The very best of the week ahead
Today Call the Midwife BBC ONE, 8.00PM
It might be entering its eighth series, but Call the Midwife shows no signs of flagging with a beautifully paced opening episode that combines its trademark mixture of heart-warming and hard-hitting events to solid effect. It’s the spring of 1964, and Nonnatus House is aflutter about the imminent arrival of the Queen’s baby (the future Prince Edward). Unfortunately, the increasingly confused Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt) takes a more personal interest in the royal birth, and goes Awol, much to the distress of the other nuns. Those nuns include two new additions – the jolly-hockeysticks Sister Hilda (Fenella Woolgar) and the wet-behind-the-ears Sister Frances (Ella Bruccoleri), both of whom spend the episode adjusting to their new surroundings. The real action, however, happens elsewhere as Nurse Valerie (Jennifer Kirby) has to make a difficult decision when an unexpected patient arrives at Nonnatus. Sarah Hughes
Vera ITV, 8.00PM
There’s a lot to be said for a crime series that concentrates on telling a solid story rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. That’s part of the appeal of Vera, along with a lovely performance from Brenda Blethyn. This opener is a well-plotted tale of misplaced trust as DCI Stanhope hunts for the killer of a young woman. SH
Monday Cold Feet ITV, 9.00PM
The successful reboot of the much-loved Nineties series returns for a third outing, offering its trademark warmth and wit while sticking firmly to the comedy-drama format that made it such a hit in the first place. With welcome ease, we slip back into the lives of the five friends, as they negotiate the vagaries of middle age – though, admittedly, with varying degrees of success. Adam (James Nesbitt) is still bent on rolling back the years, dying his greying hair and flirting with a young barista (Tala Gouveia) at his local coffee shop. Meanwhile, romance is flourishing in Jenny (Fay Ripley) and Pete’s (John Thomson) marriage, until some unexpected medical news threatens to skewer their passion. And finally, Karen (Hermione Norris) and ex-husband David (Robert Bathurst) can’t seem to agree over the future of son Josh (Callum Woodhouse), who wants to drop out of his university course. Toby Dantzic
True Detective SKY ATLANTIC, 9.00PM
After a dodgy second s run, Nic Pizzolatto’s grim gr crime drama returns on sur surer ground. Oscarwinner Mahe Mahershala Ali stars as Wayne Hays, a an Arkansas detective look looking into a child murder tha that happened in the Eighties Eighties. Like the feted first series series, the action cuts acros across eras and uses inter interviews with pro protagonists to frame the original in investigation, the re reopening of the ca case and how a doc documentary was made about the killing. A mesmeric Ali knits together the three strands in style. TD
Tuesday Catastrophe CHANNEL 4, 10.00PM
On the strength of the opening episodes of this fourth series, when Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan’s glorious sitcom bows out later this year, it will be doing so at the top. While its very hardest edges have been slightly smoothed off and its predicaments are a little less excruciating, the lives of Rob (Delaney) and Sharon (Horgan) are hardly dramaor crisis-free. The second episode finds Sharon eyeing a chance to “really shine” when she locks horns with a pupil who wets himself, while Rob’s outwardly serene sister Sidney (Michaela Watkins) comes to visit him during his recovery from alcoholism. Always sharp, funny and brimming with hard-won empathy for its overtly flawed characters, who are so well written and understood, Catastrophe has matured into one of the most perceptive relationship comedies for many years. Gabriel Tate
Icons BBC TWO, 9.00PM
In the latest episode of this series exploring 20th-century icons, Kathleen Turner celebrates entertainers Marilyn Monroe, David
Wednesday Revolution in Ruins: The Hugo Chávez Story
BBC TWO, 9.00PM and fall of Venezuela’s charismatic former president Hugo Chávez, who died six years ago, and whose 12 years in power left the country in a severe economic crisis, with poverty levels now among the worst in the world – despite the fact that Venezuela, with the largest oil reserves on the planet and a population of just 30million, should be one of the richest. Director Ruth Mayer traces Chávez’s ascent from a traditional rural background through the ranks of the military, until he led a failed coup in 1992. She investigates how his idealism, natural gift for communication and desire to share out the fruits of Venezuela’s wealth ensured that it was a temporary setback; he rode to the presidency in 1998 on a wave of popular feeling. As so often happens, however, political paranoia and an obsession with remaining in power swiftly set in, and the dream began to fall apart. In the end, this is a documentary that raises more questions than it answers; nevertheless, as a broad-brush reminder of the perils of allowing populist politicians – whether from the left or the right – to wield too much power, it offers lots of food for thought. Gerard O’Donovan
Bradley Walsh & Son: Breaking Dad ITV, 8.00PM
The Walsh family road trip moves on to Texas, as the father and son arrive in the Lone Star State, where they visit a space centre, play with very big guns at a tank firing range, and look into alleged alien sightings with UFO investigators from Houston. GO
Thursday Hospital BBC TWO, 9.00PM
Be warned: this second episode of the fly-on-the-wall series is a real weepy as the cameras head to Liverpool’s Walton Centre, the UK’s only dedicated spine, brain and pain management hospital. The focus is on three patients: 18-year-old Tom, who sustained serious brain injuries following a car accident, 22-year-old Sophie, who has been there for nine months following an unexplained inflammation of the brain, and Michaela, 30, who has had four brain operations in a year and is pinning her hopes on another. It all adds up to an emotional episode which makes some important points about underfunding and the pressures placed on all involved: medical staff, patients and their families. SH
American History’s Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley
BBC FOUR, 9.00PM
The irrepressible historian Lucy Worsley dons her finest stars-andstripes dress for this new, three-part series looking at some of American history’s most (in)famous moments. First up is the American Revolution where Worsley examines how Paul Revere became a hero, the truth behind the Boston Tea Party and the legend of George Washington’s troops as plucky underdogs, before heading to Broadway to see how Lin-Manuel Miranda created a whole new mythology with his hit musical Hamilton. SH
Friday Grantchester ITV, 9.00PM
After a brief introduction to Tom Brittney’s incoming crime-fighting vicar Will Davenport last week, normal service is resumed with Sidney (James Norton) enduring a long, dark night of the soul, Geordie (Robson Green) grumbling about the changing times, and another dead body turning up. Yet all three tropes are this time connected: Sidney was the last person known to have seen the victim alive, while the prime suspect is a Geordie bête noire, Rupert Simpson (Nicholas Rowe), a man both of impeccably awful character and with a knack for greasing the right palms at the appropriate moments. The reality, of course, is rather more complex, involving Patrick Baladi’s supercilious counsellor and the unexpected return of a familiar face. GT
On Bass: Tina Weymouth! BBC FOUR, 9.00PM
Tina Weymouth was, along with David Byrne, a linchpin of Talking Heads. Here she sings the praises of fellow bassists, from Funk Brothers regular James Jamerson to Paul McCartney and Peter Hook. GT