FOUR OF THE BEST
Born Deaf, Raised Hearing – Our Lives BBC1, 7.30pm
Actor Jonny Cotsen created the one-man show Louder Is Not Always Clearer, which explored his experiences as a deaf man. He’s returning to the subject in this documentary which kicks off a new series of the Our Lives strand, as he tries to find out why he was brought up as if he could hear, and whether it is too late for him to embrace his deaf identity. As well as using reconstructions to explore Jonny’s history, the episode also uses sound design to help hearing audiences understand how he perceives the world around him.
The Terror: Infamy BBC2, 9pm
The first series of this horror anthology was inspired by the real-life story of Captain Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic. The drama put its own supernatural spin on the tale, although it was a fact that one of the ships was called HMS Terror. Now this second run is telling a very different story, but once again the setting is loosely inspired by real events, namely the forcible internment of people of Japanese ancestry in the US during the Second World War. Also drawing on Japanese folklore, the opening double bill sees the community of Terminal Island in Southern California dealing with a spate of sudden deaths. Then news comes of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Lighthouses: Building the Impossible Channel 5, 9pm
Situated 20 miles off the Pembrokeshire coast, The Smalls lighthouse is one of Britain’s most remote offshore lighthouses. As Rob Bell discovers, it presented challenges for builders and architects, but also the keepers – the presenter shares the macabre story of a man who was forced to share a prison-like cabin with his dead companion. Rob discovers that legend has it that tragedy struck again when a rogue wave found a weak point in the building’s design, and he checks out Edinburgh University’s cutting-edge wave tank facility to separate fact from fiction.
Love Life BBC1, 10.40pm
The romantic anthology series returns for a new run, and although the star of the first season, Anna Kendrick, will be popping up, this time the spotlight is on the life and loves of Marcus Watkins (William Jackson Harper). When we first meet him in this opening double bill, he’s married to Emily (Maya Kazan), but he starts questioning their relationship when he strikes up a friendship with the charismatic Mia (Jessica Williams). His mates warn him against getting too close to this new woman, suggesting he works on his marriage instead, but will he listen?