The Assembly, Louis Theroux and Genius Game: TV highlights this week

The Assembly (Saturday 26/04/25, ITV1, 10pm)

Words by Sarah Morgan

Take your mind back to early April last year when, during Autism Acceptance Week, the BBC aired a very special programme.

The Assembly was, to all intents and purposes, a chat show, but one with a difference – it featured just one guest, Michael Sheen, who would not be given an opportunity to plug his latest project. He wasn’t faced with just one interviewer either. Instead, more than 30 people who were autistic, neurodivergent or learning disabled posed the questions – and they didn’t pull any punches, probing him with the kind of queries Graham Norton, Jonathan Ross and their ilk would never get away with.

The format was inspired by that of French programme The A Talks. Launched in 2022, it quickly became the country’s most-watched unscripted show of the year; versions have since been made in such far-flung places as Australia, Spain, Denmark and Poland, with many more countries about to get on board.

The original included interviews with French President Emmanuel Macron and Call My Agent star Camille Cottin, who offered perhaps more revealing answers than they might ordinarily give – Macron was even asked if he thought marrying one’s teacher was suitable behaviour for a role model.

There was no wonder that Sheen admitted to being a little nervous prior to filming. However, he appeared to find the experience incredibly moving, and was brought to tears on more than one occasion. He later told The Guardian, “The Assembly’s had more response than anything I’ve ever done.”

It’s no shock to see that the one-off is being followed by a four-part series, but it may surprise some viewers to find the programme is switching channels to ITV1.

“We’re absolutely buzzing to be bringing The Assembly to ITV and delighted that, just like us, the team there want to see more of telly’s most mischievous cast putting proper famous types under the microscope,” claim Michelle Singer and Stu Richards from production company Rockerdale Studios. “This show will be funny and naughty and warm and smart and we’ve got ourselves all worked up now… we just cannot wait for it.”

Rockerdale and ITV have worked with national and local organisations to ensure every element of The Assembly works for and with autistic and neurodivergent voices.

But who will they be speaking to? Next week’s editions feature footballer-turned-presenter Gary Lineker and singer Jade Thirlwall, while tomorrow’s sees Sheen’s old pal David Tennant take centre stage. But the series begins with actor Danny Dyer, who finds his working class credentials questioned, and also fields queries about his digestive system and religious beliefs.

“The Assembly is such a distinct, clever and authentic format, and one that we’re absolutely thrilled to commission for a full first series for ITV,” says Katie Rawcliffe, the broadcaster’s Director of Entertainment & Daytime. “I can’t wait for The Assembly interviewers to ask our brilliant cast of celebrities a plethora of burning questions, which will no doubt make for must watch TV.”

Louis Theroux: The Settlers (Sunday 27/04/25, BBC Two, 9pm)

Words by Sarah Morgan

It’s been a while since we saw a new project from Louis Theroux.

The most recent run of his Interviews… series ended with an insight into the life of So Solid Crew member and Adolescence star Ashley Walters in December 2023.

Theroux has not, however, been sitting with his feet up for the past 18 months. Instead, he’s been preparing for and filming perhaps his hardest-hitting programme yet, one that couldn’t be further removed from the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Way back in 2011, during one of his specials for BBC Two, he made the hour-long film The Ultra Zionists, in which he delved into ultra-nationalist Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem, Hebron and Nablus, as well as members of a small group of settlers in the West Bank.

“Since then, those same extreme settlers are even more emboldened,” claims Theroux, before adding: “I’m interested in ideologues and fundamentalists of all stripes.”

As a result, he’s going back to the West Bank to get up close and personal with that aforementioned ‘small group of settlers’; and it soon becomes clear that their numbers have swollen somewhat since he was last there. Their presence remains illegal under international law, but being protected by the army, the police and the Israeli government means they can come and go more or less as they please.

The West Bank is the larger of two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) and remains central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with both sides claiming it as their own.

Since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 Israelis, the settlers have used violence and the forced expulsion of local Palestinian residents to expand their territory – and, if the testimony they deliver in this documentary is anything to go by, they don’t plan to stop their actions anytime soon, if ever.

In fact, while travelling through the territory meeting prominent members of this controversial community, it becomes clear that they have big plans that focus on Gaza. Around 47,000 Palestinians have been killed there by Israeli forces since 2023, which the settlers believe make it prime territory for them.

“In going back to the West Bank, I wanted to see settler expansionism up close, and the human cost it entails,” explains Theroux. “It’s a story specific to a time and a place and a region, but it’s also a universal insight into tribalism and the ways in which we can blind ourselves to the humanity of those around us.”

Clare Sillery, Head of Commissioning, BBC Documentaries, adds: “After more than 25 years of documentary making, Louis Theroux’s appetite for tackling difficult and complex subject matters remains completely undiminished. I look forward to him bringing his humanity and curiosity to this most challenging and timely of stories.”

After tuning in, you may be left asking the question: what will Theroux turn his attention to next? The answer is, at the moment, unknown, but let’s hope it doesn’t take another year and a half to come to fruition.

The Essex Millionaire Murders (Monday 28/04/2025, ITV1, 9pm)

Words by Richard Jones

We’re obsessed with crime stories these days.

The bookshop shelves and TV schedules are packed with murder mysteries and whodunnits, and the true-crime documentary genre has been given a new lease of life in recent years.

But if you think you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all, you’re wrong – The Essex Millionaire Murders unravels a plot that could be straight from an Agatha Christie novel.

This month marks two years since Stephen and Carol Baxter were found dead at their Mersea Island home by their daughter Ellena.

The deaths of the wealthy couple in their 60s sent shockwaves throughout their community and tributes were paid to them from various social corners, their family and children.

For the first couple of months, it was assumed their deaths were non-suspicious, with a carbon monoxide leak floated as the possible cause.

However, the results of post-mortem examinations on their bodies changed everything, with the pathologist suggesting third-party involvement, prompting the police to open a murder investigation.

This two-part programme, concluding tomorrow (Tuesday), looks at the stranger-than fiction case.

It begins on Easter Sunday 2023 as Stephen and Carol are found dead in their armchairs by their daughter Ellena.

Although there were no signs of a struggle, Senior Investigating Officer Lydia George and her team later discover a mysterious will that leaves everything to Ellena and their family friend Luke D’Wit, who was helping Carol as a carer as her health slowly deteriorated.

Carol was closely following the advice of a mysterious American doctor promising to cure her thyroid condition, and a postmortem revealed that she and Stephen had lethal levels of antihistamine and fentanyl in their systems.

After Ellena and Luke are arrested on suspicion of murder, detectives raided D’Wit’s home and seized a huge stash of prescription drugs.

The police then pressed D’Wit, who had been mixing ‘medicinal’ drinks for Carol, to explain his relationship to Carol’s physician Dr Andrea Bowden.

Eventually, Ellena was completely cleared of her parents’ murders and agreed to be interviewed as a witness.

She slowly realised that Luke, who had had taken over a 999 call as she broke down when finding their bodies, had been a ‘cuckoo in the family nest’.

D’Wit stored a ‘treasure trove’ of capsules, fentanyl patches and other drugs in his home, and even created a fake woman to dupe Ellie into a trip to London for a totally fictional singing competition.

As detectives spent months combing through D’Wit’s multiple digital devices, they discovered he had watched the couple die on a camera feed from the Baxters’ conservatory on his phone, while writing a fake will leaving their business in his name.

In the end, the police piece together the full scale of D’Wit’s cunning, cold, calculated and corrosive campaign of manipulation over an entire family.

On Friday, March 22, D’Wit was sentenced to life in prison, when he was told he would serve a minimum of 37 years before he is eligible to be considered for parole.

Exactly for how long he planned his crime, or indeed was his motive was, is still unclear.

But one thing is for sure, the ‘Fentanyl Phantom’ is unlike any other killer we have seen – in real life or otherwise.

Inside Longleat (Tuesday 29/04/25, 5, 8pm)

In 1949, Longleat became one of the first privately owned stately homes to open to the public commercially. To mark the 75th anniversary, the current Lord and Lady Bath have gone a step further and granted the cameras unprecedented access to their house and its famous safari park for this three-part documentary series.

As you’ll know if you saw last week’s opening episode, there’s plenty for viewers to explore. Longleat was originally built between 1567 and 1580, and has been lived in by 16 generations of the Thynn family.

Over the centuries, the family has amassed some incredible paintings, tapestries furniture and books – it boasts seven libraries.

It’s also now home to around 1000 animals, including lions, rhinos, red pandas and koalas.

As you may imagine, keeping the estate running is a mammoth undertaking. Approximately 600 people work there, ranging from animal keepers to cleaners, gardeners to cooks, historians to handymen.

Now, in the second episode, a lot of those staff are busy preparing for the three-day festival, Icons of Sky, which will feature hot air balloons, air displays with Tiger Moths, helicopters, wing walkers, and the iconic Spitfire.

No one is working harder on the ambitious festival than events manager Daisy, who has to make sure everything runs smoothly for the thousands of expected visitors.

However, there are literal dark clouds on the horizon thanks to a bleak weather forecast. So, Daisy is going to need luck as well as expert organisation if the event is going to go off as planned.

The prospect of Spitfires overhead also brings back memories of Longleat at war, and this episode features a fascinating glimpse into the estate’s past, courtesy of some of its current staff.

Estate surveyor Tim reveals that his grandfather also worked there as a gamekeeper, but left during the First World War to fight in France.

He’s not the only person with a family connection to Longleat. Staff member Roz shares photos and letters from her grandmother who, as a schoolgirl, was evacuated to the estate during the Second World War.

There’s also a trip to the safari park, where VIP manager Beth is hoping to shine a spotlight on some of Longleat’s least-loved animals – the hyenas, who she thinks are in need of a PR boost. Thanks to movies like The Lion King, it seems they have been cast as nature’s villains, with a reputation as sneaky, snarling scavengers.

Even keeper Ian thinks the ‘scavenger’ bit is probably fair enough – he calls them ‘the dustbin men of Africa’.

Beth sees it differently though. Since working at the park, she’s come to love the animals and thinks they should be celebrated for their hunting prowess, which even puts the more high-profile lions in the shade.

Can she bring the public round to her way of thinking with a VIP hyena experience? If nothing else, it should be a laugh…

Genius Game (Wednesday 30/04/25, ITV1, 9pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

If your favourite part of The Traitors is the challenges, then you’re definitely the target audience for ITV1’s new reality-game-show hybrid Genius Game.

Of course, that’s not the only draw. It’s also presented by actor David Tennant, and the format has already proved a hit – the show originated in South Korea and has since been adapted into German, Brazilian and Israeli version, among others.

The game features 11 contestants, who have all been selected due to their extraordinary abilities, taking part in a series of tasks that are designed to test their intellectual prowess.

However, the players’ social skills will also be put under the microscope as they need to be able to manipulate and outfox each other to stay in the game.

One person who should have theoretically been familiar with the concept is player Ben, who is an associate professor and a huge fan of the show. He says: “Once I knew I was going on the show I rewatched all of the five international seasons. I have handwritten notes of every single game from every single episode. I’m the kind of person that if I’m going to challenge myself to something and compete, I’m going to give it my all.”

He admits he had an ulterior motive for doing his homework. Ben says: “If I get eliminated early not only does it end this dream, I also felt it would call my competence and my professional standing into question. I’m an associate professor who teaches negotiations and I worried, ‘What if I fail in spectacular fashion?’ I just felt I had so much more to lose than anyone else.”

Not everyone took that approach though. Crime writer Alison had a different tactic, saying: “The plan was to stay low key and be quite non-threatening. I didn’t want to go out first. My job in life is to embarrass my kids but not by going out first in a game show!

“I thought it was important to make connections with people… That was how I prepared for taking part, rather than watching episodes from other territories and practising games.”

One thing that watching other formats may not have prepared any of the contestants for is Tennant’s role as The Creator. On the original South Korean version, the Creator is a vaguely sinister character whose face is never seen but, according to Anna Kidd, who was the games executive producer on the show, ITV1 wanted someone with ‘personality and wit’ – and immediately thought of Tennant.

So, hopefully, he’ll put Ben, Alison and their fellow contestants at ease as he introduces the opening episode.

In each edition, the players will take part in a Main Match, which they play as a team. The winner is safe and gets to grant immunity to a fellow contestant, while the person who finishes in last place must pick someone to take on in a Death Match, with the loser going home.

For their first Main Match, the would-be geniuses take part in a Gold Heist, but one player is going to end up vulnerable, penniless and at risk of being eliminated.

Taskmaster (Thursday 01/05/25, Channel 4, 9pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

It’s easy to see why comedians keep signing up for Taskmaster – at its best, it looks like one of the most fun shows on TV.

So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that even American celebrities are willing to cross the Atlantic to try to impress the Taskmaster Greg Davies and his sidekick Alex Horne.

The latest line-up sees comedians Fatiha El-Ghorri and Stevie Martin, podcaster Rosie Ramsey and Ghosts star Mathew Baynton joined by actor and comedian Jason Mantzoukas, who many not be a household name on this side of the Atlantic but is certainly in demand in his native US.

Alex says “[Jason] has put his whole career on hold to do the show. There are various projects he’s doing in America but he said he’d do Taskmaster first. So, he came with a plan to make the most of it.”

Greg adds: “He was very keen to point out to me that by doing Taskmaster, he was personally operating on a massive financial loss.”

So, Jason really is just taking part for the fun of it. And it seems that while his CV includes everything from roles in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum to the sitcoms The Good Place and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, there’s nothing in the US that quite compares to Taskmaster.

He says: “I’ve done plenty of comedy in America, but we don’t have panel shows. It’s not a common format here and when Americans have tried to do them, they’ve not worked. They’ve always not quite captured what’s fun about them, or they don’t have quite the same juice or energy as the UK ones.

“But I’m friends with a bunch of people like Aisling Bea and Nish Kumar who’ve done Taskmaster so I knew about it.”

He then started watching the show on YouTube and was quickly hooked. “There seemed to me to be a camaraderie on Taskmaster, and a true joy in setting each other up to fail, poking and prodding each other and celebrating everybody.

“So I thought, not only am I enjoying this as a viewer, but now it’s piqued my interest. I thought I would like to be inside the show. And truly, I just asked. I had my manager reach out to the producers and say, ‘Would you be interested?’”

It turns out that yes, they would. Maybe they were flattered to be approached, but maybe they also thought that Jason would be a great addition to this particular line-up.

Jason certainly thinks the contestants have gelled. He says: “I thought I might be the most chaotic and mischievous contestant, only to find that I had an equally outrageous and bombastic person seated directly on my right, in Fatiha, which was an absolute delight.

“They did such a good job casting the ensemble, because everybody’s great. Everybody’s a home run. We all had such complimentary personalities and comedic points of view.”

We’ll get our first glimpse of those points of view in this opening episode as Greg finds out how they cope with vinegar, raisins and peas.

Martin Clunes’ Islands of the Atlantic (Friday 02/05/2025, ITV1, 9pm)

Words by Richard Jones

Martin Clunes is living the dream.

Two and a half years on from hanging up Doc Martin’s stethoscope, the Wimbledon-born actor has been able to pick and choose his acting roles (most recently the ITV drama Out There), in between seeing the world with an old pal (U&Gold’s Neil & Martin’s Bon Voyage).

Although he is still only 63, you could say Clunes has entered into some sort of semi-retirement, and that he is now using what spare time he has to indulge his love of travel and, specifically, his fascination the world’s islands.

Inspired by reading a book given to him when he was a child, Martin began journeying around the Pacific Ocean for ITV in 2019, before he resumed his trip after the pandemic in 2022 and 2023.

Now, he is off on his travels again, this time exploring the world’s second largest ocean, the Atlantic, which encompasses roughly 20 per cent of the Earth’s surface.

“Having spent two series making the islands of the Pacific it felt like the natural next step,” he explains.

“We at least have an Atlantic coast at the side of us, and it seemed like that linked us, joined us to the rest of the islands of the Atlantic.

“You are never going to be short of an interesting thing if you are going to be using islands as a premise.”

Over three programmes, Martin’s odyssey takes him to a spectacular array of ocean islands and, along the way, he discovers the astounding diversity of the Atlantic’s cultures and creatures, and the little-known stories of the resident humans and animals.

His first ports of call are the remote tropical islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, known as the ‘African Galapagos’.

Martin learns about São Tomé’s dark slave past, and hears how the Santomeans found a way to turn their dark past into something joyful by creating a kind of theatre called Tchiloli.

In the remote south of São Tomé lives a community who, for centuries, kept their independence and never worked on the plantations.

While the Angloares’ main source of income is from fishing, there’s also a burgeoning business in wine and gin made from tapping the sap of palm trees.

In a sanctuary on the edge of the forest, ranger Francisco Alamo and biologist Ricardo Lima are fighting to save the Obô snail from extinction.

And São Tomé is also one of West Africa’s most important breeding sites for sea turtles. Martin joins conservationists and divers who are rescuing endangered turtles and helping hatchlings.

If São Tomé seems off the beaten track, then Príncipe is truly a lost world.

“It’s not so much the land that time forgot, it’s the land that time didn’t know was there,” Martin says.

The islanders have and devised a green solution to a global shortage of building sand – they scour the island for glass bottles, which are then crushed and made into sand.

The actor’s final port of call is the remote Bijagos islands, off the coast of Guinea Bissau, where Martin is keen to meet the island tribes, known as the Bijago.

For centuries their legendary ferocity fended off all would-be colonisers and slavers, while the island’s women are said to be more powerful than the men.

Surely none of them will be intimidated by Martin, though. After all, the former Man Behaving Badly is now a cuddly middle-aged gent – and he’s doing exactly what most of us hope we will, or wished we would be, at his age.