The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-01)

1 May 2022 31

THE BEST TV FROM NETFLIX AND BEYOND... SUNDAY 1 MAY

Just William Centenary

(Radio 4)

It is the 100th anniversary

of the publication of the

first collection of Just

William stories by Richmal

Crompton, and this week

Radio 4 celebrates with two

programmes. In Just William

— And Richmal (Today,

Radio 4, 4.30pm), Edward

Rowett looks at why the

books — originally written

for adults — are still so

popular today, and also

looks through Crompton’s

archive. Rowlett talks to

fans, including Neil Gaiman,

Caitlin Moran and, of course,

Martin Jarvis, the voice of

William Brown in many radio

adaptations. He also stars

again in Just William Live

(Tuesday, Radio 4, 6.30pm),

performing William and the

School Report at the Orange

Tree Theatre, Richmond.

Clair Woodward

The Dressmaker

(Film4, 11.10pm)

Kate Winslet slips into a well-

fitted Australian accent for her

starring role in this outback

tale, the story of a vampish

clothes designer who, in 1951,

returns to her home town to

restitch pieces of her past.

Jocelyn Moorhouse’s film is a

rather overdone patchwork of

comedy and melodrama, but

it is certainly colourful, and

its actors wear it well. Winslet

is joined by Liam Hemsworth

(as a guy who likes the

designer’s style), Judy Davis

(as her mentally tattered

mother) and Hugo Weaving,

who plays a copper with a

sartorial secret. (2015)

Paw Patrol — The Movie (Sky

Cinema Premiere, 4.30pm)

The main novelty in this

feature-length outing for the

canine emergency-services

team is the pups’ new fleet

of vehicles. The film is thus a

blatant advert for toys, but its

jaunty, action-packed tale is

no less watchable for that.

Dir: Cal Brunker (2021)

Edward Porter

Adepitan and pal (BBC1, 7pm) Saving nine: Winslet (Film4, 11.10pm)

FILM CHOICE

ON DEMAND

Anatomy Of A Scandal
(Netflix)
The latest (melo)dramatic
offering from David E Kelley
(Big Little Lies) has seen
numerous critics admit to
devouring all six episodes
then lambasting the show for
silliness. Why not recognise
how it works its magic? Yes,

Sketchbook (Disney+)

A shameless advertorial, but

this series of short personal

interviews with Disney

illustrators is also intimate and

enjoyable. In each episode an

artist teaches us how to draw

an “iconic” Disney character

while giving us their life story.

Addressed to young viewers it

is gentle, educational TV, and

ideal if you have a budding

cartoonist in the household.

Andrew Male

Explorer — The Last Teipu

(Apple TV+)

“Islands in the sky” topped by

undiscovered strains of flora

and fauna, the table-top

mountains of South America

have long fascinated climbers

and anthropologists. In this

moving and often terrifying

film, 80-year-old biologist Dr

Bruce Means and climber Alex

Honnold set out to explore a

previously unconquered teipu

and confront their own

Sing 2

(Buy as stream/download)

The troupe of animals who

performed familiar pop hits

in the 2016 animated film

Sing take their act to a Las

Vegas-style venue in this

sequel. The change of scene

allows even more glitz, and

Garth Jennings’s movie loses a

bit of charm as a result. It has

the same energy as the first

film, though, and the same

deft comic timing. (2022) EP

this adaptation of Sarah

Vaughan’s 2018 novel about a

Tory MP accused of rape is

undeniably histrionic, but it

is also expertly paced, played

perfectly straight by its central

trio of performers (Rupert

Friend, Sienna Miller and

Michelle Dockery) and

manages to address complex

issues of power, masculinity,

money and privilege within

the deceptive livery of a high-

trash potboiler.

A long way from Brookside Close: Paige, Sarah and Simon tackle a doer-upper (C4, 7pm)

The Great House

Giveaway (C4, 7pm)

The Bafta, Broadcast and RTS

award-winning property show

is back for another series,

its slot edging ever more

towards prime time as Simon

O’Brien, the Brookside star

turned developer, buys

dilapidated houses and

hands them to two strangers

to fix up and sell. Covid

has removed the fun of the

purchase scenes, a click

of a mouse rather less

entertaining than panicked

nodding in a crowded

auction room. The show is

too good-natured to delve

into what paramedic Sarah

(and Mark, her hard-working

partner) really said when

garment technologist Paige

announced she was going on

holiday with her family for

a fortnight. Just wait until

it gets a post-watershed slot.

Helen Stewart

Our Changing Planet
(BBC1, 7pm)
This ambitious two-part
documentary has focused on
“the planet’s most threatened
ecosystems”, and Liz Bonnin
evidently thinks California’s
coast is one of those, her
lead-off report focusing on
potential problems there.
Later, she heads inland to
look at the more clear-cut
crisis of the state’s forests and
meet volunteers who rescue
wildlife from wildfires.
Between her contributions,
Ade Adepitan is in a drought-
hit Kenya to investigate the
plight of elephants, and
Gordon Buchanan reports on
a Brazilian project to save
jaguars facing the double
threat of deforestation and
gun-toting farmers.
John Dugdale

The Wall — Climb

For Gold (Netflix)

Climbing made its debut as an

Olympic sport at the delayed

2020 Tokyo Olympics. This

beautifully shot documentary

follows four elite climbers

— including Team GB’s Shauna

Coxsey and the Slovenian

climbing star Janja Garnbret —

as they prepare physically and

mentally for a career peak.

TK Maxx — How Do They

Do It? (C5, 7pm)

Some might see TK Maxx

stores as giant jumble sales

but this film suggests they are

worlds of secrets and retail

psych-ops. Learn about

“waxing”, “hashing” and TK’s

own-label brands, all worth

pondering next time you are

impulse-buying peppermills

and sandals in a fugue state.

Grace (ITV, 8pm)

John Simm’s DSI Roy Grace —

still dour despite the prospect

of romance — investigates

the murder of a Brighton

influencer in this adaptation

of Peter James’s novels.

An impressively wild plot is

stretched over the bones of

a serious police procedural,

CSI with a touch of Luther.

Victoria Segal

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Too good for

children, surely?