Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Hollie Richardson, Graeme Virtue, Jack Seale, Ali Catterall and Stuart Heritage

TV tonight: the return of the fabulously funny Alma’s Not Normal

Sophie Willan in Alma’s Not Normal
‘I’m back!’ Sophie Willan returns in Alma’s Not Normal. Photograph: Expectation TV/BBC

Alma’s Not Normal

10pm, BBC Two

“Bolton, baby … I’m back!” Sophie Willan’s fantastically funny creation returns for a second series, which will have you cackling and crying. Alma has finished her tour with the local theatre troupe and is ready to find an agent and become a big star. As before, there is a lot for her to deal with at home, but at least she is reunited with a dynamite female cast: Lorraine Ashbourne is a treat as her topless, Spam-loving gran; Jayde Adams is having a ball as her entrepreneurial best mate, Leanne; and Siobhan Finneran superbly treads the fine line between hilarious and heartbreaking as her drug-addicted mum, Lin. What fabulous company to be in again. Hollie Richardson

Solar System

9pm, BBC Two

Prof Brian Cox takes the helm for another lavish space odyssey, this time revealing surprising discoveries about our nearest galactic neighbours. It begins with a look at the inner life of volcanic planets and their moons, from hotspots such as Mars and Jupiter’s satellite Io to some very cool cryovolcanoes further afield. Graeme Virtue

The Penguin

9pm, Sky Atlantic

An unrecognisable Colin Farrell is rightly getting plaudits for embodying the ambitious gangster Oz Cobb, but this Batman prequel is only as strong as Farrell’s antagonist – and Cristin Milioti is up to the task as the fire-eyed Sofia Falcone. Knives are drawn and bullets sprayed this week as the stakes ratchet up. Jack Seale

Secret Amazon: Into the Wild

10pm, Channel 4

A thrilling two-parter (with the episodes shown consecutively) in which the explorer Lucy Shepherd and her Indigenous team embark on a 50-day trek through untouched but threatened Amazon rainforest, battling giant wasps, venomous snakes and wild animals. Making life-or-death decisions, will they make it or will the Amazon literally eat them alive? Ali Catterall

Will & Ralf Should Know Better

10pm, U&Dave

Here we go again: another middle-aged TV star bromance out on the road. Thankfully, Two Pints of Lager pals Will Mellor and Ralf Little are at least an amiable pair. First up, they meet the world’s strongest woman, accuse a monk of falling asleep during meditation and do an explosive hostile-environment training drill. HR

Bump

11.25pm, BBC One

This popular Aussie comedy drama – which started life as a story about a school teen (Oly, played by Nathalie Morris) unexpectedly giving birth – returns for a fourth season. Oly is now juggling motherhood and her career, but a week off work proves that things are just as exhausting at home with her own mum. HR

Film choice

The Boy and the Heron (Hayao Miyazaki, 2023), Netflix
We are living through a golden age of animation, but it’s nice to be reminded of the power of the old master. Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron – the most expensive Japanese film ever made, hand-drawn by a team of 60 animators over seven years – is a masterpiece. Darker than a lot of Studio Ghibli’s output, it is a mind-bending exploration of a young boy’s grief, complete with wizards, giant fish, man-eating parrots and, yes, a talking heron (voiced in the English dub by Robert Pattinson). It might be a tall order for a family movie night, but this is the sort of film in which you can luxuriate. Stuart Heritage

Live sport

Men’s Test cricket: Pakistan v England 5.30am, Sky Sports Cricket. Day one of the first Test in Multan.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.