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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Ammar Kalia, Ali Catterall, Alexi Duggins, Graeme Virtue and Simon Wardell

TV tonight: the troubling story of ‘Gazzamania’ explored in BBC documentary

Deeply tied to his celebrity … Paul Gascoigne.
Deeply tied to his celebrity … Paul Gascoigne. Photograph: Fremantle

Gazza

9pm, BBC Two

Seared into the public psyche for the tabloid headlines he generated as much as his footballing prowess, Paul Gascoigne is a figure deeply, and somewhat dangerously, tied to his celebrity. This engrossing two-part documentary begins with the birth of “Gazza” the megastar, after his move to Tottenham Hotspur in 1988 for a record transfer fee. Now firmly in the public spotlight, his tears at the 1990 World Cup semi-finals give birth to what the Sun dubs “Gazzamania”, piling pressure on the young star. Ammar Kalia

Secrets of the Museum

8pm, BBC Two

Almost certainly the only programme this week to feature Minnie the Minx and Derek Jarman, here’s how costume designer Sandy Powell’s suit (auctioned to raise money for Jarman’s cottage) ends up at the Victoria and Albert Museum; and we meet the first female Beano artist, Laura Howell. Ali Catterall

The Great Home Transformation

8pm, Channel 4

Nick Grimshaw and Emma Willis in The Great Home Transformation.
Sprucing up homes … Nick Grimshaw and Emma Willis in The Great Home Transformation. Photograph: Nick Cunard/BBCS/Channel 4

It’s week two of Nick Grimshaw and Emma Willis’s attempt to renovate families’ homes by using heat mapping technology. Tonight, nurse Lombe, scientist Gregory and their grownup children have a three-bedroom semi in Swansea in need of clever storage solutions. Cue designer Alex Dauley. Alexi Duggins

Grand Designs: The Streets

9pm, Channel 4

Kevin McCloud is in Oxfordshire to revisit the “self-build street” he first documented in 2019. Carlos and Maite have plans to construct a Spanish-inspired home, but Maite’s design ambitions go up against the architect’s practicalities. Near Glasgow city centre, meanwhile, Natasha Huq visits another street building its own homes. AK

Chasing Trane: The Story of John Coltrane

9pm, Sky Arts

John Scheinfeld’s documentary on the celebrated saxophonist debuts on TV, featuring a number of Coltrane’s collaborators and fans explaining his genius. Cornel West pitches him as a gauge of the times, while Denzel Washington reads Coltrane’s letters to trace his spirituality. AK

Raised By Wolves

9pm, Sky Atlantic

Despite its acidic oceans and funky flora, planet Kepler-22b is supposed to be a cosmic garden of Eden where androids and computers can rebuild the human race. Except that there is now a huge flying snake snacking on alarmed colonists. It certainly livens up this visually dazzling but abstruse sci-fi drama. Graeme Virtue

Film choice

A harsh world … Maxine Peake in Funny Cow.
A harsh world … Maxine Peake in Funny Cow. Photograph: Entone Group

Funny Cow, (Adrian Shergold, 2017), 1.30am, Channel 4
Ostensibly a rags-to-riches story, this intense drama about a standup comedian reflecting on her early life is more of a psychological dissection of its lead character than a paean to female empowerment. The great Maxine Peake gives no quarter as “Funny Cow”, raised amid poverty and violence but with the determination to find an escape through the northern working men’s club circuit. It’s a harsh world where the (invariably male) comics are rude and racist. Director Adrian Shergold and writer Tony Pitts (who also plays her boyfriend) pull no punches in showing her struggle. Simon Wardell

Live sport

Champions League football: Atlético Madrid v Manchester City 7pm, BT Sport 2. Quarter-final, second-leg match. Liverpool v Benfica is on BT Sport 3 at 7.15pm.

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