Coronation Street ITV1, Monday 7.30pm & 8.30pm
The start of a major week on the cobbles, as Carla returns. All of this week’s episodes span a single day, and yet events progress far quicker than they usually do. Unfortunately, by the end of it Kevin and Molly will still have the most tedious affair of all soap history, but otherwise this is an uptick in Corrie’s rather fitful interest curve.
Murderland ITV1, Monday 9pm
Robbie Coltrane returns to the world of ITV crime drama with a three-part story told across two timelines. Coltrane plays Detective Inspector Hain, who fifteen years ago investigated a brutal murder. In the present day, the murder victim’s daughter Carol (Amanda Hale) is obsessed by both the killing and Hain’s part in the case. Told with frequent skipping between past and present, and with each episode showing events from the perspective of a different character, the structure is the most interesting part of this drama.
Spaced Dave, Monday 10pm
Ten years after it first surfaced on Channel 4, this sitcom written by & starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stephenson (now Hynes) remains one of my all-time favourites. Two single people who pose as a couple so that they can actually find accommodation, Tim and Daisy are in many ways the overgrown teenagers that we all secretly wish we could be.
The Real Cabaret BBC4, Tuesday 9pm
“Wilkommen, Bienvenue, welcome…” Christopher Isherwood’s time in 1930s Weimar Berlin caused him to write Goodbye to Berlin, the inspiration for the musical Cabaret (which follows at 10.30pm). But how close to real life is our vision of that time? Alan Cumming, who won a Tony for his portrayal as the Emcee on Broadway, heads off to Berlin to find out, stopping off for conversations with Liza Minnelli and Ute Lemper.
The Force Channel 4, Tuesday 9pm
The second of three documentaries following a police inspection into a single crime. This week, we follow the investigation by Hampshire Police’s Crystal unit, set up with sole purpose of investigating rape allegations. As well as following the case (a woman says she has been assaulted by a number of men in a hotel room, but can remember nothing), the unit itself is struggling for survival.
Defying Gravity BBC2, Wednesday 9pm
You know, for a Corporation that’s extremely picky about US imports, they do seem to be developing a track record in investing in poor co-productions (hello, Krud Mandoon, I’m talking to you). Defying Gravity is a coproduction with Fox, Omni Film, CTV, SPACE and Pro Sieben. And that list of investors is roudabout the most interesting part. Actually, not quite: it looks glorious, but Ron Livingston is a soporific leading man and the scripts aren’t much better.
The Sarah Jane Adventures BBC1, Thursday 4.35pm
A far, far better science fiction series that doesn’t let up after last week’s glorious opener. In this week’s two parter, in the year 2059, an older Rani (Souad Faress, aka Usha in The Archers) recounts events fifty years previously that changed her life for ever… Another guest star this week is Brian Miller, aka Mister Elisabeth Sladen.
Russell Howard’s Good News BBC3, Thursday 10.30pm
The regular panellist on Mock the Week gets his own weekly topical comedy show. I don’t know too much else about it, other than an extended version will show over the weekend. For me, Howard is the most likeable of MTW’s regular panellists, and his brand of comedy is one that will hopefully sustain a full nine-part series.
