Paddy and Christine McGuinness: Our Family and Autism
BBC One, 9pm
When presenter Paddy McGuinness discovered that each of his three children was autistic, he struggled to accept the news, being troubled by his own misconceptions and fears for the future. This moving documentary follows the comedian and his wife, Christine, as they explore the challenges of raising children with autism and reflect on how it has affected them personally. The couple meet experts, parents and people on the autistic spectrum to discuss the nature of the disorder, including the clinicians who first diagnosed their children.
But it’s the unguarded moments, between the structured interviews, that are most revealing. Paddy brims with enthusiasm, but he clearly suffers from some unprocessed distress linked to the diagnoses. Reassuringly, the process has a restorative, calming effect and the couple are drawn noticeably closer over the months of filming. Towards the end, Paddy meets Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor of Psychopathology at Cambridge University who offers a simple, more profound way of thinking about the disorder: “The autism is who they are, with its unique blend of strengths and challenges. Just let people be who they are.” JT
The Big Leap
Disney+
This breathless American comedy series about a group of disaffected wannabes who sign up for a reality dance contest might be the most Disney thing ever conceived. If you can stand the stench of cheese, there’s schmaltzy fun to be had, but be warned there are multiple half-baked pandemic jokes. JT
Walking with Shappi Khorsandi
BBC Two, 7pm; not NI/Wales
This stripped-back series following the scenic strolls of celebrities is packed with beautiful shots of the British countryside from above. In the Peak District, the comedian (who now uses her full name, Shaparak) muses on motherhood, mental health and the meaning of life. JT
New Forest: The Crown’s Hunting Ground
Smithsonian, 8pm
Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville takes a romantic look at one of the UK’s most remarkable national parks: the New Forest, a former royal hunting ground that has enraptured visitors since the time of William the Conqueror. Bonneville’s commentary is a little trite, but the camera work is beautiful. JT
Universe
BBC Two, 9pm
Brian Cox looks back to the beginning of time itself – the Big Bang – in the final episode of this awe-inspiring, somewhat terrifying look at the great mysteries of the universe. Cox explains that light is the key to uncovering the past, and examines the “time-machines” that can carry us back to the dawn of the universe. If the science occasionally gets lost in the poetry, it’s made up for by the sheer beauty of the images. JT
The Hot Zone: Anthrax
National Geographic, 9pm
In the wake of 9/11, the paranoid state of American public life was redoubled when letters spiked with anthrax were mailed to a series of newsrooms and political offices, killing five people and infecting 17 others. This second season of the anthology drama series follows the investigation of FBI Special Agent Matthew Ryker (Daniel Dae Kim) as he tries to track down the killer. JT
Positive
Sky Documentaries, 9pm
As we emerge from one pandemic, this important documentary about the 1980s Aids crisis reminds us of the dangers of health inequality and the social stigmas which can impede people from getting the help they need. In part, it’s a joyous love letter to a time of gay sexual liberation; also, a tragic memorial to the lives devastated by the virus. JT
The Power of the Dog (2021) ★★★★★
Netflix
Jane Campion’s first film since 2009’s Bright Star is a brilliant “psychological Western”. Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons play mismatched brothers, custodians of a cattle ranch in the wilds of Montana. Cumberbatch is rangy and feral; Plemons is fastidious and gentlemanly. Their tension comes to a boil when Plemons’s George marries a widow and adopts her fey, gawky son (Kodi Smit-McPhee).
Lifeboat (1944, b/w) ★★★★
Talking Pictures TV, 3.05pm
Alfred Hitchcock liberally doles out the suspense in this war thriller, adapted from a John Steinbeck novella. When a Second World War Allied ship and German U-boat sink each other, the Allied survivors gather on a lifeboat. But then they pull a survivor from the water, who turns out to be from that very same U-boat… Taut and claustrophobic, it’s a tense ride. Walter Slezak and Tallulah Bankhead star.
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) ★★★★
Film4, 4.30pm
This is Alfred Hitchcock’s exceptional remake of his 1934 film. Dr Ben McKenna (James Stewart) and his wife, Jo (Doris Day, three years after Calamity Jane), are forced to keep silent about a planned political murder. The earlier black-and-white version is a shade more sinister but this take is still excellent – just much glitzier. The film also won an Oscar, one of the few Hitchcock movies to do so, for the song Que Sera, Sera.
Thursday December 2
Cancelled
Channel 4, 10pm
“Cancel culture” is a phrase open to so many interpretations, and one which provokes such strong emotions, that it is easy to lose sight of what it is, how it came about and, at times, whether it even actually exists. Presenter Richard Bacon speaks from experience: when he was 22, he was sacked as a presenter of Blue Peter after a News of the World sting where he was caught taking cocaine. The surrounding storm made headlines and Lorraine Heggessey, then Head of BBC Children’s Programming, was forced to explain the situation to CBBC’s viewership.
In this one-off, Bacon explores the evolution (or mutation?) of “cancel culture” as the debates over trans rights, historic tweets and sullied reputations of certain national icons intensify and justifiable outrage, it has been alleged, tramples over the right to free speech. Bacon speaks to some of those public figures whose reputations have been tarnished, rightly or wrongly; among his interviewees is Jimmy Carr, himself “cancelled” over his involvement in tax avoidance schemes and no stranger to prodding boundaries of acceptability in his stand-up shows. With Channel 4’s future under scrutiny, this feels like exactly the sort of show it should be commissioning. GT
Radio 2 in Concert: Duran Duran
BBC iPlayer
Four decades on from their debut, the self-titled Duran Duran, the New Romantic survivors perform a set of classics and selections from their recent work, Future Past. With 100 million records sold, two Brit Awards and the “Back to the 1980s” nostalgia circuit largely avoided, Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and the Taylors have nothing left to prove. This should be a good one. GT
Luxury Christmas for Less
Channel 4, 8pm
After a successful first run last year, the jolly consumer show returns with Sophie Morgan joining Sabrina Grant to prise advice from the retailing experts on how to have an enjoyable, all-the-frills festive season on a tight budget. Tonight’s investigation, the first of two, includes getting smoked salmon, designer perfumes and diamonds – yes, diamonds – for a bargain price. GT
The Park Bench Plays
Sky Arts, 9pm
This quintet of short plays from Birmingham Repertory Theatre ranges from the comic to the tragic and showcases the work of playwrights including Bryony Lavery, David Edgar and Tanika Gupta. These made-for-TV versions follow a well-received pop-up tour of parks, bus stations and squares around the city. GT
Yellowjackets
Sky Atlantic, 9pm & 10.05pm
A clever conceit is tidily handled in this Showtime series: in 1996, the girls on a high-school football team are caught in a plane crash and are stranded in wooded wilderness for more than a year. Running parallel to this are the stories of the survivors 25 years later (played by Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis, among others), who are still wrestling with the unresolved traumas of the grisly incident. GT
White Christmas (1954) ★★★★
Film4, 4.10pm
Buddies Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye return to the States from fighting in the Second World War. They fall for two singing sisters, Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy Haynes (Vera-Ellen), and agree to perform with them in a Christmas show in the rural snows of Vermont. This Michael Curtiz film may not be the story of a snow-covered December, but Crosby singing the title song makes it a festive treat. Chuck another log on the fire, and cosy up.
The Conversation (1974) ★★★★
BBC Four, 9pm
Francis Ford Coppola’s eves-dropping thriller centres around a snooping PI (Gene Hackman) who is forced into a confronting the consequences of his spying when he witnesses a potential murder. Released just months after the Watergate scandal, it artfully captured the prevailing mood of itching suspicion and fear of surveillance. The creeping camerawork and squirrelly piano score create a cloying sense of unease.
The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018) ★★★
Film4, 9pm
Proving that “spy spoof” is every bit as safe a bet for filmmakers as “spy drama”, Susanna Fogel’s amiable send-up sees Mila Kunis’s every girl forced into an international conspiracy when her boyfriend (Justin Theroux) dumps her – and turns out to be a CIA agent. It’s about as subtle as the Europop bangers which soundtrack it, but for a switch-your-brain-off 90 minutes it’s more than adequate.
