August on BBC – BBC highlights for the month of August include The Sixth Commandment, Nolly, Travel Man, Holding, Question Team, Science’s Greatest Mysteries, Dinosaurs: The Final Day with David Attenborough, Badgers: Their Secret World and Evolve with Patrick Aryee.
The Sixth Commandment
Australian Premiere
Thursdays at 8.30pm from August 24
Available on Foxtel On Demand and Binge
Starring: Timonthy Spall, Anne Reid & Éanna Hardwicke
4 x 60′
This series, written by Sarah Phelps (A Very British Scandal, The Pale Horse) and directed by Saul Dibb (The Salisbury Poisonings), is inspired by the critically acclaimed and BAFTA nominated documentary Catching A Killer: A Diary From The Grave.
The Sixth Commandment tells the story of how the meeting of an inspirational teacher, Peter Farquhar (Timothy Spall), and a charismatic young student, Ben Field (Éanna Hardwicke), who bonded over their love of books and involvement with the Church of England, set the stage for one of the most complex and confounding criminal cases in recent memory.
It also focuses on how suspicions around Ben’s relationship with Peter’s deeply religious neighbour Ann Moore-Martin (Anne Reid), also targeted by Field, unlocked a series of stunning revelations, culminating in a headline-grabbing trial.
The Sixth Commandment captures the initial seductions, the extreme gaslighting, the gripping police investigation and Peter’s killer finally being brought to justice four years after his untimely death. While poignantly highlighting the damaging effect of isolation and loneliness, it also celebrates both Peter and Ann’s lives as cherished mentors, much loved relatives and adored friends.
Nolly (M)
BBC First Premiere
Tuesdays at 8.30pm from August 15
Available on Foxtel On Demand and Binge
Starring: Helana Bonahm Carter, Augustus Prew & Mark Gatiss
3 x 60′
Nolly explores the all-powerful reign, and fall from grace, of the inimitable Noele Gordon, TV legend and Queen of the Midlands, the darling of the establishment until it turned on her and betrayed her…
Noele (or Nolly to her friends) was a legend in her own lifetime. As flame-haired widow Meg Richardson in the long-running soap opera Crossroads, she was one of the most famous people in Britain.
Then in 1981, at the height of the show’s success and the peak of Nolly’s fame, she was axed without ceremony, without warning and with no explanation. With the boss’s words “all good things must come to an end” ringing in her ears, Noele Gordon found herself thrown out of the show that was her life for over 18 years.
Travel Man
UKTV Premiere
Tuesdays at 8.30pm from August 1
4 x 60′
Travel Man is a comedian’s chance to show us where we’re going wrong by having the most culturally efficient holiday possible… with all the boring bits taken out. In each episode, the comedian and a celebrity travel companion jet off to an exciting location. While they’re there, they’ll be challenging themselves to see and do as much as possible and subjecting so-called tourist attractions to his ruthless scrutiny.
This series locations include Barcelona, Istanbul, Iceland and Marrakesh.
Holding
UKTV Premiere
Mondays at 8.30pm from August 28
Starring: Conleth Hill, Siobhán McSweeney & Brenda Fricker
4 x 45′
The emote Irish village of Duneen has known little change or drama. Time doesn’t pass here; it seeps away. Yet its inhabitants are troubled. Sergeant PJ Collins hasn’t always hidden away, filling his days with comfort food and half-hearted police work. Mother-of-two Brid Riordan hasn’t always been an alcoholic.
The elegant Evelyn Ross hasn’t always felt that her life was a total waste. So when human remains are found, Duneen’s dark past is waiting to unravel. Struggling to solve a serious crime for the first time in his life and connect with the village he has tried so hard to avoid, PJ is about to unearth a community’s worth of anger, resentment and regret.
Question Team
UKTV Premiere
Wednesdays at 8.30pm from August 9
Available on Foxtel On Demand and Binge
Hosted by: Richard Ayoade
8 x 60′
Question Team is a comedy quiz show with a difference – the players are comedians and they have written all the questions. Richard Ayoade has invited three comedians to join his Question Team. They’ll compete against Richard, and one another in four unique quiz rounds.
Every show is a one-of-a-kind experience; on Question Team the players write the questions, and the host plays along with the contestants. Each guest takes turns stepping up and leading an original, creative round that reflects their own personality, humour, and interests.
The games can be on any subject they like and take any form. The host has just one stipulation: all the questions must have proper answers, otherwise how can he pretend there’s a point to all this?
Contestant this series include Aussie Sarah Kendall, Bob Mortimer, Katherine Ryan, James Acaster, Sarah Pascoe, Nish Kumar and Johnny Vegas.
Science’s Greatest Mysteries
Australian Premiere
Saturdays at 7.30pm from August 5
Available on Foxtel On Demand and Binge
6 x 60′
Does science have all the answers? This series examines some of the biggest riddles facing scientists today.
We’ve solved some of the most complex questions about our world and the universe. But the more we discover, the more problems emerge. Exactly how old is our universe? Why are the two sides of our moon so different? How did iron from space end up next to the body of Tutankhamun?
Each film in this series tackles a single question, visiting the cutting-edge labs running mind-bending experiments and meeting the dedicated scientists searching for answers. Featuring stunning CGI, the series brings lost worlds, ancient civilisations and the far expanses of the universe to the screens in spectacular detail.
Dinosaurs: The Final Day with David Attenborough (PG)
BBC Earth Premiere
Mondays at 8.30pm from August 14
2 x 50′
This landmark documentary brings to life, in unprecedented detail, the lost world of the very last days of the dinosaurs.
Searching in the hills of North Dakota, palaeontologist Robert DePalma discovered fossilised creatures, buried in a mysterious crumbly layer of rock. They were astonishingly well preserved, like the bodies found at Pompeii. While Robert searches the site for evidence that can shed light on the final days of the dinosaurs, stunning special effects transport viewers back in time to witness the creatures who lived at Tanis at the end of the Late Cretaceous.
Badgers: Their Secret World
Australian Premiere
Wednesdays at 7.30pm from August 30
Available on Foxtel On Demand and Binge
Presented by: Steve Backshall
2 x 60′
In this unique two part special, Steve Backshall reveals the secret lives of one of the UK’s most iconic yet elusive species – the badger.
With cameras rigged both in and outside of badger setts across the country we open up their secret world to see badger behaviour at it’s wildest – watching their big families, witnessing their big personalities and discovering their big appetites!
We learn family dynamics from the offset – witnessing one of the only known wild badger births caught on camera, getting to know mum and her babies over the first year of their lives, and meeting a playful clan that has been filmed for over a decade. Steve guides us through the lifecycle of these incredible creatures from mating unique gestating, olfactory communication, home networks and housekeeping and discovering unusual habits and habitats.
As well as the wild footage we tackle the persecution face from TB to baiting and meet the rescue centres, experts and enthusiasts who are working tirelessly to protect these wonderful creatures.
Evolve with Patrick Aryee
BBC Earth Premiere
Thursdays at 7.30pm from August 24
6 x 60’
This refreshing and uplifting global journey deep dives into the fascinating and emerging world of biomimicry and whether the unique adaptations of the animal world can truly help us to find futuristic solutions to some of our biggest problems?
Helmed by rising star Patrick Aryee — biologist and host of the BBC’s 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter — Evolve tells the enthralling and visually spectacular stories of some of the most astonishingly superpowered creatures on the planet. But the story doesn’t stop there.
The series goes on to investigate how we could harness evolution’s unique adaptations to potentially revolutionize our future.
Celebrating the genius of evolution through jaw-dropping wildlife sequences, we demonstrate how animals around the globe have evolved beyond our current technologies. We then embark on a high-octane, host-driven adventure to the forefront of human ingenuity – joining forces with explorers, fighter pilots, scientists and inventors for exclusive, on-camera reveals of startling wild-inspired innovations.
The series boasts artwork from Emmy-award winning artists that bring us inside the hidden genius behind nature’s adaptations and potential future worlds.
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August on BBC
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