The very best of the week ahead
Today Harry & Meghan: An African Journey
ITV, 9.00PM
In recent months, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been plagued by negative stories. These include everything from their decision to keep the public away from baby Archie’s christening to taking private jets while campaigning against climate change. But their official Royal tour as a family, to Africa, offered the big-hearted Harry and Meghan a chance to remember who and what is important to them. “Ever since I came to this continent as a young boy, trying to cope with something I can never possibly describe, Africa has held me in an embrace that I will never forget,” says the Duke. On the tour, the Royal couple saw the legacy left behind by Harry’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, with regards to landmines and the promotion of women’s education. But it’s what happened behind the scenes is where this film comes in, and the presenter, ITV News at Ten anchor Tom Bradby, says “it will explain a lot”. The programme has been kept under wraps, but we are expected to hear the Sussexes discuss their approach to being modern Royals, plus the challenges they face trying to balance their public duties and private life. Clive Morgan
Great Canal Journeys CHANNEL 4, 8.00PM
Timothy West and Prunella Scales’s watery wanderings see the couple return to the Oxford Canal, the place where they fell in love with boating 40 years ago. Travelling from Banbury to Branston, they recall their favourite trips, while contending with a deterioration in Scales’s dementia. CM
Monday The Prince & the Paedophile CHANNEL 4, 10.00PM 0PM
The tale of the billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein has turned into one of the biggest scandals of current times: he courted the rich and powerful, invited them to his parties and flew with them around the world, while flaunting his sexual abuse of women well below the age of consent. Its shocking nature isn’t solely due to the status and acts of Epstein himself – who was found dead in his prison cell before he could go to trial – but because of the sheer number of other famous names allegedly involved. From the former US president Bill Clinton, who flew with Epstein on the private jet nicknamed “The Lolita Express”, to the current one, Donald Trump, who called Epstein “a lot of fun to be with” (and said, “He likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side”), the rich and well-known were queuing up to hang out with him. This documentary, presented by Cathy Newman, looks in particular at Epstein’s relationship with the Duke of York. The film fifilm promises to dig deep into their friendship and the alleged abuse of a minor that occurred during it, while also examining in depth the role of Epstein’s former girlfriend, and alleged “fixer”, Ghislaine Maxwell. Sarah Hughes
Dublin Murders Murd BBC ONE, 9.00PM
novel series is claustrophobic and taut. Tonight it ups the ante as Rob (Killian Scott) tries to keep his past hidden, even as Cassie’s (Sarah Greene) secrets bubble to the surface. Beware the killer twist at the end. SH
Tuesday The British Tribe Next Door CHANNEL 4, 9.15PM
“This is the most bonkers, bizarre and amazing thing we are ever going to do in our lives,” says reality TV star Scarlett Moffatt at the outset of a strange new four-part series in which she and her family – from Channel 4’s Gogglebox – prepare to up sticks from their comfortable home in Bishop Auckland and move to a village of a hundred or so Himbu tribespeople in northern Namibia. The gimmick is that they arrive with a perfect replica of their own family home, a typical English urban terraced house, built on the edge of this remote African village – complete with electricity, running water and all mod cons – few of which the villagers have ever experienced. Some viewers will find the crude, materialistic, culture-clash imposition of British bricks, mortar and cultural mores on these proud African people offensive beyond belief. On the other hand, the all too obvious delight, fascination and straight-talking of the Himbu are a joy to behold, and it doesn’t take long before the Moffatts are forced to rethink their lives and values. Gerard O’Donovan
The Great British Bake Off CHANNEL 4, 8.00PM
Following the sad departure of Henry last week, the four remaining bakers grab their rolling pins for a patisseriebased battle for a place in next week’s final. Ahead of them: a delicately domed Signature, a saintly Technical and a display-case Showstopper. GO
Wednesday Warrior Women with Lupita Nyong’o
CHANNEL 4, 10.00PM
The high profile of the presenter makes a striking contrast with the relative obscurity of the material in this one-off documentary, but that is not to gainsay Lupita Nyong’o’s absolute absorption in the subject, nor its interest. Having discovered that her character in the film Black Panther was inspired by historical figures, the actress travels to the former kingdom of Dahomey in west Africa (now modern-day Benin) to learn the true story of the Agoji, a 4,000-strong army of female soldiers. Nyong’o is respectful as she meets descendants of both the Agoji and those they conquered, discovering that the history of the women fetishised as exotic “Amazons” is a complex one of martial ferocity, cultural sensitivity, economic pragmatism and “hard, brutal truth”. It serves as a tribute to the enduring power of forgiveness and a reminder that historical reality seldom conforms to preconceived narratives. Gabriel Tate
Korea: the Never-Ending War BBC FOUR, 9.00PM
This film offers an engaging survey of the Korean conflict. The first major Cold War clash of superpowers was a pivotal moment in global politics, and soldiers, citizens and politicians alike here recall the impact. GT
Thursday The Accident CHANNEL 4, 9.00PM
If the opening episode of Jack Thorne’s new drama, the final part of his “blame trilogy” (after 2016’s National Treasure and 2018’s Kiri), is a hard watch, it’s largely because it’s so believable. Thorne, who’s half-Welsh, has said that he wanted to set a drama in the sort of Welsh town that has been largely abandoned by one government after the next. The result is a carefully drawn portrait of Glyngolau, a close-knit community that’s desperate for signs of regeneration. The Light, a building project, offers, as politician Iwan Bevan (Mark Lewis Jones) puts it, a future. That is, of course, until the accident – an explosion leading to a number of deaths and ripping the heart out of the town. Powered by a strong performance from Sarah Lancashire, and backed by able support from Joanna Scanlan, Sidse Babett Knudsen and Genevieve Barr, the opening episode carefully sets up the traumas to come. As the secrets of the town begin to surface, Thorne offers us a harrowing picture of a community struggling to stick together as it’s being torn apart. SH
Bill Turnbull: Staying Alive CHANNEL 4, 10.00PM
BBC presenter Bill Turnbull talking about his prostate cancer is one of the most moving things on TV this week. The 63-year-old clearly explains his diagnosis and is frank in his discussion of how he tackles his plight. SH
Friday Weasels: Feisty and Fearless BBC TWO, 8.00PM
Weasels have a bad reputation, as befits their status as shorthand for slippery, devious wrongdoing. Narrated by Julie Walters, this film attempts to demonstrate their capabilities and resourcefulness. The focal point is a Yorkshire garden in which wildlife photographer Robert E Fuller has built a habitat for stoats and weasels, and rigged it with nearly 50 cameras. Elsewhere, experts test out the ingenuity of a South African honey badger whose escape bids went viral, a wolverine with an extraordinary sense of smell and a ferret that can bend its body 180 degrees both vertically and horizontally. This edition of Natural World treats the science with a typically light touch; it’s fascinating and also, when Fuller rescues an abandoned kit, very cute. GT
Would I Lie to You? BBC ONE, 9.30PM
Telegraph columnist Victoria Coren Mitchell teams up with husband David Mitchell for an enjoyable edition of the panel show, alongside Clare Balding, Asim Chaudhry and Greg James. GT