In Praise of EastEnders
Weighing in at over 6,000 episodes so far, the BBC soap opera set in Albert Square, Walford, a fictional neighborhood in East London, is one of the longest-running dramas on British television, with a massive, devoted fan base. I’m proud to count myself as one of the Walford faithful.
“On a clear day you can see the class struggle from here”: Mike Leigh’s Career Girls
Following the success of the apocalyptic Naked (1993) and the harrowing Secrets & Lies (1996), at the end of the nineties Mike Leigh turned to a smaller, more intimate subject, the nostalgia for youth. Leigh’s been vocal about his motivation for Career Girls, explaining that he was interested in the large life differences in what happens to us between ages 20-30.
"Give Me A Child Until He Is 7" (The Up Series)
The Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man.” This serves as the central premise of Michael Apted’s groundbreaking independent documentary series, Up.
Running in the UK since 1964, it has followed the lives of a diverse group of English seven-year-olds, with the loose goal of looking into the development of the country’s leaders in the year 2000. In 1971, we checked in with them at 14 Up, and every seven years since, all the way through to the most recent installment, 63 Up, with many of the original participants now retired, no longer with us, all contemplating the lives they’ve led.
"Even a stopped clock tells the right time, twice a day" (Withnail & I)
Easily one of the most tender yet acerbic, loving yet sarcastic, and hysterical yet desperate stories you’ll ever watch, Bruce Robinson’s 1987 autobiographical Withnail and I has always been one of my top five all-time movies. The story of two out-of-work and down-on-their-luck actors in London’s Camden Town at the tail end of the sixties features some of the best (and most quotable) dialogue ever to be put on screen, as well as outstanding performances from the two main protagonists: Richard E. Grant (The Player, Gosford Park, The Rise of Skywalker) as the entitled, dramatic Withnail, and Paul McGann (Doctor Who, Alien 3, Holby City) as ‘I’, who is never referred to by name in the movie, but who we know from Robinson’s screenplay is called Marwood.