48 saturday review Saturday April 30 2022 | the times
Bosch: Legacy
Freevee
After seven series of Bosch on
Amazon, the LA detective gets
a spinoff series on the Freevee
channel (previously IMDb TV; it
can still be found as a carousel
on Amazon Prime Video’s
homepage). Still played by
Titus Welliver, Harry Bosch
is now a private eye rather
than a cop, called to the estate
of an ailing billionaire (William
Devane). Things are soon
complicated by powerful
figures with a vested interest,
while the continuing plotlines
of previous series regulars
Honey Chandler and Maddie
Bosch are weaved in too. But
this is Welliver’s show, his
Bosch a reliably solid and
ungimmicky presence. JJ
Tehran
Apple TV+The first series of Tehran
was acclaimed for the way it
tackled Israel’s “shadow war”
with Iran through the story
of Mossad operative Tamar
Rabinyan (Niv Sultan), a young
Jewish woman sent to Iran’s
capital to destabilise a nuclear
reactor. Suffice to say, things
did not go to plan. Series two
arrives today with a double bill
(then weekly) and the stakes
remain sky high, with the
addition of Glenn Close as
Tamar’s enigmatic new handler,
telling her: “We’re playing a
long game here. Not just one
operation but hundreds of
them.” Those who enjoyed
Homeland could give this
classy espionage series a go. JJLighthouses:
Building the
Impossible
Channel 5, 9pmThis series continues to offer
a pleasing reminder of just
what feats of engineering
lighthouses are — built in the
most inhospitable locations yet
rock-solid enough to weather
the elements battering them. In
episode two, Rob Bell explores
the curious history of the
Smalls in an isolated reef in
the Irish Sea. The place is
wrapped in dark tales, not
least the one about the keeper
who, in 1801, was forced to
share the site’s original
octagonal cabin with a dead
companion for four months. JJLove Life
BBC1, 10.40pmA second series for this
American anthology that
follows a millennial’s
relationship dilemmas. This
time we have the travails of
Marcus Watkins (played by The
Good Place’s Chidi, William
Jackson Harper), an urbane
and married book editor in
New York who then meets —
possibly — “the one” outside a
bar. What ensues doesn’t
necessarily follow a predictable
path, nor is it sentimental,
coming instead with some
modern bite and intelligence to
the dialogue as, for example,
Marcus wrestles with the
underlying racial politics of his
job and relationship. Harper is
a charismatic presence. JJFriday 6 | Viewing guide
Critic’s choice
The Terror: Infamy
BBC2, 9pm/9.50pm
A bit of horror for your Friday
nights. The first series of The
Terror portrayed the Victorian
Arctic endeavour of Captain
Sir John Franklin, with the
gory addition of a monstrous
spirit. Tonight the second
series arrives on BBC2 and
it’s a different story, this time
set against the historical
backdrop of America during
the Second World War.
However, events have a
distinctly Japanese feel as the
drama follows the Nakayama
family living in a fishing
community outside Los
Angeles. It is not a good time
to be a Japanese-American,
with the land of the free
turning against the family —
eventually locking them up in
internment camps. That’s in
itself a premise for very real
horror, but this also has more
ghostly concerns. It starts with
a woman in a white kimono
wobbling unnaturally down a
lonely pier before ending her
life. We don’t know why, but
her funeral is the first
indication that an old
bakemono spirit is on the
loose, one that’s able to slip in
and out of bodies undetected.
And why does young Chester
Nakayama find that his
funeral photos feature
mysterious blurry faces? It’s
a tantalising premise for
aficionados of the
supernatural or spooky
Japanese folklore, although
anyone enticed to watch
should expect a slow-burn
first episode. This isn’t about
cheap shocks; rather it’s a
mournful muse on human
nature. Nevertheless, every
so often there is a sinister
moment (a neck cracking,
eyes being possessed) to
remind you that, yes, this is a
horror and an intelligent one
at that. Star Trek fans will also
enjoy the supporting role of
George “Mr Sulu” Takei.
James JacksonPassport to Pimlico (U, 1949)
BBC2, 1pm
One of the most endearingly quirky of all the Ealing comedies,
Passport to Pimlico combines gentle eccentricity with a politely
subversive spirit. A Second World War bomb has uncovered an
ancient document that reveals that Pimlico in London is in fact
part of France. The locals, led by Stanley Holloway, gleefully set
about erecting borders and imposing import duties. The British
government doesn’t take kindly to this sudden outbreak of
Frenchness and imposes a blockade. Irreverent and spirited, this
is a real treat. The script was by the Ealing Studios regular TEB
Clarke, whose trademark was the logical development of absurd
ideas. The isolation of Pimlico and its support by Londoners was
a reference to the Berlin Blockade. (81min) Wendy IdeFilms of the day
Speed (15, 1994)
ITV, 10.45pm
Jan de Bont’s bomb-on-a-bus thriller goes from nought to 50mph
in a matter of seconds and keeps accelerating. The premise is
simple and effective: Keanu Reeves plays Jack Traven, a Swat
officer who incurs the wrath of a secretive extortionist, Howard
Payne (Dennis Hopper on excellent, scenery-chewing form), who
uses rigged explosives to demand a ransom. After his latest plot
is foiled, Payne presents Traven with the biggest challenge of his
career — a city bus wired to blow sky high if the speedometer
drops below 50mph. Behind the wheel is Annie Porter (Sandra
Bullock, above with Reeves), a passenger on the doomed bus.
Bullock learnt to drive a bus for the role, passing her test at the
first attempt. (113min) WI10.30 Mark Walters in the Footsteps
of Andrew Watson (r) 11.30-Midnight
Best of Only an Excuse (r)
● S4C 6.00am Cyw 7.10 Blero yn Mynd i
Ocido (r) 7.20 Anifeiliaid Bach y Byd (r)
7.30 Patrôl Pawennau (r) 7.45 Cacamwnci
(r) 8.00 Bing (r) 8.10 Cymylaubychain (r)
8.20 Asra (r) 8.35 Jen a Jim Pob Dim (r)
8.50 Nos Da Cyw (r) 8.55 Teulu Ni (r) 9.05
Y Brodyr Coala (r) 9.15 Ysbyty Cyw Bach
(r) 9.30 Sion y Chef (r) 9.45 Amser Maith
Maith yn Ôl (r) 10.00 Peppa (r) 10.05 Guto
Gwningen (r) 10.20 Caru Canu a Stori (r)
10.30 Octonots (r) 10.45 Cei Bach (r)
11.00 Odo (r) 11.10 Blero yn Mynd i Ocido
(r) 11.20 Anifeiliaid Bach y Byd (r) 11.30
Patrôl Pawennau (r) 11.45 Cacamwnci (r)
12.00 News 12.05pm Nyrsys (r) 12.30 Ar
Werth (r) 1.00 Prynhawn Da 1.55 News
2.00 Live Seiclo: Giro d’Italia. Stage one
4.30 Olobobs (r) 4.35 Digbi Draig (r) 4.45
Byd Tad-Cu (r) 5.00 Stwnsh: Siwrne Ni (r)
5.05 Oi! Osgar (r) 5.15 Ar Goll yn Oz (r)
5.35 Cic (r) 5.55 Ffeil 6.00 Codi Pac (r)
6.30 Garddio a Mwy (r) 6.57 News 7.00
Heno 7.30 News 8.00 Dim Byd i’w Wisgo
8.25 Welsh Whisperer: Ni’n Teithio Nawr
(r) 8.55 News 9.00 Rybish 9.35 Seiclo:
Giro d’Italia 10.05 Sgwrs Dan y Lloer (r)
10.35-11.40 FFlach: Dathlu’r 40 (r)
(r) repeat (SL) In-vision signing● BBC1 Wales As BBC1 except: 7.30pm
Weatherman Walking 8.00-8.30
Born Deaf, Raised Hearing: Our Lives
● BBC2 Wales As BBC2 except: 7.00pm
The One Show 7.30 Live Scrum V: Cardiff
v Zebre (Kick-off 7. 3 5) At Cardiff Arms
Park 9.30-10.30 Gardeners’ World 11.05
MOTDx 11.35-12.35am Attenborough’s
Big Birds: Natural World (r)
● BBC1 N Ireland As BBC1 except:
12.15pm-1.00 Vote 22 NI 1.30-6.00 Vote
22 NI 7.00-10.00 Vote 22 NI 10.30 Vote
22 NI 12.05am Have I Got News for You
12.35 The Other One 1.05 Love Life
1.40 Love Life 2.10-6.00 BBC News
● BBC2 N Ireland As BBC2 except: 4.15pm
Flog It! (r) 5.15-6.00 Pointless (r) 7.00
The One Show 7.30 Born Deaf, Raised
Hearing: Our Lives 8.00 Question of
Sport 8.30-9.00 Here We Go
● ITV Wales As ITV except: 7.00-7.30pm
Coast & Country. Exploring a fort
● STV As ITV except: 10.30-10.45pm STV
News 3.50-5.05am Unwind with STV
● UTV As ITV except: 1.55pm-6.00 Vote
22 7.00-7.30 Vote 22 9.00-10.00 Vote 22.
Coverage of the results 10.45 Tipping
Point 11.45-12.45am The Chase
● BBC Scotland 7.00pm The Seven 7.30
Live Sportscene: Championship Play-off
(Kick-off 7. 4 5) 10.00 Still Game (r)Regional programmes
Catch
up
Explorer: The Last Tepui
Disney+
The tepuis of Venezuela —
or “table-top mountains”
— are not just otherworldly
geological
features
rising up
from the
jungles (they
inspired
Arthur Conan
Doyle’s The
Lost World),
they are
biodiversity
hotspots
that are still
yielding newspecies. Over a strikingly shot
hour we follow an ecological
group trekking through the
rainforest before ascending
1,000ft up one side of a
tepui. Among the team is
80-year-old Dr Bruce Means,
looking to complete a life’s
work, which lends an elegiac
feel to the expedition. Yet if
the first half-hour is very much
an eco-doc,
then the
climbing begins
— and here
is the other
draw: Alex
Honnold, the
mad climber
who scaled
California’s
El Capitan
sans ropes
in the film
Free Solo. JJa
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