What to watch on TV this week
SATURDAY
Documentary on the guitarist who was a key part of Bowie’s output through the 1970s, as well as playing on Lou Reed’s Transformer, and with a roster of other artists that included Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Morrissey.
Documentary on Paul, a young gay man from West Belfast who works as a drag queen. We see how his father, an old-school republican, is struggling to come to terms with the situation.
SUNDAY
The famous gardening extravaganza begins tomorrow, so this first installment of the daily coverage gives us a preview of some of the major exhibits and trends.
The word ‘prefabricated’ may still conjure up images of temporary classrooms and site offices, but this documentary shows how advances in construction technology have ensured it’s a term increasingly associated with quality-built homes. We see the speedy construction of three impressive houses that are also highly insulated.
Another show looking at ingenious building techniques, this time a new three-part series following a competition to build a pop-up hotel that features eight unique cabins in rural Wales. The two designs in the opening episode both have a dragon theme, and the presenter will also join forces with a master craftsman to come up with his own design.
The first of two 90-minute episodes in a concluding eighth series for the veteran detective. It’s 1970 and DCI Gently is on the brink of retirement, but the discovery of a body in a chemical waste tank has him going back to a case he thought he’d solved eight years ago.
New series that will air over the next five nights to provide an insight into the UK’s justice system. An actor plays an academic accused of murdering his estranged wife , but the legal teams conducting the case, and the members of the jury, are all real people. Over the coming days, we’ll see how the prosecution and defence conduct their cases.
New three-part series on the pioneers of American roots music begins with the story of the beginning of country music and urban blues. We hear how the development of radio brought the music industry to a whole new level in the 1920s and record companies began to hunt for new music. The Carter Family, with their Appalachian heritage, are hailed as the founders of country music; while the Memphis Jug Band told the story of life for the black community in the city that was to become a hotbed of musical creativity.
MONDAY
Hardcore fans, or just those who wish to record it, will be interested in this simulcast with Showtime in the US of the first look at the third series of David Lynch’s show. Considering that It felt like it had run its course in the 1980s, it’ll be interesting to see if Kyle Maclachlan and co can recapture the magic. The first two episodes will also be broadcast at 9pm on Tuesday. See p46.
TUESDAY
It’s a big week for new drama, with Sean Bean fronting this new series. The last time most of us saw him, he was literally losing his head in Game of Thrones. For this show, he’s struggling to keep it, in a metaphorical sense, as his character becomes increasingly disenchanted with life as a priest in the north of England. As to be expected from a series by Jimmy McGovern (Cracker, The Street, Accused, etc), Bean will get plenty of opportunity to practice his expressions of anguish over the next six weeks.
A team of volcanologists visits active volcanoes in Iceland and explain how these ruptures in the crust of our planet also occur in space.
WEDNESDAY
A Scottish-made documentary on the scandal that’s been brewing since the revelations about burials at a former mother and baby home.
Damon Beesley was the man behind The Inbetweeners, and has taken two of the cast of that show — Joe Thomas and James Buckley — to this new comedy. They play two of a trio of double-glazing salesmen in the early 1980s, one smarmy and ruthless, the other polite and caring. The series also has an ‘80s soundtrack that’ll have you humming along.
THURSDAY
It has been a week of major drama around the Ciarán/Katy situation, as the circle of suspicion has also widened to include Emmet and Farrah. After a hellish few days, the O’Brien family are waiting for news on their daughter’s fate.
FRIDAY
As the wife of Ozzy, and the daughter of major band manager Don Arden, there are few people more qualified to present this documentary than Sharon Osbourne. She tells a tale from the 1960s of a manager being dangled from a window by a rival (her dad); takes us through the eye-watering money involved in Led Zepplin’s live shows, and Moby’s ad music; and brings us right up to the modern era of 360 deals, and how artists are adjusting to an age when few people want to buy music.
David Walliams and Salma Hayek feature among tonight’s guests.
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