This week's top TV: 25 April - 1 May

This week's top TV: 25 April - 1 May

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By Ed Gove,
Monday, 25th April 2016
Olivia Colman
Olivia Colman plays trombone teacher Deborah (Credit: Channel 4)

Monday

Flowers

Channel 4

10pm

From writer/director Will Sharpe and starring Olivia Colman (Broadchurch) and Julian Barratt (The Mighty Boosh), the eccentric Flowers family are undergoing something of a meltdown. 

Maurice (Barratt) is a children's author, while his wife Deborah (Colman) is a trombone teacher. Both are dealing with their own demons, and are quietly helpless as their marriage falls apart. 

Beginning tonight and then continuing all this week, Flowers is a fresh and oh-so-dark take on TV comedy. 

 

Tuesday

Inside the Billionaire's Wardrobe

BBC2

9pm

RTS award-winner Reggie Yates investigates the insatiable desire for luxury goods among the super rich
(Credit: BBC)

RTS award-winner Reggie Yates investigates the insatiable desire among the super rich for designer goods, and the price that is paid to provide them.

With exotic luxury animal furs and skins topping the must-have lists for some of the world's most affluent, Reggie heads to Siberia on the trail of world's most expensive fur. 

He then heads south to Australia to look at the reality of crocodile farming, where the mighty animals are bred for their skin which is used in handbags. He also examines the market for attractive Indonesian python skin which is used for bags and phone cases. 

Reggie confronts the questions of ethics and sustainability in this documentary which explores the possible extent of this international market.

 

Wednesday

Mary Beard's Ultimate Rome: Empire without Limits

BBC2

9pm

Mary Beard in Largo Argentina, Rome, where Julius Caesar was assassinated
(Credit: BBC/Lion Television Ltd/Caterina Turroni)

In this bold new series, historian Mary Beard explains just how little we know about the early Roman empire, and how those things that we think we understand might actually not be the case. 

Pulling in all of her considerable expertise, Mary uses sources, theories and carefully selected historical artefacts to explore the early expansion of the Roman empire. 

If, as she says, the early Romans didn't have a master plan, then what was their secret to building one of the largest empires to ever have existed?

 

Thursday

What Would Be Your Miracle?

ITV

9pm

Emma Willis with 10-year-old Garin who has cerebral palsy (Credit: ITV)

Emma Willis fronts this moving programme guaranteed to bring a tear to your eye as she tells the story of two people who hope that a vital operation will transform their lives. 

Ten-year-old Garin is a bubbly, fun-loving kid who, due to his cerebral palsy, has never been able to walk but who dreams of playing football, while Andrea is 55, deaf and slowly losing her sight. She dreams of being able to join in with her family again. 

As the two undergo the expensive and potentially life-changing operations, you experience the incomparable joy that the speedy recovery of one of the two, however the operation does not go so well for the other and they initially struggle with their post-operative state. 

 

Friday

The Secret

ITV

9pm

James Nesbitt stars as a killer dentist in this real life double murder case (Credit: ITV)

Based on the real life story of dentist Colin Howell and teacher Hazel Buchanan, who lived in a devout Baptist community in Coleraine.

Colin Howell (James Nesbitt) is a respected member of the community and a family man with three kids and another on the way. When he embarks on a guilty affair with schoolteacher Hazel (Genevieve O'Reilly), he reassures her that their faith need not come in the way. Divorce is not an option, however, so when Colin's wife starts speaking of suicide following the death of her father, he spots a solution to all of their problems. 

 

Saturday

David Attenborough's Wild City 

Sky 1

7pm

David Attenborough narrates this Sky documentary series (Credit: Sky 1/TVF International)

David Attenborough narrates this two-part series which explores the wildlife and diversity of Singapore, one of the most diverse city-states in the world. 

The show documents the hidden environments and urban habitats of the animals living in the city.  

 

Sunday

The Silk Road 

BBC4

9pm

Dr Sam Willis is a British historian and writer (Credit: BBC/Alastair McCormick)

Dr Sam Willis unpacks the mysteries of the world's most famous trade routes. Beginning his journey in Venice, he examines how the floating city bears the influences of its Eastern trade partner. 

He then moves east towards the ancient Chinese capital of Xian and exploring the history of the Silk Road. 

Built on the trade on a single resource, the Silk Road began from a single deal to trade silk with war horses, and from there the reach of the Road grew and grew. 

 

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