TV reviews: Sherwood and The Savoy

Sherwood 1/6, Monday 13th June, 9pm, BBC One

Right, first off, a point of order. Anyone tuning in to this new six-part drama expecting a nice, jolly, family-friendly romp through Sherwood Forest with Robin, Marian, and a bunch of Merry Men should be warned: this is nothing to do with Robin Hood. There are no felt green hats with feathers in them, no choreographed swordplay, and most of the men we encounter are less merry than downright miserable. Instead, this is a contemporary drama, set in a former Nottinghamshire pit village three decades after the miners’ strike.

It is, however, absolutely brilliant.

From the pen of award-winning writer James Graham, who wrote Quiz and worked on The Crown, this is a remarkable piece of work that is both a murder mystery and a study of how the legacy of the miners’ strike, and the deep divisions it caused within communities, continues to damage relationships to this day. It also takes on themes of poverty, inequality, the use of undercover officers as ‘spycops’, love, loss, hope and despair. Graham himself grew up in a Nottinghamshire pit village, and the drama is partly inspired by real events.

Any suggestion that this is going to be yet another run-of-the-mill murder whodunnit is dispelled before the opening credits, when we are greeted with a 1984 speech by firebrand NUM leader Arthur Scargill, and footage of some of the most brutal exchanges during the miners’ strike. It’s a reminder of what an extraordinary and divisive time it was across Britain.

And the divides continue to this day. The drama is set in Ashfield, a village where most of the miners elected not to take part in the strike. Gary Jackson (a brilliantly resentful Alun Armstrong) was a striker who has never forgiven those who crossed the picket line. He continues to shout ‘scab’ at people in the street. He and his wife Julie (the superb Lesley Manville) have barely spoken to Julie’s sister Cathy (Claire Rushbrook) and her husband Fred (Downton’s Kevin Doyle) since the events of 1984 forced a wedge between them. Fred and Cathy, meanwhile, have problems of their own. Fred is plagued by a debilitating lung condition, and his son is about to go to prison for an unspecified crime.

Many of the villagers are getting ready to attend the wedding of Sarah (Joanne Froggatt), who is standing as a Conservative candidate for the local council, to Neel (Bally Gill). It quickly becomes apparent that Neel and Sarah have an uneasy relationship with Neel’s father Andy (Adeel Akhtar). Among the guests are local police chief DCS Ian St Clair (a typically fantastic turn from David Morrissey) and his wife Helen (Clare Holman). But if the village is in something of a celebratory mood, it is not one that is going to last, as things are about to take a murderous turn.

This is a masterful piece of writing by Graham. The gripping, whodunnit aspect of the story is deftly handled, with the usual cast of potential, guilty-seeming suspects. And yet it seems almost secondary when compared to the incredibly powerful portrait of a village at odds with itself, a community being torn apart from within, thanks to decades-old divisions that have been allowed to fester and grow.

A magnificent ensemble cast includes Stephen Tompkinson, Lorraine Ashbourne, Philip Jackson, Sunetra Sarker, Robert Glenister, Sean Gilder and Pip Torrens. You will be unlikely to see a better cast, performing better material, on TV this year. An absolute treat.

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The Savoy 1/4, Wednesday 15th June, 9pm, ITV

It’s been a turbulent couple of years for The Savoy, explains the voiceover. Yeah? Join the queue. It’s been a turbulent couple of years for everyone. I have to say, throughout the horrors of home-schooling, frantically searching for toilet roll, and dreading the next news bulletin, I didn’t find a lot of time to sit and fret about what was happening to a five-star London hotel. But it’s back, and so is this fly-on-the-wall documentary series following the staff and guests at one of the nation’s most prestigious addresses.

It's now under the stewardship of new managing director Franck Arnold, who is determined to ensure that the hotel continues to be one of the best in the world. As such, change is afoot at the hotel, with a new restaurant being built, and a Gucci-inspired makeover in the Royal Suite.

The Royal Suite costs an astonishing £15,500-per-night to stay in. This may seem slightly grotesque, in a world where millions of British people are struggling to pay their bills and put food on the table. Mind you, the cost of energy being what it is, it might be cheaper to move into the Royal Suite permanently, as the heating and electricity are thrown in for free.

Much of the interest in these documentaries is to be gleaned from taking a look inside these vaunted suites which, I fear, most of us will never get an opportunity to see first-hand (I’m not sure how many oligarchs and oil barons read this blog). Happily, the programme wastes little time in taking the cameras into the Royal Suite. It is, needless to say, delightful. But for £15,500 I think I’d want to be fanned with palm fronds and fed peeled grapes by the cast of EastEnders.

Anyway, today, Head Butler Sean and his protégé Michael are in something of a tizzy as new guests are checking into the suite for – get this – a casual ten day stay. They have 15 suitcases with them. I could fit everything I own into 15 suitcases, including the car (I’d have to disassemble it first).

Apart from the shenanigans in the suite, things are proceeding relatively serenely at The Savoy. We are introduced to the various staff members who will populate our screens over the next four episodes. They include a couple of wisecracking front deskers, a delightful and enthusiastic maitre d’, and a doorman, Tony, who, in a surprisingly tender moment, becomes emotional as he talks about what it means to him to be back at work after the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the new seafood restaurant is preparing for its opening night, under the stewardship of head chef Andrew. The restaurant is part of the Gordon Ramsay stable – I wonder if the notoriously camera-shy Ramsay will be putting in an appearance on film. Needless to say, moments later, he comes sweeping in, all effing and jeffing, putting the fear of God into everyone he encounters, turning the air blue as he entirely destroys any sense of preparedness and calm ahead of the opening night. It must be possible to tell someone to put fewer leaves on a prawn cocktail without swearing at them, but this seems to be a skill that has thus far eluded the great chef.

And so the programme reaches its climax, with the opening night at the restaurant, and with Michael, Sean’s likeable deputy, up for an award at a ceremony being hosted in The Savoy’s ballroom. I was surprised to find myself caring far more than I had expected to about the outcome of both.

That’s what they do, these documentaries. They suck you in. They may not be wildly original, or earth-shatteringly important, but when they are well-made, and peopled by charismatic characters, as this series is, they are a thoroughly entertaining watch.

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The best… and the rest:

Saturday 11th June

Live England International Football, 7pm, Channel 4: The Three Lions are back in England for their first home game of this year's UEFA Nations League campaign. Gareth Southgate's men are taking on Italy at Molineux, and will be eager for revenge after defeat to these opponents in the European Championships final at Wembley last year.

The British Soap Awards, 8pm, ITV: Phillip Schofield presents the most star-studded and glamorous event in the soap calendar. Coronation Street, Doctors, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks all battle it out for the top awards. Each to their own, I suppose….

Sunday 12th June

Soccer Aid, 6pm, ITV: Live from London stadium, Dermot O’Leary and Alex Scott host the biggest celebrity football match of the year - Soccer Aid for Unicef 2022. Those taking part include Liam Payne, Damian Lewis, Sir Mo Farah, Usain Bolt, Cafu and Martin Compston.

Our Falklands War: A Frontline Story, 9pm, BBC Two: This feature-length documentary tells the profoundly moving story of 10 ordinary men who fought on the front line alongside one another in the Falklands 40 years ago, and how their experiences have shaped their lives ever since.

What Killed the Whale? 9pm, Channel 4: Biologist Ella Al-Shamahi investigates the rise in whale strandings along the UK coastline. Ella joins a specialist forensic team as they carry out a detailed animal autopsy on a 40-foot sei whale, washed up near Edinburgh.

Monday 13th June

Extraordinary Portraits 1/6, 8:30pm, BBC One: Second series of the show which sees rapper Tinie Tempah match members of the public with extraordinary stories to celebrated portrait artists, who are challenged to create compelling likenesses of their subjects.

Tuesday 14h June

Live England International Football, 7pm, Channel 4: More of the (rather superfluous) UEFA Nations League tournament, as England take on Hungary for the second time in 10 days, following a surprise 1-0 defeat in Budapest. I bow to no-one in my love iof the beautiful game but, frankly, does anyone really care about this?

Thursday 16th June

Britain’s Dog Poo Scandal, 8pm, Channel 5: Alexis Conran and his trusty pooch Gelmer take to the fields and footpaths to investigate the problem of dog poo blighting the UK. Sigh.

The Real Derry: Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, 10pm, Channel 4: One of the stars of Channel 4’s marvellous sitcom Derry Girls reflects on growing up in a city scarred by violence, and what the future holds for young people there.

Friday 17th June

Brian Cox: Seven Days on Mars, 9pm, BBC Two: Professor Brian Cox fulfils a childhood dream by going behind the scenes at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), mission control for Mars 2020 - one of the most ambitious missions ever launched, which may finally reveal if life has ever existed on the Red Planet.

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