48 saturday review Saturday May 28 2022 | the times
The Boys
Prime Video
The satire set in a world where
superheroes are revered as
gods, but are shades of deviant,
returns for a third series. We
pick up the action a year after
the “Stormfront is a Nazi”
scandal. Vought — the
multibillion-dollar company
that manages the superheroes
— must answer to the
government’s bureau of
superhuman affairs, so the
work of Butcher (Karl Urban)
and his rag-tag supe-hunting
crew is now official. “Out of
crisis comes change,” says
Homelander (Antony Starr),
Vought’s unhinged ubermensch.
Maybe, but it’s business as
usual here, with lashings of
graphic violence. Joe Clay
Platinum Jubilee:
A Service of
Thanksgiving
BBC1, 9.15amThe jubilee events continue at
St Paul’s Cathedral in the
presence of senior royals.
David Dimbleby provides
discreet commentary from
inside the cathedral, while
Kirsty Young will be in a studio
talking to guests, who share
their experiences of the Queen
and to reflect on her faith.
A notable moment will come
when Great Paul, the largest
church bell in the country, is
rung. The bell was made in
1882, but fell silent in the 1970s
due to a broken mechanism.
It was restored last year. JJGuy Garvey:
From the Vaults
Sky Arts/Now, 8pmTonight it’s forgotten music TV
performances from 1981. So
while a post-hits Bob Geldof
gets a pie in the face on Tiswas,
Duran Duran are also on the
show, but very much on the
rise. Meanwhile, Adam and the
Ants entertain Princess
Margaret at the Children’s
Royal Variety Performance, and
Elvis Costello talks to Melvyn
Bragg about his foray into
country music. Then, like a
young Alan Partridge, Richard
Madeley arrives at a London
club for what he calls “a very
special gathering for a group of
very special young people: the
‘young’ or ‘new’ romantics”. JJThe Terror: Infamy
BBC2, 9pm/9.40pmIt has been quite a long haul
for those who have stuck with
it, but tonight we have the final
double bill of this brooding
horror series. The scares have
been offered as unevenly as
the overall pace, but they have
been suitably creepy. And the
everyday horror for the
Japanese living in wartime
America has given the series a
distinctive, historical feel. It’s
1945, Hiroshima is looming and
life after “Leaving Day” proves
no easier for the former camp
inmates, with the vengeful
female spirit still terrorising
young Chester Nakayama and
his pregnant wife. Some nasty
possessions and a supernatural
showdown await. JJCatch
up
Bodies
Britbox
In 2004, almost a decade
after Cardiac Arrest,
Bodies marked Jed
Mercurio’s second
attempt to breathe new
life into the ailing
patient that was British
medical drama. Bodies
followed the progress of a
junior doctor (Max Beesley,
right) as he picked his
way through the
ethical and
political
minefield of an
obstetrics
ward run by asmooth but incompetent
consultant (Patrick Baladi). Its
storylines are sharp and
pertinent, its dialogue whip-
smart and its acting is
outstanding, earning the series
a Bafta nomination. Thanks to
pioneering prosthetics, which
allowed Mercurio to
film botched
caesarean sections
and the delivery of
breech babies up
close, it was
without question
the most graphic
depiction of life on
the medical front
line on TV.
Andrew
BillenFriday 3 | Viewing guide
Critic’s choice
The Crown Jewels
BBC1, 7.30pm
The biggest stone from the
Cullinan, the largest gem-
quality diamond yet found, is
mounted in the head of the
Sovereign’s Sceptre with
Cross, so here’s your starter
for ten: where and when was it
excavated? (Answer at the
end.) Then there is the famous
solid gold St Edward’s Crown,
made in 1661, weighing 2.3kg
and worn only once by each
monarch, at their coronation
— the Queen thus being the
only person alive who has
worn it. These are just two of
the dazzling objects gazed
upon by the presenter Clive
Myrie, right, in his exploration
of the Crown Jewels to mark
the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
(with Her Majesty also
examining her jewels, in clips
from 2017). While Myrie’s
journey includes him “having
a go” at making a crown —
which, if nothing else, gives
some idea of the skill involved
— it’s the history here that
fascinates the most, giving a
sense of how the significance
of the gems echoes down the
ages. Take the sapphire in the
top of the Imperial State
Crown. It was part of Edward
the Confessor’s coronation
regalia in 1042, and being
worn by the Queen at the
annual State Opening of
Parliament, it still watches
down on history today. Myrie
also visits Dunnottar Castle in
Kincardineshire to hear the
dramatic story of how the
Scottish crown jewels were
saved from Oliver Cromwell
by a servant woman with a
basket. It ends with a careful
acknowledgment of some of
the jewels’ “complicated
history”, or rather colonial
legacy, but that only adds to a
sense of how much they tell
us “about ourselves and our
past”. As for the Cullinan? It
was discovered near Pretoria
in South Africa in 1905.
James JacksonThe Darjeeling Limited (15, 2007)
GREAT! Movies, 9pm
Wes Anderson’s arch, stylised approach has earned him praise
and approbation in almost equal measure; you either love his
hipster credentials or hate his whimsy. This story of three brothers
(played by Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson,
below) trying to reconnect on a rail journey across India is less
immediately likeable than, say, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Yet this melancholic voyage of discovery attempts to deal with
deeper themes. The baggage that the brothers carry from their
strained relationship with their father is spiritual and literal (a huge
set of hand-tooled Louis Vuitton suitcases). It’s all joyously shed
at the end — not the most subtle piece of symbolism perhaps,
but it’s a moment of exhilarating abandon. (88min) Wendy IdeFilms of the day
Pride (15, 2014)
BBC2, 10.25pm
You think you’ve seen everything, then you witness Imelda
Staunton brandishing a large pink dildo and laughing so hard she
nearly falls off the bed. Directed by Matthew Warchus from a
first-rate screenplay by Stephen Beresford, this upbeat comedy
tells the true story of the collaboration between striking Welsh
miners and a group of lesbian and gay activists who supported
them. The scene is set for a classic British culture-clash romp, but
what we get is sharper, sadder and funnier than the premise
suggests. The dialogue blends crisp and catty banter with heartfelt
pathos; the characterisation of even the peripheral supporting cast
is rich and colourful. Alongside Staunton the cast includes Paddy
Considine, Bill Nighy and Dominic West. (115min) WI10.30 Fight: The Jim Murray Story.
The impact of an infamous 1995
championship boxing match (r) 11.30-
Midnight Best of Only an Excuse? (r)
● S4C 6.00am Cyw: Peppa (r) 6.05 Guto
Gwningen (r) 6.20 Caru Canu a Stori (r)
6.30 Octonots (r) 6.45 Cei Bach (r) 7.00
Odo 7.10 Blero yn Mynd i Ocido (r) 7.20
Anifeiliaid Bach y Byd (r) 7.30 Patrôl
Pawennau (r) 7.45 Cacamwnci (r) 8.00
Bing (r) 8.10 Cymylaubychain (r) 8.20
Asra (r) 8.35 Jen a Jim Pob Dim (r) 8.50
Nos Da Cyw (r) 8.55 Teulu Ni (r) 9.05 Y
Brodyr Coala (r) 9.15 Ysbyty Cyw Bach (r)
9.30 Sion y Chef (r) 9.45 Amser Maith
Maith yn Ôl (r) 10.00 Peppa (r) 10.05 Guto
Gwningen (r) 10.20 Caru Canu a Stori (r)
10.30 Octonots (r) 10.45 Cei Bach (r)
11.00 Eisteddfod yr Urdd 2022 12.00
News 12.05pm Eisteddfod yr Urdd 2022
2.00 News 2.05 Eisteddfod yr Urdd 2022
3.00 Eisteddfod yr Urdd 2022 3.30
Eisteddfod yr Urdd 2022. The rest of the
senior secondary school competitions.
Trystan Ellis Morris and Heledd Cynwal
also have more from the Eisteddfod T
6.30 Garddio a Mwy (r) 6.57 News 7.00
Heno 7.45 News 8.00 Eisteddfod yr Urdd
2022 9.25 Y Wal Goch 10.30 Y Golau (r)
11.30-1.00am Eisteddfod yr Urdd 2022 (r)
(r) repeat (SL) In-vision signing● BBC1 Wales As BBC1 except: 11.35pm
Hot Cakes. Miss Wales drops in giving
Gareth a blast from the past and Ryan
arranges a surprise (r) 12.05-1.50am FILM
Gringo (2018) Action comedy starring
David Oyelowo and Charlize Theron
● BBC2 Wales As BBC2 except: 12.35pm
Royal Recipes (r) 1.20 Supercharged
Otters: Natural World (r) 2.20 This
Farming Life (r) 3.20 Flog It! (r) 4.05
FILM Viva Las Vegas (1964) Musical
starring Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret
5.30-6.00 Mad About Elvis. A look
at the annual Porthcawl Elvis Festival (r)
● BBC2 N Ireland As BBC2 except:
12.25-12.35pm Community Life. An
appeal from SENAC (r) 12.20-1.20am Sign
Zone: Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof (r)
● STV As ITV except: 1.10-5.00pm Live
STV Racing: The Oaks. Coverage of the
first day of the Derby meeting at Epsom
3.50-5.05am Unwind with STV
● BBC Scotland 7.00pm The Seven 7.15
One Night in the Museum (r) 8.00
Loggerheads. The two teams head for the
Isle of Skye (r) 8.30 Scotland’s Home of
the Year. The judges decide on the finalist
from the West (r) 9.00 Inside Monaco:
Playground of the Rich. A tour of an
extraordinary home (r) 10.00 Still Game.
Methadone Mick receives a makeover (r)Regional programmes