Strictly’s Hamza is on to another winner with his wildlife ‘journey’: ROLAND WHITE reviews the weekend’s TV
Hamza: Strictly birds of prey
The woman in the wall
So every documentary starts with spectacular geography. All. Almost without exception.
First a beautiful aerial photo of mountains, forests, rivers or coastline. Coastline is particularly popular. Then comes the voice-over: ‘Today I’m taking you on a journey.’
If you were given a pound every time someone said on television they were going on a trip, you would be £2 richer after Hamza: Strictly Birds Of Prey (BBC1). That’s a shame, because otherwise this would have been a treat.
Hamza Yassin is probably best known now for winning last year’s Strictly Come Dancing, but he’s very much a wildlife cameraman. He spends his days filming birds of prey and constantly looks like he can’t believe his luck.
His enthusiasm is infectious, even though it is difficult to remain cheerful when filming the menacing concrete facade of Ealing Hospital in West London.
Hamza Yassin (pictured) is probably best known now for winning last year’s Strictly Come Dancing, but he’s actually a wildlife cameraman
This building gives such a good impression of a rock face that peregrine falcons nest there. Hamza filmed the male mid-air passing a sad-looking parakeet to his mate to take back to the nest for lunch. Please don’t try this at home.
Birds of prey always look so distinguished. There was a white-tailed sea eagle sitting upright in a nest, looking as haughty as the Dowager Countess of Grantham. You can tell the difference because the eagle has less colorful plumage. And Lady Violet is probably not so ruthless when it comes to barnacle geese.
Hamza watched with genuine delight as a conservationist climbed to a golden eagle’s nest and lowered two chicks to the ground – in a Wilson tennis bag – so they could be ringed and measured. The chicks looked quite exhausted. They were clearly expecting lunch.
It seems almost redundant to mention the high quality of the photography. Nature always seems to put on a show for the cameras. On the Somerset Levels there was an unusual recording of dragonflies – lots of them – basking in the reeds.
Many of Hamza’s favorite birds were once threatened with extinction, but populations are now recovering
They prepared themselves for the rigors of a day that was unlikely to end well. Once they were airborne, many of them were eaten for breakfast by hungry hobbies.
Many of Hamza’s favorite birds were once threatened with extinction, but populations are now recovering. That is of course good news. Unless of course you are a dragonfly or barnacle goose.
The Woman In The Wall (BBC1) ended as mysteriously as it began. The dead-eyed Lorna (Ruth Wilson) was reunited in the final scene with the daughter she had been searching for for six episodes.
But the people responsible for selling children from the orphanage, hatchet-faced Sister Eileen and slippery James Coyle, appear to have escaped justice. It’s true that laid-back Sergeant Aidan Massey suddenly turned into Inspector Taggart and confronted Sister Eileen: ‘I’m coming after you with everything I’ve got. The way I see it, you’re going to be held accountable for this.”
Dead-eyed Lorna (Ruth Wilson) was reunited with the daughter she’s been looking for for six episodes in the final scene
The Woman In The Wall was dark and gothic and impenetrable at times, but writer Joe Murtagh made the right decision by leaving the goodies frustrated and the baddies free but very nervous.
The people responsible for selling children from the orphanage, battle-axe-wielding Sister Eileen and the slippery James Coyle, appear to have escaped justice
But the nun didn’t seem to have much trouble with it. We can only guess at her fate, or wait for a sequel.
The Woman In The Wall was dark and gothic and impenetrable at times, but writer Joe Murtagh made the right decision by leaving the goodies frustrated and the baddies free but very nervous. Isn’t that how real life works sometimes?
Kilthy secret
Robert Rinder looked uncharacteristically terrified in Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond The Lobby (BBC2) after being asked by a major Ayrshire establishment to don a kilt and read a Burns poem at a wedding party. It was properly dressed by a kilt expert, but one mystery remained: Did he follow her advice to wear nothing underneath?