BEST OF THE REST
SHETLAND
BBC1, 9pm/BBC Wales, 10.40pm
PERHAPS it’s the choppy waters or the endlessly bleak, stormy weather, but this murder-mystery series is tense viewing even without the death.
As series five kicks off, a runner on the beach spots a severed hand partwrapped in a plastic bag. She’s pretty relaxed about this discovery, although we’re not sure that’s part of the plot.
It’s a grisly start to the thriller starring Douglas Henshall as detective Jimmy Perez, who turns up at the crime scene with sidekick Tosh (Alison O’Donnell). But before they can begin to draw conclusions, further body parts are found.
They all belong to a Nigerian man who had come to the island for an unknown reason. The team uses CCTV and checks his emails to trace his last movements. Then the investigation takes a sinister turn.
Watch out for a shoal of red herrings as locals all appear suspicious and the usual dogged work ethic of Perez, who is surely bound to crack the case.
CATASTROPHE
Channel 4, 10pm
EXPECT to laugh and cry in equal measure as this relationship and parenting comedy from Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney bows out with its final ever episode.
Sharon teases: “We really wanted to mess with everyone’s heads. It’s emotional and it’s a little bit longer than usual.”
She also adds: “It’s a little bit of a tribute to Carrie Fisher.”
Sharon and Rob arrive in Boston for a family holiday only to receive the tragic news that Rob’s mum Mia (Fisher) has died suddenly. It sets the episode up nicely for the arrival of an unwelcome family member, a ‘grief vampire’ and an opportunity to remember the real Carrie, who died in 2016 after filming series three.
Rob is struggling with his emotions as he deals with family politics as well as his grief.
Watch out for a particularly nasty argument, a genius funeral speech and an ending that will make you wish it would never end at all.