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WHAT TO WATCH 15-21 August

  • 1 day ago
  • 5 min read

Ludwig is BACK!



This week's best telly includes the highly anticipated return of Ludwig on BBC One, a new documentary from Michael Sheen exploring forever chemicals in Wales, as well as the return of Love Is Blind UK.


Elsewhere, there's new HBO Max drama Lanterns from the DC universe and the returns of Celebrity MasterChef for its 21st series.


Here are 5 TV shows you can't miss this week...


1


 BRAND NEW DRAMA

LANTERNS


Monday 17th August on HBO Max



Launching this week on HBO Max is Lanterns, a new eight-episode drama based on the iconic DC title Green Lantern.


Lanterns follows new recruit John Stewart, played by Aaron Pierre, and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, played by Kyle Chandler, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.


The series also stars Kelly Macdonald as Kerry, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Garret Dillahunt as William Macon, Poorna Jagannathan as Zoe, Ulrich Thomsen as Thaal Sinestro, Nicole Ari Parker as Bernadette Stewart, Jason Ritter as Billy Macon, Sherman Augustus as John Stewart Sr. and Paul Ben-Victor as Antaan.


2


 BRAND NEW DOCUMENTARY

BURIED WITH MICHAEL SHEEN


Monday 17th August at 9pm on BBC Two

Stream on BBC iPlayer



Launching this week on BBC Two is Buried with Michael Sheen, a new two-part documentary which follows Michael as he digs into claims of chemical contamination across his homeland of Wales, uncovering a scandal that threatens to leave a catastrophic legacy across the UK.


For Michael, this is personal: almost ten years ago he met farming consultant and whistleblower Douglas Gowan who claimed the people of Wales had been poisoned, not by a single criminal act, but by decades of exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment.


Douglas believed that thousands of tonnes of toxic industrial chemicals known as Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) had been dumped in sites across Wales and north west England. He spent over 50 years trying to warn people about the dangers of the chemical dumping, but seemingly no one would listen.


Unable to let go of the story, Michael tracked Douglas down and spent two days filming an interview with him. Douglas described a lifetime battling corporations, government and local councils, claiming Monsanto, the world's leading PCB producer, knowingly buried highly toxic waste in communities across Wales, with consequences still being felt today.


Two months after that interview, Douglas was dead, leaving Michael with his story.


Across two episodes, Michael Sheen, alongside investigative journalists Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor, retrace Douglas' footsteps with environmental experts, forensic scientists and residents living near toxic dump sites. It's a journey into alleged conspiracy and cover-ups, but also one of ordinary people speaking truth to power.


3


 RETURNING COMPETITION SHOW

CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF


Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th August at 9pm

Friday 21st August at 8pm on BBC One

Stream on BBC iPlayer



Celebrity MasterChef returns this week to BBC One for its 21st series, as Grace Dent is joined by new judge Giorgio Locatelli and the five celebrities taking part in heat one are legendary entertainer Joe Pasquale, TV and radio broadcaster Jason Mohammad, Olympic weightlifter Emily Campbell, reality star Shakira Khan and singer, actor and author Jay McGuiness.


The first challenge for the five hopefuls is the signature dish round. The contestants have only 90 minutes to prepare a meal that tells Grace and Giorgio exactly who they are as a cook. Which chef will stand out, and who will prove they have got more to learn?


Next, it’s time for their taste buds to be tested as the celebrities take on a palate test like no other. Each of them must identify condiments by taste. Get the answer wrong, and they will be eliminated from the challenge, losing their chance to win a significant advantage in the next round.


Finally, it’s a test of their culinary abilities in a brand new challenge for this year's competition, the MasterChef cook-along. Giorgio will don his chef whites and cook one of his own signature dishes: gnocchi with a goat’s cheese sauce. All the celebrities have to do is follow along and keep up with him. The winner of the challenge will be the celebrity whose dish looks and tastes the closest to Giorgio's.


The celebrities work furiously, all keen to prove themselves to the judges and win a MasterChef pin, which will afford the winner a ten-minute advantage in the next round. All five will live to fight another day, but performance in every challenge counts, as there is only space for the best four in this week’s quarter-final.


Celebrities taking part next week in heat two will be Donna Preston, Emily Steel, Eric Underwood, Nitin Ganatra and Tom Simons, with Lauren Steadman, Max Fosh, Melvin Odoom, Sue Cleaver and Una Healy taking part in the third and final heat the week after.


4


 RETURNING REALITY TV

LOVE IS BLIND UK


Wednesday 19th August on Netflix



Love Is Blind UK returns this week to Netflix for its third series, as a new group of singles enter the iconic dating pods in search of love. But who will make it past the proposal, through the retreat and down the aisle?


The latest group of hopeful singles will step into the iconic Pods for a string of blind dates. From behind a wall, they are all hoping to form a connection so deep that they’re willing to put their hearts on the line by agreeing to marry without ever having seen each other.


With Emma and Matt Willis returning as hosts, this series will again follow the newly-engaged couples as they leave the bubble of the Pods to get to know one another properly in the real world.


This series featured a record-breaking 14 engagements in the Pods, and this year's retreat is in Ibiza, where the cast stayed at 7 Pines, famous for hosting epic Roger Sanchez DJ sets.


From there, the couples move into apartments in Canary Wharf’s Vertus, the tallest residential building in the UK at 220 metres high.


Viewers will see their relationships put to the test when they move in together, meet each other’s loved ones and navigate trust issues, difficult conversations and the pressures of everyday life. Who is strong enough to make it down the aisle? Who will say ‘I do’?


With a life-changing decision to make, the stakes could not be higher for our couples. And as the experiment reaches its moment of truth, the question remains: is love really blind?


5


 RETURNING COMEDY DRAMA

LUDWIG


Thursday 20th August at 9pm on BBC One

Stream on BBC iPlayer



Ludwig returns this week to BBC One for its second series, with David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin alongside new cast members Sian Clifford and Mark Bonnar, for what promises to be a series packed with more murder, more mystery and more shocking revelations.


Master puzzle-setter John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor, played by David Mitchell, is now a crime scene consultant, working alongside DCI Russell Carter, played by Dipo Ola, on ‘impossible’ crimes for the Cambridge Police Authority.


But with his identical twin brother still missing, John and his sister-in-law Lucy, played by Anna Maxwell Martin, won't stop. There’s a puzzle to solve and a husband and father to bring home. One masquerade may have ended, but a new one has just begun.



 
 
 

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