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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Phil Harrison, Ali Catterall, Graeme Virtue, Jack Seale and Simon Wardell

TV Tonight: how a former professional footballer stole Edvard Munch’s The Scream

Pål Enger gets his hands on Munch’s masterpiece once again.
Pål Enger gets his hands on Munch’s masterpiece once again. Photograph: Sky UK/© Sky UK

The Man Who Stole The Scream

9pm, Sky Documentaries

Professional footballer by day, criminal by night: the story of Pål Enger is truly bizarre. This documentary tells the story of a man whose interest in crime seems to have centred on the transgressive thrill of it rather than serious financial gain. It culminated in his theft of Edvard Munch’s priceless painting The Scream from the National Gallery in Oslo while the country’s eyes were on the Winter Olympics (he even left a note mocking security staff). Strange and fascinating. Phil Harrison

The King’s High Street: Inside St James’s

8.15pm, Channel 5

Known as Britain’s “poshest high street”, London’s St James’s has long been the haunt of nobs and royalty, who’ve used it as their personal supermarket for centuries. Here, we explore some of its establishments and meet workers including Emma Willis, King Charles’s shirt-maker. Ali Catterall

Bowie: The Man Who Changed the World

9pm, Sky Arts

David Bowie.
David Bowie. Photograph: Vision Films/AP

It may lack the ambition of a film such as Moonage Daydream but this documentary works as a decent overview of David Bowie’s remarkable career. Featuring contributions from friends and pundits, it digs into Bowie’s creative evolution and reveals an artist who never stopped developing. PH

Champion

9.15pm, BBC One

Candice Carty-Williams’s south London music-biz drama reaches its finale. Six months have passed since Bosco’s rooftop meltdown; his sister Vita is about to embark on a major tour. Neither is in a good place – but can the siblings achieve rapprochement? Graeme Virtue

Becoming Elizabeth

9.15pm, Channel 4

The febrile, unfairly cancelled historical drama delivers an intense concluding double bill. Sickly Edward VI is on his way out, setting up a face-off between Elizabeth (Alicia von Rittberg) and her brittle but fierce sister Mary (Romola Garai). Jack Seale

Buckingham Palace With Alexander Armstrong

9.15pm, Channel 5

This series about the history of the UK’s most exclusive residence continues. We’re in the final days of the Victorian era – Raksha Dave explores evidence of the ageing queen’s eccentricity while Armstrong examines the early reign of her successor, Edward VII. PH

Film choice

She Said (Maria Schrader, 2022) 5.50pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
The downfall of film producer and rapist Harvey Weinstein, which kickstarted the #MeToo movement, was in large part due to the work of New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. Maria Schrader’s gripping procedural tells the story of their investigation into the sexual predator, and their efforts to persuade his many victims to speak out. We’re thrown into the thrill of the newsroom as Kantor and Twohey (played empathically by Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan) attempt to evade the numerous NDAs and bring the often gut-wrenching facts to light. And a special mention must go to Ashley Judd, one of those affected in real life, for playing herself. Simon Wardell

Mulan (2020, Niki Caro), 6.40pm, BBC One
Disney’s exploitation of its back catalogue continues with this majestic-looking 2020 live-action version of the 1998 animation. Liu Yifei plays the Chinese folk heroine, an athletic youngster (she has powerful qi, apparently) who poses as a boy to join the emperor’s all-male army and battle northern invader Böri Khan (Jason Scott Lee) and his witch sidekick Xianniang (a wicked Gong Li). Amid invigorating martial arts scenes – including one on precarious bamboo scaffolding – there are sturdy moral lessons, as Mulan shows that anything men can do, she can do better. SW

Walk the Line (James Mangold, 2005), 11pm, BBC Two

Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line.
Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line. Photograph: REUTERS

Most music biopics struggle to get away from the rise-fall-redemption template. James Mangold’s 2005 movie about country star Johnny Cash doesn’t exactly break the mould, but rolls along entertainingly through the feisty central pairing of Joaquin Phoenix as the Man in Black and the Oscar-winning Reese Witherspoon as his true love June Carter. They also do their own singing on the peerless likes of Ring of Fire, Folsom Prison Blues and Jackson, while Cash’s unhappy childhood, drug addiction and divorce provide meaty dramatic obstacles to be overcome. SW

Live sport

Athletics: The World Championships, 9am, BBC Two Day one in Budapest includes the heptathlon and men’s 100m heats.

Super League Rugby: Leigh Leopards v Catalans Dragons, 3pm, Sky Sports Main Event From Leigh Sports Village.

Premier League Football: Tottenham v Man United, 5pm, Sky Sports Main Event Spurs fans continue to explore life after Harry Kane.

Premier League Football: Man City v Newcastle, 7pm, Sky Sports Main Event From the Etihad.

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