Pick of the Week
The Last of Us
Monday, Sky Atlantic & Now, 9pm
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey return for a second odyssey in the hit postapocalyptic horror series based on the popular PlayStation video game. Series one surprised the sceptics by rising above its pixelated source material, and the characters of Joel (Pascal) and Ellie (Ramsey), far from coming across as NPCs, felt human and relatable. Just to bring you up to speed, global civilisation has collapsed following Trump’s announcement of tariffs (or maybe it was the deadly parasitic fungal virus that ate everyone’s brains), and humans are living under military rule and under the constant threat of attack by the Infected. Joel is charged with a perilous mission to bring teenager Ellie, who could hold the secret of a cure, across the wasteland that is now the US. The second series starts five years after the end of series one, and finds Joel and Ellie settling into a new community that looks like any frontier town from your favourite western. But this one is enclosed by a wall and heavily guarded, and the Clickers and Bloaters are out there somewhere preparing for their next attack. Even worse, Joel’s past is lurking in the shadows and about to catch up with him. Catherine O’Hara and Kaitlyn Dever join the cast for this second season, alongside Isabela Merced, who plays Dina, the girlfriend of Ramsey’s character, Ellie.
Highlights
Taken: Putin’s Stolen Children
Sunday, RTÉ2, 11.05pm
Since Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces have been accused of kidnapping Ukrainian children and bringing them to Russia for forced adoption. Families in Ukraine have been desperately trying to find out what happened to their stolen children, and this 2023 BBC documentary investigates the disappearance of more than 40 children from a children’s home in Kherson, following a trail that leads all the way up to the Kremlin.
The Piano
Sunday, Channel 4, 9pm
Passion, profound sensitivity and meticulous artistry – that’s Mika Penniman and John Batiste describing some of the nimble-fingered contestants on the new series of The Piano. Claudia Winkleman has been busy overseeing the back-stabbing fest that is hit reality contest The Traitors, but now she’s back to present this heartwarming search for Britain’s most talented amateur pianists. There’s no studio – the contest takes place in railway station concourses around the country where pianos have been installed for public use. We not only get to hear the contestants play – we also hear their stories of what moves them to make music. Singer-songwriter Penniman is back as a mentor, with Grammy, Oscar and Bafta winner Batiste – no stranger to performing in railway stations himself – joining the team.
The Handmaid’s Tale
Monday, RTÉ2, 9.35pm
Elizabeth Moss is brilliant in this series based on the classic dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood, but we can’t avoid the niggling feeling that stretching things out to a sixth series might be diluting the drama a bit. But this tale of Trumpian totalitarianism is still one of HBO’s biggest shows, and the final series promises to go out with a bang as June, formerly known as Offred, returns to Gilead to take down the patriarchal dictatorship formerly known as the United States of America once and for all. She’s not alone: the women of Gilead have had enough (so have we) and are ready to rise up and stick it to the man – all they need is someone like June to unite them in rebellion. Let’s hope she fares better than Kamala Harris.
The Golden Toilet Heist
Monday, BBC One, 8.30pm
In the small hours of September 14th, 2019, thieves broke in to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire and made off with ... a toilet. Not just any old loo, but a solid-gold commode entitled “America”, made by conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan and valued at £5 million. It was a fully operational jacks, truly a throne fit for royalty to do their business, and visitors to Blenheim would queue up for the privilege of using the world’s most expensive WC. This documentary tells the inside story of this daring heist, which captured the public imagination and led to any number of potty puns in the press.
Rebuilding Notre-Dame: The Last Chapter
Monday, BBC Two, 9pm
In April 2019, a devastating fire ripped through Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, destroying the wooden spire and most of the roof, and causing extensive damage to the walls and interiors. French president Emmanuel Macron promised the French people that Notre-Dame would be rebuilt within five years, and in this documentary, presenter Lucy Worsley gains exclusive access to the church to see how the final stages of its reconstruction are coming along. She finds technicians racing to complete the complex works and have the cathedral ready for its grand public reopening.
How to Cook Well in Morocco
Wednesday, RTÉ One, 8.30pm
Neven, Donal and Catherine frequently jet around the globe cooking up exotic meals on the telly, and now it’s Rory’s turn to hit the global culinary trail in this new series of How to Cook Well. O’Connell has chosen one of his favourite destinations, Morocco, to make this seven-part series, the first time RTÉ has filmed a cookery series on the African continent. His journey begins in the cultural melting pot of Tangier, which has been a magnet for such writers as Tennessee Williams and Samuel Beckett. O’Connell visits the Blue Door Cuisine cookery school, run by women, and cooks up a fish tagine, enjoys harira soup and flatbreads cooked in a clay oven, and samples the city’s renowned street food.
Streaming
The Stolen Girl
From Wednesday, April 16th, Disney+
Elisa and Fred’s nine-year-old daughter, Lucia, has been invited for a sleepover with her new best friend, Josie, and she’s very excited. Elisa has no problem with this overnight playdate: Josie seems like a nice kid, her mum, Rebecca, is charming and personable, and their family home is gorgeous. The next morning Elisa goes to collect her daughter, and her whole world collapses. The house was nothing more than a holiday rental, and Rebecca and Josie have vanished – along with Lucia. But as police search Europe for the missing child, Elisa and Fred suddenly find themselves under suspicion, and as more is learned about Rebecca’s motives, Elisa’s perfect family facade begins to crumble. Denise Gough, Holliday Grainger, Ambika Mod and Jim Sturgess star in this British-made psychological thriller adapted from Playdate, Alex Dahl’s bestselling novel.
The Not Very Grand Tour
From Friday, April 18th, Prime Video
Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond went on their final Grand Tour last year, in the swansong series One for the Road. So what are they doing back behind the wheel? And haven’t we seen some of this footage before? In this new series May and Hammond motor back through the archives to pick some of their favourite moments from previous Grand Tours. There’s no sign of Clarksie, however – he must be busy at Diddley Squat farm – although he’s there in footage form. It sounds as if Prime Video is trying to squeeze another series out of the trio before sending them to the wrecking yard, but if you’re a Grand Tour fan you might enjoy this drive down memory motorway. Episode one is a celebration of the combustion engine – well, what else would the petrolhead trio be celebrating? Bicycle pumps?
