What's currently good on the BBC iPlayer?

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

a fair criticism. I do wonder if the project would have worked better as a short series with a focussed one episode per band.

but not a fatal flaw. still an interesting doc to watch.

Just watched to the end.
The point of girl bands and babies was interesting, but they revisited it at least three separate times because they kept all the bands stories totally separate. This is one of the reasons it felt like it kept covering the same ground.
Many of the subjects/issues raised were bigger than groups specifically from Scotland or specifically for groups made exclusively up of women.
The preachy end cards over the kids was excruciating. There is a clear and definite message within the stories that is worth highlighting. Chucking that bit on the end (like a Live Aid plea after comedy sketch) was not the way to do it.
Overall it was pretty disappointing. A couple of interesting insights, but ultimately a lack of accuracy and depth as it struggles to circumvent parts of the story to fit the narrative. The individual segments are shot and recorded nicely but it's a disjointed and very armature in it's execution.

I think you are right that it might have made more sense as three grouped (time based?) episodes. Trouble is that I think it was originally made as an independent film. This is maybe why the wobbly narrative wasn't questioned and eradicated by a writer, edit producer, producer, exec producer, editor, or commissioner. It seems like a very obvious and jarring schoolboy (/schoolgirl) error.

 

[Kaka Tim]

I enjoyed the Loaded documentary - Loaded: Lads, Mags and Mayhem. It’s amazing how far away in time certain areas of 90s culture feel now.

Thought it was very interesting programme. An interesting arc where the magazine - and its staff - went from "ironic" "harmless" sexism to full on - coke fuelled - expoitation and mysogony to keep up with the Nuts and FHM shite theyd inspired. Gail Porters take on it was powerful - what was done to her was with the naked photo projected onto the houses of parliament was an apalling (and non-consensual) violation. I never had any time for the "new lad" stuff at the time - always seemd to be student posers being faux "lads" - a comic book , regressive, narrow version of working class macuslinity - (and of course exactly the audience Oasis courted) James Brown still refuses to engage with the dark side of his creation.
And yeah - its was such a different time - before social media and the interent started its cancerous erosion of cultural and social cohesion