What’s on telly tonight? Our pick of the best shows on Thursday 24th May

What’s on telly tonight? Our pick of the best shows on Thursday 24th May
(Image credit: BBC/Electric Ray)

TV Times top picks for tonight

What’s on telly tonight? Here the TV Times team of expert reviewers highlight the best shows on Thursday 24th May

Million Pound Menu, 9pm, BBC2

There are two potentially revolutionary restaurants at stake this week but nerves are jangling… Joe, Michael and Oli are three pals from Liverpool who need £150,000 to expand Finca, their Cuban street food concept. Meanwhile, self-confessed ‘tree-hugger’ Chelsea from Manchester wants a £95,000 investment for Wholesome Junkies, her vegan junk-food idea with a healthy twist. Both pop-up restaurants have problems with service, and one investor is keen to make Chelsea’s brand a bit less ‘hippie’ and lose the tie-dye uniforms, while authenticity is a cause for concern with the Finca boys. Can they secure the investment they need, even though only one of them has ever been to Cuba? Rating: ****

Humans, 9pm, C4

Standing up for the rights of Synths is no easy task for lawyer Laura Hawkins (Katherine Parkinson). She faces abuse and intimidation and when she reluctantly joins the Dryden Commission – set up to establish what should be done with Synths – it’s an uphill struggle trying to get her point of view across. But could Laura have an ally in one fellow commission member, behavioural scientist Dr Neil Sommer (Apple Tree Yard’s Mark Bonnar)? Meanwhile, Mia and Niska go to the rescue of four Synths, in hiding after their attempt to cross the Channel to safety ended in disaster, and Joe thinks he spots a familiar face. Rating: ****

Nicholas & Alexandra, 8pm,Yesterday

The story of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his marriage to Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, Alexandra, is the stuff of legend. Deeply in love, but heartless rulers of the Russian people, the pair were ultimately executed in a cellar with their five children in 1918. Throw in mercurial, self-styled shaman Rasputin, and you’ve got a true tale to rival Game of Thrones. Historian Suzannah Lipscomb explores the imperial couple’s relationship by delving into the last tsar’s diaries and some 1,700 love letters in this two-part docudrama. She says: ‘It’s the story of boy meets girl, boy marries girl, and together they preside over one of the most significant and bloodiest periods of modern history.’ Fascinating. Rating: ****

More previews tomorrow.

David Hollingsworth
Editor

David is the What To Watch Editor and has over 20 years of experience in television journalism. He is currently writing about the latest television and film news for What To Watch.


Before working for What To Watch, David spent many years working for TV Times magazine, interviewing some of television's most famous stars including Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, singer Lionel Richie and wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough. 


David started out as a writer for TV Times before becoming the title's deputy features editor and then features editor. During his time on TV Times, David also helped run the annual TV Times Awards. David is a huge Death in Paradise fan, although he's still failed to solve a case before the show's detective! He also loves James Bond and controversially thinks that Timothy Dalton was an excellent 007.


Other than watching and writing about telly, David loves playing cricket, going to the cinema, trying to improve his tennis and chasing about after his kids!