BBC iPLAYER, ALL 4 & YOUTUBE
TOURIST TRAP Hilarious spoof of the travel industry
If they were real people you would imagine that the staff of Wow! Wales would currently be furloughed – there can’t be much call for promoting the province as a holiday destination right now. But then again, they didn’t do a very good job of that anyway. Sally Phillips (Miranda) stars as Elaine, the PR company’s new CEO, determined to make a success of her role. However, with little experience of Welsh life and a team for whom the word ‘motley’ could have been invented, that’s not going to be easy. Elis James, Mike Bubbins and Mali Ann Rees co-star in this underrated mockumentary. BBC iPlayer, available now
STACEY DOOLEY: LOCKDOWN HEROES NEW SHOW Inspiring tales from the pandemic front line
The reporter’s day job usually involves jetting off around the world to investigate serious issues, but for obvious reasons Stacey Dooley currently can’t do that. So the BBC has tasked her with finding some of the pandemic’s unsung heroes from the safety of her own flat. Social media is her research tool, and she’s used it to locate teacher Charlotte, who is now managing a team of seamstresses making scrubs for NHS staff. She also hears from Freya, who rather than returning home decided to stay in Athens to help refugees, and Jonathan, who’s supporting Glasgow’s homeless. BBC3/iPlayer, from Wednesday 6am
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA A brilliant double act
Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo (above) were each described as ‘at the top of their game’ in Simon Godwin’s 2018 National Theatre production of Shakespeare’s tragedy. It’s not hard to see why the critics loved it: Fiennes plays Mark Antony, who falls in love with the Queen of the Nile, with a fiery passion as befits a member of Rome’s elite. Okonedo in turn is both gutsy and radiant as Cleopatra, last of the Ptolemies, fatally attractive to an ambitious general drawn by her Oriental allure. Played in modern dress, the production stresses the political background to the love story. ‘It’s not quite Romeo And Juliet and not quite Julius Caesar,’ said director Godwin, ‘but a bit of both.’ With a sting in its tail. YouTube, from Thursday
CRAFT PARTY Make, do and enjoy
If you thought Kirstie Allsopp had cornered the market in craft shows, think again. Her most recent series offered a few ideas to keep kids happy during the lockdown (her son Oscar even popped up to show her how it’s done), but this programme is packed full of them. It’s like the 1980s show Why Don’t You… but for the 21st Century. Here, youngsters demonstrate how to throw perfect themed parties (something nobody will be able to do for a while yet) by making a variety of props and food to accompany them. Unicorns, superheroes and slime are just some of the topics. BBC iPlayer, available now
TWIN T Sibling Si secrets start sta to unravel
This eight-part atmospheric thriller, set amid the lowering skies, fjords and islands of northern Norway, sees Game Of Thrones star Kristofer Hivju playing estranged, chalk-and-cheese twins Erik and Adam. While Adam runs a tourist business, Erik is a surfer dude on his uppers. An accidental death during a reunion after 15 years means Erik is forced to pretend to be his similarly hirsute sibling, and in doing so he finds that his brother was not so squeaky-clean after all. BBC iPlayer, available now
THE OTHER MOTHER NEW SHOW Satisfyingly twisty thriller
Malone, nearly four and at pre-school, draws disturbing pictures and insists his mother and father are not his real parents. His worried teachers call in a psychologist, who believes the child and goes to the police. Is it simply a case of an ‘overactive imagination’, as his loving parents say? Or might the boy (inset left) have been abducted? It’s tricky for the police, preoccupied with investigating a serious jewellery robbery. A six-part French thriller set in the port town of Le Havre. All4, all episodes from today