Pick of the week
The Bombing Of Pan Am 103 (Sunday, BBC1, 9pm)
There are, inevitably, many horrific moments in this factual drama about the Lockerbie bombing: the sudden earthquake-like shudder of glasses in a pub; flaming wreckage falling from the sky; a police car’s headlights picking out suitcases strewn across a country road. Yet the most chilling shot comes near the beginning, cameras simply showing the passengers walking down the tunnel to their plane, boarding the flight that was supposed to take them from Heathrow to New York.
Based on extensive research with the victims’ families, investigators and the Lockerbie community, this drama recreates the terrible events of December 21, 1988, before showing how the Scottish police and the FBI united to discover the truth behind the bombing and pursue some kind of justice for the 270 victims. Connor Swindells, Peter Mullan and Eddie Marsan star, each bringing the gravitas needed for such heavy witness-bearing. Victoria Segal
• Why bereaved families of Lockerbie bombing still seek the truth
Documentary choice
Inside Our Dyslexic Minds (Mon, BBC2, 9pm)
Chris Packham investigates the most commonly diagnosed neurodivergence, believed to affect as many as one in ten people in Britain. He meets two people diagnosed with dyslexia who feel they’re not understood by friends and family and works with creatives to help create evocative short films to explain how they are feeling. Tim Glanfield
On demand choice
Nine Perfect Strangers (Thu, Prime Video)
Nicole Kidman once again stars as a mysterious wellness guru in the second series of this quirky drama. This time a group of strangers, including characters played by Henry Golding, Lena Olin and Annie Murphy, head to Austria. TG
Travel choice
Danube (Fri, ITV1, 9pm)
The actress and presenter Joanna Lumley embarks on a journey following the path of the great European river from the pine trees of Germany’s Black Forest to the banks of the Black Sea. Along the way she will encounter Bavarian brewers, the stunning snow-capped mountains of Slovakia and the grand cities of Vienna and Budapest. TG
Sunday
Critics’ choice
Code Of Silence (ITV1, 9pm)
Finding a new angle of entry for a police drama is not easy given the genre’s ubiquity, so all credit to Catherine Moulton, the writer of this six-part thriller, for creating such a stylish set-up. Alison (Rose Ayling-Ellis) is a deaf canteen worker at Canterbury police station, alleviating the boredom by lip-reading the adulterous officers. Her aching desire for excitement seems to be fulfilled when the detectives upstairs ask her to help by lip-reading surveillance footage of a criminal gang, but it’s not long before she’s facing real danger. Ayling-Ellis is hugely engaging as the restless Alison, yet the performances of the charismatic cast — including Charlotte Ritchie as DS Ashleigh Francis and Fifi Garfield as Alison’s mother — are intensified by the striking sound design and clever use of subtitles to open another portal into Alison’s increasingly treacherous world. VS
• Rose Ayling-Ellis: ‘I was bullied but I couldn’t hear them’
Scandinavia (BBC2, 9pm)
There’s a moment during the Svalbard-to-Finland leg of this trans-Scandinavian odyssey where viewers might wonder if Simon Reeve is losing his geopolitical edge. The ageless explorer is in Lapland exploring the Santa Claus industry when two elves emerge from the forest and take him to meet Father Christmas — a cosy summit followed by a visit to the SantaPark shopping centre. Yet it quickly transpires that SantaPark also doubles as a vast nuclear bunker, a bleak illustration of the contradiction Reeve sets out to investigate: Scandinavian countries are often reported to be the happiest on the planet, yet are also at the frontline of tensions with Russia. Reeve remains an amiable guide and there are lighter insights into Nordic culture. But unlike the forest-school toddlers romping in -18C temperatures, it’s hard not to feel the chill in the air. VS
The Assembly — Unseen (ITV1, 10.05pm)
“Unseen” might suggest inferior offcuts, but there’s much to like in this mix of more answers to questions from neurodivergent young people. Jade Thirlwall talks about being bullied at school. Danny Dyer reveals why he swears so much. David Tennant explains his moth outfit at the LGBTQ awards. Only Gary Lineker’s sections disappoint again, perhaps because the inquisitors didn’t know him as a footballer. John Dugdale
MOTD — Women’s FA Cup Final (BBC1, 12.50pm, ko 1.30pm)
Already the winners of the WSL and Women’s League Cup, Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea — invincible domestically in her first season — are chasing a treble at Wembley. Captained by Maya Le Tissier, opponents Manchester United are known for having a well-organised defence but an underperforming attack, scoring far fewer goals than their main WSL rivals in 2024-25, Chelsea and Arsenal. But they are the cup holders. JD
Long Bright River (C4, 10pm/11pm; Tue and Wed)
Adapted from a Liz Moore thriller, this series stars Amanda Seyfried as Mickey, a cop in Philadelphia obsessed with catching a serial killer who’s slaying sex workers — and finding her drug-addicted sister Kacey (Ashleigh Cummings) when she goes missing. JD
Musical medley with a contemporary tilt
Later … With Jools Holland (BBC2, 10pm)
You can quibble over the details of its line-ups or the awkwardness of its interviews, but Later… remains the only reliable platform for music on terrestrial TV. Tonight it begins its 66th run, with Jools Holland introducing the 1990s Britpop outliers Skunk Anansie, the Wicked star Cynthia Erivo, the fierce and funny Irish singer-songwriter CMAT, Jojo Orme’s gothically intriguing project Heartworms and the US folk singer Sam Amidon. VS
• Jools Holland: ‘Ed Sheeran said I had it all wrong’
Monday
Critics’ choice
Chelsea Flower Show (BBC1, 2pm; BBC2, 8pm)
As the festival gets under way, today’s two episodes set the pattern for coverage across the week. In the afternoons on BBC1 (2pm), Angellica Bell and Nicki Chapman present shows filled with accessible and affordable gardening tips from experts, and the show serving largely as illustration. In the evenings on BBC2 (8pm), Monty Don, Rachel de Thame and Arit Anderson are likely to focus more on the show’s star offerings, with discussion of design trends and the trio enthusing about their favourites; Sophie Raworth and Adam Frost, who co-hosted yesterday’s Countdown to Chelsea, are on the presenting roster too. Don is also a first-time exhibitor this year, with his dog-friendly garden — but as, officially, dogs are not permitted at Chelsea, it’s unclear if any canine visitors will be possible. JD
• My Chelsea Flower Show guide: it’s not for wimps
Inside Our Dyslexic Minds (BBC2, 9pm)
Chris Packham concludes his second series on neurodiversity by meeting two people with dyslexia — Lee, a building site manager, and Suiki, a psychotherapist and school counsellor. For Lee, it’s slow reading (of documents at work or lyrics as a member of a choir and band) that dominates everyday life; whereas Suiki’s daily struggle also involves related problems of navigation, memory, focus and conducting conversations. Like last week’s pair with ADHD, they are connected with creative enablers who help them put together video projects — an autobiographical song for Lee, a walk in the woods for Suiki — explaining the normally hidden aspects of their condition. Fascinating additional sections feature Packham’s dyslexic stepdaughter Megan McCubbin and a drive at GCHQ to hire more neurodivergent spies. JD
• Chris Packham: ‘My autism-friendly house helps me manage my anxieties’
Fare Dodgers — At War With The Law (5, 9pm)
This channel had left this series on the shelf since its first season in 2019, but clearly considers the time is right for a return to Hounslow and the travails of Transport for London’s bold revenue protection teams. Undercover investigators lead the fight against the estimated 125,000 passengers who jump the barriers and travel for free across the city, surrounded by unwitting commuters who unwillingly subsidise their thievery. Helen Stewart
Laurence Rees Remembers … The Nazis — A Warning From History (BBC4, 9pm/9.20pm)
The film-maker, writer and former BBC executive Laurence Rees recalls his 1997 series charting the rise of the Nazi party. It remains a salutary lesson in the manner in which a bunch of cranks and weirdos can, through the breeding of dissatisfaction with politics itself and backed by violence and intimidation, rise to political power and turn society towards inhumanity. HS
The Last Of Us (Sky Atlantic/Now, 9pm)
The showrunner Craig Mazin, having dispatched a key character early in this second season, indulges himself by playing with the timeline in episode six. No spoilers but the opening scenes, set in Austin, Texas, in 1983 mark it out as an episode not to miss. HS
• The 10 best zombie films and TV shows — ranked by our expert
One final time into that iconic black chair
Mastermind (BBC2, 7pm)
It all comes down to this. Clive Myrie presides over the grand final of the classic quiz show, where the top six contenders return to the black chair for one last battle under the spotlight. Each is vying for the prestigious title of Mastermind champion — and the coveted glass bowl. This year’s specialist subjects include the stage plays of Tom Stoppard, the 1953 ascent of Mount Everest, the music of Led Zeppelin, the Empire State Building and penguins. Jake Helm
Tuesday
Critics’ choice
Faking It (5, 9pm)
A quarter of a century ago the TV format king Stephen Lambert dreamt up this show for Channel 4 as “a modern-day Pygmalion”. Could his team, with help from mentors (including a then relatively unknown Gordon Ramsay), turn a burger flipper into a chef? Could a tough guy find his drag self? Could a fire service telephone operator present live TV? The show was an instant hit, offering jeopardy, jokes, class war, character insight, societal commentary and a satisfying conclusion. It delighted audiences and critics alike and scooped awards. Now it is revived, and tonight’s show features a floppy-haired former Stowe pupil and luxury property salesman attempting to convince as a Barnsley market stall butcher with the assistance of a former Apprentice candidate. He is shocked at how hard the work is, but Old Stoics die hard. HS
The British Blood Scandal — Poisoned At School (ITV1, 9pm)
This emotional and often horrifying film reunites some of the haemophiliac survivors of the Treloar College in Hampshire. Now men in their 50s, their parents thought them immensely fortunate to be chosen to attend the boarding school in the 1970s and 1980s because it was attached to a hospital that could offer round-the-clock medical treatment. Of the 122 who enrolled (boys who became so close that they describe themselves as “brothers”), 90 have already died, infected by doctors and nurses who continued to administer factor VIII clotting agent even after alarms had been raised that blood for the American-manufactured product was harvested from populations with a high incidence of HIV and hepatitis B. The remaining men honour their friends with their continuing fight for justice. HS
• 40 years of fighting: how Sunday Times covered infected blood scandal
The Brontës — Sisters Of Disruption (Sky Arts/Now, 9pm)
The broadcaster Anita Rani has been obsessed with the Brontës since her childhood in Bradford, saying they shaped her formative years. In this impassioned documentary, Rani digs into issues of race, death and female rage stirred up by the sisters’ “punk” life and work, speaking to academics about Heathcliff’s whitewashing, the freedom of the moors and Charlotte Brontë’s unexpected “knob gag”. VS
• Anita Rani: ‘I wore a sari and Dr Martens at the coronation’
Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC1, 9pm)
“I have a strong suspicion I might be Irish,” says Aisling Bea, laughing, at the start of her genealogical adventure, “but let’s see.” While the pregnant comedian might be disappointed she’s being sent to Limerick rather than Peru on her quest, she does get to use a magnifying glass “like a proper researcher” and uncovers a compelling narrative linking her family to Ireland’s tumultuous early 20th century history. VS
Rich Flavours (Sky Max/Now, 9pm)
The decadent mirror image of Race Across The World, this show follows Big Zuu and his cousin, the rapper AJ Tracey, as they set out to test the planet’s most expensive dishes. They start in Seoul, tasting luxe barbecue and the “highest priced high tea at Korea’s highest point”. VS
Buckle-up for this high-octane US soap
Motorheads (Prime Video)
This high-class small-town American soap concerns teen brother and sister Zac and Caitlyn (Melissa Collazo and Michael Cimino) who move with their mother from Manhattan to Ironwood, Pennsylvania, a Rust Belt Peyton Place still hung up on the chequered legacy of their Nascar hero father, Christian. Formulaic it may be, but it’s also fluidly directed, exquisitely written and features Ryan Phillippe as Christian’s brother, a former Nascar mechanic who knows all the town’s secrets. Andrew Male
Wednesday
Critics’ choice
Backlash — The Murder Of George Floyd (BBC2, 9pm)
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was stopped by Minneapolis police on suspicion of having paid with a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. Within an hour he was dead, his cries of “I can’t breathe” ignored by Derek Chauvin, the police officer kneeling on his neck. Kwabena Oppong’s documentary begins with the footage of Floyd’s murder, a crime that triggered Black Lives Matter protests. With contributions from the comedian Munya Chawawa, the writer Reni Eddo-Lodge, the actress Nathalie Emmanuel and Andi and Miquita Oliver, this film asks what happened to that “moment of opportunity” for change, analysing the far-right backlash and culture wars over statues. It’s a powerful film, its UK perspective making clear that police brutality and institutional racism were never just American problems. VS
Travels With Agatha Christie & Sir David Suchet (More4, 9pm)
David Suchet played Hercule Poirot on ITV for 24 years, so it’s no surprise that he feels a deep connection with both the Belgian detective and his creator Agatha Christie. In this high-end literary travelogue, “Sir David” chummily tracks “Agatha” through the epic journey she made with her husband, Archie, in 1922 to promote the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. His first destination is South Africa, where he visits Cape Town’s wine region and explores the Kimberley diamond mines, detecting glinting references to her travels in Death on the Nile and The Man in the Brown Suit. Yet it’s far from cosy: Suchet also crucially interrogates Britain’s colonial legacy, visiting the “contested space” of Cape Town’s Cecil Rhodes memorial and meeting the founders of the Rhodes Must Fall protest movement. VS
• Jeremy Vine: Can an AI Agatha Christie help me to write a crime bestseller?
Tucci In Italy (Nat Geographic, 8pm; Disney+ from May 21)
Stanley Tucci returns to the land of his fathers for more appreciation of Italian cuisine with a new show that closely follows the recipe of CNN’s cancelled Searching For Italy. “Every region of Italy is beautiful, but Tuscany is a masterpiece,” he says, heading to Florence for some tripe in a bap, to Carrara where the local marble is employed to make “lardo” from the back fat of pigs, and to Maremma where the cowboys fry him a steak. HS
The Chelsea Detective (U&Drama, 8pm)
DI Max Arnold (Adrian Scarborough) returns with a two-part mystery beginning with an ex-soldier’s body being unearthed in an allotment. With the investigation hampered by personal rivalries — and with Max preoccupied with apparent attempts to run him down — a connection with the US embassy only gradually emerges. Alex Kingston plays the US ambassador in tomorrow’s concluding part. JD
Casualty 24/7 — Every Second Counts (5, 9pm)
An absorbing record of a night shift in the casualty department of Barnsley hospital, south Yorkshire, with patients ranging in age from Lucy, 11 (bitten by her aunt’s pet snake), to Elizabeth, 89 (shin injury, but another problem is discovered). JD
Top-tier estate agents aim to seal the deals
Britain’s Most Expensive Houses (C4, 9pm)
From the most exclusive postcodes of the capital to grand country estates, viewers are once again treated to some of the most pricey properties in the UK as the series returns for a third run. This week we get to cast an eye over an £80 million townhouse in Knightsbridge with the broker Josh Marks. Plus, a £1.85 million California-inspired coastal property in Cornwall. TG
Thursday
Critics’ choice
The Horne Section TV Show (C4, 10pm/10.30pm)
Three years after The Horne Section TV Show’s first run Alex Horne has carved out enough time from Taskmaster for a second outing for his sitcom about the making of a TV flop. This show within a show — a chaotic mix of music, chat and stunts — is still filmed at its hapless presenter’s home; it’s a decision that now looks even crazier since the house has been taken over by telly folk, meaning Alex has to sleep in a tent and his wife has fled. And he makes things harder for himself in tonight’s double bill by agreeing to air a world’s strongest musician contest, and hosting a fatuous awards ceremony. Across the two episodes John Oliver, Reggie Watts, Ronni Ancona and Gareth Malone appear either as regulars or guest stars. They’re all great, but perhaps the cast (played by actors) and musos (playing themselves) is already too large? JD
• Taskmaster’s Alex Horne: ‘Am I rich? Crudely, I suppose that’s true’
The Secret Life Of Bees (5, 9pm)
Steve Backshall is known for taking risks in his nature and travel series. However, the only danger in his new two-parter is that he’ll get stung by the honeybees he’s just installed in the seemingly vast grounds of his Berkshire home. His apprenticeship as a beekeeper (with a crisis when a queen goes missing) threads together an opening episode otherwise made up of nicely varied segments: visits to the King’s B&B for bees at Highgrove and a hotel with hives on the roof; an experiment testing apian teamwork; and Martha Kearney — the presenter of BBC4’s The Wonder of Bees in 2014 — tasting rare varieties with a “honey sommelier” and getting an intriguing history lesson. One complaint: Backshall tends to talk too fast when in teacher mode, as if worried that “science bits” will make us switch off. JD
The Story Of Scott Of The Antarctic (Sky Arts/Now, 8pm)
This episode of Ian Nathan’s Classic Movies film strand spends rather a lot of its time discussing RF Scott’s 1912 Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole (spoiler alert, they were beaten by Roald Amundsen and it didn’t end well), with the effect that the discussion of Charles Frend’s 1948 film seems rather rushed. An amazing technical achievement, much of the filming had been completed before John Mills was even cast. HS
Interior Design Masters (BBC1, 8pm)
It’s the semi-final of Alan Carr’s colourful makeover show. There’s all to play for as the remaining contestants head for Edinburgh to tidy up some Fringe event spaces (some pubs). Each has distinct plans, with one making a circus, another a classy joint with marbled wallpaper and another plans to recreate a granny’s front room. It only remains for Michelle Ogundehin to cast her critical eye and anoint the finalists. HS
Peleliu — WWII’s Most Well-Preserved Battlefield (PBS America, 9.45pm)
In September 1944, ships of the US navy headed to secure a small Japanese-occupied island in the western Pacific. After 72 days of fierce fighting the battle was won, and now this intriguing film revisits what remains of the battlefield. HS
Join the dots to make a stranger connection
Nine Perfect Strangers (Prime Video)
Why, after everything that happened in season one, would nine more perfect strangers submit themselves to Masha Dmitrichenko’s (Nicole Kidman) radical psychedelic therapies? Submit they do, in a sequel that leans heavily into the ridiculousness of the first outing and reboots itself as The White Lotus meets A Cure for Wellness. Kidman is having a hoot and is supported by a magnificent cast. AM
Friday
Critics’ choice
Clarkson’s Farm (Prime Video)
The skies are grey at the start of the fourth series of Jeremy Clarkson’s everyday story of country folk with Lamborghini tractors. He has been left on his own (one man, he informs us, rain pouring down his baleful face, should be capable of running 1,000 acres on his own “if that man is competent”). Kaleb, his blond, hard-working and proficient farm manager is touring a theatre show. Lisa, his blonde, hard-working and proficient girlfriend and shopkeeper is away learning how to make perfume. With barley drilling in the offing, he is going to need some help, something that his friend and bane of his life Charlie Ireland says can be arranged. “There are agencies.” Enter Harriet, a blonde, hard-working and proficient farmhand with a significant TikTok following who claims never to have seen the show. Time for Clarkson to buy a pub. HS
• Jeremy Clarkson on nearly dying, Ozempic and becoming a grandad
Danube (ITV1, 9pm)
Joanna Lumley shows off some pretty decent language skills as she travels the length of the second-longest river in Europe, from the source in southwest Germany’s Black Forest mountain region to the sea, every new sight greeted with a delighted “Das ist schön”. Tonight she mostly marvels at cuckoo clocks (which are not Swiss), heads to a Catholic convent where she drinks beer made by nuns who seem pleased by the life God has chosen them for, meets a Ukrainian refugee and a Danube boatman, is sung to by the Vienna Boys’ Choir and tours Vienna’s royal crypt with Conchita Wurst. She recently made headlines for commenting that she doesn’t have “much time left” — she turned 79 on May 1. However, based on this extended cruise, the Lumley life as observed here is a golden one, spent in frictionless flirtation with all that surrounds her. HS
Schindler — The Real Story (PBS America, 8.05pm)
Narrated by Ben Kingsley, this moving documentary unpicks the true story behind Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film Schindler’s List. Oskar Schindler was the industrialist who saved the lives of more than 1,000 Jewish people during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. Here, his wife, Emilie, and some of those he helped to save discuss their experiences and their relationship with Schindler. VS
Austin (BBC1, 9.30pm)
It makes sense that a show concerned with neurodivergence, cancellation and complicated attachments should fall a little outside sitcom norms, and the first series of Austin has been a gently offbeat delight. As it concludes, Julian (Ben Miller) finds his connection to Austin (Michael Theo) tested in surprising, Billie Piper-heavy ways, while his wife, Ingrid (Sally Phillips), prepares her high-stakes art exhibition. Ends are left loose; a second series awaits. VS
Big Weekend (BBC1, 8.30pm)
This show features Alison Hammond persuading a celebrity to spend 48 hours in her company. Here it’s the panel-show emperor Jimmy Carr, gamely answering questions about death and taxes while he hangs out with Hammond in the Lake District. His guard is never quite dropped though. VS
Get up to speed with the festival’s first day
Radio 1’s Big Weekend Liverpool (BBC1, 10.40pm)
Tom Grennan found fame as the guest vocalist on Chase & Status’s All Goes Wrong in 2016, but has since become a powerhouse singer-songwriter with an army of fans. As the Big Weekend kicks off its first day, here’s a chance to watch him work a crowd at an event that also has Biffy Clyro, Blossoms, the Wombats, Myles Smith, Lola Young and Wet Leg on the bill. TG
Readers’ views on recent TV
I used to love watching For The Love Of Dogs (ITV1) until it turned into the Alison Hammond Show.
Sue Evans-Avlonitis
Just watched The Gift on BBC. Is it really pitch dark in California?
A Webster
Expedition With Steve Backshall should come with an advance warning that Steve “Whoa!” Backshall’s mugshot will regularly fill the screen. The settings and scenery are breathtaking, but his appetite for stating the obvious, such as “polar bears can kill people”, and catastrophising almost every situation is tedious and detracts from the show.
Jane Frances
Now I know why I pay for my TV licence! This City Is Ours (BBC1) is gripping drama at its best — and you are rooting for a man who killed Sean Bean and imports massive amounts of cocaine.
Anne Gregory
What a first class and well-presented programme The Art of Architecture is. One can forget about the world’s problems and indulge — and all of a sudden it’s stopped being shown. Why?
Bill Foote
They have absolutely ruined The Piano (C4). The majority of the acts are singers with pretty basic piano — the programme is called The Piano for a reason — and you never see a whole performance, with cutting to presenters or backstories. The second season was impressive, with many original compositions, but it’s now a shadow of the great idea it was. A great disappointment.
Catherine Stanlick
Colin Murray is an excellent host of Countdown. He is witty and enthusiastic and tries to make everyone on the programme look good (even to his own detriment). Be careful what you wish for or we could end up with another Ann Robinson.
Roger Thomas
The VE Day Parade (BBC1) could have been a memorable piece of television if not almost ruined by over-commentating. Paddy O’Connell was not a good choice as he didn’t know when to shut up. He should learn from those who have gone before. There’s an art in knowing when not to speak as well as when. He even apologised at one brief point for not saying anything!
Lesley Woodfield
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