The Sunday Times Culture - UK (2021-11-14)

WEDNESDAY 17 NOVEMBER THE BEST TV FROM BRITBOX AND BEYOND...

1G

Martin Scorsese turns 79

today and Sky Cinema Greats

is celebrating with a run of

five films. After 1993’s The

Age Of Innocence (5pm)

and 2010’s Shutter Island

(7.20pm) comes the 1990

classic Goodfellas (9.40pm).

This is followed by 1991’s

Cape Fear (12.10am) and

Taxi Driver, from 1976

(2.20am). The director’s

thoughts on other people’s

movies fill two excellent

documentaries available

on BFI Player: A Personal

Journey is a history of

American cinema, and My

Voyage To Italy studies

that country’s films. Netflix,

meanwhile, has his most

recent works: the impish Bob

Dylan doc Rolling Thunder

Revue, the mob drama The

Irishman and Pretend It’s A

City, his series of chats with

the caustic Fran Lebowitz.

Edward Porter

The Wind And The

Lion (Great! Movies

Action, 4.45pm)

This epic distortion of

historical events stars Sean

Connery as a Scottish-

accented Moroccan warlord

who kidnaps an American

(Candice Bergen) in Tangier

in 1904. Teddy Roosevelt

(Brian Keith) is campaigning

for re-election as president,

and he sees a chance to prove

his mettle on the world stage.

Written and directed by the

gung-ho John Milius, the film

is happy to support military

zeal, but it also allows good-

natured humour amid its

rollicking action scenes and

David Lean-style vistas. (1975)

Ophelia (BBC2, 11.15pm)

Claire McCarthy’s Hamlet

rewrite drops most of the

play’s text and sidelines the

prince (George MacKay) in

favour of his girlfriend (Daisy

Ridley). Its shaky storytelling

thwarts its good intentions,

but its visual style — indebted

to the Pre-Raphaelites — is a

delight. (2018)

Edward Porter

Beauty and the beast (Netflix) MacKay and Ridley (BBC2, 11.15pm)

FILM CHOICE

ON DEMAND

Doctor Brain (Apple TV+)
Apple TV’s first Korean-

language drama conveniently

arrives in a world where

audiences are hungry for the
next Squid Game — and this

should fit the bill nicely.

Directed by the horror master

Kim Jee-woon, it stars Lee
Sun-kyun as a brilliant

Worzel Gummidge

(BBC iPlayer)

Perhaps the most unlikely

festive TV success of recent

years has been Mackenzie

Crook’s reworking of Barbara

Euphan Todd’s novels about

a scarecrow. In preparation

for this year’s offerings, it is

worth revising the previous

episodes and reminding

yourself of how special it is:

mystical, romantic and funny.

Andrew Male

Beer Masters

(Amazon Prime Video)

This latest Bake Off variant

is basically the allotment

home-brew competition

elevated to international

level. In each episode, five

teams are given the task of

making specific kinds of

lagers, tripels and porters,

judged by the brewer and

broadcaster Jaega Wise and

overseen by James Blunt, a

dryly funny host.

Jungle Cruise (Disney+)

Set in 1916, Jaume Collet-

Serra’s bland but cheerful

movie puts Dwayne Johnson

and Emily Blunt on a

steamboat and sends them

through ripping-yarn exploits

as they go down the Amazon.

For those who paid to watch it

in a cinema, the film’s journey

may not have provided great

value; for Disney+ viewers,

though, the trip is worth

taking. (2021) EP

neuroscientist, Sewon Koh,

searching for his missing son

by tapping into the brain

waves of recently dead

humans and, in one instance,

a dead cat that might have

witnessed a kidnapping.

Part sci-fi, part horror, part

supernatural detective drama,

it is perhaps not as clear in

its design as Squid Game

but it is similarly offbeat and

inventive with a dry wit at

the heart of all its lunacy.

Needs some updating: will George Clarke fix Rosie and Ben’s wobbles? (C4, 8pm)

Old House, New Home

(C4, 8pm)

Whether you are actively

participating in the post-

lockdown home-improvement

boom or just enjoy a spot

of vicarious rewiring, this

programme is a trove of

inspiration. The residence

expert George Clarke helps

transform elderly houses that

just weren’t made for these

times — here, a Victorian

terrace in Worthing afflicted

by an ungainly kitchen and

unloved dining room, and a

400-year-old Worcestershire

cottage with wobbly beam

issues. If that’s not enough of

an architecture fix, domestic

god Kevin McCloud returns

to present Grand Designs

— House Of The Year

(C4, 9pm), revealing the

first five houses competing

for a place on the Riba-

approved shortlist.

Victoria Segal

Tiger King (Netflix)

Netflix launches its second

series about the messy

personal life of Carole Baskin,
her husband, Howard, and

their nemesis, Joe Exotic,

with the boast: “We’ve only

scratched the surface.” It is
hard to see what new material

the directors could have come

up with. Exotic has spent the

year in jail, but Baskin, big-cat
rescuer, internet hate figure

and competitor on the 2020

series of Dancing with the

Stars, recently failed to have
courts remove footage of her,

so perhaps there is something

here. The streaming service’s

ability to stretch lengthy series
from the flimsiest of premises

has taught us not to under-

estimate its determination

to flog a dead tiger.
Helen Stewart

Between The Covers

(BBC2, 7pm)

The guest policy is much the

same, with three comedians

(Fern Brady, Lou Sanders and

John Thomson) in Sara Cox’s

panel, but are the books now

a bit more challenging? Jared

McGinnis’s The Coward is the

new title reviewed, Jeanette

Winterson and Penelope

Fitzgerald also win applause.

Portrait Artist Of The Year

(Sky Arts, 8pm)

The scientist Maggie Aderin-

Pocock, the historian David

Olusoga and the dancer Sergei

Polunin are the sitters tonight

in a round featuring a fun

disagreement between Joan

Bakewell (“Are you frightened

of not being trendy?”) and

painter Kathleen Soriano

(“No, I’m frightened of you!”).

Live At The Apollo

(BBC2, 10pm)

More random shuffle than

curated comedy, a line-up that

has South Africa’s Loyiso Gola

hold forth on air travel and

first impressions of the UK;

Scott Bennett’s confessions of

a husband and dad; and Helen

Bauer on weight, wine and

two-kebab nights out.

John Dugdale

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Scorsese — a

personal journey