Coronation of King Charles, Eurovision Welcomes the World and Inside No 9: TV highlights this week

Words by Rachael Popow

The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 wasn’t just a key moment in the history of Britain – it was also seen as a watershed moment for TV.

Although the decision to place cameras in the Westminster Abbey was not without controversy, it allowed people across Britain to feel part of the big day. More than 20 million people watched the service, which is all the more impressive when you consider that there were only 2.7 million TV sets in the country. There are stories of people buying their first televisions for the occasion, as well as people crowding into the homes of neighbours and relatives.

Now, 70 years later, it’s largely taken for granted that the Coronation of King Charles III will be shown on TV – in fact, viewers have more choice than ever about how to watch it. The BBC, ITV and Sky News are all providing live coverage, and for those who can’t watch it in the morning, there are highlight shows this evening.

But it’s still a reminder of the power of television to bring people together for a truly historic event. As Kirsty Young, who will be hosting the BBC’s coverage from a studio in Buckingham Palace says: “I’m very happy indeed to be part of the BBC’s Coronation coverage, as our cameras capture history in the making. Ceremony, spectacle and a right royal celebration – it’s got all the ingredients of a weekend worth watching.”

She won’t be going it alone. The BBC coverage, which begins at 7.30am, also features JJ Chalmers, who will be speaking to members of the military as they prepare for one of the largest parades in living history.

Sophie Raworth will be stationed outside Westminster Abbey to speak to the guests as they arrive, while Huw Edwards will be providing commentary as the doors open. He says: “Few broadcasters have the privilege of working on a Coronation and I’m delighted to be involved. People will be relying on the BBC for coverage of what promises to be a memorable weekend.”

Clare Balding will be commentating on the ceremonial route, and Anita Rani will be mingling with the crowds.

On ITV1, the coverage gets under way with special edition of Good Morning Britain, before Julie Etchingham and Tom Bradby take over from 8.30am with a special ITV News programme.

They are based at Buckingham Palace, while Mary Nightingale is outside Westminster Abbey and James Mates is on hand to explain the ancient traditions and rituals when the ceremony begins.

Sky News has its own royal expert in the shape of commentator Alastair Bruce, who will be joined by presenters Kay Burley and Anna Botting throughout the day. There will also be a guest appearance from Joanna Lumley, who will have her own unique take on the day’s events – she’ll be joining the news team fresh from Westminster Abbey, which she is attending as a guest.

But however you choose to watch the Coronation, and whoever you watch it with, it’s set to be an extraordinary and historic event.

The Coronation Concert (Sunday 07/05/23, BBC1, 8pm)

Words by Scheenagh Harrington

The coronation of King Charles III in Westminster Abbey may be done and dusted, but the celebrations marking the historic moment continue with this showpiece event, which is being broadcast across the BBC, live from Windsor Castle.

A host of big-name stars and musical icons are set to perform in front of an audience packed with volunteers from the King and the Queen Consort’s many charity affiliations.

Among the show’s highlights are a 70-piece classical orchestra, including the Countess of Wessex’s String Orchestra and woodwind, brass and percussion sections from the Bands of the Household Division, playing interpretations of musical favourites fronted by fantastic entertainers.

There will also be performers from the world of dance and the arts taking to the stage, and a selection of spoken word sequences, delivered by stars of the stage and screen.

Look out an exclusive appearance from the 300-strong Coronation Choir, which features the London Cabbies, the Portishead RNLI sea shanty choir, an all-deaf sign performance group, a Northern Irish farming community and an LGBTQ+ choir, to name but a few.

A galaxy of stars are taking to the stage too, with Lionel Ritchie, Katy Perry and Take That among those topping the bill.

The latter trio were clearly thrilled to be part of such a big occasion, as they said: “This will be our first live show since the Odyssey Tour, four years ago in 2019, and what a stage to come back on.

“A huge live band and orchestra, a choir, military drummers, the backdrop of Windsor Castle and the celebration of a new King. We can’t wait!”

There will also be a much-anticipated duet between Andrea Bocelli and Sir Bryn Terfel, who said: “Having sung at numerous events that were connected to the patronages Charles held as the Prince of Wales, it is an incredible honour to be singing now at the coronation of His Majesty the King, Charles III.”

Bocelli is also delighted to be taking part. He recounted how he sang for Queen Elizabeth II on several occasions, and added: “It is now another great honour to be asked to perform at the coronation concert of King Charles III. My joy and excitement is multiplied as I have the chance to duet with my dear friend and superb baritone, Sir Bryn Terfel, performing an iconic song of love and collective solidarity.”

Watch out for another very different duet, between singer-songwriter Freya Ridings and Alexis Ffrench, who is governor and trustee of the Royal Academy of Music.

She said: “it feels like a “pinch me” once in a lifetime moment in history,” while he enthused: “to have been invited to perform in the coronation concert held in celebration of His Majesty King Charles III is an honour of the utmost magnitude.

“Such moments are unequivocally iconic and exceedingly rare, and I am delighted to share the stage with the wonderfully talented Freya Ridings on this momentous occasion.”

The famous faces won’t be the only thing sparkling on the big night.

Iconic locations across the United Kingdom will be lit up using projections, lasers, potential drone displays and illuminations for ‘Lighting up the Nation’, a moment at the heart of the coronation celebrations.

Monday 08/05/23

Eurovision Welcomes the World (BBC1, 6.30pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

Last year, Sam Ryder finished second in the Eurovision Song Contest – and after so many years of languishing at the bottom of the table, for many UK fans that was as good as a win.

Then when the actual winners, Ukraine, couldn’t host this year’s contest, the UK stepped in, giving us another reason to catch Eurovision fever.

So, it’s perhaps unsurprising that this year, the BBC are going all out to celebrate the competition with a whole week of programmes building up to the main event in Liverpool on Saturday, May 13.

It begins tonight with Eurovision Welcomes the World, which sees Rylan and Liverpool-born actress Sunetra Sarker giving viewers the highlights of the National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome.

The pair were given an access-all-areas pass to the Turquoise Carpet Opening Ceremony in Liverpool, where will they be meeting some of acts who are hoping to succeed Kalush Orchestra as winners.

Rylan, who will be hosting Radio 2’s coverage of Saturday’s final is certainly excited, saying: “From being part of the UK delegation since 2018, Eurovision has become such a big part of my life and I think the scale of it this year is going to be like nothing we’ve seen before.”

The Eurovision preparations continue later this evening with Eurovision Calling: Jason and Chelcee’s Ultimate Guide, hosted by comedian Jason Manford and singer-songwriter Chelcee Grimes.

Together, they’ll be finding out how the contest became the world’s largest live music event, with the power to create global superstars and change lives.

Jason meets the UK’s last winner, Katrina Leskanich from Katrina and the Waves, who won in 1997, as well as the aforementioned Sam Ryder and this year’s UK entrant Mae Muller. Meanwhile, Chelcee goes behind the scenes of the show in Liverpool and unearths some Eurovision trivia.

Jason admits he hasn’t always known his Abba from his Netta, but by the end of this documentary, he should be an expert.

He says: “As a glory-hunting latecomer to the Eurovision phenomena, I’m fascinated to speak to the people who create it, perform in it and most of all who love it! And discover why it means so much to so many people around the world and why is it considered the greatest show on Earth.”

Then on Tuesday and Thursday, the live semi-finals take place, giving us a chance to assess Mae’s competition.

However, just in case that gets her feeling the pressure, on Friday Fleur East brings us Everyone’s a Winner, which runs down the 20 most successful Eurovision songs that failed to take home the top prize.

Fleur says: “I’m so excited to be hosting my own pre-Eurovision party in Liverpool, celebrating some of the songs that didn’t quite win, but still went on to become massive hits around the world. This is a top twenty countdown with a real difference, including tracks we all know and love, plus a few surprises.”

And as Sam Ryder could tell you, there’s definitely no shame in coming second…

Mad Women (Tuesday 09/05/23, Channel 4, 10pm)

Words by Richard Jones

During the 1950s and 60s, most advertisements showed women in the kitchen or raising a family, while in the 70s and 80s, women were often portrayed as sex symbols or unattainable versions of perfection.

These days, brands and marketers take more responsibility to represent women in a modern and positive manner, but for an industry that has always prided itself in being ‘cutting edge’, that hasn’t always ben the case.

Advertising plays an important role in society and has the power to shape how we see each other.

But not only has there been an imbalance with how the advertising industry depicts women, the workplace in which the actual ads are produced has long been male-dominated and traditional.

Timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of WACL (Women in Advertising and Communications, Leadership), Mad Women explores the role women have played in the UK’s advertising industry over the past century.

From the creation of Shake ’n’ Vac and its unforgettable jingle to the Levi’s launderette TV commercial with Nick Kamen, and from the Flake girl in the bath to the bikini-clad women falling over men because of the Lynx effect, it tells the story of the pioneering women behind some of the nation’s most iconic adverts.

They describe the challenges they faced, including both blatant and subtle sexism, how they balanced work with their personal lives, and the often complicated routes they took in their careers.

We begin in late 1970s London – in a world evocative of US period drama Mad Men – where we meet those who broke into the industry and started to break down the stereotypes that had been in place for decades.

We see and hear about the ground-breaking adverts they engineered and the battles they had to endure to get them onto our screens.

In a world now unrecognisable from the days of Mad Men, we’ll also meet some of the most senior women working in the industry today to find out what’s left in the world of taboo breaking and what can we expect next from the current generation of Mad Women.

President of WACL Rania Robinson says: “Since WACL was created in 1923, by some incredible pioneering women, advertising has chronicled the changing role of women in society.

“But the battle for women to be equal contributors to all parts of the ad industry – and particularly the creative department – has been long and arduous.

“We’re not there yet but, in our 100th year, it’s good to celebrate how far we’ve come.”

Meanwhile, Caroline Davies, director of programmes at the programme’s creator South Shore, added: “We’re really proud to be shining a light on the women who created some of the most iconic moments in advertising history.”

Times have certainly changed since the 1970s and indeed the fictional world of Sterling Cooper in New York, run by John Hamm’s Donald Draper in Mad Men.

Hopefully this documentary will inspire and empower today’s generation of women even further and show that it is possible to have a successful and rewarding career in advertising now that it is a better-balanced industry.

National History Museum: World of Wonder (Wednesday 10/05/23, Channel 5, 8pm)

Words by Scheenagh Harrington

Narrator Bill Nighy guides us behind the scenes as we meet the teams and scientists who work at one of the greatest museums in the world, the Natural History Museum in London.

It’s the country’s second most-visited museum, attracting almost 4.7 million people in 2022, and given the goodies that will be on show here, it’s not difficult to see why the place dubbed ‘the cathedral of nature’ is such a popular draw.

The museum dates back to the 17th century, when the British government used a lottery system to snap up the collection of Ulster doctor Sir Hans Sloane for a bargain price. It included dried plants, and animal and human skeletons, but had largely disappeared or been sold off by the early years of the 19th century.

Several unstable years followed, during which the public were encouraged not to come and see the museum’s natural history exhibits.

However, that changed with the appointment of palaeontologist Richard Owen as superintendent of the natural history departments of the British Museum in 1856.

What he did prompted Bill Bryson to enthuse: “by making the Natural History Museum an institution for everyone, Owen transformed our expectations of what museums are for”.

By 1880 under Owen, a new building had been constructed and the space we know and love today was born.

It is now home to the world-famous Geological Museum, the Darwin Centre and the Attenborough Studio, as well as Dippy, a Diplodocus carnegii skeleton replica, gifted to the museum by industrialist Andrew Carnegie, and 82-foot-long blue whale skeleton, Hope.

We’re sure to get a glimpse of these treasures and more, as cameras explore the many corners of this iconic building that most people never get to see – from the historic rooftop to its majestic hall and arguably the most famous dinosaur collection in the world.

But the amazing tour doesn’t end there. Space expert Ashley makes the greatest discovery of his career as he studies the Winchcombe Meteorite – the first of its kind to land and be recovered in the UK in 30 years – as he hopes to answer whether these space rocks really do hold the key to all life on Earth.

We’ll join top fly expert Erica as she heads to the beautiful Knepp Estate in Sussex in search of new insect species, and to discover whether their rewilding project is boosting the wildlife there.

Back at the museum, young dinosaur researcher Cassius scans a giant toothy jawbone belonging to a Gorgosaurus for the first time. This dinosaur was a fearsome cousin to the T Rex, but what was the secret of its success 80 million years ago?

The museum’s team of experts help schoolgirl, Iris, identify a stone she found in her playground. Could it be an emerald?

Finally, there’s action from the monthly giant sleepover, where 500 children and their parents and guardians can sleep with the dinosaurs, while the staff try to contain the excitement and the chaos by creating a night to remember among the museum’s incredible collection.

Whether everything comes alive, as in the Ben Stiller movies, remains to be seen…

Inside No 9 (Thursday 11/05/23, BBC Two, 10pm)

Words by Sarah Morgan

Britain has more than its fair share of amazing TV scriptwriters.

The likes of Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders and the recent version of Great Expectations), Peter Morgan (The Crown), Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey), Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You), Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley) and Abi Morgan (The Split) are just a few that spring to mind.

Two who aren’t usually mentioned in such exalted company – but certainly should be – are Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. The pair first became known as members of The League of Gentlemen, a show they co-wrote with their friends Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson; they reteamed again on Psychoville – an episode of which inspired what will probably go down in the annals of TV history as their greatest achievement, Inside No 9.

That edition of Psychoville was shot in a single room; every edition of Insight No 9 happens in a particular location, all linked by the numerical figure.

When the very first story, entitled Sardines, aired in February 2014, the BBC had high hopes for it, but nobody quite expected it to become such a cult hit. Since then, viewers have been amused, shocked, horrified, moved and hooked by the duo’s tales. They’re all very different, but have a couple of things in common – they’re incredibly inventive and hugely entertaining.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end – although thankfully, there’s plenty more of Inside No 9 to come, at least in the near future.

Last June, Pemberton and Shearsmith announced: “In the greatest plot twist ever, the BBC have commissioned another two series from us, taking Inside No 9 to series nine. Since 2014, it has been the greatest gift to conjure these stories into being and we are thrilled there’s still an appetite for more. What horrible surprises are there left to uncover? We remain as delighted and curious as you to find out.”

But after that, the show’s creators have said the programme will go on hiatus – maybe it will return, but perhaps they’ll both go on to pastures new. Whatever happens, at least we have three more editions of the current run to go, as well as six next year before the plug is potentially pulled. By then, 50 episodes will have been made, which is impressive going.

“Reece and Steve are extraordinary talents,” says executive producer Josh Cole. “Very few comedies reach nine series, and even fewer scale the hare-raising heights of Inside No 9. We’re delighted to be making a true comedy classic.”

Each run has featured some great guest stars, and the latest is no exception. Last week saw Shearsmith reunited with Amanda Abbington, his co-star in recent stage hit The Unfriend. Another member of that production, Frances Barber, pops up this time around in a tale involving online dating.

Vicky is hoping to find her perfect match on one particular site, little realising she’s more likely to bump into a murderer dubbed the Lonely Hearts Killer.

Claire Rushbrook, Mathew Horne and Asim Chaudhry also appear, but as ever, it’s Pemberton and Shearsmith’s story that’s the real star of the show.

The Chris and Rosie Ramsey Show (Friday 12/05/23, BBC1, 10.40pm)

Words by Scheenagh Harrington

We’re somewhat spoiled for choice when it comes to comedians who are also couples at the moment. Justin Edwards and Lucy Porter, Sara Pascoe and John Robins, Elis James and Isy Suttie, have all gone on the record about their lives as stand-ups.

Meanwhile, panel show regular Jon Richardson and his wife Lucy Beaumont took it to the next level and created their own, hugely popular sitcom (loosely) based on their lives.

But when it comes to husband-and-wife comedians, Chris and Rosie Ramsey have really knocked it out of the park.

They are the brains behind multiple award-winning Sh**ged.Married.Annoyed, one of the UK’s most successful podcasts.

It has had more than 100 million downloads, led to a best-selling book and broke the Guinness world record for the biggest live podcast show. In London alone the Ramseys sold out The O2 Arena, Wembley Arena and The Palladium.

Last year, they brought their particular brand of marital magic to the small screen with this show, which has a look of Richard and Judy’s This Morning, with the colourful studio, but gets away with content the veteran pair would never dream of airing.

If you didn’t manage to catch the first series, Chris and Rosie welcomed much-loved couples including Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo, Martin and Shirlie Kemp, Craig Revel Horwood and Jonathan Myring, Martine McCutcheon and Jack McManus and Tom Fletcher and Giovanna Fletcher, to share their relationship highs and, most importantly, their ‘beefs’.

The studio audience also got a chance to share their own gripes, and competed to throw away something their loved one just won’t get rid of from the house in the hilarious It Goes Or I Go.

The first run included a surprise guest appearance from Ronan Keating, who helped smash up a contestant’s precious Boyzone memorabilia.

Another of the show’s most popular segments is Keep Me Anonymous, in which famous faces read out real-life stories, something fellow comedian Lou Sanders’ probably won’t be in a rush to do again any time soon. If you saw her appearance, you’ll understand why it went viral…

Of course, the media lapped up every episode, adoring the Ramseys’ exploration of the raw and funny side of both celebrity and members of the public’s relationships, while the viewing public couldn’t get enough.

Unsurprisingly, that popularity has been noticed by the powers that be at Aunty Beeb, and the show has swiftly made the leap from BBC2 to BBC1. Here’s hoping that dark edge that made it so popular the first time around won’t be dulled.

Chris and Rosie Ramsey are clearly delighted, saying: “We are so over the moon that the first series didn’t end in us getting divorced that we are willing to roll the dice and do it all again.

“There are so many more celebrity couples we want to have a laugh with, so many more members of the public who’s beefs we want to hear and so many more bits of tat that we want to destroy.”

Count us in!