Brassic
UK TV

What TV’s on at the RTS in January and February? Including a Brassic evening and a Flesh and Blood preview

We’re rewinding time back to January at the RTS, which has lined up for next week a new Brassic event hosted by Emma Bullimore (TMINE: I did a radio show with her once, trivia fans). But we’ve another event for February, too – a screening and Q&A for ITV’s forthcoming Flesh and Blood.

Brassic

RTS and Sky present an evening with Brassic creators Joseph Gilgun, Danny Brocklehurst and David Livingstone 

Date: Thursday 30 January
Timings: 6.30pm for a 6.45pm start
Venue: h Club London, 24 Endell Street, London WC2H 9HQ

In conversation with television journalist and broadcaster Emma Bullimore, Brassic co-creators, This is England star Joseph Gilgun and award-winning writer Danny Brocklehurst, will talk alongside executive producer David Livingstone about the hilarious Sky Original comedy that brings banter, friendship and mental health to the fore.

Recently named the highest-rated Sky comedy of the last seven years and with series two already in the pipeline, the show has gained a dedicated fanbase by exploring mental health in young men through a comic lens.

Based on Joseph’s childhood spent in rural Manchester, Brassic follows the antics of a group of working-class friends who find unconventional ways to win at life. Vinnie (Joseph Gilgun), a Lancashire lad with bipolar disorder, and Dylan (Damien Molony), his razor smart best mate, are inseparable and utterly co-dependent.

Alongside Cardi, Ash, Tommo and JJ, the lads have dealt, scammed, bribed and conned their way through adolescence. But now, on the brink of adulthood, their dealing and stealing is catching up with them. Like a carefully stacked house of cards, what happens if one of them is knocked down or, worse, removed from the pack entirely?

Veering between blistering comedy and raw, heartfelt emotion, this outrageous, funny and bold show is about irreplaceable lifelong friends, loyalty and the things that come between them.

In celebration of the series, Danny, Joseph and David will discuss how the show was made – from developing the initial idea and the writing process, to finding the perfect cast to bring the writing to life. It’s an evening not to be missed.

Booking details

Tickets for RTS Members are complimentary but must be booked in advance. Tickets for non RTS members are £15.

Book tickets

Screening and Q&A of Flesh and Blood

Date: Thursday 20 February
Timings: 6.00pm for a 6.30pm start
Venue: Curzon Soho, London W1D 5DY

Join the Royal Television Society at an exclusive screening of Silverprint Pictures’ new ITV new drama series Flesh and Blood on Thursday 20 February.

Following the screening, there will be a Q&A with the key creatives behind the series including writer and executive producer Sarah Williams, director Louise Hooper, executive producer Kate Bartlett and producer, Letitia Knight.

About the show

Flesh and Blood is a four-part drama, starring Imelda Staunton, Francesca Annis, Russell Tovey and Stephen Rea that follows three adult siblings – Helen (Claudie Blakley), Jake (Russell Tovey) and Natalie (Lydia Leonard), who are thrown into disarray when their recently widowed mother Vivien (Francesca Annis) declares she’s in love with a new man, Mark (Stephen Rea).

Then there’s Mary (Imelda Staunton), who has lived next door to Vivien for 40 years. Mary appears unhealthily attached to Vivien and her family’s unfolding drama. Flesh and Blood proves that we never really know what’s going on behind closed doors as years of secrets, rivalries and betrayals come to the surface.

Book now

César Wagner
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9-1-1: Lone Star
US TV

Review: 9-1-1: Lone Star 1×1 (US: Fox)

In the US: Mondays, 8/7c, Fox
In the UK: Not yet acquired

Spin-offs are a funny old game. You can either do more of the same, just in a different location, or you can do something completely different. The former risks being boring, cannibalising your own ratings and ultimately not attracting anyone new to the show; the latter risks ostracising your existing viewers while not recruiting anyone new.

In the world of procedural TV, the limits are even more restrictive. A cop show is a cop show is a cop show, no matter where you go, so you have to find room to manoeuvre elsewhere.

So kudos to 9-1-1: Lone Star for being brave and different – and making a clean break of it. Sure, just like 9-1-1, it’s still all about the emergency services, focusing on paramedics and firefighters, but as the name suggests it’s set in Texas, and it has no characters in common with the original show. It also has a more famous cast.

More importantly, unlike its predecessor, it’s at least half comedy, that comedy being Parks & Recreation.

9-1-1: Lone Star
Rob Lowe in ITV’s 9-1-1: Lone Star

9-1-1: Lone Star

The story revolves around fancy pants New York firefighter Rob Lowe (last seen starring in the oddly similar show Wild Bill on ITV). Now, already you’ve probably done a double-take and wondered “fancy pants New York firefighter? Since when have they ever been fancy pants?”

Bear with me. All will be explained.

Cityslicker Lowe was one of the first responders to 9/11 and he was forced to rebuild his team of firefighters from scratch following that tragedy. This makes him a figure of interest to the Austin, Texas, fire department, when a tragedy befalls their firefighters. Needing someone who also ‘gets’ diversity – mainly to avoid lawsuits but also because Austin ain’t what it used to be – they invite Lowe down to work his magic, which Lowe agrees to once he learns he has cancer.

Gay, addict son in tow, Lowe starts to reform the department in his new town, recruiting Latinos, transmen and Muslim women Instagram stars from all over the country – and they aren’t just diverse, they can also get the job down. Making things even more alluring to Lowe is the fact the captain of the paramedics is none other than Liv Tyler. Will romance bloom? And can Austin take Lowe and his ‘Gucci loafers’?

Continue reading “Review: 9-1-1: Lone Star 1×1 (US: Fox)”
68 Whiskey
US TV

Review: 68 Whiskey 1×1 (US: Paramount)

In the US: Wednesdays, 10pm ET, Paramount
In the UK: Not yet acquired

The army has become a Hallowed Thing in the US in the past 30 years or so. Maybe it’s a backlash agains the attitudes to Vietnam and those serving in it that spawned numerous scathing dramas and comedies in cinemas and on TV. Whatever the cause, whenever a new TV US show turns up about the army, it’s rarely ‘all knives out’ these days.

Certainly, it’s hard to imagine M*A*S*H lasting 11 seasons and getting 125 million viewers for its final episode now. Soldiers having relationships with one another? Soldiers trying to get discharged for wearing women’s clothing? Inconceivable.

And you can tell that not pure conjecture on my part by looking at the reaction to 68 Whiskey, an adaptation Yes (Israel)’s Charlie Golf One that it is pretty much a M*A*S*H for our times. Or at least something that tries to be.

Continue reading “Review: 68 Whiskey 1×1 (US: Paramount)”
Dollface
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