Square Eyes

Television Reviews

Movie of the week, Iris, Prime, Sun, 8.30pm:

Judi Dench is utterly spellbinding as the English author Iris Murdoch in this heartbreaking biopic about her slow demise from Alzheimer's. It's a bittersweet, deeply moving love story, with Jim Broadbent as her steadfast lifetime love, railing against the dying of the light. The story is told in a series of flashbacks of their life (with Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville as the younger couple), and while it's a bit messy in places, the powerful performances sweep you up and carry you along.

Carols in the Domain, Prime, Sat, 8.30pm:

The old faves are dragged out and dusted off to get everyone in a festive mood.

Carnivàle, ABC, Sun, 8.30pm:

This is a brilliant six-part drama about a travelling circus of freaks and outcasts wending its way through the American Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. It seems like the signs of the Apocalypse are clear, but these misfits, ruled by a dwarf, always seem to appear where the need is greatest. All is not what it seems. This is addictive drama.

The Three Kings, SBS, Sun, 9pm:

Amidst all the saccharine seasonal tizz, at least there's a laugh in this French comedy about the Magi turning up in Paris 2000 years too late for the baby Jesus. The Wise Men head to Maccas, befriend a drug dealer and learn that a few critical events, like the crucifixion, have unfolded since they set off. It's funny and stupid, but works.

Kings And Queens, ABC, Mon-Thurs, 6.35pm:

A 12-part series that chronicles the lives of Britain's most famous monarchs, from William the Conqueror to Queen Lizzie. It's all very sensible and best suited to royalty buffs needing a refresher course.

Sacred Ground, SBS, Tues, 8.30pm:

A doco telling the stormy inside story of the struggle to design the 'Freedom Tower' on the site of the destroyed World Trade Centre. The governor banged together the heads of the two architects coming up with designs and the compromise seems to be a camel designed by a committee after a horse.

The Emperor Concerto, ABC, Weds, 9.25pm:

Classical music buffs know that Beethoven's most popular piano work is also the composer's most challenging for the soloist. Dutch-born Australian pianist Gerard Willems shines in this treat - the climax of a seven-year odyssey to record all of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas and five piano concertos - the biggest classical music recording project this country has even seen.

The Stepford Wives, SBS, Thurs, 11.30pm:

Ignore the lame remake and enjoy the 30-year-old original version of Ira Levin's darkly comic horror novel of suburban ennui. Katherine Ross and Peter Masterson play a couple escaping the rat race for sleepy New England. It seems all the women want to do is cook, clean and please their husbands. There's plenty of suspense in this cautionary tale.