The very best of the week ahead
Today Great Expectations BBC One, 9pm
For those who think that Dickens needs a bit more oomph, Steven Knight – the writer who gave us Peaky Blinders and SAS: Rogue Heroes
– brings his signature high-octane, brutalist style to one of literature’s best-loved tales. As such, it’s likely to have Dickens purists pulling their hair out at the roots. Magwitch’s opening scene is, for instance, embroidered and extended into an indulgently violent mud and blood-soaked set-piece. For all the punch-ups, swearing and murk-filled interiors, the six-part series does have a driving energy and a strong cast including Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham, Matt Berry as Mr Pumblechook, Shalom Brune-Franklin as Estella and Ashley Thomas as Jaggers. Tom Sweet excels in the opening episodes (he’s succeeded later by the also excellent Fionn Whitehead) as Pip, the young blacksmith’s apprentice whose encounter with an escaped convict in the marshes of the Thames estuary and, then, the tragic Miss Havisham, resets the course of his life. Colman’s first appearance, enveloped in what appear to be cobwebs and a dried cottage-border headdress, is most certainly unforgettable. Gerard O’Donovan
The Boat Races BBC One, 3.30pm
Over four miles of tidal water faces the elite rowing teams from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge for another furious dash down the Thames. The 77th women’s race will start at 4pm; the 168th men’s at 5pm – can Cambridge claw it back? GO
Monday Succession Sky Atlantic, 2am & 9pm
Jesse Armstrong’s awards-sodden drama reaches its fourth and final season, with only 10 more delicious episodes of exquisitely awful executive skulduggery for us to savour. Series three ended with a bang
– patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox) doing the dirty on his children and rewriting his divorce settlement to rob them of boardroom power at the family firm, just as they were about to wrest control from him. It felt like the declaration of all-out war. Series four, however, begins in relative tranquillity: Logan is still planning to sell up to Swedish tech guru Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård); his kids – Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) – are in harmony, cooking up a new whizzbang media company; and even half-brother Connor (Alan Ruck) seems (relatively) content, playing at politics as the election looms. It doesn’t last. When the knives are drawn, they are sharper than ever, and this sensational final season features moments that will make fans’ jaws drop. Chris Bennion
Blue Lights BBC One, 9pm
Don’t be put off by the thought that this Belfast-set series is just another police drama; it is utterly gripping, spearheaded by a fantastic performance from Sian Brooke. She plays PC Grace Ellis, a new recruit who finds herself in hot water after getting too personally invested in her charges; the series also follows fellow newbies Tommy (Nathan Braniff) and Annie (Katherine Devlin) as they get to grips with life in the force. Poppie Platt
Tuesday Murder in Mayfair BBC Two, 9pm
A story 15 years in the making, but one which has lost none of its power to enrage. In 2008, 23-year-old Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen was killed in a flat near Mayfair. The prime suspect was Farouk Abdulhak, son of a Yemeni billionaire and the last person seen with her. Shortly after her body was discovered, he was found to have fled to his home country, which has no UK extradition treaty. BBC correspondent Nawal Al-Maghafi has been on the case ever since, along with Martine’s father, Odd Petter Magnussen. For years, Abdulhak’s connections made him impossible to reach. But the Yemeni civil war has seen his allies fall from grace while he forged a new career in cryptocurrency. Al-Maghafi eventually establishes contact over Snapchat, and their exchanges prove illuminating, infuriating and shocking. Almost equally intriguing are the fleeting insights offered into how a film such as this is put together, as the journalist confers with producers and commissioners on how best to proceed. Gabriel Tate
Bear Grylls Meets President Zelenskyy Channel 4, 8pm
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has invited the adventurer to Kyiv. Grylls encounters citizens and soldiers, but the main man is the attraction here, with the charismatic president on open and engaging form. GT
Wednesday The Big Door Prize Apple TV+
One morning, out of nowhere, a mysterious machine appears in the grocery store of a small American town. It is called Morpho and, as the community soon discovers, it is able to predict a person’s “life potential” – the best possible life they could or could have achieved. One man gets magician, a talent that he had given up on. Others get cards reading biker, storyteller, male model, hero, royalty. That is the playful idea at the heart of this charming 10-part comedy, adapted from the eponymous book by MO Walsh, and featuring a charismatic lead performance from Chris O’Dowd. But beneath the absurdity there is also a profound and affecting story about the existential angst of middle age. Take Dusty (O’Dowd), a 40-year-old teacher who, before Morpho, was content with life as a family man. But that all changes when he and his wife, Cass (Gabrielle Dennis), receive their cards. His suggests a life that will amount to nothing more than it already is; hers reveals a life that could have been vastly different. It is a smart and imaginative way to explore happiness and regret. The first three episodes arrive today. Stephen Kelly
The Repair Shop BBC One, 8pm
The most poignant arrival in the barn this week is a tiny pair of shoes, once worn by 83-year-old Nechama from Tel Aviv. They have been cut open at the toes: her parents’ way of making them last longer. Can cobbler Dean Westmoreland repair them? SK
Thursday Get On Up: The Triumph of Black America BBC Two, 9pm
British actor David Harewood, who rose to global prominence starring in Homeland, has been living, working and succeeding in America for over a decade now and witnessing “at first hand the extraordinary influence that African-American culture has had on popular culture”. In this heartfelt two-part series, he explores how black American creatives have had a profound impact on his life and broken down the barriers of racism to change the world. Beginning with his personal connection to Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, Harewood looks at the careers of the first black American stars – Sammy Davis Jr and Sidney Poitier – who inspired him. From there he looks back at movements such as Berry Gordon’s Motown, when black Americans transformed the cultural landscape from the 1960s up to the present day, meeting his heroes en route. GO
Six Four ITVX
An intense adaptation of Japanese author Hideo Yokoyama’s hit crime thriller, relocated from Tokyo to Glasgow. Kevin McKidd plays a jobbing detective and Vinette Robinson his wife, with a mysterious past, whose daughter disappears. GO
Friday The Power Amazon Prime Video
Naomi Alderman’s 2016 novel was an ambitious reset of gender politics, exploring the repercussions of teenage girls across the world developing the power to generate and control electricity. Amazon’s nine-part adaptation is an accomplished combination of high-concept thriller and timely polemic, spanning the globe and deftly juggling numerous storylines and a big cast. Episode one rests on the shoulders of Ria Zmitrowicz (Three Girls) as Roxy, acknowledged but ostracised illegitimate daughter of Eddie Marsan’s north London gangster; Halle Bush as Allie, an abused foster child struggling to reconcile her new powers with her religious faith; Ted Lasso’s Toheeb Jimoh as Nigerian YouTuber Tunde; and Auli’i Cravalho (Moana) who plays Jos, a teenager struggling to fit in. Later episodes introduce older women for whom these events offer terrifying possibilities: Toni Collette’s Seattle mayor and Tatiana (Zrinka Cvitesic), the trophy wife of a dictator. GT
Late Night Lycett Channel 4, 10pm
Joe Lycett turns to chat and comedy in what sounds like a one-man blend of Graham Norton, Ant and Dec and The Mash Report. Lycett reviews the news with celebrities and relatives, while also offering audience members the chance to win some of his possessions. With potential for chaos and brilliance, only Lycett could pull this off.