Your complete guide to the week’s television, films and sport, across terrestrial and digital platforms
Tuesday 11 June
The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot
Channel 4, 9pm
The Fall is told with such heightened tension that it appears, at first, more like a high-wire television drama than documentary. On Easter Sunday in 2015, army veteran Victoria Cilliers jumped out of a plane for a parachute jump organised by her husband Emile, a British army sergeant. She had done similar jumps before, but this time was different: both her standard and reserve parachutes failed to open and she fell 4,000 feet to the ground. Those who ran to her aid at Netheravon Airfield in Wiltshire expected to find her dead; emergency services arrived at the scene with a body bag.
But she survived. What made the case even more shocking was the fact that police believed her perfect husband to be behind it. This gripping docu-drama features the first in-depth TV interview with Victoria, as well as reconstructions of the incident (MyAnna Buring plays her) and ensuing police investigation into Emile, who was found to be far from the model family man – plagued by debt, he had multiple extramarital affairs and often visited seedy sex clubs. The second episode airs tomorrow with the third on Thursday; all are online now. PP
Tour de France: Unchained
Netflix
Netflix further ramp up the drama – whether tantrums, rivalries or injuries – for the second run of their elite cycling hit. Filmed during the 2023 race, Tadej Pogačar, Mark Cavendish and Patrick Lefevere are among the starry talking-heads. All eight episodes are available now.
The Martin Lewis Money Show: Summer Special
ITV1, 8pm
With the General Election imminent, Martin Lewis’s latest bout of financial advice features tips on how to maximise your State Pension, as well as how to save on your summer holiday – from exchange rates to travel insurance.
The Great British Sewing Bee
BBC One, 9pm
It’s the midway point and the sewers are desperate to prove their talents. This week’s eco-friendly “Reduce Reuse Recycle” theme tasks them with creating a quilted bag from old scraps and an outfit from abandoned fast-fashion items, but it’s the final challenge – to turn old wedding dresses into party-ready outfits – that sets the best apart.
Police Raid: Minute by Minute
Channel 5, 9pm
The latest of Channel 5’s “coppers in various guises” shows takes us to Kent, where officers provide support to gas company representatives investigating households who have tampered with their energy metres.
Queenie
Channel 4, 10pm & 10.35pm
Candice Carty-Williams’s witty adaptation of her bestselling novel is shaping up to be just as vibrant. It’s New Year’s Eve and Queenie (Dionne Brown) is trying (and failing) to prevent her life from imploding, before she decides to finally bite the bullet and sign herself up for therapy. The final two episodes air tomorrow night, with the whole series on Channel 4 online now.
Copa ’71: The Lost Lionesses: Storyville
BBC Four, 10pm
This fascinating film uncovers the little-known story of the 1971 Women’s World Cup, which you may expect to have been a modest affair. It was anything but, with the final alone seeing 112,000 fans filling Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium as the hosts faced Denmark. The tournament paved the way for the explosion of the women’s game that we’re witnessing today; former players, coaches and fans discuss its seismic impact.
Election 2024: The Panorama Interviews with Nick Robinson: Nigel Farage
BBC One, 10.40pm
Having shook up the entire election campaign with his decision to stand, the Reform UK chairman (and candidate in Clacton) meets the BBC’s Political Editor to set out his plans.
The Untouchables (1987) ★★★★★
Sky Cinema 80s, 8pm
Brian De Palma’s gripping Prohibition-era crime drama, based (loosely) on the memoirs of FBI agent Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner), follows Ness’s attempts to stop the ruthless gangster Al Capone (a scene-stealing Robert De Niro) and his gang of suave cronies. Luckily he has the incorruptible Irish cop Jimmy Malone, played by an Oscar-winning, still Scottish-sounding Sean Connery, on his side. The perfect gangster film.
Effie Gray (2014) ★★★
BBC Two, 11.05pm
Emma Thompson swapped acting with writing for this brooding biopic about Euphemia “Effie” Gray’s doomed marriage to the Victorian poet John Ruskin. Dakota Fanning, ever the ideal choice for the sickly looking damsel-in-distress character, convinces as Effie, who yearns to escape her marriage to Ruskin, who sees her more as a muse than a wife. Julie Walters and Derek Jacobi co-star; Richard Laxton directs.
The Big Man (1990) ★★★★
Film4, 11.05pm
Liam Neeson elevates this David Leland film with his usual brooding swagger. He plays activist-turned-miner Danny, who starts fighting in illegal boxing matches for gangster Matt Mason (Ian Bannen) after losing his job. Growing increasingly aware of the dark world he’s entered, it’s only when old pal Frankie (Billy Connolly) oversteps the mark that Danny stands up for what’s right. Imagine a modern On the Waterfront.
Wednesday 12 June
Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith
Credit: James Stack/BBC
Inside No 9
BBC Two, 10pm
Speculation is rife as to how Inside No 9 creators Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith will bow out (surely with a bang?) as one of the most enthusiastically followed cult shows of recent years reaches its last ever episode. Not since Tales of the Unexpected in the 1980s has such a varied miscellany of weird and twisted stories tantalised us from our screens. All the more remarkably so, given that every one of the wildly different half-hour episodes, across nine seasons, has been written by Pemberton and Shearsmith themselves.
Covering an impressive range of genres and styles, too, ranging from the terrifyingly creepy (The Harrowing) and emotionally devastating (The 12 Days of Christine) to the bizarrely funny (A Quiet Night In) and satirically razor-sharp (Boo to a Goose). True to form, the pair have remained tight-lipped about their swansong, ramping anticipation levels up even further. Could it be the fabled On the Buses-based episode that was billed last year but “replaced” at the last minute? Is the title really The End Is Ni9h? The fact is, we just won’t know until it actually airs. Sometimes, anticipation really is half the pleasure. GO
Presumed Innocent
Apple TV+
Its meticulously crafted plot and closing twist made Scott Turow’s legal thriller into a bestseller in the late 1980s, helped by Harrison Ford’s hit film. This superior eight-part adaptation by David E Kelley and starring Jake Gyllenhaal brilliantly captures the novel’s pressure-cooker atmosphere.
Under the Bridge
Disney+
Based on a shocking 1990s Canadian murder case, this pulsating drama stars Riley Keough (Daisy Jones & the Six) as author Rebecca Godfrey,