WARNING: Embargoed for publication until 00:00:01 on 06/12/2018 - Programme Name: The Long Song - TX: 18/12/2018 - Episode: n/a (No. n/a) - Picture Shows: *STRICTLY NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNTIL 00:01HRS, THURSDAY 6TH DECEMBER, 2018* Caroline (HAYLEY ATWELL), July (TAMARA LAWRANCE), Robert (JACK LOWDEN) - (C) Heyday Television - Photographer: Carlos Rodriguez

Best-bets for Jan. 31: Dramas ponder slavery and sexism

1) “Masterpiece: The Long Song,” 10 p.m., PBS. Here is Jamaica in the 1830s, offering visual beauty and emotional pain. Hayley Atwell – thoroughly transformed from her work as Peggy Carter in the Captain America films – plays an empty-headed plantation-owner, with Tamara Lawrence as her slave. Then a man (Jack Lowden, shown here with the women) arrives with news. This three-week story veers toward soap-opera turf, then evolves into a nuanced drama – beautifully filmed, skillfully acted and, at times, wrenching to watch. Read more…

1) “Masterpiece: The Long Song,” 10 p.m., PBS. Here is Jamaica in the 1830s, offering visual beauty and emotional pain. Hayley Atwell – thoroughly transformed from her work as Peggy Carter in the Captain America films – plays an empty-headed plantation-owner, with Tamara Lawrence as her slave. Then a man (Jack Lowden, shown here with the women) arrives with news. This three-week story veers toward soap-opera turf, then evolves into a nuanced drama – beautifully filmed, skillfully acted and, at times, wrenching to watch.

2) “Miss Scarlet and the Duke,” 8 p.m., PBS. The British managed to right some wrongs before we did. They ended slavery in 1833 (30 years before Americans) and gave women – well, some women – the vote in 1918 (two years before we did). This hour, a good one, is set during the years when women were denied the vote; Eliza reluctantly takes a job spying on activists.

3) “NCIS” shows, 8-11 p.m., CBS. This was supposed to be the night of the Grammy Awards, but they’ve been pushed back six weeks, to March 14. Instead, the network offers reruns – “NCIS: Losa Angeles” at 8, “NCIS: New Orleans” at 9 and “NCIS” at 10. That last one, with an international manhunt, is from five years ago. The reruns end soon, though: Next Sunday, CBS follows the Super Bowl with the superb debut of Queen Latifah in “The Equalizer,” which will stay on Sundays.

4) “Batwoman,” 8 p.m., CW. The season’s first two episodes have been terrific, as Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) – a homeless, jobless martial-arts instructor – took over the duties of Batwoman. Now she faces the superhero burden of maintaining a secret identity. Luke continues to have his doubts, especially after Ryan designs a new Batsuit. Meanwhile, bad guys – Snakebite, Alice, Victor Szasz – romp.

5) “Sounder” (1972), 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. On the eve of Black History Month, Martin Ritt’s deeply moving follows a sharecropper family in the 1930s. Other top movies tonight? Catch “Back to the Future” (1985) at 5:30 p.m. on TNT, then switch to FX at 8 for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which won four Oscars (including Rami Malek as best actor) and was nominated for best picture.

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