An action packed weekend of shows to watch and review
What to watch at the weekend, August 27 and 28.
Victoria
SATURDAY
Go For It (ITV, 7pm) After last Saturday’s breathtakingly bad Spotless here’s another gormless game show you simply can afford to miss. Stephen Mulhern hosts while quirky characters showcase their weird and “wonderful” skills. For example… guessing people’s weight just by lifting them, naming 20 breads of goat by milking them and identifying 20 types of wood by smelling them. Thrilling. If the contestants pass the test they win £1000. Sadly, there are no cash prizes for watching this brainless drivel.
The X Factor (ITV, 8pm) Yes, it’s back. Series 467. A 90 minute opening salvo as the usual losers (shelf stackers, kidults with wonderful parents/dead relatives/lovely nans etc.) delude themselves that this all too familiar programme will turn them into global superstars. Back by popular demand – the audition room where reunited ancient judges Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh team up with Nicole Scherzinger to deliver their cliché packed verdicts on the wannabe singers. Along the way, of course, they humiliate the hopeless hopefuls who don’t realise they’re tone deaf. Always quick to denounce bullying, circus of cruelty ringmaster Cowell doesn’t seem to realise that laughing at talentless idiots on national TV is a horrible form of bullying. Anyway, what to do you make of the new series?
SUNDAY
The X Factor (ITV, 8pm) More of the same as Simon and the gang stand in judgement of the desperadoes who just want to be famous. Cowell is convinced that getting the old team back together will recapture the glory days when this show attracted huge audiences and was the talking point of the nation. But what do you think? Have we seen it all before? Or is this shaping up to be a promising series?
Victoria (ITV, 9pm) Start of a lavish drama about the extraordinary reign of Queen Victoria. The film length first episode starts in 1837 when – at just 18 years old – she became Britain’s sovereign monarch. Adapting to her role with remarkable skill, the young Victoria (Jenna Coleman) turned to the then Prime Minister Lord Melbourne (Rufus Sewell) for help. He became her friend and mentor. Dominating this historical epic, Coleman and Sewell’s scenes together are mesmerising. Just about the perfect Sunday night drama. Highly recommended.
Are You Being Served? (BBC1, 9pm) A affectionate revival of the comedy classic set in an 1980s department store. Jason Watkins plays the extremely camp Mr “I’m Free” Humphries, John Challis (Only Fools’ Boycie) is Captain Peacock and Sherrie Hewson hams it up as Mrs “My Pussy” Slocombe. If you liked the original, you’ll love this innuendo-packed tribute.
Porridge (BBC1, 9.30pm) Kevin Bishop stars as Norman Stanley Fletcher’s grandson Nigel who is sent to prison for thoroughly modern cyber-crimes. Incredibly difficult to mirror the powerhouse performance of 1970s sitcom’s original star Ronnie Barker. But Bishop, an underrated talent, is quite amazing as a chip off the old block.
The Most Shocking Celeb Moments Of The 00s (Channel 5, 9pm) Lady Gaga’s meat dress, Britney Spears’ meltdown, Katie Price and Peter Andre in the jungle of love, George Galloway’s feline cat-astrophe in the Celebrity Big Brother house… and so much more. Nearly three hours of the showbiz howlers that stunned the nation while expert pundits deliver their withering verdicts. Best pundit award to… Kevin O’Sullivan. What a guy!