Soul of the Cat The Honourable Woman (three episodes)

Nat Geo Wild, Channel 182, 19:50

Here’s a brand-new documentary that attempts to explain why cats behave the way they do by juxtaposing the behaviour of the small, domestic cats we know and love with their bigger, wild cousins. Perhaps there’ll be something in here to explain why even the nicest cat can act like a jerk sometimes. The writeup on Nat Geo’s website also puts the word “owners” in air quotes, like I just did. I wonder what they meant by that? Perhaps that nobody truly owns a cat? Or maybe a jest that cats seem to think they own us.

BBC First, Channel 119, 20:52

You can tell this thriller drama miniseries is British and not American quite easily — because Honourable is spelt correctly. It sounds familiar, but I can’t remember if I have picked it before. It’s an eight-part series starring Maggie Gyllenhaal as Anglo-Jewish Nessa Stein, head of the Stein group which does philanthropic work in the Middle East. This earns her the life peer title of The Right Honourable Baroness of Tilbury, but some dark secrets about her firm threaten it all. Gyllenhaal won a Golden Globe for her performance.