What’s on TV tonight: The Apprentice final, Nelson Mandela: A Life in Ten Pictures and more

Thursday 18 April

The Apprentice
BBC One, 9pm
While its glory days are now distant, Alan Sugar’s reality show concludes its eighteenth series in decent health, even as its host’s proclamations that it is a serious business programme ring ever more hollow. The final pits Phil, the perennial loser (or great survivor, depending on your perspective), against briskly efficient Rachel. The former hopes to continue in the family business and expand his small chain of pie shops, both physically and through a mail-order service. The latter hopes to open more gyms (sorry, “social fitness hangouts”).

To earn Sugar’s expertise and £250,000 investment, each must rebrand their business alongside creating a digital billboard and television advert, before pitching to experts. Offering questionable assistance are some of their former rivals, with Virdi and Raj wasting no time in locking horns (“You’re an actor, let me direct”), while Rachel’s own team are bewildered by her business name: Studio Build. While occasionally unwatchable (as they should be), their endeavours leave them well matched for the climactic boardroom, after which Tom Allen will be on hand for the customary debrief in You’re Hired (at 10pm). GT

Wildlife Rescue
Channel 4, 8pm
A pretty standard docusoap with added tension and cuteness, Wildlife Rescue follows a team from South Essex Wildlife Hospital as they rescue and rehabilitate wild animals ranging from a suffocating fox to a swan in life-endangering distress.

Nelson Mandela: A Life in Ten Pictures
BBC Two, 9pm
From a handsome, intense twentysomething to an elder statesman surrounded by a family shortly to go to war over his legacy, the life of Nelson Mandela is given plentiful new attention in another gripping instalment of this excellent profile series. Relatives, admirers and even a Robben Island prison guard assess the man behind the icon.

The Twelve
ITV1, 9pm
The built-in drama of the jury room has of late been profitably exploited both in comedy (Jury Duty) and documentary (The Jury: Murder Trial), but this imported Aussie drama has not reached the same heights. Despite Sam Neill’s best efforts as a defence lawyer, it continues to sink under the weight of its many subplots. Tonight sees Colby (Neill) working over Nathan (Matt Nable) on the witness stand, but the writers once again seem more interested in the jurors’ overstuffed private lives. Continues tomorrow.

Taskmaster
Channel 4, 9pm
The lunacy intensifies amid “Irish handshakes”, pickled onions and the questionable use of a cardboard tube as Nick Mohammed pushes his luck and Sophie Willan meets her match. In short, brilliant – very funny – business as usual.

The Hotel Inspector
Channel 5, 9pm
Alex Polizzi arrives in rural Oxfordshire to find a business on the precipice: having staked six-figure sums and 10 years on five luxury lodges for her farm, Rachel’s enterprise is struggling. Can she revive the concept before it is too late?

Bottom: Exposed
Gold, 9pm
For all their individual endeavours, it was surely as a pair that Adrian Edmondson and the late Rik Mayall did their finest work. Exhibit A gets analysed tonight: Bottom was one of the most gleefully anarchic shows ever to grace a major broadcaster, running for only 18 episodes but leaving an almighty legacy. Edmondson, co-stars Helen Lederer and Kevin McNally, fan Chris McCausland and producer Ed Bye pay tribute to a true TV underdog.

Against the Wind (1948, b/w) ★★★
Film4, 12.55pm  
A high-octane Second World War drama from Ealing Studios, centring on a group of individuals who must parachute into Belgium behind enemy lines. These include priest Robert Beatty and the excellent Simone Signoret in her first English- language film role. There’s some pertinent use of documentary footage, though the fragmented plot zigzags too distractedly, proving Ealing was far better at comedy.

Sorry to Bother You (2018) ★★★
BBC Three, 10pm  
Widely hyped upon its release as the new Get Out, Sorry to Bother You stars that film’s brilliant Lakeith Stanfield as Cassius “Cash” Green, a down-on-his-luck black Californian telemarketer whose fortunes change when, on the advice of grizzled colleague Danny Glover, he adopts a “white” voice – but, unsurprisingly, things don’t quite go to plan. Rapper Boots Riley’s film has more than a tinge of Spike Lee about it.

River (2023) ★★★★
Film4, 11.25pm  
Japanese director Junta Yamaguchi crafts a beautiful time-loop romance here, like a mystical spin on Groundhog Day. In an historic region of Kyoto, young woman Mikoto (Riko Fujitani) whiles away her days in a dead-end job, until one afternoon she returns from her lunch break to find that she’s become trapped in an infinite cycle of repeated experiences. Can she find the man necessary to break the mysterious spell?

Friday 19 April

Michael Portillo’s Long Weekends
Channel 5, 9pm
After another week of train-based travelogues over on BBC Two (6.30pm), the ever-effervescent Michael Portillo is on the move again for Channel 5. In this absorbing three-part travelogue, he takes us on a trio of long weekends to some of his favourite European cities. Tonight’s first stop is the Spanish capital of Madrid: “A place that has set my heart racing since I was a boy.” Portillo revels in Madrid’s rich history and culture, sampling the restaurants, bars and landmarks it has to offer. The show’s charm, however, lies in its accessibility. Structured across three days, and filled with practical tips and recommendations, this is a trip that feasibly anyone could do.

Take Sobrino de Botín, officially the oldest restaurant in the world, which specialises in traditional suckling pigs; or the opulent Royal Palace of Madrid, home to almost 3,500 rooms, which is open to the public 360 days of the year. Even the Teatro Real opera house, which welcomes Portillo behind the scenes, is open seven days a week. What is not easily attainable however is Portillo’s emotional connection with Spain. He becomes visibly moved when he talks about how the Spanish Civil War tore his family apart. SK

Sugar
Apple TV+
Colin Farrell’s hardboiled PI is sucked further into the seediness of Hollywood this week, as his investigation into the disappearance of Olivia (Sydney Chandler) strays into Harvey Weinstein-esque territory. Also on Apple TV+ today: episode four of Michael Douglas’s American Revolution drama Franklin and episode seven of Abraham Lincoln conspiracy thriller Manhunt.

Wetherspoons vs Toby Carvery: Which is Better
Channel 5, 7pm
“Posh food critic” Philippa Davis reviews food from Wetherspoons and Toby Carvery – two of Britain’s cheapest menus – “like she would a fancy restaurant”. Davis is a good sport, although she cannot hide her disgust of Toby Carvery’s mac-and-cheese Yorkshire pudding wrap.

Unreported World
Channel 4, 7.30pm
Reporter Kiran Moodley travels to Columbia University, New York, to find out how the war in Gaza has created a freedom of speech crisis in America’s universities. Pro-Palestinian students argue that Columbia banning protests means it is shutting down criticism of Israel. Those in charge, meanwhile, insist that they have a responsibility to all who study and teach on campus.

Beyond Paradise
BBC One, 8pm
A woman has been found wounded on the moors with an arrow in her back. The thing that mystifies Kris Marshall’s DI Humphrey, however, is how the attacker was able to shoot her in such a wide open space without being seen. The truth is hidden amid a feud about protecting the environment of local peregrine falcons.

Have I Got News For You
BBC One, 9pm
Alexander Armstrong returns to the hosting chair for a whopping 41st time. Could this make him the new Angus Deayton? He will certainly hope not. Fittingly, he will be joined by fellow regular Jo Brand, who is the runner-up with 28 appearances as host. Tonight, she is content to be a panellist.

Disclosure: Dead Man Running
BBC Two, 9pm; NI, 12.05am; not Wales
In 2019, an “eccentric” Inverness street trader called Kim Avis fled to the US before he could stand trial for charges of rape and sexual assault. A couple of days later in California he attempted to fake his death. This disturbing documentary, which originally aired on BBC Scotland, tells the story of how American police brought him to justice.

Asphalt City (2023) ★★
Amazon Prime Video  
Asphalt City follows Ollie Cross (Tye Sheridan), a young paramedic assigned to the NYC night shift with seasoned partner Gene Rutkovsky (Sean Penn). The dark nights reveal a city in crisis: crime, violence and death lurk on every corner. With Rutkovsky’s guidance, Cross tries to keep afloat. The lead performances are solid – Penn, as ever, is supremely watchable – but the dialogue is stilted and the premise rather dull.

Rebel Moon – Part 2: The Scargiver (2024)
Netflix  
Part one of Zack Snyder’s mega-budget sci-fi adventure may have been panned by critics, but the Justice League director doesn’t seem to care – according to him, it was more popular than Barbie. This sequel to the Stars Wars-lite tale follows the rebel agents as they gear up for battle against the evil forces of the Motherworld. Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou and Ed Skrein star. At least the special effects promise to be terrific.

BlackBerry (2023) ★★★★
Sky Cinema Premiere, 8pm  
Among Hollywood’s craze for origin stories (Tetris, Flamin’ Hot, Air), this drama about the rise and fall of the mobile phone company stands out in a flooded market thanks to sheer shock value. It kicks off with brothers Mike (Jay Baruchel) and Doug (Matt Johnson) pitching their tech; it descends into a story of hubris and warning, as the BlackBerry goes from the Noughties most coveted accessory to a mere relic in the post-iPhone era.

Dark Waters (2019) ★★★★
BBC Two, 11.05pm  
Mark Ruffalo really proved his chops in this pacy legal drama. He plays up-and-coming attorney Robert Bilott, a new partner at an old-school firm in West Virginia who becomes embroiled in a national scandal: a multi-million dollar chemical plant is polluting local rivers and farms and killing cattle. Think a male spin on Erin Brockovich; Todd Haynes (May December), who always directs with courage and verve, is at his best.

Television previewers

Stephen Kelly (SK), Veronica Lee (VL), Gerard O’Donovan (GO), Poppie Platt (PP) and Gabriel Tate (GT)