What not to miss in the week ahead Our Girl Growing Up Gifted
DOCUMENTARY Putin: A Russian Spy Story
This year Vladimir Putin marked 20 years in office with a dramatic overhaul of the Russian constitution, which could allow him to retain power after his presidential term expires in 2024.
This three-part series reveals the man behind the Bond-villain image; a teenage tearaway who was so taken by the Russian version of James Bond he became a spy; a president who has been accused of employing poisons against his enemies and who is blamed for bringing Brexit and Trump to the West. Told in his own words using an extraordinary range of archive footage, the series will explore Putin’s rise to power, his personal life, control and his global expansion.
Monday, Channel 4, 9pm
DRAMA
The army drama returns with Michelle Keegan reprising her role as medic Georgie Lane. After previous series set in Nepal, Nigeria and Kenya, the new season sees Georgie, now a sergeant, returning to Afghanistan to help support the new recruits she has been training. New cast members include Nico Mirallegro and Eastenders’ Danny-boy Hatchard as Private Rhett ‘Cheese’ Charlton. Tuesday, BBC1, 9pm
DOCUMENTARY Pictures From Afghanistan
Photojournalist David Pratt has spent almost 40 years capturing images of conflict across the globe.
Through this new hour-long documentary, David shows why Afghanistan, the country and its people are so important to him.
During the film he reflects on his young days photographing the
Mujahideen during the war against the Soviets and being embedded with British troops out in the field after 9/11. His latest trip back takes him to the Russian Centre for Science and Culture, a site he’d previously photographed when it was a ruin in the frontline and is now run by Vyacheslav Nekrasov, a Russian intelligence officer in the 1980s; and to Kabul Zoo, once reduced to rubble but now a haven of peace.
Tuesday, BBC Scotland, 10pm
DOCUMENTARY
Cops Like Us
The sobering look at the realities of policing in Staffordshire turns its attention to the challenges of investigating domestic incidents, an area where police used to routinely look the other way. Now though, all domestic incidents are treated as priority calls, but there are an increasing number that turn out to be nothing more than petty squabbles, and officers are frustrated about the amount of time they spend resolving family arguments and advising people on their personal lives, diverting resources from genuine crime – burglaries, car thefts and antisocial behaviour.
Tuesday, BBC2, 9pm
DOCUMENTARY
The series following six bright children from deprived backgrounds returns to see how they are getting on.
As GCSES loom, the complexities of their teenage lives include family break-up, inadequate housing and the day-to-day pressures of surviving on low incomes.
Wednesday, BBC2, 9pm
COMEDY
Mister Winner
Spencer Jones stars as Leslie Winner, a loveable loser who seems to get everything wrong in this cheerful, traditional sitcom.
With a wedding to plan and pay for, Leslie needs to find and keep a job. It leads to working on a house clearance job with his future father-in-law Chris (Shaun Williamson), where he finds an abandoned piano and quickly comes up with a scheme to make some money from it. ■
Wednesday, BBC2, 10pm