TV critic Paul Whitelaw chooses from a mixed bag of television highlights this week including The Last Stone, teatime trivia with Richard Osman and the next chapter in the chilling Rise of the Nazis: Dictators at War.
The Last Stone – Tuesday, BBC Scotland, 10pm
This expertly crafted documentary recounts the uplifting saga of the British women’s curling team who triumphed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Those four great Scots made history: they were the first British women’s team to win gold in any Olympic event. The programme reminds us that curling was once regarded, if it was even regarded at all, as a niche and rather quirky sport; a parochial Scottish concern. Rhona Martin and her teammates changed all that. They captured the nation’s attention and affection: millions watched the nail-biting final live on BBC One. It’s not only an irresistible, feel-good underdog story, but also a significant moment in the history of women’s sport.
Richard Osman’s House of Games – Monday to Friday, BBC Two, 6pm
Osman, that avuncular Grand Poobah of undemanding teatime trivia, returns for another weeklong showdown between four previous House of Games winners. They are comedians Angela Barnes, Kemah Bob and Adrian Edmondson, plus his actress daughter Beattie. Barnes is a record-breaking five times champ who knows her pop culture inside out, so much so that you almost get the sense she’s politely holding back at times, lest she hog the limelight by knowing all the answers. As for the game itself, well you have to admire a quiz that features a rhyming round linking Hemingway’s Old Man of the Sea to the advertising slogan ‘buy one get one free’. And remember, feel free to play along at home.
Rise of the Nazis: Dictators at War – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm
Chapter two of this insightful psychological study of Adolf Hitler and his fascist enablers begins with the newly self-appointed Commander in Chief of the German Army doubling down in his efforts to defeat Stalin. But he needs a new Machiavellian yes man by his side, as Goering has proved ineffectual. Enter Nazi architect Albert Speer, who despite his lack of military experience proves effective in facilitating Hitler’s demands. Meanwhile, the equally deranged Stalin draws up plans for a huge military offensive aimed at driving Hitler’s army from the Soviet Union. But when he’s told by one of his top generals that the operation is doomed, a furious Stalin takes matters into his own hands. Devastating carnage ensues.
Jobfished – Monday, BBC Three, 9pm
Investigative journalist Catrin Nye has spent the last year trying to find out how so many young people ended up working for Madbird, a supposedly successful graphic design agency that doesn’t actually exist. The Madbird website boasted an impressive roster of clients. It all looked legit. For several months the new sales team worked hard on a promise of commission – they never actually met anyone from the company in person – but the whole thing had been set up to steal their ideas. Hugely out of pocket, they felt angry and humiliated. So just who was behind this elaborate online con, which cruelly took advantage of unemployed people during lockdown? Nye eventually tracks him down in classic door-stepping style.
Moors Murders – Monday, Channel 4, 9pm
This new series gains access to letters written by Britain’s most notorious serial killers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. It’s a chilling tale of two psychopaths who never exhibited the slightest hint of genuine remorse – the letters reveal them blaming each other for entirely self-serving reasons – but it also grants insight into their attempted coercion of Hindley’s brother-in-law David Smith. In 1965, Smith witnessed Brady murdering teenager Edward Evans. Frightened for his life, he helped them clean up the crime scene. “I would’ve done anything just to get out of that house,” he says via an archive interview (Smith died in 2012). Once he’d escaped, Smith called the police. Brady and Hindley were subsequently arrested.
Mission: Joy with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama – Wednesday, BBC Four, 10pm
In 2015, two great humanitarians sat down for a filmed conversation full of mutual respect and affection. This cheering documentary is the result. Tutu (who passed away on Boxing Day 2021) and the Dalai Lama were avuncular kindred spirits: or, in their shared description, “mischievous spiritual brothers”. The holy man banter flows freely as they hold hands, crack jokes and spread their message of tolerance and kindness in the face of adversity. You may find yourself agreeing with their steadfast belief that most human beings are fundamentally decent and compassionate. We live in a cruel and unjust world, Tutu and the Dalai Lama are all too aware of that, but their wit, warmth and wisdom is highly persuasive.
#CancelKarenDunbar – Thursday, BBC Scotland, 10pm
Karen Dunbar presents this well-meaning yet confused documentary in which she argues that, during her early ‘00s heyday, comedy was allowed to be “controversial, contentious and occasionally offensive.” Not like now, apparently (the programme conveniently ignores the continuing popularity of ‘edgy’ comics such as Frankie Boyle, Jimmy Carr and Ricky Gervais). It revolves around the false premise that cancel culture is muzzling so-called provocative comedy. Is it? Neither Dunbar nor her interviewees provide any evidence of this actually being the case. Our host is a likeable and thoughtful person, but she frets too much and her frustratingly vague report chases its tail while inadvertently fanning the flames of bogus culture war baloney. A missed opportunity.
