24 saturday review Saturday April 30 2022 | the times
Is there anything new to say
about Queen? Freddie
Mercury’s exotic childhood,
the suburban early years,
Brian May and his stargazing,
packed stadiums and the
frontman’s death from Aids?
Well, there’s not much new in
the first instalment of this
two-part history (no doubt not
the last), narrated with gusto
by Simon Callow, but it’s
certainly an enjoyable ride.
“Get ready to rock, get ready
to be rolled,” Callow booms.
“Get ready for the most
fabulous musical story ever
told.” You get the idea. Still,
within it are some diverting
little nuggets to interest the
casual observer. The theory,
for example, that the baffling
lyrics of the band’s greatest
hit, Bohemian Rhapsody,
might actually refer to the
band’s members, Mercury
being Scaramouche, the
astronomer May being Galileo
and poor old Roger Taylor
being Beelzebub. It’s a neat
theory, but probably not true.
Another story that has
followed the band is their
infamous 1978 party in the
Fairmont Hotel, New Orleans,
but even here the accent is on
dampening speculation rather
than igniting it. For example,
the myth of dwarfs bearing
cocaine on their heads is
pooh-poohed by someone
who was there. Yet the details
certainly add up to a diverting
watch. How David Bowie was
responsible for their first slot
on Top of the Pops, for
example, or the band being
indirectly responsible for the
Sex Pistols’ squirm-inducing
TV appearance with Bill
Grundy in 1976. The show was
due to feature a new Queen
video, but the bookers
realised at the last minute that
the footage rights had not
been cleared. And Grundy’s
life was never the same.
Ben DowellAttenborough’s
Big Birds
BBC2, 6pmA repeat airing of this delightful
slice of Attenboralia from six
years ago, when he focused
his attention on the bizarre,
flightless big birds of the
animal kingdom that have
always captivated him. They
range from the mysteries of the
kiwi to the flightless rhea, the
male of which usually looks
after the eggs. This analysis of
how they came to be and
continue to survive is as lovely
as you might expect. There are
even insights into those birds
you think you know well, such
as the ostrich, whose chicks are
able to run from the moment
they hatch. BDDevon and
Cornwall: Fishing
Lives
Channel 4, 7.15pmTelly doesn’t get gentler than
this, a show so languid and
pretty it makes Countryfile look
like The Wire. This is essentially
an anthology repeat of the
series narrated by John Nettles,
whose pleasingly thick West
Country burr is the aural
equivalent of a dollop of
Devonshire clotted cream on a
scone. It focuses on the two
counties’ fishing folk, including
the trawlerman Tristan
Northway, who takes us on a
quick overnight fish designed
to bring back the freshest
possible catch. BDTommy Cooper:
Just Like That!
Channel 5, 7.20pmAnother chance to see Michael
Parkinson, Jimmy Tarbuck and
Chris Tarrant and other talking
heads reflecting on what made
the comedian, known for his
trademark fez and the
catchphrase “Just like that”,
one of the greats. Friends and
colleagues talk about working
with him, while Debbie McGee
explains the truth behind
Cooper’s seemingly
incompetent magic. Alongside
Cooper’s daughter, Vicky, in her
first television interview, there
are contributions from the
actress Sheila Steafel as well as
the writer Barry Cryer and the
choreographer Lionel Blair. BD● BBC Scotland 7.00pm The Seven 7.15
The Edit 7.30 Beechgrove Repotted 7.55
Live Women’s Six Nations: Ireland v
Scotland (Kick-off 8.00) 9.45 Orphans
Reunited (r) 10.45-Midnight FILM Run
(2019) Drama starring Mark Stanley
● S4C 6.00am Cyw 6.15 Timpo (r) 6.25
Sigldigwt (r) 6.40 Y Brodyr Coala (r) 6.50
Gwdihw (r) 7.05 Twt (r) 7.20 Byd Tad-Cu
(r) 7.30 Patrôl Pawennau (r) 7.45 Deian a
Loli (r) 8.00 SpynjBob (r) 8.15 Ar Goll yn
Oz (r) 8.35 Seligo (r) 8.40 Bwystfil (r) 8.50
Dennis a Dannedd (r) 9.00 Boom! (r) 9.15
Rhyfeddodau Chwilengoch a Cath Ddu (r)
9.35 Mabinogi-ogi a Mwy (r) 10.00 Am
Dro! (r) 10.55 Cwpwrdd Epic Chris (r)
11.20 Ffermio (r) 11.45 Live Clwb Rygbi
Rhyngwladol: Wales v Italy (Kick-off
12.00) Both teams’ concluding match of
the Women’s Six Nations Championship,
at Cardiff Arms Park 2.00pm Ar Werth (r)
2.25 Yn y Fan A’r Lle (r) 2.50 Live Clwb
Rygbi: Zebre v Dreigiau (Kick-off 3.05)
The United Rugby Championship match
at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi 5.05 Cegin
Bryn (r) 5.40 Cegin Bryn (r) 6.10 Julian
Lewis Jones yn Awstralia (r) 7.15 News
7.30 Welsh Whisperer: Ni’n Teithio
Nawr (r) 8.00 Gitar Yn Y To 9.00
Oci Oci Oci 10.00-11.45 Clwb Rygbi
(r) repeat (SL) In-vision signing● BBC1 Wales As BBC1 except:
11.30am-12.00 Weatherman Walking.
Derek Brockway walks a circular route in
Snowdonia (r) 5.15-5.45pm Question of
Sport. With Chris Hoy, Alice Kinsella
Christine Ohuruogu and Oliver Townend
● BBC2 Wales As BBC2 except:
6.00-7.00pm Brothers in Dance: Anthony
and Kel Matsena. Rehearsals for a work
inspired by Black Lives Matter
● BBC2 N Ireland As BBC2 except:
7.00pm Home Ground (r) 7.30 Gardening
Together with Diarmuid Gavin (r) 7.45
Live Women’s Six Nations: Ireland v
Scotland (Kick-off 8.00) 10.15 Barra on the
Foyle (r) 10.30 FILM Miles Davis: Birth of
the Cool (2019) Documentary profile of
the jazz bandleader, horn player and
innovator who was determined to break
boundaries and live life on his own terms
12.25-12.55am Live at the Apollo (r)
● BBC1 Scotland As BBC1 except:
4.30pm-5.15 Sportscene Results 10.20
Sportscene Saturday 11.35 Match of the
Day 1.00am FILM True Story (2015)
Fact-based drama starring Jonah Hill
and James Franco 2.35 Weather for the
Week Ahead 2.40-6.00 BBC News
● STV As ITV except: 1.30-4.00pm
Live STV Racing: From Newmarket
3.50-5.10am Unwind with STVThe Bridge on the River Kwai (PG, 1957)
ITV3, 1pm
David Lean’s Second World War drama is huge, ambitious and
gripping, despite its hefty running time. Alec Guinness, below left
with Sessue Hayakawa, who won an Oscar for the performance,
plays the British colonel in a Japanese prisoner of war camp
who allows his men to build a bridge that will have strategic
importance for the Japanese. William Holden is the escaped
American PoW who is to lead a mission to destroy the structure. Of
course it is more than just a bridge. For Guinness’s character it is
representative of British superiority; for Holden’s it’s a way to avoid
court martial. Lean nearly drowned during filming when he was
swept away by a river current. He was saved by the actor Geoffrey
Horne. (161min) Wendy IdeFilms of the day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (15, 1991)
ITV, 10.35pm
James Cameron’s sequel to his groundbreaking sci-fi action movie
is, in many ways, even better than the original Terminator. The
budget was vast, but every cent of it shows on screen in the
outstanding stunts and special effects. Nearly ten years have
passed since Sarah Connor was targeted for termination. Now her
son, John (Edward Furlong), the future leader of the resistance
against the machines, is the target of an improved and seemingly
indestructible Terminator, the T1000 (Robert Patrick). John is a
rebellious teen who responds to his mother’s paranoid warnings
by getting into trouble with authority at every opportunity. Arnold
Schwarzenegger is back, as promised, but this time on the side of
good, in a high-tech thrill ride of a movie. (137min) WISIC: Prince
of MotoGP
Sky Documentaries, 9pmIn 2011 the champion MotoGP
racer Marco Simoncelli was
involved in a sickening crash at
the Malaysian Grand Prix. The
collision with two riders and
injuries to his body and head
meant he died soon
afterwards. This documentary
paints an intimate portrait of
his life, with interviews, film
reconstructions and insights
from those who knew him best.
It puts an accent on the sheer
determination that led to him
reaching his goal of winning
the World Championship in
2008, on the same circuit on
which he lost his life three
years later aged just 24. BDRegional programmes
Saturday 30 | Viewing guide
Critic’s choice
Queen: A Rock History
Channel 5, 9.20pm
Catch
up
The King
Sky/Now
A gritty eight-part
Italian prison
thriller starring
Luca Zingaretti,
best known as
the star of two
decades of
Inspector
Montalbano
mysteries.
Here he is
Bruno
Testori, the
deputy head
of a prison, San
Michele, known
for its firm ifunconventional ways with
difficult prisoners. Then one
day the head of the prison, a
friend of his, gets pushed
from the roof to his death.
How will he find the
culprit? How will he cope
with the police who
have arrived to do
the same thing?
But if Testori’s
life outside the
prison has
gone wrong,
inside San
Michele
he soon
dominates
as “The
King”. It’s
a stylish,
morally murky,
compelling
opening.
Dominic Maxwell