Blur on Radio 2, A Year on Planet Earth and Celebrity MasterChef: TV highlights this week

Blur: Radio 2 in Concert (Saturday 29/07/23, BBC2, 9.25pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

Cast your mind back to the summer of 1995, when Blur were fighting it out with Oasis for the title of the biggest band in Britain. They famously released singles – Country House and Roll With It, respectively – on the same day, sparking a race for number one, which Blur won.

These days, Blur are unlikely to be found taking part in any gimmicky chart battles, but they have been reminding fans just how they became the stuff of headlines and fierce tribal allegiances.

Thirty-five years after they first formed, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree have got back together for a series of gigs that included two dates at Wembley. As well as airing their impressive back catalogue, which includes hits like Tender, Song 2, Beetlebum and Girls and Boys, they’ve also just released a new album, The Ballad of Darren. It’s their first since 2015’s The Magic Whip, which was itself something of a comeback after 2003’s Think Tank.

And now, BBC2 is dedicating an evening to them, the highlight of which is Blur: Radio 2 in Concert.

So, there’s definitely been a lot of excitement surrounding Blur’s comeback, but according to drummer Rowntree, it may be a case of absence making the heart grow fonder.

He says: “Touring is more exciting for a band like Blur now than it’s ever been. We seem to be getting more and more popular. The less we do the more popular we get. The idea of us playing Wembley Stadium 10 years ago would have been laughable.”

That’s perhaps selling them a little short – after all, while Blur may have been on hiatus, the individual members have been pretty busy, most notably Albarn, whose international success with Gorillaz has no doubt helped to raise his other band’s profile.

But there is something special about having Blur together, as Radio 2 in concert host Jo Whiley agrees.

She says: “I’ve always been a huge fan of Blur and the trailblazing music they’ve brought us over the years. I remember first interviewing them almost 30 years ago with Steve Lamacq on Radio 1’s Evening Session – it’s so good to have them back with new material.

“This intimate Radio 2 In Concert performance promises to be a real treat for all the fans. Please do join us for what promises to be a night to remember – WOO HOO!”

It finds the group performing a mix of classics and new tracks in front of a small audience of Radio 2 listeners at the BBC’s Radio Theatre in New Broadcasting House, London.

However, the evening begins at 8.25pm with Blur at the BBC, which features memorable moments from the Beeb’s archive. Then, after the Radio 2 concert, there’s another chance to see the band live with their emotional performance at Glastonbury in 2009. The evening ends with a Top of the Pops: Blur special.

It’s enough to remind even casual fans that there was more to the band than their rivalry with Oasis – although rumours have been circulating that the Gallagher brothers are also considering a reunion…

A Year on Planet Earth (Sunday 30/07/23, ITV1, 8pm)

Words by Scheenagh Harrington

The curtain goes up on the final episode of this breathtaking series, presented by Stephen Fry, ending with autumn, a season of change for many creatures. For some it provides opportunities, but it brings huge challenges for others.

In September in Northern Canada, temperatures reach -20C, yet there is one stretch of river that still flows and ‘ice bears’ can fish for the final salmon of the season. Those that can’t survive the cold weather, however, need to get on the move. Monarch butterflies emerge, and set off on a mammoth 2,500-mile migration to Mexico.

South of the Equator, autumn is the toughest time of the year in Southern Africa. The rains have been gone for many months and watering holes have all but dried up, leaving an elephant calf dangerously vulnerable to predators.

Meanwhile, at almost a year old, it’s time for a king penguin chick on Marion Island to answer the call of the ocean. She’s replaced her fluffy coat with tightly packed waterproof feathers but unfortunately for her, troubled waters lie ahead.

For Fry, presenting this series provided a timely lesson. “It’s a reinforcement of what we all know deep down: the interconnectedness of all the world’s life systems,” he says.

“The running of warm air into cool air, of cool water currents into warm water currents… from these movements, created entirely by the tilt of the Earth and its journey around the sun, following the basic laws of physics, how everything we think and know about life and living, and everything we are is as a result of that.”

He goes on: “Watching the vast migrations of animals who instinctively know that there is a band of rain coming down from the Equator, and that if only they band together to journey a thousand miles to the north, they and their new young might reach its benevolent drops.”

Like millions of us, Fry grew up watching ITV’s Survival documentary, alongside Sir David Attenborough’s prodigious BBC output, sparking a love of the natural world, and fronting this series allowed him to visit a place he’d previously never visited.

“I had never been to Iceland before, so there was something extra special about hiking up to Europe’s biggest glacier and standing there, trying to make sense of the fact that we are – even in such tranquil silent spots – always hurling round the sun at 250,000 mph.

“It’s wonderful to watch an individual flake settling onto the glacier to become part of a vast million-tonne blanket of snow, but then under the rays of a lifting sun, reverting to a drop of water that trickles down, following nothing but gravity, to join a rivulet, then a beck, then a rill, then a stream, then a river until finally it becomes part of a gigantic torrent.

“It’s hard not to get poetic, thinking of such simultaneously tiny and titanic moments in nature and our cosmos.”

As amazing as the insights offered by this series have been, it also nudges everyone to consider the threat of climate change. “The warm only has to be a bit warmer and its collision with the cool will create outcomes more extreme than we can bear to think about,” Fry says.

Wolf (Monday 31/07/23, BBC One, 9pm)

Words by Sarah Morgan

The death of Mo Hayder in 2021 robbed the crime world of one of its most unique – if grisly – talents.

She’d been battling motor neurone disease for around 18 months before it finally took her life; luckily for us she left behind a legacy of bestselling books that readers will still be diving into headfirst for many years to come.

The real Hayder, however, remains a rather enigmatic figure who could be described as hiding behind several personas.

A self-confessed wild child, she was born Clare Damaris Bastin and left school at 15. Under the name Candy Davis she had spells as a model and actress before emigrating to Tokyo. While working as a hostess in one of the city’s nightclubs she witnessed three sudden deaths shortly after a friend was murdered and another was raped.

It was these tragedies that perhaps led her to write her first novel, Birdman, which was published in 2000. She described it as a response to her “compulsive need to wriggle my toes in life’s gutters”; readers couldn’t get enough of its main protagonist, troubled Detective Inspector Jack Caffery.

Hayder wrote a dozen novels in total (two published posthumously under yet another name, Theo Clare), with seven of them featuring Caffery. Their popularity means it’s a surprise that it’s taken so long for one of them to be turned into a TV series – but it’s been well worth the wait.

Hartswood Films, the production company run by screenwriter Steven Moffat and his wife Sue Vertue, has a great track record – Sherlock, The Control Room and Dracula are just some of its successes – so it would seem that Caffery is in safe hands.

Ukweli Roach, recently seen in the BBC broadcast of Annika (the second run of which is heading to Alibi next month), takes the lead role in a six-part thriller written by Megan Gallagher and based on Wolf, the final novel in the Caffery series.

“I’m honoured to be taking on the role of Jack Caffrey,” claims Roach. “Megan Gallagher has brought Mo Hayder’s dark storylines into focus in a way that will be challenging, but also every actor’s dream.”

When we first meet the detective, he remains haunted by the idea that his brother, who was murdered in the 1990s at the age of 10, was the victim of a neighbour. He’s spent the intervening years trying to right wrongs committed by others, but at a huge personal cost.

Now his path is about to cross that of the wealthy Anchor-Ferrers family, who are trapped in their own nightmare – they have become the victims of a house invasion, and are pawns in a psychopath’s terrifying game.

Juliet Stevenson, Owen Teale, Sian Reese-Williams, Sacha Dhawan and Iwan Rheon are among the impressive supporting cast.

Had she been around to watch the programme, Hayder would surely have approved of such luminaries bringing her characters and plot to light. Here’s hoping it won’t be the last time we see them on the small screen – Hayder’s world may be a very dark one, but it’s never less than fascinating and there’s still a wealth of material to work with.

The Hundred (Tuesday 01/08/23, BBC Two, 2.45pm & 6pm)

Words by Richard Jones

Throughout this summer, sports fans has been gripped by the men’s and women’s Ashes series.

But the cricketing excitement isn’t over just yet, as third instalment of the ECB’s fast-paced competition The Hundred gets under way at Trent Bridge.

All eight city-based franchises, each featuring some of the best players in the game, are returning. And with the teams facing just 100 balls to set or chase a target, this year’s competition promises to be another humdinger.

Kicking things off today is a double header, as Trent Rockets and Southern Brave’s women’s and men’s teams go head to head.

On the women’s side, Natalie Sciver-Brunt (taking over as Rockets captain from Australian batter Elyse Villani), and her Brave counterpart and England teammate Anya Shrubsole, will want their sides to get off to a strong start, as they seek to overcome defending two-time champions Oval Invincibles and lift the trophy.

The match is repeat of last summer’s thrilling Eliminator, won narrowly by the Brave.

They advanced to the final despite a batting onslaught by Sciver-Brunt, who scored an unbeaten 72 from 36 balls, including three successive sixes in the concluding over. However, she couldn’t find the boundary needed off the last ball to seal the victory.

One person who is excited to get under way this season is Southern Brave all-rounder Freya Kemp.

She says: “The Hundred is like no other competition I’ve been a part of.

“It’s always great to be play under [coach] Charlotte Edwards, I learn a lot from her and my teammates so I’m looking forward to getting back out there.”

Later on, the Rockets, who defeating Manchester Originals in last year’s men’s final, begin the defence of their title.

Sam Cook produced a Match Hero performance on that occasion, taking four wickets for just 18 runs.

Coached by Andy Flower and captained by Lewis Gregory, the Rockets have a stellar squad with Cook joined by England trio Joe Root, Dawid Malan and Alex Hales in the batting department.

“To lift that trophy at Lord’s last year was a very special day and to get the opportunity to try and do that again is definitely exciting,” said Gregory, who also won the T20 Blast with Somerset last month.

“We have a really good group; we enjoy playing together and love the entire experience that the Hundred provides.”

Nevertheless, it won’t be easy for the Rockets to successfully defend their title, with each of the eight franchises looking stronger than last year.

Their opponents this evening, Mahela Jayawardene’s Brave, also have an array of talent, particularly in the bowling department.

Prolific captain James Vince will have Jafer Chohan and Matt Fisher, who have both been excellent for Yorkshire in the County Championship this season, to call upon, as well as England all-rounder Chris Jordan and 18-year-old spinner Rehan Ahmed.

The competition continues tomorrow with two more double headers, as Welsh Fire host Manchester Originals, and London Spirit take on Oval Invincibles (the men’s game is live on BBC Two at 6.15pm).

All 68 games of both the men’s and women’s Hundred will be shown live on Sky Sports, while the BBC has the rights to broadcast 16 games up until the final at Lord’s on Sunday 27 August.

After one of the most memorable cricketing summers in recent memory, strap yourself in for another three weeks of spectacular big hitting.

Celebrity MasterChef (Wednesday 02/08/23, BBC1, 9pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

No offence to ITV1’s Cooking with the Stars, which reached its semi-final stage this week, but Britain’s biggest culinary competition for famous faces is back for a new series.

That’s right, Celebrity MasterChef has returned and, as always, an eclectic line-up will be battling it out to impress judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll see (deep breath) Emmerdale’s Amy Walsh, rapper Apl.de.Ap, drag artist Cheryl Hole, TV presenter Dave Benson Phillips, Strictly Come Dancing professional Dianne Buswell, actor and singer Jamelia, musician Locksmith, reality star, Luca Bish, musician Max George, actor Michael Praed, radio broadcaster Remi Burgz, former glamour model Sam Fox, comedian Shazia Mirza, broadcaster Terry Christian and opera singer, broadcaster and insurance ad star Wynne Evans showing off their skills. (Or at least, that’s the idea.)

However, the first batch of celebs to take part in the competition include James Buckley, who is probably still best known as fantasist Jay from The Inbetweeners, and Dani Dyer, the daughter of ex-EastEnders actor Danny who became a celeb in her own right when she won Love Island.

They’re joined by comedian and actor Marcus Brigstocke, TV personality Mica Ven and Radio 2 regular Richie Anderson.

In the opening episode, they each will be faced with a cloche concealing a different ingredient. They will then be given one hour and full access to the MasterChef larder to create a dish that will showcase their ingredient – and prove to Wallace and Torode that they can think on their feet.

Next, they’ll serve up their dinner party dishes – a main course and a dessert they would make to impress a guest. Let’s hope it also wows Torode and Wallace, because at the end of this round, someone will be going home.

The four celebs who do make the grade will return in Thursday’s episode, where they will take on the Pairs Challenge. As the name suggest, this involves being split into two pairs, and it’s designed to test their teamwork and communication, as well as their culinary skills. The cooking couples will have to produce identical versions of the same crowd-pleasing dish, but only one of them will have the instructions, which they will need to share with their partner.

Having hopefully proved they can work as part of a team, it’s then on to a professional kitchen to deal with a busy lunchtime service, before they face the all-new Food Truck Challenge. Each celeb will have to come up with a dish they would serve at their own dream street-food market, and it’s their last chance to impress before someone else is told to hit the road.

So, just three celebs will then remain for Friday’s quarter-final, where the remaining contestants much cook a faultless two-course meal that will not only be judged by Torode and Wallace, but also Celebrity MasterChef Champions Angellica Bell (2017) and Lisa Snowdon (2022), and 2022 finalist Danny Jones.

The Supervet: Noel Fitzpatrick (Thursday 03/08/23, Channel 4, 9pm)

Words by Scheenagh Harrington

In 2014, we met ‘bionic vet’ Professor Noel Fitzpatrick for the first time, as cameras followed him and his team at Fitzpatrick Referrals, sharing the highs and lows of a working veterinary practice, as well as exploring the power of unconditional love between people and their animal family.

Speaking about the subject that is so close to his heart, Noel said: “We are fortunate that, on the whole, we are a nation of people who really do take moral responsibility for animals, in a way that is exemplary on the global stage.

“I want to rejoice in that, in the fact that we show our compassion through our respect for animals. Unconditional love, which is what an animal will share with you, transcends any bias that will come from your colour, race or creed.”

Over the course of 17 series, we have watched, often with our hearts in our mouths and hankies firmly clutched in our hands, as Noel and his team face complex veterinary challenges, regularly coming up with extraordinary and innovative technical solutions that are completely new to the veterinary sector.

Alongside the animals’ tales, the show also captures the humans’ emotions as the veterinary team try to offer hope to families whose furry, scaled and feathered friends are sometimes in desperate need.

His willingness to show his vulnerability on the small screen, as well as his profound expertise as a vet, has made Noel something of a national treasure.

In this third episode of season 18, one-and-a-half-year-old Maine Coon cat Lexie is a perfect example of what the Referrals clinic does so well.

She has been brought into the practice with a fractured hip joint, which Noel determines is caused by a genetic disease that has made the heads of both of her femur bones degenerate. After a very challenging process of weighing up the pros and cons of surgery, her family decides on a bilateral total hip replacement.

Meanwhile, bouncy one-year-old Border terrier Charlie is in pain and struggles to put weight on his hind leg. He broke a growth plate in the top of his tibia bone when he was a puppy and it self-healed but at the wrong angle, and a recent knock in the same area has ruptured his cruciate ligament.

However, the angle of the joint surface in Charlie’s knee is so steep that Noel proposes two different bone cuts to level it out. He will then secure the segments of bone with his own invention, the ‘FROG’ plate, which is custom-made using computer models of Charlie’s CT scan to fit his tibia bone exactly.

Finally, two-year-old dwarf rabbit Locky has broken his leg. Noel hopes to fix his fragile bones with a very small custom plate, but time is of the essence: the longer Locky is away from his rabbit family at home, the greater the risk that they could reject him.

Cue an urgent call from Noel to his manufacturing and engineering team at Fitzbionics fast-tracks the design and manufacturing process for this delicate procedure on a minuscule scale.

Can Supervet come to the rescue once again?

Riches (Friday 04/08/23, ITV1, 9pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

When she created the drama series Riches, which comes to an end tonight, writer Abby Ajayi admits she drew on her abiding love of glossy soaps like Dallas and Dynasty – as she puts in ‘rich, unhappy people make for great television.’

Some viewers have also drawn comparisons to Succession as they have watched the Richards family fight it out for control of Flair & Beauty, the Black beauty empire built up by patriarch Stephen. (Although it seems he rather brushed over his first wife’s role in creating the business.)

However, Deborah Ayorinde, who plays eldest daughter Nina, hasn’t had to look to other TV shows when it comes to portraying her character – she’s been influenced by someone much closer to home.

Deborah says: “My main inspiration for Nina was myself. To be honest, I feel like this is the first role that I’ve played that I’ve been able to infuse so much of myself and my story.

“With Nina, one thing that I appreciate about her is that I get her. I’ve had some experiences like she’s had. And so I was able to pull from a very real place.”

In fact, that’s a big part of what drew her to the project. She says: “When I first met Abby I read the script and then I met her via Zoom and I said, ‘Have you been reading my diary?’ because literally this is a lot of elements here are my story, my actual story.”

She adds: “It’s just beautiful to see someone who gets it. I’m also very protective over how Black women are portrayed on screen. In reading the script it just felt like it came from another Black woman and also another Black woman who gets it. That was the biggest thing that drew me to playing Nina.”

Even if you don’t see yourself in Nina, Deborah believes that many people can relate to Riches.

She says: “I think the theme of family is definitely prominent in this but it shows that everybody, every family has their stuff, no matter whether you’re rich or poor. We’re all human. We have family drama, we have people don’t get along with, all the messiness.

“When I first read the script, I was like ‘oh my gosh I can relate to a lot of it.’”

There should be more messiness in this concluding episode as Alesha, Gus and Wanda finally manage to get Stephen’s safe open, but are they prepared for what it contains? What we do know is that the discovery sends Claudia rushing back home.

Meanwhile, Simon and Nina confront Oyin about her revelation in Zurich. Now she knows the identity of the thief, Nina is determined to bring them down, but she also needs to review her father’s will.

With all this going on, it’s no wonder Maureen wants to find solace away from Flair & Glory, but is the fight over the business just getting started? Anyone who is pinning their hopes on a second series will definitely hope so…