VE Day in Colour is just one of the gems on today…
C4 goes back in time with VE Day in Colour, this week's Primates on BBC1 looks at family bonds, and gritty new French thriller The Other Mother comes to C4. Here’s what you shouldn’t be missing on TV tonight.
- Our hand-selected recommendations for what's on TV tonight include three TV shows, a film and the latest trending need-to-binge-on-now box set
- For more information about what’s on TV tonight see our TV Guide
What's on TV tonight
Our expert TV journalists have picked the best things on TV tonight...
Best TV shows on TV tonight
Primates, 8.15pm, BBC1
In 1997 scientists in Batang Toru, a remote part of Indonesia, discovered a new species of primate, the Tapanuli orangutan, which had been hidden for some 700,000 years. Tonight’s episode of this stunning series looks at primates’ unique family bonds, including how the relationship between a Tapanuli orangutan infant and its mother is thought to be one of the most enduring in the natural world. We also learn how Malaysia’s dusky leaf monkeys actively compete to babysit a newborn. However, for the young Tapanuli orangutan, these family bonds could soon be broken. Their world is now under threat from logging, mining and hydropower projects, meaning they could be completely gone within a generation.
★★★★ HD
VE Day in Colour: Britain's Biggest Party, 8pm, C4
With events planned for the UK’s 75th anniversary on hold, this fascinating one-off shows how Britain was united in celebration on 8 May 1945 as VE – or ‘Victory in Europe’ – Day ended World War Two on the continent. Using archive film, radio broadcasts, songs and eyewitness accounts, celebrations are brought vividly to life. There are also scenes from other European capitals and from across the pond in New York, as well as moving memories of liberation from concentration camp inmates.
★★★★ IM
The Other Mother, 11.05pm, C4/Box set on All4
This knotty French thriller poses a difficult question: how seriously should you take a four-year-old when he tells you his mother isn’t his real mum? Psychologist Vasile Drogman is inclined to take young Mason Moulin’s statements at face value, but detective Marianne Aubrais doesn’t share his concerns. It’s only after Vasile explains how a child’s memory works that Marianne realises this isn’t normal behaviour, and agrees to take a look at the Moulins – who may not be the ordinary family they seem to be.
★★★★ SP
Best box set to watch on TV tonight
Ride Upon the Storm, two series (20 episodes), All4
The performances are superb in this riveting Danish drama centring on a dysfunctional family headed by philandering priest Johannes (The Killing’s Lars Mikkelsen), who begins to have doubts about his faith.
Best film to watch on TV tonight
The King's Speech, 10.30pm (times vary), BBC1
Colin Firth is terrific as the future George VI, struggling to overcome his stammer and fulfil his royal duties. Firth’s performance is matched by Geoffrey Rush, as a maverick Aussie speech therapist, with wit and charm.
If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…
Don't miss VE Day in Colour on TV tonight – fascinating footage!
Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV guide.
Happy viewing!
