The very best of the week ahead
Today
Manhunt ITV, 9.00PM
A good chunk of ITV’s drama output comprises reconstructions of real-life murders – think Little Boy Blue, Appropriate Adult and numerous others. The latest is this three-parter starring Martin Clunes and produced by his wife, Philippa Braithwaite. Scripted by Silent Witness’s Ed Whitmore, it’s a look at the Met police’s investigation into the deaths of several young women in the early Noughties. Clunes plays DCI Colin Sutton, the officer in charge of the investigation into the killing of French student Amélie Delagrange on Twickenham Green in 2004. Sutton begins to suspect a local man, Levi Bellfield, and wonders if he’s connected to the then-unsolved 2002 murder of Milly Dowler. Clunes is terrific, delivering an understated performance that is light years away from the heavier brush strokes of his Doc Martin. Whitmore’s pacy script keeps the action brisk and there are, in this episode at least, no ghastly murder scenes. Vicki Power Les Misérables BBC ONE, 9.00PM
Andrew Davies has done a masterful job of filleting Victor Hugo’s sprawling novel into a tale that captures the heart of the story. The second episode sees Dominic West command the screen as complex hero Jean Valjean, who tries to throw struggling Fantine (Lily Collins) a lifeline. VP
Monday
Having created plenty ty of headlines before it’s even being aired, Brexit: the he Uncivil War was always a hostage stage to fortune. But its creator, or, James Graham, is one e of our finest interpreters rs of political events past st
( This House) and present ( The Vote), and his gift for dissecting complex issues with barbed wit and piercing insight means he is as s good a person as any y to make sense of the most ost divisive British electoral campaign of modern times. Not every detail is accurate but it feels right, which is the dramatist’s essential obligation. Benedict Cumberbatch is magnificent as Vote Leave campaign director Dominic Cummings, every bit the “career psychopath” described by David Cameron. Leading leavers are depicted as either oafish dinosaurs or cynical automata, but this is evenhanded and the complacent Remainers (led by Rory Kinnear’s Craig Oliver) come across no better. Yet, despite the anger over the deceptions and skulduggery, it’s it entertaining and never mock mocks the voters. Graham’s real r targets are the politicians, politicians and the lobbyists using the referendum re as their own personal Petri dish. The results are exhilarating, exh depressing, terrifying and an unmissable.
Gabriel Tate Ta
The Babes in the Wood Murders: The Prosecutors
BBC TWO, 9.0 9.00PM; SCOTLAND, 11.15PM
In case you’ve missed the recent news, this fine film documents the CPS’s pursuit of the person responsible for the murder of two girls in 1986. GT
Tuesday
Icons BBC TWO, 9.00PM
History meets popularity contest in this new series that explores the achievements of some of the 20th century’s most influential figures and invites viewers to vote for their favourite. The figures are presented in categories, from explorers and scientists to artists, writers, activists, entertainers, and sports stars – with celebrity advocates introducing four shortlisted candidates in each field. Things get under way with Trevor McDonald introducing his selection of the world’s greatest political leaders. But, in such a crowded and controversial field, a list of four doesn’t really offer much in the way of choice to voters. Especially when one of them – US President Franklin D Roosevelt – seems to be there chiefly as a benign rebuke to the present incumbent. Surely, for instance, Mikhail Gorbachev, who steered the dismantling of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism more widely was, ultimately, a far more significant leader. Even so, it should be interesting to see who, in these fraught political times, comes out top in the battle between the other three leadership heavyweights: Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela. Gerard O’Donovan Silent Witness BBC ONE, 9.00PM
The veteran forensics drama aims for relevance from the outset in this 10-part, 22nd series as the Lyall Unit investigates the murder of a transgender man in London. And with cutbacks looming, Thomas (Richard Lintern) tells Nicky (Emilia Fox) he’s been offered a new job. Continues Wednesday. GO
Wednesday
Cleaning Up ITV, 9.00PM
The premise behind ITV’s new thriller is a simple but brilliant one: who are the people that clean Canary Wharf ’s gleaming temples to commerce? The answer, according to newcomer Mark Marlow’s clever script, is an invisible army of people like Sam (Sheridan Smith), a perky mother of two with a can-do attitude, a pile of debt and a marriage that’s just imploded. The debt is the key here, because Sam is also a gambler. And when life throws a bit of information her way, she spots a way of clearing that debt. It’s here that Smith’s lovely performance really come into its own: with a less sympathetic actor her subsequent behaviour could easily alienate viewers – a key scene later on when she shamelessly overrules her best friend and fellow cleaner Jess (Jade Anouka) is particularly well-handled – instead she makes you see both Sam’s need for adrenalin and her likeability. It all adds up to a sharp and addictive piece of drama. Sarah Hughes
Red Arrows: Kings of the Sky CHANNEL 5, 9.00PM
This new series follows the Red Arrows over a tumultuous year. The series begins with squadron leader David Montenegro and the Arrows at the beginning of a world tour, as their engineers, aka Circus, carry out a dizzying array of tests. SH
Thursday
Question Time BBC ONE, 10.45PM; N IRELAND, 11.20PM
“Thrilled and not a little daunted,” said Fiona Bruce on being given the job of replacing David Dimbleby in the
Question Time hot seat and becoming only its fourth full-time host in 40 years. Certainly, her grasp of current affairs after years as a news anchor, experience of grilling politicians during her time as a reporter, and rapport with ordinary folk as demonstrated on Antiques Roadshow, makes her a sensible choice. Bruce, who reportedly impressed BBC bosses in auditions to see off five other contenders, Emily Maitlis and Kirsty Wark among them, begins the new era of the show in London. It may be safest to expect business as usual or even, with Brexit chaos and widening divisions around the country, an intensifying of the grim bear pit atmosphere of this BBC institution. Can producers give up their desperate chase for guests too often chosen for notoriety over expertise, in favour of sensible, measured and perhaps even balanced political discussion? Bruce may find even her lauded eventemperedness and emollience pushed to the limit in the coming months. GT Hospital BBC TWO, 9.00PM
This new series of the compelling fly-on-the-wall documentary is underscored by the collapse of Carillion and another looming winter crisis, this time focusing on six NHS Trusts across Liverpool. GT
Friday
Grantchester ITV, 9.00PM
Over the course of three series, this clerical drama has built a reputation for quality storylines and strong acting. That’s largely been down to the chemistry between James Norton and Robson Green as the jazz-loving Fifties vicar Sidney Chambers and his salt-of the-earth policeman pal DI Geordie Keating. But that partnership is coming to an end, with Norton due to be replaced by Tom Brittney (who here makes a brief appearance as Rev Will Davenport). Before that we can still enjoy Norton in a story that brings the social strife of the late Fifties to the fore when a fundraising tour by a visiting US civil rights activist, Rev Nathaniel Todd (Paterson Joseph), is interrupted by violent protests that end in tragedy. GO
The Victorian House of Arts and Crafts
BBC TWO, 9.00PM
Friday night is craft night on BBC Two as a band of professionals explore the working conditions of their antecedents – in this case a late-1800s Victorian Arts and Crafts commune in Wales. Anita Rani presents.