What to watch on TV this week Our pick of the best television shows The Yorkshire Ripper Files — poignant new interviews and a wealth of archive footage Liza Williams’ BBC Four documentary highlights how preconceptions about the victims influenced the investigation Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Mars Uncovered, BBC Four — Bettany Hughes on the god that divided opinion From the ‘most hated of all the gods’ in Homer’s Iliad to the patron god of Rome, Mars’s history is often surprising Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley — a knuckle-chewing ride for the age of the lie Alex Gibney’s latest documentary charts the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes’s infamous blood-testing start-up Theranos Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Hanna, Amazon Prime — a loud, daft but well acted remake of the 2011 film The new series starring Esme Creed-Miles follows a feral girl raised as a warrior in the woods Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Idris Elba is a DJ in a spin in Netflix comedy Turn Up Charlie The actor has co-created and stars in a warmly funny mix of career crisis, cultures clash and music industry satire Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Cheat on ITV — a thriller set in Cambridge explores university power dynamics A student and lecturer face each other behind plate glass. One of them has been banged up, but who — and why? Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 More from this Series Fleabag returns, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s creation remains irresistible After the success of Killing Eve, the writer-director is back with a second — and starrier — season of her brilliantly offhand comedy-drama Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Leaving Neverland — Michael Jackson protégés turn accusers in harrowing documentary Uncomfortable and graphic testimonies from two men, one of whom defended star during 2005 trial Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Ricky Gervais stars in Netflix’s After Life, a strange mix of awkwardness mirth The comedian returns in a softer-than-usual guise as a recently widowed journalist at a local newspaper Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 In This Time with Alan Partridge, Steve Coogan is back — and it’s awkward Coogan’s beloved character returns to BBC1 as host of a daytime TV show that quickly goes off-piste Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 30 years on, the BBC revisits the controversial legacy of The Satanic Verses Mobeen Azhar speaks to the inhabitants of Bradford, the birthplace of worldwide demonstrations against Salman Rushdie’s novel Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Science meets superstition in Sky Atlantic’s religious mystery The Miracle Niccolò Ammaniti’s series about a weeping Virgin Mary adds an existential dimension to the critique of Italian society Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy reviewed Adaptated from the comic books, seven grown-up siblings unite to uncover the truth behind their adoptive father’s death Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 The Missing’s Tchéky Karyo returns in BBC1’s Baptiste Julien Baptiste is lured out of retirement by the case of a missing Amsterdam sex worker in this new six-part drama Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 The walls have ears in Channel 4’s cold war spy-drama Traitors Emma Appleton and Keeley Hawes star in this feast of upper-crust accents, drab tailoring and top secret files Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Liv Tyler joins the whorehouse madams in Harlots, Season Two Did The Favourite whet your appetite for puffy dresses, pasty faces and powdered wigs? Look no further than this battle of the brothels drama Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Finding Fame tracks years leading to the creation of Ziggy Stardust BBC documentary paints portrait of an anxious youth, with new interviewees, unheard audio and family photos Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Das Boot, Sky Atlantic — eight-part sequel reignites the 1981 classic A dramatic German-language reboot that picks up the story nine months after the original’s cataclysmic ending Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Tin Star: Season 2 — ludicrous, incoherent, excellent fun Tim Roth returns as rogue police chief Jim Worth in a crazed ballet of blood, fire and ice Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 True Detective: Season 3 — the start of a return to form? The triple-timeline story starring Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff gets off to a promising start Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Why Netflix’s Sex Education is snort-out-loud funny Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield star as a sex therapist and her permanently mortified son Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Brexit: The Uncivil War starring Benedict Cumberbatch — review An exhilarating, almost farcical dramatisation of 2016’s successful Vote Leave campaign and its Machiavellian director Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Luther: Season Five on BBC iPlayer is a psycho-sexual jamboree Old favourites unexpectedly return as links between their pasts are revealed Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Les Misérables, BBC1 review Andrew Davies doing what he does best — gorgeous cinematography and perfectly assembled period sets Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Watership Down on BBC1 review The original’s ecological message only grows more timely Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 The Long Song, BBC1 Novel’s TV adaptation stars Tamara Lawrance who combines fiery spirit and heart-wrenching pathos in the role of July Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Kipling’s dark side emerges in Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle on Netflix Despite a clunky script and distracting visuals, there are fascinating questions at the heart of this Jungle Book adaptation Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Amazon Prime — a second helping of pastiche screwball comedy Rachel Brosnahan is effervescent as a 1950s New York housewife working her way up the stand-up circuit Wednesday, 27 March, 2019 Jim Carrey is horribly watchable as a children’s TV star in Kidding The Showtime/Sky Atlantic series queasily combines a tot-show aesthetic and decidedly dark adult humour Wednesday, 27 March, 2019
