Rose Ayling-Ellis teaches old hands new tricks, The Studio sees Hollywood stars biting the hand that feeds them, and Bridget Christie’s menopausal comedy makes a return.
The Change
Tuesday
Channel 4, 10.00pm
Mid-life crises have different symptoms: men buy sports cars and get toupees… and women go on motorbike explorations of the Forest of Dean. This is according to stand-up comic Bridget Christie, who’s sitcom The Change sees her character, Linda, hit menopause and go searching for a time capsule she hid as a child.
Detectorists director Mackenzie Crook has signed up to direct series two, with cast Paul Whitehouse (Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing), Liza Tarbuck (Upstart Crow), Jim Howick (Ghosts) and comedian Omid Djalili all returning. Series two sees Linda’s Forest future uncertain as both her lies, and her husband catch up with her.
Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands New Tricks
Wednesday
BBC One, 9.00pm
Rose Ayling-Ellis is known for her acting in EastEnders, her dancing in Strictly, and her punditry at the Paralympics, but now she’s ready for her next challenge.
Only 151,000 people know BSL across the UK, and Rose is aiming to change this. As the name suggests, she will be teaching some old hands new tricks, with her students ranging from 65-years-old all the way up into their 90s. With hearing loss in the elderly on the rise, Rose thinks BSL could be truly transformative to their communication.
The Studio
Wednesday
Apple TV+
Seth Rogan plays Matt Remick – a TV exec hoping to be one of Hollywood’s premiere movie makers. After taking over Continental Studios, he realises this dream might be much further from his grasp than he thought.
Wrangling a long list of high-profile celebs (including Martin Scorsese, Josh Hutcherson, Zac Efron and Zoë Kravitz – all playing themselves), creating Duhpocalypse (a movie that combines zombies and diarrhoea), and dealing with vapid staff, turns Remick’s dreams into further nightmares.
Brianna
Thursday
ITV1, 9.00pm
The mother of Brianna Ghey, a 16-year-old girl murdered by classmates in 2023, speaks for the first time in an extended documentary about her “beautiful daughter.”
ITV’s film features interviews with Brianna’s closest friends and a look at her childhood and journey as a trans teenager. The documentary will also include footage of killers Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, and exclusive access to case details from the Cheshire Police.
Brianna’s mother, Esther, also shares her thoughts on social media safety for children and discusses her ongoing campaign to make the UK a safer place for young people.
Stacey Dooley: Meet the Shoplifters
Thursday
BBC Three, 9.00pm
Customer thefts rose to 20.4 million reported cases last year, compared to 3.7 million in 2023. Stacey Dooley has decided to put everyday faces to this growing epidemic. Through the course of her new documentary, she will meet those who steal out of necessity, those who steal for the thrill, and those who steal to stick it to the man.
For a balanced take, she will also meet with those at the frontlines of the epidemic – the workers who have been tasked with putting a halt to it, often subject to threats and violence.
