28 saturday review Saturday January 1 2022 | the times
A young man from Hull
called Anthony Walgate (Tim
Preston) is showcasing a
fashion show in London, his
loving family cheering him
on. Before long, Walgate is
found dead in Barking, east
London. Anthony’s is the first
of the four lives of the title
taken by serial killer Stephen
Port in this moving
dramatisation of a real and
disturbing case. What first
shocks us is that the man
who dialled 999 to report an
unresponsive person lying
near his flat was Port himself,
with the police doggedly
assuming Anthony died from
a drug misadventure. In
tonight’s first episode (it
continues until Wednesday)
we also meet another of
Port’s victims, Slovak Gabriel
Kovari (Jakub Svec), who was
found dead in a nearby
churchyard after being
drawn into the killer’s orbit.
Port is played by Stephen
Merchant, who ably captures
the darkness of a man who
wore his weirdness openly,
sporting a wig and being
obsessed with children’s
toys. Sheridan Smith, right,
plays Anthony’s mother
Sarah in the type of role
familiar to her fans: warm-
hearted and ravaged by
grief, it’s her tenacity that
joins the dots of the case.
Before the drama starts we
are told that “this is a true
story” and scriptwriter Neil
McKay is scrupulous with the
stark facts of the case, much
of which emerged at the
inquest; this includes the
message Anthony sent about
his safety before visiting
Port. McKay’s portrayal of
the police’s error-strewn
indifference (and lack of
adequate resources) comes
in many forms, including the
fact that detectives didn’t
even pronounce Anthony’s
name correctly. Ben DowellAttenborough’s
Wonder of Song
BBC1, 6.30pm“There are few more
enchanting natural
soundscapes than this,” David
Attenborough says, greeting
the dawn chorus on a cold
spring day. He then introduces
us to a sort of Desert Island
Attenborough, his favourite
seven recordings of bird and
animal sounds taken during
his career. The sight of rutting
birds allows the presenter to
remind us that however
beautiful the nightingale or
lyrebird (or humpback whale)
sound, it is “whimsical” of us
to describe them as “song”
because such noises are very
often “weapons of war”. BDInside Dubai
BBC2, 9pm“This one... belongs to the
Mugabe family... they do
amazing parties, actually, on
New Year’s Eve,” says Dubai
resident Gaynor Scott as she
drives through the luxurious
suburb of Emirates Hills,
home to some of the Arabian
desert oasis’s 52,000
millionaires and 2.5 million
expats. The lack of self-
awareness of some of the
people we meet is the chief
joy of this gawp (subtitled
Playground of the Rich). As
we’re shown round her home,
Scott picks up two books by
Dubai’s (cough) controversial
ruler Sheikh Mohammed and
tells us how great she thinks
he is. Mmmm. BDThe Great
Salvador Dalí
BBC4, 9pmThe second series of Art on
the BBC essays based on a
rummage through Auntie’s
archives by young British art
historians begins with David
Dibosa on Dalí. Given Dalí’s
showmanship and use
of television to promote
himself, the format works
particularly well here.
However, the critical
consensus is not wholly
favourable. Andrew Graham-
Dixon bemoans the kitsch
horrors of Dalí’s mausoleum
and Robert Hughes describes
the painter’s tache as “the
only rival to Van Gogh’s ear
and Picasso’s potency”. BD● S4C 6.00am Cyw 7.00 Bach a Mawr (r)
7.10 Ty Mêl (r) 7.20 Shwshaswyn (r) 7.30
Fferm Fach 7.45 Pablo 8.00 Blociau Rhif
(r) 8.05 Sbridiri (r) 8.25 Guto Gwningen (r)
8.40 Anifeiliaid Bach y Byd (r) 8.50 Cei
Bach (r) 9.05 Olobobs (r) 9.10 Oli Wyn (r)
9.20 Octonots (r) 9.30 Antur Natur Cyw
(r) 9.45 Patrôl Pawennau (r) 10.00 Peppa
(r) 10.05 Jamborî (r) 10.15 Guto Gwningen
(r) 10.30 Tili a’i Ffrindiau (r) 10.40 Dathlu
’Da Dona (r) 10.55 Ynys Broc Môr Lili (r)
11.05 Nico Nôg (r) 11.15 Patrôl Pawennau
(r) 11.30 Fferm Fach (r) 11.45 Sion y Chef
(r) 12.00 Cymry ar Gynfas (r) 12.30pm
Heno Aur (r) 1.00 Cegin Bryn (r) 1.30 Y
Tyrchwyr gyda Iolo Williams (r) 2.00
News 2.05 Pantomein y Ffermwyr Ifanc
(r) 3.00 News 3.05 Am Dro Selebs! (r)
4.00 Awr Fawr: Timpo (r) 4.10 Jamborî (r)
4.20 Nico Nôg (r) 4.30 Fferm Fach (r)
4.45 Patrôl Pawennau (r) 5.00 Stwnsh:
Cath-Od (r) 5.10 Siwrne Ni (r) 5.15 Arthur
a Chriw y Ford Gron (r) 5.30 Sgorio (r)
5.55 Larfa (r) 6.00 Byd o Liw: Cestyll (r)
6.30 Rownd a Rownd (r) 6.57 News S4C
7.00 Adre (r) 7.30 24 Awr (r) 7.45 News
8.00 Yn Y Ffram 8.55 News 9.00 Teulu
Shadog: Blwyddyn ar y Fferm 9.30
Bois y Rhondda (r) 10.00 Sgorio (r)
10.30-11.35 Gwesty Aduniad (r)
(r) repeat (SL) In-vision signing● BBC1 Wales As BBC1 except:
9.00-10.00pm Slammed
● BBC2 Wales As BBC2 except: 9.00pm
Four Lives. Fact-based drama starring
Stephen Merchant and Sheridan Smith
10.00 Inside Dubai: Playground of the
Rich. New series exploring life in
the tax haven 11.00-11.30 Coast (r)
● BBC1 N Ireland As BBC1 except:
10.35pm The Blame Game Best Bits
11.05 Have I Got 2021 News for You (r)
11.50 Mrs Brown’s Boys New Year’s
Special (r) 12.20am The Graham Norton
Show (r) 1.25-6.00 BBC News
● BBC2 N Ireland As BBC2 except:
10.00pm Ar an Sliabh 10.30 Frankie
Boyle’s 2021 New World Order (r) 11.15
NIFL Premiership Highlights 11.50-
12.05am Barra on the Foyle (r)
● STV As ITV except: 4.15-5.05am
Unwind with STV. Daily relaxation
● BBC Scotland 2.00pm Sign Zone: Inside
the Zoo (r) 3.00 Sign Zone: Inside Central
Station (r) 4.00-4.05 Sign Zone:
Resolutions (r) 7.00 The Seven 7.15
Sportscene 7.45 Rewind 1980s (r) 8.00
This Farming Life (r) 9.00 Walter: A Life in
Football (r) 10.00 River City. Kim fears for
her safety following Simon’s release 11.00
Karen Dunbar Show (r) 11.30-Midnight
Gary: Tank Commander (r)The Train (15, 1964)
BBC2, 1.55pm
A pair of high-class performances power this Second World War
yarn. Burt Lancaster, below, is Paul Labiche, a member of the
French Resistance pitched against Paul Scofield’s German
colonel Franz von Waldheim, who is trying to move stolen art
masterpieces by train from France to Germany. Labiche is, of
course, the hero in this rail-bound tussle, but, as Waldheim tells
him in a scathing speech: “A painting means as much to you as a
string of pearls to an ape. Beauty belongs to the man who can
appreciate it.” The film’s high-calibre credentials also include
John Frankenheimer, the acclaimed director behind Birdman of
Alcatraz and The Manchurian Candidate, and Maurice Jarre,
composer of the score. (142min) James JacksonFilms of the day
The Fog (15, 1980)
Sky Max/Now, 9pm
Made on the back of the success of the original Halloween, John
Carpenter’s The Fog is an arguably more atmospheric chiller, in
which a luminous fog rolls into a Californian seaside town, bringing
the ghosts of vengeful sailors killed in a shipwreck a century
before. As is often the case with Carpenter, women get the best
roles: Jamie Lee Curtis, his favourite leading lady, as a hitchhiker;
Adrienne Barbeau as the velvet-voiced local radio DJ. Brace
yourself for that tap of a hooked hand at the window... The movie
cost only $1 million to make, with the studio spending three times
as much on promotion. The costs included installing fog machines
($350 each) in the lobbies of selected cinemas where the movie
was showing. (89min) Ed Potton24 Hours in
Police Custody
Channel 4, 9pmA 999 call from a couple in St
Neots, Cambridgeshire,
reports that a baby is
unresponsive and has
stopped breathing, kick-
starting this harrowing two-
part account of a story of
child neglect, cruelty and
spousal abuse that shocks
even the hardened
professionals. Once again, the
level of access afforded the
camera team is extraordinary,
as we move from footage of
the anxious couple in hospital
to the early stages of a
murder investigation that
concludes on Tuesday. Not an
easy watch. BDRegional programmes
Catch
up
You Don’t Know Me
BBC iPlayer
The screenwriter Tom Edge
(Vigil) has adapted the
bestselling 2017 novel
by the criminal
defence barrister
Imran Mahmood into a
gripping four-part
courtroom thriller. In the
opening scene Hero
(Samuel
Adewunmi,
right), a
young man
from south
London, is
in the dock
accused ofmurder. We hear the closing
speech from the prosecution
barrister, who reveals the
overwhelming evidence
against him. It seems like
an open-and-shut case. But
then Hero dismisses his
legal counsel and exercises
his right to present his
own closing speech,
telling the jury that he
is innocent and
sharing a very
different sequence
of events. Car
salesman Hero’s story,
which our protagonist
narrates, shines a light
on gang culture and
the pressures on
young men. It’s also
a love story. But
will the jury
believe him?
Joe ClayBank Holiday Monday | Viewing guide
Critic’s choice
Four Lives
BBC1, 9pm