Jilly Cooper's Rivals lands from 1986, there’s The Man Who Definitely Didn’t Steal Hollywood, The Smiths and other gigs, Anna Kendrick in Woman of the Hour, as well as The Late Late and Graham Norton . . .
Pick of the Day
Rivals, Disney+
This is an adaptation of the 1988 Jilly Cooper novel of the same name. Expect lots of big hair and bonking from the outset.
It also boasts an ensemble cast including David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Victoria Smurfit, Katherine Parkinson, Lisa McGrillis, Alex Hassell, Emily Atack and Danny Dyer.
Set in the fictional English county of Rutshire, Rupert Campbell-Black (Hassell) and Lord Tony Baddingham (Tennant) have a rivalry that seeps into the world of the Corinium television station.
It’s 1986 and Britain is booming. In the cutthroat world of TV ambitions are even bigger than your average hair-do.
Deals are brokered in boardrooms, as well as bedrooms - and nobody can be sure who will come out on top.
With every man and woman out only for themselves, can true love really blossom?
New or Returning Shows
The Man Who Definitely Didn’t Steal Hollywood, 9.00pm, BBC Two
This looks nuts.
In 1990, waiter-turned-movie-mogul Giancarlo Parretti (below) purchased film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists for $1.3billion.
The acquisition raised hopes that this charismatic Italian, backed by mysterious wealth, would revitalise the business.
But cheques soon bounced, budgets were withdrawn and staff laid off.
Before long Parretti faced an FBI investigation for alleged financial irregularities and fled from the US back to Italy.
Contributors include MGM insiders, directors, actors, writers, federal prosecutors - and Parretti himself.
Don’t Miss
Patrick Kielty's rolling out the red carpet for Hollywood actors Colin Farrell, Rupert Everett and Aidan Quinn on this week's show.
Academy Award nominee, two-time Golden Globe winner and star of The Penguin, Colin Farrell (below) will be in studio along with his long-time friend, Emma Fogarty.
Emma is Ireland's longest-surviving person battling the most severe type of agonising skin condition, epidermolysis bullosa (EB) also known as Butterfly Skin.
Next week Colin will run the Dublin City Marathon with Emma to mark her 40th birthday and to raise funds for Debra Ireland.
Rupert Everett will be chatting to Patrick about spending time in Ireland, being ghosted by Hollywood and his recent guest appearance in Emily in Paris.
Irish American actor and IFTA award winner Aidan Quinn will also drop by on Friday night to tell Patrick about why he loves coming back to Ireland and taking to the Abbey Theatre stage.
Vogue Williams and Rick Astley are also on this week's guest list - and Rick will also be performing Never Gonna Give You Up with his big band.
The Graham Norton Show, 10.40pm, BBC One
Graham has another full and impressive sofa on show tonight.
Bruce Springsteen (below) talks about new documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, while six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams promotes her comedy horror film Nightbitch.
Vanessa Williams reflects on taking the lead as fashion editor Miranda Priestly in Elton John's musical staging of The Devil Wears Prada and comedian Bill Bailey talks about his new book My Animals, and Other Animals.
There's music courtesy of St Vincent, who performs Big Time Nothing from her current album All Born Screaming.
Plus, more audience members attempt to recount an anecdote from the dreaded red chair.
Whistle Test on the Road; The Smiths, 9.00pm, BBC Four
A night of historic gigs from the BBC archives opens with Mark Ellen introducing The Smiths (below) in concert at The Assembly Rooms in Derby.
This was first broadcast 9 December 1983 so it’s just as they were making a major breakthrough.
All of 41 years ago, which is terrifying if you can recall those days.
That’s followed at 9.45pm by Depeche Mode at 6 Music Festival 2017, with highlights of the band's headlining performance at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow.
Then at 10.45pm there’s Stereophonics: Radio 2 in Concert, and 11.50pm the gigs conclude with Siouxsie and the Banshees: Rock Goes to College.
New to Stream
Woman of the Hour, Netflix
Anna Kendrick makes her directorial debut and also stars in this fact-based drama.
It's the stranger-than-fiction story of an aspiring actress in 1970s Los Angeles and a serial killer in the midst of a years long murder spree, whose lives intersect when they’re cast on an episode of The Dating Game.
Happiness Is, Netflix
The third film in the franchise sees Princess and Leo returning with a few exciting stars joining the squad who go through a tumultuous whirlwind of emotions as an innocuous weekend away is filled with dramatic highs and lows.
The Office (Australia), Prime Video
Here’s yet another remake of the Ricky Gervais mockumentary – this time from Australia.
The main difference here are that it’s set in a post-lockdown workplace, and the David Brent character has been gender-flipped, with Felicity Ward starring as Hannah Howard.
Whether that works is another matter as Brent’s maleness is a huge factor in the original.
The Devil’s Hour, Prime Video
Season two sees Lucy (Jessica Raine) and Gideon (Peter Capaldi) forming an uneasy alliance in order to prevent a recurring tragedy and hunt down an elusive monster.
Lucy’s double life sees her torn between family and duty as she finds herself in the crosshairs of her past-life husband, DI Ravi Dhillon (Nikesh Patel).
Assisting Dhillon in his investigation is DS Sam Boyd (Saffron Hocking) who was mentored by DI Lucy Chambers in a previous life.
Meanwhile, Isaac (Benjamin Chivers) is discovering new emotions every day and struggling to keep his balance in a reality that rejects his existence.
Fresh mysteries unfold as our stories converge on one explosive moment that will change the fate of our characters for the rest of their ever-recurring lives.
The Radleys, Sky Cinema Premiere
Nestled in a quiet, suburban English town live The Radleys.
To their neighbours, they are as ordinary as they come, yet beneath the surface, parents Peter (Damian Lewis) and Helen (Kelly Macdonald) are concealing a devastatingly dark secret from their teenage children, Rowan and Clara.
They are abstaining vampires, choosing not to drink blood despite their natural cravings, yet becoming more and more bloodthirsty by the day.
When Clara is unexpectedly attacked by a boy in her class and her natural instincts take over, Peter and Helen are forced to reveal the truth.
The shocking revelation encourages lovesick son Rowan and previously vegan Clara to question their own identity and suppressed desires.
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