The very best of the week ahead
Sunday Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen
BBC One, 7.45pm
In all the hours of archive being shown for the Platinum Jubilee, there will be little you haven’t seen before, but documentary maker Simon Finch has been given remarkable access to the Queen’s private collection of films, including previously unseen footage shot by the Royal family, telling her story from childhood to coronation. Among the new footage (restored and digitised by the British Film Institute) being shown here are scenes from the 1920s and 1930s, featuring Princess Elizabeth and her sister Margaret in the garden of their childhood home; at Balmoral in 1946, when Prince Philip proposed to the Princess; and Prince Charles and Princess Anne as young children playing with their grandparents, King George VI and the Queen Mother. We also see scenes from the day of the King’s coronation in 1937, shot in vibrant colour. The documentary relies on the Queen’s words, taken from hundreds of speeches she has given during her reign. It lends an intimate air to proceedings, as if she is showing us holiday snaps. Veronica Lee
Gentleman Jack BBC One, 9pm
Sadly the second series of Sally Wainwright’s terrific historical romp about trailblazing 19th-century lesbian industrialist Anne Lister (Suranne Jones) comes to its conclusion. The dastardly Captain Sutherland (Derek Riddell) arrives from Scotland and tries to pressure Lister’s lover, Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle), over her finances. There’s scope in Lister’s diaries for a third series; yes please. VL
Monday Springwatch BBC Two, 8pm
As an 18th series begins, ins, Springwatch continues ues to document the remarkable kable and the prosaic, the bleak k and the comforting, the cute and the savage, with insight and wit. Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan are once again ain at the helm in their sensible sible jackets, with roving reporters Iolo Williams ms and Megan McCubbin in watching the action at some of the UK’s most st fecund and stunning g wildlife habitats. The e first week features Williams ms on the Isle of Mull in search of eagles, orca a and
otters, while McCubbin is on tour around the northeast of England, taking in Hauxley Nature Reserve, Kielder Forest and even, surprisingly, the heart of Newcastle itself. Expect to see fauna both familiar and unpredictable, as the team tracks down everything from woodpeckers, pine martens and tawny owls to adders, puffins and hen harriers. If Packham has sacrificed a certain viral appeal after giving up his habit of smuggling in references to favoured indie bands, then no matter; the animals are the stars, star alongside the lesser-sung camera came crews who work diligently to bring them to our screens. Springwatch Spr is fast becoming a tradition trad as welcome as the Jubilee celebrations ce that will be taking place all around the country countr this week. Gabriel Tate T
Big Antique Adventure with Susan Calman C Channel Chann 5, 7pm Where i in days of yore it was Trisha Tris Goddard and Jack Docherty, Doc Susan Calman now has a solid
claim to being the face of Channel 5, such is her ubiquity. This new series, running across the week, follows the comedian as she helps members of the public flog their family treasures, learning the tricks of the trade and, tonight, discovering that ageing VHS tapes could represent a goldmine. GT
Tuesday Pistol
Disney+
Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle turns his attention to the punk era for this six-part drama about the Sex Pistols. With writers Craig Pearce and Frank Cottrell-Boyce he shifts focus from Sid Vicious and John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) to lead guitarist Steve Jones (a star-making turn by Australian actor Toby Wallace). Based on Jones’s 2016 memoir, the story covers his grim London childhood and his fortuitous introduction to those who would mould him into a music star – eccentric impresario Malcolm McLaren (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and fashionista Vivienne Westwood (Talulah Riley). It’s a straightforward biopic with quite a few expository speeches, but it’s told with love for both the era and its
music. Boyle infuses a frenetic visual energy; his montages full of archive footage bring alive the milieu from which the Sex Pistols emerged, a Britain devastated by unemployment and full of disenfranchised youth hungry for something new. BrodieSangster is a hoot as McLaren, and the supporting cast hold together this love letter to the period. Vicki Power
Once Upon a Time in Londongrad
Sky Documentaries, 9pm
Based on an investigation by Buzzfeed News, this six-part series links together 14 deaths in the UK that have Russian connections. Loved ones of the deceased and insiders fuel the journalists’ more general contention that something wicked is afoot. VP
Wednesday Bargain Hunt Jubilee Special/ The Repair Shop Jubilee Special
BBC One, 12.15pm/8pm
One of the hardiest perennials of daytime television here receives a light refurb while retaining its knowing cheesiness. Host Charlie Ross gives two teams £300 and one hour to find three items to auction, one of which must have some form of “royal connection”. Ross also has a nose around the royal carriages at the National Railway Museum, from Victoria’s plush affair with electric lighting to the secure car used during the Second World War. Jay Blades and the team are called upon to restore items of national import – the lantern which was used in the Tower of London’s Ceremony of the Keys for more than a century – and personal significance: a tandem last ridden at the Silver Jubilee; a jacket for a pearly prince. The beauty of the show remains twofold: in watching artisans executing their jobs well and in its democratic approach, with each arrival given the same level of care. GT
Inside No 9 BBC Two, 10pm
Georgie Glen and Ron Cook join Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton for the final episode of another inventive run, this time riffing on the public information film. Ronnie (Shearsmith) has lived his life guided by the 1970s PIF icon the Wise Owl – but the real world eventually intrudes, of course, with shocking consequences. GT
Thursday The Midwich Cuckoos Sky Max, 9pm
This quietly sinister eight-part adaptation of John Wyndham’s 1957 science-fiction novel begins when part of a picture-perfect village is plunged into darkness and then panic, as people simultaneously lose consciousness. When the blackout is lifted, every woman is pregnant. When the children grow up they develop an intense stare, possess telepathic abilities and have control over the actions of others. That’s when the fun really starts. David Farr has freely adapted Wyndham’s story and few characters from the novel make it to the screen, despite similar names –such as psychotherapist Susannah Zellaby (Keeley Hawes), whose sullen daughter, Cassie (Synnove Karlsen), is one of the women who becomes pregnant. He also creates some new characters for a multi-stranded drama, such as village police officer Paul Kirby (Max Beesley) and a local politician having an affair with his assistant (a stretch, I know). Hawes is stunning as a woman who slowly loses trust in her daughter. Nicely creepy. VL
Trooping the Colour
BBC One/Sky News, 10am
Pomp and ceremony abound as 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians gather for the first event of this long weekend of celebrations. The Royal family will make an appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch an extended flypast. Huw Edwards, Kirsty Young and JJ Chalmers are on the BBC, while Sarah-Jane Mee presides on Sky. VL
Friday The Crown Jewels BBC One, 7.30pm
“Amazing. Unbelievable. Stunning. Absolutely stunning.” Clive Myrie goes all out with plaudits in this reverent
one-off film. Understandably so, given that he is presented, close-up, with the rich splendour of the Crown Jewels, comprising of 13 crowns and nearly 24,000 precious gemstones. There are statistics aplenty for those who demand hard values (though the consensus is that the Jewels are, pragmatically, priceless). Of far greater interest is the history behind them – stretching from Edward the Confessor to Elizabeth II via the Reformation, Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and rise and fall of the British Empire. Myrie, who takes an impressive stab at the cutting and soldering of a silver cross, overpromises on analysis, and we’re not left much the wiser as far as what the Crown Jewels tell us about Britain today. But as a historical documentary it’s fascinating and the photography is absolutely lovely. GT
Corrupt Cops: What the Met Knew
Channel 4, 7.30pm Dispatches once again demonstrates the sort of essential reporting that forms the foundations of publicservice broadcasting, as this incisive documentary investigates whether the Met Police, decades on from the low-water mark of the 1970s, remains corrupted by organised crime. GT