Masters of Darkness: Rasputin, The Devil in the Flesh

Before I sat down to watch this Channel 4 documentary, my knowledge of Rasputin was scant. In fact, this is all I knew: he was “The Mad Monk”, he had a beard and – according to Boney M, always a reliable source – he was “Russia’s greatest love machine”. Read more

Sex Life

After Taboo, BBC2 looks ready to set the switchboards red hot with complaints from affronted viewers about Sex Life, particularly the first instalment: “Kids”. Perched in the 10pm slot on a Sunday night, this documentary promised us a look at the growing knowledge that British kids have of sex. Read more

Storyville: Fashion Victim

Those expecting the ususal fawning, “it’s a tragedy he’s dead” style tribute to fashion designer Gianni Versace, would have been in for a surprise had they watched this excellent film from James Kent. This was no documentary about the merits of Versace’s work or of how sorely he will be missed by fashion’s glitterati, and it was far from the kind of clichéd offering that ITV or Channel 5 may have given us on the subject. Read more

Big Brother

The week began in a rather dull fashion with Josh complaining to Elizabeth that he felt the Big Brother experience wasn’t helping his personality to flourish in the house. After some shrewd prompting from The Patronising One, he revealed: “If I told two people in here what I really thought of them, I’d tell them to fuck off!” Read more

Witness: Surrendered Wives

Viewers watching this episode of the Channel 4 documentary series Witness could have been forgiven for thinking that the whole thing was a glorious April Fool’s Day joke; rotund, American woman writes a self-help book for women who want to save their relationship, the crux of which, dictates that the woman should surrender completely to the whims and wishes of her partner. Read more