Television WEDNESDAY
WEDNESDAY 15 MAY
DOCUMENTARY
Secrets and Spies: a Nuclear Game
9.00pm BBC2 Full series via iPlayer now
The raw facts of 1980s Cold War spying are bizarre enough to fill any number of series. Where this one succeeds is in evoking the atmosphere of the era so well that you can almost smell the stale cigarettes.
Tonight’s episode kept reminding me of brilliant 1980s-set spy drama The Americans —all big glasses, boxy cars and paranoia. That seems deliberate, as does having Saskia Reeves narrating, so we get awhiff of Slow Horses, too. There are clips of Ronald Reagan’s folksy speeches and Margaret Thatcher preparing adiplomatic dinner (“Where’s my splendid gold salver?”). There’s ashot of Yuri Andropov’s funeral, where his coffin goes by on akind of Communist Batmobile.
It all brings the period to life, and there are revealing interviews, too, including audio from key double-agent Oleg Gordievsky. He helped lay the ground for Mikhail Gorbachev’s pivotal visit to Britain in 1984. Beforehand, Thatcher’s aides were concerned the pair might not hit it off. As Malcolm Rifkind recalls, “Mrs Thatcher wasn’t exactly abundle of fun...”
CRAFT
8.00pm BBC1 Catch up via iPlayer At first glance, the battered old notebook belonging to Claire’s late grandmother merely contains handwritten recipes. That’s nice enough, but, remarkably, hidden among the recipes for lemon cake and ginger parkin are radio equipment diagrams and notes about code-breaking secrets that helped the Enigma team at Bletchley Park. For bookbinder Chris Shaw, there are “hold your breath kind of moments” as he gently restores the fragile item.
Meanwhile, Dominic Chinea attempts to make a 1760 fire engine pump work again. Charmingly, and this is so typical of all the experts’ respectful attitude, he immediately thanks Geoffrey, who wants to use it as afund-raiser for his village, “for trusting me with it”.
FOOD
8.00pm BBC2 Catch up via iPlayer
LAST IN SERIES
As an impoverished single mother some years ago in Notting Hill, west London, Andi Oliver found community support vital. For the final programme of this heart-warming series, she returns to her roots to see whether the area —always one of stark contrasts — still has astrong community spirit. It does: aSicilian café generously feeds locals for nothing once every month and acentre provides vital help to women in need.
It’s an emotional visit for Oliver and her daughter Miquita as they put on abanging celebration for the community, fuelled by kindness and delicious food, in the shadow of Trellick Tower. JR
REALITY
9.00pm BBC1 Catch up via iPlayer What’s the worst thing that could happen to you when you’re travelling? Leavin
