This week’s pick:
The Hollow Crown
SVT2, Sat 20:30
Who can’t get enough of those murdering, usurping kings of England? Especially when Shakespeare’s involved. Considered a cousin of The Tudors with far better dialogue, the BBC miniseries The Hollow Crown (8.5 IMBD) is based on four of the Bard’s history plays.
The story unfolds over the reigns of Richard II (Ben Whishaw), Henry IV (Jeremy Irons) and Henry V (Tom Hiddleston), offering a fantastic mixture of humour and excitement. Even though it misses out on the great battle scenes – due to budget cuts – the choices of actors, locations and costumes easily make up for that.
The fusion of theatre and film works well and some of Shakespeare’s finest ever poetry gives the miniseries a certain spark.
Catch up with this first cycle in prepartion for the 2016 continuation starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Richard III.
Also new:
It’s been on before, but you really ought to watch ‘White Bear’ (SVT2, Wed 23:45), an episode of Charlie Brooker’s dystopian second series about the future of media, Black Mirror (‘The Entire History of you’ from S1 is also worth seeking out).
Brooker is also the creator of A Touch of Cloth (DR1, Sun 21:40), a glorious send-up of the endless police procedural drivel the Brits made to imitate the likes of CSI, until Danish series Forbryldsen made them rethink their methods all over again. Fans have compared it to American film comedies like Airplane and The Naked Gun – praise indeed.
Brooker could have written Josie: the most hated woman in Britain (DR3, Mon 20:40), a satire of reality TV, but sadly he didn’t as it’s all true. Channel 4 reveals how one woman stooped to new lows for fame.
Elsewhere, there’s another chance to see the last two winners of the Oscar for best documentary: 20 Feet from Stardom (DR2, Tue 20:00) and Citizenfour (DR2, Wed 23:00); The Great Japanese Retirement (DR2, Sat 21:40) and World’s Oldest Mum (DR2, Sat 20:55) take a look at how child benefit checks will soon be handed out with pensions; and Bombay Beach (SVT1, Mon 21:55) is an acclaimed doc about yet another rural US outpost going through painful changes. (BH)
Coming Soon:
Mr Robot
What if you could be a cyber Robin Hood? That’s the premise of the US series of the summer, which with 78 on Metacritic has much to offer and will not disappoint.
Elliot (Rami Malek) is an antisocial computer programmer caught in a rut. But his life changes when he is recruited by a hacker group led by a mystery man called Mr Robot (Christian Slater), which targets big companies.
All you hackers out there will adore this intriguing drama, which has already been hailed at festivals like Tribeca as one of the best new series of the year. (EN)
Sport of the Week:
The late Wimbledon (TV3 Sport 1 & 2, all week) start might annoy fans who like cycling, but probably not the diehards who time their holidays around the Tour de France (TV2, all week). Elsewhere, Diamond League athletics continues in Paris and Lausanne (SVT1, Sat & Thu 20:00), and the Women’s World Cup (TV2 & SVT4, Sun 01:00) reaches a climax, but not the kind Blatter envisaged when he said they should all wear skimpy shorts. (BH)
Film of the Week:
Liam Neeson’s wife Natasha Richardson died while he was filming the erotic honey trap thriller Chloe (K4, Sat 21:00) co-starring Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried, but he still returned to finish it. We’re not sure it was worth it. Insurance convention comedy Cedar Rapids (3+, Wed 21:00) also divided the critics, so maybe you’re safer with a classic like The Terminator (DR3, Sun 22:35) or Black Narcissus (DRK, Tue 22:35). (BH)
