Monday, December 23, 2024

TV tonight: comedian Mark O’Sullivan writes a sitcom about being sexually abused

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My Sexual Abuse: The Sitcom

10pm, Channel 4
“Let’s make magic happen!” That’s comedian Mark O’Sullivan getting to work on his autobiographical sitcom about being sexually abused by an extended family member. In this powerful documentary, he takes us through his complicated journey of using comedy to cope and making the show itself. The sitcom is available on Channel 4’s streaming platform afterwards. Hollie Richardson

The Great British Sewing Bee

9pm, BBC One
With 2024 being an Olympic year, this episode’s theme is sport. Judges Patrick and Esme have three tasks for the contestants: create a half-zip fleece for winter wear; transform cricket whites into a new outfit; and design clothing to represent a chosen country for a specific Olympic sport. Ali Catterall

Spotlight: Blood on the Dance Floor

9pm, BBC Two
Northern Irish journalist Jordan Dunbar swore never to cover the Troubles – until he learned the story of Darren Bradshaw, a Belfast police officer who was shot dead by a republican gunman in a bar in 1997. Dunbar explores how the media treated the murder, which happened at a pivotal point for Northern Ireland’s gay scene and the peace process. HR

The Gathering

9pm, Channel 4
A lot of threads are tied together in the last two episodes of the gymnastics thriller (though there isn’t much gym action by the end). We learn more about Bazi’s story as a refugee, before discovering who is behind the attack on Kelly at the beach in Wednesday’s finale. HR

Storyville: Dalton’s Dream

10pm, BBC Four
Dalton Harris became the first non-British Black singer to win The X Factor in 2018. Filmed over four years, this candid documentary sees how he reconciled overnight success in the UK and being gay in the industry with his traumatic upbringing in Jamaica. HR

Tokyo Vice

10.40pm, BBC One
The second season of this Japanese crime saga continues and the ramifications of Nakahara’s death are becoming clear. Did he really kill himself or is believing that too much of a stretch in this arbitrarily dangerous world? The dialogue is sometimes clunky but the narrative is gripping. Phil Harrison

Film choice

Snatched moments of tenderness … Kai Luke Brümmer, centre, in Moffie. Photograph: Ifc Films/Reuters

Moffie (Oliver Hermanus, 2019), 1.55am, Channel 4
It’s 1981 and white South African teenager Nicholas (Kai Luke Brümmer) is conscripted into the army to fight on the Angola border. He is English-speaking, which sets him apart from many of his fellow trainees and his sadistic Afrikaner sergeant, but he’s also secretly gay, a punishable offence. Although Oliver Hermanus’s drama doesn’t feature many Black characters, there is a clear equivalence between the homophobia and racism of the apartheid regime. In a film of tension and brutality there are snatched moments of tenderness, as Nicholas charts a middle course between self-worth and survival. Simon Wardell

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