The Easter bank holiday is finally here – and with it comes a host of excellent TV shows to watch as you tuck into your chocolate eggs. over BBC One, Gareth Malone is back to coach yet another choir of singing hopefuls and this time, he’s set his sights on the challenging yet beautiful Handel’s Messiah.
Meanwhile, Beyond Paradise continues later in the evening, with Humphrey forced to interrogate his own wife when she becomes a surprise suspect in a fruit smoothie poisoning. Elsewhere, Australian sitcom Austin sees Ben Miller’s Julian attempt to bond with his long-lost autistic son while his wife Ingrid (Sally Phillips) tags along. Although it’s not long before she realises that there are ulterior motives at play.
With so much TV to get stuck into this weekend, here are the top telly picks from Emma Bullimore – who is filling in for Sara Baalla.
You’d think Britain’s favourite choirmaster might be running out of ways to form a new singing group. He’s worked with everyone from military wives to sulky teenagers, and each time he manages to create a sound that is greater than the sum of its parts. This Easter, Gareth is challenging eight keen singers – people with decent voices but no classical training – to take on a choral masterpiece, which happens to be one of his personal favourites.
The music is Handel’s Messiah (if you think you don’t know it, just wait for the ‘Hallelujahs’), a catchy but complex score that has been performed by choirs for the past 275 years. The newbies will be joining with a professional orchestra, choir and soloists for a one-off performance at Cardiff’s Llandaff Cathedral, so any bum notes will stand out like a sore thumb. After running auditions, Gareth is thrilled to find a good mix of singers, full of enthusiasm.
There’s Aaron who sounds just a little too similar to Tom Jones, Naomi who is seizing life after a cancer diagnosis, and Harry, who has no hearing in one ear. Each of the participants has their own special reasons for being part of the choir, and they have seven weeks to rehearse. That might sound like a lot, but Gareth is worried he has finally bitten off more than he can chew… Along the way we will also explore the meaning of the music, and learn why Messiah is still so popular centuries after it was written.
Humphrey is trying to enjoy a day out at the local regatta, watching bitter rivals compete, while Martha is rushed off her feet serving food and drink from her van. The two race favourites are the daughters of old adversaries, and an already tense event takes a dark turn when sailor Polly collapses midway through the race. As Humphrey swoops into action, Polly tells him she is convinced someone is out to get her.
After a bit of digging, Humphrey learns that Polly’s fruit smoothie was spiked with a sleeping pill. Eventually he realises it was Martha who prepared the drink, leaving Humphrey in the unenviable position of interrogating his other half. She’s a prime suspect, but between work stress and childcare issues, she’s less than impressed to be hauled into the station for questioning. If it wasn’t Martha, who could have snuck into the van to tamper with the drinks?
As this quietly brilliant sitcom continues, cancelled children’s author Julian (played by Ben Miller) decides it’s time to start bonding with his long-lost autistic son Austin, and they plan to spend the day together. Wife Ingrid (Sally Phillips) is thrilled that her self-obsessed husband is finally taking this relationship seriously, and agrees to tag along to capture some video memories.
She doesn’t even complain (much) when he kits her out in bulky camera equipment rather than letting her get some snaps on her phone. But it’s not long before the cat is out of the bag and Ingrid realises Julian is exploiting the situation to make a secret documentary. Disgusted, she storms off, leaving Julian and Austin to continue their unconventional city tour together. But how long before Austin realises his father is less interested in becoming a proper dad, and far more concerned with rescuing his public image?
John feels the panic rising as Aaron pushes on with wedding planning. Chatting about the guest list with Mack and Vic in the pub, John insists he barely has any friends or family to invite to the big day. Feeling sorry for him, Vic hatches a secret plan to get in touch with John’s old army mates, hoping they will come to his stag do. Ruby starts to worry that Caleb is keeping something from her. Charity catches Sarah out.
Todd puts Sarah in an awkward position by pretending they’re a couple in front of Danielle and Theo. Sarah is left with some explaining to do as Kit watches Todd kiss her. Dee-Dee is gutted by the outcome of the hospital investigation. She attends a support group with other mums who have faced similar trauma. Later, she decides to confront Zoe.
Sean asks Daniel to help him expose Brody. Maria fires Lou after a blazing row at the salon.
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