Brian Donaldson

Pick of 2006 - Hot 100

Pick of 2006

12 Dec 2006

I can admit it now: I was a fool to set up the Hot 100. When you think of the broad spectrum of cultural activities that we cover in The List, from film and music through to eating out, shopping and occasionally sport, it’s clear that the number of…

Superstars

3 Jul 2008

SPORT Five, Fri 11 Jul, 8pm Sporting life was very different in the 1970s. Kevin Keegan had bubblier hair, the only athletes who used artificial enhancement to boost their performance seemed to be born female in East Germany and it was still possible…

Frankie Boyle

9 Aug 2007

In some ways it would be difficult to imagine an encounter between Frankie Boyle and Jimmy Carr, what with them being, arguably, the two finest gag tellers in contemporary British stand-up comedy. How, you wonder, can they have a chat when they must be…

Tom Waits - album review

Tom Waits

27 Nov 2006

UNCLASSIFIABLE When the BBC were planning their resurrection of Jackanory, Tom Waits may well have been on the longlist of proposed readers. But maybe they got wind of his disturbing night-time terror ‘Children’s Story’ and revoked the invite. Like…

Punch Lines

1 Aug 2007

Jim Jeffries isn’t the only comic on the receiving end of trouble from their audience. Brian Donaldson compiles some tales of terror. At a late-night Spank! show, Andrew Lawrence (pictured) foolishly challenged a heckler to a duel. As Lawrence unpopped…

Kid loves - Children's books round-up

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

Harry Potter may have played his last game of Quidditch and Lemony Snicket’s series of events have unfortunately ceased to be, but there are still plenty of iconic figures hanging around in children’s literature. Brian Donaldson finds ten of them…

Lovespring International

Sky One, Sun 12 Aug, 10.30pm

9 Aug 2007

COMEDY Ricky Gervais can be criticised for many things, such as his mad cackle and the popularity of Karl Pilkington. And here’s a third thing. Lovespring International would most likely never have been made had the US not fallen in love with The…

Peter Powers

Profile

2 Jul 2007

Name Peter Powers Who’s he then? Dubbed as a ‘hipnotist’ and the ‘Ali G of stage hypnotism’, he has the ability (or, I suppose, power) to have a man standing about in women’s underwear or find a cure for the most acute of phobias. His TV work…

Remote Control

3 Jul 2008

When it comes to making new TV dramas, being brave and original can either make or break the show. Sometimes just playing it straight off the bat and keeping things safe can help your programme reap the rewards. Two hot and hyped BBC affairs go for the…

Remote Control

5 Jun 2008

Andrea Riseborough must have a thing about playing scary people. While she wafted in to view as a spectral ghost in the BBC3 pilot of Being Human (a one-off that was the subject of such a frenzied online petition that the show was eventually…

Kristen Schall

Whispering genius cobbles together a hit

9 Aug 2007

The Assembly Rooms appears to have been putting up a determined campaign the last few years to platform a string of quirky female American comics with offbeat dispositions all of their own. Wendy Spero and Maria Bamford made inroads with varying success…

Omid Djalili

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

There are several downsides to modern fame. Being hassled in the street by ordinary people and getting hunted down by paparazzi when hanging out the washing are just two celebrity negatives. Having chirpy researchers from celebrity TV shows ringing up…

Jimmy Carr

24 Apr 2008

STAND-UP Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Thu 24 Apr Some people out there have looked upon his stand-up and TV work and judged Jimmy Carr to be a smug, self-satisfied posh guy who would undoubtedly be prepared to eat himself were he comprised of the…

Remote Control

14 Feb 2008

The internet is a wonderful, wonderful place. Where else can you tap a few buttons and see men lip-synching to Romanian hit songs or witness dogs interfering with cats or watch a yardful of hardnut prisoners do the ‘Thriller’ dance or gasp in amazement…

Remote Control

17 Jan 2008

So, having kicked off the year in fine style with the inventive and cheeky Moving Wallpaper, it looked like things were on the up for all those on the good ship ITV. Well, hold your horses because normal service has been thoroughly resumed with the…

Comedy DVDs

13 Dec 2007

DVD Marcus Brigstocke: Planet Corduroy The Show The erudite satirist rails against the injustices of the world in London’s Shaw Theatre, analysing how tough it must be to live life as a corduroy-loving middle-class white chap. The Extras A stirring…

Kids' events

23 Aug 2007

The last few days of the kids programme takes a walk on the dark side with scary-sounding events such as Night of the Living Horror (25 Aug, 6pm) which opens up a world of gothic terror for those aged ten plus, though Justin Somper and his Vampirates…

Stewart Lee

Confrontational comic getting grief from his mum

9 Aug 2007

It’s almost impossible to imagine that once upon a time Stewart Lee was in a creative and critical bunker. But after doing the Fringe for two decades he can look back on those days with wistful fondness, even remarking during this set that he half…

Feature - Ashley Jensen

Funny lady

12 Mar 2007

Who would have thought that Ashley Jensen, the mild-mannered, meek Maggie from Extras, would have a guilty secret from her dark past as a student in Edinburgh? ‘I got banned from a pub on the Grassmarket,’ she admits with a barely hidden mix of remorse…

Remote Control

8 May 2008

It’s difficult not to come round to the conclusion that the BBC is utterly obsessed with teenage pregnancy. In recent times, we’ve had Baby Borrowers, Britain’s Youngest Grannies and Adolescent Brunette Mothers on Crack with Guns. OK, maybe one of those…

Lucie Whitehouse - The House at Midnight

4 Jan 2008

MYSTERY DRAMA (Bloomsbury) Employing a strategy inherently demanding that there’s no good reason to use one paragraph to describe paintings about Greek gods when an entire page-and-a-half will do, Lucie Whitehouse’s debut ultimately borders on the…

Remote Control

4 Jan 2008

Brian Donaldson finds that amid the many new Beeb dramas, the best ones have a gaggle of ball-busting females After all the rough and ready excitement of the festive Doctor Who and Extras specials, what ticklish delights would the BBC lay before us…

Christmas turkeys

13 Dec 2007

Jamie at Home Christmas Special He may be trying to save us from rearing a nation of porkers, but that doesn’t mean he deserves to keep plaguing our screens. Out Oliver! Channel 4, Fri 21 Dec, 9pm. Parkinson It’s the final show ever! What took him…

Profile - Matt Berry

15 Nov 2007

Who’s he then? You may recognise Matt Berry from his role as aristo explorer type Dixon Bainbridge in The Mighty Boosh or for his parts in Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace and the recent second series of The IT Crowd. No, there’s somewhere else . . . Then…

In England - interview with Don McCullin

1 Nov 2007

Don McCullin might seem like some kind of anachronistic beast among the top photographers today. Not for him the simpering vanities of celebrityhood; he has always been far more interested in the real problems that face ordinary people on a daily basis.

After Thomas

STV, Tue 26 Dec, 9pm

11 Dec 2006

FAMILY DRAMA It may well be the season to be jolly, but that has never stopped the humbug-riddled TV schedulers from dumping misery, fear and despair upon us from a great height. So, in fine Christmas (and ITV all year round) tradition, After Thomas…

Andrew Lawrence

8 Aug 2006

It’s not easy spending an hour in the company of a stick-thin psychotic with the voice of a Joe Pasquale on two packs of Marlboro (the red kind) a day and the kind of glare Charlie Manson took years to cultivate. Even less so when the comic in question…

Shrink Rap

24 Apr 2008

TALK SHOW More4, Mon 28 Apr, 10pm Alongside Billie Piper’s transformation from pop pixie and booze-sodden celebrity missus to respected TV actress, the most unexpected showbusiness career shift of our times has to have been Pamela Stephenson’s…

Anthony Reynolds - British Ballads

4 Jan 2008

ROCK (Spinney) Being big in France with his former band Jack may have kept him warm at nights, but it seems that Anthony Reynolds could now care less about having anything remotely like a hit. Creating records that smell of ‘abandoned cathedrals…

Moving Wallpaper/Echo Beach

4 Jan 2008

COMEDY/SOAP ITV1, Thu 10 Jan, 9pm OK, I’m confused now. Having checked and then double checked the TV schedules, it appears to be true; Moving Wallpaper and Echo Beach are on ITV1. Yes, ITV1. They’re the people who last year washed us away on a sea…

Preview 2008 - Books

4 Jan 2008

So, surely this year will mark a big new beginning when proper literature, you know, actual novels, replaces the ridiculously self-serving and endless charade that is the celebrity autobiography? Nah, not really. 2008 will witness little in the way of a…

What's Up, Tiger Lily?

4 Jan 2008

COMEDY (PG) 76min (Optimum retail) Despite insisting in the intro to his 1966 directorial debut (of sorts) that Gone With the Wind used the same strategy, this was the first film to remove the dialogue of one movie and dub a completely new stream of…

Hot 100 - 2007's hottest talent

13 Dec 2007

Scottish culture has shone in 2007, and so have Scottish stars. Throughout the year we have been working tirelessly to spot the hottest talent out there. We also invited you to nominate the people, places and events you think have made the greatest…

Alistair Findlay (ED) - 100 Favourite Scottish Football Poems

29 Nov 2007

POETRY 100 Favourite Scottish Football Poems (Luath) When it comes to transferring the beautiful game into the arts sphere, all we can see is a litany of own goals. Can you remember a half-decent football film? No, Escape to Victory doesn’t count…

Also Published - 5 US Crime Dramas

29 Nov 2007

Otto Penzler (ed) Dead Man’s Hand A collection of newly written poker-based tales from crime writers such as Jeffrey Deaver, Michael Connelly and Walter Mosley. Quercus. James Lee Burke The Tin Roof Blowdown A cache of stolen diamonds has floated…

Forgiven

Channel 4, Thu 16 Aug, 10.30pm

9 Aug 2007

FAMILY DRAMA Following in the footsteps of paedophilia drama Secret Life, this is another related single work which will make you feel pain long after the closing credits have gone. Based on a real case, Forgiven stars Derek Riddell (The Book Group…

Different strokes

1 Aug 2007

Having written one of the UK’s finest ever sitcoms, Sean Lock is back pounding the beat on the stand-up stage. Brian Donaldson talks to the man who has finally left bitterness behind

Ricky Gervais Show, The

The Ricky Gervais Show

27 Nov 2006

CD The massive success of Ricky Gervais has occasionally been a bemusing thing. For every single episode of sheer genius that was The Office, there remains the dank memory of his ‘stand-up’ ‘career’. As excellent as the majority of Extras has been…

Death of a President

More4, Mon 9 Oct, 9pm; Channel 4, Thu 19 Oct, 9pm

2 Oct 2006

DRAMA DOCUMENTARY Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea. Possibly being added to the candidates listed as America’s public enemy number one is the United Kingdom, when this goes out on air. The international incident sparked by ITV’s 1980s Saudi drama…

Profile - Mark Olver

17 Jul 2008

Who’s this fella, then? Having first taken to the mic in 1998, Mark Olver is among that triptych of fine young comics from the west country, which also includes Russell Howard and Wil Hodgson. His style is more conversational than Hodgson’s and less…

Profile - John Gordillo

3 Jul 2008

Name: John Gordillo Who’s this fella, then? You may have seen the name ‘John Gordillo’ somewhere in your house, but perhaps you just can’t quite place it. No, it’s not the name of a brand new kitchen product (the ‘Gordillo grill’ does have a certain…

5 Things you might not know about - Francesca Martinez

19 Jun 2008

Martinez first came to the public’s attention as Rachel Burns in Grange Hill and claimed that at her real school she had to use humour to make people accept that even though she had cerebral palsy, she was just a regular kid. She got into comedy when…

Fallout

19 Jun 2008

DRAMA Channel 4, Thu 3 Jul, 9pm The issue of young people and crime is such a hot topic that it was only a matter of time before documentary-makers got in gear and happy slapped Channel 4 commissioners into submission with a series to mark the sorry…

Remote Control

19 Jun 2008

In an age where some people believe that the Royal Family have a secret assassination wing, it’s perhaps not a good idea to have an indiscriminate dig at those guys. So, here goes: does the estate of Princess Margaret have some incriminating photos of…

Michael Bond - Paddington Here and Now

22 May 2008

KIDS COLLECTION (HarperCollins) When a book series returns from a long absence to mark its main character’s anniversary, it can often feel too much like a rushed job created purely to ensure that the keynote guest isn’t late for their own party.

Remote Control

22 May 2008

Flicking through the TV schedules can often give the impression that we are living life like the eponymous character in big kids sci-fi series Kyle XY (BBC2, Sat 24 May, noon •••) Not only can we not quite understand what is in front of us, we probably…

5 Things you might not know about - Nick Doody

24 Apr 2008

Nick Doody’s debut Fringe show in 2006, Before He Kills Again, kicked off with a disturbing song about clowns. So disturbing that the imagery cannot be repeated in a family publication. He shares a house with fellow stand-up Matt Kirshen. Noam Chomsky…

Poppy Shakespeare

27 Mar 2008

DRAMA Channel 4, Mon 31 Mar, 9pm The point where the axis swings between madness and sanity, the fiscal-led emphasis of modern health politics and the desire to find our place in the world are at the heart of this excellent drama based on the debut…

Susan Faludi - The Terror Dream

13 Mar 2008

MODERN HISTORY (Atlantic) Susan Faludi has gained a fearsome reputation for her analysis of gender politics, the state of America and political horseplay. And after making her name with Backlash and Stiffed, she has now chucked all three into one…

Barry & Stuart

28 Feb 2008

Some magicians spend their lives trying to convince us that they can walk on water. Metaphorically speaking. With London-based, Aberdeenshire-raised double act Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod, there’s one thing you should know: they actually can walk on…

Remote Control

28 Feb 2008

What could the worlds of American contemporary mobsters and 1960s ad men possibly have in common? Actually, more than you’d imagine after you’ve seen a couple of episodes of Mad Men (BBC4, Sun 2 Mar, 10pm •••). Creator Matthew Weiner earned his stripes…

Also Published - 5 Paperback debut novels

14 Feb 2008

Priya Basil - Ishq and Mushq A generational novel about a Sikh mother whose secret past corrodes her life with tragic consequences for all. Black Swan . Catherine Hanrahan - Lost Girls and Love Hotels By day Margaret is training to be an air…

Tim Minchin

31 Jan 2008

Considering the few acts who are able to pull it off without being greeted by a sea of groaning, musical comedy must surely be one of the most difficult cross-pollinations in the arts. There’s Bill Bailey, Flight of the Conchords and, erm, well that’s…

Henry Rollins

31 Jan 2008

1 An introspective skinny lad at school who feared he would be humiliated on the sports field, Henry Lawrence Garfield tore into literature with relish. Charles Dickens, John Steinbeck and Dylan Thomas were among his early influences. Maybe…

Kenny - DVD review

Spoof documentary

31 Jan 2008

When a film comes billed as ‘one of Australia’s best ever comedies’, it’s difficult to know whether to be excited or petrified. From a nation who has given us the rank hospital sitcom Let the Blood Run Free and the gruesomely overrated Kath and Kim…

Wonderland

17 Jan 2008

DOCUMENTARY SEASON BBC2, Wed, 9.50pm Being on the margins can be horribly uncomfortable, a conscious choice or a place to inhabit in blissful ignorance. All three scenarios crop up in this intriguing new BBC2 season. The Secret Life of Norman…

Extras

13 Dec 2007

For all his faults (and his stand-up and radio work make them plentiful), Ricky Gervais at least knows when a TV comedy should bow out. Having clocked off at The Office with 12 episodes and a Christmas special, he has opted for the same strategy with…

David Starkey’s Monarchy: The Windsors

13 Dec 2007

With a ‘measured voice of the historian’ and the occasional surreal hand gesture, Dr David Starkey gives us a potted dissection of 130 years of the British regal profession. Scantily digging over the landmarks, quarrels and scandals of UK monarchy from…

Remote Control: Documentary Reviews

13 Dec 2007

Brian Donaldson uncovers some fine documentaries about daredevils, dancers and daggers There’s a special poignancy about Richard Hammond Meets Evel Knievel (BBC2, Sun 23 Dec, 9pm) now that we know the subject of the show has since died. The Top Gear…

Remote Control

29 Nov 2007

They say that getting hitched is one of the most stressful events in anyone’s life. But what if you are sharing your big day with a woman you barely love while another 2000 weddings are going on in the same city? Probably happens in most major…

Remote Control

15 Nov 2007

It’s probably not Jack Dee’s fault that comparisons with Curb Your Enthusiasm have been made to his Lead Balloon (BBC2, Thu 15 Nov, 9.30pm ••). Sure, Curb’s ‘Larry David’ and Lead’s Rick Spleen work in similar areas of the entertainment industry and…

Torche

15 Nov 2007

ROCK In Return (Rock Action) More terrifying than Cradle of Filth coming to your house to do trick or treat and heavier than a sack of Ozzy’s spuds, Torche at least have the common decency not to take up much of anyone’s time, clocking this…

Bill Bailey

1 Nov 2007

STAND-UP SECC, Glasgow, Wed 7–Fri 9 Nov It seems clear that Bill Bailey has never minded looking somewhat foolish in the pursuit of his chosen career path. Back in the early days when he was a mere West Country boy trying to earn a modest showbusiness…

Hidden Palms

4 Oct 2007

Hidden Palms certainly starts with a bang with a gruesome fatality kicking proceedings off. But Kevin Williamson’s latest bash at teen drama after previous scripted glories such as Scream and Dawson’s Creek eventually fades to black with a whimper.

TV Round-up

4 Oct 2007

The state of TV comedy has been a subject of much negativity among critics, audiences and telly executives for a long, long time. Where’s the great sitcom? What happened to the solid tradition of sketch shows? Will we ever see a programme which treats…

Amsterdam Underground Comedy Collective

23 Aug 2007

If this is Dutch humour at its finest, I’m off to Germany for my laughs. The AUCC may have a cult following back home but there’s little reason to believe that their comedy travels at all well in this lame, tame hour. The supposed heavyweight talents of…

Ewan Morrison

23 Aug 2007

For any writer who spends most of their time away all on their own in a darkened corner, it’s essential to have a release and to get some thoughts on their work from people they know and trust. For an author such as Ewan Morrison, dubbed notoriously as…

Marc Maron & Kirk Fox

23 Aug 2007

Edinburgh debuts from experienced comics should always be a dead cert surefire hit. But often those coming from other comedic backgrounds can be left floundering in front of a Fringe audience, unsure of their material and how to unfurl it before a new…

House of Windsor

Regal sketches with crowning glories to come

9 Aug 2007

With last year’s debut as the Future, Jonny Sweet and Joe Thomas received some rave reviews and an awards nomination before ending the summer being ensnared by one of the country’s powerhouse comedy PR companies. This year that soaring promise will…

Records - Clinic

3 Jul 2007

ROCK Apparently, Clinic’s motto is ‘ignoring the tenets and trends of the music industry’. Admirable sentiments, but not really enough when your brand of stomping voodoo surf punk sounds as old as the hills, and feels just as mucky. This b-side…

Gavin and Stacey

8 May 2007

SITCOM With ITV and Channel 4 still flailing around from one comedy outrage to another and dishing out sitcom calamity after sitcom calamity, it’s BBC3 who can proudly wear the telly crown when it comes to making this digital nation laugh. And main…

5 Things

5 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT . . .

27 Feb 2007

1 Back in her native Oz, a young Kendall first worked her comedy routine for fellow students at Sydney University while majoring in modern history. She fought for a while against stage fright insisting that stand-up was ‘a good way to get into vomiting.’

Derren Brown - Tricks of the Mind

Derren Brown

7 Dec 2006

BIOGRAPHY/MANUAL What’s the first rule among magicians? Surely it’s the one about never ever divulging the secrets of your chosen profession. So, what on earth is Derren Brown doing here telling the humble general public how to develop useful…

Comedy books for Christmas

Brian Donaldson nominates some top titles

23 Nov 2006

Norma Farnes Box 18: The Unpublished Spike Milligan (HarperCollins) Named after the file into which the Goon would stick his ideas, this loving biog comes from his long-suffering agent.

Young@Yeart

More4, Mon 6 Nov, 9pm

27 Oct 2006

MUSIC DOCUMENTARY It’s easy to poke fun at or get annoyed with the old, what with their doddery, drooling, deaf ways and their less than exemplary table manners. So, it will come as a major shock to the most hard-hearted anti-senior that this…

Autumn highlights

1 Sep 2006

STAND-UP/SKETCH SHOWS Come early September and a realisation dawns on the comedy world. Yes indeed, there is life beyond the Edinburgh Fringe. Of course, those who help to schedule our comedy viewing pleasures all-year round have had their future…

Richard Mason

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

In some forms of entertainment fame can often come extraordinarily early (music and film perhaps), but with mechanisms in place to help the ‘victims’ deal with the onset of celebrity. In the literary world, support systems are less common, especially…

5 Things you might not know about - AL Kennedy

22 May 2008

The A stands for Alison, the L for Louise. She chose to go with the initials as she was keen on a certain degree of anonymity when starting out as a writer and her favourite authors as a kid were JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis and EE Nesbitt. She doesn’t come…

Neil Astley & Pamela Robertson-Pearce - In Person: 30 Poets

22 May 2008

POETRY DVD/BOOK (Bloodaxe) Tucked inside the book of the same name comes a smart pair of DVDs which platform the depth and range which poetry publisher Bloodaxe have been offering us for three decades. In Person is a celebration of the intimacy that…

13 Kids and Wanting More

22 May 2008

DOCUMENTARY Channel 4, Thu 22 May, 9pm When is enough really quite enough? The subjects of this film clearly don’t believe in the concept, as they churn out child after baby after offspring, some for reasons of faith, others simply because they love…

Midnight Man

8 May 2008

CRIME DRAMA STV, Thu 8 May, 9pm Were James Nesbitt to be handed a script featuring the worst excesses of humanity, it would be difficult not to imagine him desperately looking for the jokes. Asides from his role as Ivan Cooper, the real-life civil…

Remote Control

24 Apr 2008

It’s the end of the world as we know it and not even Hamish Macbeth or Hercule Poirot can save us. Or rather, Robert Carlyle doing a dodgy cockney accent as a hotshot engineer or David Suchet coming over all governmental as the beleaguered deputy PM in…

Joe Humphreys - Foul Play

10 Apr 2008

SPORT HISTORY (Icon Books) With the protests surrounding the Beijing Olympics going into overdrive, disgraced sprinter Dwain Chambers seeking a new career in rugby league and the integrity of referees, umpires and line judges being called into…

5 Things you might not know about - I'm Sorry I Haven't Got A Clue

27 Mar 2008

1 Humphrey Lyttelton had a top 20 hit in the 1950s with ‘Bad Penny Blues’ and played on Radiohead’s ‘Life in a Glasshouse’. The Humph appeared on Desert Island Discs in 2006. 2 Tim Brooke-Taylor’s grandfather was a parson who played centre-forward…

Gordon Burn - Born Yesterday

27 Mar 2008

NOVELISED HISTORY (Faber) Having dabbled in the world of real life Manchester United legends in Best and Edwards and fictionalised the stories of semi-real boxers and comedians for The North England Home Service, Gordon Burn’s latest, the ‘News as a…

Remote Control - TV round-up

13 Mar 2008

It’s Easter time, so there seems no reason on this ungodly earth why we shouldn’t crack open the chocolate eggs and indulge in a bit of The Passion (BBC1, Sun 16 Mar Feb, 8pm ). Anyone who remembers Robert Powell being strapped to the cross back in the…

TV: Iraq Season

13 Mar 2008

BBC/Channel 4 With the fifth anniversary of the West’s illegal invasion and errant desecration of Iraq upon us, the networks have seen no reason to halt the stream of related documentaries and dramas which have been filling the schedules on the…

Glasgow Comedy Festival - Fat Tongue

28 Feb 2008

Never mind creating characters, pulling off original set-ups and delivering a fine punchline, the toughest thing about being in a sketch show group must be finding a decent name. You can easily picture individuals sitting for hours in a smoke-filled…

White Season

28 Feb 2008

DRAMA/DOCUMENTARY SEASON BBC2, starts Fri 7 Mar No doubt there will be chins being stroked and hands being wrung over whether the BBC is correct to be giving a voice to some of the unchallenged casual xenophobia and downright blatant racism that is…

5 Things you might not know about - Frank Sidebottom

28 Feb 2008

1 The man behind the big-headed Manc is one Chris Sievey. Frank was initially created to be a fan of Sievey’s group The Freshies, but he became so popular that Sievey soon focused his artistic energies on Sidebottom. 2 Among those who played with…

Battle for Haditha

28 Feb 2008

WAR DRAMA (15) 96min Scottish documentary-maker Kevin Macdonald found when tackling Middle Eastern politics, as he did so memorably with One Day in September, that no matter how even-handed your approach, there’s little chance of pleasing any of the…

Surrounded - The Nautilus Years

28 Feb 2008

POP (One Little Indian) Surrounded, we are told, are ‘Sweden’s answer to The Flaming Lips.’ It’s a distinct possible that never a truer statement has been typed onto a music press release and while this is fine up to a point, that point arrives rather…

Jo Caulfield

14 Feb 2008

STAND-UP The Stand, Glasgow, Thu 14–Sat 16 Feb Jo Caulfield knows that it’s good to let off some steam now and again. On her website, she allows her fans to rant on her Angry and Annoyed page. Among the more recent complaints was the woman who gets…

Remote Control

31 Jan 2008

Old spooky drawers is back. Whether you think that Derren Brown’s psychological illusionism is at best a cod sub-genre of the black arts and at worst a wholly pointless exercise which merely proves just how much of a show-off he is, I’d find it…

Matt Kirshen

4 Jan 2008

STAND-UP Jongleurs, Glasgow, Fri 4 & Sat 5 Jan Reality TV has created many a pointless monster but it’s also attracted the already talented to show us what they’re made of. If you say ‘British comedian’ to the average American (whatever that may…

Baggage

29 Nov 2007

RADIO Radio 4, Wed 5 Dec, 11.30am With the Grumpy Old Women back doing their grumpy old thing on the nation’s stages, it’s good to hear of another female comic trio who aren’t just wielding rolling pins and frying pans while moaning about the…

Boy A

15 Nov 2007

DRAMA Channel 4, Mon 26 Nov, 9pm As Channel 4 looks forward after glancing back at its first quarter of a century, there’s one area of programming where it seems to be especially strong: the one-off trauma drama. In recent times we’ve had Matthew…

Adapt or die - from page to screen

1 Nov 2007

THE BEST The Godfather Mario Puzo had three novels under his belt before he penned the tale of Don Vito Corleone and his Family/family in 1969 which was immortalised in movie form by Francis Ford Coppola three years later. One bit of advice: if an…

The Not Dead

1 Nov 2007

DOCUMENTARY Channel 4, Mon 12 Nov, 9pm There’s always a danger that with the constant barrage of rolling news coverage, dramas and documentaries that we may become immune to the horrors of the world, particularly the terror of warfare. But while…

Hitlist - The best comedy

18 Oct 2007

• Jim Tavare When can a bald guy with a double bass ever be funny? When he’s Jim Tavare, that’s when. The Stand, Edinburgh, Tue 23 Oct; the Stand, Glasgow, Wed 24 Oct. • Brendon Burns This year’s if.comeddie victor laps it up with a sort-of, though…