Monday January 10
Couples Therapy
BBC Two, 10pm; NI, 11.15pm
Bought in from American cable network Showtime, this docuseries trains hidden cameras on four New York couples (aware, of course, that they’re being filmed, but seemingly not playing up to it) as they meet with the uncannily empathetic, searingly insightful and remarkably non-judgemental Dr Orna Guralnik. It is an almost instantly intriguing and appealing prospect, directed with the lightest of touches. The casting is skilfully done: long-time married couple Annie and Mau, wrestling with the psychosexual fallout of a disastrous birthday surprise; Elaine and DeSean, opposites very much no longer attracted to each other; queer and trans pairing Sarah and Lauren, in very different places over plans to have a baby; and Evelyn and Alan, first shown accepting they must split, before it flashes back to a first meeting brimming with hope and optimism. Guralnick, too, meets with her own clinical advisor, offloading about the emotional toll of listening to fights for a living. It’s a moving and convincing argument in favour of self-examination over self-obsession, mediation over conflict and, ultimately, the power of pragmatism. Both seasons are available in their entirety on BBC iPlayer. GT
Junior Bake Off
Channel 4, 5pm
Paul Hollywood joins pastry chef Ravneet Gill as a surprise guest judge as the junior version of the baking competition returns. They cast their eyes over 16 of the best young bakers, whose first tasks include a showstopper depicting moments of which they are most proud. Will anyone earn a Hollywood handshake? And can host Harry Hill resist poking fun at Liverpool’s finest?
Food Unwrapped Goes Veggie
Channel 4, 8pm
With an estimated quarter of the UK turning vegan or vegetarian within three years, Jimmy Doherty and team consider some of the central tenets of the revolution in eating, in particular meat-free burgers, jackfruit and tips on growing your own.
Underground Worlds
Yesterday, 8pm
There’s 10 episodes and 30 subterranean mysteries to explore in this enjoyable if overproduced new series. It begins with the Germans who dug a bunker in Cincinnati in order to brew lager, a visit to the a state-of-the-art Cold War fortress on the shores of Denmark, created as a defence against Russia as the Cold War darkened, and the Queensway Tunnel, dug beneath the Mersey River in the 1930s to ease pressure on the oversubscribed ferry service.
Inside Dubai: Playground of the Rich
BBC Two, 9pm
From influencers through to designers and property tycoons, Dubai’s expat community get a broad – if not especially deep – treatment in the second episode of the passably interesting, fundamentally incurious documentary series.
Art on the BBC: Van Gogh – Life and Art
BBC Four, 9pm
Kate Bryan rummages through the archives to examine how interpretations of the Dutch painter have evolved over the years, from assessments of his friendship with Paul Gauguin and his struggles with mental health through to the severed ear and dramatic portrayals of the artist from such actors as Benedict Cumberbatch, John Simm and Kirk Douglas. Another cerebral treat.
Euphoria
Sky Atlantic, 9pm
Wildly controversial and sometimes plain wild, Sam Levinson’s teenage drama returns with the superb, Emmy-winning Zendaya in place as 17-year-old Rue and Hunter Schafer back as Jules, both of them reckoning with the events of season one, plus more trauma, heartbreak and addiction struggles.
Torn Curtain (1966) ★★★
Great Movies Classic, 9pm
This espionage yarn is usually dismissed as one of Alfred Hitchcock’s failures, but after a sluggish start it gets into gear when Paul Newman, playing an American physicist on a visit to Europe, defects to East Germany. (Is he really a traitor? What do you reckon?) Julie Andrews is miscast as his bewildered fiancée, but there’s one nail-biting action set-up after another to enjoy, and the Cold War atmosphere is a skin-prickling treat.
Cliffhanger (1993) ★★★★
Paramount, 9pm
Living up to its title, Cliffhanger is a rollicking rollercoaster of a film. It stars Sylvester Stallone as a hotshot mountain climber, who becomes embroiled in a heist, along with Janine Turner’s helicopter pilot. Set in the Rocky Mountains and featuring some stupendous stunts, it may be big-budget nonsense – but it’s entertaining big-budget nonsense with zesty lines and exhilarating cinematography.
Erin Brockovich (2000) ★★★★
5STAR, 11.30pm
An Oscar-winning Julia Roberts (she also scooped a Golden Globe and a Bafta for this role) dazzles in this true-life David-versus-Goliath tale of a woman who, almost singlehanded, brings a successful lawsuit against a Californian power company for polluting the water supply. Albert Finney is her gruff boss who criticises her clothes but reluctantly agrees to let her near the case. The modern-day parallels with the Flint water crisis are profound.
