The very best of the week ahead
Today Imagine: This House is Full of Music
BBC ONE, 6.00PM
Fans of BBC Young Musician and
Britain’s Got Talent will have already come across the talented KannehMason family, a group of seven siblings all of whom are outstanding classical musicians. The family’s best-known member is probably 21-year-old Sheku, who, in addition to becoming the first black musician to win Young Musician of the Year in 2016, played the cello at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding. But, as this lovely film demonstrates, his siblings are all equally talented. Filmed during lockdown, the central idea is a simple one: the family discuss what it’s like to be back under the same roof with their parents in Nottingham – the four eldest have left home and are currently studying at London’s Royal Academy of Music – while choosing some of their favourite pieces and arrangements to play for an evidently rapt Alan Yentob (who watches via computer). With Yentob’s commentary kept to a minimum, the result is an informative film which manages to enchant while fulfilling the Kanneh-Masons’ stated desire of breaking down the barriers surrounding classical music and proving that its wonders are open to all. Sarah Hughes
Othello: Royal Shakespeare Company
BBC FOUR, 9.30PM
Amid awful headlines about the closure of theatres and the collapse of the arts, one of the few bright lights has been the chance to catch some of the best performances of recent years on TV. Iqbal Khan’s thoughtprovoking 2015 take on Othello is not to be missed, with Hugh Quarshie as Othello, Lucian Msamati as Iago and Joanna Vanderham as Desdemona. SH
Monday day Once Upon on a Time in Iraq
BBC TWO, 9.00PM PM
“I’m happy that someone is listening to me,” says Um Qusay, a farmer’s wife from m northern Iraq. Thus, s, she neatly summarises mmarises the core appeal of this gripping new five-part documentary series, which bypasses politicians and top army brass to tell the story of the war in Iraq from the ground level, covering the eve of the coalition invasion in 2003 to the events of the present day. Central to this opening episode are soldiers, journalists and, crucially, Iraqi civilians who have endured so much over the past two decades and still wrestle with the pros (the deposition of a dictator) and cons (the anarchic and eventually sectarian chaos that ensued) of invasion. Key contributors include recon marine and actor Rudy Reyes (seen in David Simon’s superb Iraq War miniseries Generation Kill); reporter Waleed Nesyif, chainsmoking his way through the traumatic memories; and Sally Mars, a schoolgirl at the time, who wondered if the gun-toting, backpackwearing weari Americans were Ninja
Turtles. Gabriel Ga Tate
University Challenge
BBC TWO, 8.30PM
Jeremy Paxman returns with a new series of the grand old quiz show – the th 27th since s its revival re in 1995. The short-tempered host presides over a clash between the Universities of Glasgow and Exeter. GT
Tuesday The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty
BBC TWO, 9.00PM
Anyone who has seen Succession will find it impossible to watch the opening episode of Jamie Roberts’s three-part series about the Murdoch family without drawing a comparison to the similarly turbulent Roy siblings. The scene-setting early moments hint towards Jesse Armstrong’s drama, making much of which of Rupert Murdoch’s three eldest children – James, Elizabeth and Lachlan – will ultimately end up taking over, a process complicated by Murdoch’s 2016 marriage to Jerry Hall. We begin in 1995 with Tony Blair’s decision to fly to Hayman Island to convince Murdoch that the New Labour project was worth backing. Along the way there are plenty of opinions from former News International executives and New Labour big hitters (although notably not Blair himself). At the end of the day however, it is an image – the look of horror on Robin Cook’s face as
Blair glad-hands the cheering crowd to the strains of Things Can Only Get
Better – that lingers longest. SH
The Plot Against America
SKY ATLANTIC, 9.00PM
David Simon masterfully adapts Philip Roth’s novel of an alternate USA where fascist-sympathising Charles Lindbergh runs for President against Franklin D Roosevelt. It’s beautifully shot with an excellent cast, including Winona Ryder, Zoe Kazan and John Turturro. SH
Wednesday Bears About The House
BBC TWO, 8.00PM
Conservationist Giles Clark is best known for his hands-on work with big cats and habit of playing host to unusual furry house guests. For this two-parter, Clark turns his attention from cat to bear and tackles his biggest challenge yet: spending 12 months taking on the illegal wildlife trade and building a pioneering bear sanctuary in Laos. Across Asia, bears are sold as trophy pets, and killed for food and traditional Asian medicine. The most valuable part is their gallbladder, since it stores bile, a digestive fluid thought to have medicinal qualities. Over 10,000 bears are kept caged in Asian bear farms so their bile can be extracted. Clark and the team at the charity Free the Bears are determined to put a stop to this cruel practice in Laos and lobby the government to close down the farms. Clark also gets up close and personal when he steps in to help Mary, an adorable fivemonth-old sun bear. Fragile and malnourished after her mother was killed in the wild, she lives with Clark at home while she needs round-theclock specialist care. Heartwarmingly, we witness Mary’s developmental milestones and progress towards happiness. Michael Hogan
Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs: Back in Business
ITV, 8.00PM
How many will he take home this time? Paul O’Grady is back at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home as the team work to rehome pets before lockdown begins. Since Battersea opened 160 years ago, this is the first time it has closed its doors to the public. MH
Thursday Stephen Lawrence: Has Britain Changed?
ITV, 8.00PM
In 1999, the Macpherson Report stated that the police response to the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence was “institutionally racist”. Twenty years have passed since then but how much has really changed? Recent events, in particular some of the responses to the questions raised by the Black Lives Matter protests, suggest not as much as first thought. This special live debate, co-hosted by Rageh Omaar and Anushka Asthana, aims to examine just how equal the UK really is while asking what needs to change. It’s followed at 9.00pm by The
Murder of Stephen Lawrence, Paul Greengrass’s 1999 dramatisation of Lawrence’s racially motivated killing and the subsequent battle by his parents Doreen and Neville to see his murderers bought to justice. When high-quality true crime dramas are ten-a-penny it’s hard to remember what a stir Greengrass’s film caused, but it stands up as a harrowing piece of storytelling. Hugh Quarshie turns in a strong performance as Neville Lawrence, struggling with the weight of his son’s death, but the film belongs to Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Doreen, commanding every second she is on screen. SH
The Hunt for Cleopatra’s Tomb
CHANNEL 5, 9.00PM
For the past 14 years Dr Kathleen Martinez has been excavating Taposiris Magna on the edge of the Nile Delta in the hope of uncovering the burial place of Egypt’s most famous queen, Cleopatra. Egyptologist Dr Glenn Godenho joins her at a crucial stage. SH
Friday
London 2012: Opening Ceremony
BBC ONE, 10.45PM; NI, 11.15PM; WALES, 11.45PM
These past few months have made us pine for simpler, happier, halcyon summers. This trip back in time to eight years ago could be just the ticket. Relive the celebratory night when director Danny Boyle’s giddy and glorious opening ceremony took even the most optimistic Briton by surprise – and proved the curtain-raiser to a golden Games. It’s hard now to imagine the tension as London prepared to host the Olympics. Would the event organisers deliver? Would the capital’s infrastructure hold firm? Would Team GB win anything? The answer was a series of emphatic yeses and it started with this all-singing, all-dancing, all-stirring spectacle, celebrating the best of British. A cast of thousands included Kenneth Branagh as Brunel, Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean, David Beckham, Tim Berners-Lee, Paul McCartney, dancing nurses and flying nannies. This special “director’s cut” boasts extended highlights of memorable moments – including the Athletes’ Parade and, of course, “Her Majesty, the Queen” parachuting into the stadium with James Bond. MH
The North York Moors: A Wild Year
BBC TWO, 9.00PM
This time-lapse trip through the countryside’s seasons has been visually spectacular to watch. The third and final episode, takes us to the heather-covered uplands, fast-flowing streams and sheltered dales of the North York Moors. MH