59
Daily Mail, Friday, August 30, 2019(^) TELEVISION
FILM CHOICES
The King’s Speech, 10.35pm, BBC1
THIS award-grabbing historical drama
tells the story of King George VI, whose
stammer was not to be an impediment to
his rule. Colin Firth is aptly regal in the
lead, with Helena Bonham Carter as his
supportive wife and Geoffrey Rush as the
Australian with an innovative cure.
The Hobbit: The
Desolation Of Smaug,
10.45pm, ITV
THE second film in
Peter Jackson’s second
Tolkien trilogy — after
The Lord Of The Rings.
Martin Freeman’s
hobbit Bilbo Baggins (pictured) continues
his quest in Middle-earth, on a mission to
vanquish a horrible, gold-hoarding dragon.
DON’T MISS TOMORROW’S
WEEKEND MAGAZINE —
WITH ITS 52-PAGE GUIDE
TO NEXT WEEK’S TV
Chilling truth about China, where
spies actually live in your house
CHOLESTEROL BINGE OF THE
NIGHT: Drivers Callum and Dave
were looking forward to a treat
for pudding at a Scottish hotel
on Train Truckers (Yesterday
channel)... deep-fried battered
Cadbury Creme Eggs. Not
watching your diet, then, boys?P
reSIDenT George
W. Bush’s defence
secretary Donald
rumsfeld mused that
there are some things
we know and some things we
know we don’t know.
But then there are lots more
things we don’t know we don’t
know. We have no idea of the depth
of our own ignorance, for example.
Some would say this was espe-
cially true of George W, a genial
man with a brain like a colander.
The sheer scale of our ignorance
about the world’s most populated
country was brought home in
China: A New World Order (BBC2).
This was an hour of revelations
about things that most of us
couldn’t possibly know, because
we’ve never imagined we didn’t
know we don’t know... as Donald r
might say.
True, the name Xi Jinping is
familiar. It ought to be: he’s been
China’s president for the past six
years. and though I hadn’t exactly
realised he came to power on a
wave of popularity following
the 2008 Beijing olympics, it
makes sense.
But as this documentary, the first
of three, revealed time and again,
the gaps in our general knowledge
about this vast country are more
like deserts. The recent protests in
Hong Kong have been widely
reported here, for instance, but I
had no idea about ethnic riots inthe country’s north-west, near the
Kazakhstan border.
There, a mainly muslim people
called the Uyghur live in an
autonomous territory called
Xinjiang. To quell unrest, president
Xi’s government has billeted
spies on thousands of families —
Chinese agents who sleep in the
house and help themselves to food
from the kitchen.
a million Uyghur, some as young
as 13, have been sent to ‘re-educa-
tion’ camps where they are tortured
into renouncing their culture.
Women are forcibly sterilised with
drugs, and children are rounded up
to be sent to state orphanages.
The documentary didn’t use the
phrase ‘ethnic cleansing’ but it
didn’t have to: nothing could be
clearer evidence of cultural brain-
washing than the footage of a
classroom where dozens of men
and women sang along in english
to If You’re Happy and You Know
It Clap Your Hands. That’s torture,
wherever you are on the planet.
There were hints of these human
rights outrages from the beginning
of the programme, but the real
evidence was not presented untilChina: A New World Order HHHII World War Speed HHIII
CHRISTOPHER
STEVENS
LAST NIGHT’S TV
the last 20 minutes. That was a
mistake: the first half was too
bland, too much like an educa-
tional film for students.
Feeble excuses from Commu-
nist party officials were dull
viewing, made more soporific by
the soundtrack of ringing bowls
and plucked strings.
For most people, the best
chance of really learning some-thing from this documentary
was to tune in halfway through.
Historian James Holland on
World War Speed (BBC4) wanted
desperately to tell us things we
didn’t know, but countless
sensationalist shows have
covered this ground before.
The digital channels History
and Yesterday do these flash-
bang documentaries on WorldWar II so much better — all
whooshing graphics and stormy
reconstructions. James was agog
at the notion that German pilots
were wired to the eyeballs on
methamphetamine, and that
British troops were routinely
issued with benzadrine tablets.
In fact, anyone who watches
any show about the nazi high
command, airing almost nightly
in the more rarified parts of your
Freeview box, has long known
that Hitler and his cronies
gobbled pills like Tic Tacs.
and fans of the James Bond
novels will remember that 007
relied on drugs even more than
martinis... a habit no doubt left
over from wartime. all this talk
of speed was slow news.ictured) continuesCHANNEL 5
6.00 Milkshake! Peppa Pig (R,HD) 6.15 Ben
and Holly’s Little Kingdom (R) 6.30 Olly the
Little White Van (R,HD) 6.35 Noddy: Toyland
Detective (R,HD) 6.45 Fireman Sam (R,HD)
6.55 Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big
Adventures! (R,HD) 7.10 Shane the Chef
(R,HD) 7.20 Peppa Pig (R,HD) 7.40 Top Wing
(R,HD) 7. 5 5 Paw Patrol (R,HD) 8.05 Digby
Dragon (R,HD) 8.25 Little Princess (R,HD)
8.40 Shimmer and Shine (R,HD) 8.55 Floogals
(R,HD) 9.10 Sunny Bunnies (R,HD)
9.15 Jeremy Vine (HD)
11.15 GPs: Behind Closed Doors (AD,R,HD)
A woman with a large burn on her
leg from a hot iron is treated.
12.10 5 News Lunchtime (HD)
12.15 GPs: Behind Closed Doors (R,HD)
1.10 Access (HD)
1.15 Home and Away (AD,HD)
1.45 Neighbours (AD,HD)
2.15 Fatal Getaway (2019) (PG) ● (HD)
Premiere. Old friends reunite for one
last weekend. Thriller, starring Anja
Akstin and Patrick Michael Buckley.
4.00 Friends (R,HD)
4.30 Friends (R,HD)
5.00 5 News (HD)
5.30 Neighbours (AD,R,HD) Roxy
caves in to Harlow’s blackmail.
6.00 Home and Away (AD,R,HD) Maggie
offers support as Ben is granted
bail, but the future looks bleak.
6.30 5 News Tonight (HD)7.00 How They Built the Jumbo Jet
(R,HD) Part two of two. A look at
the airliner’s working life, from
its first commercial flight in 1970
up to the present, and its impact
on democratising air travel.
(Followed by 5 News Update)8.00 World’s Most Luxurious Train
(HD) New series. A look at top-
end trains, such as South Africa’s
Blue Train, a hotel on wheels.
(Followed by 5 News Update)9.00 Secrets of the World’s Most
Expensive Cruise Ships (HD)
Including a peek at the Seven
Seas Explorer’s connoisseur
drinks cellar, with its £3,000
bottle of cognac.10.00 Celebs Go Motorhoming: Back
on the Road (HD) New series.
Revisiting the 2017 adventures of
Lesley Joseph, Don Warrington,
Melvyn Hayes, Nick Heyward and
Cleo Rocos as they made their
way across the Welsh landscape.11.05 The Town the Gypsies Took
Over (R,HD) Documentary
exploring Britain’s oldest and
most exclusive Gypsy gathering,
the Appleby Horse Fair in
Cumbria, a festival attended
by more than 10,000 travellers.12.35 Lip Sync Battle UK: Jimmy Carr
vs Alexander Armstrong (R,HD)
1.00 The 21.co.uk Live Casino Show
(HD) 3.00 Access (HD) 3.10 Gotham:
Rise of the Villains (AD,R,HD) 3.45
FILM: National Security (2003) (12)
◆^ 5.10 House Doctor (BSL,R) 5.35
Wildlife SOS (BSL,R)(^) ▲ Particularly liable to offend
WELSH TV VARIATIONS
BBC1: 1.30pm BBC Wales Today; Weather. 6.30 BBC
Wales Today; Weather. 7.30 Kate Humble: Off the
Beaten Track. Kate’s sheepdog Teg plays damsel in
distress for a cave rescue team. 10.25 BBC Wales
Today; Weather. 10.35 Tudur’s TV Flashback. Archive
TV clips on the theme of work. 11.05 FILM: The King’s
Speech (2010) (12). Fact-based drama, with Colin
Firth and Geoffrey Rush. 12.55am New Tricks. The
detectives investigate two deaths. 2.00 BBC News.
BBC2: 9.45pm Wales at the Edinburgh Festival.
S4C: 6.00am Cyw. 12noon Newyddion S4C a’r
Tywydd. 12.05 Parti Bwyd Beca. 12.30 Heno. 1.00
Dylan ar Daith. 2.00 Newyddion S4C a’r Tywydd.
2.05 Prynhawn Da. 3.00 Newyddion S4C a’r
Tywydd. 3.05 Iolo Williams: Adar Cudd China.
4.00 Awr Fawr: Olobobs. 4.05 Awr Fawr: Patrol
Pawennau. 4.20 Awr Fawr: Da ’Di Dona. 4.30
Awr Fawr: Octonots. 4.45 Awr Fawr: Deian a Loli.
5.00 Stwnsh. 6.00 Bwyd Epic Chris. 6.30 Heno.
7.30 Newyddion S4C a’r Tywydd. 7. 5 5 Sgorio.
10.00 Aur y Noson Lawen. 11.00 Straeon Tafarn.
FILM
FILM