TV guide: Royal babies, Eurovision and psychedelic drug trials among highlights for week starting May 15
| Published date | 15 May 2021 |
| Publication title | WalesOnline (Wales) |
On Demand
Run the World StarzPlay, from Sun
Before fans of 1980s' pop music get excited, this new series is nothing to do with Tears for Fears’ re-recorded, charity fundraising version of their 1985 hit Everybody Wants to Rule the World. In fact, it couldn’t be further from that if it tried. Set in Harlem, the drama follows a group of smart, funny and vibrant thirty-something women who are best friends.
In each episode we’ll see them navigating career highs and lows, relationship problems and the rest of life’s big issues. Amber Stevens West stars as a perfectionist who tries to play by the rules, while Andrea Bordeaux is the romantic Ella, Bresha Webb breathes life into vivacious, newly divorced diva Renee, and Corbin Reid portrays Sondi, who begins to re-evaluate her personal and career priorities.
Trying Apple TV+, from Fri
Rafe Spall and Esther Smith return as Jason and Nikki for the second series of the hit sitcom; the great news is a third has already been commissioned. The opening run saw the couple struggle to conceive, prompting them to turn to adoption as their best hope of starting a family. Nikki and Jason have now been approved by the adoption panel, but finding the perfect match is proving difficult – it begins to feel as if all the children they have a connection to are being snapped up by other couples.
However, Nikki meets a little girl called Princess and falls instantly in love. Unfortunately, persuading others she should become their daughter proves difficult. Ophelia Lovibond, Oliver Chris and Darren Boyd co-star alongside Imelda Staunton, who reprises her scene-stealing role as Penny, an eccentric social worker.
1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything Apple TV+, from Fri
Many of us probably think that when it comes to revolutionary music and groundbreaking popular culture, the 1960s stand head and shoulders above every other decade. Some would argue that 1967, with its summer of love and the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper album, provides its pivotal moments.
However, the makers of this new documentary series believe that 1971 was the key year, and they’re determined to prove it. Asia Kapadia and James Gay-Rees’ previous projects include the acclaimed Amy and Senna, and now they’re turning their attention to how iconic artists such as The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, The Who, Joni Mitchell and others used the events going on around them to create influential music that still resonates half a century later.
Army of the Dead Netflix, from Fri
Justice League and Man of Steel director Zack Snyder temporarily leaves behind the superhero/comic-book world to make a zombie heist action thriller. It’s something of a personal project – he devised the original story and co-wrote the script with Shay Hatten and Joby Harold.
Dave Bautista heads the cast as Scott Ward, a former war hero who is set a lucrative although dangerous task – to infiltrate a zombie-infested quarantine zone inside what was Las Vegas. Once there, he and his ragtag band of accomplices must break into a vault hidden beneath the Strip to retrieve the $200 million hidden there. Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick and Hiroyuki Sanada co-star. A prequel to the project, Army of Thieves, is currently in production, as is Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, an animated TV series spin-off.
Solos Amazon Prime, from Fri
Even if the premise doesn’t immediately grab you, the cast of this new anthology series should make you want to watch – Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Helen Mirren, Anthony Mackie and Dan Stevens are amongst its biggest names, while such acclaimed directors as Zach Braff and Sam Taylor-Johnson take charge of the some of its seven episodes.
It’s a sci-fi series described as a dramatic and thought-provoking show exploring the deeper meaning of human connection via individual stories. “I am beyond thrilled to be bringing Solos to life alongside this group of artists who I so deeply admire,” says showrunner David Weil. “I created this piece with a desire to capture stories about connection, hope and the search for that common hum of humanity.”
Saturday, 15/5/2021
MOTD Live: FA Cup Final BBC1, 4.15pm
During these times of empty stadiums and talk of a breakaway super leagues, one thing that thankfully hasn’t changed is the magic of the FA Cup. From Merseyside minnows Marine FC of the eighth tier hosting Jose Mourinho’s eight-time winners Tottenham Hotspur, to Crawley Town beating Leeds United, the world-famous cup competition never disappoints. MOTD presenter and former Leicester City striker Gary Lineker will have his unashamedly biased hat on today as his beloved Foxes take on Chelsea at Wembley Stadium. While Brendan Rodgers’ side are heading to their first FA Cup final since 1969, Thomas Tuchel’s Blues have reached the showpiece match in four of the last five seasons and also have a UEFA Champions League final to look forward to at the end of this month.
Alan Carr’s Epic Gameshow – Celebrity Special ITV, 7.30pm
Following a revamped version of Name That Tune last month, Alan returns with an all-star edition of the classic musical game show. I’m a Celeb star Shane Richie, joins another former EastEnders actor Richard Blackwood, along with presenters Gabby Logan and Vick Hope, as the quartet attempt to identify songs played by a house band. The star who can name the most in the shortest time possible will get the chance to win a £25,000 jackpot for a charity of their choice. As before, ubiquitous singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor pulls up a stool at the piano.
John Lennon: A Life in Ten Pictures BBC2, 9pm
Four decades after his passing, Lennon remains a towering cultural figure, one whose influence on everything from popular music to peace initiatives resonates to this day. The latest edition of this documentary series looks back at the former Beatle’s life via 10 memorable images, with the significance of the photos and the circumstances of their taking discussed by those who were there and who knew him best. It’s a journey that took him from a difficult childhood in Liverpool via the German city of Hamburg to international stardom with the Beatles, peace campaigning with his second wife, the avant-garde artist Yoko Ono, and a tragic death outside his home in New York City in December 1980.
Charles & Harry: Father & Son Divided C5, 9pm
Royal commentators and experts look back on key moments in the lives of Prince Charles and his younger son Harry to chart the development of their relationship from its earliest days during the break-up of Charles’s marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales. They examine moments of crisis throughout the Duke of Sussex’s life to explore what more could his father have done for him, and ask what the pair can do to resolve their current estrangement in the wake of the explosive Oprah Winfrey interview in...
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