit by a car and either in a coma or back in 1973- while introducing a load of compelling characters and, no easy feat, getting us to like them. John Simm and Philip Glenister are both superb from the beginning, in very different parts. It's amusing, given that the show relies heavily on the contrast betwee the present day of 2006 and the past of three decades earlier, that the last fourteen years have really dated the 2006 sequences- the eponymous Bowie track is playing on an iPod.

I think, though, that while the characters are well-drawn and the script is highly quotable, we are perhaps stretchng credulity a little as DCI Hunt and the rest of the 1973 gang give a little too much credence and leeway to this nutter claiming to be from the future. But there's enough sleight of hand to get away with it, and it's all nicely smoothed over with truly phenomenal, auteur-like direction from Bharat Nalluri. He really shines here, and is arguably as much of an authorial voice as the writer Matthew Graham. The dreamlike sequence where Sam first wakes up in 1973, and the panorama round the 1973 street, stand out in particular as brilliantly done, but the camerawork is masterly throughout.

Overall it's a superb conceit with plenty of potential- the casual sexism and pre-1984 policing methods are very much highlighted here in setting up the ongoing comedy of manners but, interestingly, Gene Hunt is allowed to end the episode with a moral victory on behalf of the old school methods. Perhaps it remains to be seen how the series fares with a less amazing director, and part of me suspects this is more of a pop culture 1973 than a real 1973 (surely we'd see more internal decor from the late '60s, for example?), but perhaps that's not necessarily a flaw.

Fourteen years on it's clear that this isn't quite up there with the very best telly, but there's nothing wrong with that. Life on Mars is big, brash and fun. I'm sure I'll enjoy it again this time round.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)

This is, perhaps, my second favourite Bowie album- you'll have to wait for the first. Obviously, it's quite simply an extraordinary collection of rocking, music hall, vaguely queer, anthemic, awesome songs, many of which still receive heavy radio play even now. There's a peculiar depth not only to the songwriting but even to the concept of the album itself and, indeed, the Ziggy Stardust altar ego, perhaps Bowie's finest.

And yet there's something ineffably 1972 about it. "Five Years" communicates a sense of oncming armageddon, something which includes but it at the same time wider than the Cold War fear of nuclear annihlation, and is almost existential in its cynicism. "Moonage Daydream" manages at the same time to communicate a jaded and very post-hippie, coming down from the highs sort of attitude to progress, apporiately marking the year which marked the last time, as of September 2020, that a human foot last touched the Lunar surface.

I'm not going to go rough each song as I'd be here all night, but the fact I need to say that is pretty revealing. This is an extraordinarily album- simultaneously shallow and deep, niche and popular, undisputably an album of the very first rank.

Acid Mammoth- Under Acid Hoof (2020)

Deep within the ancient Attican peninsula, in the immortal city of Athens, dwells a band who, with this splendidly and brutally slow little stoner masterpiece that is, I've no doubt, something Plato would instantly have recognised as the ideal soundtrack to his ideal polis of philosopher kings. I haven't read The Republic since my early 20s, but I'm sure the main thrust of it is the desperate need for a deeply mellow yet crushingly heavy soundscape lest the Spartans should prevail.

This is a little more poppy than, say, Sunn O))) or Earth, but reminds me more of Conan: those slight concessions to hookiness are delightfully focused on bludgeoning guitars that are in absolutely no hurry whatsoever.

I don't geneally do new albums in this blog- alas, my time to pursue new music is not what t was- but this is magnificent.

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 8- Dear Mrs. Kennedy

"What are they doing?"

"Had to say. I believe it's the foxtrot."

It's getting almost predictable that I'm declaring each episode of The Crown in turn to be a superb piece of telly. I'm rather afraid I'm having to do so again.

This episode is a particularly strong example of what this episode does so well- the seamless mix of geopolitics and the history of the twentieth century with very real characterisation and psychological acuity. In this episode there's a los of ten dmensional chess going on as the winds of change blow and former Eropean (particularly British) colonies, especially in Africa) are made independent. Yet the episode vegins with a foregrounding of how this is playing out in a Cold War context, with the Soviets ready to swoop. We see the Queen's portrat being removed and replaced with that of Lenin- replacing one symbol of European imperialism with another.

We also see the British cultural cringe- even that of royalty- to the glamour of Camelot, as Preseident Kennedy and the dazzling Jackie visit, seeming to outshine the Queen, And, while she and Jackie seem to connect, it seems  that Mrs Kennedy is unimpressed with Elizabeth, who is hardly an intellectual.

And yet... the Queen may not know who wrote Tartuffe, but her life is full of complex diplomati decisions. And the episode centres on an outside-the-box diplomatic masestroke, keeping President Nkrumah close to the West by allowing herself to be seen dancing the foxtrot with him in a masterful display of soft power.

We also, in a nice little coda, see the truth behind the Camelot glamour in Kennedy's illness, his philandering and... well, I'm not sure how factual the domestic abuse is, or the exact nature of the drugs administereds to the First Couple. But the connection between the two women is nice to see, and the reaction to Kennedy's assassination tasteful.

I'm not sure I'd be gushing so much if the Kennedys were the central figures here- my impression of the historical Jack, despite the philandering, is that he was a much nicer chap than portrayed here, and Michael C. Hall is simply miscast. But I can't deny that this is, once again, bloody good.

Fugazi- Repeater (1990)

I’ve never been a big fan of Minor Threat. I mean, they’re ok, I own their stuff, and I’m aware of their importance to the D.C. scene, straight edge and all that. But I tend to prefer, Bad Brains aside, my early ‘80s US punk to hail from California, where the bands tend to be more varied and interesting. Minor Threat, to me, is the American Sham 69.

But with this, the first Fugazi record, my respect for Ian MacKaye increased hugely. Superficially, in some ways, it sounds like Minor Threat. But, in most ways, it doesn’t sound like them at all, sort of the PiL to their Sex Pistols, much more structurally interesting. I’m no musician, so I couldn’t tell you whether this has any great level of technical complexity or not. But the progression from Minor Threat is fascinating, and is an interesting if rather late (1990!) example of the many ways in which punk segues into post-punk. And I love that: from the Ramones’ famous “here’s a chord, here’s another, here’s a third, now go and form a band” ethos it’s fascinating to see, as here, how punk musicians all negotiate in their different ways how to rediscover complexity without being pretentious.

I know naff all about how music works. But I know I love the time signatures, structure and weirdness of this album. And this is just the start for Fugazi.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Captain Marvel's Secret

"Shazam!"

And so it ends, wth a bang. This has been a splendid serial, retaining not only just excitement but plot progression (or at least the illusion of such!" throughout. But this is the final episode, and stuff can actually happen.

So we finally- after a teaser scene with his face in shadow, and a typical cliffhanger resolution- discover that the Scorpion is Bentey: it would be an interesting exercise to rewatch them all with that knowledge, although I'm not going to do it. We also discover- inevitably- that Tal Chotal is just what he seems to be- an obvious red herring, and secretly a decent chap. There's still a scattering of vague racism everwhere- Thailand is still just like Afghanistan, apparently, and I raised an eyebrow at Captain Marvel's assertion that Bentley would be extradited to face justice in the USA when he should surely be tried for the murders he's committed in, er, Thaighanistan first- but hey, it's 1941.

The ending is surprisingly final, as Billy is thoroughly outed as Captain Marvel in dramatic circumstances, and once the Scorpion is finally defeated the powers are seemingly gone forever. But it makes for a good, self-contained story.

This final episode may be brief, and somewhat crowded. But it's a thoroughly enjoyable end to a superb serial, one which has restored my faith in the material just when I needed it. Superb stuff.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

"Ah, Skywalker. Missed you I have."

I'm a fan of Star Wars, in the ordinary sense of the word. Sufficiently so that I watched every Star Wars film at the cinema from Return of the Jedi in 1983 to The Force Awakens in 2015 at the cinema, incuding the horrible special editions of the original trilogy. Sufficiently so that I could spend talking about the old Kenner action figures. Suffciently so that I've blogged the '80s Ewok TV films.

That it's taken me so long to watch this film is a testament to how real life has changed for me these days, and little else. Let's just say that, with a daughter, a disabled wife and a full time job, free time is not what it once was.

But that’s not the only reason I mention this. Because I’m a fan, but not a fanboy. And I’m vaguely aware of the fact, if not necessarily the details, that the fanboys wee split over this film. And I have no idea why. It’s a splendid bit of blockbuster fun, with real heart at its core and great characters, and absolutely in the spirit- and indeed structure- of the original trilogy.

That last point, after this second film, is now abundantly clear. Hence Han, in the last film, fulfilled the role of Obi Wan, whereas Luke here is Yoda, in terms of plot function. Leia has a large and rather touching role, rather fitting as a send off for the much-missed Carrie Fisher. But the main protagonists are or course Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren, the next generation. And rightly so.

I love how the film knowingly echoes the sort of things earlier Star Wars films tended to do, but does unexpected things at the last minute. So Ren shockingly kills Snoke as Vader killed Palpatine- but not because he’s had a moral reawakening, merely because of personal ambition. Laura Dern’s unlikeable Vice Admiral Holdo turns out to be right, brave and clever all along. Luke is not even there in his final, epic fight with Ren- the second member of the original cast he’s now slain. Best of all, Rey is not Luke’s daughter or any such thing, just a poor person from nowhere. Social mobility is a thing on the Star Wars universe.

I can see how some may dislike Luke’s characterisation here; they have a good case to make, but good drama should be unpredictable and challenging by definition. Arguably it may be out of character, but by sleight of hand it works. As for those lonely, virgin little boys who stamp their tiny feet at the fact some of the cast have the temerity to not be white or male (gasp), let us leave them to their crippling loneliness.

I didn’t just like this film. I loved it. Waiting three years was absurd.

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 7- Matrimonium

"As in art, so, it would appear, in life..."

Again we have a Margaret episode and, again, there is much subtlety and character development. Like ast episode, the plot is simple; Margaret is to marry Tony who, we now see, is sectretly carrying on polyamorous relationships with both sexes and, moreover, is rather more damaged than he might appear. Yet Elizabeth, even after hearing the truth from Tommy Lascelles- again brought out of retirement to do what Michael cannot- is unable, after what happened with Peter Townsend, to say no. And the baby to whom she gives birth here will one day be mixed up with sexual doings that are a thousand times worse.

The episode abounds, as ever, with lovely character moments on which we can dwell as we hope that Margaret won't get hurt. The scene between Margaret and Elizabeth at the end is fascinating- Margaret wants freedom and independence, and is marrying this man as part of that. Yet she, unlike the Queen, enjos the titles and the deference and will never give up those things- a necessary precondition for any royal to break free of their life sentence in a gilded cage.

We get an outburst from Philip, last season a victim of snobbery himself, yet looking down on Tony who, unlike hilself, is not the grandson of a king and a prince in his own right. Fascinatingly, we learn that the womanising Tony is the son of a vaguely neglectful mother who left his commoner father to marry an earl, and his younger half-brother outranks him- until he marries Margaret. Deliciously, we hear this as Tony, along with the Frys with whom he is having a bisexual menage a trois, watches the results of the 1959 election as Supermac crushes all before him in a country that has never had it so good.

It is also jarring to see Macmillan lead the Cabinet in prayer upon hearing of the royal baby. 1959 was a different world, albeit a changing one, more religious than ours on the surface- but perhaps not much deeper than that; and where conservative social mores on the surface are not applied to the discreet elite.

A superb hour of drama, as always.

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 6- Vergangenheit

"He's shouting, darling. Only zealots shout."

This is, perhaps, the finest episode so far, and rich in its themes of duty and (not narrowly religious)  faith.

It's obvious to those of us with vague knowledge of the Duke of Windsor's wartime activites that the two plot threads- David's desire to return from exile and do some useful work to free him from a life of empty decadence versus the looming forced publication of secret wartime papers linked to the toyals and, as we see in the flashback with George VI, are a source of great shame- are linked. And so the overall plot, as Elizabeth learns the full truth (perhaps) from Tommy Lascelles and ultimately exiles him forever, plays out superbly, with excellent dramatic beats and superb characterisation throughout.

Except the episode is even better than that. There are so many superb touches, from Tommy Lascelles preciousness with his miniature troops (the geek), to the quote above- given the wider themes of the episode, is the Queen Mother comparing Billy Graham to Hitler, as least in the limited sense that demagoguery is not a good thing? Yet the presence of Graham here- and the Queen's interest in him- provide a contrast between the dutiful and deeply conscientious Christian sovereign and the life of empty luxury and fundamental tackiness led by her flighty uncle in Paris. We last see Elizabeth kneeling in prayer, while we last see David giving a look of profound alienation as he suffers yet another party. Alex Jennings is superb here.

The first scene between Elizabeth and Graham is superb, too. I'm not someone capable of faith myself (show me empiiacal proof that God exists and I'll believe, but don't just tell me there's an invisible man who lives in the sky and not expect a raised eyebrow) but the desire of the Head of the Church of England to be a "simple Christian" is touching. Although nowhere near as good as the revelation that Phil has been getting bladdered with the Queen Mum and Tommy Lascelles.

Is what Tommy Lascelles says about Edward VIII literally true? I'm sure to a large extent it is, but in full? Was David significantly worse than his brother for hob-nobbing with Nazis in the 1930s, when the Holocaust was unsuspected but it was already clear Hitler was a cruel dictator, whatever sympathies one may have had for Germany after Versailles? I'm no expert. But this is a supetlative hour of telly.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Valley of Death

"White infidels plan to enter the sacred valley the day after tomorrow!"

Som it's the penultimate episode, and we're back in Thailand (Siam in 1941)- but it seems that Thailand is Afghanistan, going by the place names, costumes and culture- although no one seems to be specifically Muslim. No one seems to look ethnically South East Asian, either.

The change of scene makes things fresh, though. We're back to the tomb, Lang;a lens is found, the natives are working for the Scorpion and his cool bird of prey that he uses as a messager pigeon.

We also have an exploding volcano about to engulf the tomb while the gang are mostly inside. It's a busy episode and I can't believe there's just one left. The episode feels, perhaps, a little too reminiscent of the first, but that was a while ago. This movie serial has been excellent, and it's about to end...

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 5- Marionettes

“Goodness, a constitutional crisis!"

A quietly excellent episode this time, artfully exploring somewhat abstract constitutional issues while nevertheless functioning as drama. And John Heffernan is superb as a peer(!) who throws a grenade on to the institution of monarchy in order to save it in a world where, after all, where monarchies were once the rule and republics the exception, we now live in a world where the reverse is the case.

Lord Altrincham's opinions reflect, interestingly, a time where any criticism of the monarchy was seen as heretical and republicanism was unthinkable. Today we are, I think, more open-minded, and not necessarily to the monarchy's detriment. Like many, I am a republican in the abstract. My ideal state would of course be a republic; that a head of state should be elected is a no-brainer. But we do not, of course, live in the abstract; we live in a particular time and place. And I for one do not believe, here in the UK in 2020, that our current generation of politicians has either the integrity or the constitutional literacy to make such a radical change and the monarchy is, in contrast to the damage that may be done, eminently preferable. I'm the St Augustine of republicans- give me a republic, but not yet.

Yet there are troubling issues- of snobbery, of the diminished but inevitable presence of divine right in a secular world, of the disconnect between the actual job of being a head of state who is "above" politics and the actual history of royalty, represented by the Queen Mother here in her dolefully reactionary "marionettes" speech near the end. These issues are hinted at by Lord Altrincham- a character who comes across rather well, both overall and while being interviewed by Bertie Carvel as a superb Robin Day- but he seeks not to destroy the institution, but to save it, as comes across in the dramatically effective but probably apocyphal chat with Elizabeth herself.

What is perhaps clear is just how out-of-touch the old breed of courtier has become, as seen with the dreadful speech Elizabeth is given. Things must change, so that they may stay the same.

In other news, Margaret is shagging Tony. This is superb stuff as ever.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Doom Ship

 "She's going down!"

...And in the tenth episode, with two to go. everything changes. I'm continually amazed at how plot progression, or at least the illusion of plot progression, is maintained throughout this movie serial. It's not just a never-ending series of action set pieces, unlike some serials I could mention.

Yes, the cliffanger resolution is a typical cheat. But that's ok, because we learn two incredible things from the contents of the safe. The late Dr Lang couldn't spell the word "lens"! And, no less excitingly, the safe contains a map showing the location of the lens, not the lens itself. The lens is still there, in situ, in Thailand or Afghanistan or whatever vaguely eastern country the tomb is in.

So it's the next steamer to Bangkok for the whole expedition- interesting that, in 1941, travelling that distance by plane would not have been a thing. And here we get, after a reminder that the Scorpion must of course also be on board, a complete change of genre to disaster movie, as the scene switches to tje stormy seas of the Indian Ocan and a terrifying typhoon. Catain Marvel saves the ship by using something called a "breeches buoy", but Betty was still in her cabin! Can Billy save her as the ship sinks, possibly by saying "Shazam"?

This serial was pretty exciting anyway, but this change of scene has added to the excitement. Superb stuff.

Genuine (1920)

I blogged The Cabinet of Dr Caligari a scary number of years ago. It's a film that has lingered in the memory, both because of its extraordinary Expressionist visual style and the creepy effectiveness of the story. Is this, Robert Wiene's much less famous follow-up from later in the same year, and now a hundred years old, in the same league?

Well... no. That's not to say there isn't much that's visually impressive. Not all the sets are in the Expressionist style here- there seems to have been a compromise arrangement with realism- but there's lots to admire, not to mention a great deal of nightmare fuel. The facial expressions of both Lord Melo and the creepily moustachioed barber are enough by themselves to cause sleepless nights, but the central feature of Melo's house is a rather noticeable skeleton with a clock in its face, reminding us that this is the age of Surrealism. There's also a very strikingly dishevelled block pyramid, like a kind of uneasy proto-Pompidou Centre.

But aside from the visuals, and the strikingly modern, or more likely universal, sexuality of Genuine herself, this isn't much of a story. Essentially, the priestess of some vaguely non-European is bought in a slave market and ends up as the plaything of a modern aristocrat in a generic European country. And she uses her deadly feminine wiles as a vamp, or succubus, or what ou will, to control young and impressionable men. Murder, love triangles and tragedy unfold with a certain inevitability. It's all a bit ho-hum, not to mention the gender and post-colonial questions it raises-mthis is 1920, the height of colonialism although Germany lost its colonies in last year's Treaty of Versailles, and the only Black actor, in a vaguely stereotypical role, is from German Kamerun.

Despite this, though, the visuals are fascinating and it's worth a look. After years of the film being incredinbly hard to see in full, it's now available on YouTube in all its 88 minutes.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Dead Man's Trap

 "You're the Scorpion!"

For a ninth episode of a movie serial, and therefore doomed to tread water by default, this episode is extraordinarily good. It treads said water with real aplomb.

It would be quite extraordinary to claim that any ninth episode in a twelve part story advances the plot in any meaningful way. This is the point where we're just filling in time with set pieces until we get to the finale. And yet, between the opening and closing cliffhangers, this episode does a superb job ofv maintaining the illusion of plot advancement.

It does this by means of the two simple drivers of the Scorpion's quest for the two remaining lenses and the ongoing mystery as to which expediation member is the Scorpion. Dramatically, Lang sees an unmasked Scorpion before he's shot, and the number of suspects is decreasing. Could it be Malcolm himself?

All this intrigue, plus the ever-present peril and action, means I'm no less entertained in spite of being at the part of the serial where one would expect things to drag. And the cliffhanger- Billy and Betty menaced by two booby trap guns emerging from a dumb waiter- is as splendid as ever.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Boomerang

"It's Dr. Lang!"

Inevitably, the resolution to a splendid cliffhanger is a bit rubbish, as Billy's gag comes loose and he says "Shazam!" in time for Captain Marvel to save Betty and himself. But the rest of this episode manages, in spite of the continual captures, escapes and set pieces, manages to avoid the curse of being a late episode but still not too close to the end by developing further the intrigue of the Scorpion's identity.

I had to raise an eyebrow at Billy's suggestion that Betty quit her job because of the danger; you can tell that first wave feminism hasn't happened yet. I also raised my second one at the suggestion it might be normal for Billy to "borrow" Lang's car without asking.

But all the intrigue over the Scorpion, and which one of the academics will have an injured right hand, is clever: I suspect, by the rule of drama, that it isn't Dr Lang in spite of his sinister butler. But all this inrigue is much better done than one might expect from a movie serial, and I have confidence that the narrative isn't cheating. This is good stuff.

Sex Education: Season 2, Episode 6

“ If you’re not ready to talk about douching with your boyfriend, you’re not ready to have his cock in your ass.”

Well, if it seemed as if last episode was the one where everything went wrong, this episode ups the ante. We k of its going to happen all the way through, as Otis formulates plans for a “gathering” and we just know hordes of people are going to arrive and trash the place, because that’s how the trope always goes.

And the episode is obviously centred on Otis’ drunken speech in which he’s as absolute dick to both Ola and Maeve, burning his bridges with both of them as well as humiliating himself. The moral high ground, to the extent he had it at all, is well and truly surrendered.

Also, the house is trashed. And, worst of all, lots of horrible bottled lager is drunk, with no real ale or wine in sight.

We also have Jean and Maureen having a few drinks and bonding, over terrible nightclub music, about the ambivalence of their newfound mutual singledom. Maeve bonds further with Isaac who, it now seems clear, is like a version of Otis with a similar background.

Interestingly, Jackson has a massive anxiety attack at the party about the pressure to swim again now his hand had healed, and it’s Viv (who finally realised the dullness of the bloke she fancies) who takes it upon herself to tell his parents. This is going to be interesting: let’s hope it’s resolved happily. But for poor Amy, still very much suffering from the sexual assault, there’s no happiness.

This is a superbly done ensemble show, with believable characters who drive the plot rather than vice versa- and I applaud the decision to allow Otis, the main protagonist, to behave like a dick. This is very good indeed.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Human Targets

“A smart trick!”

I won’t linger on the plot for this episode which, as the serial has just passed its mid point, consists of Fisher being dead and the Scorpion having both the lenses he was after last episode. Otherwise it’s just a case of captures.escapes and peril, although I like how Betty is far too resourceful to be a mere peril monkey. She’s bordering on co-star material. She even shoots the Scorpion.

Captain Marvel is pretty ruthless here, again doing a spot of harsh interrogation, and disdaining to save a hood from a likely fatal fall when he could probably have done so. He also lifts a bloke up by the crotch to throw him. Well then. I’m also beginning to notice that the Scorpion has scorpion logos where his nipples should be. Not sure what to make of that.

It’s also interesting that the whodunit plot needs some variation of its to last until the end. Will Billy come under suspicion? But we get a splendid cliffhanger, with Betty and a gagged Billy about to be bombed by a plain. Even the filler episodes in the middle of this serial are very well done, with the water being trodden with aplomb.

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 4- Beryl

“The surface is so dreary, don’t you think?”

This is a superb bit of telly. On one level, it’s a Margaret episode, allowing the royal couple to fade a little into the ensemble. One another, it’s far deeper and more interesting.

We see some development of Elizabeth and Philip as they make the best of things and settle down into their very humdrum married life of duty. Marriage is a theme, as Harold Macmillan uses the metaphor to refer to the fractured post-Suez Transatlantic partnership- but, as we discover, his wife is openly having an affair with the Prime Minister as a knowing and emasculates cuckold. As his wife says of him, “His weakness repels next, his love disgusts me.”

For Margaret, it seems, there can be no wedded bliss, as her latest potential fiancé humiliates her. Only by venturing into a freer world, the fascinating Bohemia of Fifties London with its Angry Young Men, artistic ferments and upcoming ventures Beyond the Fringe, does the discover a measure of freedom from her gilded but oh-so-restrictive cage. And she meets, in avant garde photographer Tony Armstrong-Jones, not only a potential love interest but an exciting entry into a much less dreary world.

What’s particularly wonderful about this episode partly set in arty Bohemia- with cameos from Ken Russell, Dudley Moore, Johns Profumo and Betjeman, and no doubt others- is that the cinematography is as creative and unconventional as anything in Tony’s studio, and Vanessa Kirby shines. A finely crafted episode.

Pulp- This Is Hardcore (1998)

This is, perhaps, an eccentric first Pulp album to blog- their sixth, and coming right after the intelligently poppy double whammy of His 'n' Hers and Different Class. like Blur the previous year and Radiohead two years later, this is an example of a "Britpop" band (I'm personally quite ambivalent about that term, for reasons I'll come to in a future blog post) exploiting their popular success to make a fascinatingly interesting album which, while not crammed full of the catchy singles of the recent past, marks a step forward in singwriting.

This album is more of a compelling soundscape that a collection of catchy tunes, and I find myself playing it much more frequently than any of the band's more populist fare. It's their masterpiece, with the triumphantly epic title track at its centre but with the album as a whole sounding variously like Pavement, Public Image Ltd and Bowie during his Berlin period. It's a mercurial, interesting and compelling long player record, and far too good for people who just want popular singles.

The Robot vs the Aztec Mummy (1958)

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

This film has, you must concede, a magnificent title. And it was, I correctly assumed, the perfect film for the Friday of a knackering week where I wanted something very undemanding.

I’m nearly always ridiculously anal about not watching either sequels or remakes until I’ve seen the original, and this bonkers ‘50s Mexican horror/sci-fi insanity is not only the third film in a trilogy but more than half the film is taken up with footage from the first two- and there’s an absurd amount of narrated recapping before anything happens. But, and let’s not pretend otherwise, I’m not going to see the first two.

This is an easily watched hour of hilarious runaround with absurd concepts (past life regression! A hilarious mad scientist called Dr Krupp! A hilariously ‘50s robot that only appears in the last ten minutes and from which the hilarious Dr Krupp intends to make a mechanical army to do his bidding!), but underneath all this low camp nonsense is a pretty standard Egyptian mummy film with the rather cool variation that, with this being a Mexican film, the mummies, pyramids and cultural trappings are all Aztec rather than Egyptian. That adds something culturally cool into the mix, however tokenistic it may be.

The film is a load of old tosh, of course. But it’s fun and quick to watch.

Sex Education: Season 2, Episode 5

"Is the bike in question your vagina?”

It’s the middle episode, and a watershed for the season, in the form of an ill-advised camping trip taken by Otis and Eric with Otis’ wayward father, Remi, whom we get to know a bit more. And it’s an episode in which most of the relationships go horribly, horribly wrong so that we can spend the rest of the season seeing what results from all this.

The love triangles, being unstable, come apart. Last episode Ola gave Otis an ultimatum to stop talking to Maeve or loses her, and he does- and she dumps him anyway, leaving him with no one. Meanwhile Ola, exploring her sexuality, finds herself dreaming not about Otis but about Lily, particularly in a superbly done dream sequence. Alas, as soon as she kisses Lily, she faces rejection.

Others are struggling too. Aimee is still recovering from the sexual assault, and can’t let her boyfriend touch her. Jean finds it impossible to cope with Jakob’s being everywhere, being unused to the ever-present intimacy of relationships. These scenes are funny, and Gillian Anderson is superb (I love the pans cupboard scene), but she ends by confessing to Jakob that Remi kissed her- and we don’t see the fallout.

Remi, meanwhile, is revealed as a pathetic, self-pitying, womanising man-child, perhaps intended as a warning for what Otis could potentially become. Maeve connects a little with her very human, recovering addict mother- and receives an unexpected love interest in cheeky bastard Isaac. I suspect that Otis, should he try to pick up the pieces with Maeve, May have a love rival.

Jackson, still hiding his theatrical doings from his mum, co to yes to bond with the nerdy but likeable Viv as he helps her to woo her beau: there’s definitely a spark between them. And Maureen Groff finally gets an orgasm after at least six years courtesy of Jean and a little bullet between her legs... and announces her desire to divorce her come husband. Of all the decouplings this episode, that’s the one with the feel good factor.

On a more ambiguous note, Eric chooses to be with Rahim after discussing his own triangle after a discussion about Adam with Otis, who doubts the old bully’s motives. Poor Adam, I suspect, has some more redemption to do before he's worthy of Eric.

This is well-crafted, character-driven, believable stuff. This second season may well be eclipsing the first.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Lens of Death

"It's a trick!"

Halfway through and, while it's starting to become slghtly apparent that al this dancing around the Scorpion getting hold of all the lenses is just a form of padding, we don’t mind as we’re being entertained by the set pieces and there’s simultaneously a whodunit as we’re left wondering who the Scorpion is- despite a little light misdirection in this episode, he’s clearly a member of the expedition.

I like the cliffhanger resolution here, as Captain Marvel being overwhelmed by lava is the biggest so far and there is, diegetically at least, potential for doubt over whether he survives, and the Scorpion and co certainly believe him to be dead. Cleverly, a few minutes pass before the appearance of Billy shows us that he isn’t.

The Wizard’s pan here is clever- claiming to have all lenses but one in order to smoke out the locations of two expedition members’ lenses, and the two attempted robberies make good set pieces. It’s interesting to note, though- this is the halfway point. Where is the story going to go now? Are there six more episodes, albeit entertaining, of hunt the lenses?

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: The Scorpion Strikes

"What about Captain Marvel? He seems to appear every time Batson's in trouble."

Another splendid instalment here even if, again, the reprise is a little long and the resolution- Captain Marvel swoops down and saves Betty from being unconscious at the wheel- is again obvious. It doesn't matter; the cliffhanger is just a set piece, a bit of excitement, and it's on with the story- and again the set pieces are not just random ways to pass the time as per certain other movie serials; the plot actually progresses.

We have a fun little set piece in which Captain Marvel goes after the goons who had Betty and ctches one by pulling down the lift by its cables with said goon still inside. He then takes said goon to meet the rest of the group of archaeologists and see if he can identify the Scorpion by his voice- he can't, but it's always fun to see so many red herrings acting suspiciously. I'll say it: I suspect Malcolm himself, on the grounds that he isn't behaving suspiciously at all.

So it's on to the final set piece, as Captain Marvel is lured into a molten rock trap, in which sock footage of running lava is mixed with some rather good effects. Five episodes in and I'm still enthralled.