Selections and commentary by Pat Harrington
This week music and memory loom large—from the soaring vocals of Whitney to the ethereal poetry of Fleetwood Mac. Political echoes resound too, whether in the wreckage of the Jesus Army or the fog of ethics and politics in All the President’s Men. And if you need a dose of nostalgia or sharp comedy, 9 to 5 and When Harry Met Sally do the trick. Streaming platforms, meanwhile, open their vaults with a new slate of drama, documentary and espionage to binge at your pace. As ever we bring you the week’s entertainment from an alternative viewpoint.
Saturday, 26th July
Spellbound (1945): BBC Two, 2:25 PM
Hitchcock’s foray into psychoanalysis, Spellbound, is often overshadowed by his more bombastic thrillers, but this is a film of delicate tension and cerebral intrigue. Ingrid Bergman brings both intelligence and intensity to her role as a psychiatrist who believes in the innocence of Gregory Peck’s troubled amnesiac. The film combines romantic longing with a simmering air of dread.
At the time, the idea of exploring the subconscious on screen was daring; Hitchcock’s visual flourishes, including Salvador Dalí’s iconic dream sequence, give the interior world of the mind a palpable texture. But beyond the technique lies a question of trust: can love really see past doubt? The result is a suspenseful and strangely tender tale.
Today, Spellbound remains a bold psychological drama that refuses to simplify its characters. It is less about the ‘whodunnit’ and more about whether redemption is possible through understanding. In an era of suspicion and fear, Hitchcock urged audiences to look within as much as without.
Whitney Houston Night: BBC Two, from 8:00 PM
BBC Two devotes a night to Whitney Houston, and rightly so. Kicking off at 8 PM, the tribute builds towards the feature film Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody at 9 PM, a biopic that tries to do justice to her voice, her pain, and her power. What it lacks in structural finesse it makes up for in sincerity, with Naomi Ackie offering a performance that captures the essence of Whitney’s vulnerability and strength.
Following that, Whitney Houston Live in South Africa 1994 at 11:15 PM is the real gem. Here, we see not the myth, but the woman—her voice alive with gospel influence, her performance full of grace and command. This was not just a concert but a cultural event: post-apartheid South Africa welcoming a Black American icon.
In curating a full evening around Whitney, BBC Two reminds us that her legacy isn’t only her music but the complex life behind it. There’s no glossing over the tragedy, but the tribute doesn’t dwell in it either. It lets Whitney sing, and in doing so, lets her speak for herself.
The 1001 Musical Lives of Fleetwood Mac: Sky Arts, 9:00 PM
Fleetwood Mac are often remembered for their drama as much as their harmony. This Sky Arts documentary gets under the skin of the band’s mythology, moving beyond the tabloid fare to reveal their musical evolution from British blues to Californian soft-rock juggernauts. It’s a tale of reinvention, resistance, and reintegration.
What’s compelling here is the attention to craft. We hear how Mick Fleetwood and John McVie held the rhythm together while the front end of the band constantly shifted. Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie—each gets space to shine, their songwriting dissected with due respect. For once, the soap opera doesn’t overshadow the soundtrack.
As a primer or refresher, this is rich and rewarding. It frames Fleetwood Mac not just as a successful band but as a cultural barometer, reflecting the highs and lows of the post-60s era. By the time the credits roll, you might feel the need to reach for Rumours and start again.
I Am Raquel Welch: Sky Documentaries, 9:00 PM
This revealing documentary digs beneath Raquel Welch’s bombshell image to uncover the woman behind the legend. Too often remembered for her fur bikini in One Million Years B.C., Welch’s story is richer, more complicated. The film traces a career marked by bold reinvention and a refusal to be typecast, highlighting dramatic roles that show her range as an actor—not just a sex symbol.
What stands out most are the contradictions. Welch broke rules in an industry that wanted her silent and compliant, yet she did so with poise and calculation. Her clashes with studios weren’t tantrums—they were negotiations for respect. And the fallout she endured says more about Hollywood’s treatment of women than it does about her.
I Am Raquel Welch isn’t just a biography—it’s a quietly moving reflection on how fame shapes and distorts female artists. It reminds us that Welch was more than a face or a figure. She was a fighter, a craftswoman, and a survivor of a system that rarely made space for either.
Fleetwood Mac Live in Boston: Sky Arts, 10:15 PM
Fleetwood Mac’s Live in Boston, airing tonight on Sky Arts at 10:15 PM, captures more than a band—it traces a lineage of heartbreak, reinvention, and sheer musical durability. There’s something almost mythic in the way they return to the stage: harmonies reawakened, instrumentation sharp, and a palpable sense of emotional reckoning. Stevie Nicks’ vocals in particular hover between invocation and lived memory, each phrase steeped in loss and legacy.
Though this concert marks a late chapter—Fleetwood Mac have announced a farewell tour for 2026—their sound remains resilient, a kind of haunted joy threaded through every note. Christine McVie’s absence lingers, yes, but what remains is no less vital: a group refusing nostalgia’s soft lens in favour of something more raw, more real.
If that emotional clarity resonates, The Fleetwood Mac Story by Night Owl Shows offers a kindred experience at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Running 1–23 August at theSpaceUK, it’s part of their award-winning tribute series, weaving the band’s journey—from blues beginnings to Rumours-era drama—into live performance and storytelling. If you are up at the Fringe go see it. You can buy tickets directly here .
Captain Phillips (2013): BBC One, 10:35 PM
Paul Greengrass brings his signature verité style to this high-seas thriller, anchoring the story in tense realism and human drama. Tom Hanks plays the titular captain with weary authority, capturing a man caught in events larger than himself. The hijacking by Somali pirates is nerve-racking, but it never tips into cartoon villainy.
Much credit is due to Barkhad Abdi, whose portrayal of pirate leader Muse is complex and haunting. Rather than a one-dimensional antagonist, Muse is a product of desperation and geopolitical neglect. The film subtly asks: who are the real pirates in a world of global inequality?
At the end, the emotional toll on Phillips is rendered with such rawness that it lingers long after the credits. This is more than a suspense film; it’s a meditation on power, fear, and survival. Hanks’s breakdown in the final scene may be one of the finest pieces of acting in his career.
Whitney Houston Live in South Africa 1994: BBC Two, 11:15 PM
This powerful concert film captures Whitney at her artistic and cultural peak. Taking the stage in newly liberated South Africa, her voice resonates with spiritual clarity, framed by the context of a country beginning to breathe in a new era. Whitney’s presence is magnetic, but it’s the political backdrop that lends the performance its lasting significance.
This was more than entertainment—it was a symbolic embrace between African American artistry and African liberation. Her renditions of “I Will Always Love You” and “Greatest Love of All” are not just hits but expressions of healing and hope, delivered with astonishing poise and sincerity.
It’s a testament to Whitney’s power that, even decades on, this concert retains emotional weight. Her voice, her timing, and her grace combine into something close to transcendence. A must-watch for those who want to understand not just her voice but her impact.
The Eagles: Desperado: Sky Arts, 12:35 AM
This late-night documentary eschews the glitz of rock stardom in favour of something more grounded: storytelling. Anchored around Desperado—arguably The Eagles’ most cinematic album—it casts the band not as superstars but as chroniclers of an American myth. Outlaws and dreamers drift through harmony-rich ballads, their stories etched in steel guitar and heartbreak.
The film leans into the archival: backstage snapshots, poignant anecdotes, and grainy concert footage that catch the band at their most introspective. Interviews with surviving members reveal not just artistic ambition but quiet regret—a group haunted by its own precision.
If anything, it’s a portrait of obsessive craftsmen chasing beauty, even when it cost them connection. The camaraderie faltered, but the melodies endured. A contemplative watch, this is The Eagles as builders of a bittersweet legacy.
And if that melancholy strikes a chord, The Rise of The Eagles by Night Owl Shows offers a live counterpart at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Part of their award-winning series, the show runs 1–23 August at theSpaceUK and weaves the band’s journey into song and storytelling. Tickets available here
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006): BBC Two, 1:10 AM
Guillermo del Toro’s dark fairy tale remains one of cinema’s most haunting allegories. Set against the brutal backdrop of Francoist Spain, the story follows young Ofelia as she discovers a mystical underworld that mirrors and distorts her grim reality. It’s a world of fauns, monsters, and labyrinths—but also of moral complexity.
Blending fantasy with political horror, del Toro asks what it means to resist and survive. The villainous Captain Vidal is more terrifying than any mythical creature, while Ofelia’s quiet rebellion is a testament to hope amid totalitarianism. The film’s visuals are breathtaking, but it’s the emotional undercurrent that stays with you.
Few films manage to feel both intimate and epic. Pan’s Labyrinth does, and it achieves this by trusting its audience to sit with ambiguity and sorrow. A cinematic triumph.
Sunday, 27th July
The Great American Songbook with Samara Joy: BBC Four, 8:00 PM
Samara Joy doesn’t just sing the classics—she inhabits them. With a voice that already carries the weight of a legacy, she breathes new life into the Great American Songbook, blending technical finesse with genuine emotional depth. Her phrasing feels instinctive and timeless, echoing the greats without ever sounding like an imitation.
But this isn’t an exercise in nostalgia. Joy’s take is refreshingly contemporary—never forced, never flashy. The arrangements dance between eras, giving old standards new shimmer while honouring their heart.
The performance itself is quietly electrifying. In a musical landscape full of filters and studio gloss, Joy reminds us that honesty, craft, and a remarkable voice can still cut through the noise. This is jazz with a pulse—and a soul.
Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army: BBC Two, 9:00 PM
This harrowing documentary investigates the rise and fall of the Jesus Army, a cult that grew out of 1960s evangelicalism and turned into something far darker. Combining survivor testimony with archival material, the programme reveals an organisation that blurred the line between faith and authoritarian control.
The stories are difficult but necessary—abuse, isolation, and manipulation, all cloaked in religious language. The filmmakers let victims speak without sensationalism, giving them space to unpack the psychological toll.
A sharp indictment of unchecked power in spiritual spaces, this documentary raises urgent questions about accountability. It’s a challenging but vital watch.
Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text: Channel 4, 9:00 PM
Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text takes us inside Operation Venetic, the international police task force that breached the EncroChat network in 2020. Over 74 tense days, analysts decrypted messages from some 60,000 anonymous handsets, exposing a shadow world of drug smuggling, kidnapping and murder plotted in real time.
The series shuns over-the-top dramatics, laying out each breakthrough with surgical clarity and always tracing the human grudges and old-fashioned malice behind the encrypted chatter. Alongside the case files, it quietly but powerfully calls out tech platforms for their blind spots and questions law-enforcement’s readiness for digital crime,
Thirteen Lives (2022): BBC Two, 10:00 PM
Ron Howard’s film chronicles the real-life Thai cave rescue of 2018 with tension, care, and humanity. Colin Farrell and Viggo Mortensen lead a cast that emphasises quiet competence over heroics. The result is a procedural with heart—a tribute to collaboration across borders and backgrounds.
What makes this so affecting is its humility. The film doesn’t centre on the white saviour narrative, instead highlighting local efforts, cultural complexity, and the quiet courage of those involved. The cinematography claustrophobically captures the peril inside the cave.
In an age of bombast, Thirteen Lives stands out for its restraint and dignity. It tells us what we already know—that people are capable of astonishing decency—without ever preaching.
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017): BBC One, 10:30 PM
Tom Holland’s first solo outing as Peter Parker resets the tone for Spider-Man with youthful energy and emotional honesty. Eschewing origin tropes, the film jumps into a world where Peter is already balancing school, social awkwardness, and crime-fighting, all while craving the approval of Tony Stark.
Director Jon Watts brings a lightness to the storytelling, more John Hughes than superhero epic. But it works, grounding the character in teenage chaos while still delivering action and stakes. Michael Keaton’s Vulture is one of the MCU’s more grounded and sympathetic antagonists.
It’s a film that understands both web-slinging and adolescent insecurity. Not the deepest Marvel entry, but one of the most enjoyable.
Monday, 28th July
Kamikaze: An Untold History: BBC Four, 9:00 PM
This illuminating documentary uncovers the complex history behind Japan’s kamikaze pilots during World War II. Far from the caricatures of fanatical suicide bombers, it explores the human beings behind the myths—young men caught in a nationalist machine, coerced into martyrdom for emperor and empire.
The film shines when it interrogates the ideology that cultivated these pilots. Through letters, diaries, and survivor interviews, it paints a vivid picture of lives torn between duty and despair. A nuanced study of nationalism and sacrifice, it offers no easy answers, but plenty to reflect on.
In a time when martyrdom and military ideology are once again in the spotlight, Kamikaze reminds us how propaganda can sculpt patriotism into tragedy. It’s chilling, thoughtful, and essential viewing.
9 to 5 (1980): BBC Two, 11:00 PM
This classic workplace comedy remains as subversive and funny as ever. Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton make a formidable trio as three working women fed up with their sexist boss. What begins as satire soon morphs into a revenge fantasy—brimming with charm, wit, and proto-feminist critique.
More than just a product of its time, 9 to 5 continues to resonate in an age of ongoing inequality. Its skewering of corporate hierarchy and gender politics is as biting as ever, and its optimism about collective action feels oddly radical now.
It’s also riotously entertaining. The chemistry between the leads is electric, and Parton’s title song remains an anthem of resilience. A joy to revisit.
Tuesday, 29th July
Nelson’s Caribbean Hellhole: BBC Four, 9:00 PM
Nelson’s Caribbean Hellhole – BBC Four, 9:00 PM
Historian Sam Willis takes us to Antigua’s English Harbour, long called “the graveyard of the Englishman,” where scores of 18th-century sailors—victims of fever, scurvy and brutal naval discipline—were buried in unmarked mass graves. Through on-site excavations and Willis’s clear-eyed narration, those weathered bones become witnesses to the human cost of empire.
As the camera pans over rusted buttons and fragments of uniform, we feel the relentless heat, the tainted rations and the psychological toll of life at sea. The film also visits a nearby plantation dig, hinting at the even harsher fate of the enslaved people whose toil underpinned Britain’s sugar trade.
Interwoven with these archaeological revelations is a nuanced portrait of Horatio Nelson—celebrated hero, but also a man shaped by the same system that discarded his sailors. Nelson’s Caribbean Hellhole reminds us that history isn’t just about great names; it’s about the countless lives buried beneath them, and the stories we choose to surface.
A Thousand Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story: Channel 4, 10:00 PM
Bonnie Blue was a trailblazing Black British trans woman who emerged from the shadows of 1980s Soho to become a community icon. This moving documentary tells her story through archival footage, interviews, and her own poetry, constructing a portrait as defiant as it is tender.
The film doesn’t flinch from the hardship—addiction, marginalisation, and violence—but it celebrates Bonnie’s resilience and advocacy. Her life becomes a lens through which to explore the broader struggle for queer visibility and survival in the UK.
At a time when trans rights are under attack, A Thousand Men and Me is a fierce, beautiful act of remembrance. Bonnie Blue is not just honoured—she’s heard.
All the President’s Men (1976): BBC Two, 12:00 AM
This paranoid classic of 1970s cinema remains a masterclass in journalistic doggedness and slow-burn suspense. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman star as Woodward and Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters who uncovered the Watergate scandal. Alan J. Pakula’s direction is lean, atmospheric, and utterly gripping.
What stands out is the film’s faith in journalism—not as sensationalism, but as painstaking, methodical truth-seeking. Long scenes in libraries, phone booths, and typewriter-filled newsrooms become thrilling in their quiet intensity.
At a time when trust in media is low, All the President’s Men is a reminder of the fourth estate’s power—and responsibility. It’s a film that rewards patience and attention, much like the job it depicts.
Wednesday, 30th July
Michael Aspel Remembers The War Game: BBC Four, 10:00 PM
In this concise retrospective, Michael Aspel returns to Peter Watkins’s 1966 drama-documentary The War Game, a work the BBC shelved for nearly twenty years. Aspel—one of the film’s original voices—blends personal memory with political observation, recalling how its stark depiction of a nuclear strike rattled both public and officials.
He lays out the social and government anxieties the film unearthed, noting that the very act of banning it testifies to its unflinching honesty about war’s consequences. Through his commentary, we’re reminded how easily state power can silence unsettling truths and how critical responsibility and accountability remain today.
The War Game (1966): BBC Four, 10:10 PM
Peter Watkins’ controversial docudrama remains a gut-punch of a film. Simulating a nuclear strike on Britain, it blends fiction and reportage to paint a bleak, unsparing picture of social collapse. Shot in stark black and white, its documentary style is eerily convincing.
What makes The War Game so powerful is its moral clarity. It does not try to shock gratuitously, but to depict with unflinching honesty what governments refused to acknowledge. The horror isn’t just in the mushroom clouds, but in the slow decay of civil society.
Nearly 60 years on, it still feels like a provocation—and a warning. Required viewing for anyone who thinks nuclear deterrence is a game.
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019): BBC One, 10:40 PM
In his second solo film, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker wrestles with grief, identity, and the burden of legacy after Tony Stark’s death. Set mostly in Europe, it’s a breezy, visually inventive adventure that pits Spidey against Jake Gyllenhaal’s manipulative villain, Mysterio.
The film explores fake news and illusion with surprising bite, reflecting on a world saturated with spin. It’s also an effective coming-of-age tale, with Peter navigating first love and superhero responsibility in equal measure.
Light, fun, and more subversive than it first appears, Far From Home is popcorn cinema with a thoughtful twist.
Thursday, 31st July
Queen Victoria: Secret Marriage, Secret Child: Channel 4, 9:00 PM
This historical documentary delves into the rumoured affair between Queen Victoria and her servant John Brown, and the possible existence of a secret child. Drawing on letters, court documents, and speculative biography, it teases out a provocative narrative from contested history.
While not conclusive, the programme offers a compelling re-examination of Victoria’s inner life. Far from the dour widow often portrayed, she emerges here as a passionate, complicated woman constrained by duty and image.
Whether or not the story is entirely true, the documentary succeeds in unsettling official mythologies. It suggests that history, like monarchy, is often a curated illusion.
The Graduate (1967): BBC Four, 11:10 PM
Mike Nichols’ seminal coming-of-age film still sparkles with sharp satire and emotional disquiet. Dustin Hoffman’s Benjamin Braddock drifts through post-collegiate malaise before falling into an affair with Anne Bancroft’s iconic Mrs. Robinson. What follows is both absurd and achingly real.
Visually inventive and narratively bold, The Graduate captures a generational crisis with humour and pathos. Simon & Garfunkel’s soundtrack adds texture to Benjamin’s isolation and yearning, making the film as much about mood as plot.
It’s a film that questions everything: love, adulthood, and success. And in its famous final scene, it refuses to offer easy answers. A timeless masterpiece.
Friday, 1st August
The Secret Life of Trees: To a Tree Adulthood: Channel 5, 9:00 PM
This gentle yet profound documentary explores the stages of growth in a tree’s life, treating it not as static background but as a living witness to change. Through elegant cinematography and poetic narration, it invites viewers to slow down and marvel at nature’s quiet strength.
The science is there—root systems, carbon capture, symbiosis—but it’s never dry. The film finds wonder in the ordinary, arguing that to understand trees is to understand something essential about endurance, cooperation, and time.
Perfect for a contemplative evening, this is television that asks nothing but attention—and rewards it with beauty.
When Harry Met Sally (1989): BBC One, 11:20 PM
Nora Ephron’s rom-com classic endures because it understands that love is both complicated and hilarious. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan turn what could have been a formulaic romance into something layered, prickly, and utterly human.
The film asks whether men and women can truly be friends, and offers no easy resolution—only a witty, touching journey through miscommunication and emotional honesty. Every line feels carefully crafted, every scene a small revelation.
By the time Harry runs through New York on New Year’s Eve, we’re rooting for them—not because the genre demands it, but because the characters have earned it. A pitch-perfect end to the week.
Streaming Choices
The Facebook Hunny Trap: Catching a Killer – Prime Video, available from Sunday, 27th July
This gripping true crime documentary follows the extraordinary story of Lehanne Sergison, a British woman who used a fake Facebook profile to ensnare her aunt’s killer—6,000 miles away in South Africa. When Christine Robinson, a beloved expat and lodge owner, was brutally raped and murdered in 2014, the investigation stalled. Authorities failed to extradite the prime suspect, a former employee who fled the country, and justice seemed out of reach.
But Sergison, driven by grief and a fierce sense of duty, took matters into her own hands. Despite suffering from severe asthma and unable to travel, she created a fictional online persona and began a months-long digital seduction—ultimately leading police to the killer’s location.
The Facebook Honeytrap: Catching a Killer is more than a tale of amateur sleuthing. It’s a chilling meditation on how digital intimacy can mask predatory intent, and how the illusion of connection can be weaponised. But it’s also a testament to resilience, and to the quiet power of one woman’s refusal to let her aunt’s story be forgotten.
Berlin Station – ITVX, all three series available from Sunday, 27th July
Long overlooked in the crowded field of spy thrillers, Berlin Station deserves a second glance—and now, with all three seasons landing on ITVX, it finally gets one. Created by Olen Steinhauer, the series follows CIA analyst Daniel Miller (Richard Armitage) as he’s thrust into the shadowy world of Berlin’s intelligence community. What begins as a hunt for a whistleblower soon spirals into a web of political manipulation, far-right extremism, and moral compromise.
The cast is quietly stellar—Rhys Ifans, Michelle Forbes, Leland Orser, and Ashley Judd among them—and the writing leans into ambiguity rather than easy answers. Across its 29 episodes, the show explores the post-Snowden landscape with a kind of bruised realism: surveillance, loyalty, and the cost of truth. It’s taut, cerebral, and often unsettling, ideal for fans of The Americans or Le Bureau who crave espionage with emotional depth.
Though cancelled after its third season in 2019, Berlin Station remains a compelling study in how institutions fracture—and how people try to hold the line.
Lianne – Netflix, all 16 episodes available from Thursday, 31st July
Stylishly directed by Steve Haining, Lianne is a psychological drama that trades jump scares for slow-burning dread. At its centre is Erin, a teenage influencer who livestreams herself inside an abandoned haunted house to raise money for the illness that claimed her stepsister’s life. But what begins as a performative act of grief soon spirals into something far more unsettling—an encounter with trauma that refuses to stay buried.
As Erin navigates the house, accompanied only by Lianne’s ashes in an urn, the film builds tension through eerie stillness and fractured memory. Jessica Chin King delivers a breakout performance, anchoring the story with vulnerability and grit. The narrative unfolds in real time, with Erin responding to live comments from her followers—an unnerving reminder of how digital intimacy can both expose and isolate.
Lianne isn’t a cult escape drama in the literal sense, but it resonates with similar themes: coercion, grief, and the long shadow of survival. It’s a meditation on how we perform healing, and what happens when the ghosts we carry demand to be seen.
Chief of War – Apple TV, first two episodes available from Friday, 1st August
Set in the fractured political landscape of 18th-century Hawai‘i, Chief of the Islands dramatizes the rise of a local ali‘i (chief) as he defends his people against the creeping tide of European imperialism. Inspired by the real-life consolidation of power under Kamehameha I, the series blends sweeping visuals with intimate storytelling, capturing the tension between tradition and survival as foreign ships begin to circle the archipelago.
The drama unfolds amid rival factions, sacred obligations, and the arrival of muskets and missionaries—each reshaping the islands’ fate. Battles are choreographed with reverence for indigenous martial arts, while the emotional core rests on a leader torn between diplomacy and defiance. It’s a portrait of sovereignty under siege, and of a culture fighting to preserve its soul.
For viewers drawn to Shogun or The Last Kingdom, this is a bold addition to the historical drama canon—one that reframes empire through a Pacific lens and centres Native Hawaiian agency.
Whatever your appetite—fact or fiction, history or harmony—this week’s Culture Vulture offers you windows into worlds familiar and strange. Settle in. There’s much to savour.
