OCTOPUS! (Prime, available now) is a quirky exploration of this most hideous and menacing cephalopod. You may detect by my choice of words a slight prejudice against the marine mollusc, and you would be right: they are on my list of creatures (along with slugs and wasps) that I plan to one day ask God what he was thinking of in creating them.
This is engagingly narrated by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, but I was a little baffled by the warning that had popped up to prepare me for scenes of a “sexual nature”. Horrifying, this turned out to be footage of Samantha, a Giant Pacific octopus, copulating with Jeffrey (also an octopus) and then strangling him to death. My respect for octopuses grew.
We follow the exploits of Doris, one of their 96,000 offspring, as told by cute animation and real footage, which includes a close-up of the beak — an actual beak! — which apparently every octopus is furnished with, situated on its undercarriage.
The picture that emerged was one of a solitary animal who enjoys nothing more than to tuck itself into cosy spaces, will eat just about anything, is venomous when it must be, and loves to spread its ink. Me, too, Doris, me, too! So, did this curious profile improve my opinion of octopuses? It just might have, yes.
Dead Man Walking: Dan Walker on death row (Channel 5, 7 May) is a considered look at the perennial moral question of capital punishment, a debate that was recently reignited in Britain by the murders of three little girls in Southport last year (News, 30 July 2024). A poll taken in the aftermath suggested that a majority of the public now thought that the death penalty should be reinstated.
The presenter is the former sports broadcaster and notable Christian Dan Walker, with a gentle guiding hand exploring the grim reality of what looks like a barbaric practice. He is honest about his own feelings about capital punishment, describing how he is informed by his fervent belief in forgiveness and redemption, and the hope that people can change.
He travels to the United States to meet a variety of people all affected by capital punishment in different ways, including an inmate on death row, ex-death-row prison guards, and the terrible story of a man who spent most of his life on death row before being acquitted and released on appeal.
A range of polarised opinions are aired and respectfully discussed, and, while the programme might feel lacking in hard-hitting insight, Walker’s non-judgemental and gentle approach creates an openness in his encounters which more than makes up for it.
It might be an ancient one, but the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” remains relevant to our current public discourse.