Il Papa don’t preach

JEREMY Irons has one of those voices that commands you to listen, whether or not he’s actually saying anything of note is irrelevant. He’s up there with Christopher Lee, Ian McKellan, John Rhys Davies and James Earl Jones. I first saw Irons in The Mission and for as much as you can take a shine to a Jesuit missionary, I’ll watch him in just about anything since.
Irons is back in the robes of Christendom again on Sky Atlantic as Rodrigo Borgia/Pope Alexander VI but this time with less of a passion for saving the innocent and spreading the good word and more for advancing his own situation with an appetite for scheming among other more nefarious pursuits.
Written and directed by Neil Jordan, The Borgias is not quite as overtly-sexual as The Tudors, but certainly seems to have taken some pages from Michael Hirst’s offering. Within five minutes of the opening, Rodrigo’s son Cesare (a cleric himself it should be pointed out) is wrapped around some young one before showing her the door. More worryingly though is baby sister Lucrezia looking on through the window before frolicking around the garden with him in mock chase. But I digress, back to the dogfight for the succession of the papacy, where it seems the only things needed is a brass neck, plenty of gold and two testicles, which are checked in case your’re worried.
After all the pomp and ceremony of Rodrigo becoming pope is finished with, we get down to the real task of trying to keep the throne of the Church and Cesare shows his talents lie less in saying mass and more in taking out the opposition, which sadly in the first episode is Derek Jacobi, another fine example of British acting.  Colm Feore, as always, is also brilliant and the intrigue and political wrangling should be enough to ensure an audience.
A world away from 15th century ecclesiastical matters, the rise of social media has given new outlets to those willing to push the envelope when it comes to madcap ideas but Channel 4’s Concrete Circus took a look at those that make their ‘urban jungle’ more than just a playground for kicks.
Generating millions of hits on You Tube, daredevils are the new cool and their exploits often garner vast attention from other media and sponsorship deals.
Concrete Circus director Mike Christie previously offered us Jump London, a documentary exploring the concepts of parkour and free running – to those unlearned it  is a way of conditioning the body and overcoming obstacles with speed, efficiency and agility. Christie has returned with the same dexterity of storytelling here, using five people and their chosen disciplines. His idea was to make a new set of showpiece films to form the centrepiece of his film, whilst making a documentary about them all.
The subjects are among the best at what they do – street styles pro Danny MacAskill; flatland BMX star Keelan Philips; free runners Paul ‘Blue’ Joseph and Phil Doyle and skateboarder Kilian Martin. Each are known for their online presence and most have in fact transcended the genre to become fully fledged stars, if not quite on par yet with Tony Hawk or  Tony Alva.
Danny MacAskill first burst onto the you tube scene when his mate filmed him in a street trials video set to the brilliant The Funeral by Band of Horses which has today over 26 million hits, while Way Back Home’s jaw-dropping antics has clocked up over 12 million viewers. Kilian Martin’ Skate Regeneration has earned rave reviews, while Claudiu Voicu’s Storm Freerunner, which featured Blue, has had huge success. 
The documentary went further than looking at their chosen pursuits however, it delved into each of their backgrounds, exploring home life and why they chose to follow that particular path. It threw up some poignant but often funny scenes; Danny’s parents acknowledging that while what he does is dangerous, it’s better than his childhood ambitions to be a demolitions expert or getting into an argument that it’s best if children are not mollycoddled in life. Scenes of sadness emerged too when as the daredevils sought out directors to make their mini films. Each chose someone they had previously worked with but for Keelan Philips it was a bittersweet decision, as his previous collaborator and friend had died last year from cancer. His emotion at continuing with his project was evident but continue he did and the end result was a stunning piece of work, combining his skills with evocative imagery and a killer soundtrack.
Blue reteamed with Claudiu Voicu and introduced 15-year-old Phil Doyle for a free running film with a guest star in inline skating expert Mathieu Ledoux. The athleticism of these young people was stunning.
They each had four months to plan, prepare and execute their films and each rose to the challenge admirably. The documentary did begin to lag a little in the middle when it started taking a razor blade to what they do, over-explaining everything, while the views of urban sports pioneers like Sebastien Foucan, Bob Haro and Hans Rey was overused. However in showing the films it got back on track, finishing with a superb finale combining the talents of all the participants at the stunning Barbican Theatre in London.
Where this documentary excelled is that it was as much about the filmmakers as the subjects. The artistic vision they brought to the table was extraordinary. It showed how much advancement in technology has revolutionised the industry. As one of the filmmakers put it, now you don’t need a studio to make a great film, you just need some handheld camcorders and a PC. Stu Thompson’s piece on Danny MacAskill was a masterpiece, combining old industry shots in a disused railway depot with the artistic and sporting flair of MacAskill, who clearly ranks high among his peers, not least by the fact he is one of Red Bull’s daredevil prototypes as was evident from the numerous hats/helmets supporting the logo. For the cinematography alone, it was a showstopper.
This week: If anyone cares to tune in, Big Brother gets a new venue on Channel 5 on Friday with Brian Dowling filling Davina McCall’s stilettos.