Andrew Marr's 3 part series about Queen Elizabeth II, made as part of the Diamond Jubilee year, was a fascinating insight into the monarch and her life. Marr had fantastic access to a multitude of royal engagments over the past year, from state visits to Australia and Ireland, to the Royal Wedding and on to smaller occasions like the Garden Party and the Queen's Speech. Far from being the royal propoganda that Republicans have claimed, I found The Diamond Queen to be a measured approach to a woman who has a unique position in the UK, the Commonwealth and the world and who is not always understood or fully appreciated. Through his investigations Marr explored the Queen's past, her family life, her devotion to her job and came to the conclusion that she works hard, moves with the times and is still, in her eighties, eager to be a force for good where she can. I already admired the Queen and I'm looking forward to the updated version of Ben Pimlott's peerless biography, so this programme provided an excellent introduction to the Jubilee year. Long live the Queen!
The Story of Musicals (2012)
Another 3 parter, this one had a wider focus than the last. It should have been called The Story of British Musicals but that's no matter, it did a solid job covering many shows I've seen - Cats, Billy Elliott, Blood Brothers - many I haven't - Les Mis, Starlight Express, Phantom of the Opera - as well as plenty I'd never even heard of. Spanning several decades, the series interviewed many of the big players in the genre, from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh to Elaine Paige and, erm, John Barrowman, and it felt pretty comprehensive and packed full of interesting back stories and anecdotes. Most of the interviewees seemed to have a good sense of humour and a perspective on the musical's place in the world while having massive respect for the producers and stars - and after seeing this documentary I can certainly see why. If nothing else, The Story of Musicals made me want to get out and see even more of them!
Little Matador (2011)Another movie in the True Stories strand, Little Matador is oddly an Irish movie about child bull fighters in Mexico. It follows 3 bull-bothering hopefuls, each of whom has their own reasons for pursuing a life as a matador, from pushy parents, absent parents and a young girl's desire to be a famous female matador... if only she didn't run crying when the bulls run at her. I didn't really have an opinion on bull fighting before watching this documentary - most of the images of stereotypical matadors I have come from Looney Tunes cartoons. I quickly realised how distasteful and barbaric the 'sport' is - it's basically aggrivating and then torturing a riled up creature, before savagely thrusting a blade into it's brain. The successful matador then receives the bull's shorn off ears as a grisly trophy to display triumphantly to the baying crowds. You'd have thought that this sort of practice would have died out with the gladiators of Rome, but apparently not - there are even matador schools in Mexico, training children to do this stuff. It's horrible. I had to look away when the bulls were murdered. I'm no animal rights activist but I can see no up-side of this practice in the 21st Century, no matter how much it's part of the Mexican/Latin culture. The documentary itself left me feeling sad for the 3 delusional children, who deserve to be loved by their parents and allowed to be young, to play and to enjoy life, not taught to face down angry bulls before slaughtering them.
Ok, I'm cheating now, this wasn't an actual documentary but rather a mockumentary of those rather earnest types of show on BBC4 that celebrate a particular era/icon of film. I'm including it here as it was a fun one-off, and to take the edge off Little Matador. As co-writer, director and 'presenter', Peter Capaldi has created a very funny, almost touching piece about a fictional British film studio that would be believable were it not for the presence of Kelly 'Emma from Hustle' Adams and Tim 'Yates from The Royal Bodyguard' Downie as a number of different actors from Cricklewood's roster of stars. Gently mocked are silent comedies, Hammer-type horror schlock, monster B-movies and Carry On camp. Everything is played straight with a firm tongue in cheek - my favourite scene has Capaldi ('playing' himself) visit the site of the Cricklewood Studios with a 'historian' (Alex MacQueen) and strolling through the Wickes DIY store that has been built in its place, pointing out where the toilets used to be and sensing the aura of the old Studios. Ludicrous and oh so very based in fact - the fact of these types of documentaries.
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