The Times - UK (2021-12-18)

26 saturday review Saturday December 18 2021 | the times

Saturday 18 | Primetime digital guide

BBC4

7.00pm All Aboard: The Great

Reindeer Migration

Following a Sami family

taking a reindeer herd

across the mountainous

region of Finnmark, a

journey of just over 160

miles through the arctic

wilderness that lasts a week

9.00 FILM The Lady in the Van

(12, 2015) The true story of

Alan Bennett’s friendship

with an eccentric homeless

woman, whom he

befriended before allowing

her to park her van outside

his Camden home.

Starring Maggie Smith

10.40-12.10am The Galaxy Britain

Built: The British Force

Behind Star Wars David

Whiteley celebrates the

unsung British heroes

behind the first film in the

sci-fi franchise, including the

contribution of the London

Symphony Orchestra

ITV3

7.00pm Midsomer Murders

A disused abbey that is

believed to be cursed is

about to be turned into a

pub — but someone is found

murdered in a similar

manner to a famous

historical execution

9.00 Midsomer Murders At a

Christmas family get-

together, a cracker riddle

states two people will die

before midnight on Boxing

Day, and just a few hours

later family matriarch Lydia

meets an untimely end —

giving Barnaby the perfect

reason to escape a boring

Christmas with his in-laws

11.05-12.10am Arthur & George

Determined to find out

whether George has been

hiding anything, Arthur

attacks the case and

uncovers fresh evidence,

but he and Woodie are

soon led into danger (3/3)

More 4

6.55pm Grand Designs Kevin

McCloud meets Penny

Talelli and Mark Edwards,

who plan to combine

their love of old and

contemporary architecture

as they transform a

derelict Victorian

gatehouse in London

8.00 Grand Designs Kevin

McCloud follows Matt

and Sophie White from

Sussex as they build a giant

family house of fun,

featuring a revolving

bookcase door, secret dens

and hiding places

9.00 24 Hours in A&E A woman is

brought in after crashing

her car into a tree

10.00 24 Hours in A&E

A 92-year-old man may

have a bleed on the brain

11.05-12.10am Emergency

Helicopter Medics

A fun-runner is left with

a painful open fracture

Sky Max

7.00pm Harry Potter: A Who’s

Who of the Wizarding

World Alex Zane checks out

the greatest witches,

wizards, Muggles and

magical creatures in the

movie franchise, from He

Who Must Not Be Named to

the boy wizard himself (R)

8.00 There’s Something About

Christmas Movies Festive

special, with Thomas Brodie

Sangster, Susan Wokoma

and James Acaster (R)

9.00 Never Mind the Buzzcocks

Christmas Special

With Holly Johnson,

Lauren Laverne and

Asim Chaudhrey (R)

10.00 Dan Brown’s The Lost

Symbol Nunez follows

a hunch (5/10) (R)

11.00 A League of Their Own:

Christmas Special 2021 (R)

12.00-1.00am The Russell Howard

Hour Topical comedy and

entertainment show (R)

Sky Atlantic

7.00pm A Story Called Gomorrah

One-off documentary

See Viewing Guide (R)

9.00 Gomorrah New series.

The 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.

See Viewing Guide (1/10)

10.05 Gomorrah The final series

of the Italian crime drama.

With war in Naples

imminent, Genny is forced

to give up his dream

of normality and to

return to action.

See Viewing Guide (2/10)

11.10-12.25am Game of Thrones

Tywin counsels the king,

Daenerys exchanges gifts

with a slave lord outside

Yunkai, Melisandre reveals a

secret to Gendry, and

Brienne faces a formidable

foe at Harrenhal (7/10) (R)

Sky Documentaries

Sky Comedy

7.00pm FILM Busby (PG, 2019)

Intimate portrayal of former

Manchester United manager

Matt Busby, who

transformed football

through a career of great

talent and tragedy

9.00 Music Box New series.

Documentaries exploring

pivotal moments in music,

starting with Alanis

Morisette’s beginnings

as a pop star and her

rise to the top of the

male-dominated industry

11.00 The Slow Hustle

The story of the unsolved

death of Baltimore police

detective Sean Suiter,

who was shot while in the

line of duty, sparking

speculation of corruption

within the force (R)

1.00-3.00am FILM Inmate 1: The

Rise of Danny Trejo (15,

2019) The transformation

of the actor’s life

7.00pm Modern Family

7.30 Modern Family

8.00 Modern Family Luke runs

against Manny for class president

8.30 Modern Family Phil is invited

to appear on the local news

9.00 And Just Like That

Sex and the City revival starring

Sarah Jessica Parker (3/10)

10.00 Russell Howard: Right Here

Right Now A performance taken

from the comedian’s 2011 tour

11.15-12.10am The Tonight Show

Starring Jimmy Fallon

ITV2

6.45pm FILM School of Rock (PG,

2003) Comedy starring Jack Black,

Joan Cusack and Mike White

9.00 FILM Fast & Furious 5

(12, 2011) A fugitive assembles

a team of criminals for a heist

in Rio, but the FBI’s top manhunter

is on their trail. Action adventure

sequel, starring Vin Diesel,

Dwayne Johnson and Paul Walker

11.40-12.05am Family Guy

Peter goes on a quest to save

Quahog’s annual Christmas

carnival from cancellation

ITV4

6.45pm Snooker: World Grand

Prix Jill Douglas presents coverage

of day six from Coventry Building

Society Arena, featuring the

concluding semi-final, played

over the best of 11 frames

10.00-12.20am FILM The

Untouchables (15, 1987)

An incorruptible federal agent

forms an elite squad to bring

gangster Al Capone’s control of the

underworld to an end. Thriller with

Kevin Costner, Sean Connery,

Robert De Niro and Andy Garcia

E4

6.00pm FILM Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles (12, 2014) Fantasy

adventure starring Megan Fox,

with the voice of Johnny Knoxville

8.00 Gogglesprogs at Christmas

The young critics give their

opinions on the TV highlights of

2019, including Flirty Dancing

9.00 Celebrity Gogglebox

Critiques of Celebrity MasterChef,

The Supervet: Noel Fitzpatrick

and Thelma & Louise (6/7)

10.00 Gogglebox

11.00-12.05am Gogglebox

Dave

7.00pm Eddie Eats Christmas

Eddie Hall takes on challenges

featuring traditional Christmas

foods, beginning with a

Caribbean Christmas Combo

7.30 Eddie Eats Christmas

8.00 QI XL With Sarah Millican,

Eddie Kadi and Noel Fielding

9.00 Not Going Out Lee and Lucy

suffer an eventful Christmas Eve

10.00 This Country

10.35 This Country

11.15 This Country

12.00-1.00am Live at the Apollo

Drama

6.00pm Call the Midwife

7.20 Last of the Summer Wine

Foggy anticipates the Christmas

rush by buying 100 insect-infested

fir trees from forester Big Eric

8.00 Jonathan Creek

A horror writer is murdered

9.05 Jonathan Creek Maddy

and Jonathan investigate the

intriguing case of a businessman

with a fear of watches and

clocks who appears to have

somehow defied the laws of time

10.10-12.15am Judge John Deed

Yesterday

7.00pm Great British Railway

Journeys Double bill

8.00 Open All Hours Granville

tries to impress a local beauty

8.40 Open All Hours Nurse Gladys

poses as a Good Shop Guide critic

9.20 Open All Hours Arkwright

plots to get into Nurse Gladys’s

bedroom with Granville’s help

10.00 Blues at the BBC

11.00 Dame Shirley Bassey:

A Celebration With David Walliams

12.00-1.00am Underground

Worlds Documentary

PBS America

7.00pm Shooting the War

Amateur footage is used to

illustrate the experiences of both

British and German children during

the Second World War

8.20 Shooting the War Amateur

footage of the Second World War

filmed by British and German

women, including the aftermath of

the bombing of Dortmund

9.35 D-Day: Last Words The

recollections of those involved

11.00-12.15am Auschwitz – One

Day The story of a day in 1944

Smithsonian

7.00pm World’s Most Dangerous

Shark The hunting behaviour of

the oceanic white-tip shark

8.00 King of the Desert Lions

The story of five inseparable lion

brothers in Africa’s Namib Desert,

which helped change Namibia’s

national conservation policy

9.00 Yukon’s Wild Grizzlies

Cameras observe a female grizzly

10.00 Jaguarland

11.00 Brazil’s Emerald Oasis

12.00-1.00am Cher and the

Loneliest Elephant Documentary

Sky Arts

6.00pm David Byrne’s American

Utopia A concert by the musician

8.00 Journey: Live in Houston

1981 — The Escape Tour A concert

by the American rock band

9.40 The Directors A look at the

life and career of American

director and screenwriter Spike

Lee, whose films include Do the

Right Thing, Malcolm X, Summer of

Sam and BlacKkKlansman

11.10-1.45am FILM Mo’ Better Blues

(15, 1990) Jazz drama starring

Denzel Washington and Spike Lee

Sky Witness

7.00pm Blue Bloods

8.00 Blue Bloods Part one of two.

Frank pulls out all the stops to

catch a colleague’s killer

9.00 Private Eyes A woman hires

Shade and Angie to look into her

husband’s strange behaviour (3/8)

10.00 Law & Order: Special

Victims Unit Benson tries to help a

woman who was beaten and raped

11.00 Law & Order: Special Victims

Unit Stabler and Tutuola search

for a kidnapped 17-year-old girl

12.00-1.00am The Equalizer (2/10)

Sky History

7.00pm Walking Through History:

Northumbria Tony Robinson

walks to Holy Island, off the

coast of Northumberland (2/3)

8.00 Walking Through History:

North Norfolk Tony Robinson

learns about Victorian Norfolk

during a coastal journey (3/3)

9.00 Tulsa Burning:

The 1921 Race Massacre

The birth of the Black Wall Street

and its catastrophic downfall

11.00 Salvage Kings (1/10)

12.00-1.00am Salvage Kings (2/10)

Alibi

6.00pm Inspector George Gently

The chief inspector comes up

against an old adversary from

his days in London (4/4)

8.00 Father Brown (6/10)

9.00 Father Brown (7/10)

10.00 Father Brown (8/10)

11.00 The Gulf (1/8)

12.00-1.00am The Gulf (2/8)

Discovery

7.00pm Gold Rush: White Water

Kayla’s crew’s luck runs out as

tensions reach a boiling point

8.00 Gold Rush

9.00 Mighty Truckers

10.00 Homemade Astronauts

11.00 The Alaska Triangle

12.00-1.00am Nasa’s Unexplained

Files Documentary

Nat Geographic Comedy Central

5.30pm FILM Santa Who?

(U, 2000) Family comedy

7. 2 5 FILM Little Nicky (12, 2000)
   9.00 FILM 50 First Dates
   (12, 2004) Romantic comedy
   starring Drew Barrymore
   11.00-12.35am FILM Deuce
   Bigalow: European Gigolo
   (15, 2005) Comedy sequel

Gold

6.45pm The Vicar of Dibley

Part one of two. A handsome

newcomer wins the vicar’s heart

8.00 Trust Morecambe & Wise

9.00 Mrs Brown’s Boys

9.45 Mrs Brown’s Boys

10.40 The Cockfield`s Christmas

Special Festive comedy

11.40-12.15am Mrs Brown’s Boys

W

7.00pm My Family Christmas

Special 2002 Comedy series

7.40 My Family Christmas Special

2003 The Harpers find themselves

stuck on the Underground

8.20 The Catherine Tate Show

10.20 Louis Theroux’s LA Stories

11.40-1.00am Louis Theroux’s

LA Stories Documentary

7.00pm Disasters Engineered

Remembering tragic disasters in

the aviation industry (1/10)

8.00 Disasters Engineered (3/10)

9.00 Disasters Engineered (10/10)

10.00 Disasters Engineered (2/10)

11.00 Alaska: The Next Generation

12.00-1.00am Alaska: The Next

Generation Documentary

FV 9/24, FS 173, SKY 116, VIRGIN 107 FV 10, FS 115, SKY 119, VIRGIN 117 FV 18, FS 124, SKY 136, VIRGIN 147 SKY 113, VIRGIN 122 SKY 108 SKY 121, VIRGIN 278

SKY 114, VIRGIN 135

FV 6, FS 113, SKY 118, VIRGIN 115 FV 25, FS 117, SKY 120, VIRGIN 118 FV 13, FS 122, SKY 135, VIRGIN 106 FV 20, FS 158, SKY 143, VIRGIN 130 FV 26, FS 159, SKY 155, VIRGIN 129

SKY 132, VIRGIN 126 SKY 125, VIRGIN 250, BT 322 SKY 129, VIRGIN 266, BT 317 SKY 112, VIRGIN 181, BT 307 SKY 110, BT 310 SKY 109, BT 311

FV 19, FS 157, SKY 111, VIRGIN 127

FV 84, FS 155, SKY 174, VIRGIN 273 FV 56, FS 175, SKY 171, VIRGIN 276 FV 11, FS 147, SKY 130, VIRGIN 165 SKY 107, VIRGIN 112 SKY 123, VIRGIN 270

Sky Main Event

7.30am Live Test Cricket:

South Africa v India

12.00 Live EFL: Middlesbrough v

Bournemouth (Kick-off 12.30)

3.00pm-4.30 Live World Darts

Championship Day four

5.00 Live: SNF: Leeds United v

Arsenal (Kick-off 5.30)

8.00 Live World Darts

Championship Coverage of

session two on day four at

Alexandra Palace in London

11.00 Sky Sports News

1.30am-4.00 Live NBA Basketball

Sky Premier League

5.00pm Live: SNF: Leeds United v

Arsenal (Kick-off 5.30).

Coverage of the Premier League

match at Elland Road

8.30 Renault Game of the Day

A full 90-minute rerun of one

of the Saturday afternoon fixtures

in the Premier League

10.30 Premier League A full

90-minute rerun of one of the

Saturday afternoon fixtures

12.15am SNF

2.00 Premier League

3.45-4.00 PL Greatest Games

Sky Cricket

7.30am-3.30pm Live Test Cricket

Day two of the first Test

between South Africa and

India in the three-match series

7.00 Test Cricket

8.00 One-Day International

Cricket Pakistan v West Indies

9.00 Test Cricket

10.00 One-Day International

Cricket Pakistan v West Indies

11.00 Test Cricket

12.00 One-Day International

Cricket Pakistan v West Indies

1.00am-2.00 Captain’s Log

BT Sport 1

12noon-3.00pm Live Premier

League: Manchester United v

Brighton & Hove Albion

5.15 Live: Serie A

7.00 Uefa Champions League:

Stories of the Finals

7.30 Live: Serie A:

9.45 WWE Friday Night

SmackDown Wrestling action

11.15-2.15am Live College Football

3.30-12.00noon The Ashes Live:

Australia v England Coverage

of the fourth day of the Second

Test in the five-match series

BT Sport 2

6.00am-8.15 Live: A-League

8.45-10.45 Live: A-League

12.45pm Live Champions Cup

3.00 Live Champions Cup

5.15 Live Champions Cup:

Glasgow Warriors v Exeter Chiefs

7.45 Live Champions Cup:

Munster v Castres Olympique

10.15 Live: Women’s T20 Super

Smash — Wellington Blaze v

Canterbury Magicians

12.30am-4.00 Live:

T20 Super Smash

5.00-7.00 Live: A-League

SKY 401, VIRGIN 511, BT 467 SKY 402, VIRGIN 512 SKY 404, VIRGIN 514 SKY 413, BT 459 SKY 414, BT 460

FV Freeview FS Freesat

The Lady

in the Van

Maggie Smith stars in

the Alan Bennett drama

BBC4, 9pm

England’s Joe Root leads his

side against Australia in the

second Test (BT Sport 1, 3.30am)