Join us as we look at what’s new on BBC iPlayer this week – We Might Regret This, Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience, Close and more
We Might Regret This
We Might Regret This, Abe (DARREN BOYD); Levi (EDWARD BLUEMEL; Jo (ELENA SAUREL); Freya (KYLA HARRIS), Roughcut, Parisa Taghizadeh ©BBC Pictures
New Comedy Drama from the producers of Big Boys, Stath Lets Flats, and People Just Do Nothing about a relationship, an impending blended family and an intense female friendship. Canadian artist and tetraplegic Freya moves to London to be with Abe, a silver fox lawyer. After firing her efficient but very problematic 24-hour live-in personal care assistant, Freya begs her chaotic best friend, Jo, to take the role. She’s delighted when Jo accepts – Abe much less so.
Speaking about We Might Regret This, co-creator Lee Getty said, “We intentionally infused the series with as much disabled perspective as possible. Disability is not a black-and-white experience; it is nuanced and specific to the individual. How can non-disabled people know that if they don’t have access to variations of the disabled experience? To date, most disability-related stories see the disabled person as the “object” looked at from the outside.
We Might Regret This intends to bring you inside the disabled experience through the eyes of our disabled protagonist. Our director, Nick Collett and Director of Photography, Will Hanke, were very intentional and creative in their approach to bringing us into Freya’s point of view, inventing new dollies and rigs to attach to Kyla’s wheelchair, so you were always with her, not outside of her. We also hired as many disabled people as possible (both in front and behind the camera) and had one of the most accessible, if not THE most accessible, productions ever made in the UK, and we hope to have set the bar for future productions.”
Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience
Made In Korea: The K-Pop Experience, Dexter; Blaise; Reese; James; Olly, Picture of the band at a recording studio, Made In Korea Ltd ©BBC Pictures
A music experiment like no other, narrated by BBC Radio 1’s Vick Hope. Blaise, Dexter, James, Oliver and Reese are Dear Alice, a new boyband, who are put through the K-pop training process with the goal of launching on the global stage.
Dear Alice, band member Blaise Noon said, “The standards of the instructors and all the staff at SM Entertainment were world-class. It was an amazing experience, one for which I’m immensely grateful. In K-pop, the standards are extremely high, and a lot of feedback is required, so it was quite a shock at first. A few of us took it personally, but throughout the experience, we grew accustomed to it and realised it was coming from a place of love and for the good of the band. Once we accepted that and realised it was constructive, it got easier to accept. We had a very supportive team around us throughout.”
Director of the Artist Development Center, Hee Jun Yoon, added, “In Korean, there is a word called ‘흥(heung)’, which means fun or excitement. We often use ‘흥이 난다 (heung-ee nahn-dah)’ to express a sense of enthusiasm or liveliness. It is said that this excitement releases adrenaline or dopamine. I believe K-pop has the power to evoke this very emotion. This might be due to its dynamic music and high-calibre choreographed performances. K-pop transcends genres, showcasing a diverse range of styles and performances in its own distinctive manner.
Additionally, I believe the interaction between artists and fans plays a key factor. K-pop artists actively engage with their fans, not only through their performances but also by sharing behind-the-scenes content and communicating with them regularly.”
The Kingdom: Saudi Arabia’s Most Powerful Prince
From fringe royal to de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman’s rise is an extraordinary story. This two-part series explores how the individual became one of the most powerful and divisive leaders in the world.
What’s new on BBC iPlayer this week – August 18, 2024
Sister Boniface Mysteries
Entertaining detective drama set in the world of Father Brown, following the investigation of Sister Boniface of St Vincent’s Convent, a nun, moped rider, wire maker and part-time forensic scientist.
Radio 1 at Reading and Leeds Festival
Don’t forget to see out the summer in style with epic headliners and the hottest new acts such as Liam Gallagher, Raye, and Fred again..
What’s new on BBC iPlayer this week – August 18, 2024
Brian May: The Badgers, The Farmers and Me
Brian May: The Badgers, the Farmers and Me. Sir Brian May, Athena Films ©BBC Pictures
Follow the lead guitarist of Queen, Brian May, as he campaigns for a change in the approach to badger culling. The one-off 60-minute documentary will show the rockstar taking his case to a sceptical farming community, hoping to persuade them to back his radical plans.
Movies streaming now on BBC iPlayer
Close
Thirteen-year-old Léo and Rémi are inseparable, as close as brothers, spending every waking minute together, playing, laughing, and caring for one another. But when Léo and Rémi jump from primary school to the new world of secondary education, their new classmates gossip about the boys ‘close friendship, insinuating the boys must be ‘gay’. All boys and men watching this painful social conditioning unfold will relate to the themes at play. We all had close male friends as kids who we let go in our teens due to the perceptions of others or the fear of being labelled.
As this painful process unfolds for Léo and Rémi, we are acutely aware that the emotions attached to their bond differ for both boys. Léo wants to be one of the popular kids and fears the emasculating effects of the gossip around him, while Rémi’s only fear is losing Léo. With incredible performances from newcomers Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele, we watch a friendship fragment as a tragedy unfolds.
Blinded by the Light
Javed (Viveik Kalra) is a British Pakistani young man growing up in Luton during the turbulent social changes of 1987. Javed longs to further his ambitions of becoming a writer, working on poetry while writing song lyrics for his best friend, Matt (Dean-Charles Chaplin). However, no matter how hard he tries to build a portfolio, his writing ambitions remain stifled by his father, Malik (Kulvinder Ghir). Malik is deeply proud of his Pakistani roots and his family’s new life in Britain, but he also clashes with his children as they embrace British culture. For Malik, Javed’s future lies in medicine or law, not writing.
Set against the backdrop of the National Front protests of the 1980s, where violence and racism led to the further oppression of new communities in the UK, Blinded by the Light never shies away from the social upheaval present in towns like Luton during the 80s, its social commentary dovetailed with themes of generational change, individual aspiration, class and community.
What’s new on BBC iPlayer this week – August 18, 2024
The Phantom of the Open
Words: Sab Astley
The Phantom of the Open captures the pure spirit of what Maurice Flitcroft (Mark Rylance) meant to the golfing world – not as a laughing stock but rather as an unexpected source of inspiration. He was, as they say, the ‘People’s Golfer’, a rare relatable figure on the grand stage of the Open. Rhys Ifans makes a worthy adversary in the foil of Keith McKenzie, President of the Royal & Ancient Golf Society. Flitcroft’s effortless unflappability against McKenzie’s incredulous frustration at his perceived mockery of the sport allows for some side-splitting encounters. They’re like two middle-aged titans going toe-to-toe with one another through their correspondence.
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