Dustin Hoffman did it. So did legendary ladies man Tony Curtis. And even Patrick Swayze. But Sean Bean? The gruff, northern hardman who cops it in the most violent way possible in almost every film he’s in. Dressing up as a lady! Say it isn’t so.
With the right project, anything’s possible. Scriptwriter Jimmy McGovern, back with a second series of courtroom flashback drama Accused (series one, DR1, Mon 23:20), had the goods to help convince Sheffield’s finest that he might have the acting chops to don frocks as a transvestite (even though the wig makes him look more manly), and with another hardened oak of British cinema, Stephen Graham (Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire), signed up as the love interest, Mr Bean couldn’t really say no.
Sharpe would have said no, though. And given his knowledge of Spanish vantage points, he’d have snapped up the lead in Falcón, the latest British detective yarn set abroad, this time in Seville. The Sky drama, which hasn’t yet been shown on British free-to-air, is helped by a healthy portion of thinking man’s totty (Hayley Atwell, Emilia Fox) and a story of widespread corruption. Doesn’t sound like Spain at all.
Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel was director James Marsh’s (Man on Wire) main influence on his uncomfortably compelling 2011 doc Project Nim, which details how some kindly New Yorker ‘70s hippies raised a chimp just like a child to see what would happen. Put it this way: Rise of the Planet of the Apes has a happier ending.
Elsewhere, Talking Books catches up with Toni Morrison (BBC World, Sun 18:30); The Spike Guys Choice Awards (TV2 Zulu, Fri 21:30) is the only night of the year when chauvinism is laughed off as cutting comedy; catch the entire first season of Better off Ted (TV2 Zulu, Sun 10:10), a satirical comedy with a dull office setting, which the critics loved but was pulled after two years due to poor ratings; X Factor USA (DR HD, Sat & Thu 20:00) is back with Britney Spears among the judges; Sesame Street fans will love Being Elmo: A pupeteer’s Journey (DR2, Sat 21:05); and Million Dollar Listing New York (TV3 Puls, Thu 20:00) hopes to transport the winning formula to the East Coast.
