The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty, BBC Two, 14th July
“I don’t believe that David Cameron or Tony Blair really dared cough without getting permission first from Rupert Murdoch,” says the actor Hugh Grant in this fascinating three-part exploration of the international media empire created by the Australian-born mogul. Murdoch’s political influence, from the Sun to Fox News, has been profound. Fans of HBO’s Succession—partly based on the clan—can compare and contrast with the children who will inherit the Murdoch billions.
The Plot Against America, Sky Atlantic, July
The creators of the masterpiece The Wire, David Simon and Ed Burns, are behind this adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2004 novel. It imagines an alternate history, in which the aviator Charles Lindbergh—who in real-life opposed US intervention and aid to Britain in the Second World War—becomes president and turns America towards fascism. It’s told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in New Jersey, based on Roth’s own, and features Winona Ryder and John Turturro as Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf, who sells his soul to Lindbergh.
Africa season, BBC
This mini-season of programmes includes a film about African literature presented by David Olusoga as well as a three-part series about African art hosted by Afua Hirsch. Traditional African art has had an enormous impact on western artists from Picasso to Basquiat, but contemporary African works are only now beginning to achieve high prices at auction, led by Nigerian painter Ben Enwonwu, who died in 1994. A timely introduction.
“I don’t believe that David Cameron or Tony Blair really dared cough without getting permission first from Rupert Murdoch,” says the actor Hugh Grant in this fascinating three-part exploration of the international media empire created by the Australian-born mogul. Murdoch’s political influence, from the Sun to Fox News, has been profound. Fans of HBO’s Succession—partly based on the clan—can compare and contrast with the children who will inherit the Murdoch billions.
The Plot Against America, Sky Atlantic, July
The creators of the masterpiece The Wire, David Simon and Ed Burns, are behind this adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2004 novel. It imagines an alternate history, in which the aviator Charles Lindbergh—who in real-life opposed US intervention and aid to Britain in the Second World War—becomes president and turns America towards fascism. It’s told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in New Jersey, based on Roth’s own, and features Winona Ryder and John Turturro as Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf, who sells his soul to Lindbergh.
Africa season, BBC
This mini-season of programmes includes a film about African literature presented by David Olusoga as well as a three-part series about African art hosted by Afua Hirsch. Traditional African art has had an enormous impact on western artists from Picasso to Basquiat, but contemporary African works are only now beginning to achieve high prices at auction, led by Nigerian painter Ben Enwonwu, who died in 1994. A timely introduction.
