24 saturday review Saturday December 18 2021 | the times
The curtain finally comes
down on what, in terms of
pure dancing, has been the
best Strictly yet. All series the
judges have been waving their
“10” paddles like they’re going
out of fashion, flashing a
spangly 22 in last Saturday’s
semi-final where no pairing
scored below a 9. So it
was heartbreaking for Rhys
Stephenson and partner
Nancy Xu to fall at the final
dance-off, the judges finding
almost nothing to choose
between their samba and John
Whaite and Johannes Radebe’s
jive. Now that the floor
managers have mopped up
poor Rhys’s tears, the show’s
first all-male pairing can
make history as winners.
They’re up against AJ Odudu
and Kai Widdrington, who
have also rarely put a foot
wrong (astonishingly, AJ is a
dance novice), but probably
the most likely winners are
Giovanni Pernice and the
enchanting Rose Ayling–Ellis,
right. The deaf EastEnders’
actress has already given
us one of the great Strictly
moments with her week
eight dance to Clean Bandit’s
Symphony, when a brief break
in the music allowed viewers
to enter her silent world. Rose
has also been pretty flawless
all series and in the semi
showed what an assured and
graceful performer (and
person) she is. Everything
will be decided by the public
(although the judges do get to
voice their opinion); and while
most comparisons will be
odious at least there will be
plenty to base your decisions
on with three routines — their
choices, a judges’ choice and
a show dance. It makes for a
long night’s viewing, as well
as many aching limbs in the
rehearsal room, but one thing
is clear: this year’s champion
will really have deserved that
glitterball trophy. Ben DowellCharles Dickens
Channel 5, 7.35pmIt has become a cliché to say
that Charles Dickens would be
writing TV soap operas if he
were alive today. Thankfully
John Yorke, one of EastEnders’
most esteemed executive
producers, tempers the idea
in Gyles Brandreth’s amiable
profile of the great Victorian.
“He’d probably have come
past EastEnders and... have
a massive Netflix deal,” Yorke
says with a smile. In this
instalment of his series about
great British novelists,
Brandreth visits key locations
from Dickens’s life and books,
including the site of the
Marshalsea Prison, where
Dickens’s father was
imprisoned. BD48 Hours to Victory
Channel 4, 8pmAfter examining two key
engagements involving the
British Army — Dunkirk and
the battle of the Somme —
Dermot O’Leary’s series
concludes with what can
more properly be described
as a victory (although the
French apparently disagree):
the Battle of Waterloo. It helps
that, unlike the first two, it was
pretty much settled in two
days. But the beauty of this
episode is its evocation of
atmosphere as well as the
ways the Duke of Wellington
outfoxed Napoleon — from
what it feels like to fire a
Brown Bess gun to what the
soldiers ate and how they
slept. BDMadonna
at the BBC
BBC2, 9pmThis treasure trove of all things
Madge showcases her many
performances on a range of
BBC shows over the past 37
years, starting with her first
Top of the Pops appearance
with Holiday in 1984, when her
restrained lip-syncing to an
unremarkable song gave little
clue about the pop icon that
she was to become. This
collection covers Madonna’s
many incarnations, from
Material Girl to provoker of
religious sensibilities, and will
be enjoyed by fans. And it
leaves you in no doubt that she
has always brought charisma
to the controversy. BD9.30 Still Game (r) 10.00 Two Doors
Down (r) 10.30 Scot Squad 11.00
Christmas at the Quay. Music by Wet Wet
Wet, Kyle Falconer and Bow Anderson
11.45 Tune 11.55-Midnight Loop
● S4C 6.00am Cyw: Peppa (r) 6.05 Digbi
Draig (r) 6.20 Halibalw (r) 6.30 Twt (r)
6.40 Rapsgaliwn (r) 6.55 Sam Tân (r) 7.05
Shwshaswyn (r) 7.15 Byd Tad-Cu (r) 7.30
Sion y Chef (r) 7.45 Cacamwnci (r) 8.00
Seligo (r) 8.30 Pat a Stan (r) 9.10 Siwrne
Ni (r) 9.25 Dennis a Dannedd (r) 9.35
Lolipop (r) 10.00 Waliau’n Siarad (r) 11.00
Bwrdd i Dri (r) 11.30 Bwrdd i Dri (r) 12.00
Ffermio (r) 12.30pm Adre (r) 1.00 Adre (r)
1.30 Bwyd Epic Chris (r) 2.30 Natur
Nadolig Iolo (r) 3.30 Cefn Gwlad (r) 4.30
Richard Holt: Yr Academi Felys (r) 5.00
Live Sgorio: The New Saints and
Pen-y-bont (Kick-off 5.15) The JD Cymru
Premier game at Park Hall 7.15 News 7.30
Degawdau Dafydd Iwan. A performance
by Dafydd Iwan, recorded in the Pavilion
at the 2012 National Eisteddfod, to mark
his 50th anniversary in the music
industry (r) 9.05 Dylanwad Un Nos Ola
Leuad. Behind the scenes on an opera
based on Caradog Prichard’s novel Un
Nos Ola Leuad 10.10 FILM Un Nos Ola
Leuad (1991) 12.00-12.35am Curadur (r)
(r) repeat (SL) In-vision signing● BBC1 Wales As BBC1 except:
2.00-2.30pm A Welsh-Italian Christmas
with Michela Chiappa. The food writer
aims to produce the ultimate
Welsh-Italian festive menu (r)
● BBC2 Wales As BBC2 except: 4.55pm
The Man Who Took on a Mansion. The
Plas Glynllifon mansion house, near
Caernarfon (r) 5.35 Coast (r) 5.55 Tudur’s
TV Flashback (r) 6.25 Chris & Michaela:
Under the Christmas Sky (r) 7.25-9.00
FILM Whisky Galore! (2016) Comedy
starring James Cosmo and Eddie Izzard
● BBC2 N Ireland As BBC2 except:
5.30pm Between the Covers. With Greg
James, Imogen Stubbs, Fleur East and
Lloyd Griffith 6.00 The Wild Gardener (r)
6.30 Walking with Jim Moir 7.00-8.00
Gardeners’ World Winter Specials
● BBC1 Scotland As BBC1 except: 4.00pm
Landward (r) 4.30-5.10 Sportscene
Results 11.50 Sportscene Saturday
12.50am The NFL Show 1.20 FILM The
Lost Boys (1987) Comedy horror starring
Kiefer Sutherland 2.55 Weather for the
Week Ahead 3.00-6.00 BBC News
● STV As ITV except: 4.05-5.05am
Unwind with STV. Daily relaxation
● BBC Scotland 7.00pm The Seven 7.15
The Edit 7.30 Sportscene Saturday 8.30
Inside Central Station. Documentary (r)Maleficent (PG, 2014)
BBC1, 2.30pm
There is something extreme about Angelina Jolie’s beauty. All
jagged angles and prominent lips, she’s perfect casting in the
title role of this live-action reimagining of the tale of Sleeping
Beauty. It’s told this time from the point of view of one of Disney’s
most iconic villainesses, Maleficent, the wicked fairy who dooms
Aurora (Elle Fanning) to a coma that can be broken only by true
love’s kiss. The film takes flight on a visual level. Maleficent’s
forest kingdom is a lush paradise populated by freakishly cute
creatures. Disney executives initially objected to Jolie’s menacing
look, but the actress insisted that the character maintain the
scarier look of the animated incarnation from Sleeping Beauty.
(97min) Wendy IdeFilms of the day
Desperately Seeking Susan (15, 1985)
BBC2, 10pm
Madonna was paid $80,000 for her first big film role playing
Susan, a magnetic bohemian NYC drifter in Ray-Bans, black lace
and leggings. Susan enters the consciousness of bored New Jersey
housewife Roberta, who is obsessed by personal messages sent by
Susan’s estranged lover (the “Desperately Seeking Susan” of the
title). After covertly witnessing their brief reunion, Roberta follows
Susan to a thrift store and, after banging her head, losing her
memory and putting on Susan’s distinctive leather jacket, becomes
sucked into her chaotic world. Madonna, above, has had mixed
fortunes in movies, but Susan Seidelman’s comedy drama was
one of her successes — it took $27 million at the box office and
launched her first UK No 1, Into the Groove. (104min) Joe ClayGomorrah
Sky Atlantic/Now, 9pm/10pmFans of this blood-soaked
crime drama will not need
reminding that at the end of
the last series our hot-headed
gangster Genny Sevastano
(Salvatore Esposito) had just
concluded a few grisly killings,
eliminating key elements in the
Neapolitan crime syndicate.
Series five opens with Genny
in hiding under the potentially
unreliable protection of Don
Angelo and plotting his next
move. Genny’s love for his son
Pietro remains a touching
thread in this grisly drama,
but prepare for the return of
a character previously thought
dead as well as violence
involving bare hands and
even a rocket launcher. BDRegional programmes
Saturday 18 | Viewing guide
Critic’s choice
Strictly Come Dancing: The Final
BBC1, 7pm
Catch
up
It’s a Sin
All4
Russell T Davies’s drama
has been All4’s biggest
drama of the year,
with 26.5 million
views. It follows
a group of gay
lads and their
best female
friend in
London in
1981.
Among
the pals is
18-year-old
Ritchie (Olly
Alexander, right),
a student newlyarrived from the Isle of Wight
(his parents are played by
Keeley Hawes and Shaun
Dooley) and soon
getting stuck into a life
of lusty abandon. Then
the shadow of Aids
starts to loom ever
larger in all their lives.
The storytelling romps
along in all
senses, often
with startling
frankness and
always with a
great 1980s pop
soundtrack.
However, things
also become
increasingly heart-
wrenching in what’s
been one of the
year’s most
acclaimed series.
James Jackson