The ten best TV shows of the week
What to watch over the next seven days
Time Out's critics steer you through the TV listings guide with reviews of the best shows over the next seven days, from big dramas and reality shows to cult comedies and documentaries. National talking point or hidden gem – we've got it covered. For full listings and five daily picks, cycle through the days by using the tabs on the grid at www.timeout.com/tv.
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Storyville: From the Sea to the Land Beyond
Rating: 4/5Sun Nov 18, 9-10.15pm, BBC4Award-winning director Penny Woolcock has pieced together a poetic, often hypnotic montage of over 100 years of black-and-white and colour BFI archive footage, chronicling our symbiotic and enduring connection with the British coast. From promenading Edwardians in big hats and holidaymakers larking about on chilly beaches, to the effect of industry and war on the landscape, it’s a poignant, meditative film. There’s no narration, so you may find yourself hankering for subtitles to place scenes, but persist: the sweeping soundtrack by Brighton band British Sea Power – punctuated by occasional silences, seaside sounds, news reports and old songs – is rousing, affecting and in tune with the visuals. Simultaneously nostalgic for – and disconnected from – a more gentle time, it’s a film of understated beauty with a hint of Dunkirk spirit. Debra Waters
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Him and Her
Rating: 4/5Sun Nov 18, 10-11pm, BBC3A very welcome new series for this still-life of a domestic sitcom which – if it didn’t feel like damning with faint praise – could easily be described as the jewel in BBC3’s crown. So little happens in an average episode of ‘Him and Her’ that the format becomes almost audacious. Tonight, Becky has a hangover which, along with a visit from the ever-tiresome Laura and Paul and the usual looming presence of Dan, conspires to prevent Steve from presenting the wedding ring which he has hidden in the plastic bag cupboard. But despite this potentially rather significant development, the plotting feels happily beside the point – this is carried by the spot-on, naturalistic dialogue and likeable, intuitive performances from leads Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani. Phil Harrison
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Four Born Every Second
Rating: 4/5Mon Nov 18, 10.35-11.35pm, BBC1The pain and joy of childbirth is universal. But that’s where the similarities end and the crushing hand of economic pre-destination intervenes. This affecting, occasionally gruelling film uses maternity and infant mortality as a mechanism for analysing global inequality. And while surprises are few – inevitably a council house in England is going to compare favourably with a hut in Sierra Leone – the facts alone are enough to make this an incredibly pertinent polemic. The most eloquent spokesman is a Médecins Sans Frontières doctor in Sierra Leone who – shortly after we’ve watched a mother and child die on his operating table – points out how obvious and unarguable the need for global wealth redistribution is and how reluctant the developed world seems to make even the tiniest of sacrifices. Often difficult viewing but well worth the effort. Phil Harrison
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Last Tango in Halifax
Rating: 4/5Tue Nov 20, 9-10pm, BBC1The titular allusion to Brando, butter and anonymous ’70s sex is the worst thing about this new eight-part romantic comedy starring Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid. Widowed and in their seventies, a pair of Yorkshire wrinklies reconnect on Facebook having once fancied each other in their teens. Thankfully few obvious gags are made at the expense of these ‘silver surfers’, with the scenes featuring them messaging each other proving particularly well handled. There’s also a canny nod to Jacobi’s RSC pedigree when his character Alan Buttershaw quotes Shakespeare in a casual, almost unknowing way. Trying to avoid it becoming ‘As Time Goes By 2.0’ though, writer Sally Wainwright puts their respective kids and grandkids through some particularly wild and eyebrow-raising dramas – including lesbian flings among teachers, drunk one-night stands and even the odd unexplained death. It works though, and this first episode nicely sets up a series that could end up becoming an unlikely source of rather cheeky and subversive fun on BBC1. Oliver Keens
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Supersized Earth
Rating: 4/5Wed Nov 21, 8-9pm, BBC1Much more than just a ‘world’s biggest buildings’ effort, this three-part documentary investigates the remarkable engineering feats that shape our cities and accommodate the world’s growing population. And it’s a beautiful thing. The use of computer graphics and stop-motion photography is effective: the walls fall away from skyscrapers to reveal the millions crammed inside, a city builds itself in a matter of seconds (it actually took 30 years; the city, Shanghai is revealed as a sort of Ikea flat-pack of a settlement). Presenter Dallas Campbell braves the heights and depths of the manmade world, cleaning windows on the world’s tallest building and diving into the sewers of Mexico City. Rather him than us. It’s a fascinating look at the accomplishments of our modern world that is visually inventive and well put together. Claire Winter
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Bring Me Morecambe & Wise
Rating: 4/5Wed Nov 21 9-10pm, GOLDMorecambe and Wise could bring a smile to the face of a coma patient. Their much-imitated, never-bettered brand of music-hall surrealism has aged remarkably well – it’s no real surprise that we’re still celebrating this inventive, inclusive and incredibly good-natured double act. This five-part series is an unabashed wallow in their finest moments and also digs a few unfamiliar morsels out of the vaults. For example, the deathless ‘Andrew Preview’ routine was first performed almost a decade earlier, before being refined into the tour-de-force of Christmas TV-defining tomfoolery that we know and love. One minor caveat; the celebrity reaction shots are truly superfluous – we know Eric and Ern are funny and we don’t need to watch David Baddiel or Tamsin Greig laughing at them to have that confirmed. Still, overall, sunshine can consider itself well and truly brought. Phil Harrison
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The Aristocrats
Rating: 3/5Thu Nov 22 9-10pm, C4What with the cabinet and now the post of Archbishop of Canterbury being the preserve of old Etonians, it would be easy to assume that the British aristocracy was in the rudest of health. But apparently, that’s not the case. This series begins at Blenheim Palace where, amid the heritage trappings and scuttling servants, trouble seems to be brewing. It mainly centres around shambling former drug addict and jailbird Jamie Blandford, who may or may not be charged with maintaining the palace upon the passing of his disapproving father. This premise promises all manner of dysfunctional posho hi-jinks but, disappointingly, the reality is more prosaic. Blandford was last seen on TV refusing to sleep outdoors in 2009’s ‘Famous, Rich and Homeless’. This incident indicated that, for all of his issues, certain aspects of Blandford’s privileged upbringing held fast. And this film confirms it – the errant son actually seems quite keen to take over the running of the family seat and, eventually, his father seems inclined to let him. This leaves us with a mildly intriguing insight into the rigours of maintaining an English country house, but not much else. Phil Harrison
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The Joy of the Single
Rating: 4/5Fri Nov 23, 9-10pm, BBC4It’s nearly gone now. But it was a realm in which Joy Division could face off against the Wurzels and the victor wasn’t certain. It was often your first proper possession, your first genuine attempt at self-definition. In this documentary, various talking heads – including Jack White and Brian Wilson – listen to the first singles they ever bought. They all sing along and some even enact them. It’s oddly beautiful and prompts the thought that this is the closest most of us will ever get to time travel. Inevitably, the film has a melancholy tang – we move on from the sacred iconography of the vinyl seven inch, through CD singles to the downloaded present. It’s unashamedly nostalgic and might be baffling for anyone under 25. But hey, their loss. If you’re in the mood for more rose-tinted backwards-facing, hang on for ‘Ultimate Number Ones’ which follows. Phil Harrison
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4 Funnies: Dr Brown
Rating: 4/5Fri Nov 23, 11.05-11.35pm, C4Anyone who’s seen Dr Brown’s live work, including his triumphant Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning show this year, will be slightly taken aback by his TV pilot. He speaks! Brown – the clowning creation of American Phil Burgers – is largely silent on stage, performing slow-burning mime pieces with an unnerving edge. His small-screen debut is a bundle of short, snappy, subtle sketches, many taken from his ‘Comedy Blaps’ series on the C4 website. Some skits are wordy, others not, but they’re all brilliantly bizarre. We meet an upbeat hippy skateboarder, an emotionally unstable jogger, a jibberish-speaking Kimono-warring nuisance and many unsettling relationships. Much like his live work, the punchlines are often odd and unexpected, with his understated delivery and superb physical comedy skills raising the biggest laughs. Let’s hope C4 gives Burgers a series; having been silent for so long, he must have plenty more to say. Ben Williams
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The Killing III
Rating: 4/5Sat Nov 24, 9-10pm, BBC4In plotting terms, this feels like the most complex of the three series. Against the backdrop of grim austerity, Lund, Brix and Borch are looking in numerous directions at once: prosecutors, pathologists, corrupt businessmen, parents, economic migrants and even Prime Ministers could all be at the root of the disappearance of Emilie Zeuthen. In addition to the kidnapping, there’s a nicely drawn thread running through this series involving parental responsibility. Lund has let her struggles with her son distract her at crucial moments. Equally, might the Zeuthen family be partially the architects of their own misfortune too? Four episodes in (part four follows at 10pm), it remains impossible to say where this might be going. But ‘The Killing’ sustains its dramatic dynamics to a remarkable degree. Probably a show calling it a day at the right time. But boy are we going to miss it when it’s gone. Phil Harrison
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