Radio Times 7-13th May 2022

A BAFTA ADVENTURE CAN begin in the smallest moment. Who could have known when Rose Ayling-Ellis first stepped out onto the Strictly dancefloor last September that she was beginning a journey that would entrance the nation and lead – perhaps – to British television’s greatest accolade when she walks down the red carpet at the 2022 Baftas this Sunday night at the Royal Festival Hall. This week Rose is among six stars to grace six different covers of our Bafta issue – and we celebrate one of them p[lus others inside in our ten-page feature starting on page 8. First up, Tom Hiddleston returns from Hollywood to inhabit the windswept Essex marshes for his new drama The Essex Serpent, while Olympics presenter Alex Scott celebrates her triumph over the snobs who criticised…

7—13 MAY 2022 Television Your TV guide starts on p45 1 The British Academy Television Awards Sunday 6.00pm BBC1 Richard Ayoade refuses to take things too seriously as he once again hosts TV’s prize-giving ceremony from the Royal Festival Hall. Expect some dry quips from him between the acceptance speeches, as the great and the merely good vie for honours. FEATURE P8 2 Beck Saturday 9.00pm BBC4 The Swedish crime drama returns. Alex (Jennie Silfverhjelm) may be in the driving seat these days, but Martin Beck himself has returned from brain surgery to help probe the murder of a drug dealer. 3 The Repair Shop Wednesday 8.00pm BBC1 Jay Blades and his wonderful team tackle more treasures in need of TLC, including a mammoth wooden clock. It’s possibly the most soothing, restorative TV you’ll watch all week. 4 Fergal Keane: Living with PTSD Monday…

SURANNE JONES ÒI watch shows my husband’s not interested in – in the bath,” says the actor. “I’m currently enjoying Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on Netflix. It’s brilliant – I love musicals. Before that it was Inventing Anna, which was really good, and RuPaul’s Drag Race.” The glitz of the Baftas — page 8 TOM HIDDLESTON “I’m not the first or the last person to say this, but I’m completely in awe of Succession,” says the actor. “There’s something so compelling about the performances, the writing, the stakes. It feels like a great achievement from everybody involved. It’s thrilling to see people operating at that level.” The glitz of the Baftas — page 8…

THE WAR IN Ukraine has been fought on many fronts. One of them defines our age – social media. It is the war of Twitter, TikTok and Facebook. Since 24 February, we have witnessed streets in Ukraine reduced to rubble as Russian missiles find their targets and war-ravaged dead bodies lying in a European street broadcast internationally. Some events are “broken” to the world via our feeds, only to be picked up by mainstream media later for verification and packaging into formal news items. All of this brings us as close to the war as we can be without physically being there – just a reach away on our mobile phones. President Zelensky’s messages of defiance against Russian aggression have caused us to cheer him on as we do our bit…

WHAT WE WATCHED Hopes were high that Holby Blue would successfully extend the Holby franchise and give ITV behemoth The Bill an overdue run for its money. “The Bill is a monster and I’d love to have their audience in terms of its size and loyalty, but this is a very different show,” insisted creator Tony Jordan. Talking about what was on offer, Jordan also said that Casualty and Holby City fans would witness something new: “It’s perhaps a bit sexier than what they might be used to. I mean, there are three shags in the first episode alone!” Unfortunately, it didn’t make for arresting viewing and Holby Blue was cancelled after just two series. WHAT YOU SAID Stephen Fry’s new vehicle Kingdom was dividing RT letter writers. Dawn Sirrell of Portishead in…

TOM HIDDLESTON The actor talks Shakespearean super-villains and mythical sea serpents “I’M WORRIED I’m going into the red zone on the Pretention-o-Meter here… But why would a human being decide to portray other people for a living? It’s a question I ask myself all the time,” says Tom Hiddleston, reflecting on his two decades as an actor. “The one thing I do know,” he continues, “is that I identified something when I was younger – that sometimes I’d watch actors and feel like my experience was being articulated on my behalf; it made me feel less alone in the world. “Genuinely. I remember thinking: ‘Wow. How does that person I’ve never met know how that feels?’ “That’s the thing that matters, that we connect with each other and feel less alone in the world… Maybe.”…