TV review

Published Monday 23 July 2007 at 11:15 by Harry Venning

I like Hyperdrive a lot. It reminds me of that TV classic Buck Rogers in the 25th Century which, in my book, is a very good thing indeed. The effects are genuinely special, the aliens are rarely less than splendid, the plotlines are imaginative, the scripts clever and the cast superb. Miranda Hart, in particular, is a joy to behold. I only wish Hyperdrive was a bit funnier, so I could clutch it to my bosom as a sitcom classic.

It may not provoke guffaws, but at least Hyperdrive can guarantee half an hour’s permanent smile, punctuated by occasional chuckles, which puts it light years ahead of most of its sitcom rivals. This week the crew of the Space Ship Camden Lock took part in a reality TV show called Deathgame, in which they had to survive a motley assortment of alien assassins including a man with a gun in his face.

I would guess the budget for one Hyperdrive would finance an entire series of BBC3’s new comedy The Visit. The show is set entirely within the confines of a prison visiting room, an audacious and challenging premise that demands the very finest comic writing to sustain it.

The script of episode one didn’t entirely convince, but there were enough promising moments to merit a return viewing. It is clearly a show that needs a while to settle in.

Please, no more comedy quiz shows. The latest is The Book Quiz, hosted by David Baddiel, in which two teams of know-alls get to show how well read they are.

It was entertaining enough, with Baddiel passably witty in the chair, but it was all talking heads. Apart from a fleeting photo montage round, there was nothing visual about the show at all and The Book Quiz could have quite happily played on Radio4, were it not for the fact that Radio4 already has one.

The Zimmers go to Hollywood was a sweet, if not hugely informative, documentary about the 40-strong rock band, sharing a combined age of more than three thousand, who grabbed worldwide headlines last year with their cover of My Generation by The Who (combined age of almost three thousand).

Three lucky Zimmers even got to go to Hollywood, with 99-year-old Winnie travelling on a plane for the first time since 1927, to appear on The Jay Leno chat show. They followed George Clooney.

“Actually,” quipped George Clooney, pulling an appropriately sad face “There’ll only be two Zimmers appearing.”

“That’s why we booked three!” returned Leno, quick as a flash.

DETAILS

Hyperdrive - BBC2, Thursday, July 19, 9.30pm

The Zimmers go to Hollywood - BBC2, Sunday, July 15, 10pm

The Visit - BBC3, Sunday, July 15, 9pm

The Book Quiz - BBC4, Tuesday, July 17, 11pm