Telly Talk: Good sport

There’s a certain myth built up around the Olympics, and the Winter Olympics in particular. It’s like we can still see their Greek origins and the snow and ice are bringing it all back to Mount Olympus itself, with Zeus primed and ready to push off from the highest peak and execute the most impossible stunts a pair of skis has ever seen, scoring not just the max but forcing the judges to invent a new system of scoring, so impressive were the feats performed.

“You can already hear umpteen screenwriters ready assembling their pitches…”

There’s also that history of the underdog we all love to root for in every sporting event, from the events depicted in Cool Runnings to the ones remembered with Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards’ hope over experience as he made a bid for a medal with pretty much zero experience on the slopes. Edwards’ adventures are currently in development for a Hollywood film of their own, just in case you were interested.

As an aside, my personal favourite fictional coverage of the games is the 1980 animated classic Animalympics, which is pure class mixing humour, with romance and a lot of animals being graceful, ferocious and determined. Just like athletes, then.

This time around the actual games are taking place in Sochi in Russia (in case you missed the Facebook petitions and news links) and have already caused quite a stir, even if the opening ceremony was only last Friday. With the controversy surrounding the location and its human rights records, declarations of an absence of homophobia, and even an announcement to the news media from Whitehall that terrorist attacks are “very likely to occur”, you can already hear umpteen screenwriters ready assembling their pitches for the next Ben Affleck film. These Winter Olympics have the eyes of the world on it for so many more reasons than the bobsleigh race.

Sport has always been entwined with politics, sometimes more obvious than others, but Adam Hills’ The Last Leg and new funny commentary programme Alan Davies’ Apres Ski will have a lot of opportunity to really shine and sharpen those pikes of satire and darkness – provided they keep their nerve. In fact, both of these seem set to square off against each other on the very same Friday night so it will be interesting to see how the two compare, considering how Alan Davies’ show has clearly been put together as competition to the success The Last Leg enjoyed not only during the Olympics two years ago and since. Hills never gives the impression he’ll be pulling any punches, but after what seems like a lifetime adopting the persona of a likeable mischievous curmudgeon sitting on Stephen Fry’s left in QI, will Alan Davies be able to, a: anchor a show on his own, and b: be able to keep up with the swift writing turnaround social and sporting commentary demands? The results remain to be seen.

But what of the Games themselves? With our own temperatures always set to drop we should be sure of some good suggestions for PE when the pitch gets iced over, and the thrill of these death-defying athletics will always keep many a sports fan and national pride supporter glued to their sets. I, myself, will be tuning in with awe smacked across my face at the speed and skill demonstrated, and also a (possibly overly) keen ear to listen out to hear if any of the surrounding events and tension are getting to the commentators. Clare Balding has stood up as ‘out’ and working the events, while others (not at the BBC) have called for a boycott of attendance. What happens next is likely to be fixed in the history books. Would you want to have missed it?

Alan Davies’ Apres Ski, BBC2, Friday 14 February; The Last Leg, Channel 4, nightly all week; Winter Olympics and Paralympics, BBC, until Sunday 23 February 2014

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