As we saw in the documentary From Roger Moore, with Love (BBC2, Christmas Day), that was Roger. A very nice man with a very nice life and smart enough to realise his good fortune.
Arena, still makers of the best arts documentaries around, had the spiffing idea of asking Steve Coogan to narrate as Roger Moore, with the words “loosely based” on his diaries, memoirs and interviews. The 80 minutes flew by in a blur of wives (four), starry tributes (Joan Collins was a lifelong pal, Sinatra thought him “a helluva classy guy”), clips from his TV career (The Persuaders, The Saint), quips, and of course reminiscences from his time as Bond. It took him a while to make 007 his own, and he did so in the end by simply being Roger. No one ever looked better in a safari jacket.
Coogan was a hoot, and if Sir Michael Caine ever gets the Arena treatment I hope the Mancunian lands the gig. Either him or his arch Caine rival, Rob Brydon.
At the beginning of Sir Alex (iPlayer, Boxing Day; January 1, 2, BBC Scotland), the film’s subject declared: “I’m no really in the business of assessing myself. I let others do it. They’ve got plenty to say about me.”
Sure enough, this two-part documentary from BBC Sport had legions of talking heads having their say on this titan of Scottish, British and international football.
The best stuff came early on when talk turned to Ferguson’s early life in Glasgow and the forces that shaped him. Every contributor testified to Ferguson’s uniqueness. “I don’t think honestly you’ll see anything like him again,” said Wayne Rooney. The man himself contributed via clips from interviews past. If you wanted the soup to nuts of Sir Alex Ferguson’s life and career, this was it, handsomely presented.
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As enjoyable as it was, there was a flaw that was impossible to ignore – the story had been told before. Of course it had. There is no end to the number of words spoken and written about Fergie. But when the last major documentary was 2021’s Never Give In, directed by Ferguson’s son Jason, and featuring at its heart a long, candid interview with dad, it is an impossible act to follow.
Casualty (BBC1, Saturday) opened Christmas week with a motorway pile-up. Not exactly festive, but then it’s Casualty, what did you expect, 50 minutes of Secret Santa shenanigans and an empty A&E?
While there was some of that (Secret Santa, not an empty A&E), Casualty had a bigger idea up its rolled up sleeve – to bring home the message about the vital importance of donating blood. In what was described by the Beeb as a “format-breaking standalone episode”, the programme shifted between dramatic storylines and real people talking about their experiences.
I had my doubts at first, the regular Casualty being well-versed in raising awareness through plotlines and characters, but it worked brilliantly. Whether it will result in more people donating I don’t know, but it was surely worth a try. It also showed that Casualty, now approaching series number 40, still has a lot of zip.
I’m late to the party for A Man on the Inside (Netflix) but hey, it’s Christmas, everyone’s away and I won’t tell if you don’t. There’s so much to recommend this San Francisco-set comedy, starting with Ted Danson (below) as the man of the title. From Cheers to Curb Your Enthusiasm to The Good Place, who doesn’t love Ted Danson?
Danson plays a retired widower, Charles, who has little to fill his days bar posting newspaper articles on obscure subjects to his daughter. Encouraged to get out more, Charles spies a job ad for a man of a certain age, and duly becomes a spy.
Not your global travelling, gun-toting kind of spy, however. Charles is hired to go undercover at a retirement home where a series of thefts have occurred. If that seems far-fetched may I direct you to The Mole Agent, a terrific documentary about a real-life Charles set in a care home in Chile. Well worth seeking out.
A Man on the Inside with Ted Danson (Image: Netflix)
A Man on the Inside, created by Michael Schur (The Good Place, Parks and Recreation) has been bracketed with Only Murders in the Building as a feel-good comedy, but it is more melancholic than Steve Martin and John Hoffman’s exquisitely played crime caper.
At first Charles is having a blast as the new face in the retirement home, but as he gets to know the residents and their sorrows he is forced to fully confront his own.
Danson, as adept with tragedy as he is with comedy, is wonderful as the gentlemanly Charles. Despite travelling through the terrain of ageing and death the scripts are as light as a quickstep.