32 saturday review Saturday April 9 2022 | the times
“It’s chilling to think that such
a good night could go so
horribly wrong,” recalls a
young woman whose life
changed on May 22, 2017,
when Salman Abedi, the child
of Libyan refugees, detonated
a bomb packed with deadly
shrapnel in the Manchester
Arena. He killed 22 people
and injured hundreds. This
two-part documentary (which
concludes on Thursday) is a
powerful minute-by-minute
account of the tragedy;
testimony of the bereaved
and survivors is intercut with
the story of Abedi, from his
years growing up in the “Little
Tripoli” area of Manchester to
becoming a radicalised killer.
His father clearly exerted a
negative influence, but as
another father, Paul Hett,
right, whose son Martyn was
killed by Abedi, makes clear,
it’s no excuse. However
damaged his upbringing, he
had a choice about whether
or not to kill 22 people, Hett
says. The title is aptly chosen,
referring to the stark collision
between fun-loving people
keen to see Ariana Grande
perform and the dark world
of global terrorism. As
attested by David Anderson,
who conducted an
independent review of MI5
and counterterror policing in
the wake of the attack,
intelligence opportunities
were missed. Just as difficult
to process are the blunders of
the security staff and police
on the ground, as the
subsequent inquiry found.
Some officers were getting
takeaways when they should
have been on duty, and one
security officer was alerted to
Abedi’s unusual presence by
suspicious parents collecting
their children. One reason
the guard decided not to
intervene was that he was
worried of being accused of
racism. Ben DowellDispatches: Why
Are Your Energy
Bills So High?
Channel 4, 8pmWith gas and electricity bills
due to soar over the coming
months, the reporter Morland
Sanders examines the impact
on households across Britain.
As well as meeting families
faced with the choice of
whether to “heat or eat”, he
considers the reasons behind
the increase, from the global
spike in wholesale fuel prices
to Britain’s reliance on gas-
fuelled power stations. The
failures of energy companies
are under the spotlight, as are
the policies of the energy
regulator Ofgem. BDTravel Man
Channel 4, 8.30pmJoe Lycett takes his fellow
comedian Aisling Bea to the
beautiful city of Split in Croatia,
a destination that gives our
main man plenty of
opportunity for punning. He
starts by climbing a bell tower,
which offers another chance
for mildly smutty innuendo,
before they dive into a
whirligig of cooking,
paddleboarding, visiting a
museum full of stuffed frogs
and walking rescue dogs. This
show is often more pleasing for
us sofa-bound masses when
the visit is to a less enviable
location, but at least with Bea
there is less of the competitive
bantering you get with some
of his male companions. BDThe Split
BBC1, 9pmAbi Morgan’s schlocky saga
set among a family law firm
continues after the — spoiler if
you didn’t catch last week’s
opener — shock death of
James, Rose’s beloved
husband and one of the few
straightforwardly decent
characters in the ensemble. His
widow is distraught, but given
the complex architecture of
this world the ripples reach
deep into the lives of a good
number of people, not least
Nicola Walker’s Hannah. As well
as trying to console her sister,
she faces stark truths about
her husband, Nathan, newly
ensconced with his girlfriend
Kate and expecting their first
child. BD● UTV As ITV except: 10.45-11.55pm
View from Stormont
● BBC Scotland 2.00pm Sign Zone: Fish
Town (r) 2.30 Sign Zone: Scotland’s
Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle (r)
3.30-4.00 Sign Zone: Grand Tours of
Scotland’s Lochs (r) 7.00 Beechgrove (r)
7.30 Landward (r) 8.00 Pilgrimage (r)
9.00 The Nine 10.00 River City 10.30 The
Remotely Amusing Gameshow 11.00 How
We’re Wired 11.30-Midnight Legit (r)
● S4C 6.00am Cyw 11.05 Cymylaubychain
(r) 11.15 Bach a Mawr (r) 11.30 Sion y Chef
(r) 11.45 Amser Maith Maith yn Ôl (r) 12.00
News 12.05pm Pysgod i Bawb (r) 12.30
Heno (r) 1.00 Y Sioe Fwyd (r) 1.30 Gerddi
Cymru (r) 2.00 News 2.05 Prynhawn Da
3.00 News 3.05 Ffit Cymru (r) 4.00 Awr
Fawr: Blociau Rhif (r) 4.05 Blero yn Mynd i
Ocido (r) 4.20 Halibalw (r) 4.30 Sion y
Chef (r) 4.45 Amser Maith Maith yn Ôl (r)
5.00 Stwnsh: Cath-Od (r) 5.10 Angelo am
Byth (r) 5.20 Bwystfil (r) 5.30 Kung Fu
Panda (r) 5.55 Larfa (r) 6.00 Dim Byd i’w
Wisgo (r) 6.30 Rownd a Rownd (r) 6.57
News S4C 7.00 Heno 7.30 News 8.00
Adre (r) 8.25 Garddio a Mwy 8.55 News
9.00 Ffermio 9.30 Welsh Whisperer:
Ni’n Teithio Nawr (r) 10.00 Sgorio (r)
10.30-11.35 Gareth Jones: Nofio Adre (r)
(r) repeat (SL) In-vision signing● BBC1 Wales As BBC1 except: 8.00pm
Rookie Cops 8.30-9.00 Snowdonia: A
Year on the Farm 10.35 Panorama 11.05
Have I Got a Bit More News for You (r)
11.50 Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food
Stars (r) 12.50-1.35am Killing Eve (r)
● BBC1 N Ireland As BBC1 except:
8.00pm Beautiful Interiors Northern
Ireland 8.30-9.00 Panorama 10.35
Crime NI 11.15 Have I Got a Bit More News
for You (r) 12.05am Gordon Ramsay’s
Future Food Stars (r) 1.05 Question of
Sport (r) 1.35-6.00 BBC News
● BBC2 N Ireland As BBC2 except:
10.00pm-10.30 Beidh Aonach Amárach
11.15 NIFL Premiership Highlights
11.45 Couples Therapy 12.10am
Muhammad Ali 1.05-1.20 BBC News
● BBC1 Scotland As BBC1 except:
6.55pm-7.00 Party Election Broadcast
8.30-9.00 Scotland’s Home of the Year
10.35 Disclosure: Abused by My Teacher
11.15 Have I Got a Bit More News for You
(r) 12.00 Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food
Stars (r) 1.00am Killing Eve (r) 1.45
Weather 1.50-6.00 BBC News
● STV As ITV except: 6.25pm-6.30 Party
Election Broadcast 10.30 STV News
10.40 Scotland Tonight 11.05 DNA
Journey (r) 12.15-3.00am Teleshopping
3.50-5.05am Unwind with STVWildlife (12, 2018)
BBC2, 11.40pm
Carey Mulligan gives a gripping and nuanced turn as the mother
from heaven and hell in this startling directorial debut from the
actor Paul Dano. Set in the early 1960s and adapted from the
Richard Ford novel of the same name, it introduces us to Jeanette
(Mulligan), a chipper housewife in rural Montana who dotes on
her 14-year-old son, Joe (Ed Oxenbould), and dutifully tends to
her embittered former golfer husband, Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal).
When a wildfire suddenly drags Jerry from the narrative (he joins
an out-of-town firefighting unit) Jeanette seizes the moment
to discover her true identity with a booze-fuelled affair and
abandonment of the perfect-mom routine. You’ll root for
Jeanette even as you flinch at her actions. (105min) Kevin MaherFilms of the day
Carol (15, 2015)
Film4, 1.20am
Here is a lesson on the secrets of seduction from Cate Blanchett
and Rooney Mara (pictured left with Blanchett) in an exquisite film
by Todd Haynes. It delves into the lost arts and crafts of a raised
eyebrow, a smouldering glance, a sharp intake of breath, a brush
of a coral-polished fingernail, expensive scent and looks that thrill.
Set in New York in the 1950s, Carol concerns the forbidden love
between two women: the aspiring photographer Therese Belivet
(Mara) and the housewife, mother and sophisticate Carol Aird
(Blanchett). Precisely because their passion is unimaginable for
those around them, we soon become complicit in their secret
code. This allows Blanchett and Mara to deliver astounding
performances. (119min) Kate MuirHouse of Maxwell
BBC2, 9pmThe second part of Daniel
Vernon’s absorbing profile of
the publishing dynasty spends
the first half of tonight’s
episode continuing to chart
Robert Maxwell’s plundering of
the Mirror Group pension fund
and his bugging of senior
executives, one of whom was
given good cause to fear for his
life. Even in death, of course,
the shadow of Cap’n Bob looms
over proceedings, with the
subsequent investigation into
his deceit giving way to the
fraud trial involving his sons.
And then there is Ghislaine to
consider, looking to start a new
life in New York and hot on
the heels of a certain Jeffrey
Epstein. Euch. BDRegional programmes
Monday 11 | Viewing guide
Critic’s choice Worlds Collide:
The Manchester Bombing
ITV, 9pm
Catch
up
Falklands War: The
Untold Story
All4
This year
marks
the 40th
anniversary of the Falklands
conflict, and Harvey Lilley’s
documentary (part of the
Secret History strand) reveals
the untold story, in which
Britain sent nearly 30,000
young soldiers, sailors and
aircrew 8,000 miles to the
South Atlantic to reclaim the
islands after Argentine forces
invaded. One of the biggest
coups of the film is the
involvement of Michael Rose,head of the SAS in the
Falklands, who speaks publicly
for the first time about how the
British task force came close to
defeat. His testimony is
damning. Commanders and
ground troops speak candidly
about the campaign, revealing
how disjointed leadership and
unexpected
changes in plans
for the land
campaign led to
unnecessary
loss of life.
Joe ClayJ