Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
THE HOT LIST
BEST OF TV AND STREAMING
LOOKING FOR AGATHA AGATHA CHRISTIE: LUCY WORSLEY ON THE MYSTERY QUEEN BBC Two, Friday, November 25, 9pm
■ THE historian looks at what made Agatha Christie a writer of such deliciously dark crime stories by looking at her formative years in Devon. She finds that a complex blend of family secrets along with a shadowy figure from childhood had a big impact on the young Agatha. Worsley examines how these factors provided inspiration and themes for her stories as well as looking at the writer’s own secrets and how she managed to remain a mysterious figure despite her great success.
GUITAR HERO JIMI HENDRIX NIGHT BBC Two, Saturday, November 26, from 9pm
■ AN evening dedicated to one of the most revered guitarists of all time, BBC Two features two documentaries about the late, great Jimi Hendrix. The first is John McDermott’s film Jimi Hendrix Experience: Music, Money, Madness In Maui, which charts the band’s visit to Hawaii and their involvement with the movie Rainbow Bridge. As well as performances by Jimi and co, there are interviews with the band and film-makers. Bob Smeaton’s documentary Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child, which starts at 10pm, looks at the life and career of the musician, including his early days in the army and as a jobbing musician backing acts like Little Richard and the Isley Brothers before he found fame himself. It also recounts his most famous performances as well as his tragic demise in London in 1970.
FAMILY VALUES WEDNESDAY Netflix, streaming now
■ THE Addams Family and Tim Burton seem like a match made in (Gothic) heaven and it seems remarkable that the director of Edward Scissorhands and Sweeney Todd hasn’t got to grips with Gomez, Morticia and co before now. For this eight-part series, Burton concentrates on the teenage member of the clan, Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) who has been thrown out of high school. Her mother Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) enrols her at a special school for outcasts where she rubs shoulders with vampires and werewolves but still stands out from the crowd with her sneering sarcasm. Look out for a guest appearance from Christina Ricci from the 1990s Addams Family films.
DESERT NOIR TRUE COLOURS Amazon Prime
■ THERE’S a familiar premise to this FOUR-part Australian crime drama which sees Detective Toni Alma (the excellent Rarriwuy Hick) put on a murder case in Aboriginal Northern Territory with the investigation drawing her into her own close-knit community. Set against a beautifully bleak desert backdrop, Erica Glynn’s noirish thriller weaves race, family and deep-rooted tradition into this police procedural. The result is a rich, intriguing and intelligent detective story.
TENSE THRILLER ECHO 3 Apple TV+
■ BASED on Israeli drama When Heroes Fly and under the guidance of writer/producer Mark Boal (Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) this 10-part thriller is about the disappearance of young scientist Amber Chesborough (Jessica Ann Collins) on the Columbia/Venezuela border and the subsequent search to find her. Leading the hunt are her brother (Luke Evans) and husband (Michiel Huisman) and, as it seems likely she’s been the victim of a kidnapping, the sense of dread and foreboding deepens as they intensify their efforts amid a secret war. Beautifully shot with a complex but gripping narrative.