The Kemps: All True, BBC Two review - more self-promotion than self-mockery

★★ THE KEMPS: ALL TRUE, BBC TWO More self-promotion than self-mockery

Spandau Ballet-boys show willing but spoof rock-doc misses the point

The spoof “rockumentary” always sounds like a great idea, but it’s hard to pull off. Largely this is because rock stars are so divorced from reality that an element of self-parody is already built in, albeit unwittingly (“everybody’s so different, I haven’t changed” as Joe Walsh deadpanned in "Life's Been Good").

The Choir: Singing for Britain, BBC Two review - the pandemic versus the power of song

★★★★ THE CHOIR: SINGING FOR BRITAIN, BBC TWO The pandemic versus the power of song

Gareth Malone's music therapy from the frontline

Singing in a choir can be terrific therapy for anxiety, depression or loneliness, but one of the cruellest effects of the coronavirus is the way it has restricted normal human interaction. The notion of social distancing might have been designed to sabotage the proximity and togetherness which is so much a part of collective singing.

A House Through Time, Series Finale, BBC Two review - timely series reaches uneven conclusion

★★★ A HOUSE THROUGH TIME, SERIES FINALE, BBC TWO Timely series reaches uneven conclusion

The best came first in David Olusoga's Bristolian history

Setting his third series of A House Through Time in Bristol (BBC One) was a stroke of inspired prescience for historian and presenter David Olusoga.

A House Through Time, Series 3, BBC Two review - Bristol under the microscope

★★★★ A HOUSE THROUGH TIME, SERIES 3, BBC TWO Bristol under the microscope

Slavery, piracy and satire at No 10, Guinea Street

David Olusoga’s A House Through Time concept (BBC Two) has proved a popular hit, using a specific property as a keyhole through which to observe historical and social changes. After previously picking sites in Liverpool and Newcastle, this time he’s chosen Bristol, the city where he has lived for over 20 years.

Alma's Not Normal, BBC Two review - bare-knuckle comedy pilot hits the spot

Great cast and outsized characters in Sophie Willan's new creation

Creating the opening episode of a new comedy series is like flipping pancakes with one hand while playing the Moonlight Sonata with the other. You have to introduce your characters and invent the world they live in, while squeezing in enough plot to keep the action moving.

Our Girl, Series 5, BBC One review - where soap and warfare collide

OUR GIRL, SERIES 5, BBC ONE Where soap and warfare collide

Our heroine finds herself persuaded to return to the Afghan front line

Some things never change in Our Girl. At the beginning of 2018’s Series 4, military heroine Georgie Lane (Michelle Keegan) had been traumatised by the death of her fiance Elvis Harte, killed in Afghanistan at the end of Series 3.

Taking Control: The Dominic Cummings Story, BBC Two review - disruptive political maverick eludes pigeonholing

★★★ TAKING CONTROL: THE DOMINIC CUMMINGS STORY, BBC TWO Disruptive political maverick eludes pigeonholing

How Downing Street's secretive adviser set out to create a revolution in Westminster

This patchwork of interviews and comments from male journalists and politicians interspersed with clips from television news and films, from The Godfather to The Avengers, was a zig-zag narrative of Dominic Cummings’s unique career as a political strategist.

Back in Time for the Corner Shop, BBC Two review - open all hours with the Ardern family

★★★★ BACK IN TIME FOR THE CORNER SHOP, BBC TWO Engrossing recreation of the lives of Sheffield's Victorian shopkeepers

Engrossing recreation of the lives of Sheffield's Victorian shopkeepers

Since Back in Time for Dinner in 2015, this BBC Two social history strand in which families travel into a recreated past to experience ways in which society, leisure and lifestyles have changed has proved a robust perennial.

Confronting Holocaust Denial with David Baddiel, BBC Two review - grappling with the incomprehensible

★★★★ CONFRONTING HOLOCAUST DENIAL WITH DAVID BADDIEL, BBC TWO Grappling with the incomprehensible

Writer and comedian tries to fathom how so many can deny such well-documented history

It’s all in the timing. Here was David Baddiel beginning a stand-up turn at a gig in Finchley. A Holocaust survivor gets to heaven, and God asks for a Holocaust joke. God says that his joke isn't funny, and the survivor replies “Well, I guess you had to be there.” Baddiel believes there is nothing that is impervious to a joke.