3rd January 2013 00:23:00
Charlie Brooker's 2012 Wipe - Brief Thoughts
Review of Charlie Brooker's 2012 Wipe from BBC Two.
It wouldn't be the end of a year without grand high cynic Charlie Brooker giving his annual rundown of the past twelve months. And so it came to pass that Charlie Brooker's 2012 Wipe aired on BBC Two on the 1st of January.
Which, okay, is technically the beginning of the next year, but at least he made sure 2012 had definitely finished before summarising it. If you've not seen it, here's the inevitable iPlayer link.
To be honest, I'm mostly covering this to let people know the special exists, since I didn't see much advertising - "reviewing" it is probably quite redundant. If you like Charlie Brooker, you'll probably like this too. If you think Brooker has sold out since his more elaborate hairstyle, then... well, the mighty head-swoosh remains, I'm afraid. But 2012 Wipe is much in the vein of his past years-in-review: a swift month-by-month breakdown, with interludes from Doug Stanhope and fictional idiot Barry Shitpeas.
For what it's worth, this round-up format always seems kinda rushed to me, and I'd like to see him pick a few bigger topics and do more detailed pieces, but he's been producing this format every year for a while, gaining award nominations along the way, so clearly they're working out. Brooker had a decent 2012, with the broadcast of Black Mirror and once again being the highlight of 10 O'Clock Live, but this show should satiate those of us who've missed his profane rants to camera.
If you like this kind of Brooker material and haven't seen his How TV Ruined Your Life series, the whole thing is available on YouTube (for now, at least) and is well worth a watch as a distillation of his broader points about TV. And we won't have to wait another year for more, as the Weekly Wipe series should be with us some time in 2013 - based on his comments at this end of 2012 Wipe about seeing us "in a few weeks", maybe January or Feburary.
Which, okay, is technically the beginning of the next year, but at least he made sure 2012 had definitely finished before summarising it. If you've not seen it, here's the inevitable iPlayer link.
To be honest, I'm mostly covering this to let people know the special exists, since I didn't see much advertising - "reviewing" it is probably quite redundant. If you like Charlie Brooker, you'll probably like this too. If you think Brooker has sold out since his more elaborate hairstyle, then... well, the mighty head-swoosh remains, I'm afraid. But 2012 Wipe is much in the vein of his past years-in-review: a swift month-by-month breakdown, with interludes from Doug Stanhope and fictional idiot Barry Shitpeas.
For what it's worth, this round-up format always seems kinda rushed to me, and I'd like to see him pick a few bigger topics and do more detailed pieces, but he's been producing this format every year for a while, gaining award nominations along the way, so clearly they're working out. Brooker had a decent 2012, with the broadcast of Black Mirror and once again being the highlight of 10 O'Clock Live, but this show should satiate those of us who've missed his profane rants to camera.
If you like this kind of Brooker material and haven't seen his How TV Ruined Your Life series, the whole thing is available on YouTube (for now, at least) and is well worth a watch as a distillation of his broader points about TV. And we won't have to wait another year for more, as the Weekly Wipe series should be with us some time in 2013 - based on his comments at this end of 2012 Wipe about seeing us "in a few weeks", maybe January or Feburary.
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