TV review

Published Monday 29 September 2008 at 11:20 by Harry Venning

The format for Hole in the Wall comes from Japanese TV - where else? - and invites teams of celebrities to contort their bodies into the shape of a hole in an oncoming wall. If the posture assumed is correct the wall passes harmlessly around them, they score points and earn money for charity. If they fail, they are shunted into a swimming pool.

Now this may well sound like the end of civilisation as we know it, but there were aspects of Hole in the Wall that I found hugely enjoyable. Most notably, watching celebrities being hit by a wall and half drowned. And then seeing it again in slow motion, and at different camera angles. Given that all the contestants efforts proved monumentally rubbish, the spectacle of battery and submersion proved an almost continual one.

Occasionally the action was interrupted by host Dale Winton’s inane commentary, or some tedious banter between the teams, but largely the show remained commendably focused upon delivering cheerfully imbecilic violence.

The fact that the contestants were all clad in unforgivingly tight silver Lycra further added to their humiliation and audience enjoyment, although former Blue Peter presenter Zoe Salmon did buck the trend somewhat by looking rather attractive in it. Team captain Anton Du Beke certainly missed no opportunity to hug, cuddle and generally envelop her. A charitable interpretation could suggest he was sharing his body heat, an accepted method of combating hypothermia, but Du Beke started long before Salmon had gone anywhere near the water.

Whatever Du Beke’s motives, such intimacy struck me as perilous behaviour for a man on primetime television wearing a body hugging lycra suit.

Merlin is the BBC’s latest attempt to inject some magic into their Saturday night schedule, and it largely succeeds thanks to a blend of confident storytelling, fun, and impressive special effects. It is also satisfyingly scary, so if you’re part of a big family make sure you book your place behind the sofa early.

Colin Morgan takes the title role of the wizard as a young man, arriving at the court of King Uther Pendragon. All occult practices in the kingdom are banned, under pain of death, ever since the natural order nearly collapsed into chaos 20 years earlier. The prohibition is a potential source of trouble for Merlin whose sorcery is totally instinctive and frequently spontaneous.

Pretty soon he is trading punches with the arrogant, bullying heir to the throne Prince Arthur, falling under the spell of the beautiful Morgana Le Fey and chumming up with lowly lady-in-waiting Guinevere.

Camelot itself is a little too pristine for my tastes, the art direction having opted for Hollywood fairytale over Dark Age dingy, and always looks like a delicately dressed film set. Nor was I particularly fussed with the talking dragon, voiced by John Hurt, which was just plain silly. Everyone knows dragons speak Dragon. But as undemanding family entertainment Merlin is hard to beat, and miles better than its woeful early evening predecessor Robin Hood.

DETAILS

Hole in the Wall - BBC1, Saturday, September 20, 5.40pm

Merlin - BBC1, Saturday, September 20, 7.30pm