The Sunday Times - UK (2022-04-24)

(Antfer) #1
24 April 2022 43

THE BEST TV FROM PRIME VIDEO AND BEYOND... MONDAY 25 APRIL


TalkTV, from 7pm
The channel owned by News
UK, the parent company of
The Sunday Times, launches
today with three big beasts
of current affairs and
broadcasting in the hot seats.
In The News Desk (7pm),
Tom Newton Dunn offers
insight into events affecting
Britain; Piers Morgan
Uncensored (8pm) will be a
global news show (“a fearless
forum”) that promises to
make headlines around
the world; and Sharon
Osbourne’s The Talk (9pm)
is an hour-long panel debate.
Tune in on Sky, Virgin Media,
Freeview and Freesat.
David Hutcheon

Mirror Mirror (Sky Cinema
Family, 3.10pm/4.45am)
Tarsem Singh’s version of the
story of Snow White appeared
amid a trend for movies that
turned fairy tales into fantasy
adventure films (there was
even another film based on
the same source, 2012’s Snow
White and the Huntsman).
It may not the best of those
movies — its fondness for
cheap comedy lets it down —
but it was surely the fairest
of them all. Its settings
are strange and detailed
inventions, and both the
heroine (Lily Collins) and her
wicked stepmother ( Julia
Roberts) wear a series of ripe
couture outfits. (2012)

Georgy Girl (Great!
Movies Classic, 6.50pm)
Silvio Narizzano’s film is a
breezy portrait of someone ill
at ease in Swinging London.
The naive Georgy (an Oscar-
nominated Lynn Redgrave)
has a testing relationship with
the boyfriend (Alan Bates)
of her flatmate (Charlotte
Rampling). (1966) B/W
Edward Porter

Victimised: Navalny (BBC2, 9pm) Fairest: Lily Collins (SCF, 3.10pm)

FILM CHOICE


ON DEMAND


Royal Bastards — The Rise
Of The Tudors (Sky/Now)
Among the best history
lessons ever. Sophie Rundle,
Sheila Atim and Philip
Glenister act as a Greek
chorus, narrating and
commenting on the Wars of
the Roses and the origins of
the Tudor dynasty, from the


Alvin Ailey — A Legend Of
American Dance (BBC iPlayer)
Raised poor in 1930s Texas,
this visionary African-
American choreographer
drew on a life of hardship,
plus gospel, R&B and his gay
identity, to create a dance
company in his own image.
An incredibly moving, tragic
story, you just wish Ailey’s
exceptional creativity had
rubbed off on the film-makers.
Andrew Male

Jimmy Savile — A British
Horror Story (Netflix)
Your first response watching
Rowan Deacon’s two-part
examination of Savile’s life
and crimes is one of disbelief.
How was he able to get away
with it for so long, operating
in plain sight? That disbelief
turns to anger at the pain he
caused. You end it wishing
Deacon had gone deeper:
there remains much unsaid
and more to be unearthed.

The Souvenir Part II (Mubi)
Joanna Hogg’s sequel to the
autobiographical drama she
brought out in 2019 shows
her on-screen counterpart
(played by Honor Swinton
Byrne) making a film about
the experiences we saw her
have in The Souvenir. Hogg
continues to tell a reflective,
slightly effete story, but here
it gains a curious touch of
knowingness, giving the film
a distinct identity. (2021) EP

perspective of the Yorkists,
Lancastrians and Lady
Margaret Beaufort, mother to
King Henry VII. The dramatic
scenes are violent, chaotic
and unromantic, with lots of
spitting and gouging, but it’s
the wry commentaries from
our three onlookers — and
the fact that all the complex
internecine history stuff
seems to be making sense —
that make this an educational
and engrossing experience.

The octogenarian teenager: Miriam Margolyes with Alan Yentob (BBC1, 10.40pm)

Imagine (BBC1, 10.40pm);
Scotland, 11.40pm)
Launching a new run,
Alan Yentob visits Miriam
Margolyes in her London
home and she talks him
through her autobiography.
There is a lot that a telly
profile can add to the bare
words, thankfully, because
the book came out seven
months ago and the same
anecdotes were heard then.
But the photos of her school
and university years are
evocative; the clips of TV and
film roles (from Blackadder to
Romeo + Juliet) and ads she
did voiceovers for are well
chosen, as are appearances
on chat shows and travel
series. Plus many tributes
from famous colleagues and
an all-too-brief gathering
where the likes of Charles
Dance swap memories of the
octogenarian teenager.
John Dugdale

Peacock (BBC3, 10pm)
From the team behind People
Just Do Nothing comes another
comic study in desperate
delusion. Allan Mustafa
sheds his MC Grindah persona
from that show to play Andy
Peacock, a personal trainer
undergoing an identity crisis
in a world obsessed with body
image. A quality support cast
includes Susan Wokoma and
Sophia Di Martino. My Left
Nut (BBC3, 10.25pm),
meanwhile, approaches
masculinity from an entirely
different angle. Based on a
stage play by Michael Patrick
and Oisin Kearney, it tackles
the threat of testicular cancer
as a Belfast schoolboy, Mick
(Nathan Quinn O’Rawe), adds
worrying swelling to the
indignities of puberty.
Victoria Segal


Panorama (BBC1, 8pm;
Scotland, 10.40pm)
An investigation into the Post
Office’s role in the wrongful
prosecution of their sub-
postmasters when money
disappeared. The accused
lost their livelihoods, their
freedom, health and, sadly,
their lives, while evidence
existed that the computer
system was to blame.

Navalny (BBC2, 9pm)
“Murder is a terrific way to
solve problems,” says the
avowedly charismatic Russian
dissident Alexei Navalny.
“But once you’ve started
killing it’s hard to stop.”
This thrilling feature-length
film, shot after Navalny
was poisoned with Putin’s
signature Novichok, sees him
solve the attempt on his life.

Bling Bling — Hollywood
Heist (C4, 10pm)
Like, OMG, how do you make
a documentary about Valley
kids back in 2008 who robbed
reality stars and became, like,
reality stars? Make it arch and
knowing, like, deconstructing
the documentary form while
interviewing the penitent
protagonists. So hot.
Helen Stewart

CRITICS’ CHOICE


Straight talkers
welcome
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