TV for Saturday, August 15
Fall of Japan in Colour is a vivid documentary with imagery to match.Credit:
FALL OF JAPAN IN COLOUR
★★★
5.30pm, SBS
Unlike the photograph above, the vision captured by British World War II correspondent William Courtenay on his colour movie camera offers vivid insight into the American Pacific campaign. Making full use of his precious footage, this documentary charts this part of the war, taking in events and battles in Borneo, New Guinea and the Philippines. The final scene, captured after the Fall of Japan, is an incredibly striking historical moment.
Stan Lee, comic-book mastermind.Credit:Reed Saxon
ROBERT KIRKMAN’S SECRET HISTORY OF COMICS
New series ★★★½
8.30pm, SBS Viceland
Using drawings in the comic-book style to illustrate the creative partnership of Marvel’s Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, this first instalment of a series exploring the genre is a fascinating look at the industry at a pivotal time in American social history. The reasons why writer Lee’s name is better known than that of his illustrator collaborator are explained. Also covered is how the pair shifted their readership from children to college kids, and how Kirby was apparently mistreated by management.
The tension boils over in Last Tango in Halifax.Credit:
LAST TANGO IN HALIFAX
Series return ★★★½
8.20pm, ABC
While it might seem as if nothing much happens in this bucolic mature-age rom-com, the tension that bubbles under the surface of every "Another cup of tea, dear?" boils over at a family birthday dinner. This delicate examination of inter-personal relationships – the things we hide, our sense of entitlement or lack thereof, how much we will endure – rolls along as the central couple, united late in life, form different agendas that mightn’t be as benign as they first appear.