Sunday
Jekyll And Hyde
7pm, STV
It’s another ripsnorter of an episode for Charlie Higson’s daft but dapper and thrillingly old-school serial, replete with action, adventure, pleasingly inappropriate levels of violence and monsters that linger in the imagination. Parents whose children are still trying to get over the sheer creepy wrongness of the man-dog thing known as The Harbinger will be pleased to note he’s back tonight, as is The Cutter, that big, scary, seething guy with one arm like a huge mutant lobster claw, who we briefly glimpsed in Richard E Grant’s prison last week. The real stars, though, are Captain Dance’s slinky skeletal undead warrior pets, part Ray Harryhausen, part Mars Attacks. Increasingly plagued by his Hyde side, Jekyll is determined to rid himself of the beast within, even if it kills him, and begins messing with potions in his grandfather’s secret laboratory. Meanwhile, he learns his grandmother might still be alive and races to find her. Unfortunately, Dance’s sinister crew has the same idea.
Monday
London Spy
9pm, BBC Two
Small print in the closing titles makes clear this new drama is a work of fiction. But anyone who recalls the strange death of Gareth Williams – the MI6 agent whose body was discovered in a locked bag in his London flat in 2013 – will recognise where writer Tom Rob Smith drew his inspiration. From that unexplained case, Smith, the best-selling author of Child 44, has spun a curious, seductively intriguing tale. It begins as a contemporary gay love story: leading a fantastic cast that also features Charlotte Rampling and Jim Broadbent, Ben Whishaw stars as Danny, a dead-end drifter who reckons he’s finally found love when he begins a tentative relationship with a stranger, Alex (Edward Holcroft), a closeted, secretive soul who claims to be an investment banker, but is hiding secrets. To say more would spoil it, but, after drifting slowly through their romance, things turn dark late in this first episode, and get downright odd and sinister next week. As with Hugo Blick’s The Honourable Woman, it’s a conscious throwback to the kind of strange, opaque BBC thriller once epitomised by Edge Of Darkness – whether it ultimately proves as memorable remains to be seen, but it will be worth finding out.
Tuesday
Imagine… My Curious Documentary
10.35pm, BBC One
Tonight’s film goes behind the scenes of the smash-hit stage production of Mark Haddon’s best selling book, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, a mystery told from the perspective of a 15-year-old boy with a condition that renders other people confusing and frightening to him. Haddon never put a name to it, but most readers reckon the narrator has Asperger’s Syndrome or something close, and the book has been lauded for helping to deepen our understanding of autism. Currently on tour in the UK, since its debut at the National Theatre in 2012, the production has gone on to win seven Olivier Awards and the US theatre’s prestigious Tony Award, and is taking Broadway by storm. The documentary follows the creation of the play from its earliest London rehearsals to its triumphant New York performances, and, comparing the experience Haddon imagines with their own, also hears from children and families on the challenges of living with autism.
Wednesday
The Frankenstein Chronicles
10pm, ITV Encore
The search to find a decent new series for Mean Sean Bean continues, but this crime/ horror monster mash-up will do in the meantime. Occupying ground somewhere between Penny Dreadful and Ripper Street, but rather more satisfyingly sombre and sober than either, this latest spin on Mary Shelly’s deathless creation is set in the dank and grimy London of 1827. Bean plays lowly copper Inspector John Marlott, first glimpsed during a sting aimed at taking down an opium smuggling ring on the treacherous Thames. In the aftermath, however, he finds a body on the muddy river bank – or rather, a crude assemblage of body parts, stitched together like a parody of a child. Haunted, he grows obsessed with tracking down those responsible, venturing into the backstreet underworld of prostitution, drugs and body snatching, where, among others, he will encounter none other than Mary Shelly herself (Anna Maxwell-Martin). Daft business, of course, but, grounded by Bean’s dependably doughty presence, and with thickly atmospheric recreations of the 1800s, it’s a downbeat guilty pleasure.
Friday
Children In Need Night
7.30pm, BBC One
It’s that time again, as Terry Wogan returns to battle through another marathon night of fundraising. Stretching into the small hours, there’s a ton of fun on offer, as well as the obligatory moment when the EastEnders mob try to demonstrate a sense of humour, which never goes well. But it’s all in a good cause. Look out for a Call The Midwife-themed Strictly special, featuring Bruce Forsyth back beside Tess Daly, and a Star Wars sketch that sees R2-D2 and C-3PO joined by famous fans. Elsewhere, more than 1500 voices sing in unison as the Children’s Choir performs across the nation, including schools from North and South Lanarkshire. After 9pm, Harry Hill produces a mini-Burp on 40 years of TV history, and there’s music from Rod Stewart, Selena Gomez and the casts of the musicals Kinky Boots, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and Bend it Like Beckham. In Glasgow, Jackie Bird reports on activities closer to home, and there will be regular reminders of why it’s good to give something if you can.
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