Run, starring Olivia Colman, is extremely watchable – in a self-punishing kind of way
After the recent flurry of high-concept drama series that have included The Returned, The Fall and Broadchurch, we come to *Run* (Channel 4). There's a touch of concept to Run, in that each episode runs into one another, with a minor character in one becoming the central one in the next, but at its core it belongs much more in the familiar feel-bad tradition. The sort of thing that usually gets described as "gritty".
From the opening shots of single mum Carol (Olivia Colman) buying some cheap lagers before going to the south London council flat where her teenaged sons are goofing around smoking dope, to the final one of her sobbing as the boys get nicked, Run was set with cast-iron determinism. No twists, no surprises. Unless you count Colman spitting the word "cunt" with venom five minutes in; call me sheltered but I had never imagined Colman being able to say the C-word as if it was part of her everyday vocab. But when she said it a second time it came with the same inevitability as the mindless murder, domestic violence and the boys who were too stupid to wash the bloodstains off their own trackies.
And yet it was extremely watchable in a self-punishing kind of way. Partly because the predictable has its own tragic fascination, but mainly because Colman was entirely convincing as Carol. Sometimes gobby, sometimes tough as she tried to keep her life on track and her family together, but with the brittle vulnerability that comes with the knowledge of defeat always only ever a heartbeat from the surface. Initially best known for her comedy roles, Colman is steadily proving she has all-round star quality. She has certainly set a high bar for Katie Leung, who takes centre stage in the second episode as Ying, an illegal Chinese immigrant fencing stolen mobile phones to pay off her debts.
*My £9.50 Holiday* (BBC1) suggested it might be a gritty programme about the new vacation realities of austerity Britain, with families downsizing from their two weeks in the Med to a weekend in a caravan park courtesy of a bargain offer in the tabloids; The Guardian on Monday was offering a 17-day break to Madagascar for £5,495, which probably isn't quite the same thing. There were a few nods to everyone being a bit broke, but this documentary belonged firmly in the gently whimsical category. And was all the better for it.
It was a film in which almost nothing happened, other than a few families and friends turning up in Skegness for the weekend. A couple upgraded their caravan from bronze to silver, and everyone drank a bit too much, ate some junk food and tried to enjoy themselves when it was raining. Even Sam and Claire, who spent their first day moaning about the lack of net curtains. So it was pretty much like anyone's holiday anywhere, only a great deal cheaper.
The real stars of this show, though, weren't the people going on holiday, but the ones working for Park Resorts. The Skegness manager, Paul Chapman, is a TV legend in the making with his cheery perma-smile and repetition of the phrase "creating amazing memories" at least once every sentence. The head cleaner, who would rather be an air steward and who could reel off another company motto – "evaluate, learn and improve"– with a deadpan irony beyond his boss, wasn't far behind. There's a fly-on-the-wall series in these two for sure.
The most harrowing footage of the night was the message Lance Sergeant Dan Collins recorded on his phone before hanging himself on New Year's Day last year, which acted as the starting point for Sunday Times reporter Toby Harnden's moving *Broken by Battle – Panorama* (BBC1). After serving in Afghanistan, Collins was diagnosed with PTSD. Ten months later he cut himself with a knife and drove his car into a tree. He survived, only to take an overdose shortly afterwards. He was then admitted to an NHS psychiatric ward, where the prime treatment was sedation. On his release, he did finally manage to kill himself.
Harnden has since discovered that Collins is by no means a one-off. More serving soldiers and veterans killed themselves last year than were killed in combat. The Ministry of Defence issued a statement maintaining it took the mental health of soldiers extremely seriously, while at the same time appearing to deny any responsibility and stalling the victim's families with cripplingly slow and expensive battles. As one veteran pointed out, it looked more like a cheap insurance company.
• TV highlights
• TV listings Reported by guardian.co.uk 16 hours ago.
After the recent flurry of high-concept drama series that have included The Returned, The Fall and Broadchurch, we come to *Run* (Channel 4). There's a touch of concept to Run, in that each episode runs into one another, with a minor character in one becoming the central one in the next, but at its core it belongs much more in the familiar feel-bad tradition. The sort of thing that usually gets described as "gritty".
From the opening shots of single mum Carol (Olivia Colman) buying some cheap lagers before going to the south London council flat where her teenaged sons are goofing around smoking dope, to the final one of her sobbing as the boys get nicked, Run was set with cast-iron determinism. No twists, no surprises. Unless you count Colman spitting the word "cunt" with venom five minutes in; call me sheltered but I had never imagined Colman being able to say the C-word as if it was part of her everyday vocab. But when she said it a second time it came with the same inevitability as the mindless murder, domestic violence and the boys who were too stupid to wash the bloodstains off their own trackies.
And yet it was extremely watchable in a self-punishing kind of way. Partly because the predictable has its own tragic fascination, but mainly because Colman was entirely convincing as Carol. Sometimes gobby, sometimes tough as she tried to keep her life on track and her family together, but with the brittle vulnerability that comes with the knowledge of defeat always only ever a heartbeat from the surface. Initially best known for her comedy roles, Colman is steadily proving she has all-round star quality. She has certainly set a high bar for Katie Leung, who takes centre stage in the second episode as Ying, an illegal Chinese immigrant fencing stolen mobile phones to pay off her debts.
*My £9.50 Holiday* (BBC1) suggested it might be a gritty programme about the new vacation realities of austerity Britain, with families downsizing from their two weeks in the Med to a weekend in a caravan park courtesy of a bargain offer in the tabloids; The Guardian on Monday was offering a 17-day break to Madagascar for £5,495, which probably isn't quite the same thing. There were a few nods to everyone being a bit broke, but this documentary belonged firmly in the gently whimsical category. And was all the better for it.
It was a film in which almost nothing happened, other than a few families and friends turning up in Skegness for the weekend. A couple upgraded their caravan from bronze to silver, and everyone drank a bit too much, ate some junk food and tried to enjoy themselves when it was raining. Even Sam and Claire, who spent their first day moaning about the lack of net curtains. So it was pretty much like anyone's holiday anywhere, only a great deal cheaper.
The real stars of this show, though, weren't the people going on holiday, but the ones working for Park Resorts. The Skegness manager, Paul Chapman, is a TV legend in the making with his cheery perma-smile and repetition of the phrase "creating amazing memories" at least once every sentence. The head cleaner, who would rather be an air steward and who could reel off another company motto – "evaluate, learn and improve"– with a deadpan irony beyond his boss, wasn't far behind. There's a fly-on-the-wall series in these two for sure.
The most harrowing footage of the night was the message Lance Sergeant Dan Collins recorded on his phone before hanging himself on New Year's Day last year, which acted as the starting point for Sunday Times reporter Toby Harnden's moving *Broken by Battle – Panorama* (BBC1). After serving in Afghanistan, Collins was diagnosed with PTSD. Ten months later he cut himself with a knife and drove his car into a tree. He survived, only to take an overdose shortly afterwards. He was then admitted to an NHS psychiatric ward, where the prime treatment was sedation. On his release, he did finally manage to kill himself.
Harnden has since discovered that Collins is by no means a one-off. More serving soldiers and veterans killed themselves last year than were killed in combat. The Ministry of Defence issued a statement maintaining it took the mental health of soldiers extremely seriously, while at the same time appearing to deny any responsibility and stalling the victim's families with cripplingly slow and expensive battles. As one veteran pointed out, it looked more like a cheap insurance company.
• TV highlights
• TV listings Reported by guardian.co.uk 16 hours ago.