What to watch and review this weekend
What to watch and review this weekend, August 20 and 21.
SATURDAY
Spotless (ITV, 7pm) New game show in which couples play fiendish wet paint-based games in bright white rooms and try to emerge spotlessly clean. High definition cameras are on hand to record exactly how pristine the contestants really are. Sounds rather intellectually taxing. Another highbrow winner from the ITV brains trust.
BBC Proms 2016 (BBC2, 7.30pm) Host Katie Derham presents from London’s Royal Albert Hall as the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and 26 year-old Uzbek virtuoso Behzod Abduraimov play Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 3. Also ice dance favourite Ravel’s Bolero. Plus, Ustvolskaya’s Symphony No 3 and Strauss’s suite from Der Rosenkavalier. A two hour musical feast. Must-listen TV for classical music fans.
SUNDAY
Robot Wars (BBC2, 8pm) More clattering machines do battle as Dara O’Briain and Angela Scanlon preside over another clash of the metallic titans. Watch out for Pulsar and its fantastically angry wall of sound. According to its creators, it will “wreck everything… including the arena.” Can’t wait.
Dragons’ Den (BBC2, 9pm) A brilliant invention to stop hair tongs starting house fires and a must-have “sensory experience” coffee-cup lid called Foam Aroma are among the enticing propositions for Peter Jones and his millionaire pals to consider investing in. More rubbish pitches by ridiculously nervous wannabe entrepreneurs and even more boasting by the ridiculously big-headed dragons.
ANY DAY
Stranger Things (Netflix) If you get Netflix here’s a warning. After watching episode one of this sci-fi thriller, like me, you might find yourself unable to stop. I finally managed to tear myself away after episode five. Now I can’t wait to get viewing again. It’s 1983 in small town America and when a kid disappears the finger of suspicion points to a mysterious government energy laboratory. Shades of ET and Poltergeist as the search for the missing boy reveals an extraordinary conspiracy to hide the shocking truth. Stars Winona Ryder as the distraught mother, David Harbour as the laconic police chief determined to crack the case… and Matthew Modine as the evil scientist with all the sinister secrets. Very compelling, highly recommended.
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