What TV show did you last watch?

China's Road to Fortune or Peril
The grim life of two truckers trying to make a living by taking the dangerous route to Tibet. One is a veteran in a ton of debt, the other is his hapless very junior who ends up doing crazy things like trying to unfreeze a fuel filter with a blowtorch. Do they make it? Is it worth making? Some nice scenery, but not worth being a trucker in order to see it.

Imagine... the Academy of Armando
Alan Yentob helps push a new stage version of Dr Strangelove, so he can finally profile Armando Iannucci. Chris Langham briefly appears on screen from the early Thick Of It, but you'd be forgiven for thinking Peter Capaldi was star of that show. No mention of the Armistice years either, besides a short clip at the end. Other crapper projects get several minutes love.

The Bottom Line
Steve talks first to (deep breath) Arikana Chihimbori-Quao about her view that the end of USAID is a good thing, and then later to Vali Nasr about the US plans for the Middle East, rightly or wrongly.

Comic Relief: 40 Years of Funny
A rather depressing way to show how the show has changed (largely for the worse) since 1985. But at least it's still on, which seems to be more than can be said for Sport Relief.

HARDtalk: 1997-2007
As the show ends at the end of the month, Stephen Sackur intro'd a selection of clips from the first 10 years, including such luminaries as Nelson Mandela, Nina Simone, Robin Williams and, inevitably, Donald "yes, I do believe in getting even" Trump. Tim Sebastian did most of the work, and he seemed just as good as Sackur.

(20-03-2025 14:20 )Doddle Wrote:  Artist of the Year - Masterclass
27/40 One of the worst winners, Curtis Holder, is brought on to talk on Connecting With Your Sitter, a pretty thin premise I'd have thought. As Curtis' style was pretty much unique (and crap), it seems odd to suppose viewers could learn how to copy it.
28/40 My other worst winner, Brogan Bertie, gets to talk on Composing From Life, almost as thin a premise as the previous. Those who supposed that the first series covered pretty much every eventuality aren't getting much evidence to the contrary now.

AotY - M
29/40 Jude Wainwright is tasked with a really vague topic, Patterns, but is at least a charming communicator, and her patterns include lace frills and harlequin/chequerboard, so fair enough.
30/40 Halfway through this 2nd series, Charles Williams talks on Introduction to Watercolour. Despite only making the semi-finals in 2019, he now seems to have become President of the Royal Watercolour Society. He seemed to offer practical tips on paper types and worked between 2 paintings at once, probably to save time.

(08-03-2025 14:38 )Doddle Wrote:  Landscape Artist of the Year 2021
6.9 To Snowdonia (not called Eryri once) for the winning commission, with the winning lady obliged to take some rough hill treks to get views and ideas. The finished painting gets the thumbs up, though.

Landscape Artist of the Year 2022
7.1 To the Eden Project in Cornwall on a sunny day, to paint the Biomes. The shortlist is pretty good, even if the winner is probably the least interesting of the three.

Ex-S: Jack Vettriano - Heaven & Hell
Amusing 2000 profile which played up the hatred from Scottish art critics, and the salacious stuff of his that didn't enliven his recent obituaries. Against this, his fans ranged from Valerie Singleton to Richard O'Brien.

Dan Cruickshank & The Family That Built Gothic Britain
Three generations of the Gilbert-Scotts in fact. Old Man George did the Albert Memorial and St Pancras. His son Junior was less fortunate. But Junior's son, Giles, did Battersea Power Station, Waterloo Bridge, Liverpool Cathedral and the building that's now Tate Modern. So, pretty impressive.

Reacher Ep 3 "Number 2 with a Bullet" Season 3