Monday, December 23, 2024

TV tonight: a rage-fuelled, harrowing look at maternity wards in the UK

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Maternity: Broken Trust

Sunday, 10.15pm, ITV1

A furious, harrowing but always sensitive documentary about new parents who have gone through the unimaginable – and are fighting for hospitals to take responsibility. It starts with Sarah and Jack, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn at the hospital they both worked at. After being told it was due to an infection, an inquest later found the death was preventable. They are part of a group of parents with similar experiences; one couple were accused of depriving their twins of oxygen after raising concerns that were ignored (one of the children died). From waiting years to receive hospital records to being told they don’t remember things correctly, their stories are shocking. Hollie Richardson

Soccer Aid for Unicef 2024

6pm, ITV1

A frivolous occasion with a deadly serious purpose: this kickabout at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge raises money for Unicef’s never-more-vital humanitarian work by inviting celebrities including Erin Doherty and Martin Compston to try their luck alongside footballers such as Eden Hazard, Ellen White and Theo Walcott. Always good, silly fun. Phil Harrison

Inside Classical: Brahms Symphony No 4

8.30pm, BBC Four

Glasgow’s City Halls hosts a programme loosely themed around the notion of the human spirit. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra perform Brahms’s great romantic symphony, conducted by Gemma New. Plus, there’s a yearning violin solo in Samuel Barber’s 1930s concerto, while Sarah Gibson’s 2019 Warp and Weft is inspired by feminist artist Miriam Schapiro. Ellen E Jones

On Thin Ice: Putin vs Greenpeace

9pm, BBC Two

In 2013, a group of Greenpeace activists took action against Russia’s Arctic oil drilling by attempting to attach a pod to a rig. It was stopped when Russian authorities tracked, followed and arrested them. In this wild six-parter, those involved tell the terrifying story of events that led to months of imprisonment – an oh-so-clear message from Putin. As one of them succinctly puts it: “The plan, I think you can say, went to shit.” HR

The Piano: The Final

9pm, Channel 4

It’s time for the final concert but surely nothing can match the emotional punch of last year’s winner Lucy? The seven giving it a good shot include Michael, singing in his own madeup language, Ukrainian Daria, introverted Teddy, 10-year-old Sum and a surprise wildcard contestant. HR

Shetland: Scotland’s Wondrous Isles

9pm, Channel 5

Thor blimey: it may be more than 550 years since the Danes gave Shetland to the Scots as part of a royal wedding dowry but Viking traditions still run deep. The picturesque travelogue goes behind the scenes of the Scalloway fire festival, featuring cheery Norse warriors on parade and a longboat set ablaze. Graeme Virtue

Film choice

Blue Story, 10pm, BBC Three

Blue Story on BBC Three Photograph: Landmark Media/Alamy

Hip-hop storyteller Rapman’s 2019 debut feature is adapted from his YouTube tales of young Black men’s lives in London, and he also features here as a kind of Greek chorus relating the tragic events. With a grim authenticity reminiscent of Top Boy, the drama follows Timmy (Stephen Odubola), who lives in Deptford, as he is sent to school in Peckham, where he becomes best friends with Marco (Micheal Ward). With Marco’s elder brother a local gang leader, the duo’s vain attempts to avoid postcode beefs and turf wars puts a strain on their relationship. Simon Wardell

The Outsiders, 1.25am, Film4

A proto-Brat Pack outing, Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 version of the SE Hinton novel harks back to the era of Brando and Dean in its story of feckless, reckless working-class boys in 60s Tulsa. C Thomas Howell plays Ponyboy, the 14-year-old youngster in a parentless family run by brother Darrel (Patrick Swayze). Both are in the “Greasers” gang, and their rivalry with the wealthier “Socs” across town escalates in deadly fashion. Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise add to the cast of future Hollywood stars. SW

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