The Sunday Times - UK (2022-02-13

13 February 2022 39

THE BEST TV FROM IPLAYER AND BEYOND... TUESDAY 15 FEBRUARY

The Italian star Monica Vitti,

who died this month, aged 90,

is known to film buffs chiefly

for the enigmatic dramas

she made with the director

Michelangelo Antonioni. Two

of these, L’Avventura (1960)

and La Notte (1961), are on

BFI Player, and another, Red

Desert (1964), is on Chili.

Vitti herself, however, liked

recognition for her comic

skills. On YouTube you

can see her in continental

settings in the British spy

spoof Modesty Blaise (1966),

and visiting

Britain in

the Italian

comedy

The Girl

With A

Pistol

(1968).

Edward

Porter

The Browning Version

(Sky Cinema Greats,

9.45am/6.10pm)

Even when it reveals the

emotions that lie deep inside

its central character, Terence

Rattigan’s 1948 play about a

teacher at an English public

school is a restrained piece

that might easily come across

as starchy. That doesn’t seem

to have scared this adaptation’s

director, Mike Figgis, though,

who refuses to jazz things up

and instead puts his faith in

Albert Finney. Sure enough,

the star gives the film great

power. His performance

is bolstered by his innate

charisma yet stays true to the

character’s fragility. (1994)

Eaten By Lions

(BBC2, 11.15pm)

Having lost their mother in a

freak mishap at a safari park,

two half-brothers (Antonio

Aakeel and Jack Carroll) begin

this comedy by looking for

the older boy’s estranged dad.

A trip to Blackpool sets the

film’s cheery, boisterous tone.

Dir: Jason Wingard (2018)

Edward Porter

Gentle touch: Fraser (Alibi, 9pm) Aakeel and Carroll (BBC2, 11.15pm)

FILM CHOICE

ON DEMAND

Frayed (Sky/Now)

Initial reviews of Sarah

Kendall’s dark comedy drama

were decidedly mixed. Set in

1988, it stars the Australian-

born comedian as the prissy,

uptight Sammy, a rich London

housewife with two teenage

children who is forced to

move back to her “daggy”

Lost Treasures Of Egypt

(Disney+)

One of the benefits of a Disney

subscription is the wealth

of National Geographic

documentaries available. The

quality of camerawork and

expert knowledge is top-notch

and the programme-makers

know that we want a bit of

myth, adventure and the

odd curse thrown in with our

factual archeological research.

Andrew Male

Maxwell (Britbox)

Craig Warner’s 2007 television

drama about the final days

of the disgraced newspaper

magnate Robert Maxwell is a

richly textured chamber piece,

empathetic and excoriating,

but it is raised to the heights

of masterpiece by David

Suchet’s Emmy-winning

performance as the paranoid

businessman, portraying him

as a bloviating cross between

Richard Nixon and King Lear.

Titane

(Buy as stream/download)

One of last year’s most lauded

pieces of cinematic weirdness,

this French film breeds a

unique melodrama after its

heroine (Agathe Rousselle)

has a sexual encounter with

a car. Definitely not a movie

for everyone, but — however

strange it becomes in its

melding of flesh and metal —

it never loses its heart. Dir:

Julia Ducournau (2021) EP

New South Wales family

home after the death of her

husband. Early episodes

focused rather too much

on fish-out-of-water gags

and the horrors of late-1980s

interior decor, but the show

gradually revealed itself to be

an acutely observed character

comedy; filthy, charming

and painfully human. Season

two, which starts next week,

happily continues in the

same rich vein.

The case for the defence: was Di Stefano a law unto himself? (Sky Documentaries, 9pm)

Devil’s Advocate — The

Mostly True Story Of

Giovanni Di Stefano

(Sky Documentaries, 9pm)

After two stunning successes

in 2003, Giovanni Di Stefano,

an Italian-born British

lawyer became the go-to

defence for anyone

notorious, including (in this

riveting first part alone)

Saddam Hussein and the

Serbian warlord Arkan.

Helping to chart his career

are clients, legal types and

Italian villagers who knew

him as a boy, but, thanks to

Di Stefano’s love of publicity,

much of the tale can be told

through his TV appearances.

Towards the end there is a

twist, casting doubt on his

finances and what he actually

did for his roster of rogues. It

is a slightly contrived one,

but it sets up the second

instalment perfectly.

John Dugdale

Traces (Alibi, 9pm)

Val McDermid, the co-creator

of this forensic-science

drama, is a stolid Scot who is

righteous in her beliefs (as

Raith Rovers FC recently

discovered), while her

co-writer, Amelia Bullmore

(a former Coronation Street

siren), is wiry, clever and

witty. As the scripts hit their

stride in series two, the

characters of DI McKinven

(Michael Nardone) and Prof

Gordon (Laura Fraser) are

increasingly drawn in their

image. With Martin Compston

and Molly Windsor still the

weakest elements, it is Fraser,

as the self-doubting scientist,

and Nardone, practically the

definition of “still waters

run deep”, who show the

youngsters how it’s done.

Helen Stewart

This Is Going To Hurt

(BBC1, 9pm)

Just as Adam (Ben Whishaw)

is haunted by visions of a

premature baby, the phrase

“degloving” will haunt you

after this week’s dinner-

party anecdote. Consequences

from his mistake last week

play out in this sublime

high-wire act of gags and

understated pathos.

Amazing Hotels —

Life Beyond The Lobby

(BBC2, 9pm)

The sight of the Qasr Al Sarab

resort rising among the dunes

looks more mirage than reality.

Monica Galetti and Giles Coren

briefly earn their keep at Abu

Dhabi’s desert palace, with a

few questions about workers’

rights and cultural differences

punctuating their gasps.

Cheaters

(BBC1, from 9.45pm)

A fictional dead cat and a

kinky text message add to the

neighbourly confusion in these

small-plates romcom servings,

as Josh ( Joshua McGuire) and

Fola (Susan Wokoma) tumble

back into bed. Predictable ...

but her husband Zack’s ( Jack

Fox) reaction isn’t.

Toby Earle

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Glamorous star

game for a laugh