This Time With Alan Partridge
Two decades after he shot a man on air, north Norfolk’s most notorious natterer is finally allowed back on to live primetime TV with a One Show-style magazine programme. Just to make things even more excruciating, he’s invited along witless sidekick Simon Denton (Tim Key), while Susannah Fielding plays Partridge’s remarkably patient co-presenter.
Monday 25 February, 9.30pm, BBC One
True Detective
HBO’s moody crime drama has rebounded well after a stodgy second season – but can its Mahershala Ali-starring third outing stick the landing? Those truly keen to find out can tune in at 2am, Sunday for a US simulcast; the rest can catch up the next day.
Monday 25 February, 9pm, Sky Atlantic
BBC Scotland launch
The bespoke Scottish channel launches with a host of new and returning shows, including sitcom Still Game (Sunday, 9pm), addiction drama The Grey Area (Tuesday, 11pm) and north-of-the-border news show The Nine (from Monday, 9pm). It’s available on Freeview for Scottish viewers, and on Sky, Freesat, Virgin and online for the rest of the UK.
From Sunday 24 February, 7pm, BBC Scotland
Three Identical Strangers
One of the most talked-about documentaries in years gets a TV premiere. The title gives away the basic premise, but it’s the reason why the three triplets, who learned of each others’ existence at 19, were separated in the first place that proves truly staggering.
Thursday 28 February, 9pm, Channel 4
Isn’t It Romantic
You’ve watched every last gooey romcom on Netflix – now it’s time to see their cliches picked apart by Rebel Wilson. She stars as a workplace drone who is transported to a fairytale world of hunky doctors and spontaneous dance numbers in an affectionate send up of the genre.
From Thursday 28 February, Netflix
Who the Hell Is Hamish?
Continuing the golden age of stories about scammers (see also Billy McFarland, Dan Mallory), this Aussie podcast tells the shocking – and, let’s be brutally honest here, entertaining – tale of a Sydney-based surfer who embarked on a decades-long con that stretched all the way from Canada to Hong Kong.
Podcast
The Miracle
In these long winter months, what we all crave is a knotty subtitled drama to get stuck into, and this Italian effort looks set to fit that description. Its premise – a Virgin Mary sculpture begins weeping blood, causing bafflement and delight to an unlikely cast of characters – is intriguing, while the themes it touches on – faith, family and the role of the Catholic Church in Italy – are narratively rich. Dig in.
Tuesday 26 February, 9pm, Sky Atlantic
Ida
In 1960s Poland, novice nun Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska) is sent to see her only known relative before taking her vows. Aunt Wanda (Agata Kulesza) reveals that Anna is in fact Ida, and Jewish. Shot in 60s-style monochrome, this is a beautiful, bitter journey into a family’s secret past and a nation’s dark history, by Cold War director Paweł Pawlikowski.
Monday 25 February, 11.45pm, Film4
Soft Cell: Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
Marc Almond and Dave Ball get the band back together for a farewell concert at the O2 Arena in this doc, which, while not quite as gobsmacking as another recent reunion film (the must-watch Bros doc After the Screaming Stops), still offers up a thorough and at times emotional portrait of synthpop’s most outre outfit.
Friday 1 March, 9pm, BBC Four
Jerk
In a welcome twist on patronising depictions of disabled people as long-suffering saints, this sitcom stars Tim Renkow as Tim, a man with cerebral palsy who behaves appallingly badly. It’s an angle that Renkow, who also has CP, has already perfected in his risky standup work, but here there’s the bonus of Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos’ Dr Melfi) as his mum.
From Sunday 24 February, BBC Three
