20 saturday review Saturday January 1 2022 | the times
People lost in Australia’s vast,
oppressively hot open space
is a familiar subject for film
and TV drama. Although when
Jamie Dornan’s unnamed
character, right, is driven off
the road by a mysterious
person behind the wheel of an
enormous truck we are more
put in mind of the classic 1971
Steven Spielberg film Duel, to
which the opening minutes
feel like an obvious homage.
Yet this beguiling, tightly
constructed mini-series from
the prolific scriptwriter
brothers Harry and Jack
Williams soon dances to the
beat of its own drum. For
starters, it looks amazing, the
director Chris Sweeney using
the scorched earth and
blinding blue skies to
accentuate the oppressive
menace that the story piles on
as soon as our hero wakes up
in a hospital bed with no
knowledge of who he is and
why he is there. His case
stumps Danielle Macdonald’s
kindly cop Helen Chambers
and the only clue “the Man”
has is a scrap of paper
detailing an apparent
assignation. All this is
regularly intercut with scenes
that suggest that our
nefarious truck driver might
have targeted another victim.
Dornan skilfully brings a
studied neutrality to the part,
with clues that his amiable
everyman front may not tell
the whole story; after his work
in BBC drama The Fall, the
Man might even be a
murderous psychopath for
all we know. There are some
minor plausibility issues —
surely the internet would have
taken his case up and perhaps
identified him within hours?
But the narrative sucks you in
with such force, any gripes
should be put aside as you
strap in for a bumpy ride that
continues tomorrow.
Ben DowellDoctor Who
BBC1, 7pmThe first of three specials this
year marking the swansong of
showrunner Chris Chibnall and
his Doctor Jodie Whittaker
finds the Timelord and her
gang battling (who else?) the
Daleks. Sarah (Aisling Bea) is
hard at work in a storage
facility with Nick (Adjani
Salmon), her only customer,
before they are suddenly
stuck in a time loop in the
company of those dastardly
foes and their sink-plunger
weapons. A spring and an
autumn special will follow,
when the keys to the Tardis
will be handed back to
Russell T Davies, whose
Doctor Who will be on air
in 2023. BDThe Masked Singer
ITV, 7pm“Take it off, take it off!” Once
seen, this absurd, loud, garish,
weird entertainment show
(from a Korean format) is not
forgotten. Now a fresh array of
contestants are hoping to join
Queen Bee (Nicola Roberts)
and Sausage (Joss Stone) on
the show’s winners’ board. This
year’s 12 newbies taking to the
stage to sing in disguise and try
to stump the panel (of Davina
McCall, Rita Ora, Jonathan Ross
and Mo Gilligan) have names as
colourful as their outfits. They
include Chandelier, Bagpipes,
Lionfish and (an early favourite
of mine) Traffic Cone. The
presenter Joel Dommett will
try to keep the whole thing
within reasonable bounds. BDHarry Potter 20th
Anniversary
Sky Max/Now, 8pmIt is 20 years since Harry Potter
and the Philosopher’s Stone
kick-started a series of eight
marvellous films. This
documentary reunites Daniel
Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and
Emma Watson and other Team
Potter folk to talk about their
experiences, although with
some notable absentees. Three
of the most loved performers,
Richard Harris (Dumbledore),
Alan Rickman (Snape) and
Helen McCrory (Narcissa
Malfoy), are no longer with us
and the story’s creator, JK
Rowling, now a controversial
figure for some, appears only
via archive footage. BD10.30 Biffy Clyro at Glasgow Green.
Highlights of the rock band’s gig (r)
11.55-Midnight Loop. Peter Doherty chats
about the therapeutic benefits of art
● 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 Timpo (r) 7.05
Sion y Chef (r) 7.20 Cacamwnci (r) 7. 3 5
Patrôl Pawennau 8.00 Siwrne Ni (r) 8.05
Lolipop (r) 8.30 Dennis a Dannedd (r)
8.45 Un Cwestiwn (r) 9.10 Mabinogi-ogi:
Gwenhwyfar (r) 10.00 Creaduriaid Gwyllt
Affrica (r) 11.00 Natur a Ni (r) 11.30 Bwrdd
i Dri (r) 12.00 47 Copa: Her Huw Jack
Brassington (r) 12.30pm Heno 2021 (r)
2.15 News y Flwyddyn 2021 (r) 3.00 Huw
Edwards yn 60 (r) 4.00 Pantomein y
Ffermwyr Ifanc (r) 5.00 Live Clwb Rygbi:
Scarlets v Ospreys (Kick-off 5.15) The
United Rugby Championship encounter
at Parc y Scarlets 7.20 News 7.30 Adre.
Nia Parry visits the home of professional
mixed martial artist Brett Johns to gain
an insight into his life. Last in the series
8.00 Pobol y Cwm. Megan visits the
prison in the hope of learning more
about Gareth Wyn 9.00 Noson Lawen.
The series celebrates its 40th anniversary
with a host of celebrity guests
10.30-11.35 O’r Diwedd 2021 (r)
(r) repeat (SL) In-vision signing● BBC2 Wales As BBC2 except: 2.25pm
Flog It! (r) 2.50 Live Scrum V: Dragons v
Cardiff (Kick-off 3.00) All the action from
the match in the ninth round of United
Rugby Championship fixtures, held at
Rodney Parade 5.00-6.00 Wild West:
America’s Great Frontier. Documentary
exploring America’s deserts (r)
● BBC1 Scotland As BBC1 except:
1.15-1.20pm Resolutions. How the
practical application of science can
help to counter climate change
● STV As ITV except: 12.55-3.30pm Live
STV Racing: From Cheltenham. Coverage
from Cheltenham and Musselburgh
4.05-5.05am Unwind with STV
● BBC Scotland 7.00pm Resolutions (r)
7.05 Eye of the Storm. A painter
struggling with the loss of his sight
attempts one last painting (r) 8.25 Loop.
How fashion designer Kirsty Stevens
drew inspiration from her MS (r) 8.30
Hidden Lives. Peter Ross explores the
Clavie fire festival in Burghead, on the
Moray coast (r) 9.00 Still Game. Jack and
Victor face the prospect of a gloomy
Hogmanay stuck in the lift at Osprey
Heights (r) 9.30 Queen of the New Year.
Hogmanay sketch show featuring Greg
Hemphill and Robert Florence (r) 10.00
Scot Squad Hogmanay Special 2021 (r)Downton Abbey (PG, 2019)
ITV, 8.30pm
The big surprise with Downton Abbey the movie is that there isn’t
one. Written by Julian Fellowes and featuring a full house of
regulars, including Elizabeth McGovern and Hugh Bonneville,
below, with only a couple of lower-rung shuffles (goodbye, Lily
James’s Lady Rose; hello, Tuppence Middleton’s Lucy Smith), the
film is utterly, and often fabulously, Downton. The transition to the
big screen doesn’t affect the core Fellowes brand. After barely ten
minutes, for instance, we’ve already had a pivotal question of
inheritance, a clash between the former butler Charles Carson (Jim
Carter) and his successor, some fretting from Lady Mary (Michelle
Dockery) and, best of all, the first of umpteen zingers from the
fearsome dowager (Maggie Smith). (122min) Kevin MaherFilms of the day
A Town Like Alice (PG, 1956)
BBC2, 12.50am
This hugely successful British Second World War drama was
adapted from the novel by Nevil Shute. It follows the harrowing
treatment of prisoners of war, mostly women and children, who
are forced by their Japanese captors to march through Malaysia.
The body count is high among westerners unaccustomed to the
heat, insects and unpleasant diseases. Those who don’t succumb
to the hostile conditions have to submit to the less than gentle
treatment of the Japanese soldiers. Virginia McKenna stars as one
of the survivors who befriends an Australian fellow prisoner, who
regales her with tales of his home town, Alice Springs. The film has
not dated as successfully as some other war dramas of its era, but
it remains a stirring, emotive picture. (107min) Wendy IdeThis Is Joan Collins
BBC2, 9pmAh, Joanie: glamorous of
look, occasionally waspish
of tongue and now aged...
well it would be rude to
say. But as a veteran of
Hollywood for seven
decades it’s long enough to
sit confidently in front of the
microphone, issue instructions
to the lighting people and tell
an action-packed life story.
She’s nothing if not honest
about her brushes with fame,
love, the divorce courts and
heartbreak. And she’s funny
too. Beginning at the
beginning, we learn that
she made her acting debut
aged three but “retired for
a bit and went to nursery
school”. BDRegional programmes
New Year’s Day | Viewing guide
Critic’s choice
The Tourist
BBC1, 9pm
Catch
up
Succession
Sky/Now
Believe the hype! Sure,
some people felt that
the third series of
Jesse Armstrong’s
satirical comedy
drama dragged
a bit, but even
a flabby
Succession is
head and
shoulders
above the
rest — and
the last three
episodes are
dynamite. The
saga of thesuper-rich Roy family took
many twists and turns, with
guest spots for Alexander
Skarsgard as a tech guru and
Adrien Brody as a billionaire
investor. But really this was all
about the Roys: ogrish
patriarch Logan (Brian Cox)
and three of his children —
Kendall (Jeremy Strong),
Siobhan (Sarah Snook, left)
and Roman (Kieran Culkin).
There were a couple of
spectacular set
pieces too —
Kendall’s 40th
birthday party and
the wedding of
Logan’s ex-wife, and
the children’s
mother, Caroline
(Harriet Walter) in
Italy. Series four
can’t come soon
enough. Joe Clay