Thu 18 Jul 2024

 

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What’s on TV tonight: Channel 4 thriller Suspect returns for series two

Also, Danny Dyer leads new Sky comedy Mr Bigstuff and Andrew Marr picks his favourite spy novels

Pick of the day: Suspect

9pm and 9.30pm, Channel 4

Dominic Cooper’s Jon arrives with a box of doughnuts at Dr Susannah Newman’s door claiming he needs to quit smoking. Anne-Marie Duff’s shrink suggests hypnosis but why can’t she see how creepy Jon is? The mention of flesh, for instance, his mother’s hands and the doughnuts, for crying out loud. Under hypnosis, Jon admits he’s a serial killer and is intent on killing another young woman. Newman calls her former lover, Detective Superintendent Richard Grove (Ben Miller), but he’s no use in this gripping second series.

Kirstie and Phil’s Love It Or List It: Brilliant Builds

8pm, Channel 4

Presumably, Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer will do this forever. Replaced by avatars at some stage perhaps? In Hall Green, Nikki and Bash’s three-bed, one-bath house was no longer fit for their family of five. Allsopp had concerns over their £100,000 budget and wanted them to avoid overspending, but do they heed her advice? Do they ever.

Great British Home Restoration

9pm, More4

And don’t put the toolbox away just yet. “I’ve got such fond memories of my childhood and that’s what I want for my children,” maintains Sarah, a paediatric nurse, married to Anthony, an architect. The pair grew up in rural Wales before moving to London, and now in their thirties and with a growing family, the lure of the countryside is calling. A chance opportunity to buy a derelict and cavernous threshing barn in Herefordshire, surrounded by acres of beautiful English and Welsh countryside, has ignited their passion to take on a spectacular build and renovation project.

Mr Bigstuff A six-part comedy about estranged brothers Glen (Ryan Sampson) and Lee, played by Danny Dyer in his TV comedy debut. Mr Bigstuff is a relatable comedy created by Sampson, that explores broken families, brotherhood, manhood and carpet sales. Glen and his fianc??e Kirsty share a perfect, perfectly mundane life together. Sure, Glen???s got crippling erectile dysfunction and Kirsty (Harriet Webb) has a secret shoplifting habit, but they???re happy. That is until Lee comes crashing into their lives, whilst on the run from a past that???s quickly catching up with him. The trio are forced together: a perfectionist, a fantasist and an anarchist all living under the same roof in an Essex cul-de-sac. It???s not long before their ???perfect??? lives start to unravel faster than the weave of a cheap carpet. Cast: Ryan Sampson, Danny Dyer, Harriet Webb, Adrian Scarborough, Fatiha El Ghorri, Ned Dennehy, Victoria Alcock, Geoff Bell, Nitin Ganatra, Judi Love and more. The series will air on Sky and on streaming service NOW during Spring 2024.
Ryan Sampson as Glen and Danny Dyer as Lee in Mr Bigstuff (Photo: Rob Baker Ashton/Sky)

Mr Bigstuff

9pm and 9.30pm, Sky Max

“Kill him? I just gave him a cheese twist and a flapjack…” Danny Dyer’s gnarly Lee informs his brother Glen (Ryan Sampson). Lee has Glen’s boss, Ian (Adrian Scarborough), tied up in the back of his car. Glen, a slightly meek carpet salesman, is engaged to Kirsty (Harriet Webb), but suffers from erectile dysfunction (“It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it?”), while his unhinged brother is on the run and staying with the Essex couple. This manic, foul-mouthed comedy is worth it alone for the mismatched brothers’ spoon dance routine to M People’s “Movin’ on Up”.

Sleuths, Spies and Sorcerers: Andrew Marr’s Paperback Heroes

9pm, BBC Four

In this series about the books that we “really” read, Marr explores the espionage genre – arguing that the British examples of it allow readers to engage with big questions about the human condition. The conventions of writing about spies are gleaned from Frederick Forsyth, William Boyd, Gerald Seymour, Charles Cumming and former MI5 director general Dame Stella Rimington. Marr travels to Berlin in the footsteps of John le Carré, whose experience of witnessing the Wall being erected in 1961 inspired him to write his masterpiece, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.

Women Under Hitler’s Flag

9pm, PBS America

It’s the second part of Christiane Ratiney’s terrifying look at the role women played during the Nazi regime, and we’ve reached 1942 and the “Final Solution”. Women, far from being mere witnesses or accomplices, played a role as important as it was deadly.

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