The Sunday Times - UK (2021-12-19)

19 December 2021 41

THE BEST TV FROM NETFLIX AND BEYOND... SUNDAY 19 DECEMBER

The religious meaning

of Christmas is reflected

strongly in the coming

week’s schedules, beginning

with Songs Of Praise (today,

BBC1, 1.15pm). Katherine

Jenkins presents carols

from Westminster Abbey,

with contributions from the

venue’s choir and Monique

McKen, the gospel singer of

the year. Today also sees the

day-long EBU Christmas

Around Europe (Radio 3,

from 11am), with 11 hours

of festive recordings

from across the continent,

taking in a 16th-century

Russian stichera, Arvo Part,

Benjamin Britten, Handel

and traditional Christmas

music from Greece and

Sweden. The evening

sessions include Bach’s

Christmas Oratorio (9pm),

and the Gli Accordati Vocal

Ensemble (10pm).

Clair Woodward

In The Heights (Sky Cinema

Premiere, 5.35pm)

The new film of West Side

Story now in cinemas is not

the year’s only musical about

Hispanic New Yorkers. This

visit to the neighbourhood

of Washington Heights is a

milder option: an upbeat

tale of strivers — including

a shopkeeper (Anthony

Ramos) — chasing their

dreams. Despite the ordinary

milieu, the dance routines (to

songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda)

take wondrous leaps, freeing

the movie from its stage-show

roots. Dir: Jon M Chu (2021)

Catch Me If You Can

(C4, 10pm)

Steven Spielberg, whose films

tend to have honest heroes,

savours a bit of roguishness

in this biopic of the conman

Frank Abagnale Jr. The

liberated director finds a

sassier tone than usual, and

Leonardo DiCaprio enjoys

himself no end as the slick,

daring protagonist. (2002)

I ™ NY: Raducanu (BBC1, 6.45pm) A boy’s best friend (BBC1, 1.50pm)

FILM CHOICE

ON DEMAND

American Rust (Sky/Now)
When this nine-part series

arrived in September, critics

went in for the kill. They had

already experienced one
prestige crime drama set

in the bleak Pennyslvanian

heartland (Mare of Easttown)

and no way were they going
to tolerate another so soon

How To Train Your Dragon

— The Hidden World (BBC1,

1.50pm; Scotland, 2.20pm)

The third feature in the

cartoon series about a young

Viking and his scaly best friend

is a grand finale complete with

sentimental farewells (on top

of the usual action scenes).

This might not hold much

pathos if you haven’t seen

the other films, but you can

still dive right in and enjoy the

movie’s animation. In lovely

sequences that choreograph

soaring dragons, the franchise

goes out on a high. Dir: Dean

DeBlois (2019)

Watergate (BBC iPlayer)

Despite being nearly 30 years

old, Norma Percy’s chronicle

of the Nixon-endorsed 1972

break-in at the Democratic

Party HQ remains a hypnotic

narrative masterpiece.

Combining startlingly frank

first-hand recollections with

increasingly unbelievable

details, this five-part series

dismantles Nixon’s reputation

with ruthless precision.

Andrew Male

The Invisible Woman

(BBC2, 11.45pm)

A handy counterbalance to

the idea of Charles Dickens

as a font of Christmas good

cheer, Ralph Fiennes’s movie

about the author’s affair with

Nelly Ternan depicts him as

someone a bit harder to like.

Fiennes himself plays Dickens;

Felicity Jones is Ternan; and

the film provides a touching,

nuanced tale of Victorian

values. (2013)

Edward Porter

after. Such a shame. Adapted

by Philipp Meyer from

his own 2009 novel and

sensitively directed by Dan

Futterman, this is a hypnotic

tale of murder, guilt and

culpability that doubles as a

brooding portrait of decaying

blue-collar America. Jeff

Daniels is superb as the police

chief and Iraq War veteran in

want of moral purpose, but

there really isn’t a weak link in

the whole project.

The girl after: Gugu Mbatha-Raw and David Oyelowo go over the house rules (BBC1, 9pm)

The Girl Before

(BBC1, 9pm)

David Oyelowo makes an

enigmatic appearance in the

first episode of the BBC’s

adaptation of JP Delaney’s

2017 thriller, as an architect

who has designed a stylish,

minimalist house in which

only those tenants who agree

to follow his 200 rules (“no

coasters”?) will be allowed to

stay. All he wants in return,

he says, is to track their “user

experience” via the building’s

digital “housekeeper system”.

Jane (Gugu Mbatha-Raw)

takes the keys. It is a tense,

stylish, chilly and so far

rather grey psychological

drama, as well as a thumping

great metaphor for the way

humans can so easily be

coerced into giving up our

precious personal data by

offers too good to be true.

Continues tomorrow.

Helen Stewart

Sports Personality Of The

Year (BBC1, 6.45pm)

The bookies make Emma

Raducanu a 1-10 cert for
tonight’s top gong — the first

female winner since Zara

Phillips in 2006 — with Tom

Daley, Tyson Fury, Sarah
Storey and Adam Peaty among

the also-rans. Also due to be

handed out are prizes for

2021’s best team, coach and
international star, plus special

awards including young

personality of the year (will

Raducanu bag that too?) and
“greatest sporting moment”.

There’s a review of an eventful

year that featured the Olympics,

Paralympics and Euros. Once
again, the BBC plumps for

giving us four presenters,

although it managed with only

two until a few years ago.
John Dugdale

The Royal Variety

Performance (ITV, 7.20pm)

From the Royal Albert Hall,

Alan Carr hosts the 109th

iteration of the world’s

longest-running variety

show. Performers include Ed

Sheeran MBE, Sir Rod Stewart

and Elvis Costello OBE, with

Bill Bailey heading the comedy

guard of honour. Rattle your

jewellery at home.

Expedition (Dave, 8pm)

Steve Backshall’s delight at

plunging into unmapped

terrain crackles from the

screen as he heads to Gabon,

one of the world’s most

densely forested countries.

He and his team are seeking

chimpanzees, but other rare

mammals guest-star as they

cross the remarkable Lost

World landscape.

Guy Martin’s Lancaster

Bomber (C4, 9pm)

The presenter — named after

the Dambuster Guy Gibson

— feels an affinity with

Lancasters and their crews.

Here, he is allowed to be pilot,

gunner and bomb aimer, even

dropping a flour-bomb on

a target while guided by

Dambuster “Johnny” Johnson.

Victoria Segal

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Hark, the herald

angels sing