9pm, Channel 4“He seemed to be allergic to the 21st century,” said journalist Paul Levie of Matthew Hayden-Johnson, a child from Torbay who, his mother, Lisa, claimed, was unable to walk, eat or breathe without medical assistance. However, as this jawdropping documentary series shows, Matthew’s litany of disability was a fantasy maintained by Lisa. With testimony from Matthew and Lisa themselves, it tracks a toxic fantasy as it took root, then fell apart.
Phil Harrison 8pm, Sky ArtsThis uplifting series about a sometimes overlooked but enduring Welsh folk tradition concludes. The big day has arrived for our three male voice choirs as they head to the Llangollen International Eisteddfod. As the competition looms, it’s a surprisingly intense and serious business.
PH 9pm, ITV1Ben Miller returns for the fourth season of Professor T, which doesn’t find him in a good place. He’s doing everything to avoid getting involved in police work after Lisa’s death, but when a young woman disappears on a boat, the whole team spring into action. Hannah Verdier 9.45pm, BBC ThreeThe fun fake 70s vibe of this gameshow (check out Ray’s massive kipper tie!) is eye-catching, but nostalgia takes a back seat to the genuinely laugh out loud one-liners delivered by the host and the banter with his guests, who this week include off-the-wall comic Ray Badran and flirty Josh Thomas.
Priya Elan Anyone who has seen the 2005 film Wolf Creek knows the drill: outback Australia, isolation, mystery and horror. This creepy series travels the desolate Flinders Highway along which 11 people have gone missing since 1970. First, two nurses who planned to hitchhike across Australia with fatal results.
Criminologist Louise Steding explores their disappearance. PH 10pm, BBC TwoMore couples explore their relationship pinch-points in the soothing company of Dr Orna Guralnik. First up, a man who has been paying women for “cuddling sessions” says himself to his remarkably tolerant better half, and a man with autism struggles to control the meltdowns he experiences when challenged by his partner.
PH The Beast, (Bertrand Bonello, 2022) 11.40pm, Film4 Inspired by a Henry James novella, Bertrand Bonello’s anguished sci-fi romance crosses space and time to explore the loneliness, fear and desire that are all part of what makes us human. In 2044, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) is persuaded by the AI that controls the world to undergo a past-life regression to “purify” her DNA and rid herself of unacceptably complicated emotions. But, in each existence she discovers a deep connection with George MacKay’s Louis.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
