HOSPITAL PEOPLE, BBC1, 9.30pm
THE title suggests this is yet another hospital documentary but I’m glad to tell you it’s actually a funny mockumentary set in the fictional Brimlington Hospital.
I loved the pilot of this show when it was first broadcast and am glad we’re getting a full series.
Actor Tom Binns plays most of the roles, such as the desperate hospital DJ, Ivan Brackenbury, whose slogan is: “Reaching out and touching patients.” Poor, frantic Ivan convinces himself he’s a big deal in showbiz, and is a bit like Alan Partridge without the silky cushion of ego.
We also have the arrogant hospital manager, Susan Mitchell, planning pyrotechnics and red carpets for the Regional Hospital Awards. “No-one holds balls like Susan Mitchell!” she boasts.
And there’s the hospital porter who’s also a faith healer. He recommends crystals and Reiki to the patients but denies he profits from it as that “would make me no better than a florist”.
This is a great big jumble of eccentric characters and I warmly recommend it!
VERSAILLES, BBC2, 9pm
MY snobbery gave me high hopes for this drama when it premiered last year. It’s on BBC2, I thought, so it won’t just grab at the Versailles clichés of opulence, intrigue and debauchery.
Sadly, it did, and the dialogue was awful too, with modern phrases thrown in at random.
Does the new series offer more of the same? Yes... you knew I was going to say that, didn’t you?
It opens with the King wandering into a lake in the dead of night, led there in a sleepwalking daze by his nightmares. He can’t sleep easy with so many enemies afoot, and when someone is poisoned it shows just how dangerous life in Versailles can be.
It’s all a bit silly, especially seeing a prince in bed with a heap of snoring, naked people, but is always good fun and the costumes and setting make it a joy to look at.
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