What’s on TV tonight: The Regime, Great Coastal Railway Journeys and more

Monday 8 April

The Regime
Sky Atlantic, 9pm
Kate Winslet leads this darkly comic, six-part drama, in which she plays the authoritarian leader of an unnamed European country. Elena Vernham (Winslet) is ensconced in the chancellor’s sumptuous palace, after having come to power in what she calls a “free and fair election” seven years before; she has grand ambitions to broaden her empire, but is growing increasingly paranoid. Much to the consternation of her retinue of toadies, Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts), a trigger-happy soldier, becomes her unlikely confidant, but he is as unstable as she is flaky and things go rapidly downhill both in the palace and the country. 

The set design echoes a Ruritanian fantasy, but modern parallels may be drawn from Will Tracy’s script; he and Winslet have said her portrayal is not based on any particular world leader past or present but some of Vernham’s traits – she is germ-phobic and describes an invasion as “an expression of peace and love” – give one occasional pause (and thoughts of a certain Russian president). Andrea Riseborough is terrific in support as Vernham’s sardonic aide Agnes, while Hugh Grant appears as the leader’s political rival in later episodes. VL

Great Coastal Railway Journeys
BBC Two, 6.30pm
Michael Portillo swaps Great British Railway Journeys (which finished last week) for a coastal train-based jaunt “in wild and windswept regions”. He travels the Jurassic Coast, in the footsteps of palaeontologist Mary Anning. He then tries his hand at weather forecasting at the Met Office in Exeter.

University Challenge
BBC Two, 8.30pm
It’s an all-London final as Imperial College take on University College London. Who will cope with the pressure wrought by quizmaster Amol Rajan’s questions? Whoever wins, it will be a female captain picking up the trophy – either Suraiya Haddad (Imperial) or Tayana Sawh (UCL).

Meet the Roman Emperor with Mary Beard
BBC Two, 9pm
In this one-off, the classicist explores domestic life at the Roman imperial court. Not every emperor goes under the microscope, but Domitian (AD 81-96), who had a gaudy taste in interior décor, and Claudius (AD 41-54), who threw lavish parties, both feature.

Defiance: Fighting the Far Right
Channel 4, 9pm
This fascinating three-part documentary examines how British Asians have fought back against violence from neo-Nazis over the past several decades. It starts by telling how the 1976 murder of a Sikh teenager in Southall, west London, galvanised the community. The testimonies from talking heads (community leaders and victims) bring the story alive.

The Cuckoo
Channel 5, 9pm
This tense four-part psychological thriller hits the ground running; Jess and Nick’s (Claire Goose and Lee Ingleby) marriage is on the rocks after his affair, their finances are in ruins and their teenage daughter Alice (Freya Hannan-Mills) is a pain. Enter lodger Sian (Jill Halfpenny), who quickly embeds herself into their lives. You can instantly guess why, but it makes for a nicely creepy watch. 

Meet the Richardsons
Dave, 9pm
How much you enjoy this new series of husband-and-wife comedians Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont’s mockumentary will depend on how much you like their schtick, but the gag count is high and it has a terrific line-up of celebrity cameos – tonight’s include Stephen Mangan and Lee Mack. 

Nighthawks (1981) ★★★★
ITV4, 9pm  
Bruce Malmuth’s neo-noir is remembered not only as an excellent homage to the glory days of macho action movies, but as the arrival of Hollywood titan Sylvester Stallone, here starring in his first action role (pre Rocky). Stallone is terrific as Sergeant Deke DaSilva, a gritty New York City cop who must face off against an international terrorist who’s freshly arrived in New York after unleashing a devastating attack on London.

The Two Faces of January (2014) ★★★★
BBC Two, 11.15pm  
The directorial debut of Iranian-born film-maker Hossein Amini, an adaptation of the 1964 Patricia Highsmith novel of the same name. Amini delivers a taut thriller centred on a trio attempting to escape Greece after one of them is implicated in a murder. This is well worth catching for the cast alone: Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst and Oscar Isaac all deliver great performances. The latest Highsmith adaptation – Ripley, starring Andrew Scott – is streaming on Netflix now.

The Martian (2015) ★★★★
BBC One, 11.20pm  
Thanks to a zingy script and a winning lost-in-space performance from Matt Damon, this shows director Ridley Scott at his most fun. A six-person mission to Mars is thrown into disarray when bad weather blows in. Five astronauts, including Jessica Chastain, abort and lift off, leaving Damon’s botanist Mark behind. In scenes that will make a scientist squeal, he must learn how to survive. Also on Friday (BBC Three, 9pm).

Tuesday 9 April

Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo
BBC Four, 10pm & 10.45pm
This gob-smacking four-part documentary charts the rise and fall of Tony and Susan Alamo, the husband and wife televangelists who oversaw one of America’s most notorious cults. Founded in Los Angeles in 1969, the Alamo Christian Foundation lasted for almost 40 years before it was raided by the FBI in 2008. During that time, the pair exacted total dominance over their followers, who had been brainwashed to believe that the Alamos were God’s representatives on Earth. For many, this entailed the devotees working 15-hour days without pay in order to make the couple rich. At its most disturbing, it involved the sexual abuse of children.

Tonight’s opening double-bill tells the story of a match made in hell. Susan’s daughter Christhiaon recalls how, as a child, her mother would fraudulently collect “donations” from church-goers. It was only when she met fellow con-artist Tony, however, that they realised how lucrative faith could be. The most tragic testimonies come from those who were born into the cult. As one former follower puts it: the adults made a choice, their children didn’t. SK

Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr
BBC One, 8pm
This week, the designers find themselves in Sheffield, where their task is to transform a dull grey rental flat into something stylish. What makes this extra tricky is that their designs must also be reversible, so that the renter can reset the decor when they move out. Some take this seriously and use disposable vinyl wrap; others choose to go wild.

Saving Lives at Sea
BBC Two, 8pm
One of the more alarming aspects of Saving Lives at Sea is how dangerous it is to underestimate the coast. Take tonight’s rescue in Queensferry, Scotland, where an American visitor has found himself caught out by a rising tide. Or the group of four in Cornwall stranded on rocks.

Aldi’s Next Big Thing
Channel 4, 8pm
Aldi’s very own knock-off Dragons’ Den reaches bakery week. There are some salivating pitches from suppliers, including flaky Jamaican patties, edible raw cookie dough and an award-winning savoury brioche bun. Which will land the investment?

Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly 
Channel 5, 8pm
Tonight’s episode is themed around difficult dogs who have been rehomed and the challenges facing their new owners. Take Ted: a greyhound who has developed an intense phobia of the hard, shiny floors in his new house. Elsewhere, dog trainer Graeme Hall revisits Simon and Panda, two rehomed Newfoundlands whose fighting used to make their owners’ lives hell. Now, however, it is all puppy love.

Mary & George
Sky Atlantic, 9pm
The penultimate episode of this sharp-witted period drama finds Nicholas Galitzine’s George flirting with disaster. Following last week’s execution of Sir Walter Raleigh (Joseph Mawle), there are riots in the streets; anger that is not quelled by George’s insistence that King James (Tony Curran) open Parliament so he can request more funds.

Royal Autopsy
Sky History, 9pm
The suggested cause of death for Mary I, aka Bloody Mary, was a fever precipitated by melancholy. However, in tonight’s edition of this compellingly odd history show – in which forensic pathologist Dr Brett Lockyer conducts a gruesome autopsy on a replica corpse – presenter (and historian) Alice Roberts argues the case for a bout of Covid-style influenza. Fascinating stuff. 

Doctor Faustus (1968) ★★★
Talking Pictures TV, 11.05pm  
It’s no Cleopatra, but Richard Burton (directing alongside Nevill Coghill, and starring) still manages to enthral alongside wife Elizabeth Taylor. Adapted from Christopher Marlowe’s 1588 play, it follows a professor (Burton) who signs a pact with the Devil. The film is a permanent record of a stage production that Burton starred in and staged with Coghill at the Oxford University Dramatic Society in 1966.

Molly’s Game (2017) ★★★
BBC Two, 11.15pm  
Molly Bloom was on track to be an Olympic skiing champion, until an accident led her to running the most infamous poker game in Hollywood. Aaron Sorkin’s (The West Wing) breezily confident directorial debut adapts Bloom’s tell-all memoir, pitching Jessica Chastain’s Molly as a sexy enigma. She hires Idris Elba’s smooth-talking lawyer to fend off the FBI, but the piano-wire tension of the poker is the main reason to settle in.

Desperado (1995) ★★★
Film4, 11.25pm  
The second instalment in Robert Rodriguez’s Mexico Trilogy stars Antonio Banderas as the former mariachi who seeks revenge on the drug lord who killed his lover. Now he carries a guitar case full of weapons and comes wandering into a new town with only vengeance in his heart. This bigger-budget sequel to Rodriguez’s Spanish film El Mariachi is an exercise in gratuitous violence, but makes for gleeful entertainment.

Wednesday 10 April

Race Across the World
BBC One, 9pm
Sea legs will be essential for the fourth series of this excellent competitive travelogue, as five pairs of Brits must travel from Sapporo, on Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido, to Lombok in Indonesia: a distance of 15,000km, with a £20,000 prize at stake. Bullet trains are also off-limits, much to the bewilderment of well-meaning locals. As the bickering begins over whether to prioritise the race or the experience, much of the fun comes from guessing which will last longer – budgets or relationships? 

Among the contenders are callow but driven 20-year-olds Alfie and Owen, retirees Stephen and Viv, a well-travelled young Yorkshire woman and her laddish brother, plus two mother-and-daughter pairings. The culture shocks come thick and fast: how much bowing should you do at a temple? How costly is a bowl of rice? Why are they making that baby cry? “Obviously a cultural thing, right?” reckons Owen, sagely. But there remains a refreshing lack of cynicism about the project: when the real reason behind the latter is explained, Owen reveals a little of himself in return. Expect minds to be opened, secrets shared and both personal and geographical hurdles overcome over the next nine weeks. GT

NFT: WTF?
Netflix
Not, perhaps, the best moment for a new documentary in which Damien Hirst (caught up in a scandal about the production dates of some of his artworks) discusses the snake-oil industry of Non-Fungible Tokens and its impact on the art world. But David Shulman’s Basquiat: Rags to Riches won a Bafta for the director, so this should dig below the surface of a peculiar modern phenomenon.

The Repair Shop
BBC One, 8pm
A new series of the unlikely prime-time staple, hosted by Jay Blades, begins with the restoration of a Turkish string instrument, a smashed Murano lamp and a pair of cowboy boots belonging to a late drummer to the stars.

Professor T
ITV1, 9pm
Professor T (Ben Miller) faces the music in court as the enjoyably eccentric crime drama continues – the death of a prison officer (and the insistence of one suspect that they are guilty) provides a handy distraction.

Stacey Solomon’s Renovation Rescue
Channel 4, 9pm
No sooner has she finished sorting people’s lives (and cluttered homes) out on BBC One, than Stacey Solomon pops up on Channel 4, riding to the rescue of homeowners abandoned or fleeced by cowboy builders. She encourages an Enfield couple to finish their extension, as well as finding time to work on a project in her own garage.

The Warhol Effect
Sky Arts, 9pm
Damien Hirst (in tonight’s second appearance from the artist) and Julian Schnabel are among those reckoning with the impact and enduring genius of Andy Warhol in Paul Toogood and Lloyd Stanton’s entertaining film. While the 1970s were his relative wilderness years – spent partying and seeking rich patrons – the 1980s saw a renaissance in an era where the commercial and superficial were appreciated like never before. 

The Aunties
BBC One, 10.40pm; Scotland, 11.10pm
Heenan Bhatti’s documentary follows three elderly Asian aunties as they decide to act on their concerns about aspects of their culinary, musical and linguistic culture being eroded among young people in Bradford; they blame social media. Their plan is to run a series of workshops spanning generations to reconnect all concerned with their roots. 

Sumotherhood (2023) ★★★
Paramount+  
Adam Deacon made his name through hyped London dramas Kidulthood (2006) and Adulthood (2008). However, a public rift with director Noel Clarke pushed him to send-up the film’s gangs-obsessed plots in goofy spin-off Anuvahood (2011). This sequel packs in cheap laughs, as well as wacky cameos from Ed Sheeran, Jennifer Saunders… and Jeremy Corbyn.

The Lost City of Z (2016) ★★★★★
Great! Movies, 9pm  
James Gray’s account of Amazonian adventurer Percy Fawcett, who spent much of his adult life searching the rainforests of South America for traces of an ancient, advanced culture, is profound. Fawcett, wonderfully played by Charlie Hunnam, makes three trips over two decades, with the sacrifice of his family, beloved wife Nina (Sienna Miller) and son Jack, becoming the central theme.

Fight Club (1999) ★★★★
Film4, 10.50pm  
Based on Chuck Palahniuk’s much-loved (and imitated) novel, this gripping film directed by David Fincher includes one of Brad Pitt’s most mesmerising performances. He plays the enigmatic Tyler Durden, who, along with Ed Norton’s nameless insomniac, establishes an anti-capitalist network around an underground fight club – the first rule of which is easy to remember. Helena Bonham Carter is also excellent in support.

Thursday 11 April

Fallout
Amazon Prime Video
The phenomenal success of HBO’s The Last of Us, released in 2023, suggested that it was television, not cinema, that was best suited to adapt a video game into a compelling live-action story. The latest attempt to prove that hypothesis is this shiny adaptation of Fallout, a long-running series of video games set hundreds of years after an apocalyptic nuclear war. Although each game is a standalone story, they are connected by shared themes. Namely: satire, a retrofuturist 1950s aesthetic, and a number of cult-like communities, spread across America, that were raised in luxurious underground bunkers. 

Prime Video’s eight-part adaptation (all available today) is developed by Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, and follows upbeat Vault Dweller Lucy (Yellowjackets’ Ella Purnell) as she leaves her shelter and goes in search of her father (Kyle MacLachlan). What she finds is a wasteland of ravaged humanity, where zealots in steel armour fight over resources, and a mutated gunslinger called The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) hunts Lucy for sport. It treads a fine line between stylised and cartoonish, but it does, overall, lack The Last of Us’s heart-wrenching sense of realism and humanity. SK

Baby Reindeer
Netflix
This superb eight-part drama follows the twisted relationship of struggling comedian Donny (Richard Gadd, who is also the creator) and his stalker Martha (Jessica Gunning). It shares producers with fellow black comedy The End of the F***ing World and you can tell. It is just as dark and disturbing, with two fascinating characters at its core.

A Yorkshire Farm 
Channel 5, 7pm
Tonight’s episode is themed around the high-tech advances that have made farmers’ lives easier. A sheep scanner, for instance, can save precious time during lambing season by letting farmers know how many lambs to expect.

Fly Tipping: Britain’s Rubbish Nightmare: Tonight
ITV1, 8.30pm; STV/UTV/Wales, 10.50pm
Councils in England deal with over a million fly-tipping incidents each year, while across the UK two million pieces of litter are dropped every day. In this infuriating edition, presenter Lucy Verasamy asks why so much rubbish is being dumped on our streets and explores what can be done to stop it.

The Apprentice
BBC One, 9pm
It is the week that every puffed-up, jargon-speaking Apprentice candidate dreads: the interview task. This year, their CVs and business plans will be demolished by a panel of familiar faces. Businesswoman Claudine Collins returns after her absence last year, while Mike Soutar, Linda Plant and, of course, the terrifying Claude Littner round out the rest. His damning verdict on one candidate? “Woefully inadequate.”

Alexander McQueen: A Life in Ten Pictures
BBC Two, 9pm
The subject of this week’s A Life in Ten Pictures is the British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, whose vibrant style made him famous around the world before his suicide in 2010. There is a poignant moment towards the end in which his nephew Gary uses a portrait he took of McQueen to talk about the day he died. 

Big Mood
Channel 4, 10pm & 10.35pm
The snappy millennial comedy comes to a close tonight with an emotionally gruelling two-parter. The first episode follows Eddie’s (Lydia West) quest to raise enough money for an abortion. Secondly, Maggie (Nicola Coughlan) attempts to get a grip on her rapidly unravelling mental health before it ruins everything. 

Robinson Crusoe (1954) ★★★★★
Talking Pictures TV, 5.35pm  
When he’s shipwrecked on a desert island, adventurer Robinson Crusoe (Dan O’Herlihy) must find a way to survive using only a few salvaged supplies and weapons. He also rescues a dog and a cat, who keep him company, but loneliness soon overwhelms him – as does fear, when he notices that there are cannibals on the island. Luis Buñuel’s take on Daniel Defoe’s classic novel remains the best.

The Eagle Has Landed (1976) ★★★★
BBC Four, 8.30pm  
A crack team of German paratroopers infiltrate a Norfolk village and try to kidnap Winston Churchill in this war yarn. Michael Caine plays it as straight as he can as a Nazi colonel, alongside an OTT Robert Duvall in an eye-patch, Donald Pleasence as Heinrich Himmler, and Donald Sutherland as an IRA terrorist who falls for Jenny Agutter. You can also catch it on Saturday (BBC Two, 4.25pm).

Julius Caesar (1953, b/w) ★★★★★
BBC Four, 10.40pm  
Joseph L Mankiewicz delivers one of the all-time great Shakespeare adaptations. Louis Calhern is fantastic as the ruthless Roman dictator, but it’s Marlon Brando’s turn as Mark Antony that truly carries the film. Brando earned his third Oscar nomination for Best Actor, but he lost out to William Holden for Stalag 17; indeed the film only won one of its five nominations. Greer Garson co-stars. Also on Sunday (BBC Two, noon).

Friday 12 April

Franklin
Apple TV+
Michael Douglas co-produced and stars as Benjamin Franklin in this slick biopic of the inventor, polymath and, last but not least, US Founding Father. It’s based on Stacy Schiff’s book, A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America, and tells how in December 1776 Franklin travelled to France on a secret mission for his new nation. Remarkably, Franklin convinced monarch Louis XVI to support America’s budding democracy as he negotiated the Franco-American alliance of 1778 – key to America winning the Revolutionary War.

Franklin is presented as a popular hero – “They think I invented electricity,” he tells grandson Temple (Noah Jupe) of the Parisians who mob his carriage – but also as a canny negotiator with the French court, which includes Thibault de Montalembert (Call My Agent!) as minister Comte de Vergennes. Douglas plays the hero as a twinkly grandad, but you’ll certainly learn about a momentous period of history from the other side, as it were. Daniel Mays (as a foppish Edward Bancroft) and Eddie Marsan (John Adams) also star. VL

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Rivers
BBC Two, 7pm; not NI
“Scotland is famous for its rain, which falls 250 days a year,” says Paul Murton by way of introduction. That rain flows into the country’s mighty rivers, and in this new series he follows some of them from source to sea; starting with Aberdeenshire’s 81-mile Don. Along the way he meets Highlanders, artists and black bees. 

Amerigo Vespucci: Forgotten Namesake of America
PBS America, 7.05pm
You will have learnt about Christopher Columbus at school but, the chances are, not about the 15th-century Italian explorer and navigator Amerigo Vespucci, who gave his name to North and South America. This informative documentary  tells the story of his life and how Vespucci discovered the Americas by accident while searching for Asia’s spice islands.

Beyond Paradise
BBC One, 8pm
The winning mix of sleuthing, soap and slapstick continues to make Beyond Paradise a hit. Tonight, DI Humphrey (Kris Marshall) investigates the disappearance of a Catholic priest from a boarding school, as he and Martha (Sally Bretton) await the outcome of their fostering application. Anne (Barbara Flynn), meanwhile, is getting to know her new flame Richard (Peter Davison).

The Coastal Map of Britain
Channel 5, 8pm
This breezy documentary runs through how Britain’s maritime history has shaped our coastal map – from the first international traders arriving in Cornwall to source its precious tin, to the Romans, who established London as a key port.

Pilgrimage: The Road Through North Wales
BBC Two, 9pm
The seven celebrities head towards Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island), where some wet Welsh weather gives space for extra penance – not to mention the fast that some choose to partake in to mark a special Jain festival.

Late Night Lycett
Channel 4, 10pm
A second helping of Joe Lycett on this channel tonight (he is joined by fellow comedian Jessica Fostekew in Travel Man: 48 Hours in Lanzarote at 8.30pm) with a new, six-part series of his free-form celebrity chat show. Expect more silly pranks and daft challenges as the chaos comes live from Birmingham. 

Film of the Week: Oppenheimer (2023) ★★★★★
Sky Cinema Premiere, 8pm; and NOW
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” is the Sanskrit teaching that haunts J Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb”. His work on the Manhattan Project during the Second World War resulted in the total destruction of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagaski, changing the world forever. British director Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk, The Dark Knight trilogy) finally won his first Oscar for Best Director at this year’s ceremony for his dazzling biopic of the theoretical physicist. The film swept the board, winning a total of seven awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (for Cillian Murphy) and Best Supporting Actor (for Robert Downey Jr). Murphy manages to convey every ounce of Oppenheimer’s regret, guilt and fear at the fruits of his genius with just a blink of his eyes or soft gesture. The explosions are stunningly, terrifyingly realised, but it’s the tense courtroom scenes – with Oppenheimer on trial for supposedly “anti-American” views – that keep the film ticking. Other highlights come courtesy of Ludwig Göransson’s gorgeously relentless score, and Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh’s stellar turns in support.

Wedding Crashers (2005) ★★★
ITV2, 9pm  
A romcom that’s heavier on the com than the rom, thankfully, because what there is of the rom is a bit wet. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn play full-time bachelors who gatecrash weddings on a hunt for one-night stands, but eventually find they yearn for true love. Part-goofy, part-deadpan, it makes for perfectly easy going fun to kick off the weekend, and features a scene-stealing turn from Isla Fisher.

The Heat (2013) ★★★★
BBC One, 10.40pm  
Bridesmaids director Paul Feig brings back one of that hit film’s stars, the reliably hilarious Melissa McCarthy, as a foul-mouthed Boston cop whose policing style makes Dirty Harry look like Thumbelina. She’s paired with a goody-two-shoes FBI agent (Sandra Bullock, reminding us what a pro she is at comedy). Together, they’re dynamite; on top of that, the film also has an emotional clout that hits you from nowhere.

The Power of the Dog (2021) ★★★★★
BBC Two, 11.05pm  
Out on the vast Montana plains live the Burbank brothers: George (Jesse Plemons) and older, nastier Phil (a terrifyingly excellent Benedict Cumberbatch); plus Phil’s new wife Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and her shy son Peter (Kodi Smit- McPhee). Jane Campion deservedly won the Best Director Oscar for her searing Western, while Cumberbatch is electrifyingly cast against type.

American Pie 2 (2001) ★★★
Channel 4, 11.05pm  
Set one year after the original hit comedy, the high-school students are now home for the summer. The gang – Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott and the rest – decide to head to Stiffler’s summer house for a non-stop party. Cue wild sex jokes, copious alcohol consumption and outrageous revelations in a film that is both raunchy and gross. Alyson Hannigan and Shannon Elizabeth also return as Michelle and Nadia.

Television previewers

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