TV Times top picks for tonight
What’s on telly tonight? Here the TV Times team of expert reviewers highlight the best shows on Tuesday 31st July
Age Before Beauty, 9pm, BBC1
This glossy family saga set in a Manchester beauty salon is a welcome breath of fresh air. Written by Debbie Horsfield (Cutting It, Poldark), it follows mum-of-two Bel (Mr Selfridge’s Polly Walker), who’s persuaded by brother-in-law and best mate Teddy (Robson Green) to return to the failing family business, MirrorBel Beauty Salon. As she tries to reverse its fortunes, poor Bel must also deal with sibling rivalries among her three sisters (Kelly Harrison, Lisa Riley and Vicky Myers), their razor-sharp mum (Sue Johnston), and problems with husband Wes (James Murray). With instantly engaging characters and a fast-paced script, book your appointment now! Ratings: *****
Dad’s Army, 8.20pm, GOLD
GOLD celebrates the 50th anniversary of one of the great British TV sitcoms by reshowing the very first episode exactly 50 years after it first went out, at 8.20pm on 31 July 1968. Perhaps shockingly, it’s in black and white but, apart from that, all is as it should be – Captain Mainwaring is pompous and Sergeant Jones is lofty, while Pike, Jones, Frazer and Godfrey wheel around them, striking sparks from Perry and Croft’s brilliant script. Comedy drama We’re Doomed! precedes (6.25pm, also on BBC2 on Saturday), followed by 1973’s The Deadly Attachment (the ‘Don’t tell him, Pike’ episode) at 7.40pm, and 1977’s last-ever episode is on at 9pm. Rating: ****
Long Lost Family, 9pm, ITV
Tissues at the ready for this particularly moving episode, focusing on one woman’s search for the birth mum who was forced to give her up due to racial prejudice. Sharon, now 60, was born in the late 1950s after her white mother had a relationship with a Jamaican man – during a time when mixed-race unions were not accepted. Sharon was given up for adoption. However, the search for her birth mother brings Sharon some shocking news – and a lot more than she bargained for… Also featured this week is Barbara, who is desperate to find the older brother she’s never met – the result of an affair Barbara’s mum had while her husband was away fighting in World War Two. Rating: *****
More previews tomorrow
