Two Doors Down – Tuesday, BBC Two, 10pm
A deserved hit, this sitcom about a group of suburban Glasgow neighbours is back for a fifth series. It introduces us to Alan’s taciturn brother, who is about to get married. Hapless Alan is the best man, which triggers a running gag among his perplexed neighbours: “Did somebody drop out?” Two Doors Down isn’t plot-driven, it’s all about the dialogue and characterisation. Nothing much happens, but there’s a lot going on. You wouldn’t necessarily want to spend time with some of these people in real life, but observing them from afar is delightful. The writers and their faultless cast are so fully au fait with this little world they’ve created, everything flows with a natural rhythm. It’s great.
Filthy Business – Monday, BBC Three, 8pm
During the various lockdowns, best mates Cam and Oli decided to start up their own waste management business. It hasn’t been easy. Due to a recent unexpected downturn in their fortunes, they have to make £7,000 in a month just to keep the whole thing afloat. Fortunately, a sputtering glut of jobs come their way throughout this documentary, but that doesn’t mean they’re entirely home and dry. Cam and Oli are nice lads who know what they’re doing. They work hard at the reeking coalface of an unglamorous and often precarious profession. This is a fairly typical BBC Three documentary, in that it’s a slight yet watchable affair. It’s also a rather sweet little portrait of friendship.
AIDS: The Unheard Tapes – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm
The third and final episode of this excellent series begins in 1992, when the emergence of a supposed ‘miracle cure’ gave hope to millions of AIDS patients and their loved ones. Crushing disappointment ensued when trials proved that the drug in question, AZT, could prolong the lives of some patients, but it couldn’t stop people from dying. This led to an angry backlash against the medical community. Several direct action protest groups sprang up. Many within the gay community lost count of the amount of funerals they attended. As always, contributions from present-day survivors, experts and campaigners are woven together with seamlessly lip-synced interviews recorded with AIDS patients throughout the 1980s and 1990s. An important historical document.
24 Hours in A&E – Monday, Channel 4, 9pm
The 27th (!) series of this hardy perennial returns to St George’s in London. Not only is it one of Europe’s largest hospitals, it’s also renowned as a staff training centre. The latest episode follows a junior doctor who for the first time in his career carries out a fine-needle aspiration. His patient is a teenager with a collapsed lung. We also meet Mery, a young pregnant woman who is rushed to A&E after falling down a flight of stairs at home. Mery has already suffered a miscarriage, it’s been a long struggle to become pregnant again. This particular episode wasn’t available for preview, but 24 Hours in A&E is a show you can rely on. It’s quietly exceptional.
Ackley Bridge – Monday to Friday, Channel 4, 10pm, 10:15pm and 11:05pm
C4’s comedy-drama about a multicultural academy school in Yorkshire has established itself as a more authentic version of Waterloo Road. It’s adept at tackling various issues in a thoughtful and sometimes funny way. As series five begins, budding influencer Marina is flunking all her subjects. She’s insecure and a little bit lost, hence why she’s more concerned with being voted the most attractive girl in school. Meanwhile, a newly arrived English teacher attempts to educate her students about systems of oppression, but her idealism is mostly met with indifference. Marina’s ‘Hot or Not?’ poll grabs their attention instead. All ten episodes – some of which are directed by Top Boy’s Ashley Walters – are stripped throughout the week.
Night Coppers – Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm
I haven’t seen Night Coppers, folks, but if you were grimly compelled by Martin Freeman in The Responder recently, then you might ‘enjoy’ this new observational documentary series about British cops on patrol after dark. Based in Brighton, it’s a frontline exercise steeped in violent antisocial behaviour. Episode one follows a pair of rookie coppers as they investigate a suspected arson. They also have an awkward encounter with an ex-police guvnor. We then spend time with female officers investigating a possible street assault that has left a man with life-threatening injuries. Another cop discovers someone horizontal in a bush. I’m as guilty as anyone when it comes to being diverted by rubbernecking shows such as this.
Super Telescope: Mission to the Edge of the Universe – Thursday, BBC Two, 8pm
The most technically advanced telescope ever built, the James Webb is 100 times more powerful than Hubble. It’s primary mission: to examine distant stars and galaxies which may provide us with a greater understanding of what happened around 200 million years after the Big Bang. The actual origins of life as we know it. A hugely ambitious and almost unfathomably intricate project, it’s the subject of this illuminating Horizon documentary. We hear from some of the NASA engineers who have been working on the James Webb since its conception in the late 1980s. Their efforts may result in the deepest ever images of our universe. They might even detect signs of life on distant planets. Prepare to be awed.
