Why We Can’t Stop Eating, Britain’s Shoplifting Gangs Exposed, and more

Monday 25 November

Irresistible: Why We Can’t Stop Eating
BBC Two, 9pm
“These foods are engineered to be addictive,” says one expert in Dr Chris van Tulleken’s informative documentary about ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and the dangers they pose. He says it’s no coincidence that the explosion in obesity levels in the West parallels the increasing industrialisation of our food since the mid-1970s, and there is mounting evidence that the growth of UPFs in our diet is linked to weight gain, obesity, some diabetes and some cancers – the list goes on. He talks to doctors, scientists and people who have worked in the food industry for decades, who reveal the lengths some companies go to to make a product irresistible – or addictive, as some would have it.

Among an impressive line-up of talking heads is the psychologist who coined the term “bliss point” – the amount of sugar, salt or fat that makes food irresistible – and the neuroscientist who used brain scans to measure the pleasure people get from eating certain foods. Van Tulleken draws parallels between our food industry and tobacco companies at the turn of the century; before strict controls were put on their products. Food for thought. VL

Angela Merkel: The Woman Who Ran Europe
BBC Two, 7pm
Angela Merkel became one of the world’s most important figures as chancellor of Germany; she served for 16 years, until 2021. There were no previews of this profile, a companion piece to her memoir Freedom, at the time of press, but her Brexit clashes with British prime ministers are sure to feature.

Britain’s Shoplifting Gangs Exposed: Dispatches
Channel 4, 8pm
There’s a shoplifting epidemic in the UK – thefts are at the highest level since records began – with the British Retail Consortium estimating that it cost businesses £1.7 billion last year. Matt Shea goes undercover to expose the criminal gangs that police believe are behind the crime.

24 Hours in Police Custody
Channel 4, 9pm
The documentary following police piecing together an investigation returns with a complex case for rookie detective Emily. A couple are victims of anonymous online attacks that quickly escalate to death threats and accusations that they are murderers; nothing makes sense, until a vital conversation with a colleague.

Britain’s Killer Wave of 1607
Channel 5, 9pm
The floods that swept through the Bristol Channel in 1607 are described by one historian here as the worst in a thousand years. Contemporary accounts record the devastation it wreaked on people, homes and livestock across the West Country and Wales, while scientists and geologists explain what caused the freak event.

Classic FM’s Rising Stars With Julian Lloyd Webber
Sky Arts, 9pm
The radio station has again teamed up with the cellist to showcase the next generation of classical talent. He hosts this concert, in which the gifted likes of violinist Esther Abrami, trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary, violinist Randall Goosby, guitarist Sean Shibe, and pianist and cellist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason (a member of the talented musical family) perform.

Date My Nan
ITV1, 11pm
Shown as part of Disability History Month, this series is, essentially, First Dates meets Glow Up for senior citizens. Among them is dog lover Kathy, who is given a makeover by a disabled make-up artist ahead of a blind date. After a lifetime spent caring for family, she says: “It’s time I got glammed up and got a date.”

My Cousin Rachel (2017) ★★★
Film4, 6.50pm 
“Did she? Didn’t she?” ponders stricken hero Philip Ashley (Sam Claflin, Daisy Jones & the Six) about the titular character (Rachel Weisz) and the possible murder of her husband/his cousin in this adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s 1951 novel. Claflin plays his wealthy heir convincingly, but, unfortunately, Weisz’s turn as the beautiful wife never quite achieves the passion that the role demands. Iain Glen and Holliday Grainger co-star.

Elysium (2013) ★★★★
Great! Movies, 9pm 
Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi thriller stars Matt Damon as a factory worker who scrapes out a living on the Earth’s crust. He’s involved in an accident, but the care that he needs is on the space station Elysium. Blomkamp focuses on the tenets of faith, capitalism and healthcare – in lesser hands, it might have played out like an insufferable Lib Dem manifesto; instead, it’s a disturbing blast that hits the heart of the US psyche.

We Were Strangers (1949, b/w) ★★★★
Talking Pictures TV, 11.10pm 
When her brother is murdered, China Valdés (Jennifer Jones) swears revenge on the corrupt Cuban government that he had been protesting against. She joins the resistance led by Tony (John Garfield), an American with a daring plan: think secret tunnels, double-crossing and homemade bombs. John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) directs this classic adventure flick with plenty of verve.

Tuesday 26 November

The Great British Bake Off
Channel 4, 8pm
It may have lost a little of its youthful vim and a few years have passed since its last truly showstopping moment, but Bake Off continues to add a unique recipe of flavours and textures to the TV schedules. With Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding dialling down the wackiness, tonight features perhaps the most relaxed trio of bakers ever to make a final. That said, the challenges turn the screw to considerable effect, as youthful, inventive mancat Dylan, consistent, classic-loving Georgie and Kristiaan,a fan of stylish designs and high-risk flavours, must make sweet and savoury scones, an afternoon tea Technical and a three-tiered celebration cake Showstopper made needlessly complex by having to hang from a hook.

“I would be absolutely terrified,” says Prue Leith. Amid false starts and ropey time management, some bakers are undone while others cruise serenely onwards; one baker selflessly loses time to help out another; and, as is customary, past contestants assemble for a jolly garden party and the announcement of the winner. By the end, their identity looks assured, but then Prue and Paul Hollywood haven’t always gone for “obvious”. GT

The Yorkshire Vet: Herriot Land to the Highlands
Channel 5, 8pm
Julian Norton abandons Herriot Country for Thurso, his hometown in the Scottish Highlands, where he meets his old mentor and helps out with a prolapsed cow and a testing session of lambing. Peter Wright keeps the end up for God’s Own Country when he gets a call about a poorly cat.

Bill Bailey’s Master Crafters
Sky Arts, 8pm
A third heartwarming series showcasing more traditional pursuits, this celebrates four more endangered crafts – blacksmithing, mosaics, stone carving and letter press printing – through the travails of another dozen young crafters receiving expert tuition alongside our host.

The Listeners
BBC One, 9pm
Jordan Tannahill’s haunting, troubling miniseries continues as Claire (Rebecca Hall) and Kyle (Ollie West) find others who regard the humming as a blessing rather than a curse.

The Oxford Street Christmas Lights: Then & Now
Channel 5, 9pm
Which other broadcaster would think of this as worthy subject-matter for a prime-time documentary? Lesley Joseph is among the contributors to a film examining the history of the Christmas lights on London’s famous shopping thoroughfare from its start in 1959 through an eccentric array of celebrity switchers-on (Daley Thompson or Madonna, fair enough, but Derek Jameson or Enrique Iglesias?) to today.

Matlock 
Sky Witness, 9pm
In what she has hinted could be her last TV role, Kathy Bates leads this reboot of a network drama that made waves in the US in the Eighties and Nineties while barely registering here. She plays a septuagenarian Deep South widow who arrives in New York to resume a long-dormant legal career and pay off her debts. What could be a rote procedural is given a fillip, not only by Bates, but also a well-handled meta twist.

Storyville: Until I Fly
BBC Four, 10pm
The five-year-old son of an Indian mother and a Nepalese father, Veeru seeks escape from the racist bullying he faces, and finds a welcome if unlikely means to do so when he discovers a gift for the Indian sport of kabaddi. An unflinching but ultimately uplifting film.

The Snowman (2017) ★★★
Great! Movies, 9pm 
No, not the family-friendly one. This Snowman has Michael Fassbender as a serial killer-hunting cop plagued by alcoholism and personal demons. As ever, he is fantastic, but the film does occasionally fall into Scandi noir tropes. It’s adapted from Jo Nesbø’s bestselling novel, directed by Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and co-stars Val Kilmer, Rebecca Ferguson, Toby Jones, Chloë Sevigny and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Apollo 11 (2019) ★★★★★
Sky Showcase, 9pm 
Todd Douglas Miller’s exceptional documentary brings the Apollo 11 space mission to life before your very eyes – at points, it feels like you’re strolling onto the Moon for the first time along with Buzz, Neil and co. Using an array of archive footage (but, interestingly, no interviews or narration), the film follows the 1969 mission that marked an unprecedented new dawn in human space exploration. It deservedly scooped three Emmys.

Fedora (1978) ★★★★
Talking Pictures TV, 9.10pm 
When Hollywood star Fedora (Marthe Keller) apparently dies by suicide, the world – and old flame Barry (William Holden) – is united in grief. But Barry doesn’t believe that it was suicide, and suspects a mysterious Polish countess (Hildegard Knef) is involved. It’s no Sunset Boulevard, but Billy Wilder’s drama, based on Tom Tryon’s novella, is still a thoughtful look at the high cost of fame.

Wednesday 27 November

Rage Against the Regime: Iran
BBC Two, 9pm
If a documentary can be a cry of pain, this is it. The oppression and injustice of the Islamist regime in Tehran rings out from every voice in this two-part film, in which exiled Iranians bear witness to the brutality with which the government, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) through which it rules, have retained power in the face of brave citizen protests. Most of the contributors blame Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Big Brother-like supreme leader whose face bears down from billboards and walls on every street in Iran.

The ayatollahs have ruled unopposed since the 1979 revolution, but the turning point, it seems, came in 2009 when a reform-minded presidential candidate (and the “green wave” of mass support that should have swept him to victory) was defeated in a supposed landslide by the conservative incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Since then, the state has retrenched, cracking down on protest with military-backed violence – resulting in the deaths, it’s claimed, of thousands of innocent protesters and the arrest, torture and incarceration of many more. It’s a tough watch, but an essential one. GO

Shetland 
BBC One, 9pm
Tosh (Alison O’Donnell) and Calder (Ashley Jensen) turn their attention to the research lab, with their efforts to get a search warrant coinciding with the disappearance of vulnerable teenager Astrid (Ines Høysæter Asserson). Meanwhile, retired spook Euan’s (Ian Hart) interest in the case, and in the victim’s young son, Noah, takes another sinister turn.

After the Party
Channel 4, 9pm
The powerful New Zealand sex-abuse drama continues. Penny (Robyn Malcolm, excellent) finds herself isolated when her attempt to persuade Ollie to expose Phil (Peter Mullan) backfires. Increasingly at odds with her family, she seeks solace in friendship – carving out a new dynamic in the process. Continues tomorrow.

Fellini by Fellini 
Sky Arts, 9pm
A documentary made to mark the 2020 centenary of Federico Fellini’s birth, in which the influential Italian director’s life is explored through his own words and films. Featuring lots of archive footage and interviews, with clips from acclaimed works including Nights of Cabiria, 8½, La Dolce Vita and Amarcord.

My Brilliant Friend
Sky Atlantic, 9pm & 10.15pm
Season four continues with Lenu (Alba Rohrwacher) trying to make amends with her mother. But Immacolata’s (Anna Rita Vitolo) health is deteriorating and as she worsens, Lenu is drawn back into the role she fought so hard to escape – all the time juggling her own family’s demands. Life with Nino (Fabrizio Gifuni), too, is far from simple.

The Mayor of Casterbridge
BBC Four, from 10pm
Continuing BBC Four’s impressive Thomas Hardy season, a rerun of Dennis Potter’s superb, seven-part TV adaptation from 1978. Alan Bates excels in the title role of self-made man Michael Henchard, brought low when a terrible sin from his past catches up with him. The first four episodes air tonight; the boxset is on iPlayer.

The Winter King
ITV1, 11.45pm; not STV
Arthur (Iain De Caestecker) has a nail-biting wait to see if his gamble – releasing Gundleus (Simon Merrells) in the hope he will convince his uncle to attend the naming ceremony – pays off. Meanwhile, tensions rise when Merlin (Nathaniel Martello-White) reappears, and Arthur discovers a powerful new weapon when he visits his mother’s grave.

Old Boys (2018) ★★★
Film4, 7.05pm 
Bafta-nominated film-maker Toby MacDonald makes an appealing feature debut with this juvenile spin on Cyrano de Bergerac. After enrolling in private school, Alex Lawther’s awkward but imaginative schoolboy must contend with bullying from his classmates – until he’s asked to help the popular boy (The Tattooist of Auschwitz’s Jonah Hauer-King) win the affections of their French teacher’s daughter (Pauline Etienne).

Girl You Know It’s True (2023) ★★★★
Sky Cinema Premiere, 8pm 
Director Simon Verhoeven dramatises the story of the rise, and epic fall, of 1980s pop stars Milli Vanilli. His biopic has all the sordid, scandalous details, as Rob Pilatus (Tijan Njie) and Fabrice Morvan (Elan Ben Ali) trick the music industry into thinking they’re the Next Big Thing. For the factual side, check out the excellent documentary Milli Vanilli on Paramount+.

Manhunter (1986) ★★★★★
BBC One, midnight 
Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon, the novel that introduced the world to Hannibal Lecter, made it to the silver screen in 2002, but it’s eaten alive by Michael Mann’s intelligent 1986 original, which shows us the methods used by FBI agent William Petersen to find the “Tooth Fairy”, including his attempt to enter the killer’s state of mind with the help of Brian Cox’s Dr Lektor. One of the finest films ever made.

Cricket
New Zealand v England
TNT Sports 4, 9.30pm
The first Test of three between New Zealand and England takes place in Christchurch. The uncapped duo of Jordan Cox and Jacob Bethell have both been called up for England. Jack Taylor

Thursday 28 November

Cheap Flights: What They Really Mean for You
BBC One/BBC Two Wales, 9pm
With Keir Starmer pledging an 81 per cent cut in emissions by 2035 at Cop29, this is a timely programme examining the seriousness of efforts to reduce the pollution generated by aviation, one of the country’s biggest, and most environmentally damaging, industries. Justin Rowlatt conducts the big interviews, Fran Scott digs into the science and Michelle Ackerley takes the consumer angle in an effective three-pronged approach that, while a little try-hard in presentation, attempts to cram as much as possible into the hour. If Tomorrow’s World was still being made, this documentary would probably slot in very comfortably.

As a result, the film covers the very encouraging, though infant, technologies of hydrogen or electric-powered flights, as well as the more chimerical qualities of “sustainable aviation fuel” (effectively recycled cooking oil) and, of course, the enduringly controversial concepts of carbon offsetting and trading. None of them resemble long-term solutions, and Rowlatt quite reasonably considers whether consumers should shoulder a share of responsibility. GT

Mrs Davis
ITVX
After Lost and The Leftovers comes another deep dive into faith from Damon Lindelof, this time working alongside The Big Bang Theory’s Tara Hernandez. In this eight-part comedy drama, Betty Gilpin plays a nun attempting to bring down the omnipotent AI of the title when it promises her it will self-destruct if she can locate the Holy Grail. On her side: Jesus Christ and a ragtag bunch of resistance fighters. Against her: pretty much everything else.

The Madness
Netflix
This propulsive new thriller stars Colman Domingo as a political pundit who is framed for the murder of a white supremacist in the remote woods of Pennsylvania – a crime for which he is the only witness aside from the genuine killer. As he goes on the run, aficionados won’t be surprised to learn a conspiracy looms into view, but Domingo’s intense, intriguing performance is easy to root for.

Thelma Schoonmaker: This Cultural Life
BBC Four, 8pm
A close associate of two of cinema’s undisputed geniuses, Thelma Schoonmaker is the widow of Michael Powell (whose A Matter of Life and Death and The Red Shoes follow) and the editor on every Martin Scorsese film since Raging Bull. John Wilson talks to her about her extraordinary career.

Hunting Mr Nice: The Cannabis Kingpin
BBC Two/BBC One Wales, 9pm
Latterly a benevolent perennial of lads’ mags and beloved of Super Furry Animals, drug smuggler Howard Marks possessed a charm that eventually won over even those who ultimately brought him to justice in the 1990s. The final part of a gripping documentary traces the final stages of the manhunt and his unlikely rehabilitation.

Only Child
BBC Scotland, 10pm
One man’s junk is another man’s memories: Richard’s (Greg McHugh) decision to clear out his dad Ken’s (Gregor Fisher) house comes freighted with hidden motives, miscommunication and echoes of Steptoe and Son as the tragicomic sitcom continues. Also on BBC One tomorrow.

Smoggie Queens
BBC Three, 10.10pm
Boxsetted on iPlayer today, Phil Dunning’s raucous sitcom pokes affectionate fun at Middlesbrough’s LGBTQ+ community. The opening double bill introduces the chosen family of Dickie (Dunning), who rally around when he is dumped.

Brian and Charles (2022) ★★★
Film4, 9pm 
Best known for directing Jack Rooke’s superb Channel 4 coming-of-age comedy Big Boys, Jim Archer made his feature debut with this moving update on the buddy-comedy. David Earl (Derek) plays a lonely Welsh inventor who accidentally creates a robot pal (Chris Hayward). It’s a spin on Frankenstein – but, like Tim Burton’s Edwards Scissorhands before it, it asks why the monster can’t be the good guy, just once?

Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991) ★★★
Sky Sci-fi, 9pm 
Metal-loving buddies Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) have their sights set on winning an important battle of the bands contest. Sadly, their hopes are dashed when their evil clones from the future come back to kill them. This outlandish sci-fi comedy sequel, though silly and outrageously far-fetched, manages to match the endearing spirit of the original, not least because of Reeves’s talent.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) ★★★★
Film4, 10.50pm 
This farcical yet poignant holiday comedy from John Hughes stars the inimitable Steve Martin and John Candy. A fussy businessman (Martin) and a buffoonish salesman (Candy) meet when their plane to Chicago is grounded because of snow. With Thanksgiving looming, the unlikely pair are forced to find an alternative route home. Even Brits will find themselves yearning for pumpkin pie.

Friday 29 November

Beatles ’64
Disney+
The Beatles’s historic first trip to the US tends to be mythologised through scale. The masses of screaming teenagers. The multiple number one hits. The record-breaking performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, watched by 73 million people. This sumptuous documentary, directed by David Tedeschi and produced by Martin Scorsese, uses rare behind-the-scenes footage to tell a more intimate story. Not only about The Beatles themselves, but a nation which, in 1964, mere months after the assassination of President John F Kennedy, was in desperate need of healing.

The latter theme is explored through interviews with American musicians and fans, who share how Beatlemania affected almost every facet of US culture. Their gushing admiration of African-American music, for instance, was bold for its time, says Smokey Robinson, while their “feminine” long hair shocked conservatives. It stands in stark contrast to the boys themselves; what is remarkable about the footage captured by Albert and David Maysles is just how ordinary they seem. In the words of George Harrison, “We were normal; the rest of the world was crazy.” SK

The World According to Kaleb: On Tour
Amazon Prime Video
No-nonsense farmer Kaleb Cooper is the undeniable breakout star of Clarkson’s Farm. Here, the “rural half-wit” – Jeremy Clarkson’s words, not ours – takes to the stage in Cheltenham to talk about his love of tractors and why he “can’t stand sheep”. There is lots of material about Clarkson himself, of course, but the highlight is the show’s surprise musical finale.

Senna 
Netflix
Ayrton Senna was one of the great undisputed masters of Formula One. This lavish six-part biopic charts Senna’s (Gabriel Leone) rise from racing go-karts in Brazil to winning three F1 World Championships. A portrait of a genius – whose death in 1994 secured his legacy.

Ren Faire
Sky Documentaries, 3am & 9pm
This delightfully odd three-parter explores the turbulent succession of George “The King” Coulam, the retiring ruler of the Texas Renaissance Festival. For larger-than-life characters like Louie Migliaccio, a kettle corn magnate desperate to become the heir, he and his competitors are caught in a compelling game of thrones.

Return to Paradise
BBC One, 8pm
The second week of the Australian Death in Paradise spin-off picks up with the poisoning of a wellness influencer. Even more curious, though, is the ominous message he left on Mackenzie’s (Anna Samson) phone hours before. The detective – pulled into another murder in her hometown – thankfully comes more to life tonight.

The Making of Do They Know It’s Christmas?
BBC Four, 9pm
Today’s other big music documentary is this extraordinary fly-on-the-wall chronicle of the day that Band Aid recorded their 1984 charity hit. There is a thrill in watching Bono and Boy George work out their vocals in real-time. The highlights, however, are the intimate moments, such as a shy George Michael talking about Wham!’s not-yet-released song, Last Christmas.

Country Music Awards 2024
BBC Four, 10.15pm
The evening ends with highlights from last week’s 58th annual Country Music Awards, hosted by NFL legend Peyton Manning and country singers Luke Bryan and Lainey Wilson. Morgan Wallen has received the most nominations, but can he see off reigning champion Wilson?

Nutcrackers (2024)
Disney+
It’s almost December, which means it’s perfectly acceptable to settle down on the sofa with a mug of hot chocolate and whack on your favourite fuzzy Christmas film. This new offering from David Gordon Green stars Ben Stiller as career-obsessed bachelor Mike, who’s pulled from his big-city bliss to the smelly farms of rural Ohio when he’s forced to take care of his recently orphaned nephews. Cue lots of high-jinks and self-discovery.

Django Unchained (2012) ★★★★
Film4, 9pm
Quentin Tarantino doesn’t care too much for history. The message is: never mind the chronology, feel the brutality. Django (Jamie Foxx), a black slave, is freed by bounty hunter Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz, on incredible, terrifying form) and now wants to find his wife (Kerry Washington). It’s a violent, strange and indulgent pulp odyssey; Django himself is Tarantino’s best-developed character since 1997’s Jackie Brown.

Quantum of Solace (2008) ★★★
ITV4, 9pm 
Following on directly from Casino Royale, 007 (Daniel Craig) is still mourning the death of his girlfriend (Eva Green) and decides to distract himself by investigating Mathieu Amalric’s dodgy organisation – and hooking up with Olga Kurylenko’s agent, because a leopard never changes its spots. While it may hurtle through its sketchy plot, some of the action sequences provide the giddiest ride since The Living Daylights.

Monkey Man (2024) ★★★
Sky Cinema Premiere, 10.05pm 
A warning: Dev Patel’s directorial debut isn’t one for the squeamish. It is, however, an exciting new career path for one of our finest actors. Patel makes John Wick look tame in his role as a troubled Mumbai man who, after seeing his mother murdered as a child, wreaks revenge on the city’s corrupt elite in adulthood. It’s unrelentingly vicious, and overtly political – Modi, one imagines, wasn’t a fan – but boy is it original.

Television previewers

Stephen Kelly (SK), Veronica Lee (VL), Gerard O’Donovan (GO), Poppie Platt (PP) and Gabriel Tate (GT)

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