Hirst’s mysterious comeback

Damien Hirst is about to open his first show of new works in more than two years – and the stakes could hardly be higher for “art’s jester king”, says The Observer. His 2014 exhibition, Schizophrenogenesis, was indifferently received, while 2012’s paintingthemed Two Weeks One Summer was panned. So his admirers’ hopes will be pinned on Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable when it opens across two museums in Venice next month, in advance of the city’s Biennale. The show has been shrouded in secrecy, but its premise is that Hirst has spent years – and millions of pounds – on an operation to salvage artefacts from the wreck of a ship that sank off the southeast African coast in the first or second century AD. Publicity shots show sunken statues covered in algae (pictured). But are they ancient treasures, or did Hirst make them in his own foundry? Is his ship story even true? Typically, he won’t say. Asked whether it was fact or myth, he replied: “Whatever you choose to believe.”

Programmes

Spying on the Royals This two-part documentary uses recently declassified documents to show how UK and US intelligence spied on Edward VIII, Wallis Simpson and the future George VI during the abdication crisis. Sun 2 April, C4 8pm (60mins).

Child of our Time The series charting the development of 25 children born in 2000 returns to follow the participants as they turn 16. With Professor Robert Winston. Mon 3 April, BBC2 9pm (60mins).

Mary Magdalene: Art’s

Scarlet Woman Waldemar Januszczak explores how the myth of Mary Magdalene has been developed by artists ranging from Titian to van Gogh. Thur 6 April, BBC4 9pm (60mins).

Isis and the Battle for Iraq

Dispatches investigates claims that Shia militias, now fighting alongside the Iraqi army against Isis, are using the war to settle sectarian scores – including allegations that Sunnis fleeing Isis are being tortured and killed. Thur 6 April, C4 11pm (60mins). Films

Jagged Edge (1985) Thriller starring Glenn Close as a lawyer who falls for a client (Jeff Bridges) accused of murdering his wife. Sat 1 April, BBC1 12am (105mins).

Weekend (2011) Acclaimed same-sex romance tracking a one-night stand that develops into something deeper over a weekend. Sun 2 April, Film4 1.45am (125mins).

Andrei Rublev (1966) Andrei Tarkovsky’s epic about the 14th-15th century Russian icon and painter. Tue 4 April, Film4 12.10am (230mins).