England v Spain in Euro 2024 final, The Jetty and BBC Proms: TV highlights this week

Changing Ends (Saturday 13/07/24, ITV1, 9pm & 9.30pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

Launching a new TV show is often an anxious time for the creators, as they wait for the public and the critics’ verdict. However, Alan Carr had more reason that most to be worried when his autobiographical sitcom Changing Ends launched on ITVX last year.

He says: “I was so nervous because this is such a personal story for me on so many levels. If people had slagged off the show I would have taken it really personally because not only did I co-write it, but it’s based on my life – there’s no dodging a bad reaction or blaming anyone else because it’s all about me!”

Luckily, he didn’t need to worry – the show quickly became the streaming service’s biggest-ever comedy, and picked up even more fans when it was shown on ITV1.

If you weren’t one of the people who fell for Changing Ends’ charms, it’s based on Alan’s experiences of growing up in Northampton in the 1980s as the son of fourth-division football manager, Graham (Shaun Dooley).

So, there was an added pressure for Alan as he awaited his family’s verdict – but they were totally onboard.

Alan says: “I was so nervous about what they would think, but mum and dad love it, they watch it over and over again! My dad has been so sweet about the show. He never really rings me and if I call the house he immediately puts mum on, but since series one went out he keeps calling me asking about what’s happening in series two, he’s desperate for more details.”

Luckily, Graham’s wait is now over as the second run hits ITV1 tonight, while fans will be relieved to hear that the brilliant Oliver Savell is also back as the young Alan.

The older, real Alan says: “Ollie is amazing and he just gets better. But of course, the elephant in the room was that we were wondering how tall he would have got and how much his voice had dropped – you have to be able to hit those high notes when you play Alan Carr, I’m like Mariah Carey!

“But he’s just so professional and funny. Even though he was a little bit taller for series two, he’s still just as talented and wonderful in the role as he was in the first series. If we get recommissioned, I might have to do a time jump for series three!”

There are changes afoot in the new run, as Alan reveals: “In series two, the Cobblers are on the cusp of going up and I’m on the cusp of going through puberty so it’s all a bit of a knife edge with these two push-pulls going on – success for the Cobblers and Alan growing up and turning into a young man. It’s electric, you can feel that battle going on.”

In the first of tonight’s opening double bill, young Alan is also dealing with bullies and peer pressure, which leads him into the murky world of fake IDs.

Live UEFA Euro 2024 (ITV1, 6.30pm, Sunday 14/07/2024) & MOTD Live: UEFA Euro 2024 (BBC One, 7pm)

Words by Richard Jones

Is it coming home? That’s the question on the lips of millions of England football fans as Euro 2024 reaches a climax at the Olympiastadion Berlin.

Going into the tournament, hopes were high for Gareth Southgate’s side, who arrived in Germany as one of the favourites, having reached the final three years ago.

While Jude Bellingham inspired the Three Lions to a 1-0 win over Serbia in their first game, that was followed by a poor display in the 1-1 draw against Denmark and another in the drab 0-0 stalemate against Slovenia.

England’s performance wasn’t any better in the last-16 tie against Slovakia, until Bellingham produced another moment of genius and Harry Kane nodded home as they came from behind to progress in dramatic fashion.

And the drama didn’t end there, as Southgate’s men saw off an impressive Switzerland side on penalties in the quarter-finals, after Bukayo Saka equalised following Breel Embolo’s opener for the Swiss.

In the semi-final against the Netherlands in Dortmund, England once again found themselves behind again thanks to a thunderous early strike from Xavi Simons.

However, Kane equalised with a contentious first-half penalty, before substitute Ollie Watkins struck in the last minute to send the nation into raptures and have the fans dreaming of what would be only their second major title.

Despite facing no end of criticism from the fans and in the media, much-maligned manager Southgate seems to finally be getting a tune out of his talented group of players and has led them to latter stages of a tournament once again.

But can they go one better than three years ago when they were beaten on penalties by Italy in the showpiece at Wembley Stadium?

Standing in their way are Spain, who, in most people eyes, have been the best side at the tournament.

They topped a group containing Italy, Croatia and Albania with a 100-per-cent record, and then overcame Georgia, Germany and France in the knockout rounds.

They will now look to become record four-time winners, having previously lifted the trophy in 1964, 2008 and 2012.

As the players from the qualified 24 nations have slogged it out for supremacy on the pitch over the past month, there has also been plenty of rivalry off it, with the BBC and ITV vying to prove they are the best broadcaster.

While ITV have left things in the capable hands of Laura Woods and Mark Pougatch, the BBC have showcased twice as many presenters – Gary Lineker, Gabby Logan, Alex Scott and Mark Chapman.

But it’s in the pundits’ department where things got interesting, with a number of trophy-laden former players having their say.

While the Beeb boasted the likes of Alan Shearer, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, and Micah Richards, ITV1 employed Ian Wright, Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Karen Carney.

The two broadcasters have shared coverage over the last month, but tonight viewers will get to decide whose side they are on, as the main event is being broadcast simultaneously on both channels.

Of course, there is no doubt which side English fans will be cheering on as they look to end 58 years of hurt and win a major trophy.

But who will they be backing in the eternal tale of the tape between the two giants of terrestrial TV?

The Jetty (Monday 15/07/24, BBC One, 9pm)

Words by Sarah Morgan

It’s a big year for Jenna Coleman.

The former Emmerdale and Doctor Who star is lined up to appear and executive produce The War Rooms, a series about the women who worked in Winston Churchill’s bunker during the Second World War. More importantly, she’s about to tackle an altogether different role – that of mother; she’s currently expecting her first child with film-maker Jamie Childs, whom she met on the set of The Sandman in 2020.

Before either of those events happen, viewers can see her in The Jetty, a new four-part thriller in which Coleman plays recently widowed rookie detective Ember Manning, which is showing on both Monday and Tuesday evening. It is her first project for the Beeb since 2021’s The Serpent.

“I’m delighted to be returning to the BBC to be a part of The Jetty, bringing the story of Ember Manning to life,” says the star. “I look forward to exploring (writer) Cat Jones’ darkly probing scripts, alongside (director) Marialy Rivas’ eloquent vision.”

The series has been filmed in Coleman’s birth county of Lancashire (she’s from Blackpool), and begins as a fire tears through a holiday home by a picturesque lake. But how does that connect with a podcast journalist investigating a missing persons cold case, and the illicit ‘love’ triangle between a twenty-something man and two underage girls?

Unfortunately, Ember’s efforts to answer that question could cost her far more than she realised. Soon, she’s re-evaluating everything she thought she knew about her past, the present and the place she regards as her home.

“I’m thrilled to be making The Jetty for BBC One,” claims Jones, whose CV also includes episodes of Harlots, EastEnders and Waterloo Road. “Like millions of people all over the world, I’ve grown up loving and admiring BBC dramas, so getting to create one really is a dream come true.

“The Jetty is a story I’ve wanted to tell for a long time. What feels like a total dream team features director Marialy Rivas and the brilliant Jenna Coleman. I’ve no doubt audiences are going to be completely transfixed by her as Ember.”

Executive producer Elizabeth Kilgariff (who previously worked with Coleman on The Cry) adds: “Provocative, thrilling and deliciously surprising at every turn, Cat’s beautiful scripts promise to take the audience on a rollercoaster ride where nothing is quite as it seems. To have the opportunity to work with Jenna again – and see her bring our complex, funny and utterly human heroine Ember to life on BBC One – couldn’t be more exciting.”

Amanda Bullimore, Michael McNulty, Ralph Ineson and Ruby Stokes are among the supporting cast breathing life into a story the BBC describes “as much a coming-of-age story as a detective thriller,” one that “asks big questions about sexual morality, identity and memory, in the places that Me Too has left behind.”

It sounds as if it might not just be a big year for Coleman – if The Jetty lives up to the hype, it could be the Beeb’s biggest new drama of the year.

Daley: Olympic Superstar (Tuesday 16/07/2024, BBC Two, 9pm)

Words by Richard Jones

Daley Thompson CBE is widely regarded as the greatest all-round athlete Britain has ever produced.

Between 1978 and 1986, the Notting Hill-born star won two Olympic gold medals, three Commonwealth golds and two European Championship golds.

In 1983, when he took gold at the World Championships in Helsinki, he held all the major decathlon titles and was unbeaten in competition for nine years.

But despite his legendary status and his persona as a natural showman, Daley is rarely seen in the mainstream media these days, perhaps due to his reputation as being anti-establishment, sarcastic, or as one journalist once said, ‘hard to love’.

Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson was born on July 30, 1958, the second son of a British Nigerian father, Frank Thompson, who ran a minicab firm, and his Scottish mother Lydia.

When Thompson was six, his father left home, and aged seven, Daley was sent to Farney Close Boarding School, Bolney, Sussex, which he described as “a place for troubled children”.

When Daley was 11 or 12, his father was shot dead in Streatham by the husband of a woman he had dropped off.

While Thompson’s first ambition was to become a professional footballer, he switched to athletics and become a member of Haywards Heath Harriers, before joining the Newham and Essex Beagles Athletics Club in 1975.

He competed in his first decathlon later that year, and eventually went on to dominate the event for the next decade.

Thompson retired from athletics in 1992, but in the 1990s he played football for Mansfield Town, Stevenage and Ilkeston, and also worked as fitness coach for Wimbledon and Luton Town.

During his life, Daley has occasionally been the subject of controversy.

After winning his second gold at the 1984 Olympics in LA, he was seen whistling along to the Great Britain national anthem and then wore a T-shirt that read “Is the world’s second greatest athlete gay?”

In 2012, he was accused of Anti-Irish sentiment and has recently been outspoken on issues surrounding transgender athletes.

This new warts-and-all documentary, timed to coincide with the start of Paris Olympics next week and the 40th anniversary of the 1984 LA Games, promises to shed new light on his life and career.

Thompson, described by his coach Frank Dick as “the most competitive sporting animal I’ve ever come across”, travels the world and reveals the struggles he faced on the road to success.

There are contributions from his close friend and World Athletics president Lord Sebastian Coe, former decathlon rival Jurgen Hingsen and Caitlyn Jenner, who, as Bruce Jenner, won the 1976 Olympic decathlon crown and acted as a mentor to Thompson.

The film also shines a light on the momentous issues impacting on sport when Daley was competing, including racism, drugs, commercialisation and global political boycotts – many of which are still prevalent today.

“It took me a long time to realise I was an introvert living an extroverted life, and I’ve been fortunate to keep most of that life to myself,” Thompson says of the film.

“Nearing pensioner hood, I’d like to share some of the good and a few disappointments, with my kids who don’t believe any of my adventures but mainly with people who are looking and hoping to be inspired.

“My message is simple: your altitude is dictated by your attitude, BELIEVE IN YOU.”

Suspect (Wednesday 17/07/24, Channel 4, 9pm)

Words by Sarah Morgan

Keeping yourself busy isn’t always easy in the cutthroat showbiz world.

Unless you’re at the very top of the Hollywood tree, scripts don’t always fall in your lap, so you grab opportunities as and when they appear – particularly if they happen to have a top-notch story.

Anne-Marie Duff may not have the professional stature of, say, Tom Cruise, but when it comes to the small screen, she’s a big name – and one in demand. Born in 1970, the youngest of two children of Irish immigrant parents, she’s graced many wonderful projects over the years, including Shameless, The Virgin Queen, Sex Education, The Salisbury Poisonings and Bad Sisters, winning a Bafta for her performance in the latter.

Her next job will actually be on the stage; she’s due to appear at the Young Vic in a revival of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes, which will run from December until next February. She told BBC News: “(It’s) a formidable play by a formidable writer – I couldn’t put it down. It’s a searing drama about corruption, betrayal and the relentless pursuit of power.

“At the heart of it is Regina, a charismatic yet ruthless character who, when the reins are unleashed, goes full force to take matters into her own hands.”

But before that, she’s returning to a role she’s played before, that of Dr Susannah Newman in Suspect.

If you missed the first series, which aired on consecutive nights in 2022, it followed the progress of a detective, played by James Nesbitt, who, after discovering his daughter on a mortuary slab, set out to find her killer by interviewing her acquaintances. Susannah, his ex-wife, was among them.

Nesbitt isn’t returning to the programme; instead, it’s Duff as Susannah who takes centre stage after Jon, a new client, admits to being a professional killer while under hypnosis. What’s more, he has a murder to carry out that very night.

Unfortunately, he escapes from her care, and the police – led by her former lover DS Richard Groves (the also returning Ben Miller) – don’t take her story seriously. So Susannah decides to search for Jon herself, a task that puts her at risk, but it’s one she’s willing to take – it may result in her saving a girl’s life, and as she still feels guilty about not being able to protect her own child, that’s something important to her.

Dominic Cooper, Eddie Marsan, Vinette Robinson, Gina McKee and Tamsin Greig are among the big names joining the cast this time around, but it’s Duff’s character who will carry the story.

“I’m so pleased to be returning to Suspect to be able to dig deeper into the character of Dr Susannah Newman,” claims the star. “Expect lots of twists, turns and revelations alongside more questions to be answered. I can’t wait for viewers to see what we’ve done with the second series.”

And we can’t wait to see how it all pans out either, with two episodes showing on Wednesday evening, and another two on Thursday.

Douglas Is Cancelled (Thursday 18/07/24, ITV1, 9pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

We’ve reached the final episode of Douglas Is Cancelled, the comedy drama about a TV presenter whose career comes under threat when he makes a joke at a wedding.

And if you feel like you’ve no idea how it’s going to end, then you’re in good company. The unpredictable nature of Steven Moffat’s script is one of the things that convinced Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville to take the title role.

He says: “[The script] constantly surprised me with its changes of direction and tone. It made me roar with laughter but, as with all good satire, the laughter gradually turned to ice as the questions raised by the comedy became more stark… harsher.

“Some of the twists and turns are toe-curlingly funny, but by the end, the lights have gone out, the fun has evaporated and we’re into dark territory. To read the whole thing in one sitting was as riveting as it was uncomfortable.

“Hopefully, the audience will have a similar rollercoaster experience.”

Given all the talk about cancel culture over the past few years, the drama has also felt very timely, although Hugh points out that it’s not an entirely new phenomenon.

“Cancel culture has been around since the word scapegoat was used in the Bible for people being thrown out of society for not holding generally accepted views. It’s always been around us, it’s nothing new.

“What’s different today is that the pile-on of the mob is now instantaneous. The speed at which truth and lies accelerate via mainstream and social media is exponential and extraordinary. The way a metaphorical corpse can be mutilated and stamped upon by a mob anonymised by fingers typing at warp speed. ‘Right, killed that one several times over. Who’s next?’”

Some viewers may have been comparing Douglas to real-life celebrities, but Hugh insists that his performance isn’t based on anyone in particular.

He says: “I didn’t consciously think, ‘Who’s this person like?’ If anything, Douglas is a cousin of a character like Ian Fletcher, from Twenty Twelve and W1A – desperately trying to keep things steady, while not realising the extent of the mess that’s going on around him, in this instance, a mess entirely of his own making.”

And while Douglas has an increasingly complex relationship with his co-presenter Madeleine, Hugh has nothing but praise for his co-star Karen Gillan.

He says: “She made me feel very old – not her fault, of course – she was just so on top of the dialogue, take after take. I felt like a blundering dray horse next to her galloping thoroughbred. In fact, that’s a perfect reflection of our fictional characters. Great casting – rolling eyes emoji.”

Now Douglas must contend with the women in his life as he undergoes a practice interview to help him deal with the questions he still faces.

With his wife, his co-presenter, his agent and his producer all in the room, Douglas finds himself locked in a battle of wills and under intense scrutiny. However, it’s when his daughter turns up that the situation really begins to spiral out of control and long-buried secrets start to resurface.

BBC Proms 2024 (Friday 19/07/24, BBC2, 7pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

It’s billed as the world’s greatest classical music festival, and with good reason.

As director David Pickard says: “This year’s Proms season is one of the most ambitious we have ever presented. With a total of 90 concerts, audiences can look forward to the starriest international artists and orchestras in a programme that encompasses the very best in classical and orchestral music.

“Our national reach is now wider than ever, with 17 Proms taking place across the UK, including weekend-long residences in Bristol, Gateshead and Nottingham… and I hope audiences will find much to enjoy this summer.”

However, the Proms isn’t just expanding geographically – one look at this year’s line-up of concerts will prove its also becoming more musically diverse.

For example, Prom 2, which takes place at the Albert Hall on Saturday, July 20, is entitled Everybody Dance! The Sound of Disco, and finds the BBC Concert Orchestra tackling some dancefloor-fillers.

Later this month, we’ll be treated to Nick Drake: An Orchestral Celebration, which marks the 50th anniversary of the tragically early death of the folk singer-songwriter.

Sam Smith and Florence Welch (of Florence and the Machine) will each be making their Proms debuts with concerts dedicated to their respective debut albums, Lungs and In the Lonely Hour.

For families, there’s the CBeebies: Wildlife Jamboree!, which will feature Duggee, Bluey, the Octonauts and lots more favourites for a Prom filled with music and song celebrating the natural world.

There’s also a Doctor Who Prom, and for film fans, there’s Reel Change: Soundtracks at the Cutting Edge, which features the scores from recent films including All Quiet on the Western Front and Tár, and Ultra Lounge: Henry Mancini and Beyond, which marks the Hollywood composer’s centenary. That concert will showcase his jazz influences, and the genre is also celebrated in Sarah Vaughan: If You Could See Me Now.

Of course, even with these forays into jazz, pop, disco and indie, classical music is still at the heart of the Proms.

This year sees key anniversaries for composers Gustav Holst, Gabriel Fauré, Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Bruckner, among others, which is as good excuse as any for their works to be performed.

It’s also 100 years since the BBC Singers made their debut, and they’ll be getting their own dedicated Prom in August featuring works that have featured in their repertoire over the past century. That’s definitely a cause for celebration, as last year there was an outcry when the BBC announced they were axing their in-house chamber choir, only to then reverse the decision.

That’s all to come, but tonight Clive Myrie and Sandi Toksvig launch the season from the Royal Albert Hall with a First Night that showcases female musicians, including pianist extraordinaire Isata Kanneh-Mason (one of the famous siblings who will feature across the Proms), superstar soprano Sophie Bevan and acclaimed conductor Elim Cham.

The works being performed include Beethoven’s Symphony No 5, Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto, Bruckner’s Psalm 150, Handel’s Music for Royal Fireworks, and a world premiere from 27-year-old composer Ben Nobuto.