The very best of the week ahead
Sunday
The People’s Piazza: A History of Covent Garden
BBC Two, 9pm
Another slice of incisive social history along the lines of a supersized A House Through Time, The People’s Piazza confirms that nobody does this better than David Olusoga (working here with Chris Durlacher, director of the excellent The Secret History of Our Streets). Over 400 years, Covent Garden has been an aristocratic indulgence, a den of iniquity, a lively trading hub, a tourist hotspot and a cultural crucible. Using archive footage and sparing virtual reconstructions, Olusoga talks to a cast of architects, historians, traders, playwrights and activists about the changing face of the area. While some of those profiled are either famous or notorious – Nell Gwyn, killer-turnedactor Charles Macklin, founder of the Bow Street Runners John Fielding – others are less so, their stories all the more impactful as a result. They include a much-admired Stuart-era miniaturist called “Dwarf Gibson”, quack doctor John Ponteus whose failings aided the spread of the plague, and a trio of “dropt” children who died appallingly young at the height of Covent Garden’s sex trade. A lively, affecting and diverse demonstration of both the mutability and resilience of community. Gabriel Tate
The Soldier’s Tale BBC Four, 8pm
Filmed at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall during lockdown, this performance of Igor Stravinsky’s opera comes courtesy of the Hallé and is conducted by Mark Elder. It tells the story of a soldier making a Faustian pact and features three actors, a dancer and seven instrumentalists.