Here's our TV tonight picks for Thursday, September 11.
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The Ann Ming Story, ITV1, 9 pm
The remarkable true story of Teesside grandmother Ann Ming’s fight to put her daughter Julie’s killer behind bars is currently playing out in ITV drama I Fought the Law, starring Sheridan Smith (see p46). This documentary looks at the police investigation into Julie’s disappearance in 1989, the acquittal of suspect Billy Dunlop in the face of damning evidence, and Ann’s subsequent campaign to overturn the 800-year-old ‘double jeopardy’ law that prevented a retrial, even after Dunlop confessed. There’s testimony from Ann, her grandson Kevin, who reveals the toll his mother’s murder took on him, and the police officer who worked the case. We also hear Sheridan’s view of the indomitable woman she portrays.
Saving Lives at Sea, BBC2, 8 pm
In an episode concentrating on search operations, dangerous seas and conflicting information leave crews facing tense and treacherous situations. Off Kingsbarns Beach, near Anstruther in Scotland, a paddleboarder is in trouble. The crew are worried to hear the casualty is on a blue and white board – perfect camo in choppy waters – but more concerned that they have no life jacket or wetsuit, making the prospect of hypothermia in the freezing North Sea a real danger. Meanwhile, there’s confusion in Sussex, when the Selsey lifeboat responds to reports of a person entering the water fully clothed near a popular diving destination…
Atomic, Sky Atlantic and Sky Showcase, 9 pm
Fans of BBC One’s The Night Manager who are impatiently waiting for its second series could do worse in the meantime than hunkering down with Sky’s Atomic, another cinematic edge-of-the-seat thriller played out on an international stage. After meeting in the Libyan desert, Max (Alfie Allen) and JJ (Shazad Latif) have picked up their cargo in Beirut, travelled through Syria and now they’re in Marrakech. ‘This is not what you think it is,’ says Max when he’s reunited with his girlfriend, Laetitia (Charlie Murphy) – and actually, it’s not what we think it is, either. The twists keep coming in this penultimate episode, setting us up for what’s sure to be an explosive finale next week…
Taskmaster, Channel 4, 9 pm
Few shows on TV are such a source of guaranteed delight as Taskmaster, and series 20(!) gets off to a roaring start tonight. The five comedians hoping to impress Greg Davies and his assistant ‘Little’ Alex Horne this time around are Ania Magliano, Maisie Adam, Phil Ellis, Reece Shearsmith and Sanjeev Bhaskar, and the mood is set admirably when an early task involves everyone pursuing Alex around the Taskmaster house while trying to scan a QR code on his jacket. Chaos immediately ensues, and it only gets more bizarre with large-scale bowling and a mission involving multiplication…
