Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Hollie Richardson, Graeme Virtue, Phil Harrison and Simon Wardell

TV tonight: who shot dead Essex’s biggest drug dealers in the 90s?

The Essex Murders on Sky Documentaries.
The Essex Murders on Sky Documentaries. Photograph: Sky UK

The Essex Murders

9.25pm, Sky Documentaries

On 6 December 1995, three men were found shot dead in a Range Rover in Rettendon, including major ecstasy supplier Tony Tucker. This three-part documentary speaks to insiders about what happened in the run-up to the killings and asks whether the right people were convicted. It starts with the rise of the rave scene during the 90s, when Tucker saw a big opportunity. “Money became his god,” says one former acquaintance, “and he didn’t mind people getting hurt.” Hollie Richardson

Britain’s Got Talent

8pm, ITV1

One fitfully funny vaudevillian has been buzzed out of series 16 of BGT before it even begins. David Walliams’s replacement is Strictly veteran Bruno Tonioli, a beaming jack-in-the-box who radiates the sort of positive vibes that can only embolden any nervy hopefuls. After this week’s curtain-raiser, auditions continue on Sunday. Graeme Virtue

Fortress Britain With Alice Roberts

8.25pm, Channel 4

The professor and her history buff companions (Danielle George and Onyeka Nubia) tell the story of William the Conqueror this week. Roberts wraps her hands round his 1,000-year-old sword, while Nubia heads to Durham Cathedral to learn why his coronation was a PR disaster. HR

Carole King and Her Songs at the BBC

8.30pm, BBC Two

The BBC’s archival role is rarely more obviously seen than in its arts coverage. Once again, expect to see a storied career, traced via recorded appearances. From her years of writing with then-husband Gerry Goffin, through the Laurel Canyon era to the pop-soul confections of the 80s, the broadcaster has Carole King covered. Phil Harrison

Lost: Those Who Kill

9pm, BBC Four

This downbeat Danish thriller continues, and another murder means the hunt for Bjørn is more urgent than ever. The show leans into TV crime tropes a little too enthusiastically – everything happens in perpetual twilight and is underpinned by a sense of looming horror. But Natalie Madueño gives a fine performance as criminal profiler Louise Bergstein. PH

Magpie Murders

9.15pm, BBC One

We’re midway through the adaptation of Anthony Horowitz’s meta murder mystery, and this week starts with a flashback to an almighty disagreement between book agent Susan (Lesley Manville) and her recently deceased author Alan Conway (Conleth Hill). Back in the present, though, she’s still hellbent on finding the final chapter of his last novel. HR

Film choice

The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die, Netflix

“Destiny is all!” Uhtred, son of Uhtred, bows out with a feature-length adventure that neatly ties up the compelling TV reworking of Bernard Cornwell’s Anglo-Saxon chronicles. It’s basically the origin story of our nation, with King Edward’s death leading to a power struggle between his son Athelstan, conniving Danes and various Scottish monarchs. As the drily witty but fatalistic warrior, Alexander Dreymon grounds a tale with less medieval politicking and more mud-based scrapping than the series, as “an idea of England” comes bloodily into being. Simon Wardell

Lyra, 9.25pm, Channel 4

Lyra on Channel 4.
Lyra on Channel 4. Photograph: Jess Lowe/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Alison Millar’s documentary serves as a fitting tribute to Lyra McKee, the 29-year-old Northern Irish journalist shot dead in Derry in 2019 while witnessing a riot. This isn’t an investigation into her murder. Rather it’s a chronicle of a precocious, fearless reporter who stayed true to her working-class Belfast roots while probing topics such as the high suicide rate among “ceasefire babies” (those born around the 1998 Good Friday agreement) or her own experiences of being gay and Catholic. McKee’s own words are to the fore in a tragic story of lost potential. SW

Live sport

Gymnastics: European Championships, 11.30am, BBC Two The apparatus finals in Turkey.

Premier League Football: Aston Villa v Newcastle, 11.30am, BT Sport 1 At Villa Park. Man City v Leicester is at 5pm on Sky Sports Main Event.

Snooker: The World Championship, 1.15pm, BBC One Ronnie O’Sullivan starts the defence of his title at the Crucible theatre in Sheffield.

Women’s Six Nations Rugby Union: Wales v England, 2pm, BBC Two At Cardiff Arms Park.

Racing: Grand National Festival, 2pm, ITV1 The Grand National race itself is at 5.15pm.

Women’s FA Cup Football: Man United v Brighton, 5pm, BBC Two The other semi-final, Aston Villa v Chelsea, is Sun, 1.50pm, BBC One.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.