Putin’s Russia with David Dimbleby
BBC One, 9.00pm, Wales, 11.05pm
“In a democracy if you fail to deliver on economic promises, if you surround yourself with cronies and use the law to suppress opposition, you would rightly be thrown out on your ear. But this is Russia, they do things differently here…” So begins David Dimbleby’s thoughtful film in which – as the eyes of the world turn towards Moscow for the 2018 World Cup football tournament – he takes the opportunity to cast an eye over Vladimir Putin’s 18 years as leader and assess the state of Russia today, especially in regard to the West.
What he finds is a country in deep economic crisis yet with a people that seem to happily hero-worship Putin and mostly accept a state machine that controls almost every aspect of their lives with the willing assistance of security services, media, military and church.
Dimbleby meets ordinary contented Russians as well as protesters, human rights lawyers, journalists and official spokespeople, coming away with a sense, ultimately, that Putin’s popularity is rooted in his strongman image and media-backed levels of suspicion and hostility towards the West unseen since the end of the Cold War. Gerard O’Donovan
The Fight for Women’s Bodies
BBC Three, from 10.00am
Following the landmark vote to legalise abortion in the Republic of Ireland, Ellie Flynn looks back at the issues through the eyes of campaigners on both sides.
Great Rail Restorations with Peter Snow
Channel 4, 8.00pm
Here is a visit to the Isle of Wight, where Peter Snow and his team set out to restore an 1864 wooden train carriage that has served as a holiday chalet since it was decommissioned in the Twenties.
Before Grenfell: A Hidden History
BBC Two, 9.00pm
A year since the Grenfell Tower fire, residents of Kensington relate how the London borough has become the most unequal place in Britain, with the gap between rich and poor once again as extreme as in the 1860s when developers first built housing for the rich in Notting Hill next to the worst slum in London.
Can Science Make Me Perfect? With Alice Roberts
BBC Four, 9.00pm
Millions of years have gone into the human body: lots of great evolutionary adaptations but lots of imperfections, too. In a film that’s as entertaining as it is instructive, anatomist Alice Roberts takes on a challenge to design a better body than the one we get at birth.
The Fast Fix: Diabetes
ITV, 9.00pm
Anita Rani presents a new two-part series exploring whether it is possible for people suffering from type 2 diabetes to reverse the condition by adhering to a radical diet. By consuming just 800 calories a day, can they “fast themselves better”? Concludes tomorrow
Big Beasts: Last of the Giants
Sky One, 9.00pm
Biologist Patrick Aryee explores why size matters in the natural world. Beginning in the Americas, he checks out the planet’s largest predator, the sperm whale; comes face to face with a grizzly bear and gets rather too close to an anaconda that’s as long as a bus. GO
How to Start an Airline
Channel 4, 10.30pm
This documentary follows Bangladeshi-British entrepreneur Kazi Shafiqur Rahman as he attempts to break into the fiercely competitive airline industry while also fulfilling the demands of his faith by insisting that the airline must comply with the teachings of Islam. GO
Regarding Henry (1991) ★★☆☆☆
Film4, 6.50pm
Telling the story of a hotshot lawyer (Harrison Ford) who learns to question his values after a head injury, this film formed a companion piece to Wolf (1994), with Jack Nicholson as a publisher who is bitten by a wolf and turns into a boardroom predator. Directed by Mike Nichols, whose Oscar-winning movie The Graduate was a cinematic landmark of the 1960s, it’s a bit of an embarrassment, but interesting nevertheless.
Source Code (2011) ★★★★☆
ITV4, 10.00pm
Jake Gyllenhaal repeatedly finds himself reliving the last eight minutes in the life of a man on board a train which is about to be destroyed by a bomb as part of an experiment. Meanwhile, scientists Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright are monitoring Gyllenhaal’s exploits. Duncan Jones confirmed the promise of his directing debut Moon with this thrilling whodunit, which also serves as a moving meditation on life.
Beetlejuice (1988) ★★★★☆
Syfy, 10.00pm
Michael Keaton is an actor of rare versatility (as his triumphant role in Birdman proved). In this cult, Oscar-winning film by Tim Burton, Keaton shines as a con artist ghost called Beetlejuice, who aims to help two other ghosts (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) to scare the obnoxious new residents out of their old house. But he then falls for lovely goth Lydia (Winona Ryder), the family’s daughter.
Thursday 14 June
FIFA World Cup 2018: Opening Ceremony
ITV, 2.30pm
Regardless of how you think Russia got to be awarded the 21st staging of football’s biggest tournament (by corrupt means or otherwise), it’s time to cast those aspersions aside because the Russia 2018 championship is here.
But, two hours before a ball is kicked, the opening ceremony marks the official start of the highest prize in football. And as we all know, entertaining opening ceremonies can be a great curtain-raiser for sport events, if they are done well – think the London 2012 Olympics.
This one takes place at the 80,000-seat Luzhniki Stadium, which is the jewel in Russia’s crown of stadiums and will also host the final on July 15. Mark Pougatch presents the live coverage of the ceremony, which is headlined by actor and rapper Will Smith and Nicky Jam, who will perform Live It Up, the official World Cup song, which has received mixed reviews. As well as that, the ceremony will include local performers showing off different aspects of Russian culture, with gymnasts and trampolinists in among the fireworks and performances on display.
The matches get under way following the ceremony with the host nation against Saudi Arabia. Clive Morgan
Britain’s Best Home Cook
BBC One, 8.00pm
While the BBC’s post-Bake Off cookery contest may not have set the world alight, it’s given the judges plenty to get their teeth into. This week, it’s the final, and three challenges stand between the contestants and the title: a summer favourite, their best main course and a pudding.
Springwatch 2018
BBC Two, 8.00pm
After three weeks of cute animals, Springwatch comes to an end with Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan and co reliving this year’s best moments at Sherborne Park Estate.
The Trouble with Women with Anne Robinson
BBC One, 9.00pm
As a journalist and TV presenter, Anne Robinson shattered the glass ceiling as she built her career. She imagined that now, 50 years later, we’d be much closer to achieving equality than we are. With the ongoing discussions about gender pay, Robinson asks women around the UK what’s preventing parity?
Inside HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs
Channel 5, 9.00pm
Wormwood Scrubs has had some infamous inmates: from serial killers Ian Brady and Peter Sutcliffe to rockers Pete Docherty and Keith Richards. This documentary exploring the prison’s history tells the stories of a Soviet spy who escaped from the jail and its best-known inmate, Charles Bronson. CM
Missions
BBC Four, 10.00pm and 10.20pm
The absorbing French sci-fi drama about the first manned mission to Mars concludes with its final double header. This week, psychiatrist Jeanne (Hélène Viviès) discovers the reason behind cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov’s (Arben Bajraktaraj) mission.
I Am Evidence
Sky Atlantic, 10.10pm
Even though Mariska Hargitay spent almost 20 years as crime fighter Olivia Benson in Law & Order: SVU, nothing prepared her for what she was to learn in real life. In this shocking documentary, Hargitay investigates the flaws in the US justice system that have allowed tens of thousands of rape kits to go untested for years. It’s a tough film to watch at times, especially as it highlights the issue through deeply personal and harrowing, first-person accounts from four women whose attacks are still fresh in their minds decades after the assaults due to a lack of closure. “I felt like my body was a crime scene,” one of the women recalls. CM
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) ★★★☆☆
Comedy Central, 9.00pm
Will Ferrell fans will need little encouragement to lap up this affectionate send-up of Nascar racing, redneck culture and male bonding. Ferrell pays a Nascar speed-demon who is challenged by a gay, French Formula One driver (Sacha Baron Cohen), to see who is the ultimate racer. It’s a full throttle comedy that plays to Ferrell’s strengths.
The Hills Have Eyes (2006) ★★★☆☆
Horror Channel, 9.00pm
French director Alexandre Aja makes his Hollywood debut with this grim but gripping remake of Wes Craven’s semi-cult horror film about a family battling a brood of mutants in the New Mexico desert. Aja ups the visceral violence, and the characters – including Ted Levine and Kathleen Quinlan as the parents – are sufficiently well-drawn to make the outcome shocking.
The Ghost (2010) ★★★★☆
ITV4, 9.00pm
Ewan McGregor plays a talented ghost writer, who lands a lucrative contract to edit the memoirs of Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), the former UK Prime Minister, in this Roman Polanski adaptation of the Robert Harris novel. Soon after, Lang is accused of committing a war crime and the Ghost finds himself drawn into a world of dangerous secrets that put his life at risk. This is a deeply unsettling thriller.
Friday 15 June
Building Britain’s Canals
Channel 5, 8.00pm
His tattoos may have a nerdish medieval theme, but historian Dan Jones still seems too hip to be fronting a stuffy-sounding series about Britain’s iconic canals. Jones’s lively style and eye for interesting detail, however, keeps this subject surprisingly fresh, as he begins this three-part run with a look at the Grand Union Canal, the longest stretch of man-made waterway in Britain.
It’s a story that reaches back 200 years, when the demands of the Industrial Revolution called for a speedy way to move goods between Birmingham and London, and the country’s engineering super-brains found ingenious means to link seven separate channels into one connected flow.
As Jones explains, while the financial benefits were big, construction of the Grand Union was time consuming and dangerous. The 12-year stop-start struggle to complete the technically complex Blisworth Hill tunnel, for example, saw the deaths of up to 60 workers. Unable to compete with the advent of the speedy steam train, the Grand Union itself soon declined too. The canal is now a source of summertime pleasure, so this is a welcome reminder of its once vital purpose. Toby Dantzic
Queer Eye
Netflix, from today
The success of this heart-warming makeover series, which returned to much acclaim earlier this year, was something of a surprise. Netflix then have been quick to capitalise, snappily rolling out another run barely four months later, with the likeable quintet all returning for more lifestyle revamping. Details are so far scant, but the show’s culture guru Karamo Brown has hinted that women and the trans community could be featured.
World Cup 2018: Portugal v Spain
BBC One, 6.20pm
The pick of this week’s World Cup matches happens on day two at the Fisht Stadium in Sochi and comes from Group B. Expect a tense affair as Spain, who suffered the ignominy of failing to make it to the knockout rounds four years ago, take on their bitter rivals Portugal.
The Crystal Maze: Celebrity Special
Channel 4, 9.00pm
Former footballer Dennis Wise heads the team of celebrity hopefuls, joined by Katie Price, Roman Kemp, Bez and Binky Felstead.Wise struggles with a fiendish skill game, while a number-based challenge sets Felstead’s head spinning.
Cruising with Jane McDonald
Channel 5, 9.00pm
Jane McDonald wraps up her Antipodean adventure in New Zealand’s North Island. She rubs noses with a Maori tribe in Napier, explores Rotorua’s dramatic geothermal landscapes and views Auckland’s skyline from a helicopter.
Tracey Breaks the News
BBC One, 9.40pm
This is a final bout of topical treats from veteran impressionist Tracey Ullman. Favourites Angela Merkel and Rupert Murdoch get a look in, alongside more takes on Jeremy Corbyn, Michael Gove and Nanny, the dedicated carer of Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Africa: A Journey Into Music
BBC Four, 10.00pm
Apart from the occasional act on Later… with Jools Holland, world music doesn’t get much airtime on our TVs, so this beguiling series helmed by DJ Rita Ray offers a welcome insight into its traditions. For her final foray, Ray heads to Mali, home to more Grammy award-winning artists than any other African country. From her attempts at a sinuous wedding dance to meeting renowned harp player Toumani Diabaté, Ray’s journey is full of stirring encounters. TD
Dale Winton’s Florida Fly Drive
Channel 5, 10.00pm
A fitting reminder of Dale Winton’s easy-going charm, this swansong travelogue series resumes after a hiatus with our host in ocean-front Miami. Highlights include a trip to Little Havana, the city’s Cuban quarter, and a look at fashion designer Versace’s opulent former home. TD
Blade Runner 2049 (2017) ★★★☆☆
Sky Cinema Premiere, 8.00pm
In a similar but distinct way to Ridley Scott’s masterful original, Blade Runner 2049 mulls one of the meatiest questions around: is surface all that there is, or do life’s currents run deeper than the things we can see, hear and touch? Denis Villeneuve’s film toys with both options, making neither a comfort – and in the process, maps out a provocative blockbuster. Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford star.
Red (2010) ★★★☆☆
Film4, 9.00pm
A starry line-up of actors of pensionable age is the attraction of this light-hearted adaptation of Warren Ellis’s graphic novel, and it’s hard to resist Helen Mirren with a submachine gun. RED stands for “Retired Extremely Dangerous”, which is what the CIA has labelled former agents Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Mirren, who team up to find out who has marked them for assassination, and why.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) ★★★★★
Channel 4, 11.40pm
Soaked in sex, drugs and scandal, Martin Scorsese’s epic is based on the memoir of stockbroker Jordan Belfort, who spent the Nineties illegally amassing a vast personal fortune. With a fantastic performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, this morally bankrupt romp was lauded by audiences and critics alike. Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie co-star.
Television previewers
Toby Dantzic, Sarah Hughes, Gerard O'Donovan, Vicki Power and Gabriel Tate