The Franchise (Sky Comedy/Now)
Trump: The Criminal Conspiracy Case (BBC Two) | iPlayer
Before (Apple TV+)
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (Disney+)
New Sky Comedy spoof The Franchise arrives with a question at its heart: “Why do bad superhero franchises happen to (moderately) good people?” With Armando Iannucci as executive producer, Jon Brown (Veep, Succession) as lead writer and showrunner, and Sam Mendes (director of Revolutionary Road and Spectre) helping devise the concept (he also directs episode one), there’s certainly enough pedigree in the mix.
Daniel (Himesh Patel) plays the assistant director of a minor spin-off movie (Tecto: Eye of the Storm) from a Marvel-esque franchise stable. Daniel Brühl is the arthouse director in denial about selling his creative soul to the Hollywood machine. Adam (Billy Magnussen) plays the Dorito-bodied movie superhero, while Richard E Grant devours scenery as Peter, an embittered, foul-mouthed stage thesp slumming it for the pay cheque (“I’m very low-maintenance. Will you get that through your thick fucking skull, Daniel?”). Elsewhere, Jessica Hynes and Lolly Adefope mill around as crew members, while a producer (also Daniel’s ex) is played by Aya Cash, presumably in a nod to her role in superhero satire The Boys.
Over eight episodes, The Franchise sometimes struggles. Set initially in darkened film studios, it’s probably intended as claustrophobic, but – wow – it really is. With a teeming cast, it also frequently lacks any sense of a core (Selina’s inner circle in Veep; the Roy family in Succession). Yet though it’s a tad hackneyed on spoofing the superhero movie factory (this is, after all, a genre that reinvents and satirises itself), the series is strong on the insanity, insecurity, vanity, hierarchy, “location brain” and abject humiliation of film-making, with references to Christopher Nolan and superhero genre critic Martin Scorsese thrown in for good measure.
While Patel is the show’s anchor, Grant and Magnussen are the strongest double act, with the sly ambition of Adefope’s character also bubbling through. Nor does The Franchise succumb to what has become the now predictable gloomy, gag-free slide into dramedy, instead pumping out jokes to the bitter, frenzied end. In tone it reminds me of Avenue 5, Iannucci’s space comedy series starring Hugh Laurie, which also had hitches, but a fair few laughs too.
Is it me or has the 2024 US presidential election lasted several centuries and counting? Even when it’s over (5 November), what exactly does “over” mean? In 2020, Donald Trump contested Joe Biden’s win, declaring it “rigged”, at which point western democracy appeared to be popped into a liquidiser.
Marian Mohamed’s new feature-length BBC Two documentary Trump: The Criminal Conspiracy Case takes us through the labyrinthine events that followed the 2020 result: Team Trump’s refusal to concede; the “Stop the Steal” campaign; the still shocking attack on the Capitol in Washington (in which people died); the significance of the vote in the state of Georgia; the criminal charges against Trump and others for conspiracy to overturn an election result; how the case was delayed, meaning he can still run for the presidency.
Mohamed talks to those who ended up harassed to the point of receiving anonymous death threats. We hear Trump’s phone call to Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Republican secretary of state (“Your numbers aren’t right… Why wouldn’t you want to find the right answer, Brad?”). There’s also the former president’s infamous police mugshot, in which he’s clearly trying to conjure a hardman James Cagney vibe but just looks as if he’s checking himself in a mirror for fake tan streaks.
Announcing he’s to run for president again in 2024, Trump rambles in that bizarre, circular way of his, but this time (“I am your warrior… I am your retribution”) as if he hasn’t realised the auditions for the Gladiator sequel are done and dusted. What next for this patron saint of sore losers? We’ll soon find out. While there isn’t a huge amount of new material in Trump: The Criminal Conspiracy Case, it serves as a timely reminder that, with him and others of his ilk anywhere near power, there’s no relaxing for the rest of us.
On Apple TV+, Sarah Thorp’s 10-part psychological horror-drama Before stars Billy Crystal as child psychologist Eli, who’s grieving for his wife (Judith Light). Eli is approached by child patient Noah (Jacobi Jupe) who scratches at his door, babbles in tongues and sees visions of inky tendrils.
After a few episodes, Before becomes maddeningly derivative and repetitive. The ambience arrives shopsoiled from classic horrors (Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, The Sixth Sense), with atmospherics so overblown, I felt less chilled than power-hosed.
That said, it’s watchable. I’m an old-goth sucker for a spooky child, and Jupe delivers a good one: Damien from The Omen mixed with Danny from The Shining. He doesn’t go the full “redrum”, but it’s an admirable approximation. And in the spirit of Halloween, you may enjoy the prestige jump scares.
I was initially confused by new Disney+ documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Why wasn’t Springsteen wandering around in his pants, like Robbie Williams in his Netflix series?
Clearly, the man they call the Boss hasn’t heard the new rules of making a celebrity documentary. From the moment he appears, talking about the tour he and his longtime band are about to film (their first for years, delayed by lockdown), to the fist-pumping end, it’s meticulously old-school and boots first: rehearsals; gig footage; Springsteen in his smart leather jacket; vast chunks of songs (No Surrender, Nightshift, Born to Run); unashamed guitar noodling. If onscreen configuring of setlists is your jam, take a pew.
Springsteen’s vocalist wife, Patti Scialfa, talks about her 2018 multiple myeloma diagnosis, but she’s very no drama and matter-of-fact. Elsewhere, Springsteen seems wreathed in grief for bandmates and other lost loved ones. It’s all so sincere and devoid of celebrity noise, it becomes touching. This is a no-frills tour doc made for the fans – and they will love it.
Star ratings (out of five)
The Franchise ★★★
Trump: The Criminal Conspiracy Case ★★★
Before ★★★
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band ★★★
What else I’m watching
DI Ray
(ITV1)
Parminder Nagra returns as DI Ray in the nuanced, caustic Birmingham-set crime drama dealing with drug turf wars and casual racism.
The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee
(Sky Arts)
This documentary about the Count Dracula actor is a quirky take on a man who was rather more than his cape.
Married at First Sight UK
(E4)
I go this low so that you don’t have to. For some of the couples in the latest series of what amounts to speed-dating nuptials, it’s more like Mutual Loathing at First Sight. Roll up for a full-on reality carnival of relationship dysfunction.
