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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Hollie Richardson, Ali Catterall, Jack Seale and Simon Wardell

TV tonight: a grisly report on the rise of leopard attacks on humans

A leopard on the prowl
Unreported World speaks to a teenage boy in India left traumatised after being attacked by a leopard. Photograph: Ullstein Bild/Getty Images

Unreported World

7.30pm, Channel 4

Recently, there has been a rise in leopard attacks on humans in India, according to this grisly report. Journalist Mandakini Gahlot investigates, speaking to a traumatised teenage boy who survived an encounter with a leopard just days before, and renowned biologist Dr Sanjay Gubbi who is looking into how city expansions are eroding the animal’s natural habitat. Hollie Richardson

Iolo’s Borderlands

7pm, BBC Two

“The Iolo bird catches the tern” – and it’s a 4am alarm call for Iolo Williams if he wants to catch the amazing spectacle of the black grouse and its striking red eyebrows. Elsewhere in the series finale, there’s a glimpse of some beautiful, dune-dwelling sand lizards and rare seabirds. Ali Catterall

Eurovision Song Contest: Everyone’s a Winner

7.30pm, BBC One

What’s the best Eurovision banger that didn’t actually win? After putting it to a vote, Fleur East presents a list of the Top 20 – from the UK’s Space Man by Sam Ryder to Ukraine’s Shum by Go_A. Fans such as Scott Mills and expert Paul Jordan – AKA Dr Eurovision, who has a PhD in the subject from the University of Glasgow – also share their thoughts. HR

Hidden Treasures of the National Trust

9pm, BBC Two

Conservators inspecting a portrait of Elizabeth I
Conservators inspecting the portrait of Elizabeth I at Hardwick Hall in Hidden Treasures of the National Trust. Photograph: Production/BBC/Blast Films

This new series goes behind the scenes at some of the National Trust’s greatest hits. The first visit is to Bess of Hardwick’s Derbyshire home, which has monogrammed towers and Elizabeth I’s “sea monster” portrait, which is heading for the Met in New York. HR

Black Ops

9.30pm, BBC One

The zippy comedy about two police community support officers put on a secret mission to infiltrate a gang continues. After realising that the man in the body bag they’ve been told to dig a hole for is the detective who ordered the mission, Kay (Hammed Animashaun) and Dom (Gbemisola Ikumelo) accept they have no choice but to start digging – until the park ranger turns up. HR

The Lateish Show With Mo Gilligan

10pm, Channel4

Mo Gilligan’s show feels more like a fun night out than most Friday-evening chatfests. Joining in with games including the tough-question roulette of Reply or Deny this week are former England footballer Rio Ferdinand, comedian Jack Whitehall and musician Jessie Ware. There’s also live music from N-Dubz. Jack Seale

Film choice

A still from A Michael J. Fox Movie
Engaging, funny – and distressing … A Michael J Fox Movie Photograph: PR

Still: A Michael J Fox Movie (Davis Guggenheim, 2023), Apple TV+

This isn’t a comeback film for the Back to the Future star, but in this documentary Michael J Fox is every bit as engaging and funny as in his acting roles. The shadow of his Parkinson’s diagnosis when he was just 29 hovers over the tale Fox tells of the secret of his success, from his scene-stealing big break in the sitcom Family Ties to the blockbuster time-travel trilogy and political comedy Spin City. The toll of the Parkinson’s is clear – clips from his work reveal the lengths he went to in his 30s to hide the symptoms – and his memories of denying his condition are distressing. But Fox is a trouper, always ready with a gag (usually self-deprecating) and candid about his failures. Simon Wardell

Dead Shot (Charles and Thomas Guard, 2023), 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere

The period in the 1970s when the IRA waged a bombing campaign in mainland Britain is ripe territory for drama, and Charles and Thomas Guard’s gritty, grainy film combines the thriller element of hunter and hunted with sadly still relevant historical storytelling. Colin Morgan plays Irish terrorist Michael, whose pregnant wife is killed in an ambush by Aml Ameen’s British soldier Tempest. When Tempest is sent back to London to join a secret police unit targeting IRA members, a vengeful Michael follows him, in a world where ideology trumps all. SW

Carrie (Brian De Palma, 1976), 12.10am, Channel 4

Stephen King’s debut novel was also the first one adapted for the big screen in 1976, and Brian De Palma did it proud. Sissy Spacek is incredible as the put-upon daughter of a ferociously evangelical mother (Piper Laurie) whose nascent psychic abilities surface in grand guignol fashion. Before the horror kicks in, it’s actually an affecting coming-of-age drama, with the painfully naive Carrie the subject of bullying at school and abuse at home. Spacek and Laurie were nominated for Oscars, and the film pivots on their knives-out, love-hate relationship. SW

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