TV & Radio
Highlights and listings
Doctor Who
It’s all change for the Time Lord as Jodie Whittaker finally reveals her take on the iconic role. The changes aren’t just confined to the lead actor as the sci-fi series moves to a Sunday night slot and has a new showrunner in Chris Chibnall, who wrote Broadchurch. The Doctor’s companions are played by Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill as the first episode, The Woman Who Fell To Earth involves an alien incursion in Sheffield.
Tomorrow, BBC1, 6:45pm
Troubles: The Life After
The Life After is a poetic, intimate account of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, told through the stories of a handful of people who lost loved ones during the conflict. It’s not the story of the politicians or the terrorists. It’s the story of the mothers, sisters and daughters who kept life going when everything around them was crumbling.
From 1969-2001 3,532 people were killed and 47,541 injured as a result of the Troubles. Many of these were civilians caught in the crossfire, as conflict and murder became part of the daily narrative.
This film, directed Brian Hill and Niamh Kennedy, tells some of their stories, including Virtue Dixon’s, whose daughter Ruth was killed on her 24th birthday when she was celebrating at the Droppin’ Well Inn in 1982. An INLA bomb brought the roof down, killing both civilians and British soldiers. Virtue tells the story of how life changed forever after the murder of Ruth. She does so partly in interview but also in specially written verses from Northern Irish poet Nick Laird. Each person in the film has their own poem, which crystallises and amplifies elements of their story.
Today, BBC2, 10pm
Last Chance Lawyer New York City
For criminal defence attorney Howard Greenberg, life is one long battle with the system. Loved by clients and feared by prosecutors, he’s the maverick of the New York courts.
This eye-opening four-part series follows Greenberg – aided by his wife Marie, a no-nonsense, former court reporter who casts a sceptical eye over his cases and trial strategy – as he represents a roster of clients hoping to walk free. In the first episode we follow the fortunes of Wanda, an ex-cop facing a five-year sentence after a romantic night-out went dramatically awry, and Tony, an award-winning barber accused of inflicting an embarrassing and painful injury on a love rival in a fit of jealousy (or, as the prosecutor sees it, attempted murder).
Tomorrow, BBC2, 9pm
The Bisexual
Desiree Akhavan has written, directed and stars in this comedy which follows the relationship and life dramas of New Yorker Leila, who is feeling lost in London having decided to go on a ‘break’ from her 10-year relationship with girlfriend and business partner Sadie (Maxine Peake). Moving out of their shared flat but still faced with the fresh hell of seeing her ex every day at their joint tech company, Leila ends up renting a room from neurotic novelist Gabe (Brian Gleeson), a Hackney-dwelling 30-something dwarfed by the success of his now forgotten debut novel.
Leila begins sleeping with men but struggles to come out as bisexual to her gay friends, most importantly her best mate, the near un-shockable Deniz (Saskia Chana). She finds an unlikely wingman in the form of Gabe. He helps her navigate a new life dating men and women – and Leila, in return, introduces wide-eyed Gabe to the London lesbian scene, whilst doing her best to help him decipher his unreadable, sort-of-girlfriend, sort-of student Francisca (Michelle Guillot).
The Bisexual will be shown on Channel 4 each week but the boxset can also be seen on All 4 after the first episode airs. ■
Wednesday, Channel 4, 10pm