The Sunday Times - UK (2022-02-06)

6 February 2022 43

THE BEST TV FROM BRITBOX AND BEYOND... WEDNESDAY 9 FEBRUARY

There is currently a feast of

dance on the BBC’s streaming

services. Fans of the Cuban

superstar Carlos Acosta, the

director of the Birmingham

Royal Ballet, can hear him

interviewed by John Wilson

on This Cultural Life

(both BBC iPlayer and BBC

Sounds), where the dancer/

choreographer discusses the

influences on his illustrious

career. Yuli — The Carlos

Acosta Story (BBC iPlayer)

is a biopic based on Acosta’s

autobiography, and is

available until February 14.

The iPlayer also has the

Royal Ballet’s extraordinary

The Dante Project, the

choreographer Wayne

McGregor’s reimagining

of Dante’s Divine Comedy,

featuring Edward Watson

in his final principal role for

the company, as Dante, with

Sarah Lamb as Beatrice. The

music is by Thomas Adès,

with designs by Tacita Dean.

Clair Woodward

Dangerous Liaisons

(BBC2, 11.15pm)

Set in 18th-century France,

this film of Choderlos de

Laclos’s novel is a finely

coutured production, but

there is nothing at all frilly

about its tale of malice and

punishment. John Malkovich

and Glenn Close give superb

icy performances as a couple

of scheming aristocrats — with

Michelle Pfeiffer’s ingenue

as their plaything — and the

plot dispenses justice in

crafty style. The presence of

Keanu Reeves in such classy

surroundings is perhaps a bit

jarring, but he is rather sweet

as a hapless commoner.

Dir: Stephen Frears (1988)

Happy Feet (Sky Cinema

Animation, 10am)

George Miller’s buoyant 2006

musical about a penguin

who loves to tap-dance — in

defiance of his colony’s strict

preference for singing — struts

its stuff with an ideal partner

on Sky Cinema Animation

today: its sequel, Happy Feet

Two, follows it at 12 noon.

Edward Porter

Choppers v Drivers (BBC3, 9pm) Close and Malkovich (BBC2, 11.15pm)

FILM CHOICE

ON DEMAND

The Sinner (Netflix)
With its fourth season, the
makers of this idiosyncratic
police procedural have finally
accepted that the sole reason
people keep watching is to
marvel at Bill Pullman’s central
role as the troubled detective
Harry Ambrose. So while earlier
seasons have lent equal weight

Neil Young & Crazy Horse —

A Band A Brotherhood

A Barn (YouTube)

The 76-year-old Canadian

songwriter may be gone from

Spotify but you can experience

his most recent work, Barn,

for free in this relaxed, restful

doc. Directed by Young’s wife,

actress Daryl Hannah, it charts

the recording of the LP in a

restored 19th-century log barn

with dusk-time landscapes.

Andrew Male

The Sound Of Petula Clark

(BBC iPlayer)

Following the unlikely online

success of the 1970s Shirley

Bassey Show, the BBC has

had a rummage around in

its archives and found yet

another top-rank 1970s variety

show in which Ms Downtown

herself, Pet Clark, sings and

dances with everyone from

the Pointer Sisters and David

Essex to Anthony Newley and

Susan Hampshire.

Mothering Sunday

(Buy as stream/download)

Its efforts to add a bit of

artiness to British period drama

are nothing special, but Eva

Husson’s film (from a Graham

Swift novel) still has the

charms of an elegant, mournful

historical tale. Set mainly in

1924, it stars Odessa Young and

Josh O’Connor as furtive lovers,

and Colin Firth and Olivia

Colman as a grief-stricken

married couple. (2021) EP

to Harry’s previous female

partners/foils ( Jessica Beil,

Carrie Coon etc), here he is

pretty much out on his own in

northern Maine, investigating

the disappearance of a young

woman (Alice Kremelberg).

Thanks to Pullman’s exquisite

performance, how the

emotionally scarred Ambrose

processes the information he

unearths and approaches the

investigation has become an

entertainment in itself.

High-end bricks and mortar: Tyron Ash (third left) and his property team (C4, 10pm)

Mega Mansion Hunters

(C4, 10pm)

Tyron Ash is a luxury estate

agent. His company has sold

more that £300 million worth

of property since it opened

for business just 18 months

ago. According to the man

himself, he is “literally

turning estate agency on its

head”. A bold, Apprentice-

like claim. This champagne

flute-clinking series follows

Ash and his team as they

hustle for commissions.

They make your typical Lord

Sugar contestants seem

like modest advocates for

socialism. This isn’t to suggest

they haven’t struggled for

success though. Silver-spoon-

fed kids they are not. Ash

is initially presented as a

comically thrusting capitalist,

but then, gradually, we

learn a little more about

his troubled background.

Paul Whitelaw

President (BBC4, 10pm)
An exhilarating documentary
from the film-maker Camilla
Nielsson, executive produced
by actress Thandiwe Newton,
tracking the 2018 Zimbabwe
elections and insurgent
opposition candidate Nelson
Chamisa’s attempt to unseat
President Emmerson
Mnangagwa. With Robert
Mugabe removed by military
coup, does the country have
a chance to rebuild and run
a free and fair election? The
mood is reminiscent of The
War Room, DA Pennebaker
and Chris Hegedus’s 1993
documentary about Bill
Clinton’s presidential run;
clever young men strategising
and a hopeful candidate on
the brink of exhaustion. The
result of that is on the record.
Helen Stewart

Inside The Factory

(BBC2, 9pm)

Tonight, Gregg Wallace visits an

ice-cream factory with its own

herd of robo-milked cows and

is predictably even more like

an overexcited toddler than

usual. Ruth Goodman looks

into ice-cream vans, and

Cherry Healey reports on

non-melting lollies and tips

for avoiding “brain freeze”.

Katie Price’s Mucky

Mansion (C4, 9pm)

Undeterred by Price’s arrest

just before her series began,

Channel 4 continues to assist

her efforts to give her image

a makeover — with a show

so poor it should be hidden

away, yet occupies the key

9pm slot. Here she paints her

hallway pink and her mum

redesigns the garden room.

The Fast And The Farmer-ish

(BBC3, 9pm)

Tom Pemberton presents a

tractor-driving contest that

starts with Somerset boys

taking on Leicestershire girls.

There’s a bog run, a round

of firing tyres to knock down

sheds, and navigating your

way around a cross-shaped

course. Not bad fun.

John Dugdale

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Ballet on the Beeb