THE BEST TV FROM APPLE+ AND BEYOND... TUESDAY 28 DECEMBER
19 December 2021 77Agatha Christie is a festive
phenomenon, and this
year there are several
incarnations of Poirot to
choose from. Today, BBC2
looks at how the author’s
mysteries have been treated
by film-makers over the years
in Agatha Christie: Talking
Pictures (2.20pm), followed
by a double-bill of Peter
Ustinov’s portrayal in Evil
Under The Sun (2.50pm)
and Death On The Nile
(4.45pm). Later, Channel 4
show Poirot’s most heavily
mustachoied incarnation as
Kenneth Branagh takes the
role in 2017’s Murder On
The Orient Express (9pm),
while the 1974 version of the
film starring Albert Finney
is on BBC2 tomorrow at
4.55pm. David Suchet fans
shouldn’t feel ignored — he
makes an appearance on
ITV3 on Thursday (3.50pm)
Clair WoodwardGone viral: Van-Tam (BBC4, 8pm)ON DEMAND
Superman & Lois
(BBC iPlayer)
On the one hand, you are an
all-powerful alien being and
superhero married to the love
of your life. On the other, you
are an unemployed journalist
living in rustbelt America and
trying to deal with two out-of-
control teenage sons. That is
The Brittas Empire (Britbox)
Running from 1991 to 1997,
Andrew Norriss’s series is best
remembered for the painfully
brilliant performance by Chris
Barrie as the incompetent
bureaucrat Gordon Brittas, but
what strikes home now is the
surreal invention of its wilder
episodes and the show’s
emphasis on the emotional
violence wrought by Gordon’s
delusion of his own genius.
Andrew Malethe dilemma of this reboot
in which Tyler Hoechlin’s
Superman and Elizabeth
Tulloch’s Lois Lane are now
stressed-out, middle-class
parents battling domestic
mundanities alongside evil
supervillains. It’s an approach
that sounds quite dull, but by
rooting all its characters in a
believable backstory, the show
brings emotional weight and
purpose to every dazzling
comic-book clash.It’s scarecrow tea break time for Francesca Mills and Mackenzie Crook (BBC1, 7.15pm)Worzel Gummidge
(BBC1, 7.15pm)
It’s a feather in a scarecrow’s
cap, it seems, if he can
attract a chattering of
choughs. Performing a
dance enables Worzel
(Mackenzie Crook) to
lure them to his field, but
then he finds he has lost the
knack of getting rid of them.
Already angry and planning
to replace him with a
machine, the farmer (Steve
Pemberton) is further riled
when news of the choughs
— humiliatingly gathered
around the hapless Worzel
— draws a pack of twitchers
and a television crew. A fine
mix of adult social comedy
and kids-to-the-rescue
children’s story, Crook’s
latest tale is unusual in
focusing on the bird-scarer’s
job and giving Pemberton
a bit of acting to do.
John DugdaleRoyal Institution Christmas
Lectures (BBC4, 8pm)
Given the state of the last
month of 2021, a three-
lecture series about Covid
will almost certainly attract
a significant audience, even
if few would count it as ideal
holiday entertainment. Those
eager for knowledge, then,
should hear this discussion of
viruses by briefing superstar
Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s
deputy chief medical officer,
and six other scientists,
including Prof Kate Ewer, a
cellular immunologist, and
Prof Ravi Gupta, a clinical
microbiologist. Topics include
the detection of viruses, their
destruction and the impact
the pandemic will have on
public health and the fight
against infectious diseases.
Victoria Segal
Hitler’s Circle Of Evil
(PBS America, from 1.35pm)
Chilling archive footage blends
with dramatisation in this
series about Hitler’s associates
— from “yes man” Rudolph
Hess and “glamorous”
architect Albert Speer to
“thug” Martin Bormann — and
their grim jostling to be the
Führer’s favourite against the
backdrop of the Berghof.JFK — Destiny Betrayed
(Sky Documentaries, 8pm)
After 1991’s intense film JFK,
you might think Oliver Stone
had exhausted the Kennedy
assassination. This four-part
series says otherwise: a
“bookend” and an update,
it examines new evidence
as well as the process of
revealing the redacted past.
Victoria SegalA Play In A Day
(Sky Arts, 9.30pm)
Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic
director of the Young Vic,
challenges recent theatre and
dance graduates with making
art worthy of performance in
just shy of 24 hours. First up,
controversial ballet star Sergei
Polunin co-creates a piece
with two young dancers.
Helen StewartCRITICS’ CHOICE
Who’s your
favourite Poirot?
The Meg (C5, 9pm)
For a film that pits Jason
Statham against a giant
prehistoric shark, Jon
Turteltaub’s popcorn movie is
disappointingly well behaved.
It shuns blood and gore to give
it better access to pre-teen
viewers. Whatever your age,
though, there is pleasure to be
had from the film’s over-the-
top mayhem. The jokiness is
underpinned by a good sense
of humour; the action scenes
are well directed; and Statham
— a playful tough guy and a
former competitive diver —
is in his element. (2018)The BFG (BBC1, 3.25pm)
Steven Spielberg and Roald
Dahl, two large figures in
children’s entertainment,
squeeze comfortably together
in the former’s movie of the
latter’s book about a Big
Friendly Giant (played here
by Mark Rylance). The tale’s
sharper moments are not too
squashed by the director’s
love of wonder. (2016)Your No 1 fan: Bates (C4, 11.15pm)FILM CHOICE
Wallace & Gromit In The
Curse Of The Were-Rabbit
(BBC1, 1.55pm)
The clay-model duo’s only
feature film is fully worthy of
them. Its action scenes are
conceived on a particularly
grand scale yet never allowed
to crowd out the sweet-
natured humour we expect
from the pair. In a parody of
monster movies, they become
pest controllers — trading as
Anti-Pesto — and soon face a
bizarre menace: a giant rabbit-
like beast (whose origins are
no shock). Co-dirs: Steve Box,
Nick Park (2005)Misery (C4, 11.15pm)
Based on a Stephen King
novel, this thriller has things
to say about the price of
literary fame: its hero is an
author ( James Caan) at the
mercy of a madly possessive
fan (Kathy Bates). There is
nothing whiny or snobbish,
though, in Rob Reiner’s film.
It tells its frantic, grisly tale
with lots of black comedy and
it has a certain love for Bates’s
cheerful maniac. (1990)
Edward Porter