Southcliffe, Series Finale, Channel 4

SOUTHCLIFFE, SERIES FINALE, CHANNEL 4 Variations on grief, and scant closure in aftermath-of-killing drama

Variations on grief, and scant closure in aftermath-of-killing drama

The shipping forecast is never going to sound the same again after Southcliffe. Each time it came back over the four episodes of Tony Grisoni’s drama, set against a background of the limpid dawn sky of marshland Faversham, which stood in for the drama’s fictional market town, we knew that Stephen Morton (Sean Harris) was about to embark on his shooting spree. Terror came out of nowhere.

Crazy About One Direction, Channel 4

CRAZY ABOUT ONE DIRECTION, CHANNEL 4 Lazy and shallow look at the fan phenomenon surrounding the world’s biggest boy band

Lazy and shallow look at the fan phenomenon surrounding the world’s biggest boy band

Sandra, 14, has worked out what it will be like if she marries One Direction’s Harry Styles. “His morning voice would be amazing,” she says, thinking forward to when the first thing she hears each day is the croak with which he greets the morning and her. Pop groups with fans are nothing new, and with them come ranks of the obsessive. Crazy About One Direction's twist was to explore the fresh landscape of Twitter-aided, light-speed-connected fandom of girls and young women under the spell of One Direction, the world’s most popular boy band.

Southcliffe, Channel 4

SOUTHCLIFFE, CHANNEL 4 Murder-spree drama is morbid and depressing, but does that make it any good?

Murder-spree drama is morbid and depressing, but does that make it any good?

The last time I noticed Sean Harris he was playing Micheletto Corella, the merciless assassin and enforcer for Pope Jeremy Irons and his Borgia clan. Unpleasantly good at it he was too.

The Dealership, Channel 4

THE DEALERSHIP, CHANNEL 4 Would you buy a used car from these Essex men?

Would you buy a used car from these Essex men?

Buying a used car is not for the squeamish at the best of times, but the notion of buying one from something called the Essex Car Company freezes the blood. Yet the idea of making a slice-of-life, fly on the wall, reality-tv-style doc about the aforesaid jalopy-shifting outfit radiates an unmistakeable allure.

Run, Channel 4

RUN, CHANNEL 4 Writers' grim debut takes Olivia Colman further into the heart of darkness

Writers' grim debut takes Olivia Colman further into the heart of darkness

Another week, another breakout performance from Olivia Colman. That chirpy face and sprite smile encourages a nation of fans to follow her into all manner of beastly nooks and dread crannies in the hope that somehow with Colman for company it’ll be all right. Increasingly, it isn’t. After Tyrannosaur (murders husband) and Accused (son murdered) and Broadchurch (investigates child murder), we have Run (sons murder).

Child Genius, Channel 4/Agnetha: Abba and After, BBC One

Mensa's annual competition for prodigies. And a blonde ends her silence

Nobody said it was easy being an infant prodigy. Take Hugo, ranked in the top 0.4 percent of the population. He knows everything there is to know about train engines, train stations, rail networks etc, has them committed to his photographic memory. At 10 he is, basically, on some sort of spectrum, and he knows that too. “This is my brother Oscar,” he said. “He’s a more normal child.”

Shameless, Channel 4

SHAMELESS, CHANNEL 4 Familiar faces return for the final episode of Paul Abbott's long-running family drama

Familiar faces return for the final episode of Paul Abbott's long-running family drama

They say that the most important part of any drama is the journey that it takes its leading characters on. Whatever events have taken place - and after 139 episodes and nearly a decade, this show has had a lot of them - you can expect them to have shaped the characters, who will likely have learned valuable life lessons and evolved. Despite this, it is no great surprise to see Shameless patriarch Frank Gallagher (David Threlfall) begin the show’s final episode from jail - where he has spent three months for benefit fraud.

Syria: Across the Lines, Channel 4

SYRIA: ACROSS THE LINES, CHANNEL 4 Olly Lambert's film takes an unflinching, close-up look at two sides at war in Syria

Olly Lambert's film takes an unflinching, close-up look at two sides at war in Syria

Covering both sides of a conflict is never easy. Apart from the physical dangers, warring parties are wary of journalists who've reported on and established ties with the enemy. Afghanistan showed this as clearly as anywhere, when the US forces were suspicious of any journalists with Taliban contacts.

The Mimic/Anna & Katy, Channel 4

THE MIMIC / ANNA & KATY, CHANNEL 4 Promising sitcom riffs on the impersonator with no personality, plus a new female sketch duo

Promising sitcom riffs on the impersonator with no personality, plus a new female sketch duo

It’s a truism of the impersonator’s art that those who can do other voices have none of their own. On Parkinson, Peter Sellers couldn’t even come down the staircase as himself. When at the end of the show Mike Yarwood said, “And this is me!” a nation switched off. The idea behind The Mimic, starring the remarkable Terry Mynott, is that it accepts the truism as truth. This is a comedy about a man who can pose convincingly as Ronnie Corbett stuck in a postbox but has no life to call his own.

Black Mirror: The Waldo Moment, Channel 4

Second run of Charlie Brooker's dystopian drama gets our vote

After the nightmarish vision of justice system turned spectator sport that was last week’s Black Mirror, you’d be forgiven for feeling a little disappointed that writer Charlie Brooker hadn’t ramped up the horror at the start of the final episode of this all-too-short second series. There were many adjectives one could consider throwing at Waldo, the inexplicably popular blue cartoon bear at the centre of the action, but “horrific” probably wasn’t one of them.