PICK OF THE WEEK TV review Never a chandelier around when you need one

SATURDAY Strictly Come Dancing Launch Show 2018 (BBC1, 7.35pm) Massacre at Ballymurphy (C4, 8pm)

TV EXTRA: RETURN OF SERIES WHERE STATING THE OBVIOUS IS A NO-NO Page 78

It’s not quite time to dust off those dancing shoes and spandex just yet – the new series proper of the pro-celebrity ballroom contest is still a couple of weeks away – but this launch show gives fans the chance to meet the celebrities taking part and see who they have been paired with. The line-up for this year has had a mixed reception. Tonight’s show features a medley of Nile Rodgers’ greatest hits performed by Chic and the man himself, while Craig David and Stefflon Don join him to showcase their new single.

It is a massacre that few have heard of, yet the tragic Ballymurphy shootings was one of the most significant events of the Troubles. This new documentary from award-winning director Callum Macrae reflect on the day in August 1971 when 11 innocent people were killed by the Army on a Catholic estate in west Belfast. The British military has always maintained that the paratroopers were fired on first by IRA gunmen but this investigation suggests that may not have been the case and chronicles the fight by the victims’ relatives and survivors to discover the truth.

Last Night of the Proms (BBC1, 9pm)

The classical music celebration continues live from the Royal Albert Hall with the ever-popular Marche Militaire Francaise by Saint-Saens. Award-winning 18-year-old saxophonist Jess Gillam performs Scaramouche by Milhaud. Plus baritone Gerry Finley performs the Soliloquy from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, and there is a nationwide singalong of traditional First World War songs with contributions from the Proms in the Park events in Glasgow, Belfast and Swansea. The event is then brought to its familiar and rousing close with Rule, Britannia!, Land of Hope and Glory and Jerusalem.

The Jonathan Ross Show (STV, 9.45pm)

The host is joined by a green room full of stars as the 13th series of his chat show continues. First up, Hollywood actors Cate Blanchett and Jack Black discuss their new fantasy film The House with a Clock in its Walls. Then Joanna Lumley talks about her new ITV travelogue series in which she embarks on a 7,000-mile journey following the route of the Silk Road across Asia and Europe. Diversity choreographer and dancer Ashley Banjo also drops by, as do Ray Winstone and Paul Whitehouse. Finally, John Legend performs his single A Good Night live.

SUNDAY Battle of Britain: Model Squadron (C4, 8pm)

Winston Churchill called it “our finest hour”. Now, as part of the RAF’s centenary, the Battle of Britain is brought to life like never before, as top model airplane pilots recreate the days that changed history. This exciting three-part series sees modellers fill the skies above the south coast of England with the buzz of Spitfires and Hurricanes, as they push themselves and their miniature flying machines to the limit – dive-bombing and taking part in aerial encounters and dogfights. They will be

ON reflection, it was not the best idea to do the ironing while watching Wanderlust (BBC1, Tuesday, 9pm). Within the first minute actors Toni Collette and Steven Mackintosh were taking this off and unbuckling that, all the while the bedroom lights blazing, shameless as you like.

I didn’t know what was producing more steam, the pictures on the screen or my trusty Russell Hobbs, but after almost ironing my left hand I switched the appliance off for safety’s sake to concentrate on what was happening between Joy and Alan, therapist and English teacher respectively.

Not really. That sort of ooh-er missus, “Where’s Mary Whitehouse when you need her?” reaction was, one assumes, what was hoped for. Widely trailed as a work that would push boundaries where they had never been pushed before so soon after the watershed, one newspaper was so appalled at the prospect it printed a handy guide to the naughty bits, complete with screen grabs and timings, just in case you missed them.

In reality, Nick Payne’s drama came across as a swish comedy of sexual manners, adapted from his play, and ably performed by two fine actors. Though it was difficult to believe mousey Alan had ever landed the glamorous Joy (you can take the actress out of Hollywood…), they were convincing in their bedroom boredom. “I don’t want to have the same old sex,” said Joy, looking around for a chandelier to swing from and finding none. Given what is available on television these days it was mild, even rather dull. That said, it would have been more at home on BBC2.

For all the hype surrounding Wanderlust, Vanity Fair (STV, Sunday,

joined in this epic endeavour by pilots from Germany, who are bringing Messerschmitts Bf 109 and 110, Heinkel 111 and Stuka dive-bombers to the UK. Meanwhile, author and historian James Holland uncovers the strategy, tactics and history of those key moments in the summer of 1940 when the future of the British Isles hung in the balance.

Bodyguard (BBC1, 9pm)

As the security service’s position grows weaker, the police take the opportunity to reclaim control of the investigation. David struggles to come to terms with the devastating events of the previous 24 hours and finds himself being questioned by counter-terrorism agents. Pushed to breaking point, he finds an unexpected source of support in his estranged wife,

9pm) and Press (BBC1, Thursday, 9pm), the week’s best new drama was far and away Mother’s Day (BBC2, Monday, 9pm). Unlike the others, Nick Leather’s drama, dealing with the IRA bombing of Warrington the day before Mother’s Day in 1993, had the tragic and unwanted advantage of being true.

Leather chose to focus on the parents of Tim Parry, 12, one of the two children, the other being Johnathan Ball, three, who were murdered that day. In particular, he looked at the relationship that grew up between the Parrys and a Dublin mother who started a peace

who leaves him determined to take an active role in the case – starting by finding out more about those in the government who work closely with Julia.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Monumental Lives (BBC4, 9pm)

Best remembered for wrapping architecture and natural elements in fabric, collaborative artist duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s works were often unprecedented in scale, such as The Gates in New York’s Central Park, Running Fence down the California coast and Wrapped Coast in Australia. Part of France’s nouveau realisme movement, the artists’ temporary textile interventions required dedicated planning and execution through detailed drawings. “We wish to create works of art, works of