Strictly Come Dancing, The Hardacres and Prince William on homelessness: TV highlights

Strictly Come Dancing (Saturday 26/10/24, BBC1, 6.25pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

Although great routines can happen at any time on Strictly Come Dancing (Tasha Ghouri picked up this year’s first 10s in week four), there are certain episodes fans especially look forward to.

Blackpool is one, and another is the Halloween special. For a start, it’s an opportunity for the costume, hair and make-up departments get to really go to town – and given that Movie Week gave us Toyah Willcox as Ursula the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid, Wynne Evans as Mrs Doubtfire and the professional dancers as Minions, viewers will be expecting something even more spectacular tonight.

As in Movie Week, it’s also a chance for the celebs, especially those who don’t have a background in acting, to take on a character and really get into the spirit (no pun intended) of the dance.

But which celebs will be showing off their dancing tricks and treats tonight? Many viewers will be hoping that comedian Chris McCausland, who proved to be the breakout star of the early episodes, will make the grade.

Chris is blind, and when he signed up for Strictly, he admitted he wasn’t entirely sure how it would work. He said: “I think what you’re going to get from me is a certain degree of non-conformist dancing because I won’t be able to see the precision of what I’m trying to achieve.

“I think there’s going to be, by default, a certain degree of my own version more so than other people because how precise can somebody be teaching me in four or five days. It would be so much easier to watch and see what you’re trying to achieve. We’ll see, it might work in my favour. It might not.”

However, the judges and public alike have been consistently impressed by what he and his partner, Dianne Buswell, have achieved, and many are hoping that the couple can stick around until at least the show’s next big milestone, Blackpool – although Chris admits he wasn’t initially sure about the significance of Strictly’s annual seaside jaunt.

He says: “There was a point a few months ago where someone mentioned ‘if you make it as far as Blackpool,’ and so I thought that about halfway through the series, the whole show just moves to Blackpool for the rest of the series. I thought that for about two months until somebody told me it was just for one week.”

To be in with a chance of getting to Blackpool, the couples will need to impress judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke (and the voters at home), and stay out of the dreaded dance off when hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman bring us the Sunday results show.

But Blackpool isn’t the only big date in the Strictly calendar – to celebrate the show’s 20th anniversary, next week is Icons Weeks as the remaining couples pay tribute to some of their favourite musicians.

Generation Z (Sunday 27/10/24, Channel 4, 9pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

Viewers have waited a long time for Generation Z, the new comedy-horror satire about elderly zombies from writer-director Ben Wheatley.

It was first announced back in 2019, but then took a backseat when it seemed like life might be imitating fiction. Wheatley, whose credits include cult movies Kill List, High-Rise and Free Fire, as well as Hollywood sequel Meg 2: The Trench explains: “It needed a rethink when Covid happened – it went from being predictive science fiction to us all living through it, which was weird. It got put away for a bit, then I did The Meg 2 and it came back into focus. A year or so after lockdown, we started to think it was more relevant than it was before…”

Now though, the eagerly anticipated show makes its way on to our screens, just in time for Halloween – and that’s not the only reason it’s going to feel topical.

It’s set in the fictional town of Dambury, where opportunities are scarce and there isn’t a lot going on.

Teenage friends Charlie (Jay Lycurgo), Kelly (Buket Kömür), Finn (Viola Prettejohn) and Steff (Lewis Gribben) pass the time by drinking, dealing with their complex relationships and largely ignoring their A-Level prep.

Then an army convoy overturns outside a care home, and a chemical leak starts to have an adverse effect on the residents. In tonight’s opening episode, the gang abruptly find themselves at the centre of the virus when Kelly’s nan Janine (Anita Dobson) becomes infected and attacks her.

A series in which baby boomers literally try to eat the young is clearly putting a gory twist on the tensions between the generations, but Wheatley believes that zombie movies have always reflected fears about the breakdown of communities.

He says: “I’ve always thought the zombie film is a gussied-up version of a civil war movie. It’s difficult to make a civil war movie because you have binary sides which you have to define; when you define one side as the dead, it’s easier not to feel bad about them being shot.”

But while Generation Z may have a point to make about modern society, it’s also set to be a lot of fun, not least because of the amazing cast.

Wheatley says: “I also got to work with absolute icons like Anita Dobson, Robert Lindsay and Sue Johnston. Meeting Dobson was a geeky, amazing moment, and I’d written references to [Lindsay’s Citizen Smith character] Wolfie Smith into the script without even thinking about it, so I couldn’t believe it became a possibility that Robert might work on it.”

It seems the cast threw themselves into the roles too. Wheatley says: “Yeah, they were up for anything. Apart from being consummate professionals, nothing could phase them. There was a lot of make-up for Sue in particular, hours and hours of it, which was a bit irksome for her, but she was brilliant. Her first day on set was biting someone’s nose off. It was fantastic!

If that’s already got you excited, the good news is you won’t have to wait too long for the next episode – it airs tomorrow.

The Hardacres (Monday 28/10/24, Channel 5, 9pm)

Words by Rob Lavender

Channel 5’s big new period drama, from the production company behind All Creatures Great and Small, continues, and the fortunes of the working-class Hardacre family are much changed.

The clan, who started out living a hardscrabble life by a grimy fishing dock on the North Yorkshire coast, are now in the position to hold fancy tea parties for society ladies – although as Liza (Shannon Lavelle) demonstrated with an impromptu bawdy singalong last week, you can take the girl out of the docks…

Still, all was well that ended well-ish with that event, despite trouble below stairs, and this week Mary (Claire Cooper) is excited to finally be accepted into the charitable ladies’ circle. She accompanies the women on an outing for one of their philanthropical endeavours, although she’s less keen on Ma (Julie Graham, excellent) gatecrashing the excursion.

Things take a worrying turn when they arrive at their destination, finding themselves somewhere all too familiar. The place holds painful memories, and old wounds are reopened. While Ma is happy to gloss over this unfortunate turn of events, Mary realises it’s time they faced up to who they are and where they came from.

Liza, meanwhile, regrets the scene she caused at the party, and attempts to make amends with Adella Fitzherbert (Holly Sturton). Adella is excited by her proposition – Liza wants her to teach her how to become a ‘proper lady’. Well, a new repertoire of singalongs can’t hurt…

Adella, who would jump at any opportunity to avoid her bore of a suitor, Lord Hugo, agrees readily – the fact that it gives her more opportunities to toy with lovestruck Joe is also a bonus.

Her mother Emma, though, does not take kindly to the young Fitzherbert’s sudden interest in the family, determining to resolve the matchmaking at the earliest possible opportunity.

Emma plans a sophisticated – read, no Hardacres allowed – soiree to seal the deal, but her devilish daughter senses a wonderful opportunity to weave more mischief and invites the whole clan along anyway.

Liza is thrilled to have a chance to test out her new sophisticated persona, while Joe is just happy to see Adella.

Needless to say, Emma is livid. But that’s the great thing about high-society types – they can’t ever just show how they really feel.

Joe is not so encumbered by a surfeit of manners, though, and the night proceeds not without some fireworks.

Adam Little, who plays Joe, describes his character as a “funny one to explain … he’s got a good heart. His intentions are nothing but good, but he has a hard way of showing it – [he] always manages to mess it up, get himself in entanglements that he shouldn’t”.

That’s never more evident than this evening.

MasterChef: The Professionals (Tuesday 29/10/2024, BBC One, 8pm, BBC2 Wales, 8pm)

Words by Richard Jones

Just weeks after Strictly pro Vito Coppola fought off stiff competition from Craig Doyle and Rochenda Sandall to be crowned this year’s celebrity champion, we’re back in the MasterChef kitchen again as a new series of the UK’s most revered cooking competition gets under way.

Over the next seven weeks, 32 of the country’s most ambitious chefs will be battling in a bid to succeed 2023 winner Tom Hamblet and become MasterChef: The Professionals champion.

They will have their skills, creativity and culinary knowledge put to the test in a series of demanding challenges as judges Marcus Wareing, Monica Galetti and Gregg Wallace hunt out the most impressive talent in the industry and look to unearth the next culinary superstar.

In tonight’s first heat, the first four chefs enter the kitchen, all hoping to secure a place in Friday’s quarter final.

First up is the infamous Skills Test as the first two chefs have ingredients laid out for them and are given just 20 minutes to show off their talents.

In the challenge set by Monica they have to make a carrot schnitzel and serve it with a white bean houmous and Middle Eastern herb sauce, Zhoug.

This is plant-based cookery at its best and will require chefs’ intuition and a little bit of flair.

There’s then a sweet dish for the two remaining chefs as they tackle a dessert brief given by Marcus.

Their job is to a rustle up choux pastry beignets (French-style doughnuts) and serve them with lavender sugar and a whipped orange cream.

Precise pastry work will be the order of the day here, as the chefs try to delight the judges with light fluffy sugary clouds.

The heat ends with all four chefs cooking their own two-course Signature Menu. Can they pull off an exceptional main and dessert in just one hour and 30 minutes?

In Thursday’s second heat, the next group of four chefs arrive and face another of Monica’s Skills Tests.

They are asked to prepare popcorn clams, a mussel fritter and a Bloody Mary mayonnaise.

With two types of batter, deep frying and pan frying, the chefs will need a steady hand to nail this brief.

Marcus then challenges the two other chefs to make a cheeseburger, which isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Using a vast selection of ingredients, including a variety of meats and seasonings, they can be as creative as they like, as long as the result is a perfectly formed burger that sets the judges’ taste buds alight.

In Friday’s first quarter final, the week’s best competitors don their chef whites to compete for a place in Knockout Week. However, there are two tricky challenges standing in their way.

First up, an Invention Test using a mystery ingredient – stout.

Then, it’s the infamous Critics Challenge, as they have to prepare two courses in one hour and 15 minutes.

Will their efforts impress esteemed critics Jay Rayner, William Sitwell and Leyla Kazim in the dining room?

Prince William: We Can End Homelessness (Wednesday 30/10/24, ITV1, 9pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

The Prince of Wales is clearly someone who wants to make a difference – in 2020, he helped to launch the Earthshot Prize, which rewards individuals or organisations that have come up with sustainable solutions to environmental problems.

However, the title of his new two-part documentary, Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, will have raised a few eyebrows. While some cynics will suggest that the royals could start by handing over a palace or two, others will wonder what someone who grew up surrounded by such wealth and privilege really knows about the subject.

That’s something the documentary addresses head on. In a clip released by ITV1 in advance, it’s put to the Prince that people may question if he’s the right person to lead a major project on the issue.

He replies: “I think everyone having a right to a safe and stable home, it benefits us all.

“I come with no other agenda than desperately trying to help people who are in need.

“And I see that as part of my role, is that, why else would I be here if I’m not using this role properly to influence and help people where I can? And I like a big challenge. I do like that, but I can’t do on my own.”

Prince William has also said that his interest in the project is also partly down to Diana, Princess of Wales. “I have taken some inspiration and guidance from what my mother did, particularly with homelessness.”

He added: “I don’t believe we should be living with homelessness in the 21st century.”

Even the most dedicated republicans would probably agree with him there, but is it genuinely possible to bring a permanent end to such a complex problem?

This documentary hopes to show that it is, as it follows the work of the Royal Foundation’s Homewards programme, a five-year project which aims to demonstrate that homelessness can be ended and challenge perceptions about rough sleeping.

It follows the first year of Homewards as it works with six locations across the UK, bringing together organisations and individuals to find local solutions to homelessness. Cameras are given unique access to the Prince as he confronts the full scale of the crisis and recruits his team.

The programmes also features the stories of people who are facing homelessness and have previous lived experience of it.

And it’s hoped that the TV show itself can play a part. Amanda Berry, Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Foundation, says: “We know that television has the power to change hearts and minds. Homelessness can seem like it is hard to prevent but by sharing the realities of people’s experiences and those who are coming together to support them, we can inspire action.

“This two-part documentary will help raise vital awareness and demonstrate that, by working together, it is possible to end homelessness.”

The concluding episode can be seen on Thursday, when they cynics might like to note sees the Prince unveiling plans to build an ambitious supported-housing project on his own land in Cornwall.

Ellis (Thursday 31/10/2024, Channel 5, 8pm)

Words by Richard Jones

Another day, another TV crime drama.

This week alone, we have DI Ray continuing on ITV1, Ludwig on the BBC and countless others on the Freeview and digital channels and streaming services.

While some people may think there are too many police procedurals on the telly these days, another way of looking at it is that we may be in a golden age for British cop shows.

Channel 5 and Paramount want a slice of that action, and their latest effort is a three-parter which follows DCI Ellis, a tenacious cop who is parachuted into failing investigations.

Mirroring the structure of popular series like Midsomer Murders, each instalment of Ellis spans two hours and sees her arrive at a different police station where she tries to win over the local detectives and immerse herself in the cases.

As a black female cop, Ellis is used to being dismissed and overlooked, but she is a first-class murder detective, with a determination for justice and deep compassion for those who need it.

Three-time Olivier Award winner Sharon D Clarke, who is also currently appearing in the BBC’s Mr Loverman (BBC One, Monday), leads the cast as Ellis, while her right-hand man DS Chet Harper is played Andrew Gower, who recently portrayed a different sleuth in the fourth season of Netflix drama You.

In an interview with Express.co.uk, Liverpool-born actor Gower, 34, said he was excited to team up with his illustrious co-star.

“When you talk about somebody attracting you to a project, Sharon D Clarke is an icon of theatre and on TV and musically,” she says.

“The music conversations we had during that job were just incredible. So I’ve admired her work from afar.”

Although Ellis and Harper are drafted in to work together, Gower admits there is a tricky dynamic between the pair.

“It gets off to a disastrous beginning,” he says. “It’s a great way to kick off a relationship.

“Even in episode one, the journey that Harper goes on in Ellis is the best rollercoaster – round and round, side to side.”

Ellis was filmed during the spring in Northern Ireland, with key sites including Dromore in County Down and Gracehill in County Antrim, standing in for the England’s Peak District.

Tonight’s first episode begins as 18-year-old Rowan Edwards is found dead, and DCI Ellis is called in by ACC Alison Leighton (Allison Harding) to take over the investigation.

Rowan’s girlfriend Maggie has not been seen since his death, and the police need results fast.

Not least because Rowan’s mother, an ex-MP, has doubts about the capabilities of the local force.

However, the current Senior Investigative Officer is sure he has the murderer in his sights, so is less than impressed to have been shunted off the case.

He assigns DS Chet Harper to keep an eye on Ellis, as he doesn’t trust her in the slightest.

As soon as Ellis starts to dig under the surface of the town, Hanmore, she finds that many parents know nothing about the lives of their children.

Although Ellis hasn’t even premiered yet, there is already talk of a second season.

Nevertheless, Gower appreciates that decision will depend on how successful the first three-part run proves to be in what is a crowded market of crime dramas.

“It’s all over to the audience now,” he admits. “It’s all about the audience’s response to things whether that’s music or drama, that’s who we make stuff for.

“Our great writer Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre already has ideas for season two.”

Susan Calman’s Grand Day Out (Friday 01/11/24, Channel 5, 8pm)

Words by Rob Lavender

Susan Calman once again hops into her trusty camper van Helen (named after Helen Mirren… she also has a cat called DCI Jane Tennison; we sense a theme) for another series of Grand Days Out.

What sets Calman’s series apart from the numerous other celeb-in-a-quirky-vehicle shows out there is her genuine, boundless enthusiasm for all everything that the UK has to offer. Which is just as well, because she’s now embarking on series eight of Grand Day Out (as well as Secret Scotland, Great British Cities, and various other travel-adjacent programmes), and she must be running out of the more obvious, headline attractions.

Still, whether it’s world-famous landmarks or lesser-known ‘hidden gems’, Calman is just as excitable – and her enthusiasm is infectious.

Take this week’s opening edition as a case in point: she embarks on a trip to the home of a beloved character from her childhood, Winnie the Pooh.

It gives her a chance to explore the surrounding area of the South Downs. There’s surprising history, picture postcard scenery and a healthy dose of childhood nostalgia – all topped off with her very own trip to the Hundred Acre Wood which formed the setting for the stories.

The starting point is Clayton Hill, which offers panoramic views of the surrounding area – including a working historic windmill, which naturally Calman explores with glee.

Then it’s on to Hollycombe, and the country’s largest collection of working steam engines – including a steam tractor named Jasper, whose controls the comedian attempts to get to grips with.

Hartfield, a village which looks like it has been torn from the pages of a beautifully illustrated children’s book, is next on the itinerary, and somehow it makes sense to learn that this is the place where author AA Milne wrote the Winnie the Pooh stories.

Of course, there’s more to the South Downs than the beloved bear of very little brain. At the recently restored and immaculate gardens of Leonardslee in Horsham, Susan discovers a garden worthy of a fairy tale – albeit a fairy tale which features a large colony of friendly wallabies, which is what most piques Calman’s interest when she visits.

There’s a chance for Dame Helen to put her wheels up for a rest when our intrepid guide takes a scenic boat trip down the River Arun in the heart of the South Downs. Then, keen for a bit of a history fix, Susan hears how the Battle of Hastings didn’t take place quite where she thought.

Finally, she ends this leg in Crawley, to hear all about its surprising role in global sporting prowess – Crawley is, it seems, the home of the Marbles World Championships. A fitting end for a trip which began with such childhood nostalgia.