A matchless cop tale returns plus a noteworthy piano duo
The Responder BBC One/iPlayer ★★★★★
Two years ago, former police officer and debut screenwriter Tony Schumacher gave us five of the most riveting hours of TV there have been for years. The Responder was the story of Chris Carson (a career-best performance from Martin Freeman), a man slowly being driven to despair by the pressures of his job as a frontline officer answering emergency calls on night shift and the futility of trying to hold back the tide of crime. Now, Chris is back in that rarest of things: a second season that feels earned by the quality of what went before but also unforced. The original ended neatly, but credibly, without anyone’s personal stories finishing. The new five-part drama, which picks things up six months later, feels natural and – given the unspent potential – necessary. It’s another matchless piece. Lucy Mangan
The Incredibly Talented Lucy Channel 4
★★★★☆
The makers of talent show The Piano knew they had cracked it when they found Lucy, a blind and neurodivergent 13-year-old girl from Halifax. Inevitably, she now stars in a spin-off documentary where we learn more about her and see what happened next. But this is not primarily a film about Lucy. It’s about her teacher of 10 years, Daniel. We see how important their relationship is to Lucy in her use of his name. “Daniel!” is the cry when playing a piece brings her joy. But minutes before the pair are due to play the coronation gig at Windsor Castle, there is a twist – and it exposes something rotten in our society, an underlying motif of the nation’s Daniels and Lucys being stomped on. They need and deserve more help than a documentary can provide.
Channel 4 ★★★★☆
In Kevin Spacey’s written rightof-reply statement at the end of Spacey Unmasked, he reminds the world that every criminal and civil court case accusing him of sexual assault has been resolved in his favour. He has a right to reiterate that fact. Public opinion, however, has long since turned against him. This new two-part documentary details further allegations of inappropriate behaviour. It is more, though, than a blizzard of marks on one side of an is-he-isn’t-he ledger. The show collates allegations made by 10 men, most in the US, some who worked with Spacey when he was the director of the Old Vic theatre in London. They all level more or less the same accusation: an influential man made unwanted advances to them and, at the time, they didn’t feel able to complain. JS
Dark Matter Apple TV+ ★★★☆☆
In Blake Crouch’s adaptation of his own book, physics professor Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton) – Jason 1 – has a quiet life teaching then coming home each night to his wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and teenage son Charlie (Oakes Fegley). If there is a flicker behind his eyes when his college contemporary Ryan (Jimmi Simpson) wins a prestigious physics prize, well, we’ve all had moments of wondering about the road not taken, have we not? So it is that Jason 1 is kidnapped and drugged by Jason 2 (Edgerton also), the version of himself that developed a way of hopping across universes to substitute himself for Jason 1 so he could enjoy all the blessings of family life. From there, two very enjoyable storylines unfold – a domestic thriller and some sci-fi fun.