Wednesday, December 2

Kebab Kings, SBS, 8.30pm

Who would have imagined an ‘‘observational documentary’’ set in a kebab shop could be compelling viewing? The late night goings on in Sydney’s Oz Turk Kebabs (and institution which has never closed it doors in 14 years) and Smith Kebabs in Melbourne. At OzTurk, Fatima and husband Nafi have decided to retire, and the shop’s new owners, brothers Fadi and Rami are yet to impress. Tonight’s episode was filmed a couple of weeks before Christmas and needless to say, the best of humanity is not lining up for a kebab at 3am. In fact, one Welsh tourist is trying to buy weed with his order – although this query turns out to be the most polite of his drunken, expletive-ridden tirade. At Smith’s owners Mustafa and Zareena are expanding their business to include – controversially – pizza. Even more brave is Mustafa inviting his conservative Muslim parents, visiting from India, to spend some time at his business. And try pizza for the first time. Mustafa’s mum pretty much sums up everything when she observes ‘‘people here like beer’’.

Madam Secretary, Ten, 8.30pm

In a plotline straight from an ’80s airport thriller, tensions with Russia are escalating and Elizabeth (Tea Leoni) must find the traitor within the presidential circle. And after National Security Advisor Craig Sterling (Julian Acosta) almost derailed plans to re-establish the Cuban embassy, it looks like his time is up; in tonight’s episode his opposition to the views of – well, pretty much everyone at the White House – see Elizabeth and her team plotting to relieve him from his position. But Sterling has some devious plans of his own to  take down  Elizabeth and Dalton (Keith Carradine).

The Blacklist, Seven, 10pm

Even as the daring escapes and the twisted villainry grow ever more implausible, The Blacklist continues to be gripping television. Tonight’s mid-season finale has something for everyone: Deliverance-style rednecks (prompting some fabulous one-liners from Reddington), romance, a shock firing at the FBI, an adultery revelation and even the death of a regular character. Perhaps most shocking of all  is the final scene. Surely even Reddington can’t save the FBI’s Most Wanted Woman this time. Can he? 
Kylie Northover

PAY TV

Simply Nigella, LifeStyle Food, 8.30pm

Nigella Lawson is back with a new show and a new kind of vibe. She’s in something of a reflective mood, eschewing the heightened sensuality of her previous shows and making oblique reference to being at a new stage in her life after the personal nightmare of recent years. And the food? Well, it still looks pretty good. Lawson says she’s focusing on dishes that are as much of a pleasure to cook as they are to eat, and on making comfort food that isn’t too familiar and boring. First up is avocado on toast, which Lawson declares not to be a recipe at all. But once she’s acquired some German spelt bread – its ‘‘nuttiness and heft’’ being the perfect complement to the delicate texture of the avocado – she turns it into a recipe involving coriander, salt, lime, chilli flakes, ginger and radish shavings. Then there’s a ‘‘comforting and unfamiliar’’ Thai noodle dish with prawns, cloves and cinnamon, an apricot and almond cake, some spiced baked cauliflower and more besides. Good stuff.

Brad Newsome

MOVIES

You’re Next (2011) Action Movies (pay TV), 10.20pm

Adam Wingard’s You’re Next is a bloody horror movie where the emotional angst of a wealthy, WASP-ish clan is literally turned into a violent confrontation; the inexplicable, obvious violence plays out in a world where debate, reason and rationale is usually foremost. While not as devilishly witty as Wingard and writer Simon Barrett’s most recent collaboration, the genre mash-up The Guest, the film shares several of their preoccupations: the greatest danger lurks within the family unit, and that something is broken in the combatants who come back from war. At a remote American country home the Davison clan celebrates the 35th wedding anniversary of parents, Paul (Rob Moran) and Aubrey (Barbara Crampton). Each of their four adult children bring a partner, with some such as Erin (Sharni Vinson), the new Australian girlfriend of their academic son Crispian (A.J. Bowen), meeting everyone for the first time. Sibling rivalry and barely suppressed enmities are apparent, but the real nightmare at the first night’s dinner are a slew of crossbow bolts, which signal a murderous assault by masked intruders. Wingard plays with horror tropes – there really is someone under the bed – and doubles back on himself, and the black humour comes from family feuds that can’t be halted even when one brother is bleeding to death. It is Erin, for reasons unknown, who takes control and marshals the hysterically shocked survivors. There are moments of grotesque Home Alone booby-trapping, but it is Erin’s resourcefulness and endurance that shines through as betrayal takes hold on a long day’s journey into a violent night.

Sparrow (2008) SBS, midnight

In the already sizeable, ever-expanding canon of Johnnie To films, Sparrow is a comparatively calm mystery, given to moments of romantic whimsy instead of serrated confrontations. As with so many of the Hong Kong director’s movies, there’s a criminal subculture to be explored, but instead of the Triads the milieu is the world of pickpockets – or sparrows, to use the Cantonese slang for them – who breezily practice their nimble-fingered skills on the city’s crowded streets. This gang of four is led by Kei (Simon Yam), and even as they trespass on a larger group’s patch, each member is approached by Chun Lei (Kelly Lin), an employee of their adversary who has ideas of her own. The jazzy score suggests a throwback, to both the past of Hong Kong and the Parisian criminal underworld of Jean-Pierre Melville, and the result is a minor pleasure.
Craig Mathieson