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Tom Felton Meets the Superfans, ABC2, 8.30pm
This is a fascinating examination of exactly where passionate fandom stops and unhealthy obsession starts. Directed by and starring Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter series), it is also an absorbing entree into the world of celebrity actors and their relationship with their fans. Felton, slightly goofy and shy, meets several Potter fans who have taken their admiration for the films and books to extraordinary levels. His mission is to find out what drives them. And the answer is often both surprising and touching. There’s Steve, the self-professed world’s biggest Potter fan, who has JK Rowling’s signature tattooed on his arm, and who retreated into the world of Hogwarts to escape from bullying. Then there’s Jade, for whom Potter fandom became a catalyst for her to seek help for depression. But Felton’s uber fan is Tina, a middle-aged woman who turns up almost wherever he makes a public appearance, often waiting hours for another autograph and a hug. Finally, Felton visits her at her home for a cup of tea and a chat. When he asks why it is him in particular on whom she is so fixated, the answer is both poignant and sad. She never had her own children and watching Felton grow up through the Potter films went some way towards satisfying that need. It’s a generous act by Felton towards a woman some might dismiss as a crank.
Utopia, ABC, 9.05pm
Art and life collide in this week’s Utopia and the meeting place is Badgerys Creek, the on-again, off-again site for Sydney’s second airport. Tony (Rob Sitch) and staff at the NBA have taken the “can-do” prime minister at his word and fast-tracked the development of the airport. However, the team has been a little too efficient, causing conniptions for a nervous PM and his restive backbenchers who have seats in the area. Tony is then tasked with finding something – anything – to delay the project. As usual there are a couple of subplots cooking. This is a workmanlike episode of a usually sparkling series that nevertheless is still head and shoulders above most other satirical offerings. Hawaii Five-O Ten, 10.30pm Boy, that escalated quickly. No sooner is Danny banged up than Chin also gets his collar felt, leaving McGarrett and co to get their mates back on the right side of the law.
Nick Galvin
PAY TV
Motive, Wednesday, Universal, 8.30pm
This Canadian series goes for an inside-out take on the old police procedural. At the start of each episode we learn who the killer and the victim are, but not how the murder goes down. Then detective Angie Flynn (The Killing’s Kristin Lehman) gets involved and her inquiries and some helpful flashbacks fillin the blanks. The last blank to be filled in is – wait for it – the motive. Tonight’s story revolves around a slick prosecutor who wants to become mayor of Vancouver. It’swatchable enough, but instantly forgettable.
Brad Newsome
MOVIES
Indecent Proposal (1993) Romance Movies (pay TV), 10.25pm
When my wife visited her homeland of Russia in 2000, she unexpectedly became one of its most successful television stars and program creators. Her biggest hit was Golod (Hunger). Intrigued by talk of how the Russian young were now spoilt and weak, she decided to have contestants sent to an unknown city (Berlin), where they would awake to find their communal house filled with only enough food for one day. From then on, they had to depend on their wits. My wife was positive these young people would be as proactive and resourceful and courageous as her penniless parents had been when they fled Communist persecution. She was wrong. Only one person made any real effort to earn money and feed the others: a stripper. The show was deeply controversial and even had the German parliament debate whether this was an appropriate story to tell. Of course it was, because every day millions of people have to make tough decisions about how to survive. And often it is the women who carry the burden, resorting to a choice harder than just stripping.
In Adrian Lyne’s Indecent Proposal, there is a such a drama but told in a First World way. A young couple – David (Woody Harrelson) and Diana Murphy (Demi Moore) – are in financial straits. A handsome tycoon, John Gage (Robert Redford), meets and desires Diana, and offers her $1 million to sleep with her. David isn’t happy and expects Diana not to be either, but she is pragmatic and ultimately decides to accept. The only problem is not the loveless sex for money, but that she actually feels something for John. Oh, life would be so much easier if the sex were just passionless. On the surface, this is a fairy-tale romance where just about everybody wants John to be a prince among men, and sweep poor and under-appreciated Diana off her feet (at least temporarily). Whether David copes is up to him but, please, stop all that moaning. That’s all on the surface. Underneath, as in all Adrian Lyne films (including Lolita), there is a rich exploration of sexual relationships – not always appropriate or preferred – along with a keen understanding of the tough moral decisions many of us have to make. This is a decidedly First World film, but with resonances across the entire planet.
Kamchatka (2002) SBS, 1.50am (Thursday)
Seen through the eyes of a 10-year-old Argentinian boy, this is the harrowing story of a family forced into exile during a time of political oppression. It may be the planet’s oldest and most-told tale.
Scott Murray