Jane Andrews: TV tonight’s grim true-crime drama and a stacked night of awards, sport and culture
Tonight’s TV slate is anchored by The Lady, a four-part drama that tells the story of Jane Andrews. The series stars Natalie Dormer and Mia McKenna-Bruce and revisits a scandal close to the duchess; Jane Andrews, Sarah Ferguson’s former dresser, was convicted for murdering her boyfriend. The drama opens with working-class Jane trying to fit in to a new royal world while managing worsening mental health.
Jane Andrews: The Lady and its central performances
In what is either terrible or terrific timing, Natalie Dormer plays Sarah Ferguson with aplomb in this drama. Mia McKenna-Bruce is described as an excellent rising star and is said to excel in the role of Jane Andrews. The series is presented as a four-parter that begins by charting a working-class woman’s attempts to enter a royal circle even as her mental health deteriorates.
Casting, tone and narrative focus
The Lady frames the story around social displacement and mental-health decline: the opening episode places a working-class Jane at the margins of a new royal world while she struggles with worsening mental health. The programme’s tone is positioned as a grim retelling of the scandal surrounding the duchess’s former dresser and the violence that followed.
Awards night, nominations and live entertainment
The same evening’s awards coverage includes a golden ticket to the Baftas and a round-up of the most nominated films: One Battle After Another, Sinners, Marty Supreme and Hamnet lead the list of contenders. Other British films highlighted for attention are I Swear, The Ballad of Wallis Island and Pillion. The awards-night coverage is hosted by Alan Cumming and will feature a performance by KPop Demon Hunters.
Winter Olympics moments and the closing ceremony
The Winter Olympics have supplied headline-grabbing moments this week, from a biathlete’s confession of infidelity to a lighthearted highland fling on the ice between Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson. The closing ceremony is set for the Verona Arena, where the event will hand the 2030 baton to the French Alps.
Classical concert and orchestral programme
Continuing a series that celebrates four of Europe’s best orchestras, a concert staged in Lisbon features the Gulbenkian Orchestra conducted by Aziz Shokakimov. The programme includes Ravel’s La Valse, Debussy’s La Mer and the symphonic poem Vltava by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana.
Drama, gameshows and late-night cinema
Elsewhere on drama schedules, a penultimate episode of a serial finds Saintly Simon confiding in Ralph while being beset by hallucinations. Jack’s rival faction declares, "I’m bored of worrying about being cruel … it’s time to get whacks in, " and succumbs to murderous groupthink; the episode builds toward a coming storm in which someone is about to be martyred, punctuated by the chilling lines: "Kill the beast. Cut his throat. Spill his blood…"
On lighter viewing, a quiz programme overseen by Alan Carr and Susie Dent reduces 12 brainboxes down to the final four through a complex mathematical maze followed by a mind-bending memory game based on the periodic table. One contestant, ambulance technician Ollie, was noted for being able to remember every number plate on her estate as a child, which is suggested should give her an edge in the memory round.
Late-night film programming includes Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 classic Breathless, presented for viewers seeking a primer on the French New Wave. The film is framed as emblematic of jump-cuts, handheld camerawork and a blithe indifference to typical plotlines, following Jean-Paul Belmondo’s impulsive, on-the-run criminal Michel as he woos Jean Seberg’s American student Patricia in Paris. The title Breathless is scheduled for a late-night slot.
Sporting schedule highlights
- Premier League football: Nottingham Forest v Liverpool at 1pm on a main sports channel, followed by Tottenham v Arsenal at 4. 25pm.
- Women’s FA Cup football: Chelsea v Man Utd at 1pm on a sports channel (fifth-round match); Liverpool v Everton at 4pm on a free-to-air channel.
- Six Nations rugby union: France v Italy at 2. 20pm, played at Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille and shown on a broadcaster’s schedule.
Schedule times are presented in local TV listings for the evening; programming and times remain subject to change. Recent updates indicate these highlights will define a crowded night of drama, awards coverage, sport and classical music on television.
