TV blog Feed

Must-see telly moments – on BBC iPlayer now

2016-06-01T09:05:11+00:00

Seals, skips and more send to all texts – catch these brill moments until Friday, 10 June on BBC iPlayer.

This emotional tale of a lost seal pup that’s as gripping as any drama

See the dangers facing seals and other animals in rural Scotland – Highlands – Scotland’s Wild Heart, BBC One Scotland

The best use of the word ‘shod’ you’ll hear this week (probably)

See how Nina’s fitting in – Love, Nina, BBC One

Alex Jones’ sheer range of emotions as Michael McIntyre types her ‘send to all’ message

Find out who replied – Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, BBC One

Ross Noble imagines Prince Harry’s life – as told by horses

See what else was discussed under host Gary Lineker’s watch – Have I Got News For You, BBC One

Trying to explain technology to your boyfriend’s mum

Get to know the new addition to the family, Kelly – Mum, BBC Two

Matt Lucas playing a donkey is everything you’d hope it would be

See his take on Shakespeare – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, BBC One

And finally, more confetti than an English country wedding at Radio 1’s Big Weekend

Watch performance highlights from the massive music event – BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend

And if you want to see what Springwatch’s Chris Packham picks out on BBC iPlayer this week you can watch Frank Skinner On Demand With...

Must-see telly moments – on BBC iPlayer now

2016-05-23T15:40:46+00:00

Featuring new drama, old friends and some surprising animal partnerships – all available to enjoy until Thursday, 16 June in BBC iPlayer.

A reminder of the days when supporting Leicester City FC wasn’t quite so popular

Will the boys warm to Nina? – Love, Nina, BBC One

If Hippos did spa days…

Watch as barbel fish nibble them clean – Natural World, BBC Two

And Bill Bailey on sloths, who travel “at a pace a snail would consider reckless”

Find out about their unlikely partnership with moths – Natural World, BBC Two

Hairy Bikers Si and Dave get dressed for the occasion at Radio 1

Watch as their rudest lines are played back to them – Innuendo Bingo, BBC Radio 1

Who knew donkeys were such good acting coaches – and selfie pros?

See what it takes to play Shakespeare’s comic character, Bottom – The Best Bottoms in the Land, BBC One

And finally, old friends Barbara Windsor and Pam St Clement are speechless watching their final EastEnders scenes together

See the old friends reunited – on and off-screen – Peggy Mitchell: Last Orders, BBC iPlayer

And if you want to see what comedian Marcus Brigstocke picks out on BBC iPlayer this week you can watch Frank Skinner On Demand With...

Must-see telly moments – on BBC iPlayer now

2016-05-16T16:13:26+00:00

Cock-eyed squids, roflcopters, Your-ovision… Get tongue tied with some of the best moments available to watch until Wednesday, 8 June.

Be slightly freaked out by these extraordinary creatures of the deep

Dive into nature - Life That Glows with David Attenborough, BBC Two

And discover more eye-opening documentaries on iPlayer.

Plus, find out which shows presenter Alex Jones has been loving in this week’s Frank Skinner On Demand With...

My Hollow Crown character is leading his own revenge film

2016-05-13T09:00:00+00:00

The next chapter in the TV adaptation of Shakespeare’s history plays, The Hollow Crown: The War of the Roses, explores some of the writer’s best-known royal characters. But you might be surprised to find that some less widely recognised characters really court our attention in Henry VI and Richard III.

Here to explain the who, what and why about his character, Clifford, is Poldark actor Kyle Soller.

Clifford is a leading soldier of rank in the Lancastrian army, who are fighting to hold the crown against York. His father is murdered by the Plantagenets, who lead York’s army, which spurs Clifford on an all-out mission of vengeance against the Plantagenet family.

His journey eventually leads him to a confrontation with the ruthless Richard III (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) on the battlefield.

It was really fun to play someone who was sort of in his own revenge film. But he has redeeming qualities - I suppose his are loyalty, honour and bravery towards family, king and country.

I’m American, and first got into Shakespeare when I was at college in the United States. I was taking courses at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington D.C. on the weekends. I’d take the train up Friday evening, go to class Saturday morning and then get the train back to make the Saturday night parties on campus.

Those classes are what influenced my decision to come over to London and train at RADA. So working on a project like The Hollow Crown feels really special.

I also really like working in an English accent. It makes me work and think differently and it certainly opens up casting opportunities to roles I never thought I would play. I’ve got RADA to thank for that.

Kyle Soller plays Clifford in The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and Francis in Poldark.

Episode one of The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses is available to watch in BBC iPlayer until Monday, 6 June. The series continues on Saturday, 14 May at 9pm on BBC Two. Each episode will be available to watch in BBC iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast on TV.

Kyle's photo is used with kind permission from Andreas Vecchiato.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

In the Club: Bringing Jasmin’s storyline to life

2016-05-03T16:10:53+00:00

As the painfully honest and utterly heartwarming series about motherhood returns, new mum Jasmin is not only trying to repair her marriage, but is pregnant again - with twins. And when it’s revealed there could be complications, her strength is truly put to the test.

My character, Jasmin, is usually the confident, dry-humoured, sociable one. She has no filter with what she says and when it comes to her relationship with Dev, she is definitely in charge!

She adores Dev, but doesn’t show it in the conventional way. She isn’t an overly affectionate wife to him and she certainly doesn’t like to be made a fuss of. To make matters worse, her own mother and mother-in-law are now living with them, adding to the pressure of raising their daughter, Amber.

She was so scared of being a new mum the first time around, so finding out she’s pregnant again with twins catches her completely off guard.

She’d only just begun to find a nice balance of being a new mum to Amber. Jas and Dev had only just come out of the aftermath of her affair. When she finds out that there are complications with the twins she wholeheartedly blames herself, believing it’s bad karma for her previous actions.

In this series we see the vulnerable side of Jasmin which she usually keeps locked away. The impact of having such devastating news really takes its toll and from the off we see her crumble under the pressure. Her steely determination and force of will, shaky at first, pull her through.

Jasmin struggles to come to grips with needing an operation

The show’s writer, Kay Mellor, was approached to do this story about twin pregnancy from a lead obstetrician who wanted the subject matter to be known more widely. I had a wealth of resources on hand at all times so I could tell the story as truthfully a possible.

For me, I really learned how terrified parents can be, finding out that they are having twins, worrying about the cost and the sheer amount of emotion and physical pain a woman goes through carrying two babies.

We worked a lot on movement too - how low the baby is sitting, the pace you would walk. A midwife was always at hand to guide me and I watched videos of pregnant women carrying twins and chatted to women who have been pregnant with twins too.

We had a lot of supporting artists who were really pregnant on set most days, so I could always watch them and ask questions.

I couldn’t just jump up to get off the sofa or even sit down without much help and support. I usually walk as quick as lightning so carrying this huge, heavy bump and walking like a snail took some getting used to!

Jasmin is so determined to make things right after her affair and really does feel alone in making the right decision for the sake of her unborn babies. Dev and her family mean well, but only she can make the decision. She just doesn’t know what the right one is.

She is reluctant at first, but later fully embraces her friends, showing their unconditional support as they all rally around to make things as smooth for her as possible - including one very tricky baby naming ceremony for Amber.

They’ve all kept in touch since meeting at a parenting class and understand that they are all navigating their own way through motherhood, each with their own issues.

Taj Atwal plays Jasmin in In The Club.

In The Club, series two starts on Tuesday, 3 March at 9pm on BBC One. It will be available to watch in BBC iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast on TV.

Remind yourself what happened in series one by watching In The Club: The Story So Far, available to watch in BBC iPlayer until Thursday, 2 June.

Exclusive Happy Valley deleted scenes: Head back to TV’s most troubled town

2016-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

Has there been a Happy Valley-shaped hole in your life since we left Catherine Cawood looking warily at her grandson – with something like fear as well as love in her eyes? Course there has. It’s a good job, then, that we just happened to get our telly-hungry hands on these exclusive deleted scenes…

Each one gives us a little more insight into our favourite characters, from Catherine’s empathy to Vicky’s doe-eyed manipulation and Ann’s tendency towards hero-worship.

'Please… let me go'

John pleads with Vicky to take the money and “call it a day”. Unsurprisingly, she’s not easily convinced.

'There’s things you should know…'

Ever wondered why Clare dreaded Helen’s funeral? She reveals the depth of their friendship to Neil in this quiet, intimate scene.

'Our Daniel’s been having a fling'

Catherine finds there’s more to Daniel’s break-up than he was letting on – after showing her usual kindness to a vulnerable local resident.

'I saw her, I think'

Could Frances really be the woman they’re looking for, since Catherine reckons “she doesn’t look like she could knock the skin off a rice pudding”?

'You stick with me, kid'

Ann has always looked up to Catherine, but has she found a new mentor in Jodie?

'OK. Good boy…'

Just in case you need a reminder of how unsettling Frances really is…

'What would you do?'

We like the understanding between Mrs Beresford and Catherine; two pros seasoned in the daily trials of the Valley.

You can get more from Happy Valley on the programme page, and revisit everything you loved about series two.

Must-see telly moments – on BBC iPlayer

2016-04-04T10:38:35+00:00

This week’s TV is all about love, lies and one massive leap of faith…

Esteemed actor Adrian Lester tries out a new look in Undercover…

Watch the awkward moment on BBC iPlayer– Undercover, BBC One

This look of pure young love

Watch their stolen moments together – Murdered by My Father, BBC Three

The realisation that Bake Off Crème de la Crème is not all fuzzy and warm

See the professionals under stress – Bake Off Crème de la Crème, BBC Two

This giant leap for quiz-kind

See what this contestant endured to win prizes – Can’t Touch This, BBC One

When someone tells you make-up is just advertising fertility

See why Connie is so shocked about the world of beauty– Connie Fisher on Make-Up, BBC One Wales

And finally, we couldn’t miss the impending return of Top Gear – complete with fancy dress…

Watch Matt LeBlanc being thoroughly unimpressed – Top Gear, BBC Two

And if you want to see what TV presenter Dermot O’Leary picked out on BBC iPlayer this week you can watch Frank Skinner On Demand With...

Murdered by My Father: Creating characters with feeling

2016-03-30T10:30:29+00:00

Murdered by My Father dramatizes a very real human tragedy at the heart of a family. But how did its star and writer ensure its characters had heart, too?

Kiran Sonia Sawar, actress:

It was really important to me that my character, Salma, wasn’t portrayed just as a vulnerable victim. I wanted to make her an intelligent girl who could make her own choices, who had her own will and who had her own backbone – having that behind her was really important to me. Just making her a normal teenager and a really accessible character that you see in the street every day was important.

I also didn’t want it to be a tyrannous relationship with her father – I wanted it to be a really loving relationship in a loving family home where there is a lot of compassion and empathy between herself, her brother and her dad.

Essentially, what I discovered with Salma was all her actions were to protect the people she loved and that’s all she really wanted, and the more she tried to do that, the harder it got for her.

I think it’s important to give a voice to these stories and also to bring light to the fact that it’s not necessarily what people think it is. It’s a human rights issue. Making dramas like this opens up that dialogue – I think that’s really important.

Vinay Patel, writer:

A 17-year-old girl is a complex person – I remember my sister when she was 17, she was lovely but an absolute nightmare! – and I think you want people to be able to see themselves. You want her to perhaps be a bit bolshy, you want her to have her own thing going on, you also want to see the contrast with that and the way she interacts with her father. We are all different with our friends than what we are with our parents – when you’re 17 that’s an especially big contrast! That was really important to me to get across.

With the father, Shahzad, you come to the programme knowing what an audience’s expectations of that character are roughly going to be. I think it’s important for the writer to try and flip that as much as possible.

It’s weird what having a title like Murdered by My Father does to something like this dramatically because you know what’s going to happen – both what’s going to happen to someone and who does it. You already know everything about the actions of that character so as a writer you want to give that character an arc and a journey.

There are cases where you can see a person’s mind turned by the sort of pressures that sit around them and that’s what helps you really get to the heart of the issue. The act is almost an aside – it’s the way of thinking that causes that to happen. I wanted people to see that he does struggle, because he does genuinely love his daughter and his mind is in conflict.

You want to believe that he might not do it. You want that character, who you know a little bit about, maybe even like a little bit, to tell himself: “Don’t do it, there is a good person in there who doesn’t have to do this”.

Vinay Patel wrote Murdered by My Father. Kiran Sonia Sawar plays Salma.

Murdered by My Father is available to watch in BBC iPlayer until 5pm on Sunday, 25 September.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

Must-see telly moments – on BBC iPlayer

2016-03-29T15:00:00+00:00

See the most scene-stealing instances from the latest TV shows - complete with more drama (and laughter) than a family Easter. Remember, there may be spoilers…

Fear? Regret? Relief? Ivy is still a mystery…

Watch the explosive drama finale - Thirteen, BBC Three

The moment the nation held its breath with Olivia Colman

Watch now on BBC iPlayer – The Night Manager, BBC One

When presenting dream team Matt and Alex totally lost the plot

Watch them corpsing while live on air – The Sport Relief Games Show, BBC One

Paloma Faith throws everything – including her shoe – at the coaches’ performance

Watch the coaches’ performance on BBC iPlayer – The Voice UK, BBC One

And finally, this masterclass in giving evils…

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Watch the moment on BBC iPlayer – Line of Duty, BBC Two

And if you want to see what Pub Landlord comedian Al Murray picked out on BBC iPlayer this week you can watch Frank Skinner On Demand With...

Everything I’ve learned about DS Arnott in Line of Duty

2016-03-24T15:50:26+00:00

He's the serious, sometimes sneering anti-corruption cop who's been known to bend the rules himself. So as Line of Duty series three begins, we ask - what does actor Martin Compston really make of his character?

Romance has been a bit of a grey area…

Steve sees himself as not really doing anything wrong, dating witnesses and so on, because he’s not breaking any laws. But it does get him into trouble and he really shouldn’t be doing it.

But in this series he seems to be the most settled out of the team. Ted Hastings has still got his own issues, we know Matthew ‘Dot’ Cottan’s got some private thing going on, and Kate Fleming’s separated from her family.

So at the start of the series we see Steve is definitely a lot more settled and seems happy. He really does love his job and he’s living with a woman he seems to get on with so when we find him he’s in a good place.

He knows when something is off…

In the case we follow in this series, from the very off something feels wrong to Steve. And I think as the series goes on he starts to learn there’s more to Daniel Mays’ character, Sergeant Danny Waldron, than meets the eye. The way the series starts is explosive, and with that Steve just knows that something isn’t here in what they are saying, they are lying about something.

He’s grown to love AC-12…

At first joining the department was a big problem for Steve. He thought it was in some way a demotion. But now I think Steve loves his job. He sees that there’s a real purpose to it. And they are still catching criminals, they’re just wearing a uniform. There’s no distinction – breaking the law is breaking the law.

This series I say the line: “Easiest way to get away with killing someone - be a police officer”. It’s a great line but that was my first scene of the new series. You know when you’re like ‘Ah, how could they?!’ because it’s such a good scene but you want a couple of days to find your feet and find your character again, and we were straight in with that.

Danny Waldron (centre) leads his team into a questionable situation in episode one

He admires Hastings and Fleming enormously…

Hastings became a bit of a father figure to him and I think Steve admires his integrity. He’s got a lot of personal issues but he’s convinced Steve that this is a job worth doing. I think he could see himself heading up to Hastings’ post and taking over the department – I think that would be in his head.

With Kate, I think he’s just got a kindred spirit. He admires her tenacity. And it’s probably mirrored in real life as well, Vicky McClure has become one of my best friends and we just help each other along. Steve and Kate are at each other’s throats a lot, but I think you find throughout all the series that when they need someone the most, it’s always the other one that turns up.

And Vicky’s just a great laugh to be around. I think me, her, Craig Parkinson and Adrian Dunbar have become very close over the last couple of years and we’re a very close gang. When we all live together - our flats are all next door to each other for like four or five months, so we take turns at cooking every night and running lines every night.

It takes concentration to get through the interview scenes…

When you get the script, you can either be intimidated by the police language it or face it, and Danny Mays just went for it hell for leather, he was great. I read he said recently that those were some of the most difficult and the most rewarding scenes he’s ever done and there’s definitely a sense of that. It’s hanging over you and you do lose a few hours’ sleep at night when you’re thinking about those scenes at times.

Those scenes are so long but you have to keep a pace and we run it a few times straight through it because you have to find the rhythm of where the depths are in the scene. So there are takes that are 20 minutes long or even five minutes long, and the poor boom guy holding that thing over your head..! It’s a tough day for everybody – we’ve all earned a pint at the end of it.

Martin Compston plays Steve Arnott in Line of Duty.

Line of Duty series three starts on Thursday, 24 March at 9pm on BBC Two. Each episode will be available to watch in BBC iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast. You can also watch Line of Duty: The Story So Far in BBC iPlayer until Saturday, 16 April.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

Why family is at the heart of The A Word

2016-03-22T17:00:48+00:00

The Hughes family in new BBC One drama The A Word has all the love and humour of a family you'd want to be raised in. But this seemingly-perfect unit is challenged like never before when its youngest member, Joe, is diagnosed with autism.

Playing mum to Joe in the drama written by Peter Bowker is actress Morven Christie, who found herself as overwhelmed with love for this family as her own character, Alison.

My character, Alison, is quite a bullish person. She doesn’t really receive any piece of information without resisting at first. And she goes at everything full pelt. So when she gets the diagnosis that her son, Joe, is on the autism spectrum she just says to herself: “Right, this road has now opened up, this is the direction” and she just goes down that path.

She absolutely dotes on her son. She wants to make the world easier to negotiate and just make life a safer place for him to be in. But she doesn’t necessarily go about things in the right way. She doesn’t know what the right way is, but she’s also not afraid of upsetting people on the route. She’s single-minded.

Alison and her husband Paul have different ways of dealing with it. It causes quite a wedge in the marriage and relationship. Alison’s primary characteristic is that she’s forthright: she’ll go after things. She’s very much like her father. Her dad Maurice, played by Christopher Eccleston, is very much: “I will do things my way, I’ve got the best idea”. But Paul’s thing is: “Oh it will be fine, just leave him be, let him get on with it”.

But these are two people who love each other immensely. Their reactions to this bombshell are very different and that does cause problems between them. The realisations are coming on them like slaps in the face. But ultimately they’re both coming from the same place which is loving Joe and wanting to make everything OK for him.

And I still have hope for them! They are written as a couple that has, from the outside, the perfect marriage. They laugh with each other, they’re sexy with each other, they have fun with each other, they can fight without it really mattering too much. But this does expose the fault lines, essentially.

The whole family becomes involved and I think Alison is quite resentful of that. I don’t think she appreciates having the opinions of others. It’s quite an instinctive, mothering thing. That this is my young, this is my journey, this is mine to protect. But it does take that whole village to raise that child doesn’t it? And so ultimately this family needs to find a way to function, but they just can’t agree on it and that’s the problem.

I felt massively protective over Max Vento, who plays Joe. As the series develops, Max and I have a lot of scenes together, so it was often just the two of us. It was sometimes really tough, but he was my little buddy. It was lovely when I got here this morning and our publicist said: “Max really misses you” and I was like: “I miss him too!” And I really do.

But Joe is no more indicative of a child with autism than I am indicative of every female. If I’ve learned anything it’s that to meet one child on the spectrum means you’ve met one child – because they are so different to one another.

Morven Christie plays Alison Hughes in The A Word.

The A Word starts on Tuesday, 22 March at 9pm on BBC One. Each episode will be available to watch in BBC iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

Must-see moments of the week – on BBC iPlayer

2016-03-21T15:53:00+00:00

This week there’s been a hit series finale, an evening of star-studded entertainment and some very pampered pets. But which moments grabbed us the most?

Meeting the pug that doesn’t know how to run

Watch the skipping, hopping internet sensation – Pet Island, BBC One

Pine realises Roper is a very capable adversary…

Watch that awkward moment when Pine doesn’t really get the joke – The Night Manager, BBC One

This special insight into what family night round John Luther’s might entail

Watch the moment on BBC iPlayer – Sport Relief, BBC One

‘The President is coming through’

Watch Obama bust in on a secret global superpower meeting he wasn’t invited to – Inside Obama’s White House, BBC Two

One look from Catherine Cawood is worth a thousand words

What is she thinking? Warning: This clip is the very last moment of series 2, only watch if you are happy to see the ending - Happy Valley, BBC One

And if you want to see what Frank Skinner and Charlie Sloth (BBC Radio 1) picked out on BBC iPlayer this week you can watch Frank Skinner On Demand With...

Everything you loved about Happy Valley, series two

2016-03-15T21:59:29+00:00

Back in early February, the rolling hills, embittered northern sarcasm and unmistakable sound of Jake Bugg’s Trouble Town meant one thing: Happy Valley was back. And this made a lot of people very happy indeed…

We’re not quite ready for the series to be over just yet. So let’s relive the moments that got you talking in this in-depth look at your reactions.

*Spoiler alert* this post talks about the entire series, so turn back if you’re not up to speed.

This external content is available at its source: #HappyValley utterly utterly brilliant. Each character so well written, so perfectly played, each weave, each turn @BBCOne can't wait a week

This external content is available at its source: Writing, acting, directing - all absolutely extraordinary. As good as anything going on in TV drama anywhere in the world. #HappyValley

Episode one opened with Catherine’s grim tales of a bunch of lads “off their heads on acid” who steal a sheep and release it – only for the poor animal to be mauled by dogs.

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And the famous faces joining the cast proved a hit too:

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But sadly Neville’s Matthew’s new moustache proved less popular:

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This series we were introduced to Vicky, played by Amelia Bullmore, and immediately people sniffed out that this was not a woman not to be messed with:

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And some people had their own insights into her compromising snaps of John:

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In episode two, villain Tommy Lee Royce is allowed to attend his mother’s funeral – and no way was Catherine passing up the opportunity to show her face:

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Though some of you were wishing Tommy’s suit looked a little more like this:

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Catherine and the murdered Lynn Dewhurst had history. And Catherine was stoically refusing to provide an alibi. Had she actually committed this crime? You had your theories…

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Oh, and everyone was totally right about Vicky, who tried to blackmail cop John to the tune of £1000 a month. So when adulterous John lost the plot and killed her, the Twittersphere reacted thusly:

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But gratefully there was some relief with the introduction of the ever-so sweet and bullish Winnie:

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Episode three opened with Catherine reluctantly attending a therapy session. So how would our no-nonsense cop find talking about her innermost thoughts and feelings?

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And when we learned she’s got secret nicknames at work, she wasn’t the only one trying to guess them. These moments were honestly some of the best parts of the series.

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And Catherine’s fall out with police receptionist Joyce provided one of our favourite scenes and lines from the series so far: when she gave her a cactus to say sorry.

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Meanwhile, John attended the autopsy of Vicky, the woman he secretly murdered. And somehow Vicky still managed to steal the scene:

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But it was another relationship that really gave us the creeps…

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Episode four saw the Cawoods celebrating little Ryan’s birthday. A tough time as it falls close to the anniversary of his mum Becky’s death. So a surprise gift seemingly from Ryan’s violent dad just tipped Catherine (and us) over the edge:

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After he’s identified by Leonie and found to have links with other prostitutes, Sean is arrested for murder. But you weren’t all buying it:

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In a seemingly unrelated incident (eyebrows raised), Daryl flips out when local bullies taunt him outside the shop, and attacks them with a lump hammer. Cue a new prime suspect…

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Episode five featured lots of people being drunk, actually, and it all went down rather well.

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And Frances hatched a plan to hurt Catherine…

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And with all fingers now pointing to Neil as the murderer after his drunken relapse, some of you were genuinely surprised when Daryl admitted his guilt to his mum:

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But nothing could prepare us for how Darryl’s mum Alison dealt with the news…

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Finale time now, and the truth unravelled about what happened in Alison and Daryl’s kitchen…

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But amid the tension, Catherine still finds the time to deliver this killer line:

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Catherine finally discovers Frances used her dead sister’s credentials to get a teaching assistant post at Ryan’s school. And when Catherine decides to pay Frances a visit at home, we were all on the edge of our seats...

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When it’s revealed that Daryl didn’t kill Vicky, Catherine susses that it was John, and an incredible stand-off ensues…

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So with the murders solved, Catherine should feel relieved. So why is she looking at Ryan like that?

The final episode of Happy Valley, series two will be available to watch in BBC iPlayer until 11pm on Thursday, 14 April 2016.

Must see moments of the week – on BBC iPlayer

2016-03-10T16:58:38+00:00

What were the most scene-stealing ‘did I just see...’ and ‘what just happened...’ moments of telly this week? Here goes:

Put Kate Humble in a darts outfit and this is what you get

Watch the moment on BBC iPlayer - Let's Play Darts for Sport Relief, BBC Two

Catherine Cawood shows her mettle – but who is she taking down?

Watch the moment on BBC iPlayer - Happy Valley, BBC One (this clip contains strong language)

When you realise you weren't invited to the stag party for a reason

Watch the moment on BBC iPlayer - Stag, BBC Two

Tough guy Steve Backshall presents the face of regret on his epic climb

Watch the moment on BBC iPlayer - Steve Backshall’s Extreme Mountain Challenge, BBC Two

Don’t look down! Ivy’s spooked back at her kidnapper’s home

Watch the moment on BBC iPlayer - Thirteen, BBC Three

And if you want to see what Frank Skinner and John Bradley (Game of Thrones, Shameless) picked out on BBC iPlayer this week you can watch Frank Skinner On Demand With...

Trapped: How Andri’s team went from zeroes to heroes

2016-03-09T15:41:56+00:00

Spoiler alert! This post discusses events from episodes one to eight of Trapped – get up to speed on BBC iPlayer before reading on…

As BBC Four’s latest Nordic noir comes to a chilly and chilling end, we’re taking a look at how our relationship with police chief Andri and his tiny two-person team has evolved over time.

After a few rather unfortunate events at the start of the investigation, just how did we ever learn to love this seemingly useless lot? The residents of Seyðisfjörður might have been trapped, but we’ve been on quite a journey with Andri, Hinrika and Ásgeir…

First, they lost the body

With a terrible blizzard engulfing the village and police support days away, Andri set to work on the grisly case. But things quickly took a turn for the amateur when photos of the body turned up on social media – and they ‘mislaid’ it altogether.

Admittedly the body was stolen from the makeshift factory-slash-morgue, but losing track of a torso doesn’t look great when you’re trying to convince the Powers That Be that you’ve got everything under control. And things were about to get worse.

Then the suspect escaped - and died

The blame lies quite squarely with Ásgeir on this one, given he let the foul-mouthed people trafficker out of his cell, but it coloured our perception of the team as a whole.

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This was a low point – but Andri the bear was about to show his claws.

Andri took charge

Following the initial storm, Iceland’s awesome landscape played its part in proceedings for a second time when snow hurtled down the mountain towards the village. This was when we first saw Andri as a real leader, barking orders in both Icelandic and flawless English to organise the recovery of Sigurður and his father.

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Together with that rousing speech in the church, this was the turning point that we were all waiting for: finally we could get behind the gruffly heroic Andri. But what about his team?

Hinrika got all the goss

Quietly spoken, and with her forehead permanently knitted in the most sceptical of frowns, it was hard to get a read on Hinrika in the early episodes. But when she started to investigate alone her mettle – and kindness – shone through.

Ultimately she was responsible for some of the biggest breakthroughs in the case, thanks to her unlikely partnership with resident “guardian angel” Rögnvaldur and his trusty telescope.

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We met the Reykjavik team. We did not like the Reykjavik team.

When the snow storm finally cleared, Trausti and his band of decidedly unmerry men flew in by helicopter, determined to humiliate our now beloved Andri by quickly wrapping up the case.

In reality, they ignored key facts of the investigation, and bullied Sigurður into the confession which contributed to his shocking suicide.

The final showdown

As the conspiracy unravels and those involved grow increasingly desperate, we’re heading towards a face-off between the local police trio and the town’s elite. Can Team Andri complete their redemption with a rousing finale…?

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The final two episodes of Trapped will be broadcast on Saturday, 12 March from 9pm on BBC Four. Each episode will be available to watch in BBC iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast on TV.

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Trapped: How Andri’s team went from zeroes to heroes

First, they lost the body

Then the suspect escaped - and died

Andri took charge

Hinrika got all the goss

We met the Reykjavik team. We did not like the Reykjavik team.

The final showdown