KATHRYN FLETT’S My TV Week: Yes, it’s violent, but I’m totally on board

BOAT STORY

Sunday-Monday, BBC1 

Rating:

First things first: Boat Story is very violent. The writers (brothers Harry and Jack Williams, also behind Baptiste and The Tourist) have clearly set out their stall by admitting, ‘There’s a lot on TV and we’d love it to stand out.’ 

If your idea of a fun Sunday evening’s viewing is a Strictly dance-off, this no-holds-barred, Tarantino-infused thriller may not be for you. 

I physically flinched at all the gore yet also found myself (eventually, unexpectedly) entirely on board Boat Story simply because the premise is so engaging.

So what would you do if, like down-on-their-luck strangers Janet (effortlessly endearing Daisy Haggard) and Samuel (perfectly cast Paterson Joseph) who meet on a beach one day, you were confronted by a washed-up boat containing two very dead bodies and illegal drugs worth millions?

Obviously, it’s not a moral dilemma most of us would struggle with – calling the police would work! 

Boat Story’s Janet, played by Daisy Haggard, and Samuel, played by Paterson Joseph, and the washed-up boat 

However, if you’re creating a contemporary, adrenaline-filled, Yorkshire-set thriller featuring relatable protagonists soon out of their depth, then stealing it is clearly a no-brainer.

There were so many spoiler alerts attached to my press preview for the six-part series that I daren’t reveal much plot. 

Suffice to say Janet and Samuel grapple with their sub-optimal personal lives while becoming messily entangled in the local criminal underworld while a psychopathic Frenchman, ‘The Tailor’ (hypnotically watchable Tchéky Karyo), is hot on their heels. 

A fabulous supporting cast includes the magnificent Joanna Scanlan as pasty-making mum Pat, whose intriguing love life swiftly becomes central to the action.

Yet while it has much to commend it, the high-octane drama is so pleased with the excessive violence (which adds nothing to the plot and detracts from the viewers’ ability to care about the characters’ journeys) that it’s inevitably Marmite viewing. 

For every chunk of fabulous dialogue between Janet and Samuel (some of the best bits of the show) there is plenty of irritating quirkiness too.

There’s also an occasional narrator (Olafur Darri Olafsson), whose rumbling bass is presumably deployed to help potential US audiences of this Amazon co-production overcome all those thick Yorkshire accents. 

Kathryn Flett physically flinched at all the gore yet also found herself entirely on board 

Then there’s plenty of black-and-white footage and subtitles (for The Tailor’s backstory), as well as lots of those pointless title cards, as seen in silent movies, making jarringly pretentious little jokes while they set the scene. 

At this point, Boat Story becomes less Tarantino and more Wes Anderson – and not in a good way.

While it’s all but impossible not to have a pretty strong opinion about this show, I think there’s a lot to be said for that. So whether or not you agree with me that Boat Story’s desire to stand out from the crowd nearly cancels out its considerable cleverness, I’d love to hear what you think.

Insightful but frustrating TV

THE GREAT CLIMATE FIGHT

Streaming on Channel 4 

Rating:

This two-part documentary harnessed the skills of Mary (Queen Of Shops) Portas, Kevin (Grand Designs) McCloud and Hugh (River Cottage) Fearnley-Whittingstall to look for achievable solutions to climate change.

My contribution largely involves Googling ‘retrofitting heat pumps affordably’ and wondering how long before nuclear fusion can provide us with clean energy (answer: a while!). However, I’m keen for politicians to be called to account for their (in)actions – the programme’s main aim.

Mary Portas, Kevin McCloud and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall look for achievable solutions to climate change in this two-part documentary 

Given the UK building industry’s depressing disengagement (we live in some of the worst-insulated houses in Europe and there’s no legal requirement for developers to start turbo-greening new-builds – far less expensive than you might imagine), one hoped Kevin’s pursuit of Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove might bear fruit. 

Cornered at a public event, he did seem genuinely engaged with the issues. However, the inevitable get-your-people-to-speak-to-my-people resulted in endless ‘diary clashes’.

Though churlish to hold Gove personally responsible, this did give us a sense of how other (level-headed, solutions-focused) activists like Kevin and co but without access to camera crews and primetime TV must feel. Insightful and frustrating viewing.

Dame Joan Collins opens up to Louis Theroux on Louis Theroux Interviews, BBC2

Nothing like this Dame!

I enjoy watching Louis Theroux deploy his clever, empathetic interview technique to get what he wants. 

Even though what Louis wanted from Dame Joan Collins (Louis Theroux Interviews, BBC2) was what men have always wanted from her – sex. Albeit, in Louis’s defence, just talking about it.

Joan, now 90, told how, as a naive 18-year-old, her response to being date-raped was to marry her rapist. When asked what she’d tell her younger self, Joan didn’t blink: ‘Don’t let the b*****ds get you down.’ What a woman!

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