24 April 2022 51THE BEST TV FROM BRITBOX AND BEYOND... WEDNESDAY 27 APRIL
There has never been a better
time to brush up on the life
and times of the unchallenged
president of Russia. Most
recent, and most relevant, is
Has Putin’s Plan Failed?,
Frank Gardner’s analysis of
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine;
but there is also Patrick
Forbes’s bracing and bleak
Putin — The New Tsar,
about his rise to power
(including the chilling nugget
that he modelled his style of
leadership on Tony Blair);
and Paul Mitchell’s Putin,
Russia And The West, on
the Kremlin’s complex
relationship with the West.
All three are on BBC iPlayer.
If you want to know who else
he modelled himself on,
check out the 1973 Russian
drama Seventeen Moments
Of Spring (YouTube),
whose double-agent hero,
Max Otto von Stierlitz,
apparently inspired Putin
to become a KGB spy.
Andrew MaleThe Ox-Bow Incident
(TPTV, 3.15pm)
Talking Pictures TV begins a
regular series of Wednesday-
afternoon westerns (under
the banner Saddle Up!) with
this classic, a drama about
the perils of vigilante justice.
Henry Fonda plays a character
akin to the good citizen he
later portrayed in 12 Angry Men:
a cowboy who tries to prevent
a lynch mob from rushing to
execute three men suspected
of rustling. In this case, though,
the hero’s chances of winning
the day seem a little slimmer.
Putting a bit of hellfire into
its preaching, William A
Wellman’s film adopts a bleak,
shadowy style. (1943) B/WCalm With Horses
(Film4, 9pm)
Set in rural western Ireland,
Nick Rowland’s film adds
earthy flavours to a crime
drama with a time-honoured
plot: a contrite thug (Cosmo
Jarvis) struggles to go straight.
His worst influence is a ferrety
troublemaker well played by
Barry Keoghan. (2019)
Edward PorterBoy from Neverland (ITV, 9pm) Vigilant: Fonda (TPTV, 3.15pm)FILM CHOICE
ON DEMAND
House Of Maxwell
(BBC iPlayer)
There is a perverse pleasure
in knowing that whatever the
political or financial scandal,
eventually we will be treated
to an exquisitely researched
documentary that will present
all the corruption and wrong-
doing without prevarication
Henry Miller —
Prophet Of Desire (Netflix)
This life story of the famed
American novelist is unlikely
to convert the critical or the
curious but it features some
wonderful archive footage of
the old irascible iconoclast and
allows us to see how Miller was
once an unquestioned literary
champion, someone who
could do no wrong (despite
repeatedly doing wrong).
Andrew MaleBoon (Britbox)
Beyond his threatening turn
as the inscrutable poacher
in Withnail and I, Michael
Elphick’s finest acting was on
the small screen, in the 1981
comedy drama Private Schulz,
and as Brummie fireman
turned troubleshooter Ken
Boon. It is a performance of
pathos and strange subtleties,
with Elphick bringing so much
more to the character than
was ever in the script.The Informer (Netflix)
Forced to work undercover
for the FBI, this thriller’s hero
( Joel Kinnaman) goes deeper
into the criminal world than he
wants to. If you like immersing
yourself in tales of cops and
crooks, however, you can
dive into Andrea Di Stefano’s
movie without fear. It offers
you a vigorous, well-made
genre piece, with Rosamund
Pike and Clive Owen in
supporting roles. (2019) EPor fuss. That’s the feeling you
get watching Daniel Vernon’s
excellent dissection and
demolition of the immoral and
venal Maxwell clan. Speaking
to former employees and using
family videos and bugged
telephone calls, we are treated
to rank displays of entitlement,
hubris, arrogance and cruelty
and comeuppance, and get to
luxuriate in a family downfall
that not even the writers of
Succession could conjure up.It’s a wrap: Sara Pascoe dresses up with Patrick Grant and Esme Young (BBC1, 8pm)The Great British Sewing
Bee (BBC1, 8pm)
The beloved competition
undergoes its own
transformation challenge as
it hits its eighth series. After a
stint on the Christmas show,
Sara Pascoe replaces Joe
Lycett as presenter, while the
location shifts from London
to a picturesque Yorkshire
wool mill. The show’s seams
have not been entirely
unpicked, however: happily,
the redoubtable judges
Patrick Grant and Esme
Young remain firmly in place,
commanding this year’s
intake of 12 stitchers — among
them a vet, a fashion buyer
and a teacher — to make
patch-pocketed mini-skirts,
going-out tops and wrap
dresses. The clothes may not
always be a perfect fit, but
the show remains tailor-
made for comfort viewing.
Victoria SegalSearching For Michael
Jackson’s Zoo (ITV, 9pm)
It must feel like a long time
ago that Ross Kemp was
winning Baftas for his On
Gangs series, now he’s diving
to unremarkable shipwrecks
for Sky History and looking
for the animals abandoned by
the King of Pop. There is a
predictably high wacko count
but Kemp, bereft of the light
touch of, say, Louis Theroux,
seems not to know what to
do with them. One former
Neverland worker sobs as he
remembers his boss disclosing
“I just love bringing out the
child in all of us,” after the pair
enjoyed a toy train ride and a
howl at the moon. But Kemp
isn’t interested in all that; he’s
on a mission to track down
these bloomin’ giraffes.
Helen Stewart
Secrets Of The Museum
(BBC2, 8pm)
V&A staff are seen readying a
Donatello relief sculpture and
a Helen Mirren stage costume
for exhibitions. The great
designer Kenneth Grange, 92,
discusses a show of his work;
and a maze-like “playscape”
by Yinka Ilori, with a
xylophone at its heart, is
installed at V&A Dundee.Beauty And The Bleach
(BBC2, 9pm)
Queer Eye’s Tan France tackles
colourism, “the pressure to be
whiter” that made him bleach
his skin as a boy. In a wide-
ranging exploration, he looks
at the impact it has had in
fashion and showbiz, and meets
Kelly Rowland. Returning to
Yorkshire, he asks schoolkids
about their experiences.Great British History
Hunters (More4, 9pm)
A new series about detectorists
and the experts they show
their “finds” to. Its first part
is too bitty, but some of the
discoveries are remarkable: a
Roman emperor’s bronze head
and a superb pendant, both
found in Yorkshire, and an oil
lamp unearthed by the Thames.
John DugdaleCRITICS’ CHOICE
No, Mr President