Saturday 27 April
Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd
Sky Arts, 9pm
Roddy Bogawa and Storm Thorgerson’s documentary tells the definitive story of a uniquely English genius who simply got left behind while his bandmates became superstars, and often regarded as just another acid casualty with mental-health issues. Yet unlike so many others, Syd Barrett lived into late middle-age, sequestered in the obscurity he had sought for decades.
Pete Townshend, Tom Stoppard and Graham Coxon are among the stellar contributors, with Barrett’s friends, family and lovers also offering their thoughts. Pink Floyd’s surviving members, meanwhile, prove noticeably more convivial about him than they can bring themselves to be about each other. Barrett’s life was charmed, until it wasn’t: a man for whom everything seemed to come easily, he found fame impossible and, as his sister Rosemary notes, never understood how to take responsibility because he never had to. But while his music ranges from dazzling pastoral psychedelia to dark depictions of mental disintegration, this remains an ineffably moving if necessarily speculative tale, told with affection, exasperation and regret. GT
Knuckles
Paramount+
A spin-off from the hugely popular live-action Sonic the Hedgehog franchise follows the Echidna warrior (voiced, as in two of the films, by Idris Elba) as he tries to train a hapless deputy (Adam Pally), while Rory McCann and Ellie Taylor are among those vying to take his powers.
Bettany Hughes’ Treasures of the World
Channel 4, 6.50pm
Rarely a nation much troubled by travelogues, Bulgaria is Bettany Hughes’s destination tonight: here, she finds lost Greek settlements, Communist relics, Thracian tombs and a hoard of gold some 6,000 years old.
Neil Diamond Night
BBC Two, from 8.25pm
Neil Diamond was one of the many stars of the 1970s who were once mocked but now bask in the glory of critical reappraisal (and, in this case, the unexpected admiration of England football fans). His wares are tonight placed before us. We begin with an anthology of BBC performances, before the documentary Solitary Man at 9.25pm. An hour later comes a 1971 concert, an Electric Prom at 11.05pm and an intimate 2008 gig for Radio 2 just after midnight. If you aren’t humming Sweet Caroline by the end of the night, shame on you.
Abba: 50 Years of Pop
Channel 4, 8.50pm
A couple of weeks after the BBC’s grand celebration to mark Abba’s Eurovision anniversary, Channel 4 pays tribute to Sweden’s mightiest export, with fans including John Grant and Nina Persson singing the praises of the power pop geniuses.
Inside Windsor Castle
Channel 5, 8.50pm
Xand van Tulleken, JJ Chalmers and Raksha Dave are the unlikely but affable trio assigned the task, over six episodes, of assessing the past, present and future of the world-famous royal estate, from its earliest incarnation under William the Conqueror in the 11th century to its modern role as home to the King, Prince of Wales and Duke of York.
Traces
BBC One, 9.15pm
Val McDermid and Amelia Bullmore’s curious crime drama continues its second series with explosions both romantic and literal, as Sarah (Laura Fraser) and Neil (Michael Nardone) draw closer to each other, Kathy (Jennifer Spence) grows increasingly suspicious of Jean’s (Badria Timimi) motives and another bomb goes off with fatal consequences.
The Shop Around the Corner (1940, b/w) ★★★★★
BBC Two, 2pm
Ernst Lubitsch’s romantic comedy deserves to be just as widely celebrated as fellow 1940s classics such as His Girl Friday or The Philadelphia Story. Based on the 1937 play Parfumerie by Miklós László, the film follows two employees (Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart) who bicker constantly, not realising that they’re falling in love via anonymous letters. The leading pair’s chemistry is irresistible.
The Lesson (2023) ★★★
Sky Cinema Premiere, 4pm
Playwright Alex MacKeith delivers a literary chamber piece with more than a few echoes of Henry James. Richard E Grant plays novelist JM Sinclair, the scion of an aristocratic family whose one surviving son, Bertie (Stephen McMillan), needs coaching for his Oxford entrance exam. Enter live-in tutor Liam (Daryl McCormack) who is secretly obsessed with Sinclair’s work. Dark and brooding in all the best ways.
Corpse Bride (2005) ★★★★
ITV2, 4.50pm
An inventive animated fairy-tale from Tim Burton, that modern master of the surreal, that has become a classic of the genre. In an unnamed 19th-century European village, Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp) puts a ring on what he thinks is a branch of a tree only to discover that it is the bony finger of the bewitched, blue-faced “corpse bride” (Helena Bonham Carter) who whisks him off for some netherworld nuptials.
Book Club (2018) ★★★
Channel 4, 10.20pm
What a treat to see four formidable actresses – Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen and Jane Fonda – working together at a late stage in their excellent careers, but, alas, they can’t save this tale of best friends turning to Fifty Shades of Grey to spice up their sex lives. It’s like a silver-haired Sex and the City knock-off, with Fonda’s Vivian filling the role of sexpot Samantha. They have fun with it, of course, but what a missed opportunity.
Sunday 28 April
The Piano
Channel 4, 9pm
The first series of this heartwarming talent contest – recorded in railway stations, where those playing the piano didn’t know they were being watched by classical musician Lang Lang and popstar Mika – was an instant hit with viewers and critics alike. It was also nominated for a most memorable moment Bafta for when eventual winner, 13-year-old Lucy Illingworth – who is blind, non-verbal and autistic – stunned the judges with a complex Chopin piece.
Claudia Winkleman is back as host for the second series and the judges also return, but of course the players now know they’re being assessed. This time around, The Piano also makes a stop at additional stations, with its ticketed final set to be held at Manchester’s Aviva Studios. Continuing in the long tradition of TV talent shows’ (Britain’s Got Talent, The X Factor) love of a sob story, the contestants fall into one of two camps: those ready to tug at the heartstrings, or those with a talent that seems incongruous with their day job. And so it proves in tonight’s opener, where one standout is gifted boxer Ellis, who started playing at the age of four on a keyboard his mother bought at Argos. VL
Mammals
BBC One, 7pm
David Attenborough’s stunning nature series tonight focuses on animals living in the world’s hottest regions. Some survival mechanisms you’ll be familiar with – camels storing water in their humps, for example – but others are remarkable, including a bearded capuchin monkey who uses her tail to soak up rainwater in a tree hollow for her infant to suck.
Coastguard: Search & Rescue SOS
Channel 5, 8pm
With 36,000 calls made to HM Coastguard last year, their work has never been more vital. A second series kicks off with an investigation into what caused a boat to crash onto the rocks at Totland Bay on the Isle of Wight – was it an accident or will the captain face prosecution?
This Town
BBC One, 9pm
Steven Knight’s 1980s-set drama concludes with plenty of unresolved storylines left for a potential second series. Dante (Levi Brown) powers up the band ahead of their debut show – but a backdrop of industrial unrest and an active IRA cell in the Midlands offers greater stress than the gig.
Red Eye
ITV1, 9pm
The highly watchable crime thriller continues as journalist Jess Li (Jemma Moore) starts digging into the story around flight NCA 357, where her police-officer sister Hana (Jing Lusi) is escorting murder suspect Richard Nolan (Richard Armitage) back to Beijing. But when another incident happens on board – is anybody safe up there? – tensions increase and Nolan’s concerns that he is being framed are reinforced.
Dopesick
BBC Two, 10pm & 11pm; NI, 11.25pm & 12.25pm
Based on Beth Macy’s book – about how opioid addiction swept through the US after Purdue Pharma launched its “non-addictive” painkiller, OxyContin, in 2000 – this superb Emmy-winning drama (first shown on Disney+) stars Michael Keaton as a doctor persuaded by Purdue rep Billy Cutler (Will Poulter) to prescribe the drug. The first two episodes air tonight, with the full series on iPlayer.
When Evil Came to Rochdale
Channel 5, 10pm
Your jaw may drop watching this shocking documentary about the scourge of conspiracists on our world. It centres on the Rochdale families whose lives were ruined, and their children taken into care, in the 1990s after false accusations were made that the parents involved them in satanic ritual abuse.
3 Men and A Little Lady (1990) ★★★
ITV1, 12.25pm
In this charming sequel, Peter (Tom Selleck), Michael (Steve Guttenberg) and Jack (Ted Danson) live with Jack’s ex-girlfriend, Sylvia (Nancy Travis), and her daughter, Mary (Robin Weisman), whom the guys have raised since she was a baby. When Sylvia’s Broadway career starts to take off, a move to England is on the horizon, and the trio must do whatever it takes to stay close to their little pal.
The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) ★★★★
BBC One, 1.50pm
The Secret Life of Pets was a Looney Tunes-esque animal odyssey through New York City. The sequel is, believe it or not, even better. It’s wittier, less frenetic and introduces fresh characters. On a family holiday to a farm, the first film’s hero, dependable Jack Russell terrier Max (Patton Oswalt seamlessly replacing Louis CK) faces tough guy sheepdog Rooster (nicely voiced by Harrison Ford).
Legally Blonde (2001) ★★★★
ITV2, 7.05pm
This was the moment that Reese Witherspoon entered global consciousness, and no amount of Oscar-winning turns will separate her from ditsy blonde sorority girl Elle Woods. Of course, Elle isn’t really ditsy, she turns out to be a legal eagle, which is the whole point of Australian director Robert Luketic’s film: the revelatory observation that blondes can also have brains. The dialogue is fabulously sharp-edged.
The Circus (1928, b/w) ★★★★★
Sky Arts, 8pm
Another stellar silent classic from Charlie Chaplin, The Circus sees his “Little Tramp” alter ego hired by the ringmaster of a struggling carnival to work as a clown. Unfortunately, it soon transpires that the Tramp can only be funny when he’s not meant to be. The film’s production was notoriously difficult, being plagued by fires, a tax battle, the death of Chaplin’s mother and the bitter divorce from his second wife, Lita Grey.
Monday 29 April
Miriam: Death of a Reality Star
Channel 4, 9pm
“Surely somebody, somewhere could see that this was a stupid idea,” says one contributor towards the end of the opening episode of this three-part series. It is about Miriam Rivera, the Mexican-American model who shot to fame, briefly, when she starred in Sky’s 2004 Ibiza-based “fun-in-the-sun” reality dating show There’s Something about Miriam. The “twist” being that she was actually transgender.
From today’s perspective, that show looks stupid, but also deeply exploitative. Not just for the six young men duped into believing (the audience knew the truth from day one) that they were competing to win a date with the “girl of their dreams” (as well as £10,000), but for Rivera too – who was convinced at the time that it was her big chance at stardom. Rivera’s attitude was undoubtedly more complex, as was the unanticipated fallout from the show’s big reveal – both subjects are explored in greater detail in the episodes that follow over the next two nights, alongside the story of her childhood and her mysterious death in Mexico in 2019. Local police said it was by her own hand – but her husband insists that it was murder. GO
Narrow Escapes
Channel 4, 4pm
A new series exploring what life is like for members of the UK’s narrowboat community. Today we meet a father and son who travel the canals of the Peak District on their floating pizzeria, Carrie from Doncaster who’s swapping bricks and mortar for life on the water, and solo boater Emma, who’s setting out on an epic adventure.
Great Coastal Railways Journeys
BBC Two, 6.30pm
The final week of his coastal excursion takes Michael Portillo to the east of England. Starting in the Thames Estuary, he dives into the assorted pleasures of Canvey Island, Benfleet and Dengie nature reserve before moving on to Walton-on-the-Naze and Wrabness.
Jamie Cooks Spring
Channel 4, 8pm
Jamie Oliver embarks on a new project to demonstrate how to cook using seasonal produce. In the first of three episodes themed around spring, he cooks up lip-smacking recipes including rhubarb and pork noodles, spinach risotto, a “scruffy” leek tart, and chard in a cheesy cannelloni.
Blue Lights
BBC One, 9pm
Tensions simmer in Belfast as news of the murder of Loyalist Jim “Dixie” Dixon filters down, threatening to provoke a full-on gang war and forcing Annie (Katherine Devlin) to reveal all to Grace (Siân Brooke) about her ill-judged night of passion.
Pompeii: The New Dig
BBC Two, 9pm
In tonight’s closing episode, archaeologists complete the excavation of a once-opulent residence, a bakery and a laundry. In the process, they uncover fresh evidence of what people were busy doing in the ancient city during its fateful final hours and how many of them, despite the death and destruction raining down all round, managed to escape the city and live to tell the tale.
Martin Clunes: Islands of the Pacific
ITV1, 9pm
The actor’s epic journey tonight takes him to Guam, where the story of how the island’s bird population was wiped out by an invasive species of snake eerily mirrors how the island’s native culture has been all but erased by creeping Americanisation. More happily, Clunes moves on and concludes his trip in the island paradise of Palau, a Unesco World Heritage site, where nature is encouraged to thrive.
Night Mail (1936, b/w) ★★★★★
Talking Pictures TV, 12.35pm
This inspired film, about an overnight London-to-Glasgow postal train, was made by the General Post Office Film Unit during the documentary movement (1926-46) and represented a creative peak for the genre. Its most celebrated sequence features music by Benjamin Britten and the narration of WH Auden’s poem Night Mail over shots of racing train wheels. Night Mail II (1987, and with poetry by Blake Morrison) follows.
The Starling Girl (2023) ★★★★
Sky Cinema Premiere, 3.55pm
Laurel Parmet’s debut, nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, is powered by a spellbinding turn from Eliza Scanlen (Sharp Objects). Scanlen plays 17-year-old Christian fundamentalist Jem, juggling the pressures of everyday life in small-town Kentucky: gossip, religious fervour, the added fact of her burgeoning relationship with her older pastor (Lewis Pullman). Streaming from Sunday.
Catch Me If You Can (2002) ★★★★
Film4, 6.05pm
Leonardo DiCaprio is roguish and charming as the serial con-artist Frank Abagnale Jr in Steven Spielberg’s semi-factual drama. The film follows him as he finagles a small fortune by posing as a pilot, a doctor and a lawyer, while managing to stay a step ahead of Tom Hanks’s FBI agent Carl Hanratty. Christopher Walken earned an Oscar nod for his turn as Abagnale Sr, and the real Abagnale has a cameo.
Tuesday 30 April
Stalking: State of Fear
ITV1, 9pm
Thanks to the success of Richard Gadd’s dark comedy Baby Reindeer (Netflix), which is based on Gadd’s experiences with his own stalker, the act is back in the public consciousness. Important conversations are being had about how victims can be better protected, perpetrators prosecuted and then prevented from offending again. This documentary from the reliably thorough Exposure strand meets victims of stalking, discussing how it has ruined their lives, wrecked their confidence (some are too frightened to leave the house) and destroyed their trust in law enforcement.
The statistics are damning: only one in 20 reports of stalking made to police lead to a conviction – by which time it can be too late. This reality is made heartbreakingly clear by the contributions of the family of Gracie Spinks. The 23-year-old from Derbyshire was murdered in 2021 by Michael Sellers – a man she had previously reported to police for being “obsessed” with her. A selection of 999 calls and police interview footage, made by and featuring victims, offers further stark evidence of the devastation that stalking can cause when police refuse to take victims seriously. PP
Fiasco
Netflix
Igor Gotesman’s comedy blends The Office’s mockumentary format with sardonic French humour. Over seven episodes (box-setted and subtitled), film-maker Raphaël (Pierre Niney) is plagued by tech issues and huge egos while trying to direct his first feature: a grand historical epic taking us from the Vikings through to the D-Day landings.
Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr: The Final
BBC One, 8pm
Finalists Matt and Roisin are tasked with sprucing up Blenheim Palace’s tired holiday lodges. Plush furnishings, opulent wallpaper and romantic bathrooms are the day’s orders, with judges Jonathan Adler and Michelle Ogundehin, and host Alan Carr, left to choose the winner.
For the Love of Dogs
ITV1, 8pm; UTV, 11.45pm
Alison Hammond continues to provide warmth and infectious energy, with her work at the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home tonight resulting in a meeting with a pug suffering from all sorts of ailments and a scaredy-cat German shepherd.
Hitler’s Power
PBS America, 8.40pm
This absorbing three-part documentary analyses how Adolf Hitler managed to climb from virtual obscurity in the late 1920s to rule Germany – and how he, and the Nazi party, interacted with its citizens. It’s a familiar subject granted fresh insight by the presence of new, previously unseen photographs, as well as powerful archive and personal testimonies from the descendants of party members and Holocaust victims.
MasterChef
BBC One/BBC Two Wales, 9pm
Now in its 20th season, John Torode and Gregg Wallace’s cooking behemoth introduces another tasty twist in the form of a surprise lifeline. Ten eliminated contestants are welcomed back to the kitchen and given two chances to cook again, with the best three cooks going through to the semi-final.
Michael Palin in Nigeria
Channel 5, 9pm
The final leg of Palin’s travels take him to the historic Benin City, which British forces burned large swathes of in 1897. He learns about the tragedy before being ambushed by an angry local who lays into the British Museum’s ownership of priceless treasures from the city. For a bout of lighter entertainment, there’s also a boat ride down the Ethiope river.
The Running Man (1963) ★★★★★
Film4, 4.40pm
Carol Reed’s masterpiece sees Laurence Harvey go undercover on the continent in an attempt to commit insurance fraud. His complicit wife (Lee Remick) follows him, where the plan seems on track – until the agent of the insurance company (Alan Bates) appears. Nobody quite shows their hand; nobody quite tells the truth. It’s a tangle of suspicious minds that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Smokey and the Bandit (1977) ★★★★
ITV4, 8pm
After 47 years, this car chase movie still feels fresh and breathlessly engaging. The late Burt Reynolds stars as Bo “Bandit” Darville, who accepts a bet to drive a lorry of beer across America in 28 hours. The result is an enjoyable farce with lots of car crashes and memorable one-liners, as Bandit picks up runaway bride Carrie (Sally Field), with her prospective father-in-law, Sheriff (Jackie Gleason), in hot pursuit. Great fun.
In the Line of Fire (1993) ★★★
Great! Movies, 9pm
Wolfgang Petersen’s film might as well be titled Dirty Harry Goes to Washington. Clint Eastwood plays an ageing secret service agent who, tormented by his failure to save President JFK, finds himself protecting another president from a would-be assassin (John Malkovich). Hardly groundbreaking, but it’s better than your average cat-and-mouse thriller. Plus, Eastwood is always good value.
Wednesday 1 May
Shardlake
Disney+
Having been established by Umberto Eco’s novel The Name of the Rose as crucibles of faith and fanaticism, virtue and vice, medieval monasteries make ideal settings for murder mysteries. By turns brooding psychological thriller and rollicking adventure yarn, this long-awaited adaptation of CJ Sansom’s bestselling whodunit Dissolution begins with Thomas Cromwell (Sean Bean) dispatching Matthew Shardlake (Arthur Hughes, so arresting in Then Barbara Met Alan) to a remote abbey where his emissary has been murdered.
Shardlake, a brilliant lawyer with scoliosis, has a two-pronged mission: catch the killer and provide the pretext to close the institution and seize its assets. Hughes and Anthony Boyle (Masters of the Air) make an engaging odd couple as the perceptive, honourable Shardlake and Jack Barak, Cromwell’s shifty underling who, complete with “distracting codpiece”, is sent to assist or perhaps spy on his companion. A supporting cast including Babou Ceesay (defiant abbot), Paul Kaye (deranged monk) and Peter Firth (the scheming Duke of Norfolk) add plenty of interest. All four episodes are available today. GT
The Motorway
Channel 5, 8pm
The fourth series follows the rescue teams as they help out stranded motorists, beginning with a rogue lorry wheel that has destroyed a family car.
Race Across the World
BBC One, 9pm
The four teams join the well-trodden backpacker trail for their fourth leg, travelling from Phnom Penh, Thailand, to the border with Myanmar. As ever, conflicts between competition and experience, speed and budget prove painful and plentiful, but the backdrops (including Angkor Wat) are breathtaking.
Professor T
ITV1, 9pm
Working with a precision the punctilious professor (Ben Miller) would doubtless appreciate, tonight’s series finale involves a mysterious body found at the site of a car crash: a case that causes Jasper to examine his own relationship with his ailing mother (Frances de la Tour) as the real circumstances around his father’s death are finally, shockingly revealed.
A Very British Sex Scandal: The Love Child & the Secretary
Channel 5, 9pm
Positively tame compared to the steady stream of scandals involving Conservative MPs these days, Cecil Parkinson’s long affair with his secretary was political dynamite in its day, blowing up his professional ambitions as he spent years in court trying to block publication of details about their daughter. Private Eye’s Ian Hislop, former MP Edwina Currie and commentator Matthew Parris are among the well-informed pundits looking back on the whole farrago.
Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion
Sky Documentaries, 9pm
Oscar-winning film-maker Eva Orner uncovers the sordid story behind Brandy Melville, the fast-fashion retailer beloved of teenage girls that has been dogged by persistent allegations of racism, sexism and exploitation.
Boxing, Belief and Me
BBC One, 10.40pm; Wales, 11.10pm
The BBC’s wide array of religious programming extends to Sikhism in Walsall, West Midlands. This documentary follows one Bupinder “Pops” Singh as he tries to expand his Midland Langar Seva Society Boxing Academy, a refuge for young men and women trying to avoid the dangers of bullying and crime. With promising amateur Junior about to turn pro, the future of the club may hinge on victory in his first fight.
The Remains of the Day (1993) ★★★★★
Film4, 6.20pm
This wonderful adaptation of the most significant novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro stars Anthony Hopkins as James Stevens, a butler whose dedication to his role is challenged – both by his master’s flirtations with Nazism and by his love for the new housekeeper, Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson). This is an elegiac masterpiece, pairing two leads each nearing the peak of their powers.
The Invisible Woman (2013) ★★★★
BBC Four, 10pm
Ralph Fiennes’s biographical film casts writer Charles Dickens in a complex new light. It benefits from Fiennes’s powerful presence as Dickens, which is bustling and authoritative, but the film’s main character is the sadder Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones), the aspiring actress whose 13-year affair with Dickens ended his marriage. Tom Hollander and Kristin Scott Thomas bring heft to the support.
Cape Fear (1991) ★★★★
BBC One, 11.40pm
Martin Scorsese’s remake of the 1962 classic is a disturbing portrayal of a family torn apart. Ex-con Max Cady (a terrifying Robert De Niro) torments his former attorney Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) for betraying him during his trial for a sex crime years before. It isn’t as slick as the original, but Scorsese directs with trademark bravura. Juliette Lewis and Robert Mitchum (who appeared in the first film) co-star.
Thursday 2 May
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Sky Atlantic, 2.05am & 9pm
This immensely moving six-part drama is based on Heather Morris’s bestselling novel, inspired by the story of Holocaust survivors Lale and Gita Sokolov who met while prisoners in Auschwitz. It’s a remarkable story of love triumphing over evil, with Jonah Hauer-King (World on Fire) sensitively portraying the young Lale. His job was to ink identification numbers on fellow prisoners’ arms – a job that he took, with great regret and shame, because “I was 26 and I wanted to live” – and is how he crossed paths with Gita Furmanova (Baptiste’s Anna Próchniak). That they survived was a miracle, and here the forces that combined against them are represented in the form of volatile SS officer Baretzki (Jonas Nay).
The devastating events of the 1940s are interwoven with that of the older Lale (Harvey Keitel), by now in his eighties and living in Melbourne, who is plagued by horrific memories. Yet when he recounts his tale to Morris (Melanie Lynskey) he starts by saying: “This is a love story.” It sounds incongruous, but we see why – and the title song, Love Will Survive by Barbra Streisand, is a stunning fit. Available as a boxset. VL
A Man in Full
Netflix
A new drama series from David E Kelley (Big Little Lies) is always good news, even better when it stars Jeff Daniels and is based on a Tom Wolfe novel. Daniels plays Charlie Croker, an Atlanta tycoon whose property empire is about to come crashing down, with foes including banks, local politicians and ex-wife Martha (Diane Lane).
Secrets of the Neanderthals
Netflix
A delve into the mysteries surrounding the Neanderthals and what their fossil record tells us – and, more intriguingly, their disappearance. Patrick Stewart lends his stentorian tones to narrate this one-off documentary about our Eurasian ancient ancestors who roamed from Russia to the Atlantic coast more than 300,000 years ago.
Wildlife Rescue
Channel 4, 8pm
More from the South Essex Wildlife Hospital, as the team attempts to return injured animals back to the wild. This week they have to teach an orphaned fawn how to feed, because she was abandoned before her instinct to suckle kicked in, while a grey seal pup refuses to eat after being attacked by a dog.
Instagram’s Worst Con Artist
ITV1, 9pm
The equal parts fascinating and infuriating two-part documentary about Australian health influencer Belle Gibson concludes, as we learn how her lies about being cured of a cancer she didn’t have were unearthed by sceptical journalists, while family members talk about her childhood and the possible origins of her compulsive lying.
Joe & Katherine’s Bargain Holidays
Channel 4, 10pm
The odd-couple travel show continues in Bulgaria as bargain lover Joe Wilkinson attempts to show fellow comedian Katherine Ryan that affordable doesn’t mean unenjoyable. Their trip to the Black Sea resort of Sozopol is threatened off the bat by Ryan’s meltdown over a delayed economy flight.
Johnson & Knopfler’s Music Legends
Sky Arts, 10pm
Sam Fender meets fellow Geordies Brian Johnson (AC/DC) and Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) to discuss what made him want to be a musician. The 29-year-old “saviour of British rock” discusses his tough upbringing in North Shields, what inspires his lyrics, and his all-time favourite gigs from Glastonbury to St James’s Park.
Galaxy Quest (1999) ★★★★
Film4, 4.30pm
“By Grabthar’s hammer, by the Sons of Warvan, you shall be avenged!” You don’t have to be a Star Trek fan to appreciate the sublime silliness of Dean Parisot’s spoof sci-fi, as a bunch of washed-up actors (played by Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman) from a cancelled TV space opera find themselves beamed, for real, into the Klaatu Nebula by friendly aliens who need their help against a race of reptilian warmongers.
The Browning Version (1951, b/w) ★★★★★
Talking Pictures TV, 5.35pm
Let’s pretend that Mike Figgis never remade The Browning Version and stick with this flawless adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s play instead. It follows an ageing Classics master (Michael Redgrave) whose life begins to fall apart: he must retire early, his wife has been having an affair and the pupils all hate him. It’s easy to see how the film influenced Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers.
Film of the Week: The History Boys (2006) ★★★★★
BBC Four, 10pm
Alan Bennett’s timeless play about precocious grammar-school boys pushing for Oxbridge is now best remembered for two things: the hilarious refrain “How do I define history? It’s just one f---ing thing after another” and its brilliant cast of young Britons, who would go on to become some of our favourite stars. Above all, it remains a truly British ode to youth, hardwork and meritocracy. The play, which was a smash-hit for the National Theatre under Nicholas Hytner (who directs the film) and won Olivier and Tony awards, is celebrating its 20th anniversary next month, with a revival of the show touring the UK later this year. So settle down and fall in love with Richard Griffiths’s kind but corrupted English teacher, intent on inspiring and getting the best out of his boys. The NT production’s original cast all reunite for the film, making it even more of a treat: there’s James Corden’s class clown Timms, Dominic Cooper’s smooth-talking Stuart and Samuel Barnett’s timid David, who is grappling with his sexuality. It’s a truly generation-defining cast that just brims with charm and purpose. Frances de la Tour and Penelope Wilton are stellar in support, too.
A Beautiful Mind (2001) ★★★
Sky Showcase, 10.05pm
Russell Crowe piles on the mannerisms as John Nash, the Nobel Prize-winning mathematician who contended with schizophrenia. Ron Howard’s biopic won the Best Picture Oscar, though it underestimates the audience’s intelligence by suggesting that the efforts of a good wife (played by Jennifer Connelly) are far better than actual medication. Still, it’s entertaining fare, and with a dynamite twist as well.
Friday 3 May
Clarkson’s Farm
Amazon Prime Video
It’s all doom and gloom at Diddly Squat Farm as season three of Jeremy Clarkson’s unlikely – but all the more entertaining for that – agricultural odyssey gets under way. Not only has a closure notice been served on the farm restaurant, but the council has set its sights also on the farm-shop’s car park. Which means, somehow (loud as the howls of protest are, detail is not the series’ strong point), that half the cow herd must be dispatched. And to add to the pain, the dry weather – we’re still in 2022 as the series begins – is ruining the crops, the tractor needs a costly service, and the state of the world beyond the farm augurs only massive cost increases (rampant inflation, rocketing fuel prices) and ever-decreasing yields.
Desperate to find new income streams, Clarkson’s brainstorming lands on “farming the unfarmed” – attempting to exploit the 500 acres of his estate given over to hedgerows and woodland – and launching new ventures including hoovering blackberries for jam, goat herding, deer hunting, mushroom growing and pig farming (“We could have Piggly Squat sausages – genius!”). The first four episodes drop today (Friday 3), with the remaining four on May 10. GO
Welcome to Wrexham
Disney+
Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s purchase of Wrexham AFC in 2020 brought global attention to the struggling Welsh side, and saw the club scramble to promotion to the English Football League last year. As fans know, that turned into another wild ride – documented thrillingly in this third series, which kicks off with a double-bill following the team as they face their new pressures head on.
Granite Harbour
BBC One, 8pm
The Scottish crime drama returns for a moody second series with the members of Aberdeen’s major investigation team – led by Bartlett (Hannah Donaldson) and Lindo (Romario Simpson) – investigating two murders that, initially at least, appear to be unconnected. Elsewhere, the city’s biggest crime family, the McFaddens, are making a bid for legitimacy.
The Big Steam Adventure
Channel 5, 8pm
Last year, newsreader John Sergeant fulfilled a lifelong ambition: chugging entertainingly from London to Scotland by steam power alone. Now he’s back again with steam enthusiasts Peter Davison and Paul “Piglet” Middleton, traversing various other parts of the country – starting tonight in the Lake District – in a multitude of steam-powered vehicles.
Have I Got News For You
BBC One, 9pm
Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, and comedian Chloe Petts are Ian Hislop and Paul Merton’s guest panellists, while Martin Clunes takes on hosting duties.
Gardeners’ World
BBC Two, 9pm
At Longmeadow, Monty Don continues planting up the mound, prepares the ground for the cottage garden’s summer display and finally gets some seed sown in the vegetable garden. Plus, Nick Bailey explores a Devon garden that combines historic charm with cutting-edge design.
Michael Portillo’s Long Weekends
Channel 5, 9pm
The former politician enjoys a taste of living la dolce vita in Milan. Italy’s capital of fashion, design and industry presents him with a packed itinerary as he tries out everything from a ride on a vintage Lambretta to a dizzying tour of the historic Duomo, via a trip to the Leonardo da Vinci Museum. Food and drink is covered too, of course, with lessons in cooking risotto and mixing negronis.
Unfrosted (2024)
Netflix
The latest addition to the origin-movie sub-genre (think Air, Flamin’ Hot and BlackBerry) promises to be a good deal more fun, at least. Directed by and starring Jerry Seinfeld, it follows the corporate battle over America’s new king of breakfast in the 1960s: the humble Pop-Tart. With Kellogg’s and Post Cereals in uproar over the toaster-ready interloper, who will manage to buy the company and come out on top? Melissa McCarthy and James Marsden co-star.
Saint Maud (2019) ★★★★★
Film4, 10.50pm
Rose Glass’s directorial debut is a terrific, terrifying psychological horror set in Scarborough, where nurse Maud (The Rings of Power’s Morfydd Clark) has been assigned a new patient. Her early career was blighted by trauma, and she’s now found religion – or, more accurately, a creepy spin on it. Beforehand, at 9pm, Kristen Stewart stars in action-horror Underwater; Glass and Stewarts’s superb new film, Love Lies Bleeding, is in cinemas now.
Kursk: The Last Mission (2018) ★★★
BBC Two, 11.55pm
If only they’d prised it open a day sooner… This is the theory underlying Kursk, director Thomas Vinterberg’s clenched, mournful account of the 2000 submarine disaster which claimed the lives of all 118 Russian crew on board. Saving Private Ryan’s Robert Rodat wrote the script; the starry cast includes Colin Firth, Matthias Schoenaerts and Léa Seydoux (on fantastic form).
Man Up (2015) ★★★★
BBC One, 12.10am
Ben Palmer’s oh-so-British romcom (that isn’t very romantic, but that suits) stars a sizzling Simon Pegg and Lake Bell. The latter plays Nancy, a Bridget Jones-type character, who, on the way to her parents’ 40th wedding anniversary, is mistakenly identified as the blind date whom Jack (Pegg, as hilarious as ever) has been waiting for at Waterloo station. Nancy goes along with it and they wind up having a ball.
Television previewers
Stephen Kelly (SK), Veronica Lee (VL), Gerard O’Donovan (GO), Poppie Platt (PP) and Gabriel Tate (GT)
