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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Phil Harrison, Hannah J Davies, Jack Seale and Simon Wardell

TV tonight: Alex Horne’s creepy but clever musical sitcom returns

Trevor Horne and two dancers in The Horne Section TV Show
Thank you for the music … The Horne Section TV Show, Channel 4. Photograph: Channel 4 / Jack Barnes

The Horne Section TV Show

10pm, Channel 4
The second series of Alex Horne’s comedy musical show remains a mildly puzzling affair. It’s undeniably slight and the self-conscious whimsy can grate a little. However, it slips down easily, mainly thanks to the music – which is deceptively complex and cleverly assembled. The result is also borderline creepy at times, particularly in this opener during an odd little song paying tribute to the ever-expanding Horne family. Phil Harrison

Marie Antoinette

9pm, BBC Two
The second series of the fantastically polished period drama continues with the French monarchy on borrowed time. Marie Antoinette must also convince Louis that he is the father of her unborn child (whose père could also be the Swedish count Fersen), while Jeanne’s dodgy charity prompts suspicion. Hannah J Davies

Taskmaster

9pm, Channel 4
This season of the veteran fun-fest made some smart hires: mixing it with British standup comedians are Jason Mantzoukas (not British), Mathew Baynton (not a standup) and Rosie Ramsey (not a comedian). This week, while Mantzoukas is busy inserting raisins into a wooden box, Ramsey causes an issue with Alex Horne’s trousers. Jack Seale

The Secret Life of Bees

9pm, Channel 5

It is almost impossible to overstate how critical bees are to human life. This series presented by Steve Backshall looks at the bees of Britain: there are 270 species, all of which occupy slightly different places in the nation’s ecosystems. Backshall explores their differing roles and, importantly, explains why we mustn’t lose these insects. PH

Poker Face

9pm, Sky Max
Charlie Cale’s entertainingly helter-skelter journey through small-town America continues, as her flight from the miscreants on her tail takes her into the realm of yet more trouble. This time, the case of a baseball player who may or may not have been murdered. BJ Novak is this week’s guest star. PH

Rocket Fuel

9.50pm, BBC Three
Another of BBC Three’s quirky, low-budget short comedies from emerging talents. Rocket Fuel is a kitchen-sink sci-fi set on a Bradford estate where bored youngsters Lenny and Mullet find an abandoned car and, using the power of their imaginations, turn it into a spaceship. PH

Film choice

Repo Man (Alex Cox, 1984), 12.35am, Sky Cinema Greats

After getting sacked from his supermarket job, young Los Angeles punk Otto (Emilio Estevez) finds himself working with Harry Dean Stanton’s repo man – a low-rent operator who repossesses cars from those in debt. However, one car on their list, a Chevy Malibu, has something glowing and deadly in the boot … Writer-director Alex Cox pays homage to Kiss Me Deadly’s MacGuffin in his TexMex road movie cum sci-fi thriller, but adds a scuzzy edge all his own as the protagonists tour a run-down city rife with drugs and crime. Simon Wardell

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