Every Friday night turn on WLRN Channel 17 to watch some of the most compelling crime, drama and mystery shows on English-language television.
Here's an idea of the exciting programs you're likely to see: DCI Banks is a British crime series built around Inspector Alan Banks and based on the well-known novels by Peter Robinson. Dalziel & Pascoe is another British crime drama about two detectives from Yorkshire and based on mystery novels by Reginald Hill.
And finally, Circus is a multi-part documentary revealing an unprecedented slice of life inside and under the big top, with a real-life cast of kooky characters. From behind the scenes, the film is a front-row seat to all the passion, thrills and heartache of a world unto itself.
DCI Banks: Aftermath (8:00 p.m.)
When two officers respond to a domestic disturbance call, one is killed while his partner manages to subdue the killer, Marcus Payne, but Payne ends up in a coma. When DCI Banks investigates the grisly scene, he discovers it's the home of a serial rapist and murderer whose four out of five victims are buried in the cellar. The fifth is missing and may still be alive, and Banks is haunted by the desire to find her. Banks suspects Payne's wife Lucy is complicit in the murders.
Dalziel & Pascoe: A Clubbable Woman (9:30 p.m.)
Dalziel pays a visit to the Wetherton Rugby Club, where he's a member. But this is not a social call. When the club’s golden boy, Sam Connon, returns home injured after his most recent match, he finds his wife Mary sitting in front of the television with a bullet hole in her head.
At Mary’s funeral, Dalziel and Pascoe learn that Arthur Evans had deliberately kicked Connon in the head during the match because he believes Connon is having an affair with his glamorous wife Gwen, although later Pascoe sees Gwen embracing another club member, Marcus Felstead. The plot thickens when Jenny, Connon’s daughter, receives an anonymous letter claiming Connon is not her father. It seems that nearly everyone at the club has a motive for murder in a world of open rivalries, jealousy and secret infidelities.
Circus: First Of May (10:30 p.m.)
Welcome to Walden, New York, where the 150 performers and crew members of the legendary Big Apple Circus gather from around the world to put together new acts for their annual 350-performance tour.
As sets are built, costumes designed and acts rehearsed, meet the members of the Big Apple family: a veteran clown who's the most beloved character of the group; the neurotic novice whose goofiness covers a painful past; the trapeze artist whose flakiness makes him the acrobatic troupe's weakest link; and the kids of the rough-and-tumble ring crew, all of whom seem to be looking for a fresh start.
But as a bomb threat reveals, running away to the circus doesn’t always guarantee that trouble won’t find you.
