TV tonight: a striking film about Argentina’s gauchos

3 weeks ago 13

Storyville: Gaucho Gaucho – Argentina’s Last Ranchers

10pm, BBC Four
This black-and-white documentary is so artfully crafted by directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw that it feels more like a cinematic western drama. It follows the everyday lives of Argentina’s shrinking community of gauchos (cowboys and cowgirls) who preserve their traditions and fight to remain free in the modern world. There are no introductions or to-camera interviews, just mesmerising observations of cattle herding, family meals and horse-riding. Hollie Richardson

Sort Your Life Out With Stacey Solomon

8pm, BBC One
Leeds-based couple Ben and Lynda Brearley-Baird need a hand organising their three-bedroom home, which features mountains of useless items – including 619 pieces of wood. Stacey and her team of decluttering experts help them to let go of what they don’t need, giving them more play space for their young daughter. Nicole Vassell

The Fear Clinic: Face Your Phobia

8pm, Channel 4
More clients are thrown in at the deep end to face their fears – starting with Jack, whose arachnophobia is tackled by confronting him with a creepy-crawly spider. Next up, James, who is terrified of clowns, and Lynsey, who is traumatised as a result of choking on a fishbone when she was a child. HR

Waterloo Road

9pm, BBC One

Nude photos of a female student are circulating, a new teacher has lost control of the class, and Donte is being very subtle about his suspicion that he may be student Ashton’s dad – which means being weirdly pally, trying embarrassing fist bumps, and confessing to his teaching colleagues. Smooth Donte, very smooth. Alexi Duggins

The Real Unforgotten

9pm, ITV1
In 1981, the body of 36-year-old Carol Morgan was discovered by her husband in the back of their convenience store in Linslade, Bedfordshire. Nobody was charged in relation to her death for decades. This two-parter, loosely inspired by the popular crime drama Unforgotten, follows a police team’s six-year investigation into her cold case. HR

Mussolini: Son of the Century

9pm, Sky Atlantic
With its talk of “the death of a century of democracy”, this drama about the rise of Benito Mussolini feels grimly timely. However, for all of his strong-arm tactics, this week the would-be dictator (a convincingly oily and sinister Luca Marinelli) is trying his hand at diplomacy, strategically courting parliament in order to subvert it. Phil Harrison