22 May 2022 31THE BEST TV FROM NETFLIX AND BEYOND... SUNDAY 22 MAY
Christopher Lee was
born on May 27, 1922, and
BBC4 today has an early
celebration of his centenary.
He features in an episode of
Talking Pictures (9.30pm),
tells an MR James tale in
Christopher Lee’s Ghost
Stories (10.05pm) and then
appears in the 1972 film
Horror Express (10.35pm).
That movie also has Lee’s old
Hammer-horror comrade
Peter Cushing, whose
birthday was May 26. On
Thursday this week, Talking
Pictures TV marks the 109th
anniversary of his birth with
a documentary, Behind The
Camera — Peter Cushing
(5.30pm). The same channel
does its bit for Lee on Friday
with another doc, The Many
Faces Of Christopher Lee
(11pm), and a showing of the
1968 Hammer classic The
Devil Rides Out (12.15am).
Edward PorterFilm Stars Don’t Die In
Liverpool (BBC2, 11.20pm)
Gloria Grahame, a star in
1950s Hollywood, was not as
well known when she fell in
love with the jobbing actor
Peter Turner in England in the
1970s, but their relationship
was still improbable. It provides
this dramatisation with an
eventful, lightly poignant tale
in which Annette Bening has
a chance to shine. Her sparky
performance is easily the
main attraction, but the other
actors are on form too. As
Turner, Jamie Bell is reunited
with his Billy Elliot co-star
Julie Walters, here playing
his character’s mother.
Dir: Paul McGuigan (2017)The Kid Who Would Be King
(C4, 2.10pm)
The story of a present-day
boy (Louis Ashbourne Serkis)
who inherits Excalibur, Joe
Cornish’s fantasy adventure
movie has a pronounced
British flavour — supplied not
only by the tale’s Arthurian
lore, but also by its brand of
cheerful humour. (2019)
Edward PorterThe hunt is on again (C4, 9pm) No kidding: Serkis (C4, 2.10pm)FILM CHOICE
ON DEMAND
Night Sky (Amazon)
Streaming fatigue is real.
Too many recent dramas pull
you in with red herrings only
to disappoint with a fudged
final episode. So, when a
true slow-burn series arrives
that is totally worthy of your
perseverance it is worth
making a fuss about. Beyond
Love Life (BBC iPlayer)
Those who fell in love with the
first season of this high-grade
NYC romcom and the lovelorn
adventures of Anna Kendrick’s
Darby Carter will find it hard to
believe, but season two might
be even better. This time, the
forsaken romantic is William
Jackson Harper and his
character is simultaneously
infuriating, problematic,
adorable, charming ... human.
Andrew MaleWelcome To Eden (Netflix)
After Yellowjackets and The
Wilds comes another mystery
drama about young people
stranded on an island. This
eight-part Spanish-language
thriller follows teen ravers to a
private island party, supposedly
thrown by sponsors of a new
energy drink, which gradually
develops into something that
the minds of Alex Garland
or M Night Shyamalan might
have collectively cooked up.Ali & Ava
(Buy as stream/download)
This love story achieves great
power by giving us realistic
portraits of two people who
deserve happiness. Set in
Bradford, it stars Adeel Akhtar
as Ali, a landlord, and Claire
Rushbrook as Ava, a teaching
assistant. The pair meet by
chance and sweetly hit it off,
but there are complicating
factors on both sides.
Dir: Clio Barnard (2021) EPthe fact that Sissy Spacek and
JK Simmons give career-best
performances as a retired
couple who discover a space
portal in their back yard
(oh yes!), this is a show that
is hypnotically strange,
moving effortlessly between
detective drama, sci-fi horror
and elegiac rumination on
life. Will you always know
what is going on? No, you
won’t. Will you be desperate
to find out? Absolutely.You would stake your pension on Chelsea being a spring success again (BBC1, 6pm)Chelsea Flower Show
(BBC1, 6pm)
A still moment in a churning
world, the Royal Horticultural
Society’s annual event is
back in its rightful place in
May, which should mean that
exhibitors’ planting, timed to
the hour in many cases, will
be seen at its finest by the
BBC’s devoted gardening
team. The coverage, both
on air and on the ground, is
correspondingly abundant.
Sophie Raworth and Joe Swift
lead tonight’s launch at 6pm
and there is a less formal
afternoon affair each day
with Nicki Chapman and
Angellica Bell. That hardy
perennial Monty Don is on at
8pm for the evening sessions
on BBC2 and tomorrow night
he will reveal the design of
the new Blue Peter garden,
no less. Carol Klein dips in
and out through the week.
Helen StewartHunted (C4, 9pm)
Series six of the track and
chase contest opens with
the odds stacked even more
heavily in favour of the
pursuers. The 11 fugitives —
who can win all or a share
of £100,000 if they stay free
for 25 days — have to escape
from the Isle of Wight, with
very few ports to leave from.
“They’re sitting ducks!”, crows
the hunters’ commander,
Lisa, in panto hubristic style,
as CCTV shows six of them
in a hovercraft terminal. Yet,
fishily, the pursuers are just
too late, making you wonder if
this is simply police bungling
or if they were told by the
producers to avoid ruining
the show by catching half
the contestants in the first 15
minutes. Part two tomorrow.
John Dugdale
Eden — Untamed Planet
(BBC2, 7.10pm)
Helena Bonham Carter narrates
this panoramic trip around the
grasslands of Zambia’s Luangwa
Valley, a place transformed
annually into a lush paradise
by floodwaters. Wildlife
highlights include hippos
caught on thermal-imaging
cameras, baby warthogs and
one extremely lucky impala.Big Brits Go Large (C5, 9pm)
Britain is the largest European
nation, BMI-wise. This breezy
show follows “big-bodied”
entrepreneurs delivering
specialist fashion, photoshoots
and dance classes. The actor
George Keywood, however,
possibly has the programme’s
number when he wryly
pulls up his shirt and says:
“There you go, Channel 5.”The Hamptons — Home Of
The Rich & Famous (C5, 10pm)
A visit to the Hamptons, the
elite’s seaside playground 100
miles east of Manhattan. Urchin-
like viewers can wonder at the
houses, boats and secret gigs
by rock stars — although how
much money would you need
to guarantee a holiday free
from surprise sets by Coldplay?
Victoria SegalCRITICS’ CHOICE
Birthdays to get
your teeth into