CRITICS’ CHOICE
Pick of the day
Dunblane — Our Story (BBC2, 9pm)
Marking the 20th anniversary of the deaths of 16 Year 1 pupils (five- to six-year-olds) and their teacher, this impressive documentary gathers testimony from some of the bereaved. Among those summoning their memories of March 13, 1996, and the victims, are the primary school’s head, the daughter of the murdered teacher, a mother and father who both lost daughters, a pupil who was there — Amy Hutchison, the only interviewee who witnessed the shootings — and another survivor’s parents.
In a conventional journalistic account of the atrocity (all the contributors avoid calling it a massacre), the killer would be central, but this is oral history, enabling the people of Dunblane to set the agenda. Strikingly, they barely mention him at all, as if refusing — like Matthew, a survivor who declined to appear in the programme — to allow their subsequent lives to be defined by what he did.
John Dugdale
Where are these shops?
Shop Well … For Less? (BBC1, 8pm)
The One Show’s Alex Jones and BBC Breakfast’s Steph McGovern team up for a series in which they try to reform shopaholic couples by coaxing them to buy less pricy products. First up are the Allens from Yorkshire, given to impulse-buying of clothes for themselves and treats for their children. Replacing everything from mum’s handbag to the kids’ electronic devices, the presenters generally convince them that cheaper items can be just as good, but (presumably due to BBC rules) the programme is frustratingly vague about where these bargains come from, crediting unspecified “budget” supermarkets and fashion outlets.
Celebs on the streets
Famous, Rich And Homeless (BBC1, 9pm)
Since it first appeared in 2009, this formula has been reworked in pre-telethon programmes showing the reality of hunger in Britain and life in an African slum. The original set-up is now revived for Sport Relief, with four celebrities experiencing nights on London’s streets. Kim Woodburn befriends people who really are homeless, with mixed results; Julia Bradbury shuns clothes that blend in, looking much as she does in her walking series; Nick Hancock is quickest to seek help in finding somewhere to sleep; and Willie Thorne seems at a loss without a snooker cue in his hand.
Advertisement
Spies everywhere
Grantchester (ITV, 9pm)
This story mimics BBC1’s Father Brown by improbably positing a Soviet spy ring operating in its provincial setting. When a don falls from a chapel tower, Sidney (James Norton) and Geordie (Robson Green) are left in no doubt that investigating his death is unwelcome. Apparently, he was somehow connected to British spooks’ efforts to catch a mole known as the Tsar, but what a Russian agent might find to do in Cambridge is never explained; and that word “mole” adds to the implausibility, as John le Carré coined it in the 1970s.
Justice will be done
The Prosecutors — Real Crime And Punishment (BBC4, 9pm)
The final episode of a remarkably low-key series focuses on two “non recent” cases that were still causing damage years later. Colin Ash-Smith was accused of killing Claire Tiltman in a knife attack in 1993; her parents have both died, but her schoolfriends (she had just turned 16 when she was murdered) fought for justice. Also, a former teacher, Keith Cavendish Coulson, was accused of 42 counts of indecent assault against boys in his charge. What becomes clear from the programme is the seriousness with which the prosecutions are treated, however late in the day they have arrived.
Hot emergency drama
Chicago Fire (5 USA, 9pm)
Firmly established in its fourth season on NBC, this workmanlike ensemble drama is as reminiscent of classic 1980s shows like Hill Street Blues as it is to more glossy 21st-century productions such as Grey’s Anatomy. Handsome Jesse Spencer (formerly of Neighbours) stars as decent young firefighter Matthew Casey, still suffering from the loss of a colleague; Taylor Kinney plays Kelly Severide, his workplace enemy, and the pair snarl at each other a lot. So far, so formulaic, but the clever casting of the superlatively talented Eamonn Walker as the almost comically righteous station boss Wallace Boden elevates proceedings significantly.
John Dugdale and Helen Stewart
Sport choice
T20 Cricket Bangladesh v Netherlands (Sky Sports 2, 9am); Ireland v Oman (Sky Sports 2, 1.30pm); South Africa v Australia (Sky Sports 1, 3.55pm)
Snooker (ITV4, 12.45pm/ 6.45pm) World Grand Prix
Biathlon (Eurosport, 2.15pm)
WTA Tennis (BT Sport 1, 7pm) Indian Wells
Uefa Champions League Highlights (ITV, 10.40pm)
Radio pick of the day
Drama: The Reserve Rope (R4, 2.15pm)
Damian Lewis plays Edward Whymper, the climber who first conquered the Matterhorn in 1865: on the descent, four men died. In two parts, it concludes tomorrow. Wonderfully funny and clever, A Charles Paris Mystery: A Decent Interval (R4, 11.30am) sees Bill Nighy return as the louche amateur sleuth and often out-of-work actor who is always able to solve murder mysteries among his fellow luvvies — this one eliminating a yoof TV star trying to play Hamlet.
Paul Donovan
Advertisement
You say
I am really enjoying this series of Holiday Of My Lifetime (BBC1) — Len Goodman is such a good presenter, and there are such interesting assorted celebrities who give one such insight into their childhood holidays and subsequent lives. It has reminded me how much I enjoyed holidaying in the UK years ago, and plan to revisit many of the towns featured.
Amanda Root
The Prosecutors — Real Crime And Punishment (BBC4) — what a missed opportunity. Almost impossible to follow and badly edited, with the obligatory horror-movie soundtrack ladled all over the top.
Matt Phillips
Congratulations to all involved in Dickensian (BBC1). Superb casting, setting and directing. I hope we will have a second series soon.
Alec Travers
Send your comments to: telly@sunday-times.co.uk
FILM CHOICE
Advertisement
Confessions Of A Shopaholic (2009)
BBC1, 11.45pm
As far as humour goes, PJ Hogan’s fluffy romcom about a designer-label-addicted one-woman credit crunch who aspires to be a fashion journalist is the emperor’s new clothes, and while Isla Fisher cuts a winsomely perky dash in the lead role, not everyone will buy into her ditsy shtick.
The Number 23 (2007)
C4, 1am
Jim Carrey dials up the moodiness in Joel Schumacher’s overcooked psychological thriller as a dog-catcher whose immersion in a mystery novel leads to a numerical fixation. Although the star’s driven performance is among the film’s pluses — he was nominated for a Golden Raspberry, but rightly lost out to Eddie Murphy — its lack of focus subtracts from his good work and the plot is incalculably daft.
Previews by Trevor Lewis