48 saturday review Saturday April 9 2022 | the times
Roar
Apple TV+
Streamers like a star-studded
anthology series (there’s been
The Romanoffs, Modern Love
and Solos) and the latest is
trailed as “a poignant and
sometimes hilarious portrait of
what it means to be a woman
today”. The eight self-contained
stories — populated by
actresses such as Merritt
Wever, Alison Brie, Issa Rae and
Meera Syal — are feminist
fables essentially featuring an
ordinary woman in some
bizarre circumstance. Perhaps
the wittiest features Betty
Gilpin (Glow) living on a shelf
like a trophy for her husband;
the starriest has Nicole Kidman
as a woman eating her
photograph collection. JJ
Dinosaurs:
The Final Day
BBC1, 6.30pmPerfect Good Friday viewing
(even if it sounds more Book
of Revelation) as David
Attenborough explores the
apocalyptic event that saw
off the dinosaurs: the impact
of the Chicxulub asteroid
66 million years ago. New
evidence is unearthed over
three years at Tanis, a dig site
in North Dakota. But
fascinating as that is, the
programme is as much about
some amazing visual effects, as
Attenborough goes back in
time to witness the creatures
who lived at Tanis before
recreating, minute by minute,
the dinosaurs’ “last day”. JJThe Road to the
Scottish Isles
BBC2, 9pmSomething suitably religious,
of a sort, on a day that really
ought to include some spiritual
reflection, as the celebrity
pilgrims continue their journey
from Ireland to Iona. For much
of the first half, this is rather
low on incident as they trudge
to a bothy (a basic overnight
shelter) on the shores of the
Atlantic. Things become more
interesting over an evening
meal in the shack as they
discuss, with candour, their
differing feelings towards the
nature of faith, Laurence
Llewelyn-Bowen challenged
by Monty Panesar on his
contentment in atheism. JJLa Voix Humaine
BBC2, 10pmIn 1958 the French writer Jean
Cocteau and his friend the
composer Francis Poulenc
created a musical version of
Cocteau’s one-woman play La
Voix Humaine. It required great
acting as well as great singing.
This innovative hour-long
reimagining begins with star
soprano Danielle de Niese
discussing with the conductor
Antonio Pappano the role of
Elle that she’s about to play.
Then the performance itself:
De Niese a woman in a
desperate phone conversation
with her departing lover —
from hope to despair to
acceptance. It’s at once an
operatic vignette and an acting
showcase. JJCatch
up
Jesus of Nazareth
Britbox
It’s strange to think that
Franco Zeffirelli’s six-
hour mini-series —
coming to Britbox
just in time for Easter
— was greeted with
protests when it
was first shown in- Some found
Zeffirelli’s Christ
— played by
the gaunt,
unblinking
Robert Powell,
right — too
human and not
divine enough,
but he is orthodox compared
with Martin Scorsese’s randy
Jesus and Mel Gibson’s
mutilated Messiah. What is
remarkable is that Powell held
his own against a supporting
cast including Laurence Olivier,
Ralph Richardson, Anne
Bancroft, Rod Steiger and
at least a dozen more
household names. Such
dizzying talent is not
always harnessed to
maximum effect —
some scenes have
a stagey quality that
was clearly noted
by the Pythons —
but this is still
one of the most
lavish and
comprehensive
screen versions
of the Gospels.
Ed PottonBwGood Friday | Viewing guide
Critic’s choice
Anatomy of a Scandal
Netflix
Here’s a big, classy-but-trashy
box set-in-waiting for the bank
holiday weekend, best
watched with a glass of wine
after the kids have gone to
bed. This has all the qualities
of a bestselling page-turner
that you might devour on
a long train journey. Initially,
it feels like a retread of the
1990s Channel 4 series The
Politician’s Wife — the wife
of an up-and-coming
Conservative minister, James
Whitehouse (a sleek Rupert
Friend), is horrified when
he admits to an affair with
a beautiful, younger
parliamentary aide just as it
hits the news. Wife Sophie
(Sienna Miller, right with
Friend) stays loyal, through
gritted teeth, but that’s where
the plot thickens. If the Tory
prime minister, Tom Southern
(Geoffrey Streatfeild), is
sanguine about the minor
scandal — because “James
is the most naturally gifted
politician on our side of the
chamber” — his adviser’s
reply, “Still, if he gets full-on
#MeToo’d it could start to
make your loyalty look ill-
advised,” is clearly an augury.
Sure enough, the aide makes
a further, devastating
allegation against James. And
why is a formidable barrister
(Michelle Dockery) so keen to
be the prosecuting counsel at
the trial of the accused
minister? A pit of dark secrets
slowly emerge, dating back
to the University of Oxford,
when Sophie met James as
a young blade and a member
of a boorish Bullingdon-style
club — along with his chum
Tom Southern, the future PM.
This series is judicious when
it comes to dropping in just
enough parallels with our own
government — of posh boys
behaving badly, lies and a
clinch in the Commons —
to make it feel of the now.
James JacksonDune (12, 2021)
Sky Cinema Premiere, 8pm
Almost every frame of Denis Villeneuve’s long-gestating
adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction novel, Dune, is
spectacular. Orange desert vistas, enormous circular spacecraft
and pristine battalions are shot with gasp-inducing audacity. This
is the fourth attempt at creating a definitive screen version of
Herbert’s fable (including the kitschy David Lynch version in 1984)
and it seems as if the material is impervious to adaptation. This
one features the star wattage of millennial dreamboats Timothée
Chalamet and Zendaya, but they’re simply part of a muscular cast
(including Josh Brolin, Oscar Isaac and Rebecca Ferguson, below
with Chalamet) that is frequently sidelined by Villeneuve’s
bafflingly literal approach. (149min) Kevin MaherFilms of the day
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (12, 2011)
BBC1, 10.35pm
This is the unexpected cinema success story that tapped into the
“grey pound” as well as inspiring the BBC’s spin-off reality show
The Real Marigold Hotel. A who’s who of British acting talent is
assembled. Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson,
Celia Imrie and Penelope Wilton star as British pensioners who
decide to outsource their retirement to somewhere warm and
cheap. They pick India and the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Unfortunately, in reality the hotel is rather down at heel, but they
also learn that the point when you let go of your expectations
is where the adventure begins. Wilton’s character Jean is reading
a book by Deborah Moggach, on whose novel These Foolish
Things the film is based. (119min) Wendy Ide9.05 Blero yn Mynd i Ocido (r) 9.20
Cacamwnci (r) 9.35 Guto Gwningen (r)
10.00 Blociau Rhif (r) 10.05 Halibalw (r)
10.15 Digbi Draig (r) 10.30 Llan-ar-goll-en
(r) 10.45 Octonots (r) 11.00 Olobobs (r)
11.05 Cymylaubychain (r) 11.15 Bach a
Mawr (r) 11.30 Gwdihw (r) 11.45 Byd
Tad-Cu (r) 12.05pm Nyrsys (r) 12.30 Heno
(r) 1.00 Cymoedd Roy Noble (r) 1.30 Ar
Werth (r) 2.00 News 2.05 Prynhawn Da
2.45 Live Sgorio: Bala Town v Newtown.
Dylan Ebenezer presents coverage of the
Welsh Premier League match from Maes
Tegid 5.00 News 5.15 Live Rygbi Ewrop.
Live broadcasts of rugby games 7.30
Heno 8.00 Dim Byd i’w Wisgo. A
grandmother and granddaughter from
Ammanford seek outfits that take them
out of their comfort zone and ones that
have the ‘wow factor’ for a family
wedding 8.25 Welsh Whisperer: Ni’n
Teithio Nawr. Country folk pop performer
Andrew Walton, aka the Welsh Whisperer,
visits the village of Bryngwran on
Anglesey 8.55 News 9.00 Rybish. Bobbi’s
attempts to get the rest of the recycling
yard’s staff to relax fails to go as smoothly
as planned 9.35 Limbo. Huw’s cousin
stays at the house 9.55 Limbo 10.15 Hyd y
Pwrs (r) 10.45-11.50 Cymry’r Titanic (r)
(r) repeat (SL) In-vision signing● BBC1 Wales As BBC1 except:
8.30-9.00pm Weatherman Walking.
Derek Brockway embarks on a walk
between Porth and Taff’s Well
● BBC1 Scotland As BBC1 except:
8.30-9.00pm Landward (r) 12.30am A
View from the Terrace (r) 1.30 Weather
for the Week Ahead 1.35-6.00 BBC News
● STV As ITV except: 3.50-5.05am
Unwind with STV. Daily relaxation
● BBC Scotland 7.00pm The Seven 7.30
Live Sportscene: Friday Night Football —
Inverness Caledonian Thistle v
Kilmarnock (Kick-off 7. 4 5) Jonathan
Sutherland presents coverage of the
Championship encounter at Caledonian
Stadium 10.00 Still Game. A power cut
triggers a crime wave in Craiglang (r)
10.30 A View from the Terrace. A
sideways look at Scottish football
11.30-Midnight Scary Adult Things.
Duncan Cowles hopes to come to terms
with who he is with alcohol (r)
● S4C 6.00am Cyw: Blociau Rhif (r) 6.05
Halibalw (r) 6.15 Digbi Draig (r) 6.30
Llan-ar-goll-en (r) 6.45 Octonots (r) 7.00
Olobobs (r) 7.05 Cymylaubychain (r) 7.15
Bach a Mawr (r) 7.30 Gwdihw (r) 7.45 Byd
Tad-Cu (r) 8.00 Peppa (r) 8.05 Loti Borloti
(r) 8.20 Tomos a’i Ffrindiau (r) 8.30
Ahoi! (r) 8.45 Sam Tân (r) 8.55 Timpo (r)Regional programmes