Pay television: Tales of the wrongly convicted

TV editor Ian Cuthbertson selects I Didn't Do It as his pick of the week on pay television.

TV editor Ian Cuthbertson selects I Didn't Do It as his pick of the week on pay television.

Monday, 8.30pm, CI

True-crime programs often follow a rigid template. Victims, perpetrators or those wrongly accused tell their stories, which the producers support with re-enactments performed by actors. The CI (Crime & Investigation) Network is stacked with such programs. What makes I Didn't Do It stand out from the crowd is its masterful telling of the tales of innocents wrongly convicted. Narration by actor Chris Noth (Law & Order, The Good Wife) hints at the production values. In this episode we learn that Clarence Elkins went to jail for four years when his niece identified him as the man who sexually assaulted her and bludgeoned her grandmother (his mother-in-law) to death. Essentially, Elkins was convicted on the testimony of a deeply traumatised six-year-old. We follow the incredible ordeal of his family and legal team to prove his innocence.

Paranatural: Life After Life

Saturday, 8.30pm, National Geographic

Through case studies of two people who had very different near-death experiences and survived to talk about them, this program investigates the idea of the afterlife. If you are now groaning and preparing to move on to greener TV pastures, you should know that this is probably the most balanced treatment of the subject broadcast so far. The two NDE survivors are Christina Stein, a 19-year-old kindergarten teacher from Koblenz, Germany; and neurosurgeon Eben Alexander, from Virginia, in the US. As well as the first-person testimonials (Stein speaks through interpreters) family members and various academics and doctors add their thoughts. Since Alexander is a neurosurgeon, his thoughts about his experience are fascinating. Curiously, while Stein had an elaborately re-enacted connection with her grandparents in heaven -- a bit like the colour-saturated scenes in the 2009 film of the Alice Sebold novel The Lovely Bones -- at the same time in his process Alexander was disembodied. "I was surrounded by dirt and boiling mud, and had no memory whatsoever of my human life," he says. "There was a relentless pounding sound, like heavy machinery, and long thin roots (the vision is of something like spider's legs). It seemed to go on for years and years if not an eternity." Uh oh. Another neurologist suggests both experiences are simply the results of hallucinations spun by minds closing down. While this is not at all a religious discussion, there is some talk of "the other side". But there's nothing quite so blunt as that quote from Kerry Packer, who had his own NDE in 1990. Packer was clinically dead for up to six minutes before being revived by paramedics. "I've been to the other side and let me tell you, son, there's f . . king nothing there," he said. Amen to that.

My Brother the Serial Killer

Sunday, 8.30pm, CI

This feature-length documentary cuts to the heart of what it takes to create a serial killer. Glen Rogers could well be the worst offender in the US, with the blood of more than 70 murdered women on his hands. It is narrated and virtually presented by Glen's brother, Clay. Old home-movie footage shows two angelic blond kids playing innocently. So how did one of them grow up to be one of his country's most violent offenders? The Rogers family was dirt poor. The father was violent, frequently beating his wife in front of the seven Rogers children. Glen and Clay learned early that to survive they would have to become thieves. Clay says he can remember eating oatmeal three meals a day for three years. "If you were hungry, you went to someone else's house and stole food -- simple as that," he says. From there the two moved gradually into a life of crime. As a result of some of their exploits together, Glen, three years younger than Clay, spent time in a children's detention facility where, newspaper reports confirm, he was sexually abused by guards. This seems to have eroded in Glen the superego Clay has always possessed, the knowledge that it is wrong to hurt people. At a time when we are all trying to come to terms with the Boston bombings, this film offers an insight into how young minds can be corrupted and primed to commit the most heinous crimes.

42 Ways to Kill Hitler

Monday, 8.30pm, History

There may be 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, as Paul Simon famously sang, but are there really 42 Ways to Kill Hitler? I mean, isn't he already dead? But this is the History channel, so what it means is there were at least 42 plots to kill the hated German dictator, from the earliest days of his ascendancy to the final days of the Third Reich. Who were these would-be assassins? What were their methods and why did they all ultimately fail? The program retraces the steps, tests the weapons and uncovers surprising new information about these bold but unsuccessful attempts to change the course of history. One for the "much ado about nothing" files.

Simply Italian

Monday, 9pm, LifeStyle Food

If you are looking for authentic Italian, according to this program you should look no further than south Wales. Not New South Wales, but actual south Wales -- you know, near England. That's where you'll find the Taffy-accented Michela Chiappa and her huge Italian family. "Although we live in south Wales we still cook and eat just like Italians," she says. (Why am I suddenly hearing "cook like an Italian" to the tune of Walk Like an Egyptian in my head?) Chiappa says she is going to teach us everything we need to know about how to make fresh pasta at home. "After all, it's just flour and eggs," she squeaks. But wait, there's more. What would a cooking program be without the return of the host to her mother country. Naturally we travel from the valleys of south Wales ("you cannot tell anyone about this place") to the home of fresh pasta in northern Italy. "If you follow my simple recipes you will become an amazing Italian cook," she says, though I am not sure if she is trying to convince herself or the viewer. However, being a great lover of Italian food I must admit Chiappa had my mouth watering and my latent culinary instincts on red alert with some of her simple tips for delicious-looking pasta and sauces. OK, the fact she is still slim and gorgeous -- even with her monumental love of pasta -- has something to do with her considerable appeal. So can you really make great pasta at home without gadgets? Si, ragazzi -- benissimo!

Sarah Beeny's Selling Houses

Wednesday, 8.30pm, LifeStyle

It seems only five minutes since we reviewed Sarah Beeny's last outing, Double Your House for Half the Money. In fact it was two months ago. In this series, Beeny helps sellers by letting three rivals for the same buyer see what the other sellers are up to so they can augment and compete. Since when did selling your house become a competitive event? As if it's not difficult enough. Anyway, in this episode Beeny is in Stretton, South London, an area that attracts families because, she says, you get more house for your money. "Prices have remained stable for more than a year, but it's a slow market," she says. There's something quite direct about Beeny that is admirable and engaging. "If you don't like lilac, you're stuffed," she tells a seller who has insisted on an overabundance of the colour. Beeny interviews the prospective buyers on camera to find out what they are about. Then she sneaks off to the sellers to let them see each other's wares. Of course, if you've ever bought a house you'll know the likelihood of finding something you want because it is one of three suggested by a TV show is as likely as falIing in love with a candidate on a dating show. It does happen, but the odds are against it. So will Beeny's charm be enough to jump-start the sellers and convince the buyers?

Close Quarter Battle

Wednesday, 8.30pm, National Geographic

If you've ever had the notion to learn about disarming terrorists and the like at close quarters in buildings or compounds, this series is a bit like a video instruction manual. I was kind of hoping never to be in that position, but if I am I'll know exactly what to use: surprise, speed and violence of action. It may not be everyone's cup of televisual tea, but with agreeably tough host former Green Beret Terence Schappert providing the narration and instruction, those with an interest in contemporary military techniques will likely find it fascinating.

Osama bin Laden: The Finish

Thursday, 9.30pm, Discovery

Speaking of close-quarter battles, could there be any more specific, more high-profile example than the way US forces took out Osama bin Laden? According to this documentary, which contains dramatic realisations of real events, it took 40 minutes, a few dozen rounds and 24 of the toughest men the US had to offer. Navy SEALs, in this case. Taking bin Laden out wasn't the hard part. Finding him took 10 years, two presidents and, most significantly, the ability to fight a whole new kind of war. Incredibly, the thing that made the difference after a decade of false starts and dead ends was a killer app -- a secret targeting agent that finally was able to find, fix and finish the enemy. This is a beautifully paced documentary that wraps you up in its balled fist as it goes. Extensive interviews with Mark Bowden, author of The Finish: The Killing of Osama bin Laden provide a narrative spine, fleshed out by interviews with members of Obama's team and other military experts. I think it's fair to say what starts out sounding like a straightforward documentary in the vein of Close Quarter Battle gradually tightens its grip. By the end I found it absolutely riveting.

Uncovered: Steve Jobs

Friday, 9.30pm, BBC Knowledge

This biopic profiles Steve Jobs, the former head of Apple, who succumbed after a protracted battle with pancreatic cancer in October 2011. Twitterati Stephen Fry describes Jobs as "a mixture of charisma, chutzpah, bullshit, self-belief, self-delusion and insane ambition". That's 89 characters, including spaces. Did being a hippie make Jobs a better billionaire or just give him the means to present himself as a mastermind? He was certainly good at doing that without giving much credit where it was due. Interesting but incomplete. No mention of Jobs's lack of philanthropy or his allegedly exploitative foreign sweatshops.

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