THE REPLACEMENT, BBC1, 9pm
WE continue to wonder which of the women is the baddie here. Paula is the newcomer, the outsider, and classic narratives tell us they’re always the ones to be watched.
But more and more hints emerge of Ellen’s mental instability, and when she starts sending friendly little messages on Facebook to Paula’s daughter, doesn’t that push her into the category of creep?
This constant see-sawing between the two women is the great strength in this drama, giving it a real psychological depth.
Ellen tries to find out more about Paula, and about how Kay really died. She is led to Georgia, a mysterious former colleague of Paula’s.
They arrange to meet and then, suddenly, Georgia rushes away and refuses to talk. Has someone warned her off? But just as Ellen thinks she’s on to something, the police come knocking at her door.
INSIDE NO 9, BBC2, 10pm
I’D say tonight’s episode is the weakest of the series but even when this show is at a low ebb it still surpasses almost everything else on TV.
Tonight’s story is set in the maddening, noisy claustrophobia of a hired karaoke room. It’s a work night out and everyone is in daft fancy dress, including Connie (Tamzin Outwaite), who’s a very drunk and flirtatious Amy Winehouse.
Beneath her beehive and eyeliner, she’s sly, nasty and conducting an affair with a colleague, Greg. They steal glances and kisses while Greg’s naive girlfriend dances and sings in a Britney Spears costume.
But they’re all being watched by Janet, a deaf colleague who, denied the thumping music, sits in the corner in her Boy George outfit to quietly observe, and amid the drinking, dancing and dressing-up, everyone’s true personalities and secrets are revealed.
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