13 February 2022 47
THE BEST TV FROM SKY AND BEYOND... THURSDAY 17 FEBRUARY
The influence of the beloved
comic and writer Barry
Cryer is still ringing around
the BBC. This evening, Jack
Dee, the current chairman
of I’m Sorry, I Haven’t a Clue,
presents the tribute show
Cryering With Laughter
(Thursday, Radio 4, 6.30pm),
with contributions from
the great man’s many
friends and colleagues.
Cryer had a long association
with Spike Milligan and there
are more than 100 episodes
of The Goon Show available
on BBC Sounds. There is
also a great interview with
Cryer on a 2016 edition of
Saturday Live (BBC Sounds)
where he talks about his
career, which shows how
he and his friends from his
early years (Bruce Forsyth,
the Pythons) became the
bedrock of the British
comedy we enjoy today.
Clair WoodwardAnnie Hall (BBC4, 9pm)
A repeat showing of Mark
Kermode’s Secrets of Cinema
documentary on Oscar-
winning films (8pm) precedes
two such movies on BBC4
this evening: 1978’s The
Deer Hunter (10.30pm) and
a classic romantic comedy
by Woody Allen. The loose,
chatty style of this New York
story (starring Diane Keaton
and Allen himself ) is now
such a standard romcom
mode that we barely consider
how innovative the film was in
its day. One thing that remains
instantly impressive, however,
is the success rate of the film’s
jokes: they are numerous and
consistently funny. (1977)The Fugitive (Sky Cinema
Greats, 10.15am/8pm)
Starring Harrison Ford as
an innocent man forced to
flee the law (represented
by Tommy Lee Jones), this
revamp of the 1960s TV series
has a relentless story and big
set pieces, and it wraps all of
this in a useful air of realism.
Dir: Andrew Davis (1993)
Edward PorterColdstreaming now (C5, 8pm) Keaton and Allen (BBC4, 9pm)FILM CHOICE
ON DEMAND
Magpie Murders (Britbox)
Adapted by Anthony Horowitz
from his own 2016 novel, this
might be the first metatextual
cosy-crime drama. Leslie
Manville stars as literary
agent Susan Ryeland, who
turns detective when her
best-selling writer, Alan
Conway (Conleth Hill) is found
Narco Wars (Disney+)
National Geographic channel’s
high production standards are
applied to the history of the
Mexican drug cartels and
organised crime. If you have
ever watched dramas such as
Narcos and Breaking Bad and
wondered if true-life stories
can compare to the fiction,
this is for you. Short answer:
the real stories are far more
terrifying and unbelievable.
Andrew MaleBillions (Sky/Now)
For five seasons, this US legal
drama was based on the war
of minds between wealthy
attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul
Giamatti) and hedge-fund
billionaire Bobby “Axe”
Axelrod (Damian Lewis). With
season six, Lewis has now
gone, and with him a certain
formula staleness. The show
may have lost an important
character, but it does have a
new-found narrative freedom.Cry Macho
(Buy as stream/download)
In his latest movie, Clint
Eastwood plays an old Texan
who mentors a 13-year-old
tearaway (Eduardo Minett).
Here in the real word, not
many young people will
be desperate to learn the
film’s hokey lessons, but its
director’s fans might be glad
to see him back in a cowboy
hat and ambling through a
gentle story. (2021) EPmurdered, the clues to his
death located in the missing
final chapter of his latest
manuscript. Parallel to her
investigation, the plot of
Conway’s mystery novel
unfolds, with Tim McMullen
playing the role of 1950s
master detective Atticus
Pünd. Playful yet ingenious,
it works as both a meticulous
Sunday-evening detective
series while also revealing the
inner workings of the genre.Relax and float downstream: Sandi Toksvig escapes to Devon (C4, 9pm)
Extraordinary Escapes
(C4, 9pm)
Sandi Toksvig is back, laying
on more rural mini-breaks
designed to medicate or
relieve the strains of fame,
overwork and multitasking of
fellow female celebrities. In
the case of Sarah Millican,
as with other guests, the
therapy that is on offer is
somewhat paradoxical: the
workaholism that commits
her to endless gigging is to
be cured by ... the extra,
bigger gig of this show, which
requires her to be funny
enough to ensure that a hefty
Channel 4 audience keeps
watching. Of course, the
stresses of this are to some
extent soothed by staying in
nice places in Devon, seeing
Exmoor ponies and being
pampered — but how relaxed
can you possibly be with a
film crew ever present?
John DugdaleCaroline — The Murder That
Fooled The World (C5, 9pm)
When the news broke last May
that a young British woman
had been murdered in Greece,
her baby left crawling over
her, the world was horrified.
It may be a stretch, however,
to say that the world was
fooled. While 19-year-old
Caroline Crouch’s husband,
Babis Anagnostopoulos (32),
appealed to television crews,
describing being bound and
gagged while his wife was
killed by unknown but
definitely immigrant figures,
wiser heads suspected his
involvement. This is a
workmanlike documentary,
produced with almost
indecent haste, but at least it
tries to place Caroline at the
centre of her own story.
Helen Stewart
Young Wallander (Netflix)
Near the start of this second
series, Wallander’s girlfriend
suggests the disaffected
detective (Adam Palsson)
gets out of the force to pursue
a new career as a stripogram
cop — what a series that
would have been. Instead,
he is drawn back into service
by a hit-and-run linked to a
high-profile murder.The Queen’s Guards —
A Year In Service (C5, 8pm)
Familiarity with this camera
crew must have helped the
Coldstream Guards when they
were handed a once-in-a-career
role to be watched by millions
— ceremonial duty at the Duke
of Edinburgh’s funeral. No
detail is overlooked as they
prepare for a defining event
in their regiment’s history.The Fear Index
(Sky Atlantic, 9pm)
Disaster capitalism assumes
a perturbing form when the
stock-trading AI developed by
Alex ( Josh Hartnett) predicts
an airline bombing, earning
his firm millions. But there is
no time for champers, as his
identity has been hacked and
he is implicated in the plot.
Toby EarleCRITICS’ CHOICE
Remembering the
great Barry Cryer