Beach Boys documentary lands with an undertone of sadness
TONIGHT THE BEACH BOYS Disney+
Arriving on foot of the sad news that Brian Wilson has again been placed under the conservatorship of his family due to a degenerative neurocognitive disorder, this feature-length documentary is a glorious tribute to the band, whose brilliance peaked in 1966 with the masterpiece that is Pet Sounds.
Directed by Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny, Bruce Springsteen’s longtime documentary chronicler, it glosses over the darker elements of the story, but the compensation is an array of wonderful archive footage, some of it never seen before.
THE BIG CIGAR Apple TV+
Third episode of the true(ish) account of Black Panther founder Huey P Newton’s flight to Cuba under the cover of a fake film production that’s slower and less compelling than it should be.
UNREPORTED WORLD Channel 4, 7.30pm
Krishnan Guru-Murthy gets an insight into the dark side of manufactured K-pop, a business in which boybands have no control over their careers and their individuality is crushed by the corporate machine. It’s a bleak tale of trolling, eating disorders, depression and suicide.
THE YOUNG OFFENDERS BBC1, 9.30pm
With Jock (Chris Walley) still out of the picture and in a Colombian nick, Conor (Alex Murphy) is forced by his mother (Hilary Rose) to go on a bonding fishing trip with his former adversary, Garda Tony (Dominic MacHale), who’s now his stepfather.
THE NEVERMETS Channel 4, 10pm
New series following couples who have been “dating” online for months, but never actually met, as they come face to face for the first time. Surprise, surprise: it doesn’t always go smoothly. Dawn French narrates.
JERROD CARMICHAEL REALITY SHOW Sky Comedy, 10pm & 10.40pm
New series featuring the American comedian (nope, me neither) that mixes stand-up with (possibly fabricated) fly-on-the-wall documentary.
TINA TURNER NIGHT BBC4, from 10.10pm
To mark the first anniversary of the death of the dynamic singer, here’s an evening of archive material. TOMORROW
THE FA CUP FINAL ITV, 1.45pm; BBC1, 1.45pm
We usually leave football alone in this column, but there’s always something special about the FA Cup.
Even a lifelong Manchester United fan like me knows the chances of Erik ten Hag’s shambolic side preventing dominant Manchester City doing the Double are as likely as the Conservatives winning the upcoming British general election; but you have to live in hope, otherwise what’s the point of watching football?
DOCTOR WHO BBC1, 6.50pm
The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby (Millie Gibson) find themselves in Wales for a folk horror tale that’s reminiscent of the old Hammer horrors, complete with suspicious villagers in the pub.
D-DAY: THE LAST HEROES BBC4, 8pm
To mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, a repeat of Dan Snow’s two-part series featuring interviews with the few remaining veterans (there are even fewer since it was first shown).
The occasion is also honoured with a brand new programme: Secrets of the Frontline Heroes (Channel 4, 8.20pm), a long overdue look at the brave photographers and filmmakers who captured the photographs and footage we all know so well.
LATER... WITH JOOLS HOLLAND BBC2, 10.25pm
Veterans of a different sort dominate the music show. Paul Weller plays songs from his latest album, 66, Mark Knopfler talks to Jools about his new release and, on the great Gladys Knight’s 80th birthday, there’s a rerun of her 2009 appearance on the show. BBC4 also celebrates her big day with the archivebased Gladys Knight Night at 9.25pm.
SUPERMAN AND LOIS BBC1, 12.40am
The first season of this sprightly, family-friendly series featuring the Man of Steel and his true love went out in a teatime slot, so scheduling season two at such a late hour is perverse. SUNDAY
BIRDSONG RTÉ1, 6.30pm
Not airing this documentary, which received huge acclaim at the DIFF and other festivals earlier in the year, in a prime time slot, where it would surely command a larger audience, feels like something of a missed opportunity.
Directed by Kathleen Harris, it follows 35-yearold Cork ornithologist Seán Ronayne, who is hypersensitive to sound, on an epic mission to record the call of every bird species in Ireland – that’s 200 of our feathered friends.
MY FAVOURITE THINGS Sky Arts, 6pm
Taking its title from a song in The Sound of Music, this two-and-a-half-hour tribute concert to Rodgers and Hammerstein is one for fans of classic musicals.
FIENNES: RETURN TO THE WILD National Geographic, 8pm
This is really Fiennes times two as explorer Ranulph and his younger cousin, the actor Joseph, recreate Ranulph’s expedition across British Columbia in 1971.
ROB AND RYLAN’S GRAND TOUR BBC2, 9pm
Final part of the pleasant travelogue, throughout which Rylan Clark has shown an insight into art and architecture that will surely have surprised many.
MAYA ANGELOU AT THE BBC BBC4, from 9pm
An evening of archive programmes featuring the revered memoirist, poet and civil rights activist.
‘Seán Ronayne is on an epic mission to record the call of every bird species’