TONIGHT’S TV CHOICE
NEW Young Rock
Sky Comedy 8pm & 8.30pm Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson for US president in ten years’ time? That idea forms a futuristic fantasy in this sitcom fictionalising the early years of the champion wrestler and movie star but, hey, why not? As comedies go, it’s a bittersweet memoir as the musclebound grappler reveals a past life as a teen shoplifter. Mind you, it would have taken a brave security guard to nick him.
The Cleaner BBC1, 9.30pm
Few comic actors do misplaced outraged superiority better than David Mitchell so the casting is perfect here as Mitchell’s coldhearted author, Terence, gradually defrosts in the presence of crime-scene cleaner Wicky (Greg Davies, on top form). The result? A masterclass in bilious banter.
Wolfe Sky Max, 9pm
Babou Ceesay is the force of nature holding this forensic crime thriller together. His character, Wolfe, is a mess of contradictions, combining a sharp analytical mind with a roller-coaster emotional life. The two sides compete for attention when a car plunges dramatically from a bridge.
The North Water
BBC2, 9.30pm
You need to batten the hatches on your stomach for this gruelling voyage back in time to cope with the brutal world of 19th-century whaling ships. Colin Farrell is a riot of grunts and whiskers as harpoonhearted Drax so you fear for secretive surgeon Sumner ( Jack O’Connell) as he tries to pin down who sexually assaulted a cabin boy.