WTW – what to watch this week

Six Minutes to Midnight
Sky Cinema, Saturday 27 March 2:10pm & On Demand

In the years leading up to the Second World War, there was a Nazi finishing school in Sussex that history has tried to brush over – until now. Augusta Victoria College in Bexhill schooled many young German girls connected to high ranking Nazi officials (including Heinrich Himmler’s god-daughter). The hope was to create a sense of diplomacy so war could be avoided. Needless to say, it didn’t work. In this film premiering on Sky, Eddie Izzard co-writes and stars in this spy thriller as a British intelligence agent posing as a teacher sent in to learn the establishment’s secrets. 

Keeping Faith
BBC One, Saturday 27 March at 9pm

Eve Myles returns as Faith Howells for Keeping Faith’s third and final season. It has been 18 months since fans have seen her juggling her divorce and custody battle in the fictional Welsh town of Abercorran – and things have only gotten worse. However, Howells is ready for a fight. For this last hurrah, Myles is playing the character in a different light. It’s her swan song and the audience will finally, Myles has hinted, get to see who the character really is. 

Tina
Sky Documentaries, Sunday 28 March at 9pm 

From the Oscar-winning Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin, it’s Tina Turner’s turn in the limelight following a recent pattern of documentaries on female artists. Turner was not the icon’s given surname, she received it when she wed her abusive ex-husband Ike Turner. In their very public divorce, she reclaimed the rights to her name – while all the royalties still flowed into Ike’s pocket. This documentary is the story of how Tina Turner became a music legend in her own right, playing by her own rules. 

Imagine: Kazuo Ishiguro – Remembering and Forgetting
BBC One, Sunday 28 March at 10:30pm

Presenter Alan Yentob sits down with Kazuo Ishiguro in a revealing conversation with the award-winning novelist. Filmed during lockdown, he has a unique chance to speak to Britain’s only living recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. He discusses his early life in Nagasaki, growing up in the wake of the atomic bomb and being the only Japanese boy in England’s home counties in the 1960s.

Remarkable Places to Eat
BBC Two, Tuesday 30 March at 8pm

This mouth-watering programme returns for its third season. Kicking off the latest instalment of the culinary journey, Fred Sirieix travels to Yorkshire accompanied by the beloved queen of baking Nadiya Hussain. From authentic Indian cuisine to world-class cheese, Nadiya is on a mission to prove to Fred that when it comes to food, Yorkshire’s got it all. 

Birds and Beasts
Waddesdon, Wednesday 31 March at 7pm

Join landscape historian and Waddesdon Gardens’ archivist Sophie Piebenga as she discusses how keeping birds and beasts alike were very much in fashion in the 19th century. In keeping with this trend, like many of his family members, Ferdinand de Rothschild kept various exotic animals in his gardens, from emus to kangaroos. Since then, the ornamental aviary has been restored to its former glory awaiting visitors’ gaze. Piebenga will enlighten the audience to the reasoning behind this fascination and explain how the Rothschild family cared for these creatures. You can book tickets for this online event here.

Worn Stories
Netflix, Thursday 1 April 

Adapted from Emily Spivack’s New York Times bestselling book, this eight-episode series explores the memories attached to cherished items of clothing from the wardrobes of cultural icons and talented storytellers. Each episode is assigned a specific theme and uses a combination of interviews, animations and archival footage to bring fashion to life. Rebellion, identity and expression – this isn’t solely a show about clothes, but about the people who wore them.

Concrete Cowboy
Netflix, Friday 2 April

Based on the novel Ghetto Cowboy, Idris Elba and Stranger Things’ Caleb McLaughlin team up in this coming of age drama. Sent to live with his estranged father over the course of one summer, a rebellious teen then forms a bond with a Philadelphia group of Black cowboys. The drama is based the real-life tale of the Fletcher Street Cowboys, it’s a western in a modern argot. 

Madame Claude
Netflix, Friday 2 April

Inspired by the real-life of the French brothel keeper, director Sylvie Verheyde reunites with actress Karole Rocher in this new production. Back in 1960s Paris, Madama Claude’s influence over the rich and powerful in society stretched far beyond sex work. Her idea, as the trailer teases, was ingenious – “to prey on the wealthy ones”. At least, until one affluent young woman threatened to topple her empire.