The Daily Telegraph - 26.08.2019

Poldark

BBC ONE, 8.30PM



Sharper than a stab

from Poldark’s

tricorne hat will be the

pain of bidding farewell to

this much-loved Cornish

bodice-ripper. But after

five seasons of masculine

derring-do and romantic

wrangling set against

Cornwall’s crashing waves,

this saga sails into the

sunset. Whether the

love of Ross and Demelza

Poldark (Aidan Turner

and Eleanor Tomlinson)

can withstand this final

mission – whether Ross

even survives it – are

tantalising questions.

The action opens five

months after last night’s

instalment (see review,

left), when our hero

embarked on what he

called his greatest gamble:

pretending to plot with

the French to overthrow

the English government,

in order to expose

corruption. But what

began as a ruse to save

his own neck seems to

have consumed Ross,

and even led him to stray

from the marital bed.

The story climaxes well

before the credits roll,

when treacherous

behaviour is exposed in

a flash of explosives and

clanging of swords.

Storylines are tied up and

characters’ new paths set.

Debbie Horsfield’s revival

has been an enjoyable

gallop through Winston

Graham’s novels and made

a star of Turner’s torso.

Sundays will never be

the same. Vicki Power

Documentary

The Good Nazi

YESTERDAY, 8.00PM

 This documentary may

be fascinating, but its title

is a little misleading, in that

the film looks at the horrors

experienced by Jews at

a labour camp in Vilnius

during the Second World

War, as much as it reveals

the covert warnings they

received from the camp’s

commander Karl Plagge.

As archaeologists map mass

graves on the site, survivors

recount how they escaped

regular Nazi purges. It was

down to their own ingenuity

as much as the deeds

of Plagge, the eponymous

so-called “good Nazi”. VP

A Black and White Killing:

The Case That Shook

America

BBC TWO, 9.00PM

 The recent white

supremacist rallies in

Portland, Oregon, make this

documentary series more

pertinent. Mobeen Azhar

was there last year when

feelings ran high, as a white

supremacist was tried for

the murder of a black man.

Here, Azhar examines

tensions on both sides as

the verdict is delivered. VP

Drama

Midsomer Murders

ITV, 8.30PM

 Tonight’s return to the

killing fields of England

delivers a labyrinthine

mystery plus a baroque

new murder method. The

action focuses on a death

at a rugby club, where DCI

Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon)

uncovers secrets behind

the macho bluster. VP

What to watch

Radio choice Charlotte Runcie

Clara (Lily Sacofsky), Charlotte (Rose Williams) and Mary (Kate Ashfield) in Sanditon

RED PLANET PICTURES/ITV

Austen with sun, sand and sex

• but will viewers want more?

T

he new Andrew Davies
adaptation of Sanditon on ITV
last night unveiled one of Jane
Austen’s lesser-known works as an
entertaining romp set in an England
undergoing unprecedented social
change – with lashings of sun, sand, sex
and bare-bottomed sea bathing.
Britain’s best-known adapter of
literary classics for television, Davies is
still most fêted for his 1995 BBC Pride
and Prejudice, in which Colin Firth’s
Mr Darcy emerged from a lake in a
dripping undershirt. On first view,
Sanditon aims more for the frivolity of
Davies’s 2008 Sense and Sensibility than
the sweeping romance of his P and P.
Of all Austen’s works, this one offers
a particular challenge to the adapter:
to finish it. At the time of her death in
1817, Austen had written just 24,000
words, a nascent satire on themes of
avarice, inheritance, marriage and
Britain’s transition from an agricultural
economy to a more thrustingly
entrepreneurial one.
Davies’a solution is to retain Austen’s
characters in outline, fleshing out her
subtle satire with liberal quantities of
broad comedy and sexual frisson, but
also sowing the seeds for more modern
strands to be explored, including
racism, sexual abuse and some
decidedly un-Austenish incest.
It began in familiar territory.
Following a coach accident, bright but
innocent Charlotte (a stand-out Rose

Williams) was invited by enthusiastic

entrepreneur Mr Parker (Kris Marshall)

and his wife to Sanditon, the not-yet-

fashionable south-coast bathing resort

he is developing. There, Charlotte

became embroiled with the town’s

power-broker, Lady Denham (Anne

Reid), and her dysfunctional family.

Prime among them her niece Clara (Lily

Sacofsky), the caddish Sir Edward (Jack

Fox) and his uncomfortably close sister

Esther (Charlotte Spencer).

All this played out against a familiar

period-drama backdrop of palatial

houses, CGI-enhanced exteriors,

empire-line dresses, bonnets, bosoms,

breezy cliff-walks and lavish balls. So

far, so Austen, although ramping up the

Regency fad for sea-bathing allowed

for comedy and sexual charge as men

plunged naked into the waves observed

by modest young ladies emerging

giggling from bathing machines.

Last night’s chief dramatic push

involved Charlotte’s encounters with

Mr Parker’s younger brother, Sidney

(Theo James), a Darcy-esque brooder

with a history. Exactly what that history

might be is still unclear, other than

that it involves one of Austen’s most

tantalisingly incomplete heroines –

Miss Lambe (Crystal Clarke), a “young

West Indian heiress”, with all the

echoes of prejudice and empire that

implies.

Overall, this was an intriguing

rather than a mesmerising start, a

drama lacking the essential Austen

qualities of interiority and biting wit

but compensating with a rompish

enthusiasm and a cast of intriguing

characters. Whether there’s enough in

it to win audience loyalty for another

seven hours remains in the balance.

T

here’s no sign of Peaky Blinders

(BBC One, Sunday) softening

its act yet, despite a promotion

to BBC One and to Sundays. Like the

vicious gang of Brummie gangsters

the drama exalts, it embarked on its

fifth series by muscling its way in,

thuggishly shouldering Poldark out of

its slot and daring anyone to complain.

It is hard not to be overwhelmed

by this series’ sheer aggression, its

epic ambitions and the brute charisma

of its central character, gang leader

Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy).

Shelby’s election to Parliament as a

Labour member allowed this fifth

series to hit the ground running with

a new cusp-of-the-Thirties storyline

blending fallout from the Wall Street

Crash with Tommy’s quest for power

in the face of resistance from the

degenerately corrupt British upper

classes.

It was the cinematic style that

impressed most: Shelby emerged

from the mist on horseback against an

impossibly panoramic West Midlands

landscape, picked up a phone in a

ludicrously remote call box, and

ordered a bloody hit. Ludicrous in

any other hands, but here positively

mythic. Again, Paul Anderson as

Tommy’s bawling, brawling, semi-

animal older brother, Arthur, filled

the screen every time he appeared.

The women, too, in Peaky Blinders

have power, if only by association with

Tommy. And none more so than Helen

McCrory’s parodically sensual Polly.

By the end of this episode, a night

in the mystic forest and a ghostly

encounter with his dead wife enabled

Tommy to see the way forward: cash

is king in a depressed economy and he

still had lorryloads of it stashed away.

He had plans, and a new admirer: fellow

parliamentarian Oswald Mosley (Sam

Claflin). Expect more blood-drenched

Sundays to come; and one Monday,

as it continues tonight.

Drama: Marcel Proust’s

In Search of Lost Time

RADIO 4, 12.00NOON AND 2.15PM

 Radio 4’s centrepiece

cultural broadcast of the

summer, an epic adaptation

of Proust’s masterpiece,

concludes (though you can

catch up with the box-set on

BBC Sounds if you haven’t

managed to listen to every

moment). Derek Jacobi is

Proust, Paterson Joseph is

Charles Swann, and Robert

Glenister, Fenella Woolgar

and Frances Barber also

join the heavyweight cast in

Timberlake Wertenbaker’s

translation and adaptation.

It’s the same team that

did War and Peace a few

years ago, so the pedigree

is strong.

Motown Covered

with Ken Bruce

RADIO 2, 6.00PM

 As part of Radio 2’s

bank holiday weekend

celebration of Motown, Ken

Bruce invites contemporary

musicians Emeli Sandé, Jack

Savoretti, James Morrison,

Michael Ball and Grace

Carter to perform live

covers of classic Motown

tracks. Bruce also dips into

the Tracks of My Years

archive for artists who

selected Motown songs,

including Lionel Richie and

Ed Sheeran. And as part of

the festivities, Craig Charles

and Trevor Nelson count

down the official top 100

Motown recordings based

on downloads and streams.

Peaky Blinders

BBC ONE, 9.30PM

 The paranoia of Tommy

Shelby (Cillian Murphy)

intensifies in this blood-

spattered episode of the

gangster drama. As Mosley

(Sam Claflin) exerts pressure

and troublesome Michael

(Finn Cole) returns, a

new menace appears. VP

Factual

Nadiya’s Summer Feasts

BBC TWO, 8.00PM

 Nadiya Hussain brightens

up a soggy summer with

her orange headscarf and

enthusiasm for a barbecue.

This one-off special sees

her whip up a raft of dishes

that include a salad of feta

cheese and kiwi fruit. VP

The Power of Women

SKY ARTS, 10.00PM

 Sky’s new chat series

features neither a journalist

nor an interviewer; instead,

a pair of inspirational female

subjects talk without any

interference. The result is

a chaotic opening episode,

in which Ruby Wax and

Helena Kennedy sit for a

chin-wag. Wax dominates

with tales of her childhood;

Kennedy struggles to get a

word in. But it’s compelling

to hear the pair discuss their

setbacks and successes. VP

Sport

Tennis: US Open

AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, 4.00PM

 The fourth and final

grand slam begins in New

York. Both of the defending

champions – Naomi Osaka

and Novak Djokovic – are at

the top of their rankings; can

they retain their titles? VP

Sanditon ★ ★ ★

Peaky Blinders ★★★★

Black and White Killing: Azhar

Tennis: US Open – Osaka

Wild love: Eleanor Tomlinson & Aidan Turner as Demelza & Ross

Radio 1

FM 97.6-99.8MHZ

6.00am Radio 1 Anthems 6.30 Radio

1 Anthems 7.00 Radio 1’s Chillest

Show with Phil Taggart 10.00 Rickie,

Melvin and Charlie 1.00pm Pete Tong

4.00 Radio 1’s Indie Show with Jack

Saunders 10.00 Benji B 1.00am Radio

1’s Drum & Bass Show with Rene

LaVice 2.00 Radio 1’s Drum & Bass

Mix 3.00 Radio 1’s Hype Chart with

Phil Taggart 4.00 - 6.30am Early

Breakfast with Adele Roberts

Radio 2

FM 88-90.2MHZ

6.30am The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show

9.30 Ken Bruce 12.00 Motown Top

100 Countdown with Craig Charles

3.00pm Motown Top 100 Countdown

with Trevor Nelson 6.00  Motown

Covered with Ken Bruce. See Radio

choice 8.00 Motown Loves Northern

Soul 9.00 The Blues Show with Huey

Morgan 10.00 Trevor Nelson’s Rhythm

Nation 12.00 OJ Borg 3.00am Sounds

of the 70s with Johnnie Walker 5.00 -

6.30am Nicki Chapman

Radio 3

FM 90.2-92.4MHZ

6.30am Breakfast 9.00 Essential

Classics 12.00 Composer of the Week:

Dufay 1.00pm News 1.02 Proms

Chamber Music 2019 2.00 Afternoon

Concert 5.00 In Tune 7.00 In Tune

Mixtape. An eclectic non-stop mix of

music 7.30 BBC Proms 2019.

Orchestre de Paris performs

Schumann, Jörg Widmann and

Beethoven 10.00 Free Thinking. The

expression and interpretation of

emotions differs around the world

10.45 The Essay: Forests. A look at

fictional forests of art and literature

11.00 Jazz Now 12.30am - 6.30am

Through the Night

Radio 4

FM 92.4-94.6MHZ; LW 198KHZ

6.00am Today 9.00 The Public

Philosopher 9.45 Book of the Week:

My Name Is Why 9.45 LW: Daily

Service 10.00 Woman’s Hour 10.00

LW: Woman’s Hour 10.30am LW: Test

Match Special 11.00 Three Vicars

Talking 11.30 Loose Ends 12.00 

Drama: Marcel Proust’s In Search of

Lost Time. See Radio choice 12.01pm

LW: Shipping Forecast 12.04 LW: Test

Match Special 1.00 The World at One

1.45 Our House 2.00 The Archers

2.15  Drama: Marcel Proust’s In

Search of Lost Time. See Radio choice

3.00 Drama: Marcel Proust’s In Search

of Lost Time 4.00 The 3rd Degree

4.30 Beyond Belief. The role of

religion in Spanish history 5.00 PM.

Presented by Carolyn Quinn 5.54 LW:

Shipping Forecast 5.57 Weather 5.57

LW: Test Match Special. England v

Australia 6.00 Six O’Clock News 6.30

Just a Minute 7.00 The Archers. Tracy

begins an investigation 7.15 Front

Row 7.45 The Country Girls 8.00 The

Food Programme 8.30 Crossing

Continents 9.00 Power of Peace 9.30

The Public Philosopher 9.59 Weather

10.00 The World Tonight 10.45 Book

at Bedtime: The Offing 11.00 Word of

Mouth 11.30 Beyond Today 12.00

News and Weather 12.30am Book of

the Week: My Name Is Why 12.48

Shipping Forecast 1.00 As World

Service 5.20 Shipping Forecast 5.30

News Briefing 5.43 Prayer for the Day

5.45 Farming Today 5.58 - 6.00am

Tweet of the Day

Radio 5 Live

MW 693 & 909KHZ

6.00am 5 Live Breakfast 9.00 Your

Call 10.00 The Emma Barnett Show

with Chris Warburton 1.00pm Nihal

Arthanayake 4.00 5 Live Drive 7.00 5

Live Sport: The Monday Night Club.

Mark Chapman presents the football

debate 9.00 5 Live Sport: The Tuffers

and Vaughan Cricket Show 10.30

Sarah Brett 1.00am Up All Night 5.00

Morning Reports 5.15 - 6.00am Wake

Up to Money

Classic FM

FM 99.9-101.9MHZ

6.00am More Music Breakfast 9.00

John Suchet 1.00pm Jane Jones 5.00

John Brunning 7.00 Smooth Classics

at Seven. John Brunning concludes

Movie Music Monday 8.00 Celebrating

Future Talent with Alexander

Armstrong. Young musicians perform

at Buckingham Palace 10.00 Smooth

Classics 1.00am - 6.00am Sam Pittis

World Service

DIGITAL ONLY

6.00am Newsday 8.30 Business Daily

8.50 Witness History 9.00 News 9.06

The Inquiry 9.30 Boston Calling 10.00

World Update 11.00 The Newsroom

11.30 The Conversation 12.00 News

12.06pm Outlook 1.00 The

Newsroom 1.30 The Why Factor 1.50

More or Less 2.00 Newshour 3.00

News 3.06 HARDtalk 3.30 World

Business Report 4.00 BBC OS 6.00

News 6.06 Outlook 7.06 The

Newsroom 7.30 Sport Today 8.00

News 8.06 HARDtalk 8.30 Discovery

9.00 Newshour 10.00 News 10.06

The Why Factor 10.30 World Business

Report 11.00 News 11.06 The

Newsroom 11.20 Sports News 11.30

The Conversation 12.00 News

12.06am The History Hour 1.00 News

1.06 Business Matters 2.00 News

2.06 The Newsroom 2.30 The Why

Factor 2.50 More or Less 3.00 News

3.06 People Fixing The World 3.30 In

the Studio 4.00 News 4.06 Newsday

5.00 News 5.06 The Newsroom 5.30 -

6.00am Discovery

Radio 4 Extra

DIGITAL ONLY

6.00am To Be Sung Underwater 6.30

Bring On the Clowns 7.00 A Whole

’Nother Story 7.30 Just a Minute 8.00

Marriage Lines 8.30 Dad’s Army 9.00

The Unbelievable Truth 9.30 The

Senses 10.00 Design for Murder

11.00 TED Radio Hour 11.50

Inheritance Tracks 12.00 Marriage

Lines 12.30pm Dad’s Army 1.00 To Be

Sung Underwater 1.30 Bring On the

Clowns 2.00 Reef 2.15 Charisma:

Pinning Down the Butterfly 2.30 Bindi

Business 2.45 My Life in Houses 3.00

Design for Murder 4.00 The

Unbelievable Truth 4.30 The Senses

5.00 A Whole ’Nother Story 5.30 Just

a Minute 6.00 Haunted 6.30 A Good

Read 7.00 Marriage Lines 7.30 Dad’s

Army 8.00 To Be Sung Underwater

8.30 Bring On the Clowns 9.00 TED

Radio Hour 9.50 Inheritance Tracks

10.00 Comedy Club 12.00 Haunted

12.30am A Good Read 1.00 To Be

Sung Underwater 1.30 Bring On the

Clowns 2.00 Reef 2.15 Charisma:

Pinning Down the Butterfly 2.30 Bindi

Business 2.45 My Life in Houses 3.00

Design for Murder 4.00 The

Unbelievable Truth 4.30 The Senses

5.00 A Whole ’Nother Story 5.30 -

6.00am Just a Minute

Television & radio

The weekend on television Gerard O’Donovanvannn

34 ***^ Monday 26 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph

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