The very best of the week ahead
Sunday American Rust
SKY ATLANTIC, 1.55AM/3.05AM; 9PM/10.10PM
There are unwritten rules about depicting small-town American life: there has to be one dingy bar, everyone must be divorced, and the police chief should be a tough guy with a good heart. True to form, Dan Futterman’s adaptation of Philipp Meyer’s novel of the same name hits every clichéd note. Set in the fictional Rust Belt town of Buell, Pennsylvania, it’s a story of working-class malaise in a dilapidated post-industrial community spiced up by the brutal murder of a former cop. Jeff Daniels plays the police chief Del Harris, and does a decent job of embodying the depressive lethargy that hangs over the town. Harris is an introverted old-hand with a prescription drug addiction who begins dating the ex-wife (Maura Tierney) of local gun-toting deadbeat Virgil Poe (Mark Pellegrino). But when her son is accused of murder, he must decide how far he is willing to go for her. This opening pair of episodes get things off to a relatively ponderous start, but there’s an interesting kernel here that could pop later down the line. Jack Taylor
Showtrial BBC ONE, 9PM
This intriguing legal thriller about the trial of bratty university student Talitha Campbell (Céline Buckens) comes to a conclusion, with salacious media coverage hitting fever pitch. Tracy Ifeachor is captivating as defence barrister Cleo Roberts as she strives to convince the jury not to convict her client for the murder of fellow student Hannah. A satisfying and surprisingly unnerving finale. JT
Monday Winter Walks
s BBC FOUR, 7.30PM
“I’m determined ned I’m not going to feel eel guilty that I’m m not at work,” says an anxious Amanda nda Owen at the outset of her 5.6-mile hike from Bainbridge dge to Semerwater, r, kicking off a second run of this gently contemplative e series that gives well-known faces a recording kit and a route, then packs them off alone on an unfamiliar walk in the British countryside. Still to come this week are Alastair Campbell, the Rev Kate Bottley and Radio 5 Live’s Nihal Arthanayake, walking tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday. Having nothing to do but stride along and appreciate the world around her is a palpably unfamiliar feeling for Owen, the farmer, bestselling author and chief focus of Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm, better known as the Yorkshire Shepherdess. “Farmers just don’t don t go walking, do they? Except on their own patch.” But over the course of the trek, through gorgeous gorgeo hills and dales she’s never seen before, befo despite living “just a vale or two over”, ov the solitary walking works w its magic. Gerard O’Donovan O
The Princes and an the Press
BBC TWO, 9PM
The concluding conclu part of BBC media me editor and Today T presenter pres Amol Amo Rajan’s exploration exp of the relationship between the media and the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex picks up where the last episode left off. Rajan focuses on the period between 2018 and 2021, following the Sussexes’ wedding, and the very different approaches the two princes – and their wives – have taken with the UK press. GO
Tuesday Who Do You Think You Are?
BBC ONE, 9PM
Post- Strictly, Ed Balls has reinvented himself as an accomplished presenter; BBC One’s workhorse series was an obvious next step. For Balls, one of the many sadnesses of his mother’s dementia is that he will never be able to have the conversations about family history he now wishes they had shared. His father is aware of rumours that an ancestor may have served as a surgeon at Trafalgar on Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory; there are also stories of cathedral architects and kindness to convicts. The truth, as is so often the case in this absorbing series, is both sadder and more complex. Gabriel Tate
Britney
BBC THREE/BBC ONE, 11.35PM; NI, 12.05AM; WALES 12.25AM
Charly Clive stars alongside co-writer Ellen Robertson for this pilot based on their live show about their long friendship and the impact of Clive’s brain tumour. Tony Gardner, Lia Williams and Omid Djalili are among the crack supporting cast in a heartwarming, unflinching comedy. GT
Wednesday Paddy and Christine McGuinness: Our Family and Autism
BBC ONE, 9PM
When presenter Paddy McGuinness discovered that each of his three children was autistic, he struggled to accept the news, being troubled by his own misconceptions and fears for the future. This moving documentary follows the comedian and his wife, Christine, as they explore the challenges of raising children with autism and reflect on how it has affected them personally. The couple meet experts, parents and people on the autistic spectrum to discuss the nature of the disorder, including the clinicians who first diagnosed their children. But it’s the unguarded moments, between the structured interviews, that are most revealing. Paddy brims with enthusiasm, but he clearly suffers from some unprocessed distress linked to the diagnoses. Reassuringly, the process has a restorative, calming effect and the couple are drawn noticeably closer over the months of filming. JT
New Forest: The Crown’s Hunting Ground
SMITHSONIAN, 8PM
Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville takes a romantic look at one of the UK’s most remarkable national parks: the New Forest, a former royal hunting ground that has enraptured visitors since the time of William the Conqueror. Bonneville’s commentary is a little trite, but the camera work is beautiful. JT
Thursday Cancelled
CHANNEL 4, 10PM
“Cancel culture” is PICK a phrase open to OF THE so many interpretations, WEEK and one which provokes such strong emotions, that it is easy to lose sight of what it is, how it came about and, at times, whether it even actually exists. Presenter Richard Bacon speaks from experience: when he was 22, he was sacked as a presenter of Blue Peter after a News of the World sting where he was caught taking cocaine. The surrounding storm made headlines and Lorraine Heggessey, then Head of BBC Children’s Programming, was forced to explain the situation to CBBC’s viewership. In this one-off, Bacon explores the evolution (or mutation?) of “cancel culture” as the debates over trans rights, historic tweets and sullied reputations of certain national icons intensify and justifiable outrage, it has been alleged, tramples over the right to free speech. Bacon speaks to some of those public figures whose reputations have been tarnished, rightly or wrongly. With Channel 4’s future under scrutiny, this feels like exactly the sort of show it should be commissioning. GT
Yellowjackets
SKY ATLANTIC, 9PM & 10.05PM
A clever conceit is tidily handled in this Showtime series: in 1996, the girls on a high-school football team are caught in a plane crash and are stranded in wooded wilderness for more than a year. Running parallel to this are the stories of the survivors 25 years later (played by Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis, among others), who are still wrestling with the unresolved traumas of the grisly incident. GT
Friday Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas
CHANNEL 4, 8PM
A seasonal fixture since 2014, one of the more reliable signs that Christmas is not far off now is Kirstie Allsopp’s show offering crafty – in every sense – festive tips on how to have a stylish Christmas without breaking the bank, assuming you’ve got time on your hands for a project or 10. This year she’s going all out with a three-part series, fashioning all sorts of seasonal makes, bakes and decorations.
Helping her out (and, let’s be honest, hindering too) is her Location, Location, Location co-host Phil Spencer, who if not exactly skilled at making sparkly Christmas crackers and presentable personalised scarves, is a dab hand at wrapping them, at least. More of a perfectionist is Allsopp’s florist sister, Sofie Fletcher, who puts together some stunning floral arrangements to get the seasonal atmosphere in swing. Also on hand are former MasterChef winner Shelina Permalloo, who demonstrates how to give a luxurious Mauritian twist to your festive menu with a seafood spectacular, and TikTok star Coinneach MacLeod (aka the Hebridean Baker), who whips up a Christmas trifle and shows how to mix the perfect Hogmanay cocktail. GO
Simple as Water
SKY DOCUMENTARIES, 9PM
A hard-hitting HBO documentary from Oscar-winning filmmaker Megan Mylan, filmed over the course of five years in Turkey, Greece, Germany, Syria and the US, exploring the impact of war, exile and separation on four families displaced by the civil war in Syria. GO