The Custard TV

PODCAST: # 324: Our Top 10 Shows of 2021

2021-12-30T15:43:00.001+00:00

Luke and Matt count down their individual Top 10 shows of the year. Plus, there's a BoxMaster of The Year and we look at the Top 10's of our site contributors.

Listen to "# 324: Our Top 10 Shows of 2021" on Spreaker.

A Very British Scandal exposes 1950’s gender politics in a way that will speak to modern women.

2021-12-29T10:50:00.003+00:00

The three-part serial A Very British Scandal is the best of the 2021 Christmas dramas and has enough temperature to break through the cold on a frosty winter’s night. However, don’t expect any festive cheer here as seasoned screenwriter Sarah Phelps puts a hard lens to 1950’s sexuality and gender politics resulting in three high tension episodes that have enough explosive moments and emotional twists to rival any other romance drama that has hit our screens in recent years.

The miniseries is a dramatization of the highly prolific 1963 Argyll vs. Argyll case that judged the divorce between the beautiful and charismatic Duchess Margaret Campbell (played delectably by Claire Foy) and her then manipulative husband Duke Ian Campbell ( an unpredictable Paul Bettany). It starts with the initial romance as Ian is attracted to Margaret’s expression of freedoms but as his masculinity was threatened the two entered one of the 20th century’s most notorious divorces and brutal legal proceedings where an onslaught of doctored evidence, including exploitative polaroids and stolen diary entries, were exercised against his third wife. The trial concluded with Margaret being reduced to the nickname ‘the Dirty Duchess’.

From one of the first scenes, when Margaret enters the courtroom, the vivid script begins to establish Margaret’s defiance of gender norms. After a short but demeaning conversation with her husband Ian, where he suggests he will stop the proceedings if she submits to him, the Duchess, instead of becoming upset, simply probes that he “better take his seat”. While short in length, these fighting words caught my attention as they were in a segment that felt different to other representations of rocky romances where the husband and wife are either enemies or smooch buddies and not somewhere in between. As the series continued to establish the main parts, I began to feel like I was watching something akin to one of my favourite films about conformity and rebellious lovers, Revolutionary Road (2008).

I was immediately invested in what else Margaret had to say and she didn’t disappoint. There is one scene in particular that I won’t forget in a hurry as it framed a particular response I felt potent towards today’s politics. It starts with a conversation between Margaret and the snarky Maureen Guinness (Julia Davis) as they discuss apes at the zoo. Maureen observes that everything they do is about sex and that Margaret acts in the same way as those ‘Bonobos’. It was infuriating to me that she would judge an acquaintance’s sexuality so openly until Margaret, much to the dismay of the socialite, boldly returned “I like sex, I like it very much and am extremely good at it”. This line spoke to women like me who don’t subscribe to the sexual ideals of having one partner forever (because we aren’t penguins) or striving to get married before hitting 40 out of fear of being deemed a spinster. I enjoy being single, at least for now, but also enjoy the company of the opposite sex. Why should I or Margaret feel ashamed of it?

It is Sarah Phelps quickfire dialogue that makes the story feel contemporary and relatable.

Then there are the performances, including those who play the side characters, who are excellent with Foy and Bettany proving the perfect match for each other. In Margaret, Foy has created a multi-faceted character who at once is charming and enigmatic, strong and forward-thinking, manipulative and stern. Foy understands the duplexity at the heart of the Dutchess and plays her with courage and conviction. In fact, in the last minutes of the penultimate episode, Foy demonstrates the nuance of her role as she portrays a woman who is happy to be a caring, loving wife while unafraid of her own independence. In the scene, she holds her husband close and while telling him she wants their marriage to work also tells him that his addictions and the terrible things they do to each other must stop. It’s the most tender moment between the two and shows that there is something that resembles a connection between them. However, it’s also in this moment that I realised that despite her faults and questionable decisions I wanted her to escape the physical and emotional abuse she was enduring and find the happiness she longed for.

Paul Bettany is perfect as the Duchess’s confident, cruel, and villainous Duke of Argyll as the two have an undeniable chemistry even in the more volatile moments. Initially attracted to Margaret for a sexual prowess he felt matched his own, Ian also felt that she questioned and threatened his masculinity with her self-determination Bettany plays the misogynistic rogue persona of Ian, who uses words like hammer fists and his hands like a hangman’s noose, with an uncanny ease while also providing an air of vulnerability to a character that is so easy to hate.

Another standout performance to me was Timothy Renouf’s Peter Combe who added sensitivity and acceptance to the storyline through his relentless support of Margaret. Renouf depicted Combe as a man who embraced his friend despite her flaws and the difficult situations he was sometimes placed in because of her. It made me want a Combe all of my own. It would also be remiss not to mention Julia Davis as Maureen Guinness who, in stark contrast, appears to be having all the fun in the world as the crass debutante who indulges in criticising Margaret’s every move.

The most significant moment of the show is Margaret’s final rallying cry for her individuality in a court that unashamedly slut shamed her for enjoying the company of men. Phelps ties her likeable characters, memorable dialogue, and original ideas together in a tight bow and shows that while she told a tale of its time she also magnified issues of gender and sexual conformity that we still argue today.

The saddest element about the real story is that while Duchess Margaret Campbell was sentenced as “a completely promiscuous woman whose sexual appetites could only be satisfied with a number of men” the elusive ‘V’ which featured so prominently in her condemnation became the scarlet letter that unfairly followed her around until her death in 1993.

A Very British Scandal is available on BBC iPlayer

PODCAST: # 323: A Very British Scandal, Around the World in 80 Days, The Girl Before

2021-12-27T23:36:00.006+00:00

Matt is joined by site contributors Sarah Kennedy and Will Barber-Taylor to review BBC One dramas, The Girl Before, Around the World in 80 Days and A Very British Scandal. As well as BBC Two’s The Mezzotint.

Listen to "# 323: A Very British Scandal, Around the World in 80 Days, The Girl Before" on Spreaker.

PODCAST: #322: Christmas Special: TOTP, dinnerladies, The Soaps and BoxMaster.

2021-12-20T17:40:00.003+00:00

For our BUMPER Christmas special, we're joined by special guests. Site contributor Sophie Davies joins us to relive the 1996 festive episode of Top Of The Pops (hosted by the Spice Girls) Dawn Glen from the TV Ship Yard Podcast to watch the dinnerladies Christmas Special which aired in 1999 the boys from The Walford Weekly Podcast join us to discuss the importance of soaps at Christmas and how they can stay relevant in a world of disparate viewing. We also welcome back to the podcast Gary and Sarah for a festive edition of BoxMaster.

TIMESTAMPS

00.03.11 - Review of the 1996 Christmas Day episode of Top Of The Pops with Sophie Davies.

00.56.22 - Review of the 1999 dinnerladies Christmas episode with Dawn Glen of the Shipyard Podcast.

1.18.51 - Chat with Alex and Rob from Walford Weekly about the importance and future of Soaps at Christmas.

1.45.30 - Christmas BoxMaster featuring Gary Redrup and Sarah Kennedy.

Listen to "# 322: Our BUMPER Christmas Special." on Spreaker.

Custard TV News Update: Golden Globes Nominees, 'Yellowjackets' returns, 'Killing Eve' back!

2021-12-17T13:57:00.005+00:00

Welcome back to another news update from The Custard TV.

Earlier this week the Golden Globes announced their nominations for the non-televised ceremony to be held on the 9th January.

Of the shows nominated in the TV categories, Succession led the way with five nominations with cast members Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook all getting a nod whilst the show itself was included in the Best Drama Category. Another Best Drama contender, Apple TV+'s The Morning Show also featured heavily in the nominations with Jennifer Aniston getting a Best Actress nod alongside Best Supporting Actor nominees Billy Crudp and Mark Duplass. Two of Netflix's foreign offerings; Lupin and Squid Game, also featured in the Best Drama Category with Omar Sy earning a best actor nod for his role as the charismatic thief in the former whilst Lee Jung-jae and Oh Yeong-su were nominated for the latter. Rounding off the Best Drama category was Pose, whose stars MJ Rodriguez and Billy Porter earned nods in the Best Actor and Actress categories respectively. Also contending for the dramatic actress prize will be In Treatment's Uzo Aduba and Elizabeth Moss for The Handmaid's Tale.

Ted Lasso featured heavily in the comedy TV category netting nominations for the show itself as well as for Emmy winners Jason Sudekis, Hannah Wadingham and Brett Goldstein. Martin Short and Steve Martin both earned nominations for their roles in Only Murders in the Building whilst Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult were recognised for their performances in The Great. Those two shows were joined by a third Hulu offering; Reservation Dogs in the Best Comedy category alongside Hacks whose stars Jean Smart and Hannah Einbender also received nominations. Other comedy nominees include Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross for Black-ish and Issa Rae for Insecure.

Maid and Dopesick both earned three nominations in the Best Miniseries or TV Movie category with Michael Keaton and Kaitlyn Dever received nods for the latter and mother and daughter Andie MacDowall and Margaret Qualley getting nominated for the former. Kate Winslet was the sole acting nominee for Mare of Easttown which was joined by Impeachment: American Crime Story and The Underground Railroad to contend for this category's top prize. Other nominees in this category included WandaVision's Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, Scenes from a Marriage's Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain and The Serpent's Tahir Rahim. Ewan McGregor is also nominated for his Emmy-winning role in Halston as is another British star; Cynthia Erivo who has received a nod in Genius: Aretha.

The BBC have announced that, following the airing of the Christmas Special, popular sitcom Ghosts will be returning for series four. The new series is set to start filming in early 2022 and will once again be broadcast on both BBC One and the iPlayer.

*The critically acclaimed US drama Yellowjackets will return for a second season on Showtime which means we’ll get it in the UK on Sky Atlantic and NOW. The psychological horror/coming-of-age series from married creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson has become a breakout for Showtime with a100 percent rating among critics on RottenTomatoes, The series has also been nomindated Critics’ Choice Award for best drama series.

The ten-episode first season of Yellow tells the story of a girl’s high school soccer team whose plane crashes in the remote northern wilderness, It successfully manages a dual storyline set in the present-day with the key characters as adults with a timeline in the 1990s as the series charts what happens in the immediate aftermath and the long-term effects on the lives of the survivors. Melanie Lynskey, Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci and Tawny Cypress portray the adult versions of the girls with Ella Purnell, Samantha Hanratty, Sophie Thatcher and Jasmin Savoy Brown in the 90s set scenes.

Yellowjackets continues on Sky Atlantic and NOWTV. It’ll end its run on Showtime in the US on January 16th.

*BBC America, the channel that Killing Eve airs in the US have released details of the shows’ final season and it’s coming really. soon.

Jodie Comer returns as Villanelle.

In Season 4, Eve (Sandra Oh), Villanelle (Jodie Comer), and Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) are in very different places. Following Eve and Villanelle’s exchange on the bridge, the former is on a revenge mission, while the latter has found a brand-new community in an attempt to prove she’s not a “monster.”

Sandra Oh as Eve in the first image of her in the upcoming final season.

Having killed Paul, Carolyn goes to extraordinary lengths to continue to chase down The Twelve and the person that ordered Kenny’s hit.

Fiona Shaw as Carolyn.

It’s also been confirmed that the fourth and final season premieres with back-to-back episodes in the US on February 27, 2022.

Though an official date for UK fans hasn’t been confirmed, The Production Company, Sid Gentle Films took to Twitter to reassure UK fans that we wouldn’t have to wait too long.

This means we should expect the final season to start in the second week of March.

REVIEW: Season 3 of Succession ends with its best episode to date.

2021-12-14T03:05:00.000+00:00

“Because they realized if all the slaves dressed the same, they would see how many of them there were, and they'd rise up and kill their masters.”

If we know one thing about Logan Roy, it’s that he always wins.

We’ve heard this repeated idea countless times throughout the season. Tom told Kendall, “My hunch...is that you're going to get fucked because I've seen you get fucked a lot. And I've never seen Logan get fucked once.” When Shiv told Roman that Logan wasn’t infallible, he responded, “No. Sure. I just don't think he ever fails or ever will.”

Death, taxes, and Logan Roy.

Of course, one thing that will defeat Logan sooner or later is time. He can’t be in charge of Waystar forever, unless they’ve been perfecting that head-in-a-jar technology from Futurama that has allowed Richard Nixon to be president for a millennia.

I’ve started to think of Logan Roy as Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker (but, like, not awful). In the movie, Palpatine faces off with Rey and tells her that if she strikes him down in malice and hate, she will become him. The metaphor begins and ends there, don’t worry. Logan has been trying to bully his children into becoming the same kind of killer he is—a kind of immortality. In his mind, once he dies, his legacy will be preserved if he can turn one of his kids into a clone of his own ruthlessness.

Each season of Succession has zeroed in on a different potential candidate. The first was Kendall, the second season saw Shiv’s shot, and this season has largely focused on Roman’s case.

Each proved themselves unworthy through public humiliation. Kendall was late to the vote of no confidence and was yelled at by his father until he cowered in the corner like a young boy. Shiv embarrassed herself at the Pierce dinner, declaring herself to be next in line, only to be rebuffed in front of everyone. Roman got caught with his pants down, in a way that Logan truly could not understand. Were any of them ever in serious consideration? No of course not, but it seems that it’s finally dawned on Logan that none of them are capable of becoming strong enough to defeat him.

Instead, here comes Lukas Matsson. He’s successful and ruthless, having lured in Waystar to buy him, graduating to a merger of equals, and now angling to buy the company himself (something that Kendall floated to him back at his birthday party).

Lukas is the kind of businessman that Logan can respect, someone who combines the audacity to pull off a hostile takeover with an ability to build an empire of his own. As he and Logan talk at his villa, Lukas confronts him about the future. Logan and Waystar are a declining empire inside another declining empire, and Logan starts to ramble about America and how he no longer recognizes it.

“They could do anything. Now look at them. Fat as fuck, scrawny on meth or yoga. They pissed it all away,” he says, but he’s not really talking about a country is he? He’s talking about his children. As Kendall so astutely noted back in season 1, he’s jealous of his children, of the silver spoon he’s handed them, and here comes Matsson, another immigrant entrepreneur who has made something of himself.

Normally the kind of flattery that Matsson pulls out doesn’t woo Logan, but what other options does he have? His last hope, his youngest son, is totally alien to him, telling Roman on the boat, “If you need to get straightened out, get straightened out. Okay? I don’t wanna know.”

The political intrigue that Logan has put his children through has been in the spirit of competition, meant to create one dominant successor, but instead, it has just left them all fighting amongst themselves, unable to rise up to truly challenge him. He’s kept them disconnected from each other, sewing distrust and making sure that none can communicate their feelings with each other. Until they finally do.

Once Kendall can finally come clean about the boy, his siblings are shockingly supportive. They actually care for him, holding him and even cheering him up with some dark humor. And it’s in that moment that they finally are able to join forces, to see that they are stronger than Logan together—or at least they would have been if Shiv had been able to extend that same relationship to her husband.

The foreshadowing of Tom’s betrayal of Shiv was foreshadowed several times in the episode. Roman worries that Peter will throw his mother Caroline down the stairs to get his hands on the flat he wants, which is exactly how Nero killed his wife before marrying Sporus. Shiv’s toast to Caroline’s obviously doomed marriage includes the line, “I hope that your marriage is as rich and happy, rewarding, and fulfilling as mine.”

The foreshadowing extends even further back through the season in retrospect. Tom flew with Logan to Sarajevo and was by his side during his piss-mad urinary tract infection. Tom’s offer to Logan to take the fall for cruises was the first step in moving away from Shiv and towards him, a token of goodwill that Logan made note not to forget.

Logan has many enemies, but his genius is his ability to make them focus on fighting each other to prove themselves to him, rather than joining forces to kill him like the slaves of ancient Greece. When he’s confronted by his children, he’s quick to try to divide them again, asking Roman to take Kendall out of the room while he talks to Shiv, but as soon as it becomes clear that they’re going to stick together, his cheery demeanor flips.

“You're playing toy fucking soldiers! Go on! Fuck off! I have you beat you fucking morons!” He expects his kids to trust him unconditionally, but he also expects them to come with something to barter if they want anything from him.

What is Logan’s thought process? Does he actually see this as a way to motivate his children to “build their own pile”—to forge killers in the fires of adversity? Or has he given up on them the way he so clearly gave up on his first eldest son, Connor?

Of course, he does have one son who is a killer. But ironically, Kendall hasn’t been empowered by the act of actually taking a life, but instead is haunted by it. Killing has turned him into a puddle. It’s actually solidarity and support for each other that brings the kids close to victory, if only they’d extended that compassion just a bit further.

STRAY NUGGETS

Some great Shiv lines in this episode

“Look I’m only stealing so I can win”
“Man, you fucked my wedding in so many ways.”

“Greg, you marry her, you're a plane crash away from becoming Europe's weirdest king!”
Kieran Culkin is absolutely on fire in this episode, going to an even higher level than he’s been at all season. I don’t know how he did it, but the little vein popping out of his temple as he looks to Gerri to save him is some of the most visual desperation I’ve ever seen. And the way he delivers “Okay. Fuck. Okay.” when they decide on killing Logan feels anxious.

POWER RANKINGS

Each recap, we’ll countdown where each character stands. This list is based on who is in the best position to accomplish their goals, whatever those may be, and just my general and totally objective view of who had the best episode.

14. The Next Generation (Last week: N/A) - Take this anyway you want, but we’re fucked. Logan is hanging his kids out to dry and seems pretty overly pessimistic about the state of America. Plus now ATN’s “bigot spigot” is going to turn into a full fledged firehose with GoJo’s technology. The only thing that can stop the unbridled march of capitalism is climate change, you know when the entire house is burned and/or flooded with us inside.

13. Roman (Last week: 5) - Like the baby of any family, Roman seemed to be the last to realize that Logan cannot, under any circumstances, be trusted. Perhaps he blew his chance at staying onboard with Matsson, but Lukas is clearly not someone who can be trusted either. He’s already played Roman, flipping the buyout arrangement. But the biggest kick in the pee-pee for Roman has to be asking his dad for love and being yelled at mercilessly. That and being abandoned by another Oedipal mommy.

12. Willa (Last week: 9) - Fuck it! Look, on paper, I’m not sure Willa is really going to do much better than Connor. He’s rich and as she notes, he’s “a nice man.” But on the other hand, there’s regret plastered across her face and she’s trying to drown herself in champagne. I half-expected a “I’ve made a huge mistake.”

11. Caroline (Last week: 11) - Caroline remains an awful mother, despised by her children after having destroyed their standing in the company. But Shiv didn’t give her as awful of a toast as Caroline did at Shiv’s wedding. Plus she got the flat that Peter loves!

10. Shiv (Last week: 1) - It really felt like Shiv was going to be able to turn the dick pic scandal into a win for herself, but by the beginning of this episode, everything has long since blown over. Instead, she’s even further out of the loop than Roman and has now been betrayed by her husband. How’s it feel at the bottom of those stairs Shiv? Lol Shiv’s the worst.

9. Kendall (Last week: 13) - Did Kendall try to kill himself? Maybe. Is he such a trainwreck that even his mess of a family was like “yo let’s have an intervention”? Yes. Did he fail again to bring down his dad? Yes, for like the fifth time. But he did get to finally get some big shit off his chest and he and his siblings have never seemed closer, and that is no small thing. The real successor was the friends we made along the way.

8. Gerri (Last week: 12) - Rumors of Gerri’s demise might have been a little early last week. Things still aren’t looking great for Gerri since her fate is going to be in Matsson’s hands, but she wasn’t brought down by her alliance with Roman, and she still has a decent amount of control in the situation.

7. Kerry (Last week: N/A) - It took me a while to warm up to Kerry, but I have to say I really enjoyed her this week. She clearly is making things hum behind the scenes, sacrificing goats to get good Wi-Fi and will probably be the mother of Logan’s final child as soon as that Maca root smoothie kicks in. I don’t know where she fits into the new GoJoStarRoyNonesense company, but she’s definitely got options.

6. Connor (Last week: 10) - Connor got a hard “fuck it” from Willa on his marriage proposal and he got to really tell off his younger siblings. He’s been the show’s punching bag for so long that it feels kind of nice to see him stand up for himself. Plus, if the show’s formula is any indication, season 4 is going to be the season of THE ELDEST SON.

5. Greg (Last week: 6) - “What am I gonna do with a soul anyways? Souls are boring.” Greg is heading away from the endless middle and towards the bottom of the top, which is just about the most Greg thing I’ve ever heard. Plus, he’s “a plane crash away from becoming Europe's weirdest king” if he can pull off this Comfry/Contessa switcheroo. In all seriousness though, it’s honestly touching to see the Greg and Tom bromance hold firm through everything. “The verdict is love, Your Honor.”

4. Tom (Last week: 7) - Terminal Tom is no more! Long live Traitor Tom! Everything I said about Connor standing up for himself goes triple for Tom. He’s seen the writing on the wall and waited for the perfect opportunity, all while maintaining plausible deniability. We know and Shiv knows that he snitched, but nobody can prove it, which can come in handy. It’s such a feel good episode for Tom that you almost forget that he is in charge of ATN, which he has turned into a cash cow by playing up the far right.

3. Logan (Last week: 2) - Papa is getting another 5 bil to sit on his pile of billions, and Kerry and Marcia seem to be getting along swimmingly, which is a lot better than Rhea last season. I mean, hard to see a downside for Logan here other than the fact that he essentially cut off his kids for good. Wait, actually, I’m sure he sees that as an absolute win.

2. Lukas Matsson (Last week: 3) - Matsson is getting everything he wanted, control of a content library that can vault his app into the stratosphere. He maintains control of himself, buys out Logan and is going to have the ability to cut all the Waystar loose ends he wants to. Now if he can just get his mattress delivered so he doesn’t have to sleep on a floor mat.

1. Us (Last week: N/A) - We’re the real winners here guys. What an excellent season of television! Thank you so much for reading these recaps, I’ve had a blast writing them even though this stressful show has given me at least 3 heart attacks and taken 5 years off of my life. What was I going to do with 5 years? Put it on my pile with all my other years? Probably. Yeah.

Anyway. Fuck off.

The Best of 2021: From It's a Sin to Mare of Easttown 2021 really delivered.

2021-12-11T23:56:00.001+00:00

This without question my favourite post of the year. It's another chance to celebrate the best television had to offer. 2021 was another strong year. Standouts It's a Sin, Mare of Easttown, Only Murders in the Building and the long-awaited third season of Succession. Enjoy!

The Great (January 2021. Channel 4) Kicking off the New Year in style was Tony McNamara's 'occasional true story' based on the life of Catherine the Great. Starting with the depiction of Catherine's marriage to Peter of Russia, The Great showed her gradually plotting against her new husband, leading up to her coup at the end of the first season. Elle Fanning was wonderful in the lead role as the innocent who has been placed in a world full of backstabbing and politics for which she was initially unprepared. Meanwhile, as Peter, Nicholas Hoult portrayed the petulant tsar wonderfully as he perfectly conveyed the ruler's manic temperament. McNamara's punchy script was full of fantastic one-liners and comic set pieces but also balanced this with darker, more personal moments. The Great's period detail was also fantastic, but this was far from your average costume drama and I'm already salivating at the thought of watching season two. Written by Matt Donnelly.

Lupin (January and June 2021, Netflix)Sometimes you just want a bit of escapism in your drama which was provided in droves by George Kay and François Uzan in their modern day adaptation of Maurice LeBlanc's Arsène Lupin books. Omar Sy was utterly charismatic as Kay and Uzan's adaptation of the gentleman thief, who in this version was a man who would go to any length to prove that his late father was framed for the theft of an expensive diamond necklace. Starting with an audacious heist in the opener, each episode featured Sy's Assone Diop getting one step closer to exposing the truth. Although far-fetched at times, I felt that Lupin never seemed ridiculous thanks to Kay and Uzan peppering in plenty of backstory and motivation behind Diop's schemes. Meanwhile, Omar Sy gave one of the most compelling turns of the year combining charm and menace, he really made me root for Assone with his turn in the finale being especially memorable. As, at the time, this was Netflix's most-watched foreign-language drama, I'm half-expecting a third series to be announced. However, I believe these ten episodes were close to perfection and I feel that any more instalments of Lupin would ruin what was one of the most unique dramas of the year. Written by Matt Donnelly.

It's a Sin (January 2021. Channel 4) It’s a Sin was powerful and unflinching; a drama in the truest sense of the word, with that delicious sweetness and vulnerability that’s a Russel T Davies hallmark. There’s glittering ambition, buzzy energy, naive innocence, and fates entwined. A group of friends, a chosen family, are pulled together by fate, proximity, poverty and circumstances. This is the ride of their lives.

To pigeonhole it as an AIDS drama is too simple - there’s everything here. Lives well-lived as a nightmare disease creeps up on the unsuspecting, and a nonsense half-arsed public health response by those shielded by power and bigoted by hate. Broadcast during the darkest days of the UK’s Covid lockdown it resonated so profoundly with the audience. So many heartbreaking moments (don't talk to me about Colin) were peppered with the humour and humanity that Davies is known for. Our shared suffering saw the Terrence Higgins Trust raise £20,000 in 24 hours from Philip Normal’s iconic ‘La’ t-shirts, and Google searches about current AIDS treatments (Undetectable equals untransmittable! Shout it from the rooftops!) and all the things we should have learned at school skyrocketed. Simply put, great drama changes lives in the most awesome ways. La! Written by Sarah Kennedy.

Unforgotten (February 2021, ITV) Not as showy or grisly as the standard British cop shows, Unforgotten has managed to carve out a niche as one of British telly’s most reliable, low-key mystery series, and a nice corrective to the more sensationalist police dramas. This year's fourth series was slightly different - the murder plot was still compelling, (and hit closer to home than usual, concerning four young police officers) and the suspects were all vividly brought to life by Andy Nyman, Susan Lynch, Phaldut Sharma and Liz White, but this time writer Chris Lang was clearly more invested in the personal life of his protagonist. For three series DCI Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker) has been one of the most effective detectives on British television, with her disarming, deceptively mild-mannered interrogation technique one of the shows most memorable features, but we also saw the warm friendship develop with her partner DI Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) and her tumultuous relationship with her father, (Peter Egan) who has now entered the early stages of dementia and is planning on leaving all his possessions to his new girlfriend. For the first time in the series, Cassie’s personal life seriously encroaching on her work, and it all builds to one of the most emotionally impactful season finales I’ve ever seen. Walker, Bhaskar and Egan are all quietly devastating in their scenes, and there is a real sense of finality to it - a fifth season has been commissioned but it will be interesting to see how it moves forward from the gut-wrenching events of the final episode. Written by Nick Bartlett.

The Flight Attendant (March 2021, HBOMax/Sky One) Tense, unpredictable and great fun, The Flight Attendant was compulsive viewing. On paper, this clever blend of a dark conspiracy thriller and dark comedy shouldn't have worked even half well as it did. Its success can be attributed in large part to the central performance from Kaley Cuoco. In Cuoco skillfully handles all the facets of Cassie Bowden's tortured personality. From the party girl to the girl still grieving the loss of the father she idolised and the alcoholic expertly hiding the extent of her dependency on drink to get her through life. The initial premise of 'woman wakes up next to a dead body after a one night stand' was already enough of a hook, but what it slowly becomes is far more interesting. It is as much about Cassie discovering who murdered the man sleeping next to her in bed as it is her exploring her past and how the fond memories she has of her idyllic childhood with her hero father might actually be hiding something far darker she isn't ready to address. The ensemble cast also shone with Zosia Mamet a particular standout as Cassie's increasingly frustrated best friend Ani. Rosie Perez as Cassie's colleague Megan who was a far darker person than her breezy disposition would have us first believe. The Flight Attendant could've been a silly comedic romp with the murder played laughs, but as the series progressed the more layers of depth were added to the story and the characters. A second series is coming, whether that is entirely necessary I'm not completely convinced, but if they can pull off what made the first season so special for a second time, I'll happily swallow my scepticism. Written by Luke Knowles.

Mare of Easttown (April 2021, HBO/Sky Atlantic) HBO has cornered a market in complex murder mysteries centred around female characters played by A-list actresses over the last few years, so it says a lot that Mare of Easttown stood out as spectacularly as it did. Driven by a sensational lead performance by Kate Winslet, along with equally great work from Jean Smart and Julianne Nicholson, not only did Brad Ingelsby’s writing draw you in with a well-crafted murder mystery, it managed to do new things with the genre. Compared to so many series of a similar ilk, the series never felt gratuitous or sensationalist in its depiction of a murdered female character, instead zeroing in on one of the most brilliant lead characters in years, not to mention a realistic depiction of a small community and the lives that are affected by murder and secrets that never go away. The eventual reveal was not only worth it but played fair by what the series had already established, even managing to deliver a gentle epilogue that reminded you that it was its characters that were the biggest draw as much as the red herrings and revelations which also managed to be subtly and spectacularly memorable. Written by Eamon Hennedy.

Motherland (May 2021, BBC Two) In a lot of ways Motherland hasn't developed a great deal over its three series, but that doesn't matter at all because it's still one of the most consistently funny shows on television. It can satirise British culture better than most, it's cutting and harsh but surprisingly poignant in places too. In a time where comedies focus too much on being hip and forget to be funny, Motherland somehow manages to do both. The opening episode which parodied the pandemic by having the school going through a headlice infestation was a brilliant take on our 'new normal' The characters here aren't all that likeable but that's never been a problem with comedy. Anna Maxwell- Martin, Diane Morgan, Lucy Punch, Paul Ready and Tanya Moodie play characters who could easily lead their own sitcoms, but the fact they're all able to bounce off of each other gives the show its magic. We can't wait for more. Written by Erin Zammitt.

Inside No.9 (May 2021, BBC Two) Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton have been making this anthology series look easy for years. Surely by now, any normal person would be running out of ideas? Inspiration strikes from any quarter, not just the gothic horror they both adore. Series 6 has a heist via the medium of Italian renaissance theatre, a guilty barrister’s secret deal with the devil, a murderous middle-class Last Night of the Proms party, and a very timely tale of what might happen to embittered fantasy fans who feel let down by how a TV series ends.

This year was undoubtedly some of their best work; breaking the fourth wall, messing about with the structure we’ve come to know and love, and just having huge amounts of fun. The accompanying BBC Sounds podcast is proving to be an essential companion piece for the show, and they tell you definitively where to spot the hare. It’s very nearly an essential public service. 9 seasons and a movie? The campaign starts here. Written by Sarah Kennedy.

Starstruck (May 2021, BBC Three) It’s not often that a romcom is essential viewing but Rose Matafeo and Alice Snedden’s delightful series did everything right. It could have easily been a mess, another nonsense about how celebrities occasionally pop down from their pedestals to sleep with normal people, but the power dynamic here was perfect. Jessie was the silly, awkward, trouble-maker who didn’t take herself too seriously. Tom was the handsome actor, seemingly with everything together, but totally out of his depth when it came to love. The jokes were great, the funny lines shared around equitably. The set-up was believable, the characters all likeable in their own odd little ways and the locations were a treat for the eyeballs. It was a love letter to London where each episode made you feel a little bit better than you did before. I’m so happy it’s been recommissioned for a second series. People called it Gen Z’s Notting Hill, but it’s much better than that. And much, much funnier. Written by Sarah Kennedy

Time (June 2021, BBC One) Time is a testament to the powerhouse performances by Stephen Graham (who’s never been in anything bad, ever) and Sean Bean, who showcase the raw horror of what life in prison is actually like for an average person who may be in there because they’ve committed their first crime. Bean’s character is an alcoholic and the best choice the show does is that it makes things clear from the start is that he’s actually guilty of the crime he’s committed – there’s no get out of jail free card here, no easy redemption – the consequences of his actions weigh heavy on his shoulders and any step to recovery feels completely earned and realistic – no expense is spared in this gritty, realistic drama that whilst not being an easy watch, is certainly an essential one. Graham’s prison guard is played straight opposite him – and the two actors are at their best when sharing the screen together as both of their morals and willpower are put through an unrelenting test after unrelenting test. In an age where even eight episodes can feel too long for a show, writer Jimmy McGovern keeps Time at three – and every second of them feels valuable important viewing. Written by Milo.

Betty (June 2021, Sky Comedy/HBO) Betty was unfortunately cancelled by HBO after its glorious two seasons, but this sequel to Crystal Moselle’s wonderful Skate Kitchen film – truly one of the best of the year it came out in – is a hidden gem and one of the network’s best series of the last few years, reuniting cast with creator for a freewheeling, natural slice-of-life story about a culture that’s rarely depicted on screen – following five friends who make up a gang of skateboarders from different backgrounds who help overcome their fears and struggles. It’s audaciously fearless to go where few teen dramas don’t – with the second season filmed during the pandemic, we get to see an empty, lifeless New York City, and the events of the last couple of years linger over the characters, they feel angrier this time out, with the series having more of a plot to it this time – but each episode feels increasingly relevant, with something to say. It’s such a great capture of these characters lives and their awkward friendships that build over the season – and almost feels akin to a documentary. Written by Milo.

The Handmaid's Tale (June 2021, Channel 4/Hulu) I can understand if you jumped ship early with this one. It has always been a difficult watch. I've always found the central performance from Elisabeth Moss to be one of the best in modern television, and I'm able to wade through the misery because she anchors things brilliantly. If you were one of those people who grew tired of the unending cycle of torture Offered and her fellow Handmaids are forced to endure, then this season sees them finally breaking free of Gilead. The episodes gained an exciting pace as the majority of the Handmaids the series has focused on managed to escape to the safety of Canada back to families who had given up hope of ever seeing them again. June, who had spent her whole time in Gilliead dreaming of being back in the arms of her husband Luke finally got her wish. She was free but she was still furiously angry that she hadn't managed to free her daughter Hannah. Seeing the Handmaids back in civilised society and free from persecution was what I'd wanted since the start of the series, but their reintegration into a world that didn't really understand the true magnitude of their suffering was immensely fascinating. Elisabeth Moss was just as compelling back with her family as she was fighting within Gillead. The new dynamics were the breath of fresh air the series was crying out for and I truly believe that this fourth season was as brilliant and as powerful as the first. Written by Luke Knowles.

Ted Lasso (July 2021, Apple TV+) The first season of Apple TV’s Ted Lasso launched in July 2020 – and proved hugely successful. The show's emphasis on kindness struck a chord with a world in dire need of something soothing and warm to watch. This year's second season was highly anticipated but reviews were mixed. The warm and charming half-hour comedy morphed into a nearly hour-long drama. Experimental episodes like a Christmas episode which in July felt slightly out of place but managed to tug at the heartstrings regardless. The 'bottle episode which looked into the out of hours habits of coach Beard was a brave choice but not one that entirely worked. Taking Nate to dark places gives Nick Mohammed the opportunity to shine and he most definitely does. As with the first season, Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham give stunning performances as the show delves deeper into their backstories. Ted Lasso's second season might have been a different beast from the first, but the finale sets up some interesting questions for them to explore in the third. Written by Erin Zammitt.

Pose (May/July 2021, FX/BBC Two) Pose is perfect. I was surprised when we were told season three would be the last but now that I've recovered from the powerful finale, I'm so pleased we got three seasons of this gem and that it got to go out on its own terms. No other drama in this era of 'Peak TV' has moved me as often as Pose. The third season, delayed by the pandemic, gave each of its iconic characters their own personal and intimate send-off. The whole season felt like one long goodbye. Moving the story forward to 1994 gave it a more contemporary feel. With the HIV and AIDS epidemic is still taking members of the gay and transgender community at a young age, every character is touched by the new world they find themselves in. There are only a handful of the 'ball scenes' so the ones we get feel touched with poignancy. Billy Porter and Mj Rodriguez's final routine is not only one of the best moments of the series but one of the best of television of the year. It's a series that had something to say and it said it beautifully. The goodbye was painful but Pose was such an important and revolutionary series that It's a wonder it made it to our screens at all. I'll never forget the series and I don't think there will ever be another like it. Written by Luke Knowles.

The White Lotus (July 2021, HBO/Sky Atlantic) When the pandemic hit channels scrambled to find a new way of making shows. Mike White's mysterious comedy-drama The White Lotus was conceived and written quickly and was designed to be 'Covid friendly.' Filmed with the cast and crew 'bubbled,' the empty Four Seasons Resort in Maui doubled as their accommodation and the fictional White Lotus Resort where the show was set. The show centred on the self-centred guests of The White Lotus and the staff run ragged by their demands. It begins, in a similar style to another HBO miniseries Big Little Lies, announcing that someone was killed during their stay at the hotel and then flashing back to tell the stories of the guests in the hotel. Everyone here is at the top of their game. Murray Bartlett is perfect as tightly wound Hotel Manager Armond who tries to keep smiling at guests who he soon comes to detest. His ongoing battle with Jake Lacy's equally tightly wound Shane is as joyful as it is painful. Shane spends the entirety of his honeymoon convinced Armand has conspired to make sure he doesn't get the honeymoon suite his mother has paid for. His wife Rachel (Alexandra Daddario) just wants to enjoy their time there as a couple but as Shane starts to get more obsessed she worries she has made a big mistake by rushing into marrying someone she barely knows. Even the seemingly happily married couple here doesn't seem any better off. Steve Zahn and Connie Britton are brilliant together as Mark and Nicole, who drag their uninterested teenagers along for a family holiday. The show is about the awkwardness of spending time with the ones you love and not being able to escape them. Jennifer Coolidge is wonderful as the grieving Tanya who is in Hawaii to scatter the ashes of the mother she hated. It's a show that gets crazier and more intense with every episode. In a similar way to HBO's Succession, White's characters aren't likeable. These aren't people who don't play with well with others. It's easy to forget that one of them reaches a sticky end as not explicitly mentioned again after that initial scene but there's a sense of unease that runs throughout the show. The eerie score adds to the awkwardness, the mix of drama and comedy is perfect and the eventual conclusion, though divisive, was a winner for me. There's a second trip to another White Lotus Resort on the way and I'm excited to see what White does with a new set of characters in this strange universe. Written by Luke Knowles.

Mortimer & Whitehouse Gone Fishing (August 2021, BBC Two) A fixture on these lists since it began, Mortimer & Whitehouse's fishing travelogue continues to be one of the nicest shows on television. It never outstays its welcome, it's a show that never fails to make me laugh and occasionally cry it's just lovely to spend time with these two friends. Did this year's series do anything differently? No, and that's what makes it so special. The joy comes from its simplicity. I'm no more interested in fishing as I was when the series started but there's a spark when these two join forces. Long may it continue as it feels like the sort of programme we need now more than ever.

Ghosts (August 2021, BBC One) This year gave us a third series of BBC comedy Ghosts, and it proved to be just as funny and delightful as ever. The supernatural sitcom put its focus firmly on family this time around, mixing things up with the arrival of a woman claiming to be Alison’s half-sister, as well as giving us a heartbreaking insight into Kitty’s past. Amongst a series of beautifully written episodes, The Woodworm Men was a particular highlight, perhaps even of the whole show altogether, with the ghosts joining Alison to camp outside Button House and Pat taking a certain vicarious pleasure in the dipping of biscuits into tea. Thankfully we still have plenty more Ghosts to look forward to, since there’s another Christmas special and a fourth series on the way. It’s such a joy to watch that I’m dreading the day when we’ll eventually have to say goodbye to its ensemble of lovable characters. Written by Sophie Davies.

Only Murders in the Building (August 2021, HULU/Star on Disney+) The biggest change in television over the time we've been talking about here is the fact that movie stars are happy to make the move from the 'the big screen' to the 'silver' one. This year has seen more 'movie' stars migrate with Kate Winslet and Colin Farrell making the leap. The biggest surprise though, was comedy legend Steve Martin announced he was to star with longtime friend Martin Short and Selena Gomez in a half-hour murder mystery comedy. The end result, Only Murders in the Building was one of the most pleasant surprises of the year. The unlikely trio becomes friends when a neighbour is murdered in their New York apartment block and start podcasting as they investigate the crime. Martin is brilliant as washed-up TV star Charles-Haden Savage who still lives in the shadow of the TV Detective who made him famous. For the majority of the episodes, Martin plays the straight man allowing Short's Oliver Putnam to be more overtly comic of the central trio. Selena Gomez is brilliant as Mabel Mora, a young woman who finds an unlikely kinship with the two older men but someone with big secrets of her own. The show was a constant surprise. What started as a chaotic, madcap and comedic romp following these hapless would-be investigators as they struggled to find a killer or the right tone for the podcast slowly morphed into something more special with every episode. It was at its very best when it slowed things down and explored the hidden depths of its three leads. An episode told from the perspective of a deaf character was performed in complete silence with characters using American Sign Langauge was a particular standout. I would've been happy with a silly comedy poking fun at the tropes of true-crime podcasts but I was floored by the show it ended up being. Season two is shooting as I type and I can't wait to be back with them soon. Written by Luke Knowles

Help (September 2021, Channel 4) Writer Jack Thorne has become renowned for telling hard-hitting stories (This is England ’86 – ’90, Kiri and The Virtues), but none were more affecting than Help, a single drama about the horrors of working in a care home during the wilderness of March 2020, the beginning of the pandemic. Jodie Comer stars as Sarah, a new recruit who forms a close bond with resident Tony,(Stephen Graham) who has young-onset Alzheimer’s. Help follows Sarah as she is plunged into the great unknown…

In a powerful 20 minute scene, Sarah attempts to care for a patient who is clearly dying from COVID, whilst on a night shift on her own – harrowing and claustrophobic, it gives a more compelling depiction of the realities of pandemic life than reports and statistics ever could.

Comer and Graham are both brilliant throughout. Their performances and their chemistry with one another bring humanity and warmth to a world filled with misery. Help is an important and necessary watch, shining a spotlight on a sector that was completely abandoned by the government when it most needed help. Written by Erin Zammitt.

The North Water (September 2021, BBC Two) The North Water benefits from the natural deft hand of expert Andrew Haigh that strips away the toxic masculinity present in many of its characters and tears them down to their primal, basic level. Based on the fantastic novel from Ian McGuire, this incredibly faithful adaption introduces us to one of the most truly despicable characters of the year, Colin Farrell’s Henry Drax, in a completely hard-to-recognise transformative performance that will mean you’ll be unable to look at him the same way ever again. Few shows have ever filmed this far north and the gripping authenticity of The North Water is played entirely to its benefit – with Drax terrifying a haunted crew of a whaling ship and keeping them on edge at every turn, and Stephen Graham’s captain looks hopeless to stop him, having far more of an interest in deliberately sabotaging the ship to claim insurance. Written by Milo.

Squid Game (September 2021, Netflix) Who could have predicted that an eccentric Korean drama would become one of Netflix’s biggest ever shows? But landing on the streaming platform in September with little fanfare around it, Squid Game ended up capturing the public unlike anything else this year. If you’re one of the few people who haven’t seen it yet, it follows a group of contestants (all with serious financial problems) competing against each other in a series of games to win a life-changing amount of money – which increases each time someone is eliminated from the games and killed. And if you’ve only heard the discourse around the show, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s nothing but an all-out gorefest. However, there’s a lot more to Squid Game than its moments of shocking violence. Hwang Dong-hyuk barely puts a foot wrong in creating a piece of TV that’s gripping and surprising from start to finish, putting you through a rollercoaster of emotions as you watch. Also helping the show’s success is the fact that it’s stunning to look at, so memorable visuals have quickly entered into the public consciousness. It can be rare to find something as high-quality as it is popular these days, but Squid Game truly lives up to the hype. Written by Sophie Davies.

What We Do in the Shadows (September 2021, FX/ BBC Two) What We Do In The Shadows is a show that is constantly changing, evolving, and improving – driving the story forward in a way that never allows the joke to get old whilst managing to still be the most consistently funny show television. Series 3 saw Guillermo start to push the boundaries of his role and challenge his vampire masters, culminating in an exhilarating fight scene between him and Nandor that is unlike anything we’ve seen on the show before. This is just one way in which series three challenges and changes the familiar dynamics of the vampire residence; and if the final ten minutes of the finale are anything to go by – this is just the beginning. We see the vampire flatmates mourn the death of one of their own for the first time after the loss of Colin Robinson; though all is not as it seems. The final ten minutes of The Portrait takes everything that we knew about the show and flips it on its head. Colin Robinson reappears as a slimy, adult-headed baby creature that Lazlo is now charged with taking care of; and Nandor finds himself on the midnight train going everywhere after Guillermo is sealed in a coffin on its way to England. This promises to introduce a new dynamic between Guillermo and Nadja, the two characters that have interacted the least, after they are thrown together by dramatic, unfamiliar circumstances. With a fourth season on the way, they've set up so much that I can't wait to see what's to come. Written by Megan Hyland.

Alama's Not Normal (September 2021, (BBC Two) We got a full series of Alma’s Not Normal in 2021, and it fully delivered on the promise of last year’s standout pilot episode. Sophie Willan writes and stars in this BBC comedy-drama, with elements inspired by her own life, about a working-class woman from Bolton who had a difficult childhood and dreams of being an actress. Willan is outstanding as the titular Alma and surrounds herself with a cast of equally brilliant women, including Siobhan Finneran (almost unrecognisable) as Alma’s mum, Lorraine Ashbourne as her leopard-print clad grandmother, and Jayde Adams as her no-nonsense best friend. Deftly dealing with areas from mental health and addiction to the care system and sex work in a frank and funny way, Alma’s Not Normal ended up being a real highlight of this year’s TV. Written by Sophie Davies.

Impeachment: American Crime Story (October 2021. FX/BBC Two) American Crime Story has had three excellent seasons. The first, focussing on the O J Simpson case, the second, focussing on the murder of Gianni Versace and his murderer, spree killer Andrew Cunanan. Impeachment focuses on the Clinton – Lewinsky affair and the Republican Party’s determination to impeach President Bill Clinton. The series has an ability to give public figures, who are often only represented through caricatures in the media, a sense of real depth. The key trio of Clinton, (Clive Owen) Monica Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein) and Linda Tripp (Sarah Paulson) are all played to perfection. The casting of both Feldstein and Paulson feel a masterstroke. The pair have instant and believable chemistry as a pair of unlikely best friends who unwittingly find themselves at the centre of the scandal that rocks America to its core. Paulson is mesmerizing as Tripp making a character that was the subject of mockery in American popular culture far more engaging and sympathetic than you might have previously thought.

Through the story of Tripp and Lewinsky, the producers are also able to examine the media’s portrayal of women, particularly women who publicly accuse powerful men of inappropriate behaviour. Given what has happened since then, with the #MeToo movement, it is important to reflect on how things were quite different not that long ago. Yet Impeachment is more than both the quality of its actors and its attention to detail – it is stunningly good television as well. One episode, in particular, stands out, Man Handled, is a masterclass in both stunning visual storytelling and characterisation. It is one of the best hours of television that has been produced this decade and is stunning in its ability to tell a relatively simple episode in the Lewinsky – Clinton saga in such a truly compelling way. Written by Will Barber-Taylor

Succession (October 2021, HBO/Sky Atlantic For a show that had not transmitted an episode for nearly two years, Succession did not coddle its audience. Picking up from the immediate aftermath of Kendall's backstabbing press conference, the show proved that it wouldn't be pulling any punches with its long-awaited third season Jemery Strong is wearing so many hats as the new 'family black sheep' Kendall and Strong plays them all beautifully. Kendal is power-hungry, 'woke' and out for revenge but he's also desperately lonely, unsure of what life without his family looks like this. When his brash and over-bearing mask slips, it reveals a broken man who is ill-equipped to deal with the mess he has created for himself. Despite the gap between seasons two and three, the show hasn't lost any of its confidence. It's a rare beast that manages to get better with every episode. Every character in the Roy family has been teetering on the edge. The show has teased that terrifying patriarch Logan Roy's (Brian Cox) might be failing him, Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) has had the threat of prison time hanging over him and even cock-sure Roman, (Kieran Culkin), who has become his father's golden boy has let himself down by accidentally sending a 'dick pic' to his father in one of the shows' most excruciating but brilliant moments. Shiv, (Sarah Snook) who was offered the top job by Logan early on in season two, has seen her position at the top of Waystar become less and less likely as she drifts out of her father's good books. Delusional older sibling, Connor (Alan Ruck), believes it is his destiny to cement the Roy family legacy by running as a libertarian to become President of the United States. It's a show that continually discussion-worthy moments and keeps you guessing. It's as brutal as it is heartfelt and I still have no idea why I care about these people. Despite the two-year gap, Succession remains one of HBO’s most engaging dramas and unlike anything else on television. Written by Mo Walker.

You (October 2021, Netflix) After the first two series of You following a similar pattern of: Joe falls in love, Joe obsesses over said love and murders follow; there was massive potential for You to become predictable, even after the introduction of Joe’s seemingly perfectly-matched partner, Love. However, series three was far from predictable. While we’re still painfully aware of the potential for anybody that crosses this unconventional couple to end up dead by the end of the episode, the series throws some truly chilling curveballs our way throughout, building up to perhaps the tensest scenes in the show so far. Because now that we know what Love is capable of, we know that only one can make it out of this marriage alive.

Victoria Pedretti and Penn Badgeley are explosive together; their chemistry creating a thrillingly volatile dynamic that threatens to implode at any moment – culminating in the most epic face-off that the show has ever seen in the finale. And while the show won’t be the same without Pedretti; the marriage between Joe and Love was burning a short fuse, and it only makes sense for series four to be a fresh start for our favourite brutal bookseller. One can only hope that what follows can match Pedretti’s intensity and unpredictability that she brought to the show, as she gave the standout performance of the series. Though while it would have been interesting to see her take over the main role, You has been Joe’s story from the beginning, and the next series promises to be just as enthralling as the last. Written by Megan Hyland.

In My Skin (November 2021, BBCThree/BBC One) Kayleigh Llewellyn’s semi-autobiographical In My Skin concluded with its second series in November, and it’s criminal that this excellent coming-of-age show hasn’t been more talked about. It revolves around Bethan, a Welsh teenager with a bipolar mum and an abusive dad, both of whom she keeps hidden from her friends at school – and in series 2 we follow as she finds love for the first time, weighs up going to uni, and tries to assist her mum in leaving her dad for good. A combination of beautiful writing and pitch-perfect performances (especially from Gabrielle Creevy and Jo Hartley at the centre) makes In My Skin an underrated gem you’d be foolish to miss out on. It can deliver a bigger emotional punch with one shot than some TV shows manage in an entire series, and its second outing is equal parts uplifting and heartbreaking as it balances teen romance and friendship with mental illness and domestic violence. Written by Sophie Davies.

And with that, it's goodbye to 2021 and goodbye to this version of the site. We'll be relaunching with a brand new look in 2022. Thanks to all my contributors Matt Donnelly, Jackson Maher, Sarah Kennedy, Erin, Mo Walker, Sophie Davies, Milo, Megan Hyland, Nick Bartlett, Michael Lee, Eamon Hennedy, Will Barber-Taylor for their brilliant work this year. It means so much to have such a wonderful team behind me. If you've interacted with me on Twitter this year or listened to our podcast I want to thank you for your continued support. The site has always been a passion project for me and the fact that I can share my love of television with a wider community is very special. Here's another great year of television in 2022.

Luke Knowles - Editor of thecustardtv.com

The Magic of Strictly Come Dancing: Why BBC One's Saturday night spectacular continues to thrive

2021-12-11T18:37:00.005+00:00

As this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing reaches its final stages, Matt Donnelly looks at what makes the show special and how it has stayed relevant where other shows have long since fallen out of favour with the British public.

September means many things to different people. For children, it means the holidays are over and it's time to go back to school. It also represents the nights drawing in and the inevitable arrival of winter. However, for millions of us every year it signals the return of one of TV's most joyous creations; Strictly Come Dancing. For nineteen series, BBC One's sequin-soaked extravaganza has beamed its way into our homes throughout the autumn months, culminating just before Christmas. However, whilst around ten million people tune in religiously every year, there are many who are still baffled by the popularity of the show. Throughout this piece, I hope to explore why Strictly means so much to so many and why they keep coming back on a yearly basis.

Due to working on Saturday nights during the show's infancy, I'd only ever caught snippets of Strictly and mainly saw it as a programme that my nan watched. The first Strictly series I remember watching in its entirety was the 2008 run, which is most memorable for John Sergeant's popularity with the public despite having minimal dancing prowess. However, I was less enticed with it than its Saturday night competitor at the time; The X-Factor; a programme that I had watched since its inception. At that point, Strictly would form the first part of the Saturday night double bill, but would often be the starter to the main course that ITV served up. But gradually, Simon Cowell's singing competition started to feel stale while Strictly improved, making small tweaks each series which contributed to it regularly beating its competition in the ratings.

I think part of the reason the show succeeded where The X-Factor is that Cowell's show seemed to enjoy humiliating the delusional awful auditionees. Strictly, on the other hand, was about it getting the best out of its contestants and helping them on their journey. The celebrity contestants genuinely seemed to like each other, cheering their competitors on from the sidelines. In an era of talent shows that had either Simon Cowell himself or a poor imitation of him on the panel, most of the criticism the dancers were given felt constructive rather than personal. Strictly's rise in the ratings seemingly coincided with audiences wanting to watch people being kind to each rather than seeing Cowell and company throw insults at people who'd been put on TV purely to be laughed at. It's the same reason The Great British Bake Off is so beloved.

In trying to explain the popularity of Strictly I asked the people of Twitter what kept them coming back on a yearly basis. The most common answer seemed to be that they enjoyed watching the celebrities learn a new skill and slowly fall in love with dance. Those who kindly contributed to this article described this process as 'joyous' and 'magical' which is something that I'd certainly concur with. Craig Revel-Horwood, who has presided as a judge on Strictly since series one, agreed with this statement during a segment on the 2019 series of spin-off show It Takes Two. Revel-Horwood said, 'I think the reason why it turned around was because the confidence grew in the celebrities, you could see their improvement and that's what people at home were following.'

I believe that one of the keys to the show's continued success is the audience's investment in the progress of the contestants and more so in deciding who you feel should stay in the competition. Crucially, the audience is always asked to vote for their favourites rather than who they necessarily believe to be the best dancer. Whilst this often leads to online dissent when contestants stay on longer than those viewed to be more deserving, I believe the audience loves to see those who thought they would be eliminated early on stay into the latter stages of the competition. I was backing Geordie comedian Chris Ramsey who made it to the semi-final in 2019. He had never danced a step in his life prior to signing up for the show. Whilst he was never the best dancer, you could see him growing in confidence weekly and understanding what he needed to do to succeed.

But it's not just the celebrities who are learning about dance styles, as I feel that over the years that I've understood more what steps are required in each separate dance. I still think I'd be awful on Strictly as I'm an uncoordinated mess, years of watching the show have made me more vigilant and I can now spot a mistake a couple makes easier than I could in my early years as a viewer. The other rewarding element of coming back series after series is that you follow the stories of the professional dancers and will them to succeed just as much. When a pro finally wins after years of being on the show, you're as happy for them as you are their celebrity partner.

I think another masterstroke of Strictly is it being on over the autumn and winter months. It's crazy to think that the first series of Strictly was shown in April! The significance of the show's scheduling is that, whilst it may be cold and dark outside the Strictly ballroom is always warm and inviting. For a light entertainment show, Strictly has a fantastic production budget with the wardrobe and make-up teams creating innovative creations each week. Unlike some international versions of the show, the original also benefits from having a band and live singers which lifts the performance much more than it would if the couples were dancing to a backing track. It's all of these elements combined that make Strictly a joy to watch.

Another positive that was mentioned during my research was that Strictly is one of those shows that people can follow along with on Twitter. Given we're in an era of every show being released as a boxset, it's refreshing to see a programme that has an average of ten million viewers tuning in every week. I think that watching along with others online, adds into that communal spirit that we're all members of the Strictly family as we applaud our favourites and implore others to vote to keep them in the competition.

With the benefit of one of the biggest weekly audiences on British TV, Strictly has shown itself to be a progressive show that thrives on representation. When I was at the Edinburgh Television Festival in 2019, It's a Sin screenwriter Russell T Davies spoke about how progressive the show was by being the only show on TV with two female hosts and, at the time, two openly gay judges. Oddly this was during a conversation on whether Strictly would ever have a same-sex couple, the panel not knowing that there would be one a year later. Sadly, boxer Nicola Adams had to drop out of the show early on due to her professional partner Katya Jones testing positive for Covid-19. However, during their brief time on the show, I felt that they stripped away the stigma of having a same-sex couple dancing together. That then led to the first all-male couple, with chef John Whaite and pro dancer Johannes Radebe still in the competition who the at time of writing. What has been refreshing about John and Johannes is that people have focused on their dancing rather than the fact that they're two men. I also feel that it shows how far we've come as a society that I've heard little backlash to the couple and instead their inclusion has been met positively by most.

Since 2017, Strictly has also welcomed differently-abled celebrities, with Paralympian Jonnie Peacock being the first of these. The favourite to win this year's series is Eastenders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, who is the first deaf celebrity to compete on the show. Rose's participation in Strictly has led to a mass increase in Google searches for British Sign Language and questions about why BSL isn't taught in schools. It has also allowed a deaf person to show a mainstream audience what life is like for her, which was demonstrated during Rose's beautiful Couple's Choice routine in which she and her partner Giovanni danced a section in complete silence to put us in Roses' shoes. This was hailed by judges and audience alike as one of Strictly's best moments and I have to admit that I was one of many who had a tear in my eye during the performance.

Although there are elements of Strictly that could be changed, namely those time-filling skits that precede almost every dance, generally it is a positive show that does a brilliant job at promoting diversity and inclusivity to a big mainstream audience. It doesn't ridicule its contestants and demonstrates the progress even a novice can make if they put in the hours. For me personally, it lights up my living room for three months of the year and recently has made me forget about all the awful things that are happening outside my window. Ultimately I feel that the Strictly ballroom is a joyous, safe place where nobody feels like an outsider and viewers can bond over their love of a bright, glorious, sequin-clad extravaganza.

NEWS: First Look at 'A Very English Scandal'

2021-12-10T14:24:00.003+00:00

The first trailer has been released for Sarah Phelps’ highly anticipated A Very British Scandal, starting on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Boxing Day at 9pm. The three episodes will air on BBC One over consecutive nights, and be available to watch immediately as a boxset on BBC iPlayer.

Written by Sarah Phelps and directed by Anne Sewitsky, A Very British Scandal focuses on the divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, one of the most notorious, extraordinary, and brutal legal cases of the 20th century. Famed for her charisma, beauty, and style, Margaret, Duchess of Argyll (Claire Foy), dominated the front pages, as the divorce exposed accusations of forgery, theft, violence, drug-taking, bribery, and an explicit Polaroid picture that was to haunt her for the rest of her life.

A Very British Scandal turns this scandal inside out in order to explore the social and political climate of post-war Britain, looking at attitudes towards women, and asking whether institutional misogyny was widespread at the time. As her contemporaries, the press, and the judiciary sought to vilify her, Margaret kept her head held high with bravery and resilience, refusing to go quietly as she was betrayed by her friends and publicly shamed by a society that revelled in her fall from grace.

A Very English Scandal begins on BBC One at 9.00pm on Boxing Day with the series available in full from that night on BBC iPlayer.

REVIEW: Can American Network television still compete in the 'streaming era'?

2021-12-10T00:42:00.001+00:00

A new term has emerged in the US. The term 'cord cutter' refers to someone who has let their cable provider go and only watches streaming services. There are so many streaming options in the US it's understandable that consumers may feel that traditional broadcast television doesn't offer them anything exciting or discussion-worthy for them to continue to stay loyal to networks like CBS, NBC and FOX most of which have launched their own paid-for streamers like NBC's Peacock and CBS's Paramount+.

With that in mind, I liked US native Mo Walker to look at the new shows the traditional broadcasters have on offer to see if network television is still relevant in a television landscape where streaming services reign supreme.

American network broadcaster CBS is currently having a spooktacular Fall 2021 television season thanks in part to Ghosts (2021). This is of course the American adaptation of the BBC1 comedy Ghosts (2019). The aptly nicknamed “Eye Network” (because of its logo) is primarily known for churning out long running procedural franchises like CSI, NCIS, and FBI - which rely upon colons in their titles to denote spin-offs. CBS has also been home to broad skewing comedies including The Big Bang Theory and its prequel series Young Sheldon. This is not CBS’ first acquisition from across the pond. Back in 2007, the network adapted the musical drama Blackpool as Viva Laughlin which only aired two episodes on CBS before being cancelled. Thankfully, Ghosts is far superior to Viva Laughlin. But like most American remakes, the series underwent a slight facelift so it could air on an ad-supported network.

For the purposes of this discussion (and to avoid confusion), the CBS adaptation will be referred to as Ghosts: US, and the original version as Ghosts: UK. Ghosts: US is executive produced by Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, who have experience with dramedies that involve fantastical elements. The duo contributed to NBC’s critical darling Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. Both Joes were also executive producers on Robin Williams’ final network series, The Crazy Ones (which coincidentally aired on CBS).

CBS wisely aired the first two episodes together allowing viewers unfamiliar with the property to become acquainted in roughly 44 minutes. These initial episodes remain faithful to the BBC version. A young woman inherits a large manor house, moves in with her husband, and after a near-death experience, she gains the ability to see and communicate with the dead. Franchise fanatics will quickly notice the tonal differences since each version is designed to appeal to a specific audience. Ghosts: US is lighter in its approach to death, less reliant on gallows humour, and injects culture references into episodes to appear relevant.

Though each version has the same starting point, the material is interpreted differently thanks to their respective leading ladies – Rose McIver (Samantha, Ghosts: US) and Charlotte Ritchie (Alison Cooper, Ghosts: UK). Clearly, McIver and Ritchie’s distinct acting pedigrees have influenced the direction their characters take in both iterations of Ghosts. Samantha’s temperament is more easy-going and appears to take a more sympathetic tone with her ethereal housemates; she seems to be way more tolerant of her husband Jay’s (Utkarsh Ambudkar) antics. By contrast, Alison is generally a bit harsher with her ghosts and partner Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe). Perhaps Samantha would have a constant scowl too if she was coveted by a dead would-be lothario who is also a failed poet.

Ghosts: US begins to (slightly) branch off plot-wise from the BBC version in the third episode. Prior to the third outing, viewers of both versions may notice some cosmetic changes to account for name changes and differences in episodes lengths. Instead of focusing on Pete (Richie Moriarty), the ghostly Boy Scout leader’s backstory (Pat in the BBC version), the audience is treated to Thorfinn (Devan Chandler Long) the Viking’s backstory. Unfortunately for Thorfinn, he did not die in a blaze of glory drinking a mug of mead. Otherwise, he probably would have ended up in Valhalla instead of milling about the Woodstone Estate for centuries. Thorfinn is the American equivalent of Caveman Robin (Laurence Rickard) from Ghosts: UK, only with a larger vocabulary.

Though the plots may be similar (at least initially), the creative team behind Ghosts: US clearly understand their apparitions can not be carbon copies. We get the welcome inclusion of an indigenous American, Sasappis (Roman Zaragoza), but I hope the character is given the proper space and time to develop. Sasappis has very little to do during episodes 1 – 5 outside of delivering a few punchlines. If fans of the property believe that Alberta Haynes (Danielle Pinnock) and Kitty (Lolly Adefope) are interchangeable, they are in for a rude awakening. The only characteristic these two appear to share is they are both women of African descent. Alberta radiates an air of worldliness and confidence that Kitty lacks. Given the current social and political climate in America, if Alberta were to display a fraction of the neediness Kitty regularly exhibits Twitter would be in an uproar!

On the surface, Ghosts: US should not have a lot in common with the adjoining comedies on its Thursday night scheduling block. Though to be fair, the show leading-out of Ghosts is B Positive (which as of Series 2) now revolves around its female protagonist owning a retirement community. CBS is traditionally known for having an older viewership, so a situational comedy block comprised of shows featuring characters in the late stages of life and the afterlife is somewhat meta.

Ghosts: US is airing during a critical time for the network. CBS is two seasons removed from the ending of its ratings juggernaut The Big Bang Theory. Young Sheldon is on Series 5 but has not become a “CBS water cooler show”. The network’s parent company, ViacomCBS, is in the process of making its streaming service Paramount+ more readily available to consumers outside North America. CBS need shows that generate buzz and can be used to market the service. Episodes of Ghosts: US are available to stream on Paramount+ the day after they transmit. CBS has been building on the positive response by promoting the series through its various apps and website.

CBS’ forays into otherworldly shows are traditionally short-lived. The supernatural drama Evil was exorcised from CBS after Series 1 one but has been resurrected on Paramount+. CBS’ quasi-spiritual dramedy God Friended Me was unfriended by the network in 2020 after its second series. Even super-heroes cannot appease the Eye Network’s (typical) older demographic; CBS banished Supergirl to an affiliated network (The CW) after Series 1 in 2015. If current ratings (and a full-season pick-up) are to be believed, Ghosts: US has escaped similar fates by embracing the characteristics of a traditional CBS comedy – situational humour with semi-relatable yet slightly quirky characters.

Ghosts: US may have the chassis of the BBC1 series but runs on a CBS-powered engine. It is a charming bit of moving wallpaper that is easy to consume especially if you plan on binging episodes. Unfortunately, a lot of character development is left by the wayside. The additional minutes allow the UK original to provide a bit more insight into the characters, particularly the apparitions. Plus, Button House feels like a lived-in space instead of a sitcom set. Ghosts: US is not essential television for fans of the original. However, I believe it is a fascinating piece of telly that warrants regular attention. If it manages to continue over the long haul, it will be interesting to see how the show evolves especially once the source material runs out. With the right amount of patience on the part of CBS, perhaps Ghosts: US could become the network’s equivalent of The Office.

The Wonder Years (2021), a reboot of the late 1980s sitcom, continues the American Broadcasting Company (ABC)’s winning strategy heartfelt family sitcoms driven by nostalgia. The 2021 iteration features a middle-class African American family living in Montgomery, Alabama during the late 1960s – instead of a white middle-class suburban family. Shepherding this reboot is veteran television producer and writer Saladin Patterson (Fraiser, Psych, and The Big Bang Theory), in addition to film director Lee Daniels (Precious and The United States vs. Billie Holiday). Like so many reboots and, The Wonder Years relies on individuals from a previous incarnation. In this instance it is Fred Savage, who starred on the original series as Kevin Arnold, serving as an executive producer. He also directs the first three episodes.

Casting is always a key ingredient in the production any television series, this is especially true with coming-of-age shows. Fortunately, The Wonder Years landed a likeable and engaging young lead Elisha “EJ” Williams, who portrays Dean Williams. EJ Williams may have a limited number of IMDB credits, but he expertly avoids the trap of annoying child protagonist. Young Dean’s mistakes and subsequent reactions feel natural. Don Cheadle narrates the series as the adult version of Dean.

The Wonder Years wisely takes time to establish Dean’s relationship with each member of his family. Dean’s relationship with his father Bill (Dulé Hill) is highlighted in the first episodes. In the pilot, Dean (and the audience) come to fully understand Bill’s views on race through the lens of little league baseball. Bill is naturally suspicious of whites; he advocates for increasing black wealth by strengthening its middle class. He strongly discourages Dean from playing against a white team. However, as an academic Bill understands that a certain amount of interaction is required for his children to thrive in America. Bill or Dean are unable to completely win over each other, but a détente is reached – as it relates to baseball. Unfortunately, Bill and Dean’s understanding is turned on its head once the town learns about Dr. Martin Luthor King Jr.’s assassination.

While Dean is grappling with the twin daggers of heartbreak and betrayal. Dean understands that Dr. King’s death is a tragic loss for African Americans. This episode could have easily become a “very special episode”, but the writers opted to have Dean and Bill processing recent events before having them come together for an intimate father-son moment. Life offers very few quick solutions and parents may not have the answers. In fact, they may be struggling with issues that dwarf a young adult’s perspectives. I appreciated how The Wonder Years’ creative team understood that most problems cannot be solved over the course of a 30-minutes but conversations may occur that may lead to a future resolution.

Prior to The Wonder Years, I wasn't familiar with actress Saycon Sengbloh who portrays the family’s matriarch Lillian Williams. Lillian exudes the quiet inner strength and ferocity associated with television sitcom mothers – especially individuals of colour. Sengbloh’s body language and colloquialisms often caused me to experience flashbacks from childhood. Phrases like “stay out of grown folks’ business” still carries power even as an adult. Lillian has also been utilized to explore the intersection of race and gender in Alabama during the late 1960s. During the onset of Dean’s sexual awakening in episode three (complete with erotic literature), the audience discovered Lillian’s sexual predilections and how they conflict with the time period’s societal mores. Race and gender in a 1960s workplace are examined in episode four when Dean observes his mother at work for a day. Dean walks away from the experience with a more enlightened view of the emotional and identity struggles Lillian faces at work daily.

Sibling rivalries are a hallmark of most sitcoms, and The Wonder Years is no exception. Here, Dean’s familial foil is his sister Kim (Laura Kariuki) who constantly belittles her younger brother. She is always eager to educate Dean about his immaturity and ignorance about life. Perhaps this is Kim’s method of compensating for the gender bias, she perceives is happening within the Williams household - especially as it relates to sex. Sprinkled throughout episodes two and three are one-off comments from Kim’s father (Bill) worrying about her becoming pregnant. Kim’s views (like most teenagers) are in direct contrast to her parents. She is a political activist who is involved in the local Black Panther Party. Dean was able to experience this aspect of his sister’s life up close when they secretly attended a Black Panther event in the second episode.

ABC’s decision to reboot The Wonder Years is a smart and safe choice, especially from a marketing perspective. Retooling an older property may help a network or streaming service cut through the clutter of so many new shows making it potentially an easier sell in other markets – or in this case to ABC’s international corporate sibling Star (Disney+).

The 2021 iteration not only revitalized an award-winning property for ABC while enabling the network to add an additional comedy series starring an African American family to its schedule. With ABC stalwart Black-ish, heading into its final series the network needs a new understudy waiting to take the baton. The series also hits another key ABC demographic – a period comedy series featuring a voiceover by an adult version of the show’s young protagonist. ABC’s current reigning champ of period sitcoms The Goldbergs is on Series 9, and Mixed-ish (a Black-ish spin-off set in the 1980s) was cancelled after Series 2.

If you are yearning for a 22-minutes of warm entertainment, consider adding The Wonder Years to your watchlist when it arrives in the UK later this month on Disney+ Though the show features an African American family during a fraught time period in America (truthfully when are things not turbulent) the creators are wise enough to emphasis it’s universal appeal. The familial chemistry between the actors makes this an accessible show that is easy to watch. It's a show that beautifully balances the fear and uncertainty that comes from life with the everyday joys that unexpectedly can occur. If the current worldwide uncertainty has taught us anything, why not set aside a little bit of time for comfort and nostalgia.

Finally, we have a drama from NBC. Ordinary Joe is the network's latest attempt at launching a high concept drama. The show stars James Wolk as Joe Kimbreau, a man existing simultaneously in three parallel realities: as a musician, nurse, and police officer. The premise may be extraordinary, but sadly, Ordinary Joe quickly becomes a mediocre attempt at combining NBC tearjerker This Is Us with Marvel Cinematic Universe animated series What If…?.

After graduating from university, Joe Kimbreau is faced with three choices that shaped his life for the next ten years. I appreciated how quickly the show delved into the three parallel lives. Given the marketing for the series is upfront about the multiple timelines. Unfortunately, the premise is introduced in a ridiculous manner that may mislead the audience into thinking Ordinary Joe is a dramedy instead of a traditional drama. Intentional or not, the scene in which Joe is talking to his childhood friend Eric (Charlie Barnett) that cuts away to three literal paths representing different timelines feels clunky.

James Wolk is given a lot to do here and it's hard not to appreciate the lengths he goes through to differentiate each 'Joe'. There is no mistaking the stoic Officer Joe from emotionally drained workaholic Nurse Joe, but the glasses are a nice touch. Nurse Joe is emotionally walled off from most people in his life, including best friend turned spouse Jenny (Elizabeth Lail). Nurse Joe is clearly saving his warmth and affections for their son Chris (John Gluck) who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy. Musician Joe has a scruffy but soulful musician look. In between fans awkwardly trying to chat to him in restaurants, Musician Joe and his wife Amy Kindelan (Natalie Martinez) are struggling with infertility issues.

Ordinary Joe is effective at utilizing a real-world event as the show’s emotional starting point. Making the lead character’s father a police officer who died on September 11th will resonate with a large portion of the American audience. The second episode tackles the legacy of 9/11 head-on by depicting generational trauma from the perspective of surviving family members. Each incarnation of Joe processes the day differently. Nurse Joe was no match for the emotional tag-team combination of his wife (Jenny) and mother. Each one kept nudging until Nurse Joe started unpacking the reason why he did not want to attend the 9/11 remembrance ceremony. These scenes climaxed in a poignant father-son moment in which Nurse Joe starts to realize that sharing his grief with Chris and the wider world may be a way to start healing. Officer Joe may not have experienced the same level of interpersonal growth achieved by his stethoscope wearing doppelgänger, but he is able to spiritually connect with his father on 9/11 due to their mutual profession along with a quick promotion to detective.

In the Ordinary Joe multiverse, the key to advancing in law enforcement appears to be saving a politician’s life - Congressman Bobby Diaz (Adam Rodriguez). To be fair, this was a smart move by the writing team. Tying the promotion to 9/11 and being assigned his father’s old service number (thanks to this timeline’s Amy) is an easy way to score emotional currency with the audience. Plus, you get the bonus of strengthening the bond between these two characters more quickly.

Unfortunately, the 9/11 commemoration ceremony had the opposite effect on Musician Joe and his wife Amy. Musician Joe did not handle Amy’s new career opportunity well, nor her desire to delay having a child. Instead of engaging in a meaningful dialogue with Amy, Musician Joe turned his grief inward fueling a secret desire to find this timeline’s version of Chris – whom Jenny put up for adoption. First alternate realities and now secret offspring!

A great deal of screentime is also spent on a narrative trick that This Is Us has perfected – childhood flashbacks linked to present-day emotional trauma. Unfortunately, this came at the detriment of other members of the Kimbreau family. Four episodes in, and it's clear the show lives and dies on James Wolk’s performance – which has pluses and minuses. Officer Joe is very square-jawed and exhibits very little personality defects outside of the emotional trauma shared by all three Joes. Musician Joe clearly suffers from narcissism, particularly as it pertains to his offspring. Nurse Joe is the blandest of the three, but this timeline is saved thanks to the chemistry shared between Wolk and John Gluck (Chris Kimbreau)’s onscreen father-son dynamic.

Outside of Wolk and Gluck, many of the other cast members did not leave much of an impression. The show has yet to take full advantage of a lead character who is in law enforcement. Since the murder of George Floyd in 2020, American television has been reckoning with the depiction of policing onscreen. Four episodes in, there has not been any sort of acknowledgement of the social justice movements' impact on modern-day policing.

Ordinary Joe, like most new shows premiering in the streaming era, has a difficult job on its hands. It has to grapple with audience retention, but there's also the question of how the audience who do decide to stick with it will watch the series. Shows on network television also face an even steeper climb to success. These days the buzzy (and award-winning) series typically transmit on cable and streaming services. Sadly, Joe is not extraordinary enough to be added to this viewer’s “watch list”. It's difficult to understand quite how viewers are expected to get emotionally invested in the various timelines when the show is constantly jumping around? I don't mind admitting I didn't realise Joe was a nurse in one reality until the third episode! When the audience doesn't have clarity about the lead character’s career (or in this case careers) It's a sign that multiversal jumps are occurring too frequently. Perhaps in another reality, there is a simpler version of Ordinary Joe that focuses on two timelines and provides the show’s supporting cast an opportunity to distinguish their characters.

So, is traditional network still relevant? Probably not. Of the three shows here, I liked the original of Ghosts, the remake, as with most remakes, managed to lose what I liked about the original in the course of its translation. The Wonder Years gets a lot right and is probably the most reliable of the three but, it's the shame it's a reboot rather than an exciting new idea. Finally, Ordinary Joe often tries far too hard to make its timelines work but feels like another show made in the shadow of the success of This Is Us. The most talked-about shows are on streaming platforms and if networks want to be part of the conversation they need to take risks and not rely on remakes of British shows, reboots of beloved sitcoms and copycats of a past hit. I'm not a cord cutter... yet.

Written by Mo Walker.

The Christmas TVweek: Saturday 17th - Friday 31st 2021

2021-12-09T00:49:00.001+00:00

Here it is our last TVweek of 2021. This BUMPER Special covers two weeks including Christmas and New Year's Eve!

Saturday

6.00pm Rolling It: Christmas Special ITV - Stephen Mulhern hosts a special Christmas edition of the game show where everything can change on the roll of a coin. Anton Du Beke, Ranvir Singh and Catherine Tyldesley join three members of the public who will try to win thousands of pounds. All they have to do is take on one of the biggest arcade games in the world, but will one of them be lucky enough to hit the jackpot and go home Rolling In It?

6.00pm A Lake District Farm Shop at Christmas Channel 4 - Tebay's staff and its army of local producers are working hard to make a magical Christmas for customers. Head Butcher Dave Morland has a key role, as customers come in their droves to buy their table centrepieces and holiday essentials. Staff members also have their work cut out handling the increase in travellers, and this year Tebay is offering a wide array of speciality artisan and craft products, from delightful hampers to delicious gifts.

6.10pm The Weakest Link Celebrity Special BBC One - New host Romesh Ranganathan brings his own twist to the classic quiz and kicks off with a Strictly Come Dancing special leading up to tonight's final. Anton Du Beke, Janette Manrara, Catherine Tyldesley, Dr Ranj Singh, Emma Barton, Clara Amfo, HRVY and Ore Oduba are the eight contestants playing together as a team - knowing that at the end of each round, they must vote off the player they believe is the worst.

7.00pm Strictly Come Dancing BBC One - Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman host the final of the pro-celebrity contest, which sees the three remaining couples perform a routine of their own choosing, one set by the judges and one last show dance. As usual Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke will be reviewing their efforts, but only the viewers' votes will count to determine the winner. Who will follow in Bill Bailey and Oti Mabuse's footsteps and lift the glitterball trophy?

7.00pm A Story Called Gomorrah Sky Atlantic - Documentary about the Italian crime drama.

9.00pm Madonna at the BBC BBC Two - A look back at a selection of magical Madonna moments on a range of BBC shows - from her first Top of the Pops appearance with Holiday in 1984, right up to the present day. This collection covers the singer's journey from Material Girl to Queen of Pop. It captures how, over the years, her ability to combine charisma, controversy and classic pop tunes has made her a female icon and a true global superstar.

9.00pm Gomorrah Sky Atlantic - Fifth and final series of the Italian crime drama begins. With war in Naples imminent, Genny is forced to give up his dream of normality and to return to action.

9.00pm Music Box Sky Atlantic - Documentaries exploring pivotal moments in music, starting with Alanis Morisette's beginnings.

9.30pm Paul O'Grady's Saturday Night Christmas Lineup ITV - A festive edition of the comedy chat and game show in which Paul puts questions, scenarios and dilemmas to celebrity guests Dame Joan Collins, Paddy McGuinness, Sunetra Sarker and Julian Clary, who must arrange themselves from best to worst correctly to match the order the British public have put them in.

10.35pm The Jonathan Ross Christmas Show ITV - Jonathan introduces a festive edition of the chat show, and is joined by The Chase presenter Bradley Walsh, comedian and actress Roisin Conaty, Hollywood star Andrew Garfield and Bafta Award winner Tom Hollander. Music comes from Leona Lewis, who also joins the host for a chat.

Sunday

4.45pm Christmas Countryfile BBC One - Matt Baker and Charlotte Smith present a festive episode from Christmas Common in Oxfordshire, a hamlet which is home to one of the biggest Christmas tree farms in the country.

5.45pm Antiques Roadshow at Christmas BBC One - Fiona Bruce presents a special Christmas episode from the Vyne in Hampshire, a Tudor mansion steeped in history and providing a suitably festive backdrop for the show.

6.15pm Sitting on a Fortune: Christmas Special ITV - Gary Lineker hosts a festive edition of the quiz, with Chris Kamara, Sam Quek, Joe Pasquale, Nina Wadia, Colson Smith and the Rev Kate Bottley competing to try to win £100,000 for charity.

6.45pm BBC Sport's Personality of the Year 2021 BBC One - Gary Lineker, Gabby Logan, Clare Balding and Alex Scott present coverage of the ceremony live from Media City UK in Salford, as the year's key sporting moments are reviewed and the successor to Lewis Hamilton is crowned following a public vote. Among the highlights set to feature are Great Britain's multi-medal winning Olympics and Paralympics, England's run to the final of Euro 2020 and Emma Raducanu's dominant performance in the US Open.

7.00pm Devon & Cornwall at Christmas Channel 4 - Documentary examining life in the two counties in south-west England.

7.00pm Hamley's at Christmas Channel 5 - The hidden stories of the famous London toy store, from its links to the royals to the vital role its owners played in the Second World War, and from battling bankruptcy to bringing in five million visitors every year. The programme reveals why traditional teddy bears still remain a favourite, and why magic played an important role in the store hundreds of years before Harry Potter came along. Former staff uncover the secrets of the shop floor, including how toy demonstrators try to capture the imagination and encourage people to part with their cash.

7.20pm The Royal Variety Performance ITV - Alan Carr hosts the event from the Royal Albert Hall, with music from Ed Sheeran, Rod Stewart, Anne-Marie, James Blunt, Years & Years, Gregory Porter and Elvis Costello, along with The Greatest Showman's Keala Settle. There is comedy from Judi Love, Bill Bailey, Chris McCausland and Josh Widdicombe, and performances by the casts of hit musicals Moulin Rouge and Matilda.

8.00pm Escape to The Chateau: Christmas Special Channel 4 - Dick, Angel, Arthur and Dorothy prepare to celebrate a family Christmas inspired by a very special part of France, Colmar in the Alsace region, close to the German border. Here they discover an enchanting medieval town that makes Christmas feel more magical than ever.

8.00pm Britain's Favourite 90s Toys Channel 5 - A countdown of the best-loved toys and games of the decade, featuring a cast of experts, toymakers and manufacturers, as well as a smattering of famous faces and comedians.

8.00pm Alex Rider E4 - A chance to see the Amazon Prime series which stars Otto Farrant.Following his uncle's mysterious death, teenager Alex begins a quest for answers that leads him into a dark world of secrets and espionage. He comes to realise that his uncle wasn't the man he thought he was and that he himself is expected to follow in his footsteps.

9.00pm The Girl Before BBC One - Four-part psychological drama about a woman who is given the chance to move into a beautiful, ultra-minimalist house designed by an enigmatic architect. There's just one catch - occupants have to abide by his list of exacting rules, and very soon she feels the house changing her in unexpected ways. Starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Jessica Plummer and Ben Hardy. Continues Tomorrow & Tuesday at 9.00pm, Concludes Wednesday at 9.00pm.

9.00pm Beauty & The Beast: A Pantomime for Comic Relief BBC Two - Lily James heads the cast as famous names from theatre, film, comedy and music gather together online to bring a unique and hilarious adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, all to raise money for some very good causes. Joining Lily are Guz Khan, Sian Gibson, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Miranda Hart among many others.

9.00pm Guy Martin's Lancaster Bomber Channel 4 - Guy Martin honours the air crews who served on the iconic Lancaster bomber planes by seeing if he has what it took to be a member of Bomber Command: the Allied unit that had the highest attrition rate of the Second World War. This is a project that's very personal to Guy; not only did he grow up in Lincolnshire, known as 'Bomber County' during the war, but he's named after the most famous Lancaster pilot of all - Wing Commander Guy Gibson - who led the famous dambusters raid. Guy experiences the seven different roles on a Lancaster, ranging from pilot to gunner. He gets behind the controls of the 30-tonne plane under the tutelage of Flt Lt Mike Chatterton, one of the RAF's most experienced heavy plane pilots, whose father flew Lancasters during the war. Guy also gets to fire an original Lancaster gun turret, especially reactivated for this programme - meaning the mighty 50-calibre machine guns are experienced for the first time in 80 years.

9.00pm 22 Kids & Counting at Christmas Channel 5 - A festive special following Noel and Sue Radford and their children on the ultimate Yuletide getaway to Lapland. They ride across the snowfields of Finland on a reindeer sleigh, have a go driving snowmobiles, and check out the wonder of the Northern Lights before the kids get a chance to meet Father Christmas.

9.00pm Rob & Romesh Vs Christmas 2021 Sky Max - A festive special in which Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan join the circus, teaming up with West End and Big Top show Zippo's. They learn how to do acrobatics, contortion and knife throwing ahead of their final Christmas performance at Winter Wonderland.

10.00pm The Ranganaton Christmas Special BBC Two - Romesh Ranganathan hosts a festive edition of his comedy show and is joined by TV presenter Scarlett Moffatt and comedian Josh Widdicombe - as well as his hand-picked focus group the Ranganation. Together they take a humorous look at some of the biggest talking points of Christmas, including the worst-ever presents, over-indulging and finding out the truth about Father Christmas.

10.00pm Buried Sky Crime - Four-part documentary about the rape and murder of eight-year-old Susan Nason. The crime has remained unsolved for almost 20 years, until one day in 1989 when her childhood friend suddenly remembers witnessing the incident

10.00pm Michael Buble's Christmas in the City ITV - The Canadian singer celebrates the 10th anniversary of his chart-topping album Christmas with a festive special featuring a mix of comedy, music, special guests and, of course, the spirit of the season.

Monday

7.05pm Mary Berry's Festive Treats BBC One - The culinary expert comes to the aid of cousins James, Jack and Leah, all of whom are terrible cooks, but want to learn how to prepare a spectacular Christmas feast so they can surprise their mothers. While the three novices get to grips with recipes including salmon pate, clementine-glazed ham with garlic potatoes, and red berry tiramisu trifle, they are joined by Alex Jones and Patrick Grant, who Mary sends off in search of ingredients. Finally, everyone gathers at Kent's spectacular Leeds Castle for a family feast to be remembered.

8.00pm Love Not War Sky Max - Hosted by Carey Mulligan and Himesh Patel with Dawn O'Porter and Chris O'Dowd, this special one-off concert unites some of the nation's favourite musicians and comedians all in the name of fundraising for Choose Love and War Child. Featuring performances by acts including Bastille, Elbow and Ellie Goulding at the Troxy in London's East End, with all money raised going to projects supporting children and families affected by war around the world.

8.30pm Would I Lie To You at Christmas? BBC One - Festive edition of the award-winning comedy panel show, with actor Jim Broadbent, broadcaster Angela Rippon and comedians Rose Matafeo and Ardal O'Hanlon joining host Rob Brydon and team captains David Mitchell and Lee Mack.

9.00pm QI Christmas Special: Season's Greetings BBC Two - Sandi Toksvig hosts a festive edition of the quite interesting quiz, with guests Bonnie Langford, Joe Lycett and Sally Phillips joining regular panellist Alan Davies.

9.00pm The Big Soap Quiz: Coronation Street Vs Emmerdale ITV - Stephen Mulhern hosts a special edition of the quiz show in which teams from ITV's biggest soaps battle it out to find out who knows the most about their show. Jack P Shepherd is the captain of the Corrie team and is joined by Jane Danson and Tanisha Gorey, while Mark Charnock leads the Emmerdale contingent of Sally Dexter and Emile John.

9.00pm Inside Liberty at Christmas Channel 4 - Documentary following the famous London department store's preparations for Christmas. This festive season is particularly important, in light of the blow to profits caused by the closure during 2020, but setting up the decorations coincides with their most ambitious building restoration ever, their first in 100 years. The programme also follows the team behind Liberty's new range of candles, which have been designed and manufactured during lockdown.

9.00pm Christmas Cruising with Susan Calman Channel 5 - The comedian cruises around the Norwegian coastline with her trip beginning in a chilly Dover, where she boards her boat to the southern Norwegian city of Stavanger. On board, it's Christmas cheer all the way as Susan meets her shipmates. But as the ship crosses the Arctic Circle, expect temperatures to plummet. Concludes Tomorrow at 9.00pm

Notable Continuing Series: Curb Your Enthusiasm, 9.00pm, Sky Comedy

9.00pm Notorious Special: The Girl in the Box Sky Crime - The true story of Colleen Stan, who in 1977 was kidnapped by young married couple Cameron and Janice Hooker. For the next seven years the 20-year-old spent the bulk of her time imprisoned in a coffin-sized box hidden beneath their bed, though was occasionally forced to partake in Cameron's extreme S&M fantasies.

9.00pm Made in Chelsea: Christmas Special E4 - The gang swaps Chelsea for a retreat in the Lake District, where Reza and Ruby begin to grow closer again and Verity finds that she and Digby lack chemistry.

9.30pm Two Doors Down: Christmas Special BBC Two - It is merry and bright over at Michelle and Alan's as they welcome the neighbours for a festive get-together. But Christine is feeling vulnerable after Beth and Eric agree to a last-minute invitation to spend Christmas away, Gordon is irritating Ian with all his fussing, and Cathy is desperate to find the `real" party, so Michelle struggles to keep the evening on track. Comedy, starring Arabella Weir.

10.00pm We Wish You a Mandy Christmas BBC Two - Comedy written, directed by and starring Diane Morgan, with Johnny Vegas, Pearce Quigley and John Cooper Clarke. Mandy contemplates the true meaning of Christmas. Is it the glimmer in a schoolboy's expectant eye as he opens his pillowcase on Christmas morning and tucks into a delicious walnut and a bruised tangerine? Is it the wide smile on a publican's face as he welcomes merry revellers with a vat of warm mulled wine he's made himself? Is it the haunting harmony of a choir respecting Covid protocols? Or, is it a Christmas episode of a TV show that is slightly longer than usual?

10.00pm Deck the Halls: The Luxury Christmas Decorators Channel 4 - Behind the scenes with the Liverpool-based company responsible for decorating some of Britain's most famous landmarks for Christmas, following preparations at sites ranging from the Natural History Museum and Blenheim Palace to Alder Hey Children's Hospital and London's exclusive Lansdowne Club. After last year's cancelled Christmas, the teams are more determined than ever to create the biggest and best ever festive season - but face several unexpected hiccups along the way.

10.00pm The Standup Sketch Show Christmas Special ITV2 - Routines by Russell Kane, Seann Walsh, Dane Baptiste, Glenn Moore, Lily Phillips, Nabil Abdul Rashid, Bella Hull and Vidura Rajapaksa are brought to life in sketch form.

10.00pm The Late Late Show Christmas Special Sky Comedy - Festive edition of James Corden's chat and entertainment show.

10.30pm All Star Dance-Off ITV2 - The Vivienne and Steen Raskopoulos present as celebrity feuds being settled through dance battles, beginning with throwdowns between rivals Pete Wicks and Sam Thompson, and Karim Zeroual going up against Melody Thornton.

Tuesday

8.00pm Celebrity Masterchef: Christmas Cook-off BBC One - John Torode and Gregg Wallace present the first of two festive specials in which previous contestants are invited back to the MasterChef kitchen. This evening Strictly Come Dancing professional Oti Mabuse, reality star Joey Essex, former footballer Neil Ruddock, comedian Judi Love and actress Su Pollard must create a dish using ingredients found in an advent calendar and then cook something they would like to eat over the festive period. John Torode and Gregg Wallace's favourite will not only win the title of Christmas champion - they will also take home the all-new Golden Whisk trophy.

8.00pm Sarah Beeney's New Life in the Country at Christmas Channel 4 - The family prepare for their perfect countryside Christmas. Sarah has grand plans for a treehouse inspired by an alpine chalet, and with the main house still not complete, the woodland home will also host an early festive party for family and friends. Sarah has a ready supply of honey from her bees, which she uses to make a honey-based booze, and uses the leftover beeswax to make a candle for the treehouse. To help get in the festive mood, they also visit a herd of reindeer.

8.00pm Harrods at Christmas Channel 5 - A behind-the-scenes look inside the world famous department store at Christmas, revealing how the store claimed its place at the very heart of the festive season. Former employees discuss what it is like looking after celebrities and royalty during the festive season, and how they work to bring the Harrods experience to life across the store - from the toy department to the famous food halls.

8.00pm Agatha Rasin: Kissing Christmas Goodbye Sky Max - During the dark, grey days of early December, the sleuth is obsessed by two things - the looming festivities, and her ex James Lacey. In order to drive the latter from her thoughts, Agatha concentrates on planning the perfect Christmas for her friends, but when there's a poisoning in the village, it's down to her to solve the case before the 25th rolls around. The return of the mystery, starring Ashley Jensen, with Phil Daniels.

9.00pm A Taste of Christmas with Andi Oliver BBC Two - The cook meets three very different families from Glasgow as they create celebratory feasts for their nearest and dearest. The households share their treasured family recipes and traditions with Andi, and demonstrate how a simple meal can help tell the story of a whole city - its culture, spirit and history.

Notable Continuing Series: Impeachment: American Crime Story, 10.00pm BBC Two

What We Do in the Shadows, 11.15pm BBC Two

9.00pm Philip: Prince, Husband, Father ITV - Documentary charting the life of Prince Philip, drawing on rare archive footage and audio recordings spanning eight decades to tell his story in his own words. Augmented by interviews with biographers, friends and colleagues, this intimate portrait captures Prince Philip's commitment to crown, country and above all, his family.

9.00pm Amazing Spaces: George's Icelandic Adventure Channel 4 - George is joined by his friend, master craftsman Will Hardie, to explore the best of Iceland's architecture, from a cool, contemporary lake house and a traditional homemade of turf to a treetop hotel room inspired by a Christmas bauble and a stunning, modernist build in the snowy wilderness. Along the way, the design duo also get to grips with mysterious elves, majestic horses, geothermal baths and wild camping.

10.00pm The Great British Truck Up Channel 4 - In the run-up to Christmas 2021, with the UK in the grip of a crippling shortage of lorry drivers, a training school in Croydon is putting new recruits behind the wheel. This documentary follows them through five days of intensive coaching from veteran instructors at the National Driving Centre, before they take their test on Croydon's roads - featuring notorious roundabouts and the dreaded reversing manoeuvre.

10.00pm Dating No Filter: Under the Mistletoe Sky Max - A festive edition of the show in which comedians observe people on blinds dates with a Christmas twist and give their own take on proceedings.

Wednesday

5.15pm Pointless Celebrities: Christmas Special BBC One - Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman present a star-studded festive edition of the general knowledge quiz, with Jaymi Hensley, Lesley Joseph, Amelle Berrabah, Louie Spence, Myra Dubois, Amelia Lily, Chizzy Akudolu and Joe Pasquale pairing up to compete.

8.00pm The Great British Sewing Bee Celebrity Christmas Special BBC One - New host Sara Pascoe presents the first of two festive specials, inviting the Rev Kate Bottley, Anneka Rice, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Antony Cotton to take part in a trio of sewing challenges. They must follow a pattern for a Christmas jumper, transform a charity shop bundle into a fancy dress outfit and create a dress from Christmas past - with judges Esme Young and Patrick Grant keeping a close eye on every stitch and hem. The big question is, does Corrie's Antony Cotton (knicker stitcher Sean) really know his way round a sewing machine?

8.00pm The Hairy Bikers Go North for Christmas BBC Two - Hitting the road once more, Dave Myers and Si King set their sights on creating a festive feast inspired by the north of England.

8.00pm Christmas at the Tower of London Channel 5 - Historic Royal Palaces interpretation officer Emma Bell has a bold plan to transform the fortress into a spectacular winter wonderland, inspired by the Tower's famous menagerie. Chief curator Tracy Borman uncovers how a grumpy Henry VIII rejected his wife Catherine of Aragon's Christmas gifts, Beefeater Darren Hardy takes the Yeoman Warders carol-singing around their homes in the Casemates cottages, and the Tower community comes together for a special service in the Chapel Royal.

9.00pm Inside the Christmas Factory BBC Two - Gregg Wallace and Cherry Healey visit factories to find out how household staples are made, while Ruth Goodman steps back in time to examine their history.

9.00pm Madame Tussauds: The Full Wax ITV - Filmed across a year at Madame Tussauds' London and Blackpool locations, this documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at the world famous tourist attraction, following the creation and launch of some of their latest wax figures, including Little Mix and Dan TDM. The programme reveals how staff decide which celebrities and pop culture icons should be given their own wax doppelgangers, and the work that goes into creating them.

9.00pm First Dates at Christmas Channel 4 - With Christmas 2020 having been cut short for so many, Fred Sirieix and his team are back and pulling out all the stops to make sure that this Christmas is one to remember. First into the festive restaurant is 25-year-old Dan, a jobbing Father Christmas who, despite spreading joy each year, has struggled to sprinkle some magic on his own love life. Also ready to get her festive flirt on is 21-year-old recruitment consultant Macy, who is looking to fill the permanent position of boyfriend this Christmas.

9.00pm Our Victorian Christmas Channel 5 - A family experiences Christmas as it would have been 150 years ago, while historians and experts provide historical background and revealing insights into the era. The programme charts the transformation of Christmas over the course of the Victorian era as it went from 12 days of feasting, drinking and partying to a far more family-friendly celebration focused on Christmas Day. Later, the modern-day family work their way through a Victorian Christmas to-do list, as they prepare to celebrate the big day as their 19th century ancestors would have.

10.00pm Live at the Apolo: Christmas Special BBC Two - Jason Manford plays host for this festive instalment of the show recorded before a packed house at London's Hammersmith Apollo. He warms up the audience before introducing routines by Maisie Adam and Nabil Abdulrashid.

10.00pm Joe Lycett - Mummy's Big Christmas Do! Channel 4 - The comedian hosts a big festive house party live from his Birmingham hometown, a yuletide spectacular packed to the rafters with special guests, musical performances, stand-up and culminating in Joe's alternative nativity. A whole host of celebrities will be dropping by, including Lorraine Kelly, John Whaite, Suzi Ruffell, Rosie Jones, Munroe Bergdorf, Kimi Woodburn, drag stars Bimini Bon Boulash, Tayce, Baga Chipz and Jodie Harsh, and social media icon Charity Shop Sue.

10.00pm Nevermind the Buzzcocks: Christmas Special Sky Max - Greg Davies hosts a festive edition of the comedy quiz, with regulars Noel Fielding, Daisy May Cooper and Jamali Maddix joined by Frankie Goes to Hollywood frontman Holly Johnson, broadcaster Lauren Laverne and People Just Do Nothing star Asim Chaudhry.

Thursday

6.30pm The Weakest Link: Christmas Special BBC One - New host Romesh Ranganathan brings his own twist to the iconic quiz, joined by eight celebrities, each with their own connection to Christmas who have to work as a team to try to win a maximum prize of £50,000 for their chosen charity. The famous faces taking part are Kym Marsh, Gemma Collins, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Christopher Biggins, Kate Bottley, Bonnie Langford, Olly Smith and Danny John-Jules.

7.15pm The Wall vs Celebrities: EastEnders Special BBC One - Danny Dyer hosts a special festive edition of the game show, with EastEnders stars Maddy Hill and James Bye taking on The Wall and answering questions that combine knowledge, strategy and luck to win money for charity.

8.00pm Blackburn Sings Christmas with Gareth Malone BBC Two - The choirmaster heads to Blackburn, one of the areas of the country hit particularly hard by Covid-19, to help create and stage a concert that celebrates the work of NHS staff and other keyworkers. In and around the Royal Blackburn Hospital, Gareth encounters a wealth of amateur musical talent. Working with them to devise and rehearse musical performances that reflect their experiences over the last year, he uncovers a number of moving stories about how the town has pulled together through the pandemic.

8.00pm Alan Carr's Epic Gameshow Christmas Special ITV - The comedian hosts an updated version of classic game show The Price Is Right. Contestants get the chance to guess if the price is indeed right on a variety of Christmas prizes. The best players go on to spin the famous wheel, and one lucky contestant will take on the Epic Showcase, where they stand to win a mountain of incredible prizes.

8.00pm Christmas Holkham Hall Channel 4 - A visit to the East Anglian Palladian pile, situated on the north Norfolk coast, as creative director Lady Polly Leicester leads a team of friends, staff and volunteers to transform the state dining rooms and galleries into a candlelight experience, while the marble hallway entrance becomes a workshop full of decorations and artefacts pilfered from cellars and barns. It's all about teamwork and improvisation, as Lady L's team rushes to transform this great hall with sweet-scented pine trees, greenery, sparkling decorations and twinkling lights.

8.00pm Hansel & Gretel: After Ever After Sky Max - The siblings have escaped the witch's gingerbread house only to learn that their village is being enchanted by a mysterious stranger plying them with sweet treats. Determined to set things right, it's up to Hansel and Gretel to face their worst fears and return to the witch's house for a final showdown. Fantasy comedy, starring David Walliams and Sheridan Smith.

8.30pm Ghosts: Christmas Special 2021 BBC One - In the run-up to the festive season, Kitty becomes convinced that Santa has made an early stop at Button House when Mike and Alison discover a man living in a tent on their grounds. The ghosts' advice on how to deal with him leaves much to be desired, but eventually Mike and Alison learn that they have more to offer this Christmas than they realised. Jennifer Saunders guest stars.

9.00pm Celebrity Masterchef: Christmas Cook-off BBC One - John Torode and Gregg Wallace return for the second of two festive specials in which previous contestants are invited back to the MasterChef kitchen. This evening Gemma Collins, Joe Swash, Les Dennis, Mica Paris and the Rev Richard Coles recreate and embellish a festive recipe and cook their ultimate Christmas dinner in a bid to take home the title of Christmas champion and win the all-new Golden Whisk trophy.

9.00pm The Cube Celebrity Christmas Special ITV - Contestants Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely, and Lorraine Kelly and Rosie Smith try to complete a series of increasingly difficult challenges, ranging from agility tests to skill trials, under pressure to hold their nerve as friends, family and the studio audience watch their every move.

9.00pm One Night in the Natural History Museum Channel 4 - Comedian Aisling Bea joins Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe inside one of London's most epic and iconic buildings - the Natural History Museum. The trio are awestruck by the splendour of the building as they scoot through its epic corridors, enjoy a game of hide-and-seek, muck about in the lavish exhibitions and raid the gift shop. While exploring the facility's off-limits areas, they stumble across the strange and spectacular basement Tank Room, housing the gruesome-looking collection of `wet specimens" - a multitude of species preserved in jars of alcohol. This somewhat gothic, creepy experience only increases the trio's giddy delirium.

9.00pm Christmas at Cannon Hill Farm Channel 5 - Helen Skelton and Jules Hudson present this festive special, with guests including JB Gill, Dr Amir Khan, stars from The Yorkshire Vet, and Reuben Owen from Our Yorkshire Farm. Nicholson brothers Rob and Dave take a trip to Sweden to meet the people whose lives depend on reindeer, while farm chef Tim Bilton has the best tips to prevent those last-minute Christmas dinner disasters.

10.00pm Not Going Out: Christmas Special 2021 BBC One - Jason Donovon guests in a panto themed Christmas episode of Lee Mack's family comedy.

10.30pm Britain's Flashiest Families at Christmas Channel 5 - Four families reveal how they spend their way to an extravagant Christmas as they take the festive fun to a whole other level. Rosi and Paul are determined to have the best Christmas yet, hiring a private chef and live reindeer, if they can find them in Cheshire. Meanwhile, footballer's wife Magali is on the hunt for an exclusive location to host a Christmas party that will be the envy of all her friends.

Christmas Eve

5.30pm The Chase: Celebrity Special at Christmas ITV - Bradley Walsh presents as Lesley Joseph, Judge Jules, Jenni Falconer and Patrick Kielty pit their wits against five of the ruthless Chasers in the hope of winning a potential prize pot worth thousands of pounds. They must work as a team and play strategically to answer general knowledge questions against the clock and race down the game board to the exit without being caught.

6.00pm Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas BBC One - It's Christmas Eve at Mossy Bottom Farm, but Shaun's seasonal excitement turns to dismay when a farmhouse raid to get bigger stockings inadvertently leads to Timmy heading off to a Christmas market in the back of the farmer's truck. Shaun sets out to get his cousin back before he becomes someone else's present. Animated adventure, with the voices of Justin Fletcher and Marcus Brigstocke.

6.15pm Carols from Kings BBC Two - The candlelit, fan-vaulted Chapel of King's College, Cambridge is the stunning setting for this much anticipated annual celebration of the Christmas story.

7.00pm The Repair Shop at Christmas BBC One - Furniture experts, horologists, metal workers, ceramicists and upholsterers try to restore family heirlooms and treasured possessions to their former glory.

7.00pm The Amazing Mr. Blunden Sky Max - Christmas adventure arrives for London teenagers Jamie and Lucy Allen in the form of a mysterious old man, Mr Blunden offers their mum the opportunity to become the caretaker of a ruined country house - one that's said to be haunted. Within its neglected, overgrown grounds, Jamie and Lucy have an encounter with what appears to two ghosts of children. Fantasy, starring Simon Callow, Tsion Habte, Jason Rennie,Tamsin Greig and Mark Gatiss.

7.30pm Royal Carols: Together at Christmas ITV - The Duchess of Cambridge hosts carols from Westminster Abbey. The event will blend Christian, secular and multi-faith moments, mixing traditional elements with a modern and inclusive feel to encompass people of all faiths and none.

8.00pm The Greatest Snowman Channel 4 - Sue Perkins hosts this seasonal show following a pack of celebrities as they travel to an Alpine resort to compete in an epic snowman-building competition. With thousands of tonnes of snow and giant blocks of crystal-clear ice at their disposal, Johnny Vegas, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Dani Dyer, Liam Charles and Cherry Healey go head to head across three tough rounds that will test both their brain and brawn. Supported by a crew of seasoned sculptors, engineers, and snow builders the stars have to design and create some of the most extraordinary snow creations ever seen on TV.

8.00pm World's Luxury Cruises at Christmas Channel 5 - Cameras explore the Seven Seas Splendor as it sets sail on its maiden Yuletide voyage this Christmas. Temperatures are soaring as the six-star floating hotel sets sail around the Caribbean, and the pressure is higher than ever on board. Will staff be able to maintain impeccably high standards? And what does it take to host spectacular festivities at sea, when no expense has been spared?

8.30pm Top Gear: Driving Home for Christmas BBC One - Chris Harris, Paddy McGuiness and Freddie Flintoff aren't choosing their own cars, but instead choosing for one another. After unwrapping their presents in the Welsh village of Bethlehem, the trio set off on a yuletide trek across Britain, stopping off to play the game of `High-Speed Visual Charades" and deliver an enormous tree to the Unesco World Heritage city of Bath. Then it's time for the presenters to visit the Top Gear test track, transformed into a winter wonderland of speed.

9.00pm Bradley & Barney: Breaking Dad at Christmas ITV - The actor and his son hit the road together on a series of adventures.

9.00pm All Creatures Great & Small Christmas Special Channel 5 - Adaptation of James Herriot's books about life as a vet in the Yorkshire Dales, starring Nicholas Ralph and Samuel West.

9.00pm Father Ted: A Christmassy Ted More4 - This festive episode from 1996 finds the Craggy Island clerics and six other priests lost in what seems to be the world's largest lingerie department, with only Ted's quick thinking preventing the Catholic Church being rocked by a major scandal. His bravery earns him the coveted Golden Cleric award, which is when his troubles really begin. Comedy, starring Dermot Morgan, Ardal O'Hanlon and Frank Kelly.

9.30pm I Can See Your Voice BBC One - Paddy McGuinness hosts the singing game show, in which contestants, aided by a celebrity panel, must spot good singers without hearing them. Gabby Logan assists the player who is hoping to win £10,000 by guessing correctly, while regular panellists Jimmy Carr, Alison Hammond and Amanda Holden are joined by X Factor star Leona Lewis. Can they sort out the wheat from the chaff just by their lip-syncing skills?

9.30pm 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Christmas Special Channel 4 - Jimmy Carr hosts an edition packed with festive surprises. Countdown regulars Susie Dent and Rachel Riley are on hand to help maintain order as Jon Richardson and Sarah Millican take on Lee Mack and Jason Manford. They are joined by guests Nick Mohammed and Joe Wilkinson.

10.00pm Spitting Image: Christmas Special ITV - Festive edition with the latex lookalikes, including Elton John who meets an angelic Brad Pitt. Plus, Nicola Sturgeon shares a Glasgow kiss under the mistletoe, and Tom Cruise finds driving a sleigh risky business.

10.30pm The Vicar of Dibley BBC One - The Classic episode that sees Geraldine attempt to eat a lot of Christmas dinners.

10.30pm A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Mezzotint BBC Two - The year is 1922 and in the heart of an old English college Dr Edward Williams, the curator of a university art museum, receives an engraving of an unknown country house for his institution's collection. However, the artwork appears to change slightly each time it is gazed upon and in due course it reveals a disturbing backstory. Mark Gatiss's adaptation of MR James's supernatural tale, with Rory Kinnear, Robert Bathurst and Frances Barber.

10.30pm Christmas Comedy with Lost Voice Guy ITV - He rose to fame as the winner of Britain's Got Talent in 2018. Now Lost Voice Guy returns to TV for this festive special featuring guests Bill Bailey, Rosie Jones, Omid Djalili and Joel Dommett.

10.30pm The Last Leg: Christmas Eve Special Channel 4 - Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker front a merriment-packed Christmas edition. In a show filled with festive treats, the boys get into the Christmas spirit in a way only they can - joined in the studio by the `absolutely fabulous" Joanna Lumley and chef and grime artist Big Zuu for some very merry leglessness.

CHRISTMAS DAY

12.00pm Top of The Pops Christmas Special BBC One - Clara Amfo and Jordan North look back at the year's biggest chart hits, featuring performances by Anne-Marie, Joel Corry ft Mabel, Sigrid, Tom Grennan, Grif, Mimi Webb, KSI and Clean Bandit ft. Wes Nelson. Plus, music from some of the biggest artists of the year, including Lil Nas X, Coldplay, Glass Animals and Ed Sheeran, and the 70th Christmas Number One.

1.10pm All-Time Favourite ABBA Songs Channel 5 - A countdown of the Swedish pop group's most popular songs.

2.30pm Superworm BBC One - Animated adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's children's book. Garden-dwelling hero Superworm is always on hand to help the other animals - but his best friend Butterfly never gets any of the credit for helping him save the day. When Superworm is kidnapped by a greedy lizard wizard on the hunt for treasure, Butterfly comes up with a daring plan to rescue him. Narrated by Olivia Colman, with the voices of Matt Smith, Patricia Allison, and Rob Brydon.

5.00pm Channel 4's Alternative Christmas Message Channel 4 - Channel 4's alternative to Her Majesty the Queen's Christmas Message. The alternative message is a tradition that started in 1993, and has since featured illustrious and varied speakers such as Danny Dyer, John Bercow and whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

5.30pm Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs at Christmas ITV - It's Christmas at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, but not everyone is feeling festive. Paul helps a lonely beagle whose Christmas wish is to find a new friend, an excitable cross breed with a short attention span, and comforts a Patterdale terrier cross that needs a serious operation following a past injury.

6.00pm The Masked Sing-along ITV - Joel Dommett hosts a one-off special of TV's most surreal guessing game. Across two series, 24 celebrities disguised in extravagant costumes have taken to the stage, competing to keep their identities hidden. Now some of the favourite characters return, including Queen Bee, Badger, Duck, Robin, Hedgehog, Blob and Sausage, performing ballads, bangers and all the very best singalong tunes. With Rita Ora, Ken Jeong, Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross and Mo Gilligan.

6.25pm Michael McIntyre's Christmas Wheel BBC One - The comedian hosts a special celebrity edition of the game show, with contestants Danny Dyer, Zoe Ball and David Walliams competing to win a cash prize for their chosen charity. Helping the contestants to win as much money as possible will be a panel of seven celebrity experts, each with their own Christmas specialist subject. Choirmaster and broadcaster Gareth Malone, actress Martine McCutcheon, comedian Jason Manford, EastEnders actress Tameka Empson, comedian Julian Clary and TV presenters Gregg Wallace and Alex Scott take their turns to help answer questions on everything from Christmas movies to festive food - but whose help will be a gift and who has got their traditions in a twist?

7.00pm Emmerdale ITV - Christams in the Dales.

7.30pm Terry Pratchett's the Abominable Snowbaby Channel 4 - David Harewood narrates this animated adaptation of the short story about a small town where the Christmas festivities are thrown into upheaval by the appearance of a 14-foot snow monster. The creature is adopted by a kindly grandmother, but not everyone is pleased with her new guest. With the voices of Julie Walters and Hugh Dancy.

8.00pm Call the Midwife BBC One - The Christmas of 1966 promises to be a memorable one at Nonnatus House as Lucille and Cyril prepare for their upcoming winter wedding. The midwives are faced with their busiest Christmas Day ever as the Maternity Home is filled with expectant mums to be, each with their own challenging case, but, luckily, Mother Mildred is on hand to support them.

8.00pm Great Christmas Bake Off Channel 4 - Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith, Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding invite the stars from the award-winning hit drama It's a Sin to join them in the famous white tent to celebrate Christmas. Olly Alexander, Nathaniel Curtis, Lydia West and Shaun Dooley compete for the coveted Christmas Star Baker title, before the London Community Gospel Choir perform their version of All I Want for Christmas.

8.00pm Coronation Street ITV - Christmas in Weatherfield.

8.35pm A Musical Family Christmas with the Kanneh-Masons BBC Two - A festive celebration with the classical musical siblings, featuring seasonal performances of their favourite Christmas music, including Mary's Boy Child, We Three Kings and Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, plus covers of In the Bleak Midwinter and Hallelujah. The programme also follows the family as they prepare for their traditional Anglo-Afro-Caribbean-style Christmas celebrations in their Nottingham home.

9.00pm The Larkins at Christmas ITV - In this festive special, the Larkins are gearing up for Christmas, and in the village all talk is of the pantomime and an ongoing spate of burglaries - with Miss Pilchester, the Normans and the local celebrity among the victims. While PC Harness applies his limited gifts to finding the culprit, Mariette and Charley take their love to the next level, and Pop and Ma are overjoyed to have the pair back for Christmas, but chaos descends when Charley's parents arrive to meet the Larkin clan, and the entire village is left without lighting and heating following a power cut.

9.00pm Britain's Favourite Party Songs Channel 5 - A celebration of the best-loved dance craze records from across the past 50 years, featuring the likes of the Macarena, Vogue and Agadoo. This programme tells the stories of each song and its routine and there's footage of non-professionals attempting the moves, including the rich and famous.

9.15pm Gogglebox 2021 Channel 4 - Highlights of the past year's episodes, featuring memorable appearances by the Siddiquis, Giles and Mary, Jenny and Lee, Ellie and Izzi, Marcus and Mica, and Amira and Iqra as they share their opinions and lively discussions based on the best and worst TV of 2021.

9.35pm EastEnders BBC One - Christmas on the square.

10.20pm Mr's Brown's Boys BBC One - As Christmas rolls around once more in Finglas, Agnes is recruited to the church choir, but is under strict instructions from Father McBride that there is to be no singing - and certainly no dancing. Meanwhile, Dermot and Buster organise this year's festivities at Foleys - a murder mystery night in aid of alcoholic greyhounds - and a Christmas tree shortage means Agnes may have to go without this year.

BOXING DAY

4.15pm Saturday Night Takeaway Presents Double Trouble ITV - Another chance to see the comedy serial featured in the show, with Ant & Dec trying to stop clones of themselves who have led a gang of celebrities in a daring bank heist.

5.00pm The Chase Celebrity Christmas Special ITV - Bradley Walsh presents as celebrity contestants Kate Silverton, Ruthie Henshall, Iain Stirling and the Rev Richard Coles pit their wits against all of the ruthless Chasers - each dressed as a member of the Addams Family - in the hope of winning a potential prize pot worth thousands of pounds.

5.00pm Lego Masters Australia E4 - Return of the contest in which teams of two build structures out of Lego, with the opening edition seeing them have 15 hours to create a new world of their own.

5.50pm Around the World in 80 Days BBC One - Following an outrageous wager, wealthy Englishman Phileas Fogg and his French valet, Passepartout, take on the unlikely challenge of circumnavigating the globe in just 80 days. The pair are swiftly joined on their journey by aspiring journalist Abigail `Fix" Fortescue, who seizes the chance to report on this extraordinary feat. Adaptation of Jules Verne's late 1800s-set adventure, starring David Tennant, Ibrahim Koma and Leonie Benesch.

6.00pm Celebrity Catchphrase: Christmas Special ITV - Stephen Mulhern hosts a festive edition of the game show, with Perri Kiely, Anne Hegerty and Rob Brydon all trying to say what they see, as they guess well-known phrases for the chance to win a £50,000 jackpot for their chosen charity.

6.00pm Britain's Scenic Railways at Christmas Channel 4 - A magical winter journey through some of the country's most festive railways, including the sparkling illuminations of Steam in Lights at the Severn Valley Railway, a steam train carrying Santa through the Yorkshire Moors, a stunning helicopter flight checking for snow drifts in the wild Scottish Highlands, and the Cairngorms reindeer herd on a day trip to the Strathspey steam railway.

7.30pm Death in Paradise: Christmas Special BBC One - A feature-length special to conclude the anniversary celebrations, which stretches from a grey, damp and drizzly London all the way to the sparkling beauty of idyllic Saint Marie. A wealthy shipping magnate is found dead at a Christmas party. Things get stranger when a man in London receives a mysterious Christmas card connected to the victim's death. Danny John-Jules makes a return as charismatic Officer Dwayne Myers, with special guests Mathew Baynton, Juliet Stevenson, Stanley Townsend, Jocelyn Jee Esien, Anthony Calf, Tessa Bonham Jones, Elizabeth Tan, Tariq Jordan and Sara Cox joining the regular cast.

8.00pm All Star Musicals for Christmas ITV - Host John Barrowman welcomes Fern Britton, Ben Miller, Gyles Brandreth, Anita Rani, Catherine Tyldesley and Radzi Chinyanganya. They'll embark on a musical theatre masterclass, each hoping to steal the show with their performance and be voted All Star Musicals Champion. Equipped with mentoring from the returning panel, Elaine Paige, Samantha Barks and Trevor Dion Nicholas, the celebrities will be supported by a West End ensemble, an orchestra, and, in the lead-up to their big performance, also receive training from West End choreographers and vocal coaches.

8.00pm All I Want(ed) for Christmas Channel 4 - Celebrities get the chance to unwrap the presents they wanted as kids but never got, and discover if they are as exciting as they imagined. Getting to grips with their childhood dreams are Jonathan Ross, Asim Chaudhry, Robert Webb, Big Narstie, Keith Lemon, Rosie Jones, Martine McCutcheon, London Hughes, Aled Jones, Kerry Godliman, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Grace Dent, Lucy Porter and Justin Edwards.

9.00pm A Very British Scandal BBC One - Fact-based drama focusing on the 1963 divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, one of the most extraordinary and brutal legal cases of the 20th century, notorious for scandalous accusations and salacious photographs. The pair first meet while he is still married and she is finalising her divorce. They eventually marry and begin work on reopening his ancestral castle - a task that leads to massive debts and rising tensions. Starring Claire Foy, Paul Bettany and Sophia Myles. Continues Tomorrow at 9.00pm, Concludes Tuesday at 9.00pm.

9.00pm Mortimer & Whitehouse Gone Fishing: Christmas Special BBC Two - Paul takes Bob on a steam train to the north of England to search for a prized English salmon, fishing in the rivers Eden and Tyne in search of their elusive quarry. They are joined on the riverbank by former footballer Paul Gascoigne, who has also always dreamt of catching a salmon, while Dr Anand Patel has a chat with Bob about how to look out for the more vulnerable at Christmastime.

9.00pm The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2021 Channel 4 - The annual year-end quiz, hosted by Jimmy Carr. Guests including Sarah Millican, James Acaster, Jonathan Ross and Judi Love look back on the strange events of 2021, from space travel and celebrities who do not shower, to sea shanties and Tony Blair's peculiar hair. Charles Dance and the children of Mitchell Brook Primary School are on hand to help Jimmy pose his questions.

9.30pm Billy Connolly: My Absolute Pleasure ITV - The comedian invites viewers to spend time with him in his newly adopted home of the Florida Keys for an insight into the life he leads now. As the comedy great launches his first-ever autobiography, he shares a personal selection of his best-loved stand-up routines captured during his tours, some of which have never before been seen on TV.

10.00pm Adele: The BBC Sessions BBC Two - Adele has broken records, won numerous awards and has recently released her highly anticipated fourth album, 30. This programme takes a trip back into the BBC's archives to look again at how it all started for one of the 21st century's biggest music stars. These performances include her first TV appearance on Later... with Jools Holland, in 2007, on which she sang Daydreamer.

Monday 27th December

5.15pm In for a Christmas Penny ITV - Stephen Mulhern will be spreading some Christmas cheer this December in a special edition of the popular series In For A Christmas Penny. The show will see Stephen let loose on the streets of Chelmsford injecting some festive fun to unsuspecting members of the public unwrapping a host of hilariously funny games including a special Christmas version of the popular In For A Penny where he will be giving away some holidays.

6.00pm Family Fortunes Christmas Special ITV - Hosted by Gino D’Acampo.

7.30pm The Voice Kids ITV - Spice Girl Melanie C joins Danny Jones, will.i.am and reigning champion Pixie Lott in the search for the next generation of singing talent, while Emma Willis is back to host the series. Continues at 7.30pm, Concludes Wednesday at 8.00pm.

8.00pm Masterchef: The Professionals: The Rematch BBC One - One-off special in which four previous finalists show Monica Galetti, Marcus Wareing and Gregg Wallace how appearing on the famous cooking show has had an impact on their careers, before facing two demanding challenges. Taking part are Philli Armitage-Mattin, Santosh Shah, Bart van der Lee and Jamie Park, and Monica and Marcus throw them in at the deep end by getting them to cook for restaurant critics Grace Dent, Jimi Famurewa and Jay Rayner, who all have high hopes. In the second round, they have to cook a festive centrepiece - and as this could win them the title they go all out to deliver.

8.00pm Only Connect: Christmas Special BBC Two - Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts the first of four festive editions of the lateral-thinking quiz, with two favourite teams from previous series returning for an evening of cheese, wine and Christmas quizzing. The Turophiles take on the Corkscrews, trying to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random, with one set of clues comprising Ben, Phillip Schofield, The Ivy, and Crickets.

8.00pm Travel Man: 96 Hours in Iceland Channel 4 - Joe Lycett takes over the quirky travelouge. On his maiden voyage, Joe's off to Iceland with comedian and dance champion Bill Bailey. In a packed four-day itinerary they embrace local cuisine, alfresco bathing, and some of Iceland's festive folklore. But first they explore Reykjavik, including an immersive visit to the punk museum, housed in a disused public toilet; an art installation featuring neon synthetic hair; and lunch at a restaurant where the theme is tomato.

9.00pm Jon & Lucy's Christmas Sleepover Channel 4 - Married comedians Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont host a special post-Christmas, pre-New Year celebration, inviting guests including Roisin Conaty, Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett to join them for a look back at the year gone by.

Notable Continuing Series: Curb Your Enthusiasm, 9.00pm, Sky Comedy

9.00pm Clarice Alibi - A year after the Buffalo Bill case, Special Agent Clarice Starling (Rebecca Breeds) is called on to investigate a series of brutal murders with an elite FBI Unit.

9.05pm Sondheim at the BBC BBC Four - A special tribute to Stephen Sondheim, featuring archive footage of performances of his songs by some of the world's biggest stars, taken from BBC shows over the past 60 years. The programme includes clips of Shirley Bassey, Sammy Davis Jr, Michael Ball and Liza Minnelli.

Tuesday 28th December

6.55pm Escape to the Chateau: Restoring the Dream More4 - The transformation of the Strawbridges' 45-room chateau, beginning with a look at how Dick overcame the enormous technical and engineering challenges to make the building habitable for Angel and their young family.

7.15pm Worzel Gummidge: Twitchers BBC One - After a raging thunderstorm, a flock of rare choughs turns up at Scatterbrook Farm. Keen to seize the opportunity of scaring such a rarely sighted bird, Worzel enlists the help of Susan and John, but their plans are soon scuppered once word of the choughs gets around and a group of avid twitchers moves in before he has even had his chance. To make matters worse, their arrival forces Mr Braithwaite to come face to face with his old birdwatching rival, Lee Dangerman. With the twitchers refusing to leave, can the children come up with a plan to help scare the choughs and save Worzel and Mr B from embarrassment? First of two festive episodes, starring Mackenzie Crook.

8.00pm Extraordinary Christmas Escapes with Sandi Toksvig Channel 4 -Businesswoman Deborah Meaden, actress Fay Ripley and space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock accompany Sandi Toksvig as she travels to Norway. Maggie and Sandi go in search of killer whales during a stay in an architectural gem designed for guests to enjoy the wonders of the Northern Lights from their sofa, Deborah Meaden swaps the Dragons Den for a face to face meeting with a pack of wolves and it really is Cold Feet for Fay Ripley when in sub-zero temperatures she and Sandi venture to a mountain-top glass cabin.

10.00pm Mock The Week: End of Year Special BBC Two - Dara O Briain and Hugh Dennis are joined by an array of guests in a special edition of the show, featuring a look back at the year gone by as well as outtakes and all the usual fun.

Wednesday 29th December

7.00pm Billionaire Blooms Channel 4 - Documentary access to some of the most internationally celebrated florists as they cater to the luxury end of the market. Jamie Aston is planning one of his enormous Christmas displays at exclusive London venues - a design so large that the team have to bring in scaffolding. Celebrity floral designer Paula Rooney's client wants their entire mansion decorated for Christmas, and newcomers Iona and Romy mix flowers and subculture to create a cool Christmas installation at a leading restaurant.

7.00pm Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses Sky Max - Helen Mirren hosts the ultimate Harry Potter quiz, as the loyal Hufflepuffs face the valiant Gryffindors for a place in the final.

7.15pm Worzel Gummidge: Calliope Jane BBC One - Susan and John are excited when they learn that FR Peregrine's Travelling Fair is coming to Scatterbrook for one night only, but as much as he'd love to join his friends, Worzel can't be seen wandering around by humans. He recalls the legend of a fairground with an enchanted organ that has the power to send humans to sleep, so that scarecrows can enjoy the rides without fear of being seen. At the museum, Aunt Sally finds herself agreeing to go on an adventure with another ex-fairground attraction, Calliope Jane, and it turns out Worzel isn't the only scarecrow who wants to attend the fair. Bill Bailey guest stars.

7.30pm Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs ITV - Paul O’Grady returns this week to help a blind Bichon cope in her world of darkness. Paul also becomes captivated by a mystical, bald, rare breed of cat… and shows a cockapoo in distress to de-stress with the help of essential oils.

8.00pm Pauline Collins: Britain's Sweetheart Channel 5 - Celebrity-studded tribute celebrating the actor's long career, with a host of famous faces sharing their insights and anecdotes, and selecting their favourite moments from her films. Among those interviewed are Tom Conti, Simon Callow, Willy Russell and Nerys Hughes, and there are clips from several of her well-known, and less known, movies and TV appearances.

9.00pm Inside the Factory: XL Diggers BBC Two - Gregg Wallace and Cherry Healey get special access to the JCB factory in Rocester in Staffordshire, where as many as a hundred iconic yellow diggers are made every single day.

9.00pm Britain's Most Expensive Houses Channel 4 - Documentary going behind the scenes with UK Sotheby's International Realty, giving an insight into the exclusive world of super-prime properties. Brokers John and Mary head to Windsor to view a £30million mansion on behalf of a French Moroccan socialite who cannot travel due to Covid-19 restrictions. Back at the office, Shereen is mentoring junior broker Leena on a search for her buyer, Anastasia, who wants to swap her property portfolio from Russia to London.

9.00pm The Great British Dig: History in Your Back Garden More4 - Hugh Dennis and a team of expert archaeologists return to excavate back gardens around Britain, uncovering the lost history buried beneath lawns and flower beds. They start off by trying to uncover a Roman fort, connected to the Antonine Wall, buried beneath the back gardens of the quiet suburban streets of Falkirk in central Scotland.

10.00pm Frankie Boyle's 2021 New World Order BBC Two - The comedian tries to make sense of the modern world, using a combination of stand-up, review, discussion and audience interaction to dissect the week's news - with a panel of guests on hand to take Frankie to task over his claims. Continues at 10.45pm with an 'Unseen bits' special.

10.00pm Celebrity Quizness Channel 4 - Tom Allen invites actress Siobhán McSweeney, comedian Jo Brand, TV judge Robert Rinder and presenter AJ Odudu to go head to head to win up to £25,000 for charity. As usual, there's a twist to the comedy quiz - if they want to win the game, they must prove their brains by looking daft, with fiendish questions on anything from Richard III to Big Bird.

Thursday 30th December

8.00pm Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard BBC One - David Attenborough joins a team of archaeologists and palaeontologists excavating a mammoth graveyard discovered by fossil hunters in the prehistoric riverbed of the Thames. The site has also led to the discovery of stone artefacts, providing an insight into the relationship between early humans and mammoths during the Ice Ages. Leading experts in the fields of evolution provide their insight into this unique vision of prehistoric Britain.

8.00pm Only Connect: Champion of Champions Special BBC Two - Series 15 champions the 007s take on Series 16 victors the Puzzle Hunters to be named Only Connect Champions of Champions. They'll compete to draw together the connections between things which at first glance, seem utterly random. Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts.

9.00pm The Great British Sewing Bee: Celebrity New Year's Special BBC One - Host Sara Pascoe invites Drag Race winner Lawrence Chaney, comedian Rose Matafeo, Steps singer Claire Richards and journalist Kirsty Wark to take part in a series of challenges in the sewing room. Judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young set the celebrities a range of tasks, including rustling up a festive waistcoat and transforming some old clothes into children's party dresses. Finally, they hit the dance floor, with Claire performing an '80s disco classic.

9.00pm One Night in London Zoo Channel 4 - Comedians Desiree Burch and Guz Khan join Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe at the famous animal attraction. During a magical and high-spirited night, they hang out with the giraffes, feed the camels and endure the company of spiders, as they freewheel around the zoo in a golf cart and stay overnight in the zoo's lodges. As the night progresses, the friends get a glimpse into what the animals get up to after dark, and even find themselves inadvertently spying on some amorous lions, as they make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime chance to enjoy the zoo without any other members of the public present.

9.00pm Wogan: Now You're Talking Channel 5 - A celebration of the life and work of much-missed broadcasting legend. With the help of old friends, colleagues and fellow broadcasters, cameras chart Terry Wogan's rise from Dublin bank clerk to national treasure. There's also a look at his most memorable moments, taking in the likes of Eurovision, Blankety Blank, Wogan and Children in Need - and not forgetting his first love, radio.

10.00pm The Russell Howard Hour: Selection Box Sky Max - Festive edition of the comedy chatshow and best bits from the year.

10.30pm Most Shocking TV Interviews Channel 5 - look through the top 30 worst TV interviews of all time. Matthew Wright, Kathy Lette, John Sergeant and other commentators analyse the most excruciating, awkward, shocking and hilarious disasters. Clips include Prince Andrew's interview with Emily Maitlis, and the Bee Gees storming off Clive Anderson's chat show.

New Year's Eve

4.15pm Top of the Pops: New Year's Special BBC One

9.00pm The Last Leg of the Year Channel 4 - The quadruple-BAFTA-nominated entertainment show is supersized this New Year's Eve with an extra-special two-hour extravaganza to say goodbye - and good riddance - to 2021. Adam Hills, Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe are joined by a host of celebrity guests in a bumper satirical spectacular looking back at the highs and lows of the past year... and what a year it's been. Featuring hilarious VTs, joyously raucous debate and, of course, some brilliantly stupid songs, The Last Leg of the Year is an uproarious romp poking fun at the year's news and looking forward to what 2022 might have in store. Joining Adam, Alex and Josh for the end-of-year fun are special guests including Aisling Bea, Joe Wilkinson, Ivo Graham, Nish Kumar and Vick Hope. House band Alex Horne and The Horne Section provide musical entertainment.

9.30pm Have I Got 2021 For You? BBC One - A compilation series looking back at 2021.

10.20pm The Graham Norton New Year Show BBC One - Graham is joined by A-listers as the build-up to 2022 begins.

11.25pm The Big New Years & Years Eve Party with Kylie and Pet Shop Boys BBC One - Years & Years singer Olly Alexander throws a spectacular New Year's Eve Party as we build up to the midnight moment. Olly will be performing many of his hits and some surprise cover songs as well as duetting with special guest, pop superstar Kylie Minogue.

11.25pm Jolls' Annual Hootenanny BBC Two - With Jools in the studio is Ed Sheeran, who will perform tracks from his fourth album ‘=’. Gregory Porter, Lulu, Joy Crookes, Rag’n’Bone Man, Yola and Ruby Turner.

REVIEW: Succession's penultimate episode delivers on every level.

2021-12-07T11:08:00.006+00:00

There's a lot to unpack in the penultimate episode of the season as Jackson Maher breaks down what might be the best episode of this season.

When a TV show is operating at its apex, it has the ability to move us—like, physically. I touched on this in my recap of “The Retired Farmers of Idaho,” an episode that had me pacing and sweating with anxiety, but that’s not the only way a show can force a physical reaction from us. The more subtle—and arguably more powerful—counterpart to this is what I call the “Lean In” scene. Sometimes a scene builds such a quiet fury that it seems to reach through the screen and pull our faces forward by the nose, urging us to lean in.

There are at least 4 undeniable such moments in “Chiantishire,” which is by my estimation the best episode of Succession’s already illustrious run. There is Kendall’s dinner with Logan, Shiv and Tom’s debrief of their disturbing “dirty” talk, Logan confronting Roman about his dick pic, and Kendall’s drunken swim.

The fact that Succession can give a lean-in scene to each of its major characters in an episode that also includes a bachelorette party, Connor proposing to Willa, Greg trying to play the date ladder, and Alexander freaking Skarsgård making fake crying eyes—it’s just unfair. Rip the rest of television.

Inevitability and imminent doom have been present in obvious ways for much of Succession’s run. From Logan’s health to Kendall’s self-destructive nature, the show has never been shy about letting us know that these characters are on the precipice of a great fall, and yet the show continues to find new and interesting ways to play with our expectations of that fall.

Roman starts the episode with a newly discovered confidence after eviscerating his siblings at Kendall’s birthday party. While he’s always been one of the strongest shit-talkers on the show, his quips often served to hide his insecurities. As Shiv pointed out earlier this season, “Oh, you love showing your pee-pee to everyone, but someday, you know, you're actually gonna have to fuck something.” But now, those “jokes” are now fully genuine, tilting fully from insecurity to arrogance.

He’s playing the same songs, but the tone is different when he says, “Well, I can't quite fire you yet, Shiv, because I'm still a little bit scared of you. But my thinking is, when I take over, I'm gonna put you in the office next to mine, and you're gonna be my sexy secretary.” He thinks he’s the successor, the next Logan Roy. But he’s actually just the next Kendall.

He’s the errand boy sent away from vacation to try to seal a deal instead of Kendall this time. He’s the one who thinks he’s better than his siblings. And just like Kendall, he self-destructs magnificently.

When Logan confronts Roman about his dick pic to Gerri, it becomes incredibly clear. Logan simply cannot comprehend what is going on, despite actually trying to relate to it. Is it a domination thing, like how he so often refers to making his opponents bend for him? Is it just Roman being Roman? Boys will be boys?

Roman sits there steeped in his shame, cowering like a scared boy, much like his brother did at the end of season 1 when Logan cornered him and told him he was his number one boy. Roman and Logan aren’t alike at all, and how could they be? Logan has forged Roman into this dysfunctional mess of a person through his continued humiliation.

Such is the cycle of a Roy child on Succession. You work your way up to Logan’s right hand, where he keeps you stalled out until you inevitably self-destruct in humiliating fashion, fall to the bottom of the pecking order and start the hard work of ingratiating yourself with Logan again. Caroline might know Logan better than anyone, “He never saw anything he loved that he didn't wanna kick it just to see if it would still come back.”

Shiv is in the middle of her third trip around the carousel, having combusted spectacularly last season and having recently suffered a setback at the Future Freedom Summit. Now she’s weaseling her way back in, sensing a chance to drive a wedge between Logan, Roman, and Gerri. Shiv is at her most ruthless in this episode, cornered and dangerous.

It’s that ruthlessness that is what Tom finds so attractive about her. He sees her intelligence and savvy and power, but it continually blinds him to her defining character traits: fear and spite. Shiv is so terrified of being abandoned the way her mother abandoned her that she seeks to control Tom completely. To her, he exists purely as an extension of herself, someone she does not need to be respected or promised anything. She can gaslight him, scoffing when he says, “No, I know, but then sometimes I think, um…sometimes I think, ‘Should I maybe listen to the things you say directly in my face when we're at our most intimate?’” She can avoid making any kind of commitment to a family, hoping to freeze embryos and maybe even wait it out until Tom dies.

“I may not love you, but I do love you. You know?” is possibly the most gutting phrase ever uttered on the show, saying absolutely nothing, and yet everything by removing the meaning from those words. It’s a message Tom reads loud and clear: love is merely useful.

It’s an exhausting dance, and you can see why Kendall would want to remove himself from the situation. He’s at the bottom again, buzzcut and all (which actually looks really good?), but this time he’s out of moves. He’s ready for it to end and he’s done with the bullshit.

Kendall’s directness frightens Logan in this episode, hiding behind Roman like a coward and asking him if the dinner is a good idea. Later, he makes his grandson test his food in a truly despicable move. Still, Kendall avoids engaging in the usual dynamic with his dad, and I actually believe him when he says, “I’ll be broken when you die,” because Kendall is actually that weird.

He’s done trying to play the games, but Logan can’t even accept his victory, because what he wants isn’t for his son to lose, but for Kendall to vanquish him. He wants Kendall to be so ruthless that he’d poison his food, because it’s only through being killed by his son that Logan achieves true immortality. That would make Kendall just like him. It would ensure his legacy.

“I don’t want to be like you” is the line that sends Logan spinning as he tries desperately to get a rise out of Kendall. Bullying for Logan has always been his twisted Darwinian approach to parenting, to forge a fighter through humiliation, but that’s precisely what alienates him from his children, not what brings them closer together.

Kendall isn’t like his father. He might be a killer, but he isn’t ruthless. He’s the guy who can’t stop thinking about the minutes that kid was alive in the water before he drowned, holding his head under the surface so he can try to understand.

POWER RANKINGS

15. Romance (Last week: N/A) - Roman and Shiv are trying to push Caroline to get a prenup, something she finds “unromantic.” Willa sure is taking her time thinking about Connor’s proposal, something he also calls “unromantic.” Those unsolicited dick pics are not the way to a lady’s heart Roman. And I’m not sure anything is less romantic than being told “you love me even though I don’t love you” in bed.

14. Parenting (Last week: N/A) - Logan is a mainstay here but shoutout to Caroline for gaslighting Shiv about what age she was when Caroline abandoned her and then telling her to her face that it would have been better if she’d never been a mother and that Shiv shouldn’t have been born. Meanwhile, Kendall’s running around asking if anyone’s seen his kids and really nailing that drunk dad voice when he says “okay buddy” to Iverson while facedown in a pool.

13. Kendall (Last week: 13) - Look, it’s been a tough season for Kendall. His birthday was every bit the “big fucking nervous breakdown” he promised Josh and this week didn’t get much better. He was shunned from family activities and then when he tried to quit the family he was denied. Plus, he’s got some serious suicidal ideation going on again. But he’s not last. Why is he not last? Because Jeremy Strong can pull off a fucking buzzcut, that’s why.

12. Gerri (Last week: N/A) - Shiv has put Gerri in an incredibly uncomfortable position. She has to pick between throwing Roman under the bus, who is her number one ally and Logan’s point man on the biggest deal Waystar has ever had done, or being thrown under the bus herself. It doesn’t help that Logan’s immediate thought was that he didn’t want her “hanging around like frozen fucking piss.” I have faith in Gerri though. She’s stuck around this long for a reason.

11. Caroline (Last week: N/A) - Caroline is the most savage parent on Succession, coming in once a season to just passive aggressively drag her children in the most brutal ways possible. Last season it was her telling Kendall that he can’t talk to her about real things, and this time it was telling Shiv that she’s smart to not to have children because “Some people just aren't made to be mothers.”

10. Connor (Last week: 6) - “Will you make me...the most happiest man...slash most bulletproof candidate in the world?” Quickly followed by “I’m smiling now like you said yes.”

9. Willa (Last week: N/A) - Willa isn’t exactly winning, but she’s got to be higher than Connor simply because it’s her decision to make, and she’s taking her time. It’s a real life decision!

8. Comfry (Last week: N/A) - Let’s pro and con this. Pros: She got to travel to Tuscana on a work vacation where there isn’t that much work to do since Kendall’s life is basically over and she’s kind of dating Greg, who is everyone’s favorite character and very tall. Cons: Greg might just be using her as a date ladder and most everyone is laughing at her for being with him. Also she still has other work to do I guess.

7. Tom (Last week: 8) - Sure, things aren’t great with Shiv right now. She won’t commit to having a baby and, in fact, has told him to his face that she doesn’t love him, both in the act of lovemaking and then again the next day while totally sober. That’s pretty devastating, there’s really no way around it. Well…baby popsicles!

6. Greg (Last week: 7) - Would you be totally surprised if we found out next episode that Greg had sex with the Contessa?

5. Roman (Last week: 5) - Jeez, this is a tough one to place. On the one hand, he literally got caught with his pants. I’m not sure life gets more embarrassing than sending your dad a dick pic. On the other hand, he secured the Matsson deal and got attaboys from both Gerri and Logan right before doing that. I guess it could have been worse? But maybe it couldn’t have been, I don’t know

4. Tuscana (Last week: N/A) - What a beautiful place! I’ve felt the covid restrictions in a decent amount of this season. The second and fifth episodes are essentially bottle episodes and the fourth siloed all of our main characters. But “Chiantishire” felt like the world was opening up again.

3. Lucas Matsson (Last week: N/A) - Okay but did he want to fuck Roman? Matsson is one of the most difficult characters on the show to read. While I’m sure much of it is for show, it’s hard to know what to make of a billionaire who says he just wants to burn as much failure out as possible and sleeps on the floor of his mansion in Switzerland. Still, he got everything he wanted, looks like a merger is in the works.

2. Logan (Last week: 2) - Logan also got everything he wanted. He humiliated Kendall, got the GoJo deal, and even brought Marcia and Kerry to wave in front of his ex-wife. The dick pic thing was tough for him to wrap his head around, but come on dad, sometimes people just send each other pics of their dicks. Get with the times, old man!

1. Shiv (Last week: 10) - What a strategic masterclass from Shiv. She started the episode depressed, but talking to her mom was just the kick in the pants she needed. She told Tom she didn’t love him and then fucked him anyway in a real fucked up power move, and then turned this dick pic scandal into a brilliant wedge issue for Gerri and Roman. I mean, Shiv is objectively the worst and if you know someone who’s favourite character is her, that’s a red flag. But you can’t deny that she girlboss-gaslight-gatekeeped her way to the top this week.

Succession Concludes Sunday on HBO and Sky Atlantic

PODCAST: #321: Landscapers, Yellowjackets and You Don't Know Me.

2021-12-06T22:22:00.014+00:00

Matt and Luke are joined by Sarah Kennedy to review Sky's black comedic drama Landscapers. BBC1's new crime drama You Don't Know Me, Sky Atlantic's drama Yellowjackets and Peacock's updated version of Saved By the Bell.

Listen to "#321: Landscapers, You Don't Know Me, Yellowjackets" on Spreaker.

The TVweek: Saturday 11th - Friday 17th December 2021

2021-12-06T00:00:00.001+00:00

Saturday

9.25pm Real Stories: Sting BBC Two - The singer-songwriter sits down with Dermot O' Leary in a cinema to talk about his life and career, viewing some of his most famous performances and interviews from over the years, from his first TV appearance on the BBC's The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1978, to performing at Live Aid in 1985 and his reunion tour with the Police in 2007.

9.25pm Louis and Edwina: An Unconventional Marriage Channel 5 - Lord Louis Mountbatten, distinguished naval officer and last viceroy of India, is perhaps best remembered as elder statesman of the royals. Uncle to Prince Philip, he had an even closer bond with his great-nephew Prince Charles. But there is a lesser-known - yet vital - part of Mountbatten's life in his open marriage to multimillionaire Edwina Ashley. This film charts how Louis and Edwina gradually became the `It" couple of their time, despite a series of scandals that caused a sensation in society, but largely stayed out of the newspapers.

10.00pm Capital's Jingle Bell Ball: Highlights Sky Max - Highlights of the pop concert held at London's O2, where Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Years & Years, Lil Nas X and Anne Marie are among those performing. Concludes Tomorrow at 10.00pm.

Sunday

8.00pm Walk the Line ITV - Maya Jama hosts a musical game show in which acts compete for a prize pot of £500,000, with Gary Barlow, Alesha Dixon, Dawn French and Craig David judging. The winner of tonight's show will be crowned a champion, but then be faced with a tough decision to either cash out of the competition for £10,000 or compete again against four new challengers in tomorrow night's edition. Continues Tomorrow and all week at 8.00pm. Concludes Friday.

Monday

8.00pm Jamie: Together at Christmas Channel 4 - The first of two Christmas episodes features recipes for bramble cocktails, tear-and-share garlic bread, and beef bourguignon topped with Christmassy chestnut and bacon sprinkle, served alongside creamy potato and celeriac mash, and a fresh, citrussy Christmas salad. The party comes to a close with a sparkling winter bombe ice cream dessert, packed full of festive dried fruits and covered in melted chocolate.

9.00pm David Baddiel: Social Media, Anger and Us BBC Two - The comedian and author explores the impact social media is having on people's behaviour on and offline, with outrage and angry exchanges frequently dominating. He analyses the angry and hateful tweets he receives, interrogating his brain's responses to these messages in an MRI scan, and goes cold turkey for a fortnight to see if a life free of social media leads him to enlightenment.

9.00pm Strictly The Real Full Monty ITV - Ashley Banjo leads a line-up of celebrities ready to recreate the famous striptease scene from the film to raise awareness of life-saving cancer checks. He helps Laila Morse, James Jordan, Duncan James, Christine McGuinness, Colin Jackson, Brenda Edwards, Martin Roberts, Teddy Soares and Demi Jones prepare for a musical dance extravaganza in front of an audience in Blackpool's famous ballroom. Concludes Tomorrow at 9.00pm.

Notable Continuing Series: Curb Your Enthusiasm, 9.00pm, Sky Comedy

Succession, 9.00pm, Sky Atlantic

9.00pm The Speedboat Killer: The Killing of Charlotte Brown ITV2 - Documentary examining the case of the woman who died from cold water immersion in December 2015 after the speedboat she was on crashed on the River Thames, with the boat's driver Jack Shepherd claiming it was an unlucky accident. Concludes Tomorrow at 9.00pm

9.00pm Matt Baker: Our Christmas in the Dales More4 - Special Christmas edition, which sees the family preparing for winter storms. After some trees are cut down, one is chosen to be the courtyard Christmas tree. Matt and his dad Mike are also busy in the workshop building a nativity-themed surprise for the donkeys.

10.00pm The Cockfields: Christmas Special GOLD - Simon and Esther travel to the Isle of Wight at Christmas to visit his doting mother, his controlling yet well-meaning stepfather and his celebrity-obsessed stepbrother.

Tuesday

7.00pm Help! My Pet Hates Me Channel 5 - A lighthearted look at troublesome pets and their escapades, including two dogs in Detroit that accidentally set their owners' house on fire, a dog that repeatedly drags its owner off their feet on walks, and a cat that attacks its owner whenever she sings.

8.00pm The Yorkshire Vet at Christmas: It's a Wonderful Life Channel 5 - In a special festive episode, Peter rushes to a friend who has a pet turkey that has been attacked by a dog, and Matt has to operate on a terrier to remove a large tumour. Meanwhile, Julian's team are a surprised by an unexpected visitor to the practice, a lost parrot that the team try to reunite with its owner.

Notable Continuing Series: Impeachment: American Crime Story, 9.00pm BBC Two

What We Do in the Shadows, 10.00pm BBC Two.

9.00pm Christmas Magic at Kew Gardens Channel 5 - Following the festive celebrations at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, as the team work tirelessly to prepare for one of the busiest times of the year

10.00pm Hot Christmas Channel 4 - An investigation into how and why Britain has become a nation of sexual adventurers. The documentary visits the headquarters of online retailer Lovehoney, where the sex toy developers and lingerie designers have their hands full in the run-up to Christmas, and features contributions from some of their customers.

Wednesday

7.00pm Masterchef USA Celebrity Showdown W - Gordon Ramsay invites celebrities into the MasterChef USA kitchen to show off their culinary skills in head-to-head contests for charity.

8.00pm Kirstie and Phil's Love It Or List It Channel 4 - Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer help a couple in Poole, Dorset, who cannot agree whether to sell their four-bedroom chalet bungalow or renovate instead. Supply teacher Sue has waited 35 years for builder husband Roy to finish their renovation and would rather they move so they can enjoy their retirement. But he loves the space their house offers and doesn't think it can be replicated elsewhere.

9.00pm I'm a Celebrity: Legends of the Castle ITV - Ant and Dec present a one-off special combining highlights from the latest series with interviews from the famous faces taking part after they left Gwrych Castle in Abergele on the North Wales coast.

9.00pm Christmas at Castle Howard Channel 4 - The first of three programmes providing behind-the-scenes access as England's grandest stately homes celebrate the festive season. First up is Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, where creative director Charlotte Lloyd-Webber and her team are decorating the interior on a Narnia theme, while owner Nicholas Howard is hands on with photographing the annual Christmas card. However, when the tree arrives late and proves too big too fit, it requires emergency surgery with a chainsaw.

9.00pm Murder in Suburbia Channel 5 - Two-part documentary exploring twists and turns of the investigation into Rachel O'Reilly's murder in 2004, and the devastating impact it had on her loved ones, featuring testimony from those who were closest to the case. The opening episode looks closely at the start of the investigation and how, as it progressed, Rachel's husband Joe become the focus of the police's investigation. Concludes Tomorrow at 9.00pm.

11.00pm Mark Kermode's Christmas Cinema Secrets BBC Four - Mark Kermode celebrates one of the most perennial of all movie genres - the Christmas film. He unwraps a glittering selection of festive cinematic treats, from Hollywood blockbusters to family favourites, revealing the techniques and storytelling secrets that make them so successful. Touching on styles ranging from fairy-tale fantasy to high-octane action, family drama to horror, Mark considers how the best of these films are able to capture something magical - the Christmas spirit. But how do they do it?

Thursday

8.00pm The Dog House at Christmas Channel 4 - Documentary set inside Wood Green animal charity during the run-up to the festivities as staff seek permanent homes for their charges. Michael the lurcher has never had a family of his own and is hoping to spend his first ever Christmas in his `forever home". He's matched with Nhung and her two children, so will need to use all of his doggy senses in the pen to make friends with everyone. Meanwhile, Bentley the portly pug is introduced to widower Ramesh. At first, sparks don't fly but things start to look up when they discover a mutual love of Christmas treats. Plus, Clarence the one-eyed dachshund has to overcome his shyness when he meets nurse Holly and boyfriend Dom.

8.00pm There's Something About Christmas Movies Sky Max - Alan Carr hosts a festive special of the film quiz, with Thomas Brodie Sangster, Susan Wokoma and James Acaster joining Michael Sheen, Jennifer Saunders and Tom Allen. One round sees the panellists recreating Christmas classics including Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life and Die Hard.

9.00pm One Night in Alton Towers Channel 4 - Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe spend the night at some of the UK's most exciting attractions with no other visitors around, starting inside major theme park Alton Towers where they are joined by comedian Roisin Conaty. The trio roam the Staffordshire facility's grounds and enjoy after-hours high jinks, but whether they will be brave enough to ride some of the world's most thrilling and scariest rollercoasters - such as Oblivion - remains to be seen.

10.00pm I Literally Just Told You Channel 4 - Jimmy Carr hosts this game show in which contestants are given every answer with the questions written, literally, as the show is happening. With each correct answer adding more cash to a prize pot of a maximum £25,000, the competitors have to keep their focus and remember the things they've seen and heard just minutes before. In the dramatic finale, the remaining two contestants set each other questions. Those compiling the posers include The Sky at Night's Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock.

Friday

8.00pm Celebrity Gogglebox 2021 Channel 4 - Memorable moments of the year, featuring some of the country's favourite celebrities critiquing TV shows that they have watched. The line-up of famous faces includes Clare Balding and Alice Arnold, Gyles Brandreth and Maureen Lipman, Lorraine Kelly and her daughter Rosie, Nick Grimshaw and his niece Liv, Mo Gilligan and Babatunde Aleshe, Tom Jones and Anne-Marie, and Shaun Ryder and Bez. Shows appraised include Masked Dancer, First Dates, Quizness, The Handmaid's Tale, Secret Crush, Extreme Sisters, Sex/Life and Celebrity Karaoke Club.

9.00pm The National Comedy Awards for Stand Up 2 Cancer Channel 4 - A look back at a year of much-needed laughter, as legends of comedy and rising stars gather at the red-carpet ceremony at the Roundhouse in Camden, north London. Categories - including Best Scripted Comedy, Best Comedy Podcast, Comedy Breakthrough Performer and Outstanding Comedy Actor and Actress - feature nominations for an array of stars, including Ricky Gervais, Sarah Millican, Mo Gilligan, Daisy May Cooper, Aisling Bea, Greg Davies and Rosie Jones. Alongside the viewer-voted categories, there are two additional special recognition awards, chosen by a prestigious group of comedy VIPs. Hosted by Tom Allen.

9.00pm Gregg Wallace's Magical Christmas Market Channel 5 - Gregg explores the spectacular Tivoli Gardens in the heart of Copenhagen. Here, he finds out how designers use more than a million lights to create a festive show unlike anywhere else in the world, before visiting one of the city's oldest bakeries to take a special tour of the factory. Back onto the bustling streets of Copenhagen, he visits some of the other famous Christmas markets, including one dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen.

9.35pm It'll Be Alright on the Night ITV - David Walliams returns with more TV disasters featuring the world's most famous faces. Joanna Lumley nearly falls off a ship, the Good Morning Britain Studio is invaded by ants, and Katy Perry is interrupted by a fire alarm. Plus, there are TV nightmares for the cast and crew of Love Island, Coronation Street, Catchphrase, and I'm A Celebrity.

News Roundup: First Look at 'Stay Close,' 'Then Barbara Met Alan' and Only Murders news.

2021-12-03T13:12:00.002+00:00

*Netflix have released the trailer for their upcoming Harlan Coben adaptation 'Stay Close'. The Good Fight's Cush Jumbo leads an all star cast which includes Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Jo Joyner and Sarah Parish for the twisty thriller. The eight-part drama follows three people living comfortable (yet not entirely satisfactory) lives, who are all concealing dark secrets. The three individuals are Megan (Jumbo), a working mum of three; Ray (Armitage), a failed documentary photographer; and Broome (Nesbitt), a detective haunted by a missing person’s cold case. However, when Megan’s old friend Lorraine (Parish) delivers some shocking news, all three of their lives will be impacted, as the moments from their past return to haunt them.

The series will be available on Netflix Worldwide from Friday 31st December.

*The first images have been released for upcoming factual drama Then Barbara Met Alan, starring Ruth Madeley and Arthur Hughes. Written by multiple Bafta-winner Jack Thorne and award-winning actor-turned-writer Genevieve Barr, Then Barbara Met Alan tells the story through the eyes of Barbara Lisicki (Ruth Madeley) and Alan Holdsworth (newcomer Arthur Hughes), two disabled cabaret performers who met at a gig in 1989 and would go on to become the driving force behind DAN - the Direct Action Network, whose fearless and coordinated protests pushed the campaign for disabled rights into the spotlight.

The one-off drama is expected on the BBC in 2022.

*Steve Martin has shared a photo from the set of Only Murders in the Building as he reunites with Martin Short and Selina Gomez for season 2 of the HULU/Disney+ comedy thriller.

Our first day of shooting of “Only Murders in the Building!” We’re all happy to be back. pic.twitter.com/avTv3AF27a
— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) December 1, 2021

The news comes as it was announced that actor and model Cara Delevingne has been cast as a series regular in Season 2. She will play Alice, a sophisticated art world insider who becomes enmeshed in the mystery.

The series airs on HULU in the US and Disney+ in the UK and is expected to return in 2022.

OPINION: How 'Rectify' brought arthouse to the TV screen and became a standout drama.

2021-12-02T23:22:00.003+00:00

A look at one of the best dramas ever to air that you've never probably heard of.

First aired Monday 22nd April 2013 2015 on SundanceTV

Contributed by James Donaghy

Placing murder front and centre of your prestige TV drama is a solid strategy. Nothing gets the blood pumping like a dead body, after all. It might be the eerie noir of The Killing, the intricate whydunnit of The Fall or the delicate cold case excavation of Unforgotten. Great as all these shows are, they adhere faithfully to the conventions of their genre. In 2013, SundanceTV began broadcasting a show concerning a historical crime that was quite different. The protagonist was a convicted murderer/rapist released from death row but we never really knew if he was innocent. He appeared to have absolutely no interest in clearing his name. There was no wondering if he’d kill again, sifting through red herrings or weekly pursuit of a one-armed man. The pace was glacial, the action minimal. The show was Rectify and it’s the best and strangest drama you’ve never heard of.

It might very easily have never happened. Writer-director Ray McKinnon originally had the show commissioned by AMC in 2008. The network was on its uppers having produced two touchstone TV shows in quick succession, Mad Men and Breaking Bad. Although new to TV directing, McKinnon had some clout having won the 2001 Academy award for best live-action short film for the film The Accountant, produced with his wife Lisa Blount and the actor Walter Goggins. Rectify originally spent three years in development hell at AMC, with Goggins set to play the starring role. He never got the chance.

Perhaps feeling they already had enough on their plate, they passed it over to their sister channel, the much smaller SundanceTV, part of Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute, an organisation committed to the values of indie filmmaking. It was clear from the off that while it would never have a big budget Rectify would get the time and space to explore its themes and characters without network intervention. Much like Sundance’s Golden Globe-winning miniseries Carlos the Jackal in 2010 and the subsequent Top of the Lake in 2015, Rectify would have the feel of the arthouse movies of the Sundance Festival. McKinnon explained “(SundanceTV) are letting us do it the way we feel like is the way to do this, with very little interference”.

As we begin, Daniel Holden (Aden Young) is released from death row after 19 years returning to his hometown of Paulie, Georgia. New DNA evidence makes the conviction unsafe but stops short of exoneration – his sentence is merely vacated. Convicted at 18 after having confessed to the murder and rape of his girlfriend Hanna, he steps into a weird hinterland - not exactly guilty, not entirely innocent; free to come and go as he pleases but with no idea how to.

As Daniel struggles to come to terms with coming home, home struggles to come to terms with him. His mother Janet (J. Smith-Cameron) has now remarried, his father having died while he was jailed. He returns home to his stepfather Ted (Bruce McKinnon) and stepbrothers, the friendly Jared (Jake Austin Walker) and hostile Ted Junior (Clayne Crawford). An immediate connection is formed with Ted’s wife Tawney (Adelaide Clemens). She sees something beautiful and broken in Daniel, believing it’s her Christian duty to redeem him. At first, the relationship is chaste, almost childlike but over time romantic feelings develop. It’s a complication he can do without.

Because the after-shocks of Daniel’s release resonate long and hard in Paulie. Hanna’s murder is still an open wound for the town’s residents, particularly for her family. Daniel is not one of those exonerees who loudly proclaims his innocence. He’s not really saying much of anything, creating a vacuum the justice system is happy to fill.

Never happy admitting a bad call, the law are happy they got the right man first time around. Senator Roland Foulkes (Michael O'Neill) prosecuted Daniel, got elected to Senate on the back of the case and is in absolutely no mood to reassess his original conclusions. With his political reputation on the line, his mission is to get Daniel back on death row through any means available to him.

All of which may make you think that you’re in familiar territory but Rectify is often a show defined by what it’s not. It could have been a campaigning show about an innocent man released but it’s never exactly clear how innocent Daniel is. It might have been about the cruelty of the death penalty but if you’re looking for soapboxing you’ll be disappointed. It could have exposed the small-mindedness of small towns but Paulie had both revenge and forgiveness in its heart. No one’s irredeemably bad, no one’s impeccably good. Characters are messy by design and our hero may not be heroic. It forces viewers to confront a tough question: can we still empathise with Daniel if he is guilty?

One way or another, empathy is what the show demands of you. Naturally, we connect with the lost, broken Daniel but it doesn’t stop there. We walk a mile in Teddy Junior’s shoes as the stepbrother he’s never met forms an intense relationship with his wife. We feel the rage of Hanna’s brother Bobby Dean (Linds Edwards) as Daniel is freed, another victim trapped by circumstance. We sense the dread in Daniel’s mother as she tries to resettle her son in an alien world. Janet knows Daniel better than anyone but even she can’t crack the enigma.

It’s not surprising. Daniel is never an easy read - palpably bemused by the new world around him but never saying too much about it. Years of isolation and abuse inside have taken a toll on him but it’s hard to say exactly how. He’s prone to gazing into space, lost in some mystery reverie – he’s a study in rumination. On the surface, he’s gentle and childlike but every now and then darkness surfaces. After provocation from Teddy Junior, he chokes out and sexually humiliates his stepbrother. On another occasion, he strangles a dummy made of pillows as he listens to a tape recording of his murder confession. It’s either what prison did to him or it’s a reason why he should still be in prison.

Flashbacks to his time inside give us some clues to the making of the man. Dressed all in white in a white-walled cell the size of a parking space, entirely isolated, it feels like his own private purgatory. Through the walls, he forms a touching friendship with fellow death row inmate Kerwin (Johnny Ray Gill) while on the other side he is tormented by the jibes of one of his rapists Wendall. (Jayson Warner Smith). The ambiguity of Daniel’s innocence or guilt forces raises the question should anybody be subject to these conditions for decades at a time, regardless of their crime. It’s not a campaigning kind of show but the point is powerfully made regardless.

Someone who’s no stranger to campaigning is Daniel’s sister Amantha (Abigail Spencer). 12 years old when her brother was sentenced to death, she has spent most of her life fighting to save Daniel’s. Smart, tough and testy, Amantha has built up a stockpile of resentment over the years as she put her life on hold waiting for Daniel’s release. “God I hate this fucking town,” she says of Paulie but she’s never tried to leave. Working a deadbeat job in a supermarket, the only serious romantic relationship of her life is with Daniel’s appeal lawyer Jon (Luke Kirby). With Daniel released Amantha has to answer the question “what now?” As much as Daniel struggles with his new life, Amantha struggles to find a new identity. 19 years on a single issue has left her with few transferable skills, woeful employment prospects and a rolling ball of tumbleweed where a life plan should be. Small wonder she gets cranky.

The siblings come into conflict in season two when Daniel faces a stark choice: submit to a retrial that could send him back to death row or plead guilty to murder to avoid further jail time but be banished from the state of Georgia. Amantha can’t believe he would even consider taking the deal and pleading guilty. Her entire identity and most of her life is invested in his factual innocence, not some legal technicality. All of a sudden it seems like all her sacrifices were for nothing - the 20-year struggle to clear her family’s name as much as Daniel’s rendered worthless with a nod of the head from her brother. She reminds him that he wasn’t the only one doing time.

And time itself is a peculiar thing on Rectify. When you complete the show it’ll feel like an age has passed but the show’s entire four-season run takes place over a period of around six months. While other shows set a breakneck pace, Rectify lingers, often on images – an inflatable air dancer, a pecan grove, a hand disturbing a beam of sunlight. It employs the techniques of the hypnotist, not the ringmaster. So much of the study of Daniel, in particular, takes place in the non-verbal that it asks an awful lot of its leading man. Fortunately, they have Aden Young delivering a powerhouse performance, at turns vulnerable, angry and woozy, undercut with a terrific surreal sense of humour, particularly in scenes with Janet.

It got the kind of critical reviews usually reserved for elite Hall of Fame TV. Philadelphia Daily News’ Ellen Gray said “There’s not a bad performance to be had in Rectify,” while Alan Sepinwall of HitFix raved “There is nothing else on television quite like it, and for those who have the patience to sit through Daniel’s still, slow journey, the emotional rewards are enormous.” The Huffington Post’s Maureen Ryan wholeheartedly agreed. “This wonderful, resonant show clearly has a deep belief in the power of redemption and connection. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself. Please.” The bold creative choices – the pacing, investment in character and purposeful ambiguity – had paid off. Artistically, it was a smash.

It wasn’t just the critics it impressed. Damien Echols, who spent two decades imprisoned on death row before being released (but not exonerated) on DNA evidence, wrote “I can tell you from first-hand experience that Rectify is a very realistic show.” He spoke of how perfectly the show captured “the shock and trauma of someone just released after nearly 20 years on death row.” Echols saw his own experience mirrored as the dumbfounded Daniel emerges from years of a sensory starved environment to a glut of noises, colours, shapes and sounds. “I was drunk on the river of human energy that flowed all around me, over me, and through me. The human interaction and energy I’d been starved of for almost 20 years.” It’s a sad but profound endorsement from a real-life Daniel Holden.

Perhaps predictably the killer reviews couldn’t stop Rectify from posting heroically low ratings. Typically garnering audiences of 100-200K per episode, it was a show even many TV critics didn’t even bother with. I know from experience it was a tough sell to potential viewers. “Terminally ill chemistry teacher becomes crystal meth kingpin” is a hell of a hook. “Possibly innocent man gets released, wanders round in a daze” not so much. The audience size would have tested the most understanding of channels. Standing by your show is one thing but it had the kind of barely audible low-level buzz that kills a show halfway through its first season. Sundance though stuck to their guns and saw it through all the way to the end of a fourth season and the Ray McKinnon-penned series finale. Few shows in history have been so relentlessly backed by a network.

No one at Sundance feels like it didn’t earn it. Even as a viewer Rectify is a series that makes you work for it. It’s not the kind of show you can have on in the background while you’re doing a few chores and get the general gist. There are layers of meaning in the framing, composition and silence vital to the story. McKinnon explains “I grew up around subtext. There was subtext in my family. There was subtext in my community. There’s always the things that aren’t being said. If we’re observant, we see this, we feel that.”

In other words, it demands your full attention but few shows deliver as completely. You won’t regret it.

News Roundup: First Look At 'The Tourist', 'Money Heist' spin-off, 'Taskmaster' confirmed

2021-12-01T15:17:00.004+00:00

*The BBC have released the first trailer for their upcoming drama The Tourist which stars Jamie Dornan. Written by brothers Harry and Jack Williams, The Tourist sees Dornan stars as a British man who finds himself in the glowing red heart of the Australian outback, being pursued by a vast tank truck trying to drive him off the road. An epic cat and mouse chase unfolds and the man later wakes in hospital, hurt, but somehow alive. Except he has no idea who he is. With merciless figures from his past pursuing him, The Man’s search for answers propels him through the vast and unforgiving outback. Full of shocking, surprising, funny and brutal turns, The Tourist is set in a world populated by quirky, enigmatic characters and off-beat comedy punctuates high-stakes action. At its heart however, is a story of self-discovery with a ticking timebomb underneath: as The Man starts to uncover the mystery of who he was, he’s also forced to ask who he is now - and fast. Will he unlock the secrets of his identify before those who are trying to kill him catch up with him?

The Tourist is expected to be the first BBC drama of 2022.

*Sony Pictures Television has signaled its big UK drama ambitions by taking a majority stake in His Dark Materials and I Hate Suzie producer Bad Wolf. The deal includes the Wolf Studios Wales sound stage facility in Cardiff along with Bad Wolf’s 30% stake in sister company Bad Wolf America. Sony also takes over Sky, HBO and Access Entertainment’s minority stakes. Jane Tranter (Co-founder, Bad Wolf), said "Sony share our vision for the company going forward... With a forward-looking, global corporation like Sony investing in the future of Bad Wolf and Wales it gives us the ability to reach even greater heights in the years to come."

*Deadline is reporting that Netflix is planning to expand the Money Heist universe when the hit Spanish Netlfix Original comes to an end at the end of the year. The streamer has ordered a spinoff of the hit Spanish drama series, centered around popular character Berlin, otherwise known as Andrés de Fonollosa, played by Pedro Alonso. The show is set to launch in 2023. The final season of Money Heist will be available on Netflix from Friday 3rd December.

*Channel 4 have confirmed the lineup for the next series of Taskmaster. Hoping to win valuable points, eternal glory, and favourable treatment from the Taskmaster are: stand-up, actor, and author Ardal O’Hanlon (Father Ted), award-winning comedian Bridget Christie, stand-up comedian and TV host Chris Ramsey, comedian and presenter Judi Love (Loose Women), and comedian, actress, and podcaster Sophie Duker. Having voluntarily signed up for the inevitable metaphorical slaughter at the hands of the tyrannical Taskmaster, each contestant will be put through their paces in a brand new set of tasks designed to test their daring, dexterity and dignity under extreme pressure. Who of our latest quintet will be immortalised in the Taskmaster Champion hall of fame? Taskmaster will return to Channel 4 in 2022.

*AMC have announced that the upcoming second series of their comedy-drama, Kevin Can F**k Himself will be the shows' last. The first season, which is part multi-cam comedy and part single-camera dark drama, followed the story of Allison McRoberts (Annie Murphy), a woman we all grew up believing we knew: the prototypical Sitcom Wife. She’s beautiful and can take a joke, though she’s usually the butt of them. And she’s married to Kevin (Eric Peterson), a guy who must’ve won some sort of marriage lottery, because she looks the way she does and he’s … funny. The series broke television convention via volleying camera setups and allowed the audience to see what happened when the cameras followed Allison out of her husband’s domain and as she finally wakes up to — and revolts against — the injustices in her life. It was previously reported that Annie Murphy will join the cast of Natasha Lyonne's Netflix drama Russian Doll for its second season.

NEWS Roundup: The BBC confirm more 'The Outlaws', Euphoria and Mrs. Maisel get airdates.

2021-11-30T17:28:00.002+00:00

It's another BIG News Roundup

*Amazon Prime Video has set the return date for their award-winning comedy-drama The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The long-awaited fourth season will begin on Feb. 18, with two episodes debuting each week for four weeks. The fourth season, set in 1960, will follow on the events of the third season finale in which Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) lost a prime gig opening for pop star Shy Baldwin (LeRoy McClain) after speaking a little too frankly about Shy’s personal life during a stop on their tour. The COVID-delayed fourth season will feature two more alumni from Sherman-Palladino’s Gilmore Girls with Kelly Bishop and Milo Ventimiglia guest starring.

*The BBC has confirmed a second series of Stephen Merchant's comedy-drama The Outlaws has already been filmed. Series one is the BBC’s biggest comedy launch this year and has been streamed 11m times on BBC iPlayer so far. Following on directly from the first series, The Outlaws still have time to serve on their sentences - but now they must face the fallout from their actions. If they thought the criminal underworld or the local police were done with them, they are sorely mistaken. The Outlaws must depend on one another while working with unlikely allies to atone for their sins -- but can they save themselves without sacrificing their souls? The second series will see the return of Academy Award-winning actor Christopher Walken, alongside writer and star Stephen Merchant with Rhianne Barreto, Gamba Cole, Darren Boyd Clare Perkins, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jessica Gunning, Charles Babalola, Nina Wadia, Tom Hanson and Aiyana Goodfellow as Esme. Confirmed guest stars for the new series include Julia Davis, Ian McElhinney, Dolly Wells and Claes Bang. The six-part second series is expected next year on BBC One and on Amazon Prime Video across the world.

*In an unusual move, ITV will allow viewers to watch their festive highlights on their time. The shows, which include flagship soaps Emmerdale and Coronation Street will be available on the ITVHUB from 7am on the day they are due to air on ITV. The news comes as ITV lay out their Christmas highlights which include The Masked Singer Singalong and The Larkins Christmas Special both confirmed for Christmas Day with Billy Connolly documentary, My Absolute Pleasure confirmed for Boxing Day.

*Sky have confirmed that the second season of HBO's acclaimed drama Euphoria will air on the same night as it does in the US on Sky Atlantic and NOW. Created, written, and directed by Sam Levinson, and starring Emmy winner Zendaya, Euphoria is set to return to Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW for its eight-episode second season from 10th January. Season 2 cast regulars include Emmy-winner Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Nika King, Eric Dane, Angus Cloud, Jacob Elordi, Algee Smith, Sydney Sweeney, Alexa Demie, Barbie Ferreira, Maude Apatow, Javon Walton, Dominic Fike, Storm Reid and Austin Abrams. Season 1 of Euphoria received three Primetime Emmy® Awards, including Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series (Zendaya), Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic) and Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.

New episodes of Euphoria will be released weekly from 10th January on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW.

*It's official, BBC Three is returning to television. The news comes after Ofcom published their decision to approve the channel. The new broadcast channel will launch in early February 2022 and will be available on Freeview, Sky, Virgin and Freesat with EPG numbers to be confirmed at a later date. Commenting on the decision, Fiona Campbell, Controller BBC Three said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that Ofcom have now confirmed that BBC Three will be returning to TV screens next year. This is a big moment, with the new channel providing a destination for young audiences to discover more content on the BBC. We will work hand in hand with iPlayer to provide a broad offering that is representative of the whole of the UK and we will continue to back new talent and bold ideas. This approach will bring the audience a distinctive mix of programmes that are there to entertain, inspire and challenge thinking, at a pivotal and exciting time to be young in the UK.”

*Netflix is to adapt One Day, the novel from David Nicholls as part of a commitment to original British drama on the streaming. Anne Mensah, Netflix’s vice president of U.K. series, said that five new dramas will all start shooting across Britain in 2022. The lineup includes a new adaptation of bestselling novel One Day and two series by Sister, the fast-rising production powerhouse behind Chernobyl. Mensah went on to say, "There's an incredible roster of new shows for our members to view in 2022, from the searing Anatomy of a Scandal, to Rowan Atkinson’s joyous Man vs Bee, all the way to Joe Cornish’s outstanding Lockwood & Co — and more. We have a huge number of shows which have all shot this year under uniquely difficult circumstances but never lost their bold brilliance. To be able to add such a variety of new titles to our slate, knowing there is more to come, is really a testament to the strength and artistic confidence of the British television industry.”

*GOLD have commissioned new comedy Newark, Newark. Morgana Robinson (The Windsors) stars as Maxine, alongside Mathew Horne (Gavin & Stacey) as Terry and Nina Wadia (The Sandman) as Heather. Newark, Newark is set in the small working class market town in the East Midlands and follows pugnacious chip shop manager and exhausted matriarch, Maxine, as she tries to ride out her divorce and find someone who actually lights her fire.

*Channel 4 has commissioned a new documentary series that will take viewers into the barrister's chambers. With unprecedented access to one of the UK’s leading defence chambers – 25 Bedford Row – cameras will follow the barristers from the moment they are given a case, through the emotionally charged twists and turns of the judicial process, preparing for court and a dramatic, life-changing verdict. At stake could be the next 25 years of a client’s life and devastation for their families. The series has a working title of The Defenders and is expected in 2022.

*Channel 4 have released the first image of James Nesbitt and Richard E Grant in upcoming drama Suspect. When veteran detective, Danny Frater (James Nesbitt), turns up at a hospital mortuary for what he thinks is a routine ID check on a young woman’s body, he gets a devastating shock; the corpse turns out to be his estranged daughter, Christina (Imogen King). He sets out on a mission for the truth, retracing her last days and hours, in an agonising crusade to discover what really happened to his only child. The series also stars Joely Richardson, Anne-Marie Duff, Antonia Thomas, Niamh Algar, Sacha Dhawan, Sam Heughan and Ben Miller. The series will air on Channel 4 next year.

*ITV have commissioned a second series of comedy Kate & Koji. Brenda Blethyn will return as Kate with Okorie Chukwu taking over the role of Koji from Jimmy Akingbola, who is now in the US where he has a starring role in the reboot of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Blake Harrison and Barbara Flynn will return in their roles as ‘Medium’ and Councillor Bone. The first series averaged just under 5 million viewers across the series run when first aired in 2020.

*HULU comedy PEN15 which airs on Sky Comedy, will end with its second season. The breakout comedy, created by and starring Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, will end in the US in December when the remaining episodes of the Covid hit second season arrive on HULU. The second season has yet to air in the UK.

*ITV have released the first trailer for upcoming drama Trigger Point. Written by Daniel Brierley and produced by HTM Television, Trigger Point, is billed as a high-octane thriller series which focuses on the bomb disposal unit who risk their lives daily on ‘the long walk’ towards danger. For them, death is always just a heartbeat away. Vicky McClure (Line of Duty, I Am Nicola) plays front line officer Lana Washington, who is an experienced bomb disposal operative, known as an ‘Expo’ and Adrian Lester (Life, Trauma) plays Joel Nutkins, who works alongside her. Both ex-military, the pair are close, having served together in Afghanistan. When a terrorist campaign threatens the capital over the summer, the Expos are at the forefront of urgent efforts to find out who is behind the bombings before fatalities escalate….. Mark Stanley (Honour) stars as DI Thom Youngblood. Further cast includes Warren Brown (Luther) as Karl Maguire, Kerry Godliman (After Life) as Sonya Reeves and Ralph Ineson (The Capture) as Commander Bregman. The six-part series is expected early in 2022 on ITV.

*Channel 4 has announced that Ashley Walters will make his directing debut in the upcoming return of Ackley Bridge. The ten-part series is expected in early 2022.

*The BBC have announced a second series of entertainment show, This is MY House. The guessing game format created by Richard Bacon and Nick Weidenfeld will once again see four people all claim to be the same person and that “This Is MY House”. A panel of celebrities will be tasked with sussing out which “homeowner” is telling the truth and which are the actors. The second series will air on BBC One in 2022.

*ITV have announced a brand new drama from Russell T Davies. Nolly explores the all-powerful reign, and fall from grace, of the inimitable Noele Gordon, TV legend and Queen of the Midlands, the darling of the establishment until it turned on her and betrayed her. Noele (or Nolly to her friends) was a legend in her own lifetime. As flame-haired widow Meg Richardson in the long-running soap opera Crossroads, she was one of the most famous people in Britain. Then in 1981, at the height of the show’s success and the peak of Nolly’s fame, she was axed without ceremony, without warning and with no explanation. With the boss’s words “all good things must come to an end” ringing in her ears, Noele Gordon found herself thrown out of the show that was her life for over 18 years. Helena Bonham Carter has signed on to play Nolly in the three-part drama which is expected in 2022 on ITV.

* Jon Richardson and wife Lucy Beaumont will host a new Christmas show for Channel 4. Jon & Lucy’s Christmas Sleepover will see them 'get merry' with Roisin Conaty, Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett. There’ll also be a few surprise guests along the way as the gang reflect on the highs and lows of 2021 and enjoy a boozy festive feast guaranteed to lead to misbehaving and chaos.

PODCAST: #320: Crime, Tiger King 2, The Beatles: Get Back

2021-11-30T00:45:00.005+00:00

With Luke away, Matt is joined by site contributor Will Barber-Taylor to review BritBox original Crime, the return of Tiger King on Netflix and Peter Jackson's epic documentary series The Beatles: Get Back which is available in full on Disney+

Listen to "#320: Crime, Tiger King 2, The Beatles: Get Back" on Spreaker.

The TVweek: Saturday 4th - Friday 10th December 2021

2021-11-30T00:00:00.001+00:00

Saturday

5.40pm Superman & Lois BBC One - Clark Kent and Lois Lane return to Smallville with their sons Jonathan and Jordan, where they are reacquainted with Lana Lang, her husband Kyle Cushing, and their daughter Sarah. However, their idyllic lives are soon upended when The Stranger arrives, along with the secret experiments of Morgan Edge. Comic-book drama, starring Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch.

7.40pm 48 Hours to Final Victory Channel 4 - Dermot O'Leary is joined by ex-Royal Marine Arthur Williams, and historian and battlefield guide Lucy Betteridge-Dyson, to unpick the two crucial days that secured victory in some of Britain's most important battles. In the first episode, they tackle Dunkirk and two key days during the evacuation of British soldiers that prevented a German triumph. The heroic actions of one ship, HMS Worcester, act as a window into the wider story of the safe retreat of thousands of men.

8.40pm Snowdon and Margaret: A Scandalous Affair Channel 5 - Documentary examining Princess Margaret's marriage to Antony Armstrong-Jones, who was the first non-aristocrat to marry into monarchy for 400 years. The film tells the tale from the beginning, through their courtship, marriage and eventual divorce, using extensive and rare archive and interviews with authors, royal experts and those who knew them.

9.40pm Frank Sinatra Channel 5 - The life of legendary singer and actor Frank Sinatra, from his difficult birth and near death in Hoboken in 1915, through his rise to become one of the world's biggest entertainers. Using his music and with testimony from many of Frank's close friends, the programme charts his career highs and lows, as well as his numerous affairs with some of the world's most successful and beautiful women. The documentary also investigates Sinatra's links with organised crime, and aims to answer once and for all the allegation that his success was due to the Mob.

10.00pm Phil Lynott - Songs From While I'm Away BBC Two - The life and music of the Thin Lizzy frontman, telling the story of how a young working-class Black boy from 1950s Dublin became one of Ireland's greatest rock stars. Told extensively through the words of Lynott himself and focusing on some of his iconic songs, the film gets to the heart of Philip as a father, husband, friend, son and rock legend, who died at the age of 36 in January 1986.

Sunday

8.00pm Piers Morgan's Life Stories ITV - Piers talks to Kate Garraway about her life and career, as he presents his final 'Life Story, before Garraway takes over the reins of the series. In a powerful and emotional interview, Kate reveals the latest on husband Derek's battle to recover from the impact of Covid. As Britain's worst-affected surviving Covid patient, Derek spent months in hospital and still needs round-the-clock care, and Kate opens up about the devastating effects on her and her family.

9.00pm You Don't Know Me BBC One - Four-part drama based on Imran Mahmood's novel about a man standing trial for murder who fires his barrister during the court case, in favour of representing himself in court. Deciding to abandon the version of events he had been told would be in his best interests, he instead presents his own version of events, revealing how a law-abiding car salesman in the frame for murder. Starring Samuel Adewunmi. Continues Tomorrow Night at 9.00pm

9.00pm Michael Crawford: Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em Channel 5 - A profile of the actor and entertainer, whose career has taken him from appearing with Barbra Streisand in movie musical Hello Dolly, to the West End as the star of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, and his creation of sitcom legend Frank Spencer in Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em. With contributions by Michele Dotrice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Arlene Phillips, Bill Kenwright and Maria Friedman.

9.00pm The Granny Killer Sky Crime - Caroline Overington and Kris Illingsworth reopen the files on John Wayne Glover, convicted of killing several elderly women, in an attempt to link him to nine more murders.

Monday

5.00pm The Great Australian Bake-Off More4 - A dozen bakers tackle some challenging bakes on their first week in the tent, as they show off their cakemaking skills for judges Matt Moran and Maggie Beer.

8.00pm Live: Winter on the Farm Channel 5 - Helen Skelton and Jules Hudson follow life at Cannon Hall Farm with brothers Rob and Dave Nicholson, who are preparing their animals for a crucial season - one that can make or break their farm. They make sure the reindeers are well-fed ahead of Christmas and embark on a fact-finding mission to the Arctic to ensure the farm is protected against the elements.

9.00pm Forsenics: The Real CSI BBC Two - The documentary following investigations into serious crimes returns after a break, with West Midlands police needing forensics to identify the killer of two men whose bodies were found in a car.

Notable Continuing Series: Curb Your Enthusiasm, 9.00pm, Sky Comedy

Succession, 9.00pm, Sky Atlantic

9.00pm Ragdoll Alibi - Drama series. A gruesome discovery at a block of flats sets DI Baxter, DS Rose and DC Edmunds on the trail of the Ragdoll Killer, who also lists six more people due to die. Lucy Hale, Ali Cooke and Michael Smiley star.

10.00pm Two Doors Down BBC Two - Fifth series of the comedy. Beth is cooking a curry to celebrate Ian and Gordon's anniversary, but when they arrive it is their son's black eye that catches her and Eric's attention. The night starts to spiral downwards when Cathy and Colin invite themselves over and Christine turns up with an upset stomach, demanding to know if the kitchen is clean. Return of the comedy, starring Arabella Weir, Alex Norton, Doon Mackichan, Jonathan Watson and Elaine C Smith.

Tuesday

Notable Continuing Series: Impeachment: American Crime Story, 9.00pm BBC Two

What We Do in the Shadows, 9.55pm BBC Two

9.00pm QAnon: The Cult of Conspiracy Channel 4 - Ben Zand investigates QAnon, one of the most prominent conspiracies of modern times, setting out to understand on a human level what sets people on such a divergent path of lies, both in the US and here in the UK.

9.00pm Costa Concordia: Why She Sank Channel 5 - Two-part documentary telling the story of the disaster, which took place in January 2012 when the Italian cruise ship struck a rock, capsized and sank in shallow waters near Tuscany, resulting in 32 deaths. Combining first-person testimony from survivors and rescuers, and previously unseen footage, reconstructions and expert insight, the programme tells the astonishing story in forensic detail of what happened on that fateful night. Concludes Tomorrow at 9.00pm

9.00pm Landscapers Sky Atlantic - Drama starring Olivia Colman, following the true story of a seemingly ordinary couple who find themselves the focus of a murder inquiry.

Wednesday

9.00pm Dolly: The Sheep Who Changed the World BBC Two - Documentary telling the story of the first mammal to be cloned and the impact this monumental scientific achievement in 1996 had on the world. Featuring previously unseen footage, the film reveals how a handful of the world's best genetic scientists worked in secret on a small Scottish farm to crack the holy grail of replicating life.

Thursday

9.00pm The New Stonehenge with Rob Bell Channel 5 - Stonehenge is one of the world's greatest mysteries. Now, a new discovery found deep in the soil of the surrounding area is threatening to upturn everything we think we know about this 4,500 year-old landmark. Rob Bell joins archaeologists, scientists and engineers who have uncovered a vast, previously undetected monument that is many times the size of the original henge.

9.00pm Sex and The City: Just Like That Sky Comedy - Sex and the City revival catching up with the lives of New York socialites Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda. Starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon.

10.00pm Have We Got Nudes For You Channel 4 - Like many others things, the pandemic saw sex work go online, as many traditional jobs in the real world dried up. In an effort to make ends meet, sex purveyors and some ordinary people turned to the platform OnlyFans, which gives customers the opportunity to sell exclusive content - much of it of an adult nature. This documentary examines the website, which some claim is the new frontier of sex work, while others believe it to be an exploitative fad with potentially life-ruining consequences. Contributors include ex-customer services worker Emily, sales worker Zoe and Alex Sim-Wise, who claims to make £10,000 a month as a content creator on the website.

Friday

8.00pm Grayson's Art Club Channel 4 - Grayson Perry ventures viewers behind the scenes at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, as he oversees the creation of the new Art Club exhibition. Leading artists and celebrities, are heading to Bristol to form a lasting artistic record of the experiences of the nation this year. Grayson and his wife Philippa unveil the exhibition to some of the participating artists, both members of the public and some of his famous Art Club guests - Boy George, Johnny Vegas and Mawaan Rizwan. The exhibition stands as a joyful and moving celebration of the artistic talent and resilient spirit of the people of the UK in 2021.

9.00pm Vienna Blood BBC Two - Second series of the crime drama. Autumn, 1907, and when a depressed Hungarian Countess is found drowned in the bath of her lavish hotel suite, it looks like suicide. Intense scrutiny falls on her psychoanalyst, Max Liebermann. Investigating Officer Oskar Rheinhardt teams up with the disgraced doctor to solve the riddle of the Countess' death and clear Max's professional reputation.

Notable Continuing Series: Gogglebox 9.00pm, Channel 4

The Last Leg, 10.00pm, Channel 4

REVIEW: Succession's 'Too Much Birthday' sees the Roy clan at their most beaten down.

2021-11-29T23:44:00.002+00:00

Jackson is away this week so, I've stepped in to cover the seventh episode of Succession's third season, Too Much Birthday.

I've had a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach over the last few episodes, that one or more of the Roy Family won't make it to the end of the season. Much has been made of Logan's fragility of late. His near collapse on a convoluted hike and at one point in this episode, Alexander Skarsgård's tech billionaire Lukas Matsson asks a shaken Roman when he thinks his father will die. Death and ill-health have lingered over the season far more than it has before. Logan might be the fragile old man, but watching a dejected, broken down and demoralised Kendall being cradled in his girlfriend's arms just before the credits rolled it's not impossible to believe that Kendall's time may well be up.

The central theme of this season appears to be one of building Logan's second eldest up and watching him come tumbling down. Kendall begins the episode energised, rehearsing his ironic take on Billy Joel's 'Honesty. A knowing smile creeps over his face as he sings, "Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue. Honesty is hardly ever heard. And mostly what I need from you" His fortieth birthday is, as with every other Roy engagement, a lavish, OTT and self-indulgent affair. Checking in with his PR and coordinators he's happy that most of the influential and mega-wealthy people he wants to surround himself with will be attending, but it's his siblings he really wants to share his milestone Birthday with.

Shiv, Tom, Gregg, Roman and a permanently 'coated' Connor do begrudgingly attend but only after Logan discovers streaming tycoon Lukas Matsson will be there. Waystar’s acquisition of the tech company GoJo is about to fall apart, they need to shore up GoJo’s CEO, Lukas Matsson and so Logan sends Shiv (but really Roman) to negotiate with Matsson about joining forces with Waystar, who don't currently have a streaming arm. Kendall takes pleasure in showing off the room in which he has 'mocked up' newspapers showing his siblings being arrested or caught, "sh**ting in a bag!" His pleasure at seeing them uncomfortable doesn't last long.

It is truly upsetting to see it slowly dawn on Kendall that his siblings are only with him on his big night so they can carry out business for their father. I "think", and it's always difficult to tell whether or not any of the Roys are capable of a particular emotion or not, but I "think" Shiv does feel a pang of guilt and embarrassment that she's there to 'work'. Roman, on the other hand, is relishing being Daddy’s No. 1 boy. Roman is at his best and most maniacal when he feels Logan has put him in charge of getting a job done. He proves surprisingly adept at winning Matsson over. He's able to brush past the offensive question about how long his father has left on the planet and challenge his prey to a literal 'pissing contest'' When Matsson denigrates Waystar’s streaming app, StarGo, Roman says he’ll open it on his phone and they can both go “stream some piss on [Waystar’s] little streaming platform.” Roman can’t pee around other men (Roman’s shy genitals strike again…or don’t), but Matsson loses an aggressive blast. He’s not quite ready to agree to a sale, but he’s “in the conversation.” This is a win for the youngest Roy and pushes Shiv further from the conversation. If I have a niggle about this season it's that Roman hasn't had a great deal to do. His role has often been to sit on the sidelines with a clever quip whenever one was or wasn't required, but this episode is as much about Roman as it is about Birthday Boy Kendall

Logan features very little here. Obviously, his son wasn't going to extend an invite to his father, but as always the siblings can't escape Logan's shadows which looms large over the proceedings. Particularly when Roman hands his brother a card from his father which reads, "cash out, and f**k off!"

Shiv's role here seems more uncertain. The chasm that has been forming between father and daughter throughout the season grows ever wider. So much so, that after failing to find Matsson she takes to the dancefloor appearing, at least on the surface, to let her hair down and actually enjoy the party. Her time on the dancefloor appears to signify a symbolic throwing in of the towel. Her 'party' is short-lived when she discovers that while she was dancing like no one's watching, Roman has been handling the deal solo and won't tell her what was discussed. Shiv is in an impossible position. She has no idea where she stands within the company. No idea how her father views her and any views or opinions she expresses are either quickly shot down or completely disregarded by the more powerful men in her life. This episode makes it clear her loyalty is teetering but Kendall hasn't forgotten the brutal press release that she put together disparaging him. More than any other time across the series, it feels like Shiv has lost control and is a no man's land. It seems far too late to join forces with her elder brother and take daddy down.

Her husband, on the other hand, has reason to be in a much more jovial mood when they arrive at Kendall's bash. The DOJ has told Waystar that they are likely to drop any legal proceedings against any employee over the cruises scandal in favour of a monetary settlement. For Tom, who bravely, or foolishly volunteered to take the fall and go to jail if he needed to, the news comes as a massive relief. He has spent the majority of his screentime researching the best jails, jail wine and jail etiquette since making the fateful offer. He takes the news with good grace whilst in the boardroom, and in a very un-Logan moment, the family patriarch tells Tom he won't forget what he offered to do for him. The moment where a gleeful Tom bursts into an unsuspecting Gregg's office and turns over his desk in celebration of his freedom is certainly one of the best Tom and Greg interactions to come this season. Greg's panic and bewilderment at Tom's frenzied and boisterous behaviour is perfect and the moment proves why the dynamic between them is one of the shows' best.

Despite that display though, Tom isn't happy. He takes drugs that have no effect. He watches from the side as his wife loses power and even though he felt sidelined by her rise to power, he can’t take joy in her fall, either. The most galling for him is Gregg's newfound happiness. As they walk through Kendall's 'compliments tunnel,' Tom doesn't sugarcoat his feelings: “You seem much happier than me, Greg.” This episode finds Greg, who is always the more nervous and neurotic in their relationship to be bouncy and optimistic and Tom appears to have lost the ability to pretend he’s happy about any of it anymore. In the quiet Taxi back from the party, husband and wife sit in virtual silence until Tom asks if Shiv wants to stay out and explore the night. She, as you would expect, knocks him back, but Tom seems prepared for the rejection and tells her, "I'll be out late." In a more understated way, their brief exchange feels like a return to the conversation they shared on the beach in season two's finale where Tom spoke from the heart about his upset within the marriage only to have his wife dismiss his views. For very different reasons, it feels as Shiv and Tom have given up. Each is suffering from an inner turmoil that the other one is unable to fix or soothe. Will Tom's 'second chance' see him abandon Waystar entirely?

Tom's friend/nemesis Greg seems in a much better place this week. For one thing, he isn't overly focused on suing Greenpeace instead, he has his mind focused on asking out Kendall's employee Comfry. This is a Greg we've never seen before. He persues Comfry despite Tom belittling him and Kendall forbidding it. He speaks to her honestly, and to his surprise, she agrees to date him, if only because it'll give her an opportunity to moan about Kendall when they go out. Greg has so often been the but of everyone's jokes in Succession, but it was somewhat joyous to see this newly confident Greg appear and do something that he wanted to do and not be led by the opinions of others. It's rare anyone in this world is given a shot at happiness, and whilst I fully expect it to come crashing down around him next week, it was nice while it lasted.

Writers Georgia Pritchett and Tony Roche pack an awful lot into this episode, but it's a masterfully paced episode with a huge amount of action, emotion and pathos. At one point, Kendall insists to his party planners, "My thing from the very first meeting was that it shouldn’t feel like an asshole’s birthday party”, and towards the end, he realises that it is. The theme here time and time again, appeared to be the characters reaching the end of their line and giving up. Though the blood running through his veins would never let him admit it, Kendall is deeply hurt that his siblings are only there to further their father's endeavours and when he realises the staff have misplaced a gift from his children, he spirals into the breakdown that has been coming since he turned on his father at the end of season two. The gift, wrapped in bunny paper from his children is the only one he cares about. He wades through the mountain of big boxes desperately searching for it. His girlfriend Naomi feels helpless but crucially, unlike everyone else in Kendall's life, she doesn't walk away from him, she embraces him.

The final moments of the episode are perhaps the most brutal and difficult to watch of the entire run. Shiv and Roman are fighting — about Matsson, with Shiv feeling excluded from business decisions (including the share purchase offer Logan made Kendall, which Roman knew about and she didn’t), and about each other’s sex lives (“[Logan] loves fucking me and he just doesn’t want to fuck you anymore,” Roman needles Kendall about his success with Matsson. After Kendall’s morosely reminded them that acquiring GoJo was his idea, he turns on Shiv, accusing her of spying on his children. This is another thing Roman knew about and that Shiv didn't. As dishevelled and bruised Kendall leaves his celebrations early, Roman shoves him, and Kendall falls on the floor in front of all his VVVIPs. The episode ends with a reflective Kendall standing on his balcony before laying his head in Naomi's lap.

Even for a show that has long conditioned us to expect no one to come out on top, this episode feels mean to everyone involved. Kendall abandons his plans to serenade his guests with Billy Joel which is further proof that he's growing weary of the game he's playing with his family. Shiv and Tom seem to be still desperately unhappy. Perhaps we should take solace in the fact that Greg found happiness here or that Roman seems to be riding high as the new top dog? If Roman's happy something must be seriously wrong in the world.

Succession Continues Sunday on HBO and Sky Atlantic

Custard TV News Special: BBC announce Christmas and New Year Highlights

2021-11-24T10:31:00.001+00:00

Welcome to a special news update as the BBC have now announced what shows will be airing over the festive period.

Headlining the season will be the debut of four gripping new dramas including Sarah Phelps’ A Very British Scandal, starring Claire Foy and Paul Bettany as the Duke and Duchess of Argyll. The drama recounts one of the most notorious legal cases of the 20th century. Also debuting will be psychological thriller The Girl Before, adapted from the novel of the same name by JP Delaney, tells the story of Jane, played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw who moves into a strange house designed by an enigmatic architect played by David Oyelowo.

Elsewhere BBC One will be showing their brand new adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days starring David Tennant, Ibrahim Koma and Leonie Benesch as the intrepid threesome Phileas Fogg, Passepartout and Abigail ‘Fix’ Fortescue. And mystery packed thriller The Tourist starring Jamie Dornan charts one man’s search for his identity through the vast and unforgiving Australian outback in a character-driven drama full of shocking, surprising, funny and brutal turns.

For the first time ever, Death in Paradise gets a Christmas Special with Danny John-Jules returning to the show to assist Ralf Little's DI Parker. Meanwhile the nuns of Nonnatus House prepare for a winter wedding and an influx of expectant mothers in Call the Midwife.

Doctor Who will be airing a spectacular New Year's Day special with Aisling Bea and Pauline McLynn joining Jodie Whitaker. Meanwhile, Worzel Gummidge will be returning for two new episodes where Mackenzie Crook's scarecrow will be joined by Bill Bailey's Mr Peregrine.

Meanwhile, younger viewers will be please to know that world’s favourite sheep returns to the BBC this year in a ‘Santastic’ adventure Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas, which sees Shaun’s seasonal excitement turn to dismay as everyone learns the true value of Christmas. There’s more animated adventures in the adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s beloved story Superworm narrated by Olivia Colman with Matt Smith playing the hero with other voices including Patricia Allison and Rob Brydon.

Natural history lovers are treated with not one but two brand new films from Sir David Attenborough - Attenborough's Wonder of Song in which David chooses some of his favourite recordings from the natural world; and Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard where he is joined by Professor Ben Garrod and a team of archaeologists at a quarry in Swindon.

BBC One will also be airing Christmas Specials of some of their most-loved gameshows. This is headed by the return of The Weakest Link where eight celebrities will be grilled by new host Romesh Ranganathan hoping to win big for their charities. There will also be Christmas specials of The Wheel, The Wall, Blankety Blank, The Hit List and Would I Lie To You?. Meanwhile, singing competition I Can See Your Voice will also return featuring guest panellist Leona Lewis.

Comedy fans will also be pleased to welcome back Not Going Out where Lee and Lucy visit the panto and Ghosts where Santa may have stopped off early to Button House. Mrs. Brown's Boys also returns for two new episodes both on Christmas Day and at New Year's.

Strictly Come Dancing's festive special will see six stars take to the ballroom for the first time including Fred Sireix, Mel Giedroyc and Jay Blades whilst they'll be music from Jamie Cullum, Sheridan Smith and Gary Barlow. Blades will also be popping up on his home turf as The Repair Shop airs it Christmas Special, meanwhile, there's also a festive special of The Great British Sewing Bee. Top Gear's Christmas Special sees Paddy, Freddie and Chris buy surprise cars before setting off on a Christmas themed road trip.

And there are three yuletide outings for MasterChef this year - MasterChef: The Professionals Rematch Special pits four of the chefs from previous series against each other to win challenges judged by Monica Galetti, Marcus Wareing and Gregg Wallace; ten previously judged celebrities return for a MasterChef Christmas Cook-Off, hosted by Gregg and John Torode; and a Champions Special sees five of the winners from the amateur series return to show how far they have progressed since winning the series.

Over on BBC Two, M.R. James’ The Mezzotint, adapted by Mark Gatiss, stars Rory Kinnear, Robert Bathurst, Frances Barber, John Hopkins, Emma Cunniffe, and Nikesh Patel. This haunting tale, set in an old English college in 1922, it is guaranteed to bring some eerie fear to the audience.

There will also be festive laughs with Beauty and The Beast: A Comic Relief Pantomime in addition to Christmas specials of Mandy and Two Doors Down. Meanwhile, a 'lost' since 1970 episode of the Morecambe & Wise Show will be broadcast for the first time in 50 years. Also providing festive offerings will be QI, Live at the Apollo, The Ranganation and Frankie Boyle's New World Order. Meanwhile, Jeremy Paxman returns for the traditional ten episode run of Christmas University Challenge. Further quizzing fun will be provided by Victoria Coren Mitchell and an Only Connect Christmas Special.

BBC Two will also follow Gareth Malone as he heads to Blackburn, where he discovers a huge amount of amateur musical talent as he puts on a Christmas concert celebrating the work of the NHS staff and other keyworkers from the region. The Christmas special of Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing sees the duo head to the rivers Eden and Tyne with their mission to catch an elusive English salmon. Gregg Wallace will also be getting in the seasonal mood as he visits a Christmas Card Factory for Inside the Factory. Foodies will be in luck as the channel will be airing Christmas specials from the likes of Andi Oliver, The Hairy Bikers and Mary Berry.

Sir Quentin Blake remains one of the most iconic illustrators, and for this very special programme, Quentin Blake: The Drawing of My Life, he will fill a 30 foot canvas with some of the most-loved characters and key moments from his career. Featuring contributions from a host of famous faces, Joanna Lumley, Ore Oduba and Peter Capaldi will also read passages from some of the many books he has illustrated.

BBC Two will be sharing some concerts from the vaults, including Adele; Madonna; and Lady Gaga, all At the BBC. And Madonna: Truth or Dare takes a behind-the-scenes look at the 1990 Blonde Ambition tour. The year will also be capped off traditionally by Jools Holland and his annual Hootenanny.

The TVweek: Saturday 27th November - Friday 3rd December 2021

2021-11-23T00:00:00.000+00:00

Saturday

9.00pm Freddie Mercury: The Final Act BBC Two - Documentary exploring the last years of the Queen frontman's life, as well as following the preparations for the concert staged in his memory at Wembley Stadium on April 20, 1992. The film features interviews with Mercury's bandmates Brian May and Roger Taylor, sister Kashmira Bulsara and friends Anita Dobson and David Wigg, and hears from those who performed at the gig, including Roger Daltrey, Joe Elliott, Lisa Stansfield and Paul Young.

9.00pm The Queen's Worst Year Channel 5 - A look at the woes that have beset the monarch in 2021, with controversies surrounding her children, serious family fallings out, damaging accusations against the institution and the death of her husband after 73 years of marriage.

Sunday

8.00pm Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Celebrity Special ITV - Jeremy Clarkson welcomes comedian and Pointless co-host Alexander Armstrong and sports presenter Gabby Logan to the quiz as they try to answer 15 questions to win a million pounds for charity, with the aid of four lifelines if they need help.

8.00pm Expedition with Steve Backshall Dave - Steve Backshall ventures into more uncharted territory in pursuit of new discoveries and world firsts. He begins by joining a team of world-class kayakers to head to Kamchatka to take on white-water in a bid to explore a wilderness packed with more brown bears than anywhere else.

9.00pm Billy Connolly: In His Own Words - A profile of the comedian and actor drawing on interviews, TV appearances and stand-up performances from his career to reveal his journey from a childhood of maternal abandonment in the tenement blocks of Glasgow to the very top of international showbusiness.

9.00pm American Rust Sky Atlantic - Nine-part drama told through the eyes of a chief of police living in a small rust belt town in southwest Pennsylvania. Chief of police Del Harris is called in to investigate a dead body found in an abandoned steel mill. Starring Jeff Daniels.

10.15pm The Vasulka Effect BBC Four - Documentary about the life and work of video art pioneers Steina and Woody Vasulka, which reveals the profound effect they had on the American avant-garde.

10.25pm World's Most Expensive Celeb Break Ups Channel 5 - The high cost of the end of relationships for some stars, looking at how many millions Mel Gibson ended up parting with after breaking up with his teenage sweetheart. The programme also reveals how much a shot from Cupid's bow dented the bank balance of TV favourite Ant McPartlin, and how much the end of marriage number two cost Madonna.

Monday

7.30pm Winter Walks BBC Four - Amanda Owen crosses hills and fields through Wensleydale and Raydale, taking ancient routes first made by the Romans and exchanging notes with fellow sheep farmers. Crossing over the dale, she drops down to Semer Water, ending her walk on the pebble banks.

Notable Continuing Series: Curb Your Enthusiasm, 9.00pm, Sky Comedy

Succession, 9.00pm, Sky Atlantic

Tuesday

8.00pm Sarah Beeny's New Life in the Country Channel 4 - Documentary continuing the real-life adventures of property expert Sarah Beeny, her husband Graham Swift and their four sons after quitting their lives in London to start anew at a former dairy farm in Somerset.

Notable Continuing Series: Impeachment: American Crime Story, 9.00pm BBC Two

What We Do in the Shadows, 9.55pm BBC Two.

Stath Lets Flats, 10.00pm, Channel 4

9.00pm Attack on Pearl Harbour: Caught By Surprise Channel 5 - A detailed account of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbour, beginning with the inception of the idea and the obstacles it faced during the months of planning. Some of the survivors of that day share their stories, including a 103-year-old Japanese torpedo bomber, who is interviewed for the first time, and an American sailor who was on the USS Arizona when it was hit by a bomb that ignited its ammunition magazine, killing 1,177 men.

11.35pm Britney BBC One - Comedy about two friends who are reunited after living thousands of miles apart for years - only for one of them to realise she will soon be alone again once more.

Wednesday

9.00pm Paddy & Christine McGuinness: Our Family and Autism BBC One - Paddy McGuinness and his wife Christine have three children - eight-year-old twins Leo and Penelope and five-year-old Felicity. All three have been diagnosed with autism. This film follows the couple over many months as they try to gain a greater understanding of the condition, meeting other parents, experts and people on the autism spectrum.

9.00pm We're Here Sky Max - Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O'Hara and Shangela Laquifa Wadley return to recruit more residents of small American towns to participate in a one-night drag performance.

9.00pm Forensic: Catching the Killer Sky Crime - The fragments of evidence that helped piece together what happened to 15-year-old Karen Price, who disappeared in 1981 only for her body to be found eight years later.

9.00pm Positive Sky Documentaries - Documentary charting the history of HIV in Britain, beginning with a look at how the first recorded UK case in 1981 provoked panic and hostility. People caught up in events, including Jonathan Blake, one of the first HIV patients in the UK, reveal in vivid detail how they confronted the disease that would go on to change Britain.

Thursday

8.00pm Luxury Christmas for Less Channel 4 - Sabrina Grant and Sophie Morgan talk to brand insiders, who spill the beans on the nation's Christmas favourites and how to indulge on luxury products without breaking the bank. This first of two programmes includes a guide to buying real diamonds at half the price, how to bag designer smelling perfumes that don't cost a fortune and where to get this year's finest tasting smoked salmon and the best Christmas pudding.

9.00pm 24 Hours in A&E Channel 4 - Return of the series capturing life in the A&E of Kings College in London.

9.00pm Yellowjackets Sky Atlantic - The members of a high-school girls' soccer team become the survivors of a plane crash deep in the Ontario wilderness. Drama, starring Juliette Lewis and Christina Ricci.

10.00pm Canceled Channel 4 - From entertainment to academia, presenter Richard Bacon examines how so-called `cancel culture" is affecting people's lives. In reflecting on how reputations can be destroyed in an instant, he considers the freedom to disagree and the right to take offence as he tries to assess where free speech should begin and end. He also encounters some of `the cancelled", to hear first-hand about the impact and consequences of being publicly shunned.

Friday

8.00pm Kirstie's Homemade Christmas Channel 4 - Kirstie Allsopp offers festive tips on how to have a stylish Christmas without breaking the bank. She is joined by her Relocation, Relocation co-host Phil Spencer, who attempts to wow her with his wrapping skills, and her florist sister Sofie, who's tasked with creating some spectacular floral arrangements to add extra sparkle to the season.

Notable Continuing Series: Gogglebox 9.00pm, Channel 4

The Last Leg, 10.00pm, Channel 4

9.00pm Chucky Sky Max - Teenager and budding artist Jake Wheeler's life changes for ever when he buys a vintage Good Guy doll at a yard sale. Horror spin-off from the Child's Play franchise, starring Zackary Arthur, with the voice of Brad Dourif.

PODCAST: #319: In My Skin, Dopesick, Girls5eva.

2021-11-22T23:19:00.004+00:00

We're joined by site contributor Mo Walker to review both series of BBC comedy drama In My Skin, Dopesick and upcoming Peacock comedy Girls5eva.

Listen to "#319:In My Skin, Dopesick, Girls5eva" on Spreaker.

Succession Recap: 'What It Takes' has Logan going full fascist.

2021-11-22T22:31:00.003+00:00

“My hunch is that you’re going to get fucked because I’ve seen you get fucked a lot. And I’ve never seen Logan get fucked once.”

Contributed by Jackson Maher.

Sometimes in Succession, there’s a weirdly sexual subtext to everything that’s going on. Tom pulls Greg’s pigtails it feels like they’re about to kiss, Kendall probably yells “control the narrative” during sex, and while Logan likens his business strategy to making his enemies “bend for” him. It’s the classic Oscar Wilde quote: “Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power.”

On Succession, the same idea is often posed more efficiently and with a heavy dose of paranoia: Are you trying to fuck me?

“What It Takes” is probably the horniest episode of the series to date, exploring all angles of the power dynamic that is “fucking”—the play of dominance and seduction that is the true heart of many of the scenes in this episode (and much of Succession at large).

Connor trots out his for-hire girlfriend to “show some leg” to gain GOP leadership support. Logan makes jokes and bedroom eyes to his assistant Kerry all episode. There’s some pretty charged chemistry between Roman and the fascist Jeryd Mencken both at the bar and then when they meet in the bathroom in private. As I type that, it feels even hornier than I thought.

Kendall starts the episode by trying to play bully-ball with the Department of Justice, and when things go poorly he doubles down, making a scene outside of the room in order to get them to go after his dad. When Lisa Arthur calls him out, he dumps her, like an insecure boy who was just told he’s bad in bed.

The rest of the family spends its time flirting with Presidential hopefuls at the Future Freedom Summit, itself a competition to see who will “fuck” the American people the most. The health of our Republic depends on it, “and the health of my portfolio.”

Roman snuggles up to Mencken, a Josh Hawley/Madison Cawthorne type that we’ve seen a million times before. He’s a white supremacist and populist, someone who cloaks his ideology in thinly veiled dogwhistles and calls it speaking truth to power. Shiv gets friendly with the much more moderate Rick Selgado, who, like her, speaks about the working class as if it were an anthropological study—surely, cutting taxes would be great for them! Vice President Dave Boyer, is also there, dry lips and all.

After a quick round of speed dating, it’s time for the Roys to decide which contestant they’re going to bring to bed—who they’ll submit to their will as the real heads of the Republican Party. I suspect this strong psychosexual power play is also part of the reason why Roman and Shiv are incapable of considering their brother Connor. The President is a role to be fucked, and well, you don’t fuck your older brother, that’s reserved for the peripheries of the family, like Greg and Tom.

Greg and Tom are both acutely aware of how they can be fucked and chucked. The possibility that Kendall will burn Greg hangs heavy over his head and when Kendall pitches Tom with the idea of turning on the family making him “the man,” it isn’t just misogynistic bravado. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen Tom slowly diminish. While he started in a position of power, having Shiv come to him, he’s been quickly offered up as a blood sacrifice to the Department of Justice. While he volunteered, I think he might have seen the writing on the wall once Kendall abandoned ship and was perhaps trying to gain some kind of goodwill by cooperating. At the very least, he was hoping his wife would at least feign protest. Tom is emasculated by the prospect of being sent to prison, to the point where he can’t even have sex with Shiv. It’s this same idea of masculinity and sexual dominance that might spook Tom from defecting: Kendall is a cuck and Logan never gets fucked.

I’d be remiss if I, the guy who said Succession is about climate change, didn’t mention the end of the episode, when Logan declares himself a climate denier. Capitalism is about the same kind of complete power that Logan’s “fucking” represents. It doesn’t have room for balance, it’s a one-sided fuckfest.

POWER RANKINGS

15. Non-white People (Last week: N/A) - Our new Republican nominee just said “people trust people who look like them,” “let’s just take a beat before we fundamentally alter its composition,” and lovingly referred to Hitler as “H.”

14. America (Last week: N/A) - Besides the egregious white supremacy going on, it’s pretty messed up that Shiv, Roman, Connor, and Logan got to handpick the next President, especially when Logan seemed to be swayed by the promise of the blowjob. Woo, democracy.

13. Kendall (Last week: 12) - Maybe Kendall should start doing drugs again? Our guy has fallen so hard and so fast that he’s taking blackmail pictures of Tom on his iPhone in a Denny’s parking lot. Woof.

12. Salgado (Last week: N/A) - The only thing more offensive than a regular Republican is one who pretends they’re fighting for the working class.

11. Boyer (Last week: N/A) - He had a solid pitch, but sometimes you just aren’t a winner. At least he’s still Vice President, and that definitely counts for something until the DOJ investigation blows over.

10. Shiv (Last week: 6) - It’s strange, Shiv doesn’t feel like a big loser when I watch the episode, but when I think back about her resume from this one, it looks a lot worse. She failed to get her guy Salgado (who lowkey promised to make her CEO of Waystar), she asked Logan to apologize for being a dick to her last week (that didn’t go well either), and she was forced to be in a photo with a Nazi.

9. Lisa Arthur (Last week: N/A) - On the one hand, she got fired by her petulant manchild client. On the other hand, she’s no longer working for a petulant manchild client who is definitely going to lose his case.

8. Tom (Last week: 11) - Terminal Tom has always been a great judge of the way the wind’s blowing. He knows he doesn’t have the cachet to make things happen on his own, and has always been about figuring out who to attach himself to. For a while that looked like Shiv and the Roy family, but now that he’s eyeballing a prison sentence, he’s starting to look elsewhere and he’s been thrown a potential lifeline with Kendall. Neither of his choices are great right now, but he has options now, and that’s an improvement!

7. Greg (Last week: 13) - Our “soy boy” was a little out of his element at Nazi summer camp, but he got a few minor wins. Tom offered to let him hang his burning ornament on the Christmas Tree, no strings attached. His lawsuit against Greenpeace earned him a nice little crowdsurf. He even got to stand up for America, “I don’t think you should crown—or make—Connor president.” Plus, Kendall didn’t fire the social media manager he’s crushing on so there’s still a chance!

6. Connor (Last week: 3) - What an unexpectedly strong season for the Conheads. He’s out here networking in Virginia, he’s in the room where the decision is being made about the President of the United States, and he even maybe got some real consideration? I mean maybe this is grading on a curve but this is way further than I ever thought Connor’s campaign would get.

5. Roman (Last week: 8) - He won the pitch, what else is there to say? He also definitely is going to have sex with Mencken.

4. Kerry (Last week: N/A) - Just a few weeks removed from being asked, “Do you want to hear what it sounds like when the President loses his temper?” Kerry is in the room, picking the next one. That’s a pretty meteoric rise. She’s got Logan in the palm of her hand, between whatever sexual relationship is going on and her access to his pills and medication. Let’s just hope she’s been tested for STDs or Marcia’s going to throw another fit.

3. The GOP (Last week: N/A) - Trump worked once and Mencken is definitely smarter so they got that going for them. I mean, do you think Trump has even heard of Thomas Aquinas?

2. Logan (Last week: 4) - Logan’s back to being in full control of his family, his company, and soon the President of the United States. He’s still got Kendall’s number blocked (some boundaries are healthy!) and he’s definitely screwing Kerry who’s probably a third his age. Kendall’s case against him is crumbling and while everyone is still thinking about his loomy demise, he didn’t pee his pants this week, and that’s a definite improvement.

1. Mencken (Last week: N/A) - “He’s Medicare for All, abortions for none. And his idea of diplomacy is shooting roe deer with Viktor Orban and starting a trade war with China.” He’s going to be the next President.

Succession Continues Sunday on HBO and Monday on Sky Atlantic & NOW.