IT was a strange compliment, but then its target was not your average kind of guy. “Can I just say, you played an old Liverpool hooker bloody well,” said a homeless man to the host of Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs (STV, Wednesday, 8pm). O’Grady, the artist formerly known as Lily Savage, could only have been more delighted if you had given him a puppy to take home.
O’Grady sneaking out the door of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home with a waggy-tailed something up his jumper is a running joke in the reality show, now in its seventh series.
This week temptation came in the form of Humphrey, a Bedlington terrier pup with a shocking case of ringworm. Humphrey had been living on the streets with a homeless person, but his condition had become so bad he had to be handed in for treatment and adoption.
Humphrey was the exception to the rule. As O’Grady found when he went out with the charity Street Vets, such dogs are generally much loved and looked after extremely well. “He’s the only living creature I trust,” said one proud “dad”.
Poor Humphrey was in isolation to treat his ringworm. The smell, even O’Grady had to acknowledge, was awful. “I remember when I worked for Camden and we found this old lady dead in bed. She smelled like this. Put it this way, I didn’t eat boil in the bag beef and gravy for a long, long time.” You don’t get anecdotes like that on Countryfile.
Back to reality with a bump in the night in The Interrogation of Tony Martin (Channel 4, Sunday, 9pm). You may remember the case from 1999 of the Norfolk farmhouse owner who shot two burglars after they broke into his home.
In Dave Nath’s enthralling film, described as “verbatim drama” with every word taken from police interviews, statements, and court proceedings, we saw Martin arrive in the interrogation room in no mood to talk. This was no Line of Duty, where an interview moved along slickly and logically, one question and answer following another. It was a messy, prolonged business, where the viewer had to be as patient as the police and wait for the story to become clear.
Steve Pemberton, better known as one half of the Inside No 9 duo, was superb as Martin, proving once again that if you need a seriously good dramatic turn, ask a comedian. The real coup de theatre came when Nath returned to the now boarded up farmhouse with Martin himself. If you ever had a shred of sympathy for him it would not have lasted long after this encounter.
What are all the cool kids listening to these days? Five points if you said the kind of music covered in Country and Beyond with the Shires (BBC4, Friday, 11.25pm). I had not heard of the Shires, a male-female British duo, but I was familiar with the artists they introduced at the start of the programme, Patsy, Dolly, Kenny and all.
The format was cheap as barbecue chips, with Chrissie Rhodes and Ben Earle sitting on a sofa, watching videos and chatting. The gabbing was a problem, with both doing that irritating DJ thing of talking over a song. Forgivable if they were telling you something interesting, annoying as heck if they were not. I could have lived without knowing that Ben thought the Wichita lineman was so called because he painted lines in the road.
Give them their due, the “beyond” material was an eye-opener. A measure of this kind of show is how much you spend on iTunes after. In my case, a lot. But worth it, if only for discovering the song Barton Hollows by Civil Wars. Check it out, kids.
Michael McIntyre’s Big Show (BBC1, Saturday, 8.10pm) is back. Adopting an “if it ain’t broke, don’t faff about with it” approach, everything was the same: Send to All, Midnight Game Show, Unexpected Star.
Lined up to be the latter was 91-year-old David, who thought he was coming to London to buy a walking frame. The hidden camera watched as Lionel Blair walked in to the fake shop, pretending to be another customer. After a quick dance the old ham gave the game away by shouting, “Hello, David?” How could he know his name? David, no slouch, immediately twigged what was up. It could have been a minor calamity, but McIntyre played it expertly for laughs. Like the show as a whole, the item walked a thin line between horribly cringey and likeably daft, and just about stayed on the right side.
Before I go, a reminder that There She Goes, the BBC4 drama about a family with a disabled child, is on iPlayer if you missed it. As brutally honest as it is warm and poignant, it has been the best thing on TV this year. Apart from that auld Scouse hooker.
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