Tales of man and beast
TV Guide’s Keith Sharp picks out the best on the box for the week ahead.
If you’ve been thinking that there can’t be much left to explore in this world, then British sociologist and journalist Will Millard begs to differ. In a new BBC series titled Hunters Of The South Seas, Millard spends time with three native communities in the Indonesian island chain who are still living – and preserving – a traditional hunting lifestyle that is vanishing elsewhere on the globe. Be warned, though: one of the island communities still hunts whales. It’s either that or starve.
BBC Knowledge, Saturday, 8.30pm
While the use of dogs as weapons of war has long since been abandoned by the world’s armies, man’s best friend still plays an important part in many military services. Just as the police and customs services use dogs to sniff out criminal offenders, the British Army uses them to sniff out explosives, among other things. About 1000 dogs and 500 horses still have duties with the British Army, and the documentary Animals On The Frontline follows the training and deployment of the animals. They even have their own medal for gallantry.
Prime, Thursday, 7.30pm
In 1977, rock group Fleetwood Mac released Rumours, which went on to sell more than 80 million copies worldwide, making it the seventhbest studio album of all time. But the band’s two couples, bassist John and singer-keyboard player Christine McVie, and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and vocalist Stevie Nicks, were in the middle of breakups during the album’s sessions. The documentary Prime Rocks: Rumours looks at how they turned their private turmoil into a legendary hit album.
Prime, Tuesday, 10pm
The Ku Klux Klan, is synonymous with the racial tensions of the American South. There are three pivotal moments in its history – its conception after the American Civil War, its rebirth in the 1920s following the release of the infamous film, Birth of a Nation, and its third and controversial reincarnation in North Carolina as a response to the Civil Rights movement of the ’60s. The documentary Klansville USA focuses on its third lifecycle and explores why North Carolina became home to the largest Klan organisation in the country.
History Channel, Thursday, 7.30pm
Martin Clunes has made documentaries about dogs and horses, and now sets his sights on even bigger things in the two-part documentary series Martin Clunes: Man And Beast. This time, he sets off into the big, wide world to examine how humans have developed working relationships with elephants and sacred cows in Nepal and cormorants in Japan. Some human-animal relationships are magical – others not so much.
TV One, Wednesday, December 2, 9.15pm.
directorial debut is an atmospheric exploration of AI.
Domhnall Gleeson’s Caleb is our guide, a workaday programming drone for ubiquitous internet search engine Bluebook. His life is irreparably altered by winning the staff lottery. The prize – a week in the remote cabin owned by the company’s chief executive (Oscar Isaac).
While Garland’s plot feels like an episode of The Twilight Zone, there are plenty of twists and turns, compelling performances, thought-provoking ideas and visceral thrills.