TV reviews: DI Ray and Paul Merson: A Walk Through My Life

DI Ray 1/4, Monday 2nd May, 9pm, ITV

If the TV-reviewing business goes belly up, I might consider becoming a police detective working on homicides. I mean, I’d be singularly ill-equipped to do the job, in that I don’t really like hard work (hence watching TV for a living) I’ve got very poor attention to detail, and if you told me somebody was dangerous, I would run in the opposite direction as fast as my ageing limbs would carry me. But in one sense, I would be brilliant at the job: I have spent more time watching police dramas than I have with my kids in the last decade.

It's not that a particularly seek out a police drama. It’s just that they’re everywhere. The theory about rats is that you’re never more than three feet from one. I reckon you’re never more than ten minutes from a police drama popping up on your TV screen.

So here’s what I’ve learned from watching all this televisual sleuthing: It’s never the chief suspect. They can be standing over the corpse, holding a smoking gun, with twelve witnesses saying they did it, wearing a billboard saying “guilty” on it, and they still didn’t do it. Also, your superiors are never to be trusted, because they’re either corrupt or playing a political game. And if you’re happily romantically involved with someone, by the end of the series, they’re likely to either be unmasked as the murderer or dead themselves. Oh, and don’t ever put anybody in witness protection, because there is not a chance they won’t be found and killed. Finally, anyone who seems really nice, friendly and helpful is almost certainly hiding a dark secret, while anyone who is surly and unhelpful is actually a decent sort.

There are, it has to be said, a fair few of these cliches on display in ITV’s new police drama DI Ray. But that’s not to say it isn’t eminently watchable. It is – in no small part due to an excellent performance by Parminder Nagra as the eponymous officer. It also makes a nice change having a female Asian lead – and the script does a neat job of detailing the petty humiliations and slights that being an Asian police officer entails.

When DI Rachita Ray receives the longed-for transfer to Homicide that she’s applied for many times, she is thrilled. But it quickly becomes apparent that she has been brought on board because of her Asian heritage, when she is assigned her first case. It is a CSH – a Culturally Specific Homicide. A young Muslim man has been knifed to death in his car, and police believe that he was murdered by the brothers of his Hindu girlfriend. DI Ray, it would appear, has been brought on board to tick the right boxes and keep “the community” happy.

In spite of the brothers having left threatening messages on the victim’s phone, and the fact that their alibi doesn’t appear to stack up, Ray believes that they are innocent. She’s clearly seen as many police dramas as I have. She’s getting pressure from her boss (played by the excellent Gemma Whelan) who is playing the political game for all she’s worth (told you).

As ever with the first episode of a police drama, it’s difficult to know whether the series will prove to be excellent or will all fall apart like a house of cards. So much depends on whether the story holds together, credulity isn’t stretched, and all of the loose ends are tied up satisfactorily. But the first episode has some interesting social and political points to make, and ends in satisfyingly dramatic fashion, so I’ll be sticking with it in any case. Call it research for my next career.

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Paul Merson: A Walk Through My Life, Thursday 5th May, 8pm, BBC Two

Last year, the BBC showed a documentary that followed Chris Packham as he walked along the River Itchen in Hampshire, enjoying nature and reflecting on the hard times, and the joys, he had experienced throughout his life. It was an absolute gem (and is still available on iPlayer). Now, they’re repeating the trick, this time with former footballer Paul Merson, who is off for a trot around the North Yorkshire Moors National Park.

Whereas Packham was taking a walk that he had experienced many times, and that had shaped his life, Merson is doing one that is unfamiliar to him. That is because it appears that he has never taken a walk before. This, he explains, is because he has spent 35 years of his life battling with addictions to alcohol and gambling. For him, nothing else really existed. The idea of taking a walk in the countryside was a complete anathema.

He sets off from the village of Lastingham, without a film crew, armed only with a selfie stick to film himself. It’s 7:45am, on a beautiful, crisp March morning. “A few years back I was just getting in now,” he reflects of his drinking days. Right from the get-go, it’s quite apparent he’s not armed with Chris Packham’s vast knowledge of the natural world. “I don’t know what you call that stuff,” he says of some heather, “but you don’t want to get into it on the golf course.”

Not that Merson doesn’t appreciate nature. He’s blown away by it. In between remarking on the beauty around him, and almost falling over every few steps, he imparts his experiences over as turbulent few decades. His extraordinary honesty, no doubt honed after years of therapy, makes for a deeply moving experience.

Merson hasn’t had a drink in three years, and hasn’t gambled in 13 months, but his demons are never far from the surface. He was always an anxious child, and when he discovered drink and gambling as a young professional footballer with time and money to burn, he threw himself into the oblivion that they allowed him. But it came at a cost. He is on his third marriage, and has eight children. He has not been the husband that he wanted to be.

He arrives at a church, where he says the serenity prayer that forms a cornerstone of addiction recovery, and a quiet prayer for his father-in-law who died last year. He worries that he’s not been there for his wife – that his addictions have made him cold. He reflects upon his faith, and what it means to him.

And so the tone is set for a profound experience as he wanders the hills and meadows of the moors. He talks about the grip addiction held over him, his daily battle not to succumb to them once again, and his lowest moments, when he was suicidal.

Admittedly, it all sounds rather grim. It isn’t. This is a tale of redemption and of hope, set amongst gorgeous scenery, full of birdsong and babbling brooks and picture-perfect villages. And there are moments of levity – delightful encounters with fellow walkers, and Merson’s frequent (and mostly successful) attempts to stay on his two feet on the walk’s muddier sections.

Every now and again, we are shown bits of daily life happening on the walk. Notes appear on screen, telling us little snippets of information about the wildlife, the farming, the places of historical interest, and the people going about their daily routines. It all comes together to create a beautiful snapshot of rural Britain.

In the end, though, this is Paul Merson’s story, and he tells it with commendable honesty and frankness. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best ones, and this deeply affecting hour of television is a quiet masterpiece. One is left with the picture of a good man doing his best to cope with life’s vicissitudes, and to make amends for his past. It is impossible not to warm to Paul Merson, and to wish him well for the future.

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The best… and the rest:

Monday 2nd May

Married to a Psychopath 1/2, 10pm, Channel 4: Murderer Malcolm Webster was a clever but wicked predator targeting wealthy women to satisfy his lust for money. Charles Henry was a rural-based Scottish detective who wasn't very busy. This is the untold story of a three-year investigation to re-open a cold case.

Wednesday 4th May

Amazon: How Do they Really Do It? 9pm, Channel 5: Documentary examining the online retailer's journey to becoming a global superpower. From its beginnings as an online bookshop, through to helping power the likes of Netflix and Uber, the programme uncovers the secrets of Amazon's success by speaking to some of those involved in the company's creation in 1994.

Kicking Off: The Rise and Fall of the Super League, 9:30pm, BBC Two: Assessing the events of April 2021, when 12 of Europe's biggest football clubs announced they were forming their own breakaway competition, the European Super League. This documentary looks back at the outrage voiced by the media and football fans alike.

Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted 1/7, 10pm, Channel 4: A second series of the show in which Gordon Ramsay journeys to some of the most incredible and remote locations on Earth, in search of culinary inspiration, epic adventures and cultural experiences he will never forget. In this episode, he explores Australia's Tasmania.

Thursday 5th May

Secret Spenders: Beat the Price Rises, 8pm, Channel 4: With the UK hit by rocketing energy bills, food prices rising, and inflation biting, Anita Rani returns to help cash-strapped families battle the cost of living by secretly filming their out-of-control spending habits. The show also features topical tips and hacks and consumer advice on practical ways to cut costs.

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