Joan, Jilly Cooper and Industry: TV highlights this week

Alan Carr’s Picture Slam (BBC One, 5.30pm)

Words by Richard Jones

Although he is a comedian, first and foremost, you can’t accuse Alan Carr of not broadening his horizons in the world of entertainment.

After pursuing a career in stand-up in the early 2000s, he made early guest appearances on 8 Out of 10 Cats in 2005, and went on to co-host The Friday Night Project with Justin Lee Collins in 2006, before fronting game show Alan Carr’s Celebrity Ding Dong and the hugely successful chat show Alan Carr: Chatty Man.

The Weymouth-born star, now 46, then branched out into radio, as well as appearing on Who Do You Think You Are?, presenting Alan Carr’s Specstacular, Alan Carr’s Happy Hour, There’s Something About Movies, and as a judge/panellist on The Masked Singer UK and Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream.

His autobiographical sitcom Changing Ends has just finished its second season on ITV1, and Alan has even divulged his passion for property design with Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr and Amanda and Alan’s Italian Job.

However, it is as a prime-time game show host that Carr has been most prevalent in recent years, presenting Alan Carr’s Epic Gameshow in which he revived Bullseye, The Price is Right, Strike it Lucky, Play Your Cards Right and Take Your Pick, Name That Tune!

Alan is back on the box tonight with a new run of his original BBC series Picture Slam.

The addictive quiz show, which promises to have viewers “shouting answers at your TV screen” yet again, was a huge hit last year, despite some criticism about branded products and BBC guidelines, it similarities with ITV’s In With a Shout and Catchphrase, and the canned laughter.

Nevertheless, Carr is thrilled that the show is returning. He says: “I am over the moon that Picture Slam is coming back, I love the show so much and I’m bowled over by how popular it’s become.

“It’s manic, a little bit random and full of fun – it’s like if I was a quiz show. Let’s do it all over again.”

For those who didn’t see the first run, Picture Slam is one of those game shows where you need to know something about everything.

In three teams of two, contestants battle against the clock as they attempt to identify as many pictures as they can in the hope of winning up to £10,000.

Looking to take home the jackpot this week are couple Daniel and Neil from Arbroath, friends Ruth and Michelle from Birmingham, and teachers Candice and Dan from Nottingham.

They’ll face four fun and frantic rounds full of pictures – including the brand-new Picture Twist and buzzer rounds – and will need to shout out anything from ‘Bruce Lee’ to ‘a chestnut tree’.

As for Alan, his next project is likely to be Amanda & Alan’s Spanish Job.

It sees Carr join his home renovation pal Amanda Holden for their biggest project yet as they take on a rambling, run down property in the province of Andalusia.

The Chatty Man’s latest attempt to branch out will sound picture perfect to his army of fans, as will the new run of the hit Saturday night quiz.

Joan (Sunday 29/09/24, ITV1, 9pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

It might not have the eye-catching title, but the new six-part drama Joan, which is inspired by the life of jewel thief Joan Hannington (played by Sophie Turner), certainly has an attention-grabbing premise.

Or as executive producer Ruth Kenley-Letts puts it: “It’s an easy pitch really, isn’t it? Successful diamond thief in the 1980s has to put her daughter into care to escape gangsters. Can she get her back?”

If anything, that might leave you wondering why no one has tried to bring Joan’s story to the screen before. It turns out they have.

Another of the show’s executive producers, Richard Laxton, says: “When I first read Joan’s book, I thought, “This is gold dust.” In fact, it turned out a couple of people had already tried to buy the option to her book.”

Like him, they were probably drawn to the character of Joan herself – she may be a jewel thief with a nice line in 1980s fashions, but her story is also surprising relatable.

He says: “Joan had a terrible start in life, and you never shake off the ramifications of that unless you’re lucky enough to be able to afford to do the work to unpick it all and recover.

“Joan’s visceral connection with her child and her desire to give her the childhood that she never had is incredible and is already a viscerally compelling story. She went through such struggle and pain and desperation – it is just a hugely moving and compelling story.”

So of course, the producers needed the right actress to bring Joan’s story to the screen, and they found her in Game of Thrones star Sophie.

She’s certainly enjoyed playing such a meaty role, saying: “Joan had an obscene appetite for adventure and doing new things. I was drawn as well to the way she could compartmentalise her life between doing everything she could for her daughter, but then also committing these wild and exciting crimes.

“It’s the most exciting thing to be able to play a woman who has this unabashed confidence, and yet underneath so much pain and so much trauma. That gave me so much to work with. It’s a really special role.”

The story begins tonight in 1985, when Joan is seemingly trapped in a relationship criminal Gary Darvil (Nick Blood). When he brings danger to her door, she takes drastic action to keep her six-year-old daughter safe and attempts to build a new life for herself.

As she tries to get back on her feet, Joan gets a job at a jeweller’s, but when the boss turns out to be creep, she walks out, taking a few diamonds with her.

While celebrating, Joan meets Boisie Hannington (Frank Dillane), an antiques dealer and professional thief, who offers her a very different kind of job… Could this be the start of a beautiful business partnership, or is Joan about to land herself in even more trouble?

The second episode can be seen on Monday.

In My Own Words: Jilly Cooper (Monday 30/09/24 BBC1, 10.40pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

Jilly Cooper is already one of Britain’s best-loved writers – she’s sold over 12 million books and her status as an all-round national treasure was confirmed when she was made a dame in the New Year’s Honours list.

Speaking at the time, Jilly said: “I am absolutely and incredibly bowled over. I cannot believe I am a DBE, which in my case also stands for Delighted, Bewildered and Ecstatic!”

The author may be about to win over a whole new legion of fans when a new adaptation of her 1988 book Rivals hits Disney+ in October.

It stars David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Bella Maclean, Katherine Parkinson, Danny Dyer and Emily Atack, among many others, while the coveted role of ex-Olympian, politician and legendary womaniser Rupert Campbell-Black goes to Alex Hassell.

The writer says: “I couldn’t have dreamed of a better ensemble cast. I cannot wait to be on set and see them bring the characters I love so much to life.

“The minute we met with Alex we knew he’d perfectly embody my all-time hero, the iconic, racy, ruthless, and devastatingly handsome, Rupert Campbell-Black. Viewers are in for a treat!”

Of course, Cooper fans won’t have needed a cast list to be excited by the idea of one of her best-loved books coming to the screen. For newcomers, Rivals is set in the world of 1980s TV, and is a prime example of the author’s humour, impressive ability to marshal a large cast of memorable characters, and her keen eye for the messiness of relationships and the way class impacts on British society.

So, as viewers prepare to dive into her world, it’s also the perfect time for In My Own Words: Jilly Cooper, which finds her sharing her own story, with access to her personal archive.

Now 87, she looks back on her childhood in Yorkshire, where she believes her love of horses, dogs, and devilishly handsome men were all forged.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Jilly began her career in what she describes as the ‘macho’ worlds of publishing and, with unflinching honesty, recounts an incident of attempted rape by a then-famous (and unnamed) author.

She also revisits the Putney home she shared with her late husband Leo and their children. She was living there when she began to find success in the late 1960s with a Sunday Times column about sex, marriage and society that now seems decades ahead of its time.

In 1975, Jilly published her first novel, the romance Emily. More ‘name’ books (all of which are named after a female character) would follow. However, it was the 1985 novel Riders, the first in a series of racy books that would become known as the ‘Rutshire Chronicles’ that catapulted her to the top of the bestseller lists and made her a household name.

And as cameras follow her to a polo match at Cirencester Park, where she’s mobbed by fans, young and old, it’s clear that Jilly hasn’t lost her place on the nation’s bookshelves.

Industry (Tuesday 01/10/24, BBC1, 10.40pm & 11.40pm)

Words by Rob Lavender

The gripping UK drama set amidst the cutthroat world of investment banking returns with some exciting new additions to the cast.

As we rejoin the young staff of the powder keg that is international bank Pierpoint & Co’s London office, we find them looking to the future and taking a big bet on ethical investing.

This is just as Kit Harington (Game of Thrones, Gunpowder) joins the cast as Henry Muck, the CEO and Founder of Lumi – an exciting green tech energy company which is about to go public.

The desk suddenly find themselves under the glare of the media as they emerge front and centre in the splashy IPO of Lumi in a story that runs all the way to the very top of finance, media and government.

Henry, nicknamed ‘Prince Hal’, is a member of the aristocracy – and is the personification of privilege. He has also used his wealth and influence to convince himself and others that he is the one who can save the world.

Harington, who became a fan of the show during lockdown, sounds like he had a ball with the character, explaining in an interview with Vulture: “I had heard through the grapevine that there was a new season and a few characters that were quite cool.

“I dipped my toe in, asked my agent, ‘Is there anything in that?’

“They reached out, and we had a chat about Henry. I thought, I could do this. I definitely know who this guy is.

“I’ve met people like Henry, and there’s a charm to them. You shouldn’t like them, but you do and you don’t know why. That was fascinating to me.

“He doesn’t see himself as a posh-boy shyster. He genuinely thinks he has a good product and if you would just let him do it, he would be part of saving the world and making money”.

It’s not just the world he’s interested in helping, though – he also develops a keen interest in Yasmin (Marisa Abela), and the burgeoning relationship between the pair drives much of the third series’ plot.

Yasmin meanwhile is keen to defy people’s assumptions about her, both personally and professionally. She gets a chance in the second episode of tonight’s opening double-bill, when Lumi launches to an erratic opening during which she and Robert (Harry Lawtey) must go all out to stabilise the share price.

Things are all change elsewhere, too, as fan-favourite character Harper (Myha’la Herrold) faces up to her new reality, before forging a new alliance – at FutureDawn.

It’s good to have this compelling and at times confronting series back, even though it remains tucked away in a midweek post-News slot. To be fair on the Beeb this doesn’t reflect a lack on enthusiasm in the show; rather some of its content is a bit too piquant for primetime.

However, given how much of the political and financial machinations appear to be ripped from the headlines, perhaps it is in the perfect place.

Anna Richardson: Love, Loss & Dementia (Wednesday 02/10/2024, Channel 4, 10pm)

Words by Richard Jones

“Dementia robs millions of people of their memories, independence and dignity, but it also robs the rest of us of the people we know and love.”

One in 11 people over the age of 65 in the UK has dementia, and someone is diagnosed with the syndrome every three minutes.

It is Britain’s biggest killer and our generation’s biggest health crisis.

So what can we do to tackle it?

While charities are urging the government to make any dementia drugs “deemed safe and effective” to be made available on the NHS as soon as possible, an effective cure could still be a long way off.

Therefore, we need to try and slow the condition and treat those already affected. But with a rising caseload, and a rising healthcare bill, that is proving to be a tough challenge.

In a bid to inspire change and help tackle the crisis, Anna Richardson has decided to tell her family’s own dementia story and the battle they have faced dealing with her father’s vascular dementia, which affects more than 135,000 Britons, and is the second most common type behind Alzheimer’s.

Over recent years, Anna, who turned 54 last week, has not been afraid to raise awareness over health problems and how society deals with them.

In 2021, the TV presenter opened about her own struggles with menopause ‘brain fog’ and how it hit her confidence as a working woman.

Two years before that, the host of Supersize vs Superskinny, The Sex Education Show, Secret Eaters, Supershoppers Naked Attraction and Changing Rooms spoke of her sadness that her dad Jim, a retired Anglican canon, had been targeted by fraudsters who had “abused an old man with a brain injury”.

Anna has since opened up about her own fears that she will develop dementia and losing her memory like her “big, charismatic, stubborn” father.

“I really do fear not being cognitively capable,” she said.

“I see it in my dad and I see it in my parents’ friends. I just think, ‘There by the grace of God’.”

Anna, who was appearing on the Channel 4 show Can I Improve My Memory? at the time, described how Jim presided over her brother’s wedding 10 years ago.

She said: “I remember him at the altar going, ‘Mark, do you take this woman, Jo, to be your wedded wife?’ My brother was looking at him going, ‘It’s not Jo. She’s called Rachel’.”

Jim was living on his own in Dorset in 2014 when he suffered a couple of mini-strokes, a heart attack and then a major stroke within a matter of months.

Doctors later diagnosed vascular dementia, caused by blocked blood vessels to the brain.

Rachel Dupuy’s moving film sees his daughter not only share her personal story, but also embark on a nationwide journey of discovery, meeting other families living with dementia and hearing their stories and struggles.

With startling honesty, Anna explores the devastating truth of living with dementia – the love, life and loss, as she puts it.

She confronts the myths and social taboos surrounding the disease, and explores how we can hopefully one day prevent dementia with revolutionary new drugs that are providing hope for the future.

The Search for Nicola Bulley (Thursday 03/10/24, BBC1, 9pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

On Friday, January 27, 2023, 45-year-old Nicola Bulley went missing while walking her dog along her usual morning route beside the River Wyre in the Lancashire village of St Michael’s on Wyre.

The subsequent search sparked an extraordinary international media frenzy. There seemed to be no reason the mortgage adviser would want to disappear, and her dog was found running loose and her phone was still on a teams call, which added to the sense mystery surrounding the case.

It wasn’t just the papers and TV news that took an interest in the case. Something about the mother-of-two’s story also captured the attention of social media. While the police suspected Nicola had fallen into the river, many internet sleuths believed she may have been abducted and were quick to share their theories online. Some went a step further and turned up to St Michael’s on Wyre to conduct their own amateur ‘investigations’.

The case would ultimately have a tragic ending. On February 19, Nicola’s body was discovered in the river just over a mile from where she had last been seen. The coroner ruled that she had died accidentally from drowning.

Now, this documentary, which includes interviews with Nicola’s family and the people closest to the case, including journalists and Lancashire police, will explore how the investigation unfolded, and ask why the story struck such a chord with the public.

It will also look at some of the wider questions the handling of the investigation raised. During the search, Lancashire Police was criticised for releasing sensitive information about Nicola, which an independent review later described as “avoidable and unnecessary”.

Then there were the amateur detectives. It was reported that Lancashire Constabulary press office logged more than 75,000 inbound social media comments on the case over a period of around a month. This documentary explores how the impact of the theories on the investigation and on Nicola’s family.

Perhaps during the search, some people posting online lost sight of the fact that they were speculating about real people going through a traumatic time and ultimately suffering a tragic loss. However, this programme puts Nicola and her loved ones back at the heart of the story.

In a statement, the family said: “Collectively we thought long and hard about taking part in a documentary about Nikki. It wasn’t an easy decision. Nikki’s face and name quickly became very recognisable, but there is so much to share about Nikki the person.

“Our sole aim is to provide the definitive record on Nikki to ensure she has the legacy that she deserves. Many people have aired their views about her disappearance and her untimely and tragic death, only we can speak about her as a mummy, partner, daughter, and sister.”

They added: “In addition, if our experience of being in the eye of a media storm makes people think twice about how they act and what they say online, then we will have achieved some further good.”

The Cleaner (Friday 04/10/24, BBC1, 9.30pm)

Words by Rob Lavender

The title of the UK’s favourite fictional crime-scene cleaner might not be a particularly hotly contested one, but even if it were there’s a good chance that Greg Davies’s character Paul ‘Wicky’ Wickstead would win anyway.

Wicky is the perfect blend of self-deprecating quips, witty ripostes and a charming simplicity to the way he chooses to live his life. He takes pride in his grim work, but without arrogance – yet he doesn’t suffer fools gladly, and appears to be of the firm opinion that most problems can be solved with a cup of tea. These are all elements that make him the perfect British everyman.

Surprising, then, that the show is originally German.

The Cleaner began life as ‘Der Tatortreiniger’, and stars Bjarne Mädel in the title role, which was a hit for its network NDR. Davies’ version retains much of the feel of that series – it is a combination of a sitcom, chamber play and a comedy of manners which sees Wicky thrust into a different scenario each week with a new cast of characters, putting him in the middle of some usually outlandish and often far-fetched situations with some rather oddball individuals.

The first-ever episode saw him cleaning a domestic murder when the killer – the victim’s wife, played by Helena Bonham Carter – returned to the scene and, by the end of the episode, the pair were almost planning a holiday together.

The revolving cast is one of the greatest strengths of The Cleaner, in the same way as the recently concluded Inside No 9 remained fresh by introducing new characters every episode.

Asides from Davies, the only other recurring cast member is Zita Sattar, who plays police officer and Wicky’s friend Ruth.

This third series includes Steve Pemberton (formerly of the aforementioned Inside No 9), Sharon Rooney (Barbie), Ben Willbond (Ghosts), and Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones).

This evening’s opener finds Wicky on a job for old school friend, Justin (Willbond).

It turns out that, since they last saw each other, Justin has done rather well for himself. He has a dream house, a supercar, an adorable child, even a grand piano – however more recently he has also found himself in possession of a large pool of blood in his hall, where said grand piano fell on someone.

Wicky is thrilled to be back with his old mate after such a long time, and the two decide to call up a few other old friends to ‘get the gang back together’.

If only Wicky could keep a lid on his mile-wide streak of overt jealousy over Justin’s many successes…

Rosie Cavaliero (The Power of Parker, Code 404) also stars in a terrific season opener.

We’re thrilled to have the show back – as is Davies, who says: “I am so delighted to be back wading around in blood. We have made sure that Wicky has some bizarre characters to deal with this series. Looking forward to sweating in a scene of crime suit and wearing the earring that my nieces find so cringe.”