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The Spaceman of Afghanistan; Gotham review – origins of a spaceman, and of Batman The Spaceman of Afghanistan; Gotham review – origins of a spaceman, and of Batman
(21 days later)
By the grace of a God I have often wrongly condemned as unbenevolent, the BBC did not put Ten Years of The Apprentice up on their previews site in time for me to watch or write about it. So instead of that bag of televisual sick, we can talk about The Spaceman of Afghanistan (BBC4), the uplifting story of Abdul Ahad Momand who on 29 August 1988 became the first – and so far only – Afghan to journey into space.By the grace of a God I have often wrongly condemned as unbenevolent, the BBC did not put Ten Years of The Apprentice up on their previews site in time for me to watch or write about it. So instead of that bag of televisual sick, we can talk about The Spaceman of Afghanistan (BBC4), the uplifting story of Abdul Ahad Momand who on 29 August 1988 became the first – and so far only – Afghan to journey into space.
He was a beneficiary of the Russians’ desire to keep hold of Afghanistan as an ally when unrest in the country increased their vulnerability to the US. He entered their cosmonaut programme and spent a week in the Mir space station helping to map the uncharted regions of his country and note geological features that would help his people predict earthquakes. In the tiny village in rural Afghanistan where he grew up, he had gazed during the pitch-black nights at the stars and the moon so clear above him and there he was, among them. The Earth from that distance, he said, looked beautiful and Afghanistan peaceful. When he returned, he was made a government minister. Six months after that the mujahideen gained control of Kabul and he had to flee with his wife and child to Germany, where they have lived ever since.He was a beneficiary of the Russians’ desire to keep hold of Afghanistan as an ally when unrest in the country increased their vulnerability to the US. He entered their cosmonaut programme and spent a week in the Mir space station helping to map the uncharted regions of his country and note geological features that would help his people predict earthquakes. In the tiny village in rural Afghanistan where he grew up, he had gazed during the pitch-black nights at the stars and the moon so clear above him and there he was, among them. The Earth from that distance, he said, looked beautiful and Afghanistan peaceful. When he returned, he was made a government minister. Six months after that the mujahideen gained control of Kabul and he had to flee with his wife and child to Germany, where they have lived ever since.
The programme followed him as he went back to his native land for the first time. He was again greeted as a hero by the people. And he was met with smiles by President Karzai, a member of the mujahideen when Momand was fighting with the Afghanistan Air Force, and by his one-time rival for a seat in the spacecraft, Mohammed Darwan. How firmly their teeth were gritted it was impossible to say, though Darwan’s condemnation or refutation of the rumours that have swirled since 1988 that the Pashtun Momand was chosen over him because Darwan belonged to a “lesser” Afghan tribe was conspicuous by its absence. But I daresay everything looked fine if you just stood far enough away.The programme followed him as he went back to his native land for the first time. He was again greeted as a hero by the people. And he was met with smiles by President Karzai, a member of the mujahideen when Momand was fighting with the Afghanistan Air Force, and by his one-time rival for a seat in the spacecraft, Mohammed Darwan. How firmly their teeth were gritted it was impossible to say, though Darwan’s condemnation or refutation of the rumours that have swirled since 1988 that the Pashtun Momand was chosen over him because Darwan belonged to a “lesser” Afghan tribe was conspicuous by its absence. But I daresay everything looked fine if you just stood far enough away.
In other news – Batman’s been Smallvilled. How much you enjoy Gotham(Channel 5), the latest incarnation of Batman’s origin story, depends on your appetite for two things. One, canonical tweaking (yes, Trekkies, Whovians, fans of Battlestar Galactica and especially the man who combines all three in one porcine, husbandly form and lives with me, I’m looking at you); and two, series that sit delicately balanced on the knife-edge between simple second-tier programming and first-class trash. In other news – Batman’s been Smallvilled. How much you enjoy Gotham (Channel 5), the latest incarnation of Batman’s origin story, depends on your appetite for two things. One, canonical tweaking (yes, Trekkies, Whovians, fans of Battlestar Galactica and especially the man who combines all three in one porcine, husbandly form and lives with me, I’m looking at you); and two, series that sit delicately balanced on the knife-edge between simple second-tier programming and first-class trash.
Not being emotionally invested in any superhero (Benton Fraser from Due South is a different matter and, anyway, simply an excellent Mountie with finely Yukon-honed skills rather than superpowers), I have a robust attitude towards the former. Bring on, I say, Jada Pinkett Smith having a whale of a time as the wonderful Fish Mooney, the local villainess in cahoots with Gotham’s mafia chapter. The only person enjoying himself more is the magnificently twitchy, malevolent and terrifying Robin Lord Taylor as The Penguin-in-waiting, Oswald Cobblepot.Not being emotionally invested in any superhero (Benton Fraser from Due South is a different matter and, anyway, simply an excellent Mountie with finely Yukon-honed skills rather than superpowers), I have a robust attitude towards the former. Bring on, I say, Jada Pinkett Smith having a whale of a time as the wonderful Fish Mooney, the local villainess in cahoots with Gotham’s mafia chapter. The only person enjoying himself more is the magnificently twitchy, malevolent and terrifying Robin Lord Taylor as The Penguin-in-waiting, Oswald Cobblepot.
I care not if the ages of some of the arch-enemies-to-be are out of sync with that of newly-orphaned Bruce, or that Catwoman appears to have been born as such, rather than undergoing a disconcerting metamorphosis in later life, nor even that Sean Pertwee is no more Alfred Pennyworth than my left shoe is. Chuck it all in, let it boil merrily away and serve it up in steaming, delicious bowlfuls to me once a week. Lovely.I care not if the ages of some of the arch-enemies-to-be are out of sync with that of newly-orphaned Bruce, or that Catwoman appears to have been born as such, rather than undergoing a disconcerting metamorphosis in later life, nor even that Sean Pertwee is no more Alfred Pennyworth than my left shoe is. Chuck it all in, let it boil merrily away and serve it up in steaming, delicious bowlfuls to me once a week. Lovely.
As for the latter – well, there has been a second tier/first class void in my heart ever since Revolution (which replaced Spartacus which replaced The Sarah Connor Chronicles which replaced Prison Break) ended and so I am having almost as much fun as Jada Pinkett Smith herself. The lead (Ben McKenzie as Jim Gordon – someone evidently took the wise decision not to hang an entire series on a pubescent Bruce Wayne) looks like the offcuts of Matt Damon, the guy from The Mentalist (which, FYI, was also thunk up by Gotham’s creator Bruno Heller) and, most confusingly, Pertwee, but once you’re past that, it’s all good.As for the latter – well, there has been a second tier/first class void in my heart ever since Revolution (which replaced Spartacus which replaced The Sarah Connor Chronicles which replaced Prison Break) ended and so I am having almost as much fun as Jada Pinkett Smith herself. The lead (Ben McKenzie as Jim Gordon – someone evidently took the wise decision not to hang an entire series on a pubescent Bruce Wayne) looks like the offcuts of Matt Damon, the guy from The Mentalist (which, FYI, was also thunk up by Gotham’s creator Bruno Heller) and, most confusingly, Pertwee, but once you’re past that, it’s all good.
And if you think the preceding paragraphs contained too much extraneous information – my friend, you’re wrong. It’s extraneous information that MAKES shows like Gotham. Sundry delights like working out who is who, who looks like who else, what he’s been in and who the other one reminds you of (Erin Richards, playing Gordon’s fiancee Barbara, was in Being Human, but if you’re my age you might also like me to save you some time and tell you – you’ve seen her exact mouth before on Courtney Thorne-Smith in Ally McBeal, 1997-2000. On you go with your day, and you’re welcome) are part of the joy. They distract you from potholes and supplement sub-par performances, they make you feel part of one webby consciousness, a member of the happiest family – that of television viewers across the world and through the ages.And if you think the preceding paragraphs contained too much extraneous information – my friend, you’re wrong. It’s extraneous information that MAKES shows like Gotham. Sundry delights like working out who is who, who looks like who else, what he’s been in and who the other one reminds you of (Erin Richards, playing Gordon’s fiancee Barbara, was in Being Human, but if you’re my age you might also like me to save you some time and tell you – you’ve seen her exact mouth before on Courtney Thorne-Smith in Ally McBeal, 1997-2000. On you go with your day, and you’re welcome) are part of the joy. They distract you from potholes and supplement sub-par performances, they make you feel part of one webby consciousness, a member of the happiest family – that of television viewers across the world and through the ages.
Seriously – it’s Courtney Thorne-Smith’s mouth. Go back and look.Seriously – it’s Courtney Thorne-Smith’s mouth. Go back and look.