Innholdsfortegnelse for 12-Jul-25 i TV Times

This is the week that home nations England and Wales play each other in Women’s Euro 2025 (Sun, kick-0ff 8pm, ITV1 & S4C). Here at TV Times, we wish both squads the very best of luck. And while we are now deep in the summer of sport, we have found some gems for you to watch. Our cover stars Mark Gatiss and Polly Walker play the leads in the mystery series Bookish (Wed, 8pm & 9.10pm, U&Alibi). Set in post-war London, a bookshop owner helps the police solve murders. This has the feel of a winner. If you are a Stephen King fan, an adaptation of his novel The Institute begins on MGM+ from Sunday 13 July. MGM+ is available via Prime Video for an extra charge. REALITY Shark! Celebrity…

BBC BREAKFAST SATURDAY–FRIDAY, 6AM, BBC1 FACTUAL Carol Kirkwood has been awake for almost 13 hours and has just finished a live broadcast from Wimbledon in sweltering heat when she calls TV Times for an exclusive chat at 3.30pm on a Monday in June. Long, busy days aren’t unusual for the weather presenter, though. As a mainstay on BBC Breakfast since the late 1990s, Carol’s alarm has long been set for 2.45am to make sure she’s on time to deliver the forecast to the nation. And alongside her on-screen commitments, she’s also written four bestselling romance novels – Under a Greek Moon, The Hotel on the Riviera, Secrets of the Villa Amore and Once Upon a Time in Venice – with a fifth, Meet Me at Sunset, set to be published…

THE INSTITUTE NEW FROM SUNDAY 13 JULY, MGM+ SCI-FI (FIRST TWO EPISODES FROM 13 JULY, THEN WEEKLY) Imprisoned children, terrifying experiments and one plucky teen determined to fight back. Welcome to The Institute, an eight-episode adaptation of American author Stephen King’s acclaimed 2019 sci-fi-horror novel of the same name, which lands on MGM+ this week. At the centre is Luke Ellis (played by Joe Freeman, the son of actors Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington), a 14-year-old genius with the extraordinary gift of telekinesis who is abducted from his bedroom in Minneapolis and taken to The Institute, a secret compound for children with unusual abilities, including telepathy. But Luke soon discovers the kids are being subjected to cruel, twisted tests overseen by the unnervingly composed Ms Sigsby (Weeds star Mary-Louise Parker),…

Julie isn’t the only former resident making a comeback. Oscar Branning, last seen as a geeky nine-year-old in 2017, returns to his old stomping ground, this time with chiselled cheekbones and a penchant for causing trouble. Oscar pitches up after a phone call with Lauren, who quickly discovers what he’s been up to and why he feels he can’t go home. The pair’s uncle, Jack, who has been away for a while, returns shortly after, and is shocked to set eyes on his nephew. Laying on the emotional blackmail, Oscar urges Lauren to let him stay with her at No 25. She eventually caves and says he can move in on the condition that he behaves himself. Mere minutes later, Oscar receives a message that suggests he’ll probably be doing…

HOLLYOAKS Having been robbed of her £2 million, twisted Clare Devine-Banks is determined to get her payday another way, and sets out to traffic youngsters Jacob and Bobby. Throwing the police off the scent, she takes the pair to a service station, where a sinister handover is planned. Jacob tells Bobby what Clare intends to do with them, and the pair plead with Clare to let them go. But the hard-faced gangster isn’t for turning and, before long, a car pulls up to collect them. Back in the village, as Frankie becomes aware that she owes her life to AWOL Jacob, can she track down the endangered duo and get them to safety? Meanwhile, Marie struggles to contain her excitement about having a new grandchild, and insists on planning a…

So much for man’s best friend – Paddy is having palpitations over our canine companions; deeply traumatised from his attack by farmer Celia’s Alsatian. He tries to put on a brave face as he’s left alone at the vet surgery, but faced with a large dog, he freaks out and is unable to treat the poorly animal. As his career lies in jeopardy, Paddy opens up to Mandy. She soon hits on an idea to help her husband by getting him to spend time with Vinny’s pooch Chip, who has less bite than a goldfish. Can Chip help Pads to conquer his fears?…

WIN £100 CROSSWORD YOU CAN WIN £100! REARRANGE THE LETTERS IN THE YELLOW SQUARES TO SPELL OUT THE NAME OF AN ENGLISH COMEDIAN AND ACTOR (4,6) ACROSS 1 & 4 Across Traces rant coming from EastEnders role of Timothy West (4,6) 4 See 1 Across 10 Opportunist in 1990s crime drama with Clive Owen (7) 11 Property expert Sarah has visited the yard (5) 12 Messrs Orbison and Capone in Heartbeat spin-off (5) 13 Chef Mr Ramsay has to continue around road (6) 15 Luther star Idris is able to make comeback (4) 17 Actor Ione contributing to risky enterprise (4) 19 Somewhat introverted, but returning with DJ and TV presenter Mr Nelson (6) 22 They Think It’s All Over panellist Lee hurts badly (5) 25 Actor Ms Bingham returns art to…

1 LADIES IN BLACK U DRAMA Inspired by Madeleine St John’s debut novel The Women in Black, this 1960s-set six-part saga unfolds in a fictional Sydney department store, where a quintet of employees, including Fay Janosi (Jessica De Gouw) and Virginia Ambrose (Miranda Otto), must navigate testing times. See page 14 2 BOOKISH U&ALIBI DRAMA Meet Gabriel Book, a 1940s London bookshop owner who has a flair for solving mysteries with a literary connection, in a novel six-part whodunnit penned by and starring Mark Gatiss. See page 6 3 THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON 5 FACTUAL After examining the Great Plague of 1665 through the eyes of both the rich and the poor, Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman now time-hop to the following year to look at the Great Fire…

SHARK! CELEBRITY INFESTED WATERS NEW MONDAY, 9PM, ITV1 REALITY (BOX SET, ITVX) Seven household names are heading to the Bahamas in ITV1’s fin-tastic five-part series Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters for face-to-face encounters with some of the most-feared predators in the ocean. Working with a team of shark experts who’ll help them discern the truth from the myths, the stars – Ade Adepitan, Ross Noble, Helen George, Sir Lenny Henry, Lucy Punch, Dougie Poynter and Rachel Riley – are immediately dropped in at the deep end, but will they sink or swim? Here, each participant reveals why they couldn’t resist this jaw-some experience… ADE ADEPITAN TV PRESENTER, 52 ‘This is the opportunity of a lifetime – when do you ever get asked to go and dive with sharks in the Bahamas?’…

DANIEL Popular Daniel, 17, has a steady family life with parents Marian (Malpractice’s Helen Behan) and Bill (Mary & George’s Mark O’Halloran). Although he falls for Alison, he’s unable to help her cope with her trauma. ‘Dan’s a quiet person deep down, but his love for music and Alison is really interesting,’ says newcomer Rory. ‘He never backs down and he really loves her. He’s not like his friend Duncan [Everything Now’s Sam Reuben], who is obsessed with girls. The story talks about romance and the big rock-band scene in Sheffield back in the day. But there’s also heartbreak and the stuff people can miss out on if things don’t go a certain way.’ ALISON At 16, Alison is in turmoil due to her alcoholic mother, Catherine (The Hardacres actor…

If you’ve been keeping up with the soapy news, you’ll know that young Aadi is set to leave Weatherfield, which is a crying shame because the hapless lad is comedy gold – a bit like Steve McDonald but with youth on his side and no ex-wives. What prompts Aadi to depart hasn’t been revealed, but it may have something to do with what unfolds this week at the Alahan shop, which is the scene of a robbery. It happens the day after Aadi has been round to Lauren’s place for his tea – this is unconnected, incidentally, but goes to show that he isn’t always on the ball. Welcome home: Dev is back! Lauren says she wants to make amends for being ‘off’ with him last week when he offered…

Ryan Mulvey has revealed that his stint in Hollyoaks – where he played predatory teen JJ Osborne – didn’t necessarily prepare him for life in Weatherfield as Brody Michaelis. ‘Corrie’s so fast!’ explains Ryan. ‘I mean, Hollyoaks was fast, but with Coronation Street, it’s crazy how quick they make the content. Corrie is multi-cam [where multiple cameras simultaneously record a scene], whereas Hollyoaks is single cam [meaning the same scene is shot many times, to capture the action from different angles]. That’s quite a big difference. ‘The amount of content-making is mental, but it keeps you on your toes. And I’m one of those people who loves doing new things, so I was absolutely buzzing to come over.’ WHATTOWATCH.COM/CORONATION-STREET…

Linda wants shot of The Vic, sharpish, and tells Kat she has opted to sell the place via auction. Ian is quick to throw his hat in the ring, but this doesn’t go down well with Jean, who fears she’ll lose her cleaning job at the pub if Squeale becomes landlord. She has a point – why would Ian shell out for a cleaner when he can shove a bottle of bleach and a pair of Marigolds in his mother’s hands? Soon, though, there’s another contender – Stacey. After telling her delighted rellies she’s won £100K on a scratch card, she says she’ll be bidding for the boozer. Who’ll end up behind the bar?…

When Cain suggested to granddaughter Sarah last week that, in the wake of her hysterectomy, she could find a surrogate to achieve her baby dream, it was inevitable that one of the locals would end up carrying Sugden Jr. But which one? This week, we have our answer, and it’s none other than Charity; something that’s surely going to go down like a plate of steak tartare at a vegan retreat with the landlady’s husband Mack. At first, the surrogacy mission is approached the ‘normal’ way – Sarah trawls through agencies to find a woman who’s up for the job. She soon hits a dead end, however, due to her reduced life expectancy from having Fanconi anaemia. ‘ONCE SHE HAS SET A DECISION IN PLACE, SHE GOES FULL PELT’ Seeing…

Dominic Brunt, who plays Paddy, has revealed how Dales newcomer Jaye Griffiths (right) bowled him over when he was part of her screen test to play Celia. ‘You could tell that Jaye was nervous,’ recalls Dom, 55. ‘I think she’d had a hiccup with the lines. She went away to the side – I’m assuming to have a quiet word with herself – and the transformation was unbelievable. We all had goosebumps. ‘She was fierce, she was completely in control of the air around her. She was mocking me, and toying with me. She was electric! It’s the best audition that I’ve ever been part of.’ WHATTOWATCH.COM/EMMERDALE…

BOOKISH NEW WEDNESDAY, 8PM & 9.10PM, U&ALIBI DRAMA (BOX SET, SKY BOX SETS, VIRGIN TV BOX SETS & NOW) On a summery August morning last year, a street not far from Trafalgar Square is a hive of activity with vintage vehicles being driven along and people wearing splendid 1940s costumes wandering around. TV Times has been invited to watch filming for U&Alibi’s Bookish, a new six-part crime drama created by and starring Sherlock’s Mark Gatiss as Gabriel Book, a sharp-witted bookseller in post-World War Two London who has a sideline assisting the police on particularly complex cases. Book is a gay man living at a time when homosexuality is illegal, but he’s married to his childhood best friend Trottie (Bridgerton’s Polly Walker – see box, below right) in an arrangement…

THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR NEW MON–WED, 9PM, C4 THRILLER (BOX SET, CHANNEL 4 STREAMING) Curtains will be twitching again as more dark suburban secrets implode in the latest chapter of C4’s racy anthology drama The Couple Next Door. Set in a swanky cul-de-sac in Leeds, the first series in 2023 saw teacher Evie (played by Eleanor Tomlinson) fall for neighbour Danny (Sam Heughan), with devastating consequences. Now, as we return to the same street, the focus is on heart surgeon Charlotte (The Split’s Annabel Scholey), who is married to consultant anaesthetist Jacob (Nashville’s Sam Palladio). Their relationship takes an unsettling turn after their enigmatic new colleague, nurse Mia (The Witcher’s Aggy K Adams), moves into their road. As Charlotte and Jacob become dangerously drawn to Mia, there are further tensions…

LADIES IN BLACK NEW FROM SAT 12 JULY, U DRAMA Bag a front-row seat as a luxury department store opens its doors to explore the lives of five very different women in U’s glossy new 1960s-set saga Ladies in Black. Inspired by Australian author Madeleine St John’s 1993 novel The Women in Black, and picking up six months after the events of 2018 film adaptation Ladies in Black, the stylish six-part Oz import sees secrets swirling on the floor of (fictional) Sydney hotspot Goodes as its employees navigate personal problems and societal shifts against the backdrop of a fashion revolution. At the heart of the story are elegant Magda (Debi Mazar), the doyenne of Model Gowns who dreams of opening her own boutique, and conservative Virginia, or ‘Mrs Ambrose’ (Miranda…

HUMAN NEW MON, 9PM, BBC2 FACTUAL (BOX SET, BBC iPLAYER) How did Homo sapiens become the most dominant species on Earth? This is the question explored in BBC2’s new five-part docuseries Human, which sees palaeoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi visit archaeological sites across the world to showcase cutting-edge DNA and fossil discoveries that shed fresh light on our evolution. Ella’s journey begins in Morocco with a skull fossil that suggests we first emerged 300,000 years ago – 100,000 years earlier than previously thought. She also examines how we lived alongside several other human species that eventually died out, and how our ability to adapt and share knowledge helped us to thrive and withstand crises such as climate change. TV Times caught up with Ella to find out more… What was the thinking…

No 6 is up for sale, and Debbie is determined to bag it. So when she discovers that Carla has gazumped her, she decides to stick it to the competition and go higher – a lot higher. Ronnie’s horrified and begs his fiancée to retract her ‘crazy’ offer but she reminds him that she’s a successful businesswoman with money in the bank, and she can flippin’ well do what she wants with it. Frazzled Ron offloads on Kevin, and explains that the reason Debs is so desperate to purchase the property is because she wants to be nearby to her bro in order to support him through his ongoing cancer treatment. Kev’s guilt-ridden, having secretly been given the all-clear, but, not ready to ’fess up just yet, he simply tells his…

Molly Rainford is to leave her role as barmaid Anna Knight. A spokesperson for the soap tells us, ‘We can confirm Molly will be leaving EastEnders later this year, and we wish her all the best for the future.’ Anna arrived in Walford from Marbella in June 2023 with dad George (Colin Salmon) and sister Gina (Francesca Henry). Molly had previously played the lead role in CBBC’s Nova Jones, which ran from 2021 to 2023. She also competed in the 2022 series of Strictly Come Dancing and the 2012 series of Britain’s Got Talent, making it to the final of both shows. WHATTOWATCH.COM/EASTENDERS…

The Tracy v Cain battle that has erupted in the wake of Nate’s grisly demise has been a convenient smokescreen for killer John. But there’s nothing to hide behind when the guilt-ridden paramedic finds himself delivering the eulogy at Nate’s funeral. Tracy still wrongly believes that Cain is Nate’s killer, and she has banned him and the Dingles from the service, prompting the clan to organise their own memorial. As the shindig approaches, John tries to convince Aaron that they should steer clear, but his husband’s having none of it. Aaron, in fact, is still keen to attend the main event, and he asks John to get Tracy to change her mind. Stubborn Tracy won’t budge, and so the following day, the memorial takes place at The Woolpack, as planned.…

HOME AND AWAY Tane stops to help a woman whose car has broken down by the side of the road, but she thinks he is trying to hit on her, and sends him on his way. It later transpires that she’s Sergeant David Langham’s other daughter, Jo, and Lacey’s elder sister. It doesn’t take Lacey long to find out that her sibling is in town, and the pair have a violent brawl outside the surf club, during which Lacey blames Jo for causing their mother’s death. Can the pair reach an understanding? Plus, Avalon offers Remi drugs, and Harper and Tane decide to go on honeymoon to Japan as friends. NEIGHBOURS As Sadie looks forward to celebrating her 21st birthday, ex-boyfriend Byron is horrified to catch her getting passionate with…