INSIDE NO 9, BBC2, 10pm
HOW could I have doubted them?
The two darkly brilliant men who write and star in this series, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, have never once let us down. Whether in The League Of Gentlemen or in this creepy anthology series, They simply do not put a foot wrong.
I was initially underwhelmed by this Christmas special. It was good but nothing spectacular … and then it reared up and slapped me out of my complacency. It grabbed me by the lapels and shook me hard and reminded just me who I’m dealing with.
The show is styled like a 70s BBC drama: streaky lights, shaky sets, wooden acting, clumsy shifts in focus and a wildly panning camera.
It tells the tale of Krampus, The Devil of Christmas, who is stalking an English family as they take a winter break in a cosy Austrian chalet.
A director’s commentary is tacked onto the programme mocking its production values and gossiping about the actors – but nothing is as it seems and there’s a fine twist. It’s weird, bizarre and brilliant.
THE REAL MARIGOLD ON TOUR, BBC2, 9pm
THEY say that Christmas is a time when we should take care to visit elderly relatives and make sure they’re not alone. Charities put out adverts showing the elderly as frail and grey at this time of year, huddling close to a dead fire in an empty living room.
Well, I’d be quite miffed at that portrayal if I was a fit and dapper old person. Some are perfectly energetic and capable, and like to go charging off around the globe, and such hardy old yins are celebrated here.
Four famous pensioners – Bobby George, Wayne Sleep, Miriam Margolyes, Rosemary Shrager – head off to Florida to explore its famous retirement communities, where the rich elderly retire to lives of sunshine, fresh orange juice and golf.
But the show doesn’t rose-tint the process of ageing. Florida sunshine might make things easier but which sun-tanned pensioner wouldn’t gladly endure rain and a council house in Shettleston to have their youth again?
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