TV PICKS OF THE WEEK
A SERVICE OF CELEBRATION FOR COMMONWEALTH DAY TONIGHT, BBC1, 5PM
THE annual Commonwealth Day service will not go ahead due to the pandemic.
Instead, the Queen will share her message in this programme in which the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Countess of Wessex will also talk about the importance of our Commonwealth links.
Presented by Anita Rani, the celebration will also include music and readings by the Choir of Westminster Abbey,
Nitin Sawhney, Lianne La Havas, Alexis Ffrench.
HARRY HILL’S LONELY ISLAND TOMORROW, BBC2, 10.40PM
LAST year, the big-collared funnyman brightened up our lockdown experience fronting his own World of TV series, in which he poked fun at various programmes and genres. Now he’s back in a quartet of short and silent black and white comedy shows.
Hill has written and directed each of them; he also pops up in leading roles. They are all set in a different historical period.
CAROLINE AHERNE AT THE BBC
TUESDAY, BBC1 9PM
HER last role before her untimely death in 2016 was as the narrator of Channel 4’s Gogglebox, but Caroline Aherne will nevertheless always be associated with the BBC. After starting out on radio in her native Manchester and making a handful of brief TV appearances, she first made her mark as a pensionable mock chat show host in The Mrs Merton Show; the character also had her own all-too-brief sitcom Mrs Merton and Malcolm, alongside Craig Cash. Aherne was a member of The Fast Show cast before she and Cash scored their biggest hit with The Royle Family.
In this celebration of her career, her old pal John Thomson introduces clips from them all.
DNA JOURNEY
WEDNESDAY, ITV, 9PM
LAST year, Ant and Dec used DNA and genealogy to explore their roots, and now other celebrity pairings are getting a chance to do the same. First up are old A League of Their Own mates Freddie Flintoff and Jamie Redknapp. As a proud Lancastrian, Freddie’s biggest fear is that he may discover a DNA link to Yorkshire, so what sort of surprise awaits him at Wakefield Mining Museum?
Meanwhile, Jamie’s journey takes him to the East End, where he’s about to presented with the key to a mystery that has remained unsolved for generations.
RETURN TO DUNBLANE WITH LORRAINE KELLY
THURSDAY, ITV, 9PM
IT remains the most lethal mass shooting on British soil. On March
13, 1996, gunman Thomas Hamilton shot 16 children and their teacher dead in the gym hall of Dunblane Primary School, before killing himself. Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of the massacre.
In this deeply moving and personal programme, Lorraine Kelly speaks to survivors and families and highlights the enduring spirit and resilience of the Dunblane community.
LATER- WITH JOOLS HOLLAND FRIDAY, BBC2, 10PM
SINGER Laura Mvula will be choosing and discussing her favourite performances from the Later... archive, while performing and making their TV debut is South London postpunk four-piece Dry Cleaning.
Finally, the show also welcomes back Paul Weller for a special performance of a track from his forthcoming LP, Fat Pop (Volume 1).
BILLIE: IN SEARCH OF BILLIE HOLIDAY SATURDAY, BBC2, 9.45PM
A PROFILE of the American jazz singer, capturing her depths and complexity through interviews conducted by journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl with those who knew her best. With contributions by Charles Mingus, Tony Bennett, Sylvia Syms and Count Basie, as well as her friends, lovers, lawyers, pimps and even the FBI agents who arrested her.
For fans of the singer, there is currently a biopic on Sky Cinema and Now TV – The United States vs Billie Holliday, with a standout performance by Andra Day in the lead role.