Ackley Bridge
Occupying the mid-point between Hollyoaks and Shameless, this Yorkshire-set school drama has the happy knack of exploring serious issues (race, religion) while never lapsing into preachy worthiness. As the second series begins, Nas is going to extreme lengths to hide her sexuality, and academic achievement at the school has plummeted.
Tuesday 5 June, 8pm, Channel 4
Britain’s Got Talent Final
This year’s BGT has lacked the edge of eccentricity that has characterised previous series. Still, as the end game arrives, a spot at the Royal Variety Performance (not to mention a hefty £250,000) is up for grabs. Which of the finalists will rise to the occasion?
Sunday 3 June, 7.30pm, ITV
Britain’s Forgotten Men
Whether working-class white men are any more disadvantaged than, for example, working-class black men is highly debatable, but it’s a demographic that repeatedly fires the imaginations of TV producers. This second series of the Bafta-nominated show goes back to Manchester to catch up with the troubled youngsters from the first series.
Available from Sunday 3 June, BBC Three
Frankie Goes to Russia
With British-Russian relations having a wobble, who better to send to Russia on reconnaissance than noted diplomat Frankie Boyle? He can’t do much worse than Boris Johnson, after all. This two-parter sees the comic taking Russia’s cultural temperature.
Sunday 3 June, 9pm, BBC Two
Dead Rock Stars
A brand new podcast discussing famously storied rock’n’roll lives but aiming to provide a little intimacy, too. It begins, logically enough, with the legendary Lemmy; a man who famously sustained himself for decades on a diet of whiskey, speed and cigarettes. Mick Wall and Joel McIver – who, as music journalists of long standing, have considerable experience of such debauchery – present, with gusto.
Podcast
Love Island
Last year’s series of Love Island won a Bafta, so this latest batch of implausibly toned, tanned and sculpted youngsters will be under pressure to deliver. ITV2 has upped the stakes, too, as it prepares to battle the World Cup for ratings – there’ll be a daily podcast, with interviews and insights from insiders. Join Caroline Flack for sandy, sexy fun.
Monday 4 June, 9pm, ITV2
Hello Stranger
C4 continues to bust out the kind of factual TV concepts that might cause Alan Partridge to arch a sceptical eyebrow. This week’s burning question: can dating other people while under hypnosis revitalise a stale relationship? Don’t try this at home …
Tuesday 5 June, 10pm, Channel 4
Who Do You Think You Are?
It is a bumper week for fans of Michelle Keegan. Her plucky squaddie Georgie Lane returns in Our Girl on Tuesday, and the following night sees her ancestry get the once-over as the 15th series of this endlessly popular genealogy series begins. Fittingly enough, there’s a suffragette connection.
Wednesday 6 June, 9pm, BBC One
I Wish
There are shades of the mighty Yasujirō Ozu about Hirokazu Kore-eda’s poignant and uplifting Japanese drama of family life. It’s the story of a pair of brothers, Koichi and Ryunosuke, whose parents have split up. The only way to heal the rift between them, the boys believe, is to make a special wish at the magic moment when two of Japan’s new bullet trains pass each other …
Monday 4 June, 1am, Film4
A Very English Scandal
Russell T Davies’s rendering of the Jeremy Thorpe scandal has been a delight, starting out as a romp but rapidly darkening in tone as gay-rights issues, attempted murder and sinister political machinations overtake the playful farce. Ben Whishaw and Hugh Grant have inhabited their roles perfectly: this week, the series concludes in court.
Sunday 3 June, 9pm, BBC One
