Winter Olympics
BBC One & BBC Two, from 11.30am
The Beijing Games finally arrive, following a trail of controversy over reported atrocities against the Uyghur Muslim population, events in Hong Kong, Tibet and Taiwan and the three-week disappearance of Chinese tennis champion Peng Shuai. The UK, US, Canada, Australia, Lithuania and Kosovo have all declared a diplomatic boycott, with no ministers or officials attending. But the show will go on and 50 British athletes are set to compete – though without the vocal aid of spectators, who are being kept away by strict Covid restrictions. Some events (curling, freestyle skiing, figure skating and ice hockey) have already begun but the opening ceremony takes place today, at 11.30am, from Beijing’s National Stadium.
It’s only 100 minutes long this year, far short of 2008’s four-hour extravaganza, but Zhang Yimou will become the first person to direct both a summer and winter ceremony and 4,000 people will perform. Clare Balding, Lizzy Yarnold, Hazel Irvine, Jeanette Kwakye, Ayo Akinwolere and JJ Chalmers will lead the BBC’s television coverage. And Day One begins at 12.25am with mixed curling – and British snowboarder Katie Ormerod will take to the slopes at 2.45am. CG
Reacher
Amazon Prime Video
When Tom Cruise took on the role of Jack Reacher in 2012, one criticism was that the actor was not nearly hulking (or blond) enough to be author Lee Child’s former military police investigator. That wrong has been set right in this punchy eight-part adaptation of the novel Killing Floor, with the broad and lofty Alan Ritchson as Reacher, who arrives in a small town in Georgia only to be arrested for a murder he didn’t commit. CG
Suspicion
Apple TV+
This transcontinental crime thriller opens with the Royal family stuffing the son of a wealthy US businesswoman into a suitcase in a New York hotel – the perpetrators each wearing a Point Break-style rubber mask. It’s a catchy kick-off to an involving series that follows five unrelated British people who are accused of the kidnapping. Uma Thurman heads up a real mix of a cast that includes Ian McElhinney, Lydia West, Georgina Campbell and a barely recognisable Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory). The first two episodes launch today. CG
World’s Most Scenic River Journeys
Channel 5, 7pm
Now this sounds like a lovely holiday, as Bill Nighy’s calming tones take us to the Dordogne in southwest France by traditional boat and in a hot-air balloon, soaring over fairytale castles and going hunting for truffles. CG
Your Garden Made Perfect
BBC Two, 8pm; not NI
“What I want from this garden is a little piece of Heaven, just for me,” says Steph from St Anne’s in Lancashire. Some of us are happy with a couple of nice rattan chairs but Steph has certainly come to the right place. The whizz-bang graphics are back in this makeover series, demonstrating the designers’ grand plans. CG
Susan Calman’s Grand Day Out
Channel 5, 8pm
Susan Calman packs a lot into her 85-mile day trip, taken in the trusty campervan she calls “Helen Mirren”. Calman begins this new series in Devon, at the Babbacombe Cliff Railway, before sweeping through Torquay, Dartmoor, Dartmouth, Salcombe and even an excursion aboard the Royal Dart Yacht. CG
Death in Paradise
BBC One, 9pm
A young popstar is the latest victim to die a grisly death on the not-so-idyllic Caribbean island. Having checked into a rehab clinic, the woman’s demise appears to be an accident. But when is it ever? CG
Torn (2021) ★★★★
Disney+
A contrast to the sweaty-palmed high-jinks of Free Solo, this climbing documentary tells an intimate story. In 1999, renowned mountaineer Alex Lowe died in the Himalayas. Years later, his family return to the site of his death, accompanied by his climbing partner and friend Conrad Anker – who had married his widow in the meantime. Directed by Lowe’s son, it’s a family tale told against the greatest backdrop on earth.
Freaky (2020) ★★★★
Sky Cinema Premiere, 8pm
Take a dash of Noughties cheese like Freaky Friday, then shake it with a measure of post-modern archness, and you’ll get close to Christopher Landon’s delicious comedy horror. When a high-school loser is stabbed by a masked serial killer she isn’t killed, but bodyswapped into his shoes – with the killer inhabiting her’s. Cue a murderously fun romp which sends up slasher flicks and ultra-woke teenagers. Vince Vaughn stars.
The Magnificent Seven (2016) ★★★
ITV, 11.05pm
Antoine Fuqua’s violent but uneven remake of John Sturges’s classic 1960 Western moves the action from Mexico to America: to the frontier town of Rose Krick, held to ransom by a sneering industrialist (Peter Sarsgaard), who uses the locals as forced labour in his mines. Seven heroes with deadly skills come to the aid of the community. Cowboy-hatted, gun-slinging Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt lead the cast.
Television previewers
Catherine Gee (CG), Gerard O’Donovan (GO), Vicki Power (VP), Gabriel Tate (GT) and Jack Taylor (JT)
