Force Majeure Monday, 8.30pm Rialto
One of the most compelling relationship dramas of recent years is also a terrific cringe comedy. Swedish writer-director Ruben Ostlund’s tale of shifting family dynamics provides plenty of watercooler moments as a Scandinavian family’s brush with near disaster while holidaying in the French Alps creates fissures that threaten to split them apart forever. Sitting somewhere between the movies of Michael Haneke, TV’s Episodes and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Force cleverly leaves the viewer unsure of the ultimate outcome until the final few frames.
A Great British Adventure With Griff Rhys Jones Monday, 8.30pm Choice TV
Eight-part series that sees the Welsh comedian embarking upon a series of adventures across the magnificent UK countryside – from the chalk hills of the South Downs where he paraglides over Devil’s Dyke, to the world’s very first seaside resort along the Yorkshire coastline.
Confirmation Monday, 9.30pm SoHo
Kerry Washington stars as whistleblower Anita Hill in this based-on-fact drama on the events surrounding Judge Clarence Thomas’ nomination to the United States’ Supreme Court ‘‘Meticulously produced, cast to the hilt and boasting powerful performances by Washington and Wendell Pierce,’’ wrote Variety’s Brian Lowry.
Who Do You Think You Are? Australia Friday, 8.30pm BBC Knowledge
Actors Geoffrey Rush, Toni Collette and David Wenham, chef Luke Nguyen, champion swimmer Dawn Fraser, and journalist Ray Martin are among the Aussie celebs digging into their past during the seventh season of this popular genealogy series. There are tales of an ancestor who fought for justice, a secret wartime affair and relatives one of them didn’t even know existed.
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa Friday, 9.30pm, Prime
The 2013 big-screen outing for Steve Coogan’s muchloved DJ and talk show host. This sees him having to work with the police to defuse a potentially violent siege after his station is taken over by a new media conglomerate. ‘‘A scissorsharp comedy of ineptitude and failure,’’ wrote Variety’s Leslie Felperin.