TV REVIEW Welcome to DI Ray's Wild West world
The crime drama, D.I. Ray (ITV, Sun), has got something of the Wild West about it. You can take that any way you like. Parminder Nagra’s highly strung detective inspector has returned for a new series during which I expect she will finally say, “Get the wagons in a circle!”
Just like the first series it feels like the constabulary in the fictional Midlands – now Badlands -- are under siege. Why? A gangland boss, with the unlikely name of Frank Chapman (more like a local butcher), has been killed in a turf war. Job done from where I'm sitting.
But Ian Puleston-Davies’ gruff police boss was a picture of stress. Was he interrupted during a trip to the golf course? He barked at DI Ray, “You need to think like us.” Think? That’s putting it highly.
With shades of High Noon, all the best guns -- within a day's ride -- had gathered in the town at the local pub for Frank's wake. Obviously strong liquor was taken, there was much chest-beating before they sent someone around to the rival gang’s lair which appeared to be an illegal but genteel sewing circle in someone's front room.
Meanwhile, DI Ray was now feeling the pressure. She started drinking bad red wine from an oversized mug, before appearing to entertain someone in her dimly lit bedroom. It could have been any random gunslinger.
Thankfully Ray also had a direct line to a local snout who owned the kebab shop. He was poised to give DI Ray, and her portly assistant, an obvious regular, a free garlic sauce but they resisted. It didn't turn out so well for the kebab kingpin. He was last seen with a knife at his throat.
Who's the big winner I hear you ask? It's the actor Michael Socha who is playing Frank’s son on ITV, and a copper accused of running down a green campaigning cyclist in Showtrial on the BBC. Impressive but confusing.
What this humdrum show badly needed was a subplot. What about, who will take over the kebab shop, now that the present owner is gibbering wreck. Perhaps one of the Chapman children can learn how to run a protection racket from the inside.
DI Ray's dependable sidekick, DS Clive Botto (Image: ITV)The Franchise (Sky Comedy, Mon) was the busiest comedy I've ever seen, with more extras than Ben Hur. In fact it may have been shot on the same soundstage in Hollywood, for realism purposes.
Directed by Sam Mendes and executively produced by Armando Iannucci, it's not something you wanted to dismiss lightly. But equally it was quite difficult to follow -- just like the movie it was satirising. Was that the idea? It’s certainly no Thick of It.
You couldn't complain about the level of realistic film production detail. There were walk-ons, assistant directors and cameos everywhere as the Fish People in the sci fi film were cancelled because a major part of the plot from the previous film in the “Franchise” had been cut. The show is based on real stories the writer had heard from other sets.
Now that’s not particularly funny, but it is still satire.
I wanted to like it so much, I watched the second episode. The same I'm afraid.
It was also incredibly sweary. As my parents used to say, “It's not smart and it's not funny”.
There are some excellent British actors, such as Himesh Patel, Richard E Grant, Jessica Hynes, and Lolly Adefope and a game chap (Justin Edwards) in a nappy which is a good running gag. But everyone just gets caught up in the tide of dialogue and frantic business.
But hey, that’s Hollywood, folks.
Try episode three before "Tecto" gets cancelled.
Scam television is on the rise. New ones are appearing all the time, so be on your guard.
Love Cheats (C4, Sun) wasn't so much a scam in itself, but it was awfully predictable.
While I have the greatest of sympathy for those involved, two things screamed out at you immediately; who would fall for anybody who says they're an earl or a lord?
Is everyone so gullible? Why not just say you're a marquess and be done with it? Someone's bound to say, “Oh how, interesting…”
window.topArticlesScript="https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/js/dist/article-top-articles20241022.min.js"Secondly, the man in question refused to have his photo uploaded to any social media. No real lord is that shy. They can’t believe their luck.
As for our scammer called Robert, I can report he is still on the run after walking out of an open prison.
Finally, American actress Melissa McCarthy never turns in a poor performance.
Her rich cameo as the voracious, doll-collecting sister of Steve Martin in Only Murders in the Building (Disney+) deserved a small porcelain Golden Globe for pursuing Martin Short relentlessly around the ornamental madness that was her suburban home.
His attentions, alas, were elsewhere.
STEPHENSON'S ROCKETMessage to ITV & BBC. We all have imaginations. So can we please stop sending reporters, presenters, and anchors off to far flung lands, hurricanes (the worst), or putting them on paddle boards to report on water companies. It’s dangerous, and daft.
Watching someone wringing wet, and reporting from a gale, is utterly pointless as far as the audience is concerned. Or they simply get carried away, like a GMB reporter on the Royal Tour who said King Charles and the Queen “can expect a colourful welcome” when they arrive in Samoa. You don’t say.
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TV REVIEW Welcome to DI Ray's Wild West world
TV REVIEW Welcome to DI Ray's Wild West world
TV REVIEW Welcome to DI Ray's Wild West world
TV REVIEW Welcome to DI Ray's Wild West world
TV REVIEW Welcome to DI Ray's Wild West world
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