TV tonight: the scandals surrounding My Insta Scammer Friend

This documentary focuses on a 2019 viral long read in New York Magazine about the controversial Instagram sensation Caroline Calloway. Plus, Big Oil V the World. Here’s what to watch this evening

My Insta Scammer Friend
9pm, BBC Three

In 2019, the internet couldn’t stop talking about Caroline Calloway. The original Instagram influencer was the subject of a viral long read penned by her former friend Natalie Beach for New York Magazine’s The Cut. This documentary hears from Beach about her claims that Calloway is a phoney shrouded in lies and scandals, and examines how Calloway publicly dealt with the aftermath. It also speaks with the “followers” who paid money to attend workshops held by Calloway, which they went on to criticise. Hollie Richardson

Big Oil v the World
9pm, BBC Two

What happened when a former oil executive became the president of the US, one of the biggest offenders in the climate crisis, in 2000? Well, George W Bush quickly blindsided the Environmental Protection Agency head Christine Todd Whitman and reversed plans to regulate carbon emissions. “The [oil] industry is a great lobbyist,” Whitman says in the second episode of this fantastic documentary series. HR

The Undeclared War
9pm, Channel 4

It’s the penultimate episode of this slightly ponderous cyberdrama. The peculiar election results have caused civil disorder but that’s almost the least of it – the collapse of watertight firewalls suggests that GCHQ has been compromised. At the heart of it all, Saara (the excellent Hannah Khalique-Brown) faces a race against time. Phil Harrison

Tanya Reynolds in The Baby.
Mum’s the word … Tanya Reynolds in The Baby. Photograph: Sky UK

The Baby
9pm, Sky Atlantic

Tonight, the origins of the devilish baby are finally revealed in a special flashback episode – and it turns out that Helen (Sex Education’s Tanya Reynolds) was his first mum back in the 50s. However, it wasn’t a wanted pregnancy. HR

The Lazarus Project
9pm, Sky Max

Amid all the time-hopping, apocalypse-averting and romantic-gesturing, George (Paapa Essiedu) has forgotten about something important: what does his girlfriend Sarah (Charly Clive) actually want? Now that poor, framed Shiv (Rudi Dharmalingam) is closing in, with “checkpoint night” (when the timeline resets) following close behind, George must be wondering why he bothered. Ellen E Jones

Meet the Richardsons
10pm, Dave

Previously on Meet the Richardsons … a chance to make a UK travel show with Sally Lindsay saw Jon and Lucy RV it to Whitby. This week, the pair are Blackpool-bound, on the second leg of their holiday special. How far will Jon go to give the series the big showbiz finale he thinks it needs? Ali Catterall

Film choice

Josh O’Connor and Laia Costa in Only You.
It’s complicated … Josh O’Connor and Laia Costa in Only You. Photograph: Film PR handout

Only You (Harry Wootliff, 2018), 11.10pm, BBC One
A meet-cute in a Glasgow taxi on New Year’s Eve rapidly leads to a fine romance for 35-year-old Elena (Laia Costa) and 26-year-old Jake (Josh O’Connor). But this involving film is more interested in what comes after, when having a baby puts a huge strain on their nascent relationship. Elena’s frustrated desire to be a mother and worries about the couple’s age gap engulf her and alienate Jake. It’s a messily human drama, superbly performed in what is essentially a two-hander, while the handheld, closeup camerawork gives events a restless energy. Simon Wardell

Live Sport

Commonwealth Games opening ceremony 7pm, BBC One. The official opening of the games at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Swimmer Adam Peaty will compete in the 11-day event.

Contributors

Hollie Richardson, Phil Harrison, Ellen E Jones, Ali Catterall and Simon Wardell

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