Best on the Box
Stuff’s James Croot picks out the best on the box for the week ahead.
Travel Man Florence Xmas Special 7.30pm, Sunday, Choice TV
A double-length edition of the best travel show on television. This sees host Richard Ayoade joined by Australian actress Rebel Wilson for a whiz around the Italian city in a mini-break which mixes art, a drive in a classic Alfa Romeo and some tripe.
Her 8.30pm, Sunday, Ma¯ori TV
While writer-director Spike Jonze’s ( Where the Wild Things Are, Being John Malkovich) 2014 flight of fancifulness had the potential to be prurient, sexist and extremely creepy, it’s actually one of the most touching romanticdramas in years. Perhaps that’s because its themes of loss of human connections and our growing reliance on electronic devices feel so pertinent. Amy Adams and Joaquin Phoenix are the human stars. However, it’s Scarlett Johansson’s disembodied voice that steals the show.
Dark Angel 8.30pm, Sunday, Prime
Downton Abbey‘ s Joanne Froggatt plays British serial killer Mary Ann Cotton in this two-part dramatisation which focuses on how a troubled woman descended into a career of casual murder. ‘‘I thoroughly enjoyed the first episode, though possibly not always as I was supposed to,’’ wrote The Guardian‘ s Sam Wollaston
Elizabeth I and her Enemies 7.30pm, Tuesday, History
Three-part British docudrama in which actress and supermodel Lily Cole plays the 16th-century monarch, while historians Dr Suzannah Lipscomb and Dan Jones detail her amazing reign. ‘‘The history, courtly and intimate as it was, was quite clearly explained, and the cast made the very best of it,’’ wrote The Independent‘ s Sean O’Grady.
The Great British Bake Off 7.30pm, Tuesday, Prime
This week’s finale also offers viewers the last chance to see Mary, Sue and Mel in the Bake Off tent. For the contestants, they have three royal challenges to navigate if they want to claim the crown.
Bridge of Spies 8.30pm, Wednesday, Three
Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance star in Steven Spielberg’s 2015 Cold War thriller about an American lawyer who is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, so the CIA can then exchange him for a US operative. ‘‘An absorbing true-life espionage tale very smoothly handled by old pros who know what they’re doing,’’ wrote The Hollywood Reporter‘ s Todd McCarthy.