The UK Wrap: 6th July 2012
The Midnight Beast is a British comedy music group. Over the past three years the trio, consisting of Stefan Abingdon, Dru Wakely and Ashley Horne, have built up a huge YouTube following after posting a parody of Ke$ha’s Tik Tok. Their parody songs and clips have so far racked up 40m views, secured a book deal for the group and a sold out tour of the UK. Last night saw E4 bring their antics to the small screen in the self titled 6 part series The Midnight Beast. In a concept not unlike Flight of the Conchords, the show follows the band attempts to make it big in the music industry and their struggles along the way. Set in a grotty flat in London, show is a mixture comedy and songs wrapped around a loose story line. Episode one sees the band trying to organise a showcase in order to get one of their songs included on a video game and they meet their new neighbour Sloeman. The show looks a lot slicker than their YouTube offerings, but fingers crossed it will remain just as funny. The Midnight Beast airs Thursdays on E4
If you saw any of the Channel 4 series Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, chances are you marvelled at the flamboyant and ostentatious wedding dresses so coveted by the Traveller/Gypsy brides to be, designed by Thelma Madine. Since the series, the creations of the Liverpool based seamstress are in such high demand she’s been required to expand her business. A new 6 part Channel 4 documentary series Thelma’s Gypsy Girls, follows Thelma as she attempts to give back the traveller community which created her name by taking on 10 Gypsy girls as trainees over a 6 month period. In a culture where most Gypsy girls leave school at an early age to look after the family home it’s a unique opportunity for them, but a challenge for Thelma. Thelma’s Gypsy Girls airs starts on Sunday night, Channel 4
In a week where the BBC Programing schedule is dominated by Wimbledon and live T in the Park concert broadcasts, Michael Mosley’s documentary Guts: The Strange And Mysterious World Of The Human Stomach will be an informative if somewhat icky respite from the jealousy inducing spectacle of an English summer Music festival and the bloody tennis. Part of the BBC Four season, Flesh, Blood and Bone: The Amazing Human Body. Mosley, a Medical Doctor and presenter takes part in an experiment at the British Science Museum where he swallows a pill camera and puts his innards on display for the entire world to see. In the documentary Mosley also explores the relationship between personality types and pain responses and its link with digestion and the advent of faecal transplants used to treat people with serious stomach and bowel disorders. Guts: The Strange And Mysterious World Of The Human Stomach airs on Thursday the 12th of July BBC Four
