Plenty of Halloween horror on offer tonight, especially Hammer Films: The Heroes, Legends and Monsters, Keri Russell returns in The Diplomat, MasterChef: The Professionals continues and Brassic comes to an end . . .
Pick of the Day
Hammer Films: The Heroes, Legends and Monsters, 9.00pm, Sky Arts
Streaming on NOW
For the day that's in it, this has to be essential viewing.
Celebrating the legendary production house’s 90th birthday, this 90-minute feature documentary tracks Hammer’s progression from a back office in London’s Regent Street to its iconic status within the horror film genre.
The company, started by comedian and businessman William Hinds in 1934, made films such as The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula and The Quartermass Xperiment during the period for which it is best known, making stars out of the likes of Christopher Lee (above) and Peter Cushing.
Fangs for the memories, etc.
New or Returning Shows
The farming and rural affairs programme returns for its 32nd season.
Joining the team this term is new presenter, journalist Stephen Robb. Stephen will partner with returning presenters Darragh McCullough and Ella McSweeney.
It's that time of year when farmers are traditionally beginning to think about bringing in their animals for the winter ahead.
But the weather this summer has meant that many have already brought their stock in, and they are busy munching through expensive and limited supplies of feed and forage.
Stephen Robb spends day with a truck driver delivering animal feed to farms in Tipperary to gauge how farmers there are preparing for what may be a long winter.
Don’t Miss
Christopher Ecclestone Remembers Jude, 9.00pm, BBC Four
Here's a real treat.
Christopher Eccleston looks back on the 1996 film version of Thomas Hardy's Jude, directed by Michael Winterbottom.
The actor describes how Jude's struggle to pull himself out of his working class roots in order to gain a higher education holds real resonance with him.
He also fondly remembers his time working with Kate Winslet at the very cusp of her rise to super-stardom.
Jude follows at 9.20pm, where a disillusioned stonemason attempts to rebuild his life after his wife walks out on him, struggling to realise his dream of becoming a teacher as he finds comfort in the arms of a caring cousin.
A great cast includes Christopher Eccleston, Kate Winslet, Liam Cunningham and Rachel Griffiths.
Taskmaster, 9.00pm, Channel 4
The contestants continue as Jack Dee performs some energetic air cycling, Rosie Jones wails like a cat stuck in a cat flap and Babatunde Aleshe resorts to phoning a friend.
Meanwhile, Andy Zaltzman deliberately dirties Alex Horne's carefully ironed trousers and Emma Sidi reveals a startling belief about socks.
MasterChef: The Professionals, 8.00pm, BBC One
Four chefs compete in the second heat, with two of them taking on Monica Galetti's skills tests by making popcorn clams, a mussel fritter and a Bloody Mary mayonnaise, and the other two trying to replicate Marcus Wareing's cheeseburger.
The contenders then show off their range in the signature menu challenge, preparing two sterling that demonstrate a copious amount of skill, matched with a great palate, with best earning a place in the first quarter-final.
New to Stream
The Diplomat, Netflix
Stately homes. State secrets. High treason. High tea. The Emmy-nominated series starring Keri Russell as a US Ambassador returns for a second season.
As the new run begins, a deadly explosion in the heart of London shatters Ambassador Kate Wyler’s world.
Struggling to rebuild the lives that broke and the team that split apart, Kate’s worst fears unfold: The attack that brought her to the UK didn’t come from a rival nation, it came from inside the British government.
As Kate chases the truth, her only real ally is her almost-ex-husband Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), very much alive, and very much involved.
She faces a fraught marriage, a complex dynamic with British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), and a threatening visit from Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney).
Murder Mindfully, Netflix
In this German drama series, Björn Diemel (Tom Schilling), a top-flight lawyer, unexpectedly becomes a murderer.
With a mindfulness seminar he tries to create a better work-life balance, spend more quality time with his daughter and – hopefully – save his marriage.
And the seminar does what it promised – although not in the way he imagined.
He applies his newly learned mindfulness techniques directly to his client Dragan Sergowicz (Sascha Geršak) – a brutal and careless mafia boss – whereupon both the police and the entire mafia clan are snapping at his heels.
Despite the tense situation, Björn finds himself able to keep his cool and completely reorganize his life. And if a few murders are what it takes now to solve his problems, it's just a natural consequence of his new, mindful change of life.
Halloween Horror
The Omen, 11.05pm, BBC Two
Richard Donner's 1976 franchise-starter, starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Billie Whitelaw, David Warner and Patrick Troughton, with Jerry Goldsmith supplying the Oscar-winning score.
An American diplomat secretly adopts a newborn baby when his own son dies at birth. As a series of unusual deaths occurs around him, he gradually comes to suspect the child he is raising is the son of the Devil.
Enys Men, 11.15pm, Film4
If you like your horror a bit on the quirky and psychological side, you might fancy this for a Halloween treat. It’s definitely not your run-of-the-mill chiller.
Writer/director Mark Jenkin's psychological horror, starring Mary Woodvine and Edward Rowe is about as cultish as it gets.
An unnamed wildlife volunteer is stationed on an uninhabited 1970s island to meticulously study wildflowers and other local flora and record her findings. Isolation and solitude warp the volunteer's perception of reality and she is haunted by disturbing visions.
Ending Today
Brassic, 10.00pm, Sky
Season 6 of the hit sky comedy drama comes to an end.
After being physically humiliated by some local youths, Ashley decides it’s time to up his game.
On a mission to reinstate his reputation as a fighting champ, he enlists the help of Jim and Cardi and embarks on a strict training regime.
But things get complicated when he’s picked up by a dodgy agent who endorses doping and match fixing.
Meanwhile the gang are distracted by Erin’s reappearance in Hawley and the promise of a big payday.
She’s gotten to know some grifters in Blackpool who deserve to be grifted themselves. And so ensues another classic Brassic heist which inevitably goes awry just at the worst moment.
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