Reuben Owen: Christmas in the Dales, Dalgliesh and Cheaters: TV this week

Legends of Comedy with Lenny Henry (Saturday 30/11/24, Channel 4, 8.30pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

Lenny Henry is a man of many talents – among his many achievements, he’s one of the founders of the charity Comic Relief, co-wrote the drama series Three Little Birds, which was inspired by his mother’s experiences as part of the Windrush generation, and has taken dramatic roles of his own in everything from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power to an acclaimed production of Othello.

However, he first became famous as a stand-up (he got his big break on the talent show New Faces in 1975 when he was still just 16), and comedy remains his first love.

So, in this series, he’s been meeting up with other funny people to take a deep dive into their careers and discover who influenced them.

Ahead of the series, he said: “It was great fun spending time with my friends and hearing about what makes them laugh and what they take inspiration from. I hope the audience enjoys it as much as I did.”

The first episode found him chatting with Paul Whitehouse, while in the second edition he caught up with Sally Phillips. There’s still an episode with Alexei Sayle to come, but this week he’s meeting up with arguably the most hardworking man in contemporary British comedy, Romesh Ranganathan.

A former maths teacher, he’s been a regular on panel shows, has teamed up with Rob Beckett for Rob & Romesh Vs, and has also starred in and co-created the sitcom Avoidance.

On Saturday mornings, he hosts a Radio 2 show, and recently on Saturday nights, he’s been found hosting either The Weakest Link on BBC1 or Romesh Ranganathan’s Parents Evening on ITV1. Tonight, he’ll be the one answering the questions as he talks about his influences with Lenny.

Their chat takes in stands-ups like Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy, as they discuss breaking new ground – and taboos.

However, it’s not all about the edgy Americans, as Romesh and Lenny celebrate how homegrown stand-ups like Michael McIntyre and Sarah Millican also show a mastery of comic technique.

Romesh reveals how he has drawn inspiration from his own family, which can be a mixed blessing – and in his case, has led to his mum occasionally taking charge.

Romesh has also proved he’s willing to get out of his comfort zone. By his own admission, he’s not someone who likes roughing it and going off the beaten track, but in his travel show The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, he visited some very unlikely holiday destinations. Here, Lenny talks about where the series fits into the pantheon of comedy travelogues.

That gets them talking about the hospitality industry. Lenny explored the world of high-end restaurants in his sitcom Chef!, and Fawlty Towers, which is routinely voted one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, was famously set in a hotel. Can the two comedians pin down just what it is about this particular industry that makes it so ripe for laughs?

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Glass (Sunday 01/12/24, BBC One, 9pm)

Words by Sarah Morgan

The Godfather III, The Return of the Jedi and Paddington in Peru.

Those are examples of franchises in which the third part of a trilogy doesn’t quite live up to its predecessors. No doubt fans of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall books were concerned that the final book in her Wolf Hall series, The Mirror & the Light, wouldn’t be as good either. However, they needn’t have worried – it might not have won the Booker Prize, as its forebears had, but it’s still a masterpiece.

The first two books, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, were condensed into one series, but The Mirror & the Light has a run all of its own, and although there was a nine-year gap between the two, largely the same team returned to make it, which has ensured the quality has remained high – critics have been falling over themselves to lavish praise on the historical drama.

For Mark Rylance, who plays the central figure of Thomas Cromwell, picking up with old colleagues has been one of the joys of taking part in the show, particularly director and executive producer Peter Kosminsky.

“Peter and I go back to the first time he wrote and directed a fiction,” explains the Oscar-winning actor. “He began with very important documentaries and he’s always been a very brave storyteller. He doesn’t use fiction to escape from things, but rather to amplify or give focus to what’s happening in the present times.

“It’s very much like working with a brother. It’s the closest relationship I’ve had in film-making. He’s impeccably organised and wonderfully flexible to what the actors bring to the scenes. He visits you every morning in the make-up truck to find out how you’re feeling.”

Kosminksy thinks those visits are crucial: “It’s a good moment to talk to the cast because they’re usually quite relaxed, so it’s a good moment for me to talk to them about the scene ahead. Sometimes Damian (Lewis, who plays Henry VIII) and Mark had found lines in the novel – and this is a very faithful adaptation – that we had not included.

“Of course, I won’t always agree to include it, but my general instinct is that if an actor, in preparing for the scene, feels that additional lines would enhance what they’re trying to do and they can deliver it in a way that doesn’t feel written, I’d like to include it.”

“Peter is meticulous,” adds Lewis. “He’s unbelievably well prepared and knows the story inside out – who’s just lost their head, who’s in power, who has got a small force amassing up in Yorkshire, who hasn’t, what the French are doing – at any given moment of the story. And so his ability to place you in the story perfectly is brilliant.

“And I just love working with Mark. It’s like tennis, when you hit something with a bit of slice and it comes back with topspin. It’s really fun. He’s not ‘Sir Mark Rylance’ for no reason.”

Indeed he isn’t, and that’s why, as those who have been watching will tell you, this series is hitting aces every time.

Renaissance – The Blood and the Beauty (Monday 02/12/2024, BBC Two, 9pm)

Words by Richard Jones

Many of history’s greatest works of art were born out of competition and conflict.

And that was certainly the case in Renaissance Florence.

The Italian city bubbled with deceit and corruption during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, when it was menaced by cardinal and condottiero Cesare Borgia and ruled using the deceptive advice of Niccolò Machiavelli.

Yet inside this treacherous and turbulent city, three of the art world’s greatest names, who are still recognised by only one of their names as well as having crime-flighting reptiles named after them, competed to create works of breathtaking beauty.

Three-part docu-drama, Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty, a co-commission from PBS and the BBC, shows how the iconic works of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael emerged from an era of political rivalry and upheaval, and how the three interconnected artists’ were controlled by rich patrons exercising their power in Italy.

Born in 1452, Leonardo da Vinci returned to Florence, the city of his youth, as he was nearing 50.

The polymath was already famous for his painting the Last Supper in Milan, and was looking for new challenges.

In 1503 he began work on the Mona Lisa and then was asked to make a mural for the main hall, the Salone dei Cinquecento, in the Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio.

His rival, Michelangelo, was pitched against him for the job, in a kind of face-off.

He began work on the palazzo too, but was called away in 1508 to work on the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

Returning to Florence in his late 20s, Michelangelo planned to concentrate on sculpture and soon won a major commission for a colossal marble statue, eventually sited opposite the Palazzo Vecchio. This was his David.

The youngest of the three, Raphael, went to Florence because he had heard about the art being made there. On arrival, he studied and learned from his older peers, but would later go on to be their rivals too.

Actor Charles Dance is well known for playing villains and authoritative characters on screen, with his past credits including The Crown, Game of Thrones and The Imitation Game.

He plays Michelangelo in this series, which begins tonight when the sculptor and painter finds favour with the powerful Medici family in Florence.

Leonardo, meanwhile, struggles to find work and must take himself to the court of Milan to secure commissions from a dangerous Duke.

But warfare and political upheaval threaten both men’s lives and careers, and they become engaged in a high-stakes game of personal and political alliances.

As Leonardo’s reputation grows with his work in Lombardy – including the Last Supper – Michelangelo’s artistic endeavours were also becoming legendary.

The Blood And The Beauty features contributions from contemporary artists such as Antony Gormley, Alison Lapper and David LaChapelle, as well as historians and biographers.

They all explain how the three iconic artists were pushed to greatness by a combination of intense personal rivalry, petty feuding and the powerful and brutal people who were lining their pockets.

Cheaters (Tuesday 03/12/24, BBC1, 9.45pm, 10,40pm & 10.55pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

When the first series of Cheaters aired, it seemed the cast didn’t have high hopes of it becoming a hit. Thanks to the unusual format (it’s made up of 10-minute episodes), Callie Cooke, who plays Esther, wasn’t entirely convinced it would even be on TV.

She told The Guardian: “I thought we were being catfished at first and it was actually a web series.”

However, thanks to strong word of mouth – and a couple of the more outrageous scenes appearing on Gogglebox – it picked up a devoted audience.

Susan Wokoma, who plays Fola, told The Guardian: “There wasn’t much publicity, so the reaction was testament to the show’s quality. People who love it really bat for it. In the age of too much television, finding something so elevated and special feels precious.”

For anyone who didn’t have it recommended to them, the first run followed strangers Josh (Joshua McGuire) and Fola who got chatting when their flight from Finland was delayed, and ended up spending the night together.

The problem was that neither of them were single – Josh had a long-term girlfriend, Esther, and Susan was married to Zack (Jack Fox). They couldn’t even just go their separate ways and pretend it never happened, as when they got back home, they discovered they were new neighbours.

The second series (which was promoted from BBC2 to BBC1) began a couple of weeks ago, and picked up a few months after the end of the first run.

Even though the initial adrenalin of their affair had worn off, Fola and Josh were still together but it soon became clear they had different ideas about what they wanted next.

Fola was still dealing with a messy divorce so wanted to take things slowly, but that sent Josh into a panic, and his attempts to give her space haven’t been exactly what she had in mind.

As the show’s writer Oliver Lyttelton told The Guardian, if the first series was about whether it’s ever right to have an affair, the second series has been about how you keep it going when it’s all out in open. He says: “How does a relationship work if it started as an affair? What does that do for your trust in each other? It’s about communication, as much as it’s about monogamy and adultery.”

There’s going to be some serious communicating in tonight’s closing triple bill.

It begins as Fola has a surprise for Josh, while Zack’s date with Claire takes an unusual turn, and Esther and Lars’s new relationship reaches a crunch point.

There could be a moment of reckoning for everyone in the second instalment, as they find themselves under the same roof, leading to some big revelations – and an unexpected guest brings more surprises/

In the last episode, everyone is still coming to terms with the events of the night before, and some big decisions need to be made. But which couples will be together as the series ends?

Reuben Owen: Christmas in the Dales (Wednesday 04/12/2024, Channel 5, 9pm)

Words by Richard Jones

Ever since they were given their own Channel 5 series in 2018, the nation has been captivated by one of Yorkshire’s most famous farming families, the Owens.

Our Yorkshire Farm followed Amanda and Clive Owen and their brood of nine children as they got on with their daily lives at Ravenseat in the Yorkshire Dales.

One of its stars was their oldest son Reuben. “I always enjoyed it on camera with my parents,” the 20-year-old said in an interview with Farmers Guardian in the summer.

Since appearing on screen, Reuben has gone on to build a huge social media following and has started his own groundwork and plant-hire business, all of which was documented in his own TV show, Life in the Dales, which started in April this year.

The first season of the show ended on notes of personal change, with Reuben and then-girlfriend Sarah going separate ways and his good mate Tommy pursuing a new direction as a truck driver.

We rejoin Reuben tonight for a special edition of the show.

Christmas is coming, and Reuben is throwing a festive party for friends and family at their local to thank them for all their help.

But before the planning begins, Reuben’s bought a snowmobile as an early Christmas present which, despite a lack of snow, he and Tommy ride through a sheep-filled field.

With no snow and wet weather hampering digging in the Dales, Reuben’s found some end-of-year work in colder climes, as he and Tommy head to a town in Sweden’s arctic circle.

Kiruna is home to the biggest underground iron ore mine in the world where excavations have caused the town to sink, and now whole historic buildings are being excavated and relocated.

On arrival, Reuben and Tommy agree that the town is a machine lovers’ paradise.

The duo use their mechanical know-how to help move Kiruna’s 125-year-old church, one of Sweden’s most beautiful buildings.

They also join traditional Sami reindeer herders to maintain their forest fencing and find out how farming in the mountains compares to shepherding sheep on the fells back home.

The pair also take a husky sleigh-ride deep into the icy wilderness to camp beneath the northern lights.

Missing his machines, Reuben is pleased to head home and be reunited with his beloved fleet back in the Dales.

With gifts and stories to share, Reuben and Tommy go all out to decorate the pub and impress Reuben’s younger brothers Miles, Sid and the rest of their guests for their big festive get-together.

As well as this festive special, there are strong rumours that a second series of Life in the Dales is heading to our screen next year.

With continued interest in what he is up to, Reuben explains what he personally thinks it is about rural life that keeps viewers hooked.

“It is a different way of life in this neck of the woods and people do not see it,” he says. “I am sure if I was put in their world, I would find that very different.

“I definitely want to carry on farming and I appreciate it more since I have not been around the farm as much. It is lovely; it is the place I want to be.”

Dalgliesh (Thursday 05/12/24, Channel 5, 9pm)

Words by Sarah Morgan

“I have lived a very happy and fulfilled life,” said Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE, aka crime writer PD James, shortly before her death in 2014 at the age of 94.

That’s not something everyone can say, including her most famous creation, police detective Adam Dalgliesh. He appeared in 14 of her novels and is a widower whose wife died in childbirth; the resulting heartbreak made him reluctant to commit to another woman.

“My English teacher was a Scottish lady called Maisie Dalgliesh,” explained James when asked in 1995 by an interviewer for The Paris Review about how she created the character. “I wanted a name that was not too unusual and yet not too common. What is interesting is that I called him Adam and years later my teacher said that her father was also called Adam Dalgliesh.”

Dalgliesh is no stranger to the small screen, having been previously depicted by Roy Marsden in the 1980s and 1990s, and later by Martin Shaw when the BBC took over the rights from ITV. These days he’s played by Bertie Carvel, who perhaps fits James’s description of Dalgliesh as being ‘tall, dark and handsome’ better than his predecessors (no disrespect intended). Cerebral and private, the detective goes about his business in a methodical yet compelling manner.

For the uninitiated, he is the son of a Norfolk vicar, is based at New Scotland Yard and in his spare time writes poetry, several volumes of which have been published, to the amusement of his colleagues.

Carvel made his debut as Dalgliesh in 2021 during adaptations of the novels Shroud for a Nightingale, The Black Tower and A Taste for Death, which were filmed in Northern Ireland and stuck to James’s 1960s and 1970s setting. Last year, he returned for another trio and now, he’s back for a third season of three, during which the Doctor Foster and The Crown star makes his directorial debut.

Each adaptation crosses two episodes, broadcast on a Thursday and Friday evening. Carvel takes charge of the second of them, Cover Her Face.

“I’m thrilled to return to Dalgliesh; this time behind, as well as in front of, the camera, directing a bold adaptation of PD James’ first ever Dalgliesh novel,” says the actor. “It’s a story with powerful and unsettling contemporary resonance and it’s my privilege to direct an exemplary ensemble cast who are giving knockout performances.”

But the run begins with a take on one of James’s most famous novels, Death in Holy Orders, which was last filmed by the BBC in 2003. The story takes place in 1979, just as Margaret Thatcher is about to become the Prime Minister.

There’s another battle for power going on in West Sussex at St Anselm’s Seminary, where the residents have taken a dislike to new trustee Archdeacon Matthew Crampton due to his efforts to modernise the place by selling off its valuable assets.

So it probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise when, following an argument in church, he’s found dead at the altar. But did any of the locals really hate him enough to murder him? As lies and rumours begin to spread, it’s up to Dalgliesh and his sidekick, DS Tarrant, to find out.

Lena Zavaroni: The Forgotten Child Star (Friday 06/12/24, BBC2, 9pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

Younger viewers – especially those who think of TV talent shows as a 21st-century phenomenon that began with Simon Cowell – might not have heard of Lena Zavaroni.

In the 1970s though, she was huge. The poignant documentary Lena Zavaroni: The Forgotten Child Star reminds us just how much she achieved, while exploring why her story had such a tragic ending.

Lena was born in Greenock, Renfrewshire, in 1963 and grew up in the small town of Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, where her parents owned fish and chip shop. Her grandfather was Italian (hence the surname), and the entire family was musical – Lena started singing when she was just two.

She was still only nine when record producer Tommy Scott, who was on holiday in Rothesay, heard her and realised she had potential.

This led to her appearing on the talent show Opportunity Knocks in 1974, where the little girl with the big voiced wowed millions of viewers and won the show for five consecutive weeks.

She went on have a hit with the single Ma! (He’s Making Eyes at Me) and the album of the same name. That led to appearances on Top of the Pops and the Royal Variety Show, a chart-topping debut album, sharing a stage with Frank Sinatra, performing for the US President and embarking on a world tour.

However, there were soon signs that fame was taking its toll on Lena.

Her now 84-year-old father Victor remembers: “She came home when she was coming up to Scotland for a couple of weeks. I noticed she was very, very thin. She shouldn’t be as thin as that, so I took her to the doctor. He says to me ‘your daughter has got anorexia nervosa’. I’d never heard the word ‘anorexia’ that’s for sure.”

Lena would continue to perform throughout her teens, hosting her own TV series Lena Zavaroni and Music in the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, her struggles were becoming more apparent, and her battle with anorexia and depression would ultimately overshadow her career. She died in 1999 at the age of 35.

The documentary features contribution from Tommy Scott, Lena’s cousin Margaret Zavaroni, and friend Carmen Cori.

Her Italia Conti stage school classmates Bonnie Langford (who appeared in a TV special with her entitled Lena and Bonnie) and Lisa Maxwell also share their memories, and fellow child star Neil Reid reveals how his experiences have echoes of Lena’s.

We also get to hear Lena’s own words, which are drawn from interviews and read by actress Erin Armstrong, who recently played the star in the acclaimed musical theatre production about her life.

However, the most moving contributions come from Victor, as he seeks to come to peace with daughter’s untimely death, and also reflects on her legacy.

Victor says: “There’s a lot of young people don’t know Lena but I’d like her to be remembered really because she had a great talent.”