New True Detective with Vince Vaughn on Australian TV

TV editor Lyndall Crisp selects True Detective as her pick of the week on pay television.

Taylor Kitsch as Paul Woodrugh in True Detective.

TV editor Lyndall Crisp selects True Detective as her pick of the week on pay television.

True Detective

Wednesday, 3.30pm, Showcase (115)

If you’ve been hanging out for season two of this complex noir series just to catch a glimpse of Matthew McConaughey (as Rusty Cohle), bad luck. He doesn’t return in this eight-part series set in the fictional city of Vinci. So, goodbye swampy Louisiana landscape, hello southern California’s gritty underbelly. Here we have three law-enforcement officers snared in a web of conspiracy and betrayal that unravels after a bizarre murder. Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch, pictured) is a war veteran and motorcycle cop who is suspended following a sex scandal, discovers a crime scene which involves three law agencies, multiple criminal collusions and billions of dollars. Detective Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell) is a divorced alcoholic whose wife was raped 12 years ago and is not sure if their son is his. Detective Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams) grew up in a New Age commune and is often at odds with the system. Into that mix comes Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn), a former crime boss who has a hold over Velcoro and uses him as a fixer. You’d be right in thinking the theme is multi-layered — and just when you’ve got a grip on what’s going on, there’s a twist. Season two, also created by Nic Pizzolatto, features the same flashback elements as the first season (which won five Emmy Awards) minus the subtle humour. But it, too, requires concentration. Repeated at 7.30pm.

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Ben-Hur: The Making of an Epic

Saturday, 7.30pm, Bio (133)

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ — the novel by lawyer, politician and war hero Lew Wallace — became an international bestseller after it was published in 1880. This fascinating documentary tracks Ben-Hur from when it was just an idea. It went on to a 20-year run on stage — the chariot race had five horses galloping on a treadmill with rolling scenery behind — which earned $US20m. MGM’s 1925 silent movie cost $US4m and the 1959 movie by William Wyler cost of $US15.5m. There’s wonderful archival footage, commentary including by Gore Vidal, who wrote the last script, and intriguing snippets of background information. (Rudolf Valentino was rejected for the lead role.)

Derek

Sunday, 8.30pm, BBC First (117)

All 14 episodes in the first two seasons of this award-winning bittersweet comedy drama start at 1.30pm and end here with this special finale. What a pity. Created by and starring Ricky Gervais, Derek is both poignant and funny. But it didn’t go down well with some critics who thought it a “mawkish mess”, one that ridiculed the elderly and the intellectually challenged. That’s not why Gervais called it quits: as with his other series — The Office and Extras — he believes in leaving on a high note. Set in the fictional Broadhill nursing home, Derek covers hard issues through various characters including the saintly manager Hannah (Kerry Godliham) who sees beauty in the most mundane of tasks. Here she’s the pregnant bride preparing, at last, for her wedding to Tom (Brett Goldstein).

Great Thinkers: In Their Own Words

Monday, 6.30pm, Arts (132)

Some bright spark had the idea of plundering the wealth of material that lies in the BBC’s archives to make this three-part series featuring several of the greatest minds of the 20th century. The thoughts of Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, Benjamin Spock, David Attenborough, Jane Goodall, Bertrand Russell, Margaret Mead, BF Skinner and Richard Dawkins — among others — are all brought to life. In Human, All Too Human, the first episode, psychologist Jung discusses his torturous relationship with Freud in never-before-seen footage.

Chicago PD

Tuesday, 8.30pm, Universal (112)

Call It Macaron, the first of 23 episodes in season two of this American police procedural drama, finds Sergeant Henry “Hank” Voight (Jason Beghe) under scrutiny for the murder of Detective Sheldon Jin (Archie Kao), a tech and surveillance expert who was also hiding a few secrets. Voight heads the elite Intelligence Unit which fights big crime on the streets of Chicago. A no-nonsense boss, he doesn’t always follow protocol when it comes to the rights of victims of crime. Created last year by Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead as a spin-off from Chicago Fire, the show portrays the personal and professional lives of officers on the beat.

Halt and Catch Fire

Tuesday, 8.30pm, Showcase (115)

Set in Texas’s so-called Silicon Prairie in the early 1980s computing boom, this 10-part series follows an unlikely trio of renegade techies: a visionary, an engineer and a prodigy. Here in episode one, former IBM employee Joe MacMillan (Lee Pace) talks his way into the fictional company Cardiff Electric as a sales rep. He recruits engineer Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy) and rebellious programmer/girlfriend Cameron Howe (Mackenzie Davis) to build the next great personal computer, but is beaten to the punch by the Apple Macintosh. A story of ego and greed, the series was slow to get attention but now has a cult following. A second series has been made.

After Braveheart

Tuesday, 7.30pm, History (611)

The 1995 film starring Mel Gibson as the legendary 13th-century Scottish hero William Wallace ends with the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. It saw the vastly outnumbered Scots defeat the English. This two-part series — narrated by actor Brian Fox with commentary by medieval historians — recreates what led to the battle, the roles of brothers Robert and Edward Bruce, kings Edward I and II, and what happened next.

Crimes that Shook Britain

Tuesday, 7.30pm, CI (613)

Using interviews with families, police, victims and witnesses, this series digs deep into the background and impact of six of Britain’s biggest criminal cases in recent decades. Episode five tackles Jimmy Savile, for years a TV superstar and friend of the rich and famous. It opens with footage of him enjoying a laugh with Prince Charles and Princess Diana. But all that changed in October 2012 — one year after his death at 85 — when a police investigation began, prompted by hundreds of complaints dating back to 1955. Now regarded as one of the country’s most prolific sex offenders — a rapist, sadist and pedophile — the documentary looks at how he got away with it when so many people knew or had their suspicions. The truth is, as a national treasure he was untouchable, and he was good at avoiding charges by paying off his victims. Hard to watch in some places.

The Americans

Wednesday, 8.30pm SoHo (114)

In One Day in the Life of Ivan Baklanov, episode 11 in season three, KGB agents Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth (Keri Russell) Jennings learn that back in Russia, Liz’s mum is dying. What to do? Background: theirs is an arranged marriage; to outsiders they are a suburban couple with two children living in Washington, DC. But as the Cold War escalates — this is the 1980s — so do their spying activities. Along the way they’ve fallen in love with each other, and Philip with the all-American dream. FBI agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) happens to live next door, which adds spice. The award-winning drama was created by former CIA agent Joe Weisberg and has just been renewed for a fourth season.

Andre Rieu: My Music, My Life

Friday, 8pm, Arts (132)

Made in 2009 and shown later on SBS and ABC, this documentary about the world’s most popular entertainer / violinist / musician reveals the inner world of Dutch star Andre Rieu. It visits his castle home in Maastricht where he lives with his wife (and manager) Marjorie and explains how a replica of Schonbrunn Palace is transported to stages around the globe and put together in 40 seconds. With his 1667 Stradivarius violin, Rieu, 65, and his 12-member orchestra draw huge crowds everywhere they perform their mix of waltz, pop and folk music. His net worth in 2013 was said to be around $US50m.

Jonathan Creek

Friday, 8.30pm, 13th Street (118)

Alan Davies as the master of illusion with a knack for solving tricky crimes makes this gentle end-of-week viewing. (He is also starring in Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery; see previous page.) In The Sinner and the Sandman, from season five, Creek and wife Polly (Sarah Alexander) move into her father’s country house. They anticipate a quiet rural life but the local village — like so many English villages apparently — is less than tranquil. For starters, a sex scandal erupts at the launch of the community centre. How very British.