THE HOT LIST
MANDO RETURNS THE MANDALORIAN Disney+
■ THE best Star Wars spin-off series returns for a third season of action and adventure with the former bounty hunter and his young charge, Grogu, aka ‘Baby Yoda’. Having reunited with Grogu but been expelled from the Mandalorian creed for his transgressions, Mando seeks redemption but, as usual, his path is not a straightforward one. Imbued with the style and spirit of the original Star Wars films and with the quiet charisma of Pedro Pascal as the lead character, The Mandalorian mixes fun, drama and humour to great effect.
PORTRAIT OF THE KING ELVIS, SKY CINEMA PREMIERE Friday, March 3, 11.35am and 8pm
■ AUSTRALIAN director Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!, Strictly Ballroom) brings his customary visual flair and flamboyance to this biopic of Elvis Presley. Covering the singer’s rise to fame and the many high and lows of his career, the film looks in particular at Elvis’s relationship with his manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) and his wife Priscilla (Olivia DeJonge). It’s an exuberant reminder of Presley’s magnetism as a performer, with Austin Butler electrifying as the King himself.
COLD CASE PARIS POLICE 1905 BBC Four, Saturday, March 4, 9pm.
■ BBC Four’s regular Saturday night crime slot features the return of the atmospheric period police procedural with a double bill. Jérémie Laheurte is back as Inspector Antoine Jouin who is called in when an unidentified body is discovered in the snow in the Bois de Boulogne on Christmas Eve. As Jouin tries to get to grips with the case, Police Chief Leépine orders a crackdown on sex workers in the streets of Paris.
WATER COURSE PAUL WHITEHOUSE: OUR TROUBLED RIVERS BBC Two, Sunday, March 5, 8pm
■ ON his travels around the country for his Gone Fishing series with Bob Mortimer, comedian and actor Paul Whitehouse has seen plenty of our beautiful rivers but he’s also become aware of the problems they face. In this two-part documentary, Whitehouse looks at the specific issues for our rivers and waterways and what can be done to protect them. In the first part, he visits the north of England to look at the impact water companies have on rivers, what changed when they were privatised and what regulations there are over sewage discharge. He meets concerned locals to talk about the River Wharfe, a conservationist who warns about the ecological decline of Lake Windemere and activist Feargal Sharkey explains why he’s leading a campaign to make water companies act more responsibly.
PAST AND PRESENT THE STRAYS Netflix
BRITISH director Nathaniel Martello-White channels Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us for this unsettling slice of suburban horror. Ashley Madekwe is Neve who lives a seemingly idyllic and comfortable life in a quiet town with a loving family and a fulfilling job. When two strangers show up at odd times in her life, Neve begins to doubt her sanity and her friends and family are uncertain whether to believe her or not – but it becomes apparent Neve’s past is coming back to haunt her.