TV round up

My ability to come up with snappy TV-related titles for my weekly round up has apparently burnt out after a depressingly short period of time, meaning I have had to put my creative switch on standby, retune my rapier wit and generally fuck about with the aerial. However, there is apparently more to life than cheap puns on cheap punk songs, so without further delay, I’ll get going on this week’s TV round up.

This week, a fellow aficionado turned me on to Tribe, (Tuesday, BB2: 9pm) which involves “explorer” Bruce Parry travelling to some of the remotest parts of the planet to spend time with and learn about some of its most isolated people and their customs.

From the blurb this seemed like another boys-own adventure in the style of Donal MacIntyre’s recent Edge of Existence or BBC Macho-fest Last Man Standing, as Parry travels to Siberia to spend time with the Nenets, a tribe of Reindeer herders that follow the animals’ massive migration movements throughout the year, yet as the episode progressed it was clear that Parry offered a little more to what is otherwise often an ethically questionable genre.

Suited and booted in his winter gear, the episode began with Parry being helicoptered into the Nenet’s camp to meet his adoptive family and spend his first night inside his host’s reindeer-skin chum. Over tea that night the head of the family expressed his misgivings about Parry’s ability to adapt to their difficult way of life, a fear than was borne out over the course of the program as he immersed himself in their annual migration south.

Playing like a sort of “Cowboys of the Tundra,” Tribe offered a fascinating insight into the Nenet’s way of life, accompanied by some stunning Arctic photography and lightened by the presence of likable goof Parry (at one point he instigates a fashion parade as he shows off his new Nenet clothing to his companions.) The programme gave an idea of the harshness of the tribesmen’s life, but also of its uniqueness and the fundamental freedom it gave the Nenet’s, all of whom had houses in town and many who had left their professions to return to this way of life. The tribes apparent warmth and respect for Parry also cushioned what might otherwise have seemed like an an exploitative “call of the wild” adventure holiday, as did Parry’s willingness to chip into the workload whenever possible and frustration when he felt he was holding them back.

Most of the rest of the week cruised through without anything significant to report, the usual diet of News, Eastenders and repeats of Hells Kitchen featuring prominently, not to mention a two day TV sojurn caused by my own wilderness adventure. Until, that is, I was knocked sideways with little warning by the return of The Sopranos, with the first episode of the final nine on Sunday night.

My relationship with the Sopranos has been consistent in its respect and admiration but rockier in its diligence. Having shared in the family obsession with the series while at school, we grew distant when I went to Australia and the relationship floundered when I went to university, exacerbated by the move to E4. Chance encounters and the occasional attempt at reunion have dominated the years since making for a patchy knowledge with gaping holes, the last series being the first in a while that I watched with any sort of consistency.

Now however, with the final nine in a good reliable time slot (Sunday, 10pm) and with access to E4, I am in a perfect position to follow the monumental series to the last, and I’m looking forward to the next eight Sundays.

The first episode of the last series opened with a police raid on the Soprano family home, followed by trip to Tony’s sister and husband Bobby Bacala’s lakeside cabin to relieve the tension. As Bobby and Tony floated in a boat in the lake in a scene reminiscent of the murder of Freddo in Godfather II, the tension starts to ratchet up culminating in a drunken brawl over a game of monopoly gone awry, with Bobby as the unhappy victor.

Tony’s revenge is swift, calculated and total, setting the tone for the series and reminding the viewer that The Sopranos constantly challenges by simultaneously inspiring feelings of identification, warmth and revulsion in its characters, never allowing for complacency or one-dimensional analysis.

As the various threads of the last series come together, this promises to be an explosive coup de grace for possibly the greatest drama to series to come out of America for a generation. I know I’ll be watching.