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

FRIDAY 19 NOVEMBER THE BEST TV FROM MUBI AND BEYOND...

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The Wheel Of Time

(Amazon Prime Video)

Rosamund Pike, recent

Golden Globe winner (for

I Care a Lot) has bided

her time in supporting

roles before bagging parts

deserving of her talent.

Now leading Amazon’s

most expensive project to

date, she is set to ascend

to superstardom. The late

author Robert Jordan’s

world-building tells a story

about protective females,

youngsters who might

save the planet (or

utterly destroy it)

and males mad

with power.

Move over

GoT, WoT

may yet

be the

parable of

our times.

Helen

Stewart

Military Wives (Sky Cinema

Premiere, 10.45am/8pm)

Inspired by the soldiers’

wives and girlfriends who

have formed choirs under the

Military Wives banner, this

drama from The Full Monty’s

Peter Cattaneo stars Kristin

Scott Thomas and Sharon

Horgan as army-base women

trying to run a singing group.

One is married to a colonel,

the other to a sergeant major,

and at first they lack harmony.

The story continues in this

formulaic key but its themes

have great poignancy. When

the choir sings about the pain

of waiting for news of a soldier

in harm’s way, you’re bound

to be moved. (2019)

A Vigilante (Film4, 9pm)

Sarah Daggar-Nickson’s film

about a woman punishing

domestic abusers is partly a

thriller and partly a solemn

account of the harm done by

violent men. Whatever you

make of this odd mixture,

it gains power from lean

storytelling and Olivia Wilde’s

tough performance. (2018)

Edward Porter

Carrie Underwood (BBC4, 10pm) On song: Scott Thomas (SCP, 8pm)

FILM CHOICE

ON DEMAND

Anne+
(Walter Presents on All4)

Mention Walter Iuzzolino’s

curated streaming channel

and you’ll most likely think
of Polish murder mysteries

or grand Spanish family

dramas about ruthless drug

cartels. This is something very
different, a coming-of-age-

Wonder Raps (Sky/Now)

Jacob Mitchell, a north

London English teacher,

became a media sensation

after a video of him rapping

The Gruffalo went viral. Now

Mitchell is MC Grammar,

using rap to teach Key Stage 2

learning, and these 15-minute

shows are a delight, with

everything from volcanoes

to digestion explained via

addictive rhymes.

Andrew Male

Keith Jarrett — The Art Of

Improvisation (BBC iPlayer)

This 2005 documentary about

the brilliant American jazz

pianist was clearly made with

the artist’s own approval. It is

unstintingly praiseworthy and

uncritical yet it is also deeply

uncomfortable, with the

famously irascible Jarrett

rankled by the even the most

benign questioning. You learn

so much, even when the film

is giving nothing away.

The Outsiders —

The Complete Novel

(Buy as stream/download)

Francis Ford Coppola’s 2005

recut of his 1983 film The

Outsiders is now available in

a digitally polished version.

Watching its heartfelt story of

teenagers in 1960s America,

we can marvel anew at its

round-up of future stars: they

include Patrick Swayze, Diane

Lane, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe

and Tom Cruise. EP

drama about a young gay

woman looking for love in

modern Amsterdam. Hanna

Van Vliet is spellbindingly

good in the lead role, so good

that you initially overlook how

simple and clever the show is.

Each of Anne’s relationships

is told in tiny 12-minute

episodes with a fluid casual

frankness that feels utterly

honest and natural. There

are no murders here, just life

and love lived to the full.

Let’s get this party started: Scott, Giedroyc, Norton, Adepitan and Ramsey (BBC1 ,7pm)

Children In Need

(BBC1, 7pm; BBC2, 10pm)

Under the eye ( just the one)

of Pudsey Bear, the annual

extravaganza returns for

another night of exuberant

fundraising, presented live

from Salford’s Media City UK

by Graham Norton, Mel

Giedroyc, Ade Adepitan, Alex

Scott and Chris Ramsey.

There’s a sprinkling of pop-

star glitter courtesy of Ed

Sheeran and Tom Grennan,

but, as ever, the main

incentive to tune in — and

donate — comes from novel

celebrity crossovers: an

ursine edition of The Repair

Shop, an Olympian sports

day and Danny Dyer hosting

a special round of The Wall.

In case we forget why we are

watching, short films again

highlight the organisations

that benefit from Children in

Need’s monumental work.

Victoria Segal

Country Music Awards

(BBC4, 10pm)

The 55th CMA Awards, hosted

by the singer Luke Bryan,
happened in Nashville on

Wednesday, with live turns by

Blake Shelton, Keith Urban,

Carrie Underwood, Jennifer
Hudson and Dierks Bentley.

BBC4 will broadcast highlights

tonight as part of an evening

of country music. Among the
highlights are a series of

documentaries on performers

and performances, kicking off

with Country Queens At The
BBC (7pm), then Kenny

Rogers — Cards On The

Table (9pm), an Old Grey

Whistle Test Emmylou Harris
special (11pm), and closing

with an Arena documentary

on Loretta Lynn at 11.40pm.

Feel free to leave your hat on.
Clair Woodward

Bruce Springsteen — In His

Own Words (PBS, 7.30pm)

This beguiling 2016

documentary features the

American musician reading

from his autobiography and

reviewing his considerable

achievements. Then 67, he

had insight into his difficult

father, whose work clothes

he adopted but in whose

footsteps he never followed.

The Wild Gardener

(BBC2, 8pm)

Two years ago, the wildlife

cameraman Colin Stafford-

Johnson (presenter of BBC2’s

Wild Ireland — The Edge of the

World) began transforming

his inherited boyhood garden

into a nature haven. Having

done so, he found himself the

ideal subject of two striking

documentary films.

Grand Day Out (C5, 8pm)

Susan Calman and her

beloved campervan are in

Kent, where she gets lost in

a maze in the confusingly

named Leeds Castle, catches

a plastic duck in Diggerland,

rides a bike to make a rope

and experiences bittersweet

memories of her granny at

the White Cliffs of Dover.

Helen Stewart

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Is WoT the

new GoT?