Television FRIDAY
FRIDAY 10 MAY
DOCUMENTARY
9.00pm (9.30pm Wales) BBC2 Catch up via iPlayer
Kingston Lacy in Dorset and A la Ronde in Devon couldn’t look more different, but the former owners of both properties flew in the face of convention when they were alive. Adventurer William John Bankes was forced into exile after being caught in a homosexual act that, in the early 19th century, was punishable by hanging. Yet despite knowing he would never see Kingston Lacy again, he kept commissioning beautiful pieces for it, transforming it into an opulent Venetian Renaissance palazzo full of art, gold, marble and obelisks.
Sixty miles down the coast two independent unmarried cousins Mary and Jane Parminter returned from their Grand Tour (unusually for Georgian women they travelled without a male chaperone) to create an extraordinary 16-sided home with a fragile shell gallery. Equally surprising was that Mary’s will stipulated that only unmarried kinswomen could inherit it.
We get a peek inside both places, hearing from the dedicated curators, volunteers and restorers about their work. Seeing the painstaking conservation is as absorbing as watching The Repair Shop… albeit without the emotional stories.
DRAMA
8.00pm (Thu 10.00pm BBC Scotland) BBC1 Catch up: iPlayer
This tendency of DC Davis Lindo to ignore what others tell him and instead do things his way is a quirk he’s obviously inherited from his father. Just witness the moment here when dad Grantley insists that his son’s future lies not in Aberdeen but Jamaica — it’s an intervention that Lindo doesn’t exactly appreciate.
These strained domestic dynamics are the high point of episode two, as the police investigation into what happened on board the Stolthet does unfortunately remain rather leaden. At times, it feels as if Granite Harbour is daytime fare masquerading as primetime drama, though that does a disservice to Father Brown and Hope Street, which have more in the way of charm.
SOAP
8.00pm ITV1 Catch up via ITVX Seven years after being jailed for grooming young girls, Nathan Curtis is free and back in Weatherfield. Bethany is understandably anxious to see her abuser, whose return happens to coincide with the disappearance of a vulnerable teenager. Joining the dots, Bethany is convinced Nathan has murdered Lauren and confronts him with her theory. Could Nathan turn out to be Lauren’s mystery boyfriend who showered her with gifts?
It will be interesting, and controversial, if Corrie is planning a redemption arc for Nathan now he’s served his time. Whatever the reasons for this comeback, prepare to feel unease at Christopher Harper’s magnetic, unsettled performance.
TRAVEL
8.00pm Channel 5 Catch up: My5 John Sergeant, Peter Davison
