strange things
Netflix
After a captivating first volume of season four, with major events in both Hawkins, Indiana and upside down, the second volume falls into two long episodes (85 minutes and a whopping two hours, 30 minutes) to complete the series. Volume one, which was released in May, became Netflix’s most watched program, and – as an added bonus – even managed to put Kate Bush back on the charts after her 1985 song Running Up That Hill prominently displayed.
The creators of the show, Matt and Ross Duffer, have made it clear that not all of his beloved characters will necessarily make it to the fifth and final season, which is expected in 2023. Most of the speculation from fans is about the fate of Steve (Joe Keery)) but the brothers have thrown googlies before and may do so again. More pressure in these two episodes is whether Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Murray (Brett German) can save Hopper (David Harbor) from the Russians, despite the Demogorgon guarding their way out. Will Nancy (Natalia Dyer) manage to escape upside down, where she’s being held in the clutches of super-baddie Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower)? And is Hawkins High School’s counselor, Ms. Kelly (Regina Ting Chen) really as sweet as she first appeared? LV
Cycling: Tour de France 2022
Eurosport1 / ITV4, 12:45/14: 45
For the first time in its 118 years, the Tour de France will depart from Denmark, with today’s Grand Départ a 13 km individual time trial in Copenhagen. After two more phases in Scandinavia, the tour moves to northern France on July 5, before ending in Paris on July 24, via accommodation in Belgium and Switzerland. A wonderfully varied route will include cobblestones, Alpe d’Huez, Carcassonne and La Planche des Belles Filles. Geraint Thomas is in a good nick after his Tour de Suisse victory, but it’s hard to look past the mighty Tadej Pogačar. LV
The terminal list
Amazon Prime Video
Chris Pratt plays in this eight-part psychological drama adapted from Jack Carr’s novel. He plays James Reece, leader of a platoon of U.S. Navy seals who are killed while on a secret mission; back home, he is questioned – but his memories differ from the official records. One for conspiracy theorists. LV
Funny like people
StarzPlay
Stephen Dunn relocates Russell T Davies’ seminal gay drama series, which aired on Channel 4 in 1999, to contemporary New Orleans. It’s brave and lively, with transgender and gender-flowing characters now part of the colorful mix, but it may not match the original’s extraordinarily exuberant taboo-breaking. Kim Cattrall plays the mother of the central character, commitment-phobia Brodie (Devin Way). LV
A question
Channel 4, 8 p.m.
Claudia Winkleman hosts as more participants sit on the comfortable couch in this deceptively simple game program. Each pair gets the answer to a question (this week’s set includes “What’s square?”), But then has to eliminate 19 wrong questions to find the right one, with Winkleman offering clues that give them a share of the £ 100,000 price will cost. LV
World’s most picturesque railway journeys
Channel 5, 20:00
All aboard the luxurious Rocky Mountaineer, begin in Denver, Colorado, traveling through the Rockies in what was once the Wild West to Moab, Utah. Bill Nighy tells as we learn about the mid-19th century Gold Rush, and the U.S. continental divide (geologically in this case, not politically) – and that train driver Zac considers it a personal confrontation if someone ends their journey hungry. The views are majestic. LV
British plans to win the war with Rob Bell
Channel 5, 9 p.m.
The documentary series on military aviation continues by investigating the “frightening” Lancaster bomber used in the Dambusters attack. Historians – including this newspaper’s former editor, Max Hastings – and aviation experts talk about the plane’s central importance to the Allies in World War II. LV
Row 45: Murder at sea
More4, 21:00
This thrilling Swedish crime thriller with a multinational cast, shown as part of Walter Presents Beach, follows a “damage regulator”, Andrea Burell (Catherine Walker), who suffered a fatal accident on an oil rig closed for maintenance about Christmas research. There’s just a skeleton team, but everyone has a secret. LV
King Richard (2021) ★★★
Sky Cinema Premiere, 20:00
Will Smith plays in this sports biopic as Richard Williams, father and early coach of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams. Reinaldo Marcus Green’s film follows the Williams family from Compton, Los Angeles, in the mid-1980s to the Florida Tennis Academy where the sisters practiced under Rick Macci (a very funny Jon Bernthal), until the beginning of Venus’ professional career in 1994. It is a satisfying, if disinfected, image of parental drive.
The Festival (2018) ★★★
E4, 21:00
The Inbetweeners’ Joe Thomas plays Nick, a dripping and fresh single graduate, in this spiritual sequel to that franchise of Iain Morris, who co-created it with Damon Beesley. With its reliance on the same rough skatology and shrinking encounters, The Festival could almost be a post-uni reception with Thomas’ lover Simon, older but not one of the wiser when it comes to feeling when his romantic chances are shortened.
Kick Ass 2 (2013) ★★
BBC One, 23:40
After the amateur heroes exhibited in 2010’s Kick-Ass, a new generation of crime fighters rose up to put on ridiculous costumes and patrol the streets. But Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) returned from the dead and re-branded himself with an unprintable nickname. He kills the heroes, so Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) must team up with Chloe Grace Moretz’s Hit-Girl and Jim Carrey’s Colonel Stars and Stripes to save the day.
television previews
Jack Taylor (JT), Veronica Lee (LV), Gerard O’Donovan (GO), Vicki Power (PV), Gabriel Tate (GT) and Chris Bennion (CB)