The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
DEATHS IN ABERDEEN
Neil Diamond At The BBC – Saturday, BBC2, 8.25pm
Legendary singer-songwriter Neil Diamond has a knack for writing timeless tracks that seemingly never fade from popularity – and his hits such as Sweet Caroline, Forever In Blue Jeans and Solitary Man are rarely far from public consciousness. This means the BBC has decades of appearances on a range of BBC programmes including Wogan, The Shirley Bassey Show, Later With Jools Holland and Top Of The Pops from which to draw clips of classic performances, as well as rare interview footage. The programme is the first of an evening dedicated to Diamond, and is followed by Neil Diamond: Solitary Man (9.25pm), a documentary charting his life and career, and three live concert recordings.
The Piano – Sunday, Channel 4, 9pm
Claudia Winkleman is back on the box for the second run of this musical contest and, if it’s as remarkable as the first, we’re all in for a winner. For the uninitiated, the series focuses on the hunt for Britain’s best amateur pianist, with Mika and Lang Lang as the judges. They secretly watch players tickling the ivories on a keyboard in a public space. This time it’s Manchester’s Piccadilly Station, where a classically trained boxer, a dance DJ with a fantastic voice and an 80-year-old romantic catch their eye in the opening episode. Expect to be impressed and moved by what you see and hear as the search for the successor to last year’s winner – blind, neurodivergent teenager Lucy Illingworth – begins.
Blue Lights – Monday, BBC1, 9pm
After a smooching session while out for drinks at the pub, police colleagues Shane and Annie wake up in bed together – and, as she now lives with Grace, Annie is desperate for her surrogate big sister not to find out. However, all of that quickly goes out of the window when Shane comes downstairs with the news that Dixie has been shot. Meanwhile, as Lee Thompson moves quickly to fill the gap left by the death, the police head to the Mount Eden estate looking for answers – and they get more than they bargained for. Elsewhere, Grace and Stevie attend a heartbreaking case that shows a very different side to life on the Belfast beat.
Stalking: State Of Fear – Tuesday, ITV1, 9pm
Every day of the year, millions of British women live in fear of the men stalking them. Whether hiding in fortified homes or putting on disguises when venturing outside, this Exposure shocking documentary follows threatened women who are taking on the criminal justice system in an attempt to hold their stalkers to account. With intimate access to victims and also the family of Gracie Spinks – who was murdered by a work colleague in 2021 after police officers failed to take action against someone they could have known was a serial stalker – the programme reveals how the women of today feel abandoned by the system.
Book Club – Saturday, C4, 10.20pm
Best friends Diane (Diane Keaton), Vivian (Jane Fonda), Sharon (Candice Bergen) and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) merrily reunite each month over glasses of chilled white wine to discuss a book chosen by one member of the coterie. Hotel manager Vivian elects to introduce her shocked pals to Christian Grey’s notorious Red Room in erotic thriller Fifty Shades Of Grey. It inspires them in different ways, as doting wife Carol tries to invigorate her marriage, while Sharon is persuaded to try internet dating. Vivian has a chance encounter with old flame Arthur (Don Johnson) and recently widowed Diane is swept off her feet by airline captain Mitchell (Andy Garcia).
The Commuter – Monday, C5, 11.05pm
Former NYPD detective Michael McCauley (Liam Neeson) heads home on New York City’s busy Metro-North Railroad. An enigmatic woman called Joanna (Vera Farmiga) strikes up a cryptic conversation. She intimates there is a brown paper bag containing $25,000 hidden in one of the toilets and Michael can earn a further $75,000 if he agrees to find a passenger called Prynne, who is travelling to Cold Spring station in Zone 7. Curiosity piqued, Michael takes the cash then hesitates when he consults his rusty moral compass. The Commuter is a high-octane action thriller aboard an evening rush-hour train.
Cape Fear – Wednesday, BBC1, 11.40pm
Brutal rapist Max Cady (Robert De Niro) is released from jail after a long stretch and hunts down the man he blames for his incarceration – lawyer Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte), who was so horrified by Cady’s crimes, he failed to mount much of a defence. Cady becomes increasingly unhinged as he plots revenge on Bowden and his family. Many movie buffs still prefer the more restrained original 1962 film, which starred Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum (who both have cameo roles here). However, judged on its own merits, Martin Scorsese’s remake is a stylish thriller with a terrifying performance from De Niro.
Man Up – Friday, BBC1, 12.10am
On a train to London, 30-something singleton Nancy (Lake Bell) bumps into a girl called Jessica (Ophelia Lovibond), who is meeting a blind date under the clock at Waterloo station. The nervous lovebirds will recognise each other by holding copies of a bestselling self-help book. When the train pulls into the station, Nancy discovers Jessica has left her book behind so she gives chase and crosses paths with the blind date, Jack (Simon Pegg). On the spur of the moment, Nancy decides to pose as Jessica and see where the meeting leads. Surprisingly, she gets on well with Jack, but there are skeletons in both of their closets.