Tuesday’s TV tips
Italy welcome England to the Juventus Stadium in Turin for a friendly match, as the sides face each other for the first time since last summer’s World Cup.
The Italians claimed a 2-1 victory on that occasion at Arena Amazonia in Manaus, Brazil, with Mario Balotelli (pictured) scoring the winner after Daniel Sturridge had cancelled out Claudio Marchisio’s opener.
While England did pose a strong attacking threat in that contest they were largely profligate in front of goal, and the superior quality of Andrea Pirlo in the Azzurri midfield was the catalyst for their triumph.
Pirlo originally announced his retirement from international football following the World Cup, but reversed his decision so he could play under his former Juventus manager Antonio Conte.
The likes of Michael Carrick, Jordan Henderson and Fabian Delph will therefore look forward to testing themselves against someone who remains one of the world’s elite midfielders, as the visitors look to maintain their recent good form.
The plane crash in the French Alps has shattered many lives and led to more questions about the safety of air travel.
This programme will explain what happened to Flight 4U 9525 on its way from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.
It will investigate how the crash happened and ask how such a disaster can take place in our skies.
Ladies' Day at the races is a big date in the Gypsy calendar. This one-off special explores the unique bond between the Travelling community and their horses, including road races at night.
Another former Corrie fave takes centre stage in this week’s episode of Ordinary Lies.
Sally Lindsay plays Kathy Kavanagh, JS Motors’ biggest gossip and PA to company boss Mike.
However, the picture she paints of a perfect home life with doting hubby Ralph and two grown-up children, is about as far away from the truth as she could get.
Her marriage has been sexless for years, and she’s turned to internet dating for a bit of excitement. After months of planning, she goes to meet her secret cyber suitor, but she finds herself a witness to brutal and violent crime. Will she do the right thing and step forward with vital evidence, or keep quiet to protect her secret life?
Meanwhile, Beth is determined to find out as much as she can about Marianne after that shocking confession that she’d been lying about her relationship with Dave. But she comes across problems when Marianne fails to turn into work, and Beth is forced to take matters into her own hands.
It’s easy enough for us adults (as out of touch as we are, you know) to believe that the teens of today are from a different world, especially after watching the first episode of this insightful series last week, but there’s plenty here for the youngsters to identify with – which is the programme’s appeal.
As the series continues, we meet confident Harry, as he meets his new girlfriend Rebecca, goes through that awkward first encounter with her parents, faces uncomfortable discussions with his mum about sex, and makes a few drunken phone calls. He is the perfect example of a teenager in love, but will things run smoothly for him?
Meanwhile, Shauna puts her Christian faith before anything else in her life, but she’s constantly fending off questions from family and friends about her lack of love life.
Parents bringing up two or three children understand how much of a challenge it can be sometimes, so spare a thought for the folk featured in this documentary.
The programme features Mike, Keith, Nick and Russian, four fathers who collectively have over 70 children with more than 40 women.
Mike is 56, a self-professed womaniser and sex addict, and father to over 40 children, but thanks to an alcohol addiction, many of them have been placed in care. He’s now on a mission to win his children back and reconnect with one of his estranged sons.
Meanwhile, Russian is a mechanic and it’s not easy trying to juggle his heavy workload, social life and 12 kids, while pub landlord Nick has an 11-month-old son younger than some of his grandchildren, and unemployed Keith has been dubbed Britain’s Most Feckless Father.
It’s a romantic comedy charting the affairs of the heart of a long-time married couple, who are desperate to rediscover the spark that brought them together more than 30 years ago.
Arnold Soames and his wife Kay celebrate their latest wedding anniversary by buying each other cable television subscriptions.
The couple’s children Brad and Molly sense all is not well, but Arnold appears unconcerned, content to stick to the same routines and sleep in a separate room to his wife.
In desperation, Kay uses her savings to buy a series of intensive couples counselling sessions with Dr Bernie Feld, who runs the courses from his offices in coastal Maine. Arnold begrudgingly accompanies Kay but he is reluctant to share his feelings. After much prodding from Dr Feld, the husband makes a tentative first step towards greater openness that could save the marriage.
Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell, Elisabeth Shue, Jean Smart, Ben Rappaport, Marin Ireland
To outsiders, Michael and Alice may seem like the perfect couple, but in reality, she’s an alcoholic.
When her drinking puts their two young daughters in danger, she finally gets help, but her hard-earned sobriety brings its own set of issues.
Michael not only has to hold the family together while his wife is in rehab, he also has to face up to his role in covering up the extent of her problems – and adjust to sharing his life with the new, more capable and independent Alice.
The title and the presence of Meg Ryan may lead you to expect a slushy rom-com, but instead this is a surprisingly hard-hitting drama.
The film doesn’t shy away from exploring the impact of alcoholism on families, and why the problems don’t always stop with the drinking, while Ryan and Andy Garcia are both very good as the superficially loving, glamorous couple whose relationship is a lot more complex than it seems.
Andy Garcia, Meg Ryan, Lauren Tom, Ellen Burstyn, Tina Majorino, Mae Whitman, Philip Seymour Hoffman.
