PICK OF THE WEEK

DRAMA

CARDINAL Cop who peers into the heart of darkness

The fourth and final season of the acclaimed Canadian crime mystery based on the novels of Giles Blunt begins on BBC2 this week. If you’ve never seen it and want to catch up on its predecessors, here’s a chance to do just that. Billy Campbell stars as Detective John Cardinal, a melancholic soul who, when we first meet him, has been demoted after becoming dangerously fixated on the case of a missing girl – but his hunches are soon proven to be right. After solving the mystery, he and his devoted sidekick Lise Delorme (Karine Vanasse, right, with Campbell) deal with the occult and the murder of Cardinal’s mentally ill wife. BBC iPlayer, from Wednesday

CORIOLANUS Had enough of politics? Wait till you see this...

Political skulduggery, ruthless ambition and an angry egotist with a cold disregard for the populace… not a snapshot of this week in the news but Shakespeare’s 1605 tragedy of Republican Rome.

Tom Hiddleston is electrifying in this fast-paced production, which was filmed in 2014 at the Donmar Warehouse and is now being streamed via the National Theatre on YouTube. Hiddleston’s Coriolanus is a conflicted hero, a forward-thrusting Roman general whose driving force is his ambitious mother (Deborah Findlay). After a major military victory, the plebeiandespising aristocrat is made a consul.

But when the people riot against his appointment, he denounces them, is exiled and plots revenge. National Theatre YouTube, from Thursday, 7pm

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER The TV horror heroine who broke the mould

What if, contrary to the standard horror-film rules, the cute teenager isn’t the first to die? What if she’s the victor rather than the victim? Joss Whedon’s beloved and influential series explored high-school anxieties through the prism of the supernatural, using monsters as metaphors. In Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), it gave us a funny, feminist superhero who was as handy with a witty one-liner as she was with a stake. Several episodes – including the musical Once More With Feeling, the nightmarish Hush and the heartbreaking The Body – are often cited as among the greatest TV ever and the show’s reputation as a groundbreaker has grown even greater since its original run 20 years ago. All 4, s1-7 from Monday (s1 also on E4 from Mon 11pm, s2-7 All 4 exclusive)

KILLING EVE The hit woman and her...

For dedicated Killing Eve fans, tomorrow is the big day as the eagerly anticipated final episode of series 3 arrives on iPlayer.

Prepare to be on the edge of your seat as former MI6 agent Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) pursues Villanelle (Jodie Comer, below left), the beautiful but ruthless assassin she’s obsessed with. The fast-paced denouement follows a dramatic penultimate episode, to be shown on BBC1 tonight, in which Eve is hot on the heels of Villanelle, while the pressure is on for the killer’s mentors, Konstantin (Kim Bodnia) and Dasha (Harriet Walter). BBC iPlayer, from Monday 6am

BAD EDUCATION Chucklesome lessons in love with Jack Whitehall

Jack Whitehall appeared as hapless, newly qualified history teacher Alfie Wickers during April’s The Big Night In fundraising special, and if it whetted your appetite for more, you can catch all of his antics courtesy of BBC iPlayer, where each of the hit sitcom’s three series are now available to stream. For the uninitiated, it all takes place at the fictional Abbey Grove School in Hertfordshire, where Alfie seems to spend more time trying – but failing miserably – to impress the colleague he fancies than he does teaching. BBC iPlayer, available now

ANGELS OF THE NORTH Make an appointment with the scissor sisters

More Geordie Shore than Antony Gormley, Angels Of The North is an eight-part series that follows the luscious-locked gals of a Tyneside salon at work. It was filmed just before Covid-19 struck and sent sales of home hairdressing kits soaring. The show’s stars are the scissor-wielders of Longlox in Gateshead: owner Sammyjo, her ‘mamager’ Bev and irrepressible stylists Kallie, Ashleigh, Leona and Holly. They’re all larger-than-life characters and, fittingly for a salon specialising in hair extensions, very little of the gossip gets left on the cuttingroom floor. BBC iPlayer, available now

HOW’S YOUR HEAD, HON? Visage’s virtual house party: it’s a family affair

She made a big splash in last year’s Strictly. Now Michelle Visage (left) is throwing open the doors to her family home and inviting us to her weekly virtual house party. Husband David (the camera operator) and her youngest daughter Lola appear as Visage offers advice on staying sane during lockdown. She also catches up with some celebrity friends – the first two episodes feature Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall, Alan Carr and Joel McHale. BBC3/iPlayer, available now