What to watch
Moving On BBC ONE, 2.15PM
Jimmy Mcgovern’s long-running anthology series, beginning its ninth run with another five stories spread across a week, is an exemplar of daytime drama, unafraid to tackle difficult issues and frequently promoting the work of novice writers or directors. That it occasionally settles said issues a little too neatly is understandable – no one wants gale-force Mcgovern over tea and biscuits – but they reliably make a virtue of the short running-time to deliver intensity and coiled emotion. Stories later in the week (at 2.15pm every afternoon and 2.45pm on Friday) include Sue Johnston’s grieving widow seeking comfort in an unlikely place and Samantha Bond’s registrar forced to re-evaluate her own marriage after an unwelcome discovery.
The gripping opener, however, is written by and stars Jodhi May as Rachel, a woman wrestling with the news that the teacher who abused her as a child is back working in the area. Sinead Cusack supplies doughty support as Rachel’s guilt-stricken mother, but May is hauntingly good as a woman torn between exposing her abuser and the potential impact that reopening old wounds may have on her marriage and children. Gabriel Tate in the case to debate the sufficiency of the eight years served by John Venables and Robert Thompson for the murder of James Bulger in 1993. GT
Active Shooter: America Under Fire
SKY ATLANTIC, 9.00PM
In 2013, a lone gunman killed 12 people and injured three others at the Washington Navy Yard. This documentary features an interview with the killer’s sister, who is still wrestling with his descent into violence. GT