A portrait of the young Richard Burton, a special Emmerdale episode, and a great story from 1990s Ireland are among our picks for tonight.
Mr Burton
8:00pm, BBC One
The BBC celebrates the centenary of the birth of legendary actor Richard Burton (né Jenkins) with this two-hour feature about his early years in Wales. It tells the true story of how Welsh schoolmaster Philip Burton inspired "a wild, young schoolboy called Richard Jenkins" to follow his dreams. The inimitable Toby Jones plays Philip Burton; rising star Harry Lawtey is the young Richard, and the great Lesley Manville is Philip Burton's housekeeper, Ma Smith. There were kudos for Mr Burton when it was released in cinemas earlier this year, and Lawtey won the Jury Award for Best Performance at the Dinard British & Irish Film Festival, where the biopic also took the Audience Award. So, everything points to a classy watch.
The Graceless Age: The Ballad of John Murry
RTÉ Player
Deserving of its place on any of those Albums You Should Hear Before the Next World lists, American singer-songwriter John Murry's 2013 solo debut The Graceless Age was a startling chronicle of life on the margins. It also led to a special bond with Ireland. Murry is now based in Boston, but his ties across the Atlantic are only strengthened by this special film: it's about his music and a lot more besides. Mixing memoir and travelogue, director Sarah Share joins Murry as he goes back to Mississippi to recount the genesis of The Graceless Age - family, race, and harrowing experiences alongside a love of literature and the blues. The director's patchwork approach to her subject works remarkably well, and Murry proves to be as beguiling on camera as he is on both vinyl and stage.
Where the Crawdads Sing
Channel 4 Player
A 1960s-set mystery, Where the Crawdads Sing should have been a series, but director Olivia Newman (the award-winning coming-of-age story First Match) and producer Reese Witherspoon made the perfect choice when it came to casting Daisy Edgar-Jones in the lead role. This whodunnit/did-anyone-do-it? is powered by a small town's social hierarchy, its rush to judgement, and long-practised neglect. With its Southern backdrop and courtroom scenes, the adaptation of the Delia Owens bestseller of the same name feels very much like the John Grisham outings that were rented on VHS back in the day. Always watchable, it loses some goodwill by shoe-horning too much into the third act and moving too quickly towards the credits.
Emmerdale
7:00pm, Virgin Media One & ITV
Emmerdale tackles the issue of modern slavery in a special standalone episode as we discover the whereabouts of Bear, played by Joshua Richards. "It may surprise many people, but slavery is alive and well, indeed prospering in the modern world," says actor Richards. "Not only in obscure countries and cultures that we know little about, and not just the exploitation of migrants by criminal gangs of which some of us are aware. It is happening under our very own noses. The disadvantaged, dispossessed, those with mental health issues or disabilities, the old, lonely, and vulnerable people that our society neglects are the perfect prey for grooming by unscrupulous criminal agencies. I'm very excited and honoured to be taking part in this to hopefully educate and highlight this abominable trade of human bondage."
Beat the Lotto
Netflix
One of the best stories from 1990s Ireland (or, indeed, anytime-you-like Ireland) gets a feature-length outing in this charmer of a documentary from director Ross Whitaker (Katie, Between Land and Sea, Unbreakable: The Mark Pollock Story). Back in 1992, a syndicate led by Cork-born accountant Stefan Klincewicz decided "to play every single lottery line" by purchasing "all the combinations of numbers". Even in the good old days of six numbers from 36, that was some logistical and financial ask - and the syndicate needed a rollover Lotto jackpot to clean up on the night. Could they do it? Well, even if you know how this caper ultimately played out, director Whitaker makes sure you're still watching his film with a newcomer's sense of anticipation. Beat the Lotto is funny, pacy, and blessed with a better pitch than most Hollywood movies can manage.
