New Blog Page: Proper Gander

Proper Gander At 15

While reviews of television programmes have occasionally appeared in The Socialist Standard since the 1950s (with possibly the earliest being in January 1955, about the BBC’s adaptation of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four), it wasn’t until 1985 that they became the subject of a regular column. This was Steve Coleman’s always-perceptive and engagingly-written Between The Lines, which ran until 1994. Dave Perrin then followed on with his sharp analysis of how TV reflects the world, continuing until 2001. A decade later, The Socialist Standard’s Editorial Committee decided to bring back the format, and suggested the name Proper Gander. I was happy to be asked about writing it, having recently produced a collection of reviews of dystopian fiction to accompany a Summer School talk. 

The first Proper Gander article appeared in January 2011, covering the sixth series of The Apprentice, which still continues unchanged in format in 2026. Much else has changed in the realm of television, though, in those 15 years. Most obviously, there is now much more ‘content’ competing for our attention, not just in the growth of channels available with or without a subscription, but also through social media and YouTube. While the traditional television channels are steadily on the decline, they can still produce ‘content’ which other outlets can’t manage. TV documentaries and video podcasts are both in the market of influencing viewers’ opinions, but the talking-head template of podcasts isn’t equivalent to the journalistic format of documentaries. The BBC’s Panorama and the exposés commissioned by Channel 4 have remained consistently reliable as sources for Proper Gander articles. Well, that’s reliable in the sense of always being there rather than reliable as interpretations of their subject matter. Usually in a polished, abridged way, they highlight problems generated by the capitalist system, but never identify the system as their cause, of course.

Drama can have more of an emotional impact than a documentary can, whether or not it’s based on real events. An emerging trend during the 2020s is that politicised dramas are likely to have a high profile on the sporadic occasions one is produced. ITV’s Mr Bates Vs The Post Office and Netflix’s Don’t Look Up and Adolescence raised awareness and prompted discussion, for a while. The BBC has appeared less interested in this sub-genre for many years, especially compared with its often-impressive output in the 1960s and ‘70s. 

A trend which appears to have burnt itself out is trash television, such as exploitative gameshows, ‘poverty porn’ schlockumentaries and point-and-sneer talk shows such as The Jeremy Kyle Show. This type of programme, the modern counterpart of travelling ‘freakshows’, has been supplanted by social media content which even more bluntly insults those already downtrodden. Another TV genre which has dwindled is that of comedy, maybe because wider society finds less to laugh about these days. So, sitcoms, satire and sketch shows have rarely been the subject of a Proper Gander article, unfortunately. Looking into what has and hasn’t been covered in the column over the years has been made much easier with the listing below, with a handy description of each show discussed. Thanks go to Imposs1904 for taking the time to compile this for his splendid blog.

Mike Foster

July 2026

2011

• Jan:  Proper Gander (Alan Sugar's The Apprentice.)
• Feb: Know Your Onions (The Onion's satirical programme,  In The Know.)
• Mar: Brooker's Bile (Charlie Brooker's How TV Ruined Your Life.)
• Apr: Cabarets in the lunch hour (BBC2's The British At Work.)
• May: The Stepford Geezers (ITV2's docusoap, The Only Way is Essex.)
• Jun: Celebritherapy (ITV1's reality TV show, Home Is Where The Heart Is.)
• Jul: Choosing To Die (BBC Scotland documentary, Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die, on the subject of assisted suicide.)
• Aug: The pecking order (Channel 4’s Undercover Boss.)
• Sep: From WAGs to Riches (BBC3's celebrity culture documentary, Cherry’s Cash Dilemmas.)
• Oct: Cleopatra Coming At Ya (BBC’s children series, Horrible Histories.)
• Nov: Stripped Blair (Channel 4's The Hunt For Tony Blair. The Comic Strip crowd combine political satire with 1950s film noir.)
• Dec: Sugar Rush (Alan Sugar's new reality show, The Young Apprentice.)

2012

• Jan: Reflections on Black Mirror (Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror.)
• Feb: Fancy a Pint? (BBC4’s documentary, The Rules of Drinking.)
• Mar: Point and Sneer (Channel4’s docusoap Big Fat Gypsy Weddings.)
• Apr: Right whinger (BBC2’s Rights Gone Wrong? with Andrew Neil.)
• May: Camcordia (Channel4's The Sinking Of The Concordia – Caught On Camera.)
• Jun: A Masterclass in Manipulation (ITV1's documentary, Britain Beware, about Public Information Films.)
• Jul: A Load of Crystal Balls (Sky's series, Psychic Today.)
• Aug: Undercover Under the Covers (UKTV Really reality television show, Cheaters.)
• Sep: Tory Teenagers (BBC2's documentary, Young, Bright and On the Right.)
• Oct: Giggly Walking CCTV Cameras (Channel 4's reality television show, The Audience.)
• Nov: The Magic and History Tour (BBC3's documentary, Creationism: Conspiracy Road Trip. Mixing pre-history with 'intelligent design' and age-old debates between science and religion.)
• Dec: Bed Pan Humour (BBC4's satirical comedy about the NHS, Getting On.)

2013

• Jan: Pandering and Pampering (BBC2's Inside Claridge's.)
• Feb: Courting Mormons (BBC3's documentary, Young, Mormon and Single.)
• Mar: Night Of The Living Tweet (Charlie Brooker’s sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror.)
• Apr: Christianity’s Inanities (Religious television.)
• May: Monarchy’s Maladies (BBC2's documentary, Fit To Rule – How Royal Illness Changed History.)
• Jun: Hoard Today, Gone Tomorrow (BBC1’s Britain’s Biggest Hoarders.)
• Jul: Quizzing the Whizzkids (Channel 4's documentary, Child Genius.)
• Aug: Hidden Cameraderie (Channel 4's reality TV show, Eye Spy.)
• Sep: Smoking Woodbines In The Outside Lav (The working class in television, Paul O’Grady’s Working Britain.)
• Oct: Left In The Dark (Channel 4's The Blackout. A docu-drama about Britain's National Grid being at the receiving end of a cyber-attack, and the resultant breakdown of society.) 
• Nov: Fascist Pepperpots (Dr Who, the Daleks and storylines drawn from the real world.)
• Dec: Fish In The Net (MTV's reality TV show, Catfish.)

2014

• Jan: Screening The Working Class (Owen Jones giving Huw Weldon Memorial Lecture Totally Shameless: How TV Portrays The Working Class.)
• Feb: Who Benefits From 'Benefits Street'?  (Channel 4's docusoap, Benefits Street.)
• Mar: Channel Hopping The Shopping Channels (QVC and BidTV.)
• Apr: To EDL and Back (BBC3's documentary, EDL Girls – Don’t Call Me Racist.)
• May: Mythtaken Identity (BBC2's The Olden Days: The power of the past in Britain.)
• Jun: Ballads And Beards (BBC1's  Eurovision Song Contest.)
• Jul: Hunger For Anger (Channel 5’s Angry Britain: Mean Streets.)
• Aug: The Downside of Upgrading (Jacques Peretti's documentary series, The Men Who Made Us Spend.)
• Sep: Porn and Real Life (More 4 documentary, The Golden Rules of Porn.)
• Oct: Electronic Heroin (Channel 4's Web Junkie: China’s Addicted Teens.)
• Nov: A Barrage of Farage (Panorama’s The Farage Factor. The murky shenanigans and double dealings of Nigel Farage.)
• Dec: Fiscal Exercise (Channel 4’s documentary about social mobility, How Rich Are You?)

2015

• Jan: Do Have Nightmares (BBC 1's Crimewatch.)
• Feb: Court On Camera (ITV's British version of Judge Judy, Judge Rinder.)
• Mar: Bitter Pill (Adam Curtis's documentary, Bitter Lake.)
• Apr: Putting Protest To The Test (BBC3’s documentary, Fighting The System.)
• May: Puppets and Politics (Puppet-based satirical sketch show, Newzoids.)
• Jun: ‘I Love The Smell Of Rubbish In The Morning’ (BBC2’s fly-on-the-wall documentary Wastemen.)
• Jul: Taken To Taskers (Channel 4’s reality TV show, Running The Shop.)
• Aug: Together In Electric Dreams (Channel 4’s drama series, Humans.)
• Sep: Under the Concrete Carpet (BBC4's Britain’s Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield.)
• Oct: High-Tech Hide and Seek (Channel 4's Hunted. State surveillance as a game show.)
• Nov: Soldiering On (BBC1's reality TV show, DIY SOS – Homes For Veterans. A special makeover show focusing on creating a liveable environment for ex-armed forces personnel with physical and mental health conditions.)
• Dec: Cheapness At a Price (Channel 4's Dispatches programme goes undercover in Aldi’s Supermarket Secrets.) 

2016

• Jan: Prejudice and Pride (BBC 3's Reggie Yates’ Extreme UK: Gay And Under Attack.)
• Feb: Victim Porn (A review of voyeuristic schlockumentaries such as I Survived Evil and Fear Thy Neighbor.)
• Mar: The Golden Swill Bucket Awards (Television adverts.)
• Apr: Whatever Happened To Political Drama? (A look at Play For Today and Our Friends in the North.)
• May: Legal Highs And Lows (BBC3's documentary series, Drugs Map Of Britain.)
• Jun: Monarchy Malarkey (Channel 4’s soap opera sitcom, The Windsors.)
• Jul: Branded Comedy (BBC4's sitcom, Going Forward.)
• Aug: Belonging to Our Belongings (Channel 4's reality TV show, Life Stripped Bare.)
• Sep: Back To The Future (BBC2's In The 80s With Dominic Sandbrook.)
• Oct: Prison Break (CBS's Reality TV show, Troubled Teens: Jail Shock, A look at juvenile detention.)
• Nov: Soap Gets In Your Eyes (A look at the BBC's longstanding soap, EastEnders.)
• Dec: Living The Dream (Adam Curtis's documentary, ‘Hypernormalisation’.)

2017

• Jan: The Benefits Trap (Ken Loach's 'I, Daniel Blake'.)
• Feb: Views On The News (BBC2’s reality TV show, Common Sense.)
• Mar: The Extremes of Exploitation (Channel 4’s documentary, The Modern British Slave Trade.)
• Apr: Peering At The Peers (BBC2’s documentary series Meet The Lords.)
• May: The Vegan Revolution ( BBC iPlayer's mockumentary, Carnage.)
• Jun: Slave to the Algorithm (Panorama's What Facebook Knows About You.)
• Jul: Maid In America (The TV adaptation of Margaret Attwood's The Handmaid’s Tale.)
• Aug: Home Truths (BBC1's reality TV show, The Week The Landlords Moved In.)
• Sep: From The UN To Anarchism (BBC4’s Storyville, Accidental Anarchist: Life Without Government.)
• Oct: The Jihadis’ Tale ( Peter Kosminsky's political drama, The State, about the experiences of four young British Muslims who fly to Syria to join Islamic State.)
• Nov: Music For The Masses (BBC4's documentary series, Tunes For Tyrants: Music and Power. Authoritarian regimes and their use and abuse of music for propaganda purposes.)
• Dec: Nutters and Putters (Gary Younge's Channel 4 documentary about disquiet in the American heartland,  Angry, White and American.)

2018

• Jan: Out Of The Blue (David Attenborough's Blue Planet II.)
• Feb: On The House (David Olusoga social history documentary, A House Through Time.)
• Mar: Delicious Chips For Their Tea (Product placement and Coronation Street.)
• Apr: At The Movies: Red Carpet Campaigning (A look at the Oscars.)
• May: A Tale Of Two Cities (China Mieville's dystopia drama,The City And The City.)
• Jun: Image And Identity (BBC3's documentaries on obesity and body image.)
• Jul: ‘One Does’ (Television coverage of the Royal Wedding.)
• Aug: Counter Culture (BBC’s Shopgirls: The True Story of Life Behind The Counter.)
• Sep: Revenue Streams (New media and streaming platforms.)
• Oct: Guarded Bodies (BBC1’s political drama, Bodyguard.)
• Nov: The Great Russian Fake Off (An overview of the Russian State's ongoing disinformation campaigns on social media.)
• Dec: Pulling The Trigger (Derren Brown's Netflix special, Sacrifice.)

2019

• Jan: Sold A Pup? (BBC 1's consumer programme, Watchdog.)
• Feb: Making A Drama Out Of A Crisis (Channel 4’s docudrama, Brexit: The Uncivil War.)
• Mar: The Hand-Made Tale (BBC2’s The Victorian House Of Arts And Crafts.)
• Apr: Alice Through The Looking Glass (Channel 4’s documentary, Sleeping With The Far Right.)
• May: Investigating The Yorkshire Ripper Investigation (BBC4’s three-part series, The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A Very British Crime Story.)
• Jun: With Kid Gloves (ITV documentary series, Planet Child.)
• Jul: ‘An Urgent Referral Still Takes Quite a Long Time’ (Channel 5’s fly-on-the-consulting-room-wall documentary, GPs Behind Closed Doors.)
• Aug: Mistaken Identity (BBC3's political drama, The Left Behind.)
• Sep: Can’t A Cleaner Like Avocados? (BBC2’s How The Middle Class Ruined Britain.)
• Oct: Palmed Off (BBC3's Unmasked: Make-Up’s Big Secret. A look at the environmental impact of palm oil production.)
• Nov: Cash And The Castaways (Channel 4's reality TV show, Treasure Island With Bear Grylls. A variation on Lord of the Flies - but with adults - for your evening's entertainment. Not so much a 'survival of the fittest' but a 'survival of the slickest'.)
• Dec: ‘You’ve Had It, Ain’t Ya?’ (BBC4’s Arena documentary, A British Guide To The End Of The World.)

2020

• Jan: ‘All I Can Think About Is The Housing’ (Channel 4's Dispatches programme, Born Homeless.)
• Feb: YouTube And You (A look at the social media behemoth, YouTube.)
• Mar: All’s Whale That Ends Well? (BBC 3's documentary, Stacey Dooley Investigates: The Whale Hunters.)
• Apr: ‘The Detail Which Moves You Is The Same Detail That Lets You Know It’s True’ (BBC2's Confronting Holocaust Denial With David Baddiel.)
• May: TV and the Virus (Television coverage of the lockdown.)
• Jun: At The Movies (Jeff Gibbs environmental documentary, Planet of the Humans.)
• Jul: Luxury Legoland (BBC2's documentary series, Inside Monaco: Playground Of The Rich.)
• Aug: Turning The Page (Channel 4's documentary, Page Three: The Naked Truth.)
• Sep: ‘I’ve Got Nothing. I Ain’t Got No-one. But I’ve Got The Shops’ (Channel 5’s fly-on-the-wall documentary, Shoplifters: At War With The Law.)
• Oct: Radio Ga-Ga (TalkRADIO and right-wing talking points.)
• Nov: Rubber Reboot (Britbox revives 1980s favourite, Spitting Image, but misses the satirical mark.)
• Dec: Control And Coercion (BBC3's documentary on domestic violence, Is This Coercive Control?)

2021

• Jan: Cutting-Edge Drama (Steve McQueen's Small Axe films.)
• Feb: Fame And Fortune (BBC 2’s documentary series Celebrity: A 21st Century Story.)
• Mar: An Emotional History (Adam Curtis’s documentary, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.)
• Apr: Keep Calm And Carry On With The Clichés (BBC1’s documentary, Blitz Spirit With Lucy Worsley.)
• May: ‘She’s Part Of Those Statistics Now’ (Dispatches' The Black Maternity Scandal.)
• Jun: Track And Trace (BBC3’s Tagged series: Women on Tag.)
• Jul: Another Problematic ‘Class System’ (Panorama's Paralympics: The Unfair Games?)
• Aug: Brexit And Exports (Panorama's Brexit: Six Months On.)
• Sep: Between The Lines (BBC3’s documentary series, High: Confessions Of An Ibiza Drug Mule.)
• Oct: Remoulding The Activist (CBS’s reality TV show, The Activist. The politics of charity and 'activism' as a game show.)
• Nov: Police And Abuse (Channel 4's Dispatches programme, Cops On Trial. When the police are the criminals.)
• Dec: Capturing The Christmas Spirit (Christmas, consumerism and woke culture.)

2022

• Jan: Charged Up (Channel 4's Dispatches programme, The Truth About Electric Cars, and BBC 1's Panorama's, The Electric Car Revolution: Winners And Losers.)
• Feb: The Shape Of Things To Comet (Adam McKay's political satire, Don't Look Up.)
• Mar: Where the wealth went (BBC 2’s documentary, The Decade The Rich Won.)
• Apr: The Media as Intermediary (Media bias and state propaganda.)
• May: Four Sale (The privatisation of Channel 4.)
• Jun: Getting over the horizon (Panorama's The Post Office Scandal.)
• Jul: A Bite From The Apple (Apple TV's dystopian drama, Severance.)
• Aug: Hack To The Future (Channel 4's political drama, The Undeclared War.)
• Sep: A Problem Not Registering (BBC News documentary, Disappearing Dentists.)
• Oct: Profits and power ( Panorama's The Energy Crisis: Who’s Cashing In? The energy companies and their super profits.)
• Nov: Hard Labour (Al Jazeera’s four-part documentary series, The Labour Files. The Labour Right's undermining of Jeremy Corbyn and the smearing of the Labour Left.)
• Dec: Mindsets And Misinterpretations (Panorama's Disaster Deniers: Hunting The Trolls. Alex Jones and other conspiracy theorists pouring scorn on disasters and tragedies.)

2023

• Jan:  The richest and poorest (Channel 5's two-part documentary, How The Other Half Live.)
• Feb: Dukes And Rebukes (Channel 4's Prince Andrew: The Musical.)
• Mar: Exploring Englishness (Channel 4's Grayson Perry’s Full English.)
• Apr: Exploitation at work (Panorama's Sex For Work: The True Cost Of Our Tea.)
• May: Flat broke (Panorama's What’s Gone Wrong With Our Housing?.)
• Jun: Send in the crowns (The King's coronation.)
• Jul: Splashing out on drip (Channel 4’s Untold series. Addicted to Drip, which looks at addiction and conspicuous consumption.)
• Aug: The state of North Korea (BBC2 documentary, North Korea: The Insiders.)
• Sep: Super marketing (Channel 4’s documentary, Secrets Of The Supermarket Own-Brands.)
• Oct: SSRIs and side effects (BBC iPlayer's documentary series, Are My Antidepressants Worth It?. Mental health and medication amongst young people in Scotland.)
• Nov: Gathering storm (Channel 4’s docudrama, Partygate. The Conservative Party at play, misbehaving during Covid and lockdown.)
• Dec: Fashion Victims (Panorama's Boohoo’s Broken Promises. A look at the business model of fast fashion.)

2024

• Jan: An appetite for profit (BBC 3's The Skinny Jab Uncovered.)
• Feb: Lights . . . Camera . . . Political Action? (ITV's political docudrama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office.)
• Mar: Crossing the line (Channel 4's documentary series, Miners’ Strike 1984: The Battle For Britain.) 
• Apr: Presenting the past (Historical dramas and multiculturalism.)
• May: Going public about going private (Panorama’s NHS Patients Going Private: What Are The Risks?)
• Jun: United by music, non-politically? (BBC1's  Eurovision Song Contest.)
• Jul: Temu’s temerity (Channel 4’s Dispatches documentary, The Truth About Temu.)
• Aug: Anti-social media (ITVX’s drama serial, Douglas Is Cancelled.)
• Sep: Hacked off (ITV’s phone-hacking documentary, Tabloids On Trial.)
• Oct: Flipped Off (Channel 4's reality TV show, The Great House Giveaway. The popular British past times of house renovations and Keeping up with the Joneses.)
• Nov: Not-so special offers (Panorama's Supermarket Deals: How Good Are They? The reality of big business supermarkets. If it looks too good to be true . . . )
• Dec: Far into the far right (Channel 4’s documentary, Undercover: Exposing The Far Right. A look at the growth of the far right across Europe.)

2025

• Jan: The latest celebrity to be accused (The scandal surrounding MasterChef presenter, Gregg Wallace.)
• Feb: All over the shop (Netflix's Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy.)
• Mar: The maxim of maximising (Radio 4's documentary series, The Prophets of Profit.)
• Apr: Realistically altruistically (Radio 4's series, The Infinite Monkey Cage.)
• May: Lessons from Adolescence (Netflix’s crime drama Adolescence.)
• Jun: Looking into Black Mirror (Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror.)
• Jul: Being informed about informers (BBC documentary, Informers: Hunting The Enemy Within, on state surveillance in Putin's Russia.)
• Aug: Tell A Vision In Turkmenistan (YouTube documentary,  TV in Turkmenistan is Insane.)
• Sep: Heading down stream (The growth in streaming services.)
• Oct: Crafty cover-ups (BBC4’s documentary, What Are UFOs? Are they out there, and why don't they want to talk to us?)
• Nov: Anti-social media (BBC3’s documentary Blackmailed: The Sextortion Killers. The devastating impact of cyber-crimes.)
• Dec: Manipulated by the Monoform (A look back at the life and career of the radical filmmaker, Peter Watkins, who had recently died.)

2026

• Jan: The luxury gap (Channel 4's documentary series, Inside The World’s Most Luxurious…)
• Feb: Processing progress (Matthew Sweet's documentary, What Happened To Progress?)
• Mar: Reporting on reporting (Panorama's Our Man In Moscow.)
• Apr: Automation and occupations (Panorama's Will Robots Take My Job?)
• May: Theroux the keyhole (Louis Theroux's Netflix documentary, Inside The Manosphere.)
• Jun: Regulations, nations and alienation (As part of the BBC News Scams & Scandals documentary series,The Immigration Fraudsters looks at the prevalence of 'bogus' asylum seekers.) 
• Jul: Grander designs (Kevin McCloud's Channel 4 series, Listed Britain, which details the history of Britain's listed building and British grand architecture.)