For full TV listings for the week, see thetimes.co.uk/tvplanner
Viewing guide, by James Jackson
Death in Paradise
BBC1, 9pm
A once-in-a-thousand-years planetary conjunction is under way in the Saint Marie night sky. A group of astronomers have set up base on the island cliffside, eagerly awaiting a glimpse of this natural phenomenon. They are led by the eminent Professor Bertrand Swordor (Christopher Villiers), who is realising the culmination of a life’s work. But oh no . . . doesn’t he realise that he’s in a pre-credits sequence of Death in Paradise? What is he thinking? Clearly he hasn’t a clue or he wouldn’t be looking so contented, as it can only mean one thing: murder most foul. The excitement about the eclipse is itself quickly eclipsed by the discovery of the professor’s body at the bottom of the cliff. But was it suicide? On hand to investigate is DI Neville Parker (Ralf Little), and he smells a rat — an unfinished crossword found on the body leads him to believe things might not be quite as they seem, while it also soon becomes clear that the professor’s ruddy-faced fellow astrophile, played by the ever-excellent Kevin Eldon, may have had a grudge, and he’s not the only one. As ever, this series is comfortable in its simplicity. For all the flashy, time-hopping, hyper-budget series offered by the streaming platforms, there is something distinctly comforting about Death in Paradise. You know what you’ll get, things are always neatly tied up by the end, but the pleasure is in the deceptively fun dialogue, some good character acting from the guest stars and a dollop of winter sunshine.
● Read our interview with Ralf Little
The Rig
Amazon Prime Video
Martin Compston and Iain Glen lead the cast of a brooding supernatural-edged mystery with a distinctly Scottish feel. It’s set aboard the isolated Kinloch Bravo oil rig, situated in the dangerous waters of the North Sea: the crew are about to return home to the mainland, and are more than ready for it, when a mysterious fog rolls through and they are cut off. Rather than being about monsters or ghosts, the horror comes more from the way the short-tempered crew buckle under psychological distress as allegiances unravel. That the excellent Mark Bonnar is in the cast is an added reason to give this a go.
Live FA Cup Football: Manchester United v Everton
ITV, 7.30pm
Before Christmas the schedules were electrified by the World Cup, but who’s to say the third round of the FA Cup won’t offer some great drama too? There will be several free-to-air matches over the next few days, and tonight’s between Manchester United and Everton has the potential for goals — although we’d be lucky to see one to equal the individual brilliance of Norman Whiteside’s when the sides met in the 1985 FA Cup final. This will be the 13th time Manchester United and Everton have clashed in the competition, both having won six matches apiece.
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Can Psychedelics Cure?
PBS America, 7.20pm
Hallucinogenics have come a long way since the 1960s when hippies turned on, tuned in and dropped out — or the 1990s when clubbers blew their minds to rave music. Their reputation is at an all-time high, so to speak. It feels as if not a day goes by without an article espousing the virtues of LSD, mushrooms or MDMA in treating issues from post-traumatic stress disorder to addiction. This report doesn’t ignore the perils of tripping as it explores this cultural re-evaluation but, broadly, it’s all smart, middle-class Americans describing how psilocybin changed their lives for the better.
Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job
BBC1, 8.30pm
Alan Carr and Amanda Holden are best friends, you’ll be fascinated to hear. So much so that they are now doing a series together, travelling about in the Sicily sunshine to their new home, which they bought for one euro. They plan to do it up, but Carr sums up the scale of the challenge when he says: “This is going to involve more than plumping up the cushions!” They are more into choosing interior designs than getting their hands dirty (they have workmen and a project manager), although Holden does show she has a way with a sledgehammer.
Catch-up TV, by Ben Dowell
Avenue 5
Sky/Now TV
Armando Iannucci’s futuristic space comedy is, you won’t be surprised to hear, a parable of life on earth now, the egotists who lead us and the madness of crowds who follow. In the second series, Team Iannucci have introduced a ghastly social media personality, played by Lucy Punch, to go with the familiar follies aboard the cruiser where Hugh Laurie’s hapless Captain Ryan is stuck in space with supplies running out, patience (and air) running thin and Josh Gad’s Trump-like owner Herman Judd still getting on everyone’s wick. It was rather underappreciated the first time round but these fresh episodes show what a winning concept it is. The double acts have been moved around, taking them (and us) further out of the comfort zone and making this new run faster, darker and funnier.
Film choice, by Kevin Maher
Operation Mincemeat (12, 2021)
Sky Cinema Premiere, 8pm
John Madden directs this adaptation of Ben Macintyre’s non-fiction bestseller, a pleasing homegrown drama about plucky British derring-do. It tells the story of the British spies who used a dead body with a false identity to try to convince Hitler that the Allies intended to invade Greece in 1943 rather than Sicily. Colin Firth’s lawyer-turned-intelligence-officer Ewen Montagu is the man charged with orchestrating the deception, while Matthew Macfadyen’s impeccable comic timing is to the fore as Montagu’s partner in crime, Charles Cholmondeley. The core Operation Mincemeat team includes Penelope Wilton as the veteran assistant Hester Leggett and Kelly Macdonald as her protégée Jean Leslie. The film’s greatest liberty with the truth comes from the depiction of a quasi romance, Brief Encounter-style, between the widowed Leslie and the happily married Montagu. (122min)
Manhunter (18, 1986)
BBC2, 11.05pm
This early film from the director Michael Mann demonstrates the stylish approach that became his trademark. Based on Thomas Harris’s novel Red Dragon, it was the first film to introduce the monstrous serial killer Dr Hannibal Lecter — here spelt Lecktor, and played by Brian Cox — to cinema audiences. Lecktor’s incarceration is partly owing to the work of the criminal profiler Will Graham (William Petersen). But Graham has paid a heavy price for his involvement in the case: he had a nervous breakdown after prolonged exposure to Lecktor’s deranged mind. Now Lecktor hopes to use another serial killer, the Tooth Fairy, to exact revenge. This slick, effective thriller has been overshadowed by The Silence of the Lambs, but it is a compelling piece of film-making. (119min) Wendy Ide
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Radio choice, by Ben Dowell
Screenshot
Radio 4, 7.15pm
Radio 4 has struck gold with this lively and fascinating magazine show that plays skilfully with the enthusiasm and on-mike chemistry of its presenters, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode. There have only been 30 or so episodes since this took over from long-runner The Film Programme, but already it feels like a welcome fixture in the schedule. Tonight’s subject, in episode five of the latest nine-part series, is folk horror, with Kermode talking to the director Mark Jenkin about his forthcoming Cornish-set film, Enys Men, and Jones talking to the author and director Kier-La Janisse about her brilliantly titled folk horror documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched.