29 May 2022 55
THE BEST TV FROM SKY AND BEYOND... THURSDAY 2 JUNE
In a light opener for the
jubilee weekend, Radio 2
presents the Platinum
Jubilee All Day PopMaster
(7.30am-5.30pm), in which
Ken Bruce pits platinum-
selling musical artists against
members of the public over
eight heats and two semi-
finals of pop knowledge, with
the winner being awarded
the PopMaster trophy. The
In Tune Mixtape (Radio 3,
7pm) is a specially curated
mix inspired by music
that was written for royal
occasions. In Music For
Monarchy (tonight and
Friday, Classic FM, 9pm)
the station’s composer-in-
residence, Debbie Wiseman,
presents two special jubilee
programmes playing music
that has been part of the
Queen’s life, with tonight’s
show focusing on the young
Elizabeth’s time as princess.
Clair WoodwardCat People (BBC4, 9.05pm)
Jacques Tourneur’s 1942
horror film earned a place in
cinema history by keeping
its lead character out of sight
at key moments. Played by
Simone Simon, she is a young
woman seemingly able to
turn into a panther — a feat
that could never have been
shown convincingly in such a
low-budget movie. Tourneur
instead relied on shadows and
suggestion, and his deft ideas
created scenes of elegant
spookiness. He used similar
methods — while adding a few
visible terrors — in his next
film, 1943’s I Walked With
A Zombie, which is also on
BBC4 today (10.15pm). B/WYesterday (BBC2, 10pm)
A present-day story (scripted
by Richard Curtis) in which
the Beatles somehow vanish
from history and only one
singer (Himesh Patel) recalls
their work, this comedy is
a cheerful confection that
gains a lot from the energising
power of the songs it honours.
Dir: Danny Boyle (2019)
Edward PorterCuckoo: Hawes (Sky Max, 9pm) Patel and Sheeran (BBC2, 10pm)FILM CHOICE
ON DEMAND
Gaslit (Amazon)
The front-and-centre stars
of this seven-part political
thriller are Sean Penn and
Julia Roberts. Penn plays John
Mitchell, Richard Nixon’s
former attorney-general
and the man who approved
the Watergate break-in.
Roberts plays his charming,
Hold Your Breath (Netflix)
This 40-minute hushed and
beautiful film follows Finnish
freediver Johanna Nordblad
as she tried to break the
women’s world record for an
unassisted dive below the ice
on one single breath. Watched
over by her sister, Nordblad
battles cramps, chronic
nerve pain, a lung infection,
Covid-19 and the tricks that
are played by her own mind.
Andrew MaleOnce Upon A True Crime:
The Ice Cream Wars (CI Play)
If you only know the story of
Glasgow’s internecine gelato
battles from their portrayal in
Bill Forsyth’s 1984 film Comfort
and Joy, prepare to be shocked.
Helmed by the writer Douglas
Skelton, whose 1992 novel
Frightener was based on the
1980s gangland turf wars, this
is a terrifying documentary
centred on an infamous act of
arson that ended in six deaths.The Terence Davies Trilogy
(BFI Player)
Davies, whose film Benediction
is now in cinemas, began
his career as a director with
three short pieces: Children
(1976), Madonna And Child
(1980) and Death And
Transfiguration (1983).
Gathering scenes from the life
of a closeted, guilt-ridden gay
man, the series describes
terrible sadness in ways that
possess great beauty. B/W EPopinionated wife, Martha,
who threatens to blow the
whole government cover-up
wide open. Both are good,
but their offerings here feel
mannered, performative
and exhausting. Then there is
Shea Whigham, whose turn as
crackpot FBI agent G Gordon
Liddy is terrifying, hilarious,
animalistic and heartbreaking.
The show enters another
realm whenever he appears
on the screen.Boots, boots, boots, boots, movin’ up an’ down again: happy birthday Ma’am (BBC1, 10am)
The Queen’s Platinum
Jubilee (BBC1, 10am)
The jubilee weekend gets
under way early, thanks to
the nifty move of shifting
the spring bank holiday to
a Thursday. And it’s good
to see Kirsty Young back
on television as part of the
presenting team for the two
live events. In Trooping The
Colour (10am), she, Huw
Edwards and JJ Chalmers are
on duty as the 1st Battalion
Irish Guards celebrate Her
Majesty’s official birthday (on
June 11), followed by a flypast
at Buckingham Palace. Young
later anchors Platinum
Beacons (8pm), when 1,500
fires will be lit around the UK.
The Queen — 70 Glorious
Years (10.40pm; Scotland,
11.10pm) is a rerun of the
celebrity-anecdotes tribute,
with a soundtrack of hits
from across her reign.
John DugdaleThe Midwich Cuckoos
(Sky Max, 9pm)
John Wyndham’s 1957 invasion
novel gets the TV treatment,
with Keeley Hawes and Max
Beesley in the lead roles. A
mysterious force renders the
inhabitants of a sleepy English
market town unconscious just
long enough to impregnate all
the women of child-bearing age.
Seven episodes means that
David Farr, who has adapted,
does a great deal of “world
building” (in contrast, the 1960
film adaptation with George
Sanders had everyone conked
out three minutes in) and he
handles the plot challenges
posed by modern technology
with deftness. As for adults
being terrified of the power of
their own children — well, it’s
not hard to imagine, is it?
Helen Stewart
Making Sense Of Cancer
(BBC2, 9pm)
In January 2021, the maths
professor Hannah Fry was
diagnosed with cervical cancer.
This raw and deeply personal
film follows her own diagnosis
but, as a mathematician to
her core, she also asks tough
questions about the statistics
around cancer treatments
and their outcomes.Big Boys
(C4, 10pm/10.35pm)
Despite a few lurid moments
— an apocalyptic hangover, a
creepy hook-up — Jack Rooke’s
student sitcom has a sensitive
core, Fresh Meat with added
mental-health awareness. Katy
Wix brings the farce as the
arrested third-year Jules; more
heartbreaking is Jon Pointing’s
atypical alpha-male, Danny.PRU (BBC3, 10pm)
A “manifestation workshop”
with Will Hislop’s unconvincing
youth worker gives the kids of
the Pupil Referral Unit more
reasons to rebel. This is a
fierce, sparky sitcom, the
young cast — especially the
excellent Nkechi Simms as
Sienna — slowly revealing their
pain as well as their comic skills.
Victoria SegalCRITICS’ CHOICE
Britannia rules
the radio waves