In Australia: Mondays, 9pm, Foxtel
In the UK: Available on Netflix
Secret City was one of TMINE’s top shows of 2016. A marvellous return to the genre of ‘dogged journalist investigates political cover-up at the highest level’, it was every bit Australia’s answer to State of Play and deservedly earned worldwide success through Netflix distribution.
Starring Anna Torv as political journalist par excellence Harriet Dunkley, it also had a lot to say about Australia’s political positioning with respect to both Asia and the US, something that proved to be very timely.
The first season was reasonably self-contained, with a downbeat ending that could have left the show “one then done”. However, that Netflix success means that Secret City is back for a second season.
But when is a second season not a second season? When it has almost nothing in common with the first season.
Aaron Pedersen, Huw Higginson, Harry Richardson et al join ABC’s Black B*tch
Scandinavian TV
TV4 green lights: adaptation of Åke Holmberg’s Ture Sventon books as Ture Sventon och Bermudtriangelns hemlighet (Ture Sventon and the Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle), with Robert Gustafsson
In Australia: Thursdays, Seven
In the UK: Not yet acquired, but’ll probably end up on Alibi, Netflix or both
Susan Faludi’s Backlash postulated a ‘sort of two steps forward, one step back’ feminist advancement in society. Feminists would achieve successes and push the envelope of what was acceptable in society – and society would then push back in some way. Everything would move a bit further along in the end, but not through slow and steady advancement.
Oddly, as we learned way back in the depths of the time when TMINE contemplated coming up with an actual list of its best ever TV characters, the 1960s TV show The Avengers provided a nice little example with the slow descent from Cathy Gale to Tara King. Originally, The Avengers had been about two men – surgeon and compassionate amateur sleuth David Keel (Ian Hendry) and ruthless professional spy John Steed (Patrick Macnee).
But when Hendry left to seek his fortune in the movies, the writers had to find a replacement. They trialled three characters, including another doctor Martin King (Jon Rollason) and nightclub singer Venus Smith (Julie Stevens), but it was anthropologist Dr Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), her ‘kinky boots’ and her very real judo, who proved to be the standout hit that turned The Avengers from a successful show into a phenomenon.
Of course, eventually it was Blackman’s turn to leave and become Pussy Galore on the Bond movie Goldfinger, so the writers looked for a new replacement. One that could still do all that fighting, albeit faux kung fu rather than judo. But one who was a bit less strident. A bit less abrasive and confrontational. One with a bit more fashion sense. One with – dare one say it? – ‘man appeal’. Hmm. M Appeal. That sounds handy.
And thus Mrs ‘Emma Peel’ (Diana Rigg) was born. Ultimately, Bond movies beckoned for Rigg, too, with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and she in turn was replaced by Tara King (Linda Thorson), a young secret agent trainee besotted with Steed and thus even less confrontational and whose fighting style was a little less scary, a bit more feminine, a little bit more hair-pully. The descent was complete.
And so was the show’s. Because ultimately, what had made it popular was female strength and King didn’t really have it, thanks to the male writers’ own backlash against what they had created. Thorson? Never got a Bond movie.
Ms Fisher and Steed
Ms Fisher’s Backlash
Why do I mention all this in a review of Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, a spin-off from massively popular Australia crime drama Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, in which a sophisticated, smart woman solved crimes using her brain and skills.
No reason. Not all. Apart from the fact it’s set in the 1960s and has its heroine paired with someone with the name ‘J Steed’. Why? Did you think I was maybe suggesting something? Actually, you might be right…
It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week
Turns out, my knowledge of the TV schedules is even weaker than I feared. “Move WHYBW to Tuesday because there’s less on”? That was a stupid idea. Turns out, Thursday’s still best for WHYBW.
This week’s reviews
It has, of course, been stupidly busy for the past week. So busy I didn’t have time to watch any movies, but fingers crossed, Orange Wednesday will be back next week. In terms of tele, though, TMINE has reviewed:
Coming up in the next week, there’s a whole bunch of new shows, most of them antipodean. I’ll be reviewing Fresh Eggs (New Zealand: TVNZ 2) after the jump, and coming later in the week, I’ll cast my eye over Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries (Australia: Seven) and The Heights (Australia: ABC). But there’s bound to be a few other things, too. After all, what do I know about schedules, hey?
The regulars
Season two of Ófærð (Trapped) started on Saturday, but I’ve not had time to digest more than about 20 minutes of the first episode, I’m afraid, so fingers-crossed, I’ll be onto that before the weekend.That means that after the jump, we’ll be talking about: Cavendish, Corporate, The Magicians, Magnum P.I., Miracle Workers, The Orville, The Passage and Star Trek:Discovery, as well as the season and probably series finale of Counterpart.
