KING CHARLES III, BBC2, 9pm
I WAS ready to dismiss this drama, not really being in the mood for a story of old kings in tights and spaniel wigs, but when I put on my specs and looked closer I noticed the extra numeral after the name. King Charles the Third?
This is a speculative drama imagining how things might go for Prince Charles when he ascends the throne, and we watch as he’s plunged into a constitutional crisis on being asked to sign a repressive law curtailing press freedom. My appetite was further whetted by the inclusion of an actress playing Princess Diana’s ghost; that seems a bold move in a Britain still poised to tremble and weep over her memory.
Based on the verse play by Mike Bartlett, it opens with the Queen’s funeral, and Charles (Tim Piggott Smith) speaks his haunting lines to the camera: “My life has been a lingering for the throne.”
This is no ordinary drama.
PUBLIC ENEMY, SKY ATLANTIC, 10pm
CHLOE awakes from nightmares of little girls fleeing a pursuer in a deserted cornfield. Roused by someone banging at the door, she staggers to answer it, wearing some very tiny little pants, only to find it’s her boss. Oh what a bad start to the day! Then things get worse: he reveals she’s being seconded to a tough role with a new police force. “Oh and Chloe,” he says. “Try not to shoot anyone this time.” She glares at him with surly dignity, which she can manage to do as she’s wearing trousers by now.
In this Belgian drama, spoken in French, Guy Bernager, a child killer once known as Belgium’s “public enemy”, is being released from prison on the condition that he live with monks in Vielsart Abbey. Furious locals are protesting about the murderer in their midst, and even the monks look silently disgusted at their new arrival. Chloe is there to manage the operation and to protect him, but when a child goes missing her job becomes harder still.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here