TV review: Pick of the week

Published on Friday 27 March 2009 14:06

Cutting Edge: Would You Help A Stranger? Channel 4, Thursday, 9pm

Dispensing with the statistics, voiceovers and the judicial talking heads which mark most crime documentaries, this bold film allows a handful of victims to simply speak about their experiences of violent assault. But what's most alarming is not the ferocity of the ordeals described but the general apathy of the onlookers who witnessed these events.

Teenager Jasmine Kranat offers perhaps the most harrowing testimony. Assaulted by gang members on a busy bus, she was left with a fractured eye socket and a litany of contusions. Her fellow passengers, content merely to watch, offered nothing in the way of intervention. And while the bruises have healed, the psychic trauma lingers.

Other interviewees offer similarly stark recollections, but for all the dispiriting talk of bystander apathy one account offers a moving counter-narrative. Expressing eternal gratitude to the passing stranger who saved him from a near fatal assault, one survivor reminds us that it's our civic duty to intervene.

BEST IMPORT

The Wire

BBC2, Monday to Thursday, 11.20pm, & Friday, 11.35pm

Having acquired a critical reputation at odds with its minuscule digital viewing figures, HBO's much-vaunted masterpiece finally arrives on terrestrial. For the uninitiated it's a socially aware cop show set on the crumbling streets of Baltimore. And, as with its stablemates Deadwood and The Sopranos, the writing, acting and direction are exemplary.

What elevates it to TV's highest echelon, however, is its novelistic approach. The scope is Dickensian, with criminals and cops from every strata being given equal representation. And, boldly renouncing exposition, it makes no concessions for casual viewers. But, for those undeterred by its demands, it's easily the most rewarding viewing experience of recent years.

Also try: Spiral (BBC4, Monday, 10pm). Procedural thrills la Franais as BBC4 begins a welcome re-run of this brilliant Gallic crime drama.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

True Stories: Who Killed The Electric Car?

More4, Tuesday, 10pm

With Detroit's automakers now struggling to avoid obsolescence, this fascinating documentary should probably be submitted as evidence come the inevitable postmortem. The electric automobile of the title is the EV1, a battery-powered coup which General Motors developed in the 1990s and leased in their hundreds to a select cadre of environmentally minded bellwethers.

Sleek, stylish and capable of travelling lengthy distances between charges, this car could have been the most important mass-produced vehicle since the Model T. But, for reasons seemingly linked to big oil and corporate myopia, GM chose to recall the car; crushing the vehicles and shattering advocates' dreams of a truly green motoring revolution.

Also try: Dispatches: The Trouble With Boris (Monday, 8pm, Channel 4). As Boris Johnson approaches the end of his first year as London's Mayor, Dispatches assesses his reign and what it portends for the Tories.

BEST COMEDY

Reno 911!

E4, Thursday, 11.05pm

Given the enduring popularity of the US documentary series COPS it was only a matter of time before it inspired a comedic riposte. But beneath the surface zaniness there's a deep well of pathos and it's the characters' profound failings as human beings rather than their shortcomings as policemen which generate the show's most hysterical moments.

Also try: The Inbetweeners (E4, Thursday, 10pm). Rudge Park Comprehensive's geek contingent begin a new series of misadventures with a calamitous field trip to Swanage.

BEST DRAMA

All The Small Things

BBC1, Tuesday, 9pm

Sarah Lancashire and Neil Pearson headline as the husband and wife choirmasters of a committed but an underachieving choral troupe. But alas, their domestic idyll and professional harmony are swiftly shattered by the arrival of a mysterious soprano.

Also try: The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (BBC1, Today, 9pm). Mma Ramotswe uncovers some unsettling truths about a client's missing son.