Friday’s TV tips
You don’t hear about Kyle MacLachlan for ages, and then all of a sudden he’s everywhere.
Well, not quite, but he has been in the news recently as speculation about casting for the return of Twin Peaks gathers pace. He’s tweeted to say he’s getting Agent Cooper’s trademark black suit out of storage – whether it still fits him after all these years remains to be seen – but there’s been no word officially of whether creators David Lynch and Mark Frost need him.
Now MacLachlan is popping up in this episode of the comic-book inspired drama, playing Skye’s father.
But the main thrust of the episode concerns Carl Creel, who has the Obelisk - he even manages to absorb its properties, which makes him almost invincible. SHIELD’s agents fail miserably to bring him down – and as usual, it’s up to Coulson to save the day.
The murder of American classics student Rose Anderson has opened up a can of worms.
It initially looked like a simple case, with Rose’s lover, young astrophysics professor Felix Garwood becoming the prime suspect after a tiff that resulted in her running him over on her bike just hours before her death.
But now, detectives Lewis, Hathaway and Maddox have got more names on their list of possible culprits than they know what to do with.
Felix’s wife – who was also Rose’s supervisor – had a very obvious motive to kill, while the dead woman’s flatmate and her sinister boyfriend had reasons to silence her forever. What’s more, a respected don (played by guest star Clive Merrison) could be hiding a dark secret that could threaten his career – and shed new light on the mystery in the process.
Then, just as the case seems to be heading down a dead end, a second murder takes place, and Hathaway turns to an unexpected source for advice.
The idea of tuning into a programme featuring Joey Essex is enough to give some people nightmares.
Yes, there are those who, believe it or not, don’t enjoy seeing the reality TV star on screen. But they may be forced to change their minds if they can sit through this Halloween special which sees Joey leave his Essex home and journey to deepest, darkest Wales, where he hopes to come face-to-face with spooks and anything else that might go bump in the night.
“If I see a ghost, I won’t start praying, I’ll just look straight and it and say... what are you saying?” claims Joey. Indeed.
One of the show’s highlights involves him meeting a witch who disappoints Joey with her inability to fly on a broomstick. Despite this, he still asks her to cast a spell that will make him more intelligent. Bless.
Lenses is the name of this week’s game – but as regular viewers will be well aware, it’s nothing more than a starting point for lots of fun and, as quizmaster Stephen Fry might say, jolly japes.
Matters tend to go off on several tangents almost as soon as Fry has uttered his last “good evening” at the start of the show, and it’s easy to forget that this series the focus is on subjects beginning with the letter ’L’.
As ever, Alan Davies will be on the panel, joined here by two stalwarts of the show – Jo Brand and Phill Jupitus.
Brand has recently enjoyed a successful spell as the presenter of The Great British Bake Off spin-off An Extra Slice, where she was joined a couple of times by tonight’s third guest, Josh Widdicombe. Whether he will mention his love for semi-finalist Chetna remains to be seen.
Very Blair Witch-esque, it follows the eerie goings-on of a suburban couple when they notice strange noises plaguing their home.
Camcorder in hand, they set about finding the source and become convinced that their new pad is haunted by a supernatural presence.
Made for a few thousand dollars, this genuinely chilling horror yarn became one of the most financially successful films in history. Enterprising Israeli-born film-maker Oren Peli wrote and directed this much-hyped, low-budget supernatural horror movie that made him millions – and it was filmed entirely in his own home.
But even on such a small budget and with a bunch of unknown actors, the film keeps you gripped until the end with some particularly terrifying moments.
Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Frederichs, Ashley Palmer, Amber Armstrong
It’s very loosely based on the real 17th-century lawyer and self-appointed ’witchfinder general’ Matthew Hopkins.
In this version of events, Hopkins takes advantage of local superstitions and the chaos of the English Civil War to murder and persecute the innocent.
But he reckons without the efforts of a determined soldier, who is out to avenge his fiancee.
This had mixed reviews on its release, with some critics claiming that the film was too violent, even after it had been heavily edited by the British censors.
But now Witchfinder General is considered a cult classic – and with good reason. The matter-of-fact tone, and a powerful performance from Vincent Price, just make the horror all the more unsettling.
It also leaves you wondering what director Michael Reeves could have gone on to achieve if he hadn’t died less than a year after the movie’s release, at the age of just 25.
Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Rupert Davies, Hilary Dwyer, Patrick Wymark.
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