The very best of the week ahead
Sunday
SAS Rogue Heroes BBC One, 9pm
“Based on a true story,” PICK reads the inscription
OF THE before SAS Rogue Heroes, WEEK the new drama from Peaky
Blinders creator Steven Knight. “Those events depicted, which seem most unbelievable… are mostly true.” It’s a punchy opening for a punchy show: a macho, rock ’n’ roll retelling of the origins of the Special Air Service, Britain’s elite military unit. Set in North Africa during the Second World War, it tells the story of how three disillusioned officers devised a daring plan to parachute behind German enemy lines. There’s Connor Swindells’s David Stirling, a harddrinking English posho with a contempt for authority; Jock Lewes (Alfie Allen), a Welsh Guards commando fighting on the front line in the besieged city of Tobruk, Libya; and Paddy Mayne (Jack O’Connell), a mercurial lieutenant in the Royal Ulster Rifles whose introductory scene sees him knocking out three men with nothing but a Bible. Much like Peaky Blinders, it’s a highly stylised piece, full of swaggering music cues (lots of AC/DC), operatic violence and lyrical dialogue (“necks are a gift, God’s ultimate mistake”). It’s less soulful, but still a blast. The show will air weekly on BBC One, with all six episodes available on iPlayer immediately. Stephen Kelly
Top Gear BBC One, 8pm
Freddie Flintoff, Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness open the new series with a trip across Thailand via the nation’s favourite car, the pickup truck. They race them, naturally, and transport hay bales to a “Formula Hmong” course, where they ride rickety go-karts down a hill. SK
Monday The White Lotus Sky Atlantic, 9pm
The second series of Mike White’s splendidly slippery social satire is here. He has drawn in a fascinating cast for another tale of marriages and families on the rocks, sociopathic hoteliers and spectacular scenery despoiled by human failings. Literally, in this case, as a departing holidaymaker happens upon a
corpse during a valedictory swim in the sea off the Sicilian coast – others are swiftly spotted, much to the horror of Sabrina Impacciatore’s White Lotus hotel manager. Flashing back one week, we meet a few of the key players, including Will Sharpe, Aubrey Plaza and Theo James,as well as the Di Grassos family (F Murray Abraham, Michael Imperiolo, Adam DiMarco), three generations of Italian-Americans who are there to reconnect with their heritage. And of course there’s Jennifer Coolidge’s traumatised heiress, her husband and assistant
in tow. Gabriel Tate
Italia 90: When Football Changed Forever
Channel 4, 9pm
On the pitch, expectations were low as England arrived in Italy. Off the pitch, they were subterranean, with hooliganism still a problem as teams sought readmission to continental competitions. By the
end of the tournament, everything had changed; this three-part series tracks the transformation. GT
Tuesday Louis Theroux Interviews: Dame Judi Dench
BBC Two, 9.15pm
Judi Dench loathes being referred to as a “national treasure”, she tells Louis Theroux; it’s a term that recalls “dusty old things” abandoned and forgotten about in rickety cupboards. But her indignation is never meanspirited; in this wonderful conversation the pair bounce off one another like old friends. They discuss Dench’s illustrious acting career on stage and screen, from Lady Macbeth for the RSC to M in the Bond films and an Oscar-winning turn in Shakespeare in Love. However, the true highlights come when more personal topics are broached. The death of her husband of 30 years, fellow actor Michael Williams, in 2001 is covered, with Dench visibly emotional as she recalls his humour and encouragement; a tribute to him and other late actors, including Helen McCrory and Natasha Richardson, is found in her home’s
beautiful garden that is filled with memorial trees. Dench also talks movingly about her sight problems – she has macular degeneration (AMD) – that makes learning lines harder. Theroux can come across as a purposefully droll interviewer in other series, but here, he seems genuinely delighted to meet such a hero. Poppie Platt
Jimmy Akingbola Handle with Care
ITV, 9pm
Actor Jimmy Akingbola (Kate & Koji) explores the reality of growing up in care in the UK. In this deeply personal film, he meets those who grew up in the system and opens up about his birth parents’ difficulties (his mother had schizophrenia, while his father questioned his parentage) in adapting to life in England after they emigrated from Nigeria and how it resulted in him being fostered by a loving white family. PP
Wednesday Charles: Our New King ITV, 9pm
Not to be confused with Saturday evening’s Channel 4 two-parter of the same name, this documentary, directed by Tim Maynard, attempts to understand how the personality, character and interests of King Charles III have been shaped by his upbringing and experiences from the day he became heir apparent 70 years ago. To paint this picture of the former Prince of Wales, presenter Tom Bradby talks to some of his collaborators, friends and confidants from his younger days. David Cameron, Trevor McDonald, David Lammy and the Archbishop of Canterbury are among the more high-profile talking heads, alongside peers from his strict private school Gordonstoun. Overall this is a deferential portrait, describing a man who is driven by his passion for the environment, his faith and his sense of duty. GT
Hostages Sky Documentaries, 9pm
The Iranian hostage crisis of 1979 lasted over a year, caused US President Jimmy Carter to lose an election and changed the face of global politics for a generation. This riveting four-part documentary series does a superb job of exploring the stand-off and its consequences. GT
Thursday The Horne Section TV Show
All 4
Hail, fans of Taskmaster, the mouse roars (well, squeaks a little louder anyway) at last. In this gently hilarious sitcom, Alex Horne stars as himself. Tired of being the “little assistant” and soaking up the endless indignities heaped upon him by Taskmaster’s dictatorial host Greg Davies, he decides to strike out with a new show of his own and become a successful TV host in his own right. First though, he and his gloriously eccentric band the Horne Section must enthuse sceptical Channel 4 programme executive Ash (Georgia Tennant), who thinks their inability to be hip and young, conventionally attractive or pull in an audience isn’t quite how she saw the future of television going. Luckily, Alex’s wife’s friend Thora (Desiree Burch) decides to take an interest, and with chat-show star John Oliver also determined to lend a hand, hope gradually begins to dawn on the Horne’s Section’s dreams of stardom. Gerard O’Donovan
Blockbuster
Netflix
Netflix delivers the coup de grace to its once-great rival – a sitcom about the last movie-rental store in America making a final, futile stand against the march of the streaming age. The crack team behind Brooklyn Nine-Nine stick the knife in not-so-subtly via a great cast led by Randall Park and Melissa Fumero. GO
Friday DNA Journey ITV, 9pm; not STV
There’s more than a touch of EastEnders drama in this emotional edition of the ITV series that unlocks celebrities’ family histories through
DNA technology. Not just because of Larry Lamb’s long connection with the East End, but because of the secrets and lies unearthed in his and Alison Steadman’s family trees. Lamb and Steadman played Mick and Pam Shipman in Gavin & Stacey, and Lamb says of their friendship: “Once you start playing a family you do become like a family.” Lamb comes from what he calls “a troubled family” and sure enough, he quickly learns about a scandal in their past, but also that he’s related to one of the world’s first big movie stars, a Canadian actress called Florence Lawrence. Steadman receives a shock when she learns that her father, George, was adopted; neither she nor her family had any idea. Off she and Lamb go to the Isle of Man to learn the story behind the grandmother she never knew existed. Veronica Lee
The Mosquito Coast
Apple TV+
In the 10-part second series of Neil Cross’s loose but ponderous adaptation of Paul Theroux’s 1981 novel, Allie Fox (Justin Theroux), his wife Margot (Melissa George) and their children are still trying to find refuge from the American government, cartels and hit men. VL