Of Doctors and detectives
TV Guide’s
local cops and the FBI, as between the cops and the crims.
TV One, Tuesday, 8.30pm
Adopting a dog or a cat is one thing, but have you ever considered what it would take to adopt a grizzly bear? Scottish couple Andy and Maggie Robin did just that in 1976, when they bought a nine-month-old bear cub from a wildlife park. Little did they imagine that the bear they named Hercules would go on to international stardom and even appear in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy. Hercules, The Human Bear screens on Animal Planet this week and tells the tale of a little bear cub who really did go on to bigger things.
Animal Planet, Tuesday, 9.30pm
Showing humans at the mercy of a vengeful and malevolent natural world isn’t a new idea for sci-fi and horror writers, but a new series on The Zone this week takes it another level. The US drama Zoo imagines what would happen if the predatory animals of the world collectively decided that it was their turn to be at the top of the food tree – and that we are the food. In the aftermath of the killing of Cecil The Lion in Africa, this seems a rather prescient idea. Have you been to the zoo lately?
The Zone, Wednesday, 8.30pm.
Criminally overlooked for a general cinematic release here, this 1981-set searing drama evokes memories of Scarface and the best of Martin Scorsese.
It’s the story of nascent heating-oil baron Abel Morales (a charismatic Oscar Isaac) as he attempts to keep his business afloat and his ideals intact, while his competitors engage in some less-than-savoury antics.
Jessica Chastain, Albert Brooks and David Oyelowo are among the seriously impressive supporting cast in writer-director J C Chandor’s ( All is Lost, Margin Call) latest compelling study of people placed under immense pressure.